Understanding the US - Again

[williams]

DJT started (or atleast made it look like started) with bangs:
1) Illegal immigrants: showed action in the first few days with deporting plane loads of illegals. Not sure where this stands now. its stale news. with millions of illegals, a few planeloads are only drops in a bucket.

2) JFK files: nothing to show off.

3) Epstein files: Nothing

4) Greenland: nothing

5) Canada as 51st state: nothing.

6) tariff wars: sowed chaos. but back to trading with China. square 1.

7) pissed off all allies and potential allies including India in a few months. quite a achievement in a short duration.

8 ) debt reduction: no progress.
Fed Reserve not in control.

9) DOGE - saved $500B. could have been a good achievement, but considering they needed to save $2-3T, its an under achivement in the circumstances.

10) DS/Intelligence: more of the same. In spite of Tulsi being head of Intelligence - Bangla ISKON head remains in jail, and we Amrican uniforms in Kangladesh and Trump dealing with Pakis after Pahalgam terrorist attack. Tulsi proving to be ineffective.

11) RFKJr. : only he seems to be trying to make long term change in direction - banning colors, digging deeper into causes of autism, etc.

Overall scoring about 1 / 10.
Trump seems to have lost control to DS. and US heading towards multiple crises in the coming years.

Everything depends of domestic economy and inflation. He has another 6 -8 months time to turn around prices. If he does that then the rest does not matter. If he cannot do that then congress will jump ship and that will make him a lame duck.

[bala]

^^ You expect all of this in 5 months time. (responding to A Deshmukh)

[A_Gupta]

> 9) DOGE - saved $500B. could have been a good achievement, but considering they needed to save $2-3T, its an under achivement in the circumstances.

Even Musk does not claim that much.

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/30/doge-e ... iful-blill

“ The big picture: Elon Musk claims that his DOGE team saved $175 billion in taxpayer spending, though an outside analysis estimates the verified savings are closer to $16 billion.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-mus ... 08820.html


“ DOGE's own website currently says it has found $175 billion in savings, but it's backed up by data that a Yahoo Finance analysis and other outside analyses have found to be plagued by errors — leading many to suggest that actual savings are far lower.”

[Vayutuvan]

A penny saved is a penny earned. It looks almost like Democrats and their supporters are for wasteful spending. It figures. That is how they redistribute wealth and fill their pockets.

[bala]

Many of the savings will happen eventually. DOGE cutback has the congress a little shell shocked and they don't want their pork filled (a term that US dudes use) projects to be hampered one bit. The sheer fraud in social security checks, unemployment checks, tax evasion, inflated DOD project costs and other areas are ripe for trillions to be trimmed from the budget. The DOGE team is now embedded in each dept and they will find more to cut. DJT has backed of on the cuts to get a deal for this tax bill with the senate. Between congress and senate there will be some horse trading to cut back on the tax cuts. Eventually the repubs should get this done. It is quite pathetic to see the repubs not united while the dumbs are block voters for their cause, no dem votes against their agenda.

[Tanaji]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-tr ... by-clones/

Trump claims Biden was replaced by a clone.

I sincerely hope Trump gets a third term and all that it implies. But then I also like watching things burn…

[A Deshmukh]

Whether Trump is really a joker or its just a facade/mask, time will tell.
Currently, either Trump or DS has got its next 3 rivals in serious conflicts:
1. Rus - drone attacks today
2. Chin - in internal turmoil as well as economic issues.
3. Bharat with Op Sindoor triggered by terrorist attacks by a country financially bankrolled by US.

Something to ponder on.

[saip]

Let us give Musk a break. He never said he would save 2 trillion this year. May be if given enough time he will save that much - like a millennium? A penny could save a lot if it is not minted - some 2 billion a year. If you are like Noah or Methuselah you could live a thousand years and then come 4th millennium, you will have saved Two Trillion dollars. You could easily live that long, if you do not take those killer mRna vaccines and have your food cooked in beef tallow or lard (avoid the nut oils like plague)

[Vayutuvan]

It is fun to watch the same folks who are proud of their Teslas "praise" Musk's DOGE. Far too much cognitive dissonance and pretzelling.

