Donald Trump has continued his proud tradition of trying to force people to pay for things they are not liable for. This time, rather than attempting to cajole the Mexican Government into agreeing to pay for his wall, he has turned his sights upon the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. According to sources in the German Government, the President handed Chancellor Merkel the bill during private talks in Washington. German sources have decried the move as intimidation. NATO insiders have also criticized the move as Ivo Daalder used the Presidents favored communication platform to explain to him how NATO actually works. Mr Daalder tweeted “sorry Mr President, that’s not how NATO works” and “This is not a financial transaction, where NATO countries pay the US to defend them. It is part of our treaty commitment”.
Mr Trump appears to have come to the £300 billion figure by asking aides to calculate how often German military spending fell below 2% since 2002. It should be noted that the 2% commitment was only made in 2014. The total figure seems to be around £250billion plus £50 Billion of interest.
Low military spending by NATO members is one of the Presidents favorite talking points. He has claimed that the US has been forced to bear the brunt of the costs and is getting a bad deal out of NATO. To understand why so many experts on NATO feel that this view is flawed you have to understand what NATO is and what it isn’t.
NATO, in its own words, is a political and military alliance that was born out of the Cold War. Its primary goal is to promote democratic values and cooperation on defense and security issues. NATO also has the power to take military action as a block either under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nation Treaty. The alliance has grown significantly since the cold war and now encompasses many Ex-Soviet states, much to Russia’s ire. NATO is generally viewed as one of the cornerstones of Western Security and NATO members cooperate on a wide range of activities, including counter-terrorism and peace-keeping operations.
That being said, there is some legitimacy to Trump’s claims that other NATO members aren’t pulling their weight. There are only 5 countries that are meeting the 2% target and the US contributes a whopping $664 billion, which is more than everyone else put together. This is in part due to Austerity budget policies in the European Union and in part because the US is a particularly large economy. It should be noted that in many nations military spending has been increased following the 2014 summit and looks to continue in the right direction.
While the US does contribute a large amount to NATOs budget, President Trump’s comments and actions towards America’s allies have made many countries nervous that America will not come to their aid, a particular worry for Eastern European and Baltic states in the face of a resurgent, aggressive Russia.
The fact of the matter is that a secure, stable, cooperative Europe is worth far more to America than the 300 Billion dollar figure Trump has conjured from thin air. For the sake of show, Trump is jeopardizing one of America’s, and Europe’s, most essential alliances.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.
The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.
Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.
When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.
They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.
What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.
The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.
According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.
As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.
The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.
The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.
So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.
At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:
However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.
Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.
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