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Buzz Feed
6 days ago
- Politics
- Buzz Feed
Trump's Military Parade: Bad Marching Explained
This weekend, there was a military parade in DC to mark Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the US Army — and definitely, totally not for President Donald Trump's birthday. If you've seen any clips going viral from the event, you've likely noticed that many soldiers marching out of sync with one another, or generally appeared to have pretty low energy, certainly not what one imagines when they conjure the image of a strongman military parade. It led to some speculating that the marching (or lack thereof) may have been a form of political protest. So, I spoke to Charlotte Clymer, an activist and DC-based writer, who covered the topic in her Substack "Charlotte's Web Thoughts." She served in the US Army from 2005-2012, including three years in the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). Of her time in the Old Guard, she said, "I probably did hundreds of parades and various ceremonies, to say nothing of all the funerals that we carried out in Arlington National Cemetery. Beyond the actual missions, we were doing training all the time. We're talking 1000s of hours of drilling, marching, and various preparations for those ceremonies." Charlotte, like some of the other veterans I spoke to, said that she initially hadn't planned to watch the parade. However, after being sent clips while she was at a No Kings protest, she was "surprised" and "beyond shocked" when she watched the whole thing. She said, "That is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The glaring nature of the poor quality of the marching really kind of shook me. And I know that might sound strange for people to hear, because for most folks, it's just a military parade. It's not that big a deal." "But you have to understand, even beyond the whole honor aspect of this and discipline, fidelity to the mission, there's also just the consequences of not performing to standard in a military operation, even if it is just a parade," she continued. "Part of what makes soldiers meet a high standard of excellence is knowing there will be consequences if we don't. And in a parade of that public significance on national television, with the whole country watching, every soldier marching in that parade would normally understand that if they fail to meet at least a basic standard, they're going to face consequences for it." Charlotte doesn't buy that some of the soldiers simply were from units that weren't used to marching. "Every soldier learns how to march during basic training, and it's not hard. It's remarkably easy," she continued, noting that the soldiers will have had a dress rehearsal a few days prior. As for why we saw what we saw, she said, "I don't think this was a protest against Trump, or anything adjacent to anti-fascism or concern with how the government is operating. I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think this is just because they were treated very poorly and they didn't care. I think the soldiers who were misstepping during the parade — there were a lot of them — were just tired, annoyed, probably to some extent angry, and they just did not give enough of a shit to march to a high standard of excellence." Part of the annoyance, Charlotte thinks, may have stemmed from many of the army members likely having to travel from out of town, staying in not-great lodgings, waking up early, and then spending hours waiting for their turn to march — "their comfort and dignity really were an afterthought." However, she also thinks it may have been because the parade itself was "completely unnecessary." "Everyone is aware that this parade was done in service of Donald Trump — even the soldiers who likely voted for him know it was done in service to his ego. And I don't know about you, but I would never want to participate in the parade so that a lone individual could feel good about themselves," she explained. "Of course, we want to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army. But everyone is aware that that's simply a proxy for Trump celebrating himself. He wanted to recreate what he saw in North Korea, in France, in these other countries, these massive, flashy military parades that really would center him. He wanted a tyrant celebration. Everyone was aware of that, and I think their unhappiness showed through pretty clearly." Charlotte compared the parade with the inaugural parade, where "you'll almost never see a soldier out of step." Calling this event "deeply embarrassing," she said, "There are unfriendly nations probably watching this and wondering, does this military really support its commander-in-chief?" Speaking to how the parade might reflect on potential military use in city protests, Charlotte said, "The whole point of having our military is to protect the Constitution and the people the Constitution is meant to serve. If we don't have a military that is nonpartisan, that serves lawful orders of the President by the direction of the Constitution, we're in big trouble. At the moment, it's pretty clear that there has been some degree of dissension and unhappiness in the ranks, whether or not that has to do with politics or the way the troops are being treated. This is a complex conversation, but it is clear that there is a deep unhappiness in the military at the moment." Charlotte later emailed us to add, "It was like watching a professional baseball game and the players drop easy, routine pop flies numerous times. It was that level of surreal embarrassment." You can read more about the parade here.