[Amber G.]

Sharing (and endorsing the views):

Fareed Zakaria nails it. Sure, DEI programs can be debated, and not every protest on campus is perfect—but what's really happening here is an all-out attack on America’s top universities and the world-class research they produce. The Trump administration isn’t just going after ideology; it's targeting science, innovation, and the very places that make the U.S. a global leader. Cutting research funding, driving away international students, and turning universities into political punching bags only makes America weaker.

Zakaria lays it out clearly—worth a listen:
.

[Vayutuvan]

Hmm. Incorrect understanding of why Harvard is being hit. They have not complied with the federal govt. asks, reasonable ones at that. Of course FZ is biased in two ways; he is a muslim (his dad even called the late bharat ratna APJ Abdul Kalam a non-muslim just because he read and quoted from Bhagavad Geeta) and he is also an Harvard alum. He had privileged life. I don't think he ever lived among the middle class (leave alone rural poor) of Bharat nor in the US.

The problem is not DEI, the problem is that Harvard is unable to hold up the civil rights of American Citizens who are being targeted by foreign students for belonging to a particular religion.

This coming after that horrible attack by an Egyptian who overstayed his 2022 Tourist visa on people who were marching peacefully in support of Israeli hostages. In fact, one of the people who had burn injuries survived a nazi concentration camp.

I have no qualms in arguing for limiting Chinese students and take more Indian students, especially from OBC/Sc/ST categories, under DEI. They are underrepresented in the US. I hope the Afro-Dalit Network fights for their rights and Harvards and Yales of the world sets aside a fraction xof the money that is being donated by Indians and Indian-Americans expressly for scholarships to the unfortunate underprivileged Indians.

[Vayutuvan]

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-p ... ss-2080247

Donald Trump Eliminates Democrats' Polling Advantage in Key Area
Published Jun 03, 2025 at 10:10 AM EDT

President Donald Trump has virtually erased the Democratic Party's long-standing advantage with middle-class voters, according to a series of new polls.

Why It Matters
For decades, Democrats were widely regarded as the party of the middle class. In 1989, they held a dominant 23-point advantage over Republicans on the question of which party best represented middle-class interests, according to polling from NBC/CNBC.

But since then, the Democrats' lead among the demographic has started to crumble, falling to +17 in 2016 and then +4 in 2022.

What To Know
The latest CNN/SSRS poling, conducted May 5-26 among 2,539 U.S. adults, showed the Democrats' lead on perceived representation of the middle class has fallen even further, the party now leading the GOP by just 2 points, with the margin of error plus or minus 2.7.
...
What People Are Saying
CNN pollster Harry Enten said: "This, I think, speaks to the Democratic ills more than anything else. They have traditionally been the party of the middle class—no more. Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken that mantle away, and now a key advantage for Democrats historically has gone "adios, amigos." And now, there is no party that is the party of the middle class. Republicans have closed the gap."

Code: Select all

From-to		Years	Gap decrease		Notes
1989-2016	27		 5%
2016-2022	 6		13%				Trump 1st term and Midterms during Biden's term
2022-2025	 3		 2%				Trump 2nd term and disarray in DNC. Rise of AOC.

(added later)

No wonder Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, Northwestern, Berkeley, UCLA, ... etc. who have big endowments and also were letting foreign students harass Jewish students and faculty are not getting any love from the middle class after Trump cut the federal funding off and/or threatening to.

Upper limit on parents' income is USD 75K to avail of financial assistance from any of the Ivy leagues, hidden Ivy leagues, and "highly regarded" four year private liberal colleges. Otherwise student tuition, room, and board PA can range anywhere from 40 K PA (in state schools) to 65K-95K PA (Northwestern, Duke, Harvard, UChicago, WUSTL, UPenn, Princeton, Brown, MIT, USC,...).

