Jesus why haven’t you all put him on ignore?
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This might be a little tougher than Putin thought...
- Thread starter Nole Lou
- Start date
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ma...ense-policy-bill-voting-continues-2023-12-14/
WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate backed a defense policy bill authorizing a record $886 billion in annual military spending with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday, sidestepping partisan divides over social issues that had threatened what is seen as a must-pass bill.
Separate from the appropriations bills that set government spending levels, the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, authorizes everything from pay raises for the troops - this year's will be 5.2% - to purchases of ships, ammunition and aircraft as well as policies such as measures to help Ukraine and pushback against China in the Indo-Pacific.
WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate backed a defense policy bill authorizing a record $886 billion in annual military spending with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday, sidestepping partisan divides over social issues that had threatened what is seen as a must-pass bill.
Separate from the appropriations bills that set government spending levels, the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, authorizes everything from pay raises for the troops - this year's will be 5.2% - to purchases of ships, ammunition and aircraft as well as policies such as measures to help Ukraine and pushback against China in the Indo-Pacific.
It's been interesting watching you evolve over this thread.
It is a real issue, but one that is separate, and one that has been alternately ignored, or used as a cudgel for years. The same people holding a gun to Ukraine's head over aid are the same people who have skipped the hearings and committee meetings over border security / immigration reform for the last 10 years.
Ukraine is a separate issue, one that is very important to US interests for a multitude of reasons. Defunding Ukraine has also become a litmus test for standing with Donald Trump. So, the lemmings are lining up.
While Team Red dithers, and prepares to reward themselves with a few weeks off, the Russians are ramping up their air attacks. Stunning that a rationalization can be made that this is all politics, and this is a good leverage issue while civilians are killed, and vital Western interests are threatened.
https://apnews.com/article/kyiv-ukraine-russia-missile-attack-fe4c651de98b804466a4af7f68c90c86
https://apnews.com/article/kyiv-ukraine-russia-missile-attack-fe4c651de98b804466a4af7f68c90c86
China and Taiwan actually are where they get most of their drone parts.
Link
Here is diagram, from where Russia imports spare parts for own drones production (it's unknown either assembled drones included or not)
China - 54.29 %
Taiwan - 20 %
Honkong - 5.71 %
UK - 4.29 %
Turkey - 4.29 %
USA - 2.86 % (special thanks to NVIDIA for their AI video chips for Lancets)
Canada - 2.86 %
Chili - 1.43 %
Bulgaria - 1.43 %
Uzbekistan - 1.43 %
So, China is a growing monster of drones production and spare parts and I afraid, western countries one time can encounter with painful reality...
Link
Component origins by countries in Shakheds-136, producing in Russia
No translation but think it's Russkies getting blasted.
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These must be in addition to those they have already sent. (At least 4.)
WASHINGTON — A flurry of activity in the last 24 hours has injected some fresh hope into Senate immigration negotiations, according to key lawmakers and sources with knowledge of the talks, who also caution that there is still no agreement.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said both the White House and Republicans have made significant movements in their positions and that the discussions have grown more “productive” because “all the players are at the same table sitting down actually talking through how to solve this.”
“There are some hard issues that are still on the table," Lankford said Wednesday afternoon after giving Senate Republicans an update on talks at a lunch meeting. “But I think we’ve got serious people on all sides … trying to figure out how to resolve these.”
Lankford is working with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and top White House staff to try and hammer out a solution to toughen asylum laws and restrict parole authorities for immigration cases. In addition, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have gotten involved in the talks, along with the Department of Homeland Security, sources with knowledge said.
Schumer and McConnell met privately in the majority leader's office early afternoon on Wednesday. The two discussed the funding package, Schumer's spokesperson said.
The sluggish pace of talks in previous days had sparked pessimism among the negotiators, who are now striking a different tone.
“My hope is that we can all agree to stay until we get this done,” Murphy told reporters. “We made progress yesterday. We’re gonna continue to try to make progress today."
Republicans maintain that an immigration deal is essential to securing their votes to pass aid for Ukraine and Israel, a top priority for President Joe Biden. To prove their point, Senate GOP lawmakers unanimously voted to filibuster the funding package last week, and they said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday didn't change their mind.
www.nbcnews.com
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said both the White House and Republicans have made significant movements in their positions and that the discussions have grown more “productive” because “all the players are at the same table sitting down actually talking through how to solve this.”
