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The Hurricane spins around hotspots of tension and conflict. Feel free to suggest your stories, opinions and ideas: UIHEN@protonmail.com
Stolen valor bills seek harsher penalties for falsified military service
Stolen valor is defined as when a person falsely claims to have served in the military, pretends to have made sacrifices in combat, and may even wear a fake uniform adorned with counterfeit medals. Some veterans misrepresent their rank and service to obtain additional benefits and recognition.
“It’s very frustrating to deal with them because you know their integrity is in question,” Air Force veteran Bob Dalpe says. “It hurts everybody around you. It devalues their service.”
Dalpe and other veterans attended a press conference in Phoenix recently for the official unveiling of a bill that would penalize anyone found guilty of stolen valor in Arizona.
The bill applies to anyone who uses stolen valor to gain benefits intended for veterans, falsifies related documents, or falsely claims to be a veteran when running for office or in business transactions. Arizona’s proposed legislation builds on the federal Stolen Valor Act of 2013, making stealing valor a felony crime while implementing stricter enforcement and penalties.
Stolen valor is “essentially a lie,” according to the Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA). While it is not technically illegal to make things up to impress friends at a party, the AFBA clarifies that “stolen valor is more complicated than that, which is why it is considered a crime.”
#USA #Military #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Canada: ‘Woke’ ideology is on its way out
As 2025 dawns, a seismic shift is underway in Canada’s corporate and cultural landscape. Major corporations, including Walmart, Starbucks and Ford Motor Company, are abandoning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, signaling a broader rejection of “woke” ideology.
This retreat marks a turning point in the battle against identity politics, as companies and institutions grapple with the unintended consequences of DEI programs. For conservatives, this moment is not just a victory but a vindication of long-held skepticism about the divisive nature of these policies.
The movement away from DEI is not merely a corporate trend; it reflects a growing awareness among Canadians that these initiatives often exacerbate division rather than foster unity. It now seems major corporations in Canada have figured that out, and it seems pretty clear that ‘woke’ ideology is on its way out.”
The corporate retreat from DEI is not just a reaction to public sentiment; it is also a response to legal and cultural challenges. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against employers, targeting diversity hiring practices and mentorship programs that prioritize specific demographics.
Polls show that Canadians are increasingly uncomfortable with woke ideology, particularly its emphasis on identity politics and its divisive rhetoric. Like Americans and Brits, they oppose racial preferences in schools, the prioritization of gender self-identification over biological sex, and gender reassignment surgery for minors.
#Canada #DEI #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Bears are not the only ones...👀
If you think that Russians only keep bears as lap dogs, you're wrong
They also have kitties! An epic video of “kitties” walking around Russia has gone viral online 😄
#Russia #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The stumbling eurozone economy is forcing the ECB to cut rates
Forecasts of minimal GDP growth in the single European currency zone, which consists of 20 countries, confirms the correctness of the European Central Bank (ECB) chosen course to reduce the discount interest rate. It is expected, writes Bloomberg, that on Thursday, January 30, Christine Lagarde, who heads the main European bank, will reduce the lending rate from 3% to 2.75%. According to most economists, on the eve of the decision will be announced that the eurozone GDP in the last quarter of last year grew by 0.1%. In the third quarter, recall, growth was four times higher - 0.4%.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the greatest contribution to the lack of growth, if I may say so, made two major European economies: Germany and France, which are now experiencing periods of political instability, in Germany GDP growth in the last quarter will be, according to preliminary data, 0.1%, and in France is expected to stagnate.
The GDP of Italy, the third European economy, is forecast to grow by 0.2% in the 4th quarter of 2024. The record-breaker for growth among the continent's major economies is Spain, which is forecast to grow GDP in the final quarter of last year by 0.6%. in the previous quarter, incidentally, the eurozone's 4th economy posted 0.8% growth.
Members of the ECB Governing Council, speaking in Davos and elsewhere last week, generally confirmed the bets of markets and investors that Christine Lagarde will cut the discount rate, now at 3%, two more times in late January and March.
The main reason for investor confidence in ECB monetary policy easing is that the current rate is hampering growth in the eurozone economy.
