“I stand with Justice Clarence Thomas and call on every American to join me in defending this good man and principled jurist,” Pence added.
“Clarence Thomas is a man of integrity with an inspiring personal story and has upheld the ideals enshrined in our Constitution throughout his life without compromise,” he continued. “Our Nation is fortunate to have Justice Thomas serving on the Highest Court of the Land. God bless Justice Clarence Thomas.”…
When Republican lawmakers and talking heads speak these days, this is what I hear:
“I HATE liberal cancel culture and believe in absolute free speech! I would also like to ban, do away with or silence Disney, NPR, Bud Light, the FBI and CIA, this big pile of books over here, M&Ms, Mr. Potatohead, college professors, any Democratic lawmaker I don’t want to hear speak, “wokeness,” any mention of diversity, drag shows, people who defend drag shows, people who defend people who defend drag shows, any mention whatsoever of the existence of LGBTQ people, this other big pile of books over here, the entire Department of Education, PBS and Oreos.” …
[…] Russia claims Ukraine attempted to assassinate Vladimir Putin. Assassinating a President is an Act of War, whether successful or not. This attack clears the way for Russia to declare war on Ukraine, and mobilize its entire population to conquer Ukraine. The US and Europe may then use their militaries to prevent this, which could start WWIII and a nuclear war.
While we are still a longways from this doomsday event, this attack has made a pathway to it.
The title picture is just one of the pieces of evidence to support the conclusions of this article. The picture shows a reflection in the window of a room that could well be the control room of the staged drone attack. [Image at the link] The woman is holding something in her hand that looks to be a cell phone, and may have set off the explosion of the drone. She is illuminated by the explosion she is looking at, causing her reflection in the window.
The picture is from the best video of this drone attack. The full picture is displayed below. She is in the upper right of this picture. The best video can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/…
Also seen in the picture of the blue woman is a brown bulletin board in the background with various papers neatly pinned to it. In the left is a brown desk with a black computer monitor on it.
In the larger picture, there is another reflection of a desk with a computer monitor on the left.
If one listens carefully to the soundtrack of the video, one can hear something drop early on. Then, when the drone appears in the upper left, a short, low audible gasp can be heard. The gasp sounds like it is from a man.
Even though an explosion is heard in the video, one doesn’t hear it in the soundtrack. The control room must be soundproof, which is typical for control rooms.
In order for the people in the room to be ready to film the drone attack, as well as to set off the explosion, they had to know when the drone was coming. The only way they could have known this is for the attack to be staged.
There are three other videos of the drone attacks from the BBC — 2 from cell phones, and one from a camera. It is found at http://www.bbc.com/…, and contains a running commentary and the video discussed above. A picture from the other video camera is below, and shows the likely location of the control room.
There are over 10 pieces of evidence to support the claims of this article, including those above. Some of this evidence is presented below in outline format for ease of reference. There are two pictures that are annotated with numbers and letters that refer to the evidence below for ease of location. Two have been given above. The other is below. [Photos at the link]
1. Russia says that the drone was destroyed by its Air Defense. However, we don’t see any tracers, missiles, or anything else hitting the drone prior to its explosion. Russia also says the drone was destroyed by “electronic radar assets.” However, radar isn’t used to blow up drones. It is used to find drones. (Also, all radars are electronic.)
2. The drone got way too close to its target before exploding. If this was a real attack, then the drone should have been shot down well away from the Kremlin. Instead of a successful defense of the Kremlin, this appears to be a failure of Russian Air Defense.
3. Flags — the waving of the flags is inconsistent with the drone attack videos
A. The small flag flying on top of the Senatskaya Tower continues to wave the same way throughout the explosion, oblivious to the explosive forces. However, the nearby flag flying on top of the Senate dome stops waving just after the explosion.
B. The flag on top of the Senate dome should have been incinerated by the fireball, but it survived.
C. The Senate flag in the second BBC cell phone video is strongly waving after the explosion, despite something burning beneath the flag pole.
4. The drone is white in the best video. The drone should be black to avoid detection.
5. The drone looks like it is coming in for a landing instead of an attack. Just before the explosion, the drone has leveled out, and pulled slightly up from its prior trajectory.
6. The smoke from the explosion quickly dissipates and then the best video stops. The two cell phone videos show smoke rising from the direction of the Senate Building. One of these is from the same view as the best video of the drone attack. If this was a real drone attack, then there would be no need to stop the best video, nor to rely upon two cell phones for video of the smoke.
7. We aren’t shown any pictures or video of the damage from the drone attack, nor do we see the wreckage of the drone. In a real drone attack, we normally are shown the damage and the remains of the drone. But, Russia says no damage occurred, despite the videos of the smoke and something burning on top of the dome. If the drone attack was staged, then there shouldn’t be any damage, and Russia wouldn’t want to show the drone, or whatever was used to represent the drone.
8. The best video is said to be from a CCTV camera. However, there is no time and date stamp on the video. These are hallmarks of surveillance CCTV videos. Furthermore, the best video is slightly moving up and down and from right to left. Such movement is typical for a hand held camera, but not for a fixed CCTV camera. As described in the initial comments, the camera being used for the best video was from the likely control room, as opposed to a CCTV camera.
9. Russia needed 12 hours before posting the videos and making their claims. This provided them the time to edit and photoshop the videos.
10. The Institute of War (ISW) said that this 12 hours was fast for a Russian response. It normally takes at least 24 hours for them to respond to a surprise event. Partly based upon this comment, as well some other reasons (but no detailed analysis of the videos), they concluded that the drone attacks were staged. The ISW analysis and conclusion can be found at http://www.understandingwar.org/…, 2nd full paragraph.
Russia says that there were two drone attacks. The second attack is said to be shown in the second full video is in the BBC article. A picture of when the explosion is just occurring is shown earlier. There are workers in the right foreground of the picture (labeled W). In the video, the workers are moving around, and oblivious to the explosion that is occurring. This behavior is in contrast to the people in the best video. The two men climbing the ladder on the dome duck when the explosion occurs (labeled M). There is also someone walking or riding a bike in the bottom of the video (labeled P). They appear to stop and look up when the explosion occurs.
In this video, there are red circles showing the drone approaching. When these circles are blown up, there is nothing inside of them, just black. [images at the link]
As such, it is doubtful that this video shows an attack. Instead, it looks like this video has been photoshopped to show where Russia says there is a drone, and an explosion has been added to the video at the far left. […]
The New York state judge presiding over the criminal hush money case against Donald Trump issued an order Monday restricting the former president from posting about some evidence in the case on social media.
In his order, Judge Juan Merchan largely sided with the Manhattan district attorney by limiting what Trump can publicly disclose about new evidence from the prosecution before the case goes to trial.
Merchan’s order said that anyone with access to the evidence being turned over to Trump’s team from state prosecutors “shall not copy, disseminate or disclose” the material to third parties, including social media platforms, “without prior approval from the court.”
It also singles out Trump, saying he is allowed to review sensitive “Limited Dissemination Materials” from prosecutors only in the presence of his lawyers, and “shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials.”
The ruling largely tracks a request for a protective order from the Manhattan district attorney’s office that Trump’s attorneys had complained was “extremely restrictive.”
Danielle Smith, Alberta’s UCP leader, is apologizing for past comments on talk radio and podcasts after a video resurfaced Sunday on social media in which she suggests the 75 per cent of the public who received a vaccine fell for the “charms of a tyrant,” specifically referencing Adolf Hitler.
The clip came from a podcast published on Nov. 10, 2021, before Smith became premier, with the Calgary-based Integrated Wealth Management and its founder, Andrew Ruhland…
StevoRsays
Our new space telescope’s view of “Sauron’s eye” :
Summarized by Steve Benen from an NBC News article:
Former Rep. Liz Cheney has maintained a relatively low profile since exiting Capitol Hill earlier this year, but the Wyoming Republican’s political operation is making another splash today, launching a new television ad in New Hampshire, warning voters about the risks of another Donald Trump presidency.
[…] This isn’t a situation in which the far-right jurist’s critics are raising general concerns about his rulings, ideology, or temperament; this is an intensifying controversy about well documented incidents.
Recent reporting suggests that Thomas accepted decades’ worth of unreported gifts and luxury trips from Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor and longtime Thomas benefactor. We’ve also learned that the real estate magnate bought property from the justice, which he also failed to disclose, and which led to rent-free housing for Thomas’ mother. Crow also paid the private school tuition for a member of the justice’s family […]
the conservative justice’s Republican allies have struggled to think of a cogent defense […] and are instead rallying behind Thomas with vague generalities and platitudes.
Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Justice Clarence Thomas in a Saturday twitter thread that blasted accusations of corruption and calls by some Democrats for his resignation from the high court. […] said Justice Thomas has been “maliciously attacked by the left, including then Sen. Joe Biden,” since he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991. Mr. Pence said the attacks, “are continuing today, and it’s appalling to see.”
The former vice president went on to say Americans should support Thomas because he’s a “good man and principled jurist.”
But the one thing missing from this argument was an argument. Does Pence take issue with any of the recent revelations? Has he found flaws in the reporting? Does he believe Thomas has been falsely accused?
It’s not that the former vice president answered these questions incorrectly, it’s that Pence didn’t bother to consider such questions at all. […]
Sen. Mike Lee has invested quite a bit of time and energy in recent weeks celebrating Thomas and trying to rally support for the justice. To that end, the Utah Republican yesterday published a lengthy Twitter thread, insisting that Thomas is “decent,” well-liked by people who know him, and not the kind of guy who does bad things.
Lee concluded that it “saddens” him to see Thomas “mistreated.”
But how is Thomas being “mistreated”? By telling the truth about his own actions and conduct?
The senator, among others, might very well consider Thomas a swell guy, but that’s not especially relevant right now. If Pence, Lee, and the justice’s other Republican backers have anything to offer about the specific ethics allegations surrounding the justice, now would be an excellent time to share such a defense.
The Trump National Doral resort will host two antisemites who have promoted pro-Adolf Hitler propaganda and spread virulently antisemitic conspiracy theories. They will be speaking at an event in Miami alongside numerous Team Trump personalities, including Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and Devin Nunes.
Trump Doral speaker Scott McKay, who has a streaming show on Rumble, has claimed that Jewish people orchestrated 9/11 and were responsible for the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and William McKinley. He has also said that Jewish people routinely torture children and eat their hearts.
He has praised Hitler for supposedly trying to take down a Jewish banking system and said, “Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we’re trying to take down today.”
Trump Doral speaker Charlie Ward, who also streams a show on Rumble, has shared posts praising Hitler for supposedly “warning us” about Judaism; claiming that “VIRUSES are Man (JEW) made”; and attacking the alleged Jewish media for supposedly lying about the Holocaust.
The two are featured speakers in the “ReAwaken America” tour, which is set to stop at Trump’s Miami hotel on May 12 and 13. Scheduled to speak alongside McKay and Ward are numerous members of Trump’s orbit, including: Eric Trump, Lara Trump, former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former senior Department of Defense official Kash Patel, former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes, and Trump ally Roger Stone.
Numerous other far-right conspiracy theorists will be speaking, including Stella Immanuel, Mel K, Liz Crokin, Ann Vandersteel, Mike Lindell, and Patrick Byrne.
Media outlets have previously noted that the tour, which has been holding events across the country, has also featured QAnon supporters, conspiracy theories, and Christian nationalist rhetoric. […]
More at the link.
Some details:
[…] McKay, who also goes by Patriot Streetfighter, is a speaker at the Trump Doral event. He frequently makes antisemitic comments. Among the many examples:
– McKay claimed that Jewish people “built Hitler. … He was created by them” because they needed a catalyst to profit from a military conflict. He also praised Hitler for supposedly attempting to spurn his Jewish creators by trying to break “free of the Rothschilds’ corrupt money-magic fiat system” and create “a banking system for the people and the free world.”
– McKay said: “Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we’re trying to take down today.”
– McKay claimed that 9/11 was perpetrated by “the same group of people that has done a very good job at hiding under the religion of Judaism.”
– McKay claimed that many Jewish people are hiding “under the cover of this religion called Judaism” so they can “murder children.”
– McKay claimed that Jewish people practice “satanism, child sacrifice, bleeding them out, torturing them, consuming them, eating their heart.”
– McKay claimed that Jewish people created a banking system “in exchange for the child blood sacrifices.”
– McKay claimed that Jewish people were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing and the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and William McKinley.
More details:
Ward is a speaker at the Trump Doral event. During a November ReAwaken America tour stop in Branson, Missouri, he said: “How many people in here know that more people have been killed by the jab than were killed in the Holocaust? And they’re still doing it because nobody can stop them.”
He frequently promotes antisemitism and pro-Hitler content. Among the many examples:
– Ward shared a post embedding a speech by Hitler and praising him for “warning us” about Judaism.
– Ward promoted a book which claims to show “that the official narrative of the Holocaust cannot be sustained.”
– Ward shared a post claiming that “VIRUSES are Man (JEW) made including influenza, Polio, Measles, AIDS so was Covid created as a ‘excuse’ to vaccinate (contaminate)… .” […]
StevoRsays
The robotic spacecraft that we sent to see Pluto then Arrokoth faces an uncertain fate but still has a lot to offer. Really hope this gets sorted out well and soon :
More weirdness in the “friendship” between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and real estate developer and Nazi relic collector Harlan Crow:
[…] Despite Thomas’ constant references to Crow as one of his “dearest friends,” the truth is that the two men didn’t meet until 1996—five years after Thomas had joined the Court and at a point when Crow was already involved in a number of organizations that had business before the Court.
As The Dallas Morning News reported, their very first meeting came when Crow gave Thomas a free ride on his private jet so that Thomas could come to Dallas to speak for the conservative National Center for Policy Analysis. Thomas gave thanks to Crow in that speech, which he opened by defending the Confederate flag on the stage next to him.
That’s the “meet cute” story of Crow and Thomas. These are not childhood friends, or guys who happened to be on the same bowling team. They met doing what they still do—with Crow helping Thomas to align the Court with the most extreme politics on the right. That’s how they became such “dear friends.”
Less than a year after that first meeting, Thomas was back on Crow’s private jet for a trip to an “exclusive all-male retreat,” which The Washington Post describes as “where the rich and powerful misbehave.” A retreat that is full of strange rituals and secret rites.
The club is so hush-hush that little can be definitively said about it, but much of what we know today is from those who have infiltrated the camp, including Texas-based filmmaker Alex Jones. In 2000, Jones and his cameraman entered the camp with a hidden camera and were able to film a Bohemian Grove ceremony, Cremation of the Care. During the ceremony, members wear costumes and cremate a coffin effigy called “Care” before a 40-foot-owl, in deference to the surrounding Redwood trees.
That was the second meeting between Crow and Thomas. Their friendship was cemented while wearing masks and performing sacrifices to a giant owl. […]
It’s no coincidence that, right between getting the private school tuition, the $500,000 gift to Ginni Thomas, and the real estate purchase, Thomas delivered the deciding vote in Citizens United v. FEC, which opened political campaigns to unlimited spending by outside groups. Votes like that … that’s what this is all about.
Wonkette: “Mitch McConnell Won’t Save Nation From MAGA Default, Will Be Mitch McConnell Instead”
The countdown to economic catastrophe continues! President Joe Biden is set to meet with congressional leaders today in a last-ditch effort to avoid a default crisis. […] House Republicans are holding the debt limit for ransom and demanding extreme budget cuts and policy concessions. […]
Matthew Yglesias wrote for Bloomberg a few weeks ago that “Only Mitch McConnell Can Save the US From Default,” and suggested that the Senate minority leader, who’s not totally in the MAGA tank, would cut a last-minute deal with Biden. Shockingly, Yglesias was wrong. While gabbing on the phone last week, McConnell informed Biden that he wouldn’t offer his old Senate buddy a fiscal lifeboat. Biden would have to come to an arrangement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, period.
“This is the very same advice I gave Donald Trump after the Democrats took the House. It wasn’t the first thing on their mind to negotiate with Nancy Pelosi. But they did,” McConnell said, conveniently ignoring that Pelosi wasn’t a sock puppet for crackpots, extremists, and outright nihilists. “My advice in private is the same as I’ve been saying publicly … quit wasting time here. And in the end, the deal will be made between McCarthy and Biden.”
In advance of today’s meeting, McConnell slammed Biden on the Senate floor, claiming that the president was “M.I.A.” and that “months of inaction … have left our nation drifting toward economic disaster.”
Wow, it turns out McConnell is quite the nefarious operator. Who would’ve guessed, except for anyone paying attention?
This strengthens McCarthy’s negotiating position at a time when members of Biden’s own party (sort of) are undermining him. Sen. Joe Manchin has told reporters that Biden should make a deal with McCarthy, and Kyrsten Sinema from the Sinema Party publicly stated Sunday during her self-serving “Face the Nation” interview that “the votes don’t exist” for a “just a simple clean debt limit.” Instead, Biden should face reality and let McCarthy and his MAGA saboteurs shred most of Biden’s legislative achievements.
[…] Sen. Joni Ernst from Iowa doesn’t even think McConnell will say much during the meetings, which is sort of a classic Godfather move. “He’s like: ‘I’m here to support McCarthy.’”
[President Biden said,] “There’s the Republican Party and there’s the MAGA Republicans, and the MAGA Republicans really have put him in a position where in order to stay speaker he has to agree — he’s [McCarthy’s] agreed to things that, maybe he believes, but are just extreme.”
[…] Biden has described McCarthy as an “honest man,” but someone who sells their soul for a speaker’s gavel […] McCarthy is a MAGA Republican now. […]
According to a Washington Post poll, Americans will likely blame both parties equally for a disastrous debt default: Thirty-nine percent of respondents (correctly) say that congressional Republicans put us in this dire situation, while 36 percent of respondents pin the blame on Biden and Democrats. Those people are stupid but they still vote.
Wonkette: “Trump Hotel, Trump Kid Throwing Fun Weekend Bash With Actual Nazis, Is That Bad?”
Rachel Maddow’s A block last night felt at times like a broadcast from an alternate Earth, but […] it was straight reporting about an upcoming Nuremberg Rally “ReAwaken America” event to be held at Donald Trump’s Doral National hotel in Miami this weekend. Maddow noted that the event will feature an assload of figures from the Trump administration’s discard pile, like fired national security adviser Michael Flynn, former (acting) Attorney General Matthew Whitaker (I briefly blanked on his name, because around here he’s just “Meatball”), former economic adviser Peter Navarro, that weirdo Kash Patel who somehow had a senior Defense Department appointment, former Congressman Devin Nunes (but not his cow), plus some actual Trumps like Eric and Lara. The Pillow Guy, Mike Pillow, will be there too.
But it won’t just be that already awful group of people you’d never want to be trapped in a room with; the event will also feature a couple of full-on antisemitic conspiracy mongers, Scott McKay and Charlie Ward, who openly admire Adolf Hitler and regularly blame Jews for everything they think is wrong with the world. We aren’t talking coy references, but straight, undiluted “Hitler was right.”
Here’s video of the segment. [video at the link]
[…] In addition to his Hitler hard-on, McKay also rallied the Internet Flying Monkey Brigade to harass and threaten the lives of healthcare workers following the death of a prominent antivaxxer and all around conspiracy loon from what could not possibly have been COVID, because that’s harmless.
Charlie Ward somehow manages to be even worse, with more old-timey antisemitic rhetoric like portraying media moguls of the 1930s as a dangerous “cabal” with literal stars of David on their foreheads, explaining that they were the “main sources of information about Hitler and Germany. Do you see the (((problem)))?”
[…] Oh, yes, he’s also a fervent QAnon adherent, says the Earth is flat, the moon landings were fake, and, in a spirit of whackobird bipartisanship, says that Joe Biden and Amy Coney Barrett, among others, are “reptilian humanoid hybrids.” Both sides, people. Both sides. [pained LOL]
[…] Eric Trump and Ward are regularly featured on posters for Flynn’s “ReAwaken America” roadshow, which has been stumbling from convention center to convention center since at least 2021 […] So yes, the former president’s son […] is happy to share a stage with “Hitler was right” guys, and that’s not guilt by association, that’s guilt by willingly palling around. […] Clearly, they don’t see any reason to think these guys hurt their brand.
Hell, fascist, racist, antisemitic conspiracy beliefs increasingly ARE the GOP brand, as Maddow also reminded us last night, from the “great replacement theory” embraced both by Fox News and several mass shooters, to the everyday glorification of “rightwing death squads” — oh hey, they’re in the news again! — and violent overthrow of the government. [video at the link]
We would say more about the disturbing implications of all of this for American Democracy, but suddenly we were thrown out of a helicopter.
In shocking news, it turns out that the mass shooter in Allen, Texas, who had all the Nazi tattoos may perhaps have been a Nazi. Yes, even though his name sounded Hispanic.
Whoa if true, this is very confusing, but only if you are a goddamned moron who thinks all people with Hispanic names are some unknowable race of Latino Mexican Spanishes who hail from somewhere south of US America. (Insert general “pointing toward the south” hand gesture here.)
He had a patch on his vest with the letters “RWDS.” This stands for “Right Wing Death Squad,” and it’s a patch you see a lot in pictures of the Proud Boys on January 6 and also other dates. It’s a right-wing, white supremacist Nazi thing, connected to a meme really popular among those sorts that says “Pinochet did nothing wrong.” White supremacist Nazis in America idolize Pinochet, who terrorized the … [checks globe] … Latin American nation of Chile.
blue checks insisting that Latinos who wear “Right Wing Death Squad” patches and celebrate Pinochet can’t have neo-Nazi ideas should try to learn more about … right-wing death squads and Pinochet.
Much of this is, also, symptomatic of the internationalization of the far right, promoted by Dugin’s neo-Eurasianist geopolitics through conferences drawing together fascists and the radical right in a network of solidarity against liberalism [Rachel Maddow noted that CPAC was holding another conservative conference in Hungary]
But yes, do please tell us more about how people with Hispanic-sounding last names could not possibly be Nazis.
[…] But now reporters are digging even deeper, and boy howdy, the things they’re finding.
NBC News reports that the shooter had a profile on a Russian social media site called OK.ru, which as NBC reporter Ben Collins explained on MSNBC last night is kind of like their MySpace. He ranted about Jews and women and racial minorities, and apparently also shared stuff from known white supremacist Nazi and Donald Trump dinner date Nick Fuentes, which is weird, because again, how can Hispanic-sounding name be Nazi?
He posted pictures of the mall where he carried out his massacre, he praised the person who committed the recent massacre in Nashville for having a “decent kill score,” and of course he posted all kinds of pictures of his Nazi tattoos. He posted incel content.
Researcher Aric Toler from Bellingcat went through all the content on the dude’s social media, and also posted an explainer showing how he was able to determine definitively that this was the shooter’s legit social media profile. [Tweet and image at the link]
[…] [The murderer] whines about “drag queen story hour loser’s” [sic] and signs off with “Heil Hitler.” [Image at the link, he represents himself online with a happy face emoji altered to look like a smiling Hitler]
Yes, indeed, it’s hard to figure out what made this asshole tick.
And for those who either are so stupid or are pretending to be so stupid as to not understand how a guy with a Hispanic name could be a Nazi, we just wish the killer had explained that for hims … [Tweet and image at the link, showing two paths for a Latino child, one path leading to” become a white supremacist” and one to “act black.”]
Oh.
His social media account also has a whole section of people dressed in Nazi garb who white Americans might not think of as white. […] Note that the first one has the “Pinochet did nothing wrong” caption.
Obviously, as we’ve mentioned a few times, the current prevalent idiot right-wing sentiment is that the mass shooter couldn’t be a Nazi because he has a Hispanic name. It’s being pushed by the absolute stupidest trolls in America, many of whom are white supremacists and Nazis themselves, and it’s being egged on by people like Donald Trump Jr.
It’s stupid, but if anyone is still skeptical that a person with Hispanic heritage could yes literally actually be a Nazi, here are some more facts:
We’ve already mentioned the dude’s affinity for Nick Fuentes. We could also mention people like former Proud Boy leader and Cuban American Enrique Tarrio as another example of a Latino person who is also a far-right extremist piece of shit. Or all these white nationalist Latinos.
Read this thread from Northwestern professor and historian Kathleen Belew about the meanings of “whiteness,” how it’s not necessarily measured the same in the Latin American world as it is in the United States. Then maybe learn a thing about how Texas and the American Southwest in general are full of people with Hispanic-sounding names who wouldn’t consider themselves anything but white, or maybe Tejano, and yes, there are white supremacists among them. Just start googling. A good place to start is articles about how well Donald Trump did among Tejanos. [Tweet at the link]
Did we mention Nick Fuentes? We’re worried we didn’t mention him five times already. He’s got Hispanic heritage. Super fuckin’ Nazi incel.
Here are a couple clips from Ben Collins, should you need more things explained to you: [videos at the link: “there’s nothing complicated about tis. this ws a neo-Nazi, straight up. That’s what he was.” Panel of experts interviewed by Joy Reid; and an interview conduced by Stephanie Ruhle.]
By the way, send those to Elon Musk if you know him. Yeah, surprise, Elon is so gullible/stupid/racist that he’s spreading the conspiracy theories on the failing website he bought.
In summary and in conclusion, we hope this blog post has cleared up any lingering confusion over whether the guy with the Nazi tattoos who did the murders might have been a Nazi murderer. […]
Texas doctors have been required to submit patients’ private medical information into a state-run website without their knowledge or consent
[…]
Texas law lists 28 medical issues as abortion complications—conditions that […] often have nothing to do with abortion. Still, doctors are required to tell the state about any woman who develops one of these issues if she happens to have had an abortion at any point in her life.
[…]
a policy that forces doctors, under threat of losing their license, to lend their name and medical credibility to the collection of false data—’research’ that will be used by the state to claim abortion is unsafe.
[…]
law requires that every single physician involved […] fill out the […] form. Even the hospital itself […] It’s a policy that encourages double, triple, even quadruple duplicate reports for a single person.
[…]
Doctors have to worry not only about adhering to a deliberately-unscientific and political mandate, but that if they don’t, they’ll be turned in by their colleagues.
[…]
This, of course, is deliberate. The fear, confusion, bad science and vague language—it’s all meant to drive up the number
[…]
One of the more horrific ironies […] is that the state’s ban on abortion will likely drive up the number of complications […] Consider […] women who […] must leave the state for treatment. […] any health conditions that were caused by that delay in care will now be counted as an abortion complication—rather than what they are, an adverse effect of being denied an abortion.
Another good reason why waiting is not a bad idea.
[Tweet and video: “American-made M113 armored personnel carriers and a T-64BV tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stuck in the mud” [holy shit]
Despite earlier statements that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s busy schedule would keep him from standing at the podium for Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade, he did make a brief appearance on Tuesday. As it turns out, brief was all that was necessary. The parade was pitiful and Putin’s remarks were short.
In 2021 the Victory Day parade was marked by a flyover of Russian fighter jets and bombers, the march of the Immortal Regiment (a highly popular event in which relatives of those who fought in World War II process through the city carrying photos of deceased warriors), and 197 armored vehicles including tanks. In 2022, a bit more than two months after Putin launched his illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the number of armored vehicles in the parade was down to 131. That was a notable difference, but it was nothing like the decline seen this year.
In 2023, there was no flyover. The Immortal Regiment did not march. And the rolling stock was down to just 51 vehicles [including just one (1!) tank]. Meanwhile, dozens of cities across Russia—not just those bordering Ukraine, but as far away as Siberia—called off their parades entirely. Far from signaling victory, this seemed like a day in which Russia sent a visible signal that its military force is spent.
And in Bakhmut, the Russian army, Wagner Group mercenaries, and another private army were all reportedly in retreat from areas of the city thousands of Russians had died to capture.
For a full rundown of the vehicles found in this year’s parade, you could not do better than this thread by OSINT analyst Oliver Alexander. You definitely need someone to walk you through it since, as Alexander points out, for the first time Moscow did not issue a guide for parade viewers showing the vehicles they should expect. [Tweet and image at the link]
As CNN reports, this isn’t quite what was expected, even by insiders.
More than 10,000 people and 125 units of various types of weapons and equipment were expected to be displayed at this year’s parade, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Last year the ministry announced 11,000 people and 131 types of weapons were involved in the military parade, with an airshow of 77 aircraft and helicopters.
No helicopters. No aircraft. Fifty-one vehicles. And while there’s no count on the people, it’s pretty clear that the number standing in Red Square is quite a bit smaller than in past years. To even get to 51 vehicles, the parade was padded out with 10 MRAPs borrowed from Kadyrov’s Chechen forces.
Here’s something else to note about those vehicles. The count of actual tanks in the parade appears to be … one. A single World War II-era T-34 led off the parade. In past years, it was a group of these old tanks followed by T-64, T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks. Not this time. There doesn’t even seem to have been an appearance by the elusive T-14 Armata. [images at the link]
Are the T-14s all in Ukraine? Are the rest of Russia’s T-34s in Ukraine? Is every tank mechanic in Russia so busy they didn’t have time to get these display pieces rolling in time for the parade? Considering the number of tanks Russia has lost in Ukraine, any or all of the above seems possible.
Reuters’ report on Putin’s brief speech in front of this diminished military included the statement that “A real war has again been unleashed against our homeland,” as well as claims that Ukraine was being held hostage to “Western globalist elites” spreading Russophobia. Even so, Putin declared that Russia would win out because of “greatness.”
While Putin was giving a largely downbeat speech in front of his shrunken military, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was giving a speech that absolutely was not about “victory.”
[Tweet and video at the link] ❗️I think this might be the top-news for today.
While Putin was speaking about “Russian greatness” in Moscow, Russian troops were fleeing in Bakhmut.
Prigozhin said the 72nd brigade and Gazprom “Torch” PMC abandoned their positions after 500 Wagner members died to get them – the true face of “Russian might”.
Please consider sharing this.
As with anything Prigozhin says, this speech should be taken with whole buckets of salt. However, what he’s saying here is that Wagner has already left positions that it held in the city, turning them over to the 72nd brigade of the Russian army and to Gazprom’s mercenary force. According to Prigozhin, both of these groups immediately turned and ran, surrendering “three square kilometers” of Bakhmut. Prigozhin went on to threaten to abandon more positions after claiming that Wagner received only 10% of the artillery that was promised earlier this week (which is a reversal of Prigozhin’s last statement).
From other sources:
– On Monday, Ukrainian forces reportedly carried out a counteroffensive in the area around Bakhmut, liberating a square kilometer of area, possibly around the O0506 road through Khromove.
– On Tuesday, Russian sources report that Ukrainian artillery hit Russian supply lines on the M03 highway from multiple directions, forcing Russia to reroute materiel coming into Bakhmut.
– Members of the Azov brigade are claiming that they have retaken large areas in the city within hours.” (Note: this advance, assuming it is separate from the other reported advance on Monday, is not confirmed through the Ukrainian military)
As for what’s really happening with Wagner … who knows? Within 24 hours, Prigozhin first announced the withdrawal of his Wagner militia from Bakhmut, then reversed course after saying he had received ammunition, then claimed he had not received ammunition and claimed that Russian army units and Gazprom fighters were running, and most recently said he has started to receive artillery after all.
Is Wagner staying? Is Wagner going? Is there any reason the Russian military allows Prigozhin to stay near the battlefield while making such derogatory statements about Russian forces? Who knows?
Tankie accounts in social media have now moved to “Bakhmut served its purposes of grinding down the Ukrainian army,” and have gone from praising Wagner to dismissing it as a “ragtag group of prisoners” that was never part of the Russian military in the first place. So there. Russia didn’t lose anyone at Bakhmut, because Wagner doesn’t count. There have also been a lot of restatements of Russia’s losses in World War II with the suggestion that what’s happening in Ukraine is just a flesh wound.
Meanwhile, at VE Day celebrations in Europe… [Tweet and video at the link. Citizens in Poland forced the Russian Ambassador to leave the memorial service.]
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @16, Texas Republicans are using manipulated statistics to lie. Soon, they will be using those manipulated/falsified statistics to back up their draconian anti-abortion policies.
Shortly before House Republicans approved their debt ceiling hostage note, Rep. Tim Burchett came out of a GOP caucus meeting and told reporters not to worry too much about the United States defaulting on its debts. Asked why not, the Tennessean replied, “I think September’s the actual drop-dead date, so we’re good.” [Wishful thinking.]
As we’ve discussed, the Treasury Department had already told Congress that the deadline will likely arrive in June, but there was Burchett, expressing confidence that the “actual” deadline is still months away.
This is, unfortunately, rather common. Axios reported last week:
Senate Republicans are deeply skeptical of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s estimate that the U.S. will not be able to pay its bills as early as June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. … A firm deadline can be a forcing mechanism in any negotiations, especially on Capitol Hill. But deadlines only work if all the parties actually believe that they are real.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen jolted the political world with a letter to congressional leaders, explaining that U.S. default could be as early as June 1. The cabinet secretary, pointing to “inherently variable” federal receipts and outlays, added that the actual deadline could slide to “a number of weeks later.”
Republican Sen. John Kennedy told Axios about the Treasury secretary’s letter, “Nobody believes her. I don’t believe her. I’m not saying she’s a liar, I’m just saying Janet Yellen is no longer an economist and a professor — she’s a politician.” [Oh JFC]
The Louisiana politician — who, unlike Yellen, has a limited background in economic policy — added that he believes the actual deadline is “more like [the] end of July, sometime in August.”
It’s unclear how Kennedy arrived at this. By all appearances, the GOP senator seems to have just guessed. If he and his Republican brethren are wrong, and Yellen is right, the global economy will suffer severe consequences in part because GOP lawmakers were given a deadline they chose — on a hunch — not to believe.
To be sure, Yellen didn’t say that June 1 is the absolute line in the sand. She warned that, based on the available data, the United States might struggle to pay its bills “as early as” June 1, even as the Treasury secretary acknowledged that there’s some fluidity to the schedule.
[…] So let’s take stock. GOP lawmakers have been told that breaching the debt ceiling would cause a catastrophe, but they don’t believe the warnings. GOP lawmakers have been told the debt ceiling and government shutdowns are different things, but they keep getting the two confused.
And GOP lawmakers have been told that policymakers only have weeks remaining before the United States defaults on its obligations, and much of the party has decided not to believe that, either.
It’s awfully tough to be optimistic about the direction of this process.
We don’t know when. We don’t know where. But we know that Ukraine intends to launch a significant counteroffensive against Russian positions with the aim of liberating significant areas of Ukraine.
As kos wrote on Monday, several military and political leaders have offered the same advice to Ukraine: Don’t rush. With more and more Western assistance pouring into Ukraine, nine to twelve brigades of Ukrainian troops still in training away from the battlefield, and a massive chain of logistics to work out in order to incorporate dozens of new weapons and vehicles, the longer Ukraine can wait in moving, the better.
Yes, Russia has used the time since the Kharkiv counteroffensive ended last fall to create a network of defensive lines in many areas of Ukraine, but it’s not clear that any more time will make these defenses more formidable. What is clear is that the Russian military is imploding. Both Putin’s underperforming parade and Prigozhin’s see-saw rants all point to the same thing: Russia is running low on equipment and material to carry on the conflict.
As those shortages become more dire, the fault lines that already existed in the Russian military become more obvious. The deliberately weakened command structure, the logistics operations that haven’t been updated since that single parade T-34 was new, the willingness to hand important aspects of the military off to private forces fighting for various oligarchs … the Russian military begins to look more like the army that brought down the Soviet Union. Like the Mujahideen. Like a collection of loosely-bonded warlords roughly coordinating toward similar goals, while always keeping their own personal endgames in mind. [Tweet and charts at the link]
Only a few weeks ago, it seemed that Bakhmut’s loss was inevitable. So much so that on April 15 I wrote an entire article fretting over how Russia’s occupation of the city was proceeding rapidly and worrying that it would put Ukraine in a position of defending the area around Kramatorsk before their new equipment and newly-trained forces were prepared. A fast movement through Bakhmut, even then, might have put Russia in a position to drain much of the force out of any coming counteroffensive by forcing Ukraine to move much of its new force to block a Russian advance.
Now the possibility of a big Russia push at any point on the line seems almost ridiculous. Russian forces may not have culminated in the traditional sense, but they seem to have reached chaos levels of infighting and cross-purposes.
Every day that they can afford to wait positions Ukraine for a better, more effective punch when it comes. The number of repaired vehicles coming to Russian forces is a relative trickle. Ukraine has well over a hundred Western tanks still on the way, and that’s just a portion of what is yet to arrive. Every day, Ukrainian forces are becoming more familiar with modern, combined-arms tactics. Russian forces are not.
[…] For all the pro-Russian Americans on the right … these are the guys you are supporting. (I’d send the same message out to Tankies, but most of them feel the same way as the Russians in this video.) [Video showing “Russian vatniks continue to celebrate May 9”]
[…] Trump is claiming he was silenced during the trial involving author E. Jean Carroll […]
“[…] a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.
“I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!” he added
.
[…] “For the reasons previously stated, we continue to object to Mr. Trump’s public statements about evidence the Court held to be inadmissible at trial and remain concerned about the prejudice that his statements may have already caused Plaintiff in these proceedings” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in the letter. […]
[Trump] was given the opportunity to defend himself in a testimony to the jury during the trial, but he did not appear. The court granted Trump three days to file a motion to reopen his case last week “for the sole purpose of testifying as a witness in this case,” but Trump ultimately missed the deadline earlier this week to do so. […]
Maybe he will not show up for the supposed appeal either. Maybe the appeal itself will not materialize anywhere other than Trump’s rat nest of a brain.
A rubber-clad gimp terrorising West Country villages struck again over the Bank Holiday weekend leaving a woman travelling alone in her car terrified.
Seven months after his last sighting, the so-called “Somerset Gimp” resurfaced on Sunday evening when he leapt out in front of a passing motorist and began “crawling and writhing” on the ground.
Lucy Anne had been driving along a backroad between Weston-on-Mare and Brean, when she encountered the man dressed from head to toe in black latex.
Miss Anne said she had initially believed the figure, who wore a mask with two white crosses on his eyes, was a badger.
After speeding away and leaving the man sprawled on the road between Weston-on-Mare and Brean, she phoned Avon and Somerset Police.
Within three minutes, officers found the man near the road and arrested him on suspicion of causing a public nuisance…
The Wisconsin Elections Commission will be ordered to reconsider a complaint filed against a group of Republicans who posed as electors for Donald Trump in 2020 despite Joe Biden’s presidential victory in Wisconsin.
Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington said Monday he will order the state’s bipartisan elections commission take up the complaint without the participation of one of its own commissioners who participated in the scheme to submit false paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence and the National Archives claiming to be electors for Trump, despite his loss in Wisconsin.
Bob Spindell, a Republican commissioner on the state’s top election oversight board, was sued in April and May 2022 in separate lawsuits over his role in the scheme…
The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had disrupted a long-running Russian cyberespionage campaign that stole sensitive information from computer networks in dozens of countries, including the U.S. and other NATO members.
Prosecutors linked the spying operation to a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, and accused the hackers of stealing documents from hundreds of computer systems belonging to governments of NATO members, an unidentified journalist for a U.S. news organization who reported on Russia, and other select targets of interest to the Kremlin.
“For 20 years, the FSB has relied on the Snake malware to conduct cyberespionage against the United States and our allies — that ends today,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a statement…
Former Kissimmee Commissioner Carlos Irizarry Sr., 67, of Buena Ventura Lakes, was arrested Friday on eight counts of willful certification of false or incomplete campaign treasure’s reports and six counts of deliberate failure to report campaign expenditures as required, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a news release.
State investigators said they began looking into Irizarry last year following allegations that he was paid to enter the Osceola County Commission District 4 race to affect its outcome. Kissimmee and Osceola County are located immediately south of Orlando.
After comparing bank records to Irizarry’s campaign treasure’s reports, inspectors said they identified a pattern of providing false information. In eight reports, Irizarry reported false campaign expenditures and lied about charitable donations made by the campaign, officials said. After the filing fee, Irizarry spent the remaining funds on personal items like day spas and restaurants, investigators said.
The term “ghost candidate” refers to someone who does little or no campaigning and only enters a race to siphon votes from one of the legitimate candidates.
FDLE officials wouldn’t say whether anyone else was involved in Irizarry’s candidacy scheme, but Jackie Espinosa, another candidate in Irizarry’s commission race, filed a lawsuit last fall accusing Irizarry of running to steal Hispanic votes and allowing the seat’s incumbent to win. ..
On Monday, Taiwan’s Minister for National Defense, Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), made a statement about the nation’s territorial integrity. According to the Taiwan News, the Taiwanese minister said that the island’s armed forces would not tolerate any U.S. attempts to destroy TSMC in the event of a war with China…
Responses to the verdict that found Trump sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll:
One of the jurors is a Tim Pool devotee, according to MSNBC. (This came out during voir dire.)
The jury was unanimous.
That means a right winger voted to hold Trump liable for sexual assault. That’s pretty huge.
———————
CNN looking ridiculous [image shows breaking news about Trump as a sexual abused or women, while at the same time CNN is advertising the Trump town hall appearance tomorrow]
———————–
yikes! Fox News plays the clip of Trump mistaking E Jean Carroll for his ex-wife during his deposition and even they can’t spin it. [Tweet sand videos posted by Aaron Rupar are available at the link]
————————-
Trump supporters…
It’s time to check your email boxes, Donald needs $5 million by midnight tonight to fight the woke Manhattan jury.
—————————
GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson comes out hitting Trump following the E. Jean Carroll verdict: “The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.”
—————————
“The forcefulness of Trump’s denials evaporated up against all of his other misrepresentations, and inaccuracies and strategic lies,” @MajorCBS says, after a jury found the former president liable for battery and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll civil trial.
Linguists have actually determined that the majority of insults for men sprout from references to femininity…
[…] know that culturally, it’s a common practice, and has been for a long time, but that doesn’t make it right. Usually when it happens on DK, someone corrects it. Today, I happened to do so for someone doing it to Lindsey Graham (a common occurrence). We all know Graham is a miserable whiny man, looking-for-the-most-alpha-male to follow. However, calling him Miss Lindsey, or other variations, is insulting to women.
That implies that women are less than men. […]
Kinda like when Trump called Mike Pence a [P-word] for refusing to aid and abet the insurrection/coup.
Today Putin hosted a lunch with the presidents who arrived to Moscow for the parade. Lukashenko [Belarus president] didn’t attend it.
Russian Telegram channels write Lukashenko wasn’t at the lunch because of health issues and has left Moscow already, having been accompanied to the airport by an ambulance.
Last week, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill that would’ve funded Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state’s PBS affiliate, through 2026. Republicans have long resented public television and really any public good, but Stitt’s opposition sounded a familiar fascist tune. PBS’s content is just too damn woke.
“Some of the stuff that they’re showing, it just overly sexualizes our kids,” he said. “There are parents defending child transition on PBS that’s being played. There’s elevating LGBTQIA2S+ voices.”
From The Independent:
[Stitt’s] office provided numerous examples of supposedly objectionable instances of PBS programming to Fox News. Some were typical of the recent anti-transgender panic: A reading of The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish by drag queen Little Miss Hot Mess, while others were more in line with the typical efforts by conservative Republicans to paint any mention of LGBT persons as “propaganda” in support of some sinister political agenda.
In that vein, the governor’s office took issue with a PBS Newshour segment where persons who supported the use of puberty blockers were interviewed, as well as a depiction of a same-sex marriage on the show Odd Squad.
PBS acknowledges that queer people exist, despite right-wingers’ deeply held religious beliefs, and Stitt won’t stand for it. Unless the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature can override his veto, the state PBS affiliate will cease operations this year. Yes, Republicans passed the bill in the first place, but defying Stitt on this specific issue risks painting themselves as “groomers.”
There was obvious backlash to Stitt’s veto, which I assume he wanted all along. He was defiantly prissy during a Fox News Digital interview Monday:
“You know, the big, big question is why are we spending taxpayer dollars to prop up or compete with the private sector and run television stations?” he said. “And then when you go through all of the programing that’s happening and the indoctrination and over-sexualization of our children, it’s just really problematic, and it doesn’t line up with Oklahoma values.”
The answer to Stitt‘s “big, big question” is that public funding enables quality television that would not survive direct competition with “NCIS” or even “The Masked Singer.” PBS airs the excellent “Finding My Roots,” “Great Performances,” “Masterpiece,” among others. PBS Kids has “Sesame Street” and my son’s personal favorites “Dinosaur Train” and “Wild Kratts.” Stitt would torch it all out of spite.
However, he insists there’s nothing for regular folks to worry about, because “there’s so much television, there’s so much media.”
“Maybe in 1957 you could have made an argument that you needed a public television station,” he blathered on. “That’s totally outdated at this point.”
Yes, the governor of a rural state doesn’t understand why anyone would need public TV when there’s so much digital television available. Kenneth Busby, a board member of Friends of OETA and CEO of the Route 66 Alliance, points out that OETA’s “broadcast towers are how we inform a lot of rural Oklahoma about disasters like tornadoes and thunderstorms.”
But maybe Stitt thinks weather is gay.
“When you think about educating kids, let’s teach them to read and their numbers and counting and letters and those kind of things,” he said. “I mean, some of the programing that we’re seeing … it just doesn’t need to be on public television. Oklahoma taxpayers are going, ‘Hey, hang on, time out for just a second. That’s not my values.'”
Public television has not suddenly gone “woke,” and the programming Stitt finds most objectionable is arguably not as controversial or daring as the May 9, 1969, episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” [video at the link]
Host Fred Rogers invited Black police Officer Francois Clemmons to cool his feet with him in a plastic wading pool. They even shared a towel. But in 1969, just a few years after the Civil Rights Act, pools across the country were still refusing entrance to Black people. Mr. Rogers showed the children watching how to live without prejudice and fear. That was a deliberate political statement.
From the Chicago Reporter:
By the early 1970s, most of America’s urban amusement parks like Cleveland’s Euclid Beach and Chicago’s Riverview were closed for good. Some white consumers perceived the newly integrated parks as unsafe and in turn park owners sold the land for considerable profit. Other urban leisure sites – public swimming pools, bowling alleys and roller-skating rinks – also closed down as white consumers fled cities for the suburbs.
This led to what was termed “privatization” of once public resources. It ensured that white people wouldn’t have to share public spaces with anyone they found objectionable. Stitt probably doesn’t see the irony.
Despite Stitt’s bluster, there is the possibility that the Legislature could override his veto if enough Republicans tap into their inner Mr. Rogers. After all, he’s the one of the few documented “good Republicans.”
A spokesperson for the Cagliari police, said Ostakiewicz was sitting on the windowsill and lost his balance. The death is not being investigated as a suicide and there was no violence involved, he added. ..
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
@Lynna, OM #P2-494
Carlson and Elon Musk had a conversation about working together
the news you consume is a lie. […] Facts have been withheld on purpose. Along with proportion and perspective. You are being manipulated. […] am I really informing you? No, I’m not. I’m misleading you. […] utterly corrupting […] thinly disguised propaganda
Of course he’s not referring to himself.
soon we’ll be bringing a new version of the show […] to Twitter
Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against serial fabulist Rep. George Santos (R-NY), according to CNN.
Three sources familiar with the matter told the network that Santos is likely to appear in federal court in New York on Wednesday for charges that remained under seal on Tuesday…
StevoRsays
My latest Endnagered Species of the Week FWIW.
.***
For this week’s Endangered species of the Week I’ve chosen a snail that is no threat to anyone’s gardens, the carnivorous, blind, Tumbling Creek Cavesnail. (Antrobia culveri.) A cave dwelling mollusc, this species is found only in a single subterranean stream in Missouri, USA, south of the Mark Twain National Forest. It is also the only creature in its whole genus and is perhps understandably little-known and studied. So what does a snail living underwater and underground where no green plants live eat? It apparently feeds on aquatic microfauna or a biofilm of bacteria that’s near bat guano meaning it probably indirectly needs the bats in the cave to survive. It now has what most be one of the most restricted ranges of all species on Earth given wikipedia notes :
“Observations between March and August 2001 suggest that Antrobia culveri is now restricted to 23 m of available stream habitat or approximately 5 percent of the 457 meters of accessible suitable habitat.”
