AMERICA: ""Their gear represents “the manifestation of decades of war, now in broad daylight in American cities.” One of the most heavily funded militaries in the world is now focused inward." Detroit resident" ... Rashida Tlaib

 Rashida Tlaib

@RashidaTlaib

 

"Their gear represents “the manifestation of decades of war, now in broad daylight in American cities.” One of the most heavily funded militaries in the world is now focused inward." Detroit resident.

 

Many Congress members still don't understand this and are trying to "reform."

 

https://x.com/RashidaTlaib/status/2016932933253107815 

 

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"ICE, which typically receives about $10 billion a year, was provided $30 billion for operations and $45 billion for detention facilities." 

 

PBS: Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it

Nation Jan 20, 2026 2:04 PM EST  

 

A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America...

 

Armed and masked law enforcement officers are being witnessed smashing car windows, yanking people from vehicles and chasing and wrestling others to the ground and hauling them away — images playing out in endless loops on TVs and other screens... READ MORE     https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trumps-ice-force-is-sweeping-america-billions-in-his-tax-and-spending-cuts-bill-are-paying-for-it 

 

 

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More than 300 anti-ICE protests planned across US this weekend

‘ICE Out of Everywhere’ demonstrations, including vigils and marches, follow Friday’s national strike 

More than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC, today, in what organizers are calling “ICE Out of Everywhere”.

Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say today’s protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Los Angeles.

Activists said the killings reflect what they see as a broader pattern of excessive force, detention abuses and the militarization of immigration enforcement.

“The national day of action is about fighting back against the escalations that the Trump administration has taken against the American people over the past year,” said Hunter Dunn, a national press coordinator for 50501 and organizer in southern California. “Reports about the killings of Porter and Campos, the ones not captured on camera, and so many others have pierced the veil for many people who until now were unaware of how bad things had gotten.”

Among the demonstrations are vigils for people killed and detained by ICE... READ MORE 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/31/anti-ice-protests-weekend 

Demonstrators at an ‘ICE Out’ protest in Minneapolis.

Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

Military spending worldwide hits record $2.7 trillion in 2024 amid intensifying wars and rising geopolitical tensions worldwide... “The world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace,”

“When people’s lives improve, when they have access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities and when they can live lives of dignity and self determination, we will have more peaceful societies and a more peaceful world.” 

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/09/1165809 

Military spending worldwide hits record $2.7 trillion

Unsplash/Andre Klimke

An attack helicopter flies in Afghanistan. (file)

By Ileana Exaras

9 September 2025 Peace and Security

Global military spending reached an unprecedented $2.7 trillion in 2024 amid intensifying wars and rising geopolitical tensions worldwide. 

“The world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a press briefing for his new report on the threat posed by the steady rise in military expenditure.

Spending on security needs increased across all five global regions during 2024, marking the steepest year-on-year rise for at least the last three decades. Compared to the $2.7 trillion directed to military budgets, the world could eliminate extreme poverty for just under $300 billion.

“A more secure world begins by investing at least as much in fighting poverty as we do in fighting wars,” said Mr. Guterres.

A choice between aid or arms

The alarming amount spent on arms-related costs last year alone is 750 times the 2024 UN regular budget. It also equates to almost 13 times the development assistance provided by the OECD’s development assistance committee in 2024, indicating a stark trade-off between military expenditure and sustainable development.

“Redirecting even a fraction of today’s military spending could close vital gaps – putting children in school, strengthening primary health care, expanding clean energy and resilient infrastructure, and protecting the most vulnerable,” said Mr. Guterres.

For a small portion of what was invested in militaries this past year – and the previous decade – the world could fund education for every student in low and lower middle-income countries, eliminate child malnutrition globally, fund climate change adaptation in the developing world, and bring the international community closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN estimates.

“Rebalancing global priorities is not optional – it is an imperative for humanity’s survival,” said the UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu at the press briefing.

‘Sustainable development is in jeopardy’

With only one of the five of the SDG targets on track, Mr. Guterres stressed that “our shared promise of sustainable development is in jeopardy.”

While more is being spent on militaries, less is being spent for social investment, poverty reduction, education, health, environmental protection and infrastructure – hindering progress on nearly all the SDGs and undermining the UN Charter, the UN’s cornerstone document. 