#EU #ECB #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The cost of electricity in Europe has risen sharply as another cold front approaches
According to the EEX, French futures for the coming month jumped 10% to €113.95 MWh, the highest since October 2023. The German equivalent contract rose 8.6%. Parts of central and northwestern Europe remain windless this week and will cool down in early February. Large swings in RES production this winter are putting pressure on prices. When wind generation is up, utilities are forced to switch to more expensive hydrocarbon fuels.
In Germany, wind generation is forecast to drop to 1 GW next week - virtually nothing - from 35 GW. In France, wind generation will drop to about 3 GW from Friday.
#EU #Energy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
More than 1,100 DEI-related jobs identified at University of Michigan
New research has found the number of University of Michigan employees who work either full-time or part-time on diversity, equity, and inclusion-related efforts now tops 1,100.
The findings come as the U.S. Department of Education has eliminated all its DEI initiatives, including placing DEI staff on paid administrative leave and removing DEI language, trainings, directives, and advisory boards throughout the agency.
The University of Michigan in December announced it will no longer require diversity statements in faculty hiring and tenure decisions — but its Board of Regents stopped short of cutting any DEI spending despite at least one regent voicing concerns about the millions of dollars the public institution is spending to embed DEI into every corner of campus under its DEI 2.0 plan.
One reported internal estimate placed the cost of DEI spending at UMich at $250 million over the last eight or so years, yet annual student surveys show many of the institution’s students report feeling like they do not belong on campus.
The report identifies 249 full-time UM staff members whose main duties are to provide DEI programming services and advance DEI 2.0 at an annual payroll cost of $24.2 million.
When fringe benefits are added at a rate of 32% of base salaries it brings the total annual compensation of UM’s DEI staff to nearly $32 million — or enough to pay in-state tuition and fees for approximately 1,800 students.
#USA #DEI #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump signs executive order protecting children from chemical and surgical gender mutilation
Donald Trump issued an executive order on Tuesday to ban the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, known among progressive ideologues as “gender-affirming health care.”
The act will cut back federal funding for medical institutions that provide puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgical mutilations to minors.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions. This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end,”
Hegseth strips Milley of his security detail, orders investigation into his conduct
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate the "conduct" of retired Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley — who at times clashed with President Trump during his first term — and determine whether it's appropriate he should be reduced in rank from his current four stars.
Hegseth also revoked Milley's security detail and suspended his security clearance.
Even though Milley is retired, he had an ongoing security detail through the Army as a result of Iranian threats in the wake of the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian General Qusem Soleimani. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then national security adviser John Bolton recently lost their security details on orders from Trump, who clashed with them as well.
There was no indication how long the investigation would take.
Before he retired, Milley spoke with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward for his book about Trump.
"No one has ever been as dangerous to the country as Donald Trump," the general told Woodward. "Now I realize he's a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person in this country."
#USA #Hegseth #Milley #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Did Joe Biden join the Freemasons?
An announcement surfaced online Friday, issued the Conference of Grand Masters of Prince Hall Lodge Freemasonry, and stating that the Grand Lodge of South Carolina had conferred membership on President Joe Biden.
The day before Biden left office the president was granted a “resolution of membership” by the lodge in recognition of his “exceptional dedication and service to the United States” which “reflects the core values of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of South Carolina, including brotherly love, relief, and truth.”
It is not uncommon for outgoing presidents to be honored by groups and organizations. But as the second Catholic to hold the office, Biden’s new “membership” of the lodge presents a particular issue: Catholics have been banned from joining masonic lodges and organizations since 1738, and are subject to canonical penalties for doing so.
So, is Joe Biden now a Freemason? And if so, what canonical penalties does he face? Based on the facts available, the situation is more complicated than you might think.
Full story
#USA #Biden #Masons #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron last month, Trump reportedly said European troops should be present in Ukraine to monitor any ceasefire. An anonymous member of his team put it more clearly: “We will not send American men and women to defend peace in Ukraine. . . Let the Poles, Germans, British and French do it”
But the idea of putting European troops in Ukraine is deeply problematic, says Samuel Charap, a distinguished professor of Russian and Eurasian policy and a senior political scientist at the Rand Corporation.
