#fund USA Pentagon

[agentfascinateur]

Anthony Blinken is not impartial enough to be dealing with Israelis:

The Defense Department said in a statement on Friday Secretary of State Antony Blinken had "determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale" to Israel.

[alluralater]

thoughts/vent post

yesterday i was thinking about how big the united states is and how it’s crazy that if someone were to invade, we really just wouldn’t know if they were quiet and smart about it. then i started today thinking about the insane amount of cop cities being built all over this country, quietly. specifically being built in places that have been known for protesting. we are being invaded right now, quietly but surely. our government has realized that there is possibility to overthrow them and they’re putting all this shit into motion now because in 5-10 years there will be an INSANE amount of unrest, even more than we’ve seen in the 2020 black lives matter protests, even more than we’ve seen in the current palestinian genocide protests. the police presence at both of these kinds of protests have been overwhelming. though protesting is a legal right. (for non-americans-> it is legal but it isn’t actually and that’s why it’s so dangerous to do. our government will pretend certain laws don’t exist whenever convenient). all cops here are bad and they serve a system meant to harm and imprison citizens + protect property of the rich. doing anything else is actually what you’d consider outliers to their intended purpose, though it still doesn’t negate ACAB. even the way it’s taught in our country, protesting was actually only okay for this group of white guys when THEY wanted to overthrow the british government. that one we’re supposed to clap for and anything else historically was frowned upon at the time. many people are killed, jailed, and/or injured at protests at the hands of police and our mainstream media is owned by those in power, so they’ll call it “rioting” and flip shit around to confuse even more of the population + try to turn us against each other. it is extremely rare that anyone protesting actually does something to cause harm and therefore dEseRvEd to get their shit rocked by these weirdos in uniform that sold their soul for 22k a year. in my opinion it’s like the stanford prison experiment but imagine it large scale because there is very little training and they’re basically taught to shoot without more thought than it takes to upholster their weapon. oh and they’re taught to aim for kill shots so that’s… ??? pretty much they’re just untrained idiots walking around with no idea what they’re doing and they get off on the sense of power given to them. AND the way the military + police system work similarly is that they teach people not to think. don’t think, just shoot. don’t think, just take someone to the ground. don’t think, act. they are vessels without thought and harm people the same way— thus in my opinion, are soulless.

btw does anyone wonder where all this funding is coming from?? where this country refuses to help their own citizens or deliver aid to countries in need while saying it isn’t in the budget, they will instead always have money for weapons, for bombs, for sending money to other countries that want to commit atrocities. they will always have money for militarization. this country is guilty of so many things and the fact that we can just print more money to continue the horrors is— well, it’s horrifying. you can’t even count on the idea of us running out of money because somehow there is somehow ALWAYS money for murdering people overseas. fucking disgusting. that pentagon tax audit missing trillions of dollars is makin reeeal noise right now.

does anyone know the process of how you go about getting a country disbanded? more on that, how do we go about ruining the process of these cop cities. i’ll be researching. i want them left empty like those unfinished amusement parks. i want them turned into free or low-income housing. i want them turned into agriculture or food centers because food deserts are at an all time high.

the media is flooded right now with trending pop culture topics and while this is distracting, if you live in the USA, cop cities are a HUGE problem and we’ll be seeing just how bad the effects are in a few years. we’re going to see a lot of our citizens desperate for work (because the economy is in a perpetual state of decline and the rich are getting richer while costs of living for the rest of us increase even more and jobs become more scarce) and there’s no way these cop cities won’t start eventually offering programs for debt relief, education, healthcare, and housing— pretty much exactly what the military here does already for many citizens who believe they have no other options than to enlist so they can survive.

militarizing your citizens against your citizens??? leading by fear and oppressive force??? taking advantage of the vulnerable populace??? not changing the system but instead doubling down when eyes are drawn away?? overturning laws meant to protect them??? drafting new laws to smite them?? encouraging genocide and taking part in said genocides because it’s profitable?? that’s just… so… american government. we have literally never lived in an actual democracy. not once. everything we have is stolen and/or covered in blood. there is no changing or redeeming the past but the future is wide fucking open for change. if we lived in a true democracy, the changes we (the overwhelming majority noted in polls and census taking) have been asking for would already exist. america is a force of greed and deception, eating and eating itself and everything around it without pause while claiming it is still hungry for more. it will consume itself eventually but not anytime soon. i doubt i’ll be around to see the fall. i doubt any of us will. i wanna grab people by the shoulders and be like— please don’t wait on the future to save you. we only have right now to save ourselves.

god ugh anyways okay i’m done. probably gonna talk more shit in the tags though

[milkboydotnet]

Malaya Movement USA vehemently condemns the US government’s clandestine anti-vaccination and anti-China disinformation campaign aimed at Filipinos at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This psychological warfare operation, uncovered by Reuters, is an unconscionable act by the US military in an effort to discredit and attack its rival superpower, China, at the expense of thousands of Filipino lives. It contributed to unfounded anti-vaccination hesitancy at a time when the Philippines was experiencing some of the worst cases of COVID infections and deaths in the region.

