May 22, 2025 • 18 mins
The clash between diplomacy and bullying takes center stage as Donald Trump meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Rather than engaging in thoughtful dialogue, Trump resorts to displaying unsubstantiated claims of white genocide—a testament to his heavy-handed approach to international relations. Meanwhile, ethical concerns swirl around Trump's acceptance of a Qatar jet, highlighting a troubling disregard for traditional presidential boundaries.
Behind the scenes of Capitol Hill, chaos reigns as Republicans remain deadlocked over a major tax and spending bill. The self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives openly admit the legislation would add trillions to the deficit, yet many still support it simply because it bears Trump's name. This hypocrisy reveals how principled governance has given way to political expediency, leaving meaningful policy discussions in the dust.
The wealth gap in America has reached staggering proportions. Wait until you hear what the top 10 richest people in America make!
Amid this troubling news, a heartwarming story emerges of a woman who once feared dogs but something changed her opinion.
Contact me with your thoughts and reactions—I'd love to hear from you! Until Friday's episode, stay hopeful despite the madness surrounding us.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a world gone mad.
This is a world gone mad, mad,mad, mad, mad.
And another week of A WorldGone Mad.
I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe and I'mback again to give my commentary
on the news.
Thanks for joining me.
Let's jump right in.
Here we go.
(00:20):
Tense meeting between SouthAfrican President and Donald
Trump.
South African President CyrilRamaphosa disputed Trump's claim
that white South Africans aresuffering genocide during the
two leaders meeting in the OvalOffice, where the US President
played a video pushing theunsubstantiated claims.
(00:40):
Now, whether this claim byDonald is true or not is not the
issue.
That's important about genocide, of course, but Donald's idea
of diplomacy is to strong arm aleader of another country.
It shows how completelyinsecure Donald is, how small
his hands are.
(01:02):
No tact, no smoothness to howhe deals with leaders from
around the world.
And an update on the Qatar jetfiasco.
The Pentagon said it hasaccepted the jet from Qatar that
will be used by Trump once itis modified.
Discussions about the transferof the jet have sparked ethical
(01:24):
concerns among Democrats andseveral influential Republicans.
This whole jet thing is absurd.
A president should not acceptgifts, especially a gift that
could cause problems with thesecurity of the leader of the
free world.
Shameless actions by Trump justshow how he has no concern for
(01:45):
the rule of law.
Mike Johnson and GOP holdoutsmet with Trump amid impasse over
bill.
The White House is askingSpeaker Mike Johnson and some
key GOP holdouts to meet withPresident Donald Trump today,
which they did to work through amajor impasse on the tax and
spending cuts bill.
According to one of theholdouts and an administration
(02:08):
official.
Now the outreach comes as ahalf a dozen Republican
hardliners declared that theywill not support Trump's agenda
on the floor demanding morechanges to the bill.
Johnson was going to hold afloor vote later tonight, but he
currently doesn't have thesupport necessary to pass it Now
.
This is a major roadblock.
(02:29):
A group of those hardliners,including House Freedom Caucus
Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland, told reporters this morning
the White House had agreedovernight to changes to Medicaid
and to roll back certain cleanenergy programs provisions they
had pushed for, but they saidthey're still seeking specific
(02:50):
details which they've declinedto name Now.
Republican Representative ChipRoy, a member of the
ultra-conservative House FreedomCaucus who has said he won't
vote for the bill, said themeeting with Trump happened
today.
Vote for the bill.
Said the meeting with Trumphappened today Trump privately
implored key holdouts not toderail the major tax and
spending cuts package.
(03:11):
You know that big, beautifulbill that Trump calls it.
The official told CNN thatprevious talks with the House
Freedom Caucus have not yetyielded progress.
There was no deal.
The White House presented HFCwith policy options that the
administration can live with,provided they can get the votes.
But they cannot get the votes.
(03:31):
The official said there was nodeal.
The HFC was going to meet withthe president at 3 pm today to
hopefully strike one.
Johnson has insisted the billneeds to pass this week, ahead
of the House Memorial Day recess.
Now some conservativehardliners are warning about the
potential pitfalls in thedomestic policy bill.
(03:52):
House Speaker Mike Johnson islooking to push to the floor
late tonight.
That's ongoing.
I've not seen any word updatedyet.
As I'm recording this, gopRepresentative Rich McCormick of
Georgia acknowledged that thebill would add to the deficit,
but implied that it may beRepublicans' only choice to pass
(04:12):
Trump's agenda.
