Trump Sold-Out His Base to Shovel $95 Billion to Ukraine and Israel

America last. America last. That’s all this is. America last, every single day. – Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene

The man who is most responsible for the $95 billion giveaway to Ukraine and Israel, is the same guy who pretends to oppose America’s “wasteful” foreign wars. Donald Trump. It was Trump who consulted with Speaker Mike Johnson about the contents of the Ukraine aid package, just as it was Trump who concocted the idea of issuing loans instead of dispersing the standard welfare handout. It was also Trump who said:

Trump Sold-Out His Base to Shovel $95 Billion to Ukraine and Israel

Related:

Michael Tracey: America First, or Ukraine First?

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election + Notes

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election

But the likely victory of Prabowo — an ex-general who was kicked out from the army and subjected to a two-decade ban from the U.S. over human rights violations — raises fears of the world’s third-largest democracy sliding backward into authoritarian rule.

Related:

3 things you should know about Indonesia’s presidential elections

Continuity and its risks


Prabowo is expected to largely continue the policies of President Widodo, or “Jokowi,” as Indonesians call him. President Widodo is not up for reelection as he’s serving his final term.

Through his two five-year terms, Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s largest — has grown at about 5% a year. His infrastructure building, cash and food assistance to the poor and health and education policies have been popular.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, used in making electric vehicle batteries, and Jokowi has barred the export of raw nickel, to help Indonesia move up the value chain from mining to manufacturing.

Prabowo is Suharto’s son-in-law. He received training in the 1980s from the U.S. military at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore) and Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty).

Indonesia’s presidential election emerges as key battleground in US-China rivalry

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2023 Review: China vs US, Who is Winning in Key Tech Domains?

Source

In the List of Critical and Emerging Technologies released by ASPI, a well-known Australian think tank, China takes the lead in 53 categories of cutting-edge technologies. At the same time, the USA claims the remaining 11. Notably, according to the list, China dominates in areas like advanced materials and manufacturing, energy and environment, and advanced information and communication technologies and enjoys a sizable advantage in defense, space, robotics, transportation, and quantum technology.

2023 Review: China vs US, Who is Winning in Key Tech Domains?

In other words, China is eating our lunch! 😉

Negotiating the Tide: The Vital Role of Bilateral Talks between PH & CN in Steering Through the SCS Dispute

The statement of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro just this week, where he said that entering into bilateral negotiations over the dispute in the South China Sea (SCS) between the Philippines and China will just be playing into China’s playbook, is quite perplexing. Teodoro says bilateral talks with China on the issue over the SCS dispute will only hamper and strangle the Philippines’ rights and position. This is one of the reasons why the Philippines is seeking multilateralism.

Negotiating the Tide: The Vital Role of Bilateral Talks between PH & CN in Steering Through the SCS Dispute

FBI coerces antiwar activist into leaving the internet for months, advancing liberal fascism’s crackdown

In a development that parallels the experience of Alexander Finnegan—the communist who became a target for the FBI’s “counter-terrorism” stalking efforts due to his countering the Ukraine narrative—another individual has been revealed as a victim of such unconstitutional state intimidation. The person behind a Twitter account called “Islam, America, Liberty” was recently asked about why they had vanished from the internet for almost half a year, and this was how the exchange went…

FBI coerces antiwar activist into leaving the internet for months, advancing liberal fascism’s crackdown

Quora is infested with feds (so is 4chan, Reddit, Discord, etc).

What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America

Yves here. Having lowest of low end retailers take a flier with mobile clinics is yet another proof of the poor state of health care in the US. I would be curious to learn how countries in Europe encourage/incentivize doctors to practice out in the boonies. One can envision remedies, like scholarships for doctors who agree to practice in designated areas for at least five years, but dreaming up solutions and getting them implemented are in two different universes.

Needless to say, giving the poverty of local alternatives, some of the users of this service are fans. But your humble blogger is not comfortable with a purely profit-motivated party so remote from the health care industry providing treatments.

What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America