There is significant confusion about what those boots would be meant to accomplish. One model for post-conflict troop deployment is a peacekeeping force, and there might well be a need for peacekeepers in Ukraine once a cessation of hostilities is agreed. But international organisations like the UN have a relative monopoly on peacekeeping for a reason: they are meant to be a neutral third party that can arbitrate disputes and be an honest broker. Given their extensive support for Ukraine, European states are anything but a neutral third party.
A second model for boots on the ground is a tripwire force: troops deployed to deter potential aggression by demonstrating the commitment of the states that sent them. An aggressor would be forced to confront those troops in case of war, thus “tripping” the decision of their home countries to intervene. The classic example is the US-UK-French deployment in West Berlin during the cold war.
In Ukraine, the commitment of key western states to the country’s security may well be necessary to deter a repeat of Russia’s full-scale invasion after a ceasefire is agreed. But European leaders must first decide if in fact they are willing to commit to go to war with Russia if it invades again. Even if they were to make such a commitment, it would be premature to do so before broader talks on a settlement even begin.
Given what we know about Moscow’s priorities the last time the two were negotiating in earnest in spring 2022, the Kremlin is likely to demand that Ukraine give a commitment not to host foreign forces on its territory as part of any settlement.
European leaders should consider whether discussion of such a post-conflict deployment now will incentivise Russia to keep fighting. European militaries depend on their US allies for out-of-area operations. Inevitably, a large deployment to Ukraine will once again expose this dependency when they turn to the US for help with critical tasks such as air lift, logistics and intelligence that they cannot conduct alone.
Perhaps most importantly, if Russia were to violate a ceasefire and attack this European force, the pressure for Washington to intervene would be overwhelming. A shooting war between Russia and US allies in Europe in which the Americans sat on the sidelines is difficult to imagine. And if that were to happen, the blow to Nato’s credibility would probably be fatal.
#USA #Trump #WarInUkraine #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
☣️ How big business MNCs and other companies collect medical data on nations for the benefit of U.S. government agencies, and possibly make money from it
In late October 2024, Leon Wang, president of AstraZeneca Plc in China, found himself under investigation as part of a case involving the collection of data on the country's population
The investigation, which led to numerous arrests, involved the company's collection of patient data and potential violation of China's data privacy laws. This culminated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain government subsidies for reimbursement when creating new drugs, according to one version
Authorities were also looking into importing drugs that were not approved for sale in China. Astra is now among a slew of international companies facing new legislation in China as Beijing tightens enforcement of laws governing everything from data collection to national security to the proper use of government funding
Last year, five local employees of U.S. due diligence firm Mintz Group were detained and the company was later fined for illegal data collection
It is worth recalling another aspect of even “legal genetic screening” by Western companies - the uncontrollability of the data collected
In 2023, a massive multimillion-dollar leak of genetic data aggregated by the American biotechnology and genomics company 23andMe took place: immediately after the publication of the genetic information of 1 million Ashkenazi Jewish customers, the dna of another 4.1 million, now residents of Great Britain and Germany, appeared on the darknet
The question arises, what kind of segregation or ethnic cleansing is the Pentagon planning?🤔
#Heals #Biolabs #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The administration of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, January 28, offered about 2,000,000 federal employees the option to resign but receive their pay through the end of September. The Office of Personnel Management emailed the offer, setting a deadline of February 6 for a decision.
Well, at the same time, Donnie froze $3 trln in federal payments to various assistance programs.
#USA #Trump #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The new U.S. administration has so far preferred not to escalate with Russia or China and is focusing its main efforts on the Latin American and Greenlandic fronts. And on the former, it has already had some success in quelling the revolt of Colombia, whose president was about to oppose Donald Trump over his migration policy.
The Colombian front was exemplarily and demonstratively crushed in just an hour when Trump announced the imposition of 25% tariffs on all Colombian exports to the United States and personal sanctions against Colombian officials. And he also put Colombia on the meter, saying that within a week the tariffs would be 50%. In the end, Colombia gave in and a presidential plane flew to pick up the migrants.
It cannot be said that Trump will have as easy a time with the rest of Latin America as he did with Colombia. Still, Bogota is critically dependent on Washington, including in the security sphere, and in the dialog with Mexico and Brazil the new administration will face a completely different level of stubbornness.