Great, let's make the deficitworse just so we can pass, you
know, this bill from Trump.
I would love to have everythingthat I want and, as you know,
I'm a deficit hawk, but I can'tnot pass this and then expect
something better to happen", hesaid what ridiculous
rationalization.
When asked about thenonpartisan analysis that said
(04:36):
the bill could add $3.8 trillionover eight years, mccormick
said it's going to.
Absolutely.
It's not as good as I want itto be, but if the Democrats took
control of the bill it would bebigger, he claimed.
Another GOP hardliner,representative Warren Davidson
of Ohio, argued the legislationspends more money than the
(04:57):
status quo and actually hurtsthe deficits, adding it sets a
bad precedent for futurelawmakers.
Now if they follow our example,they'll increase spending on
their watch and they'll promisesome future Congress will cut
spending and that's how we windup so far in debt, Davidson said
.
He said if Johnson succeeds inbringing that House floor
(05:18):
tonight and it passes and hesaid he wants to the bill's
going to have problems.
Look, dysfunctional government,obvious broken government.
Republicans has always justpushed through bills that are
flawed.
No bill is perfect.
We all know this.
But to push through somethingthat is just wrong shows no
(05:39):
moral center from the Republicanleadership.
They just enact things thathurt the people and our country.
New intelligence suggests Israelis preparing a possible strike
on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Us officials say the US hasobtained new intelligence
(06:00):
suggesting that Israel is makingpreparations to strike Iranian
nuclear facilities even as theTrump administration has been
pursuing a diplomatic deal withTehran.
Multiple US officials familiarwith the latest intelligence
told the press Such a strikewould be a brazen break what
President Donald Trump USofficial said.
It could also risk tipping offa broader regional conflict in
(06:23):
the Middle East, something theUS has sought to avoid since the
war in Gaza inflamed tensionsbeginning in 2023.
Officials, caution.
It's not clear that Israelileaders have made a final
decision and that in fact, thereis deep disagreement within the
US government about thelikelihood that Israel will
ultimately act.
Whether and how Israel strikeswill likely depend on what it
(06:47):
thinks of the US negotiationswith Tehran over its nuclear
problems.
Look, israel is focused on itsown agenda.
That's obvious.
You know the phrase damn thetorpedoes, full speed ahead.
They Israel, for the most part,couldn't care less what anybody
thinks, especially the UnitedStates and Donald Trump.
(07:10):
Target, the store Target'sproblems are escalating.
Target was already facing avery public revolt from some of
its most loyal customers.
Now it's warning about tariffs.
The company said Wednesday thatsales fell last quarter.
Warning about tariffs thecompany said Wednesday that
sales fell last quarter, drivenin part by customer backlash to
Target's reversal in diversity,equity and inclusion DEI
(07:38):
programs.
Target also cut its guidance asPresident Donald Trump's
tariffs push up costs for thecompany.
Target's sales at stores openfor at least a year tumbled 3.8%
last quarter.
At least a year tumbled 3.8%last quarter.
Fewer customers visited Targetspent less when they shopped.
Target also cut its financialoutlook, a sign Target's
problems won't go away quickly.
The company expects sales todecline by low single digits
(08:00):
this year.
The company announced that ithas established a multi-year
enterprise acceleration program,or rather office, to speed up
growth plans and it reshuffledits executive team.
We faced several additionalheadwinds this quarter,
including five consecutivemonths of declining consumer
confidence, uncertaintyregarding the impact of
(08:20):
potential tariffs and thereaction to the updates we
shared on DEI in January.
Target CEO Brian Cornell saidon a call with Analyst Wednesday
.
Cornell warned of massivepotential costs from tariffs but
said the retailer could offsetthem by diversifying suppliers,
adjusting products and hikingprices if necessary.
(08:43):
Tariffs may force Target toeither absorb added costs,
hurting its profits, or raiseprices on consumers.
Home Depot said Tuesday that itplans to keep most of its
prices stable despite Trump'stariffs driving costs up.
But tariffs may cause HomeDepot to increase prices on
(09:04):
select items and eliminate someproduct lines entirely.
Walmart said last week thatTrump's tariffs are too high and
it will raise prices on someitems, prompting an angry
response from Trump.
Trump stated Walmart shouldstop trying to blame my tariffs
as the reason for raising pricesthroughout the chain.
