ERIC ZUESSE—The “Supplemental” this year (Ukraine+Gaza+Taiwan) totals to $95.3B, which causes the original $886B ‘Defense’ (or Aggression) budget for this fiscal year to be: $886B+752.5B+95.3B=$1,733,800 billion, or $1.734T. However, even that is incomplete, because the entire U.S. intelligence community, CIA, DIA, and the many others, is classified, its budgets are secret, hidden from the public, and, of course, these are also important parts of the U.S. military; so, perhaps annual U.S. military spending is now around $2T. On 12 March 2024, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence headlined “DNI RELEASES FY 2025 BUDGET REQUEST FIGURE FOR THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM” and publicly revealed (in accord with a 2007 law) “the aggregate amount of $73.4 billion in requested appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2025 National Intelligence Program (NIP),” and on 20 April 2024 I shall request from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community the IC’s latest Audit Report in order to determine how complete that $73.4B figure is. I start with the assumption that it is the bare minimum of what the complete number is, and that what the maximum might be, and what the reality is, have remained top secret in this dictatorship.
ANTIWAR
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How wildlife crossings protect both animals and people
5 minutes readP. GREANVILLE—This project, which as an added benefit creates jobs in the US, something badly needed at this point, costs a pittance compared to the obscene sums (such as the US$ 95 billion recently approved by our non-representative political class) to be squandered on repulsively criminal regimes in Ukraine and Israel, not to mention to pick an idiotic and equally criminal fight with China. Criminal because a war with China will be mind-boggingly destructive to everyone on this planet, including Americans, who—assuming they survive— will see their already tenuous standard of living plummet dramatically as a result of a conflict “of choice” started by the US establishment.
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For What Is Worth: Fact Sheet— Ballistic vs. Cruise Missiles
12 minutes readEDITOR—Missiles and rockets have been around for a long time, as part of artillery and—as in the case of ICBMs—as the ultimate strategic weapons. But now they are being used in more flexible ways, as the Ukraine War battlefields and the recent Iranian barrage on Israel have shown. It’s now a fact that tactical missiles have made much of the billion-dollar US and NATO blue water navies obsolete. The humble but brave Houthis have demonstrated that, for example. Think of what the Russians or Chinese could do. And drones, missiles and other forms of relatively inexpensive weapons have also significantly damaged the formidable Russian navy in the Black Sea. The world is changing,
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SCOTT RITTER—The US had deployed at least one, and possibly two, THAAD missile batteries to Israel at the time of the Iranian missile attack. In addition to assisting the THAAD missiles in shooting down incoming threats, the AN/TPY-2 radar data was integrated with Israeli radar data and other technical intelligence collected by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization’s (BMDO) network of early warning satellites deployed for the sole purpose of monitoring and reporting Iranian ballistic missile launches. This integrated early warning/surveillance/tracking system was tied into a multi-layered missile defense architecture which included the US THAAD and Israeli Arrow 2, Arrow 3, advanced Patriot, and David’s Sling anti-ballistic missile interceptor systems.
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SCOTT RITTER AND GARLAND NIXON JOIN ON RUSSIA CRUSHING UKRAINE, ISRAEL LOSING IN MIDDLE EAST
by Scott Ritter71 minutes readSCOTT RITTER—A centerpiece of Scott’s impassioned denunciation of Zionist perfidy is the murder of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old. “Layan,” Mohammed Salem Hamada, the relative in Germany who placed the call later recounted, “told me that her father and my aunt—her mother is my aunt—were shot and they are all dead. She said the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers were shooting them and she also told me that the tanks are getting closer to them. Layan explained that she had been shot in the leg, as had 6-year-old Hind. Layan told Mohammed that “she didn’t know how bad the injury or injuries were because she was covered—all of them were covered—in blood.” Layan then handed the phone to Hind, who told Mohammed “Please help me. Please come and rescue us. Rescue me.” Mohammed broke down. “I was literally crying because I was unable to do anything, and I think all of my family were in the same situation.”
His wife took the phone away from the sobbing man. “Sweetheart,” she told Hind, “don’t be scared, God loves you and he will take care of you.”