Politics & Stuff

[OhForAGreavsie 6,058]

2 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

As Prof Jeffrey Sachs said -you can have the most unhinged president, it doesnt matter, its all a distraction from the puppet masters pulling the strings and the real policy makers

Time was the wealthy used their money to employ politicians to do their bidding. Nowadays they cut out the middle man, take office, and attempt to act directly.

On a more positive note, if Dopey Donnie follows through on his threat to withdraw government contracts from Musk companies it will be a good thing. A very good thing. How a single man can have been allowed to gain control over so much vital US infrastructure, both military and civil, is mindboggling. The politicians who allowed this have created a real life Blofeld; a maverick who can threaten to switch off parts of that infrastructure which the USA, and the world come to that, can't do without.

In case of emergency we might think Dopey could order a forced takeover of certain Musk operations but who knows what fail safes Musk might have built into his systems. Who needs Ian Fleming. 😞

Edited June 6 by OhForAGreavsie

[Vesper 30,091]

Outrage after Republican representative disparages Sikh prayer in the US House

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/us-house-prayer-republican-mary-miller

A Republican congresswoman is facing widespread backlash after saying that a Sikh should not have conducted a prayer in the US House.

Mary Miller, an Illinois representative, on Friday published – then deleted – a post on X saying that Giani Singh, a Sikh Granthi from southern New Jersey, should not have delivered the House’s morning prayer.

Miller at first mistakenly identified Singh as a Muslim and said that it was “deeply troubling” someone of that faith had been allowed to lead prayer in the House and it “should never have been allowed”, Miller posted on X.

“America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it,” Miller continued. “May God have mercy.”

Miller first edited her post to change Muslim to Sikh – then opted to delete it.

Her comments triggered swift outrage, with the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, saying: “It’s deeply troubling that such an ignorant and hateful extremist is serving in the United States Congress. That would be you, Mary.”

Similarly, David Valadao, a Republican congressman of California, said on Friday: “I’m troubled by my colleague’s remarks about this morning’s Sikh prayer, which have since been deleted. Throughout the country – and in the Central Valley – Sikh-Americans are valued and respected members of our communities, yet they continue to face harassment and discrimination.”

Jared Huffman, another Democratic US House member from California, wrote on X: “I often say that I serve in Congress with some of the greatest minds of the 18th century. With [representative] Miller I may need to take it back a few more centuries.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said on X: “It’s deeply troubling that someone with such contempt for religious freedom is allowed to serve in this body. This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as free nation, and I believe the conduct of its legislators should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.”

Grace Meng, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, also weighed in on Miller’s tweets, saying: “What’s deeply disturbing is the blatant ignorance and anti-Sikh, anti-Muslim xenophobia coming from my colleague across the aisle. There is no place in our country, and especially the halls of Congress, for this hate and intolerance.”

Meng went on to add: “The tweet may have been deleted, but we still have the receipts.”

The Congressional Asian Pacific American caucus (Capac) also condemned Miller, saying she had engaged in “anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim bigotry”.

“Sikhs and Muslims practice two separate and distinct religions, and conflating the two based on how someone looks is not only ignorant, but also racist,” Capac said in a statement.

The Sikh Coalition also responded on X, saying: “To be clear, deleting the tweet is not enough. Congresswoman Miller should apologize for her remarks – to both the Sikh and Muslim communities, because no one should be targeted on the basis of their identity.”

Similarly, the Hindu American Foundation said: “Whichever version of the tweet [Miller] was going with, it is racist, xenophobic and plainly un-American to lash out over a Sikh prayer. When you took your oath of office [congresswoman] Miller, you swore to uphold our constitution, whose first amendment prohibits your establishing an official religion or favoring one religion over another.”

Miller’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

 

same POS:

VIDEO: Mary Miller Praises Hitler, Says His Views on Indoctrinating Youth Should Be Emulated

June 26, 2022

Miller in a PREPARED speech in front of U.S. Capitol on 1/5/21: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said whoever has the youth has the future.”

Taylorville, IL — Mary Miller is no stranger to espousing extreme rhetoric and behavior. Just two days after taking the oath of office, Miller praised Adolf Hitler in a PREPARED (!) speech in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, saying his views on indoctrinating youth should be emulated.

