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Merged USAID: is it really a bunch of crazy leftists? / Trump Was Absolutely Right to Shut Down USAID

the way i see it, the problem is all these unelected bureaucrats with no accountability, and the only solution to that is an unelected bureaucrat with no accountability
 
We have a foreign-born person rummaging through sensitive government data who has business interests with a foreign power hostile to U.S. interests, hasn’t received the proper security clearances, and has a personal interest in undermining the agency he is currently dismantling.

And this is fine with “America first” Trump supporters.
 
johnny karate said:
We have a foreign-born person rummaging through sensitive government data who has business interests with a foreign power hostile to U.S. interests, hasn’t received the proper security clearances, and has a personal interest in undermining the agency he is currently dismantling.

And this is fine with “America first” Trump supporters.
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Imagine if it was Obama. Never mind the Capitol, the trumpkins would be storming the White House.
 
johnny karate said:
We have a foreign-born person rummaging through sensitive government data who has business interests with a foreign power hostile to U.S. interests, hasn’t received the proper security clearances, and has a personal interest in undermining the agency he is currently dismantling.

And this is fine with “America first” Trump supporters.
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They sentenced a US citizen military officer to a lengthy sentence in jail for a crime less than that. Elon needs immediate arrest and detention pending a long, boring trial. No bail.
 
none of it happens because the billionaires that bought the republican party and the media are all now in trump's cabinet and administration stealing everything along with him. and they're going to do it all through a capital gains tax free crypto reserve, and it's going to be massive
 
dirtywick said:
gizmodo.com

Elon Musk's Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink's Contracts in Ukraine

The agency was in the midst of a probe into the billionaire's equipment at the time of Musk's assault.
gizmodo.com gizmodo.com

as things begin to make more sense to me, here’s a report that usaid was investigating one of elon musk’s greatest acts of charity in his starlink contract with ukraine
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Not so much the contract with Ukraine as how much of the data that goes through his satellites gets beamed down to Russia as well.
 
dirtywick said:
gizmodo.com

Elon Musk's Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink's Contracts in Ukraine

The agency was in the midst of a probe into the billionaire's equipment at the time of Musk's assault.
gizmodo.com gizmodo.com

as things begin to make more sense to me, here’s a report that usaid was investigating one of elon musk’s greatest acts of charity in his starlink contract with ukraine
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Uh, no. They were investigating Ukraine. Which they are supposed to do. USAID provided Ukraine with a bunch of Starkink terminals, and they were investigating the use of those terminals to make sure that they were being used for what they are supposed to be used for, and not being diverted to other uses through corruption in Ukraine. Which is a good idea to make sure our aid is being effective. Nothing about that is an investigation of SpaceX or Musk.
 
zooterkin said:
I've seen that claimed, but couldn't find confirmation, which is why I didn't repeat it earlier. I've also seen it claimed that it's Gaza province in Mozambique, not South Africa.

$50 million buys a lot of condoms, too, (about a billion), so even if it was Gaza in Africa, the money was undoubtedly for more than just that.

So, there may be some truth in it, but it's probably not quite that simple (even if Trump is).

www.aljazeera.com

Is the US sending $50m in condoms to Gaza as Trump claims?

The US president has listed the stopping of condoms to Gaza as an accomplishment. But is he thinking of the wrong Gaza?
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
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Here's their 2023 report:

Condom use has had a transformative impact on the AIDS pandemic. Correct and consistent use of condoms, along with condom-compatible lubricants, offers high protection against HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancy. Condoms are among the most cost-effective, well-known, and widely used prevention methods.

The Comprehensive Agency Report on Condoms and Lubricants FY2023 captures information on male condoms, female condoms, and lubricants procurement for the PEPFAR and Family Planning/Reproductive Health (FP/RH) programs.

Since the start of the GHSC-PSM project in 2016, 61 countries have ordered condoms and lubricants through GHSC-PSM. Between fiscal year (FY) 2016 and 2023, with funding mainly from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Condom Fund, GHSC-PSM procured a total value of $182.1 million condoms and lubricants, consisting of male condoms ($138.9 million), female condoms ($34.7 million), and lubricants ($8.6 million) for 61 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions.

In FY 2023, USAID approved procurement for 354.8 million male condoms, 2.6 million female condoms, and 33.8 million lubricants for 30 countries in Africa (25), Asia (3), Europe (1), and LAC (1).
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Link: https://ghsupplychain.org/sites/def...Condoms and Lubricants_May2024_remediated.pdf

Click soon, the other USAID links are all shut down:


This is an archived USAID link about their condom mission:

Addressing Condom Supply and Demand in PEPFAR Programs

Condom use is a critical prevention element in a comprehensive, effective and sustainable approach to HIV. While no barrier method is 100 percent effective, correct and consistent use of latex condoms can greatly reduce the risk of transmission of HIV.
2017-2020.usaid.gov 2017-2020.usaid.gov

I understand the issues with government spending. And there is a need to go line-by-line in every department's budget to justify the spending on an individual program level, but there's a right way, and wrong way to do it.
 
Ziggurat said:
Doctors have to actually demonstrate their competence. Moreover, they're held liable when they make mistakes.

The foreign aid "experts" don't have to demonstrate their competence, and are not held liable if they make mistakes.

They are not the same.
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Untrue. Having directly worked with a number of foreign aid experts I say that you are incorrect.