(09:26):
Trump stated Between Walmartand China, they should, as I
said, eat the tariffs and notchange valued customers, or
rather charge valued customersanything.
I'll be watching and so willyour customers, trump claimed.
There you go, donald, sayingscrew you to anyone who
(09:47):
disagrees with you.
This is the executive order Iordained Go, screw yourself if
you don't follow along.
Shut up and eat it.
Take it up the backside.
Donald the dictator says Did youknow?
The 10 richest Americans in ourcountry got $365 billion richer
(10:09):
in the past year.
Yay, and now they're on theverge of a huge tax cut.
Wow, seriously, yep, despite abrief market scare, the richest
10 Americans got $365 billionricher over the past year.
According to a new analysisfrom Oxfam, the stunning
(10:33):
increase in wealth amounts to again of roughly $1 billion per
day for those billionaires.
Let me repeat that $1 billionper day for those billionaires.
Say it with me, listeners let'smake America great again.
By contrast, the typicalAmerican worker made just over
(10:56):
$50,000 in 2023.
Oxfam found that it would takea staggering 726,000 years
staggering 726,000 years,726,000, you heard right for 10
US workers had median earningsto make that much money.
The findings put an exclamationpoint on the nation's wealth
(11:17):
inequality, and come asRepublicans debate a costly bill
that nonpartisan experts saywill make the rich even richer
and deeply cut nearly $1trillion from key safety net
programs.
Billionaire wealth hasincreased astronomically while
so many ordinary people struggleto make ends meet.
Rebecca Rydell, senior policylead for economic and racial
(11:40):
justice at Oxfam America, saidin the report.
Justice at Oxfam America saidin the report.
Now Oxfam argues that theRepublican bill, a legislative
priority of Trump, would furtherstack the deck against ordinary
people.
In favor of the most affluent,we're seeing a tax code being
designed that would bring aboutthe world's first trillionaire,
wright-elsa said.
Now some progressives havecalled for fighting inequality
(12:04):
by imposing a wealth tax onultra-millionaires and
billionaires.
Oxfam found that a 3% tax onwealth above $1 billion would
raise $50 billion from just the10 richest Americans alone.
That's enough to provide foodassistance for one year to 22.5
(12:26):
billion people.
Now, of course, taxing wealthwould be very challenging, in
part because it would be hard tovalue net worth, and some legal
scholars have questionedwhether a tax you know, a wealth
tax is even constitutional.
Look, the rich get richer andthe poor get poorer, and the
people in charge, as always, donot care and I'm going to say
(12:54):
that's whether it's Republicansor Democrats.
For the most part, we do nothave leadership protecting our
backside, but when Republicansare in charge, they definitely
don't give a damn about any ofus.
And finally, and I offer youthis following story to take us
out of the negative news, withcourtesy from the Good News
Network Thank you.
A woman who never liked dogs hasbeen walking and biking around
(13:18):
the world with a street dog thatshe found neglected and covered
in fleas.
An Australian cattle dog namedButch must now be among the most
well-traveled dogs on theplanet, having been taken in by
a woman who spends all her daysexploring the world.
Now, heike Perngruber hopefullyI pronounced that right worked
(13:39):
as a camera woman for ZDF,that's Germany's biggest
broadcast station, over adecades-long career that ended
12 years ago when she decided tohit the road permanently.
It's taken her across over 104countries on all inhabited
continents.
To date, she had been lookingto travel across the Americas on
(14:00):
a donkey in March 2020, beforetaking a break in a beach hut in
Baja California the followingyear.
Now, having been chased by dogson more than one occasion during
her travels, a lack ofaffection for the canine race
grew into a dislike for the dogsAll into her recent experience
(14:21):
in the beach hut Cooking grilledchicken.
One night, a stray dog namedMax, meek and mild, came to the
front door and Pern Gruber'sfriend Rony convinced her to let
him stay.
The following day, Max cameback with two friends.
Now, during her sojourn in thebeach hut, the three strays
gradually nursed away her fearof dogs, a prerequisite to a
(14:45):
life-changing experience.
Not long after, I never reallyliked dogs when I was a kid, but
the first moment I had littleButch in my arms and knew he was
mine now couldn't believe how Ifelt, prinn Gruber told
England's Southwestern NewsService.
Now Butch was chosen from amonga litter of seven flea-ridden
(15:06):
puppies that a pair ofunscrupulous owners were looking
to cast aside.
