Big fish…in Mudland

Well, well…well!! The fastest growing economy in the world keeps drawing in some Big Fishes!! Even though – truth be told – this particular Big Fish jetted in because of our other attraction-of-the-moment:  our strategic location smack next to Venezuela with its 300 million barrels of crude oil sloshing around!! That – as the Yanks finally admitted – is the reason they’ve taken such an avid interest in our western neighbour. And which brought Kristi Noem – now serving as Trump’s newly appointed “Special Envoy to his “Shield of the Americas” (SOTA) initiative!!
On her Facebook page, she describes herself as a “wife, mother, grandma, farmer, rancher, and small business owner and politician”. A dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican, she’d also been Governor of her home state of South Dakota and Member of Congress from one of its Districts. But it was as Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security – in control of ICE that’s the sword-arm of Trump’s illegal immigrants’ deportation war since 2025 – that she became not only famous – but in the end, infamous!!
In her own words, she summed up her record – “We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again: we delivered the MOST secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens have left the US, we have located 145,000 children, FEMA delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate, we ushered in the golden age of travel, saved the American taxpayer $13 billion and revitalized the US Coast Guard.” Wow!!
But ironically it was exactly her fervour for her job that she was removed when she defended ICE’s fatal shooting on two individuals arbitrarily apprehended in Minneapolis. Allegedly indulging in the perks of her job also helped bring her down when she faced a Congressional hearing. But her boss Trump immediately appointed her to her new role when he had her attend the SOTA Summit in Florida on March 7, which Pres Ali attended along with 16 other hemispheric leaders!!
As US special envoy, she serves on behalf of the President, she can operate outside of the typical reach of an ambassador to address a complex, multilateral issue. Here – working “closely” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – it’s basically to coordinate the new US National Security Strategy that prioritises the Western Hemisphere in the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine!! In Guyana, the US Embassy announced that Noem met with President Irfaan Ali, senior Government and defence officials, and representatives of US energy companies operating in the country. The discussions “centred on dismantling drug cartels, disrupting firearms trafficking, discouraging illegal immigration, and strengthening regional security”.
Expect Noem to aggressively hit the ground at full speed!!

…in Christendom
If Kristi Noem has broken the barrier for women in destroying the stereotype that beautiful women are basically “dumb”, over the pond in Old Blighty, another stereotype was blown to smithereens yesterday when Dame Sarah Mullally, 63, was ceremoniously installed as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury!! Imagine that!! She’d been legally appointed in January – but she was now enthroned on St Augustine’s Chair, a marble seat from the early 13th century named after the first Archbishop who was appointed in 597 – at Canterbury Cathedral. This was the formal, symbolic start of her public ministry
Breaking new ground for the Anglican Church, she follows in the footsteps of one of her predecessors Thomas Becket, who famously fought King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church. And was martyred in 1170 following the King’s outburst, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
The ceremony was attended by Prince William, Princess Catherine, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Dare we expect ecclesiastical changes in Mudland??

…brought low
Your Eyewitness isn’t gonna make no snarky remarks about Sanction Man getting infected with dengue. Just to note that being infected isn’t the whole story. While sometimes the symptoms can be almost unnoticeable – they can also be serious.