The investigation exposed the US’ psychological warfare operation through an orchestrated social media campaign to spread anti-Chinese sentiments and distrust for the Sinovac vaccine in the Philippines in early 2021. As the US worked with private corporations to squeeze profit out of the sale of vaccines, it also kept the life-saving vaccines away from innocent Filipinos for its own political, economic, and military interests against China. The massive disinformation campaign was carried out by the US military’s psychological operations center based in Tampa, Florida and deployed by private corporation, General Dynamics.

Such a campaign was possible because of the history of disinformation and psywar that was especially devastating under former president and dictator Rodrigo Duterte. Coupled with Duterte’s heavily militarized response to the global pandemic and crumbling public health infrastructure, the Philippines was not equipped to combat this anti-vaccination campaign. It is unsurprising but shameful that the Philippine state, through its Embassy or Consulates, failed to comment on the matter when asked by the journalists at Reuters. It is imperative that the Philippine Embassy do its job and uphold its duties to protect and serve Filipinos.

This sinister campaign is infuriating. The US has blood on its hands and certainly contributed to so many preventable deaths through this plot. While the US military was busy carrying out psychological warfare on innocent people across the globe and wasting US tax dollars, people in the US also suffered devastating deaths with very little support from the government. We remember the disproportionate number of Filipino nurses killed at the start of the pandemic and the dismal “stimulus” that amounted to less than a month’s worth of rent and bills. It is alarming that US tax dollars have not only funded human rights violations and war crimes in the Philippines but have also contributed to this blatant medical disinformation and psychological warfare on our people.

At present, mainstream media outlets in the Philippines are also radio silent on the matter, and we call on all Filipinos to raise public clamor. Do not let this story go unheard! Filipinos are not mere pawns and collateral in US’ war games. There is no excuse for gambling with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and the US military, Department of Defense, the Pentagon, State Department, and all officials who played a role in implementing this deadly propaganda psywar must be held to account.

We demand that the Philippine government, particularly its Consulates and the Embassy in Washington DC, conduct an independent probe and investigate on behalf of its people.

We hold firm that no more US tax dollars go towards human rights violations, war crimes, and psychological warfare in the Philippines and that the Philippine Enhanced Resilience Act must be rejected. Pass the Philippine Human Rights Act instead and prevent more tax dollars from funding crimes against the Filipino people.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Roevember

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 29, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 30, 2024

And now the U.S. Army has weighed in on the scandal surrounding Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op, after which his team shared a campaign video it had filmed. The Army said that the cemetery hosts almost 3,000 public wreath-laying ceremonies a year without incident and that Trump and his staff “were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and [Department of Defense] policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.” 

It went on to say that a cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside…. This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the… employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. [Arlington National Cemetery] is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.” 

“I don’t think I can adequately explain what a massive deal it is for the Army to make a statement like this,” political writer and veteran Allison Gill of Mueller, She Wrote, noted. “The Pentagon avoids statements like this at all costs. But a draft dodging traitor decided to lie about our armed forces staff, so they went to paper.”

The deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Department of Defense is “aware of the statement that the Army issued, and we support what the Army said.” Hours later, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita reposted the offending video on X and, tagging the official account for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, said he was “hoping to trigger the hacks” in her office. 

In Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall reported that the Trump campaign’s plan was to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 13 members of the U.S. military killed in the suicide bombing during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021. They intended to film the event and then attack Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for not “showing up” for the event, which they intended to portray as an “established memorial.”

Another major story from yesterday is that the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has finalized two rules that will work to stop corruption and money laundering in U.S. residential real estate and in private investment. 

This is a big deal. As scholar of kleptocracies Casey Michel put it: “This is a massive, massive deal in the world of counter-kleptocracy—the U.S. is finally ending the gargantuan anti–money laundering loopholes for real estate, private equity, hedge funds, and more. Can't overstate how important this is. What a feat.” 

