#u.s. president donald trump

[minnesotafollower]

President Trump Revokes Biden’s Cancellation of  Cuba as State Sponsor of Terrorism         

The U.S. position on whether Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism recently has gone through several significant changes. On December 24, 2024, the U.S. State Department  released its latest annual report on countries that were state sponsors of terrorism, and it again included Cuba.[1] On January 14,  2025, President Biden announced that his administration intended to remove Cuba from that…

[xtruss]

Chinese Scientists Are Leaving the United States! Here’s Why That Spells Bad News For Washington.

— By Christina Lu and Anusha Rathi | July 13, 2023 | Foreign Policy

A view of Building 10 on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States on March 12, 2020. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Facing an increasingly suspicious research climate, a growing number of Chinese scientists are leaving the United States for positions abroad, the latest indicator of how worsening U.S.-China relations are complicating academic collaboration and could hamstring Washington’s tech ambitions.

Chinese scientists living in the United States have for decades contributed to research efforts driving developments in advanced technology and science. But a growing number of them may now be looking elsewhere for work, as deteriorating geopolitical relations fuel extra scrutiny of Chinese researchers and Beijing ramps up efforts to recruit and retain talent. Between 2010 and 2021, the number of Chinese scientists leaving the United States has steadily increased, according to new research published last month. If the trend continues, experts warn that the brain drain could deal a major blow to U.S. research efforts in the long run.

“It’s absolutely devastating,” said David Bier, the associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. “So many of the researchers that the United States depends on in [the] advanced technology field are from China, or are foreign students, and this phenomenon is certainly going to negatively impact U.S. firms and U.S. research going forward.”

From semiconductor chips to artificial intelligence, technology has been at the forefront of U.S.-China competition, with both Washington and Beijing maneuvering to strangle each other’s sectors. Cooperation, even in key sectors like combating climate change, has been rare.

From 2010 to 2021, the number of scientists of Chinese descent who left the United States for another country has surged from 900 to 2,621, with scientists leaving at an expedited rate between 2018 and 2021, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Nearly half of this group moved to China and Hong Kong in 2010, the study said, and a growing percentage of Chinese scientists have relocated to China over the years.

While this number represents a small fraction of the Chinese scientists in the United States, the uptick reflects researchers’ growing concerns and broader apprehension amid a tense geopolitical climate. After surveying 1,304 Chinese American researchers, the report found that 89 percent of respondents wanted to contribute to U.S. science and technology leadership. Yet 72 percent also reported feeling unsafe as researchers in the United States, while 61 percent had previously considered seeking opportunities outside of the country.

“Scientists of Chinese descent in the United States now face higher incentives to leave the United States and lower incentives to apply for federal grants,” the report said. There are “general feelings of fear and anxiety that lead them to consider leaving the United States and/or stop applying for federal grants.”

The incentives to leave are twofold. Beijing has funneled resources into research and development programs and has long attempted to recruit scientists, even its own, from around the world. For one of its initiatives, the Thousand Talents Plan, Beijing harnessed at least 600 recruitment stations worldwide to acquire new talent. “China has been really trying to lure back scientists for a long time,” said Eric Fish, the author of China’s Millennials.

But this latest outflow of Chinese scientists accelerated in 2018, the same year that then-U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled the China Initiative, a controversial program that was aimed at countering IP theft—and cast a chill over researchers of Chinese descent and collaborations with Chinese institutions. In 2020, he also issued a proclamation denying visas for graduate students and researchers affiliated with Chinese universities associated with the military.

Although the Biden administration shut down the China Initiative, experts warn that its shadow still looms over Chinese scientists. More than one-third of respondents in the PNAS survey reported feeling unwelcome in the United States, while nearly two-thirds expressed concerns about research collaboration with China.

“There is this chilling effect that we’re still witnessing now, where there is a stigma attached to collaboration with China,” said Jenny Lee, a professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona.

The challenges are emblematic of how the breakdown in U.S.-China relations has thrown universities into a geopolitical firestorm, particularly as some states’ lawmakers pressure them to sever ties with Chinese counterparts. On the U.S. side, interest in Mandarin language studies and study abroad has plummeted over the years, largely the result of worsening ties, Beijing’s growing repression, and the coronavirus pandemic. Today, while there are roughly 300,000 Chinese students in America, only 350 Americans studied in China in the most recent academic year. If interest continues to recede, experts warn of spillover effects that could hamper Washington’s understanding of Beijing.

“We’re losing a generation of people who are knowledgeable about China,” said Daniel Murphy, the former director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. “I’m concerned that the United States is going about this issue in a way that excessively focuses on risks of the academic relationship, without due consideration for the benefits. And I think we see this in a whole host of arenas, and that it’s bipartisan.”

