It’s an avalanche. Twenty stories today could have been a Front Page Headline
The newest addition to the grift, graft and fraud list are terrorist organisations. — USAID sent $310 million US dollars to Hamas to build a cement factory in Gaza which would have helped make the tunnels of terror. Senator John Kennedy said Mr Musk discovered the American taxpayer was also giving money to Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and even $10 million to an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called the Nusra Front. So far, Must and co, with his team of hot young tech-coders, have found that USAID spent $164 million to support radical organizations around the world.
In other inexplicable calls, the US government gave nearly $8 million to help teach Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary gendered language. A lot of Americans worked hard all year to pay their tax bill to cover that. Why?
But where are all the pleas from foreign leaders to save USAID?
Question of the week on the suspension of USAID comes from Mike Benz:
What’s the grift to charity ratio?
Forty or fifty billion dollars is a lot of money to spend to NOT create a photogenic fan club and an instant response team to protest the sudden end of the funding. Even if 10% of USAID was spent on things like feeling starving babies in Malawi, that’s still $4 or $5 billion worth of skinny-baby photo-ops and impassioned pleas from desperate leaders. The BBC has found an AIDS patient in Ukraine and 1,077 students in Egypt. But where are the national leaders and surely, hundreds of thousands, or millions of beneficiaries?
Were the recipients of USAID all dodgy dealers or terrorists who don’t want to embarrass their donors? Are they Prime Ministers and Presidents who don’t want to admit they needed USAID help to “win” their jobs? Are the governments of recipient-countries silent because the money was being used to control them or foment dissent against them, and they are happy it’s over? Any way we look at this is not good.
Then we find out USAID spent $268 million on the worlds independent media which presumably makes them dependent media
Without USAID money, journalism as we know it, might not exist. The global US media octopus has 6,000 arms. US Taxpayers were spending money 6,200 journalists and 707 news outlets, and nearly 280 organizations to “strengthen” independent media, whatever that means. And this information was out there, but no one went looking. And that is an annual budget. Wow.
USA: Trump’s foreign aid freeze throws journalism around the world into chaos
USAID programs support independent media in more than 30 countries, but it is difficult to assess the full extent of the harm done to the global media. Many organizations are hesitant to draw attention for fear of risking long-term funding or coming under political attacks. According to a USAID fact sheet which has since been taken offline, in 2023, the agency funded training and support for 6,200 journalists, assisted 707 non-state news outlets, and supported 279 media-sector civil society organizations dedicated to strengthening independent media. The 2025 foreign aid budget included $268,376,000 allocated by Congress to support “independent media and the free flow of information.”
In Ukraine, where 9 out of 10* outlets rely on subsidies and USAID is the primary donor…
Blaim Game captures this moment:
But US funding of terrorists and extremists will be hard for the Blob to explain:
Ready to have your mind blown?
Senator John Kennedy on Elon Musk and DOGE exposing USAID, “I’ll tell you what Mr. Musk discovered. I find it fascinating. He discovered:
– The American taxpayers are giving money to Afghanistan
– He found that we are giving money to Yemen
– He… pic.twitter.com/605uTwKbTV— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 7, 2025
This meme goes deep pic.twitter.com/pTTvW7fbpU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025
In other big news… Donald Trump is bringing back plastic straws~! We’re in a culture war, and Trump is winning.
And of course, in Australia, under the cover of these fireworks, our Uniparty politicians have brought in radical HateSpeech laws after 30 microseconds of discussion and no consultation. That’s a 7 year jail sentence for reckless speech. By golly, that was oddly efficient. Almost like a well funded global shadow government blob called in its last favors to shut down any hints of the Trump-Musk-MAGA contagion arising here in an election year?
More on Australian hatespeech laws soon. The Senators who voted NO were Rennick, Babet, Antic, and Payman, Tyrell and Pocock.
Right about now, we need Donald Trump to say nations that don’t allow free speech can’t be trusted with our nuclear subs or something like that…
The Swamp is fighting back. Elon Musk is being denied access to treasury data.