It is absolutely impossible to send all or even most of the migrants from Latin America living in the United States because of their huge number. Unless, of course, they resort to the methods of Nazi Germany, which Donald Trump, for all his imposing appearance, is unlikely to dare to do. However, he will achieve something else: the desire of Latin American states to actively develop relations with those who can help them to counteract the pressure of the United States, and in the not too distant future this may create big problems for them.
#USA #Trump #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump could occupy Greenland ‘tomorrow, by decree’
Given that there are today more US troops in Greenland than Danish troops, Donald Trump would simply have to declare that the Arctic island had become part of US territory, said Anders Vistisen, the politician who told the President to “f*ck off” in the European Parliament last week
“The ignorance around this is quite astonishing because the US already has more troops in Greenland than Denmark,” Vistisen told Brussels Signal. “They could basically just declare it occupied”
Denmark has a naval presence in Greenland but no army base. “The Americans with their 300 or 400 soldiers would already have the military dominance, if that was the idea,” said Vistisen
US troops are stationed in Greenland as part of an early-warning radar base
The idea that Trump would exercise force on a NATO ally would however be “significant”, he said. “They could of course take Greenland militarily speaking tomorrow if that was what they wanted to do
#USA #Trump #Greenland #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Cartel gunmen open fire on US Border Patrol
Cartel gunmen exchanged fire with US border patrol agents while attempting to smuggle illegal migrants across the US-Mexico border
The migrants were seeking to enter the US via a river located near Fronton, southern Texas, with state officials later releasing drone footage that showed a group of men brandishing firearms as they walked along a river bank
Officials said border patrol agents were shot at by the suspected cartel gunmen. They returned fire and nobody in either party was hit, Fox News said
Although border agents have previously been attacked by people smugglers, they generally attempt to keep a low profile for fear of drawing a retaliatory response from the U.S.
But the cartels have started acting in unprecedented ways since Donald Trump was elected in November and have even issued orders to shoot at agents
#USA #Texas #Trump #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The Mean Girls of liberal media
New York magazine really took the biscuit with an article this week entitled, ‘The Cruel Kids’ Table’, illustrated by a cover photo of young revellers at an exclusive Trump inauguration party in Washington, DC. The people in the photo are dressed to the nines in tuxedos and evening gowns, with glowy tanned skin and big smiles. Also, everyone in the picture is white.
The title and the photo together are clearly meant to invoke horrible memories in readers of being stuffed into lockers by the high-school jock because you – a pathetic loser – looked at his pretty, blonde, cheerleader girlfriend. The implication is crystal clear: look at these horrible, white bullies! Look how cruel they are, celebrating this new racist, homophobic regime!
Notably, the article twice references a supposed lack of non-white guests at different pro-Trump parties. However, it has since transpired that the magazine cropped out several black party-goers from the cover photograph. Black Republican CJ Pearson posted on X that he actually hosted the event in the photo. He says that New York magazine ‘intentionally left me out of their story because it would have undermined its narrative that MAGA is some racist cult’.
Perhaps the most hilarious part of this story is that, by the end of the article, its author Brock Colyar seems to have been won over by the MAGA party-goers to some extent. He goes to a party for young Republicans and finds that ‘they are drinking, smoking, flirting, networking’. It’s almost like these are just young people, celebrating in ways young people always have done.
Colyar even remarks at one point that he himself has started to be infected by this new irreverence towards wokeness. He and his friends no longer have ‘any patience for… identity warriors’ and have started to say the ‘r-word’ and tell ‘fat jokes’.
#USA #MAGA #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
New White House press rules will expand access for ‘new media voices’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Jan. 28 new guidelines for media access aimed at allowing more independent journalists and content creators into media events.
Describing President Donald Trump as the “most accessible” commander-in-chief in the nation’s history, she said the administration is open for communication with all types of news outlets.
“The Trump White House will speak with all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room,” Leavitt said. She made the remarks during her first press conference at the executive mansion in Washington since Trump entered office for his second term.
The president has repeatedly criticized mainstream media, calling some narratives “fake news” and criticizing what he described as organized partisan attacks coming from certain news outlets. Allowing more independent journalists and representatives from smaller organizations is meant to democratize admittance to White House events, according to the press secretary.