“There are some hard issues that are still on the table," Lankford said Wednesday afternoon after giving Senate Republicans an update on talks at a lunch meeting. “But I think we’ve got serious people on all sides … trying to figure out how to resolve these.”
Lankford is working with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and top White House staff to try and hammer out a solution to toughen asylum laws and restrict parole authorities for immigration cases. In addition, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have gotten involved in the talks, along with the Department of Homeland Security, sources with knowledge said.
Schumer and McConnell met privately in the majority leader's office early afternoon on Wednesday. The two discussed the funding package, Schumer's spokesperson said.
The sluggish pace of talks in previous days had sparked pessimism among the negotiators, who are now striking a different tone.
“My hope is that we can all agree to stay until we get this done,” Murphy told reporters. “We made progress yesterday. We’re gonna continue to try to make progress today."
Republicans maintain that an immigration deal is essential to securing their votes to pass aid for Ukraine and Israel, a top priority for President Joe Biden. To prove their point, Senate GOP lawmakers unanimously voted to filibuster the funding package last week, and they said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday didn't change their mind.
Senate immigration negotiators see a ray of hope as clock ticks on Biden's aid package
But the key players all caution that there's no agreement yet and difficult issues remain to unlocking a deal on the border, as well as aid for Ukraine and Israel.
www.nbcnews.com
Didn’t the Republicans propose a bill that would send money to Ukraine this afternoon and the Democrats refused?
Clean bill?
The bill has Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Indo pacific funding in it...it wasn't "clean" to begin with....a "clean" bill would be a stand alone Ukraine bill.
Putin foretells what will happen to him at some point in 2024.
Makes sense on parts. They just get the whole drones from Iran.China and Taiwan actually are where they get most of their drone parts.
Link
Here is diagram, from where Russia imports spare parts for own drones production (it's unknown either assembled drones included or not)
China - 54.29 %
Taiwan - 20 %
Honkong - 5.71 %
UK - 4.29 %
Turkey - 4.29 %
USA - 2.86 % (special thanks to NVIDIA for their AI video chips for Lancets)
Canada - 2.86 %
Chili - 1.43 %
Bulgaria - 1.43 %
Uzbekistan - 1.43 %
So, China is a growing monster of drones production and spare parts and I afraid, western countries one time can encounter with painful reality...
Link
Component origins by countries in Shakheds-136, producing in Russia
Pretty good twitter thread about the tough questions Putin is getting at his (mostly) annual self promotion conference.
“Mr President, when will real Russia stop being different from the one on TV?”“Hello, how can I move to the Russia they talk about on Channel One?”
These are Brilliant!!!
New Twitter sucks that it doesn't let you read the whole thread w/o being a logged in member.
If Putin is planning to hang on to see if Republicans win next November, the KIA will be pushing 500,000.
No wonder they're recruiting Africa, Cuba, and the ME.
I imagine he withdraws and claims victory if the Dems win the WH again.
No wonder they're recruiting Africa, Cuba, and the ME.
I imagine he withdraws and claims victory if the Dems win the WH again.
Think it says he was in the Airborne Forces but has an advanced vocational degree.
He looks like one of those AI generated faces done for skeletons found in archaeological digs.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of protesters angered by what they view as wasteful spending by municipal officials gathered outside Kyiv City Hall on Thursday and demanded that the money should go to Ukraine’s war against Russia instead of local projects.
The Money for the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) civic group, which organized the protest, was formed in September by people concerned by what they term “unnecessary” and “poorly timed” spending by the Kyiv City Council.
The protesters, who appeared to be mostly in their 20s and 30s, gathered despite multiple air alerts and cold, damp weather. They dispersed in the afternoon when air defense systems burst into action to fend off a missile attack.
Protestors chanted, “It’s better to buy drones than build a new park” and, “The more money we spend on the army, the faster Ukraine will win this war.”