[Vayutuvan]

https://www.newsweek.com/were-elon-musk ... te-2078574

Totally 100% contrasting views between these two commentators which is totally expected. The same we keep observing right here at BRF itself in this thread.

The contributors are:

Paul du Quenoy is President of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute. David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics and The Kids Are All Left: How Young Voters Will Unite America. His writing has appeared in Slate, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and more. You can find him on Twitter @davidmfaris and Bluesky at davidfaris.bsky.social

Some posters stopped quoting Mother Jones and Daily Kos and also the fact checking site snopes. I can't fathom why.

[chetak]

the amrikis are as transactional as ever.


The ugly amriki of yore manifests once again......... in actual fact, they never really went away

Washington DC | US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says,

"...There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way.

For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia.

That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America if you're going to buy your armaments from Russia.

I think India starting to move towards buying military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way.

And these kind of things just creating that relationship being a part of BRICS, which is, oh, let's move to not support the dollar and dollar hegemony.

That's not really the way to make friends and influence people in America.

The President calls that out directly and specifically, and the Indian government is addressing it specifically.

And that's how you move on to a really positive place.

Put it on the table, address it straight on, resolve it straight on and get to a really good place.

And I think that's where we are..."

WATCH VIDEO

[Vayutuvan]

Arrgh. Lutnick is turning out be an idiot.

[chetak]

Arrgh. Lutnick is turning out be an idiot.

Vayutuvan ji,


Never ask what the US can do for you. Tell me what you can do for the US.

Those hating on lutnick and trump, There's news for you. Their once colorful plumage is fast fading and their flaws are showing

Americans have always been clear.

Only the manner of speaking has changed under this administration.

And now, it looks the Indo US honeymoon (Modi ji & trump) is also over

[Vayutuvan]

Unfortunately DNC is no better. This is what they are doing as we speak.

Step 1:
Burn $20 MIL on “how to talk to men.”
Step 2:
Torch another $4.5 MILLION on the “Working Class Project.”
Step 3: ?
Step 4: Get back into gaddi in a landslide both in 2026 and 2028

[bala]

it looks the Indo US honeymoon (Modi ji & trump) is also over

Vayu, Chetak saars, the old deep state is back. The deep state faction was saying the same things during the Dems/Bidenwa circa era. They opposed the BRICS, did not want India to buy Russian oil, no defence deal with Rus and more. Their colors are back in DJT era. Ukraine, given the ISR of US, is going beserk with Russia. All the US peace talk deal with Russia has evaporated. Putin is now gunning for the whole of Ukraine. Pak is back in the good books of US after Sindoor. The panic in ASim manure means that their so called nuke deterent cover was blown by India's brahmos. That triggered boron carbide laden egyptian plane and a US cessna plane to fly over radiation leak. There are also dr. fauci wuhan labs in Pak land doing malicious stuff.

India has to brace itself for a bad tariff deal with the US. If India can handle this bump to its advantage that would be great. The wallstreet/MNC crowd wants to move manufacture from China to India but the Deep State Soreass faction wants otherwise. Will have to wait and see where things settle.

[Amber G.]

Meanwhile from many such examples in present Trump's administrations --.Here is Educationa Secretary..
(Please see the video with the story )

In a striking display of basic math failure, Education Secretary Linda McMahon — tasked with overseeing America’s education system — failed to correct a wildly inaccurate claim during a Senate hearing on Trump’s 2026 budget. When Senator John Kennedy incorrectly suggested that spending $1.58 billion annually on a student aid program over 10 years added up to over a trillion dollars, McMahon agreed without hesitation. It took Senator Jack Reed to step in and point out the obvious: 1.58 billion times 10 is $15 billion, not even close to a trillion.

It’s ironic — and troubling — when the nation’s top education official struggles with third-grade math in public.

[Manish_P]

....

It’s ironic — and troubling — when the nation’s top education official struggles with third-grade math in public.

Amber G ji, you may have heard of the saying - '"Never underestimate how creative a politician can get when spending someone else’s money."'

