Ricardo Rangel

Donald Trump was recorded in the Oval Office happily bragging about how much money his billionaire buddies made off of his shady tariff scheme. (Insider trading amuses and delights this group.)

“He made $2.5 million today, and he made $900 million! That’s not bad,” Trump said, pointing to…

mad king

Yuval Abraham, director del oscarizado documental «No Other Land», denuncia que los colonos israelíes han agredido a Hamdan Ballal, otro de los directores de la película, y que después han asaltado la ambulancia que lo llevaba al hospital y lo han capturado. Se desconoce su paradero. Qué horror.

the DOJ just stood in front of a federal judge & said it, no implying was involved; they're arguing that if cops get you out of US territory before a judge issues an order demanding that you're accounted for--not freed, accounted for in a legal process--you never get to see a judge

astonishing

Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of

New dark chapter in American history just dropped:

Basically any Venezuelan citizen in the US, regardless of status, may be removed on pretext of belonging to Tren de Aragua, with no chance at defense.

It's the 4th-ever invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

1/3

USAid employees told to destroy classified documents, email shows Officials have begun large-scale destruction of classified documents, including using shredders and ‘burn bags’ Officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have begun a large-scale destruction of classified documents at their…

USAid employees told to destroy classified documents, email shows

Sent to USAID essential personnel this morning

I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:

Share of spending among ... Small businesses All contracts 23% Contracts on DOGE site 29% Minority-owned businesses All contracts 10% Contracts on DOGE site 19% Businesses owned by women All contracts 5% Contracts on DOGE site 11% Nonprofits All contracts 5% Contracts on DOGE site 11% Source: USA Spending, DOGE Based on obligated spending in the 2024 fiscal year for all federal contracts and those on DOGE's list.

Spending on the largest government contractors

These agencies have the largest share of federal spending on contracts ...

... and these agencies have the largest share of spending on contracts cut by DOGE

We took a deep dive into what contracts DOGE slashed — and what it left untouched. Most of the biggest contractors were unscathed. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

USAID staff given 15 minutes to gather belongings from Washington, D.C., office As President Donald Trump's administration guts the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), former federal workers are being told to say goodbye to their desks -- and to do so quickly. USA...

USAID leadership sent an email to agency staffers on Tuesday instructing them that they will have 15 minutes to enter their former offices at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C., to retrieve their personal belongings. www.aol.com/usaid-staff-...

Ay, ay, si supieran lo que pitufi-encontramos... 🤭 Los tentáculos de la red de 'Papá Pitufo' llegaron hasta la hija del exfuncionario de la DIAN, Óscar Ambuila (sí, la del Lamborghini) y mucho más 🤯. Espéralo a las 5 p.m. por TODAS las redes de Cuestión P y en cuestionpublica.com 🔥

NEW: The Trump administration has just told a federal judge in a court filing that it will not comply with the court's order to resume funding for USAID and State Department foreign assistance.

USAID’s Inspector General fired with ‘no reason given’

Paul Martin received a termination email Tuesday night, a day after his office published a report on the impact of Trump’s foreign aid freeze.

ICE Wants to Know If You’re Posting Negative Things About It Online ICE wants to hire contractors to monitor social media for threats. Those who criticize the agency could be pulled into the dragnet.

ICE wants to hire contractors to monitor social media for threats. Those who criticize the agency could be pulled into the dragnet.

Prebunking Elon Musk's Super Bowl Propaganda Perception is reality.

I wrote about the importance of "prebunking," in light of rumors that Elon Musk may have purchased $40 million in Super Bowl ads to spread misinformation about the "fraud" and "corruption" in this vital agency. I hope you will read and share asharangappa.substack.com/p/prebunking...

Before the takeover of USAID, how many americans knew about the agency? I wonder if they have not started by dismantling USAID precisely because it was little known and because it does not represent a significant expense for the federal government. I mean, this could be a rehearsal for them!

'A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations', Chapter 10: The Mandate of Heaven.

The government's recent actions seem to be taken from the pamphlet "A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations".

De Gutenberg a Elon Musk: historia, poder y tecnología ‘Calculating Empires’, la premiada obra de Kate Crawford y Vladan Joler, traza un apasionante mapa de la estrecha relación entre poder y tecnología a lo largo de los siglos como instrumento de dominac...

