Tuesday, February 18, 2025

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Trump and tech giants unveil record-breaking AI project

Donald Trump's USA

Published 23 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Trump with senior representatives of Oracle, Softbank and OpenAI.

Donald Trump has unveiled a massive AI project called Stargate, which aims to strengthen the country’s dominance in artificial intelligence.

The project is a collaboration between several leading tech companies and is said to involve an unprecedented investment in AI infrastructure in the coming years.

Stargate is a joint venture between US-based OpenAI and Oracle and Japan’s Softbank. An initial investment of USD 100 billion is planned, which may eventually increase to USD 500 billion over the next four years, making it one of the largest single technology investments in history.

The project will focus on building data centers and the necessary power generation for AI development, starting in the state of Texas. Trump himself describes the venture as “the largest AI infrastructure project in history” and according to the President, the project will create at least 100,000 new jobs.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who attended the press conference with Trump, expressed that “this will be the most important project of this era” and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison revealed that the project is already up and running and data centers are under construction.

We will see diseases get cured at an unprecedented rate. We will be amazed at how quickly we’re curing this cancer and that one – and heart disease, Altman added, with Ellison agreeing.

– Little fragments of those [cancer] tumors float around in your blood. So you can do early cancer detection. If you can do it using AI, you can do early cancer detection with a blood test and using AI to look at the blood test.

Many tech giants involved

Several other tech giants are involved in Stargate, with Microsoft, Nvidia and UK chipmaker Arm mentioned as key partners, and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son will serve as chairman of the project.

According to a statement from OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and OpenAI will “closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system”. Softbank is said to have financial responsibility over Stargate, while OpenAI is responsible for the purely operational running.

The project also has ambitious targets in terms of computing power and energy needs. Stargate is expected to require several gigawatts of electricity consumption, which is equivalent to the energy needs of several major data centers today. One of the biggest challenges for the project is also to design a system that can handle the huge amount of heat that will be generated.

It is further stated that Nvidia’s new Blackwell GPU architecture will play a central role in Stargate. These GPUs offer up to 1.4 exaflops of AI performance, which is said to be crucial for the ambitious machine learning models planned for the project.

“Big money and high quality people”

Donald Trump has also pledged to facilitate the project in various ways and emphasized that the government is strongly committed to ensuring US dominance in AI technology.

– So, put that name down in your books because I think you’re going to hear a lot about it in the future, a new American company that will invest USD 500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.

– It’s big money and high quality people involved… This grand project is a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential, the President himself proclaimed as the project was unveiled.

AI as a mass surveillance tool?

While expectations for the AI initiative are high, some critics also express concern about Trump’s close relationship with the tech industry and how the US risks moving in a more technocratic direction during his presidency.

Others point out that several of the actors involved seem to advocate a rather totalitarian mass surveillance society. It is noted, for example, that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, recently described a future in which everything citizens do is monitored and recorded with the help of artificial intelligence.

– Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on. Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report the problem and report it to the appropriate person, he predicted.

– There are so many opportunities to exploit AI.

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Pro-Israeli bimbo gets congressional mandate to reveal US state secrets

Donald Trump's USA

Published 15 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Anna Paulina Luna has been tasked by Congress with, among other things, uncovering the state secrets surrounding the September 11 attacks - but stresses that her task force “lacks authority”.

The US House of Representatives has appointed Anna Paulina Luna to head a task force that will work to declassify classified documents relating to the JFK assassination, 9/11 and the Epstein investigation, among others.

Luna is a freshman in Congress and has previously worked as a swimsuit model and waitress at a men’s club.

The task force was appointed by the House Oversight Committee, where the Republican majority is pushing for greater transparency of previously classified documents. It is not confirmed whether Luna was chosen for the position on Donald Trump’s direct initiative or through other Republican party structures.

Luna herself has expressed support for Trump and is described as part of the more conservative wing of the party. Her political profile has been characterized by criticism of established institutions and calls for greater transparency, which is a key issue for the task force she will now lead.