[Manish_P]

the amrikis are as transactional as ever.


The ugly amriki of yore manifests once again......... in actual fact, they never really went away

...

Chetak sir, did we really expect them to ?

[bala]

The US FBI under Kash Patel has apprehended two Chinese nationals importing deadly pathogens into the US to target the U.S. food supply. This could also happen to India. The chinese turds are into more dangerous games after Covid/Kungflu.

youtube.com/watch?v=sn03LxkipdA

[Vayutuvan]

Amber G ji, you may have heard of the saying - '"Never underestimate how creative a politician can get when spending someone else’s money."'

@Manish_P ji, you are misreading the OP. Their post is a gratuitous brutum fulmen of an admin which has been duly elected by the people exercising their rights under the constitution.

[Vayutuvan]

The US FBI under Kash Patel has apprehended two Chinese nationals importing deadly pathogens into the US to target the U.S. food supply. This could also happen to India. The chinese turds are into more dangerous games after Covid/Kungflu.

youtube.com/watch?v=sn03LxkipdA

The woman's research is partly funded by the Chinese govt. She seems to have a commendation from CCP saying that she is commended for being a loyal CCP member. She also lied on her visa application re what her research topic is. And her boyfriend, a co-researcher, is not in the US as his visa (or is it an extension) was rejected. He is in China right now. He may be having an arrest wArrant outstanding in his name. The woman is here though.

[Amber G.]

Understanding the US — When You Undervalue Science

Trump's budget cuts froze funding for Nobel-winning scientist Ardem Patapoutian. Within hours, China offered him 20 years of research funding at any university, in any city he wanted.

That’s what happens when the U.S. sidelines science—others step in. While we fight culture wars and slash research budgets, China is quietly buying the future

Trump Froze Nobel Prize Winning Lebanese-American Scientist's Grant. Then China Offered Him Funding at Any School

[Rudradev]

There's probably more than meets the eye regarding Lutnick.

Howard Lutnick is known as an extremely pro-Israel official in Trump's orbit. One of his most bitter rivals is Scott Bessent-- who has deep ties to the Turkish lobby.

During the Trump Cabinet formation, there was a vicious fight between these two for nomination to the highly prestigious and influential post of Secretary of the Treasury (equivalent of our finance minister). Bessent won that fight. Lutnick had to be satisfied with the relatively less prestigious position of Commerce Secretary.

Bessent, given his connections to Erdogan, is no doubt involved with all kinds of shady Crypto-financed deals that end up buying influence for Ankara in Washington. The Israelis, for their part, are growing increasingly concerned about Turkey-- once regarded as a relatively Israel-friendly state in the Middle East-- as Erdogan grows more stridently Islamist, supporting Hamas and now establishing a Jihadi-led puppet state in Syria (right on Israel's border). Trump's recent friendly interaction with the head of the Syrian Jihadi state-- Ahmed al Sharaa-- was likely arranged through the good offices of Bessent and other pro-Turkey lobbyists in GOTUS.

My CT is that Lutnick (via Israel) is actually on India's side. But he cannot afford to be seen as being on India's side, particularly in this climate of (1) tough India-US trade negotiations (2) India-US tension over Op Sindoor and its aftermath (3) The open hostility demonstrated by Turkey towards India during Op Sindoor, in contrast to burgeoning India-Israel defence and diplomatic cooperation (4) Direct influence being purchased by Pakistan, China, Turkey, and Qatar with handouts to the Trump-family owned WLF crypto fund.

So Lutnick (with GOI's foreknowledge) possibly took this recent opportunity to shoot his mouth off and level all kinds of vapid accusations against India-- including things like weapon purchases, which he knows very well go far beyond simple issues of commerce-related policies-- just as a public demonstration of how "America First" he is. What remains to be seen is what he agrees to behind the scenes.