Tecnología y poder. Capital y control. Protesta y manifestantes. Y, por supuesto, sobre la obra 'Calculating Empires'. 👉 elpais.com/babelia/2025...

JUST IN: A US judge said he will enter a 'very limited' temporary order blocking the Trump administration from taking certain steps to dismantle the US Agency for International Development reut.rs/40PYNQh

'It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe Dismantling of USAID could disrupt many clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn

“USAID-backed studies have been shuttered, data streams have dried up, researchers and technical staff have been fired or put on leave, a system to predict food crises has been muzzled, and a USAID-supported global health journal has stopped reviewing manuscripts.”

From our @science.org news team 🧪

As Trump shuts down USAID missions, officials warn Ebola outbreak in Uganda will spread Americans are among those exposed to the virus in Uganda.

Meanwhile, there is a suspected outbreak of Sudan virus in Uganda. Sudan virus is related to Ebola virus, but none of the currently available vaccines or antibody therapeutics are effective against Sudan virus. Viruses thrive on disruption and chaos. www.cbsnews.com/news/some-u-...

Heard a version of this from a source earlier today: Everyone from USAID working abroad forced to uproot their lives, let alone abandon their work, on three days notice. Uprooting thousands of families on no notice, in an intentionally humiliating and harrowing way.

“Trump planning to issue executive order as early as tonight to shut down USAID and merge it with State, says source. Rubio will be acting head. Logos already being taken down at the Ronald Reagan Building.”

A Guardian journalist reporting that Trump is about to claim the authority to shut down an entire federal agency:

USAID's Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) is now offline.This massive online repository, which housed nearly 50 years of USAID's work, is no longer accessible. Over 150,000 documents—including oral histories, program planning materials & records of past USAID projects—have disappeared.
.

I’m amazed: On the foreign assistance freeze, I’m astonished not to see major State Dept and USAID recipients challenge the disruption in court. An injunction? Where is World Vision, SAVE, Red Cross, etc on this? Or the Beltway bandits (Chemonics etc) Is there activity happening?

🧵 THREAD: Trump and Rubio have arrested the international humanitarian aid system and forced lifesaving aid programs to completely halt operations — despite an announcement earlier in the week claiming they had changed course. 1/

YouTube video by The Daily Show Trump Blames D.C. Plane Crash on DEI and Dwarfism | The Daily Show

Trump Blames D.C. Plane Crash on DEI and Dwarfism

youtu.be/NBUVP7Hegso

US Aid to Colombia 2000-2023: US$13.7 billion 36% Economic / Institutional 64% Military / Police Military/Police Assistance Economic/Institutional Assistance 1996 64.47 0.62 1997 86.56 1998 115.16 0.52 1999 309.71 8.75 2000 771.54 231.36 2001 223.94 1.35 2002 388.55 115.5 2003 605.63 136.7 2004 610.82 134.48 2005 596.12 134.71 2006 589.37 142.96 2007 619.48 149.72 2008 402.1 251.47 2009 439.03 254.55 2010 434.17 248.24 2011 324.04 214.03 2012 246.86 196.99 2013 239.88 195.94 2014 221.9 170.75 2015 174.18 152.27 2016 227 184 2017 232 239 2018 232 274 2019 239 238 2020 327 305 2021 235 300 2022 235 313 2023, est 215 327 2024, req 231 268

US administrations have spent $14 billion in aid this century on their relationship with #Colombia. Since 2022 that has included 10+ migrant removal flights per month.

Now, the relationship may collapse because Colombia said no to using 2 military planes for those flights.

Trump’s Executive Orders and Latin America: Key Things to Know - WOLA In his first 24 hours in office, President Donald Trump unleashed a series of executive orders. These 22 orders, crafted under the banner of his “America First” agenda, seek to reshape everything from...

🌎 ¿Qué implican las órdenes ejecutivas de Trump para América Latina? Desde políticas migratorias hasta ayuda internacional , ¿qué significan estos cambios para la región?

Descubre más sobre su impacto potencial en el último análisis de WOLA: www.wola.org/es/analisis/...

#AméricaLatina

Trump shuts down diversity programs across government The president is demanding that federal workers inform on colleagues who violate his decree.

According to a Tuesday memorandum from the US Office of Personnel Management, agencies are required to send in a plan for “executing a reduction-in-force action”—in other words, layoffs—against their DEI employees.