MAGA bits: Liars; Freaks; Thugs

DB reports that defense secy. Pete Hegseth deleted an important sentence from the English translation of a Panama Canal statement in Spanish: Hegseth’s Panama Canal Statement Leaves Out a Major Detail From Spanish Version -- A joint statement released Tuesday by the Pentagon following talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino omitted appeared to omit a significant detail. Mulino and Hegseth released a joint statement following their talks, the Spanish version of which included the line: “Secretary Hegseth recognized the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.” That detail was nowhere to be seen in the English-language version released by the Pentagon, the Associated Press first reported.

From here on out, we can expect nothing but obliteration (denial, distortion, downplay, blame shift, etc.) of all inconvenient facts, true truths and sound reasoning from not only the DoD, but the entire MAGA federal government. 

And, MAGA does not recognize the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas. That’s interesting. I bet Mulino is wondering . . . . . is it Defcon 1 time for the Panamanian military? Who knows. MAGA is a very nasty black box.

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MJ reports that at least one AI Poobah and MAGA extremist always intended AI to be used for facial recognition to target and purge liberals and immigrants: The Shocking Far-Right Agenda Behind the Facial Recognition Tech Used by ICE and the FBI --- Thousands of newly obtained documents show that Clearview AI’s founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their digital dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration. --- An immigrant to the United States himself, Hoan Ton-That grew up in Melbourne and Canberra and claimed to be descended from Vietnamese royalty. At 19, he dropped out of college and, in 2007, moved to San Francisco to pursue a tech career. He later fell in with Silicon Valley neoreactionaries who embraced a far-right, technocratic vision of society. Now Ton-That and his partners wanted to use facial recognition to keep people out of the country. Certain people. Their technology would put that ideology into action. .... A diehard Donald Trump supporter, Ton-That envisioned using facial recognition to compare images of migrants crossing the border to mugshots to see if the arrivals had been previously arrested in the United States.

Remember my 4/1/25 post about NRx, neoreactionary authoritarianism, for the young 'uns? No? Here's the link. Good old Ton-That is one of those NRx freaks. Interestingly he is, or claims to be, a Vietnamese immigrant to Australia who immigrated to the US to help set up a system to spot immigrants and get them booted out of the country. As Spock would say, fascinating. Let's boot out Ton-That!

Hey! I've been there and ton that! Nyuk, nyuk!

Peanut 1: This is what Republicans voted for. Your Republican neighbor, your Republican pastor, your Republican uncle, etc...they're all either dumbfucks or fascists, there is nothing in between.

Peanut 2: Hey give them some credit. Some of them are dumbfucks and fascists that fall perfectly between.

Peanut 3: Evil people have an inherent competitive advantage because ignoring laws, rules, and ethics multiplies your opportunities to make more money by a ton-that. Especially when government regulation of such behavior gets as soft as the US has gotten over the past 50 years (thanks boomers). Now, predictably evil people have more wealth than entire countries and are using their wealth to buy governments and further tip everything in favor of further increasing their power and wealth.

I sense some disgruntlement in the peanut gallery.

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TNR reports about MAGA thugs gleefully deporting bona fide US citizens for committing crimes: Press Secretary Says Trump Wasn’t Joking About Deporting U.S. Citizens --- Donald Trump had suggested sending American citizens to prison in El Salvador --- During a press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked to explain Trump’s disturbingly enthusiastic response to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s wildly illegal proposition for the U.S. government to relocate individuals incarcerated in the federal prison system, including American citizens, to the Central American country. .... “These would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nation’s laws repeatedly. These are violent, repeat offenders in American streets,” Leavitt said.

Well, OK, only deport heinous, violent, repeat offender criminals! Hm, I wonder if this blog constitutes a place of heinous, violent, repeat offender crime in MAGA’s opinion. Nah, probably not. I hope. 

What could give one pause, is djt’s disturbingly enthusiastic response to boxing ’em up and shipping ’em out. That’s a bit creepy coming from a hyper-vindictive, thin-skinned, dictator-wannabe who is the US president.

MAGA chunk & bit: djt bigly pays off the carbon energy sector; Rank & file thinking

In his EO (executive order) from yesterday, djt royally pays off the energy sector for its support of him. The payoff is huge:

PROTECTING AMERICAN ENERGY FROM STATE OVERREACH

Section 1. Purpose. My Administration is committed to unleashing American energy, especially through the removal of all illegitimate impediments to the identification, development, siting, production, investment in, or use of domestic energy resources — particularly oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, geothermal, biofuel, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources. .... New York, for example, enacted a “climate change” extortion law that seeks to retroactively impose billions in fines (erroneously labelled “compensatory payments”) on traditional energy producers for their purported past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions not only in New York but also anywhere in the United States and the world.