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Not quite correct. DOGE has read only access. To everything.
For tech nerds with “smart glasses” that is an “elegant sufficiency”.
The DOGE knows USAID and NED are the source of forever foreign conflict and the tax laundering back to Congress Critters.
Read only is enough. Treasury can’t keep the laundry working via new means, without being instantly detected.
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The ABC has its usual supportive story:
And a sub-header:
” Trump says USAID is corrupt, with no evidence ”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-08/judge-blocks-trump-usaid-freeze/104913794
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The DOGE is certainly being very DOGGED. Top Stuff and more please.
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I heard nothing about USAID on last nights news.
Most of my friends have not even heard of USAID.
What happened to all those journalists who were paid by USAID? Why aren’t they writing any stories about USAID, even good ones?
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“What happened to all those journalists who were paid by USAID? ”
They are to busy writing stories about how the Murdoch media empire is interfering in international politics, you know, by spreading mis/dis information.
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Or how the Murdoch empire have paid no taxes in Aus since 2019.
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My slush fund – TexasAID – just provided support for an independent journalist. Keep it coming!
(Any bets that Julius Epstein was getting USAID money?)
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Imagine if even a tiny proportion of that money was used for something useful for Third World countries – like feeding starving people or providing educational supplies for children like pens, pencils and paper, tables abd chairs etc. …
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Yes, and access to clean water, how to grow food, sanitation, etc, etc,…………
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Aid builds dependency. Any help should be aimed at developing natural resources so the poor countries can dig their way out of poverty like the developed world has done for centuries.
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10^6 AMENS!!!
Same for internal welfare
Want some government influence on media?
NPR
https://training.npr.org/2024/07/23/what-journalists-need-to-know-when-covering-climate-change/
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I think Musk is targeting NPR.
Dutton really needs to defund their ABC.
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The “journalists” who lost their USAID funding should go and personally pick up rubbish in Third World countries and teach the locals not to litter, or perform other menial tasks (as I mentioned yesterday), until it is deemed they have worked off their debt to society.
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Clearly, if you are an Iman firing out hate speech from a “pulpit” in a mosque, you are exempt from these laws.
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Tariffs until Australia repeals Stalinist speech laws.
Do it Donald!
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It’s interesting and very sad how TRUMP is promoting free speech and forcing social media to comply but Australia is going the opposite way of more censorship with the Uniparty in full agreement.
And remember it was the fake conservative Liberal Party that gave us the e Safety Kommisar, the censorship laws (written by Libs, fully supported and attempted to be passed by Labor but which were narrowly defeated) and the Libs also gave full support to attaching your digital person number to social media posts via the ruse of making sure all social media users were over 16 (the e Safety Kommisar is working out how that will be implemented with the platforms).
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Blame Game’s before and after meme applies to Climate Action, too.
Climate cash probably follows the same template.
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Klimate Krisis Kash?
USAID?
Same model, all three.
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It’s disturbing to think about all the US taxpayer money given as assistance to enemies of the US and enemies of US allies and of the West in general.
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Listening to Senator John Kennedy in the video above, I like how he always refers to the USAID wasted money as taxpayer money. How many Australian politicians or Leftoids actually understand that about government expenditure in our case? The money comes from hard-working people, by and large. There is no such thing as “government money”, it’s ours.
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FWIW – some reading
“DISPATCHES FROM AIRSTRIP ONE: UK secretly orders Apple to let it spy on iPhone users worldwide.”
https://instapundit.com/701187/#disqus_thread
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Well well well…
This is happening now, whilst I type.
Direct statement from USAID…
https://www.usaid.gov/
“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).”
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Correction- Directive comes in effect, approx 6.5 hrs from now.. Sorry all, got my time zones mixed up.
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Incidentally, to help Third World countries, providing a stable government is first installed, you don’t need vast amounts of money to dramatically help them.