 

 

[OhForAGreavsie 6,058]

9 hours ago, Vesper said:

Outrage after Republican representative disparages Sikh prayer in the US House

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/us-house-prayer-republican-mary-miller

A Republican congresswoman is facing widespread backlash after saying that a Sikh should not have conducted a prayer in the US House.

Mary Miller, an Illinois representative, on Friday published – then deleted – a post on X saying that Giani Singh, a Sikh Granthi from southern New Jersey, should not have delivered the House’s morning prayer.

Miller at first mistakenly identified Singh as a Muslim and said that it was “deeply troubling” someone of that faith had been allowed to lead prayer in the House and it “should never have been allowed”, Miller posted on X.

“America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it,” Miller continued. “May God have mercy.”

Miller first edited her post to change Muslim to Sikh – then opted to delete it.

Her comments triggered swift outrage, with the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, saying: “It’s deeply troubling that such an ignorant and hateful extremist is serving in the United States Congress. That would be you, Mary.”

Similarly, David Valadao, a Republican congressman of California, said on Friday: “I’m troubled by my colleague’s remarks about this morning’s Sikh prayer, which have since been deleted. Throughout the country – and in the Central Valley – Sikh-Americans are valued and respected members of our communities, yet they continue to face harassment and discrimination.”

Jared Huffman, another Democratic US House member from California, wrote on X: “I often say that I serve in Congress with some of the greatest minds of the 18th century. With [representative] Miller I may need to take it back a few more centuries.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said on X: “It’s deeply troubling that someone with such contempt for religious freedom is allowed to serve in this body. This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as free nation, and I believe the conduct of its legislators should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.”

Grace Meng, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, also weighed in on Miller’s tweets, saying: “What’s deeply disturbing is the blatant ignorance and anti-Sikh, anti-Muslim xenophobia coming from my colleague across the aisle. There is no place in our country, and especially the halls of Congress, for this hate and intolerance.”

Meng went on to add: “The tweet may have been deleted, but we still have the receipts.”

The Congressional Asian Pacific American caucus (Capac) also condemned Miller, saying she had engaged in “anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim bigotry”.

“Sikhs and Muslims practice two separate and distinct religions, and conflating the two based on how someone looks is not only ignorant, but also racist,” Capac said in a statement.

The Sikh Coalition also responded on X, saying: “To be clear, deleting the tweet is not enough. Congresswoman Miller should apologize for her remarks – to both the Sikh and Muslim communities, because no one should be targeted on the basis of their identity.”

Similarly, the Hindu American Foundation said: “Whichever version of the tweet [Miller] was going with, it is racist, xenophobic and plainly un-American to lash out over a Sikh prayer. When you took your oath of office [congresswoman] Miller, you swore to uphold our constitution, whose first amendment prohibits your establishing an official religion or favoring one religion over another.”

Miller’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

 

same POS:

VIDEO: Mary Miller Praises Hitler, Says His Views on Indoctrinating Youth Should Be Emulated

June 26, 2022

Miller in a PREPARED speech in front of U.S. Capitol on 1/5/21: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said whoever has the youth has the future.”

Taylorville, IL — Mary Miller is no stranger to espousing extreme rhetoric and behavior. Just two days after taking the oath of office, Miller praised Adolf Hitler in a PREPARED (!) speech in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, saying his views on indoctrinating youth should be emulated.

 

 

America is sleep walking to its own destruction. That's already a disastrous situation but have people noticed how the right-wing lunatics are trying to reverse Britain's fading addiction to the religion drug? How they talk about restoring our judeo Christian values? It's intentional. They are deploying religion for its original purpose; a thought control mechanism. 

[Vesper 30,091]

TRUMP: The US could survive without almost anybody… except me.

 

Crazier than a shithouse rat

[OhForAGreavsie 6,058]

29 minutes ago, Vesper said:

TRUMP: The US could survive without almost anybody… except me.

 

Crazier than a shithouse rat

Wow! That genuinely made me laugh out loud. Hands up any American who would be willing to risk life without trump?

[Vesper 30,091]

What to expect in Rachel Reeves’s spend, spend, spending review

Labour is going big on infrastructure, the NHS and AI. Can the chancellor convince some voters we’re not back in austerity — and others that taxes won’t rise to pay for it?

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-rachel-reeves-spending-review-uk-budgets-9tmk9xmfh

As Rachel Reeves is so fond of telling her cabinet colleagues, she didn’t get into politics to talk about fiscal rules.