​​After the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the oligarchs who rose to power in the former Soviet republics looked to park their illicit money in western democracies, where the rule of law would protect their investments. Once invested in the United States, they favored the Republicans, who focused on the protection of wealth rather than social services. For their part, Republican politicians focused on spreading capitalism rather than democracy, arguing that the two went hand in hand.

The financial deregulation that made the U.S. a good bet for oligarchs to launder money got a boost when, shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act to address the threat of terrorism. The law took on money laundering and the illicit funding of terrorism, requiring financial institutions to inspect large sums of money passing through them. But the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) exempted many real estate deals from the new regulations. 

The United States became one of the money-laundering capitals of the world, with hundreds of billions of dollars laundered in the U.S. every year. 

In 2011 the international movement of illicit money led then–FBI director Robert Mueller to tell the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City that globalization and technology had changed the nature of organized crime. International enterprises, he said, “are running multi-national, multi-billion dollar schemes from start to finish…. They may be former members of nation-state governments, security services, or the military…. These criminal enterprises are making billions of dollars from human trafficking, health care fraud, computer intrusions, and copyright infringement. They are cornering the market on natural gas, oil, and precious metals, and selling to the highest bidder…. These groups may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the highest levels of government. Indeed, these so-called ‘iron triangles’ of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders pose a significant national security threat.”

Congress addressed this threat in 2021 by including the Corporate Transparency Act in the National Defense Authorization Act. It undercut shell companies and money laundering by requiring the owners of any company that is not otherwise overseen by the federal government (by filing taxes, for example, or through close regulation) to file with FinCEN a report identifying (by name, birth date, address, and an identifying number) each person associated with the company who either owns 25% or more of it or exercised substantial control over it. The measure also increased penalties for money laundering and streamlined cooperation between banks and foreign law enforcement authorities. That act went into effect on January 1, 2024.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration made fighting corruption a centerpiece of its attempt to shore up democracy both at home and abroad. In June 2021, President Biden declared the fight against corruption a core U.S. national security interest. “Corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself,” he wrote. “But by effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies.” 

In March 2023 the Treasury told Congress that “[m]oney laundering perpetrated by the Government of the Russian Federation (GOR), Russian [state-owned enterprises], Russian organized crime, and Russian elites poses a significant threat to the national security of the United States and the integrity of the international financial system,” and it outlined the ways in which it had been trying to combat that corruption. 

Now FinCEN has firmed up rules to add anti-money-laundering safeguards to private real estate and private investment. They will require certain industry professionals to report information to FinCEN about cash transfers of residential real estate to a legal entity or trust, transactions that “present a high illicit finance risk,” FinCEN wrote. “The rule will increase transparency, limit the ability of illicit actors to anonymously launder illicit proceeds through the American housing market, and bolster law enforcement investigative efforts.” The real estate rule will go into effect on December 1, 2025.

The rule about investment advisors will make the obligation to report suspicious financial activity apply to certain financial advisors. This rule will go into effect on January 1, 2026.

“The Treasury Department has been hard at work to disrupt attempts to use the United States to hide and launder ill-gotten gains,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen explained. “That includes by addressing our biggest regulatory deficiencies, including through these two new rules that close critical loopholes in the U.S. financial system that bad actors use to facilitate serious crimes like corruption, narcotrafficking, and fraud. These steps will make it harder for criminals to exploit our strong residential real estate and investment adviser sectors.”

“I applaud FinCEN’s commonsense efforts to prevent corrupt actors from using the American residential real estate and private investment sectors as safe havens for hiding dirty money,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said in a statement. “For too long, vulnerabilities in the system have attracted kleptocrats, cartels, and criminals looking to stow away their ill-gotten gains. I hope FinCEN will apply similar safeguards to commercial real estate, as well as due diligence requirements to investment advisors. These are all welcome steps toward keeping our country and financial system safe and secure for the American people—not those who wish to abuse it.”