“At a time when our friends, parents and acquaintances are dying at the front, we have more pressing matters than rebuilding roads and beautifying parks,” Kateryna Zaderey, one of the protesters, told The Associated Press
Street protests in Ukraine were rare after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which brought regular bombardment of the capital. Recently, though, demonstrations have gathered momentum, and Thursday’s protest was the largest so far over municipal spending.
Municipal graft was regarded as a deep problem in Kyiv before the war. Corruption allegations have dogged Ukraine as it has received billions of dollars of Western support for its war effort. The issue has also been a hurdle for Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union, which was holding a summit to discuss providing Ukraine with 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in budget assistance and the country’s prospects of EU membership.
In June, there was a wave of public outrage after three people died in a missile attack on Kyiv. They had been unable to enter a hospital bomb shelter that turned out to be locked.
The incident drew public attention to the state of the city’s bomb shelters and sparked criticism of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
A subsequent investigation by Kyiv prosecutors found multiple violations in how 1.2 billion hryvnias ($32.5 million) from the city budget for the repair and maintenance of bomb shelters in 2022-2023 was actually spent.
Among the surprising ways money was spent on making bomb shelters comfortable were the purchases of 306 leather drums for “psychological relief of children during air raids,” which cost the city almost a million UAH ($27,000), a professional electric fryer stand for 720,000 UAH ($19,500), and 12 vegetable-cutters totaling 1.6 million UAH ($43,300).
Recent protests have focused on city maintenance and infrastructure projects worth millions of dollars that demonstrators said should have been spent on the Ukrainian military.
During Thursday’s protest, Klitschko told a city council meeting that Kyiv will spend an additional 600 million UAH ($16.2 million) on the needs of the military in addition to the 7 billion UAH ($190 million) that was already spent on the military’s needs in 2023.
thehill.com
The Money for the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) civic group, which organized the protest, was formed in September by people concerned by what they term “unnecessary” and “poorly timed” spending by the Kyiv City Council.
The protesters, who appeared to be mostly in their 20s and 30s, gathered despite multiple air alerts and cold, damp weather. They dispersed in the afternoon when air defense systems burst into action to fend off a missile attack.
Protestors chanted, “It’s better to buy drones than build a new park” and, “The more money we spend on the army, the faster Ukraine will win this war.”
“At a time when our friends, parents and acquaintances are dying at the front, we have more pressing matters than rebuilding roads and beautifying parks,” Kateryna Zaderey, one of the protesters, told The Associated Press
Street protests in Ukraine were rare after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which brought regular bombardment of the capital. Recently, though, demonstrations have gathered momentum, and Thursday’s protest was the largest so far over municipal spending.
Municipal graft was regarded as a deep problem in Kyiv before the war. Corruption allegations have dogged Ukraine as it has received billions of dollars of Western support for its war effort. The issue has also been a hurdle for Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union, which was holding a summit to discuss providing Ukraine with 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in budget assistance and the country’s prospects of EU membership.
In June, there was a wave of public outrage after three people died in a missile attack on Kyiv. They had been unable to enter a hospital bomb shelter that turned out to be locked.
The incident drew public attention to the state of the city’s bomb shelters and sparked criticism of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
A subsequent investigation by Kyiv prosecutors found multiple violations in how 1.2 billion hryvnias ($32.5 million) from the city budget for the repair and maintenance of bomb shelters in 2022-2023 was actually spent.
Among the surprising ways money was spent on making bomb shelters comfortable were the purchases of 306 leather drums for “psychological relief of children during air raids,” which cost the city almost a million UAH ($27,000), a professional electric fryer stand for 720,000 UAH ($19,500), and 12 vegetable-cutters totaling 1.6 million UAH ($43,300).
Recent protests have focused on city maintenance and infrastructure projects worth millions of dollars that demonstrators said should have been spent on the Ukrainian military.
During Thursday’s protest, Klitschko told a city council meeting that Kyiv will spend an additional 600 million UAH ($16.2 million) on the needs of the military in addition to the 7 billion UAH ($190 million) that was already spent on the military’s needs in 2023.
Kyiv protesters demand more spending on the Ukraine’s war effort and less on local projects
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of protesters angered by what they view as wasteful spending by municipal officials gathered outside Kyiv City Hall on Thursday and demanded that the money should go t…
thehill.com
This is the United States of America's government. What in the **** is a "Clean Bill"?
