That's really stark.Biffer wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 4:54 pmGilead incoming.tabascoboy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 3:11 pm The secret behind the apparent drive to decrease education levels?
I’ve been avoiding that comparison because it would be seen as hyperbole, but it’s getting closer seemingly by the dayBiffer wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 4:54 pmGilead incoming.tabascoboy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 3:11 pm The secret behind the apparent drive to decrease education levels?
It's striking how much of a discrepancy there is between the views of white college+ women and white college+ men.Tichtheid wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 8:27 pmI’ve been avoiding that comparison because it would be seen as hyperbole, but it’s getting closer seemingly by the dayBiffer wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 4:54 pmGilead incoming.tabascoboy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 3:11 pm The secret behind the apparent drive to decrease education levels?
Guess that makes 'em smart.The IRS is bracing for a $500 billion drop in revenue as an increasing number of taxpayers could skip submitting their filings in the wake of DOGE layoffs, according to a report.
Taxpayer behavior has changed since President Donald Trump took office and implemented sweeping federal cuts through Elon Musk’s DOGE. As a result, the IRS has “noticed an uptick of online chatter from individuals declaring their intention to not pay taxes this year,” the Washington Post reports, citing three people with knowledge of tax projections.
It added that individuals were “wagering that auditors will not examine their accounts” amid DOGE’s plans to downsize the IRS by nearly 20 percent by May 15.
Treasury Department and IRS officials are predicting a decrease of more than 10 percent in tax receipts by the April 15 deadline in comparison to 2024 filings, which would amount to more than $500 billion in lost revenue, according to the Post.
And absolutely nobody is positive about the Democratic Party
Chimes with the feeble response so far.Sinkers wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 7:21 amAnd absolutely nobody is positive about the Democratic Party
Uncle fester wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:15 pm Genuinely disgraceful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2d4kex0w2ro
Nice office you’ve got, be a shame if anything were to happen to it
Is anyone surprised anymore? Crooks and right wing zealots running the US now and they are doing it in plain sight knowing they are not going to be punished for breaking the law. The US is lost!Kiwias wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:27 pmUncle fester wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:15 pm Genuinely disgraceful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2d4kex0w2roNice office you’ve got, be a shame if anything were to happen to it
FTFYdpedin wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 1:34 pmIs anyone surprised anymore? Crooks, billionaires, and right wing zealots running the US now and they are doing it in plain sight knowing they are not going to be punished for breaking the law. The US is lost!Kiwias wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:27 pmUncle fester wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:15 pm Genuinely disgraceful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2d4kex0w2roNice office you’ve got, be a shame if anything were to happen to it
PS Tin foil hats still available!
https://archive.ph/p9RA6DoorDash Announces ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Partnership With Klarna
DoorDash said the arrangement with the financial tech service Klarna would allow customers to defer payments on orders such as takeout from restaurants, makeup and electronics.
...
Marc Elias calling them out...Uncle fester wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:15 pm Genuinely disgraceful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2d4kex0w2ro
US allies in Europe want answers over unspent USAID money
In short:
Three European nations have asked the Trump administration for their unspent USAID contributions to be refunded.
Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands had been partnering with USAID on a project called Water and Energy for Food, or WE4F.
What's next?
The nations have asked for an explanation from the US government on whether the funds will be spent, or if they can be refunded.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/ ... /105088146
if anything the artist has been rather too kind to himHal Jordan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 12:57 pmHe probably prefers the ones done by not at all closeted MAGA types where his oiled, bare upper torso is muscled like Rambo as he dual wields M240s as a bald eagle flies out of an explosion.
Not necessarily.Hal Jordan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 7:47 pm So what you're saying is that we've been overcharged for years by private sector contractors? I, for one, welcome the Public Inquiry into decades of profiteering at the expense of the public purse.
Link to the article here.
Even if I say so myself, this was a good post from back in January. Gets the US position right before all the madness we've seen. Definitely missed two aspects._Os_ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 5:42 pm100%. None of the old European great powers were allowed to take unilateral military action in any meaningfully strategic way. That's what Suez was about.sockwithaticket wrote: ↑Thu Jan 23, 2025 11:58 amYes the 'Europe's not paying its way' rhetoric is particularly irksome because the US engineered it this way.
European dependence and the US being the world's policeman has made their arms industry a lot of fucking money.
The US decided the role for Europe was to be a buffer, German/European conscripts would fight WW3 against the Soviets and not Americans. After that threat disappeared and the US embarked on its ME forever wars, Europe's role was to take the refugee waves not America, it is again the buffer. You can bet if America was taking the refugee waves they would stop bombing the place as their first and only solution to anything that ever happens there.
The Wolfowitz Doctrine bluntly states they want to dominate every region of the globe, and they oppose any regional power reaching the level of the Soviet Union and being capable of challenging the US. The European security situation is the way it is because that's what the US wanted. If all the big European players start spending 5% on defence, that's the end of American control of Europe through NATO, they will not have to listen to the US if there's any disagreement.
The US will absolutely see Germany as an existential threat if: it's spending 5%+ on defence, integrated militarily with neighbouring states (already happening with the Netherlands), dominant in the European arms sector. That all basically automatically happens as a first order impact of German building up its military and arms sector, without the possible second and third order impacts: threshold nuclear weapon state, acting independently outside its region. Trump himself used to rant about Japan as a threat during the Cold War, not the Soviets but Japan, for daring to out compete US car manufacturers.
It sounds a lot like the US wants to retain their dominant position outside their own region, without paying for it. They actually do have to pay heavily for Ukraine though whilst Ukrainians pay with their lives, that was always the deal.
Which is the point, no evidence, no illegal activities!Uncle fester wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:15 am Also worth noting that the group was set to disappearing messages, which is against the law requiring retention of records.