Foreign aid experts are highly qualified in areas including but not limited to international relations, diplomacy, political science, law, and practical logistics. They are often people who have both attained high standards of academic achievement and clocked in years of on-the-ground direct action in disadvantaged countries. They demonstrate their competence every day.

You appear to be referring to what we in the industry called "development tourism" which is where rich white kids take a trip to Africa and help build half a wall of a school before going home and being smug.
Ziggurat said:
I think you would probably be reasonably competent to audit my retirement portfolio.

Doge isn't being asked to manage USAID.
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No, it's being asked to gut it.
 
About 0.7% of the US federal budget goes through USAID (some 40 billion dollars). If one were making a serious effort regarding cutting waste from the federal budget, one might look at larger expenditures. A businessperson such as Mr. Musk might start with corporate welfare, which is roughly two to three times the size of the budget for USAID, for example. Here is a link to some information on the subject from the Hoover Institution, hardly a bunch of left-wing zealots. Another reason I cannot take seriously claims that the actions against USAID are a cost cutting measure is Jack-by-the-Hedge's comparison. If you were a patient seeking a second opinion and a doctor said, stop all treatment for ninety days while I review your case file, what would you assume about the doctor?
 
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Chris_Halkides said:
About 0.7% of the US federal budget goes through USAID (some 40 billion dollars). If one were making a serious effort regarding cutting waste from the federal budget, one might look at larger expenditures. A businessperson such as Mr. Musk might start with corporate welfare, which is roughly two to three times the size of the budget for USAID, for example. Here is a link to some information on the subject from the Hoover Institution, hardly a bunch of left-wing zealots. Another reason I cannot take seriously claims that the actions against USAID are a cost cutting measure is Jack-by-the-Hedge's comparison. If you were a patient seeking a second opinion and a doctor said, stop all treatment for ninety days while I review your case file, what would you assume about the doctor?
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It's worse than that. It's like an actor who played a doctor in a movie somehow got your treatment stopped for 90 days while he reviews your case and you weren't looking for a second opinion at all.
 
Puppycow said:
If everything you know about USAID comes from Cuban propaganda about it, you might have a distorted idea of what it is. Just a thought.
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If everything you know about USAID is the glamorized picture of an institution allegedly serving only to help poor people in need all around the world, you have a distorted idea of what it actually is.
Do you have any specific objections to the Granma articles that you dismiss out of hand as propaganda because they don't support your distorted view of the world, your idealization of the pre-Trump USA and its institutions?
From Cuba to Brazil: How USAID became a political interference tool in various countries (The Times of India, Feb 4, 2025)
Cuba (2009-2012): ZunZuneo Project
Bolivia (2008-2013): Support for Opposition Groups
Russia (1990s): Economic Reform and the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID)
Brazil (2005): Influence on Political Reforms
Peru (1990s): Forced Sterilization Campaign
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'Cuban Twitter' and Other Times USAID Pretended to Be an Intelligence Agency (Foreign Policy, April 3, 2014)
Foreign governments have long accused the U.S. Agency for International Development of being a front for the CIA or other groups dedicated to their collapse. In the case of Cuba, they appear to have been right. In an eye-opening display of incompetence, the United States covertly launched a social media platform in Cuba in 2010, ...
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Secret Programs Hurt Foreign Aid Efforts (NYT, Dec 16, 2014)
U.S.A.I.D. was created in 1961 to help the United States win the “hearts and minds” of citizens in poor countries through civic action, economic aid and humanitarian assistance. As a cold war policy tool, the agency was, at times, used as a front for C.I.A. operations and operatives. Among the most infamous examples was the Office of Public Safety, a U.S.A.I.D. police training program in the Southern Cone that also trained torturers.
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'BUT IT'S CUBA, SO IT MUST BE PROPAGANDA!!! IT'S USAID, SO IT MUST BE GOOD!!!'

ETA:
Alan Gross (Wikipedia)
Alan Phillip Gross (born May 2, 1949) is a former United States government contractor employed by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID).
(...)
When he was arrested, he was carrying a high-tech chip, intended to keep satellite phone transmissions from being located within 250 miles (400 kilometres). The chip is not available on the open market. It is provided most frequently to the CIA and the United States Department of Defense, but can also be obtained by the United States Department of State, which oversees USAID.
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ETA: This is what your claims about "Cuban propaganda" are based on:
D

Merged Post in thread 'US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks''

From an article about a BBC editor:
Raffi Berg: BBC Middle East editor exposed as CIA, Mossad collaborator (MROnline, Jan 28/MintPressNews Jan 3, 2025)
John Stockwell, former head of a CIA task force, explained on camera how his organization infiltrated media departments across the planet, establishing fake outlets and news agencies that worked to control global public opinion and spread false information demonizing Washington’s enemies. “I had propagandists all over the world,” he admitted, adding:
"We pumped dozens of stories about Cuban atrocities...
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johnny karate said:
Fair point on him not being a foreign national.

However, the concern that a foreign-born person is accessing government databases with sensitive information is exactly as xenophobic as the Constitutional clause that prevents that same person from running for President.

And you failed to address the substance of my post.
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If Ziggurat is talking about Galaxy Brain Musk, then he received his citizenship under false pretences, being an illegal immigrant for many years and never disclosing it.

In most countries, lying about your eligibility for citizenship is automatically grounds for revokation.
 
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