…At least as far back as 2023 a #DoD memo, also seen by NPR, prohibited use of mobile apps for even "controlled unclassified information," which is many degrees less important than information about on-going #military operations.
There's…no precedent for the heads of #Defense, #State, #Intelligence & #NationalSecurity to be sharing such sensitive military intelligence in a forum that was known to be unsecured.
DOGE’s Supposed Savings Are About to Cost the US a Lot of Money
The IRS is bracing for a huge hit to its revenue thanks to Elon Musk’s cuts.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193093/irs-revenue-elon-musk-doge-cuts
" #DOGE directed staff cuts at the agency have sparked fears that #US tax revenue could plummet by 10%, or $500 billion...
Last year, the #IRS collected $5.1 trillion, w/ $825 billion going to the #Defense Dept. Such a massive loss would hobble #government services or increase the national deficit"
The #Senate Select Cmte on #Intelligence hearing is a regular briefing intelligence ofcls provide #Congress on worldwide threats & was scheduled before #JeffGoldberg’s report from The Atlantic.
But the controversy is likely to dominate the session.
Testifying:
#DNI Tulsi Gabbard
#CIA Dir John Ratcliffe
Timothy D. Haugh, #NSA
#Defense Intelligence Agency dir Jeffrey A. Kruse
#FBI director Kash Patel
#NationalSecurity #USpol #geopolitics
https://www.c-span.org/event/senate-committee/dni-director-gabbard-fbi-director-patel-other-security-officials-testfy-on-global-threats/431845
Rearmament is an opportunity for capital to obtain reductions in welfare and public services, at the cost of lower profitability.
Chatham House: “Politicians will have to brace themselves to reclaim money through cuts to sickness benefits, pensions and healthcare.”
Britain’s finance minister Rachel Reeves, who has been steadily cutting spending on child credits, winter payments for the aged and disability benefits, announced that the remit of the Labour government’s new National Wealth Fund would be changed to let it invest in defence.
More military spending spurs growth but can damage the ‘health’ of the capitalist accumulation process: https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2025/03/22/from-welfare-to-warfare-military-keynesianism/
#Musk Is Positioned to Profit Off Billions in New Government Contracts
Within the #Trump admin’s #Defense Dept, #ElonMusk’s #SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the #Pentagon could move #military cargo rapidly around the globe.
In the #Commerce Dept, SpaceX’s #Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal govt’s $42B rural #broadband push, after being largely shut out during the #Biden era.
#kleptocracy #broligarchy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/politics/spacex-contracts-musk-doge-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=E7E65CB6-8C02-416C-97B6-4C61119E4373
"Art of the deal" Trump thought by bullying our allies to spend more on defense, it would be US defense industries that would benefit.
Shot, chaser:
Appearing in the Oval w/ #Defense Secy #PeteHegseth, #Trump said,“I've decided that the #SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by #KellyLoeffler, a terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large,"Trump said.
[recall #KellyLoeffler was embroiled in an #InsiderTrading investigation during #COVID after Trump repeatedly downplayed the #pandemic she & other #Republicans invested in #PPE that was in high demand after it spread unchecked]
Donald Trump has rejected the notion that Elon Musk should be given access to top-secret U.S. plans for a potential war with China, and denied a report that such a briefing had been planned to be held at the Pentagon. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/22/world/politics/trump-denies-musk-china-briefing-report/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #donaldtrump #elonmusk #china #defense
At last Australians can vote for a smart defence policy that's actually about defence, made in Australia, rather than paying a fortune for attack machines from the Untied States that they can switch on and off remotely.
#auspol #australia #defense #politics
Edit fixed broken link
https://greens.org.au/news/media-release/4-billion-sovereign-defence-capacity
#TalbottVTrump — the case regarding US #military #transgender #ServiceMembers — update:
DC US District Court Judge Ana C Reyes during today’s hearing told #DOJ she that she wouldn’t be "gaslit" by them when they claimed that their ban on transgender people in the military isn't actually a "ban."
She pointed to a post by Secy of #Defense #PeteHegseth in which he literally called it a ban.
"You're saying one thing in public. You're saying a different thing in court," Reyes said.
The Pentagon is set to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, officials have said, giving him access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/21/world/politics/musk-china-war-plan-briefing/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #elonmusk #donaldtrump #china #us #defense
to hegseth: verb (transitive); to show up drunk and break things.
I hegseth
you hegseth
he, she, they, it hegseths
we hegseth
all y’all hegseth
they hegseth
past perfective: hegsethed
present progressive: hegsething
example sentence: He is hegsething the DoD into total ineptitude.
It does not stop. And the headlines downplay the severity of what should be posted as a Red Alert. #Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret US Plan for Potential War With #China. Providing Elon Musk with access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded #military secrets would be a major expansion of his role as an adviser to President #Trump. It would also highlight his conflicts of interest. We Have No Bomb Shelters! #pentagon #nationalsecurity #war #warfare #defense https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/musk-pentagon-briefing-china-war-plan.html
hegseth just killed, among other things, "$9 million to create 'equitable' artificial intelligence."
"'I need lethal machine learning models, not equitable machine learning models,' Hegseth said."
You f-ing noob, lethality without clarity on what you're killing is worse than useless, you tool.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5206516-pentagon-cancels-wasteful-spending/
‘People Are Scared’: Inside #CISA as It Reels From #TrumpPurge
Employees at the #Cybersecurity & #Infrastructure #Security Agency…are struggling to protect the #US while the #Trump admin dismisses their colleagues & poisons…partnerships.
#MassLayoffs & weak leadership are taking a severe toll on the US govt’s #cyber #defense agency, undermining its ability to protect America from…adversaries bent on crippling infrastructure & #ransomware gangs…bleeding #SmallBusiness dry.
https://archive.is/2025.03.13-143433/https://www.wired.com/story/inside-cisa-under-trump/
Since #Trump’s election, #Canada has been increasingly aligning itself more closely w/partners across the Atlantic, seeking to diversify #trading partners & #defense #allies away from its core relationship w/the #UnitedStates.
In a document prepared by the #EU to lay out the plans for its #defense initiative, Canada was explicitly mentioned, hinting to the talks to absorb the country into the EU #military industry project.
2 ofcls, one from the #EU & one from #Canada, w/direct knowledge of the discussions said detailed talks were underway to incorporate Canada into the EU’s new #defense initiative. The goal is to boost the EU’s defense industry & eventually offer a credible alternative to the #US, which is now dominant.
Specifically, the ofcls said, Canada would be able to become part of the European #military manufacturing roster, marketing its industrial facilities to build European systems….
Je me souviens 