Despite all the uncertaintiesand extra responsibilities that
traveling with a dog would bring, she looked at the Butch's face
and knew what she wanted to do.
He's my best friend.
I love this guy to death andit's awesome.
The Heidelberg native said.
Australian cattle dogs are atough breed.
(15:28):
They are basically made for theoutdoors and Butch does not
know any other way.
He only knows life on the roadand we're connecting footsteps
nearly every day.
To begin their friendship, theduo spent a total of three years
in the Americas together,walking across states in the US,
ridinga motorbike in Arizonaand central Mexico, canoeing in
(15:50):
New York and Vermont and using atuk-tuk to get around Chile and
Argentina.
With the tuk-tuk in particular,they saw thousands of miles of
South America, both on and offroad.
Now we've seen amazing placesand scenery and because Bush had
the back seat in the tuk-tuk,he could sit in the shade or the
(16:12):
sun.
I think he really enjoyed that,said Pingruber.
Then we flew to Madrid, spain,and I went home for just the
third time in 12 years, she said.
But it's been clear each time Icame home I couldn't stay there
and it wasn't my lifestyleanymore, even if there is still
a connection to people at home.
In November last year, afterfour months at home in Germany,
(16:33):
they started out eastwardthrough Europe, starting on a
walk through Spain, proceedingto Andorra, france and Italy,
before taking a boat to Greece,although Pindgruber does not
plan much in advance.
The pair are heading now toAlbania and the rest of the
Balkans, before moving on toTurkey and eventually towards
(16:54):
either India or Mongolia.
I choose where we go, mainly dayby day.
She said there are times whenwe want to get away from
civilization, you know, be byourselves, and then other times
I'm sitting in a square tryingto get some contact with others,
either in person or through myphone.
She said but I'm not a plannerand that's the fun in it.
(17:14):
I know the rough route, butit's about experiencing new
places.
I love culture, I love tounderstand the planet.
She said I just carry thebasics.
I go ultralight, I carry mycamera, my first-aid kit and
Butch's medicines, so he'sprotected from ticks and the
like and 99% of people are niceand overall I've had some great
(17:37):
encounters with people.
Even though there have beensome bad experiences and moments
, as a solo female traveler,it's a safe world to travel in.
In general.
She said the power of a dogchanges a person's outlook
towards them and with that story, after sharing it with you,
I've got to go hug my own dog,cooper.
(18:00):
I'll be back again Friday withanother episode of A World Gone
Mad.
I'm your host, jeff Allen Wolfe.
I've said it over and overagain in previous episodes Say
hello, email me, text me, phoneme.
Love to hear from you.
Until then, I'm sitting in aroom talking to myself.
Stay hopeful.
This is a world gone mad.
This is a world gone mad, mad,mad, mad, mad.
And another week of A WorldGone Mad.
I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe and I'mback again to give my commentary
on the news.
Thanks for joining me.
Let's jump right in.
Here we go.
(00:20):
Tense meeting between SouthAfrican President and Donald
Trump.
South African President CyrilRamaphosa disputed Trump's claim
that white South Africans aresuffering genocide during the
two leaders meeting in the OvalOffice, where the US President
played a video pushing theunsubstantiated claims.
(00:40):
Now, whether this claim byDonald is true or not is not the
issue.
That's important about genocide, of course, but Donald's idea
of diplomacy is to strong arm aleader of another country.
It shows how completelyinsecure Donald is, how small
his hands are.
(01:02):
No tact, no smoothness to howhe deals with leaders from
around the world.
And an update on the Qatar jetfiasco.
The Pentagon said it hasaccepted the jet from Qatar that
will be used by Trump once itis modified.
Discussions about the transferof the jet have sparked ethical
(01:24):
concerns among Democrats andseveral influential Republicans.
This whole jet thing is absurd.
A president should not acceptgifts, especially a gift that
could cause problems with thesecurity of the leader of the
free world.
Shameless actions by Trump justshow how he has no concern for
(01:45):
the rule of law.
Mike Johnson and GOP holdoutsmet with Trump amid impasse over
bill.
The White House is askingSpeaker Mike Johnson and some
key GOP holdouts to meet withPresident Donald Trump today,
which they did to work through amajor impasse on the tax and
spending cuts bill.
According to one of theholdouts and an administration
(02:08):
official.