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission) brought the history of modern money laundering full circle. It said: “We welcome the Treasury Department's decision to close off crucial pathways for Russian money laundering and sanctions evasion through real estate and private equity.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

#20yrsago Red Mars: a very belated appreciation https://memex.craphound.com/2004/05/28/red-mars-a-very-belated-appreciation/

#15yrsago East German spy fired notorious shot that changed West German politics https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/world/europe/27germany.html

#15yrsago Conference Board of Canada admits that its publicly funded, plagiarized, biased copyright “research” is junk https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/conference-board-recalls-controversial-copyright-reports-1.811430

#15yrsago USA, Canada and the EU attempt to kill treaty to protect blind people’s access to written material https://memex.craphound.com/2009/05/28/usa-canada-and-the-eu-attempt-to-kill-treaty-to-protect-blind-peoples-access-to-written-material/

#10yrsago Appeals court nukes the copyright troll business-model https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/major-victory-over-copyright-trolls-deeper-look

#10yrsago 2084 wants to have a word with 2014 about Net Neutrality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEI9RtwcvhE

#5yrsago Congressional shaming prompts notorious Pentagon price-gouger to refund $16.1m https://theintercept.com/2019/05/28/ro-khanna-transdigm-refund-pentagon/

#5yrsago Supreme Court of Canada to rule on the enforceability of arbitration clauses https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2019/supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-about-enforceability-of-arbitration-clauses

#5yrsago Connecticut’s racist NIMBYs have used zoning laws and dirty tricks to make it one of the most unequal, racially segregated states in the union https://www.propublica.org/article/how-some-of-americas-richest-towns-fight-affordable-housing

#5yrsago Analysis of a far-right disinformation campaign aimed at influencing the EU elections https://blog.f-secure.com/live-coverage-of-a-disinformation-operation-against-the-2019-eu-parliamentary-elections/

[what-am-i-outside-my-google-tabs]

Desperately trying to find if the original X Men movies had some pentagon funding or not. They do not appear on the main 2014 or 2016 DOD list, but you never know. Need to know if i can joke about childrens not knowing what a world where superhero movies were not funded by the USA Military looks like.

[wack-ashimself]

Know what I never want to hear again, not even ONCE, the rest of my life?

"Our government would never do that."

YES, THE FUCK, THEY WOULD. THEY HAVE. THEY DID. THEY WILL, EASILY, AGAIN.

If we could also include to avoid: "Our government never did that" and "Our government COULDN'T do that*" It would be much appreciated.

During #JFK: They wanted to do a #falseflag, and blame it on #Cuba. During #Nixon: Crack to the blacks.

In the 70s, the #CIA OPENLY admitted they had a gun with a dissolving bullet that could cause an undetectable, natural looking heart attack. NOW, they have radar dishes they can point at people to give them execrating pain, making them nearly immobile.

We started with a genocide to fund the #usa, had slavery for far too long, made concentration camps for Japanese-Americans during #WW2 where we stole BILLIONS from their houses and assets, and today? Today we have the largest #prison#slave population in human history; yes, more than when we actually had legalized slavery. The biggest military EVER, which, historically, has killed more than any other military with new age weapons. Yeah-can't deny the whole white phosphorus, regular ole bombs, and of course, NUCLEAR WEAPONS. What's ironic? Japan actually hates us more for the firebombs we used on them (more suffering instead of instant death). Didn't know about the #firebombs? MOST DON'T.

And then we get to 9/11. Ya know. When our government shut down all airports, but let a FEW special planes go out of #Florida just after it happened, containing some very unique individuals (proven). Or how about how not 1, not 2, but 3 buildings fell down perfectly straight, which is basically impossible from being hit on ONE side. Oh, and the 3rd building, building 7, which contained a lot of classified government documents was never HIT by anything!? Or how JUST before all this happened, the pentagon announced (not for the first OR last time**) they lost trillions of dollars, and had no idea where it went? OR how the guy who owned the #twintowers insured them for terrorist attacks just months before it happened?

Finally, today....where our #DEMOCRATIC president, brain dead #biden, is openly funneling guns, weapons, and worse to a terrorist colonizing state called #israel, against a nearly completely defenseless people in #Palestine? A #genocide, in real time, for MONTHS now, funded by our government. They're trying to pass another funding bill of billions as I type. Over 12k children killed in cold blood. MULTIPLE RAPES have been proven done by the israelis. You literally can not imagine a worse thing to happen due to a government (outside adding cannibalism).

SO PLEASE, never fucking god damn say again "Our government would never do that" when they have done it EVERY-FUCKING-TIME! <Forgot to mention the experimentation on their own citizens. That's a whole other post!>

Because when you live in an #oligarchy, you got to assume the rich in control will do ANYTHING IMAGINABLE AND UNIMAGINABLE to maintain their wealth and power. Historically, they always fucking do. WAKE UP!

*The technology they hold back and use against us may not come out to the public for DECADES. We have proven weather modification is real AND works. Not a debate. And Direct Energy Weapons (DEW) have been documented to being real just recently...You really think they can monitor, categorize, AND filter ALL THE DATA we say and do without AI? No. And they've been doing that for HOW long? Over 20 years? And when did we get access to AI? Side note-pentagon RIGHT NOW strong arming their way thru congress, trying to force them to allow the military to turn on AI's capabilities to choose what it kills. So that's...#terminator fun.