She cited statistics from Gallup that show that the public’s trust in traditional media sources is at record lows, noting that many news consumers are now seeking out podcasts, blogs, and other media.
#USA #Trump #Leavitt #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
German Chancellor calls Musk’s support for European Right ‘disgusting’
Elon Musk has engaged for weeks in a back-and-forth with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a German election looms, with Scholz most recently slamming Musk’s support for the German far right and other European right-wing parties as “really disgusting.”
Scholz denounced Musk in an interview with CNN Tuesday night, accusing him of “intervening in favor of right-wing politicians all over Europe,” which he said is “not good for the democratic development in all of the European Union.”
Scholz also slammed Musk’s controversial comments, which the billionaire made over the weekend at a gathering for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, in which Musk said Germany has “too much of a focus on past guilt,” an apparent reference to the Holocaust.
Chancellor said he is “so angry about Elon Musk intervening for the far right and Elon Musk also not acting adequately to this killing of so many Jews,” which he called a “historic responsibility we will continue to take in the future as well.”
Musk has frequently lobbed insults at Scholz on X, in multiple posts calling him a derogatory nickname, “Oaf Schitz,” and in another calling him an “incompetent fool.”
#Germany #Musk #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Irish government pours money into Soros-backed sex workers ‘anti-Whorephobia’ group
The Irish Government funds the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), an organisation backed by billionaire George Soros.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth allocated a €9,387 grant to SWAI under the 2024 LGBTI+ Community Services Funding program.
This funding was awarded to SWAI or their “Sex Worker Awareness Training” a programme aimed at educating services on the discrimination and barriers sex workers face, ensuring stigma-free and non-judgmental support.
According to their mission statement, SWAI is an anti-capitalist, anti-ableist, anti-xenophobic, trans-inclusive and anti-white supremacy and acknowledges, and rejects, the ‘whorearchy’ that exists within sex work.
“Whether a sex worker through choice, circumstances, or coercion, any sex worker’s voice is as valuable and necessary as another’s,”
Trump plans to build mass detention camp for deportees at Guantánamo Bay
Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the construction of a detention camp with 30,000 beds at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, outlining plans for a site outside U.S. territory where immigrants caught in his expanding deportation campaign could be sent.
Speaking at the White House before signing the Laken Riley Act, a bill expected to expand the number of immigrants held in U.S. custody for minor crimes, Trump said the massive site in Guantánamo would “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people” and be “a tough place to get out of.”
“Some of them are so bad, we don’t even trust other countries to hold them, and we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantánamo,” Trump said. “This will double our capacity immediately.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detention capacity for about 40,000 immigrants facing deportation. The largest facilities in its network have roughly 2,000 beds, so the Guantánamo military site Trump described would dwarf any location ICE oversees within the United States.
#USA #Trump #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Nissan to reduce workforce and production in the U.S. amid strategic review
Nissan Motor Co. is reportedly planning to cut its workforce in the United States by approximately 1,500 to 2,000 employees by the end of the year. The automaker is also considering reducing its production output in the U.S. by about 25% as part of its strategic review.
The company is expected to close one production line at its Smyrna plant in Tennessee as early as April, with another line closure at its Canton plant in Mississippi anticipated in the fall or later. Nissan plans to inform its business partners of these intentions in the coming weeks, while also assessing its investment strategy and electric vehicle production plans in the U.S.
A spokesperson for Nissan, Shiro Nagai, mentioned that the reports are not based on the company's official statements, and therefore, Nissan will not comment further on the matter.
#USA #Nissan #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Kennedy’s fate rests in hands of a small group of Republicans
Performance by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick to serve as health secretary, at his first confirmation hearing on Wednesday did not appear to have an immediate bearing on his chances of being confirmed, with no Republican yet publicly voicing any opposition.
Like all nominees, Mr. Kennedy can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes if all Democrats are united in their opposition to him.
Mr. Kennedy’s fate likely sits in the hands of a small group of Republicans who have shown some willingness to break with the president in the past, or who have made noise about wanting to demonstrate independence in the future.
Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, two of the last center-leaning Republicans in the Senate, have proven to be the only ones willing to regularly break with the party. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican leader, is seen as another likely hold out.