Simple things can dramatically improve their lives such as:
-A clean-burning wood stove so they don’t get lung disease from the fumes of primitive stoves.
-A small 5W solar panel with battery and LED light so children (or adults) can read or do homework at night.
-Water bores with appropriate filtration if necessary for clean fresh water.
-Even plastic buckets and containers help. Etc..
Rather than spending on such necessities, USAID taxpayer money was used to promote LGBT+++, DEI, woke “journalism” etc., in countries where people have traditional values such as believing in “only” two genders and traditional gender roles and orientations.
It was a typical waste of “other people’s money” for ideological reasons by the Left.
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I’m getting the feeling this USAID story will be like the Twitter files expose. Which wasn’t just Twitter, it was how the Biden administration leant on all the social media companies to adhere to their preferred narrative. So, censorship. What happened then was that the bulk of the MSM ignored that story and it never got much traction. Potentially there are stories in this USAID saga that could last a year, but maybe already the media moguls would like to bury it. Over the next few days it will get obscured by the NFL Super Bowl hype, particularly in the US, but to some extent even here in Australia. Because even though there’s been a dramatic change in media over the last 30 years, a helluva lot of people still get their info from breakfast TV and the 6 o’ clock nightly news.
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That’s the beauty of it all, ignore it and it’s full speed ahead for Trump. Try and fight and they expose themselves.
The speed is the advantage of one determined leader. The swamp is built on we’re all as guilty as each other. It takes time to ensure everyone is equally guilty, so no one can rat the others out.
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FWIW – latest Kunstler
“How It Worked
“They never prepared for algorithms that could map everything. For personnel pre-positioned everywhere. For a president who counts every week like it’s his last.” — VP JD Vance”
https://www.kunstler.com/p/how-it-worked
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As the punch line of another joke has it –
“Eek! It’s gruesome”
“And, if you care to have another peek, you’ll find it’s gruesome more”
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I do believe. That he believes, he won’t live out his full term. But courage is contagious.
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“How it Worked” clearly sets out Trumps’s successful strategy to undermine and expose the Democrat’s deep state. It’s Trump’s well planned and executed operation, with patriots guided by Musk’s management and IT expertise that has finally revealed America’s rotting core for all to see.
This planning and organising would have taken months to set up and thousands of hours to implement and it certainly would not have been paid for by USAID.
America and it’s future owes Trump alone for this reality check.
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FWIW – on the inner workings
“It Is Coming……
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Category thumbnail
…. DOGE is in the house.
CMS, to be precise.
This is step 1, incidentally, but one that Congress can neither interfere with or prevent. In fact it is the Executives job to pay only valid invoices at valid amounts to valid vendors for valid acts.”
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=252782
And
“The Outrage Machine In Full View
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The number of “political figures” screaming about “DOGE” being given access to the payment flow systems (e.g. check register – the real one) at Treasury and other parts of the government is quite amusing.
I am particularly amused at the screaming about “oh those people were not Senate-approved!”
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=252777
Haven’t these things supposedly been audited for years?
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Confident they were ‘Too big to fail’ they became complacent in thier corruption. Just one of the pitfalls of the ‘everyone is doing it’ echo chamber. By shutting down any disent and refusing to acknowledge Trumps capability, they blinded themselves to his courage and determination.
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Binny
Another example of why
“Those that the Gods wish to destroy they first make confident”
is a viable expression – if not the usual one
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So how about we investigate how Ausaid is spending australian money?
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Is this not treason? And what is the penalty for that in the USA?
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In many cases the penalty is re-election to Congress.
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Think of it as a swamp that carries around its’ own swamp.
(If you’re gonna fight a GWOT, you need T.)
Or like the great W.C. Fields line …
“I always carry a small flask of medicinal elixir in my pocket in case of snake bite … in my other pocket I always carry a small snake.”
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I would also like to express my pride as an American.
When we go, we go big.
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Fortunately TRUMP and his team are about five moves ahead of the Left/Swamp in a game of three dimensional chess.