**The #pentagon, aka, the military, losing money has been a tried and true method of filtering money to the bad guys. It's kinda like how Tony Stark found out he was arming terrorists in Iron Man. You forget we helped for Al-Qaeda and #Isis? WE DID. Osama Bin Laden was a CIA asset! Why? To fuck with everyone in the Middle East all the way to Russia. Look it up if you didn't know.

<When we do physical or mental labor for taxes to be taken away, they usually go to murder. When you do your job, your taxes pay mostly for the rich to get richer and murder. Nothing else. If I'm wrong, look outside at how great it is, how free everyone is, and all the happy smiles. We allowed this to happen. We can create something better without them. What's the harm in trying? It can't get worse, sadly. But at the same time, inspiringly: we can only go up from here. :)>

No war but the class war.

[thelostdreamsthings]

The USA loves democracy unless the election results are unfavourable to the American Empire — like it happened with the referendum in Crimea in 2014. Then the propaganda repeats a million times, "Putin invaded Crimea/Ukraine."

Ukraine is not a sovereign country. Hasn't been since the 1990s, due to US money & influence.

2004: US overturned the Ukrainian election with color revolution.

2014: US overthrew Ukraine's democratically elected Ukraine's President. US Senator John McCain in Kiev.

It's just insanity. Can you imagine a Russian or Chinese leader visiting Mexico, riling up the crowd against the President, overthrowing the President, and installing a new anti-American leader... without an election????

This was the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, funded by George Soros. When the pro-US candidate/puppet lost the election, the Soros mobs flooded the capital and demanded a new election. "Democracy" -- American style. This was the real beginning of the end of Ukraine.

In Dec 2013, while the Maidan Coup was still going on in Kiev, cookie monster and regime-change expert Victoria Nuland gave a speech where she admitted that the US had spent whopping $5 billion buying Ukrainian elites -- oops, spreading democracy.

After the 2004 coup, the US installed a dumb but beautiful puppet. And she allowed the US Pentagon to start a whole bunch of bioweapon labs in Ukraine. Here's then Senator Obama visiting Ukraine's biolabs. When Putin invaded Ukraine, the US quickly destroyed all those labs!

❓Any European country condemn american war crimes against weak nations?

❓Are they demand drop charges against Julian Assange?

❓Are they question about blast gas pipeline?

❓Are they question NATO crimes against humanity?

EU states are not sovereign.

[npcdeath]

the usas war on the middle east and the islamophobia they+the hollywood and media machines have pushed has always been a strategic act of propaganda to dehumanize the population & diaspora of an entire region. so that the public would care about them less when theyre killed and listen to them less when they beg not to be. theres blood on the hands of everyone whos done it whether they took pentagon funding as payment or not

[ma75alaa]

What is proportionality in supporting two sides of a conflict? How can we balance our support to #Gaza and Israel? Like #USA is doing in #Ukraine’s war?

Are we part of killing #Gaza people?

We are all complicit in this situation. When Egypt permits Israeli drones and jets over Sinai, it coincides with providing “aid” to the Palestinians. This support extends military advantage to one side while we claim fairness. This mirrors Noam Chomsky’s perspective on the tension between the Pentagon and Congress regarding Ukraine. One side proposes sending offensive missiles to Ukraine, risking direct conflict with Russia, while the other emphasizes defense. Supporting Ukraine’s defense, even if not actively aiding them, makes any attack on them costly. Our help should ensure they can defend themselves.

In contrast, in Gaza, our “assistance” contributes to their plight. We do more than just block defensive resources; we actively contribute to their suffering through starvation. While the world occasionally calls for humanitarian pauses or offers limited aid, it’s hardly sufficient. Tens of thousands need medicine, and hundreds of thousands lack shelter or protection.

Our role in these events makes us as culpable as those who directly perpetrate them.

How did USA for example manage this for Ukraine/Russia avoiding to provoke Russians ?