– Tumbling Creek cavesnail, wikipedia page.
Only discovered in the 1970’s at least by scientists, there were once as many as fifteen thousand of these tiny troglobites but cave counts revealed a staggering decline to only 1% of this recently thus its listing on the Endangeed species by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2002. It is thought that this is due to changes for the worse in water quality from erosion and pollution though this has not yet been scientifically confirmed. Whatever, the cause this is one small, harmless snail in very serious trouble and here’s hoping we can still save it.
^ PS. Can’t resist adding this excerpt from the classic Joplin Globe news article here :
He made front-page news in some of the area papers in the early 1970s when he demonstrated that a dump near Dora in Ozark County was actually a natural sinkhole. It had been used as a trash site for many years, and one of the things he found within it was sludge that had been pumped out of septic systems.
“My foot broke through and I immediately identified the product by name,” he said.
The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed federal charges against Rep. George Santos and the New York Republican is in custody.
Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
He was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source told CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip.
Santos is expected to appear later Wednesday at federal court in New York’s Eastern District…
StevoRsays
Breaking news – 7 mins ago apparently!
New York republican George Santos, infamous for fabricating key parts of his life story, has been arrested on federal criminal charges ahead of an expected court appearance.
The indictment says Mr Santos induced supporters to donate to a company under the false pretence that the money would be used to support his campaign.
Instead, it says, he used it for personal expenses, including luxury designer clothes and to pay off his credit cards.
He is accused of lying about his finances on congressional disclosure forms and applying for and receiving unemployment benefits while he was employed as regional director of an investment firm and running for Congress.
Conservative commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is launching a new version of his show on Twitter, he said Tuesday.
Speaking in a nearly three-minute video posted on the platform, Carlson gave few details about the show and offered a familiar criticism of the news media.
Carlson called the platform the “last big one remaining in the world” for free speech.
“Twitter isn’t a partisan site,” he said. “Everyone is allowed here.” …
Ha ha ha. Twitter is rapidly shrinking as it transforms into a right wing cesspool. This will only accelerate the process. All that is lacking is a viable alternative.
The Kremlin has reacted furiously after a Polish government body advised using a different name for Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea coast.
The Polish committee said the city and wider area should instead be called Królewiec.
This was the area’s traditional name, it said, and the decision no longer to use an “imposed name” was partly a result of Russia invading Ukraine…
Vladimir Putin has signed decrees canceling the visa requirement for Georgian citizens to travel to Russia and removing the ban on flights from Russia to Georgia that was imposed in June 2019.
Georgia citizens traveling to Russia for work or academic study, as well as anybody seeking to stay for more than 90 days, will still need visas, according to the document. The new policy is set to come into effect on May 15…
Some of the first humans to arrive in the Americas included people from what is now China, who arrived in two distinct migrations during and after the last ice age, a new genetics study has found.
“Our findings indicate that besides the previously indicated ancestral sources of Native Americans in Siberia, the northern coastal China also served as a genetic reservoir contributing to the gene pool,” said Yu-Chun Li, one of the report authors…
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reassured US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a meeting in Rome last week that while a final decision hasn’t been taken, her government is favoring an exit from its role in China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative, according to people present at the talks.
Italy signed onto the infrastructure initiative in 2019 when Giuseppe Conte was premier, becoming the only Group of Seven country to become part of the deal. Participation will automatically renew in 2024 unless Rome actively exits the agreement…
The Alabama Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee last week approved a bill that would amend the state Constitution to require schools to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at least once a week during school hours.
The committee approved SB 238, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, on an 8-3 vote…
The amendment would require local boards of education to play or broadcast the first stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during school hours, with a version archived with the Library of Congress. School boards could also adopt a policy to perform it with sheet music, also from the Library of Congress.
The amendment would need the approval of 60% of both chambers – 63 votes in House; 21 in the Senate – to pass. If approved by the Legislature, the proposal would go to state voters for approval….
Well I guess that’s better than the Confederate national anthem(?)
Many […] have already been found […] usually only work at temperatures above 30C (86F). […] industrial practice is prohibitively expensive because of the heating […] also means […] not carbon neutral.
[…]
sampled […] bacteria and […] fungi growing on free-lying or intentionally buried plastic […] in Greenland, Svalbard and Switzerland. […] microbes can degrade polymers because they resemble some structures found in plant cells
Yes because mindless jingoism is vital to our children’s education.
It’s funny how the right love to portray themselves these principled liberty-minded scoff-laws, but they demand we be made to sing the national jingle, recite their fascist loyalty oath (i.e. “The Pledge of Allegiance”), and grovel before their fabric idol on pain of being branded “disloyal.”
A suburb of Montreal, Canada, is hosting an experimental traffic light that only turns green for the good drivers who keep their speed to the limit.
Brossard, Quebec, is the first place in Canada to test-run the traffic light. The new light is a feu de ralentissement éducatif (educational traffic-calming light) or FRED. It’s designed to stay red until it senses a coming car, only changing green if the car is going the speed limit. FRED forces fast drivers to stop and gives them a chance to really reconsider their life choices…
In an NBC News interview yesterday, former Vice President Mike Pence was asked about the verdict against Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case. “I think that’s a question for the American people,” he said, adding that he had never witnessed Trump sexually assault anyone.
That made me laugh. Trump chose to NOT sexually assault women in front of über Christian Mike Pence. Does this mean that Trump does have some boundaries? Or is it just that Mike Pence doesn’t hang out with women who are Trump’s “type”?
More laughter today after reading comment 35, posted by CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain.
the news you consume is a lie. […] Facts have been withheld on purpose. Along with proportion and perspective. You are being manipulated. […] am I really informing you? No, I’m not. I’m misleading you. […] utterly corrupting […] thinly disguised propaganda
Tucker Carlson is remarkably good at describing himself!
[…] We’ve all had a chance to review the GOP’s ransom note — the so-called Limit, Save, Grow Act — which identifies many of the party’s priorities. More specifically, as we’ve discussed in recent weeks, Republicans hope to gut all kinds of critically necessary public investments, affecting everything from veterans care to education, border security to food security, law enforcement to medical research, Head Start to rail inspections, agriculture to air traffic control, infrastructure to national parks. It also takes a crowbar to efforts to combat climate change for reasons that have nothing to do with deficit reduction.
Many in the party would argue, and have argued, that these are worthwhile goals […] But among the underappreciated problems with the Republicans’ approach is the degree to which GOP lawmakers intend to effectively replace the nation’s existing legislative process with something … different.
The party’s goals are obviously regressive and unpopular, but stepping back, a bigger picture emerges: If congressional Republicans want to pursue regressive and unpopular priorities, that’s certainly their right, but as elected federal lawmakers in the United States, they’re supposed to work within their own country’s legislative system.
In other words, GOP leaders and their members are supposed to write a bill, send it to committee, hold hearings, work through changes, hold debates, and try to pass it through one chamber. If successful, the process starts anew in the other chamber, at which point successful bills go to the White House for further consideration.
In the Republicans’ debt ceiling strategy, the party has an entirely different process in mind:
– Meet in secret and cobble together a wish list of far-right ideas.
– Pass it on the House floor without committee hearings, scrutiny, policy analysis, or consideration of any amendments.
– Tell the Senate and the White House that they, too, have to support it — whether voters like it or not — or GOP officials will impose an economic catastrophe on the public.
Why bother with the slow and exasperating Madisonian system of government when this radical alternative is so much more efficient? Why work through the country’s longstanding legislative process when extortion makes it more likely that Republicans can get what they want by threatening Americans with deliberate harm?
[…] The old model — which is to say, the model that the United States has relied on for more than two centuries — will have effectively given way to a new model.
Daniel Pfeiffer, a veteran of the Obama White House, added in a New York Times op-ed this week, “This time it’s spending cuts and work requirements for Medicaid recipients. What happens when the debt limit comes up again next year? Will the Republicans demand a federal abortion ban? A pardon for the Jan. 6 perpetrators?”
Why wouldn’t they?
When thinking about the reasons President Joe Biden can’t negotiate with GOP leaders over the debt ceiling, let’s not forget about protecting the integrity of the American policymaking process.
Tucker Carlson is scooping up his massive viewership and taking his show to Elon Musk’s janky, zombified Twitter.
Set against the backdrop of what appears to be the inside of a rustic and masculine cabin in the wood, [LOL] Carlson made the announcement with a familiar scowl and posted the video to his Twitter account Tuesday afternoon. He said a bunch of his usual stuff about the media being misleading and cable news being propaganda, while making some unsubtle digs at Fox, like:
“The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But there are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it,” he said.
But primarily Carlson confirmed that he would be bringing his show and “some other things too” to Elon Musk’s free speech mecca where Carlson would be free of the amorphous, evil “gatekeepers.” It all kind of makes sense — Twitter has become a graveyard of right-wing inflammatory content in recent weeks as Musk destroys the platform’s algorithm and functionality, scrubs the site of blue checks and allows troll and cat meme accounts with three followers to buy relevance for $8 a month.
Puck reported that Carlson plans to forgo the remainder of his contract so he can break the non-compete clause. That’s about $25 million. […]
Describing Twitter as the “place where our national conversation incubates and develops” Carlson argued the lively “debate” culture on Twitter is festering with disinfo — from “media organizations that are themselves thinly disguised propaganda outlets.”
“We think that’s a bad system. We know exactly how it works and we’re sick of it,” he said, supposedly characterizing himself and his ex-Fox compatriots as whistleblowers brave enough to make the pivot to a dying Twitter.
On Wednesday, the disconnect between the reportedly departing Wagner Group mercenaries and Russian military forces moving to take their positions appeared to be getting worse. Not only were there reports the two sides had been ordered not to talk with each other—probably so Wagner forces couldn’t inform those troops just how bad things were at the actual front—there were also multiple videos on Wednesday morning of Russians in the area simply surrendering.
With Russia in disarray, Ukrainian forces have reportedly made advances in at least two areas. One of those is just south of Bakhmut, near the town of Bila Hora, where Ukrainian forces reportedly drove more than a kilometer into an area that had been occupied by Russia and took down a line of artillery. The second advance happened on the southern front, around 20 km west of Russia’s perpetual failure point at Vuhledar. In this area, Ukrainian forces also reportedly pushed the Russians back more than a kilometer.
As this was going on, Russia apparently tried to launch a mini-offensive in the north, attacking multiple objectives around Kupyansk and in the area around Kreminna. None of these seem to have left Russia in possession of any new territory, but they did rack up a lot of fresh scrap, with the Ukrainian military reporting 18 armored transports and two tanks destroyed.
That would be twice as many tanks as appeared in Moscow’s Victory Day parade. [LOL]
When looked at on a map of the entire front, the number of Russian assaults still seems to greatly exceed the number of points where Ukraine attempted to advance. [map at the link]
With the Ukrainian military reporting 45 assaults by Russian forces over the last 24 hours, it may still be the case that Russia is more active. However, many of these are likely to be the small squad-sized operations Russia has routinely conducted as a means of “reconnaissance by force.” Since Russia has poor satellite data and generally much worse intelligence than Ukraine, these sorts of feeling-out operations are what they have when it comes to detecting the positions of Ukrainian forces.
The high level of activity in the northern half of the line likely represents either rumors—or hope—that Ukraine had shifted forces away from this area, leaving some opening through which Russia might secure an advance. Given that they still haven’t been able to take Bakhmut, and that Vladimir Putin was left without any victories to talk about on Victory Day, it’s entirely possible they’re looking for something, anything, that could be held up as a win. If that’s the case, they didn’t find it on Wednesday when the Ukrainian general staff reported every one of Russia’s advances was rebuffed.
One of the areas where Ukraine reportedly made advances was that spot in the south, which is along a highway running between the village of Zolota Nyva on the Ukrainian side, and the Russia-occupied town of Novodonetske. If Ukraine advanced as far as some accounts suggest, that may be the “formerly” Russian-occupied town, but at the moment, there’s no confirmation from the Ukrainian military.
[…] The other reported area of Ukrainian advance was near Bakhmut, in the direction of the town of Klishchiivka, which the Russians captured back in February. Ukrainian forces reportedly moved from locations near Ivaniske and Stupochky to assault Russian defensive lines along the edge of a secondary road and a drainage ditch, successfully dislodging Russian forces and destroying a series of artillery guns. And this time, there are videos to support the claims. [Tweet, video, and photo at the link, video includes trolling Prigozhin and a Ukrainian tank crushing Russian bunkers.]
This is an area where Wagner is reportedly handing over to the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian armed forces. But to say that handoff isn’t going smoothly is badly understating the situation.
Here’s Dmitri with some Russian communications claiming that the regular army and the Wagner forces aren’t allowed to talk. [Tweet at the link: “”All against all…complete disunity of the front” – Russian volunteer Anastasiya Kashevarova explains what happened between Wagner and the 72nd Brigade in Bakhmut in a long Telegram post.
She says Russian Forces are not allowed to communicate with Wagner. Wagner was forced to retreat in one area as Ukrainians exploited weakness and broke through. She says the 72nd had no idea and no troops in the area to cover.
She also says Russian sides all hate each other, making fun of each other. She calls for unity or the war will not be won.
Translation in 3 screenshots (long read).”]
And here’s one of the results of that lack of communication and the disorder it’s bringing to Russian forces around Bakhmut. [Tweet at the link: “⚡️Russian brigade flees Bakhmut. Ukraine’s Third Assault Brigade confirmed on May 9 that the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces has fled Bakhmut.]
There have since been claims that those numbers included above, which had indicated 64 Russian service members lost, wasn’t even half of the actual losses. Unconfirmed reports state that Russian forces lost two entire companies, which would be between 200 and 300 men. The 72nd Brigade of the Russian military is said to be in complete disarray and no longer effective.
Reports of what happened from Russian sources suggest that Wagner shifted some of their troops off the line to address a Ukrainian attack at another point. But because the two groups didn’t communicate, the regular military troops didn’t know this was happening. That left the 72nd with a line of artillery with no screen of infantry to protect them. And Ukraine noticed.
[…] None of this represents “the counteroffensive” that everyone is expecting. The Ukrainian general staff continues to show new equipment entering the country and thousands of soldiers training away from the front lines. The counteroffensive could begin tomorrow, or it may not start for months. In the meantime, Ukrainian forces around Bakhmut seem to have stopped backpedaling and begun pushing forward against a Russian military that no longer seems to have any coherent plans.
This doesn’t mean that Russian guns have gone silent. Wagner Group is reported to be still fighting intensely on the north side of the city and forces from the 57th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade are reported to be pushing in from the east to occupy former Wagner positions. The situation is anything but calm or stable.
But those internecine squabbles within the Russian force attacking Bakhmut are starting to have real consequences on the ground. Whether those effects will go beyond this small advance aren’t clear, but we can hope.
Going back to that message translated by Dmitri…
Russians: “We haven’t seen battalions of the LNR and DNR for a long time, are they still fighting?”
LNR and DNR: “Where are all the Russian armed forces?”
First brigade: “Wagner stole a tank from us.”
Wagner: “They crushed our pickup.”
The Russian military: “The Chechens were not there at all, just us.”
Then Prigozhin and Kadyrov stab each other while Girkin throws shit on everyone.
When Russia is tearing its own military apart so effectively, it’s almost a shame to attack them.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Reginald Selkirksays
@54:
When thinking about the reasons President Joe Biden can’t negotiate with GOP leaders over the debt ceiling…
I think Biden should cite the government’s oft-stated policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
On May 8, just prior to Russia’s Victory Day holiday, saboteurs filmed themselves setting fire to one Su-24 supersonic bomber parked near some woods by the Sukhoi aircraft factory at Novosibirsk—located 1,800 miles east of Ukraine in Siberia. The Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association Plant there is engaged in producing the Su-24’s successor, the Su-34 Fullback bomber…
[…] CNN has guaranteed that questions will come from a hall filled only with Republicans and “undecided voters.” There’s a possibility that no one will even bother to ask Trump about Carroll’s successful sexual battery and defamation case against him. That case concluded yesterday with a jury determining that Trump met Carroll outside the Bergdorf Goodman department store, asked her to help him select some lingerie for a gift, pulled her into a dressing room, slammed the door, pressed her up against the wall, and sexually assaulted her. And then he lied about the event, demeaned Carroll repeatedly, and insulted her on both social media and national TV for years.
It hasn’t actually been determined if Donald Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without shaking any of his MAGA faithful, but it seems clear that he can assault a woman in a dressing room. As NBC News reports, “good Christian” Mike Pence doesn’t think Trump will pay any price with his voters for that little sexual battery thing. In fact, Pence wonders why this is even a story.
“It’s just one more instance where,” said Pence, “at a time when American families are struggling, when our economy is hurting, when the world seems to become a more dangerous place almost every day [there’s] just one more story focusing on my former running mate that I know is a great fascination to members of the national media, but I just don’t think is where the American people are focused.”
Yes. Why should the American people care if the guy who tried to get Pence killed also happens to be a sexual abuser? When can the media get back to lying about the price of eggs and making people even more afraid of immigrants?
As NPR reports, Licht is in full agreement with Pence because:
In his first year on the job, chairman and CEO Chris Licht has sought to put his mark on the network [CNN] by draining it of the relentless criticism of Trump in response to the crises and controversies that defined his administration.
Just a brief reminder that the four years in which Trump occupied the White House consisted of nothing but crises and controversies. From a Republican-led Senate finding that Trump’s campaign had over 100 contacts with Russian agents to his departure following the insurgency on Jan. 6, every day of Trump in Washington was filled with Trump declaring that he wouldn’t defend NATO partners, calling American veterans who died in World War II “losers,” trying to blackmail Ukraine into lying about his political opponent, and little things like an Environmental Protection Agency administrator who conducted his business in a “cone of silence” and an Interior secretary who made a disaster so much worse. And to top it off, there were a million people dying in a pandemic while Trump encouraged people to take a medicine for deworming horses, and an economic collapse that resulted in millions losing their jobs.
Any network that refused to talk about these things would be … Fox News, which seems to be just where Licht wants to steer CNN. As Fox tries to get out from under Trump, it seems like Licht is anxious to crawl under him. In spite of loud protestations about “neutrality” and the importance of hearing multiple voices on every issue, the number of candidates CNN has approached with opportunities like the one Trump is getting on Wednesday night is exactly one.
According to CNN Political Director David Chalian, the network considers Trump a “unique candidate,” citing that he’s the first former resident of the White House to lose and then try to make a comeback in more than a century, so they’re giving him a very special evening to make his case.
Except that circumstance is exactly why all this is so ridiculous. No one has had more airtime than Trump. No one in history. The American people don’t have any question about who Trump is or what he stands for. Trump has answered those questions. No one needs a meet-and-greet with Donald Trump.
Of course, CNN knows that. They know exactly what they’re getting.
Trump is going to lie about the 2020 election and make false claims about everyone from Biden to election workers. These claims have been not just debunked in public but dismissed in court. He’s going to lie about his 34-count indictment in New York while attacking the Manhattan district attorney, the members of the grand jury, and his own former attorney.
Should any of his adoring fans holding the town hall microphone lob him a softball about the woman who dared accuse him—coiner of the phrase “grab ’em by the [P-word]”—of rape, and the darned New York jury that found him responsible, Trump will lie about that, too.
Will host Kaitlan Collins do anything about Trump’s lies? That seems doubtful. With no other candidates to repudiate Trump’s statements and a roomful of supporters to shout down any less-than-worshipful words, the event seems tailor made to simply let Trump do Trump.
Which is exactly what Licht [CEO of CNN] wants. Despite saying that he’s all about hearing from “both sides,” he has arranged an event for just one voice—the voice of the man who dragged a woman into a dressing room, sexually assaulted her, then dismissed her as too ugly to be worthy of his attention. This isn’t Trump coming onto America’s televisions to apologize or heal. He’s only there to do what he always does–make things worse.
[…] too much willingness to provide a platform for lies.
CNN is showing just how bad the media can be when it really works at it.
Regarding comment 56: On Putin’s vaunted “victory day,” Russians in the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade fled from Bakhmut.
More Ukraine updates:
SURRENDER DAY
Over the last 24 hours there have been multiple videos of Russians surrendering near Bakhmut, including one where the Russian soldier strips off his uniform and runs onto the field under fire from his own forces before diving into a trench and kneeling in front of Ukrainian troops. I rarely run videos of these surrenders, or any video showing prisoners. However, this one of a Russian soldier surrendering to a Ukrainian drone is worth seeing (and you can’t see the soldier’s face). [Tweet and amazing video at the link]
One big question from both of these videos: Why do these guys seem to be the only ones remaining in a large section of Russian trenches? Were they left to hold a position after their units retreated?
THE UNSTOPPABLE MISSILE, STOPPED
Even after Ukraine announced that one of Russia’s hypersonic Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” missiles had been shot down last week by a newly deployed Patriot air defense system, there were plenty of people ready to scoff. After all, the Kinzhal travels at an astounding Mach 10, with some sources claiming it can exceed Mach 13. When these missiles were first announced, even U.S. analysts were rushing to proclaim that there was no reliable defense against a weapon traveling so quickly.
Maybe there isn’t. It may be that a percentage of such weapons are going to continue to evade any current defensive system. But for the moment, it certainly seems that Ukraine has managed to down at least one of Russia’s unstoppable missiles, and they’re ready to show the evidence. [Tweet and video at the link]
Short of the wreckage of a T-14 Armata being dragged into Kyiv to sit rusting alongside all the other blown-apart Russian tanks, it’s hard to think of an exhibit that could be more disheartening to the Russian military.
———————-
These guys are still in training. But they won’t be training forever. [video at the link]
And finally, because it could not be resisted … your theatrical presentation for this morning. [video at the link]
Data Over Dogma, the groundbreaking new podcast featuring two co-hosts with vastly different beliefs, has become an unexpected hit.
The show brings together Dr. Dan McClellan, whose no-nonsense Bible scholarship made him an unlikely TikTok star, and Dan Beecher, co-host of the popular Thank God I’m Atheist and The How-To Heretic podcasts. But it may not be what people expect.
“This is not a debate show,” Beecher explains, “We were never interested in who was right and who was wrong. As our title indicates, we’re just trying to get at what’s actually going on in the Bible.” …
Wonkette: “New York Times And Kyrsten Sinema Team Up For Whatever This Foul Sh*t Is”
The New York Times wasted valuable space recently on a puff piece for a narcissistic sociopath who has screwed over millions of people. No, I’m not talking about the Elizabeth Holmes profile, although that was pretty bad. I mean the Sunday Magazine feature on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of the Sinema Party: “Kyrsten Sinema’s Party Of One” (sounds like one of the many late ’90s knockoffs of “Sex and the City,” but this is one I don’t want to watch).
Sinema spent most of her first term refusing to speak with the press or even her own constituents. (Although pro-Sinema ads have run on Facebook that appeared as if they were from imaginary publication The Desert Recap.) Now she’s started chasing down media outlets like they’re speeding ambulances. This is a blatant attempt to improve her public image, which is awful, but not even the most flattering Vanity Fair-style coverage can help you when you say crap like this:
During our second meeting, at a coffee shop in Southeast Washington in March, she was running five minutes behind. Her scheduler, she explained, had earlier calculated one of the day’s drives as 10 minutes when it was in fact 15.
“So, to a regular person, this probably sounds insane,” Sinema said. “But I need those five minutes. I have something planned for those five minutes. I don’t waste five minutes. I know that is unusual. That is how I’ve always been.”
And then, presumably after the aide who botched her schedule was flogged,
The scheduling misstep, Sinema said, had been handled. “I don’t waste emotions,” she told me. “I don’t have guilt or regret, because those are useless emotions.” When I suggested that guilt could be a constructive force for change, Sinema corrected me. Remorse could be constructive, she said. Guilt could not: “It’s a useless emotion that hurts you, and nothing else.”
While Sinema cosplays Miranda Priestly, her massive ego is an ongoing threat to her former party.
During an appearance on “Face the Nation” Sunday, she undermined Joe Biden’s debt ceiling negotiations, publicly stating that no votes existed in the Senate for a clean bill. Maybe she feels neither guilt nor remorse for that, either, but it’s becoming more likely that Democrats will have to accept Republican demands to avoid a default, which will hurt actual human beings.
The New York Times profile opens with Sinema palling around at the border with Republicans, and when they shredded the Biden administration’s immigration policy, she “nodded sympathetically, saying: ‘That’s right. That’s right.'” Polls show border security as a top issue for Arizona voters, and while Democrats such as Gov. Katie Hobbs, Sen. Mark Kelly, and Rep. Ruben Gallego have criticized the Biden administration’s policies, they’ve been constructive not destructive.
Biden narrowly won Arizona and it’s not like he has that many electoral votes to spare in 2024. Sinema, who was a Democrat at least in name until December, has gone on record questioning whether Biden should even run again.
Sinema recently attended a private fundraiser at the Los Angeles home of Jean-Marc Chapus, co-founder of Crescent Capital Group, and a donor asked her about the 2024 Republican primary race. Here’s her loathsome response: “The country deserves better than a rematch between Biden and Trump.”
Donald Trump is a twice-impeached fascist who was just held liable for sexual abuse. Joe Biden has elevated Sinema’s national profile and offered her every opportunity for political success. It’s not his fault she torched her former party’s good will.
Sinema proceeded to heap praise onTim Scott, whom she reportedly described to guests as “a great Republican presidential candidate because he is a man of integrity and honor.” That’s more than she’s ever said about Biden, whom she’s mocked behind closed doors.
However, Scott wasn’t even one of the few almost respectable Republicans who voted to remove Trump from office. He voted against the infrastructure bill that Sinema helped negotiate, calling it “reckless spending,” and he opposed the bipartisan gun safety bill she spearheaded. He screwed Democrats over on police reform legislation. He even voted against Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation. I[…] Scott is consistently a right-wing partisan hack, the very personification of what Sinema claims she resents about Washington.
She refuses to say whether she’s running for re-election and while the Times spins her evasiveness as in her own best interest, it’s not in the public’s benefit for Republicans to pick up her seat. When her Republican buddies like Thom Tillis suggest she has a snowball’s chance at another term, you can almost see them struggling to hold back laughter.
For Sinema to do so, according to Chuck Coughlin, a prominent Republican consultant in Arizona, “she needs 20 to 25 percent of Democratic voters, 25 to 30 percent of Republicans and 50 to 60 percent of self-identified independents.”
You don’t need a crystal ball to know that this is fundamentally impossible. Her approval numbers are abysmal and the overwhelming majority of Democrats would crawl on their faces to vote against her. She’s like an anti-matter turnout device. And 25 to 30 percent of Republicans aren’t voting for the pro-choice, (relatively) pro-democracy senator just because she’s dead inside.
So, what’s the point of all this other than to annoy us? Well, back in February, Sinema joined honorary “No Labels” co-chairs Joe Manchin and Susan Collins for a “strategy session” in Miami. Collins is a Republican, through and through, but there’s talk of Manchin and Sinema sharing a so-called “unity” presidential ticket that would only siphon votes from Joe Biden and help elect Donald Trump.
We all wish we could just ignore her, but she’s not making that easy. She’s a serious threat.
On Monday, Rachel Maddow used part of her A-block to discuss a series of events Eric Trump, one of the […] sons of known sexual assaultist Donald Trump, has been doing alongside some of America’s best and brightest Nazis and antisemites. And the party, which is called “ReAwaken America,” is coming to Trump’s Doral International Hotel in Miami!
It’s not just Eric and the Nazis. There’s also that large Meatball McPeenerToilet dude Matt Whitaker who served as Trump’s acting attorney general, and Michael Flynn, who arguably sold out his country. (Not our words. Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan’s words.) Also some other [people] like Michael Pillow, who makes the pillows, and that superfuckingidiot woman Lara Trump, who (get this) was […] married Eric Trump on purpose, and not because a warlock had kidnapped her family, put a spell on them, and said the only way to break the spell is for Lara to marry Eric Trump.
But yeah, then there are these Nazis. Rumble streaming show host Scott McKay, who thinks the Jews killed Abraham Lincoln. And who thinks the Jews did the Oklahoma City bombing. And who thinks the Jews brought Hitler to power in the first place, just so they could do Jewish conspiracies to take him down.
And Rumble streaming show host Charlie Ward, whose show graphics once included some of the biggest American media figures of the 1930s with Stars of David on their foreheads, because they were part of the great Jewish conspiracy to make Hitler and Germany look bad. Who believes the Jews created 9/11, and also the flu, measles, polio, and AIDS. Who believes the COVID vaccines have killed more people than the Holocaust did. And so much more, on both of these guys!
This is who Eric Trump has been touring with.
And he is gonna SUE Rachel Maddow for saying it! Guess he wants to pay some of her legal fees.
Let us give Eric’s tweet the attention it deserves: [Tweet at the link]
The text:
.@maddow is walking a fine line. We are the most pro-Israel family in American political history – from the Abraham Accords, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights to sanctioning Iran, no one has done more for Israel than our family.
Stupid Eric is doing that antisemitic thing where he equates “sucks Benjamin Netanyahu’s asshole” with being pro-Jewish. It’s antisemitic because it suggests Jewish people inherently have dual loyalty to America and to Israel, and that doing whatever Israel’s current right-wing government wants is tantamount to supporting Jewish people. […]
But sure, Eric, Rachel Maddow is “walking a fine line,” by reading your touring mates’ Nazi words out loud. Go on:
Never mind, that my sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephews happen to be proud Jews.
Bet he also has a Black friend!
BTW it’s amazing how Ivanka and Jared really do seem to be sticking to this “Don’t want to ever interact with family or be publicly supportive ever again” thing.
If she or anyone else even remotely suggests I am anti-semitic I will not hesitate to take legal action against them personally.
LMAO go fuck yourself.
All of this is funny because it is being said by this Trump here on the left. [giphy at the link]
For journalistic fairness, we should point out that we know that is not the real Eric, and we can tell because “Saturday Night Live” comic Alex Moffat’s face is put together normally […]
On Twitter, Eric Hananoki from Media Matters, who did much of the original reporting on the Nazis and antisemites Eric Trump is appearing alongside, is bringing even more receipts, while also pointing out that Wizard Brain Eric didn’t actually address any of the substance of the reporting.
For example, these tweets, which show Eric in pictures with these losers. [Tweet and images at the link]
Hananoki’s captions:
McKay said “Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we’re trying to take down today.” He’s also blamed Jewish people for 9/11 and presidential assassinations and said they torture and eat kids.
Ward shared posts that praised Hitler for “warning us” about Judaism and claimed “VIRUSES are Man (JEW).” He also promoted a book claiming “the official narrative of the Holocaust cannot be sustained.”
You can tell those are pictures of the real Eric Trump […]
Also because in the second pic of Eric with Ward, it’s more full-body, so you can see that well-documented problem the Trump men all have with standing up like normal people. Yep, that’s Eric with a Nazi.
This morning Eric is really dialing up the hysterical bullshit, tweeting pictures of his brother-in-law Jared presiding over his wedding and shrieking HOW CAN I BE ANTISEMITIC IF MY JEWISH BROTHER-IN-LAW SDFJAK;ZJSKDFJ;AIFYEISFAIFEAYIAYEEYYYYYYYYYYYIiiiiIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (Approximate paraphrase.)
[Tweet and image at the link] Two things: LOL bless Eric’s […] heart, but there is not one person in America right now who actually feels threatened by the redneck Republicans’ congressional probes into the Bidens. Especially not the Bidens.[…]
Secondly, as Hananoki points out, that picture would be really cool if Eric and his wife Lara were not going to share a stage with somebody who said, “Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we’re trying to take down today” and who thinks that Jewish people torture and eat kids.
Just …[Tweet and images at the link]
In summary and in conclusion […] here is a video of a distressed Eric Trump explaining how you can’t buy Tylenol at CVS because it’s locked behind glass and there’s too much looting and YOU CAN’T BUY IT, ALL HE WANTS IS SOME TYLENOL, SOMEBODY HELP ERIC! [Tweet and video at the link]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) returned to the Capitol on Tuesday, marking her first time back since February after a bout with shingles.
Feinstein, who arrived and was put in a wheelchair, was greeted outside by Senate Majority Leader (D-N.Y.) and was led into the chamber for a late afternoon vote. She told reporters upon her arrival that she feels “much better.”
The California Democrat had been sidelined for more than two months after being hospitalized with shingles and suffering complications during her recovery back home in San Francisco.
[…] “Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate.”
She flew back to Washington on Tuesday, but was absent from votes that night and earlier on Wednesday.
Her return once again gives Democrats their majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee and its one-seat advantage in the full chamber.
But questions remain about whether she will appear on Thursday for the panel’s weekly mark-up of nominations. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) said that he was not sure whether she will be present. […]
Hubble is currently healthy, but atmospheric drag will eventually cause it to re-enter our planet’s atmosphere at some point during the mid-to-late 2030s. Since launching in 1990, the telescope’s orbital height has fallen by roughly 18 miles (30 kilometers).
Not ready to say goodbye, NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI) late last year, asking the commercial sector to devise strategies for reboosting Hubble’s orbit. The winning team would then have to provide the necessary resources and services to get the job done, including the launch vehicle, spacecraft, crew (if applicable), and mission operations (excluding Hubble operations)…
The Texas House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass Senate Bill 763, a delightful little assault on the Constitution’s Establishment Clause that Texas lawmakers think might have a chance to win approval from the Alito Court, which last year decided school prayer was just peachy as long as it conforms with the “history and traditions” of whatever the Court thinks the Constitution means in any given case. SB 763 will allow school districts to hire “school chaplains” to provide the services that would normally be provided by a school counselor, only without the oppressive educational and professional certifications required of counselors.
It’s a really short bill, too! It adds this new bit to the state’s Education Code:
SCHOOL CHAPLAINS. A school district or an open-enrollment charter school may employ or accept as a volunteer a chaplain to provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district or the governing body of the school. A chaplain employed or volunteering under this chapter is not required to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification.
The bill also inserts a line that amounts to “and chaplains” to various parts of the education law discussing the duties of school counselors, including sections on providing mental and behavioral health support to students, as well as suicide prevention and intervention services. So when a student in a Texas school is in crisis, the person who they talk to might be a counselor with a master’s degree, extensive training, and a state teacher’s license, or it might be Volunteer Pastor Larry from the Potter’s House.
Texas actually does require fairly extensive training for school counselors who aren’t chaplains. They need to have a master’s degree in counseling — from an accredited institution, even — and two years of classroom teaching experience, with the teaching credential to go with that. Then they have to pass a state certification exam. On the other hand as SB 763 says, a “chaplain” needs no certification at all. Fortunately, even non-certified school employees and volunteers in Texas schools must be fingerprinted and pass a criminal background check, so there’s that.
For some reason, a whole bunch of fussy “civil liberties” groups like the Texas Freedom Network are opposed to this innovative solution to school staffing shortages and insufficient injections of Jesus into education. For that matter, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty isn’t so hot on it, either, even though SB 763 is sponsored by rightwing Republicans who insist it’s all about religious liberty and setting America back on the right path after all this wokeness.
Jennifer Hawks, associate general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee, even said stuff that sounds like it might come from some lawyer from the A-C-L-Yewww:
Religious instruction for Texas students is best left to houses of worship, religious institutions and families. Allowing Texas schools to hire anyone under the label of ‘chaplain’ to perform the work of school counselors threatens religious liberty by substituting an undefined religious title for licensed counselor. The goal of public schools is not religious indoctrination.
Hawks even said that if Texas schools need more counselors, it would make a lot of sense to hire more counselors instead of bringing in untrained pastors on the cheap.
The bill is being pushed by an outfit calling itself the “National School Chaplain Association,” whose homepage sports a diverse group of smiling children from stock photos, and which expresses very deep concerns about the challenges facing American young people these days:
Suicide, anxiety, and depression have reached epidemic levels in U.S. schools. Chaplaincy has proven to dissipate tension, resolve conflict and bring hope.
Who doesn’t want safe schools?
Well gosh, everyone wants safe schools! So what do the chaplains offer to address those problems? Whoo, doggies, the tone changes immediately […] as the secular ills are answered with God and Country, timeless biblical values, and “prayer, counsel, and spiritual care,” which kind of sound like they’re all the same thing. […]
In some really eye-opening video, Rocky Malloy — the head honcho of the group, and also of the related “Mission Generation” — explains why schools should have chaplains instead of counselors. It’s all about using “the largest national network, the public school system, to bring Jesus to an entire nation.”
[…] Malloy testified before the Texas House and Senate to share his ideas, although not all of them made it into the legislation. [Tweets and video at the link]
Malloy explains that school chaplains will — at school districts’ expense — proselytize to school kids and staff, and bring “absolute truth” to counter all the crazy relativism in the schools, like the idea that trans people even exist, which they don’t, silly. In the second clip, Malloy explains that the First Amendment only means the state can’t sponsor churches, but churches are free to proselytize in schools, because chaplains “represent God, not religion.” Honestly, we’re going to need some case law on that.
The video doesn’t at all hide that Mission Generation’s goal is to use the schools to evangelize; none of your fluffy talk of merely supporting traditional values here. It’s all about bringing Jesus to millions of school kids, and how can anyone object to that without being a tool of Satan? […]
In other videos, Malloy explains that most chaplains for his group would only need a 48-hour training from Oklahoma Christian University and Focus on the Family to do their jobs, although people with no experience at all might actually need “30 credit hours” to qualify. But that’s only for his group, since SB 763 requires no training at all, so don’t sweat it. He also brags that his group “has a phone app” that covers pretty much all the issues a chaplain might need to deal with when counseling young people on matters like “suicide, you know, depression, whatever. So it gives you a biblical way to counsel or minister and pray with that child.”
We wish we were making that up. We are not.
Malloy then explains that ideally, the states that institute chaplaincy will make it a full-time position, so the chaplains can also spend time going through the libraries and making sure no “evil books” are in the collection. What’s more, a chaplain would be able to police teachers’ classroom collections and confront teachers: “Why do you have hardcore porn in a third grader’s room?” and I guess now I have no choice but to embed the video so you can see it for yourself. [video at the link]
The chaplain bill is just one of several bills intended to turn Texas schools into Christian institutions, if the Supreme Court lets the Legislature get away with it. Other bills would require every Texas classroom to display a poster of the Ten Commandments (just one version, specified by law), that must be “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom in which the poster or framed copy is displayed,” and presumably if teachers put a hat rack in front of it they could be fired or perhaps shot.
Another bill would set aside time for “prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text” during the school day, but only with written parental consent, so it’s not forced, you heathens. The bill would mandate that if parents give such consent, they also would waive any right to sue on First Amendment grounds, so it’s foolproof.
The House sponsor of DB 763, state Rep. Cole Hefner (R), said it’s needed to give schools
“every tool that we can in the toolbox” to combat mental health problems and other crises. He conceded that districts could eventually replace all counselors with chaplains, and rejected Democrats’ amendments to require parental consent and that schools provide a representative of any denomination if requested by a student, teacher or parent.
Hefner also beat back a Democratic amendment that would have prevented taxpayer funds from paying for chaplains, explaining that “just completely messes up the purpose of the bill.” He didn’t clarify whether that purpose is to provide counseling, which it clearly doesn’t, or to bring the MAGA Jesus Gospel to kids in school.
Another Republican, state Rep. Brad Buckley, said that the Ten Commandments bill wouldn’t infringe on the rights of kids from secular or non-Christian families, since it only requires the posters be in every classroom, not that teachers instruct students about the poster that’s in every classroom. […]
In conclusion, this is a great victory for Jesus. Who really needs a Constitution when Republicans will tell us what’s legal and what isn’t, as need be.
Reginald @65, I hope they come up with a successful plan to save Hubble!
In other news, yes a few Republicans have noted that a jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation just might make him less electable. However, other Republicans disagree:
[…] Despite their obvious electoral concerns, none of those Senate Republicans took a direct swing at Trump. Meanwhile, their pro-Trump counterparts vehemently denounced the verdict as “a joke.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, even suggested committing voter fraud as a remedy for the supposed injustice.
“It makes me want to vote for him twice,” Tuberville said.“They’re going to do anything they can to keep him from winning.”
[…] Tuberville’s sentiment is precisely why Trump remains the 2024 Republican frontrunner despite accumulating a dazzling display of losses both in the courts and at the ballot box.
“This Tuberville statement reflects well what I hear from Trump voters when we ask focus groups what they think about Trump being impeached/indicted/found liable,” tweeted Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark and host of “The Focus Group” podcast. Each measure of accountability is just more evidence that they’re trying to “get Trump” to stop him from winning.
[…] No single person was ever going to save Republicans from another Trump nomination. Rather, it would take a scrappy all-hands-on-deck effort coming at him from all directions.
But the McConnell wing of the party is simply proving too soft for such an endeavor […]
As Longwell concludes, the big plan of the GOP establishment, already resigning itself to defeat, is “to sit back and pray that the Democrats take care of Trump for them.”
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Representative George Santos told reporters that he would be unable to face federal charges in New York City because of his ongoing role in the N.B.A. playoffs.
“We’re looking at a pivotal Game Five against the Golden State Warriors and now is not the time to let up,” Santos, who claimed to play small forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, said.
The New York congressman brushed aside talk that another trip to the N.B.A. finals could cement his legacy as the greatest professional basketball player of all time.
“Right now, the most important thing to me is bringing the N.B.A. championship trophy back to Los Angeles,” he said. “Anyone who tells you different is a liar.”
Musk, the eccentric billionaire who purchased the social media platform last year, replied to a weeks-old tweet from Lemon on Tuesday urging him to serve as a content creator on Twitter.
“Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger,” Musk replied to an April 24 tweet from Lemon announcing to his 1.4 million followers he had been fired by CNN…
Reginald Selkirksays
ibid. #70
Musk, however, responded to the news Tuesday by claiming he had not signed a deal with Carlson.
“I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever,” he tweeted. “Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Capping several quarters of robust profit growth, Ginni Thomas has announced that she will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Investors are expected to snap up shares in Thomas, who is believed to be the first spouse of a Supreme Court Justice also to be a major corporation.
Harland Dorrinson, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, rated Thomas as a “strong buy,” telling CNBC, “I’m urging institutional investors to get out of the banking sector and into Ginni. Unlike the banks, Ginni doesn’t have to disclose where her revenue comes from.”
He said that Mrs. Thomas’s listing on the N.Y.S.E. was a “cause for celebration” for all investors. “Billionaires have been buying and selling Ginni Thomas for years,” he said. “This will make it possible for smaller investors to get in on the action.”
A Lauren Boebert constituent is calling out the far-right congresswoman from Colorado over a measure she introduced that would lionize the weapon of choice by most mass shooters as America’s “National Gun.”
In a letter to the editor published Wednesday in the Denver Post, Andy Wiessner of Snowmass described the advancement of H.R. 1095, which Boebert co-sponsored with embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.), among others, as a “cruel joke.”
The letter includes the entire text of the bill, which reads: “An AR–15 style rifle chambered in a .223 Remington round or a 5.56x45mm NATO round is hereby declared to be the National Gun of the United States.”
“Is this a cruel joke?” an incredulous Wiessner writes.
“The AR-15 assault rifle Boebert wants to make our ‘National Gun’ is a weapon of war. Its bullets are designed to tear human flesh to pieces by ‘yawing,’ tumbling or fragmenting in the body, thereby causing maximum internal bleeding and tissue damage. I am a Vietnam War vet, and the M-16s we carried there were an offshoot of the AR-15. The Army always told us it was the best rifle in the world because of how efficiently it killed ‘the enemy.’”
Wiessner notes that the AR-15 has been used in mass shootings throughout the country.
“As we see almost nightly on TV, it has shredded the bodies of innumerable men, women, schoolchildren, and even babies. These innocent victims are not ‘the enemy,’ Congresswoman Boebert, and our peace-loving nation does not need a ‘National Gun.’”
In a deal that is believed to be the first commercial agreement for fusion power, the tech giant has agreed to purchase electricity from startup Helion Energy within about five years. Helion, which is backed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, committed to start producing electricity through fusion by 2028 and target power generation for Microsoft of at least 50 megawatts after a year or pay financial penalties. The commitment is a bold one given that neither Helion nor anyone else in the world has yet produced electricity from fusion. “We wouldn’t enter into this agreement if we were not optimistic that engineering advances are gaining momentum,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith…
An evaluation of a Halifax program that prescribes alcohol to people who have struggled with homelessness and alcohol dependency is showing positive results — but it’s had a surprising side effect.
Participants were bored.
“They didn’t need to spend so much time during the day — like mental energy, physical energy — just trying to make money to purchase the alcohol,” Candis Lepage, a Dalhousie University medical student who conducted the evaluation, told CBC Radio’s Information Morning Nova Scotia.
“So their day wasn’t really revolving around sourcing it anymore, and that kind of creates a really big gap when you’ve been doing that for so long.”
The Managed Alcohol Program out of the North End Community Health Centre started in June 2020. It administers pre-set daily doses of beer or wine to clients who are homeless and also dependent on alcohol…
Lepage said information from stakeholders showed the program has been “really successful on multiple fronts.”
It reduced over-intoxication, property damage, social conflicts and something called non-beverage alcohol consumption, where individuals would drink hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol…
“Now we’re talking about ways that we can have programming opportunities for folks and more recreational and leisure opportunities for folks so that they aren’t bored all day,” he said…
Journalists from Krym Realii media outlet published a map on May 10 that geolocates 223 active, temporary, and preserved military facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea.
“It is important for us to inform our audience about the level of militarization of the Crimean Peninsula. We want to warn Crimeans about the dangers associated with these places,” the map’s creator, Ihor Tokar, said.
Tokar added that “many people live in the immediate vicinity of Russian military facilities. And considering large-scale military operations conducted by Russia against Ukraine, these places pose a particular danger to others.”…
Vermont’s Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to explicitly include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services.
A new vaccine designed to treat pancreatic cancer prevented the disease from returning in 50% of patients who received it, scientists reported today…
Scientists at the German firm BioNTech developed a vaccine that can be tailored to each patient’s unique genetic makeup, to train their immune system to destroy pancreatic cancer cells…
HuffPost has a bit of a scoop with the revelation that Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, the politician who state Republicans sent to Congress in 2017 despite him physically attacking a reporter on the campaign trail, and then [the guy] Republicans picked for the governorship in 2020, quietly appointed a far-far-right racist conspiracy crank to the board of the state’s National Endowment for the Humanities affiliate. [Ah, I see. If you appoint racists, you do it “quietly.”]
Gianforte tucked Jeremy Carl onto the board of Humanities Montana last November, but there is not the slightest question about Carl being a far-right extremist. HuffPost has a laundry list of examples to prove that. […]
“White Americans need not apologize for our desire not to be replaced,” Carl wrote in an essay for the fascism-promoting Claremont Institute premised on the neo-Nazi “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which declares international elites to be behind a secret plot to “replace” white Americans with nonwhite immigrants. Fox News had to scramble to edit an op-ed Carl had written after Media Matters pointed out that he had included a link to an openly white supremacist website. Carl has denounced the Black Lives Matter movement as “racist,” promoted 2020 election conspiracy theories, and written that the very existence of transgender Americans was “somewhere between demonic and laughable.”
The man is a top-tier purveyor of hate speech, no less than a senior fellow at the now rabidly anti-democracy Claremont Institute, and is on the board of the state nonprofit that, quote, “serves Montana’s multicultural communities through stories and conversation.”
There is no damn way Gianforte did not mean to put a vitriolic self-declared enemy of “multiculturalism” on that board. It’s just another of the uncountably many schemes Gianforte and Republicanism’s other far-right (if not reporter-punching) state officials have used to sabotage whatever bits of government they can lay hands on.
