United States | News & Politics

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/25387098

http://luigimangioneinfo.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeejiOZABi0

Source

This is kinda regional, but also not, as the Grand Coulee Dam produces a tremendous amount of power for the US.

The third powerhouse ("Nat"), completed in 1974 to increase energy production, makes Grand Coulee the largest power station in the United States by nameplate capacity at 6,809 MW (Wikipedia).

And now the Regime is firing the people who run it.

The Washington Post appeared to break some remarkable news this week: Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth reportedly directed his department to come up with a plan to cut 8% of projected annual military spending in each of the next five years. That’s striking because the Pentagon is among the last places to expect an administration of either party to seek dramatic spending reductions.

That’s not what happened, though. Hegseth never ordered any cuts; he merely wants to shift funding from some military programs to others. That’s not cutting the Pentagon budget; that’s reshuffling it.

US President Donald Trump dismissed General Charles "CQ" Brown, the top US military officer, on Friday, marking a major shake-up in the leadership of the armed forces.

Trump did not provide a reason for Brown's removal, which came less than two years into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This follows a series of federal worker layoffs and efforts to dismantle government institutions early in Trump's second term.

Brown, nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, was the second Black person to hold the position.

In response to Brown’s dismissal, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he was searching for a replacement for Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the US Navy.

Brown had made personal remarks about discrimination in the military, particularly after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Reflecting on his own career, Brown said, “I’m thinking about the pressure I felt to perform error-free, especially for supervisors I perceive had expected less from me as an African American.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25921559

Link above goes to the Daily Kos post that discovered the scrubbing. Here's the text of the original article:

Former Intelligence Officer Claims KGB Recruited Trump

Isabel Van Brugen – The Daily Beast – 21 February 2025

A former Soviet intelligence officer has alleged that Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename “Krasnov.”

Alnur Mussayev, 71, a former Kazakh intelligence chief, made the explosive claim in a Facebook post on Thursday. He claimed that he served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy. One of its key objectives, he claimed, was “recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.”

Mussayev wrote that in 1987 “our directorate recruited Donald Trump, a 40-year-old American businessman, under the pseudonym Krasnov.”

He reiterated that the department specialized in recruiting spies and intelligence sources from the West, asserting once again that Trump had been brought into the fold.

“I hope I’ll survive a third assassination attempt,” he said in a comment below his post.

He made another shocking allegation in another comment, saying: “Today, the personal file of resident ‘Krasnov’ has been removed from the FSB. It is being privately managed by one of Putin’s close associates.”

Mussayev’s allegations, while unfounded, add to ongoing speculation about Trump’s connections to Russia. Trump’s first visit to Moscow as a real estate developer in 1987 drew intense scrutiny and speculation that the trip was arranged by the KGB for dubious reasons.

According to Politico, in 1985, the KGB updated a secret personality questionnaire distributed among the agency, advising case officers what to look for in a successful recruitment operation.

The document instructed agents to target “prominent figures in the West” with the goal of drawing them “into some form of collaboration with us… as an agent, or confidential or special or unofficial contact.”

Trump has denied any improper ties to Moscow or collusion with President Vladimir Putin.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

U.S. officials have also expressed concerns about Trump’s relationship with Putin.

Anthony Scaramucci who briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, said during an episode of “The Rest Is Politics: US” podcast with co-host Katty Kay on Friday that he thinks there is a mysterious “hold” on the president.

Scaramucci did not elaborate on what he believes that “hold” might be, adding only: “I don’t know why it’s like this. [H.R.] McMaster couldn’t figure it out, [James] Mattis couldn’t figure it out, [John] Kelly couldn’t figure it out.”

Earlier this month, the president said he favored taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave. Over the course of several days, he repeatedly waved aside objections to the idea, including flat-out rejections from the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.

At the time, Mr. Trump said that he would be able to persuade the leaders of those two countries — and potentially others in the region — to accept the Palestinians through the force of his will.

“They say they’re not going to accept,” Mr. Trump said. “I say they will.”

But in a telephone interview with a Fox News host on Friday, Mr. Trump seemed to concede that his efforts at persuasion had failed and the refusal by Egypt and Jordan to accept displaced Gazans would make the idea unworkable.

The office’s “major staff turnover,” as one team Fetterman veteran put it, comes amid a tough hiring environment for Democratic staffers in Washington.

“I don’t find this as a surprise,” said the former Fetterman campaign staffer, who requested anonymity to protect their livelihood. “I think the staff is probably frustrated that working in the Fetterman office means you’re just working on Israel all the time.”

Since the October 7 attack, Fetterman’s office has ignored most of the issues he campaigned on, instead turning almost all his focus toward the Israel–Palestine conflict, according to people familiar with his office. At the same time, Fetterman has added a number of Republican donors to his roster, The Intercept reported.