Egypt Independent
14-06-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
The UK, Germany and Canada have slashed foreign aid this year, deepening damage done by US cuts, analysis shows
London CNN — Western countries have slashed foreign aid budgets this year and reductions will steepen in 2026, with the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada cutting the most, according to a new analysis from the Center for Global Development (CGD). The aid cuts will mean 'significant losses' for many developing nations, according to the analysis from the DC-based think tank, shared exclusively with CNN. Ethiopia is projected to lose the most aid in nominal terms, with Jordan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo also hit particularly hard. Smaller nations will also be hammered by the reduction in foreign aid, with Lesotho, Micronesia and Eswatini each losing around 50 percent of their aid. 'It's setting fire to the bold ambitions to solve poverty and transform developing countries,' Lee Crawfurd, one of the authors of the report, told CNN. 'It's some of the poorest, most fragile places in the world that are going to be hardest hit.' The analysis looked at projections of bilateral aid – money provided directly to another country rather than routed through multilateral organizations such as United Nations agencies or the World Bank – for 2025 and 2026. The US is projected to cut the most, with a projected 56 percent reduction compared to levels two years ago. The Trump administration's gutting of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year has already left a hole in many international aid budgets, and several other Western nations are following suit rather than filling the void. 'A big, big chunk of overall cuts in the next couple of years are going to be from the US pulling out, rather than other countries. But these other countries are making things worse,' said Crawfurd, a senior research fellow at the CGD. The UK aid cuts are estimated to represent a roughly 39 percent reduction compared to 2023 levels of spending. Meanwhile, Germany is cutting about 27 percent, Canada 25 percent and France 19 percent of their international aid budgets. The true level of aid cuts remains unclear, as the Trump administration's proposed budget and other government proposals are still making their way through legislatures. But some funding cuts are almost guaranteed. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in February that his government would increase the UK's defense spending by cutting its aid budget to 0.3 percent of gross national income in 2027, its lowest level since 1999. Many organizations and aid workers have raised alarm about European governments pitting aid budgets against defense spending. 'Cutting the already lean aid budget is a false economy and will only increase division and amounts to a betrayal of the world's most vulnerable people,' said Halima Begum, head of Oxfam GB. 'It is a false dichotomy to pit international cooperation to tackle poverty against national security interests in order to avoid tax increases.' A sign for GIZ, Germany's international development agency, is seen in February 2017. Michael Gottschalk/Photothek/Getty Images Crawfurd said that bilateral aid is a 'really small part of government budgets' and the money for defense or security could be found elsewhere. 'It's a choice… it's a political choice,' he added. The think tank wrote in its analysis that 'one striking takeaway is that some countries are projected to lose large amounts of ODA (official development assistance) simply because of who their main donors are – while others are projected to lose very little' – a game of chance, with losses not matching up to the recipient country's needs. Yemen, for example, is projected to experience a 19 percent fall in its bilateral funding compared to 2023, while its 'comparable' neighbor country Somalia is projected to lose about 39 percent. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has also warned that multilateral aid cuts are threatening efforts to tackle 44 of the highest-priority, protracted humanitarian crises. As of April, only 11.9 percent of the funding for UN response plans had been covered. 'Every year, the UN has been helping more than 100 million people in the world as they go through the worst time of their lives in wars and disasters. But let's be clear: we won't reach the level of funding in 2025 that we've seen in previous years,' Anja Nitzsche, OCHA's chief of partnerships and resource mobilization told CNN in a statement. 'Vulnerable families are being left without food, clean water, healthcare, shelter or protection in places such as Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, Myanmar and Afghanistan.' Minimizing the damage The CGD is urging Western donors to reallocate aid to the poorest countries to try to 'ensure that resources are directed to populations in greatest need.' Western countries also need to improve coordination to mitigate further damage, especially as they are withdrawing from countries receiving aid, the think tank said. In some countries, the cuts will change who the largest donor is, which 'can lead to major shifts in what gets funded and how,' according to the CGD. For example, Portugal will likely overtake the US in aid to Angola, and Japan is projected to overtake France in Egypt. 'A new lead donor may not continue the same programs' or may take time to get up and running, according to the analysis. Giving a larger share of aid to multilateral organizations can also help improve international cooperation and cut down on duplication of aid efforts. 'Coordination is an ongoing challenge,' Crawfurd told CNN. 'The easiest way to do that is just to fund big multilateral funds like the World Bank.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
STUDY: Indiana ranks 9th in rush-hour crashes nationwide
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A new study has found that Indiana ranks ninth in states with the most evening rush-hour fatal crashes. The study, conducted by DC-based law firm Kitchel Law, analyzed National Highway Traffic Administration data from 2018 to 2202 on fatal crashes occurring between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Study: Indiana drivers are bad at safely navigating work zones The study stated that Indiana has a fatal crash rate of 6.3 per 100,000 licensed drivers—almost 26% higher than the national average of five fatal crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers. Between 2018 to 2022, Indiana also saw an average of 134 fatal crashes occurring during rush hour, according to the study. Study: How are Hoosiers most likely to get into a crash? Below is a full list of the top ten states with the highest evening rush-hour crashes per 100,000 drivers: New York — 34.6 Alabama — 28.4 Virginia — 27.0 North Carolina — 18.2 Arizona — 8.6 Missouri — 7.9 Wisconsin — 7.7 New Jersey — 6.9 Indiana — 6.3 Massachusetts — 5.9 Indiana is 9th most likely to ignore traffic signs Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The F-35 stealth fighter just got another noise complaint