However, her appointment has been met with skepticism, with several voices questioning her experience and suitability to handle highly sensitive documents.

Three-time name changer

Anna Paulina Luna was born Anna Paulina Mayerhofer in 1989 and has undergone several name changes. After being married to military officer Andrew Gamberzky, she bore his surname, before starting to use Anna Paulina while working for the conservative organization Turning Point USA. In 2019, she formally changed her surname to Luna, which she has explained as a way to emphasize her Mexican heritage.

Her biography has come under scrutiny, and some of her own statements about her family background have been questioned. For example, she has claimed that her father was a Messianic Jew, while relatives have stated that he was in fact Catholic.

Luna has confirmed that she worked as a cocktail waitress at a gentlemen’s club, but there have also been unconfirmed rumors that she was a stripper at the Red Rose Gentleman’s Club in Florida.

She has also worked as a swimsuit model for various publications, including Sports Illustrated.

Picture of Luna from Sports Illustrated published in Orlando Local News.

In addition, there have been allegations that she falsely registered to vote in Florida and that she claimed that Republican strategist Roger Stone tried to poison her. However, none of these allegations have been substantiated by independent investigations.

“Bibi in the House”

Luna has openly and consistently expressed strong support for Israel in both bills and public statements. On July 24, 2024, she attended a congressional meeting where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking, and posted a picture of herself with him on social media with the caption “Bibi in the House”.

Luna poses with Netanyahu during his visit to Washington.

In October 2023, she introduced the “Stand with Israel Act” (H.R. 6118), which aims to stop all funding to the UN Human Rights Council until the UN Security Council and General Assembly condemn Palestinian Hamas for the attacks of October 7, 2023.

Her commitment to Israel has led to questions about her impartiality in carrying out the mission, especially as some of the events she will now review – notably the Jeffrey Epstein case and the 9/11 attacks – have been the subject of speculation over the years about possible involvement of Israeli intelligence services.

Unclear mandate

The task force is also met with scepticism, partly because it is highly unclear how the declassification will be carried out in practice or what timeframes will apply, and Luna herself admits that she does not really have a mandate to carry out her task.

It’s important to note that we don’t have documents yet, and we also don’t hold declassification authority, she says in a public video explaining the mission.

 

Luna herself adds that she wants the American public to have access to the truth behind these events and that she will work to make “as much information as possible” available.

Political elite furious as Trump seeks to broker peace

Donald Trump's USA

Published 14 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Vladimir Putin och Donald Trump under ett möte i Moskva 2019.

The US announcements that the US and Russia will negotiate peace in Ukraine, that Ukrainian NATO membership is unthinkable, and that a return to the 2014 borders is unrealistic have sent establishment politicians on both sides of the Atlantic into a rage.

Surrender and betrayal”, thunders Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, arguing that the announcement “amounts to abandoning Ukraine, and undercutting the security of our European allies”.

His colleague from California, Adam Schiff, is equally outraged, complaining that Trump “called our enemy, Russia, before calling our ally, Ukraine”.

Let’s not mince words about what this represents: a surrender of Ukraine’s interests and our own, even before negotiations begin. Trump’s a great dealmaker all right – for the Kremlin”, he claims.

“A dark day”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expresses his disappointment that there will not be a “just peace” and says that “Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together”.

Estonian politician Marko Mihkelson goes even further, claiming that “today might go down in history as a dark day for Europe”, demanding that EU leaders act immediately and “take our fate into our own hands”.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is also not happy with the US announcement that a return to Ukrainian borders before 2014 is unrealistic.

– It would have been better to talk about Ukraine’s possible NATO membership or the country’s possible loss of territory at the negotiating table, he says.

“Invitation to despots and tyrants”

The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas also condemns the US efforts, saying that “Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are unconditional”.

Seven European countries, together with the European Commission, are also calling for Ukraine and the EU to be given seats at the negotiating table, while France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, says the US action opens the door to dictatorship and tyranny.

– Abandoning Ukraine would be a definitive recognition of the right of the strongest. It would be an invitation to all despots and tyrants around the world to invade their neighbors with total impunity.