[…] Montana Republicans banned Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr from the House floor for her opposition to a far-right anti-trans bill that eventually made it to Gianforte’s desk in April, a new law banning hormone treatment and puberty blockers that’s already facing lawsuits from parents of transgender children who probably correctly call the law unconstitutional while Gianforte appoints a man who calls transgender Americans “demonic” to a humanities board. […]
Gianforte is far from alone in his efforts to sabotage government for the sake of angry and gullible far-right rubes. In Idaho, Idaho County faces multiple crises at the hands of anti-government extremists. The libertarian-premised lack of building codes is increasingly pressuring county first responders as the local population grows. County residents may be happy to be “individualist thinkers” who don’t need government on their backs, but they tend to regret that individualism the moment they need firefighters at their house.
Don’t bet on the situation in Idaho County getting any better, either. County appraisers are “facing increasing risks” from residents who are “noncooperative and will not allow appraisers on their property,” reports the Lewiston Tribune in a separate story. That means less tax money, and that means fewer first responders to go around.
None of that can quite compare to the truly bizarre situation in Woodland Park, Colorado. That’s where yet another arch-conservative school board has seized control and implemented changes that range from toxic to positively batshit, handing over a chunk of the county’s middle school to a charter school company without public notice and installing a new superintendent who as one of his early acts mocked teacher requests to reapply for the huge grants needed to keep school counselors and social workers on the payroll. The board also approved an enormously sketchy and far-right social studies curriculum called “American Birthright,” which emphasizes patriotism, rejects federal government authority over education, and explicitly discourages civic engagement.
No, really:
“It is terribly important to be a disengaged citizen, and indeed, a disengaged student,” said David Randall, research director at the National Association of Scholars, a conservative organization that created the standards last year.
Randall said American Birthright was modeled off state standards in Massachusetts and Florida. The group received input from dozens of right-wing groups and activists, including the Claremont Institute, the Family Research Council and Moms for Liberty.
Oh, the Claremont Institute again. Funny how that name keeps coming up every time a new conservative movement forms to explain that Actually, democratic involvement by citizens is a very bad thing.
So there you go: Montana’s known-violent Republican governor isn’t alone in his efforts to put the fascist and paranoid far-right in charge of anything Republicans can lay their hands on. […] the whole point of post-Trump Republicanism, is to ransack government while stripping away the existing American social fabric in order to “punish” enemies who, as often as not, tend to be children. None of these people have any shame left.
The Alabama House is preparing to vote on a bill that would potentially turn every miscarriage or stillbirth into a homicide investigation. The bill could subject women to a detailed examination of every aspect of their lives for the “crime” of failing to deliver an infant to term, and would leave many facing both an intrusive presence and a threat of prison at the same time they are mourning a child […]
Bill HB454 redefines the words “murder” and “person” under Alabama law to make the loss of any fetus during pregnancy the exact equivalent of murdering a child: “Enforcement shall be subject to the same legal principles as would apply if the victim were a person who had been born alive.” Every abortion, every miscarriage, every stillbirth would all be subject to the same level of scrutiny as a child found dead. Police and prosecutors would be given the discretion to issue warrants, conduct inquiries, and indict women for their failure to deliver a live infant.
Making this so-called “pro-life” bill even more twisted, Alabama is not just a death penalty state, it’s the state with the highest rate per capita of people sentenced to death. Put it together, and there’s a real possibility of a woman being sentenced to death for a miscarriage.
The law does have some exceptions. A woman would not be found responsible if the cause of the ended pregnancy was “duress.”
That term also gets a special definition in this bill, making it not a crime if “the actor engaged in the proscribed conduct because he was compelled to do so by the threat of imminent death or serious physical injury to himself or another.”
That “he” and “himself” in the section above applies to the woman. It’s just that the law is written as if any actual person is a “he.” The woman is going to be “he” throughout most of this bill. Because God forbid someone in Alabama use “they” when creating a legal definition that applies to any gender.
However, even the duress clause has an exception.
The defense provided by this section is unavailable if the actor intentionally or recklessly placed himself in a situation in which it was probable that he would be subjected to duress. The defense is also unavailable if he was negligent in placing himself in such a situation, whenever negligence suffices to establish culpability for the offense charged.
So a woman could use the duress clause as a potential way to avoid being charged with murder if an abusive spouse either forced her to get an abortion or caused her to miscarry. However, it looks like this protection would be voided if the woman did something like return to a spouse who had been abusive, or place herself in some other position of danger, because she simply had nowhere else to go.
[…] “The presumption that a woman is subject to compulsion when acting in the presence of her husband is abolished.” [WTF!]
[…] The bill also provides some protection for medical personnel, who are given a pass so long as anything that happens to the fetus during some other procedure is accidental. Also, when attempting to save the life of the woman, “provided all reasonable alternatives to save the life of the unborn child were attempted.”
That last part is so purposely vague that not an obstetrician in the state is going to be fooled. There’s no level of care that can’t be nitpicked by an overzealous prosecutor.
All of this is astounding, but the most appalling part of this completely appalling bill may be this:
This bill would expand the definition of person for the purposes of the criminal code to include an unborn child from the moment of fertilization.
This is a bill that criminalizes both abortion and miscarriage, and starts the clock from a period when women don’t even know they are pregnant. The earliest a home test can detect a pregnancy is around 10 days after fertilization. Most physicians advise women not to even bother with a test until they have missed a period.
Even among pregnancies that are detected, 10-20% end in miscarriage. That’s somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 women every year in Alabama. […]
Even those situations where a woman clearly has been abused so severely as to directly cause a miscarriage or has been forced into an abortion they didn’t want would involve that woman becoming a suspect in an investigation. It would be left to local prosecutors and police to decide if she had any fault in the loss of the fetus.
[…] The Alabama law acknowledges that it will cost the state money to enact. It doesn’t say how much. But the potential for real emotional, mental, and physical harm is almost unlimited.
[…] No lives will be saved by this bill, but the number of women who fail to visit a doctor, especially early in their pregnancy, out of fear of the consequences of this bill, will almost certainly be significant. And fully justified. That will lead to an increase, not a decrease, in the number of pregnancies that end in unplanned loss.
[…] It’s about men subjecting women to an ever greater level of intrusion, restriction, and threat. It’s about putting those women in their place. It’s about control.
And don’t worry. If a local prosecutor—say in one of those “blue cities”—is unwilling to spend police resources questioning neighbors to see if a woman might have been known to drink a glass of wine, or maybe eat too much fast food to be healthy, the bill allows the state attorney general to step in and take over the prosecution.
EVA BERNEKE DESCRIBES her first year at the helm of the world’s third-largest satellite company as a “whirlwind.” That’s an understatement. Since she took over the top job at Eutelsat in January 2022, the Danish CEO has become a direct competitor to Elon Musk, been accused by the Ukrainian government of aiding Russian propaganda, and found herself in the thick of bitter Brexit politics—and that’s before you even mention the Iranian sabotage attempt.
[…] When she arrived at Eutelsat, the French company’s bread-and-butter business was beaming TV channels into homes using geostationary satellites—which move at the same speed as Earth and so stay in a fixed position. The organization she inherited was stable and solid, she says—but also stagnating in an industry that is undergoing radical change. Although Eutelsat was starting to use its geostationary fleet to offer satellite internet, its TV revenues were dwindling.
The entrance of two of the world’s richest men—Elon Musk with SpaceX’s Starlink network and Jeff Bezos with Project Kuiper—was also beginning to change the way incumbents thought about their future. […]
Berneke responded by initiating her own shake-up. In July, the company announced plans to merge with struggling British satellite provider OneWeb. As part of the deal, Eutelsat absorbed OneWeb’s constellation of 648 low-orbit satellites. At just 1,200 km above Earth, the OneWeb fleet delivers faster internet speeds than Eutelsat’s geostationary satellites, which sit 35,000 km above the planet’s surface.
OneWeb is Eutelsat’s ticket to the booming low-orbit satellite market. Rural homes, ships, airlines, militaries, and autonomous vehicles are turning to satellite internet to stay connected in places previously considered dead zones.
[…] The OneWeb-Eutelsat merger has been touted as Europe’s entry into the space race. It is the only company currently competing with Musk’s Starlink in the low-orbit market. But to claim its title as a European space giant, Eutelsat first has to navigate messy post-Brexit politics. Both France’s Eutelsat and Britain’s OneWeb were part-owned by their respective governments, and the two countries will continue to own stakes in the new business.
[…] Brexit politics are not the only hurdle. OneWeb’s Gen One satellites need upgrading, and Eutelsat is planning to have more advanced Gen Two satellites in orbit by 2027. Berneke says this upgrade will cost 3 billion to 4 billion euros ($3.3-4.4 billion), a bold move for a company with a reputation for playing it safe.
[…] Berneke resists the idea that executives should implement their own sanctions on top of legally binding restrictions—a trend that has been gathering pace since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. Apple, for example, voluntarily halted product sales in Russia following pressure from the Ukrainian government. […]
Instead she argues that this stance gives the company more legitimacy to push back when regimes, like Iran, do not want some Western channels broadcast locally.
In October 2022, the company accused Iran’s regime of jamming its satellites. “We did all kinds of technical hoops and loops to make sure that we continued broadcasting because we had paying customers and we thought it was important that channels were not sanctioned,” she says. […]”
A counter-disinformation expert has sued Fox News for allegedly promoting lies about her, just weeks after the network settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m.
Nina Jankowicz was the former executive director of a Department of Homeland Security division dealing with disinformation threats to national security.
The federal government’s Disinformation Governance Board was short-lived as it came under ferocious attack from right-wing politicians and pundits, including a string of Fox News hosts.
Ms Jankowicz, who is a specialist in Russian disinformation, was mentioned 300 times over the span of eight months on Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing channel, the lawsuit states.
Fox News hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo were among those who talked about her, with Carlson warning his audience she would “get men with guns to tell you to shut up.”
The lawsuit states that after the 34-year-old resigned to escape the attention she was receiving, Fox News hosts falsely claimed she had ben fired,” according to The New York Times.
Ms Jankowicz filed her lawsuit in the same Delaware court that Dominion Voting Systems filed its $1.6bn defamation claim, which was settled last month as the last minute.
She is seeking unspecified damages in her own case…
Dwyane Wade and Grant Hill are at the top of a wish list of candidates to run against far-right Republican Sen. Rick Scott in 2024, according to NBC News.
The outlet reported that Florida democrats are actively recruiting the NBA legends in hopes one might run against incumbent Scott…
Microsoft Bets That Fusion Power Is Closer Than Many Think – Reginald Selkirk@75, quoting a Slashdot headline
Slashdot in turn links to a WSJ article behind a paywall. It’s not clear what Microsoft is actually risking, so how is it a “bet”? They have promised to buy electricity produced by fusion “within about five years” from the company Helion, but in the (I would say absolutely certain) event that no such electricity is produced in that timeframe, they get paid financial penalties (assuming Helion hasn’t gone bankrupt), and what would they lose?
“Not very good news continues to come from the Bakhmut area. As of 1750 Moscow time (1550 BST), the following positions on our flanks have been lost [on the map in sky blue]”
“The situation on the flanks in Bakhmut is based on the worst case scenario. Territories, which was fought for many months, today are being taken almost without a fight from those who are supposed to hold our flanks,” Prigozhin said in one of his newest statements.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
The UK’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has confirmed reports that the UK is donating long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
He told MPs in the House of Commons:
Today I can confirm that the UK is donating Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
Storm Shadow is a long-range, conventional-only, precision strike capability.
The donation of these weapons systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality, especially the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law.
Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself against this.
CNN first reported the decision, citing multiple senior western officials.
It said Britain had received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would be used only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia.
Wallace said he would not give further details about the capabilities but added that “while these weapons will give Ukraine new capability, members should recognise that these systems are not even in the same league as the Russian AS-24 killjoy hypersonic missile” or “even the Kalibr cruise missile with a range of over 2,000km, roughly seven times that of a Storm Shadow missile”.
He added:
We will simply not stand by as Russia kills civilians.
Russia must recognise that its actions alone have led to such systems being provided to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is looking forward to welcoming President Lula to Ukraine after meeting Brazil’s special adviser on foreign policy, Celso Amorim.
In a tweet, Ukraine’s president said:
Met with special adviser on foreign policy to the president of Brazil, Celso Amorim. Emphasised that the only plan capable of stopping Russian aggression in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
We discussed the possibility of holding the Ukraine-Latin America summit. I look forward to continuing dialogue with President Lula and welcoming him to Ukraine.
People at the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency have held a minute’s silence at their offices in Paris for video journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed by a Russian rocket.
Soldin, 32, died in Ukraine after a Russian Grad missile hit near the eastern city of Bakhmut on 9 May 2023. Soldin was with Ukrainian soldiers and reporting with colleagues from the town of Chasiv Yar when the rocket struck. The rest of the team were uninjured.
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said that his government was looking into news reports that South Africa provided weapons to Russia, when asked about the matter by an opposition leader in parliament. [WTF?]
US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, told South African media at a briefing on Thursday that Washington believed a Russian vessel had uploaded weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December.
“The matter is being looked into and in time we will be able to speak about it,” Ramaphosa told lawmakers.
Brigety said US officials had concerns about South Africa’s professed neutrality regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Among the things we noted were the docking of the Russian cargo ship Lady R in Simon’s Town between 6 December and 8 December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons, ammunitions … as it made its way back to Russia,” Brigety said in the briefing, according to a recording reviewed by Reuters.
Donald Trump, a room full of Trump supporters, and a single news host with absolutely no mechanism for reining in Trump’s statements. What could go wrong? […]
From the very first moment of CNN’s beyond ill-advised open mic night for Trump, he simply lied in response to everything that host Kaitlan Collins asked and either ignored any attempt to correct his lies, or shouted (and sneered) Collins down with the help of a pro-Trump crowd, hand-picked by CNN, which cheered him at every lie, whooped over every insult, and applauded at every threat. [An ugly, ugly scene.]
At the end of the evening, CNN issued a statement saying, “Tonight Kaitlan Collins exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist. She asked tough, fair and revealing questions. And she followed up and fact-checked President Trump in real time.” Anyone unfortunate enough to watch even a moment of the evening knows that CNN has confused the term “journalist” with “doormat.” A day after Donald Trump was held responsible for the sexual assault and defamation of one professional woman, CNN simply gave him another professional woman to humiliate in front of the nation. And he did. While a room full of adoring worshippers laughed.
The bullying, abusive, misogynistic aspect of the evening was there from the start as Trump talked over, mocked, and generally treated Collins like … like he treats any woman who dares to talk back to him.
Collins and Trump have a history. As USA Today reported in 2018, Collins was pulled aside in advance of a White House briefing for asking “inappropriate” questions of Trump. Then she was told that she had been “disinvited” from a Rose Garden event on that day. This wasn’t the only time that Trump or his team went after Collins, and it’s certainly not the only time that Trump railed against CNN or banned members of the organization from the White House press briefing room.
On Wednesday night, new CNN CEO Chris Licht—who reportedly personally briefed Collins on how to handle Trump during the event—placed his reporter in an impossible position. Caught between a loud and disdainful Trump, an audience that encouraged his every moment of belligerence, and a format that gave her no means of maintaining decorum, Collins might as well have been handed over to Trump with a sign reading “Official Sacrifice.”
When Collins attempted to ask Trump about the differences between his handling of classified documents and those of President Joe Biden, Trump did what he had already done at least a dozen times by then: He cut her off in mid-question.
Trump: “Are you ready? Can I talk? Do you mind?”
Collins: “Yeah, I would like for you to answer the question. That’s why I asked it.”
Trump: “It’s very simple that you’re a nasty person, I’ll tell you.”
Crowd: [Big cheers, applause, laughter.]
That’s the evening in a nutshell. By the time things reached Trump looming over Collins, pointing at her, and calling her a “nasty person” in the middle of a response that made no sense but garnered big applause, any hint that there was something to be gleaned from this event was long, long gone.
It’s not that Collins didn’t ask good questions. She did. It’s not that she didn’t try to follow up, or that she hesitated in efforts to fact check at least some of Trump’s mile-a-minute lies. She did those things as well. It’s that the format of the event gave Collins absolutely no support. For the raucous crowd she was the perfect prop—the pretty woman that Trump could abuse for their amusement.
At several points, Collins appeared to serve as a proxy while Trump got the opportunity to further defame, demean, and belittle writer E. Jean Carroll. As columnist Ruth Ben-Ghiat put it, “CNN became a party to Trump’s need to psychologically ‘undo’ his defeat by getting the audience to applaud him for being an assaulter. The more approval authoritarians get, the more they feel emboldened to be even more lawless. This is why this ‘town hall’ was so dangerous.” Others have suggested that Carroll could sue Trump again over the ugly and humiliating statements for which CNN provided a platform.
Through the evening, there were a few moments of actual questioning worth repeating, mostly because of Trump’s refusal to answer. As when Trump equivocated into “I can’t recall” territory when asked if he had displayed classified documents to others at Mar-a-Lago. Or when Trump refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to survive Vladimir Putin’s invasion. But those moments were definitely not worth it. […]
The reviews for CNN’s stunt event are scattered across television and the internet on Thursday morning, and they’re uniformly as miserable as they should be.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called CNN’s decision to provide Trump with this prime time rally “a profoundly irresponsible decision” and “shameful.”
Joe Scarborough at MSNBC called the event “just disgraceful on every level.”
Podcast host Keith Olbermann declared it “the Hindenberg of TV News.” He also called for Licht to be fired.
But when critiquing CNN’s event, it’s hard to do better than CNN’s own Jake Tapper.
The falsehoods kept coming fast and furious about the January 6 insurrection, about vice president Pence, about Pence’s ability to overturn the election, about COVID, and about the economy and more. He called a Black law enforcement officer a “thug.” He said people here in Washington D.C.’s Chinatown don’t speak English. He attacked Kaitlan as a nasty woman because she was trying to get him to answer a question.
Perhaps most chillingly, the day after a nine-person jury of his peers in New York found him liable for sexual battery and defamation and ordered him to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million, he made fun of her account, of her sexual assault, and many in the audience laughed. [JFC]
That’s an accurate summary. It’s a shame that as Tapper was speaking, CNN was showing Trump still standing on the stage they provided, accepting a standing ovation from the audience they selected. Collins was nowhere to be seen as a smiling Trump continued to point at people in the crowd and banter with his fans.
[…] Trump certainly seemed to like his evening.
[…] Licht seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a news organization does. “Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news,” Licht wrote to his staff on Thursday morning. “Made a LOT of news. And that is our job.”
No. It’s not.
Kaitlan Collins deserves an apology. So does America. […]
[…] The headline on The New York Times’ report summarized in just 11 words just how badly Comer failed: “House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden.” From the article:
After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption.
To be sure, Comer and his GOP colleagues pointed to all kinds of materials related to the president’s relatives, and it’s increasingly easy to believe Hunter Biden shouldn’t try to run for elected office anytime soon, but Republicans were forced to concede that, despite their best efforts, they still didn’t have any evidence of corruption on Joe Biden’s part.
The Times’ report added, “[T]heir presentation underscored how little headway top G.O.P. lawmakers have made in finding clear evidence of questionable transactions they can tie to Mr. Biden, their chief political rival.”
Others soon noticed. The New Republic ran a related piece with a similar headline: “Republicans Finally Admit They Have No Incriminating Evidence on Joe Biden.” The article marveled at the fact that Comer and his team have “nothing to show for” their work.
[…] Why does all of this matter? In part because of the degree to which the Oversight Committee chairman has proven the opposite of his intended point: Comer and his team set out to make the president look like a criminal, and by failing spectacularly, Biden has effectively been given a clean bill of political health by a group of far-right partisans.
[…] I have no reason to believe Comer will change course anytime soon, but for the sake of what’s left of his reputation, the Kentucky congressman should probably think twice before calling another press conference.
The CNN “town hall” with Trump in New Hampshire was at least as bad as expected for all the reasons that anyone with a brain could have foreseen.
The culprit here wasn’t Kaitlan Collins, who was hopelessly hamstrung by the format. The culprit is the CNN honchos trying to repair its imagined breach with conservative viewers […] The format doomed the interview from the start. It was a public disservice, a journalistic failure, and repeat of the fundamental misunderstanding of how to cover Trump that has plagued the civic square for going on almost a decade now.
Excerpt from the Aaron Rupar Twitter thread referenced above:
“A lot of the people here probably were there … it was a beautiful day” — Trump on January 6
“I’m very proud of that video … it’s a beautiful video” — Trump on his January 6 video in which he professed love for his insurrectionists
Trump gets a round of applause after he says Pence should’ve done more on January 6 to help him overturn his election loss
Trump doesn’t close the door on pardoning the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious conspiracy
the CNN town hall audience laughs as Trump smears E Jean Carroll
“We might as well do it now” — Trump endorses a US debt default
Asked if he would support any new gun control policies at all, Trump says he would “very much harden” schools and again pushes the idea of arming teachers (so no, he doesn’t)
Kaitlan Collins lets Trump slide when he lies about Democrats supporting the murder of born babies. Trump then refuses to answer a question about if he would sign a federal abortion ban, but indicates he’s open to it.
“I did finish the wall” — Trump
Trump indicates he is opposed to more military aid to Ukraine
Truth didn’t stand a chance as the former president talked too fast to be factchecked and too shamelessly to be interrupted…
(From there: “…Collins could have been forgiven for thinking her bosses have got it in for her: first a morning show with Don Lemon, now a dark night of the soul with Caligula.”)
French politicians have warned about the risk posed by the country’s increasingly violent and toxic rows over immigration after the mayor of a seaside town resigned following death threats and an arson attack on his home, and far-right groups protested over an asylum-seeker centre in his town….
[…] after threatening to sue Rachel Maddow for reporting it, Eric Trump has curiously disinvited the Nazis from appearing with him at the event at Trump Doral. Jake Tapper reported it on CNN. He said Eric told them that when he found out these guys were Nazis, he told the ReAwaken America people to uninvite them. And he said they said it had been done.
Of course, Tapper said the ReAwaken America organizers could not confirm that these Nazis had been uninvited, and that at press time, they were still listed on the website. We just went to the website for the ReAwaken America tour and looked at the featured speakers — oh my god, […]— and the shiny Nazi faces of Scott McKay and Charlie Ward sure are still there.
So it’s unclear. Alan Dershowitz reported that the cancellation was legit.
There’s no announcement on Eric’s Twitter, though, so who knows?
If Eric indeed is getting these creeps uninvited from the tour, which happens at Trump Doral tomorrow and Saturday, we can see why Eric wouldn’t want to make any big fanfare about it. As Amanda Marcotte writes here, for Republican voters, the Trumps being seen with white nationalists and Nazis is a feature, not a bug. They just might be a little bit jumpy about it right now, considering how a white nationalist Nazi guy just blew some kids’ brains out in Texas.
But the last thing MAGA voters want to see is some kind of big public apology and repudiation of white supremacy and Nazism from Eric Trump. So Jake Tapper gets to whisper it to the liberals on CNN.
Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s not. We’ll find out this weekend.
Regardless, YOU ARE ALL SUED for embarrassing Eric Trump like this.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a history-defying whirlwind of events, the American people have been left flabbergasted by the surreal spectacle of liars not getting away with it.
In barely more than two weeks, the nation has witnessed an unprecedented wave of accountability crash over a leading cable-TV host, a former President, and a man who claimed that he worked for Morgan Stanley but denied that he was a drag performer in Rio.
In Washington, the ominous possibility that lies have consequences has sent a chill down the corridors of power.
“If this trend continues, I’ll lose my majority,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly told colleagues.
Reginald Selkirk@75
The barriers to fusion are not just magnetohydrodynamic. Probably the biggest problem–and one I’ve barely seen addressed–is that fusion cannot work on Earth without tritium–and tritium is rare, unstable and difficult to make. It doesn’t occur in nature. You have to make it by irradiating deutrium (as heavy water) with neutrons and then separate the tritium from the much more plentiful deuterium. The only source of it is a company processing heavy water for the few CANDU reactors left running. And tritium is unstable–halflife of 12.33 years, so you cannot stockpile it.
A single fusion would tear through the planet’s entire supply of tritium in les than a year. Fusion ain’t gonna save us.
Donald Trump’s former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft is running in the Kentucky Republican gubernatorial primary, a nasty battle that will determine the party’s challenger to current Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Though she has more money than God, thanks to her husband’s status as a billionaire coal baron, her actual campaign has been shaky at best. That’s because Craft has just been just gawdawful as a candidate, a condition which she’s been attempting to remedy by smothering the campaign with enough money to asphyxiate the other candidates, the voters, and whatever stray wildlife might have wandered by.
Craft is trying to ingratiate herself with Kentucky Republican primary voters in the usual way: casual use of eliminationist rhetoric aimed at children. Specifically, transgender children. […]
One questioner asked Craft how she’d “combat the transgender agenda” in classrooms. Craft noted that [running mate state Sen. Max Wise] sponsored the measure dealing with, among other things, school bathroom policies, curriculum and which pronouns are used to refer to transgender students.
Craft added: “Under a Craft-Wise administration, we will not have transgenders in our school system.”
She later doubled down in answering the same question, saying: “Under a Craft-Wise administration, we will not have transgender.”
Her campaign staff quickly scrambled to explain—but not really explain—that Craft did not mean the words she said and repeated but was referring to “woke ideologies being pushed” in state schools, which is not at all what she said. Either they’re lying (very likely), or their candidate cannot properly use her word-hole (equally likely), or both.
Of course she meant what she said; vowing that “we will not have transgenders in our school system” is exactly what the rabid pro-coup Republican base wants to hear. The campaign staff was sent out afterward to shovel some manure about it to the media and non-Republicans, who recoiled in horror at a promise to somehow vanish children who don’t adhere to party-issued rules on how they identify themselves.
[…] She has the support of the worst man in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Ted Cruz, who burped up some random drivel about the “Chinese Communist Party” in his weird endorsement. […]
Craft’s history of using her family’s cash to buy influence, even though she’s about as articulate as a can of spray cheese, is not new. After being nominated by Trump for the position of U.N. ambassador (Trump’s previous nominee was forced out of consideration due to scandals and racism, go figure), Craft proved to be Not Too Good At This Politics Stuff with a cringeworthy attempt to word salad her way through a climate change question posed to her.
Whether Craft is a good public speaker is, of course, among the least important considerations Republican primary voters will have in deciding if she will be the challenger to incumbent Gov. Beshear. Her vow to somehow eliminate “transgenders” in Kentucky’s public schools is both terrifying and likely just what the party’s hate-riddled base most wants to hear. Whether she can—or even will try to—backpedal from such a monstrous statement in the general election is another question.
Legal experts believe that former President Donald Trump’s CNN town hall at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire gave fresh evidence to every one of the three ongoing criminal cases against him, reported Salon on Thursday.
The ongoing criminal cases against Trump — not including the bookkeeping fraud case over the Stormy Daniels hush payment, which has already been charged by Manhattan prosecutors — are the election interference probe in Georgia, the federal January 6 investigation, and the federal investigation of classified documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago — all of which came up during the town hall under the questioning of moderator and CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins.
“Trump repeatedly lied during the town hall that the election was ‘rigged,’ that Georgia ‘owed’ him votes, that he had the right to take classified documents to Mar-a-Lago and that he does not know E. Jean Carroll — the writer who was awarded $5 million a day earlier after it found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation,” reported Igor Derysh. “‘All three ongoing criminal cases got new evidence tonight against Trump,’ tweeted national security attorney Bradley Moss. ‘He is confessing on live television.'”
“Former FBI agent Pete Strzok called the comment [that he didn’t “really” share the classified documents with anyone] a ‘tacit admission of unauthorized disclosure of classified information,'” said the report. “During another exchange, Collins asked Trump about his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, demanding he ‘find’ enough votes to swing the state’s election. Trump said he believed it was a ‘rigged election’ and said he told Raffensperger ‘you owe me votes because the election was rigged.’ ‘File this clip under new evidence for Fani Willis,’ tweeted Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor. ‘This sure sounds like an admission of corrupt intent to me.'”
. . .
Reginald Selkirksays
To be sure, Comer and his GOP colleagues pointed to all kinds of materials related to the president’s relatives…
There is no “Biden Corporation”, in the way that there is a “Trump Organization” with all the offspring serving roles.
In the rape trial of celebrity Scientologist Danny Masterson yesterday, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office revealed that Scientology has covertly obtained a significant amount of criminal discovery materials.
Scientology has no reason to have criminal discovery materials in its possession. No reason at all. Scientology, which should be a co-defendant in this trial, has repeatedly lied, saying it has no covert involvement in this trial.
But longtime Scientology attorney Vicki Podberesky made a colossal error last week. Vicki, who receives her orders directly from Captain David Miscavige, emailed the DA’s office to complain about how Scientology was being treated in the trial.
But when Vicki was sending the email, she made a grave error. She included a link in her email. When the DA’s office clicked on that link, they were shocked to see a massive amount of their criminal discovery.
This is the same criminal discovery the DA shared with Danny Masterson’s defense team. This is a huge deal! This confirms that Scientology, which has tax exemption based on its religious status (it’s not a religion), is colluding with Danny Masterson and his defense team.
The Judge immediately asked Danny’s defense attorney, Philip Cohen, if he shared the discovery with Scientology. Cohen said no.
While I don’t believe Cohen, a slimy, victim-shaming attorney, who somehow manages to sleep at night even though he takes his orders from Captain David Miscavige, there are other possibilities of who could have shared these materials with Scientology.
Shawn Holley, Danny’s other defense attorney, who has a sign in her office that says, “Don’t cloud the argument with facts.” Shawn has spent more time trying to get me thrown out of court when I’m present to support the Jane Does than defending her client.
Danny’s previous defense attorney Thomas Mesereau, who Cohen replaced, also had access to this discovery.
It could easily be Danny and his family who handed over the discovery to Scientology. They are all Scientologists who believe they’re above the law. Scientology policy requires Scientologists to turn over these materials.
It could have been one of Danny’s buddies in his crew of Scientologists called the Donkey Punch Bunch (more on that later). These Scientologists have participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice in this case and other cases, all to protect Scientology.
I have great respect for defense attorneys and especially public defenders. They’re an essential part of our deeply flawed criminal justice system. But I don’t respect defense attorneys who spend their time doing Scientology’s bidding.
There is nothing Scientology and Scientologists won’t do to infiltrate government offices, organizations, and institutions. There’s nothing Scientology won’t do to obtain the intel it needs to protect itself. It has literally been Scientology policy for seven decades.
Those of us who fight against Scientology’s abuses have been trying to get the media, law enforcement officials, and others to understand how Scientology operates.
We’ve warned them that Scientology will stop at nothing to infiltrate this trial, the jury, the LAPD, and the DA’s office. But we’ve largely been waived off. After you’re done reading this post, please read this thread about certain LAPD officials who collude with Scientology.
Last week, Reverend N.J. “Skip” L’Heureux, a so-called reverend wearing a collar, appeared in court. He told Shawn Holley he was invited there by Scientology. However, when Judge Olmedo directly asked him if he was associated with Scientology, he lied and said he wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Reverend Skip, who isn’t a Scientologist, has a nearly three-decade history with Scientology, including sending this letter to Disney on Scientology letterhead! All of this lying, corruption, and obstruction is happening out in the open!
Scientology has repeatedly attacked reporters, advocates, and survivors who have said they are involved in this trial. They’ve referred to anyone who has stated this fact as a bigot. Yesterday, Vicki Podberesky confirmed everything we knew. But will anyone care?
All of this infuriates me because people are giving Scientology precisely what it wants: indifference. Scientology is fueled by the indifference of people who can do something about its abuses and criminality. It’s a travesty of justice.
Members of the media who don’t properly report on Scientology — which means learning what Scientology ACTUALLY is and not just asking to interview me — and seek to avoid harassment instead of doing their job and revealing Scientology’s criminality and corruption.
It’s fueled by people who foolishly think they know everything about Scientology and then do things like publish statements from Scientology’s spokesperson which disregards the fact that Scientology has policies (laws) that require lying to the media and law enforcement.
By the way, I waited a few hours to post this because I hoped that a bombshell this significant would get mainstream media coverage.
So far, silence from mainstream media members who breathlessly covered every raised eyebrow and cough in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial.
That seems to be one of many lingering questions in an ongoing lawsuit concerning dead sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and banking giant JPMorgan Chase. The plaintiff in the case, the U.S. Virgin Islands, has been hunting for the former Google CEO in the hopes of serving him papers related to its legal action against the bank. However, the Caribbean government doesn’t seem to be able to find him. Barring the possibility that Page suddenly pops up, the Virgin Islands’ lawyers recently suggested to a U.S. federal judge that a subpoena instead be sent to Alphabet, Google’s parent company, to serve Page through the company that he co-founded…
Republican Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), whose relationship with former President Trump has frayed after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, said Thursday he won’t be backing the former president’s bid to return to the White House, one day after Trump’s controversial CNN town hall.
“I don’t intend to support him for the Republican nomination,” Young told reporters Thursday…
A Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously voted Wednesday to recommend that a birth control pill become available without a prescription.
It’s one of the last steps in the process, as the FDA is expected to decide whether to lift the current prescription requirement in the coming months. The panel recommendation is not binding, but the FDA usually follows such recommendations. This particular birth control pill, Opill, would be the first in the United States to be moved to over-the-counter availability. It’s already available without a prescription in the United Kingdom, and was initially approved by the FDA in the U.S. in 1973.
The joint meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory and Obstetrics, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory committees was replete with presentations from the FDA and Opill’s pharmaceutical company, as well as questions from an ensemble of doctors representing different disciplines.
Those advocating for the pill to become more widely available pointed to the extremely high rates of unintended pregnancy in the U.S. — nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended in the U.S. each year — and the climbing rates of maternal mortality. Rates of unintended pregnancy are even higher for teenagers.
However, there’s another incredibly salient factor that was largely absent from the presentations: the current U.S. abortion landscape.
Per the Guttmacher Institute, 26 states have abortion schemes categorized as “restrictive,” “very restrictive” or “most restrictive.” In many of those states, abortions are virtually inaccessible.
Such a climate makes the accessibility of contraception a critical concern, particularly for girls and women who live in states with the most restrictive regimes….
Though separate processes, targeting contraception has long been part of the anti-abortion movement, even if its activists sometimes muddied their stance so as not to alienate supporters.
…
Immediately after the anti-abortion movement had its historic victory in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, right-wing lawmakers started eyeing intrauterine devices and Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, to restrict next.
…
The mission has always been to ban abortion everywhere. With that effort ascendant, the FDA’s final decision on making this birth control easily available is coming at a particularly crucial moment.
Southeast of downtown Atlanta, 300 acres of the Weelaunee Forest—one of the region’s largest remaining green spaces—are on the city’s chopping block. The trees seem to whisper a martyr’s name—Tortuguita—as wind whistles through the pines. Atlanta has long been known as “the city in the forest.” Visitors and residents still marvel that there is so much forest left in the countryside that surrounds. But if the city proceeds with the planned 85-acre police training facility protestors refer to as “Cop City,” there may be fewer pines in the countryside soon.
The Weelaunee Forest is haunted—by its past and the things that happened there, by what could have happened there, and by what is happening there now. What haunts the forest are the specters of convict labor, slavery, and the genocide of Native American people; it is also haunted by the futures we may yet chose to pursue, and have failed to pursue—an Atlanta where public housing projects were not razed by 2011, an Atlanta where Tortuguita is still alive.
Startled by his father’s ghost, Shakespeare’s Hamlet exclaims that “the time is out of joint.” Specters from the past can haunt the present, while Karl Marx’s specter of communism haunts the future.
Recognizing a haunting is not a way to erase what already has happened—but to show that a different fate is possible. Georgia’s history tends to repeat itself—cycles of violence that haunt both backward and forward. It is impossible to understand the current “Stop Cop City” protests without understanding all that came before, all the violence that has been done in the name of “progress” or “the American dream.” To understand why we must Defend the Forest or stop “Cop City,” we have to first see and know what haunts these places. To know how to change the story, we must know what the story has been….
As the Court has moved right, it’s been using the “shadow docket” to execute on more of its agenda. Previously reserved for emergencies, like stays of executions, the process of hearing cases outside of the Court’s ordinary calendar is now frequently used to issue unsigned and unexplained decisions that overturn the status quo. We’ll dig into it with University of Texas School of Law professor Steve Vladeck, and author of The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.
In Huntsville, Alabama, it’s illegal to play ball on any street, alley, or sidewalk. In Lewiston, Maine, pedestrians must keep to the right half of the crosswalk while crossing the street. And in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, bicyclists are strictly prohibited from any kind of “fancy riding.” If these laws sound vague, arbitrary, and difficult to enforce, well, that might just be the point. In a groundbreaking new report, urban planner Charles Brown painstakingly identifies the vast array of transportation-related laws that are used almost exclusively to limit the mobility and freedom of Black Americans while providing no real benefit to public safety. Brown gives this repressive policy regime a name. He calls it: Arrested Mobility.
Last autumn, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game canceled the crabbing season for the Alaskan snow crab for the first time in history after the crustaceans’ population dropped an astonishing 87 percent. This is only one of the stories recently covered in depth by ecologist and journalist Spencer Roberts, who joins us on the podcast for an overarching conversation about animals and conservation, including the story behind the crabs’ devastating dwindling numbers and how the industry uses climate change as a cover for the damage caused by overfishing. Spencer also shares his thoughts on bridging the gap between the conservation and animal rights movements through his work and why folks continue funding the industries they oppose through their lifestyle choices.
You’ve probably encountered an advertisement for sports betting in one form or another. In the past few years, there’s been a marked rise in the number of online sports betting ads from companies like [names at the link]. Gambling companies now spend billions of dollars a year on advertising. At the same time, there’s growing concern over the effect betting is having on our experience with sports, the lack of comprehensive federal regulation and its addictive potential. Eric Lipton is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times investigative reporter. He’s spent years following the sports betting boom. Lipton joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this moment where sports gambling ads are integrated into almost every sports broadcast, the role of lobbying in the explosion of online betting, how the space is policed and more.
In a Thursday interview with European journalists, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needs to wait before launching its long-expected counteroffensive. While some analysts have been expecting the next phase of Ukraine’s military action against Russia’s unprovoked invasion to come at any moment—and some online voices have been claiming that action has already begun—Zelenskyy said that while Ukraine could go ahead with a counteroffensive right now, it shouldn’t. Not if it wants to ensure its success and limit its losses.
As reported by the BBC, Zelenskyy noted that the Ukrainian military is “ready” after months of training. However, more equipment continues to arrive “in batches.” Perhaps the best reason to wait at the moment is that at least 80 Leopard 1 tanks are expected to be delivered between now and the first of June. Zelenskyy appears set on making sure that Ukraine has everything it needs not just to break through Russia’s frontline defenses, but to liberate a significant area, hold onto the territory it gains, and do so while losing a minimum number of troops.</b.
"With [what we already have] we can go forward, and, I think, be successful," said Zelenskyy, “but we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time."
The good news about Zelenskyy’s statements is that he expressed confidence Ukraine not only can be, but will be successful. While some other officials have spent the last few weeks trying to tone down expectations for what the counteroffensive will bring, Zelenskyy spoke firmly about moving Russian forces out of Ukraine.
Recent statements and widely read analysis suggest that even if Ukraine’s counteroffensive is successful, it’s unlikely to dislodge Russia from a large part of Ukraine. Instead, recent articles have suggested that the best outcome is “a grinding war of attrition” lasting years, in which Russia’s population advantage is offset by the flow of Western weapons into Ukraine. That is, if such a flow can be maintained. Many recent articles urge Ukraine toward some kind of negotiated settlement, leaving Russia in control of Ukrainian territory based on the idea that without a string of victories, Western allies will lose interest in providing assistance to Ukraine.
Many of those articles boil down to the same thing: Ukraine should take what it can get before either Republicans in the U.S. or conservatives in Europe decide that they are better served making an alliance with Putin. There is even speculation about what the U.S. will do if Ukraine’s counteroffensive turns out to be a total failure.
But Zelenskyy doesn’t seem to be counting on a long war of attrition, or to be worried about how the fate of Ukraine might swing on upcoming elections elsewhere. Asked about what might happen if Trump were to return to power, Zelenskyy’s answer was quick.
"Who knows where we'll be [when the election happens]?" he said. "I believe we'll win by then."
Declaring a belief that by November of 2024 the war in Ukraine will be over stands in stark contrast to the “we’ll need to nibble away at them for years” attitude surfacing from other sources, including officials inside Zelenskyy’s own Cabinet. Both the idea that Ukraine is not going to move right now, and that when it does move, its actions will be decisive, defy a lot of the chatter in media of all types.
Granted, there’s no rule that says presidents have to be completely honest. That’s especially true when describing upcoming military plans. Zelenskyy’s statement that Ukraine won’t launch a full-on counteroffensive for some time may only be cover for troops massing outside of Kreminna or Donetsk for an attack on Friday afternoon. His confidence that Ukraine can score a significant blow against Russian forces may disguise knowledge of weakness.
However, there are absolutely no weapons in this war that have been more valuable to Ukraine than the public trust Zelenskyy has engendered both at home and around the world. The trust and faith people have laid on him can’t be replaced by 1,000 shipments of ammo or all the Leopard tanks in the world. Zelenskyy is likely to understand that if he burns bridges in terms of either spreading misdirection about Ukraine’s next actions or the expected outcome, it’s one of the few things that really can affect that pipeline to fresh materiel in support of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is, once again, the voice of cautious optimism. He’s making a disappointing decision to those who would like to see Ukraine move now. […]
But the Ukrainian president appears more concerned with making sure Ukrainian forces are successful at the lowest possible cost in terms of lives, and while he’s open about his belief that Ukraine can succeed, he’s playing the actual plans for that counteroffensive very close to the vest.
The Supreme Court’s decision in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, which the Court handed down Thursday morning, reads like a breath of fresh air. For once, the justices decided not to make themselves even more powerful than they already are.
National Pork involved very difficult questions about just how much impact one state’s laws may have on residents of other states. In 2018, California enacted Proposition 12, a ballot initiative that imposes some of the strictest animal welfare rules in the country. [I think the pigs would phrase it somewhat differently…] Among other things, Prop 12 forbids pork farmers from confining a breeding sow “with less than 24 square feet of usable floor space per pig.” And it forbids any pork from being sold in California if it was produced on a farm that does not comply with this rule.
Because California is such a large state — its residents buy approximately 13 percent of all pork sold in the United States — the pork industry claimed that this law would require pork farms throughout the country to change their practices to ensure that their products would not be excluded from the California market, and that this would drive up the price of pork nationwide….
…
The Court’s current majority…has spent the past several years concentrating power within itself, often with no legal basis to do so.
National Pork is a break from this pattern. Given the opportunity to give itself a broad veto power over state laws, the Supreme Court instead chose humility. Thursday’s decision reduces the judiciary’s authority to block state laws that federal judges deem to have too much impact on other states….
They upheld the California law. Much more at the link. Complex and difficult to excerpt.
The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, released last week, found that Americans would blame a debt ceiling crisis on congressional Republicans and President Joe Biden in roughly equal measure. That didn’t make a lot of sense — only one side of the political divide is threatening to harm Americans deliberately — but the data served as a timely reminder that much of the country isn’t following the fight closely.
But that’s not the only problem. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday on the results of its latest national survey.
Many voters see few good options for policy makers as President Biden and congressional Republicans work in an effort to avert the first-ever default by the government as soon as next month. Forty-five percent of respondents to a recent Wall Street Journal poll said they didn’t favor Congress lifting the debt ceiling, the mechanism used to avoid default in the past. Some 44% favor lifting it. Republicans tend to be more skeptical, with three in four GOP voters opposed to Congress lifting the debt ceiling, according to the survey.
In other words, thanks to such strong opposition to the idea from Republican voters in this poll, a narrow plurality of Americans now believes the United States should default on its debts.
Except that doesn’t make sense. While it’s easy to believe the polling data is roughly accurate in terms of measuring public attitudes, it’s nearly impossible to believe so many people would welcome — and indeed, invite — the devastating consequences of the nation refusing to honor its obligations.
Or put another way, if everyone knew what the policy was all about, and how much suffering default would produce, we’d see different data.
But those aren’t the circumstances we find ourselves in. Many Americans have no real idea what the debt ceiling is, what default entails, or how drastic the economic effects would be. It’s likely that much of the public hears the phrase “debt ceiling” and instead of thinking “paying our bills,” they think raising it would lead to more debt, which they see as an inherently bad thing.
The fact that raising the limit costs nothing is a detail that goes largely overlooked.
Of course, the larger point is not that many Americans are unfamiliar with the nuances of federal budgetary policy. That, in and of itself, isn’t especially notable. People tend not to have time to familiarize themselves with such details.
Rather, what matters here are the political implications of polling results like these.
For one thing, as much of the public struggles with the basics, it becomes easier for Republicans to get away with dangerously radical tactics. It’s hardly a stretch to think that if it were common knowledge that GOP officials were threatening us with deliberate harm unless Democrats agreed to devastating and unpopular cuts, it’d be a while before Republicans were a competitive major political party.
But just as important are the incentives: GOP leaders aren’t exactly feeling public pressure to resolve the crisis they created in a responsible way because (a) a plurality of Americans think raising the debt ceiling doesn’t sound like a good idea; and (b) voters don’t really have a good sense of what the fight is all about.
As a substantive matter, the facts obviously cut against Republicans and their hostage tactics. But as a political matter, the significance of the substance is muted by apparent public confusion.
[…] CNN is designed to be mass audience, not niche. The business model is based on at least having a shot at getting the viewership of the whole population. You don’t have to be in cable news programming to know it’s a problem if a big minority of the population thinks of CNN as the “Clinton News Network” or “Fake News CNN.” So there’s a real imperative to get out of that penalty box. That’s been Licht’s core agenda: getting out of that penalty box.
The problem is that Licht and lots of people from his world approach the question with a category misunderstanding of what Trumpism is and how our hyper-polarized political and media landscape operates. It’s not as though Trump and his carnival of circus monkeys have a discrete list of complaints which can, at least for the most part, be addressed and then everybody is friends again. In the world of Trumpism there is the obedient press and the enemies. The whole point of the Trumpian Wurlitzer is to exact a price for non-compliance and get executives like Chris Licht to metaphorically or sometimes literally follow Trump around asking, “Sir, what can we do to prove we’re not liberal and make you happy?”
It may be the only real “Sir” story anywhere in Trump’s vicinity.
The point, as you can see, isn’t to remediate any specific set of concerns. It’s to get a news organization into the posture of a supplicant. That defangs the news organization from playing its proper role […]
Don’t get me wrong. I too sometimes find myself nostalgic for the Bernie Shaw era CNN. Lots of hard news, straight at you. But the fact that that doesn’t exist anymore really isn’t about programming decisions at CNN. We live in a profoundly different era.
When it comes to believing that a properly timed, equipped, and targeted Ukrainian counteroffensive can generate substantial gains—delivering a massive blow to Russian forces—Zelenskyy is not alone. A new article published by the Modern War Institute at West Point looks at the possibility that Ukraine’s next action could absolutely blow Russia off the map of Ukraine. It also worries that such an event could result in chaos that the U.S. and other Western allies are unprepared to address.
What if Ukraine ends up routing Russian occupation positions relatively swiftly and effectively, with the Russian military in a hopeless retreat?
Given recent reporting, it is not altogether clear that the United States and its allies are fully prepared for such a contingency, which, although perhaps less likely than the alternatives, is not as unlikely as many may think; and if leaders are not prepared, they should start preparing now, so as to avoid finding themselves on the back foot in a crisis of significant consequence.
The article lists a number of reasons why Ukraine can outperform the expectations so many have been working to lower. That includes the 230 new tanks, 1,550 armored vehicles, numerous air defense systems, and uncounted drones provided to Ukraine in the last few months. (The report notes that one thing missing is longer-range missiles—but they’re not missing anymore. More on this later.)