[Vayutuvan]

Ardem Patapoutian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardem_Patapoutian

In 2000, he became an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute.[16] Between 2000 and 2014, he had an additional research position for the Novartis Research Foundation.[17] Since 2014, Patapoutian has been an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).[14]

Personal life
Patapoutian, a naturalized US citizen,[5] lives in Del Mar, California with his wife Nancy Hong, a venture capitalist, and son, Luca.[18][19][20][21]

So his wife is a venture capitalist. Depending on how much funding was frozen (probably in a couple of million per annum), it sould be easy for her VC firm to fill in the short fall for the time being. Maybe that is what she did - called in favors from CCP back home. She went to UCB for her UG, but there are no details about her parents and whether she was born in the US or outside. "Hing" sir name is widely used in China, No/SoKo, and Vietnam.

Now let us look at the income and expenses of HHMI (from here): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hu ... _Institute

Assets
As of 2017 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute had assets of $22,588,928,000.[1]

Funding details
Funding details as of 2017

Revenue and support as of 2017: $2,382,777,000
Interest, dividends, and other income from investments (8.1%)
Realized gains on investment and derivative contracts, net (52.7%)
Change in unrealized gains/(losses) of investments and derivative contracts (39.2%)

Expenses as of 2017: $936,514,000
Medical research (70.4%)
Science education and other scientific programs (12.8%)
General and administrative (9.8%)
Interest expense (7%)

So HHMI has spent less than half of the revenues on Medical Research and Science Education. They can afford to keep Dr. Patapoutian's funding going for a while.

Let us take look at Novartis Research Foundation. The details of their budgets are not readily available but it is part of Novartis (previously Ciba) HQed in Basel, Switzerland.

Novartis itself is a huge Pharma company which sued India on IP rights issues. (from Wikipedia page of Novartis)

Challenge to India's patent laws
Main article: Novartis v. Union of India & Others
Novartis fought a seven-year, controversial battle to patent Gleevec in India, and took the case all the way to the Indian Supreme Court, where the patent application was finally rejected. The patent application at the center of the case was filed by Novartis in India in 1998, after India had agreed to enter the World Trade Organization and to abide by worldwide intellectual property standards under the TRIPS agreement. As part of this agreement, India made changes to its patent law; the biggest of which was that prior to these changes, patents on products were not allowed, afterwards they were, albeit with restrictions. These changes came into effect in 2005, so Novartis' patent application waited in a "mailbox" with others until then, under procedures that India instituted to manage the transition. India also passed certain amendments to its patent law in 2005, just before the laws came into effect, which played a key role in the rejection of the patent application.[45]
...
Corruption
In January 2018, Novartis began being investigated by US and Greek authorities for allegedly bribing Greek public officials in the 2006–2015 period, in a scheme which included two former prime ministers, several former health ministers, many high ranking party members of the Nea Dimokratia and PASOK ruling parties, as well as bankers.[206] The manager of Novartis' Greek branch was prohibited from leaving the country.[207] The minister's deputy described the allegations as "the biggest scandal since the creation of the Greek state", which caused "annual state expenditure on medicine to explode".[208] Most of the ministers involved in the scandal have denied the allegations and sought to paint the case as "political targeting" and "fabrication" by the Syriza opposition party.[206] However, the Greek Judicial Council ruled that the scandal was real.[209] Besides bribery that involves artificial increases in the price of several medicines, the case also involves money laundering, with suspicions of "illegal funds of more than four billion euros ($4.2 billion)" were involved.[210]

In June 2020, Novartis reached settlements with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolving all Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations into historical conduct by the company and its subsidiaries. As part of the resolutions, Novartis and some of its current and former subsidiaries would pay US$233.9 million to the DOJ and US$112.8 million to the SEC.[211][212]

Michael Cohen
Senate Finance Committee report on Michael Cohen's dealings with Novartis, entitled "White House Access for Sale"
Novartis paid $1.2 million to Essential Consultants, an entity owned by Michael Cohen, following the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump. Cohen was paid monthly, with each payment just under $100,000. Novartis claims it paid Cohen to help it understand and influence the new administration's approach to drug pricing and regulation.[213]