Now the outreach comes as ahalf a dozen Republican
hardliners declared that theywill not support Trump's agenda
on the floor demanding morechanges to the bill.
Johnson was going to hold afloor vote later tonight, but he
currently doesn't have thesupport necessary to pass it Now
.
This is a major roadblock.
(02:29):
A group of those hardliners,including House Freedom Caucus
Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland, told reporters this morning
the White House had agreedovernight to changes to Medicaid
and to roll back certain cleanenergy programs provisions they
had pushed for, but they saidthey're still seeking specific
(02:50):
details which they've declinedto name Now.
Republican Representative ChipRoy, a member of the
ultra-conservative House FreedomCaucus who has said he won't
vote for the bill, said themeeting with Trump happened
today.
Vote for the bill.
Said the meeting with Trumphappened today Trump privately
implored key holdouts not toderail the major tax and
spending cuts package.
(03:11):
You know that big, beautifulbill that Trump calls it.
The official told CNN thatprevious talks with the House
Freedom Caucus have not yetyielded progress.
There was no deal.
The White House presented HFCwith policy options that the
administration can live with,provided they can get the votes.
But they cannot get the votes.
(03:31):
The official said there was nodeal.
The HFC was going to meet withthe president at 3 pm today to
hopefully strike one.
Johnson has insisted the billneeds to pass this week, ahead
of the House Memorial Day recess.
Now some conservativehardliners are warning about the
potential pitfalls in thedomestic policy bill.
(03:52):
House Speaker Mike Johnson islooking to push to the floor
late tonight.
That's ongoing.
I've not seen any word updatedyet.
As I'm recording this, gopRepresentative Rich McCormick of
Georgia acknowledged that thebill would add to the deficit,
but implied that it may beRepublicans' only choice to pass
(04:12):
Trump's agenda.
Great, let's make the deficitworse just so we can pass, you
know, this bill from Trump.
I would love to have everythingthat I want and, as you know,
I'm a deficit hawk, but I can'tnot pass this and then expect
something better to happen", hesaid what ridiculous
rationalization.
When asked about thenonpartisan analysis that said
(04:36):
the bill could add $3.8 trillionover eight years, mccormick
said it's going to.
Absolutely.
It's not as good as I want itto be, but if the Democrats took
control of the bill it would bebigger, he claimed.
Another GOP hardliner,representative Warren Davidson
of Ohio, argued the legislationspends more money than the
(04:57):
status quo and actually hurtsthe deficits, adding it sets a
bad precedent for futurelawmakers.
Now if they follow our example,they'll increase spending on
their watch and they'll promisesome future Congress will cut
spending and that's how we windup so far in debt, Davidson said
.
He said if Johnson succeeds inbringing that House floor
(05:18):
tonight and it passes and hesaid he wants to the bill's
going to have problems.
Look, dysfunctional government,obvious broken government.
Republicans has always justpushed through bills that are
flawed.
No bill is perfect.
We all know this.
But to push through somethingthat is just wrong shows no
(05:39):
moral center from the Republicanleadership.
They just enact things thathurt the people and our country.
New intelligence suggests Israelis preparing a possible strike
on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Us officials say the US hasobtained new intelligence
(06:00):
suggesting that Israel is makingpreparations to strike Iranian
nuclear facilities even as theTrump administration has been
pursuing a diplomatic deal withTehran.
Multiple US officials familiarwith the latest intelligence
told the press Such a strikewould be a brazen break what
President Donald Trump USofficial said.
It could also risk tipping offa broader regional conflict in
(06:23):
the Middle East, something theUS has sought to avoid since the
war in Gaza inflamed tensionsbeginning in 2023.
Officials, caution.
It's not clear that Israelileaders have made a final
decision and that in fact, thereis deep disagreement within the
US government about thelikelihood that Israel will
ultimately act.
Whether and how Israel strikeswill likely depend on what it
(06:47):
thinks of the US negotiationswith Tehran over its nuclear
problems.
Look, israel is focused on itsown agenda.
That's obvious.
You know the phrase damn thetorpedoes, full speed ahead.
They Israel, for the most part,couldn't care less what anybody
thinks, especially the UnitedStates and Donald Trump.
(07:10):
Target, the store Target'sproblems are escalating.
Target was already facing avery public revolt from some of
its most loyal customers.
Now it's warning about tariffs.
The company said Wednesday thatsales fell last quarter.
