So many stories, so little time! In Part Two of this catchall conglomeration, we’re looking at developments in late April, US-based, including a federal reclassification of marijuana, another failed Trump assassination attempt, and a gentle monarchical rebuke.
It’s been a head-spinning few weeks, with rising gas and energy prices, increased inflation, and the war with Iran, but somehow, America’s sweethearts, Donald and Melania Trump, have managed to keep us entertained.
After a fashion. From threatening genocide to profane tweets on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, ramshackle ceasefires and blaspheming memes, and vigorous denials of accusations of wrongdoing that haven’t been made, the Trumps have outdone themselves in this first half of April 2026. What follows is a barebones overview of the high jinks and shenanigans.
On 11 February 2026, US Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, ostensibly to answer questions related to the latest document dump of three million pages from the Epstein Files. Bondi, in an erratic, combative performance, did little but harangue her Democratic questioners with insults culled from a binder of opposition research-type non sequiturs, and try to deflect with claims about the magnificence of the recent Dow performance. When asked if she would apologize for the names of Epstein survivors which weren’t redacted from the files released (while the names of many perpetrators were), she refused to so much as acknowledge the presence of many of these women, who were standing behind her.
In the wee hours of Saturday, 3 January 2026, US special forces bombed military and power facilities in the Venezuelan capital, raiding the presidential palace in Caracas and abducting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his wife and son, and transporting them to the US, where they face federal narcotics charges. A build-up of US naval power in the region, as well as frequent strikes at sea on alleged drug-runner boats and the seizure of two tankers supposedly carrying contraband oil, presaged the military operation on the mainland. Trump has been applying increasing pressure on Maduro to leave office, and has now stated that the US will “run” Venezuela while an interim government is established.
It’s time for another installment of Cosmic Grab Bag, AAA’s catchall collection of smaller stories that were skipped in real time, but deserve honorable celestial mention. In this issue we deal with a royal “first” in religion, a World Series outcome, a royal demotion, and a Supreme Court hearing.
Donald Trump’s 2025 Retribution Tour kicked into hyperdrive on September 25th, with the two-count indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, a frequent Trump critic whom the thin-skinned president blames for the “Russia hoax” investigations in 2017. Out on the stump in 2024, Trump was fond of stating that retribution would come in the form of his success in office. Perhaps, with Americans’ cost of living on the rise, his tariffs adding to consumer burdens, and his failure to end, or even ameliorate, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, he figures, ‘Screw it, I’ll just do payback.’
