Whats going on in the World

1738780028655.png
 
www.foxnews.com

'Sesame Street in Iraq': USAID's 'wasteful and dangerous' spending exposed by senator

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, published a list of USAID funding projects over the years, including pottery classes in Morocco and a version of "Sesame Street" in Iraq.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com

"From funneling tax dollars to risky research in Wuhan to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID is one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington… all around the world," Ernst posted to X on Monday before rattling off a handful of examples.

Ernst highlighted that the agency "authorized a whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq."

In another example Ernst highlighted, USAID was found to have provided millions of dollars to farmers in Afghanistan in an effort to get them to grow food instead of poppy fields and opium.

The plan, however, backfired and led to an increase in poppy production, and thus opium production, during the war in Afghanistan.

In another example, Ernst said USAID spent $2 million to fund "Moroccan pottery classes and promotion." Morocco has for thousands of years created pottery, dating back to 6,000 B.C.

The report found that between 2014 and 2021, U.S. taxpayer funds were redirected to entities, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party. The three groups each received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government "through seven subawards," according to the report.
 
wader said:
Opinion

Trump Roasted Over Huge Catch in His Canada and Mexico Tariff “Wins”​


Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour trade war with Canada and Mexico momentarily scrambled the U.S. economy in exchange for, apparently, nothing that America’s two neighbors weren’t already likely to offer.

Trump temporarily backed down Monday from imposing a 25 percent tariff hike on goods from Mexico after speaking with the nation’s leader, President Claudia Sheinbaum. In exchange for the dropped tariffs, Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard to deter drug trafficking between the two nations. But journalists were quick to point out that previous administrations had been able to get Mexico to send more troops and money without the volatile economic threat of tariffs.

“It seems like the trick to negotiating with Trump is to realize he doesn’t have any idea what the current facts are,” posted Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell on BlueSky. “‘Oh you want 10,000 troops?’ says world leader who already deployed 15K. ‘Great 10k it is.’”

Issuing 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border is almost routine at this point for America’s southern neighbor. In 2019, Mexico sent 15,000 troops to the border, and sent another 10,000 in 2021 to help with migration. In 2022, Mexico agreed to invest $1.5 billion to help Joe Biden upgrade the border, and in 2023 implemented 15 administrative actions to assist in America’s deportation of migrants.

Trump was also roasted for his lackluster arrangement with Canada, which saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commit to a $1.3 billion border plan—that was arranged in December. Trudeau also pledged to appoint a “fentanyl czar” and list cartels as terrorists, though just a fraction of America’s black-market fentanyl imports cross the nation’s northern border. Approximately 0.2 percent of America’s fentanyl seizures occur at the Canadian border, according to federal statistics.

During an appearance on CNN, Rampell summed up the situation nicely, arguing during a network roundtable that “Trump is trying to repackage the status quo as a victory.”

“That’s what the leaders of these foreign countries are learning,” Rampell said. “You don’t actually have to give Trump anything. You have to let him announce victory on TV.”

Further still, Rampell posited that Trump had, almost overnight, “tarnished our relationships with our allies, whose help we need to rein in China,” all while destabilizing the economy and making it an unattractive landscape for future investment.

View attachment 91019
Click to expand...
1738795950437.png
 
www.foxnews.com

Trump executive order on protecting women's sports draws response from NCAA

The NCAA on Wednesday responded to President Donald Trump's executive order banning biological men from competing in women's sports, saying it will review the order.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com

NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the executive order in a statement, saying it provided a "clear, national standard."

“This doesn't have to be long. It's all about common sense," Trump said before signing the order, adding that "women's sports will be only for women. The war on women's sports is over."
 
wader said:
Opinion

Trump Roasted Over Huge Catch in His Canada and Mexico Tariff “Wins”​


Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour trade war with Canada and Mexico momentarily scrambled the U.S. economy in exchange for, apparently, nothing that America’s two neighbors weren’t already likely to offer.

Trump temporarily backed down Monday from imposing a 25 percent tariff hike on goods from Mexico after speaking with the nation’s leader, President Claudia Sheinbaum. In exchange for the dropped tariffs, Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard to deter drug trafficking between the two nations. But journalists were quick to point out that previous administrations had been able to get Mexico to send more troops and money without the volatile economic threat of tariffs.

“It seems like the trick to negotiating with Trump is to realize he doesn’t have any idea what the current facts are,” posted Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell on BlueSky. “‘Oh you want 10,000 troops?’ says world leader who already deployed 15K. ‘Great 10k it is.’”

Issuing 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border is almost routine at this point for America’s southern neighbor. In 2019, Mexico sent 15,000 troops to the border, and sent another 10,000 in 2021 to help with migration. In 2022, Mexico agreed to invest $1.5 billion to help Joe Biden upgrade the border, and in 2023 implemented 15 administrative actions to assist in America’s deportation of migrants.

Trump was also roasted for his lackluster arrangement with Canada, which saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commit to a $1.3 billion border plan—that was arranged in December. Trudeau also pledged to appoint a “fentanyl czar” and list cartels as terrorists, though just a fraction of America’s black-market fentanyl imports cross the nation’s northern border. Approximately 0.2 percent of America’s fentanyl seizures occur at the Canadian border, according to federal statistics.

During an appearance on CNN, Rampell summed up the situation nicely, arguing during a network roundtable that “Trump is trying to repackage the status quo as a victory.”

“That’s what the leaders of these foreign countries are learning,” Rampell said. “You don’t actually have to give Trump anything. You have to let him announce victory on TV.”

Further still, Rampell posited that Trump had, almost overnight, “tarnished our relationships with our allies, whose help we need to rein in China,” all while destabilizing the economy and making it an unattractive landscape for future investment.

View attachment 91019
Click to expand...
@dsedy
@longcast

1738803855840.png
 
📱 Fish Smarter with the NYAngler App!
Launch Now

Members online

Total: 494 (members: 12, guests: 482)

Fishing Reports

Latest posts

Latest articles

Back
Top