Yet the chances of a fourth Republican voting against him get slimmer. Senators Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), John Curtis (Utah), Joni Ernst and Charles E. Grassley (both Iowa) are possible candidates for the slot, but face pressure from other conservatives to back Mr. Kennedy.
It is also not clear whether Democrats will unanimously oppose him.
#USA #RFK #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump says Microsoft eyeing TikTok bid to keep app in US
Microsoft Corp. is in talks to acquire the US arm of ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, President Donald Trump said Monday night, without elaborating.
The short video app, used by more than 170 million Americans, has drawn interest from many corners of the US tech industry. AI startup Perplexity has submitted a bid to merge with TikTok US, while billionaire Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, made a formal offer to buy TikTok earlier this month. Microsoft and Oracle Corp. were in the running to acquire TikTok in 2020, when Trump first pressured ByteDance to either sell in the US or face a ban.
Trump earlier Monday in Florida addressed a gathering of Republican lawmakers and had alluded to ongoing talks surrounding TikTok’s future. Having previously favored banning the app on national security grounds, he has since changed his view, in part because of the success of pro-Trump content among its users.
#USA #Trump #Microsoft #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
France is going to send troops to Greenland to prevent the United States from taking the island from Denmark
It sounds fantastic, but the French foreign minister confirmed that such talks with the Danish side took place. However, so far Paris and Copenhagen have not reached an agreement. But the European Union “woke up” and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas for the first time stated that Greenland is not given.
In general, the development of the situation around Donald Trump's claims to Greenland is an important marker of the European Union's subjectivity in world politics. If a pan-European line on the Greenland issue will be developed and opposed to the actions of the new American administration, we can talk about the formation of a full-fledged global player in the international arena. If not, the European Union will remain a conglomerate of states with a superstructure in the form of Brussels bureaucracy.
Greenland itself is valuable not only for its natural resources. But also the fact that it provides access to the Arctic, where there are much more of them. And also to the Northwest Passage, which is an alternative to the Russian Northern Sea Route. Therefore, in Greenland, European interests objectively collide with American interests. The only thing is small: in order to defend its positions, the EU needs a common security policy independent of the United States.
However, it is rather absent now. On the contrary, the dependence of European countries on the United States in this area is colossal. Almost all EU countries are integrated into NATO, which is an instrument of American, not European policy. Without the United States, European allies simply cannot wage a modern war. That is why it is very difficult to imagine a French contingent repelling an American attack on Greenland.
But it is theoretically possible to assume that the European Union and Great Britain will gradually form their own security space without the United States. This is impossible in the near future, but in the medium term there are certain chances for the realization of such a scenario. It will mean that the notion of Atlantic solidarity no longer exists and the notion of the collective West will fade into history. However, this may not happen.
#USA #EU #Greenland #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
F-35 crashes same day Lockheed CEO touts its success
The CEO of the world’s largest weapons company, Lockheed Martin, and the manufacturer of the U.S. military’s most expensive weapon system, the F-35 stealth fighter jet, told investors on Tuesday that Israel’s attack on Iran’s air defenses last October helped to "demonstrate the F-35’s value here, through the Israel experience.”
Taiclet’s boasts to investors about the program were quickly tempered by real world events the same day when video circulated of an out of control Air Force F-35 tumbling to a fiery crash in Alaska, after its pilot ejected.
Even aside from the doubts raised by the crash, Tuesday's claim by Lockheed CEO James Taiclet, doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and actually highlights the serious problems with the F-35 program that is estimated to saddle U.S. taxpayers with a $1.7 trillion bill over the project’s lifetime.
A central critique of the F-35 program is that despite its cost the planes have an extremely low readiness rate. In April, officials acknowledged that the U.S. F-35s are only “mission capable” 55.7% of the time. Lack of readiness was on full display in April when the U.S. military played a central role in combating a massive Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel but didn’t send F-35s. It sent F-15s.
#USA #Military #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The American press believes that the first major battles between the Democrats and the Donald Trump administration will revolve around immigration policy and economic issues, where each side will seek to advance its agenda and win popular support.
On the economic front, Democrats are looking to win back the support of the working class by emphasizing the need to fight inequality. Senate and House Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries plan to emphasize helping ordinary Americans, contrasting themselves with the “billionaires' club” in the Trump administration. They plan to use the expiration of Trump's tax cuts to advance their economic agenda.