“Our line is firm”

Sweden’s Defense Minister Pål Jonson (M) also reacted strongly, saying that despite the US announcement, Ukraine may well become a NATO member in the future.

– Hegseth said that NATO membership cannot be part of this political peace agreement. Then there is (another) agreement from (the previous NATO summit in) Washington that says that Ukraine’s future is in NATO, but of course it must first meet the political requirements for membership.

The Swedish minister goes on to say that only Ukraine can decide whether or not to give up territory to Russia, and states that Sweden and other European allies remain committed to the country’s “territorial integrity”.

– Let’s have some ice in our stomachs now. Our line is firm, he urges.

“A day of triumph for Putin”

On the editorial pages of several Swedish establishment media, there is almost a mood of doom. Svenska Dagbladet’s Olof Ehrenkrona, for example, believes that “Donald Trump’s United States is actively undermining Europe’s security”.

No decent and lasting peace is likely as long as Putin is in charge in the Kremlin”, he states, calling the US announcement a “day of triumph” for Putin.

He (Putin) is fooling the great negotiator who now appears to be a weakling and a loser”, he adds.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters and others who have long called for increased peace efforts in Ukraine note that EU leaders and the former Biden administration have had three full years to bring peace to the country but that they have not been interested in any such efforts or made any major efforts to end the war.

Instead, the focus has been on raising tensions and escalating the conflict further partly by sending advanced weapons systems to Ukraine that can strike targets inside Russia – but also by claiming in various statements that Europe or NATO could soon be at full-scale war with Russia.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as the new US Secretary of Health

Donald Trump's USA

Published 14 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as the new US Secretary of Health and Human Services following a Senate vote in which 52 senators supported his nomination while 48 opposed. Republican veteran Mitch McConnell was the only one in his party to vote against, citing Kennedy’s controversial statements on vaccines.

Hailed by his supporters for his opposition to the influence of pharmaceutical giants, Kennedy has promised to launch a “health revolution”. His reform agenda includes tougher rules on clinical trials and drug pricing a commitment that financial analysts say has led to falls in the share values of companies such as Pfizer and Moderna of up to 15% since his nomination. He also plans to work with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement to limit chemical additives in food.

Kennedy has worked closely with President Donald Trump to overhaul the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs. The reforms also include a push for alternative therapies, which has attracted support from conservative groups.

He has also taken aim at the FDA, which he says is “corrupt” and accused of colluding with the pharmaceutical industry.

We will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods. We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply. We will remove the financial conflicts of interest in our agencies, he said.

The family’s political heritage weighs heavily Kennedy is the son of assassinated Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Despite his Democratic background, he has moved closer to Trump’s policies, which were seen as an opportunity to push through controversial health reforms under the current administration.

Tulsi Gabbard confirmed as the US Director of National Intelligence

Donald Trump's USA

Published 12 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff

Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been confirmed by the US Senate as National Intelligence Director. The decision was made by a vote of 52-48, with only Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voting against.

Gabbard, a presidential candidate and Iraq war veteran, has long criticized the intelligence agency she will lead. After the vote, McConnell said her judgment is “flawed”, making her unfit for the “critical position”.

Since leaving the Democratic Party in 2022, Gabbard has served as an independent. Her nomination was initiated by former President Donald Trump in mid-November, a move that drew strong criticism among establishment leaders who considered her background a security risk. In 2022, she also argued that the conflict in Ukraine might have been avoided if the United States had recognized Russia’s legitimate security concerns linked to Kiev’s ambitions to join NATO.

In October, Gabbard announced her affiliation with the Republican Party during a rally in support of Trump’s presidential campaign. She has been criticized in the past for her controversial positions, including her support for whistleblower Edward Snowden and a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017. During her confirmation hearing, she refrained from calling Snowden a traitor and instead said he had broken the law.

Despite initial concerns about her limited experience in intelligence, Republican voters agreed on her nomination. As National Intelligence Director, Gabbard will oversee 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, which together employ more than 70,000 people.