I asked ChatGPT to surf the web, here is an elegant answer:

The debate in the U.S. regarding aid to Ukraine highlights contrasting views within the government, particularly between the Pentagon and Congress. Here's a look at these differing perspectives and two specific incidents illustrating the U.S.'s preference for providing defensive rather than offensive military support against Russia:

1. **Pentagon vs. Congress on Aid Oversight**: The Pentagon faced challenges meeting Congress's demands for oversight of its spending, especially with the earmarking of an additional $40 billion for Ukraine. Congressional concerns centered around the Biden administration's capacity to account for the influx of cash and track the numerous U.S. weapons heading to Ukraine. Bipartisan scrutiny from members like Elizabeth Warren and Rand Paul highlighted the need for a complete accounting of the funds and their use

2. **HIMARS and Range Limitation Decision**: In one key incident, the Biden administration debated whether to send the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and its associated munitions to Ukraine. Officials were concerned that providing longer-range rockets could provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the conflict. Ultimately, they opted to send shorter-range rockets capable of reaching 48 miles, as opposed to longer-range munitions with a 190-mile reach. This decision was influenced by the risk of escalating the conflict with Russia

3. **Secret Decision to Send APAM Missiles**: Another significant decision involved the secret approval of sending medium-range missiles, specifically the Anti-Personnel/Anti-Materiel (APAM) version of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), to Ukraine. This decision was made after months of debate among top U.S. national security aides, with the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and then-Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley, initially resisting the idea due to limited inventory and broader readiness concerns. The ATACMS sent were not part of Pentagon war plans, and their delivery marked a major escalation in the U.S.'s defense of Ukraine, enabling strikes on Russian targets behind front lines without involving direct conflict with Russia. The U.S. maintained restrictions on the use of these weapons, prohibiting strikes within Russia itself

These incidents reflect a cautious approach by the U.S. in supporting Ukraine, balancing the need to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities while avoiding actions that could be interpreted as direct aggression against Russia. The emphasis has been on providing Ukraine with the means to defend itself effectively without crossing lines that could lead to a broader conflict

Having said that, USA balances supporting Ukraine with defensive/offensive gear as part of Russia’s perception or perceived reaction. But the least was to support Ukraine with defensive gear.

USA can give occasionally bread to Gaza while giving unlimited military support to Israel, as long as Arab have no reaction.

In other terms, Arab’s mainly, the world in second position are part of allowing this genocide to happen…

Gaza “must” have protective gear. Just like we supported Ukraine to have that. Not only limited bread/medicine for propaganda.

[peter-author]

Nonsense About Hypersonic Weapons

There’s a media circus around hypersonic weapons. The media issue is threefold. One these weapons are hard to design and build, two we’re lagging behind Russia and China and three, and this is a critical part, we’re so far behind we’ll never catch up without more money.

Here’s a little history. In the ‘60s (yes the ‘60s) Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works designed a seriously supersonic plane called the YF-17. It was a secret for over 10 years until the plane was accidentally renamed the Blackbird and broke speed records flying across the USA in the late ‘70s. It was not until 1990 that the plane was officially shown to and flown for the public – 25 years after Skunk Works first started secret test flights. Keep that time frame in mind.

Now, the USA is behind in the hypersonic weapons race.  Nonsense. We’ve had prototypes flying since well before 2010. There were three test programs then, the HTV-2 from Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works (HTV-1 is not mentioned but predates 2010 by 5+ years), X-51 (well, there were X-49 an X-50 before that), and HyFly – these two both from Boeing. Since then there have been prototypes aplenty flying all over the country, seven prototypes in all from Lockheed Martin (ex-Skunk Works), Raytheon/Northrup Grumman, Dynetics/Sandia, Lockheed Martin/Dynetics, Sandia/Dynetics, Boeing and Lockheed Martin/Rocketdyne. Some of these are Air Force projects or DARPA/Airforce projects, or Army/Navy projects, or just plain Army projects.

The testing breaks down into two types of hypersonic systems: Scramjet or Boost-glide. In the first you air-launch the vehicle and a scramjet engine turns on and it zooms away at fantastic speeds at high altitude (usually). What’s a scram jet? Well, the combustion inside the casing is so intense that the engine needs more and more air to fuel the fire and the engine literally sucks its way faster and faster, especially at high altitude where the air is thin. In the Boost-glide vehicle, a rocket takes the vehicle to a very fast high altitude (sometimes just into space), aims it down towards a target and speed and gravity handle the rest. Some of these are long range weapon delivery vehicles like the LRHW (yes, that means long range hypersonic weapon – catchy, no?) and some are meant to be carried closer to target by conventional planes and launched towards target but at hyper-velocity speeds (Mach 5+) that an enemy will have little defense for.

