Brian Berletic, June 11, 2025
While many believe that under the Trump administration the controversial National Endowment for Democracy (NED*) was defunded, dismantled, or otherwise dissolved, the reality is far less dramatic and far more dangerous.
US President Trump Streamlined the National Endowment for Democracy*, not Dismantle it (archived)
Tag: Big Corporations
The Shadow Funders: How USAID, Soros, and Corporate-Backed NGOs Shape Global Narratives
The Shadow Funders
How USAID, Soros, and Corporate-Backed NGOs Shape Global Narratives
by Tina Antonis
Read More »USAID to be merged into State Department, 3 U.S. officials say
USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, will be merged into the State Department with significant cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian aid entity, three U.S. officials told CBS News.
USAID to be merged into State Department, 3 U.S. officials say
When Rubio says national interests, he means the interests of big corporations.
Related:
Read More »Michael Parenti: Against Psychopolitics
Many great public issues as well as many private troubles are described in terms of the “psychiatric” — often, it seems, in a pathetic attempt to avoid the large issues and problems of modern society.
— C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination
Nonprofit group Patriotic Millionaires says Trump’s tax plans would hurt Wisconsin
Madison tech and media entrepreneur Sage Weil, a member of the group, says the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did nothing to help the economy.
Nonprofit group Patriotic Millionaires says Trump’s tax plans would hurt Wisconsin
How can people support Luigi Mangione but vote in droves to deny health care to others?
How can people support Luigi Mangione but vote in droves to deny health care to others?
Last week was a bizarre time to be queer on social media: Many cishet people voiced enthusiastic support for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arguing that the health insurer’s denial of claims led to so many deaths that the murder was justified as retaliation. Meanwhile, Congress was passing a bill that would require an insurer (Tricare) to deny claims, and it was hard to get anyone to even pay attention to that.
Read More »
The marriage of RAND and SeaLight
A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism: Monism And Dualism
Slowly, but surely, I’m going through both of the following RAND publications. I just recently noticed that “Understanding and Countering China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations” was posted over at SeaLight on the 12th of December. Ray Powell, from SeaLight, is quoted at least 14 times in the first publication. So far, I’ve seen RAND “recommend” the same tactics as they’ve deployed in the Philippines; civilian society organizations, embedded journalism, information warfare, influencers, and online trolls.
I’ve always known that they would try to expand their information operation to the other countries that are in ASEAN, just by following the SeaLight podcast. If not their information operation, regime change and terrorism (in Balochistan and Myanmar). I’ve also noticed that Powell has been referring to the Philippines’ “transparency initiative” as “non-violent resistance,” lately (RAND refers to it as “assertive transparency”). Ironic, considering that they’ve already succeeded in overthrowing the government of Bangladesh and are now attempting it in Cambodia, India and Pakistan. For those who don’t know about the regime change asset Gene Sharp and his neoliberal “nonviolence,” see the links on this page. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time to dedicate to this right now due to other obligations.
Understanding and Countering China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations | RAND
RAND and SeaLight document (work in progress)
Part 3a: RAND and SeaLight – Taiwan Relations Act
RAND and SeaLight Part 3b: Four Ways China Is Growing Its Media Influence in Southeast Asia
Trump 2.0: Prepare for the further dumbing down of America
No, it’s not Communism! It’s the privatization of education. “School choice” takes away from government spending for public schools!
Trump Chooses Longtime Ally Linda McMahon to Run Education Dept.
Read More »President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday tapped Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive who ran the Small Business Administration for much of his first term, to lead the Education Department, an agency he has routinely singled out for elimination in his upcoming term.
…
In part because of her recent policy role and her experience as the small business administrator, Ms. McMahon had been discussed as a possible pick to lead the Commerce Department until the role was officially offered to Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street executive and a chairman of the Trump transition team, earlier in the day.
Ms. McMahon will be in charge of overseeing what is widely expected to be a thorough and determined dismantling of the department’s core functions, as Mr. Trump and many of those in his orbit have questioned the agency’s purpose and disparaged its work as overregulating schools on political and ideological terms.
Other than a brief appointment in 2009 to the Connecticut State Board of Education, where she served for just over a year, Ms. McMahon has no experience in overseeing education policy. She would assume the role at a time when school districts across the country are facing budget shortfalls, many students are not making up ground lost during the pandemic in reading and math, and many colleges and universities are shrinking and closing amid a larger loss of faith in the value of higher education.
While Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for an outright dissolution of the agency, any effort to shutter it would require congressional action and support from some Republican lawmakers whose districts depend on federal aid for public education.
But the America First Policy Institute has set out a more immediate list of changes it says could be achieved through vastly changing the department’s priorities. Those include stopping schools from “promoting inaccurate and unpatriotic concepts” about American history surrounding institutionalized racism, and expanding “school choice” programs that direct more public funds to parents to spend on home-schooling, online classes or at private and religious schools.
Argentina bond market plunder explained
Argentina bond market plunder explained
4) Globalist puppet Milei slashes government spending and privatizes a whole lot of sectors. This is the neoliberal “shock therapy.”
…
Meanwhile, 54% of Argentinians are in poverty, consumer prices have tripled over the last year, the economy is in recession, and industrial production has been dwindling consistently.
Exactly as I predicted back in October 2023:
The vultures are ready to “make the economy scream” if Javier Milei wins!*
Brazil’s role in BRICS: “Forewarned is forearmed”
Lula’s ‘veto’ against Venezuela’s entry to BRICS is a continuation of his general policy.
Brazil’s Performance in BRICS: “An Announced War Doesn’t Kill Soldiers”
Google translates the original title “La actuación de Brasil en Brics: ‘Guerra avisada no mata soldados’” as “Brazil’s role in BRICS: ‘Forewarned is forearmed.’” “Forewarned is forearmed” is a proverb meaning that one gains a tactical advantage if they are aware of potential threats or issues beforehand.
Previously:
Venezuela Rejects Brazilian Government Interference [Amorim has served US imperialism for decades]
Brazil’s Lula toes the Western line and opposes Venezuela’s and Nicaragua’s membership in BRICS
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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