Warning about tariffs thecompany said Wednesday that
sales fell last quarter, drivenin part by customer backlash to
Target's reversal in diversity,equity and inclusion DEI
(07:38):
programs.
Target also cut its guidance asPresident Donald Trump's
tariffs push up costs for thecompany.
Target's sales at stores openfor at least a year tumbled 3.8%
last quarter.
At least a year tumbled 3.8%last quarter.
Fewer customers visited Targetspent less when they shopped.
Target also cut its financialoutlook, a sign Target's
problems won't go away quickly.
The company expects sales todecline by low single digits
(08:00):
this year.
The company announced that ithas established a multi-year
enterprise acceleration program,or rather office, to speed up
growth plans and it reshuffledits executive team.
We faced several additionalheadwinds this quarter,
including five consecutivemonths of declining consumer
confidence, uncertaintyregarding the impact of
(08:20):
potential tariffs and thereaction to the updates we
shared on DEI in January.
Target CEO Brian Cornell saidon a call with Analyst Wednesday
.
Cornell warned of massivepotential costs from tariffs but
said the retailer could offsetthem by diversifying suppliers,
adjusting products and hikingprices if necessary.
(08:43):
Tariffs may force Target toeither absorb added costs,
hurting its profits, or raiseprices on consumers.
Home Depot said Tuesday that itplans to keep most of its
prices stable despite Trump'stariffs driving costs up.
But tariffs may cause HomeDepot to increase prices on
(09:04):
select items and eliminate someproduct lines entirely.
Walmart said last week thatTrump's tariffs are too high and
it will raise prices on someitems, prompting an angry
response from Trump.
Trump stated Walmart shouldstop trying to blame my tariffs
as the reason for raising pricesthroughout the chain.
(09:26):
Trump stated Between Walmartand China, they should, as I
said, eat the tariffs and notchange valued customers, or
rather charge valued customersanything.
I'll be watching and so willyour customers, trump claimed.
There you go, donald, sayingscrew you to anyone who
(09:47):
disagrees with you.
This is the executive order Iordained Go, screw yourself if
you don't follow along.
Shut up and eat it.
Take it up the backside.
Donald the dictator says Did youknow?
The 10 richest Americans in ourcountry got $365 billion richer
(10:09):
in the past year.
Yay, and now they're on theverge of a huge tax cut.
Wow, seriously, yep, despite abrief market scare, the richest
10 Americans got $365 billionricher over the past year.
According to a new analysisfrom Oxfam, the stunning
(10:33):
increase in wealth amounts to again of roughly $1 billion per
day for those billionaires.
Let me repeat that $1 billionper day for those billionaires.
Say it with me, listeners let'smake America great again.
By contrast, the typicalAmerican worker made just over
(10:56):
$50,000 in 2023.
Oxfam found that it would takea staggering 726,000 years
staggering 726,000 years,726,000, you heard right for 10
US workers had median earningsto make that much money.
The findings put an exclamationpoint on the nation's wealth
(11:17):
inequality, and come asRepublicans debate a costly bill
that nonpartisan experts saywill make the rich even richer
and deeply cut nearly $1trillion from key safety net
programs.
Billionaire wealth hasincreased astronomically while
so many ordinary people struggleto make ends meet.
Rebecca Rydell, senior policylead for economic and racial
(11:40):
justice at Oxfam America, saidin the report.
Justice at Oxfam America saidin the report.
Now Oxfam argues that theRepublican bill, a legislative
priority of Trump, would furtherstack the deck against ordinary
people.
In favor of the most affluent,we're seeing a tax code being
designed that would bring aboutthe world's first trillionaire,
wright-elsa said.
Now some progressives havecalled for fighting inequality
(12:04):
by imposing a wealth tax onultra-millionaires and
billionaires.
Oxfam found that a 3% tax onwealth above $1 billion would
raise $50 billion from just the10 richest Americans alone.
That's enough to provide foodassistance for one year to 22.5
(12:26):
billion people.
Now, of course, taxing wealthwould be very challenging, in
part because it would be hard tovalue net worth, and some legal
scholars have questionedwhether a tax you know, a wealth
tax is even constitutional.
Look, the rich get richer andthe poor get poorer, and the
people in charge, as always, donot care and I'm going to say
(12:54):
that's whether it's Republicansor Democrats.
For the most part, we do nothave leadership protecting our
backside, but when Republicansare in charge, they definitely
don't give a damn about any ofus.