I think he and his team will defeat the forces of evil this time.
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This shows the organisation around the “Fire Elon Musk” movement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-C_-7tclM
Look at the comments. Look at the audience. This trite nonsense goes on for hours.
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This is how their ABC reports on shutting down USAID.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-08/donald-trump-usaid-freeze-hit-thai-myanmar-migrant-camps/104908708
There are probably homeless people in USA who think they are more deserving of US taxpayer support than someone in Thailand.
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North Carolina was virtually ignored by the Biden government after natural disasters last year.
Much of FEMA’s budget was diverted to helping illegal immigrants instead.
The world thinks that the U.S. owes it a living.
This is not so.
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“This is not so.”
As that past president of Kenya just pointed out
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Incidentally, Musk is not drawing a salary, not on cent, for his role.
Legally, he is classified as a “special government employee” which has certain rules and restrictions.
There is more than 130 days of work for Musk to do.
After 130 days TRUMP will have to create a new job for Musk or appoint a permanent employee once Musk has started the ball rolling. Afterall, Musk will be busy with colonising the moon and Mars before the Chicomms set up there and illegally claim them. Plus all his other projects like Starlink, Neuralink, SpaceX etc..
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Jo asks an excellent question as to why the apparent beneficiaries of all of this money are silent. It is the dog which hasn’t barked question.
I’ll add another question along similar lines which is what examples have been identified of spending which anybody thinks was worthwhile. Another dog which isn’t barking.
My guess is that the blob are being softened up by DOGE harvesting some low hanging fruit before heading for the big one in the department of defense.
Boom baby!
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Yes, the US DoD is the Big One.
And in Australia, we also have enormous waste and overcharging in our DoD and in just about all Government departments, state, federal and local.
And even that’s small compared to the huge subsidy harvesting scams of “green” energy and the huge overcharging and fr@ud in the NDIS.
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DoD will be hard. They have a lot of secret projects that are perfectly legit but which need funding. The U-2, F-117 and SR-72 were all flying before the projects were announced, before money could be allocated, money that would not be visible to an auditor. Dodgy appearance for sure, but legit.
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“Somalia, along with other Islamic terrorist entities, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza, were among the top beneficiaries of USAID cash.”
https://www.frontpagemag.com/usaid-sent-over-18-billion-to-islamic-terror-states/
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Telling photo of USAID evil profligacy helping the terrorist cause: What’s the likelihood that USAID paid for the camo outfits and the RPG as well as the tent?
https://gellerreport.com/2025/02/rubio-slashes-usaid-staffers-only-294-out-of-14000-are-necessary.html/
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When I heard about the Arabic Sesame St I didn’t think it as bad as most do, on the basis that it was better than Jihad Kindy which is the normal fare for kids in the region, but then I saw something posted by libs of tictok in which it was actually Jihad Kindy.
Libs of tictok don’t normally make stuff up. Has anyone else seen that video?
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Accidentally switched over to the ABC and all I got was how USAID had just canceled funding to a refugee hospital centre somewhere in Asia resulting in many deaths because patients no longer had access to oxygen .
Claims I doubt but absolutely no mention of the wasted money .
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A nasty accident – condolences.
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A lot of the initiatives are being taken to court where temporary rulings are stalling them. This will insure they get thoroughly aired in view of the public. That may not be what the plaintiff wants.
Because I know some folks with TDS, I am waiting to see how they explain some of these things. Maybe there will be quick changes of subject.
Finally, in the 1st ¶, Elon’s last name is spelled incorrectly.
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Interesting that I haven’t heard a peep out of Dutton about the grift relating to USAID.
You would think that with an election soon, he’d be making a lot of noise about examining Australia’s foreign aid budget and expenses, too. It would be sure hold Albo’s feet to the fire, but then, it would also reveal the corruption in previous governments, too.
And the Uniparty just can’t have that! No, best let sleeping dogs lie, eh Peter?
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