Not only does Ukraine have all that new gear, it also has new units trained in combined-armed techniques, and new communications gear that can overcome Russian jamming to make larger, more complex maneuvers easier to achieve. If Ukraine works through or around the defensive lines that Russia has constructed, it could surprise Russian forces that are unprepared to defend the occupied areas in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, has confidently emphasized that because it enjoys numerical advantages in personnel and equipment, Russia will eventually prevail. However, this is the same failed logic that underpinned expectations of a quick Russian victory at the beginning of the war. A sole focus on personnel and equipment neglects an adequate accounting of training, morale, logistical support, and leadership.
The report also notes that if there’s one thing Ukraine has done throughout this war it is surprise the world through its “will to fight, its societal resilience, and its leadership.”
Rather than just preparing for a stalled situation that leads to negotiations where Russia gains more territory, the institute suggests that the U.S. also needs to plan for the opposite outcome. For “the event of a quick and cascading Russian loss.”
The emphasis of the report is that faced with a massive and decisive loss, Putin is likely to respond by escalation in the form of throwing still more bodies into the fight. Russia has a willingness to sustain huge losses and a population that can be forced into battle essentially (or literally) at gunpoint. Even so, “as was recently seen in Bakhmut and elsewhere, new Russian soldiers are poorly trained. Conscripts are thus often killed in droves—and not even the Russians have an infinite supply of human lives.”
That, unfortunately, brings the article back to the place where so many others have gone before: the idea that Russia would drag out a nuclear weapon to defend occupied territory in Crimea. How such a threat might be expected to work is beyond anyone’s reasoning. MAD, after all, only works so long as no one actually pushes a button. Once anyone does, the hollowness of such a concept is instantly revealed. Fortunately, the article starts by suggesting that the U.S. should take steps to clarify to Putin why ever reaching for that button is a bad idea.
However, among those steps is both the idea that the U.S. should dissuade Ukraine from stepping into Crimea before conditions are in place for a negotiated settlement, and seeing that China is part of the deal.
There’s reasoning behind this last step. China’s cooperation is meant to ensure that Russia sees no alternative to not picking up a pen and signing. However, all of it comes back to the central point of contention—and to the idea that Ukraine should be expected to give over Crimea because not doing so makes us nervous.
Prominent media voices such as journalist Anne Applebaum and retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges have consistently advocated for the retaking of Crimea, arguing that such a move would effectively end the war. This may or may not be true, but the risks of nuclear escalation do not today warrant such an aggressive strategy.
I’ve made it clear before that on this point, I definitely side with Applebaum and Hodges. Should Ukraine successfully punch through Russian forces elsewhere and enter Crimea, there is exactly nothing Russia might gain by hauling out a nuclear weapon. Nothing. It’s the one step that would, with absolute certainty, turn a defeat in a war outside its own territory into a multigenerational disaster that would likely end Russia as a nation.
Considering that this thought comes from very smart people connected to West Point and I’m an armchair analyst who was kicked out of the Air Force two weeks into basic training, any objective observer might reasonably conclude that the answer is: listen to the West Point guys.
I am. And it definitely concerns me that they’re dragging the nuclear scenario onto the table again. However, my concern is diminished because they don’t seem to have anything behind it other than this:
One aspect of doctrine Russia has been consistent on is that Russia would at least consider the use of a nuclear weapon if Russian territory is being attacked. Since its annexation of Crimea almost a decade ago, Russia very much considers Crimea part of the Russian homeland.
Russia has also officially annexed Kherson. And Zaporizhzhia. And Donetsk. And Luhansk. The “now we nuke ‘em” argument could have just as easily been applied at the beginning of the Kharkiv counteroffensive, or as Ukraine was ammo-starving Russian forces out of Kherson. In fact, it might have made more sense in either of those situations than saving such a threat until the point where the Russian military had been turned into paste and the only thing left in the Kremlin basement were those moldering bombs.
The problem with the “if Ukraine tries to get all of its territory back, Russia might use nukes” argument is that it is fundamentally the same as “if Ukraine tries to get any of its territory back, Russia might use nukes.”
A policy that says we should require Ukraine to make concessions before it goes into Crimea is all too readily one that says the same about the whole of Donetsk, eastern Luhansk, or cities like Mariupol. Yes, Vladimir Putin has a special, fractionally warmer spot for Crimea in his otherwise frozen heart, but that doesn’t matter one iota in either how it fits with Russian military doctrine or how blindingly stupid it would be to drop a nuke anywhere in Ukraine.
I don’t care if you can get your article published by the Modern War Institute. Ukraine is already on territory Russia claims as its own, and if that’s all you’ve got, any point you’re trying to make is already invalid.
Maybe there really is a reason that we should tell Ukraine to hold back from crossing the line into Crimea. I haven’t seen it.
snarkrates@98,
Tritium can also be produced by a neutron interacting with lithium-6 (this is exothermic, but consumes the neutron) or lithium-7 (this is endothermic, but a neutron is emitted, so one neutron produced by deuterium-tritium fusion could in principle produce more than one atom of tritium). This is the path fusion-fanbois tend to favour, suggesting that fusion reactors will breed their own fuel. No-one, AFAIK, has come up with a plausible way of actually producing as much tritium as is consumed.
…Does any of this make sense? Not really — remember, this is a franchise that involves a talking raccoon and a sentient tree with a three-word vocabulary, one where the last villain was a Living Planet played by Kurt Russell. But somehow this ridiculous comic-book film is also one of the most affecting explorations of animal welfare that I’ve ever watched, a work the NGO People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has called “an animal rights masterpiece.”…
“I value your opinion. I actually share your concerns, I share your conviction that President Trump should remain president. […] But the law matters. I took an oath under God. […] Do we still take that seriously in this country?”
[…]
Young released a statement […] will vote to certify the Electoral College results.
“Like so many of my patriotic constituents and colleagues, I too wish the results of this election were different. […] I strongly supported President Trump and his agenda the last four years. I campaigned hard for him. […]”
U.K. TO PROVIDE UKRAINE WITH LONGER-RANGE MISSILES
Almost since the beginning of the invasion, Ukraine has been appealing to the U.S. to send longer-range weapons so that it could strike at Russian bases, supply depots, and transportation infrastructure well behind the lines. The U.S. has sent along HIMARS, which provided the precision targeting necessary to take out bridges while Ukraine was working to force Russia out of western Kherson. Earlier this year, the U.S began delivering the
Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb that is likely behind some recent strikes on Russian ammo supplies. However, the U.S. has been stubbornly reluctant to provide longer-range weapons that Ukraine could use against more strategic targets in advance of the counteroffensive.
Now it seems that someone is stepping up. As the Associated Press reports, the U.K. has promised to deliver Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. With a range of over 250 kilometers, these missiles—which have been retrofitted to be launched from the MiG jets in Ukraine’s air force—could address much of the gap the U.S. created in refusing to provide tools like the MGM-140 ATACMS.
The Storm Shadow should reach over 100 km beyond the targeting range of HIMARS, meaning that supplies, which Russia moved back to put them supposedly out of reach, are in reach again. Interestingly, one of these missiles fired from near the front lines in southern Ukraine could also reach the Kerch Bridge, just in case
Russia gets that rail line up and running again.
————————
The more, the merrier. [tweet and image of Kub air defense systems that Czech President Petr Pavel announced would be sent to Ukraine. The “Sub” is capable of intercepting aircraft and helicopters.
Further evidence that Russia has had to dig into their stock of over 60-year-old T-55 tanks. The first of these tanks is a decade older than me, and I’m not about to break through anyone’s lines. Now we know why that single T-34 was so lonely on Victory Day: All its buddies are in Ukraine. Or dead. [Tweet with images showing a Russian T-55 with “double coupe level of protection.” The “protection” looks like a scaffold of branches meant to deter drones.
The Russians seem to believe the counteroffensive has already begun.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an attack near Soledar and seek to encircle Bakhmut, the Kremlin’s war correspondents said.
According to them, Ukrainian forces with the support of several units and armored groups, each with 2-3 tanks, were able to organize a breakthrough. Now the AFU is trying to consolidate on the occupied positions, and “the situation is difficult” for the Russian occupiers.
They also claim that the AFU is conducting an operation to encircle Bakhmut. And in the next 24 hours, they expect an attack by the AFU in the Zaporizhzhia region “with the aim of breaking through the first line of defense.”
The AFU General Staff has neither confirmed nor denied this information so far. [map at the link]
Prigozhin is in full hysteria mode.
“The counter-offensive is in full swing. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are entering the flanks of Artemivsk [Bakhmut] successfully. Further on they will enter the territory of Bryansk and Belgorod regions,” – Prigozhin. [Tweet and sound file with English captions is available at the link.]
Yes, the panic is contagious. Are they digging trenches around Moscow yet?
Russian forces lose a few km2 of territory around Bakhmut and random Russian milbloggers start spreading rumors that Ukrainian mechanized units are starting a thunder run towards Moscow.
Oh look! They are panicking about the Kherson region too.
BREAKING: Panic erupting on Russian Telegram after multiple reports of increased Ukrainian troop concentrations today in Beryslav
There is reportedly a large number of Ukrainian small boats gathering on the Dniepr river in the region & amphibious vehicles have been spotted too. [map at the link]
OMG! OMG! The Ukrainians are about to sack Belgorod!!!!!
Better move all those troops from Bakhmut to the border or Zelenskyy will be drinking champagne in the Kremlin by the weekend.
BREAKING: Russian Telegram channels panic about a potential Ukrainian strike toward the Russian border city of Belgorod.
Long columns of Ukrainians tanks and infantry fighting vehicles were reportedly spotted on the Kharkiv Ring Road today driving toward the Russian border. [map at the link]
It’ll probably take years just to pick up all the trash Russians have strewn across the Ukrainian landscape. But at least in their panicked retreat they also leave behind a lot of useful ammo. [Tweet and photos at the link]
[…] It really is a throwback to WWII.
Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches on already existing ww2 german positions and found a skeletal remains of apparently a german soldier. ☠️
Just to be clear, the Ukrainian counteroffensive hasn’t begun yet. The Russians are just panicking so much that it looks like mistakes will be made and some Russians will die because of the panic.
“Your party, the Republican investigators, say that that’s proof of influence peddling by Hunter and James [Biden], but that’s just your suggestion. You don’t actually have any facts to that point. You’ve got some circumstantial evidence,” said Fox host Steve Doocey in an interview with Comer on Thursday.
“Of all those names, the one person who didn’t profit — there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally.”…
They can’t even get Steve Doocy on their bandwagon. I guess FauxNews is afraid of another lawsuit.
Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc), […] reportedly the new CEO of Twitter, follows:
Chaya Raichik, Jesse Watters, Michael Shellenberger, Ron DeSantis, The Babylon Bee, Giorgia Meloni, Maye Musk, Catturd, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, Bari Weiss […] Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, Jack Posobiec, Libs of TikTok, Ian Miles Cheung, Andrew Sullivan, Richard Grenell, Tim Scott, Mike Pompeo
[…]
Linda Yaccarino was a Trump administration appointee.
The software company didn’t respond to questions about whether there was any up-front money involved, or whether it has made any investments in Helion.
to simply forgo tritium fuel […] Helion will fuse deuterium and helium-3 […] require higher temperatures than D-T […] producing fewer or even no neutrons, which avoids the material damage and radioactivity
[…]
helium-3, although stable, is nearly as rare and hard to acquire as tritium. Most commercial sources of it depend on the decay of tritium, typically from military stockpiles. Helion CEO [says] putting extra deuterium in the fuel mix, his team can generate D-D fusion reactions that breed helium-3.
birgerjohanssonsays
One of the few fun things about the war was the anemic, 3-hour Russian Victory Day parade.
“Putin’s victory day debacle; nafo reacts”
Three western milbloggers laughing their asses off and drinking whisky while watching. https://youtu.be/a1tCP8gZZAc
StevoRsays
Largest – though not brightest – astronomical “explosion” since the Big Bang seen :
When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Both numbers, which he and colleagues report in a medRxiv preprint posted on 8 May, are well above levels they calculated for 2010—and far larger than the 2% baseline estimated in a 2022 publishers’ group report…
KGsays
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain@128,
I see from your link that Helion is going for deuterium-helium3 fusion. According to this article, that’s considerably more difficult to achieve than deuterium-tritium in terms of the required temperature, although it would have some advantages if it can be done, but it also has the same basic problem that one of the ingredients (helium-3) is simply not available in significant quantities on earth. There’s more on the moon apparently.
birgerjohanssonsays
Oops.
Erratum for @ 129.
The podcast lasted three hours but Putin’s itsy bitsy parade only lasted one hour.
With one (1) tank, no flyovers.
And most of the soldiers were very young cadets, with most officers being 50+ .
There were exceptions, like the marine infantry from the Petersburg area that have not yet been strip-mined for the war.
It would have been less embarassing to cancel the parade than show how stressed and resource-strapped the Russian military has become.
OMG, Linda Yaccarino follows Sidney Powell, Mike Pompeo, Tulsi Gabbard, Libs of TikTok and other doofuses! So Elon Musk hired a sort of female Trump to run Twitter? What (more) could go wrong?
Donald Trump may be a genius reality TV carnival barker, but he is an awful criminal defendant, his own worst enemy, a defense lawyer’s nightmare, a cauldron of admissions against his own interest, an impulsive dolt who keeps digging himself deeper with almost every public utterance.
Look at the many messes Donald Trump created for himself during the CNN “town hall” fiasco:
NYT: E. Jean Carroll May Sue Trump a Third Time After ‘Vile’ Comments on CNN
NBC News: Trump’s comments on Mar-a-Lago documents ‘like red meat to a prosecutor’
NYT: Trump Suggests He Knowingly Took Documents From White House
AJC: Trump said Raffensperger ‘owed me votes’
[…] This isn’t a new revelation. Trump has been a terrible witness for himself for years in civil lawsuits. The most recent smashing example was when he mistook E. Jean Carroll – whom he notoriously derided as “not my type” – for his ex-wife Marla Maples. […]
With criminal proceedings against Trump already underway in New York state, expected this summer in Georgia, and potentially coming at any time on multiple fronts from Special Counsel Jack Smith, Trump’s own remarks being used against him by for prosecutors is going to be a recurring theme. They have an abundance of material to work with from the very stable genius.
Maybe there’s someone in your life who still doesn’t get why the CNN “town hall” format for Trump was an abdication of journalistic duty, a failure to learn any lessons of the past eight years, and frankly an embarrassment. You might show them this thoughtful thread from Paul Waldman:
1. One thing last night made clear is that not only doesn’t “fact-checking in real time” work on Trump, it’s actually JUST WHAT HE WANTS. Allow me to explain…
2. When he says “The election was rigged” or “I did complete the wall,” gets corrected and then says the lie again, steamrolling over the journalist, it isn’t about which of these competing versions of reality will be judged factually accurate.
3. The conflict, and his bullying of the journalist, is the essence of the performance. It says “We will create our own reality. You have no power over us. And the more frustrated you get, the more we win.”
4. The journalist with their petty “facts” is essential to the spectacle. Getting fact-checked then bullying the journalist is WAY better than just repeating his lie on Truth Social for the zillionth time.
5. It shows him defeating his enemy, mocking them, pouring his contempt on them while his fans applaud and cheer. Without that foil there’s no drama. When it’s over he has proven his mastery over the people he and his fans loathe.
6. That doesn’t mean anyone outside of his base is at all persuaded. But for that base, it creates a visceral thrill no other Republican can touch.
This comment is a straw man; it conflates the real need to cover Trump–something every serious news organization has to do– with the format CNN used, which proved disastrous.
——————–
[Greenfield was responding to this:] Cooper: You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again. But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?
According to tonight’s edition of Tara Palmeri’s PuckNews newsletter (sub.req.), CNN set audience ground rules for the Trump town hall which allowed audience members to cheer Trump but not boo him.
Here’s the key part of the interview with Matthew Bartlett (emphasis added)…
They did some warm up with the audience ahead of time. One of the questions was, Are there any conditions? And Kaitlan said, No, there are no conditions. And someone asked if [Trump] knew the questions ahead of time and she said he didn’t. I think a lot of people were prepared to ask questions. The floor manager came out ahead of time and said, Please do not boo, please be respectful. You were allowed to applaud. And I think that set the tone where people were going to try their best to keep this between the navigational beacons, and that if they felt compelled to applaud, they would, but they weren’t going to have an outburst or they weren’t going to boo an answer.
I don’t know what it looked like on camera, but when he was talking about certain things, whether it was the paper he took out of his pocket or on the tweets, I do feel as if he lost the audience, especially at times when he was litigating January 6th or the election. It just didn’t seem to resonate with everybody. There was a feeling of bewilderment. Again, there were plenty of people there that no matter what he said, they loved it. But there were plenty of people there with a healthy dose of New Hampshire Yankee skepticism, and were there to either talk, ask questions or to listen.
Yesterday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1580 (full text) which protects conscience rights of health care providers and insurers. The law provides in part:
It is the intent of the Legislature to provide the right of medical conscience for health care providers and payors to ensure they can care for patients in a manner consistent with their moral, ethical, and religious convictions. Further, it is the intent of the Legislature that licensed health care providers and payors be free from threat of discrimination for providing conscience-based health care….
A health care provider or health care payor has the right to opt out of participation in or payment for any health care service on the basis of a conscience-based objection….
A board … may not take disciplinary action against a health care practitioner’s license or deny a license to an individual solely because the individual has spoken or written publicly about a health care service or public policy, including, but not limited to, speech through the use of a social media platform … provided that the individual is not using such speech or written communication to provide medical advice or treatment to a specific patient or patients….
Photo shows Trump standing in front of a CNN location that looks like it has been bombed. “Emergency” is prominent on a sign. There’s copious smoke and debris.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made clear on Thursday that, despite all the fingernail-chewing hype being spread across the internet by analysts counting every crate arriving in Lviv or making a deep-dive into the daily weather forecast at Bakhmut, the much-anticipated counteroffensive is still some weeks away. That makes perfect sense. Not only are thousands of Ukrainian troops still training on combined arms tactics and becoming familiar with new gear, that gear is still arriving.
The incoming equipment doesn’t just include a big bundle of Leopard 1 tanks that are likely to equip 20 new platoons: There continue to be surprises. Those include vehicles that have appeared in Ukraine even though they were never announced by allies, such as the new long range Storm Shadow cruise missiles which could result in genuine strategic changes in how Ukraine goes forward, and even some interesting homegrown experiments.
But as Ukraine prepares for the counteroffensive, Russian sources—both on the ground and on the internet—seem to believe that it is already here. Or over here. No, over here! Movements on the ground may be small, but the direction of those movements seem to have taken a serious shift in the past week as Russian forces have reportedly curled in on themselves in response to prodding by the Ukrainian military … or they’ve run away screaming.
When it comes to what’s still to arrive in Ukraine, here’s something that few of the headlines ever pick up, but which signals how much is changing about war in the 2020s: crowd-funded warfare.
Early in the conflict, crowdsourced funding and private donations were used to purchase vehicles such as pickup trucks to supply to volunteers and medical personnel. Some groups have now purchased dozens of vehicles, painted and modified them to be more effective in the field, and provided them to both NGOs and military units. Some of those vehicles have undergone some fairly serious upgrades. [Tweet and images at the link. “Czech volunteers to donate 15 x mobile MR-2 Viktor anti-drone systems to Ukraine, equipped with twin 14.5 mm AA gun”]
But it doesn’t stop with ordinary cars and trucks. There have now been several instances in which such funding was used to purchase the same kind of gear that might otherwise be donated by a government—like a tracked armored personnel carrier with a machine gun and a few add-on grenade launchers. [Tweet and image at the link]
Honestly, I do not know where you go to buy a Spartan for transnational shipment. Crowdsourced groups are also sending Ukraine a flood of body armor, communications gear, and drones. So many drones. [NOTE: None of these embedded links constitutes an endorsement of any of the groups involved. I have done no research and cannot vouch for their authenticity or effectiveness.]
All of this gear is given with the best of intentions. Some of it may be genuinely vital. However, just as with the plethora of systems coming from government sources, crowdsourced materiel—which may come after careful consultation with troops on the front line, or may have no more thought behind them than “I bet they need some of this!”—has to be incorporated into planning and logistics if it’s going to be put to use.
The stream of new equipment coming into Ukraine is just that: a stream. Hopefully, it will never stop. Which means that the perfect time to launch a counteroffensive with the best-equipped, best-trained military is sometime in the future. And it always will be.
Fortunately, that’s not Zelenskyy’s target. He’s made it clear that the counteroffensive will proceed when the Ukrainian military has enough equipment and enough training that it can achieve significant objectives without suffering high levels of loss. That may not be today, but it could still easily come within the next few weeks. That the summer months will also come with drier, firmer ground over which all those new Western tanks can roll is just a bonus.
Of course, it wouldn’t be possible to wait if Russia was making daily advances on the front. If, as seemed all too possible a few weeks ago, Bakhmut was in Russia’s rearview mirror and the threat was creeping steadily closer to Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, the need for Ukraine to do something to take the pressure off Donetsk oblast would have been extreme—even if that something meant limiting the potential scope and impact of a counteroffensive.
Surprise: That didn’t happen. If there’s anything that best defines the difference between those gloomy assessments for the potential of a counteroffensive from last fall and rising expectations that Ukraine might just sink Russia’s metaphorical battleship (along with its real battleships), it’s simply this: Ukraine’s 56th largest city did not fall into the hands of Russia.
The town of Bakhmut held little strategic significance. The Battle of Bakhmut may turn out to be of infinite significance. It means that Ukraine doesn’t need to shape its plans around a Russian advance. It can take its time, select its targets, and focus its forces for maximum impact.
Still, just because the counteroffensive could be weeks away, that doesn’t mean Ukrainian forces can’t go on the attack. And reports are that they have. Those reports are, quite literally, from one end of the front to the other—from the roads north of Kupyansk to the swamps south of Kherson, and at many points in between.
[…] Just as Republicans prepared to advance their bill on fraudulent Covid unemployment benefits, Republican Rep. George Santos was indicted by federal prosecutors — and accused of, among other things, illegally receiving Covid unemployment benefits.
Making matters a bit worse, the scandal-plagued New York congressman is a co-sponsor of the bill.
As we discussed the other day, party leaders were asked about these inconvenient details at a press conference, and they didn’t appear especially pleased. But they went forward with their plan anyway, and it passed yesterday, 230 to 200.
Naturally, Santos participated in the vote, and despite the criminal allegations, he voted for the legislation he co-sponsored.
The developments didn’t do House Republicans any favors: What they saw as a political winner proved to be embarrassing because of Santos. What’s more, the GOP won’t get anything substantive out of this, since the bill faces long odds in the Democratic-led Senate.
But the relatively close margin of the vote got me thinking: What made this bill controversial? Or more to the point, why did 200 House Democrats vote against the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act?
The idea behind the proposal seems relatively straightforward: The bill intends to recoup Covid unemployment benefits from those who improperly received them, in part by giving prosecutors more time to file fraud charges.
So what’s the problem? A HuffPost report explained:<blockquote>[T]he bill would also repeal fraud prevention funds Democrats provided to state workforce agencies as part of the American Rescue Plan in 2021. … Repealing the anti-fraud money, Democrats said, meant the bill would do the opposite of what Republicans claimed ― and that it would stifle efforts to catch people who fraudulently file for benefits like Santos allegedly did.
Oh.
The HuffPost report flagged Rep. Danny Davis’ remarks during the legislative debate. “These Democratic anti-fraud dollars helped the Department of Labor create an important cross-checking system to catch fraudsters who apply for unemployment in one state while receiving income in another,” the Illinois Democrat explained, “a practice for which a Republican House member reportedly was indicted earlier this week.” […]
Kupyansk: Russian sources are reporting that Ukraine has sent reinforcements into this area and there have been reports of increasing shelling from both sides. What’s more interesting is where Russia has been shelling—towns like Lyman Pershyi and Hryanykivka which they previously claimed to control. Earlier this week, Ukrainian forces were reportedly fighting north of Synkivka on the outskirts of Vilshana, as well as pushing through the villages southeast of Dvorichna. Russia even shelled Vilshana on Friday.
I’m not quite ready to report any of these villages as liberated, and Ukraine has yet to confirm this activity. It’s also hard to tell what the scale of these engagements might be. When Russia moved into some of these locations over the fall and winter, they did so because Ukraine had essentially withdrawn from the area, so Russia’s “advance” was more just strolling in to take open positions.
But now Ukraine appears to be actively pushing Russia back to where the lines stood last summer, and with reports of new Ukrainian forces in the area, that advance could soon carry them into areas that Russia has controlled since the first days of the invasion. [map at the link]
Bakhmut: Yes, I skipped my own map here and pulled in one from the Ukrainian Telegraph channel Deep State [map at the link]. I did that for a very special reason. See those patches of blue south of the city? That’s the first blue that Deep State has added to their map in six months.
Ukrainian forces have made multiple thrusts over 1 km into formerly Russian-occupied areas south of the city. Honestly, that Deep State map is very conservative, because there are reports from both Ukrainian and Russian forces that Ukraine has pushed back Russian forces north of Khromove and at multiple locations within the city. Several of these moves seem directed at making both the T0504 and “Road of life” routes more passable, and videos of vehicles on the move seem to suggest that Bakhmut has already gone from a location where the only routes in and out were over mud, to a place where Ukrainian forces have options in their lines of communication.
Here’s just one of those actions not included on the Deep State map. [map at the link]
In the past 24-48 hours (leaning more towards 24), north of Bakhmut, Ukraine has reversed about 2.5 months worth of Russian advances.
Videos on Friday appear to show Ukrainian forces moving confidently through areas of western Bakhmut that were scenes of heavy conflict last week. The most enthusiastic of the on-the-ground sources are already talking about Ukraine launching a move that encircles Russian troops, completely reversing the situation that seemed so ominous a short time ago.
In the last hour, Russian military officials announced that Russia was pulling back from northern Bakhmut to “more advantageous positions by the Berkhivka Reservoir.” If true, that’s just astounding. That’s literally thousands of Wagner troops who died so Russia could occupy a slice of Bakhmut for just a few weeks before handing it back.
[…] It’s way too early to go to “Ukraine is going to rout Russia at Bakhmut,” or to think the possibility of Russia making further advances there is over. But for the moment, the disorder on the Russian side continues and everywhere Ukraine attacks, they seem to be advancing.
One final Bakhmut note: There are reports about what’s happening that don’t pin the results on squabbling among the Russians, but exactly what is expected from the counteroffensive—improved Western tactics and better conditions on the ground.
CNN’s Nic Robertson interview 4 Ukrainian commanders who took part in the recent, successful counterattacks on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
They say that improved weather, combined with the arrival of Western infantry fighting vehicles, is what made it possible for them to advance. [Tweet and video at the link]
Avdiivka: There were multiple reports of a Ukrainian advance on Thursday, but both Ukrainian and Russian sources are now denying any significant change in the area. Ukraine had already driven well east of the city last week, approaching the H20 highway junction and limiting Russian movements in the area. However, for right now, it doesn’t seem there have been any significant changes in the past few days.
Novodonetske: This Russian-occupied town is located west of Vuhledar and east of Velyka Novosilka. Reports suggest that Ukraine may have broken Russian lines in this area and placed control of Novodonetske in doubt. But at the moment I have no confirmation of this action and no good way to determine the scope of changes, so I’m skipping the map for now. Treat it as rumor.
Kherson: There are two things underway in this area worth noting. One is that Ukraine seems to have dislodged Russia from most of the islands in the Dnipro southwest of Kherson. These areas may not have been liberated by Ukraine, but they have at least moved from Russian control to disputed … though they’re probably liberated.
The more interesting activity may be continued reports of Ukrainian landing forces on the eastern bank of the Dnipro. There have been small-scale crossings at several points since shortly after Russia was forced to abandon its positions west of the river. This area has also been a hotbed of partisan activity, with many Russian troops meeting mysterious ends and several facilities blown up without the need for artillery.
But in the past two days, Russian accounts on Telegraph have been rife with reports that Ukrainian troops were crossing the river in force and setting up camp
Russia certainly seems to believe it, as they are reported to be moving forces from the area northeast of Crimea to meet this supposed threat. [Tweet and video at the link]
However, the biggest thing that seems to be underway in the area is Russian Panic. Not only are they reportedly moving more troops to the area, the reports that Ukraine has already crossed—at Kakhovka, or near Tyahynka, or somewhere just northeast of Kherson—keep pouring in. There are calls for Russian forces to mine the riverbank.
There almost certainly have been several actual, though small, Ukrainian crossings in the last few days, in addition to Ukrainian troops pushing Russia from positions in the river [islands]. Pair that with continued partisan activity and both sides lobbing shells across the river, and a Kherson crossing seems to be high on the list of things that are worrying Russia—or at least, pro-Russian sources.
But honestly, I can’t tell how much of this is real. Russia seems to be in a panic state everywhere, and rushing to the left bank of the Dnipro may sound a lot more appealing than hurrying to plug the holes at Bakhmut.
Waiting for confirmation.
————————-
Large explosions were reported in the occupied city of Luhansk. At least one of these seems to be at the Luhansk Machine Building Plant, which was reportedly involved in the repair of military vehicles. These explosions were about 80 to 100 km from the front lines. That puts them in range of a variety of weapons, possibly including HIMARS, but there are some suggestions that this may represent Ukraine trying out those Storm Shadow missiles. [Tweet and image at the link]
—————————
Of course, Prigozhin has something to say about all this. But that very first paragraph, the one that says Wagner controls 95% of Bakhmut and is continuing to push? That’s never been true, and it’s even more of a lie now.
Russian defense in Bakhmut and around the city continues to crumble – Prigozhin’s fits speak for that.
Prigozhin published a letter to Shoigu, calling Shoigu to visit Bakhmut.
The letter says that on the flanks that were defended by the Russian army, Ukrainian Armed Forces have made a number of successful counterattacks.
What do you think – will Shoigu visit Bakhmut by himself or together with Gerasimov? [letter available at the Twitter link embedded at the main link]
Accidentally funny stuff courtesy of Republicans in Texas:
[…] Now I have never been to even one strip club, drag show, or burlesque performance where a school field trip was taking place, but I have been to plenty of football games where the booty shaking tripped the richter scale. But what happens when the tribute to wealthy male sexism, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, gets swept up in the rush to discriminate? […]
The proposed bills would make it a criminal offense “to engage in sexually oriented performances on public property, on the premises of a commercial enterprise, or in the presence of a child.” While the intent was to ban drag shows from public libraries, the broad language could affect NFL cheerleaders, popular restaurants like Hooters and Twin Peaks, R-rated movies and even youth cheerleaders.
[…] we all know these good upstandin’ men that hail from Farm-to-Market roads were only trying to stop drag shows right? They would never go after those beauties that sometimes eclipse interest in the game itself. Right?
Luke Macias, a political consultant from New Braunfels who supports the bill, was asked point blank by Rep. Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat whose district includes Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield, if banning “prurient content” in front of kids would apply to NFL cheerleaders.
Macias said “maybe.” ”Worst scenario is we have a few less cheerleaders in Texas for a year and a half,” he said. How about taking kids to the movies? “If this bill actually extends to rated R-movies in theaters, I think that would be a huge blessing,” Macias said. “I hope it does.”
Ok, so now Texas Republicans want to decide what kind of movie your teen-ager can watch even in your presence. And of course, children do attend NFL football games. So now we have to determine what constitutes “prurient content” in the context of this proposed law. While I find cheerleading to be a sexist relic of 20th century gender role assumptions, I also do not want to tell a person who likes to dance, and wear clothes that accentuate what they choose to accentuate, that those choices are illegal.
It is if you are saying that presenting oneself as attractive according to their own choices, is inherently wrong. One can be attractive without appealing to sexual desires. In fact, as it turns out, whether or not a man can keep a gun in his holster is a him problem, not a them problem. But let’s define “prurient.”
adjective
having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.
causing lasciviousness or lust.
having a restless desire or longing.
Oxford Languages goes a different route:
pru·ri·ent
adjective
having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters.
“she’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”
To this I will say that one person’s excessive sex is another’s happy marriage.
In Europe, there are such things as co-ed saunas. Nudity is not inherently sexual. So neither would being scantily clad. Dancing is not inherently sexual. But being sexually suggestive is subjective as it is both a personal choice, and a personal reaction. […]
Macias goes on to say, that, “the less twerking the better.”
Now see, that is not really any of his business. When I was younger, it was well known that one of the ways universities recruited “good upstanding boys” for college football was the extensive Texas network of strip clubs. Twerking was plenty popular then, back when it was called, “putting girls through school.”
[…] overreach against their own, ahem, prurient interests?
[…] So we now live in a world where Republicans are not just merely politically shooting themselves in the foot, they are taking said wounded foot, and mowing the lawn with no shoes. […]
It’s been four days since a jury in New York found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll. In that time, the former president’s allies have contorted themselves into pretzels to spin this as a win because there was no finding of liability on the rape count.
Alan Dershowitz acknowledged the jury finding that Trump “kinda molested her,” but called it a “Rorschach verdict” which would allow each side to claim victory. He went on to explain that Trump couldn’t possibly have defamed Carroll because the jury didn’t believe the rape charge and more or less affirmed that she’s a liar. The technical legal term for that is “horseshit.” The jury assessed $3 million of the $5 million award for defamation, and a finding that Carroll was slightly hazy on which part of his body that orange animal managed to penetrate her with is no kind of exoneration.
Dersh went on to confidently predict that anyone “not named Trump” would easily win on appeal, based on multiple grounds including the fact that the jury was anonymous. In point of fact, Judge Lewis Kaplan announced his intention to have an anonymous jury on January 17 and told the parties to raise any objections by February 7. Neither Carroll nor Trump did, meaning that the issue was totally waived on appeal. Media intervenors did seek to learn the names of the jurors, though, prompting the court to issue a nine-page ruling detailing the many times Trump had unleashed the mob on court personnel, jurors, and civil servants, and noting that the state courthouse across the street had been inundated with protestors summoned by Trump while suffering a wave of bomb threats after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg dared to indict him. So leaving aside the cold reality that the issue of the anonymous jury is off the table … yes, Dersh is right that someone “not named Trump” might get a different reception on appeal, so long as that person had no history of using his massive platform to incite violence.
Meanwhile over on Truth Social, Trump was losing his shit in a multi-burp tirade that only ended when CNN allowed him to drop his drawers and take a dump onstage for his adoring fans. Which is not the behavior of someone who is laboring under the impression that he actually “won” the case, even partially. [example of Trump post]
And as if to confirm, Trump immediately noticed his appeal of the entire jury verdict, which is not something you tend to do if you think you won. He’s not required to say yet on what grounds he intends to challenge the lower court ruling, but the appeal is likely to center on the evidence Judge Kaplan admitted and excluded. Trump will say that the propensity evidence — that is, the testimony of the two other women who accused him of assault in similar circumstances as well as the “Access Hollywood” tape was unduly prejudicial. He’ll also argue that it was reversible error for the court to exclude evidence of Carroll’s litigation funding, his DNA, and, bizarrely, the fact that her cat was named “Vagina.” (Because it’s totally legal to abuse someone with a slutty name for her cat???) [Example of Trump post]
To reverse the case, Trump would have to prove abuse of discretion by the trial judge, an almost insurmountable standard. But he’ll probably be able to stop Carroll, who is almost 80, from getting the money for at least a year. Trump has also promised to sue Carroll and her lawyer Roberta Kaplan for defamation, but he talks a lot of shit.
In the meantime, the court has unsealed a veritable flood of lunatic motions filed by Trump’s supporters, in case you wanted to spend your weekend reading a disquisition on rape laws from1880 or a 50-page, handwritten manifesto from someone who claims “First, defendant is my half brother. He suffers from bipolar disorder, as do I.”
Well, it’s a lot. But the important thing to remember is that Trump lost, and E. Jean Carroll won. And it is almost certain to stay that way on appeal.
A severe shortage of immigration judges has led to long delays for asylum cases. The backlog is expected to grow now that pandemic-era border restrictions have been lifted.
President Biden’s attempt to deal efficiently with a new surge of migration following the end of Title 42 pandemic restrictions has focused new attention on a severe shortage of judges, the result of longstanding neglect that has overwhelmed the immigration court system with a backlog of more than 2 million cases.
The court system is riddled with yearslong delays and low morale as judges struggle to keep up with the volume of immigration cases, leaving undocumented immigrants who have long waited in the United States in limbo.
The bottleneck shows how the challenges of dealing with a surge in immigration do not end at the southern border. Even as scrutiny has turned to how Border Patrol agents will manage crowds of migrants, public officials and immigration experts say that bolstering the invisible work force of immigration judges is crucial to reforming the system.
President Biden has made slight progress — hiring nearly 140 judges since fiscal year 2022 — but is still falling short on his campaign pledge to double the number of immigration judges. Still, some of the judges will be working seven days a week while the administration confronts the new surge, according to the Justice Department.
Eliza C. Klein, who left her position as an immigration judge in April, said the latest increase of illegal crossings will strain the understaffed work force of about 650 judges as they prioritize migrants who recently crossed the border. That will leave some older cases to languish even longer, she said.
“This is a great tragedy because it creates a second class of citizens,” said Ms. Klein, who started working as an immigration judge in the Clinton administration, said of those immigrants who have been waiting years for an answer to their case. The oldest case Ms. Klein ever adjudicated had been pending in the court for 35 years.
“It’s a disgrace,” she said. “My perspective, my thought, is that we’re not committed in this country to having a just system.”
The backlog of immigration cases grew to 1 million in 2019 during the Trump administration. It has increased since then to more than 2 million cases, according to data collected by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. The average time it takes to close an immigration case is about four years, according to the database. But some judges say they still have immigration cases that have been pending for more than a decade. […]
More at the link.
Reginald Selkirksays
@144:
”Worst scenario is we have a few less cheerleaders in Texas for a year and a half,” he said.
What was that bit about? Does the law expire in 18 months? Is he expecting it to be overturned?
Two men at the centre of a scandal that rocked the world of competitive fishing have been sentenced to 10 days in jail.
Jacob Runyan, 43, and Chase Cominsky, 36, were disqualified last September from an Ohio contest to catch the heaviest walleye in Lake Erie.
In dramatic scenes caught on tape, the tournament director exposed the pair for stuffing their catch with lead weights and fish fillets.
Prosecutors said the “two crooks” had likely cheated in other tournaments.
The fishing frauds will spend a year and a half on probation after they complete their jail terms and each must also pay a fine worth $2,500 (£2,000).
Both men have had their fishing licences suspended over the incident for three years, the maximum penalty allowable by law, and Cominsky was also required to forfeit his boat worth $130,000…
Former Trump prosecutor Mark Pomerantz invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his deposition before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday, slamming the GOP-led panel’s investigation as “political theater” in his opening statement.
Pomerantz, who investigated Trump at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said he was appearing before the committee “as required” because “I respect the rule of law,” before issuing a sharp rebuke of the panel’s probe and disclosing his intent to plead the Fifth.
“What I do not respect is the use of the Committee’s subpoena power to compel me to participate in an act of political theater,” Pomerantz’s statement reads. “This deposition is for show. I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative ‘oversight.’”
“Fortunately, I do not have to cooperate with the cynical histrionics that this deposition represents,” it later adds. “Although the rule of law compels me to be here, it does not require that I play a substantive role in your theatrical production. Under the law, I can decline to answer your questions for several reasons.” …
Kansas’ Democratic governor on Friday vetoed Republican legislation that would have provided a financial boost to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and prevented officials fighting outbreaks of contagious diseases from prohibiting public gatherings or ordering infected people to isolate themselves.
The two measures were part of a wave of conservative policies passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures this year, including ones in Kansas rolling back transgender rights and establishing new restrictions on abortion providers. But Gov. Laura Kelly’s two vetoes will stand because lawmakers have adjourned for the year, barring any attempt at overriding them.
The anti-abortion measure would have granted up to $10 million a year in new state income tax credits to donors to the more than 50 centers across the state that provide free counseling, classes, supplies and other services to pregnant people and new parents to discourage abortions…
A man angry that his girlfriend had an abortion in another state fatally shot the 26-year-old woman, Dallas police said.
He was jailed on a murder charge as of Friday.
Texas banned abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in September 2021. But nearly all abortions have been halted in Texas since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, except in cases of medical emergency.
Gabriella Gonzalez was with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Harold Thompson, in a Dallas parking lot Wednesday when he tried to put her in a chokehold, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She had returned from Colorado the night before.
“It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child,” the affidavit said. “The suspect did not want (Gonzalez) to get an abortion.”
Surveillance video from the parking lot shows Gonzalez “shrugs him off,” police said, and the two continue walking. Thompson then pulls out a gun and shoots Gonzalez in the head. She falls to the ground and Thompson shoots her multiple times before running away, the affidavit said…
An image has emerged that strongly suggests the Ukrainian military has received and is now employing U.S.-made ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoys, or MALDs. All of the variants of the MALD are essentially small cruise missiles used to deceive enemy air defenses, not attack them kinetically. Depending on the exact variant, these decoys can be used to jam enemy radars or otherwise trick their operators into thinking threats are approaching from various directions, in many cases drawing defenders’ attention and resources away from actual incoming threats…
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
There are unconfirmed reports that another plane and helicopter has crashed, in what appears to be a disastrous day for Russian aviation. Moscow Telegram channels reported that an SU-35 warplane had been shot down too, together with a second Mi8 helicopter.
Another military helicopter crashed on Friday in Crimea. It was unclear whether the two aircraft and two helicopters were downed on Saturday because of friendly fire, or if the Ukrainians targeted them with missiles.
Ukrainian forces have regained at least a kilometre of territory in Bakhmut amid a Russian withdrawal that reflects Moscow’s “severe shortage of credible combat units”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence briefing. It said elements of a Russian brigade withdrew “in bad order” from their positions on the southern flank of the eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the war’s longest battle. The brigade had been “dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness”.
Interesting. Anatoliy Schtefan just now lists a number of commanders of the 4th Motor Rifle Brigade of the ex-DPR forces as 200, and adds that Klischiivka (near Bakhmut, flank) is Ukraine.
The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that had been feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions. … ‘We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning,’ said Blas Nunez-Neto of the Department of Homeland Security.
That’s a reference to the surge which some people expected when Title 42 disappeared.
New York Times:
Concerns had been building that the lifting of the order, known as Title 42, would bring scenes of chaos at the border as more people tried to enter with the expectation that they would get to apply for asylum. While a greater number crossed the border than usual in recent days, putting pressure on processing facilities and border towns, there were few signs of disorder in the hours after the policy expired at midnight.
A federal judge [appointed by George H.W. Bush] in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional. The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, if not overturned, would allow dealers to sell handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds.
The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border.
Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost simultaneously” in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.
“According to preliminary data … the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up – among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down.”
The Russian state news agency TASS said a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.
TASS also cited an emergency services official as saying an engine fire in a helicopter had caused it to crash near Klintsy, which is about 40 km (25 miles) from the border.
It made no mention of the Su-35, or of a second helicopter.
I’ve read speculations that it was saboteurs with MANPADS, friendly fire from Russian air defense freaked out about Storm Shadows, and Storm Shadows.
An air group of two SU fighter jets (34 and 35) and two support helicopters flew over the Bryansk region to launch a “missile-bomb attack” (officially) on the civilian population of Chernihiv region in Ukraine. The air group was destroyed by “unidentified persons.” Justice, as it is, and instant karma… “Killers on wings” were destroyed BEFORE the next crime would be committed…
In front of an exuberant crowd, North Carolina’s Democratic governor vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned nearly all abortions in his state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Hundreds of abortion-rights activists and voters watched on a plaza in the capital of Raleigh as Gov. Roy Cooper affixed his veto stamp to the bill. The veto launches a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to attempt to override Cooper’s veto after they recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers. The bill was the Republican response to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade…
The trio of Trump Towers on Sunny Isles Beach draws its share of gawkers, thanks to Donald Trump’s licensing deal that plastered his name on the oceanfront development.
But on Thursday, the luxury high-rise complex drew the attention of law enforcement, namely the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A squad of FBI special agents, assisted by local police, descended on Trump Tower III at 15811 Collins Ave. to carry out a search of unit 4102. It’s owned by a shell company, MIC-USA LLC, that is controlled by two Russian businessmen, Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva, according to state corporation records…
Before becoming president in 2016, Trump signed a deal with the developers of the 45-story condo buildings to name the property after him to help promote sales. Foreign buyers, especially from Latin America and Russia, flocked to Trump Towers, as they did with other Trump-branded properties in Sunny Isles Beach…
Jack Teixeira, dressed in camouflage fatigues, his finger wrapped around the trigger of a semiautomatic rifle, faced the camera and spoke as though reciting an oath.
“Jews scam, n—–s rape, and I mag dump.”
Teixeira raised his weapon, aimed at an unseen target and fired 10 times in rapid succession, emptying the magazine of bullets.
The six-second video, taken at a gun range near Teixeira’s home in Massachusetts, affords a brief but illuminating glimpse into the offline world of the 21-year-old National Guard member, who stands accused of leaking a trove of classified military intelligence on the group-chat platform Discord.
Previously unpublished videos and chat logs reviewed by The Washington Post, as well as interviews with several of Teixeira’s close friends, suggest that he was readying for what he imagined would be a violent struggle against a legion of perceived adversaries — including Blacks, political liberals, Jews, gay and transgender people — who would make life intolerable for the kind of person Teixeira professed to be: an Orthodox Christian, politically conservative and ready to defend, if not the government of the United States, a set of ideals on which he imagined it was founded.
[…] By the time of his arrest, filings by federal prosecutors show that Teixeira had amassed a small arsenal of rifles, shotguns and pistols, as well as a helmet, gas mask and night-vision goggles, all under the roof of the house where he lived with his mother and stepfather. The Post obtained and verified two videos taken at their home in Dighton, Mass., where the FBI arrested Teixeira last month.
[…] For Teixeira, firearms practice seemed to be more than a hobby. “He used the term ‘race war’ quite a few times,” said a close friend who spent time with Teixeira in an online community on Discord, a platform popular with video game players, and had lengthy private phone and video calls with him over the course of several years.
“He did call himself racist, multiple times,” the friend said in an interview. “I would say he was proud of it.”
[…] Teixeira’s preparations for civil chaos weren’t limited to arms; knowledge was also power. His job as a computer technician at Otis Air Force Base, on Cape Cod, gave him access to the Pentagon’s network for top-secret information, where, according to his friends, Teixeira viewed thousands of classified documents on a vast range of topics, from the war in Ukraine to North Korean ballistic missile launches to attempts by foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections. Teixeira shared some of this intelligence bounty with a band of about two dozen people in a Discord server he came to control called Thug Shaker Central. (The server’s name, the most often used of several, is a racist allusion.) […]
Teixeira wanted his online companions, many of them teenage boys, to “be prepared for things the government might do, reinforcing to them that the government was lying to them,” said the close friend, who was also a member of the server. Beginning in 2022, the year after Teixeira was granted a top-secret government security clearance following a standard background investigation, he began posting classified documents in the server, first typing them out by hand and later uploading photographs of printed documents bearing classification markings and restrictions on their distribution. […]
He referred to mainstream press as “zogshit,” appropriating a popular white-supremacist slur for the “Zionist Occupied Government.” Friends said that during live video chats, Teixeira expounded on baseless accusations of shadowy, sinister control by Jewish and liberal elites, as well as corrupt law enforcement authorities.
“He had quite a few conspiratorial beliefs,” the close friend said, adding: “I remember him multiple times talking about things like Waco and Ruby Ridge, and talking about how the government kills their own people,” referring to a pair of notorious armed standoffs that the far right has held up as emblematic of government oppression.
[…] In a statement, a spokesperson for Discord said: “We have removed content, terminated user accounts, and are cooperating with the efforts of the United States Departments of Defense and Justice in connection with this incident.”