“But we know that development is a driver of security and multilateral development cooperation works,” said UN Development Programme (UNDP) deputy chief Haoliang Xu.

“When people’s lives improve, when they have access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities and when they can live lives of dignity and self determination, we will have more peaceful societies and a more peaceful world.”

A new security approach

"Investing in people is investing in the first line of defense against violence in any society,” said Mr. Guterres.

The report calls for a more human-centered and multidimensional approach that prioritizes diplomacy, international cooperation, and paves the way for sustainable development.

In a vicious cycle, lack of economic opportunity, poverty, and underdevelopment breeds instability – fuelling violence and a rise in State expenditure on the military, the UN report contends.

Investing in development and sustainable security has the potential to stop today’s arms race and alleviate the need for military spending. 

“The evidence is clear: excessive military spending does not guarantee peace,” said Mr. Guterres. “It often undermines it – fuelling arms races, deepening mistrust, and diverting resources from the very foundations of stability.”

• disarmament

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

https://news.un.org/en/tags/disarmament 

CTBTO

Nuclear weapons are ‘one-way road to annihilation’ warns Guterres

24 February 2025

Peace and Security

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday warned that the risk of nuclear conflict is rising – as global security arrangements unravel and military spending soars – urging governments to push for total disarmament.

Global military spending reached an unprecedented $2.7 trillion in 2024 amid intensifying wars and rising geopolitical tensions worldwide. “The world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a press briefing for his new report on the threat posed by the steady rise in military expenditure.

Military spending worldwide hits record $2.7 trillion

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2025/09/110404/military-spending-worldwide-hits-record-27-trillion

09 September 2025

 Global military spending reached an unprecedented $2.7 trillion in 2024 amid intensifying wars and rising geopolitical tensions worldwide. 

“The world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres  said at a press briefing for his new report on the threat posed by the steady rise in military expenditure.

Spending on security needs increased across all five global regions during 2024, marking the steepest year-on-year rise for at least the last three decades. Compared to the $2.7 trillion directed to military budgets, the world could eliminate extreme poverty for just under $300 billion.

“A more secure world begins by investing at least as much in fighting poverty as we do in fighting wars,” said Mr. Guterres

A choice between aid or arms

The alarming amount spent on arms-related costs last year alone is 750 times the 2024 UN regular budget. It also equates to almost 13 times the development assistance provided by the OECD’s

development assistance committee in 2024, indicating a stark trade-off between military expenditure and sustainable development.

“Redirecting even a fraction of today’s military spending could close vital gaps – putting children in school, strengthening primary health care, expanding clean energy and resilient infrastructure, and protecting the most vulnerable,” said Mr. Guterres.

For a small portion of what was invested in militaries this past year – and the previous decade – the world could fund education for every student in low and lower middle-income countries, eliminate child malnutrition globally, fund climate change adaptation in the developing world, and bring the international community closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs), the UN estimates.

“Rebalancing global priorities is not optional – it is an imperative for humanity’s survival,” said the UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu at the press briefing.

‘Sustainable development is in jeopardy’

With only one of the five of the SDGs on track, Mr. Guterres stressed that “our shared promise of sustainable development is in jeopardy.”

While more is being spent on militaries, less is being spent for social investment, poverty reduction, education, health, environmental protection and infrastructure – hindering progress on nearly all the SDGs and undermining the UN Charter, the UN’s cornerstone document. 

“But we know that development is a driver of security and multilateral development cooperation works,” said UN Development Programme (UNDP) deputy chief Haoliang Xu.

“When people’s lives improve, when they have access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities and when they can live lives of dignity and self determination, we will have more peaceful societies and a more peaceful world.”

A new security approach

"Investing in people is investing in the first line of defense against violence in any society,” said Mr. Guterres.

The report calls for a more human-centered and multidimensional approach that priorities diplomacy, international cooperation, and paves the way for sustainable development.

In a vicious cycle, lack of economic opportunity, poverty, and underdevelopment breeds instability – fuelling violence and a rise in State expenditure on the military, the UN report contends.

Investing in development and sustainable security has the potential to stop today’s arms race and alleviate the need for military spending. 

“The evidence is clear: excessive military spending does not guarantee peace,” said Mr. Guterres. “It often undermines it – fuelling arms races, deepening mistrust, and diverting resources from the very foundations of stability.”

Source URL

Military spending worldwide hits record $2.7 trillion

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]