fucking bread shitters
Made them moar resolved to shitpost moar!
…also…
Echoing Trump, Argentina to Exit WHO
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/argentina-withdraw-world-health-organization/2025/02/05/id/1197922/
Wednesday, 05 February 2025 12:01 PM EST
Argentina's president ordered the country's withdrawal from the World Health Organization due to "profound differences" with the U.N. agency, a presidential spokesperson said Wednesday.
President Javier Milei's decision echoes that of his ally, President Donald Trump, who began the process of pulling the United States out of WHO with an executive order on his first day back in office on Jan. 21.
The loss of another member country will further fracture cooperation in global health, though Argentina was expected to provide only about $8 million to WHO for the agency's estimated $6.9 billion 2024-25 budget.
Argentina's decision is based on "profound differences in health management, especially during the (COVID-19) pandemic," spokesperson Manuel Adorni told a news conference in Buenos Aires. He said WHO guidelines at the time led to the largest shutdown "in the history of mankind."
Argentina will not allow an international organization to intervene in its sovereignty "and much less in our health," he added.
WHO has no authority to compel countries to take specific health actions, and the organization's guidelines and recommendations, including in health crises like COVID-19, are often disregarded.
WHO said it was looking into Argentina's announcement.
Adorni did not say when Milei's decision would be implemented. He also asserted that WHO lacks independence because of the political influence of some countries, without naming any.
WHO is the only organization mandated to coordinate global responses to acute health crises, particularly outbreaks of new diseases and persistent threats including Ebola, AIDS and mpox.
Milei was a sharp critic of the lockdown imposed by former President Alberto Fernandez during the pandemic, asserting that it hurt the economy and that the government used it as a mechanism of "repression."
"LONG LIVE FREEDOM," Milei said Wednesday in a post on X criticizing the U.N. agency.
Argentina does not receive WHO funding for health management, and the president's decision doesn't affect the quality of health services, Adorni said.
"On the contrary, it gives greater flexibility to implement policies adopted to the context of interests that Argentina requires," he added.
Last year, Milei's government refused to sign an agreement to manage pandemics within the WHO framework, on the grounds that doing so could affect national sovereignty.
The announcement on the WHO comes ahead of Milei's trip to the U.S. later this month that will coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference summit of right-wing leaders in Washington. The spokesperson has not confirmed that Milei will attend or that he might meet Trump.
US Set to Unveil Plan to End Russia-Ukraine War: Report
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/ukraine-russia-keith-kellogg/2025/02/05/id/1197961/
Wednesday, 05 February 2025 04:25 PM EST
President Donald Trump's administration is expected to unveil their plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war at the Munich Security Conference in Germany next week, Bloomberg reported.
Trump's special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will deliver the presentation on the eve of the third anniversary of the war, Bloomberg said.
Kellogg has floated freezing the conflict and leaving territory occupied by Russian forces in limbo while providing Ukraine with security guarantees to ensure that Russia cannot attack again, Bloomberg reported. Kellogg will be making his first trip to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later this month.
Kellogg will continue to engage allies to help fulfill Trump's promise to end the war, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said to Bloomberg, while a spokesman for the Ukrainian president's office declined comments.
Trump has threatened Russia with sanctions if they refuse to engage in talks and said he wants access to critical Ukrainian minerals in exchange for U.S. support, Bloomberg reported.
Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, spoke to U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz this week, while Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that contacts between U.S. and Russian agencies were intensifying, Bloomberg reported.
Zelenskyy has said in multiple interviews he is willing to negotiate with Russia to end the war.
Except for IRS agents working the 2025 season, they can't get it until May.
IRS Workers Involved in 2025 Tax Season Can't Take 'Buyout' Offer Until May
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/treasury-union-irs-worker-buyouts-tax-season/2025/02/05/id/1197975/
Wednesday, 05 February 2025 06:03 PM EST
IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season will not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until May 15th, according to a letter sent Wednesday to IRS employees.
The letter says that “critical filing season positions in Taxpayer Services, Information Technology and the Taxpayer Advocate Service are exempt” from the administration's buyout plan until May 15.
The news comes after President Donald Trump announced a plan to offer buyouts to federal employees through a “deferred resignation program” to quickly reduce the government workforce. The program deadline is Feb. 6.
The buyouts, sent to roughly 2.3 million workers, are for all full-time federal employees with some exemptions, including military personnel, employees of the U.S. Postal Service and positions related to immigration enforcement. They would get about eight months of salary if they accept.
The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November, accounting for nearly 1.9% of the nation’s entire civilian workforce, according to the Pew Research Center.
Union leaders that represent workers across the federal government have criticized the proposal. Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, has advised all federal workers not to accept the offer, which she says is dubious.
“This is not a good deal for them,” Greenwald told The Associated Press. “If you sign this document and then later change your mind, you are left without any power to fight back.”
She added: “I do not recommend people sign the document. They need to have control of their own career, and this document does not give it to them.”
The NTEU union represents roughly 150,000 employees in 37 departments and agencies.
“This country needs skilled, experienced federal employees. And so we are urging people not to take this deal because it will damage the services to the American people and it will harm the federal employees who have dedicated themselves and their career to serving.”
Jan. 27 is the official start date of the 2025 tax season and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline.
“What most people don’t realize is that 85% of the federal workforce works outside of D.C.,” she said. "They’re your neighbors, your family, your friends. And they deliver key services for the American people."