“In this instance, we have banned users involved with the original distribution of the materials, deleted content deemed to be against our Terms of Service and issued warnings to users who continue to share the materials in question,” the spokesperson added.
[…] For the teenagers Teixeira had taken under his wing, the classified documents offered an education about how the world secretly worked. “He wanted to be seen as someone who’s powerful or looked up to,” the friend said. “He wanted them to be what he thought was the ideal, the ideal man.”
Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla and other automakers are eliminating AM radio from some new vehicles, stirring protests against the loss of a medium that has shaped American life for a century.
[…] The breakup is entirely one-sided, a move by major automakers to eliminate AM radios from new vehicles despite protests from station owners, listeners, first-responders and politicians from both major parties.
Automakers, such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda and Tesla, are removing AM radios from new electric vehicles because electric engines can interfere with the sound of AM stations. And Ford, one of the nation’s top-three auto sellers, is taking a bigger step, eliminating AM from all of its vehicles, electric or gas-operated.
Some station owners and advertisers contend that losing access to the car dashboard will indeed be a death blow to many of the nation’s 4,185 AM stations — the possible demise of a core element of the nation’s delivery system for news, political talk (especially on the right) [potentially good news], coverage of weather emergencies and foreign language programming.
[…] the AM audience has been aging for decades. Ford says its data, pulled from internet-connected vehicles, shows that less than 5 percent of in-car listening is to AM stations.
The 2024 Mustang is Ford’s first internal combustion model to be marketed without AM.
Several big automakers, including Toyota and Honda, say they have no plans to eliminate AM radio, and General Motors, the nation’s top-selling carmaker, has not announced its intentions.
[…] their audience, much of which is older, tends not to be adept at the technologies that let drivers stream anything they choose from their smartphones into their car’s audio system.
The removal of AM radio from cars — where about half of AM listening takes place — has sparked bipartisan protests. Some Democrats are fighting to save stations that often are the only live source of local information during extreme weather, as well as outlets that target immigrant audiences. Some Republicans, meanwhile, claim the elimination of AM radio is aimed at diminishing the reach of conservative talk radio, an AM mainstay from Sean Hannity to Glenn Beck to dozens of acolytes of the late Rush Limbaugh. Eight of the country’s 10 most popular radio talk shows are conservative.
“The automobile is essential to liberty,” right-wing talk show host Mark Levin told his listeners last month. “It’s freedom. So the control of the automobile is about the control of your freedom. They finally figured out how to attack conservative talk radio.”
[…] In a last-ditch campaign to keep AM in cars, broadcasters are teaming up with conservative activists, first-responders and liberals who view AM as a vital source of diversity in media. Seven former Federal Emergency Management Agency leaders joined in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg saying that removing AM radio from cars is “a grave threat to future local, state, and federal disaster response and relief efforts.”
[…] Just as most music programming shifted from AM to FM in the 1970s and ’80s, he predicted that the talk, news and sports found mostly on AM will move to places such as satellite radio, internet streaming and podcasts.
[…] Starnes thinks KWAM can survive the loss of AM in cars. He says listeners will stick with AM stations, even with a little interference from electric engines, just as they’ve long accepted some static from power lines or lightning. “There’s something about getting in the car and turning on an AM station,” he said. “I love the crackle.”
Much more at the link.
I confess to having a lack of objectivity on this issue. A few years before he died, my father became a political rightwing extremist largely because he listened to Rush Limbaugh on AM radio every day.
People’s minds can be poisoned over time.
lumipunasays
Re 43:
Vladimir Putin has signed decrees canceling the visa requirement for Georgian citizens to travel to Russia and removing the ban on flights from Russia to Georgia that was imposed in June 2019.
Georgia citizens traveling to Russia for work or academic study, as well as anybody seeking to stay for more than 90 days, will still need visas, according to the document. The new policy is set to come into effect on May 15…
Meanwhile, Finnish media reports that Russia has recently revoked at least some long term tourist visas held by Finns. There was no announcement, just people being turned away at the border. Unclear if Russia is still issuing new tourist visas, or any visas.
Since early last year, Finland has advised against travel to Russia. Some people still go there to buy cheap gas, while others have family or work or property across the border. Russians haven’t been able to enter Finland on tourist visas since last September. If the new policy is meant to be reciprocal, Russia isn’t making it widely known.
Ukrainian troops are advancing in two directions in the eastern city of Bakhmut but the situation in the city centre is more complicated, deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said.
“The enemy is not able to take control of the city,” Malyar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
LOS ANGELES — Caryn Marjorie, 23, a social media influencer with nearly 2 million followers on Snapchat, never has time to talk to all her fans. She posts photos and videos of herself throughout the day, and her 98 percent male fan base responds with an endless stream of messages and requests.
She spends about five hours a day in a Telegram group she created that super fans pay to join, but she can only respond to so many comments at a time.
So, this week she launched CarynAI, an AI chatbot leveraging GPT-4 API technology developed by OpenAI that replicates her voice, mannerisms and personality. For $1 a minute, fans can chat with CarynAI in an “immersive AI experience” that feels almost like speaking to Marjorie herself. The launch of CarynAI was first reported by Fortune.
Given the product’s growth rate, once she’s able to onboard all the fans who’ve expressed interest, she estimates she’s on track to earn about $5 million a month. The product made more than $100,000 the first week, she said. and there’s a waiting list of thousands to gain access.
[…]
CarynAI shows how AI applications can increase the ability of a single person to reach an audience of thousands in a way that, for users, may feel distinctly personal. The impact could be enormous for someone forming something resembling a personal relationship with thousands or millions of online followers. It could also show how thin and tenuous these simulations of human connection could become.
[…]
“The reason why I created CarynAI was because I wanted to cure loneliness from my fan base,” she said.
[…]
CarynAI is the first major release from a company called Forever Voices. The company previously has created realistic AI chatbots that allow users to talk with replicated versions of Steve Jobs, Kanye West, Donald Trump and Taylor Swift. Forever Voices said those chatbots are primarily for promotion of its services and it does not have formal partnerships with those celebrities yet. CarynAI is a far more sophisticated product, the company says, and part of Forever Voices’ new AI companion initiative, meant to provide users with a girlfriend-like experience that fans can emotionally bond with.
[…]
Marjorie said that since CarynAI has rolled out, she’s been subject to significant backlash along with the attention that comes with going viral. She fled her home and hired a security team that is working closely with law enforcement after people, outraged at the concept of an AI girlfriend, made terrifying threats against her. “A lot of people have just been kind of really mad at the existence of this. They think that it’s the end of humanity,” she said.
Marjorie hopes the backlash will fade when other online personalities begin rolling out their own AI companions. Meyer said several have contacted him since CarynAI’s launch.
“I think in the next five years, most Americans will have an AI companion in their pocket in some way, shape or form, whether it’s an ultra flirty AI that you’re dating, an AI that’s your personal trainer, or simply a tutor companion. Those are all things that we are building internally,” he said.
Based on the leaked Pentagon papers and some announcements from Ukraine, bits and pieces of information have emerged about how Ukraine plans to distribute some of its best Western Tanks.
– Ukraine has committed an unknown number of Leopard 2 tanks to both the 1st and 4th Tank Brigades, who have been the most powerful tank units in the Ukrainian army up until today. […] both brigades participated in Leopard 2 training in Poland and Germany.
– The leaked Pentagon papers revealed that Ukraine has assigned 18 Leopard 2A4s and 14 Leopard 2A6s to the newly formed 33rd Mechanized Brigade, although reporters observing the training of the 33rd believed they will be primarily equipped with Soviet BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) and T-72 tanks.
– The veteran 25th and 80th Air Assault Brigades got Challenger 2 tanks.
– The newly formed 47th Assault Brigade got over 100 Bradley IFVs to be paired with M-55S tanks (heavily upgraded 70-year-old T-55 tanks).
– Marder and CV90 IFVs (some of the best IFVs Ukraine received alongside Bradleys) were distributed to unnamed veteran mechanized infantry brigades.
So let us sort through this.
THE BEST WESTERN EQUIPMENT
Some of the best tanks and IFVs received by Ukraine may represent some of its most potent offensive firepower, so how Ukraine is choosing to distribute its weapons is interesting to see. Among the weapons I’ve listed above, here are the numbers that are known to have been delivered, or imminent deliveries that are expected per Oryx.
Western Tanks
Leopard 2 x 74 (further 19 expected to be delivered by early 2024)
2A4 x 40
2A6 x 24
Strv 122 x 10 (Equivalent to 2A5)
Challenger 2 x 14
Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV)
M2 Bradley x 109
Marder x 40
CV90 x 50
So this is a fairly small number of “elite” equipment that Ukraine can distribute: roughly 88 modern Western tanks and just under 200 of the best IFVs.
The reason I set aside Bradleys, Marders, and CV90s as being “special” among IFVs is that these are the IFVs that can utterly dominate the BMP-2, Russia’s primary IFV. The Bradley has the TOW 2, the Marder has the MILAN anti-tank missiles, and their anti-armor ammunition for their main guns is stellar. While the CV90s Ukraine received lack an integrated anti-tank missile system, the 40mm autocannon is exceptionally powerful among IFVs and is even a threat to older Russian tanks.
We have no information on where some other notable equipment is being assigned:
– 60-120 PT-91 Tanks (60 confirmed deliveries in March/April 2023, conflicted reports of an unknown number of PT-91 (as many as 60) that may have been delivered in Summer 2022)
– 90 Stryker IFVs
– 200 Rosomak IFVs
– 4 BFSTS (artillery coordinating command Bradleys)
– Unknown number of M1131 Strykers (artillery coordination command Strykers).
Furthermore, this is a small fraction of weapons Ukraine has received in the past four months that I am highlighting. Oryx indicates around 300 tanks, 400 IFVs, and 700 APCs (armored personnel carriers) were committed to Ukraine since November 2022, and NATO indicates 98% has already been delivered to Ukraine.
So Ukraine could do one of two things with this “elite” equipment: It could concentrate them into a pair of extremely powerful brigades, or it could break them up into several smaller units that make multiple brigades more powerful. Based on available information, it appears Ukraine has mostly chosen the latter approach.
1ST/4TH TANK BRIGADES
The 1st Tank Brigade was armed with highly upgraded T-64 Oblats, and fought effectively both at the Siege of Chernihiv north of Kyiv early in the war, as well as during the Battle of Kherson.
The 4th Tank Brigade was armed with T-72 tanks, and spearheaded the breakthrough during the Kharkiv counteroffensive, throttling the 1st Tank Army north of Izium and participating in the victory at Lyman. Most people consider these two brigades the best tank units in the Ukrainian army, so when I heard they were receiving Leopard 2 training, I thought Ukraine might split all the Leopard 2s between them. I thought they might also be getting the Challenger 2s. However, we know that almost half the Leopard 2s (32 tanks) went to the newly formed 33rd Mechanized Brigade, so at most, Ukraine committed 42 Leopard 2s between the 1st and 4th Tank Brigades. That’s enough for three companies of 14 tanks each, so most likely, one brigade got two companies of Leopard 2s, the other got one company.
A Ukrainian tank brigade generally has around 85 to 90 tanks in six companies, thus it’s likely that the 1st/4th Tank Brigades will continue to use their T-64s and T-72s mostly, but now supported by one to two elite Leopard 2 Companies (one of them being a super-elite Leopard 2A6 Company of 14 tanks).
33RD MECHANIZED BRIGADE
Other reports state the 33rd Mechanized Brigade was training on T-72 tanks, so it’s likely that the 33rd Mechanized will likely have at least one to two additional companies of T-72s, giving it somewhere around 50-60 tanks at a minimum. This is a very heavy tank contingent for a mechanized infantry brigade, making it somewhat more of a hybrid combined-arms brigade.
It is also not fully known what type of IFVs or APCs it will receive, but other reports of the 33rd Mechanized in training noted they were primarily training on former Soviet equipment with BMP2s. It doesn’t appear to have gotten Bradleys, CV90s, or Marders, which were noted to have been assigned to “veteran brigades” or other known units.
They may have gotten some Stryker IFVs whose assignment is unknown, but it seems likely that the 33rd Mechanized is a pairing of Soviet-era mechanized infantry equipment with a powerful contingent of Western Tanks.
25TH/80TH AIR ASSAULT BRIGADES
What’s notable about this is that the 14 Challenger tanks aren’t going to be operated as a single company of 14 tanks, but two separate smaller units. I haven’t seen much information on what kind of equipment these two air assault brigades will receive otherwise.
Air assault brigades were traditionally highly mobile elite infantry units that had elements that could be rapidly inserted by helicopter or air drop. It’s unknown how the 70-ton Challenger tanks will be incorporated into the tactical usage of air assault brigades.
47TH ASSAULT BRIGADE
In another curious pairing, the newly formed 47th Assault Brigade pairs what is likely all of Ukraine’s 109 Bradleys with a very fragile but offensively powerful Slovenian M55S tank. The M55S tanks are highly upgraded T-55 tanks but even with reactive armor added, they are considered quite underprotected. They do have a modern western fire control system that lets them accurately hit targets up to the visual horizon (6,000 meters) but their 105 mm main guns are considered underpowered to take on Russian tanks.
On the other hand, the M2 Bradleys with their TOW2 missiles can engage and destroy virtually any tank in the Russian arsenal, although it might find itself disadvantaged from a lack of armor against the most modern T-90 tanks—the only tanks the M2 cannot simply outrange.
Thus, Ukraine may be banking that the Bradleys can take on any armored threat they are likely to encounter on their own, and do not need western tanks to support them. The M55s can provide heavy fire support on demand from long ranges, and also present an extreme threat to any IFVs or APCs that Russia can field. This unit would need to rely on speed, high ranges, and fire suppression to overwhelm Russian armored formations, and would be extremely dominant against enemy fixed positions defended by infantry.
There’s a lot we don’t know about how Ukraine plans to distribute its best equipment, but we’re already getting a bit of a picture. Ukraine isn’t concentrating all its best equipment into a handful of brigades, but trying to create as many “strong” brigades that can overwhelm Russian units as possible—for example, pairing Leopards with mostly Soviet IFVs, or pairing Bradley IFVs with some of the weaker Soviet era tanks.
This presents an interesting mix of units that will have definite mission-based strengths and weaknesses that Ukrainian general staff will have to be aware of as they determine who and where to commit to what type of mission. Intelligence on Russian unit locations will also be paramount. I have confidence Ukraine is up to this task, but they appear to be intent on maximizing the power of their best weapons in the largest number of units.
[…] They’re banning books left and right, losing their shit over women wearing yoga pants, and, of course, freaking the fuck out over drag queens. Last Sunday, all kinds of stars — drag queens and non-drag-queens alike — were hoping to counter some of this absurd hate with the Drag Isn’t Dangerous streaming telethon. The line-up was huge and included many folks we love, like Elliot Page, Leslie Jones, Lance Bass, Darienne Lake, Shangela, Ginger Minj, Marcia Gay Harden, Joey McIntyre, Melissa McCarthy, Peaches, Wilson Cruz, Margaret Cho, Adam Lambert, Charlize Theron and more. Over $500,000 was raised for the Drag Isn’t Dangerous Campaign (and you can still donate!)
Naturally, the Right is going absolutely batshit about this, probably because of how fun it looks and the way it demonstrates that they have no control over the actual culture in this nation. Matt Walsh put out a hysterical newsletter this morning, calling the event a “Groom-a-thon” and claiming that participants “admit” they are “coming for” conservative’s kids.
A few years ago, back when conservatives first started to warn about the leftist plot to sexualize children by exposing them to drag queens, the most common response from the Left was to deny that any such thing is happening. “Drag for children?” They said indignantly. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is a right wing conspiracy theory!” But these things always follow the same script. First they deny the thing, then they admit that the thing is happening but only rarely and it’s not anything we need to worry about, and then, very quickly, they announce that actually the thing is happening, it’s happening a lot, it’s good that it’s happening a lot, and it should happen a lot more.
Yeah, it wasn’t a few years ago. This has literally only been going on for a year. […] None of this happened the way he said it did. We all knew about Drag Queen Story Hours and most of us have been going to drag brunches for years now. It’s not a new thing and absolutely no one had a problem with any of it until very, very recently. In fact, I will cynically say that they only started this shit up in the first place was because Roe was overturned, xenophobia felt a tad stale and they needed something new to get hysterical and bigoted over to keep their base interested and put the spark back into their relationship. […]
During her segment, the impossibly beautiful Charlize Theron sent a message to drag queens saying “We love you, queens! We’re in your corner, and we’ve got you and I will fuck anybody up who is trying to fuck with anything with you guys”
“In all seriousness,” she continued, “There are so many things that are hurting and, really, killing our kids. We all know what I’m talking about right now, and it ain’t no drag queen. Because if you’ve ever seen a drag queen lip sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only makes you love more, it makes you a better person.” [video at the link]
It’s true!
But over on the dark side, Megyn Kelly went and took personal offense to the woman who played her in Bombshell saying mean things about her and other joy-hating bigots and invited Charlize Theron to come and fuck her up. This seems ill-advised. I mean, have you seen her arms? [video at the link]
“Okay, so why doesn’t Charlize Theron come and f–k me up? Because I’m 100% against her on this,” Kelly said during Friday’s episode of SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
The podcaster said that Theron is someone who “obviously I don’t know, but I feel like I have some weird connection with this person because she played me in a movie.”
Kelly also mentioned Theron’s adopted daughter, Jackson, who transitioned from a male to a female. She said Theron erred by not coming out against “grooming of young children.”
“Yes, there are fun drag queen shows. I’ve been to them,” said Kelly, noting that “it was all adults.” “But there are drag queen shows out there right now that are deeply disturbing and they’re happening in front of young children,” Kelly said.
“So know what you’re supporting.”
“Understand what we’re actually seeing out there which can include absolutely the grooming of young children,” Kelly added.
“Even [Theron] should be against that, trans kid, or not.”
“What happens is if you introduce sexual behavior, and like sexual references, just sexualization in front of children too young, it gets them used to it,” Kelly said.
Kelly then went on to prove her point by showing a video of a kid at a drag brunch, during a performance in which a queen did a bit where she showed giant fake underwear with a cat on it and danced to a song with the word “]P-word]” in it — like the kid knows what any of that means. The child was there with her parents, who have every right to decide what they are okay with their child seeing. She was not kidnapped and forced to watch the performance against her will.
Kids are exposed to sexual references and sexual behavior to this mild degree all of the time, though it does not seem as though conservatives are at all bothered when it comes from straight people — which makes it quite clear that their real issue is that children who are “exposed” to drag queens will grow up to be gay or trans (or worse, straight and cis but not an asshole). This, of course, is not how anything works.
You don’t see conservatives clamoring to bar parents from taking their kids to see rated R movies, which they are legally allowed to do. You don’t see them huffing and puffing about the kids menu at Hooters. You don’t see them at all worried about having a president who brags about “grabbing women by the ]P-word].” A drag queen can’t dance to a song with the word “]P-word]” in it, but having a president who says it is fine as long as he’s a Republican.
Let’s be very clear, here. What does “grooming” mean? Because we all know what it means. It means that someone is trying to mentally prepare a child to be sexually molested. It means that someone is a pedophile and is looking to sexually assault children. Who is it, specifically, that Megyn Kelly thinks is a pedophile? Can she name some drag queen pedophiles? Have there been any cases of anyone ever coming forward and talking about their experiences being “groomed” for molestation by watching a drag queen lip sync to “Hit Me Baby One More Time?”
And doesn’t it seem like we hear a whole lot more about priests and pastors molesting children than we do drag queens?
It’s not just that she or others think that something is merely “inappropriate for children” — if that were the case, that’s what they would say. People talk about things being “inappropriate for children” all the time. But somehow, and only when LGBTQ folks come along, it’s “grooming.” They know exactly what they are doing with this shit. They are trying to make the case that LGBTQ people are predators and that they are not bigots for hating them. […]
This is a fight that Megyn Kelly is going to lose, and not just because of Charlize Theron’s aforementioned very-toned arms. They’re all going to lose eventually, because it’s stupid and hysterical and they’re upset about absolutely nothing real. In a few years, they’ll be swearing up and down that they don’t remember any of this, just like they have with so many other stupid things they’ve been angry about.
We just have to make sure we keep everyone safe in the meantime.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko checked into a hospital near Minsk, according to Belarusian publication Euroradio and watchdog Belarusian Hajun.
They reported that Lukashenko’s convoy arrived to the hospital at around 7 p.m., during which time access to the clinic was closed off and the roads to it were guarded by armed enforcers.
Lukashenko was publicly seen in Moscow celebrating Victory Day with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries, where his apparent physical weakness drew attention.
Unlike the other leaders, he had to be driven around the small perimeter where the event took place. He also missed an official lunch with Putin.
Reuters noted that Lukashenko looked “tired and a little unsteady on his feet, and a bandage was visible on his right hand… though he otherwise showed no obvious signs of being unwell.”
Later the same day, Lukashenko attended the Victory Day ceremony in Minsk. However, he broke from tradition and wore a suit instead of his military uniform and did not make a speech. Lukashenko has also attended very few events in the past two weeks.
Twitter appears to have limited the reach of Bellingcat, an investigative news website, as its main account no longer appears in the app’s search tool.
It’s unclear when exactly the change was made but Eliot Higgins, the Bellingcat founder, first tweeted about it Thursday. Bellingcat’s main handle did not appear in several searches made by Insider on Twitter Friday.
Higgins’ first tweet about the account being hidden came three days after Elon Musk began spreading doubt over the site’s investigation into Mauricio Garcia, the gunman who killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas on Sunday.
Bellingcat reported that Garcia had tattoos of a swastika and other Nazi symbols, and posted about being a white supremacist on Odnoklassniki (OK), a Russian social media site.
“Didn’t the story come from Bellingcat, which literally specializes in psychological operations?” Musk tweeted. “I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!”
The Twitter boss tweeted about the investigation several times, like replying “Odd” to a conspiratorial tweet from an account called “End Wokeness.”
…
Aric Toler, the Bellingcat journalist who reported the story, also said that the site’s account hadn’t been appearing on TweetDeck searches for weeks.
In April, he co-wrote the New York Times article which revealed the identity of Jake Teixeira, the National Guard airman who leaked hundreds of classified documents on Discord.
That report involved matching up social media images of Teixeira’s house with the counter seen in the background of the leaked document pictures to identify him. But with Garcia, Toler said it was “easily the most open-and-shut case I’ve seen in my life.”
Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn’t address the inquiry.
SC @176, Bellingcat has a stellar reputation for presenting facts and truth. Of course, Elon Musk would want to limit Bellingcat.
Disgusting behavior on Musk’s part.
Also, Musk is plainly in error when he posts things like: ” “I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!”
From NBC News:
[…] At the time of the massacre, he was wearing a patch on his chest that included the acronym “rwds,” according to two senior law enforcement officials. Authorities believe the letters stand for “right wing death squad,” a phrase used in far-right online spaces, one of the senior law enforcement officials added.
A preliminary review of what is believed to be the shooter’s social media accounts reveal hundreds of posts that include racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi material and material espousing white supremacy, two senior law enforcement officials said.
The cease-fire was mediated by Egypt and will start at 10 p.m. local time.
Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a cease-fire ending five days of fighting between the two sides, one U.S. official and one Israeli official told NBC News on Saturday.
The cease-fire was mediated by Egypt and will start at 10 p.m. local time.
“Now, this agreement has been reached thanks to continuous Egyptian effort. We appreciate this effort,” Mohamad al-Hindi told the Al Kahera Wal Nas channel.
[…] The fighting has killed 33 Palestinians inside Gaza, including at least 13 civilians. Two people were killed by rocket fire in Israel, including an 80-year-old Israeli woman and a Palestinian man from Gaza who had a permit to work in Israel.
The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to a previous burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck.
In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.
Meanwhile, Israeli military earlier Saturday bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets, including rocket launchers, it said. […]
Over the last few months, Ron DeSantis has been working to turn the New College of Florida — a small liberal arts school known to have a very progressive student body — into the “Hillsdale of the South.” Hillsdale College being a notably wacky right-wing conservative Christian college in Michigan. This has not gone over very well with the students, many of whom plan to leave next year, whether they are graduating or not.
But those graduating feel that they at least deserve a graduation ceremony that celebrates them, not Ron DeSantis. So when it was announced that former Trump advisor, Dr. Scott Atlas would be their commencement speaker, they would hold their own commencement ceremony instead.
Atlas will still be speaking at the “official” ceremony, but he will very likely have to tell the inspiring story of all the ridiculous and nonscientific policies he pushed during the height of the COVID pandemic to a room full of empty chairs.
As organizers Brian Cody and KC Casey explain on their GoFundMe page:
The new administration that has spent the past four months attacking our students and community cannot, in good faith, celebrate our graduating students and their accomplishments. Commencement is supposed to be a celebration of graduating students and the people who have shaped this school to be what it is. And we’re proud of who we are! So, we’re taking the celebration plans into our own hands. We want this event to be a fulfilling and memorable experience for graduating students that keeps the focus on STUDENTS, rather than an administration desperately trying to maintain normality and instill conformity.
Good for them! So far, they have raised $53,000 of their $60,000 goal and are well on their way to having the awesome graduation ceremony they deserve.
What Ron DeSantis is doing to this college is beyond disturbing on every level. As far as I know, it’s never been done before. No Governor has ever just taken over a school and forced it to conform to his personal political ideology. It is psychotic, really. It’s bizarre behavior.
But what this shows is that while he and others are working to make everything cruel and ugly, that people still, in many ways, have the power to make kind and beautiful things for themselves. And to make creepy ex-Trump advisors give sad speeches to empty rooms.
Paul Krugman discusses an issue that is often overlooked:
On Thursday, Brad Setser of the Council of Foreign Relations — esteemed by cognoscenti for his forensic analyses of balance of payments data — testified to a Senate committee about global tax avoidance by pharmaceutical companies. This issue may not have loomed large on many people’s radar screens, and with everything else going on you may wonder why you should care. But there are at least two reasons you should.
First, at a time when people are once again angsting about budget deficits — much of the angst is insincere, but still — it’s surely relevant that the U.S. government is losing a lot of revenue because multinational corporations are using accounting tricks to avoid paying taxes on profits earned here.
Second, now that it’s looking increasingly likely that Donald Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee, it seems relevant to note that his one major legislative success — the 2017 tax cut, which was supposed to bring corporate investment back to America — was, in practice, an “America last” bill that encouraged corporations to move even more of their reported profits, and to some extent their actual production, overseas.
About pharma: The U.S. health care system, unlike health systems in other countries, isn’t set up to bargain with drug companies for lower prices. In fact, until the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, even Medicare was specifically prohibited from negotiating over drug prices. As a result, the U.S. market has long been pharma’s cash cow: On average, prescription drugs cost 2.56 times — 2.56 times — as much here as they do in other countries.
Strange to say, however, pharmaceutical companies report earning hardly any profits on their U.S. sales. Setser offered a striking chart comparing 2022 revenue and profit for six major pharma companies: [chart at the link]
As he noted, 2022 was an exceptionally profitable year for these companies, but the pattern — large revenue in the U.S. market, with very low reported profits — has been consistent over time.
How do the pharma giants do that? Mainly by assigning patents and other forms of intellectual property to overseas subsidiaries located in low-tax jurisdictions. Their U.S. operations then pay large fees to these overseas subsidiaries for the use of this intellectual property, magically causing profits to disappear here and reappear someplace else, where they go largely untaxed.
The pharmaceutical industry, where patents rather than manufacturing facilities are companies’ principal assets, is exceptionally well suited to this kind of tax gaming. But it’s not unique. Over time we have increasingly become a knowledge economy, in which a large share of business investment involves spending on intellectual property rather than on plant and equipment: [more at the link]
Chaos in Missouri’s Republican-led Senate on the final day of session Friday meant the failure of a longtime GOP priority to make it harder to amend the state’s constitution, which lawmakers predicted could ease the path to restoring abortion rights in the state.
Republicans have been trying to raise the bar to amend the Missouri Constitution for years, arguing that the current simple majority is too easy. Senators failed to approve a proposal Friday that would have raised that threshold to 57% if approved by voters.
Republican House Speaker Dean Plocher predicted Friday that if the threshold is not raised, an initiative petition to allow abortions will be approved by voters under the current standards.
“The Senate should be held accountable for allowing abortion to return,” Plocher said….
If that rate goes up to $3 per subscriber, Fox News would be earning more than $1.8 billion annually from affiliate revenue alone.
Following Fox News’ massive defamation settlement paid out to Dominion Election Systems, the network is now pursuing an even more aggressive strategy to raise revenue by increasing the fee paid by cable and satellite providers to $3 per subscriber, according to a new report from Vanity Fair.
Fox News executives insist that sponsors have not been spooked by the Big Lie scandal, nor have the cable and satellite providers that carry the network. In the negotiations that are taking place this spring between Fox and the likes of Comcast, Fox wants to break past the three-buck mark—meaning three dollars per cable household per month, according to sources familiar with the matter. Even though the American cable universe is shrinking, Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch are still extracting billions of dollars.
These fees are the majority of revenue for Fox, more even than advertising, and they are significantly higher than those charged by the network’s competitors. Fox has been able to raise prices and charge disproportionately high rates due to its history of deceptive and aggressive negotiating tactics during contract renewal talks with providers.
During a February 2022 earnings call, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced that 70% of the network’s cable and satellite contracts will be up for renewal during fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Murdoch has signaled to investors that Fox aims to continue to increase affiliate revenue even as the cord-cutting trend continues to accelerate, shrinking the consumer base.
[…] as Media Matters President Angelo Carusone wrote in an MSNBC op-ed, “Fox News is about to burn brighter and hotter” to shore up the loyalty of its audience, which the network will then leverage during upcoming negotiations.
Carusone continued:
The impact of Dominion’s lawsuit was always going to be limited because of Fox’s ultimate weapon: cable carriage fees.
The dirty secret about Fox News is that it is one of the only commercial TV channels that doesn’t need a single advertisement to be profitable, if not the only one. In fact, Fox could have zero dollars in ad revenue and still have at least a 35% profit margin. This is the result of carriage fees and the guaranteed revenue they provide Fox. […]
Fox News is actively renewing, or gearing up to renew, its contracts with at least three major cable providers — a potentially even bigger financial stake than the case. These three renewals alone, even without increases, would be worth nearly $1 billion annually to Fox.
Since negotiations are ongoing, the exact amount of money Fox will be able to extract hasn’t yet been finalized, but Vanity Fair’s reporting allows for a reasonable estimate.
Per S&P Global, there are approximately 61.9 million multichannel video subscribers, including cable, satellite, and other delivery service providers. If Fox is collecting $2.18 from each of them, as is their current affiliate fee rate, that’s over $1.3 billion in revenue. If that rate goes up to $3 per subscriber, Fox News would be earning more than $1.8 billion from affiliate revenue alone — mostly from customers who don’t watch the channel and have no desire to fund the network’s defamation settlement.
This means that Fox has every incentive to ramp up its extremism, rather than attempt to moderate it. Back to Carusone:
For Fox, success here necessitates that its audience be as fervent as ever. Accordingly, you can expect the network to raise the temperature of its simmering cauldron of deceit and extremism to a full-on boil. […]
That process has already begun; Fox has told more than 60 lies about the election and January 6 prosecutions in 2023 alone. […]
StevoRsays
Eastern Australia is facing the increased likelihood of a dry winter and spring with a United States federal agency declaring an El Niño pattern almost a foregone conclusion. The US Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) has raised the chance of El Niño, the Pacific warm phase, to above 90 per cent by August and indicated a greater than 50 per cent chance of a “strong” event by late in the year. A “strong” El Niño is when Pacific Ocean water temperatures climb more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above average and has only occurred once previously in the past 25 years.
I’m dreading this. Means a potential horror Summer of bushfires and heatwaves and drought here. Inevitable and likely tohave global impacts esp with GlobalOverheating.
@Reginald Selkirk #132:
Mastodon Thread and continuation: Carl T. Bergstrom
Science published a stunningly irresponsible news story […] claiming that upward of 30% of the scientific literature is fake. […] the story itself later notes that the detector doesn’t actually work and flags nearly half of real papers as fake.
[…]
While I don’t want to imply anything about the motivations of the authors, *their paper has racist consequences.*
Their paper implements a detector […] we have every reason to expect disproportionally flags papers from Asia and the Global South—and then concludes that these areas contribute the most fake papers.
From the continuation:
Not only does the Science story fail to call them on this; its author falls into the one of the oldest and most pernicious traps around algorithmic bias.
The author contrasts the use of “automated methods” with reliance on “human prejudice”, entirely overlooking the fact that the automated methods proposed here are nothing but the explicit and fully-described instantiation of human prejudice.
It’s truly an embarrassment all around.
Specifics of the glaringly bad methodology are left at the links for brevity.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
The home town of Ukraine’s Eurovision entry came under fire from Russian missiles during the song contest on Saturday.
Ternopil, the university home town of electronic music duo Tvorchi, was among the places targeted, with local authorities confirming two people had been injured.
The band was performing on stage as air raid sirens rang out across Ternopil and later posted a message of solidarity to their Instagram: “Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace! GLORY TO UKRAINE!”
[From Reuters:] On Saturday the German government announced 2.7 billion euro ($3 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest package since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. The country’s leaders pledged to support Kyiv for as long as is necessary.
The UK Ministry of Defence has posted an update on the situation in Ukraine.
It states that while Russian forces retain the same organisational structure to when it invaded Ukraine last February, it is, in fact, a very different military force.
It states that in February 2022 “it consisted of professional soldiers; was largely equipped with reasonably modern vehicles; and had been regularly exercised, aspiring to complex, joint operations”.”
Now, however, it says “the force is mostly poorly trained mobilised reservists and increasingly reliant on antiquated equipment, with many of its units severely under-strength. It routinely only conducts very simple, infantry-based operations.”
The home town of Ukraine’s Eurovision contestants Tvorchi has been attacked a second time, the Ukraine State Emergency Service has said.
Two people were injured by missile strikes on the Ternopil sparking fires which burned until 2.30am.
The SES has said more explosions damaged civilian buildings and cars at 5am.
“There is currently no information about the victims,” it wrote on Telegram.
President Zelenskiy has held a joint news conference with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin today.
He said that Kyiv and its western supporters could make Russia’s defeat in the war in Ukraine “irreversible” this year.
He also thanked Germany for its military support and said his country would always be grateful to Germany for its support during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He said:
Now is the time for us to determine the end of the war already this year, we can make the aggressor’s defeat irreversible already this year.
Paris Marx is joined by David A. Banks to discuss how cities have been reshaped to attract tech companies and what the consequences have been for the people who live in them.
David A. Banks is the author of The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America. He’s a lecturer in the Geography and Planning department at University at Albany, SUNY. David also writers Other Day and co-hosts Iron Weeds….
Finlandia comparte 1.300 kilómetros de frontera con Rusia y ha dado un giro acelerado en su política de seguridad. Por su historia era un país fuerte en lo militar, pero no alineado. Ahora, su reciente incorporación a la OTAN abre una nueva era para todo el continente. Nos lo explica Carlos Torralba, periodista de Internacional que cubre los países nórdicos….
Right wing extremists are often considered lone wolves. But platforms like 4chan have made it easier than ever for extremist communities to grow. Alex Andreou speaks to best-selling author Jeffrey Toobin about his latest book, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, which explores the connection between the Oklahoma City bomber and the rise of modern day far right extremism….
Jeffrey Toobin has combined two great books in one. The first is an edge-of-your-seat thriller, describing Timothy McVeigh’s every movement on his way to committing one of the most horrific crimes in American history. The second traces how a huge part of the Republican establishment has come to embrace many of McVeigh’s most dangerous convictions….
…Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at Reading University, who has 94,000 Twitter followers, said he had seen a “huge increase” in tweets from climate-denier accounts, often involving conspiracy theories or long-debunked topics. “A larger fraction of the comments are personal and abusive,” he said. “Any mildly popular tweet from a climate scientist is now targeted for a barrage of replies.”
Hawkins has noticed that many denier accounts have paid subscriptions to Twitter and therefore appear higher up in the replies. “It appears to be a coordinated effort [by climate change deniers] to make it appear as though climate denial is more prevalent than it really is,” he said….
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that during the fighting near Bakhmut, deputy commander, Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, was killed. In the Ivanivske area, commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Makarov also died.
Ukraine has recaptured 10 miles around Bakhmut over three days, according to a US think tank.
The Institute for the Study of War said 10.5 square miles were recaptured, while Russian military bloggers said attacks to the west safeguarded Ukrainian access to the city via an important highway.
…Every justice has their pet projects, and in National Pork, it feels like they were all pursuing these projects at once. The result is a laudable outcome but a set of opinions that buries the profound moral implications at play here. So let’s bring it to the foreground: Pigs are extremely intelligent and highly social creatures who stand to benefit immeasurably from Proposition 12; invalidating the law would’ve inflicted indescribable cruelty and stymied other states’ efforts to demand a modicum of compassion toward the animals people in this country eat. It is the rare piece of good news from this Supreme Court that five justices stumbled their way into a judgment that is both morally and legally sound.
…At the heart of the case was the National Pork Producers Council’s argument that they enjoyed a constitutional right to raise pigs in extreme confinement — in conditions that “cause profound, avoidable suffering and deprive pigs of a minimally acceptable level of welfare,” according to a brief filed to the Court by 378 veterinarians and animal welfare scientists — and then sell those products to consumers. The pork industry demanded that the Constitution should insulate them from the growing political power of people who care about the treatment of animals raised for food.
…
…Only time and research can tell whether incremental law reform projects will increase public concern about the consumption of pig meat or prematurely end the debate. But what’s beyond question is that the Prop 12 case represents a watershed moment for the growing political power and potential of animal protection activism. Part of the opinion, joined by three justices, recognized that “in a functioning democracy, those sorts of policy choices…belong to the people and their elected representatives.”…
The Montana Supreme Court unanimously extended abortion protections in the state on Friday – amid an ongoing effort by the GOP governor and legislators to erode women’s medical rights.
In a 7-0 decision, the Treasure State’s highest court sided with an advanced practice nurse practitioner and a clinician who challenged a 2005 law that restricted who could provide abortion services.
“[U]nder Montana’s Constitution, the right of individual privacy—that is, the right of personal autonomy or the right to be let alone—is fundamental,” the court noted, citing precedent. “It is, perhaps, one of the most important rights guaranteed to the citizens of this State, and its separate textual protection in our Constitution reflects Montanans’ historical abhorrence and distrust of excessive governmental interference in their personal lives.”
“Accordingly, [the statute] is an unconstitutional interference with a woman’s right of privacy to seek medical care from a qualified provider of her choice,” McKinnon explained, upholding the lower court’s summary judgment ruling for the plaintiffs in the case.
Earlier, a district court invalidated that same law…
The lower court was correct, Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote:
Article II, Section 10, of the Montana Constitution guarantees a woman a fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing, absent a clear demonstration of a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk. The State has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that APRN-FNPs and APRN-CNMs providing abortion care present a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk. The State has failed to present any evidence that demonstrates abortions performed by APRNs include more risk than those provided by physicians or PAs. The State has failed to identify any reason why APRNs should be restricted from providing abortions, and thus failed to articulate a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk
The law previously made it a felony for anyone other than a physician or physician assistant to perform an abortion.
Republicans also passed a bill that aims to undo the precedent, the 1999 Armstrong case, on which the state’s highest court relied in deciding the latest case, stylized as Weems v. Montana.
That law will also likely be overturned if and when the court takes up the matter.
…McKinnon wrote in Friday’s opinion, “The delegates to Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention viewed the textual inclusion of this right in Montana’s new constitution as being necessary for the protection of the individual in ‘an increasingly complex society . . . [in which] our area of privacy has decreased, decreased, and decreased.’ Delegate Campbell proclaimed that the ‘right to be let alone’ is ‘the most important right of them all.’”
“Reject Christian Nationalism. Keep religion out of government.” That’s what the billboard near the State Capitol reads — in all caps. In smaller type is the name of the group that paid for it: Humanists MN…
The Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson in Istanbul has this to say on the vote tally:
Voters across Turkey are now glued to their television screens, watching results come in for what many are calling the most important election of the year.
In some cases, people have travelled across the country to go back to their villages destroyed by powerful twin earthquakes earlier this year in order to cast their ballots, and turnout is expected to be unusually high.
People everywhere reported unusually long wait times and long lines to vote. With the broadcast ban on the vote count now lifted, we’re now seeing results trickle in live, in an extremely tense vote that is expected to be close.
Erdoğan has almost total control of the domestic media, which is affecting how we learn the latest results.
Referring to the Anadolu Agency, a representative from the majority Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to the electoral commission said: “There is a great media manipulation. AA gets all the information from the government’s partners.”
Ziya Meral of the Royal United Services Institute in London said: “With all of its faults, yes it’s not a fair election, it’s decently free but not fully, given the overall conditions. [Eh…]
But you can still select the candidate you want freely, so it’s substantially free from that perspective. Even for Erdoğan this vote matters so much, which goes to show this is a fundamental political battle for him.”
“The silence bothered me the most. It seemed off. How could this be?” Oleh, a Company Commander, 25th Airborne Assault Brigade in a spearhead unit of the Kharkiv Counteroffensive, told the The Washington Post in December.
At the time of the silence, Oleh was about to take part in what may end up as the two most famous Ukrainian offensives in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Given orders to break through Russian defensive lines and advance nearly 60 km behind Russian lines, Oleh was initially incredulous, thinking it was “some kind of dubious operation.”
Like most Ukrainian commanders, Oleh had taken part in grueling combat that battled over a few hundred meters, or a few kilometers. No Ukrainian unit had torn through Russian defenses in 50-to 60 km advances. But Oleh’s experience in the war had been one of constant Russian artillery barrages against Ukrainian lines.
Yet when Oleh arrived south of Kharkiv for the rendezvous point to prepare for the beginning of the counteroffensive in early September 2022, the Russian lines were quiet—so quiet that Oleh found it eerie.
Oleh’s unit would be in Izium in six days. In Lyman in a month. And Kherson would be liberated about a month later, after a glorious two-month dual offensive that entirely changed the dynamic of the war.
Western governments would believe that Ukraine could win with the proper equipment, and a flood of armored equipment, artillery, anti-aircraft systems and fighter jets would begin flowing to Ukraine starting a month after Kherson’s liberation.
It’s a story that anyone who has followed the Russo-Ukrainian War in even a cursory manner would know and know well.
However, the strategic brilliance of this two-front offensive remains underappreciated.
A bad general irrationally ignores military principles.
A good general follows military principles.
A brilliant general knows when to ignore military principles.
Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi’s two-front offensive flew in the face of conventional military strategy, yet was precisely the right decision to maximize Ukrainian gains in fall 2022.
NEVER DIVIDE YOUR FORCES
One of the oldest military principles is still applicable today: Never divide your forces. Separating your troops into multiple prongs divides your army into weaker pieces. […]
For example, in its most simple form, an overall smaller force of 10,000 might defeat a larger force of 16,000 that in turn divided their army into two pieces. [Illustration at the link]
Though Blue Army is overall outnumbered, it can fight two battles with a numerical advantage due to the Red Army’s mistake of dividing their forces.
You might ask why Red Army would do such a thing, but this kind of mistake occurs not infrequently in military history.
[snipped history of Persians at the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.), and of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign during the American Civil War.]
[…] the February 2022 Russian plan to invade Ukraine was a textbook example of how not to plan a military operation: separating Russian forces into as many as seven separate axes of advance. Only 35 to 40% of Russian forces were committed to the critical Battle of Kyiv, allowing Ukraine to concentrate enough forces to win the critical battle for the capital. [map at the link]
When Ukraine began preparing for a counteroffensive against Russia’s exhausted armies in late summer 2022, conventional military thinking would have called for Ukrainian Supreme Commander General Zaluzhnyi to concentrate Ukrainian strength against a single objective.
Zaluzhnyi’s decision to ignore this precept would have far-reaching consequences, and lead to not one, but two major victories.
PROBING FOR WEAKNESSES
Russia’s forces had spent the first half of 2022 first battering itself against the defense of Kyiv, then in the unsuccessful Donbas Offensive in early summer. The Russian army suffered massive casualties in the two battles, but Russian attempts to encircle the Ukrainian army in Eastern Ukraine failed.
Russia contented itself with hurling frontal assaults at Ukrainian positions in Severodonetsk backed by massive artillery bombardments, capturing the city at huge costs in men and materiel.
These offensives left Russia depleted in manpower, but President Putin ignored calls from his generals to order a mobilization, fearing the political pushback it would cause. Having told the Russian people that no war was ongoing and that Ukraine was a weak third-rate power, Putin feared asking the Russian population for major sacrifices to win his war of choice.
Zaluzhnyi’s attention was fixed on what he saw as a major weakness in the Russian position: its position north of the Dnipro River at Kherson. [map at the link]
The Russians controlled a narrow strip of territory north of the Dnipro River that could be supplied only by two road bridges and a lightly used rail bridge.
Zaluzhnyi knew that with his new HIMARS-guided rocket systems, he could strike those bridges […] Once Ukraine knew it was getting the HIMARS system, Zaluzhnyi’s eyes were on Kherson.
This was because at Kherson, the Russians were ignoring another basic military axiom: Never defend with a river to your rear. Rivers to your rear mean uncertain supply and logistics. Units cannot fall back easily past the river, and moving reserves are constrained. A retreat can be perilous.
An army with a river before it is in a very strong position. An army with a river behind it has already compromised itself.
With Zaluzhnyi’s eyes firmly on Kherson, he called upon the generals on his staff to come to him with plans for diversionary attacks that would draw soldiers away from Kherson.
Commanders of their respective theaters created scale models of their areas, designing assaults and painstakingly gaming out different plans of attack.
However, in August 2022, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky came with a different suggestion. Gen. Syrsky was Zaluzhnyi’s second in command for the Ukrainian Army, and his area of responsibility was in Northeastern Ukraine. Sysrsky suggested that the Russian army was ripe for a surprise assault around Kharkiv.
Sysrky had been mulling the idea of a counteroffensive in the direction of Balakliya and Izium since spring 2022. In particular, he eyed the three railroad hubs southeast of Kharkiv used by the Russians as key logistic nodes. [map at the link]
Russian forces in the area had been launching fruitless attacks southward from Izium aimed at capturing Sloviansk, and their forces were oriented southward. Syrski sensed an opportunity.
Satellite surveillance data, observation drones, and Ukrainian scouting missions confirmed Syrski’s instincts to be correct. Most of the Russian units deployed north of Izium had been allowed to degrade to the point of being hollowed out, and defenses were light.
[…] Furthermore, Russia anticipated an attack on Kherson and began shifting units there from around Kharkiv. Almost half of the units in Izium were relocated to Kherson, including some of Russia’s best units.
Two problems were anticipated:
– This area of the battlefield is extremely close to Russia’s base of supply in Belogorad, northeast of Kupiansk. Reinforcements and materiel can be rushed into this area once the attack starts. Indeed, Russia would throw in their newly formed 3rd Army Corps to try to stop the Ukrainian attack.
– Although the number of Russian defenders in the area was relatively light, the cities themselves were heavily fortified and would require a large amount of artillery and shells to clear out.
Taking in this information, Zaluzhnyi made a fateful decision: He agreed to make a serious attack with a major force under Sysrki’s command, but he would not abandon the idea of taking Kherson.
The magnitude of this gamble is difficult to overstate.
ZALUZHNYI’S GAMBLE
Conventional military theory holds that one should concentrate one’s forces upon the target. The scope of the operation, in terms of what other secondary objectives are chosen, is generally built all around the idea of striking at the primary objective.
For example, attacks in areas adjacent to the main objective might be carried out so as to threaten to outflank the primary objective area, or cut off the primary objective from lines of supply. Third-level secondary objectives might do the same to secondary objective areas, drawing the enemy army thinner and broader, to make the primary objective area easier to capture.