Since Trump took office last month, Fetterman has become a sometime Republican ally. He was one of 12 Democrats in the Senate to support the GOP’s draconian new immigration law. At times, Fetterman has been Trump’s sole ally across the aisle. He was the only Democrat to vote to confirm Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general who helped spread the lie that Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/39535983

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/38388581

Simultaneous purging of the chief generals of all three branches.
They are ensuring the military has no cohesiveness to stage a future coup against the Executive Branch, and are replacing all control with their own loyalists.

Probably should be taken with several very large grains of salt, but the article did just get yanked off of Daily Beast's website...

Even the fucking RN knows this isn't a good look.

Bannon, host of the influential War Room podcast and a former White House chief strategist during Trump's first term, gave a speech Thursday at the annual conservative gathering in Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

During his speech, Bannon repeated his calls for Trump to run for an unconstitutional third term, telling the crowd, "We want Trump in '28."

Bannon later said near the end of his speech that "the only way we lose is if we quit" and that they will never "surrender." He then chanted "fight, fight, fight" before raising his right arm with his palm down.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26257143

In summary:

• Media: Some major media outlets have been slow to respond, with scoops coming from unexpected sources. The Washington Post may be hampered by its owner's potential conflicts, and The New York Times is criticized for downplaying the gravity of the news.
• Academia: Academic institutions have been largely silent, though individual academics have raised concerns. There's a call for coordinated public pronouncements from university leadership, especially from law and medical schools, and for professional associations to sanction members in defense of the public sphere.
• Business: Business leaders have a history of misjudging the dangers of autocratic leaders and have been truckling to the new administration, possibly out of fear of reprisals. However, they may awaken to the economic dangers of executive overreach.
• Mass Mobilization: Mass mobilization is underway, but efforts may struggle if elites underplay the magnitude of the moment. Religious organizations have a role to play in combating Christian nationalism. Public opposition is smaller than it was during the first Trump administration.
• Coordination: Across all sectors of civil society, coordination is key, as individual objections do not carry the weight of joint action. Resistance to authoritarianism is a collective endeavor.

Excerpt:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the digital and physical destruction of 18 publications on workplace safety practices, according to an internal February 7 email obtained by Popular Information. The email says the publications have been removed from the OSHA website and tells staff that any physical copies should be "disposed of or recycled."

The purge appears to be part of the Trump administration's effort to terminate any activities associated with "diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility," or DEIA. The email advises OSHA staff that "[i]f you have wallet cards that include language, or can be interpreted, on DEIA or gender ideology, please dispose of them as well."

Popular Information has obtained archived versions of most of the deleted publications. Almost all of them are not associated with DEIA topics but appear to have been targeted because they include a DEIA-related keyword used in a completely different context.

For example, one of the purged publications is "OSHA Best Practices for Protecting EMS Responders During Treatment and Transport of Victims of Hazardous Substance Releases." Popular Information was able to obtain an archived version of the publication through the Internet Archive. The 104-page document — a collaboration between dozens of government agencies and NGOs — was published in 2009 to detail the steps "employers need to take to protect their EMS responders from becoming additional victims while on the front line of medical response." DEIA issues are not discussed.

On page 94 of the publication, however, the words "diversity" and "diverse" are used in a context that has nothing to do with race or gender. The publication notes there is a "diversity of state-specific certification, training, and regulatory requirements" for "EMS agencies" and "diverse conditions under which EMS responders could work." Similarly, on page 96, the publication notes, "EMS responders are a diverse group" and "risks vary with their primary and secondary roles."

"Guidelines for Nursing Homes: Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders," is a 44-page publication released in 2009. It provides "recommendations for nursing home employers to help reduce the number and severity of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in their facilities." It has nothing to do with DEIA. On page 10, however, it notes that "development of MSDs may be related to genetic causes, gender, age, and other factors." The single use of the word "gender" appears to have flagged the publication for deletion and destruction.

Another purged publication, "Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Respiratory Protection Standard," contains the sentence, "[t]he new computer software reflects the concept of government leadership through collaboration with diverse technical organizations." It has nothing to do with DEIA.

In summary:

• Media: Some major media outlets have been slow to respond, with scoops coming from unexpected sources. The Washington Post may be hampered by its owner's potential conflicts, and The New York Times is criticized for downplaying the gravity of the news.
• Academia: Academic institutions have been largely silent, though individual academics have raised concerns. There's a call for coordinated public pronouncements from university leadership, especially from law and medical schools, and for professional associations to sanction members in defense of the public sphere.
• Business: Business leaders have a history of misjudging the dangers of autocratic leaders and have been truckling to the new administration, possibly out of fear of reprisals. However, they may awaken to the economic dangers of executive overreach.
• Mass Mobilization: Mass mobilization is underway, but efforts may struggle if elites underplay the magnitude of the moment. Religious organizations have a role to play in combating Christian nationalism. Public opposition is smaller than it was during the first Trump administration.
• Coordination: Across all sectors of civil society, coordination is key, as individual objections do not carry the weight of joint action. Resistance to authoritarianism is a collective endeavor.