Current Events March 20-23

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Umm, WTF?

Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War With China​

Giving Elon Musk access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets is a major expansion of his role as an adviser to President Trump and highlights his conflicts of interest.

The Pentagon is scheduled on Friday to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, two U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Another official said the briefing will be China focused, without providing additional details. A fourth official confirmed Mr. Musk was to be at the Pentagon on Friday, but offered no details.

Providing Mr. Musk access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets would be a dramatic expansion of his already extensive role as an adviser to President Trump and leader of his effort to slash spending and purge the government of people and policies they oppose.

It would also bring into sharp relief the questions about Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest as he ranges widely across the federal bureaucracy while continuing to run businesses that are major government contractors. In this case, Mr. Musk, the billionaire chief executive of both SpaceX and Tesla, is a leading supplier to the Pentagon and has extensive financial interests in China.

Gift link 🎁 Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War With China
 
www.newsweek.com

Finland, Denmark issue travel warnings for US

Copenhagen and Helsinki follow other European countries in beefing up its travel guidance for citizens going to America after a spate of detentions at customs.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com


Denmark and Finland have revised their travel guidance for transgender individuals planning to visit the United States.

Newsweek has contacted the ministry for comment via email.

Why It Matters​

The move follows similar guidance updates by other European nations, including Britain and Germany, in apparent response to President Donald Trump's large-scale crackdown on illegal immigration and trans rights.

Trump has rolled back rights for transgender and nonbinary people with a flurry of executive orders since he returned to the White House. On his first day back in office, Trump issued an order stating that the government would recognize only two sexes: male and female.
 
nycfan said:
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“… Lawyers at the firm described starkly different internal reactions to the decision. Some expressed despair over what they deemed a morally indefensible capitulation, fearing that in an effort to save the firm, leadership may have harmed it by signaling to clients that it can be coerced. Others rationalized the decision as a small humiliation that didn’t fundamentally alter much of anything; the firm would continue doing what it was doing, minus the threat of immolation.

In an email to staff, obtained by The Bulwark, the head of the firm, Brad Karp, said that the commitments made to Trump—such as representing clients of various political affiliations and contributing $40 million in pro bono legal services to Trump-approved causes—were consistent with those outlined by one of the firm’s founders: Simon H. Rifkind. Karp pointed to a 1963 “Statement of Firm Principles” in which Judge Rifkind wrote that “we believe in maintaining, by affirmative efforts, a membership of partners and associates reflecting a wide variety of religious, political, ethnic and social backgrounds.”

The Karp email was remarkably nonspecific, however. It included an attachment that claimed to be the “final agreement between Paul, Weiss and the Administration.” But that attachment was just the five bullet points that Trump himself had posted (and a copy of a memo obtained by Business Insider suggests that the firm may be less strict than Trump suggested in purging DEI from its hiring practices). Elsewhere in the email, Karp pleaded with recipients to not discuss the matter publicly.…”
 


“… against the Department of Government Efficiency. Acting commissioner Leland Dudek alleged to The Washington Post the SSA cannot comply with a federal ruling—meant to block DOGE’s access to sensitive data within the administration—from Thursday because it would handcuff the work of his entire staff.

District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ruled that Social Security officials are barred from sharing Americans’ personal information with DOGE staffers and its “affiliates” for two weeks.

Dudek claimed Hollander’s ruling was too broad because, at this point, any SSA staffer could be considered an “affiliate” of DOGE as they are all obligated to cooperate with Elon Musk’s service.

Dudek told the Post that government attorneys will file an affidavit asking Hollander to clarify language in her ruling, which he criticized as being “ambiguous,” “overly broad” and “weirdly written.”

If she is unable to clear things up, Dudek threatens he will “just start to shut it down,” referring to SSA, adding that he does not “have much of a choice here.” …”
 
nycfan said:


“… against the Department of Government Efficiency. Acting commissioner Leland Dudek alleged to The Washington Post the SSA cannot comply with a federal ruling—meant to block DOGE’s access to sensitive data within the administration—from Thursday because it would handcuff the work of his entire staff.

District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ruled that Social Security officials are barred from sharing Americans’ personal information with DOGE staffers and its “affiliates” for two weeks.

Dudek claimed Hollander’s ruling was too broad because, at this point, any SSA staffer could be considered an “affiliate” of DOGE as they are all obligated to cooperate with Elon Musk’s service.

Dudek told the Post that government attorneys will file an affidavit asking Hollander to clarify language in her ruling, which he criticized as being “ambiguous,” “overly broad” and “weirdly written.”

If she is unable to clear things up, Dudek threatens he will “just start to shut it down,” referring to SSA, adding that he does not “have much of a choice here.” …”
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More destruction of 75 years of American alliances

America First = America Alone
 


SBA is already a slow agency. Now they are cutting 43% of their staff and adding a $1.5 Trillion program to their workload.
 
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