Latest news with #pro-American
Canada News.Net
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Trump tells Republicans to kill top US state media outlet
The president has labeled the Voice of America a left-wing disaster US President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to support his campaign to dismantle the state-funded news outlet Voice of America (VOA). Launched in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II, the broadcaster later served as a key vehicle for pro-American messaging during the Cold War. Trump has argued, however, that VOA has in recent decades veered toward partisanship, and vowed to shut it down as part of his broader push to eliminate wasteful government spending. "Why would a Republican want Democrat 'mouthpiece' Voice of America (VOA) to continue? It's a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER - No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!" the president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. Earlier that day, Trump's senior adviser Kari Lake told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, was "rotten to the core" and should be reshaped to align with Trump's "America First" agenda. Committee Chairman Brian Mast described USAGM as "a cesspool of spies, lies, and mismanagement" that "has promoted the very propaganda it was created to defeat." He accused the agency of hiring foreign nationals, many of whom he said were "quite literally, security risks." Lake, who has been tasked by Trump with overseeing the dismantling of the agency, said last week that nearly 640 full-time staffers and more than 500 contractors had been laid off at USAGM and VOA. Democrats and press freedom advocates have criticized the move. "The wholesale destruction of public media outlets like Voice of America represents an unprecedented gift from Trump to the dictatorial censorship regimes in countries like China and Iran," said Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA.
Axios
3 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Behind the Curtain: An AI Marshall Plan
If politics and public debate were a rational, fact-based exercise, the government, business and the media would be obsessed with preparation for the unfolding AI revolution — rather than ephemeral outrage eruptions. Why it matters: That's not how Washington works. So while CEOs, Silicon Valley and a few experts inside government see AI as an opportunity, and threat, worthy of a modern Marshall Plan, most of America — and Congress — shrugs. One common question: What can we actually do, anyway? A lot. We've talked to scores of CEOs, government officials and AI executives over the past few months. Based on those conversations, we pieced together specific steps the White House, Congress, businesses and workers could take now to get ahead of the high-velocity change that's unspooling. None requires regulation or dramatic shifts. All require vastly more political and public awareness, and high-level AI sophistication. 1. A global American-led AI super-alliance: President Trump, like President Biden before him, sees beating China to superhuman AI as an existential battle. Trump opposes regulations that would risk America's early lead in the AI race. Congress agrees. So lots of CEOs and AI experts are mystified about why Trump has alienated allies, including Canada and Europe, who could help form a super-alliance of like-minded countries that play by America's AI rules and strengthen our supply chain for vital AI ingredients like rare earth minerals. Imagine America, Canada, all of Europe, Australia, much of the Middle East, parts of Africa and South America — and key Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and India — all aligned against China in this AI battle. The combination of AI rules, supply-chain ingredients, and economic activity would form a formidable pro-American AI bloc. 2. A domestic Marshall Plan: The Marshall Plan was America's commitment to rebuild Europe from the ruins of World War II. Now, the U.S. needs unfathomable amounts of data, chips, energy and infrastructure to produce AI. Trump has cut deals with companies and foreign countries — and cleared away some regulations — to expedite a lot of this. But there's been little sustained public discussion about what this means for the economy and U.S. jobs. It's very improvisational. Trump himself barely mentions AI or talks about it in any specificity in private. The country really needs "a combination of the Marshall Plan, the GI Bill, the New Deal — the social programs and international aid efforts needed to make AI work for the U.S. domestically and globally," as Scott Rosenberg, Axios managing editor for tech, puts it. One smart idea: Get the federal government better aligned with states and even schools to prepare the country and workforce in advance. Some states — including Texas — are eagerly working with AI companies to meet rising demand in these new areas. Yet many others are sitting it out. Imagine all states exploiting this moment and refashioning post-high-school education and job training programs. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro — a possible Democratic presidential candidate in '28 — sees the opening. He hailed "the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania history" earlier this month when he personally announced that Amazon Web Services plans to spend $20 billion on data center complexes in his state. 3. A congressional kill switch: There's no appetite in Washington to regulate artificial intelligence, mainly out of fear China would then beat the U.S. to the most important technological advance in history. But that doesn't mean Congress needs to ignore or downplay AI's potential and risks. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, got rich as an early investor in an earlier tech boom — cell phones — and has been one of Capitol Hill's few urgent voices on AI. "If we're serious about outcompeting China," Warner told us, "we need clear controls on advanced AI chips and strong investments in workforce training, research and development." Several lawmakers and AI experts envision a preemptive move: Create a bipartisan, bicameral special committee, much like one stood up from the 1940s through the 1970s to monitor nuclear weapons. This committee, in theory, could do four things, all vital to advancing public (and congressional) awareness: Monitor, under top-secret clearance, the various large language models (LLMs) before they're released to fully understand their capabilities. Prepare Congress and the public, ahead of time, for looming effects on specific jobs or industries. Gain absolute expertise and fluency in the latest LLMs and AI technologies, and educate other members of Congress on a regular basis. Provide extra sets of eyes and scrutiny on models that pose risks of operating outside of human control in coming years. This basically creates another break-in-case-of-emergency lever beyond the companies themselves, and White House and defense officials with special top-secret clearance. 4. A CEO AI surge: Anthropic's Dario Amodei told Axios that half of entry-level, white-collar jobs could be gone in a few years because of AI. Almost every CEO tells us they're slowing or freezing hiring across many departments, where AI is expected to displace humans. CEOs, better educated on AI, could help workers in two big ways: Provide deep instruction, free access and additional training to help each person use AI to vastly increase proficiency and productivity. This retraining/upskilling effort would be expensive, but a meaningful way for well-off people and organizations to show leadership. Get more clever leaders thinking now about new business lines AI might open up, creating jobs in new areas to make up for losses elsewhere. A few CEOs suggested they see a social obligation to ease the transition, especially if government fails to act.