And are these weapons ready to combat the China and Russia threat? Publicly? No. The Air Force, Army, DARPA, and Navy want more funds, the Pentagon wants more secrecy, the manufacturers want contracts that never end. And the media only gets snippets of information of tests that “failed to reach objectives,” “need more development” or “we’re trying to catch up.” Oops, we’ve seen this dance before. Mike White, the Pentagon principal director for hypersonic vehicles is quoted saying, “For operational security reasons, we cannot disclose the number of hypersonic flight tests and dates…. Across the department, we have dramatically increased the number of hypersonic flights tests in the past few years…” Translation? We’re having flight tests, not trials. The vehicles fly and we’re ready for next steps and newer, more expensive, models.

What, you thoughts the Blackbird program of the ‘60s, ‘70s and 80’s ethic was a one off?

[yourreddancer]

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

August 29, 2024 (Thursday)

And now the U.S. Army has weighed in on the scandal surrounding Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op, after which his team shared a campaign video it had filmed.

The Army said that the cemetery hosts almost 3,000 public wreath-laying ceremonies a year without incident and that Trump and his staff “were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and [Department of Defense] policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”

It went on to say that a cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside…. This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the… employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. [Arlington National Cemetery] is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”

“I don’t think I can adequately explain what a massive deal it is for the Army to make a statement like this,” political writer and veteran Allison Gill of Mueller, She Wrote, noted. “The Pentagon avoids statements like this at all costs. But a draft dodging traitor decided to lie about our armed forces staff, so they went to paper.”

The deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Department of Defense is “aware of the statement that the Army issued, and we support what the Army said.” Hours later, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita reposted the offending video on X and, tagging the official account for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, said he was “hoping to trigger the hacks” in her office.

In Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall reported that the Trump campaign’s plan was to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 13 members of the U.S. military killed in the suicide bombing during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021. They intended to film the event and then attack Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for not “showing up” for the event, which they intended to portray as an “established memorial.”

Another major story from yesterday is that the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has finalized two rules that will work to stop corruption and money laundering in U.S. residential real estate and in private investment.

This is a big deal. As scholar of kleptocracies Casey Michel put it: “This is a massive, massive deal in the world of counter-kleptocracy—the U.S. is finally ending the gargantuan anti–money laundering loopholes for real estate, private equity, hedge funds, and more. Can't overstate how important this is. What a feat.”

​​After the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the oligarchs who rose to power in the former Soviet republics looked to park their illicit money in western democracies, where the rule of law would protect their investments. Once invested in the United States, they favored the Republicans, who focused on the protection of wealth rather than social services. For their part, Republican politicians focused on spreading capitalism rather than democracy, arguing that the two went hand in hand.

The financial deregulation that made the U.S. a good bet for oligarchs to launder money got a boost when, shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act to address the threat of terrorism. The law took on money laundering and the illicit funding of terrorism, requiring financial institutions to inspect large sums of money passing through them. But the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) exempted many real estate deals from the new regulations.

The United States became one of the money-laundering capitals of the world, with hundreds of billions of dollars laundered in the U.S. every year.

In 2011 the international movement of illicit money led then–FBI director Robert Mueller to tell the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City that globalization and technology had changed the nature of organized crime. International enterprises, he said, “are running multi-national, multi-billion dollar schemes from start to finish…. They may be former members of nation-state governments, security services, or the military…. These criminal enterprises are making billions of dollars from human trafficking, health care fraud, computer intrusions, and copyright infringement. They are cornering the market on natural gas, oil, and precious metals, and selling to the highest bidder…. These groups may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the highest levels of government. Indeed, these so-called ‘iron triangles’ of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders pose a significant national security threat.”

Congress addressed this threat in 2021 by including the Corporate Transparency Act in the National Defense Authorization Act. It undercut shell companies and money laundering by requiring the owners of any company that is not otherwise overseen by the federal government (by filing taxes, for example, or through close regulation) to file with FinCEN a report identifying (by name, birth date, address, and an identifying number) each person associated with the company who either owns 25% or more of it or exercised substantial control over it. The measure also increased penalties for money laundering and streamlined cooperation between banks and foreign law enforcement authorities. That act went into effect on January 1, 2024.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration made fighting corruption a centerpiece of its attempt to shore up democracy both at home and abroad. In June 2021, President Biden declared the fight against corruption a core U.S. national security interest. “Corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself,” he wrote. “But by effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies.”

In March 2023 the Treasury told Congress that “[m]oney laundering perpetrated by the Government of the Russian Federation (GOR), Russian [state-owned enterprises], Russian organized crime, and Russian elites poses a significant threat to the national security of the United States and the integrity of the international financial system,” and it outlined the ways in which it had been trying to combat that corruption.