At the same time as a growing number of Chinese scientists exit the United States, new students appear to be facing higher barriers to entry as student visa denials and backlogs reach record high levels. According to a blog post by the Cato Institute, student visa denials peaked at about 35 percent in 2022—the highest rate recorded in two decades.

Student visa denial data is not available by nationality, but Bier, the Cato Institute expert who wrote the piece, said that there is a high degree of correlation between denial rates for B-visas, or tourist visas, and student visas. “Having reviewed the B-visa denials in China, it’s pretty clear that the Chinese overall visa denial rate has increased significantly over the last few years and is at a level now where it’s the highest it’s been in decades,” he said.

Just as some Chinese scientists are looking abroad, these challenges are pushing a growing number of international students to turn elsewhere for academic opportunities. Students are increasingly heading to countries like Canada, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, all of which are opening their doors to high-skilled workers and researchers. To attract more talent, the United Kingdom has issued “Global Talent” and “High Potential Individual” visas, which allow scholars from top universities to work there for 2-3 years and 1-5 years, respectively.

Universities are being impacted “by geopolitical tensions, by political agendas, and so it’s certainly inhibiting U.S. Universities’ ability to attract the best and brightest,” Lee said.

— Christina Lu is a Reporter at Foreign Policy. Anusha Rathi is an Editorial Fellow at Foreign Policy.

[saywhat-politics]

Happy Eugene Goodman Day

to all who observe

[the-potus-is-a-russian-asset]

If this does not sound familiar, you may be in a cult.

[eugenedebs1920]

Trump has been nothing but a financial, political, and spiritual burden on the United States! What has he ever done, besides give the 1% a giant tax cut adding $5 trillion to the deficit, beneficial for this nation? Honestly! I’d like to know. He inherited a great economy that Obama and Biden spent 8 years fixing from Bush Jr’s catastrophic failures. By the time Trump left office we had record high unemployment, economy in the tank, inflation on the rise. I hear maga say Obama was the most divisive president of all time?! To that I say BULLSHIT!!! He was only divisive if you were a racist. Which apparently is a lot of people.

The only thing Trump has done is grift off this nation, shred the constitution, rig SCOTUS, destroy our reputation, ruin the economy, sell our secrets to Russia, divide this nation like never before, and make a mockery of all who died to protect the rights and freedoms granted to us. So if you hate America, he did quite a bit I suppose.

[aroacesocialist]

As a teen in an American high school, I’m becoming increasingly worried. I’m reading and learning so much about actual leftist ideals, as well as actual American history, and not the whitewashed version, but I’m seen as crazy for suggesting the US has done genocide. I’ve also seen a strong lack of hate towards Nazis, where people just shrug off actual Nazi behavior. It is always linked to the idea of either “Well it was bad then, but it’s gone now,” or “No no no, it was just a joke, don’t take it seriously.” It makes me fucking sick that in order to try and convince these people that the US has done bad things, I have to find a way to tell 17-18 year olds what empathy is. I’m trying my best to do something about it, I’m making a group to discuss politics so the members can make their own conclusions based on actual history, but it’s so tiring. I’ve even had some teachers straight up echo Nazi talking points and deny that’s where it came from. It’s just so tiring, especially being a queer student who isn’t out. Fuck the Trump Administration, and overall fascists, for making Naziism not so intense in the public eye. It’s just scary honestly.

[chaosfish2775]

As you all may know, Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 Presidential Campaign. I implore you all to watch Kamala’s first campaign speech, because it is an absolute banger. I must say, I wasn’t excited for her candidacy, because I don’t know much about her. But after hearing her speech, I am more ecstatic than ever to vote in November. My birthday is on January 20th y’all, and next year my present will be seeing the first woman sworn in to the office of the President of the United States of America. We are not going back.

[deadpresidents]

"Somehow disruption doesn't begin to cover it. Upheaval might be closer. Revolution maybe. In less than two weeks since being elected again, Donald J. Trump has embarked on a new campaign to shatter the institutions of Washington as no incoming President has in his lifetime.

He has rolled a giant grenade into the middle of the nation's capital and watched with mischievous glee to see who runs away and who throws themselves on it. Suffice it to say, so far there have been more of the former than the latter. Mr. Trump has said that 'real power' is the ability to engender fear, and he seems to have achieved that.

Mr. Trump's early transition moves amount to a generational stress test for the system. If Republicans bow to his demand to recess the Senate so that he can install appointees without confirmation, it would rewrite the balance of power established by the Founders more than two centuries ago. And if he gets his way on selections for some of the most important posts in government, he would put in place loyalists intent on blowing up the very departments they would lead.