This week she will attempt to counter claims she has become the “austerity chancellor” by announcing hundreds of billions of pounds of investment.

The chancellor’s position on ruling out borrowing for day-to-day spending and not raising taxes again has fuelled speculation that she will introduce swingeing spending cuts. However, her team hopes that Wednesday’s spending review will be remembered more for the chancellor’s largesse than her Scrooge-like tendencies.

Despite announcing £40 billion in tax rises — including £25 billion from employer national insurance contributions — and changing the fiscal rules to allow her to borrow to invest, Reeves has so far failed to win much political credit for unlocking an additional £300 billion for investment. On Wednesday she hopes all that will change when she explains how that money will be spent over three years.

The centrepiece will be a £86 billion package for research and development to fund new drug treatments and investment in longer-lasting batteries and AI breakthroughs — up to £500 million will go directly to mayors to fund “innovation clusters” across the country.

The funding, worth more than £22.5 billion a year by 2029-30, will be given to Liverpool to accelerate drug discovery, Northern Ireland to develop defence equipment and south Wales to assist with the design of cutting-edge semiconductors that power devices such as mobile phones and electric cars. Alongside this, nearly £5 million is being invested to kick-start a partnership between the high-growth regions of Manchester and Cambridge, strengthening the link between these hubs of innovation to attract more business investment.

Long-planned transport and infrastructure projects, including the Sizewell C nuclear power plant and a new generation of mini-reactors, and a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester, will also be approved to fend off Reform UK.

Sir Keir Starmer and Reeves have been criticised for failing to construct a narrative about what this government is for. Since the local elections, when they lost two thirds of their council seats, they have clearly moved from insisting that they need to deal with the finances they inherited to conceding that they need to spend money to improve people’s lives.

This week Reeves will set the budgets of her cabinet colleagues’ departments, which will determine what the year-old Labour government can achieve in the next four years. It will be followed in a fortnight’s time by the industrial strategy as she attempts to give Labour MPs a better economic story after last month’s humiliating U-turn over winter fuel payments for pensioners.

The chancellor is said to have been heavily involved in the decision to extend free school meals to 500,000 more children whose parents are in receipt of universal credit and wants to see investment in crumbling school buildings so they are better than those in which she was taught. To that end, she is expected to fund dozens of new school buildings.

Schools will receive an extra £4.5 billion a year, taking funding for each pupil in England to its highest level yet, according to The Observer. This will pay for teachers’ pay rises announced by the government last month, and an overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities provision.

HM Revenue & Customs is to receive £500 million to overhaul its digital operation to allow AI to take notes and answer queries. The tech will instantly summarise calls to HM Revenue & Customs, so staff spend less time typing up notes and more time helping people. Millions of people will also be able to get instant answers about their tax affairs by consulting the “Ask HMRC” digital assistant.

This is projected to save HMRC about £200 million a year in efficiency savings and productivity gains by 2028-29. As part of an effort to save costs, HMRC is also planning to send 75 per cent fewer letters by 2028-29, saving about £50 million a year. A similar approach will be taken by the NHS, as appointment reminders, invitations, health screenings and test results will be sent to people’s phones, leading to 50 million fewer letters being sent out each year and savings of £200 million.

At present, according to the Treasury, HMRC handles approximately 100,000 calls each day, the DVLA processes about 45,000 letters daily and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs still manages more than 500 paper form-based services.

The Foreign Office will also soon be embracing the digital age. AI will be used to assist diplomatic briefings, while there are also ambitious plans being pioneered by spy agencies to combine files with open-source data to analyse a counterpart’s vulnerabilities and interests before a negotiation. This is expected to help to reduce the number of directors in London from 50 to 30.

On Thursday, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will give a speech at Mansion House that will include more details on the spending review. This is expected to include plans to spend more than £700 million on embassy buildings, including potentially the refurbishment of the one in Beijing.

Allocating billions of pounds is the easier part of the spending review for Reeves, but the squeeze on day-to-day spending is likely to dominate the headlines. Real-terms spending will grow by an average of 1.2 per cent a year over the three-year spending review period, well down on the 2.5 per cent over Labour’s first two years.