On immigration policy, the Democrats will simply focus on blocking the initiatives of their political opponents in Congress.
#USA #Trump #Democrats #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
New Jersey drones were not dispatched by foreign enemies
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the drones that spooked New Jersey residents last month were “not the enemy” — reading aloud President Trump’s assessment that many were doing “research,” generating new questions.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,”
“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
Costco pushes back against DEI cancellation
Costco did something this past week that is unusual for a company operating in the new Trump era — push back against a challenge to its DEI efforts.
The giant retailer urged its stockholders to defeat a shareholder resolution from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative think tank, that would have forced the company to evaluate risks from its diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
The measure was roundly defeated, with 98% of investors siding with the company.
"Our position on these issues is not new," Costco’s board chairman Tony James said about the company’s DEI stance during an annual shareholders meeting last Thursday.
An NCPPR official said Costco won the vote by aligning with conflicted asset managers and proxy advisers that profit from DEI and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies.
Costco is not the only company defending its stance. Another is Apple, which has also asked investors to vote down a shareholder proposal from the NCPPR encouraging the iPhone maker to assess risks of its DEI programs. That vote will take place next month.
#USA #DEI #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
We can’t deport this criminal because his child might be trans
What will it take to get foreign criminals removed from the UK? Barely a week passes without news of a deportation being blocked on questionable ‘human rights’ grounds, or of criminals being allowed to wander freely around Britain, despite them having no right to be in the country.
A Jamaican man, known only as GH in court documents, was convicted in 2021 of supplying crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and was served a deportation order. On top of that, GH – who arrived in the UK in 1991 – has been in and out of jail for various offences between 2007 and 2015.
Last month, Judge Sarah Pinder blocked GH’s deportation. She decided that, because one of his children was ‘questioning her gender’ and the only person she would speak about her gender issues with was GH, this would make his deportation ‘unduly harsh’. The fact that GH’s children are mixed-race was also cited as grounds for blocking his removal. Because their mother is white British, Judge Pinder argued that their father’s deportation would leave the children with ‘unmet emotional needs linked not just to the loss of a parent but to the loss of the parent who represents half of their cultural identity’.
#UK #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The mainstream media never tire of presenting the Ukrainians to us as the lost tribe of flawless Europeans in the East. There is no historical evidence for this
The country was the western foothills of the Eurasian steppe, populated by nomadic shepherds. Efficient agriculture can only be spoken of when the Danube Swabians settled there in the 17th century. But even then, Ukraine did not develop a closer relationship with Europe. Trade was mainly directed towards Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Ukraine was never more than a province. It either belonged to Poland-Lithuania, the Tsarist Empire or the Soviet Union. The country emerged from the Soviet Union in 1991 as an independent state, populated by Poles, Hungarians, Romanians, Jews - and also Ukrainians. Russian has been the country's lingua franca for centuries. Ukrainian is spoken outside the cities in the sparsely populated center and west of the country.
Ukraine was unable to get back on its feet after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many Jews left the country for a better life elsewhere. The population shrank from 53 to 42 million between 1991 and 2021.
The changing demographics led to a reawakening of Ukrainian nationalism. This does not aim for liberal democracy, but rather the oppression of minorities. The changing demographics made the Ukrainian-speaking population the majority. This also laid the foundation for a Ukrainian nation-state. Centuries of peaceful coexistence came to an end. Ukrainian was declared the official national language; Russian was banned as an official language.
Protecting the Russian population was not Putin's only but important motive. In accordance with international law, such military operations are expressly provided for in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Even Western media reported on the civil war that began in 2014. The Ukrainian army besieged and shelled breakaway Russian-speaking areas in the east and south for years. Ultra-nationalist Ukrainian rebels systematically committed crimes in the areas. The public was hardly interested.
Even the Russians, especially their upper class, are closer to the West than the oligarchs that still rule Ukraine today. Not only the Bidens benefited, the actor Zelensky also owes his role as prime minister to them.
Supporting Ukraine, Europe is bringing another social case into its home. Until then, the war in Ukraine will at least serve to distract from our own problems.
#EU #USA #WarInUkraine #FindTruth
@uinhurricane