As global attention focuses on China and Japan, Tokyo and Manila are quietly deepening their economic and “defense” ties.
Tag: Emergency management
The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think

While J.D. Vance has his own controversies, his close connection to billionaire Peter Thiel, who is poised to have unprecedented influence in a new Trump administration, should deeply unsettle every American who cares about freedom, privacy and reining in the surveillance state.
H/T: The Most Revolutionary Act
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Tammy Duckworth will object to Rick Scott’s disaster relief bill + More
Joe Biden’s Aid to Hawaii vs Ukraine Aid Compared: What We Know
The Biden administration has been criticized in recent days over the support offered to survivors of the deadly wildfires in Maui, compared to the billions in U.S. aid sent to Ukraine.
Joe Biden’s Aid to Hawaii vs Ukraine Aid Compared: What We Know
To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved nearly $7 million in assistance to nearly 2,200 households, including nearly $3 million in initial rental assistance.
White House Calls for $40 Billion Supplemental
If enacted, the supplemental would provide $24.0 billion of additional aid to Ukraine – on top of the $113 billion the United States provided in 2022 alone. This includes $13.1 billion of military aid and replenishment of Pentagon weapons stocks, $8.7 billion of economic and humanitarian aid, and $2.3 billion to leverage additional aid from other donors through the World Bank.
That’s approximately $137 billion to Ukraine, $10 million, or so, for Hawaii (in soft loans and rental assistance)!
Maui emergency chief resigns, Hawaii AG to use third-party investigator, Gov. Green pledges to ban ‘predatory’ land grabs + South Korea and Japan pledge $2 million assistance to Hawaii
FEMA Money For Maui Disaster Relief May Get Caught Up In A Partisan Fight Over Ukraine
FEMA Money For Maui Disaster Relief May Get Caught Up In A Partisan Fight Over Ukraine
But the effort to get a speedy appropriation has foundered after the Biden administration sought $12 billion in emergency funding that would extend disaster relief programs while simultaneously requesting some $24.1 billion in military spending for Ukraine in the same package.
That means that funding Hawaii’s needs for Maui’s recovery has been tied to funding to back Ukraine’s military, an increasingly unpopular topic in some Republican circles. When the House passed its fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill early this summer, a contingent of several dozen House Republicans sought to prohibit additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
Related:
Biden Asks Congress for Additional $24 Billion to Spend on Ukraine War
Biden Asks Congress for Additional $24 Billion to Spend on Ukraine War
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Congress has authorized $113 billion in spending on the war. If the new package is approved, the total will reach about $137 billion.
Illegal US Sanctions Blocked UN Earthquake Rescue System in Syria
A life-saving United Nations mapping system to coordinate rescue efforts was blocked in Syria by US sanctions following a devastating earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey on February 6, Middle East Eye reported on Wednesday.
US Sanctions Blocked UN Earthquake Rescue System in Syria
On The E-Girl Army Psyop Phenomenon
Video: On The E-Girl Army Psyop Phenomenon via Justin Taylor
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Weaponizing e-girls: How the US military uses YouTube and TikTok to improve its image
How E-girl influencers are trying to get Gen Z into the military
But Haylujan isn’t the only E-girl using Sanrio sex appeal to lure the internet’s SIMPs into the armed forces. There’s Bailey Crespo and Kayla Salinas, not to mention countless #miltok gunfluencers cropping up online. While she didn’t document her military career, influencer Bella Poarch also served in the US Navy for four years before going viral on TikTok in 2020, and is arguably the blueprint for this kind of kawaii commodified fetishism in the military. An adjacent figure, Natalia Fadeev, also known as Gun Waifu, is an Israeli influencer and IDF soldier who uses waifu aesthetics and catgirl cosplay to pedal pro-Israel propaganda to her 756k followers. She poses to camera, ahegao-style, with freshly manicured nails wrapped neatly around a glock, the uWu-ification of military functioning as a cutesy distraction from the shadowy colonial context: “when they try and destroy your nation,” she writes in one caption.
House Overwhelmingly Approves Resolution to Maintain Syria Sanctions After Earthquake
Only Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) voted against the resolution
House Overwhelmingly Approves Resolution to Maintain Syria Sanctions After Earthquake
Video via Syriana Analysis
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