A congressional lawmaker sought funding to help constituents battle F-35 noise pollution. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation previously funded $50 million for noise issues but denied requests for additional funding. F-35 jets have caused noise complaints nationwide, with reports of health impacts. The F-35 is a loud aircraft, and the people of Wisconsin are not happy about it. A local congressman is again calling in a noise complaint on the stealth fighter, urging Pentagon officials to visit the state and witness for themselves just how loud the Lockheed Martin fifth-generation fighter jet actually is when it is flying overhead. Rep. Mark Pocan sent a letter to the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, a DC-based agency within the Department of Defense that helps military bases work with their local communities, after the group denied funding for noise mitigation efforts for some Madison citizens, who Pocan says are plagued by the jet's deafening Pratt & Whitney engines. Truax Field Air National Guard Base, which is home to the 115th Fighter Wing and its F-35A Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, is located in Madison, Wisconsin. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has funded DoD noise-mitigation efforts and even has an entire office dedicated to handling community noise issues from military fixed-wing aviation. The office offered Madison residents $50 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Pocan's letter, "to make necessary modifications to their homes to dampen the noise and improve their quality of life." A recent similar request, however, for $18 million for other Madison residents was nixed. Pocan said in his letter that "this effort would have allowed for better insulation in over 160 homes to help cushion the noise, as well as new windows or HVAC systems." A 2012 Vermont Health Department study found that F-35 jets reached a peak noise level of 115 decibels, or approximately the same noise level as a rock concert, louder than the F-16s the 115th Fighter Wing previously flew. "Since the decision to place F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field in 2020, my office has repeatedly been in touch with the Department of Defense to express my concerns about what impact the noise from these jets could have on local residents, their homes, and local businesses," Pocan said. "In the years since, residents have reported consistent and significant concerns with the noise levels to my office, along with fears that prolonged exposure could lead to property damage or negative health impacts," the letter said. The congressman requested that the office send an official out to Madison to explain its rejection to the community in person. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on its planned response to Pocan's letter. It's not the first time that noisy jets have made headlines in Wisconsin, where residents near the Truax Field Air National Guard Base have had to contend with the aircraft regularly since their arrival in 2020. F-35s have also riled up other residents across the country where the advanced fighter jets are housed, disturbing residents in Utah, Arizona and Vermont, where some people have even reported panic attack-like symptoms in response. Read the original article on Business Insider
Forbes
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
The Supreme Court Could Cut Off Classroom Internet Connections
The Supreme Court has the cable cutter getty For almost thirty years, the E-Rate program has made internet connectivity available to schools and libraries across the country. Now the Supreme Court could decide to end that program. The program was authorized as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, with the FCC deciding to fund E-Rate through the pool of money collected from service providers for the Universal Service Fund. The idea was to increase internet connectivity for classrooms and libraries, particularly those serving low-income or rural populations. The USF also funds connectivity services for rural health care, remote communities, and low-income households. The effect was immediate. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the requests for E-Rate funding, amounting to $2,02 billion, outstripped the program funding immediately. The percentage of public schools with internet access, according to a U.S. Department of Education survey, went from 35% in 1994 to 95% in 1999. Over that same period, internet access in actual classrooms went from 3% to 63%. The program has allowed schools that could not have managed internet connectivity for their students, and that can be transformative (I taught at one such school). The challenge to that program comes from Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research. It's an appeal of a decision from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that found in favor of Consumers' Research, a DC-based conservative advocacy group. The argument is laid out simply in the first paragraph of the decision: In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress delegated its taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC then subdelegated the taxing power to a private corporation. That private corporation, in turn, relied on for-profit telecommunications companies to determine how much American citizens would be forced to pay for the 'universal service' tax that appears on cell phone bills across the Nation. We hold this misbegotten tax violates Article I, § 1 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has heard the case, which brought out a host of amicus briefs. The states of Alaska and Colorado argued that loss of internet access to its very rural population would be disastrous. Many groups representing schools, communities and libraries argued to overturn the Fifth Circuit decision. The National Leaguer of Cities made their plea: The potential loss of USF program benefits posed by the decision below would severely harm the economies of local communities and decrease the overall quality of life for local governments' residents. A less connected community is a less educated, less employed, and less healthy community. Briefs from a host of right-leaning groups like Americans for Prosperity, the National Taxpayers Union, and the New Civil Liberties Alliance all argue that the USF is unconstitutional. The language in these briefs is heated. 'The rule restores the Constitution's original meaning,' writes the ADF, 'at a time when it is sorely needed.' Advancing American Freedom invokes the founders and the abuse of 'taxation without representation.' A decision is expected in the nest few weeks. The impact of ending E-Rate programs would send shockwaves through classrooms across the country. At best, it would require Congress to restructure the entire funding mechanism for the program. At worst, it would cast thousands of districts serving rural and low-income students back out of the twenty-first century. Mark Walsh at Education Week says the court has signaled it is 'unlikely to upend' the program. School districts across the country are hoping he's correct.