He has chosen a bomb-throwing backbench congressman who has spent his career attacking fellow Republicans and fending off sex-and-drugs allegations to run the same Justice Department that investigated him, though it did not charge him, on suspicion of trafficking underage girls. He has chosen a conspiracy theorist with no medical training who disparages the foundations of conventional health care to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

He has chosen a weekend morning television host with a history of defending convicted war criminals while sporting a Christian Crusader tattoo that has been adopted as a symbol by the far right to run the most powerful armed forces in the history of the world. He has chosen a former congresswoman who has defended Middle East dictators and echoed positions favored by Russia to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies.

Nine years after Mr. Trump began upsetting political norms, it may be easy to underestimate just how extraordinary all of this is. In the past, none of those selections would have passed muster in Washington, where a failure to pay employment taxes for a nanny used to be enough to disqualify a cabinet nominee. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has bulled past the old red lines, opting for nominees who are so provocative that even fellow Republicans wondered whether he is trolling them.

The message to Washington is simple, according to Roger Stone, the longtime Trump friend who relishes his own reputation as a political dirty trickster. 'Things are going to be different,' he said by text."

-- Peter Baker, "Trump Signals a 'Seismic Shift,' Shocking the Washington Establishment,' The New York Times, November 17, 2024.

Here's another incisive article about President-elect Donald Trump's transition and his frightening Cabinet nominees, who are abnormal even for Trump and the personality cult that has been built around him since 2015. For the past quarter-century, Peter Baker has been one of the very best, most level-headed analysts of the contemporary American Presidency, and he seems be stunned by the direction the incoming Trump Administration is already heading. Once again, all of these links are gift links to bypass the New York Times paywall so that you may read and share these important pieces and remain alert to the very real consequences of the 2024 election which are already taking shape.

[starsideblog]

Can someone PLEASE pull a "shoot the ceo" with Trump. This country is fucking doomed if he stays alive. It's only been 15 days, out of the four YEARS he's going to get, and this is awful. He's genuinely trying to become a dictator. So many things are being changed for the worse. And that's terrifying

Anyone who isn't Caucasian, queer people, disabled people, fucking hell even perisex cis women are in so much danger with him in power

We need him dead now or we're all 6 feet under

[relaxedstyles]

[msachillelaurosfunnels]

Oh.

I'm such a disappointment

[kiralou02]

A small boy asks his Dad, "Daddy, what is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism.

Your mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government.

We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the People.

The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class.

And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future.

Now, think about that and see if that makes sense." So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. The little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father having sex with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in Deep Shit."

[themisinformer]

Nation’s Biggest Dumbass Doesn’t See Need for Department of Education

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Calling the government institution “completely unnecessary,” the country’s biggest dumbass, President Donald Trump, has once again stated his intention to completely dismantle the Department of Education, claiming that there isn’t a reason for it to exist in this day and age.

“The Department of Education is a complete and utter disaster,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social. “We’re wasting billions of dollars to educate our nation’s young people when they all have social media, television, and books that they can use to learn completely for free. It’s all one big waste, people!”

Trump has also expressed concern about the supposed “woke” learning content being taught in schools across the country. “There’s no learning going on anymore,” Trump claimed. “It’s all indoctrination. They’re teaching kids to hate America, and that’s something that I just can’t stand for.”

Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education has received criticism as it would cause public schools to lose a significant amount of their funding, and could severely hurt programs such as special education and low income student assistance, something that Trump has brushed off.

“All kids need to know is the truth, and we have Truth Social for that,” Trump concluded.

[saywhat-politics]

[jackalopesao3]

🌈☮️Remember☮️🌈

I know it’s hard not to spiral but there’s a few things to keep on mind:

Trump is old and in poor health. He can’t turn the US into a dictatorship if he’s dead.

Vance does not have the backing that Trump has. A Trump voter literally asked if they could change their vote if Trump dies before he can become president. Take that as an indicator.

Senate and House are temporary too. Get out and vote blue every election. Have a plan so you never miss an election. Apply for an absentee if you’re worried you won’t make it in person.

We are not doomed but do stock up on supplies, learn self-defense, and stay vigilant. Look into agencies who can help you if things get grim. Prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

This is temporary. We can get through this. We will be okay. YOU will be okay.

I love you all. Please, never give up. I am always here to talk if you want to.

[eugenedebs1920]

I just want to clear something up because I hear this crap from all you treasonous maga out there, “we’re not a democracy, we’re a republic.” Guess what? I can watch Fox News too and regurgitate bullsh*t talking points and sound like a dumb*ss. I’d rather think critically, do research, come to a conclusive answer. This screenshot is from the civics lessons you have to take to become an American citizen (hence govinfo.gov).

So according to the government of the United States, the United States is federal representative democratic republic under the constitution.

No matter what propaganda sh*t Jesse Watters or Sean Hannity tries to spew. This is what our government says our government is. Hope we can move on from this, and yall will shutup.

Thanks 👍

Every intelligent, patriotic American