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Friday, January 24, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/world/donald-trump-reiterates-claims-on-greenland-and-the-panama-canal/

World

Donald Trump reiterates claims on Greenland and the Panama Canal

Donald Trump's USA

Published 26 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
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Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump is making headlines with controversial demands involving both Greenland and the Panama Canal.

He has called Greenland’s strategic location and natural resources crucial for American security while also demanding lower fees in the Panama Canal – or the return of US control over it.

Trump expressed his interest in Greenland through a post on Truth Social:

“For national security and freedom worldwide, US ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”, he wrote.

The statement coincided with his nomination of Ken Howery, co-founder of PayPal, as the next US ambassador to Denmark.

Greenland’s strategic significance in the Arctic and its vast natural resources – including gold, silver, copper, uranium, and potentially significant oil deposits – are well known.

Trump previously attempted to purchase Greenland during his first term in 2019 but was met with a categorical rejection from the Danish government, prompting him to cancel a planned state visit to Denmark.

Danish politicians are reacting forcefully once again. Rasmus Jarlov, chairman of the Danish Parliament’s Defense Committee, wrote on X: “Greenland is Danish. It has been since 1380 and it will continue to be. This is undisputed, signed in rock in treaties and not open for negotiation. At all.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister, Múte B. Egede, emphasized in an email to the newspaper Ekstrabladet that Greenland is not for sale: “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”

The Panama Canal

Alongside his statements on Greenland, Trump also made remarks about the Panama Canal over the weekend, as reported by Dagens PS.

He demanded that Panamanian authorities immediately lower fees for US ships, warning that the US might otherwise take back control of the canal due to what he called “ridiculous fees” for American vessels.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question”, Trump emphasized.

Trump’s statements on the Panama Canal and his renewed claim on Greenland hint at an upcoming US foreign policy likely to provoke international reactions.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/tech/trump-and-tech-giants-unveil-record-breaking-ai-project/

Tech

Trump and tech giants unveil record-breaking AI project

Donald Trump's USA

Published yesterday 9:18
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Trump with senior representatives of Oracle, Softbank and OpenAI.
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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.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-issues-1500-pardons-tied-to-capitol-protests/

World

Trump issues 1,500 pardons tied to Capitol protests

Donald Trump's USA

Published 22 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Trump has described those convicted as “hostages” and previously promised to release them.
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As promised, Donald Trump has issued a sweeping pardon for more than 1,500 people who were involved in various ways in the so-called storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The pardon, signed shortly after Trump’s presidential inauguration, covers nearly everyone who has been charged or convicted in connection with those events and includes people previously convicted of various degrees of crimes – from minor misdemeanors to serious violent offenses.

Among those pardoned are Stewart Rhodes, founder of the group Oath Keepers, who was previously sentenced to 18 years in prison, Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, who served a 22-year prison sentence, and Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman”. The pardon applies to both those already serving sentences and those whose trials are still ongoing.

Relatives and supporters of the pardoned have gathered outside prisons to celebrate the decision, arguing that these are political prisoners who were illegally detained by the Biden administration and have now been released.

They argue that the judicial processes have been characterized by extreme legal uncertainty, with many of those who participated in the protests being sentenced to several years in prison on very arbitrary grounds, despite the fact that they do not appear to have acted in a threatening or violent manner. Instead, many in the MAGA community believe that most of the sentences were purely political and that the main purpose was to deter similar protests against those in power in the future.

“A defining moment”

– We are deeply thankful for President Trump for his actions today, said James Lee Bright, a lawyer representing Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes,

– This marks a pivotal moment in our client’s life, and it symbolizes a turning point for our nation. We are optimistic for the future, as we now turn the page on this chapter, embracing new possibilities and opportunities, commented Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio’s lawyer Nayib Hassan.

However, left-liberal politicians and media outlets are raging against the decision, claiming that many of those pardoned are dangerous “extremists” – a criticism that Trump himself does not seem to attach much importance to.

He has described those convicted as “hostages” who have had their lives destroyed.

– They’ve served years in jail, and, if you look at the American public, the American public is tired of it.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-initiates-us-withdrawal-from-who-again/

World

Trump initiates US withdrawal from WHO – again

Donald Trump's USA

Published 22 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO and Donald Trump sign the withdrawal agreement.
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Donald Trump has announced that the United States will leave the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the second time the President has tried to leave the UN body.

On Monday, his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing from the WHO, citing the organisation’s handling of COVID-19, lack of reforms and its alleged dependence on political influence from member states.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the WHO advocated for forced vaccinations and recommended lockdowns. It has also been criticized for trying to influence private lives through advice such as refraining from hugging each other during Christmas. The UN agency’s actions during the pandemic have been widely criticized, with some arguing that the organization should make amends for the harmful consequences of the lockdowns.

Trump also points out that the organization is demanding “unfairly onerous payments from the United States”, which are completely disproportionate to the assessed payments of other countries.

“China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO“, the White House writes.

Attempted to withdraw as early as 2020

This is not the first time Trump has tried to withdraw from the WHO. He took steps to leave the organization in 2020, accusing it then of aiding China in efforts to “mislead the world” about the origins of COVID-19. Joe Biden then reversed the decision when he took over as President.

The United States has been a member of the WHO since its creation in 1948 and its withdrawal would make it the only major power not in the organization, which currently has 194 members.

Within 12 months, the US will have left the organization, according to Trump.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/left-liberal-outrage-after-musks-gesture/

World

Left-liberal outrage after Musk’s gesture

Donald Trump's USA

Published 21 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Elon Musk's notable gesture.
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During Trump’s inauguration ceremony yesterday, Elon Musk drew attention when he ended a speech with a gesture in which he clutched his chest and raised his arm upwards at an angle twice.

Outraged left-liberal media and opinion makers quickly accused Musk of making a “Nazi” salute – but he himself seems to be taking the storm of criticism in stride.

After a short speech in which Musk emphasized the importance of Trump’s election victory, he made a somewhat unusual gesture in which he first slapped his right hand across his chest and then extended it diagonally with an open hand. The gesture was repeated twice during his appearance.

Accusations quickly began to fly that the world’s richest man had made a “Hitler salute” – and several TV channels covering the ceremony chose to pause their regular coverage and instead focus on discussing the purpose of the arm gesture and whether it should be seen as “Nazi”, “fascist” or something else entirely.

“US billionaire Elon Musk appeared to make a Heil Hitler salute at the Washington DC Trump parade”, wrote the Jerusalem Post, for example, and the UK’s The Guardian claimed that “Elon Musk appears to make back-to-back fascist salutes“.

“So tiresome”

However, the multi-billionaire himself does not seem to be particularly bothered by all the fuss, writing on X that his opponents “need better dirty tricks”.

“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”, he notes.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the tech mogul has also received support from the Jewish lobbying organization ADL, which tracks and monitors alleged anti-Semitic activity around the world.

“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge”, it said in a statement.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com