Sec. 2. State Laws and Causes of Action. (a) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, shall identify all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable. The Attorney General shall prioritize the identification of any such State laws purporting to address “climate change” or involving “environmental, social, and governance” initiatives, “environmental justice,” carbon or “greenhouse gas” emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.

In other words, this EO represents a major federal attack on all state climate policies. It orders djt's MAGA-corrupted DoJ to challenge all state environmental regulations that energy producers do not like. Presumably, they like no state regulation. Particular emphasis in the EO is on gutting state-level climate initiatives. Thus, all state carbon or greenhouse gas emissions regulations and carbon pollution penalties or taxes are going to be obliterated.

I asked Pxy to estimate the value of killing off all state environmental regulations that affect the carbon energy sector in the first year: “Summary of Key Findings: The elimination of all state energy regulations would likely generate $150–$400 billion in annual savings for the fossil fuel and traditional energy sectors, primarily through reduced compliance costs, operational flexibility, and avoided investments in clean energy infrastructure. .... State lawsuits targeting fossil fuel companies for climate damages (e.g., New York’s “climate extortion laws”) impose billions in potential liabilities. Eliminating these could save the industry $10–$30 billion annually in legal settlements and retroactive fines.” 

Net Economic Impact of Eliminating State Environmental 
Regulations for Year 1 and Later years

Category	Annual Value to Energy Sector
Fossil Fuel Savings
Compliance costs	$80–$120 billion
Avoided renewables spend	$50–$100 billion
Market power gains	$19–$30 billion
Legal liability reduction	$10–$30 billion
Total Gains	$159–$280 billion
Renewables Losses
Stranded investments	-$200–$336 billion
Job/wage declines	-$45–$75 billion*
Net Sector Impact	-$86–$131 billion

* Estimated economic value of 1.3 million jobs at $35,000–$58,000 median wages

What about killing off all federal energy regulations in the first year?: “Eliminating all federal energy regulations would likely generate $190–$380 billion in annual savings for the traditional energy sector, primarily through reduced compliance costs, increased pricing power, and avoided investments in clean energy infrastructure. However, these gains would disproportionately benefit fossil fuel industries while destabilizing renewable energy markets, with long-term economic trade-offs potentially offsetting short-term windfalls.”

Energy sector free speech (“campaign contributions”) paid off very nicely. Return on investment ranges from a low of about 340:1 to a high of about 780:1, assuming the carbon energy sector spent $1 billion in free speech costs for the 2024 elections, which was the amount djt asked them to give him. Truthout reported that during his 2024 campaign, Trump "openly requested $1 billion from Big Oil," promising favorable policies in return, such as declaring a "national energy emergency" and rolling back environmental regulations (and this). DOUBLE MAGA!!

Net Economic Impact of Eliminating Federal Environmental 
Regulations for Year 1 and Later years

Category	Annual Value to Energy Sector
Fossil Fuel Savings
Compliance costs	$190–$380 billion
Avoided renewables spend	$50–$100 billion
Market power gains	$19–$30 billion
Total Gains	$259–$510 billion
Renewables Losses
Stranded investments	-$200–$336 billion
Job/wage declines	-$45–$75 billion*
Net Sector Impact	-$86–$131 billion

* Estimated economic value of 1.3 million jobs at median energy sector wages

djt's and MAGA elites' environmental plan

for us to enjoy nature in all of its splendor!

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Perfect MAGA logic

Trump Foreign Aid Cuts Threaten Millions of Lives

The Trump administration’s recent decision to slash funding for humanitarian programs has unleashed a global crisis of unprecedented scale, threatening millions of lives while delivering negligible budgetary “savings.” Two critical reports—Nicholas Kristof’s March 15, 2025, analysis in The New York Times and an Associated Press (AP) report on April 8, 2025—reveal the devastating human toll of these cuts, which target the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP). The combined impact could lead to over 5 million deaths within a year, all for a “savings” that amounts to a mere 0.15% of the U.S. federal budget.

Kristof’s Alarming Projections: USAID Cuts and Millions of Lives at Risk

 

In his March 15, 2025, NYT article, “Foreign Aid Cuts Impact,” Nicholas Kristof, after conducting on-the-ground research in Africa and analyzing available data, estimated the catastrophic consequences of USAID defunding under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. Kristof’s projections are staggering:

•  HIV Prevention and Treatment: 1,650,000 people could die within a year without U.S. funding for HIV programs, as USAID’s support through PEPFAR (which saves 1.3 million lives annually) is gutted.
• Vaccines: 500,000 deaths could result from the loss of USAID-funded vaccination programs, which prevent 2 million child deaths yearly.
• Food Aid: 550,000 people could die from starvation without USAID’s food assistance, a critical lifeline in famine zones.
• Tuberculosis (TB): A one-third increase in TB cases could lead to 500,000 deaths, with some cases reaching the U.S., where treating extensively drug-resistant TB costs $500,000 per case.
• Polio: Defunding polio eradication efforts could cause 200,000 paralytic polio cases annually, leading to 10,000–20,000 deaths.

