DOGE’s Ties to the Military-Industrial Complex

DOGE’s Ties to the Military-Industrial Complex

Defense contractors: General Atomics, General Dynamics, Honeywell

n.b.: Phil Cox, was formerly with Americans For Prosperity and the Republican Governors Association. Both are affiliated with the Atlas Network through the Koch brothers.

Related:

Palantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contracts

Consortium likely to include Elon Musk’s SpaceX in move to grab a bigger slice of $850bn US defence budget

India is losing Bangladesh to China and Pakistan, and it could get worse

India is losing Bangladesh to China and Pakistan, and it could get worse

Source: St. Martin’s Island: A new flashpoint in the Bay of Bengal?Observer Research Foundation

by Derek J GrossmanRAND

Beijing has further sought to develop numerous Bangladeshi ports, including Chittagong, Mongla, and Sonadia ports, to achieve a maritime presence in the Bay of Bengal. Enhanced access to any or all of these ports could substantially add to Beijing’s “string of pearls” strategy to hem in India in the Indian Ocean.

Read More »

Isolationist Trump threatens to retake Panama Canal

President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Saturday that the U.S. would reassume control of the Panama Canal if it felt that Panama wasn’t honoring the terms of a 1977 treaty regarding the waterway’s legal status.

Trump threatens to retake Panama Canal

Related:

[2023] Trump Organization Found Guilty in Tax Fraud Scheme

[2019] Trump Companies Accused of Tax Evasion in Panama

[2011] Panama to Trump: You’re fired!

[2010] Donald Trump Goes on an Adventure in Panama (initially financed by Bear Sterns)

“Operation Just Cause”:

Panama Ransacked in 1989

George H.W. Bush’s 1989 Invasion of Panama Set the Stage for U.S. Wars to Come

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 »

Declaration Berlin

Declaration Berlin (translated)

Posted by @nsanzo

“European leaders are scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday afternoon in Brussels to discuss peace plans and the possible deployment of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine,” Politico announced on Friday, confirming what was already known: NATO is leading the effort to coordinate what may happen in the coming months in the war in Ukraine, which on the ground will depend on European countries. “In addition to Rutte and Zelensky, invited participants include: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda, European Council President António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,” the outlet added, to show who the main actors are in preparing for the possibility of a significant reduction in the United States’ role in the day-to-day running of the war.

Read More »