Among the Whitehall departments that have already been forced to make savings is the Department for Work and Pensions, which announced £3.4 billion in welfare cuts in April. The changes, which have prompted a backlash among Labour MPs, are due to be voted on before the end of the month. However, disability claimants could be given more time to seek support as part of a series of tweaks to the proposals to soften the blow, which could be announced as soon as this week. Any changes to the two-child benefit cap are not expected until the autumn budget.

The Department of Health and Social Care is expected to be the biggest winner with a boost of up to £30 billion at the expense of other public services. Since Labour came to power, the NHS has already had an additional £22.6 billion as a “down-payment” on the forthcoming ten-year plan. Significant amounts of the extra day-to-day spending cash will probably be diverted to pay awards for doctors and nurses.

With the increasing costs of medicines, technology and an ageing society there may be little left to fuel the health secretary Wes Streeting’s ambitions, which are due to be announced in the ten-year plan for the NHS next month.

Analysts claim that holding the Department of Health’s capital budget flat in real terms over the period may have serious consequences for the government’s new hospitals programme and existing NHS buildings.

Siva Anandaciva, director at the King’s Fund health think tank, said: “Dilapidated buildings and outdated equipment lead to poorer care for patients and severely hamstring efforts to improve how productive the NHS is.

“If the NHS’s access to long-term capital investment is going to be held down yet again, there simply won’t be enough money available to both replace the existing and increasingly unsafe buildings parts of the NHS use, while also building the modern community-based facilities the future health service will need if the government’s hopes to transform the health service are going to be realised.”

Reeves’s decision to prioritise health, after agreeing an increase in defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, has led to a series of rows with other cabinet ministers. And despite the defence lift, pressure on the budget is likely to continue. The Nato chief, Mark Rutte, who is meeting Starmer on Monday, is said to be pushing for members of the military alliance to commit 5 per cent towards defence-related spending at a summit this month. In reality, 3 per cent is more likely.

The chancellor and John Healey, the defence secretary, are said to back plans for a “defence, security and resilience bank”, modelled on institutions such as the World Bank, which could command as much as £100 billion in capital and would be funded by western governments.

This weekend, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, are still holding out over funding for police and councils, and have warned Reeves during heated negotiations that cuts will put some of the government’s pledges on crime and housing at risk. A source said: “Nothing’s settled until everything is settled and we are still working final things through with No 10 and the Treasury.”

Sources close to Cooper denied that she had had a “bust-up” with Reeves but admitted there had been “tough conversations”. The Treasury offered a front-loaded settlement under which there would be more money upfront but tighter budgets in the second and third years, according to a source familiar with the discussions. A senior Whitehall source blamed Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, for the last-minute negotiations with the outstanding departments.

Another source added: “If you want a glimpse into the dystopian AI future, where the world is run by autocratic robots devoid of any emotion or humanity, then you need to spend five minutes in a meeting with Darren Jones.”

It’s not just within the cabinet where wariness of the Treasury is growing. The public now trust Reform as much as Labour on the economy despite Starmer warning that the party’s sums don’t add up and comparing Nigel Farage to Liz Truss.

According to a poll of more than 2,000 people by the think tank More in Common, voters were as likely to trust Reform as Labour on the economy (both at 22 per cent). In a head-to-head between Starmer and Farage, the public were split; 51 per cent chose the prime minister and 49 per cent chose Farage.

Britons tended to think Reform posed a threat to the economy, but many thought it was worth the risk. By a margin of 46 per cent to 29 per cent, voters thought that a Reform government would pose a risk to the economy — but 40 per cent said that Reform could not be any worse than the other parties. By a large margin of 49 per cent to 15 per cent, voters supported Reform’s policies on tax and welfare.

A quarter of Britons thought we were returning to austerity, and a further 27 per cent thought we never left. Only 22 per cent said that we were not returning to austerity. In slightly better news for Reeves, the perception of public services and public finances slightly improved compared with October when the government released its first budget, although views on the economy remained very negative. Satisfaction with public services rose from minus 56 to minus 37, and satisfaction with public finances rose from minus 61 to minus 49. But satisfaction with the economy remained at minus 56.

Luke Tryl, the director of More in Common, said: “After a rocky first year, avoidable missteps and U-turns, it’s not an understatement to say this spending review is a make-or-break moment for the government’s relationship with the public.

“The good news [for Labour] is the public have low expectations for the spending review with most assuming it won’t make Britain any better; the bad news is many people are now starting to look at Nigel Farage’s offer on the economy.