[…] [Illustration at the link, snipped detailed explanation associated with the illustration]
Thus, “concentration of force” doesn’t mean that you don’t attack multiple secondary objectives, but it does mean that your secondary objectives are built around mutually supporting attacks with the same end goal.
As fronts on the opposite ends of the battlefield, Kharkiv and Kherson are not conventionally mutually supportive theaters, so launching serious offensives on both is a classic example of dividing one’s forces—which is considered to be a highly risky and usually foolhardy move. [map at the link]
A far more conventional plan of attack would have been to launch a diversion at the Kharkiv, Dontesk, or Zaporizhzhia fronts, and then launch the main attack in a single theater.
Making matters worse, the Ukrainian army was desperately short of both artillery and ammunition. Ukraine had started receiving the M777 and other NATO 155mm artillery by summer 2022, which gave Ukraine far more potent artillery units and guided munition shells. But the number of Western artillery units was small, and Ukraine was still reliant on Soviet artillery to a large extent.
To launch two major counteroffensive operations, Zaluzhnyi would have to strip bare other areas to obtain the guns and ammunition he needed.
The area Zaluzhnyi chose to strip of artillery was the eastern front, around Bakhmut and Donetsk. Zaluzhnyi gambled that the Russian forces in the area were exhausted from fighting throughout the summer, and Russia would be rushing its reinforcements to Kherson.
Without Western artillery, with little Soviet-era artillery, and precious little ammunition, Zaluzhnyi would in essence ask his defenders of that front to give their lives to provide artillery ammunition in other sectors. Furthermore, Zaluzhnyi would send his lowest-priority soldiers, undertrained conscript territorial defense forces, to die in the trenches of the eastern front, knowing they were undersupported.
The consequences of losing the gamble were obvious: The worst-case scenario might see the Kharkiv counteroffensive get bogged down in fighting over the fortified cities as Russian reinforcements rushed down to stop the assault, leading to Ukraine running short on ammunition in the area. The ammunition needs in the northeast would hamstring the Kherson counteroffensive, and the attacks could end in a stalemate.
And the under-gunned and undersupplied eastern front could simply collapse, with Russian forces surging forward to engulf Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, and begin advancing on central Ukraine.
Zaluzhnyi would go down in history as the man who gambled the fate of his nation on a foolish plan that divided his outnumbered forces and doomed his countrymen to genocide and exploitation by Russia. Those were the consequences Zaluzhnyi faced in the event of catastrophic failure. The easiest, safest thing to do would have been to focus on winning the Battle of Kherson.
Yet Zaluzhnyi changed his plans: He accepted Syrski’s proposal and dramatically reworked Ukraine’s operational plans to include two major counteroffensives: Kharkiv and Kherson.
MUTUALLY SUPPORTING OPERATIONS
The brilliance of the two-part offensive that Zaluzhnyi adopted is in the way that the two operations, quite unconventionally, work in tandem to support each other. Despite being geographically far removed, the attacks by Ukraine on Kherson served to support the offensive in Kharkiv.
Ukraine gradually began stepping up bombardment of Russian logistical, command, and control targets throughout the Kherson area. HIMARS rockets struck the Antonivka Road Bridge—the main bridge connecting Kherson to the east bank of the Dnipro River— repeatedly from July 17 to late August, until the bridge became completely unusable.
The slowly increasing crescendo of artillery and rocket strikes reached a roar as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the beginning of the Kherson counteroffensive on Aug. 29, and Ukrainian units began launching probing attacks all over the front lines.
Russian supplies and reserve units were rushed to the Kherson front.
Meanwhile, with little fanfare, several HIMARS units were shifted to the Kharkiv front; starting in early August, they began bombarding key command and control headquarters outposts and ammunition depots in the Kharkiv front.
However, with the Russian commanders’ attention seemingly fully fixed on the Kherson front, warning signs of an impending Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv front—raised even by some Russian bloggers—went seemingly entirely unheeded.
Alternatively, U.S. intelligence suggests that Russian military leadership was too inflexible to change plans rapidly in response to developments, or that Russian commanders were being lied to by their subordinates and did not understand the weakness of their position in Kharkiv. [Yeah, that seems likely.]
Syrski quietly began forming a spearhead concentration of units to rapidly overrun Russian defenses. The 25th Air Assault Brigade—including Oleh, whose perspective opened this story—was placed into position for the offensive around this time, as was the 4th Tank Brigade.
On Sept. 6, hellfire rained down on key Russian positions as Ukraine’s finest artillery units, equipped with Western M777s, HIMARS, and M270 MLRS, began firing everything they had at Russian targets, which were identified by U.S. intelligence beforehand.
The U.S. was notified of the impending attack only days before it began and had virtually no role in planning the offensive, but had provided targeting data to Ukraine based on priorities laid out by Ukrainian general staff. Command centers, communication nodes, ammunition depots, fuel depots—all of them!—began to be consumed by fire as Western rockets and GPS-guided 155mm artillery shells began striking everything in sight.
Then, Ukrainian T-72 and T-64 tanks of the 4th Tank Brigade and the 25th Air Assault Brigade began moving forward, supported by thousands of mechanized infantry.
Russian communications and command were paralyzed as units at the front could not communicate with their command centers, some of which were now craters in the ground. [Lack of communication!]
“We broke through the front line, and the enemy started panicking,” as Oleh described it.
The Kharkiv counterattack proved to be a greater success than Syrski had ever hoped. In the first 24 hours, Ukrainian forces penetrated 20 km deep into Russian lines. In just six days, the 25th Air Assault Brigade would capture Izium. the 4th Tank Brigade would catch the Russian 1st Tank Army—Russia’s finest tank formation—disorganized and confused north of Izium, and destroy nearly 100 Russian tanks in just 100 hours.
The highly trumpeted, newly formed Russian 3rd Corps would be fed into the whirlwind of fire that was the Ukrainian advance. The 3rd Corps quickly melted away in the panic, and was nearly destroyed.
Syrski rode the momentum of the Russian collapse, capturing Lyman by Oct. 1.
What is remarkable about Zaluzhnyi’s plan is that the massive bombardments and attacks on the Kherson front were not diversionary, in the classic sense. Ordinarily, a diversion is a type of attack that serves no purpose other than to draw enemy units away from the main objective.
Here, the attack on Kherson was the real thing. Zaluzhnyi had every intention of actually capturing Kherson after the Kharkiv counteroffensive, thus the artillery bombardments were more than just a diversion: They were advancing him toward that objective.
Before long, both bridges over the Dnipro River went down. [photo at the link]
Russia was forced to resupply by ferry and the Russian army found itself in a logistical trap, where the very size of the army it deployed was being used against itself.
Ukraine began pressing attacks across the Kherson front to try to get Russia to expend too many artillery shells to sustain its position.
With progress slow, Zaluzhnyi made a major change in late September that was not announced publicly at the time: Major Gen. Andriy Kovalchuk was replaced by Brigadier Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky, after Kovalchuk was deemed not imaginative or aggressive enough. Tarnavsky immediately began drawing plans to accelerate the offensive and place greater pressure on the Russian defenders.
A major surprise armored assault was launched on the northeastern portion of the line in early October that saw the 1st Tank Brigade break through the Russian defensive line and advance nearly 30 km.
With Russian attention fixed on the northeast, Tarnavsky began planning a major assault, straight down the fortified lines between Mykolaiv and Kherson, and spearheaded by the 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Tarnavsky’s logic, as he commented: “The calculation was the enemy wouldn’t think we would do it there.” [map at the link]
The 59th Brigade overcame ferocious defense from elite Russian VDV units to capture Zelenyi Hai on Nov. 9. This brought the Kherson ferry river landings within range of RAP (rocket-assisted projective) shells for M777s, allowing Ukraine to further interdict the Russian position.
The same day, Russia announced it was withdrawing from Kherson.
On Nov. 11, Ukrainian troops entered Kherson to cheering crowds chanting “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine!”) and “ZSU!” which stands for Zbroini syly Ukrainy (Armed Forces of Ukraine). [photo at the link]
CONCLUSION
Zaluzhnyi’s plan can be explained as a series of fairly simple steps:
– The campaign to liberate Kherson is announced publicly, and a widespread bombardment to degrade Russian logistics begins in mid-July.
– The bombardments gradually intensify throughout August. Russia begins transferring troops to Kherson. Ukraine begins planning the Kharkiv offensive.
– One week before launching the Kharkiv counteroffensive, Ukraine announces the Kherson counteroffensive has begun, and begins a massive artillery and rocket barrage, drawing more Russian troops to Kherson.
– By drawing soldiers to Kherson, Russia makes Ukraine’s interdiction campaign even more effective, as the larger army requires a greater tonnage of supplies.
– But as the Ukrainian pressure against Kherson mounts, Russia needs more men to prevent Ukraine from advancing within artillery range of the Kherson river crossings, as that would cut off Russia from supplies entirely.
– This also reduces the number of Russian soldiers available to defend Kharkiv.
– The Kharkiv offensive succeeds, as Ukraine concentrated a powerful armored force against a heavily degraded and weakened sector of the Russian line. The collapse of the line breeds panic and even full-strength Russian units are caught up and defeated […]
– The Kherson offensive is pushed to its logical conclusion, and the Russians are forced to retreat.
The genius, in my opinion, is a recognition that more troops in Kherson won’t hurt the offensive there as much as it would help a Ukrainian opportunity in Kharkiv.
This recognition of a highly atypical circumstance allowed Zaluzhnyi to work the terrain to his advantage, and ignore one of the military axioms: Never divide your forces.
Remember:
A bad general irrationally ignores military principles.
A good general follows military principles.
A brilliant general knows when to ignore military principles.
Spain is running out of water. After a long and painful drought, the country has been hit by an unusually early heat wave, evaporating even more of the “blue gold” it still has left in its reservoirs. While farmers fear for their survival, environmentalists say it is time for “Europe’s back garden” to rethink how it uses and manages its increasingly scarce water supply….
The death toll linked to a doomsday cult in Kenya hit 201 Saturday after police exhumed 22 more bodies, most of them bearing signs of starvation, according to the coast regional commissioner.
The bodies are believed to be those of followers of a pastor based in coastal Kenya, Paul Mackenzie. He’s alleged to have ordered congregants to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.
More than 600 people are still missing.
Mackenzie, who was arrested last month, remains in custody. Police plan to charge him with terrorism-related offenses.
Hundreds of bodies have been dug up from dozens of mass graves spread across his 800-acre property, located in the coastal county of Kilifi.
…
Autopsies conducted on more than 100 bodies last week showed the victims died of starvation, strangulation, suffocation and injuries sustained from blunt objects.
…
Mackenzie had in the past been charged with the deaths of children in his church in a case that is ongoing in court. Residents nearby had raised the alarm after his followers moved to the forested area.
Opposition vice presidential candidates Mansur Yavaş and Ekrem İmamoğlu have just given a press conference in the Turkish capital, Ankara, lashing out at the state news agency Anadolu for what they said was broadcasting distorted results.
The opposition accuse Anadolu of broadcasting counted AKP votes first in a warped picture of the overall result, and say they are in the lead.
The largest opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) is running a parallel count by stationing their own observers at every ballot box and photographing every ballot as it is counted.
“According to our results, with 23.87% of the votes were counted, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is ahead,” said Yavaş, who is also Ankara mayor, adding: “This data comes from all over Turkey and I can say that we are ahead in Istanbul and Ankara.”
İmamoğlu, whose election as mayor of Istanbul in 2019 was a close race that was ultimately disputed by Erdoğan and re-run before he was declared the winner a second time, also directed his anger at Anadolu.
“Unfortunately, we are still experiencing the scene we see in every election. Another case of Anadolu Agency […] AA’s reputation is below zero,” he said.
Presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu simply tweeted: “We are ahead.”
The U.S. Supreme Court made history this week by using the proper pronouns for a transgender woman who fled Guatemala after being assaulted and persecuted on the basis of her gender identity and sexual orientation. She/her pronouns were used—and the woman’s deadname was not—in the decision
The court ruled Wednesday in unanimous favor of Estrella Santos-Zacaria, who is fighting deportation, giving her another chance to argue that immigration officials were wrong to reject her asylum claim.
The opinion of the court written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the high court, uses Santos-Zacaria’s preferred she/her pronouns throughout. It also uses her chosen name instead of her deadname (the name given at birth).
Jackson’s opinion was signed by the court’s two other liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, as well as four of the six conservative justices: Chief Justice John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Comey Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch.
The very brief concurring opinion contained zero pronouns, nor any mention of the plaintiff’s name (or deadname). It was signed by the court’s two most conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. [Yeah, that figures.]
But there’s more.
Although the court was ruling on a procedural question, the language in the opinion was notable given all the anti-trans measures being adopted in Republican-led states across the country. Data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that as of May 2, more than 470 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures so far in 2023. […]
The court’s opinion is also noteworthy because it referred to Santos-Zacaria as a “non-citizen,” rather than as an “illegal alien,” a dehumanizing term that has been used in previous conservative opinions. The only mention of “alien” in Alito’s 100-word concurring opinion was a direct quote from a previous ruling. […]
Essentially, the court’s opinion removes a procedural barrier for a non-U.S. citizen to appeal a denial of protection-from-removal decision. It means that Santos-Zacaria can now appeal her deportation order to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But she has no guarantee of success before the nation’s most conservative appellate court.
[…] A 2022 State Department Human Rights Report on Guatemala found “significant human rights issues” in the Central American nation, including “crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons,” including abuse by police and “a lack of will on the part of police to fully investigate hate crimes and violence” against members of the LGBTQ community.
[…] Though it may play against type, Hollywood is a union town. Almost every job, from director to electrician to food service worker, is a union-repped job. And the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is facing two important upcoming negotiations beyond the writers: the Directors Guild of America, beginning this week, and SAG-AFTRA (which represents performers) later in the summer. It has no choice but to deal with the WGA [Writers Guild of America], sooner if not later.
The studios have historically disdained their content creators, one reason why unionization among the industry’s writers goes back more than a century. As the Los Angeles Times recently noted, Irving Thalberg, who helped create MGM Studios and became its head producer at the age of 26 in 1925, once said, “What’s all this business about being a writer? It’s just putting one word after another.” [AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!]
In truth, writers are the genesis of most of what the studios produce. Here in 2023, they are also well-organized workers, part of a union that has struck eight times since the 1950s to obtain fair wages and conditions.
In that respect, they hold important common ground with nurses, hotel workers, food service employees, and others, and their ability to achieve a just deal with massive, bottom-line oriented corporations should be watched closely. The Hollywood sign, after all, is just a sign. This is a labor negotiation.
Florida “governor” Ron DeSantis is doing a bang up job in covering all the spaces on his running-for-president-of-MAGAland card. Anti-vax. LGBTQ demonization. Persecution of students, teachers and just about anyone interested in learning.
This past Wednesday, the “governor” held a press event at which he signed SB 1718, a bill weaponizing state law enforcement against immigrants. The new law increases penalties on businesses that hire undocumented workers and steps up DeSantis’ signature trick of transporting migrants to “liberal” locales in other states.
The law, which takes effect in July, is alarming farmers and food companies as undocumented workers, like it or not, are an essential part of the agricultural economy of the state, which could well be crippled by this xenophobic kabuki.
While the rest of us await staggering inflation in the produce aisle, Floridians should expect much more immediate inflation in everything they purchase.
Houston journalist Arturo Dominguez posted on Twitter this morning that he’s seeing numerous posts on Spanish-language social media from truck drivers talking about boycotting Florida in the wake of SB 1718:
Spanish language social media has exploded with Latino truck drivers calling for a boycott and refusing to take shipments into Florida.
Things are about to get interesting.
[…] Nearly a fifth of America’s professional truck drivers identify as Hispanic or Latino. If a significant number of that subset also identify as “pissed off at DeSantis,” the state could be looking at dramatic challenges in the very near future, primarily immediate and dramatic price increases on everything that rolls down the interstate, which is pretty much everything people use.
At the press preening where DeSantis signed SB 1718 into law, the “governor” remarked, “We’re bracing for some turbulent times ahead.”
I’m not sure he understands just how turbulent they might get, and that right quick.
Military: Ukrainian forces capture over more than 10 positions near Bakhmut.
Ukrainian forces have retaken more than 10 Russian-held positions on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on May 14.
A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society.
The window installed at the long-closed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren in 1878 is the oldest known public example of stained glass on which Christ is depicted as a person of color that one expert has seen…
KGsays
Some good news from beyond earth orbit: Stuck antenna freed on Jupiter-bound spacecraft. This is ESA’s recently-launched Juice probe to the icy moons of Jupiter, and the antenna was key to the whole mission, required for investigating the oceans believed to exist (and possibly to harbour life) beneath the three moons’ icy surfaces. Juice is due to arrive in the Jovian system in July 2031. I’ve reached an age where the duration of such projects is a considerable chunk of my life expectancy (just over half, I reckon)!
News that did not happen: debunking some of the misleading stuff that is being spread around.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts.
NORTH CAROLINA HOSPITALS: WE ARE NOT ‘TRANSITIONING’ TODDLERS
CLAIM: Three North Carolina healthcare systems are diagnosing toddlers with gender dysphoria and “transitioning” them.
THE FACTS: Officials with Duke Health, University of North Carolina Health and ECU Health say that while they do accept young children as patients, staff only provide general counseling to parents and families at that age. They do not offer medical procedures such as gender-affirming surgeries or hormone treatments to toddlers. But as North Carolina lawmakers weigh legislation restricting gender-affirming surgeries to adults, some social media users are suggesting the prominent medical institutions are already offering such medical interventions for toddlers. Many are sharing a graphic that claims Duke Health is “starting gender transitions” at 2 years old while UNC Health begins it at 3 years old and ECU Health at 4 years old.
[…] “To be clear: UNC Health does not offer any gender-transitioning care for toddlers,” the statement read. “We do not perform any gender-affirming surgical procedures or medical interventions on toddlers. Also, we are not doing any gender-affirming research or clinical trials involving children.” ECU Health similarly rejected the claims as “dangerous misinformation.” “To be clear: ECU Health does not offer gender affirming surgery to minors nor does the health system offer gender affirming transition care to toddlers,” it said in a written statement. The healthcare providers also stressed that a toddler’s toy preference has nothing to do with gender dysphoria, despite what the social media posts suggest. […]
NO, CNN’S TRUMP TOWN HALL WAS NOT CUT SHORT, IT ACTUALLY RAN OVERTIME
CLAIM: CNN cut short its primetime town hall with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
THE FACTS: The cable news network says it had allotted one hour for the forum but it ended up running about 10 minutes longer. […] The town hall with the former president wrapped up at 9:09 p.m. EST — 69 minutes after it began at its scheduled time of 8 p.m. Immediately following the broadcast, however, social media users began claiming that the network had deliberately truncated the event. “Lol, CNN ended the town hall with Trump early,” one user on Twitter wrote in a post that’s been liked or shared more than 21,000 times as of Thursday. “Biggest ratings they’ve had in years and they tapped out.” […]
CHELSEA CLINTON DID NOT SAY IT’S TIME TO ‘FORCE-JAB’ UNVACCINATED CHILDREN
CLAIM: Chelsea Clinton said, “It’s time to force-jab every unvaccinated child in America.”
THE FACTS: There is no evidence of Clinton ever making such a comment, and a spokesperson confirmed she has not. The fabricated quote originated on a website that is known to publish false news and misinformation. Clinton recently spoke at a conference on a new global health initiative called “ The Big Catch-Up,” which aims to boost childhood vaccination rates, but does not involve mandatory immunization and will not focus on the U.S. Still, social media users are sharing a screenshot of a baseless article with a headline reading: “Chelsea Clinton: ‘It’s Time To Force-Jab Every Unvaccinated Child in America.’” The headline came from a website called The People’s Voice […]
I just watched John Sununu on Jen Psaki’s show. He’s probably too “liberal” to get the GOP nomination. But he comes across as very personable and direct, and as a “reasonable” Republican.
But while sounding eminently “reasonable,” under Psaki’s questioning he admitted:
He’s not for a national abortion but he’s for letting states decide. You know, like TX, FL and ID.
He vetoed gun control measures and thinks teachers should be armed if they want to be.
He thinks the retirement age for social security should be raised and said France did it “without a problem.” He thinks we should cut social security now because “there will definitely be cuts in 8 years.”
Because of his engaging manner, someone not listening carefully might think he’s a “reasonable” Republican. Yes, reasonable compared to Trump or DeSantis — a low bar […]
In the very unlikely event he’s the R nominee, we should realize his policy positions are not that different from the crazy Rs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to Paris on Sunday to meet with French President Emanuel Macron.
“Paris. With each visit, Ukraine’s defense and offensive capabilities are expanding. The ties with Europe are getting stronger, and the pressure on Russia is growing,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
France sent a plane to Germany, where Zelensky had been earlier in the day as part of a multi-stop tour through Europe, to pick up the Ukrainian president, according to the Associated Press — and the pair of leaders met at the French presidential palace.
Zelensky said he’d meet with his “friend Emanuel” to “talk through the most important points of bilateral relations.” Macron’s office reportedly said they’ll go over Ukraine’s needs as it fends off Russia’s invasion, now more than a year on, and discuss the long-term and peace in Europe.
The meeting comes a week after a French reporter was killed by a rocket attack near the city of Bakhmut while in Ukraine to cover the war.
Zelensky was in Berlin earlier on Sunday for a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“Today, Germany is second only to the United States in terms of aid. This is very powerful,” Zelensky said, per his office.
“Russia’s war of aggression has brought the EU and Ukraine closer than ever before. Our story will continue together,” Scholz said.
It’s a good thing that Zelensky has diplomatic skills.
StevoRsays
Erythrina schliebenii, a critically endangered type of Coral Tree endemic to Tanzania in East Africa and thought to be extinct not once but twice only to be rediscovered is this Week’s Endangered Species of the Week. Originally discovered by Western scientists in the 1930’s this spiky trunked species gets the second part of its botanical name from Hans-Joachim Schlieben, a German botanist and collector and the first ‘Erythrina’ part from its red flowers. Its then known population near Lake Latumba – the area that gives it its common name of the Lake Latumba Coral tree – was cleared for agricultural plantation in the 1940’s and it was declared extinct after no further sightings in 1998. A precious new population was subsequently rediscovered by people working for the University of Dar es Salaam in 2001 in the Namatimbili Forest. Sadly that population too, was soon destroyed falling victim to commercial logging in 2008 and, again, it was thought extinct. Then in 2012 a single population of this lazarus species was discovered near the hamlet of Kilwa with about fifty trees growing on rocky limestone. Despite its rareity, this tree known to locals as “Mnungunungu” in Swahili and “Mlindimila” was a literal life-saver as a traditional medicine apparently being effective in reducing fevers when used properly. There is also at least one paper – abstract linked in comments below – studying this marvellous plant’s value as a possible source of chemicals that may fight breast cancer. Conservationists are working to save it now and we have to wonder how many species like this are disappearing unstudied and what possible medicines are being lost forever with them – let alone their own intrinsic value and beauty and unique evolutionary histories. Having nearly lost this wonderful member of the legume family twice before, we are now on what must be our very last precious, precarious chance to save it. Will we?
Evaluation of their toxicity against the aggressive human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 indicated EC50 values of 13.0–290.6 μM (pure compounds) and 38.3 to >100 μg mL–1 (crude extracts).
Note of caution when playing with because some Coral Trees very possibly including this Erythrina schliebeni species too produce botanical chemicals that are poisonous as well as useful :
The twins amassed vast collections of seeds from their coral tree over the years. One year they decided to make necklaces from them, though it took them quite some time to pierce each lucky bean and then string them together Finally the necklaces were completed and they proudly paraded them. So pleased were they with their handiwork that they wore them to bed that night.
The following morning one of the twins would not wake up when her sister came over to her bed. She was lying there, unable to move, with her lucky bean necklace slung across her mouth.
The twin narrowly escaped death that night so the story ends well, but no one could identify what it was that had threatened her life. It was only when a local botanist versed in traditional medicine saw the twins wearing their lucky bean necklaces that all became clear
“You must be very careful of those,” she said. “They can be deadly poisonous.”
“But we’ve swallowed them before and nothing happened. Like the time we played ‘Doctor Doctor’ and used the lucky beans as pills,” the twins explained.
“Ah yes, but that was because those beans were not pierced. You shouldn’t swallow lucky beans in any event, but if a seed is pierced or even cracked, it exposes its poison. This poison is so potent that it can cause paralysis or even death.”
What had happened is the afflicted twin had been sucking on her necklace as she lay asleep and the poison had entered her system.
“You are extremely lucky,” the botanist said, and went on to explain how important it is to know and understand the plants in your environment. “Some are wonderful for healing, others are both deadly and desirable.”
Scientists have confirmed the rediscovery of two tree species that were feared to have become extinct twice, according to a report published in the Journal of East African Natural History. The finds were made in highly threatened fragments of dry forest in coastal Tanzania.
Scientists have confirmed the rediscovery of two tree species that were feared to have become extinct twice, according to a report published in the Journal of East African Natural History. The finds were made in highly threatened fragments of dry forest in coastal Tanzania.
One of the trees, Erythrina schliebenii, belongs to the genus of ‘coral trees’ which have spectacular red flowers and viciously spiny trunks. The tree was only known from two collections from the 1930s until it was recollected in a small patch of unprotected forest in 2001. It was feared that it might have gone extinct again when a Dutch company cleared part of that forest for a biofuel plantation in 2008.
The other tree, Karomia gigas, was only known from a single specimen cut down a few years after it was first discovered in coastal Kenya in 1977. Another tree was found some 600 km away in a tiny fragment of forest in Tanzania in 1993, but a more recent search at the same site was unable to relocate it.
Last year botanists from the University of Dar es Salaam set out to look for both trees near where they had been found. They discovered small populations of both in remote coastal forest near Kilwa in southeast Tanzania.
As the debt ceiling deadline approaches, and fears grow that this might be the time that congressional Republicans push the nation over the default cliff, President Joe Biden routinely tries to remind the American public about the significance of the danger. The Democrat published a tweet on the subject on Saturday morning.
“Default would erase millions of jobs, trigger a recession, hit retirement accounts, and increase borrowing costs,” Biden wrote. “It’s not an option.”
This didn’t seem especially controversial. In fact, every word of the message was true.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was nevertheless unimpressed, publishing this tweet on Saturday, which read in part:
“You did all of that during your Communist COVID shutdowns. Don’t do it again to the American people Joe.”
In other words, as the Georgia Republican sees it, Covid lockdowns created the same conditions in 2020 that the president is warning about now: erasing millions of jobs, triggering a recession, etc.
For now, let’s put aside Greene’s curious confusion about what “communist” means and instead focus on the more important problem with her argument: There were Covid lockdowns in 2020, but, at the time, Biden was a private citizen with no official powers or authority. When the right-wing congresswoman complains about the effects of Covid “shutdowns,” and attributes the policies to Biden, she’s apparently forgetting who was actually in office at the time — which is odd, given that 2020 really wasn’t that long ago.
But what’s especially interesting to me is just how often Republicans make this mistake.
[…] it was a few months ago, for example, Greene blamed Biden administration’s policies for a Michigan woman whose sons died in 2020 — when, again, Biden was a private citizen.
It’s not just Greene. Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, for example, recently blamed Biden for “paying people to stay home” in 2020, referring to a law that Donald Trump signed the year before Biden took office.
The same week, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado blamed the Democratic president for Covid-related school closures in 2020 — which, again, was a year that Biden spent on the campaign trail, not in the Oval Office.
It also wasn’t too long ago when former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also pointed to crime data from 2020 to blame Biden for the U.S. murder rate, apparently unaware that it was her former boss who was president at the time.
[…] a poll found that nearly a third of Louisiana Republicans blamed Obama for the dreadful federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Of course, in reality, Katrina made landfall in August 2005, and Obama was inaugurated in January 2009.
Now, it seems much of the GOP has become calendar-challenged once again.
It’s not altogether easy to describe a “ReAwaken America Tour” event, though a recent NPR summary is as good as any: “Each stop of the ReAwaken America Tour is part conservative Christian revival, part QAnon expo, and part political rally. … There are meet and greets, a buffet and, lately, baptisms and the casting out of demons.”
Complicating matters is the guest list at these radical events, which feature remarks from high-profile MAGA figures such as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Trump adviser Roger Stone, as well as lesser-known extremists.
With this in mind, Rachel noted that the latest stop on the ReAwaken America Tour was an event last week at Donald Trump’s hotel in Miami, where members of the former president’s inner circle — including Eric Trump and Lara Trump — were scheduled to appear at the same gathering as some radical bigots, including Hitler-promoting antisemites.
After the segment aired, the guest list was quickly altered.
Nevertheless, the ReAwaken America Tour event happened, and Rolling Stone reported, it featured a call-in appearance from the former president himself — who had an announcement of sorts he was eager to share with the right-wing audience in attendance.
Although he canceled his outdoor rally in Iowa due to tornado warnings, Donald Trump did not let his Saturday night end without addressing a crowd. The former president called in to a pro-MAGA event featuring disgraced former national security advisor Michael Flynn and signaled he would make Flynn part of his next administration, confirming Rolling Stone’s reporting.
Trump’s comments came on the heels of a Rolling Stone piece that said [Trump] was eyeing roles for Flynn and Jeffrey Clark in a possible second term. [Sheesh!] And while the former president didn’t reference the highly controversial former Justice Department attorney during his telephoned message to the ReAwaken America Tour event, he seemed only too pleased to offer assurances about Flynn’s future. [video at the link]
As Flynn held a microphone to his cellphone, Trump began by twice referring to his own hotel as “wonderful,” before adding that attendees were there for an “important purpose.”
The Republican then turned his attention to the man holding the phone.
“I will say, General Flynn, he’s some general. He’s some man,” Trump added. “He took abuse like nobody could have handled, and he came out bigger, better, stronger than ever before.”
The former president concluded, in reference to Flynn, “We love him. He’s a leader, and you just stay wealthy and healthy and well, and everything. I want you to have great lives in general. You just have to stay healthy because we’re bringing you back. We’re gonna bring you back.”
At that point, Flynn told Trump that his wife was “going crazy.”
As regular readers might recall, in 2020, Trump told reporters that he was open to re-hiring Flynn. Asked specifically if he might invite Flynn back into the executive branch, the then-president replied, “I would certainly consider it, yeah. I would.”
Evidently, he’s since made up his mind.
Part of what made all of this so jarring was the former president’s willingness to play a role at the radical event. But the idea that the Republican also envisions an official role for Flynn in a second Trump administration is also deeply unsettling.
Flynn, of course, was fired early in Trump’s presidency after getting caught lying to the FBI about his covert communications with Russian officials. More recently, as regular readers might recall, Flynn plotted with the outgoing president in the Oval Office, exploring ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The retired general reportedly raised the prospect of seizing voting machines, deploying U.S. troops, and declaring martial law as part of the anti-election scheme.
Flynn’s relationship with reality did not improve. Two years ago, for example, he appeared to endorse a military coup. In the late summer, Flynn suggested people may be exposed to Covid-19 vaccines by way of salad dressing. [JFC]
He soon after made the case that the United States should have a single religion — presumably, Flynn’s faith tradition would be the one receiving special recognition — while taking on a leading role in promoting ideas associated with the QAnon mass delusion.
While Trump has surrounded himself with far too many fringe figures with radical beliefs, by most measures, Flynn approached the extremist edge of American politics — and enthusiastically jumped off.
The fact that Trump is eager to give him a governmental role tells Americans quite a bit about what to expect from his hypothetical second term.
Travellers on an intercity train in Austria were startled on Sunday when a recording of an Adolf Hitler speech was played on board. Instead of the normal announcements, a crowd could also be heard shouting “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg Heil” over the train’s speaker system. The operator said there had been several such incidents in recent days. One passenger on the Bregenz-Vienna service told the BBC that everyone on the train was “completely shocked”. David Stoegmueller, a Green Party MP, said the speech by the Nazi German leader was played over the intercom shortly before the train, an ÖBB Railjet 661, arrived in Vienna. “We heard two episodes,” he said. “First there was 30 seconds of a Hitler speech, and then I heard ‘Sieg Heil’.” Mr Stoegmueller said the train staff were unable to stop the recording and were unable to make their own announcements. “One crew member was really upset,” he added.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law Monday barring the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limiting how race can be discussed in many courses.
[…]
Florida’s new law prohibits public colleges from spending state or federal money on DEI efforts. These programs often assist colleges in increasing student and faculty diversity, which can apply to race and ethnicity, as well as sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic status.
The law also forbids public colleges from offering general education courses — those that are part of a required curriculum for all college students — that “distort significant historical events,” teach “identity politics,” or are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities.”
[…]
DeSantis said students who want to study “niche subjects,” such as critical race theory, ought to look elsewhere. “Florida’s getting out of that game,” he said. “If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley…
The governor held the signing on the campus of New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, where the governor recently appointed a crop of conservative trustees. Eliminating New College’s DEI office was among the newly constituted board’s first orders of business.
The event drew protests, whose chants could be heard inside the bill-signing ceremony.
Paul Ksays
Re: #218. If laws like this are not incontrovertibly unconstitutional, what the hell does ‘free speech’ and the first amendment actually mean? DeSantis and other fascists keep doing this shit, and I know that some courts are finding them to be unconstitutional, but it seems so piecemeal. I’m no lawyer. How can this be stopped?
Evidence shows Congressman Paul Gosar’s digital director is behind an online persona that Fuentes called one of his “strongest soldiers.”
Nick Fuentes was under attack.
On May 6, 2022, two high-ranking members of Fuentes’ white-supremacist “Groyper” movement had defected from his organization and gone on a rival far-right streaming show to criticize Fuentes and air their grievances about the group. Fuentes responded five days later on his own stream, “America First.” After denouncing his “enemies,” Fuentes raised his hand and made a demand from his remaining followers.
“Now it’s time to pledge your allegiance to me forever, OK?” Fuentes declared. [Nazi much?]
Fuentes was seated in front of a digital studio backdrop with a Russian flag bearing the “Z” insignia used by supporters of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine […] messages from viewers poured in. They took Fuentes’ oath via emoji, sending in row after row of cartoon hands. One audience member who pledged fealty to Fuentes used the handle “Chikken.” A wrench icon next to their name indicated they were a moderator in the chatroom for Fuentes’ streams. “Chikken” sent in multiple hand emojis, signaling their loyalty to Fuentes as he elaborated on the pledge.
“Raise your right hand. ‘I swear my undying allegiance to Nicholas J. Fuentes and the America First movement, so help me God,’” Fuentes said, continuing to recite his pledge, “Raise your hand. Hold it high. ‘I swear I will defend the white race, my nation America, and my savior Jesus Christ, and my loyalty to the America First movement, Nicholas J. Fuentes, so help me God.’”
[…] In addition to emojis, they sent in paid “superchats” that allowed them to display a note on the screen alongside Fuentes. [Monetizing his Nazi rallies online.] These paid messages are a staple of Fuentes’ broadcasts on Cozy TV, the video platform Fuentes launched after he was suspended from YouTube for violations of its hate speech policy in 2020. Fuentes read these “superchats” aloud. Most of the donors gave a few dollars, but one, who used the handle “Chikkenright,” gave an especially generous gift, $150, along with a note that gushed to Fuentes, “You are our voice!”
“Chikken” and “Chikkenright” were aliases associated with a social media persona that became relatively prominent in the “Groyper” movement between 2020 and last year. As he gave thanks for the donation, Fuentes indicated his personal familiarity with “Chikkenright.”
“Thank you so much Chikkenright,” Fuentes said. “Chikkenright, one of the best. Thank you so much, king.”
The ChickenRight persona was a unique figure in the Groyper movement. Fuentes’ core audience is made up of young, alienated “Zoomers” who watch his hours-long streams, in which he rails against minorities and gays. But ChickenRight wasn’t just some kid tuning in to Fuentes’ fringe online world from a basement. Evidence indicates ChickenRight has a real job in the corridors of power in Washington D.C.
TPM has uncovered an extensive digital trail of interconnected Groyper social media pages using variations of the “ChickenRight” and “Chikken” handles that can be linked to Wade Searle, who works as the digital director for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), one of the most extreme, far-right members of Congress. […]
‘As Extreme And As Racist As You Get’ Fuentes is one of the far-right leaders who gained prominence during the Trump era. His open embrace of Nazism and usage of racial epithets is extreme even within this alt-right movement. The revelation that a devotee of Fuentes appears to have infiltrated a congressional office represents a previously unknown and unseen degree of influence for the modern white supremacist movement.
In an interview with TPM, Nicole Hemmer, a historian at Vanderbilt University who focuses on conservatism and the far right, said it would be “pretty extreme” for Gosar to have a Groyper activist in his office.
“The Groypers are essentially the equivalent of neo-Nazis,” said Hemmer. “They are attached to violent events like Jan. 6. Nick Fuentes, as sort of the organizer of the Groypers, expresses Holocaust denialism, white supremacy, white nationalism, pretty strong anti-women bigotry, he calls for a kind of return to Twelfth Century Catholicism. They’re an extremist group that is OK with violence.
[…] “It’s as extreme and as racist as you get in the United States.”
[…] Gosar has his own direct links to Fuentes. […] The congressman has repeatedly generated controversy and condemnation by alternately cozying up to and distancing himself from the white supremacist leader. Gosar appeared at the last two editions of Fuentes’ “America First” conference. He showed up in person at the event in 2021. Gosar also delivered a video message the following year. When his taped 2022 address to the conference caused an uproar, Gosar insisted it was a mistake that stemmed from “miscommunication” among his staff. Gosar has also made social media posts promoting Fuentes. In July 2021, he wrote the FBI on congressional letterhead criticizing Fuentes’ inclusion on the no-fly list as an abuse of power.
But the presence of a prominent Groyper in Gosar’s office would indicate the congressman’s ties to the white supremacist movement are far deeper than previously known. Online, ChickenRight built a following of more than 20,000 people on far-right websites while posting extremist, anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-vaccine content.
[…] Searle’s official Instagram is mostly filled with inoffensive images of him posing in Washington and at political events. The anonymous ChickenRight accounts he appears to have run are far more unusual — and far more extreme. [Screen grab of Wade Searle’s instagram pad at the link]
‘2 Admins’
While looking into potential links among the ChickenRight persona and Searle, TPM connected with two researchers focused on the far right who had also been working independently to investigate the account. Nick Martin, editor of The Informant, and a writer who uses the pen name Haley Orion and authors the Arizona Right Watch newsletter and Arizona Right Wing Watch Twitter account, provided TPM with some of their evidence that indicated Searle was involved with the “ChickenRight” social media accounts.
“Chikken has been a dedicated acolyte of Nick Fuentes, with the Hitler-loving white supremacist leader going as far as to call him a loyal friend and one of the ‘strongest soldiers of the movement,’” said Martin […]
Since Searle joined Gosar’s staff, many of the ChickenRight posts have been deleted. However, much of this material has been captured on the Internet Archive.
There are indications at least one other person was involved with the ChickenRight persona along with Searle. Evidence suggests that person may be Landen Petersen, who works as an intern in Gosar’s office.
[…] By late 2020, Searle was posting as if the page was his own. Searle most directly revealed himself as an operator of the account as he took his activism offline and into the real world.
[…] “After me and another patriot held an AF Flag behind @NickJFuentes, I got a picture, a maga hat signed, and some merch signed. Very surreal, the energy was ecstatic!” the tweet said. “Thank you for being so nice to everyone there, and making an effort to interact with us all, Nick!” [Yuck. FanBoy] [Screengrab at the link]
[…] “I find comfort in knowing that I’m not one of the zombies lining up obediently to get their vaccine/booster shot every 6 months,” ChickenRight wrote. “It seems like so many people my age (not even old enough to drink yet) are willing to take the path of least resistance and do whatever they’re told.”
[…] ChickenRight also made multiple posts praising Gosar in 2021 even as the accounts criticized other Republicans — including Trump — for being insufficiently conservative.
[…] ChickenRight regularly shared Fuentes’ videos and other extremist content. On Twitter and Gab, they posted statements and graphics suggesting trans people are “pedophiles,” that LGBTQ individuals are engaged in “sin,” and that women should not be part of the workforce. ChickenRight also minimized slavery, and made disparaging comments about Blacks, Asians, and Jews. In one instance, they referenced anti-Semitic stereotypes and criticized “HOOK-NOSED BANKERS.” In another, ChickenRight proffered a version of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory.
[…] Gosar’s own social media presence displays clear links to “ChickenRight.” And, just as Searle officially entered his orbit, the congressman ratcheted up his rhetoric and deepened his engagement with the Groyper world online.
[…] Gosar claimed the anime clip with Ocasio-Cortez was a representation of policy disagreements and was “not meant to depict any harm or violence,” the video provoked a rare censure from the congressman’s colleagues on Nov. 17, 2021 that saw him stripped of his committee assignments.
[…] After Searle joined Gosar’s staff and the congressman’s digital presence became more extreme, the ChickenRight accounts began to go quiet. […] it is “dangerous” that, as Gosar’s digital director, Searle potentially has access to his official social media channels. “It has more influence then he would ever have as ’The ChickenRight,’” Orion said, adding, “He’s making America First propaganda and he’s making that propaganda and feeding it through a congressman’s account.”
A Groyper ‘Soldier’
“[…] to Crypto Zoomer and Chikken,” Fuentes said. “God bless them. Strongest soldiers, the strongest soldiers of the movement. God bless and we salute you.”
[…] “Chikken” seemed to suggest there was another “groyper staffer” in Gosar’s office. In another screengrab shared by Dickerman, Fuentes indicated he would speak with Gosar’s chief of staff about the “problem with his mouth” statement.
[…] “All of his top staffers are AF friendly now,” Chikken wrote in one of Dickerman’s screengrabs […]
Nick Martin, the reporter and editor from The Informant who has tracked Searle and other members of the far right described Gosar’s relationship to Fuentes as a “perverse deal.”
“Gosar has repeatedly opened the door for and offered his own credibility to Fuentes, who otherwise would have very little of his own as the leader of a small and pretty insulated racist group. Gosar appears to be under the mistaken impression that people like Fuentes and his pals are the future rather than what they actually are — small thinkers who try in vain to resuscitate the corpses of failed dictators and despots,” said Martin, adding, “[…] in the meantime, the congressman gets what? Praise from a small faction of people who also praise Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini?”
[…] Searle is unusually young and appears to lack a college degree or prior government work. His primary political experience came as a “soldier” in Fuentes’ Groyper army.
[…] “The Groypers have never gotten the kind of attention that the alt right did, but they are a serious development on the far right. […]. It captivates a young, mostly white, male audience,” said Hemmer, adding, “This should be a good reminder that we should be paying attention because they are growing and they are connected in powerful ways to people with real institutional power.”
There is an easy explanation for why Gosar would stick his neck out for Fuentes, pepper his social media with far right memes, and surround himself with a prominent Groyper. Despite his periodic disavowals and efforts to distance himself, it seems that Gosar is also a part of this movement. The extremist racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric that has helped Fuentes build a following among online Zoomers also earned him a fan in Congress. Gosar is, quite simply, a Groyper.
[…] The screengrab in question showed a set of messages where “Chikken” responded to a worried Groyper who asked, “Is Gosar still in our camp?”
“Yea he will be,” Chikken wrote of Gosar, before adding, “And he is.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spent most of his days poking allies to shake loose new military resources for his nation’s efforts in fighting off Russia’s attempts at annexation. On Monday he appeared in France and the United Kingdom after secretly being spirited out of the war zone for a weekend flurry of meetings with European leaders. It’s part of a multistop international circuit to coordinate new rounds of military support.
The trip is being described as very successful. In France, Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron locked down an agreement for new equipment deliveries and pushing forward Ukraine’s plan to join NATO. [Tweet and list of main points is available at the link]
New pledges from the United Kingdom include hundreds of new air defense missiles and attack drones to be delivered “over the coming months.”
On Saturday, Zelenskyy had appeared in Rome for meetings with Italian officials, and to meet with Pope Francis. We’re going to make the presumption that the Pope did not also pledge new military support, but Zelenskyy called the meeting “a great honor,” saying in a statement that the meeting “focused on stopping Russian military aggression and restoring peace.”
And, of course, all of this comes as Russia continues to take a pounding on the battlefield while wasting its own dwindling resources on attacks like: [Tweet and video at the link, Russia destroyed a storage facility for munitions from 1949]
[Tweet and video at the link: “The wounded ruscist’s comrades-in-arms took his helmet and weapons and fled, leaving him to get to the right condition “Russians don’t abandon their own”, yeah, right 😂”] [I would not have used a laughing-to-the-point-of-tears emoji. Not funny, even if it is a wounded Russian soldier.]
In other news, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko is still alive. [Tweet and image at the link]
But Wagner mercenary group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin might not be alive for long if Russian leaders believe new Ukrainian claims: “Prigozhin said that if Ukraine’s commanders withdrew their soldiers from the area around Bakhmut, he would give Kyiv information on Russian troop positions, which Ukraine could use to attack them” […]]
Did Prigozhin try to make the deal? Who knows? Ukrainian officials could also be making the whole thing up in an attempt to get Prigozhin into a new “accident” orchestrated by angry Russian military officials or Putin’s innumerable murder goons. Probably one involving windows, polonium, and/or somebody in the Russian army accidentally firing one of their valuable missiles into his bedroom.
Speaking of that: This is still in the realm of speculation, but could the alleged loss of five Russian aircraft within the span of minutes on Saturday be the result of yet another Russian friendly fire incident? [Tweet at the link: “Fighterbomber says Russian MoD is still silent about the 5 planes and helis taken down on Saturday; suggests it could easily be the Friend and Foe system malfunction, since few Ukrainian systems, if any, could take down 5 vehicles in 2 minutes. Says the situation is bad in any case as no one will be taking responsibility, and no one will be punished because there is “no war”. […]]
One point about the 5 downed aircraft: Ukraine MOD doesn’t claim them on its daily tally of Russian losses, suggesting that they, too, believe it was a Russian fuckup.
———————-
I almost can’t believe those two ass wipes stealing the other guy’s stuff and leaving him. What a country Russia must be!
And furthermore, what made them ever think that the drone hovering over them only had one grenade? I’d bet the guy piloting the drone wished he’d had a second grenade after seeing what those two did.
Though House Republican leaders couldn’t quite get all of their members to support their far-right immigration bill last week, the party managed to approve the so-called “Secure the Border Act” late last week. For those concerned about good governance, this was not encouraging news.
As The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent explained, the House GOP’s bill “would impose many draconian restrictions on asylum applicants and reinstate Trump’s policy of forcing migrants to wait in Mexico for hearings, which produced humanitarian horrors. The White House and serious immigration analysts say this would end asylum seeking at the border as we know it and scrap existing legal protections for unaccompanied migrant kids.”
At first blush, it might be tempting to overlook the legislation, since there’s simply no way a Democratic-led Senate would even consider it, but its prospects don’t make the bill irrelevant. For one thing, the package makes it painfully clear just how regressive House Republicans’ immigration vision has become.
For another, some GOP lawmakers have an idea about how to get what they want anyway. Politico reported:
Key GOP lawmakers are signaling they want border policies in the mix as congressional leadership and the White House try to negotiate a debt ceiling deal, the day after Republicans passed a sweeping border and immigration bill. It was a GOP wishlist that included restarting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and placing new restrictions on asylum seekers.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy, for example, said that he believes his party’s far-right immigration package “is now a central part of any debt ceiling or spending debate for the remainder of the year.” The Texan added that other GOP members agree with him that the issue is now part of the debt ceiling process.
Politico’s report went on to note that Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana — a top deputy to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, especially as part of the debt ceiling process — pointed to the immigration bill and said his GOP colleagues are “bringing more ideas to the table.”
A few days earlier, Sen. Josh Hawley said he wants to make an addition of his own: As a condition for raising the debt ceiling, the Missouri Republican wants to see the U.S. impose new tariffs on China.
