Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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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.

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.

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Trump’s defense secretary: Diversity is the opposite of strength

Donald Trump's USA

Published yesterday 7:41
– By Editorial Staff
In future, all military personnel will be assessed on their own merits, according to the Secretary of Defense

Newly appointed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is fed up with phrases such as “diversity is our strenght” and says this kind of left-liberal attitude has no place in the US military.

I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is “our diversity is our strength”, Hegseth told a meeting of Defense Department officials at the Pentagon on Friday.

– I think our strength is our unity, our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race, he continued.

The defense secretary went on to declare that all military personnel will be treated equally and judged by the same standards going forward.

– We will treat everyone with fairness. We will treat everyone with respect. And we will judge you as an individual by your merit and by your commitment to the team and the mission. That’s how it has been. That’s how it will be.

Hegseth has pledged to eliminate the Defense Department’s “diversity initiatives” and identity politics activism and instead focus on building a more effective and efficient military apparatus.

“Get transgender ideology out of our military”

At the end of January, Donald Trump also signed a presidential order promising to “get transgender ideology the hell out of our military.

A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member”, it proclaims, among other things.

During Friday’s meeting, Pete Hegseth also clarified that the military should prepare to assist in Trump’s promised mass deportations of illegal migrants.

Border security is national security and, as the president has told us, we’re going to get 100 percent operational control of our southern border and that will – needs to be and will be a focus of this department, he said.

Trump sanctions ICC after arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Donald Trump's USA

Published 7 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Trump and Netanyahu during a previous meeting in Washington.

In November, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – both accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Now Donald Trump is responding with sanctions – but not against the Israeli war criminals, but against the court that allegedly threatens the US and its allies.

I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, find that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”, the President writes in his decree.

The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant”, it further claims.

Trump is careful to point out that the ICC has no jurisdiction over either the US or Israel because neither country has ratified the Rome Statute, is a member of the ICC or has recognized the court.

Both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”, the presidential order continues.

“Significant consequences”

It can be noted that Trump’s move comes in the context of Netanyahu’s visit to the US President in Washington, where the two also unveiled the plan to turn Gaza into American territory and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population.

According to Trump, the ICC’s actions against Israel and the US “set a dangerous precedent” and “undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel”.

The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States”, he continued.

“Final solution”

According to local authorities, nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli invasion – the majority of them women and children. Many more have been injured or are reported missing and a majority of the territory’s population is now internally displaced.

Trump’s continued close alliance with Israel and the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is also facing harsh criticism, including from American journalist Max Blumenthal, who argues that the American people hardly benefit from funding or participating in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians:

Now, Trump has vowed to carry out the Final Solution on Israel’s behalf, and possibly with US troops. Israelis love his genocidal energy, with 80% telling the Jerusalem Post they favor Trump’s plan, and only 13% declaring it ‘immoral’. Average Americans might be less enthusiastic about embarking on a foreign ethnic cleansing adventure, but as this episode makes undeniably clear, they are not the ones who determine their government’s policy when it comes to the ‘Jewish and democratic’ state“.

Trump may shut down US aid agency

Donald Trump's USA

Published 7 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
According to Elon Musk, Trump agrees that the aid agency cannot be saved.

The much-criticized US aid and development agency USAID may soon be shut down, according to Elon Musk, who heads the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In an official statement, the White House also points out that the agency is deeply dysfunctional, and that US taxpayers’ money has been wasted on LGBTQ propaganda for children in other countries, funding of terrorists in the Middle East, and financial support for an organization that has been engaged in experimental virus research at the infamous Wuhan laboratory.

Trump’s negative attitude towards the agency has been well known for a long time, and he has declared that it is “time for it to die”.

Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), says the President is of the same opinion and “agrees that we should shut it down”.

It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. We’re shutting it down.

Did you know that USAID, using your tax dollars, funded research on bioweapons, including covid-19, that killed millions of people?” he writes in a post on his own platform X.

“Malicious projects”

The White House seems to share the view that it is time for the agency to “die”. A press release states that for decades the agency has “has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous – and, in many cases, malicious – pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight” and that those responsible have never been held accountable for their actions.

It also lists the following examples of “waste and abuse” and emphasizes that this is only a small part of the agency’s destructive activities:

  • $1.5 million to “promote diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business community”
  • $70,000 for the production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland
  • $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam
  • $47,000 for a “trans opera” in Colombia
  • $32,000 for a “transgender newspaper” in Peru
  • $2 million for gender reassignment and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala
  • $6 million dollars to fund tourism in Egypt
  • Hundreds of thousands of dollars to a nonprofit with ties to terrorist-labeled organizations – even after an inspector general launched an investigation
  • Millions to EcoHealth Alliance which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
  • Hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al-Qaeda affiliated fighters in Syria
  • Funding to prescribe “personalized” contraceptives in developing countries
  • Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan”, which benefits the Taliban.

The list could literally go on and on – and all this has been going on for decades. Under President Trump, the waste, fraud, and abuse will end immediately”, the White House communique concludes.

The agency has also been accused of funneling money to suspicious lobby groups and foundations, where it is often unclear where the money has actually ended up. It is also alleged to have funded CIA-linked organizations and projects engaged in subversion in other countries to further US geopolitical interests.

Greenland bans foreign donations to politicians over US influence concerns

Donald Trump's USA

Published 6 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Greenlandic parties and politicians are no longer allowed to accept donations from anonymous or foreign donors.

Greenland’s parliament passed a law on Tuesday banning political parties from accepting contributions “from foreign or anonymous donors”.

This follows President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for the US to take control of the vast and mineral-rich Arctic island from Denmark.

The law aims to protect “the political integrity of Greenland” and “must be seen in light of the geopolitical interests of Greenland and the current situation where representatives of a major allied power have expressed an interest in taking over and controlling Greenland”, it says.

Before taking office for his second term on January 20, Trump said he could not rule out using military or economic pressure to take control of Greenland, arguing that such a change is crucial both for US national security – but also for the whole “free world”.

His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, also visited Greenland last month and promised residents that “we’re going to treat you well” in the event of a US takeover.

Rejecting Trump’s demands

Greenland’s pro-independence leader, Mute Egede, has rejected Trump’s demand to buy the island on the grounds that the people do not want to be either Danish or American. Already today, the Danish territory has extensive self-government and parliament in Nuuk and makes its own decisions on most issues.

Parties, including local and youth branches, are not allowed to accept contributions from anonymous or foreign donors. Foreign contributors are defined as persons or organizations domiciled outside Greenland”. the new law states.

If a party receives such contributions, they must return them, and if they do not, the money must be transferred to the Treasury instead. Anyone who breaks the law risks a fine and the illegal contributions will be confiscated, it says.