In July 2018, the US Senate committee report "White House Access for Sale" revealed that Novartis Ag's relationship with Cohen was "longer and more detailed". Novartis initially stated that the relationship ceased a month after entering the US$1.2 million contract with Cohen's consulting firm since the consultants were not able to provide the information the pharmaceutical company needed. Later, it became clear, however, that then-CEO Joseph Jimenez and Cohen communicated via email multiple times during 2017, which included ideas to lower drug prices to be discussed with the president. According to the report, several of the ideas appeared later in Trump's drug pricing plan, released in early 2018, in which pharmaceutical companies were protected from reduced revenues.[214][215]

Michael Cohen is not credible and had proven it time and again. The only reason why Democrats (and DNC partisans here on BRF) make him into a hero is because he ratted on "The Hitler" and "Greatest danger to US democracy", i.e. DJT.

[gakakkad]

I personally know Ardem. Only thing I'll say is that lots of people were very surprised when he won a nobel a couple of years ago . I can't elaborate more.

[Vayutuvan]

I personally know Ardem. Only thing I'll say is that lots of people were very surprised when he won a nobel a couple of years ago . I can't elaborate more.

Interesting. Yes, every prestigious prize was given to somebody who is not that deserving at one time or other. Turing Award and even Fields Medal I know of.

[Mort Walker]

There some speculation on X by suggesting the US will not pay back $765B of Treasury notes held by the Chinese. Watch the USD take a dump.

[bala]

One of the things I am hearing about trade with US from India is that US is actually up $50 B with India. In other words, this is net benefit for the US. Why is that. The things that are not taken into account are students paying their way for education in the US, high tech companies getting a net positive benefit by locating their back offices, etc. India is telling the US that tariffs should be a concession to India based on the above analysis.

[A_Gupta]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump- ... rcna211073
Trump announces new travel restrictions on 19 countries, including 12 outright bans

Trump banned nationals from 12 countries from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.


An additional seven countries came under partial travel restrictions, in which entrance into the country under several visa programs was suspended but an outright ban was not implemented. Those countries are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

[Manish_P]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump- ... rcna211073
Trump announces new travel restrictions on 19 countries, including 12 outright bans...

It's heartening to see dear friend Pakistan, who is full of good people, is not on these lists.

[saip]

The US FBI under Kash Patel has apprehended two Chinese nationals importing deadly pathogens into the US to target the U.S. food supply. This could also happen to India. The chinese turds are into more dangerous games after Covid/Kungflu.

youtube.com/watch?v=sn03LxkipdA

But I read that this fungus ORIGINATED in the USA and spread all over the world through food exports. How does this claim jive with agro-terrorism claim of Kash Patel?

[bala]

But I read that this fungus ORIGINATED in the USA and spread all over the world through food exports.

Do you have a link for the above stmt.

[A_Gupta]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fungus-agr ... 0he%20said.

F. graminearum is already widely prevalent across the U.S. in native grasses around the country as well as crops, scientists say. It spreads and thrives usually during wet weather, causing a common crop disease called Fusarium head blight or head scab, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.

"It's extremely prevalent in North America. It likely arose in North America, so it's not like a foreign agent coming in. And it's already causing a lot of problems in U.S. agriculture," Harold Kistler, an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News.

Kistler said scientists believe F. graminearum likely originated in North America, because all of its closest relatives have been found on the continent.

"Graminearum itself is distributed worldwide, and likely because of the distribution of grain from North America worldwide," he said.

[Amber G.]

A hateful politician trying to divide the community, Zohran K Mamdani
The religious, regional appeal for votes is a first in NY politics.

I hope his opposition plays this clip of this abuser of Rama .. as attack ads

[saip]

Is Musk having buyer's remorse? He reportedly said "Without me Trump would have lost the election"
Car



Check the bumper sticker next to Number Plate

[Rudradev]

Trouble in MAGA-dise

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930703865801810022?s=19

[saip]

Popcorn time?