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian singer Josh Ross apologizes, but stands ground, after calling U.S. ‘the best' country
TORONTO - Canadian country singer Josh Ross is apologizing after he drew jeers on social media for carrying a U.S. flag onstage at a music festival and calling the country the 'best' in the world. Ross posted a statement to TikTok on Monday afternoon saying he's 'sorry to anybody who's offended' by his comments, adding that he felt the video gaining attention was taken out of context. The Burlington, Ont., native faced scrutiny after footage posted on social media showed a brief clip of his set at the Tailgate N' Tallboys festival on June 13 in Bloomington, Ind., just weeks before he's set to perform Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations. In the video, Ross, who lives in Nashville, takes a moment to address his citizenship. 'Fun fact, real quick. I'm Canadian,' he says, gripping a flagpole in his hand. 'You want to know the best fun fact is I moved to the best ... country in the world and I love it very much.' Another video posted on Instagram showed the crowd chanting 'U.S.A! U.S.A!' and passing the flag to Ross. His comments drew criticism from some online commenters who said the pro-American stance ran against the 'Elbows Up' movement and the ongoing political conflict with U.S. president Donald Trump. 'I feel like I'm always representing Canada no matter where I go,' Ross said in his response, which was recorded from his vehicle in Nashville. 'Born and raised in Canada, but I've been living in Nashville for the last five plus years. Half my family lives in Canada, the other half is here in the U.S., and I'm as proud of establishing myself in the U.S. as I am being Canadian.' 'Both sides were not communicated in the clip that you guys are seeing and I'm sorry that that wasn't clear,' he added. The singer, who recently released 'Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na)' with Akon, is booked as one of the performers at Heritage Canada's Canada Day event in Ottawa. Organizers did not respond to requests for comment. Earlier this year at the Juno Awards, Ross seemed to take a political middle ground that was out of step with many of his fellow Canadians at the overtly patriotic show. While accepting the Juno win for country album of the year in March, he said he was proud of being Canadian, but suggested it was on his fellow citizens to find common ground with the U.S. 'I think it's time to get back to our Canadian roots and remember that friends are better than enemies,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025. Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version carried a headline with a typo in 'Josh.'
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Video shows Canadian country singer Josh Ross calling U.S. ‘the best' in the world
TORONTO - Canadian country singer Josh Ross is drawing jeers for an online video in which he can be seen carrying a U.S. flag onstage and calling the country the 'best' in the world. Footage of the Burlington, Ont., native shows comments he made at the Tailgate N' Tallboys music festival on June 13 in Bloomington, Ind., just weeks before he's set to perform Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations. In the video, Ross, who lives in Nashville, takes a moment to tell the audience he's from Canada. He says he has relocated to 'the best ... country in the world' before leading the crowd in a chant of 'U.S.A! U.S.A!' The clip posted on TikTok drew criticism from some commenters who said his pro-American stance ran against the 'Elbows Up' movement and the ongoing political conflict with U.S. president Donald Trump. Representatives for Ross did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The 'Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na)' singer is booked as one of the performers for Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations organized by Heritage Canada. Earlier this year at the Juno Awards, Ross seemed to take a political middle ground that was out of step with many of his fellow Canadians at the overtly patriotic show. While accepting the win for country album of the year, he said he was proud of being Canadian, but suggested it was on his fellow citizens to find common ground with the U.S. 'I think it's time to get back to our Canadian roots and remember that friends are better than enemies,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025. Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version carried a headline with a typo in 'Josh.'
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Video shows Canadian country singer Josh Ross calling U.S. ‘the best' in the world
TORONTO – Canadian country singer Josh Ross is drawing jeers for an online video in which he can be seen carrying a U.S. flag onstage and calling the country the 'best' in the world. Footage of the Burlington, Ont., native shows comments he made at the Tailgate N' Tallboys music festival on June 13 in Bloomington, Ind., just weeks before he's set to perform Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations. In the video, Ross, who lives in Nashville, takes a moment to tell the audience he's from Canada. He says he has relocated to 'the best … country in the world' before leading the crowd in a chant of 'U.S.A! U.S.A!' The clip posted on TikTok drew criticism from some commenters who said his pro-American stance ran against the 'Elbows Up' movement and the ongoing political conflict with U.S. president Donald Trump. Representatives for Ross did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The 'Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na)' singer is booked as one of the performers for Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations organized by Heritage Canada. Earlier this year at the Juno Awards, Ross seemed to take a political middle ground that was out of step with many of his fellow Canadians at the overtly patriotic show. While accepting the win for country album of the year, he said he was proud of being Canadian, but suggested it was on his fellow citizens to find common ground with the U.S. 'I think it's time to get back to our Canadian roots and remember that friends are better than enemies,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