And finally, and I offer youthis following story to take us
out of the negative news, withcourtesy from the Good News
Network Thank you.
A woman who never liked dogs hasbeen walking and biking around
(13:18):
the world with a street dog thatshe found neglected and covered
in fleas.
An Australian cattle dog namedButch must now be among the most
well-traveled dogs on theplanet, having been taken in by
a woman who spends all her daysexploring the world.
Now, heike Perngruber hopefullyI pronounced that right worked
(13:39):
as a camera woman for ZDF,that's Germany's biggest
broadcast station, over adecades-long career that ended
12 years ago when she decided tohit the road permanently.
It's taken her across over 104countries on all inhabited
continents.
To date, she had been lookingto travel across the Americas on
(14:00):
a donkey in March 2020, beforetaking a break in a beach hut in
Baja California the followingyear.
Now, having been chased by dogson more than one occasion during
her travels, a lack ofaffection for the canine race
grew into a dislike for the dogsAll into her recent experience
(14:21):
in the beach hut Cooking grilledchicken.
One night, a stray dog namedMax, meek and mild, came to the
front door and Pern Gruber'sfriend Rony convinced her to let
him stay.
The following day, Max cameback with two friends.
Now, during her sojourn in thebeach hut, the three strays
gradually nursed away her fearof dogs, a prerequisite to a
(14:45):
life-changing experience.
Not long after, I never reallyliked dogs when I was a kid, but
the first moment I had littleButch in my arms and knew he was
mine now couldn't believe how Ifelt, prinn Gruber told
England's Southwestern NewsService.
Now Butch was chosen from amonga litter of seven flea-ridden
(15:06):
puppies that a pair ofunscrupulous owners were looking
to cast aside.
Despite all the uncertaintiesand extra responsibilities that
traveling with a dog would bring, she looked at the Butch's face
and knew what she wanted to do.
He's my best friend.
I love this guy to death andit's awesome.
The Heidelberg native said.
Australian cattle dogs are atough breed.
(15:28):
They are basically made for theoutdoors and Butch does not
know any other way.
He only knows life on the roadand we're connecting footsteps
nearly every day.
To begin their friendship, theduo spent a total of three years
in the Americas together,walking across states in the US,
ridinga motorbike in Arizonaand central Mexico, canoeing in
(15:50):
New York and Vermont and using atuk-tuk to get around Chile and
Argentina.
With the tuk-tuk in particular,they saw thousands of miles of
South America, both on and offroad.
Now we've seen amazing placesand scenery and because Bush had
the back seat in the tuk-tuk,he could sit in the shade or the
(16:12):
sun.
I think he really enjoyed that,said Pingruber.
Then we flew to Madrid, spain,and I went home for just the
third time in 12 years, she said.
But it's been clear each time Icame home I couldn't stay there
and it wasn't my lifestyleanymore, even if there is still
a connection to people at home.
In November last year, afterfour months at home in Germany,
(16:33):
they started out eastwardthrough Europe, starting on a
walk through Spain, proceedingto Andorra, france and Italy,
before taking a boat to Greece,although Pindgruber does not
plan much in advance.
The pair are heading now toAlbania and the rest of the
Balkans, before moving on toTurkey and eventually towards
(16:54):
either India or Mongolia.
I choose where we go, mainly dayby day.
She said there are times whenwe want to get away from
civilization, you know, be byourselves, and then other times
I'm sitting in a square tryingto get some contact with others,
either in person or through myphone.
She said but I'm not a plannerand that's the fun in it.
(17:14):
I know the rough route, butit's about experiencing new
places.
I love culture, I love tounderstand the planet.
She said I just carry thebasics.
I go ultralight, I carry mycamera, my first-aid kit and
Butch's medicines, so he'sprotected from ticks and the
like and 99% of people are niceand overall I've had some great
(17:37):
encounters with people.
Even though there have beensome bad experiences and moments
, as a solo female traveler,it's a safe world to travel in.
In general.
She said the power of a dogchanges a person's outlook
towards them and with that story, after sharing it with you,
I've got to go hug my own dog,cooper.
(18:00):
I'll be back again Friday withanother episode of A World Gone
Mad.
I'm your host, jeff Allen Wolfe.
I've said it over and overagain in previous episodes Say
hello, email me, text me, phoneme.
Love to hear from you.
Until then, I'm sitting in aroom talking to myself.
Stay hopeful.
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