“It’s striking that despite voters’ concerns about Reform’s inexperience they are now as trusted as Labour on the economy, and Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer are neck-and-neck on economic competence.

“If Labour are to have a hope of arresting Reform’s momentum they will have to use next week to show that they get it, are taking real steps to improve living standards, improve public services and shielding the most vulnerable from the impact of cuts.”

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, described the spending review as a “growth test” for Whitehall. He is among a group of mayors across England advocating for the devolution of powers to local authorities to implement visitor levies on overnight stays, aiming to boost tourist infrastructure and regional growth.

Andy Burnham

The proposed visitor levy, similar to those in Scotland and Wales, would involve a small charge on overnight accommodations. The Liverpool city region estimates it could generate nearly £11 million annually. 

Burnham said: “The spending review is a growth test for Whitehall and I’m waiting and hoping it passes it. Its usual modus operandi is to trade in fudges and play the long game while keeping hold of all the cards. The problem is growth doesn’t come from that.”

Edited June 8 by Vesper

[Vesper 30,091]

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

6 hours ago, Vesper said:

Trump has caused the LA riots. 

For years every time I have been there you see queues of Hispanics outside all the large corporate shops and warehouses early in the morning -its cheap disposable labour for the billionaires.

Sending in troops to cause trouble, and letting the rich employers off the hook. Classic tactics by the idle rich.

 

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the images of children being killed during Israel’s war on Gaza are “painful” and have left him “deeply troubled”.

The Spanish manager of the English Premier League club urged the world to speak up instead of choosing to stay silent “in the face of injustice”

“It’s so painful what we see in Gaza. It hurts all my body,” Guardiola said.

“Maybe we think that when we see four-year-old boys and girls being killed by bombs or being killed at a hospital, which is not a hospital any more, it’s not our business. Yeah, fine, it’s not our business. But be careful – the next four- or five-year-old kids will be ours.”

 Half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are children.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 17,400 children, including 15,600 who have been identified, in Gaza. Many more remain buried under the rubble and are presumed dead.

AP Press

[Vesper 30,091]

UK places sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers for inciting West Bank violence

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face travel bans and asset freezes as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway also impose measures

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/10/uk-and-allies-sanction-two-far-right-israeli-ministers-itamar-ben-gvir-bezalel-smotrich-over-monstrous-gaza-comments

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

 

[KEVINAA 129]

Everyone it's happening.

Israel declared state of emergency against Iran and have attacked Iran

WW3 NOW AND ECONOMIC CRASH HAPPENING.

 

 

 

[Fernando 6,585]

12 hours ago, KEVINAA said:

Everyone it's happening.

Israel declared state of emergency against Iran and have attacked Iran

WW3 NOW AND ECONOMIC CRASH HAPPENING.

 

 

 

How many times you been calling end of the world and you been wrong. 

lol

[KEVINAA 129]

14 minutes ago, Fernando said:

How many times you been calling end of the world and you been wrong. 

lol

When I say end of the world it means end of current world system and not millions or billions dying.

1984 digital blockchain crypto enslavement under new money purchasing laws and new curfew lockdowns where everything is monitored and logged under computer AI surveillance.

Edited June 13 by KEVINAA

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

17 hours ago, KEVINAA said:

Everyone it's happening.

Israel declared state of emergency against Iran and have attacked Iran

WW3 NOW AND ECONOMIC CRASH HAPPENING.

 

 

 

All part of A Clean Break. A plan devised by US Neocons in 1996 (you can look it up) for Benjamin Netanyahu -real name Miliekowsky.

 Former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle was the "Study Group Leader," but the final report included ideas from Douglas Feith, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks Jr., Jonathan Torop, David Wurmser, Meyrav Wurmser, and IASPS president Robert Loewenberg

The introduction specifically proposes new policies:

Rather than pursuing a "comprehensive peace" with the Arab world, Israel should work  to "contain, destabilize, and roll-back" those entities that they see as threats.

Changing the nature of relations with the Palestinians, specifically reserving the right of "hot pursuit" anywhere within Palestinian territory

A Clean Break involved Israeli proxy wars firstly by bombing and invading Iraq. Then Hezbollah. Then to totally destabilise Syria, then finally to bomb and attack Iran.