At this point, we could spend a few paragraphs evaluating proposals like these on the merits, but let’s not miss the forest for the trees. First, the debt ceiling “x-date” could come as early as June 1, and as the deadline draws closer, Republicans, instead of taking constructive steps toward diffusing the default bomb they created, are looking for new ways to make their ransom note worse.
In other words, as the prospect of “financial Armageddon“ nears, GOP officials are actively exploring ways to make a catastrophe more likely, not less.
Second, if rank-and-file House Republicans, as behind-the-scenes talks continue, are making new demands, it raises fresh questions about whether GOP leaders will be able to pass some kind of compromise, should it come together. And if Democrats don’t believe McCarthy can deliver the votes needed to pass a negotiated solution, what’s the point in talking to him at all?
And third, as we discussed last week, it’s important that Americans understand that Republicans, unsatisfied with their own country’s governing model, feel increasingly justified in doing an end run around the U.S. policymaking process. Instead of bothering with the Madisonian system that’s existed for more than two centuries, GOP officials see value in an alternative system in which they get what they want through extortion.
[…] This is what happens when a political party abandons their country’s system of governing. They know a democratically elected president and Senate majority disapprove of their ideas, so Republicans intend to get their way anyway by simply threatening to harm Americans on purpose unless their demands are met.
[…] Why work through the country’s longstanding legislative process when extortion makes it more likely that Republicans can get what they want by threatening Americans’ wellbeing?
Two staffers for Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) were hospitalized Monday after a person armed with a baseball bat entered the congressman’s district office and committed “an act of violence.”
Connolly, who represents Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, said the assailant asked for him before attacking his staffers. The staffers were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and the person who entered the office is in police custody, according to a statement from Connolly’s office.
[…] “Right now, our focus is on ensuring they are receiving the care they need. We are incredibly thankful to the City of Fairfax Police Department and emergency medical professionals for their quick response. I have the best team in Congress. My District Office staff make themselves available to constituents and members of the public every day,” he added.
The congressman’s statement continued, “The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff’s accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating.”
[…] Connolly told CNN that the assailant struck a senior aide in the head with a metal bat and hit an intern on the side with the bat. It was the intern’s first day on the job, he told the network. Connolly said he was at a ribbon cutting for a food bank when the incident took place.
[…] The congressman said the attacker is a constituent from his district whom he does not know. He noted that the assailant shattered glass and broke computers.
“He was filled with out-of-control rage,” Connolly told CNN. […]
Good coverage from Wonkette. I can’t post it here because it triggers PZ’s filters.
Here are some excerpts:
BARTIROMO: Hold on a second, Congressman. Did you just say that the whistleblower or the informant is now missing?
COMER: Well, we’re hopeful that we can find the informant. Now remember, these informants are kind of in the spy business, so they don’t make a habit of being seen a lot or being high profile or anything like that.
COMER: We have basic information with respect to what the informant has alleged, and it’s very serious! It alleges that Joe Biden when he was vice president was involved in a quid pro quo with a foreign country in exchange for foreign aid.
BARTIROMO: Are there whistleblowers or informants missing right now?
COMER: [blah blah blah words that don’t mean things] Nine of the 10 people that we’ve identified that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they’re one of three things, Maria, they’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing.
A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state Department of Education after what she believes is a targeted attack by a school board member who took issue with a Disney movie shown in her classroom.
At a Hernando County School Board meeting Tuesday, fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee alleges school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported her to DOE for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.” It’s the first Disney movie with an out, gay character [animated].
Barbee, a teacher at Winding Waters K-8, said during public comment the Disney movie tied into her students’ Earth science lesson and did not have sexually inappropriate content.
Florida educators are prohibited from teaching about gender and sexual identity due to the Parental Rights in Education Act, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. Also known as “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, teachers have expressed anxiety and confusion over the vague wording of the law for fear of losing their teaching licenses or criminal penalties if found in non-compliance.
Opponents of the law say the vague wording unfairly targets books and classroom materials with gay and transgender characters and themes.
[…]
Hernando County’s school district confirmed a fifth-grade teacher is being investigated for showing “Strange World,” and that a parent complained to the principal about the movie not being appropriate for students.
Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall, was endorsed by conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. In her short tenure, she has argued there is “smut” and “porn” on schools’ library shelves and has asked for books to be removed, according to Suncoast News.
Barbee said that every student in her class had a signed parent permission slip that said PG movies were allowed.
[…]
At the end of the school board meeting, Rodriguez said Barbee broke school policy because she did not get the specific movie approved by school administration and said the teacher is “playing the victim.”
Rodriguez’s daughter is in Barbee’s class.
“It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening the door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said she has called DOE about other issues in the district and believes children should not be “a pawn in the crossfire” of liberal political agendas.
“As a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools,” she said.
Reginald Selkirksays
Surprise, surprise. Mr. Freeze Peach Absolutist is a total poser.
Just so we’re clear, this is antisemitic incitement. It has caused violence towards Jews. It is well known for that.
Musk […] is encouraging violence against Jews […] because he’s upset with one particular Jew’s business dealings. What is the difference between this and the thinking of pogromists?
Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, thwarting a superweapon Moscow had previously touted as all but unstoppable…
Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed a U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a Kinzhal missile, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.
But the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said all had been successfully intercepted…
Zaluzhnyi said his forces had intercepted the six Kinzhals launched from aircraft, as well as nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskanders fired from land…
Olympic champion Sarah Hughes is running for Congress.
The former figure skater won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002. Now she wants to represent New York’s 4th Congressional District in the House of Representatives…
Hughes intends to run as a Democrat. She’ll challenge the seat held by Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito…
Kramer told Newsday that Hughes is actively searching for a home in the 4th District. She’ll face a Democratic primary against multiple challengers looking to unseat D’Esposito.
Some defense and congressional officials believe the White House is laying the groundwork to halt plans to move U.S. Space Command’s headquarters to Alabama in part because of concerns about the state’s restrictive abortion law, according to two U.S. officials and one U.S. defense official familiar with the discussions…
The White House directed the Air Force last December to conduct a review of the process that led to the Trump administration’s decision to move Space Command’s headquarters from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama. The review was ordered up in the months after Alabama’s law banning nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest, went into effect last summer. The law is considered among the most restrictive in the U.S…
France will follow Britain’s lead by supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles days after the UK’s Storm Shadow munitions were used to devastating effect against Russian forces behind the front line…
However Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has confirmed: “We have decided to send over and above that, new munitions, new missiles that have a range that allows Ukraine to resist and to lead this (upcoming) counteroffensive.” …
The French equivalent is SCALP-EG, which stands for “Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System – General Purpose”.
Announcing the new missiles, Mr Macron added: “We are not supplying weapons that would be able to reach Russia. Sometimes we have to impose limits.” …
A woman named Noelle Dunphy filed a shocking and graphic 70-page legal complaint against her former boss, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of rape, sexual harassment, abuse of power, wage theft, and other misconduct while he was serving as former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.
Dunphy claims Guiliani hired her in 2019 as director of business development at a salary of $1 million per year plus expenses. Then, she says, he only paid her about $12,000 over the next two years, forced her to perform oral sex and have intercourse with him at work so he could “feel like Bill Clinton” and demanded she either be naked, wear a bikini, or wear short shorts he’d bought her with the American flag on them at work—even while he was on calls with the president. She also claims he regularly spouted off “confused and hostile alcohol-laced tirades” that were homophobic and racist in nature. She says she recorded some of their interactions as proof…
Reginald Selkirksays
ibid:
Giuliani is representing himself against the allegations.
The Supreme Court press service announced on Facebook that the court will convene for an extraordinary session on May 16 due to “events related to Knyazev.”
News outlets ZN.UA and UP have both reported Knyazev’s arrest.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Leshchenko said in a Telegram that Ukraine’s National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) have “documented the head of the Supreme Court receiving a $2.7 million bribe.” …
[…] the White House is laying the groundwork to halt plans to move U.S. Space Command’s headquarters to Alabama in part because of concerns about the state’s restrictive abortion law […]
I’ve seen media coverage of other Republican-controlled states being reminded by business leaders that restricting reproductive health care for women will hurt business.
Yes, it will. And, although it is a bit cynical to focus on the money, that alone might make rightwing doofuses moderate their anti-woman legislation
MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR LOSSES
A June study by the Washington-based Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) estimated state-level abortion restrictions cost the U.S. economy $105 billion a year.
It found the curbs hit women’s participation in the workforce and their earnings, increasing turnover and time off from work among women.
“Those lost earnings also translate to economic impacts for states themselves,” said Nicole Mason, head of IWPR.
Research by the IWPR’s Center on the Economics of Reproductive Health included a range of abortion restrictions, including near-total bans like Texas’s, mandated counseling and waiting periods, and required parental consent for children.
Without such abortion limitations, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) would be nearly half a percentage point greater and an additional 505,000 women aged 15 to 44 would enter the workforce earning about $3 billion annually, the research found.
But though women make up roughly half of the U.S. workforce, many firms do not know what kind of reproductive healthcare – including abortion – they offer as part of insurance plans, found a 2020 report by Rhia Ventures. […]
That report is from 2021. Everybody knew, and they knew a long time ago, that restricting health care hurts business.
johnson catmansays
re Reginald Selkirk @237: Too bad that we can’t rid the US Supreme Court of the justice that has accepted gifts, trips, etc. that probably amount to at least that much. Crooked is as crooked does.
During a CNBC appearance last week, Jake Sherman insisted, “In modern times, the debt ceiling is raised with negotiations.” The idea was that the ongoing crisis might be scary, and might put millions at risk, but it’s become a normal part of the American political process.
[…] the observation was plainly incorrect, though he wasn’t the only one making this mistake. Over the weekend, The New York Times published an op-ed from Michael McConnell, a law professor and a former federal appeals court judge. The opinion piece was largely focused on rejecting the 14th Amendment solution, but it also included this argument:
[T]he House Republicans’ insistence on negotiations and compromise is not hostage taking. It is the ordinary stuff of politics.
No, it’s not.
I can appreciate why there are elements of the larger debate that are subjective, but this isn’t one of them. The question of whether debt ceiling crises are “the ordinary stuff of politics” is not a matter of opinion. The underlying question is an entirely knowable thing: In recent history, have these tactics been common or not?
The answer is readily available — and I have no idea why anyone would deny its accuracy.
As New York magazine’s Jon Chait explained yesterday, “It is true that, historically, debt-ceiling bills have also been wrapped together with other measures. But what [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy is doing is not that. He is threatening to refuse to lift the debt ceiling unless President Biden grants him concessions.” Chait added that the claim from Michael McConnell’s op-ed is “totally false.”
Indeed, it was especially surprising to see the opinion piece dismiss the idea that the ongoing Republican-imposed crisis “is not hostage taking.” We know the opposite is true because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already admitted as much.
In fact, in 2011, immediately after the original debt-ceiling fiasco was resolved, the Kentucky Republican offered a chilling assessment of the crisis he helped create. “What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming,” the GOP leader said.
If this were “the ordinary stuff of politics,” observers would obviously be able to point to a series of other modern examples. That’s impossible, of course, because reality is stubborn.
[…] there were debt ceiling talks in 2011 — though at the time, Barack Obama saw this as an opportunity to engage in budget negotiations, not make ransom payments — which participants, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, soon recognized as a messy mistake not to be repeated.
Throughout the remainder of Obama’s presidency, he refused to engage in such discussions. Republicans grudgingly acquiesced and Congress received no treats for agreeing to pay the nation’s bills. During the Trump era, there was also no need for debt ceiling negotiations — because Democrats didn’t ask for any. (Donald Trump actually praised Democrats for not launching a debt ceiling crisis.) The same was true during George W. Bush’s two terms.
In other words, in the 21st century, before this year, these “negotiations” happened a grand total of once. It’s hardly “ordinary stuff.”
Sure, fiscal debates have unfolded around earlier debt ceiling increases — see the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings process in 1985, for example — but there’s a qualitative difference between budget talks and hostage standoffs.
Let’s not miss the forest for the trees: The Republicans’ 2011 fight was the first time a major American political party used the debt ceiling to threaten to deliberately crash the economy. This year, GOP officials are doing it again. Policymakers have historically steered clear of such extortion tactics, but as the Republican Party has become more radicalized, we’re now experiencing their second such effort.
As for why anyone should care about some in the media getting this wrong, there are consequences to public confusion: The more GOP leaders feel no pressure to follow a responsible course, the less likely it is Americans will see a sensible resolution.
Or put another way, when major news organizations publish false claims about extraordinary and dangerous circumstances being “the ordinary stuff of politics,” it contributes to public complacency, and makes it easier for voters to buy into the ridiculous idea that both parties bear responsibility for this Republican-imposed fiasco.
This probably doesn’t require much saying. But I think we need to say it anyway in the context of the low energy but still petulant “Durham Report”. Trump diehards like Durham and most Republicans have now spent years claiming that the Trump/Russia investigation was some kind of Deep State plot or ‘collusion’ between the FBI, the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration. The kinder, gentler version of this attack is that the FBI, whatever its motives, never should have opened an investigation in the first place.
This is all absurd.
The Trump campaign was positively infested with individuals who ranged from people who did extensive business in Russia to ones who were likely assets of Russian intelligence and/or compromised by Russian intelligence. These ties were so overwhelming they could be pieced together not just from public sources but by fairly high profile published reports, as I did here in July of 2016.
Scrutinizing things like this is quite literally the central task of a counter-intelligence agency. The FBI is the country’s lead counter-intelligence agency.
During the subsequent Special Counsel probe and eventual report we learned that some of the FBI’s leads were dry holes and some of the most damning contacts remained unknown to US law enforcement until well into Trump’s presidency.
Much of the logic of the Trumpite attack has been that ‘collusion’ was never proven (not true at all) and that no one was ever charged over the Trump’s campaign’s contact or agreements with Russia (true). But that means very little. The vast majority of the work counter intelligence agencies do never leads to criminal prosecutions. That can be because they find no malign contact. That can be because they find malign contact that doesn’t clearly violate criminal laws. That can be because they find illegal contact that can’t be prosecuted because the evidence cannot be presented in court.
We can debate just what Trump and his top associates did (still unknown), whether the whole matter was sufficiently investigated (doubtful), what he got away with (a lot). But there’s no legitimate debate about whether there was something to investigate. It would have been negligent not to.
Bill Barr’s Trusty Stooge Special Counsel John Durham got spun so many different ways by Bill Barr that by the time he released his 300-plus-page final report yesterday – after a four-year investigation that stretched longer than the Mueller investigation he was investigating – his reputation, dignity, and sense of proportion had all disappeared.
The problem with trying to hold Durham to account on the facts now is that it requires extensive knowledge of events that are now creeping from current affairs into the historical past: the run-up to the 2016 election, Russia’s meddling in the election, Trump’s many misdeeds in this arena before and after his inauguration, the Mueller investigation, the origins of the Durham probe, the many bogus conspiracy theories that gave rise to the Durham probe and that it unselfconsciously helped to reinforce.
[…] And therein lies much of the disadvantage that misinformation thrives on. It was easy for bad-faith, conspiracy-minded MAGA supporters to hold up Durham’s tome yesterday and declare that it showed exactly what they said all along, even though it didn’t.
But let me zero in on what I think is the most glaring example of Durham’s bad faith, Bill Barr’s ratfuckery, and the politicization of the Justice Department under Trump.
The Big Missing Piece
Back in January, the New York Times did a commendable, ground-breaking bit of reporting on the Durham probe. Times reporter Charlie Savage more than any other mainstream report has had a very clear-eyed view of Durham and his mess of an investigation. One of the bombshells from that report was that Durham’s remit had secretly expanded to include an allegation of wrongdoing against Trump:
Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham never disclosed that their inquiry expanded in the fall of 2019, based on a tip from Italian officials, to include a criminal investigation into suspicious financial dealings related to Mr. Trump. The specifics of the tip and how they handled the investigation remain unclear, but Mr. Durham brought no charges over it.
The guy investigating the investigators it turns out was also investigating the target of the original investigators. Big news!
But what does Durham’s final report, which under the rules and regs is supposed to explain his decisions to prosecute and to decline to prosecute, say about the Italian tip about Trump financial dealings, about his actions or decisions in that matter, about the ultimate conclusions he reached?
Bupkis! It’s not mentioned at all.
Here’s how Savage et al put it delicately in their story on the final report:
… Italian officials unexpectedly gave Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham a tip about suspected financial crimes linked to Mr. Trump. While the tip was unrelated to the Russia investigation, Mr. Barr had Mr. Durham investigate the matter rather than referring it to another prosecutor. Mr. Durham brought no charges.
Mr. Durham’s report did not mention any of those matters.
It looks all the world like Bill Barr used John Durham to bury an allegation of wrongdoing against then-President Trump. And it worked.
Followup to CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @228, and to birgerjohansson @229.
Wonkette: “Elon Musk Has Some Thoughts About This One Jew”
Billionaire shitposter and waste of perfectly good atoms Elon Musk has a clear moral outlook, which is that Elon Musk is the smartest person who ever lived and therefore just about the most important person on Planet Earth. Ergo, anything that’s good for Elon Musk is good for the world, while anything that’s bad for Elon Musk is bad for the world. So it stands to reason that Musk would be awfully peeved after news broke that billionaire investor George Soros sold off all of his stock in Tesla […]
The most likely explanation for Soros’s decision is that he’d bought lots of Tesla shares when the stock price was in freefall last year, and saw an opportunity to take some profits when the company’s stock rebounded in the first quarter of this year. (Good call, too, since Tesla shares have fallen 11 percent in the last month.) The most likely explanation to Musk, apparently, is that Soros is a comic book supervillain.
Last night, with no context at all, Musk tweeted, “Soros reminds me of Magneto,” a reference to the mutant Marvel nemesis of the Wolverine-Men. Because Twitter’s algorithm has been janked to goose the Great Thinker’s tweets, the tweet has been viewed well over 28 million times as I write this […]
That’s not just comic-book nerdery of course, because George Soros is the go-to bad guy for whatever bug is up rightwingers’ asses, with the HE’S A JEW!!!! part right out loud or comfortably left in the background, because antisemitic hate is kind of a given with references to how George Soros controls American and world politics somehow. At this point there might be two or three rightwingers out there who don’t know that “Soros” is a stand-in for “The Jews control everything,” but there’s no way in the multiverse that Elon Goddamn Musk is unaware of that.
Brian Krassenstein, a guy on Twitter, pointed out to Musk that part of what makes Magneto an interesting supervillain is his backstory:
Fun fact: Magneto’s experiences during the Holocaust as a survivor shaped his perspective as well as his depth and empathy. Soros, also a Holocaust survivor, get’s attacked nonstop for his good intentions which some Americans think are bad merely because they disagree with this political affiliations.
[…] We’d also add that part of the rightwing hate focused on Soros is straight out of Russian propaganda, because he supported the democratic movement in Ukraine that ousted Putin’s buddy Viktor Yanukovych. He’s also regularly the target of smears from Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Musk, who apparently lacks the knack for subtlety that even comic superhero stories can manage, replied that no, Soros may actually be worse than the fictional Magneto:
You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.
So yeah, that’s certainly how evil cartoon supervillains behave: They literally hate humanity and want to destroy civilization, because they’re just plain evil, and you’re a fool if you believe they have good intentions. […] But sure, George Soros seeks to ruin everything, if you’re a fucking antisemitic idiot who believes in conspiracy stories, which are also generally less plausible than many comic book plots.
There were a few souls who asked Musk just what the hell he was slobbering about this time, like former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who doesn’t believe in nonmetaphorical ghosts: [Tweets at the link]
What data support this hypothesis? In the post communist world Soros has invested heavily in supporting civil society, the very people trying rebuild humanity after decades of communist inhumanity. (I’m not an expert on his activities in other places.)
And then the Fox News addicts were all up in the replies with the news of how Soros has funded all the crime by sometimes supporting the campaigns of reformist district attorneys. Why? Because he loves criminals, as any supervillain does, duh. And the usual Musk-humping dipshits showed up to explain that anyone questioning Musk is clearly under the influence of George Soros’s mind control, another prominent feature of superhero narratives. [Tweet from “son of liberty” at the link]
Also too, for further context, some smartass went and pointed out that it’s pretty weird that Musk is so frightened of the supposed world-changing influence of a guy who, sure, is a billionaire, but whose net worth ($6.7 billion) is a fraction not only of Musk’s net worth ($176.9 billion, depending on what he’s tweeting), but also a fraction of the $44 billion Musk paid to buy Twitter: [Tweet at the link]
Also also Musk last night went even more full on racist than usual, tweeting his approval of posts claiming that Black people are inexplicably violent and shouldn’t be allowed to star in streaming series, the end.
Good commentary on Musk’s overly simplified, conspiracy-theory-dominated worldview. Musk is a doofus with money.
I did not have “12 year-old accused of murdering Sonic employee with an AR-15” on my list of possibilities this month. […]
In the United States, I have to sit down and imagine the saddest, most ridiculous scenarios, and then wake up each day to find myself surprised. […]
First, let’s talk about where this happened, which is Keene, TX about an hour south of Fort Worth. To hear locals talk, this is a small town where “this sort of thing just does not happen.” The problem with that thought process, is there is no town in this nation where it can’t happen.
According to police, this started when 20-year-old Angel Gomez of Fort Worth arrived at the Sonic with others in his vehicle. Gomez allegedly began urinating in the back parking lot, so (32 year-old Matt) Davis came outside speak to him.
There was a fight between the two, and that’s when police say the 12-year-old shooting suspect, a passenger, grabbed the AR-15 rifle from Gomez’s vehicle and shot Davis multiple times. He later died at the hospital.
Police say Gomez ran away with the AR-15 but then returned and was arrested. The 12-year-old also took off.
[…] If AR-15s weren’t sold like Slurpees and so prevalent that a 12 year-old could just grab one at will, ya, that might have prevented this […]
Davis had just started the role a few weeks ago, and leaves behind a 10 year-old son and his mom is working to bury him.
I just can’t Texas anymore. I can Illinois, California, Georgia, even North Carolina, but I can’t Texas. Stories of lunacy with the same gun, all the time, day after day, in county after county makes me just want to skip it altogether. But that goes for many places. In fact, most of the south is a no-go for me, and this makes me sad, because I know there are good people everywhere.
I don’t want to abandon anybody to the wolves.
But I also don’t want a side of lead with my double cheeseburger.
But for the ones who think staying at home helps, no, it doesn’t exactly. In Texas a mom who had recently moved from Pennsylvania was shot while sleeping by a neighbor trying to stop thieves. The bullet went through her wall into her bedroom and through her head. Her name was Bethany Mefford. But it was a handgun in that case.
Yesterday in New Mexico a young man decided to randomly shoot at homes and cars, and killed three people. He was armed to the teeth, and yes, one of those was an AR-15.
So the nation is being overrun by guns and gun violence. Before I go, let’s take a look at a few statistics.
1. 275 million. That is the number of registered vehicles in the USA.
2. 100 million, estimated number of cats in the USA.
3. 80 million, estimated number of dogs in the USA.
4. 433 million, estimated number of guns in the USA.
Guns will outnumber dogs, cats, and cars combined in the USA by 2025.
One example of those Rudy Giuliani tapes that are mentioned in the lawsuit. This is a description of one of the offensive conversations that were recorded … and it is not the most offensive. I won’t post any of the others.
Giuliani became drunk, and fantasized about visiting a hotel with Ms. Dunphy, bizarrely saying during a recorded conversation that he would tell the doorman to wait outside with the luggage so that “we do it on the floor in the living room…we don’t even make it to the bedroom. All the clothes come off,” and telling the doorman,“I need time alone with my girlfriend, with my daughter. With my little girl.” This became part of a pattern in which Giuliani referenced Ms. Dunphy as his “daughter” in the context of sexual activity and made her extremely uncomfortable.
[Explanation: Oregon Republican Senators are boycotting the legislative session, preventing the Senate from reaching a quorum. This is to prevent passage of bills exanding abortion coverage, expanding state coverage of medical services for transgender individuals, and making several other changes to state laws regulating reproductive and gender-affirming care. Measure 113, approved by almost 70% of voters last November, disqualifies from reelection any state lawmaker who receives 10 or more unexcused absences during a legislative session.]
The Oregon Senate was unable to reach quorum for a 10th day, even after Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, canceled sessions Friday, Saturday and Sunday in hopes of continuing negotiations.
Three Senators have now hit 10 unexcused absences: Sen. Brian Boquist, I-Dallas; Daniel Bonham, R-Welches and Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls. Under the voter-approved Measure 113, they will now be ineligible to run for reelection.
Sen. Cedric Hayden, R-Fall Creek, would hit 10 Tuesday.
If the walkout continues, a majority of other GOP senators could hit 10 unexcused absences by Thursday.
Senate Republican leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, has registered a new political action committee: “Oregon’s 13 Defense Fund,” pointing to the group’s commitment to challenging Measure 113 in court.
“In order to push extreme bills onto Oregonians, the majority party has been willing to trample our own laws and our Constitution. So because ALL Oregonians deserve and expect an accountable Legislature, we started with a respectful challenge of their very complex bills. They ignored us. We challenged again using the process they agreed to. They ignored us. Democrat leadership left us no choice,” reads the website.
An email was sent requesting support and donations to the group.
[…]
Wagner gave remarks from the rostrum following the failed quorum call Monday expressing his disappointment with the continued failure to conduct business and barring the Oregon Legislature from doing the “very important work before us this session,” including finalizing a new budget.
[…]
With the disqualification of at least three senators, eyes turn to the enforcement of Measure 113.
According to Ben Morris from the Secretary of State’s Office, the office holds the position that Measure 113 is a “qualification issue to be enforced at the candidacy stage by the filing officer” meaning that a lawmaker in violation of the measure would be barred from filing to run for office at the next election.
Filing officers won’t allow a candidate on the ballot if they know the candidate won’t qualify for office, he said.
Plastic pollution costs the world up to $600 billion a year. A new UN report provides a road map for drastic action.
HUMANITY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH plastic isn’t just broken—it’s absurd. We’re now churning out a trillion pounds of it a year—an altogether more stunning figure when you consider that the material is ultra-lightweight by design. Less than 10 percent of that is recycled, while the rest ends up in landfills, leaks into the environment, or is burned. And that dysfunctional relationship is getting exponentially worse, as plastic production could triple by 2060.
The problem is massive, demoralizing […] today the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is dropping an urgent report on the extraordinary environmental and human costs of plastic pollution, along with a road map for the world to take action. With several strategies working in concert—like production cuts and more reuse of plastic products—the report finds that humanity might reduce that pollution 80 percent by 2040. The road map lands just weeks ahead of the second round of negotiations for an international treaty on plastics, which scientists and antipollution groups are hoping results in a significant cap on production.
The report emphasizes the devastating price of our civilization’s addiction to plastic […] the report notes, with action on plastic pollution, we might avoid $4.5 trillion in costs by 2040.
This road map builds on another alarming report the UNEP released earlier this month, which found that of the 13,000 known chemicals associated with plastics and their production, at least 3,200 have one or more hazardous properties of concern. […]
Plastic is, at the end of the day, a highly toxic material that’s infiltrated every aspect of our daily lives. The goal above all others should be to stop manufacturing so much of the stuff, so the new road map calls for eliminating unnecessary plastics, like the single-use variety. But the challenge is that plastic remains absurdly cheap to produce—its many external costs be damned.
“This road map is headed in the right direction but must go much further to curb new plastics production,” says Dianna Cohen, CEO and cofounder of Plastic Pollution Coalition. “We are glad to see an emphasis on reduction and reuse, which are key elements of solutions to plastic pollution, as these actions can most rapidly help us diminish plastic production. Missing in the report is requiring industrial/corporate entities that produce material items to stop making more toxic fossil-fuel plastic, full stop.” […]
even recycling that’s done properly comes at a huge environmental cost: A study published earlier this month found that a single facility might emit 3 million pounds of microplastic a year in its wastewater, which flows into the environment. The upside, at least, is that the facility would have released 6.5 million pounds of microplastic had it not installed filters, so there’s at least a way to mitigate that pollution. But these tiny particles have now corrupted the entirety of the planet, including a broad range of organisms. […]
In that sense, then, recycling is making the plastic pollution problem worse. “Plastic was not designed to be recycled, and recycling it only reintroduces toxic chemicals and microplastics into the environment […]
Really, recycling allows the plastics industry to keep making all the plastic it wants, under the guise of sustainability. “If you had an overflowing bathtub, you wouldn’t just run for the mop first—you turn off the tap,” says Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for the conservation nonprofit Oceana, who wasn’t involved in the report. “Recycling is the mop.”
Another strategy highlighted in the new report is “extended producer responsibility,” in which manufacturers don’t just make the stuff and wipe their hands of it. The plastics industry has long promoted recycling (even though it has known that the current system doesn’t work) because it makes you, the “careless” consumer, responsible for pollution. Extended producer responsibility puts the burden back on the industry, forcing producers to, say, implement systems to take bottles back and reuse them.
[…] Another way to keep plastics in circulation is to encourage reuse. So instead of having to recycle a single-use water bottle, ideally people would have their own reusable bottles to fill over and over. Instead of buying shampoo in a plastic bottle each time, people might visit refill stores. Combined, such reuse initiatives could reduce plastic pollution by 30 percent, the new report finds.
[…] The good news, at least, is that plastic pollution is finally being elevated to emergency status in the international community. “The fact that there is consensus that this is an issue by all countries, to me means we have a tremendous opportunity,” says Stone. “It’s our job to get the science out there so that people can see the numbers and understand what the stakes are right now. Because plastics are a time bomb, essentially, and we need to deal with it now.”
Today’s Bakhmut is two stories, seemingly independent of each other, and perfectly illustrative of the problems Russia has faced this entire war.
The first story is that of Wagner Group PMC (private military contractor). They have been pushing toward Bakhmut for the past nine months, the only Russian-aligned group that has made any advances in all of 2023. As of last night, their forces were a few city blocks away from claiming the entire ruins of the city. [map at the link]
Wagner has continued to gain ground despite CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin’s whining of “shell hunger” and a lack of support from the Russian army. Despite all the threats to retreat, Wagner continues to advance.
The second story is that of the flanks, held by regular Russian army troops, supposedly “elite” VDV airborne troops, random other PMCs, and local Donetsk People’s Republic militia. That story is one of Ukrainian advances. While Wagner measures its gains in city blocks and individual buildings, Ukrainian forces are rolling up Russian troops both north and south of the city and recapturing (according to official sources) 20 square kilometers of territory … without even trying much. [map at the link]
The red arrows are Wagner’s efforts to take the last tiny corner of Bakhmut. The blue arrows are Ukrainian efforts, the shaded blue areas are recaptured territory, and the shaded green areas are the gray zones between the two armies. The blue area north of Klischiivka is forest that Wagner spent 2 ½ months capturing. Ukraine got it back in one day.
Russia can’t afford to lose the hills just west of Klischiivka. [map at the link]
Notice that those hills slope gradually from the west, then drop steeply on their eastern edge. That makes Ukraine’s approach much easier (and made Wagner’s previous approach from the east much harder). Once Ukraine takes the heights over Klischiivka, Ukraine will have line-of-sight targeting of that town and Andriivka to its south. Take those hills east of Klischiivka, and Opytne is back in play.
Russia is reportedly throwing reinforcements into the flanks to try and stem the Ukrainian counterattack, which might actually work because there is zero indication that Ukraine is committed to forcing a real breakthrough. These really look like localized counteroffensives that turned into something unexpected. So, will Ukraine’s general staff decide to exploit the situation and push for Bakhmut’s encircling? It’s likely a tempting thought. VDV are lightly armored and have been repeatedly bruised up this war. They wouldn’t hold well against a serious armored assault.
As of now, look at how little Ukraine is throwing into these lines. [Tweet and video at the link] This is one tank and maybe a handful of armored personnel carriers in this series of videos, with small infantry squads clearing Russian trenches. If you’re looking for a massive combined-arms assault, this ain’t it. Not even close. Here’s another one: [Tweet and video at the link]
Only a single tank is visible in the video, though those infantry likely rode in on an armored infantry vehicle of some sort. Again, these are small pushes, and they’re having ridiculous success. One more: [Tweet and video at the link]
Hilariously, Russia’s ministry of defense claimed that “The AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] launched 26 attacks involving more than 1,000 servicemen, up to 40 tanks and other military and special-purpose equipment.” FORTY tanks! I guess that makes it more palatable than admitting they lost months worth of bloody gains to an enterprising squad of go-getter Ukrainians.
Russian Telegram is freaking out. [Map widely shared on Russian telegram]
The danger here is obvious: If the flanks don’t hold, Wagner’s forces in Bakhmut could be fully surrounded. Yet Wagner keeps pushing forward while the flanks crumble. It is the craziest thing! And today, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed that VDV airborne forces are now also pushing inside Bakhmut! Wouldn’t it be funny if VDV and Wagner fought each other for the last few blocks, in order to take credit for taking the city?
After threatening to pull out, why would Prigozhin insist on pushing forward? With just a few city blocks left, Prigozhin may simply want to plant the flag, claim victory, and then retreat for Russian forces (those VDV?) to “hold” the gains, which they’d do as effectively as they’re holding the flanks. He’d declare victory and rub it in the face of his archnemesis Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defense. And when Ukraine retakes the city, Prigozhin can blame Shoigu again. Who knows, the Chechen Kadyrovites might actually show up just in time to get encircled. I’m still betting they never show.
So why is this is all representative of Russia’s disastrous war effort?
Russia is fielding multiple rival armies and militias, all of them hating each other, working at cross-purposes, and refusing to communicate.
There is no strong central command. Each group has its own agenda. Wagner wants credit for taking Bakhmut, given the sacrifice in lives to get it, and Prigozhin needs to shove a success in Shoigu’s face. Meanwhile, Shoigu isn’t particularly motivated to hold those flanks, because if they fall, Wagner goes bye-bye. And now, apparently Shoigu has sent forces to try and take credit for taking Bakhmut, by closing out those last few city blocks.
The only thing that matters is symbolism, not actual accomplishments. Prigozhin doesn’t care about the problems at the flanks because he has no interest in holding Bakhmut. He himself admitted that “the village of Bakhmut is of no strategic importance for further progress to the west.” […]
Without a serious commitment from Ukrainian general staff, there is only so much these local counterattacks can accomplish. Offensive operations are incredibly difficult to sustain logistically, and we don’t even know if Ukraine has committed the manpower to push deeper into those flanks.
But it does show that Russia’s defensive lines could be much easier to breach than expected. All the trenches and defensive earthworks in the world won’t do Russia any good if their men run at the first sign of trouble. If they’re running like this at the sight of a handful of charging Ukrainians, imagine what they’ll do if they see a legit combined-arms juggernaut, with dozens of vehicles, charging at them. [Tweet and video at the link: “Escape of Russian troops near Bakhmut!”]
Meanwhile, Russian forces in Klischiivka are suffering serious losses. [Tweet and map at the link] Ammunition might be in short supply, but it’s still replaceable. Officers are much less so. This decapitation strike was invaluable.
KYIV, May 16 (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles in a single night, thwarting a weapon Moscow has touted as a next-generation hypersonic missile that was all but unstoppable.
It was the first time Ukraine had claimed to have struck an entire volley of multiple Kinzhal missiles, and if confirmed would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyiv’s newly deployed Western air defences. […]
The six Kinzhals were among a volley of 18 missiles Russia fired at Ukraine overnight, lighting up Kyiv with flashes and raining debris after they were blasted from the sky.
It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used to defeat the Kinzhals. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.
For its part, Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have destroyed a U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a Kinzhal missile, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.
But the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said all had been successfully intercepted.
Kyiv authorities said three people were wounded by falling debris.
“It was exceptional in its density – the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said on Telegram.
[…] Zaluzhnyi said his forces had intercepted the six Kinzhals launched from aircraft, as well as nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskanders fired from land. […]
PENSACOLA, FLA. (The Borowitz Report)—A third-grade teacher in Pensacola, Florida, has been arrested for showing her students a Disney movie featuring a boy character with a girl’s name, school-district officials have confirmed.
The teacher, Carol Foyler, claimed that she thought it was “O.K.” to show the incendiary film because the character in question was a deer.
Governor Ron DeSantis, however, begged to differ, arguing that Florida’s children were being “indoctrinated to emulate the deer’s sick life style.”
“Students in Florida’s schools have not been taught to distinguish between themselves and deer,” he said.
DeSantis also objected to a controversial scene early in the film in which the main character’s mother is shot and killed. “I will not rest until Florida’s schools are rid of such blatant anti-Second Amendment propaganda,” he vowed.
On Monday, the journal Nature released a report from Nanjing University researchers that had attempted to replicate an earlier paper that described a compound that superconducted at room temperature and relatively moderate pressures. Despite persuasive evidence that they’ve produced the same chemical, the team indicates they see no sign of superconductivity, even down to extremely low temperatures.
The failure will undoubtedly raise further questions about the original research, which came from a lab that had an earlier paper on superconductivity retracted…
A US-made Patriot air defense system was likely damaged, but not destroyed, as the result of a Russian missile barrage in and around Kyiv early Tuesday morning local time, a US official tells CNN.
The US is still assessing to what degree the system was damaged, the official said. That will determine whether the system needs to be pulled back entirely or simply repaired on the spot by Ukrainians forces.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday in a post on Telegram that “a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.”
A US National Security Council spokesperson referred CNN to the Ukrainian government for comment.
Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that they successfully intercepted all six hypersonic missiles fired by the Russians, but the Ukrainian military declined to comment on the Russians’ claim that a Patriot system was hit. “We cannot comment on this. We’ll stay out of commenting on Russian sources,” said the Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, Serhiy Ihnat…
Followup to comment 176 (SC), 177, 228 (CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain), and 224.
New Twitter owner Elon Musk is once again using his site to boost neo-Nazi conspiracy theories, and if there’s anything surprising about that it’s only that Musk is saying the neo-Nazi things himself rather than just making approving replies when one of the white supremacists he ordered to be unbanned from the site pipes up with those theories themselves.
Yep, it’s the neo-Nazi “George Soros” conspiracy theory, the one that at this point is lodged deeply in the brains of Fox News Republicans, House Republicans, creepy online fascists, and the insurrectionist right in general after making its way from antisemitic hate groups quite a few years back.
[…] “Soros hates humanity” is a level of vitriol not commonly seen except in white supremacist circles. Not to mention that ”wants to erode the very fabric of civilization” is a direct lift from neo-Nazi conspiracy claims. These claims theorize Soros, a Holocaust survivor, is secretly orchestrating the arrival of asylum seekers who are not white at our borders and at the borders of “white” European nations. They claim this is happening while he is undermining Europe through his charitable support for groups that promote free elections during a time when multiple European democracies have been backsliding into authoritarian-minded oppression.
You might also know this antisemitic theory by its broader rebranded name. What antisemitic hate groups once called a “Jewish” effort to secretly control world governments is now called a “globalist” effort to secretly control world governments, one that just coincidentally is asserted to be an effort by politically influential Jews.
[…] Soros has dedicated nearly two-thirds of his accumulated wealth over the years to anti-fascist causes, focusing on free speech, free elections, human rights, and opposition to authoritarian tactics and retaliations.
A Jewish Holocaust survivor donating to anti-fascist causes is more than enough for neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups to come up with ever-wilder conspiracy theories about how the Jewish man is secretly “controlling” world governments and migration patterns.
You might think Musk himself may be a bit unnerved by violent groups spreading conspiracies about politically active billionaires, but Musk is not a bright man. Musk is, as we have seen over and over again, politically invested only in causes that revolve around his own business interests and fortune.
From opposition to pandemic safety measures affecting his factories that would quickly morph into anti-vaccine conspiracy peddling to his primary method of business, i.e., finding and hoovering up any government subsidies he can get his hands on, Musk’s semi-libertarian political stances mainly consist of ideas that will allow himself and his allies to skirt regulations that cost him money.
So why is Musk now bellowing that fellow billionaire Soros “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity”? We’ll give you one guess and—oh, yep, you guessed right. Musk’s rant comes just days after Soros’ fund reported in a new SEC filing that they had dumped all of their remaining Tesla stock.
It’s not terribly surprising that some of the world’s most successful investors have been bowing out of their investments in a company that seems to be all but ignored by its increasingly erratic and shitposting-obsessed CEO after that CEO spent $44 billion to buy himself a money-losing social media site that has now very publicly been collapsing into a far-right conspiracy free-for-all, but Musk is sure that it’s all a conspiracy against him. Possibly by prominent Jews.
Sure, buddy. It’s depressing that you turned one of the more promising microblogging sites into a pay-to-play troll farm, but at least we all get to watch you decompensate in real time when faced with the collapse of your fortune. At least now we know who supposed super genius Elon Musk really is: just an everyday, garden-variety shit-posting troll.
[…] E. Jean Carroll and her attorney Roberta Kaplan went on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show to discuss the case […]
Maddow asked if Trump’s defamatory responses to the verdict—both online and the following evening where he continued to claim he “never met her” and “had no idea who she is” on CNN’s ill-conceived town hall the day after the verdict—were “just the way it has to be?” Kaplan put that to bed very forcefully, saying: “It’s definitely actionable. And here the cruelty will make him less wealthy. He’s not going to get away with it another time.”
Kaplan said since there are very few precedents of someone willing to defame a person after losing a defamation case against that person, she and her legal team were working on exactly how to go about it. […]
Two days after the network pulled in more than 3.3 million viewers for its widely criticized town hall with former President Donald Trump, CNN found itself in fourth place among cable news networks in primetime. Worse yet, it finished behind MAGA channel Newsmax, which until recently was barely nabbing a nightly audience of 100,000. According to Nielsen, CNN averaged just 335,000 total viewers and 87,000 in the key 25-54 advertising demographic during Friday night’s 8-11 p.m. time slot. (Fridays typically draw fewer cable news viewers than other weeknights.) By comparison, Newsmax drew 357,000 viewers and 45,000 in the demo in primetime on Friday. The right-wing network has experienced a ratings boost since Fox News fired Tucker Carlson last month, seizing on conservative anger over the shocking ouster.
Commentary:
Wait, so MAGAs didn’t want to hang around after the town hall to enjoy the thousand-yard stares of professional journalists who’ve given most of their careers to CNN, only to watch it air a low-rent Jerry Springer episode in which the Klansmen didn’t actually wear hoods but were somehow even easier to spot?
While Fox’s viewership has dropped precipitously since then [since Fox fired Tucker Carlson], especially in primetime, it still easily led cable news ratings on Friday night. CNN is coming off of one of its worst-rated quarters in recent history, though it did see year-over-year gains last month. At the same time, though, viewers have expressed their anger over the town hall fiasco lately and even vowed to boycott the channel.
Commentary:
So here’s what apparently happens when you try to become Fox Lite. Fox keeps its viewers, Newsmax beats you in the ratings, you infuriate your core audience, and fascism creeps ever closer. And not for nothing, you also demoralize your own employees, who maybe don’t think it’s such a great idea to platform a cartoon supervillain who singlehandedly attempted to end American democracy—and has never shown a scintilla of remorse over it.
New CNN CEO Chris Licht is in over his head […] This was a shameful ratings grab for CNN, and fortunately for both democracy and journalism, those coveted ratings quickly slipped through their fingers […]
So now what will you do, CNN? While giving Donald Trump a rubber room in which to fling his feces is never a good idea, it’s always a great day to fire Chris Licht.
Sarah Bonner has been an Illinois middle school teacher for 20 years, and she has always tried to offer her students a diverse collection of books.
This year, a parent called the police over her book choice.
It started on Monday, March 13, 2023, when she held what she calls a “book tasting” for students.
“I wanted to give them a smattering of fiction and nonfiction to choose from on a day that we call “Reading Monday,'” Bonner, 42, told TODAY.com. “We just read and celebrate books.”
One of those books was Juno Dawson’s “This Book is Gay.” It’s a bestselling nonfiction book that’s billed by its publisher as an entertaining and informative “instruction manual” for anyone coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans.
“By Wednesday, I received notice that parents had gotten a hold of pictures from that book that their child had taken in class,” Bonner says. “By Friday, I was told that parents had filed a police report against me for child endangerment.”
TODAY.com reached out to the local chief of police, who confirmed the report but declined to comment further.
[…]
After listening to her students’ questions and interests, Bonner structured a curriculum that she says included “a diverse library of texts,” including books centering Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ characters and themes.
“I’ve been fortunate up until now to be supported by the communities that I’ve taught with,” Bonner says…
The day after Bonner learned about the police report, she received a letter from her school district — she had been placed on paid administrative leave.
[…]
Bonner says she decided to resign.
TODAY.com reviewed a copy of Bonner’s one-page resignation letter, which said in part that while Bonner was “saddened by how the events have played out over the last week, there’s a piece of me that isn’t surprised.”
“It’s really interesting that people continue to use the term ‘teacher shortage,’“ she says. “I don’t believe that there’s a teacher shortage. There is a lack of acknowledgement of the profession itself.”
[…]
“There are plenty of people who want to work with students — who believe in education and the ability to engage young people,” Bonner adds. “But what motivates you to get into this space, given the conditions that exist?”
Paul Ksays
Re: #258. Again, WTF? Does Illinois have laws against what this teacher did? What could the rationale be for her district to do that? My wife is a public librarian here ion Wisconsin, a state much more right-leaning than Illinois. Her library has these kinds of books on their shelves. I’m on the school board here in our little district. If this came before us, and someone suggested suspending the teacher, you’d know I’d ask, “for WHAT?”
Has Illinois passed some of these insane anti-[insert marginalized group here] laws? ILLINOIS?!
The South Carolina Republican flirts with conspiracy theories one minute and portrays herself as a sensible conservative the next. This clip is proof…
tomhsays
@ Paul K #259
As far as I know, there’s no specific law against this. But she’s being investigated for the charge of child endangerment which is a serious charge in every state, of course. Whether she’ll actually be charged is unknown, but the incident was enough for her to resign after 20 years.
StevoRsays
This video via Abe Drayton’s Oceanoxia is a powerful thought-provoking one :
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed. “I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television. He ruled out the possibility of a Russian “Kinzhal” missile knocking out a Patriot system.
Ukraine had said it had neutralised the Kremlin’s most potent hypersonic weapon, shooting down six out of six Kinzhal missiles launched at Kyiv during a sweeping and “exceptionally intense” night-time attack. It was the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck an entire volley of Kinzhals, and if confirmed would demonstrate the effectiveness of Kyiv’s newly deployed western-supplied air defences.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the biggest since the 2022 invasion and followed Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-day trip to Europe. During meetings in London, Berlin, Paris and Rome, Ukraine’s president secured promises of more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that the Security Service of Ukraine announced that they had identified six residents of Kyiv who filmed the work of the Ukrainian air defence forces and posted photos and videos on social networks. The SBU said it had also blocked webcams that automatically broadcast in real time from Kyiv, which had captured images of the air defence in action.
…
China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display “politicised propaganda” on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russia’s invasion….
Also from there:
The bank accounts of Finland’s embassy and consulate in Russia are frozen and the Nordic country has not had an explanation from its neighbour, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Finland, which has a long border with Russia, formally joined NATO on 4 April in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that drew a threat from Moscow of countermeasures.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters the bank accounts had stopped working on 27 April, Reuters reported.
“The accounts of Finnish embassies have been frozen in Russia and at the moment they cannot be used,” Haavisto said, adding the missions had been using their cash reserves to pay bills.
Haavisto said Finland had sent Russian authorities a notice on 4 May requesting that Russia ensure the missions’ ability to function in Russia and asking for an official explanation for the freeze, but it had not received one so far.
…Move Forward…appears confident that it can convert its groundbreaking win into power.
When asked whether the MFP was concerned about action against himself or the party, [Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat] told reporters on Monday that he was “not worried”.
“But I’m not careless,” he said. “With the consensus that came out of the election, there would be quite a hefty price to pay for someone who is thinking of abolishing the election result, or forming a minority government,” he warned.
