bn bn
US voting rights since 1965.
Israel's illegal settlements
Breaking News: 071924 ICJ, the United Nation's highest court says that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn asap.
Israel's genocidal war hello _
the 57-year occupation of Palestine and the collective punishment by Israel makes the case against Israel for genocide in Gaza. The goal of the Israeli aggression is to expel Palestinians from Palestine. [ 2023-2024 ] Israel's indiscrimate bombing is a clear violation of international law.
$3.8B US foreign aid to Israel
Israel has long been the leading recipient of US foreign aid, including military support. That aid is under scrutiny amid Israel's monthslong war to eliminate Hamas. The US has agreed via a MOU to provide Israel with $3.8 billion per year through 2028.
Pres. Biden paused the shipment of 1,800 2,000lb bombs to Israel in a bid to stop Rafah offensive.
Israel hits Rafah after Hamas accepts a truce deal. Jordan warns of a massacre in Rafah. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group has accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
U.S. sent a drone into Iraq to kill a Hezbollah general, Wed 7 Feb 2024. see Israel, Lebanon, and Iran.
Russia
global population 9B
as the global population grows to 9 billion by midcentury will there be enough food and water?
| 2022 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 1.4B | India | 1.428B |
| India | 1.3B | China | 1.425B |
| US | 331M | US | 339M |
| global human population | |||
attempts to return to the same approach would align with the popular definition of insanity.
exclusionary nationalism as racism, not loyalty.
30-round mag
in a civil society people don't shoot people. The AR-15 is a combat rifle. If u have an AR-15 with a 30-round mag then u r hunting people.
"I've hunted for 60 years and I've never had to shoot 17 deer at once."
global peace
it is urgent to rebuild a global peace movement opposed to all military alliances and the ongoing massive increases in defense budgets.
Council on Foreign Relations. anti-muslim hate is surging in America.
Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"It is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on Earth at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness in unnecessary. War is obsolete. It is a matter of converting our high technology from weaponry to livingry." Buckminster Fuller
US border patrol
it is not clear to the little girl...
U.S. military spending
policy of U.S. military spending vs public transportation, affordable housing, and universal healthcare.
U.S. armored vehicles around the world
when it comes to national security policy, the U.S. has been on a steady hypermilitarized arc for decades.
U.S. is the best military brand in the world. U.S. armored vehicles, tanks and Javelin anti-tank missiles, aircraft and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, artillery like howitzers, and tactical Switchblade drones, as well as ammunition. see US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
F-35 is an $80M fighter jet with 2 $1M JASSM cruise missiles (joint air to surface standoff missiles) this missile has a 450kg/1000lb armor piercing warhead, and 2 LRASM long range anti-ship missiles, and 2 AIM-9X air-to-air combat missiles on its wings, and a 25mm gun for enhanced air-to-ground capabilities: close-range, high-rate-of-fire weapon.
U.S. Defense budget
FY fiscal year 2024 Defense budget of $825b in total funding. FY 2025 budget request of $849b provides 4.5% raise for service members.
FY 2022 the NDAA authorized $768b in defense spending. Compare a 1 year budget vs. over a 10 year span for Biden's Build Back Better $2trillion.
Iran
Iran State oppression and civil unrest and protests. Iran security forces are targeting schoolgirls to put an end to the mass anti-regime protests.
Russia war Ukraine
total US aid to Ukraine is $120B to date, last round of aid was in Dec 2023. and the bill in Congress is for $61B to Ukraine and $14B to Israel.
UN to suspend Russia 2022
UN votes to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council. UN resolutions are non-binding, but a diplomatic victory for Ukraine as the UN General Assembly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 07 Apr 2022
UN says "bad Russia" 2022
UN General Assembly vote, 141 of 193 nations reprimand Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, demand withdrawal of forces. Resolution deplores Russia's aggression and condems Putin, increasing international isolation. 02 Mar 2022
NATO map select NATO MEMBERS in left nav or Active layers in lower right.
Michael McFaul, fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Russia. @McFaul Twitter /and article in journalofdemocracy.org
read Peter Strzok, Compromised
Afghanistan
7 Oct 2001, in retaliation to the 9/11 terror attacks in America 1300 U.S. troops were deployed to Afghanistan.
chart pgPeterson Foundation Afghanistan and Iraq war costs are estimated to be $2 trillion.
good luck trying to get translators for your next war if you cannot be trusted to keep your promises to local allies.
American conservatives assumed that military power would enable the U.S. to accomplish a radical idealogical agenda, particularly in the Middle East. neocon neoconservatism described the thinking of aggressive foreign policy through military might, and made the strident case for U.S. global military dominance, and open-ended wars. That effort to force liberal democracies on other cultures and countries proved to be a costly failure. see Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, President George W. Bush.
ISIL vs. affiliates, al-Qaeda vs. Taliban
Sunni-Shia conflict as well as the intra-Sunni conflict
ISIL was formed by defectors from al-Qaeda in 2014 in Syria who then attacked their parent organisation and its Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra. ISKP was formed primarily by defectors from the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2015, who then went on to attack the Afghan branch. In both cases, the defectors considered their former organisations not extreme enough or not committed enough to attack fellow Sunnis, who they considered deviants, or Shia Muslims.
the threat of ISKP in Afghanistan Aljazeera Aug 2021
Taliban Afghanistan
Taliban before U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: open-bed Toyota trucks, primary weapon: AK-47, that the Russians left behind.
Taliban after U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: brand-new .50 Cal turret mounted Humvee armored vehicles: high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), primary weapon: M4, that the U.S. left behind.
no gun left behind
the U.S. M4/M4A1 5.56mm carbine service rifle, is a lightweight, gas-operated, direct impingement, shoulder fired weapon and a 30 Rd mag capacity. The short barrel, 14.5 inch barrel length with built-in accessory rail, and telescoping stock, provides soldiers operating in close quarters with improved handling and the capability to rapidly and accurately engage targets at extended range, day or night. The M4 has a maximum range of 600 m, rate of fire of 700-950 rpm, muzzle velocity of 2,900 fps. The trigger unit of the M4A1 is modified to fire full-auto instead of the 3-round burst in the M4.
U.S.
virtual border wall
autonomous surveillance towers the Intercept
democracy
Republicans?! the platform of the GOP seems to be against a multiracial democracy.
Noam Chomsky chomsky.info