Now FinCEN has firmed up rules to add anti-money-laundering safeguards to private real estate and private investment. They will require certain industry professionals to report information to FinCEN about cash transfers of residential real estate to a legal entity or trust, transactions that “present a high illicit finance risk,” FinCEN wrote. “The rule will increase transparency, limit the ability of illicit actors to anonymously launder illicit proceeds through the American housing market, and bolster law enforcement investigative efforts.” The real estate rule will go into effect on December 1, 2025.

The rule about investment advisors will make the obligation to report suspicious financial activity apply to certain financial advisors. This rule will go into effect on January 1, 2026.

“The Treasury Department has been hard at work to disrupt attempts to use the United States to hide and launder ill-gotten gains,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen explained. “That includes by addressing our biggest regulatory deficiencies, including through these two new rules that close critical loopholes in the U.S. financial system that bad actors use to facilitate serious crimes like corruption, narcotrafficking, and fraud. These steps will make it harder for criminals to exploit our strong residential real estate and investment adviser sectors.”

“I applaud FinCEN’s commonsense efforts to prevent corrupt actors from using the American residential real estate and private investment sectors as safe havens for hiding dirty money,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said in a statement. “For too long, vulnerabilities in the system have attracted kleptocrats, cartels, and criminals looking to stow away their ill-gotten gains. I hope FinCEN will apply similar safeguards to commercial real estate, as well as due diligence requirements to investment advisors. These are all welcome steps toward keeping our country and financial system safe and secure for the American people—not those who wish to abuse it.”

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission) brought the history of modern money laundering full circle. It said: “We welcome the Treasury Department's decision to close off crucial pathways for Russian money laundering and sanctions evasion through real estate and private equity.”

[scottiestoybox]

USA TODAY: Senate passes $886 billion defense-spending bill with pay raises for troops, Ukraine aid

Senate passes $886 billion defense-spending bill with pay raises for troops, Ukraine aid The National Defense Authorization Act provides funding each year for Pentagon priorities such as training and equipment. Read in USA TODAY: https://apple.news/AalqucD0wSsuaoSe5g9RhTw Shared from Apple News Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

[christinamac1]

Defense Department announces $425M aid package for Ukraine, cleaning out USA's long-term assistance fund

By Tony Bertuca / November 3, 2023  https://insidedefense.com/insider/dod-announces-425m-aid-package-ukraine-cleaning-out-long-term-assistance-fund The Pentagon today announced a $425 million military aid package for Ukraine, with $125 million accounting for immediate weapons transfers from U.S. stocks and the remaining $300 million exhausting what is left of the Ukraine Security Assistance…

[pipelinelaserraygun]

MUST 🛑👺 STOP nazis in 🇺🇸 America/Deep State.

Equally BLOODCURDLING:

MUST 🛑👺 STOP mainland Israeli Deep State, as WELL.

A rhetorical question: HOW is this NOT WORSE than J6?

THIS is just as irresponsible as the "FALSE beheadings of babies report" from that 1 Field "journalist" in Gaza, who was the ONLY person making that claim (scroll below), and her report spread like 🔥 wildfire but was NEVER backed up by ANY evidence of headless infant corpses.

👺 barry sent 👺 joey there.

MUST ⏰ WATCH‼️

In an era when they'd show cartoons ahead of the 🎬 Feature FILM.

Cinema verité‼️

DOUBLE 🍿 FEATURE.

Who is the intended viewing audience?

Corrupt 🗞️ news AND the general 🐑🐑🐏🐏 sheeple are so OBLIVIOUS...

Mr. Smiths, the Men in Black, are EMBEDDED both in the USA + Israel's political ranks.

THIS memo was sent to the United States and THROUGH its OWN social media, intended as a message 🕎 DIRECTLY for Deep State, OF which MANY 👺👺👿 at the Pentagon and DC are doing satan's bidding.

SPIRITUAL 👊🏾🥋 NEO, your participation in this combat requires a Black Belt level of training until moves become 💪🏼 muscle memory.

MUST 📚 READ 🆓 preview: Who stands to make a killing by inve$ting in ☠️☠️ killings?

[rjhamster]

Pentagon Used $3B 'Accounting Error' to Circumvent Congress on Ukraine Funding - Headline USA

Pentagon Used $3B ‘Accounting Error’ to Circumvent Congress on Ukraine Funding – Headline USA — Read on headlineusa.com/pentagon-3b-error-circumvent-congress/