You first point is well made! When talk is about about the hard right wing religious mobs in the US most folk laugh and think of the happy clappies in big mega churches listening to nut job pastors and being brainwashed into handing over loads of dollars so their church can buy private jets and huge mansions for their 'owners'. This is part of it, these folk are the foot soldiers, the believers. However the reality is there is a hard core bunch of religious right wing zealots, funded by the big tech millionaires who are in it for the money and power, in charge of the White House and increasingly most arms of US Government. They are no different to Hezbollah or Hamas of this world, who believe only their god is the right one and are set on ridding their country/world of anyone that they see as non believers or a threat - in this case the woke, radical, commie, liberal, trans, non white left wing etc. Their agenda isnt all that different either - destruction of most arms of a liberal democracy, degradation of women's rights, destruction of universities, R&D and science in general, persecution of LGBTQ and trans communities, forced repatriation of anyone who doesn't look like them ie non-white, etc whilst centralizing power, control and money into a small cadre of an all powerful leader and ruling party. They are just as happy to bomb, kill and maim innocents as most other radical terrorist groups, or engage with others who will do it for them, in order to achieve what they want - they just do it with better tech and from 20,000 feet with 2,000lb bombs. The sooner folk waken up to the fact that the extremist zealots from the radical right wing white supremacist wing of the Republican Party have carried out a coup the better! They now run the US._Os_ wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:34 amEven if I say so myself, this was a good post from back in January. Gets the US position right before all the madness we've seen. Definitely missed two aspects._Os_ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 5:42 pm100%. None of the old European great powers were allowed to take unilateral military action in any meaningfully strategic way. That's what Suez was about.sockwithaticket wrote: ↑Thu Jan 23, 2025 11:58 am
Yes the 'Europe's not paying its way' rhetoric is particularly irksome because the US engineered it this way.
European dependence and the US being the world's policeman has made their arms industry a lot of fucking money.
The US decided the role for Europe was to be a buffer, German/European conscripts would fight WW3 against the Soviets and not Americans. After that threat disappeared and the US embarked on its ME forever wars, Europe's role was to take the refugee waves not America, it is again the buffer. You can bet if America was taking the refugee waves they would stop bombing the place as their first and only solution to anything that ever happens there.
The Wolfowitz Doctrine bluntly states they want to dominate every region of the globe, and they oppose any regional power reaching the level of the Soviet Union and being capable of challenging the US. The European security situation is the way it is because that's what the US wanted. If all the big European players start spending 5% on defence, that's the end of American control of Europe through NATO, they will not have to listen to the US if there's any disagreement.
The US will absolutely see Germany as an existential threat if: it's spending 5%+ on defence, integrated militarily with neighbouring states (already happening with the Netherlands), dominant in the European arms sector. That all basically automatically happens as a first order impact of German building up its military and arms sector, without the possible second and third order impacts: threshold nuclear weapon state, acting independently outside its region. Trump himself used to rant about Japan as a threat during the Cold War, not the Soviets but Japan, for daring to out compete US car manufacturers.
It sounds a lot like the US wants to retain their dominant position outside their own region, without paying for it. They actually do have to pay heavily for Ukraine though whilst Ukrainians pay with their lives, that was always the deal.
1. Christian right ideas have taken over the Republicans. It's not like Christianity in a place like South Africa, where nearly everyone is a practicing Christian or was brought up Christian, making it not particularly exciting. Nor is it like Christianity in the UK, where it's a minority pursuit no one is that excited by. In the US Christianity seems to exist in opposition to something else and has become political and weaponised. A lot of them see the world as Christianity v liberal democracy. If you follow what some of them are saying, they support Putin because they think Russia is defending Christianity and Europe is supporting Satan/liberal values. They believe all the Putin anti-LGBT stuff. Some of them are smart enough to realise how mad that would sound, so try to say it without saying it (Vance) others say it outright (MTG).
The nature of their opposition to Europe feels deeper than I realised. They seem to want to support Europe but only if it becomes more like the Deep South or Russia. There's an irrational quality. Which in reality means they're completely opposed to Europe.
2. Wolfowitz Doctrine doesn't look to be in play. Doesn't look like they have any interest in dominating every region. They claim they want to defeat China somehow, but are mostly interested in disengaging from Europe whilst lecturing Europeans about their internal liberal politics and how the US prefers they vote for far right fascists.
The Australian government’s scientific agency has joined more than a dozen universities in being sent a questionnaire from the Trump administration asking to confirm whether it aligns with US government interests.
On Tuesday, the CSIRO revealed it had received the correspondence from the US. A spokesperson at the CSIRO said it was aware of a “small number” of researchers who had received the questionnaire in recent weeks and was “determining an appropriate response”.
The questions include whether the organisation receives funding from China, whether it is a climate or “environmental justice” project, and whether it is taking “appropriate measures” to defend against “gender ideology” in line with Trump’s executive order on gender.
Seven universities including the Australian National University, Monash University, University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, Charles Darwin University, Macquarie University and the University of Western Australia have had their US funding cut on research projects since the Trump administration came into power, the education department confirmed.
Separately, researchers from at least 13 universities who receive US funding have been sent surveys, seeking a response within 48 hours to more than 30 questions to support “program determinations”, university sources told the Guardian.
Some 40% of Australian publications in the physical sciences involve American collaborators – including on vaccine development, cyclone tracking capability and observational systems that monitor, forecast and respond to extreme weather events.
“CSIRO has a number of touch points with the US government as part of our research portfolio,” a CSIRO spokesperson said.
“As the situation is still developing, it would be premature to speculate on how the changes in the US will affect CSIRO’s US collaborations and partnerships. However, CSIRO has not received formal advice that our science collaborations will be impacted.”
A small thing compared to the leak but highlights how amateur these cunts are.
