US Defense Budget out of control: The Afghanistan War Is Over. But the Defense Budget Is Still About to Go Up.

After the United States military stopped fighting wars in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Congress went on to appropriate less funding for defense in subsequent years. But now that the US has pulled out of Afghanistan, ending the longest war in American history, it seems unlikely that the pattern will repeat itself.

With the House set to vote on a defense policy bill this week, Congress is preparing to increase the Pentagon budget in fiscal year 2021-22 to around $740 billion, a figure that surpasses President Joe Biden’s request by roughly $25 billion. That would be nearly $37 billion more than Congress approved in Donald Trump’s last year in office.

When Biden issued his budget proposal in April, he requested $715 billion for the Pentagon, a slight increase over last year’s $704 billion budget. This increase—at a time when Biden’s party controls both the House and Senate—is a reminder of how bipartisan support for more military spending is one of the only things you can predict in Washington. MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES Steve Bannon Doesn’t Want to Testify. We Already Know What He Did.

Read more at: The Afghanistan War Is Over. But the Defense Budget Is Still About to Go Up. – Mother Jones

The Netherlands - criminals out of control and it must be open "hunting season" against them: As Peter R de Vries: Dutch crime journalist wounded in Amsterdam shooting

A prominent Dutch crime journalist has been seriously wounded after being shot on a street in Amsterdam.

Police said Peter R de Vries was taken to hospital in a serious condition after being gunned down in the city centre on Tuesday evening.

National broadcaster NOS said he was attacked minutes after appearing on a TV chat show.

Read more at: Peter R de Vries: Dutch crime journalist wounded in Amsterdam shooting - BBC News

USA: Schwarzenegger's warning highlights danger of US 'spinning out of control'

Former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has issued a powerful condemnation of the Capitol assault and of his fellow Republicans who have enabled President Trump.

The Hollywood actor was born in Europe just after World War 2. He warned that he's seen firsthand in Germany and Austria"how things can spin out of control"

Read more at: Schwarzenegger's warning highlights danger of US 'spinning out of control' | Euronews

The US Healthcare System Strikes Again: Seattle coronavirus survivor gets a $1.1 million, 181-page hospital bill - by Danny Westneat

Remember Michael Flor, the longest-hospitalized COVID-19 patient who, when he unexpectedly did not die, was jokingly dubbed “the miracle child?”

Now they can also call him the million-dollar baby.
Flor, 70, who came so close to death in the spring that a night-shift nurse held a phone to his ear while his wife and kids said their final goodbyes, is recovering nicely these days at his home in West Seattle. But he says his heart almost failed a second time when he got the bill from his health care odyssey the other day.

“I opened it and said ‘holy [bleep]!’ “ Flor says.

The total tab for his bout with the coronavirus: $1.1 million. $1,122,501.04, to be exact. All in one bill that’s more like a book because it runs to 181 pages.

Read more at:
Seattle coronavirus survivor gets a $1.1 million, 181-page hospital bill | The Seattle Times

Capitalism has gone out of control: Private equity firms should be abolished

In his latest BIG newsletter, Matt Stoller (previously) relates the key moments in the history of private equity, from its roots in the notorious "leveraged buyouts" of the 1980s, and explains exactly how the PE con works: successful, productive business are acquired through debt financing, drained of their cash and assets, and then killed, leaving workers unemployed and with their pension funds looted, and with the business's creditors out in the cold.

Read more at:
Private equity firms should be abolished / Boing Boing

European Space Agency warns: China's Tiangong-1 space station 'will crash into Earth over Easter' possibly hitting populated areas- by Harry Pettit

China's out of control space station Tiangong-1 to crash on earth

China's out-of-control space station will crash into Earth this coming Easter weekend, according to the European Space Agency.

The agency's Space Debris Office has said Tiangong-1 will hit somewhere across our planet's northern hemisphere between March 30 and April 2.

Previous estimates suggested the rogue station, China's out of Cwhich is carrying highly toxic chemicals, would enter Earth's orbit on April 3.

According to experts tracking the station, it has the highest chance of crashing along a narrow strip around latitudes of 43 degrees north and south.

The ESA said crash date estimates were 'highly variable' and that its experts would be offering revised forecasts every couple of days.

'At no time will a precise time/location prediction from ESA be possible,' the agency's Space Debris Office, based in Darmstadt, Germany, said in a statement.

The doomed 8.5-tonne craft has been hurtling towards Earth since Chinese scientists lost control of it in 2016.

Experts believe most of Tiangong-1 will burn up upon reentry, but shards as large as 100kg (220lbs) could strike Earth.

Scientist believe that even in 'high risk' areas, the chance of being struck by Tiangong-1 debris is about one million times smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball jack. 

However, there is a chance parts of the station containing hazardous hydrazine could plummet into a highly-populated area.

Following Cities are listed as potential crash sites:

Barcelona	Spain	Milwaukee	USA
Beijing	China	Monaco	Monaco
Bilbao	Spain	Naples	Italy
Boise	USA	New York	USA
Boston	USA	Nice	France
Boulder	USA	Philadelphia	USA
Buffalo	USA	Pittsburgh	USA
Cannes	France	Punta Arenas	Chile
Chicago	USA	Rochester	USA
Christchurch	New Zealand	Rome	Italy
Cleveland	USA	Salt Lake City	Spain
Concord	USA	San Sebastian	Spain
Des Moines	USA	Sapporo	Japan
Detroit	USA	Sioux Falls	USA
Florence	Italy	Sochi	Russia
Istanbul	Turkey	Stanley	Falkland Islands
Kushiro	Japan	Toronto	Canada
Madrid	Spain	Trelew	Argentina
Marseilles	France	Valladolid	Spain

Read more: China's Tiangong-1 space station 'will crash into Earth over Easter' | Daily Mail On