Daily News 09/24
Daily News 09/24
Daily News Archives Since June 2026
Did you know that the US military is the world’s biggest polluter?
When a bomb explodes, someone profits. And when someone profits, bombs claim more unseen victims. Every dollar spent on a bomb is a dollar not spent saving a life from a preventable death, a dollar not spent curing cancer, a dollar not spent educating children. That’s why, so long ago, retired five-star general and President Dwight D. Eisenhower rightly called spending on bombs and all things military a “theft.” — The Military-Industrial Complex Is Killing Us All
Start with the fact that, thanks to the MIC’s ability to hijack the federal budget, total annual military spending is far larger than most people realize: around $1,500,000,000,000 ($1.5 trillion). Contrary to what the MIC scares us into believing, that incomprehensibly large figure is monstrously out of proportion to the few military threats facing the United States. One-and-a-half trillion dollars is about double what Congress spends annually on all non-military purposes combined. Calling this massive transfer of wealth a “theft” is no exaggeration, since it’s taken from pressing needs like ending hunger and homelessness, offering free college and pre-K, providing universal health care, and building a green energy infrastructure to save ourselves from climate change. Virtually every major problem touched by federal resources could be ameliorated or solved with fractions of the cash claimed by the MIC. The money is there. — The Military-Industrial Complex Is Killing Us All Freeing Ourselves from the Monster Destroying Our Planet and Our Futures
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. . . . American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. . . . This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. — President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
Video: Wealth & Poverty Class 1: The paradox of widening inequality
Guterres Hailed for Fiery Outgoing Speech Demanding Polluters Pay for Climate Crisis
Video: Hurricane Polo Is Forcing Scientists To Talk About Category 6 – And It’s Terrifying
Video: WATCH: US Delegation Walks Out During Iran President’s UN Speech | Pezeshkian Hits Back At Trump
Video: Alex Krainer: Bond Market Collapse & the New Chinese Economic Order
Video: All HELL BREAKS LOOSE as EUROPE WARNS of WW3!!!MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on European countries preparing for an intensifying Russian hybrid war across Europe as leaders warn about growing threats from cyberattacks, sabotage, drones, and attacks on critical infrastructure. Meiselas reports on the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, and other European nations building up their defenses and resiliency as the Trump administration moves to reduce America’s military footprint and support in Europe.
Another Global Warming Elephant in the Room: The Pentagon Military Industrial Complex! The United States is ranked #1 in global warming emitions (Ranking Global Warming Contributions by Country) but, actually, the United States has contributed far more global warming admission, if you consider the 800 U.S. military bases and wars, throughout the world. From The Military Pumps Out Staggering Quantities of Toxic Waste, Water and Air Pollution and Radiation Environmentalists are ignoring the elephant in the room … the world’s largest polluter: . . . The Pentagon is also one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world … and yet has a blanket exemption from all greenhouse gas treaties.The defense department also uses open-air burn pits which send a parade of horribles into the air. Sea life is not exempt. And the military has long been is a flagrant user of chemical weapons and depleted uranium . . . which can trash ecosystems and human health. And Despite our unorthodox presidential election, America’s overseas military bases are largely taken for granted in today’s foreign policy debates. The U.S. maintains a veritable empire of military bases throughout the world— about 800 of them in more than 70 countries. Many view our bases as a symbol of our status as the dominant world power. But America’s forward-deployed military posture incurs substantial costs and disadvantages, exposing the U.S. to vulnerabilities and unintended consequences. (See:Why We Should Close America’s Overseas Military Bases)
China approves 2026-2030 blueprint, maps out high-quality path toward modernizationChina’s national lawmakers on Thursday approved a development blueprint for the 2026-2030 period, marking a pivotal step in the modernization drive of nearly one-fifth of the world’s population. As the world’s second-largest economy, China charts its course through medium- and long-term plans that clarify policy direction, development goals, and reform pathways, offering a degree of predictability that contrasts with governments fixated on short electoral cycles. “For us, the five-year plan is more than a macro blueprint,” said Ginger Cheng, CEO of DBS China. “It serves as a ‘metronome’ for calibrating our strategic rhythm, ensuring our investment pulse remains synchronized with the key cycles of national development.” The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development sets a slew of goals, with high-quality development high on the agenda. Key indicators span areas including economic development, innovation, public well-being, green transition, and security. Many of the indicators focus on people’s livelihoods, sending a clear signal that development is ultimately meant to benefit the people
Defense/War Spending: $Trillions to Corruption: Captured by Design: Rethinking Corruption in the Military-Industrial System Corruption in the arms trade comes in many forms and is therefore notoriously difficult to define. To guide the Corruption Tracker (CT) case research, we adopt a working definition from Transparency International: “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” It has broadly been applied by much of civil society, academia, and governmental or international bodies, such as Europol, U.S. Office of Government Ethics, European Commission, and the World Economic Forum. In a lot of anti-corruption work, the Transparency International (TI) definition is a useful one. It does not reduce the scope of corruption to money exchanging hands, and allows a reasonably broad level of interpretation. As the basis for case selection criteria, it has been very useful for the CT. Cases are prioritized for research based on team capacity, the quality of data in the public domain, and topical relevance. While this means the data at our disposal is far from randomized, the CT is still the broadest existing database of corruption in the arms trade, and meaningful conclusions can be drawn from the data held. By analyzing the cases and trends that have emerged from the CT over the years, patterns can be identified around how corruption operates within the arms trade. The findings from the CT highlight the limitations of current approaches that focus primarily on the process of corruption. This section will explain why TI’s definition falls short and proposes a new framework for analyzing corruption in the arms trade. From Entrusted Power to Unquestioned Influence. The experience of the CT over the past five years has made it clear that this predominant framework for addressing corruption has some significant limitations. The first part of the problem is that corruption is sometimes treated as an unfortunate side-issue of the global arms trade. “Entrusted power” can be power that is given within the public sphere or within a corporation, but it implies a level of “trust,” a level of legitimacy for holding this power. In reality, in a largely western, privatized arms trade, executives oriented toward profit for their corporations are given a disproportionate amount of access to public power. Almost by definition, they are using access to public power and access to officials entrusted with power in the public space for private gain. Yet, business executives, lobbyists, and middlemen were never legitimately entrusted with this public power. Rather, they can hide behind official decision makers when things go wrong, concealing the role they play in creating the outcomes they believe will be beneficial to them.
A Government Agency That Fails a Financial Audit is Wide open for Corruption!: Pentagon fails financial audit for 8th year in a row
‘Incredible Story of Corruption’: Bombshell Report Puts Susan Collins at Center of Massive Bribery Scheme ProPublica reported that the US senator from Maine, now running for a sixth term, was the “most important patron” of a defense company accused of bribing members of Congress for federal contracts.
Mass Protest Planned Against Netanyahu’s UN Speech in NYC Thursday
Trump’s FBI Scrapped Bribery Investigation Linked to Sen. Susan Collins
US delegation walks out as Iran’s Pezeshkian angrily responds to Trump at UN General Assembly – live Iranian leader says ‘US president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism’
El Niño is Here: Time to Act on Urban Heat Resilience
Huge El Niño projected to cause 450,000 deaths by FebruaryNew report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the climate crisis
Outgoing UN chief says polluters have treated atmosphere like an ‘open sewer’António Guterres laments world leaders’ inaction and says oil and gas firms ‘must pay’ for climate devastation
The Only Data Centers I Support are Public Libraries!
Vance Fraud Task Force Condemned as ‘Smokescreen’ for Booting 700,000 More People Off Healthcare