Total: Kristof estimates 3.21–3.22 million potential deaths within a year from USAID cuts alone, not counting indirect impacts like global disease outbreaks (e.g., avian flu, Ebola), which could cost billions if they reach the U.S.

 

AP Report: WFP Cuts—A “Death Sentence” for Millions More

On April 8, 2025, the AP reported that the Trump administration has now ended funding to WFP emergency programs in 14 conflict-ravaged countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Gaza. The WFP, the world’s largest provider of food aid, warned on X that “this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation.” 

 

The cuts, totaling $1.5–$2 billion (e.g., $562 million in Afghanistan, $107 million in Yemen), affect 22.4 million people who rely on WFP for survival.

 

In famine conditions, where mortality rates can reach 1–2% per month, this could lead to 2–3 million deaths within a year. For example, in Yemen, where 17 million face acute food insecurity, the $107 million cut could push millions into starvation, particularly children (2.3 million under 5 are acutely malnourished). The WFP cuts target some of the last remaining USAID-run humanitarian programs, compounding the earlier damage inflicted by DOGE, which terminated 83% of USAID’s contracts.

 

Combined Impact: Over 5 Million Lives at Stake

 

Integrating Kristof’s and the AP’s data, the combined death toll from USAID and WFP cuts could reach 4.66–5.67 million within a year:

• USAID (non-food aid, e.g., HIV, vaccines, TB, polio): 2.66–2.67 million deaths.
• WFP food aid cuts (adjusted for overlap with USAID’s food aid estimate): 2–3 million deaths.

This figure doesn’t include indirect impacts, such as increased extremism (e.g., ISIS-K growth in Afghanistan) or global disease spread, which could cost the U.S. billions in the long term. The cuts also undermine U.S. soft power, ceding influence to rivals like China, with strategic costs far exceeding the short-term “savings.”

 

Meager “Savings” That Cost Lives

 

The Trump administration frames these cuts as a budgetary necessity, but the numbers tell a different story. The combined USAID and WFP cuts total $10.2–$10.7 billion:

• USAID’s remaining budget after earlier cuts: $8.7 billion (from $51 billion pre-cuts).
• WFP cuts: $1.5–$2 billion.

This $10.2–$10.7 billion is just 0.15% of the U.S. federal budget, estimated at $7 trillion in 2025. To put this in perspective:

• Defense spending ($900 billion) is 84 times larger.
• Social Security ($1.5 trillion) is 140 times larger.
• Even interest on the national debt ($800 billion) is 75 times larger.

The “savings” are negligible compared to the 5–7 million lives these programs save annually—lives that represent families, communities, and future generations. The cost per life saved is minimal: USAID’s $43.8 billion budget in 2023 saved 3–4 million lives ($10,950–$14,600 per life), and WFP’s $3 billion U.S. contribution saved 2–3 million ($1,000–$1,500 per life). Meanwhile, the long-term costs—disease outbreaks, extremism, and loss of global influence—will far exceed the “savings.”

 

Domestic Impacts: Sand in the Gears of Medicaid, Medicare, and More

 

The humanitarian crisis abroad is mirrored by domestic threats, as DOGE, under Musk’s leadership, has targeted programs for the indigent, elderly, and disabled. (Musk’s access to federal payment systems has raised alarms about potential disruptions to Medicaid and Medicare, which serve 74 million and 65 million Americans, respectively, risking thousands of deaths from untreated conditions. Cuts to means-tested programs like SNAP could further exacerbate hunger and poverty among vulnerable U.S. populations.)

 

A Moral and Strategic Failure

 

The Trump administration’s cuts to USAID and WFP, totaling a mere 0.15% of the budget, threaten over 5 million lives globally within one year, while undermining U.S. interests. These programs, as U2 singer,  Bono, noted, are “as close to poetry as policy gets,” saving lives and building goodwill at a fraction of the cost of defense or debt interest. The “savings” narrative is disingenuous, masking an ideological agenda that prioritizes aggressive nationalism over humanity. As the death toll rises, the U.S. risks not only a humanitarian catastrophe but also a profound loss of moral and strategic standing on the world stage.

 

Sources:

 

-Nicolas Kristof : Foreign Aid Impacts 3/15/25, NYT

 

-AP Report: The US ends lifesaving food aid for millions. The World Food Program calls it a 'death sentence:" 4/8/25

 

-The combined estimate of 4.66–5.67 million potential deaths was calculated by Grok, an AI assistant created by xAI, based on data from Kristof (2025) and the Associated Press (2025). The combined estimate was derived by synthesizing the data from both articles, adjusting for potential overlaps, and applying conservative assumptions to account for mitigating factors.