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U.S. auto industry could be collateral damage in trade wars

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump’s trade wars threaten to claim a casualty on the home front: the American auto industry. If the president goes ahead with 25% taxes on imports from Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, he will disrupt more than $300 billion in annual U.S. automotive trade with its two neighbors, wreck supply chains that have been operating for decades and likely push up the already-forbidding price of new cars. The tariffs pose an “existential’’ threat to North American auto production, said David Gantz, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for ...

Lessons from a comic mastermind

The beloved comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” was a part of my childhood, like many my age. Created by cartoonist Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes” had a 10-year run from 1985 to 1995. According to Wikipedia, at the height of its popularity, the whimsical strip was printed in more than 2,400 newspapers worldwide. The antics of the characters, the design and drawing, and the commentary were all on-point and appealed to both kids growing up as I was during its run, as well as the generation of my parents. Besides sports box scores, it was my second-favorite thing to read each ...

Musk is a fast Macbeth for Trump

“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.” — William Shakespeare, “Macbeth” “Quickly” is the key word for Macbeth as he muses before the bloody murder of King Duncan of Scotland. He must do the deed with his dagger by night, while the court sleeps. Act now or not at all. “Quickly” is the passcode for Elon Muck — or Musk — as he acts as henchman for the man who would be king, President Donald Trump. The federal government is under a ruthless siege like thunder, lightning and rain — so swiftly that it’s hard to arrest or even ...

First, fire all the politicized generals

President Trump and his defense secretary Pete Hegseth have outraged the Beltway by dismissing top generals, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown. Also ousted were the chief of the Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force, with perhaps others on the chopping block. This is being called an “unprecedented purge,” and a step toward the politicization of the military. At the very least, though, these moves send a message that change is coming to an ossified Pentagon, and if they are followed up with reforms to how we promote and evaluate our ...

$75 million was awarded to plant trees in places that badly need them, but it’s gone in Washington shake-up

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Arthur Johnson has lived in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward for nearly three decades, long enough to appreciate the trees that filter pollution from the big ships traveling the nearby Mississippi River and that offer shade on sweltering summer days. When Hurricane Katrina roared through two decades ago, it wiped out 200,000 trees across the city, including many in Johnson’s neighborhood and several in his own yard. The city has struggled ever since to restore its tree canopy. Those efforts will be set back by the U.S. Forest Service’s decision in mid-February ...

Several construction workers killed during avalanche in northern India

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — At least four workers have died after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India’s mountainous border with Tibet, Indian army said Saturday. The incident took place near the Mana Pass in northern Uttarakhand state on Friday, and 55 construction workers were initially trapped under snow. Rescuers pulled out 50 workers, of whom four later died, the Indian army said in a statement. It said the search for the five remaining missing workers was continuing, with multiple teams of rescuers and military helicopters scanning ...