“And I think the people of Thailand would not allow that to happen.”
Oggie: Mathomsays
I am in Maine right now.
My 83-year-old mother suffered from dementia. Dad, who is 88, and my sister, who is 61, took care of her as best they could. A week and a half ago, Mom was working out in the garden, so she still had some quality of life. Her greatest fear was ending up in a nursing home.
My mother went into the hospital last week for dehydration. Discovered she had a raging case of bacterial pneumonia. Caused by aspiration of vomit. Vomiting caused by a bowel blockage. By Saturday, they knew that her chances of surviving the surgery were less than 50/50 and, even if she did, she would be in severe pain and probably never be able to come back home. So the antibiotics were discontinued, she was put on a morphine drip, and died Sunday.
I drove up on Monday (spent Sunday at my twin granddaughter’s 4th birthday party). On Tuesday, Dad and sister and I had a long talk with their UU pastor to plan the celebration of life in Mom’s memory. She, the pastor, was able to draw so many memories out of us about Mom, memories from before the dementia really started her downhill three years ago, memories of the good and the bad, and even positive spins on some of the bad memories. Mom was passionate about life and family, and that passion could sometimes show up as a mama bear protecting the cubs. Sister and I both remember, many times, hoping that Mom would not make our school-crisis-du jour into her crusade (“Please, Mom, don’t get involved”), but even that showed Mom in a positive light. The two hours we spent with the pastor did more for our grieving process than anything else. She helped our grief flow in a good way.
So that’s where I am now — physically and mentally.
On another note, that UU pastor is exactly what we needed. Why the hell can’t other pastors (I’m looking at you, evangelical assholes) focus on the family as she did, not focusing on heaven and hell, redemption, and recruiting?
A sweeping Texas bill stripping authority from cities passed the state Senate on Tuesday and is now headed to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 2127 takes large domains of municipal governing — from payday lending laws to regulations on rest breaks for construction workers to laws determining whether women can be discriminated against based on their hair — out of the hands of the state’s largely Democratic-run cities and shifts them to its Republican-controlled legislature.
According to the Austin American Statesman, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has been a vocal supporter of the bill…
Democrat Donna Deegan won the Jacksonville mayor’s race Tuesday night, a shocking upset that hands Florida Democrats a major shot of energy less than six months after they were trounced in the 2022 midterms and considered left for dead by the national party.
Deegan came into Election Day as the decided underdog against Republican Daniel Davis, who is the head of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and had a significant fundraising advantage….
Voters in the Pittsburgh area spoke clearly Tuesday night in favor of progressive reform to the local criminal legal system.
In Allegheny County primary elections, Pittsburgh-area Democrats nominated candidates for two key local posts who vowed transformative change, voting to oust the punitive, longstanding district attorney and selecting an anti-carceral Democratic socialist as county executive.
In the Democratic primary for Allegheny County DA, public defender Matt Dugan beat incumbent Steven Zappala easily, with over 55 percent of the vote as of press time. [Zappala will now run as a Republican in the general.] Dugan had focused his campaign largely on convincing more moderate suburban voters of the need to overhaul an office that has presided over vast inequalities in arrests and prosecutions, which disproportionately target majority-Black neighborhoods in the county.
“From a criminal justice reform perspective, and more generally a social justice perspective, it tells me that more people from a broader swath of communities are starting to grasp that the criminal justice system is unfair, full of waste, and too often inhumane,” Rob Perkins, president of the progressive Allegheny Lawyers Initiative, told Bolts Tuesday night. “In other words, my suburban neighbors are starting to get it.”…
Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant and businessman with no political experience, will be the first elected Black mayor of Colorado Springs after he defeated Wayne Williams on Tuesday night in the city’s runoff contest.
Mobolade had received 57% of the vote to Williams’ 43% as of 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. Williams conceded at about 7:30 p.m. When the second batch of results was released shortly before 9 p.m., the percentages hadn’t shifted.
Mobolade will succeed Mayor John Suthers, a former federal prosecutor and Colorado attorney general who was term-limited, to become the city’s 42nd mayor.
Mobolade’s decisive victory represents a political earthquake in Colorado Springs, long known as a conservative stronghold. Williams is a Republican while Mobolade is unaffiliated.
Just a few years ago it would be hard to imagine someone other than a Republican leading the city. But cracks in Colorado Springs’ GOP streak have shown in recent years….
…
Mobolade, a married father of three, moved to Colorado Springs in 2010 and quickly became a leader in the business community. He cofounded two popular restaurants…in Colorado’s second-largest city and served as its small business development administrator. He was also the vice president of business retention and expansion for the Colorado Springs Chamber and Economic Development Corporation….
I can’t recall a time when weather caused an F1 race to be cancelled & its a sport I’ve followed since 1985 so.. wow. Of course there’s arguably a few extremely wet races that arguably should have been called off & a few years ago (?) we had a Belgian “Grand Prix” that was consisted solely of a few laps behind the safety car but still..
I fear that Global Overheating and its continuing worsening will mean that this won’t be the klast GRand prix that gets cancelled due toextreme weather. One of the less severe – if still painful for many – consequences of a more and more unstable and extreme planet we’ve created – and are creating.
StevoRsays
@ 265. Oggie: Mathom : My deepest condolences. I’m so sorry to read that.
…Davis has made criminal justice a main theme. He has criticized Deegan for supporting protests after the George Floyd murder & for calling for police accountability, claiming accountability would put police officers in danger.
He has also, bizarrely, said Deegan would make Jacksonville (the murder capital of Florida where murders have significantly risen the last eight years) into NYC or SF, significantly safer cities.
…
Davis has also signed a pledge to Moms For Liberty. MFL is the group that has reshaped School Board politics, pushing for the removal of books, changing curriculum & targeting all things trans, gay & drag.
This new rhetoric from Davis, the Jax Chamber CEO & a longtime politician, comes despite the fact he leads an organization that has supported protections for trans & gay Jaxsons & increases to the gas tax & sales tax….
“The territory that Wagner recaptured from the enemy for months, including in the area of Klishchiivka, has been lost by units of Russian Federation under the guise of ‘a more profitable line,” Prigozhin in an audio message, mocking the Russian Ministry of Defense….
StevoRsays
@ 273. Of course, San Marino is in Northern Italy..
Five killed as floods sweep through northern Italy, Croatia and Bosnia
Flooding in northern Italy has killed five people and another 5,000 are being evacuated amid fears rain-swollen rivers will again burst their banks.There have been days of heavy rain across a broad swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, with “apocalyptic” floods, landslides and evacuations reported in Croatia and Bosnia.
In Italy, the mayor of the city of Cesena, Enzo Lattuca, posted a video on Facebook to warn that continued downpours in the Emilia-Romagna region could flood the Savio river and smaller tributaries for a second day.
He urged residents to move to upper floors of their homes and avoid low-lying areas and riverbanks.
He announced the closure to traffic of some bridges and streets after rivers of mud sloshed through town and into basements and storefronts.
UN report says there’s a 98 per cent chance one of the next five years will be the hottest ever
Global temperatures are set to break records in the next five years, with a 98 per cent chance one will be the warmest ever recorded, according to a new report from the UN’s meteorological agency.The report, released by the World Meteorological Organization, said the weather phenomenon El Niño is likely to combine with climate change to fuel the global temperature increase.
Arctic heating is also predicted to be more than three times what the global average is, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update report.
It has prompted climate scientists in Australia to warn of an increased bushfire risk and the potential destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.
The report said there will be a 66 per cent likelihood that between 2023 and 2027 the annual average near-surface global temperature will be more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.
“There is a 98 per cent likelihood that at least one of the next years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record,” the report stated.
United States oil and gas giant Chevron has acknowledged its flagship carbon capture and storage project off Australia’s north-west coast is operating at just a third of its capacity as problems bedevil the facility. The comments coincide with a renewed push by the industry to fast-track carbon capture projects across the country.
… (snip)…
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King on Tuesday threw her support behind industry plans to reduce its emissions via the technology, although she baulked at stumping up taxpayer funds for the task. ExxonMobil, which is the world’s biggest privately owned oil producer with a market capitalisation of $US415 billion ($623 billion), has argued the development of a bigger hydrogen industry would depend in part on the use of carbon capture and storage.
… (snip)…
But analysts and critics said Chevron Australia’s troubles at Gorgon raised more questions than answers for the use of the technology.
..(snip).. (Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley -ed) .. noted Gorgon was one of the only projects dedicated solely to the injection of carbon underground.
He said its dismal operating performance since it opened six years ago showed the technology had little future.
“The fact it’s running at a third is ludicrous,” Mr Buckley said.
“It’s meant to capture 80 per cent of the project’s emissions, and it’s run at half of that, or a third.
Five people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after heavy storms wreaked havoc in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, causing severe flooding and landslides.
People sought refuge on the rooftops of their homes after 15 rivers broke their banks, submerging entire towns.
…
Italy’s civil protection agency said on Wednesday there could be worse to come. “The rainfall is not over, it will continue for several hours,” the agency’s chief, Titti Postiglione, told SkyTG24 news. “We are facing a very, very complicated situation.”
…
Weather-related disasters have been on the rise in Italy, a country deemed particularly vulnerable to climate change….
…
Before the latest floods, Emilia Romagna and other areas of northern Italy were blighted by a drought that dried out land, reducing its capacity to absorb water.
For weeks, the world has been waiting for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive to begin. In recent days, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been on a diplomatic tour of western leaders to ask for additional military aid.
The Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding tells Michael Safi about the progress being made by Ukrainian troops on the ground and why this offensive could be crucial to the outcome of the war.
Harding also meets the Ukrainian military commander Roman Kostenko to learn more about the drones quietly knocking out Russian targets.
…Neutraface boasts thin lines and has an open, almost airy feel. With certain letters, like the capitals A and N, the lines meet and form sharp peaks. One of the pros of using Neutraface on buildings is that it remains legible even from a distance.
But it’s not just about ease of reading. Somewhere along the way, those navigating the rental market, or simply commenting on it, began to read the font as something of a class statement. Perhaps that’s because the typeface fits neatly within trends like stealth wealth and quiet luxury, or the general idea that understated design is a hallmark of cultural restraint, taste and money.
According to Francis Morrone, an architectural historian who teaches classes at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, Neutraface is “very elegant, and if people associate that with gentrification, maybe they’re right”.
He thinks Neutraface evokes both the worlds of design and corporate branding. “There’s also something about all of this which seems kind of like the Apple aesthetic,” he said, referring to the design of the tech company’s products. “And if there’s anything that says ‘gentrification’, it’s an Apple product.”…
Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF), a government spokesperson’s office said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The head of the EU body responsible for enlargement warned aspiring member Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday that EU allies do not visit Russia, referring to an announced visit to Moscow by Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik.
The country, which applied to join the EU in 2016, was granted candidate status last December after concern the war in Ukraine may destabilise the Balkan region.
“We need Bosnia-Herzegovina to be our ally,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi told a news conference in Sarajevo, referring to the need for a common front after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.
“Our allies don’t go to Russia, that is my message,” Varhelyi said in response to a reporter’s question on Dodik’s visit, Reuters reports. “Who wants to be our ally, does not go to Russia.”
Military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi has claimed on Ukrainian television that the country had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut.
Reuters quotes Cherevatyi saying “We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts of the Bakhmut front.”
He also said that Ukrainian forces had seen no sign of the Russians experiencing “shell hunger”, despite accusations in recent days by Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his forces in the city were being deprived of ammunition by the Russian Federation’s regular armed forces.
Cherevatyi said “The enemy is seeking to take over the city at will, striking with all systems and calibres. There can be no talk of any kind of shell hunger. They are moving new units there, primarily paratroopers, in an attempt to achieve some kind of intermediate success.”
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Tuesday put an end to impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly, which had accused him of embezzlement.
The right-wing president, who has denied any wrongdoing, can govern for up to six months by decree under the South American country’s constitution. [JFC]
The National Electoral Council now has seven days to call presidential and legislative elections, which must be held within 90 days. Those elected will finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025.
Oggie: Mathomsays
SC and StevoR:
Thanks. The word ‘catharsis’ is one I now understand both academically and emotionally.
Article 148. The President of the Republic will be able to dissolve the National Assembly when, in his/her opinion, it has taken up duties that do not pertain to it under the Constitution, upon prior favorable ruling by the Constitutional Court; or if it repeatedly without justification obstructs implementation of the National Development Plan or because a severe political crisis and domestic unrest.
This power can be exercised only once the first three years of his/her term of office.
Within seven days at the most after the publication of the decree of dissolution, the National Electoral Council shall convene, for the same date, legislative and presidential elections for the rest of the respective terms of office.
Up until the installation of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic shall be able, upon a prior favorable ruling issued by the Constitution Court, issue decree-laws for urgent economic matters, which may be adopted or repealed by the legislative body.
StevoRsays
PBS Newshour has a thought-provoking article here :
How to capture and convey the wonder of science and the natural world, especially at a time when the public teaching of science is again being fought over?
The largest Museum of Natural History in America just expanded its reach, and Jeffrey Brown got an advanced tour. It’s part of our arts and culture series, Canvas. … (snip).. Sean Decatur:
Exactly.
Science needs to be accessible to everyone. Everyone should be able to have the opportunity to develop literacy and fluency in scientific thinking and scientific ideas. If we don’t do that, we risk losing a lot of talent who will hopefully help us to solve many of the problems that we’re facing down the road, but we will also have real challenges in terms of policymaking and decision-making broadly.
Award-winning author and Guardian columnist Naomi Klein is to publish a book about conspiracy theories, which she has described as a departure and “more personal, more experimental” than her previous books.
Doppelganger, out in September, uses the fact that Klein has often been mistaken for author Naomi Wolf as a jumping-off point to explore conspiracy theories and what Klein calls the “Mirror World”, our destabilised present rife with doubles and confusion.
Combining “tragicomic memoir, chilling political reportage and piercing cultural analysis”, UK publisher Penguin Press said Klein will look at how “far-right movements feign solidarity with the working class, AI-generated content blurs the line between genuine and spurious and new age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers further scramble our familiar political allegiances”.
Klein’s book discusses the author’s “doppelganger”, Wolf, whose name and public persona, “are sufficiently similar that many people have confused the two over the years” even though her views are “antithetical to Klein’s own”, according to her UK publisher….
[…] that UU pastor is exactly what we needed. Why the hell can’t other pastors (I’m looking at you, evangelical assholes) focus on the family as she did, not focusing on heaven and hell, redemption, and recruiting?
My condolences. You and your family went through a lot. It is difficult to care for a person with dementia.
When my father died, the pastor made a big deal out of preaching about my father’s end-of-life conversion and baptism, holding him up as an example to us heathens. The pastor was in full-on recruiting mode. My father was not a believer. He went through the ceremony at the church is a rather desperate and touching effort to please/placate my mother who was in the early throes of dementia. It was as if the pastor did not really know my father.
We had a memorial service in a church to please my mother. After that, we heathens went on a memorial camping trip and scattered my father’s ashes in the mountains.
Oggie: Mathomsays
whheydt and Lynna:
Thank you.
My sister and father have been taking care of Mom. Which has been tough.
The UU pastor was wonderful at asking open ended questions that got us talking and remembering.
This pastor knew both of them very well. My dad, as a church elder, quietly pushed her to the top of the list for hiring a new pastor. Which she didn’t know until years later.
[…] “With just days until a default on our debt, President Biden has decided to leave the country.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed the same message with reporters, when asked if Biden should change his plans.
[…] At this point, we could spend a few sentences noting that McCarthy is the one who created this mess in the first place and is threatening to impose an economic catastrophe on the country. We could also take a moment to note that the budget negotiations have shifted to proxies, and whether Biden is literally in the White House or not is unlikely to affect the process.
But that’s not the first angle that came to mind. Rather, what’s arguably the most amazing part of the House speaker complaining about Biden’s foreign travel in the midst of a debt ceiling crisis is that the House speaker recently traveled abroad in the midst of his debt ceiling crisis.
It was just two weeks ago, for example, when McCarthy led a congressional delegation in Israel — the day before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers that the GOP’s debt ceiling crisis could lead to a default as early as June 1.
A few days later, McCarthy was in Italy. He also made stops in Jordan and Egypt.
To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with a House speaker traveling abroad. This is entirely routine, and something every modern speaker from both parties has done.
But it was a little rich to see McCarthy deride Biden for a foreign excursion so soon after McCarthy returned from his own foreign excursion.
Nevertheless, the Republican leader is getting his wish: As NBC News reported, the White House announced that the president will attend a G-7 summit in Japan this week, but he had other visits planned, and those trips will have to be rescheduled.
“The president had next planned to travel to Australia for a ‘Quad’ meeting on May 24, with China’s provocative actions in the region expected to be front and center in meetings with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan,” the report added. “But with a deal still out of reach and the threat of the country’s first-ever default approaching, Biden will return early to Washington to continue negotiations. Biden will also skip a visit to Papua New Guinea, where he had planned to stop on his way to Sydney to discuss regional security and economic and climate support.”
Or put another way, Biden was prepared to do important work abroad, but that’s not going to happen because McCarthy and his party are pushing their own country closer to default.
There’s no there there, but Republicans want to lock people up based on the bull that Durham wrote.
[…] Republicans responded to former special counsel John Durham’s report on the FBI investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia scandal. Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, for example, wrote in a tweet last night, “I’ve never been a reactive ‘lock ‘em up’ type. But this Durham report is a lock ‘em up moment.”
No, not for those living in reality. Durham’s findings were obviously underwhelming and broke no new ground. An analysis from The New York Times’ Charlie Savage explained today that the probe “ended with a whimper” and failed entirely to live up to the hype. Savage added, “[Durham] charged no high-level F.B.I. or intelligence official with a crime and acknowledged in a footnote that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign did nothing prosecutable, either.”
What’s more, when Durham tried to prosecute some peripheral figures, his cases failed spectacularly.
In other words, Durham looked for ways to prosecute Republicans’ perceived enemies, but he and his team couldn’t come up with anything. This, according to members of Congress such as Crenshaw, should be seen as proof that Republicans’ perceived enemies deserve to be prosecuted.
[…] A separate New York Times report added that the GOP’s partisan reactions to Durham’s findings are on track to become “Exhibit A in how the American right seems to be living in its own universe — and how Mr. Trump still dictates the parameters of that separate reality.”
It’d be effectively impossible to chronicle every misguided Republican response to the report that too many of them failed to actually read, but AL.com highlighted an especially offensive reaction from controversial Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Speaking to Newsmax, Tuberville said he “can’t even talk about it it’s so bad.” Speaking on “John Bachman Now,” Tuberville said, “If people don’t go to jail for this, the American people should just stand up and say, ‘Listen, enough’s enough, let’s don’t have elections anymore.’”
That really is what he said — out loud, on camera, to a national broadcast audience. [video at the link]
After several years of effort, Durham couldn’t find evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but Alabama’s far-right senior senator wants unnamed people to “go to jail” anyway. If that doesn’t happen, the GOP senator believes the American electorate should be prepared to abandon elections altogether.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but hysterical reactions like these are utterly bonkers. Durham was tasked with uncovering criminal misconduct, and he just didn’t find anything. That’s not a matter of opinion; it’s simply the only good-faith assessment a fair observer can draw from the prosecutor’s written report.
If there were nefarious actors in law enforcement who deserved to “go to jail,” the special counsel would’ve said so. He didn’t.
If Republicans want to argue that some FBI leaders were hasty about launching a specific kind of investigation, we can certainly have that conversation. If the argument is that the bureau got sloppy at times, there’s some evidence to bolster the point, but this was already well documented by Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s findings in 2019, and the bureau implemented institutional changes soon after.
If GOP members of Congress seriously believe the findings represent “a lock ‘em up moment” that should lead the public to weigh an abandonment of democracy, I’d only ask them one brief follow-up question: Did you actually read Durham’s findings, or are you just going along with what Donald Trump the Republican base expects to hear?
I expected Republicans to spin the Durham report to a ridiculous degree, but this is even worse than I thought. Republicans are indulging in rhetoric that will foment more violence. Doofuses are immune to facts.
I realize much of the right doesn’t want to hear this, but the Russia scandal was legitimate before the Durham report, and it’s still legitimate now.
[…] For Republicans and their allies, the Russia scandal became the “Russia hoax” quite a while ago, but in the wake of the special counsel’s report reaching the public on Monday, the party is acting as if the case is now officially closed — and Donald Trump was right all along.
“The Russian hoax was a figment of Hillary Clinton’s imagination,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee declared on Monday night. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas condemned reality-based observers for “breathlessly spreading these ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ lies.” Sen. Eric Schmitt pointed to Durham’s findings as confirmation that the “collusion” story was a “politically motivated hit job.” His fellow Missourian, Sen. Josh Hawley, added, “It was all a hoax.” [Oh FFS! FFS!]
Conservative media outlets are eagerly playing along. In addition to the aforementioned Washington Times report, Trump appeared on Newsmax last night, and during the interview, the on-screen chyron delivered the message to viewers that the former president wanted to see: “Durham report proves Russian collusion was a witch hunt.” [JFC!]
[…] But reality is stubborn.
University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. Attorney and an MSNBC legal analyst, explained yesterday, “[T]he Durham Report provides fuel for the false claim that the Russia probe was a hoax. Don’t fall for it.” A Washington Post fact-check report added this morning that, in reality, “Russia sought to change the outcome of the [2016 presidential] election, and the Republican candidate welcomed that help.” The same report concluded that the FBI had good reason to investigate the ties between the Trump campaign and its Russian benefactors. [Correct!]
[…] the underlying allegations at the heart of the Russia scandal remain fundamentally unchanged. Now seems like a good time to review anew some core truths.
Russia attacked the American elections in 2016
Every U.S. intelligence agency and lawmakers from both parties have long agreed that the Kremlin launched an expansive and expensive covert military intelligence operation that targeted the U.S. political system in 2016. This basic fact is no longer contested — except by Trump, who publicly declared that he found Vladimir Putin more reliable than his own administration’s officials […]
Did the Durham report discredit this? No. In fact, it didn’t even try.
Russia’s goal was to put Trump in power
The Kremlin’s operation was not politically neutral: Moscow attacked our elections in the hopes of helping dictate the outcome. According to the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies, the Mueller investigation, and the multi-step investigation from the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee, Russia saw Trump as a prospective ally and believed it would be in its interests if the Republican were in the White House.
Did the Durham report discredit this? No. It didn’t try to do this, either. [Correct!]
Russia and Team Trump were political allies
[…] investigations from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee documented the extent to which Trump and his team welcomed, received, and benefited from Russian campaign assistance. (They also obstructed the investigation into this assistance — […]10 times.)
The evidence also showed there was coordination and high-level connections between Trump’s political operation and those responsible for the attack on our elections. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report at one point literally described a “direct tie between senior Trump Campaign officials and the Russian intelligence services.”
Did the Durham report discredit this? It wanted to, but it couldn’t. In fact, as McQuade noted, the special counsel’s office apparently preferred to simply overlook the details that helped solidify the connections between Russia and Team Trump.
Team Trump lied about its communications with Russia
No, really, Team Trump lied about its communications with Russia. A lot. Out loud and on record. Over and over again, Trump and his spokespersons insisted there were absolutely no interactions between the Republican, his political operation, and their Russian benefactors. We now know definitively that they were lying — though they still haven’t been forthcoming about why.
Did the Durham report discredit this? No. It didn’t even try to do this, either.
The Russia scandal led to a series of felony convictions and prison sentences
For an alleged “hoax,” the Russia scandal led to an amazing number of federal prosecutions […] In fact, the investigation into the underlying controversy led to the convictions of, among others, Trump’s White House national security advisor, campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, foreign policy advisor, personal lawyer, and to the indictment of 13 Russian nationals who interfered in our elections as part of the larger plot.
[…] these five truths remain intact, and have been bolstered, not only by U.S. intelligence agencies, but also by the Mueller probe and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings. Russia attacked our elections to help Trump. The Republican’s political operation welcomed, received, benefited from, and lied about Russian campaign assistance. Many key players from Trump’s inner circle were charged, prosecuted, and convicted.
These aren’t opinions. They are conclusions drawn from multiple, bipartisan and non-partisan investigations, conducted across several years.
This was true before Monday, and it’s still true now.
Wonkette: “Brian Kilmeade Saw In Durham Report Where Hillary’s Russia Hoaxes Started Ukraine War, And He Is MAD”
[…] Brian Kilmeade is the stupidest person employed by Fox News. You might have begun to feel this way in 2015 after Kilmeade, with the kind of dismay that only comes from intense confusion, expressed frustration that “they” were not able to clear the sharks out of the ocean on the days of big surfing competitions. We don’t know if he thought maybe there might be some kind of VERY BIG net, or a Sharkie Daycare or something that they could go to.
In her video ticking through possibilities to replace Tucker Carlson, Kat Abughazaleh from Media Matters said Kilmeade is a “dial tone” with “nothing behind those eyes.” […]
Out of all the Republican moron reactions to the Durham Report, Kilmeade’s was one of the most interesting, for how sheerly convoluted it was. To review, the Durham Report was a flaming turd that proved nothing and wasted everyone’s time. It’s not even a good attempt at manufacturing a fake alternative facts drunk history to the Trump/Russia investigation that totally exonerates both Donald Trump and Russia. […]
Are the Russian intelligence services our real friends? That is the braindead halfwit goddamned stupid on its face conspiracy theory John Durham spent years investigating like it was real. (Bless his heart.)
And that, children, is the braindead halfwit goddamned stupid on its face conspiracy theory that apparently Brian Kilmeade has absorbed into his small brain as fact. And he thinks that because of it, Hillary Clinton is somehow responsible for Russia’s war of genocidal aggression against Ukraine.
From yesterday’s “Fox & Friends”: [video at the link]
BRIAN KILMEADE: Evidently, they sat down and talked to James Baker, the Durham report. He was one of the few major players to talk to him. And they said. “You know Hillary Clinton launched this campaign, and do you know that John Brennan briefed President [Barack] Obama about this?” And Baker left the room emotional, came back, reportedly, and said essentially, “If I had known this, as the former general counsel to the FBI, I never would’ve supported this probe.” Now, either he’s an actor and a drama queen, or he actually means it.
Or it didn’t happen and Brian Kilmeade is just a fucking moron again.
You may be shocked to learn that this is not what the Durham Report says happened. We don’t know if somebody told Kilmeade the wrong thing or if he’s just stupid. The person who became upset and emotional was another FBI agent, who is unnamed, and who seems like a real fuckin’ dumbass. They didn’t say they wouldn’t have supported the probe, though. That’s an addition to the text. We are not surprised, though, that this person would be Brian Kilmeade’s favorite character. They are a total idiot, just like him.
[…] To be clear, the “intelligence” we are talking about is the obvious Russian disinformation that Hillary had made up the Trump Russia hoax as a trick. This “intelligence” from the Russian security services was first declassified for partisan hack reasons by unfit then-acting Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe in September of 2020, in an effort to ratfuck the 2020 election.
It’s funny how folks on that side are always crying into Putin’s arms whenever they need help with something. Gonna include John Durham in that now, since he spent so much of his investigation apparently obsessed with this idiot-ass conspiracy theory.
KILMEADE: That Barack Obama gets briefed by John Brennan, Brennan doesn’t brief the FBI and says, “Hey Hillary Clinton put you up to this. This is her idea to get everybody off the trail of her emails.”
Literally not even the Russian disinfo version of the conspiracy theory says that. Fucking dipshit.
John Ratcliffe’s letter said, “The IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.” […]
KILMEADE: Hillary Clinton later admits to this, and they got fined like $20,000. $20,000.
She did not admit to this, Kilmeade appears to be hallucinating. In interviews with the Durham investigation, Hillary Clinton actually called this conspiracy theory “really sad,” but added, “I get it. You have to go down every rabbit hole.” LOL.
KILMEADE: Do you know what you did to the country? And you could even say on some level you have launched the Ukraine-Russia war [JFC!]
Could you, though?
KILMEADE: Because we were able to — the, President Trump was unable to have any relationship with Vladimir Putin, as diabolical as he is. Do not tell me that didn’t hurt us, our relationship with Russia and ability to possibly stop what we’ve seen now. The death and carnage over in Ukraine.
Yes, Donald Trump was sadly unable to have any relationship with Vladimir Putin. All the times when we saw Trump with his tongue up Putin’s ass, it was extremely impersonal, because of what Hillary had done to their relationship.
Anyway, do not tell Brian that the imaginary strings he just pulled out of his own butt are not real, and that the death and the carnage in Ukraine are not Hillary’s fault. […]
In summary and in conclusion, here is Brian Kilmeade saying “NICE TRY, VIKINGS,” about how the Vikings “tried to screw us up” and make us think Greenland was green and Iceland was icy. [Tweet and video at the link]
Four years later and that is still, boy howdy, wow.
After nearly a year wrestling over the fate of their water supply, California, Arizona and Nevada — the three key states in the Colorado River’s current crisis — have coalesced around a plan to voluntarily conserve a major portion of their river water in exchange for more than $1 billion in federal funds, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
The consensus emerging among these states and the Biden administration aims to conserve about 13 percent of their allocation of river water over the next three years and protect the nation’s largest reservoirs, which provide drinking water and hydropower for tens of millions of people.
But thorny issues remain that could complicate a deal. The parties are trying to work through them before a key deadline at the end of the month, according to several current and former state and federal officials familiar with the situation.
[…] The Colorado River runs 1,450 miles from the Rocky Mountains to Mexico and is a vital lifeline for cities and farms throughout the West. But climate change has made the region hotter and drier, and exposed how rules made over a century ago to share the river among Western states are inadequate to keep it from drying up.
In June, with Lake Mead and Lake Powell about a quarter full and nearing levels where the hydroelectric dams could no longer produce power, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton testified before the Senate that states needed to stop using 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water — up to one-third of the entire average annual flow — or the federal government would step in to protect the river.
[…] the bleak reservoir levels outlined in that review date back to September and the weather has improved markedly since then. Abundant snow cloaked the Rocky Mountains over the winter and atmospheric rivers doused California’s drought. Water levels in the big reservoirs have started to rise. Colorado River experts have grown increasingly confident that the most draconian cuts in fact wouldn’t be needed, at least this year. And the $4 billion in federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act pledged to this problem meant that those who voluntarily gave up their rights to water would be well-compensated for it.
[…] The Biden administration wants to deploy much of its Inflation Reduction Act funding to get long-term water savings — such as investing in more efficient irrigation systems and lining canals — and not simply pay farmers to temporarily fallow fields for a season or two.
[…] “They need to realize that the enemy is not any organization, agency or part of the basin,” she said. “The enemy is that the water is not there that they have been using. The enemy is the old way.”
Last week, a dramatic video emerged of a Ukrainian drone operator rescuing … a Russian soldier. Here is the video, omitting some gory preceding footage: [video at the link: "Russian soldier Ruslan Anikin successfully surrendered to a Ukrainian drone while under fire from Russian artillery for desertion."]
Amazingly, the drone operator got to interview the Russian POW, and it was quite the remarkable interview.
Here’s the video with translation included, but here is a handy running commentary on the video, with some of my comments interspersed.
The Russian conscript in the same trench who ended up killing himself with a grenade after being injured by a Ukrainian drone was initially trying to shoot down the drone, so the decision to drop the grenade on him was made.
The video above omits this horrible part. It’s exactly as described, all caught by the same drone that rescued the POW above, proving the other Russian didn’t need to pull that grenade pin. He could’ve similarly surrendered.
Anitin [the POW] used sign language and devised a communication method with the Ukrainian drones, for example – one flash of light is Yes, two flashes – No.
Ukrainians always have multiple drones in the air, so they were able to continue communication throughout the evacuation even when one drone would lose battery charge. During the rescue operation, one Ukrainian drone was lost to Wagner’s artillery aimed at Anikin.
Ukrainian drone pilot says they have a concrete rule not to drop explosives on Russian soldiers who are unarmed and do not exhibit aggressive actions.
This is actually quite remarkable and the first time I’ve seen this policy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be consistently communicated to front-line Russian soldiers. Even this guy, Anitin, didn’t know about the policy. He happened to luck into it.
Also, if you watch the video, he asks again and again whether they’re going to kill him—miming the “slit my throat” gesture with his hand. Each time, the drone literally nods “no,” you see the side-by-side swivel. He feels the need to be constantly reassured he’s doing the right thing.
He is familiar with situations where a Russian soldier would feint surrender to the Ukrainians, and then another Russian soldier starts ambushes and starts shooting and killing Ukrainian soldiers from the rear.
Ukraine uses drones to communicate with Russian units once they’re surrounded by Ukrainian soldiers to give them an opportunity to surrender.
In the video, Ukraine sends a drone with surrender instructions and drops them outside the trench. I imagine Anatin thought for a moment he was getting bombed!
Before being mobilized by Russia, Ruslan Anitin was an inspector of the security department of a Russian prison, Penal Colony No. 3 of the Pskov Region. 2015-2022.
Anitin arrived in Bakhmut either on May 6 or 7. Wagner mercenaries did not talk much, but gave the Russian mobilized soldiers orders. The Russian army command ordered the mobilized to subordinate themselves to Wagner […]
One Wagner mercenary assumed command of the 3 mobilized and led them to the trench, and told them they’ll be shot if they retreat.
There are so many stories about the Chechen Kadyrovite militia being used as “barrier troops” to keep frontline Russian soldiers from defecting. But again, here is more evidence that in the most active front, they don’t exist. I truly believe that this is a fairy tale. As for Wagner, we’ll see later on, they will shoot anyone leaving their positions.
It took them around 1.5 hours to reach the trench on the night of May 8th under mortar fire. No night vision. The other two who killed themselves in the trench: Dmitry Ivanov and Viktor
.
In the trench, Anitin saw countless dead bodies of Russian soldiers, some as minced meat. Some bodies were clearly weeks old. Anitin was armed with a helmet and an AK-47. No binoculars.
The bodies were piled on each other in the trench. At least 30-40 bodies. Some were “half of bodies.” He saw bodies of Wagner mercenaries as well as Ukrainian soldiers.
It is a holy tenet of American (and Western) military doctrine that you don’t leave your fallen comrades behind. When a situation doesn’t allow for it and it happens, it’s literally the worst anguish. These Russians? They don’t give a damn about their own, why would anyone expect them to give a damn about non-Russians?
All 3 of them were injured by the Ukrainian drones dropping explosives on May 9. Once one shot himself and the other blew himself up with a grenade, Anitin realized he had no way out of the situation.
Oh yeah, there’s a video of the guy shooting himself as well. Brutal. And Ukrainian drones have just been picking off these Russians at this trench for weeks, to the tune of dozens. I can’t imagine being sent to a trench with those drones buzzing overhead, dropping death on them.
There was no cover in the trench and Anitin knew he’d be shot by his own Russians if he were to try to retreat. After getting injured, Dmitry blew himself up with a grenade and Viktor shot himself.
Osechkin [the Ukrainian drone operator] asks Anitin: Today is May 13th, how is it that you are alive today after all of that?
Anitin: They radioed the Russians that they were all injured and the response was radio silence. Dmitry ran by Anitin and then a drone dropped an explosive hitting Dmitry’s spine.
After, the two other soldiers killed themselves.
Russians don’t even pretend to care about each other. Instead, they drink themselves into oblivion, and blow themselves up if merely injured. They know no one in the rear gives a damn about them. Reminds me of this video, where a Russian is injured by a drone-dropped grenade, and his two colleagues, rather than help him, steal his helmet.
This thread discusses the same: “‘The most you can get is a slight injury, if you get something more – that’s it, you will die,’ says a Russian military paramedic.” He adds, “more than half of the Russian soldiers who have died in Ukraine lost their lives because of improperly provided medical care, with a third of amputations due to improper tourniquet application.”
Once Anitin saw the drone, he began to try to signal the drone not to drop any explosives. He realized the drone responded by moving away. He lit up a cigarette and then the drone returned and dropped a note to surrender.
Anitin has a child and wife. 4 year old daughter. No parents. Anitin tells them he loves them very much and wants to return to them. He thanks Osechkin for the opportunity.
Putin doesn’t care. No one else in Russia cares.
Osechkin asks about how Anitin established communication using sign language with the drone. [Anatin] was concerned he could be shot or tortured if he were to surrender. He asked the drone to flash once for Yes and twice for No. The drone responded in the negative.
Osechkin: Where did the idea that Ukrainians would kill or torture prisoners of war? Anitin: Russian commanders told them that is what happens to Russian POWs in Ukrainian hands.
Osechkin: When you were following the drone, did you realize it was the Russians trying to kill him with machine guns and artillery? Anitin: Not immediately, but then realized the mortar fire was coming from behind him – the Russian side.
This part of the video is harrowing, as you actually see multiple mortar shells drop around him. We have Russian units crying about “shell hunger” and a lack of ammunition, and yet here they expend significant ammo to try and kill one of their own. All of this, after failing to give a rat’s ass that two of their comrades were injured and needed help.
Anitin realized it was the “Not one step back” policy of the Russian army. He thinks it was about 2 magazines from assault rifles, one full tape from a machine gun, and several mortars.
Seriously, seeing Anitin run the gauntlet of fire from his own side was harrowing.
His trust in the Ukrainian drone did not change, and was desperate to get away from the Russian side, and had about 20-25 meters to the Ukrainian trench. Once he got there, the Ukrainian soldiers immediately took him to cover.
It was a sudden shift in that he clearly became an enemy of the Russian army, and they were doing everything to try to kill him before he could get to the safety of the Ukrainian trench.
It was a simple calculation—if he went back, he’d be dead. Ukraine could drop more grenades on him, or his own side would kill him. If he went forward, maybe he’d get tortured and executed, but there was a chance. And if Ukraine wanted him dead, this was a weird way of showing it. Finally, he was a poor, ignorant mobik. His value to Ukraine was in replenishing the “exchange fund,” which they could use to trade him for Ukrainian POWs. It was in their interests to keep him alive.
That aside, it’s also in Russia’s side to show some humanity, and they don’t have any of it, not even for their own kind. The contrast with Ukraine, and the efforts it made to save this Russian’s life, is stark. We really are rooting for the good guys.
Anitin has no idea of the objective of sending 3 mobilized to the trench. They wouldn’t have been able to offer any resistance to the Ukrainians. He believes his army command knew that they’ll all die very quickly.
Who’s to say that this isn’t the situation over the thousands of kilometers of trenches and defensive lines Russia has established throughout the occupied territories? The assumption is that Ukraine will face heavy resistance when they hit those lines in their upcoming counteroffensive. But what if they don’t? What if they face thousands of Anitins and his comrades, unable to resist, and serving as mere speedbumps to any Ukrainian advance?
We haven’t seen anything that would suggest otherwise. Quite the opposite, in fact.
In the update provided at the original link, there are numerous embedded links.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Pierce R. Butlersays
A few unrelated observations:
1) Sympathies and support for Oggie.
2) Reginald Selkirk @ # 280: Josh Hawley Explains How the Bible Can Solve Our Country’s Masculinity Crisis
Anybody seeking answers about masculinity from Josh Hawley doesn’t even understand the question.
3) We haven’t seen uncle frogy here for a while (I tried a search for his ‘nym, but the FtB search system couldn’t find anything, and DuckDuckGo couldn’t find anything later than 2021). Anybody know how he (or blf) is doing?
Yesterday I wrote about Russian VDV airborne troops being sent into Bakhmut, likely to try and wrestle credit for the city’s final capture from Wagner mercenaries that have done most of the work. Wagner CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin isn’t amused. [Tweet and video with English subtitles are available at the link: “Responding to today’s Russian MoD’s announcement of VDV taking “more favourable positions” in Bakhmut area, Prigozhin said that this maneuver should be called something different.”]
Meanwhile, the latest reports have Ukraine advancing another 500 meters on the flanks while Russia is digging in Bakhmut.
Yesterday I wrote about the value of Klischiivka in Bakhmut’s southern flank. In that video above, Prigozhin also says Ukraine has retaken “the area of Klischiivka.”
Whether that’s the settlement or the land around it is unclear. Other unconfirmed sources claim it’s the former.
And then there’s this: [Tweet and images at the link] By targeting bridges west of Bakhmut, Russia is admitting that it no longer intends to keep pushing forward. The only strategic case for Bakhmut was the fiction that Russia could keep pushing toward the twin fortress cities of Slovians and Kramatorsk. They can’t even pretend about that anymore, as they’re literally destroying the bridges that lead to those cities. Russia clearly intends to settle into defense.
Breaking news: Elon Musk is one creepy fucker, and his brain seems to our non-medically trained eye like it’s atrophying. He continues to hurtle down that path he’s been on of late, the one that’s had him this week expounding on this one Jewish guy he really hates, who reminds him of Magneto, and who “hates humanity.” (When the Anti-Defamation League criticized his comments about George Soros, Musk tweeted that the ADL should “drop the A.”)
Then there was this disturbing interview Musk did with CNBC last night, where he angrily denied that the white supremacist Allen, Texas, mass shooter was a white supremacist. Why? Because we guess for some reason Musk really feels the need to fight for that lie.
Watch this weird fuckin’ thing. Notice how mad he gets when he says “It’s bullshit.” Note how easily this thin-skinned baby gets upset at the lightest pushback. And let us tell you, the pushback from the CNBC interviewer was light. [video at the link]
Talking about the man who blew children’s heads off in the mall in Texas, Elon said conspiracy theory words that make Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jewish Space Lasers sound coherent. He said the shooting was “incorrectly ascribed” as a “white supremacist action.” (It is undisputed that the dude was a white supremacist Nazi. He had Nazi tattoos.)
Elon said the evidence was “some obscure Russian website that nobody’s ever heard of, that had no followers.” Elon — who owns a social media website — should theoretically be smart enough to talk about a large Russian social media network that’s kind of like MySpace without sounding like your great grandmother asking if you can help her change the Google, but here we are. (For easy explanations of where the killer’s profile was found, click here, on the internet.)
Smirking like he had solved a very confusing case, he said that Bellingcat, the site that tracked down the shooter’s social media, specializes in “psy-ops.” (That is not quite correct. Also the New York Times found the profile first.)
Hims is a very pissy boy! Look how mad!
“I’m saying I thought that ascribing it to white supremacy was bullshit. And that the information for that came from an obscure Russian website and was somehow magically found by Bellingcat, which is a company that does psyops.”
[…] The CNBC reporter said “right” a couple times, which sounded like he was affirming that Bellingcat is “psyops.” But then he clarified that it was just because had no fucking idea what Elon was talking about. (It is good to do research before you do interviews, #journalismtip.) That’s when Elon got mad and said it was BULLSHIT, man, it was BULLSHIT!
So angry.
We guess it is between Elon and his god why he is so obsessed with defending the Allen shooter from charges of white supremacy, but we bet that god is white. [My guess is that Elon thinks of himself as a white supremacist that everyone should adore.]
Later in the same interview, the CNBC interviewer tried to ask why and how Elon decides to spill his (dumbfucking moron) opinions on the internet. He referenced the comments about George Soros, which Elon said he stands by.
Elon of course responded, “freedom of speech.”
The interviewer said he didn’t think Elon is an anti-Semite. Elon said he’s a “pro-Semite,’ if anything.”
But the question he was winding up to was “Do your tweets hurt the company?” (Tesla, not Twitter. This was after Tesla’s annual meeting.) Or could they hurt advertising on Twitter? Could incoming CEO Linda Yaccarino ever come to him and say “You gotta stop, man?”
And Elon got the stupidest fucking look on his face for 13 entire seconds, and then shared an inane quote from The Princess Bride about how much he doesn’t care, which in this context, came off pretty much as I HATE YOU, YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD!
“I’ll say what I want to say. If the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”
Twitter is a private company, so we guess Elon is free to run it into the ground. But doesn’t that quote right there fly in the face of Elon’s fiduciary duty to the shareholders of Tesla, which is publicly traded? [video at the link]
[…] AFTER THAT, Elon had this exchange with the interviewer, again about the Allen shooter:
FABER: There’s no proof, by the way, that he was not [a white supremacist]
MUSK: I would say that there’s no proof that he is.
FABER; And that’s a debate you want to get into on Twitter?
MUSK: Yes. Because we should not be ascribing things to white supremacy if it is false.
[…]
StevoRsays
Independent MP Alex Greenwich will launch defamation action against One Nation’s Mark Latham over a graphic, homophobic tweet. … (snip).. Late yesterday, Mr Greenwich received a letter from Mr Latham’s lawyers saying they would not accept his offers to resolve the situation outside of court. The offensive tweet was posted seven weeks ago, and the ABC has chosen not to reveal the highly graphic contents. It has since been deleted from Mr Latham’s account. In a statement, Mr Greenwich said he was not entering in the legal proceedings “lightly”. “Mr Latham’s homophobic, sexualised attack has exposed me to contempt, ridicule and extreme abuse, based on my sexuality, and demands actions,” he said. “It’s 2023 and LGBTQIA+ Australians shouldn’t have to put up with abuse that targets our sexuality, character, or ability to do our jobs.”
“I was there and I took what I took… I had every right to do it. I didn’t make a secret of it. You know, the boxes were stationed outside of the White House.”
[…]
Trump admitted that he was involved in willfully removing the documents from the White House. […] while he was in Washington means […] bringing the documents case in DC, rather than in Florida. […] That is a very big deal […] potential judges and the jurors.
KGsays
Condolences Oggie. At least your mother’s worst fear did not come to pass.
KGsays
Disgracefully, the BBC reported the publication of the Durham Report as if it was a valid piece of work that raised serious issues (although it did note Durham was appointed by Trump). I don’t know whether this should be attributed to bothysiderism or simple incompetence – the responsible editorial staff just being ignorant about US politics.
Librarians could face years of imprisonment and tens of thousands in fines for providing sexually explicit, obscene or “harmful” books to children under new state laws that permit criminal prosecution of school and library personnel.
At least seven states have passed such laws in the last two years, according to a Washington Post analysis, six of them in the past two months — although governors of Idaho and North Dakota vetoed the legislation. Another dozen states considered more than 20 similar bills this year, half of which are likely to come up again in 2024, The Post found.
Some of the laws impose severe penalties on librarians, who until now were exempted in almost every state from prosecution over obscene material — a carve-out meant to permit accurate lessons in topics such as sex education. All but one of the new laws target schools, while some also target the staff of public libraries and one affects book vendors.
One example is an Arkansas measure that says school and public librarians, as well as teachers, can be imprisoned for up to six years or fined $10,000 if they distribute obscene or harmful texts. It takes effect Aug. 1.
[…]
Some educators and activists say the laws will forge a climate of fear among school librarians, spurring the censorship of books by and about LGBTQ individuals — even as the nation already faces a historic onslaught of challenges to books in those categories.
“It will make sure the only literature students are exposed to fits into a narrow scope of what some people want the world to look like,” said Keith Gambill, president of the teachers union in Indiana, one of the states that adopted obscenity laws. “This is my 37th year in education. I’ve never seen anything like this. … We are entering a very frightening period.”
[…]
In addition to Idaho and Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma enacted laws mandating fines or imprisonment, or both, for school employees and librarians. Tennessee has passed two measures, one that targets schools and another that targets book publishers or vendors selling to schools.
[…]
All 50 states maintain obscenity laws, which typically prohibit the distribution of obscene material to minors and impose heavy fines and prison sentences for violations. But the vast majority adopted exemptions for schools, public libraries and museums in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to ensure educators could provide full information to children on topics such as biology, health and sex education without facing expensive litigation, according to a research report from the advocacy group EveryLibrary.
Back then, lawmakers took it for granted that schools and libraries were not trying to disseminate “criminally harmful material,” said John Chrastka, executive director of EveryLibrary, which is tracking library obscenity laws.
But that assumption of good intent no longer exists, he said.
“We are, as a country, at a very broken place right now,” he said. “We have a fundamental break in trust between some groups of society and the educational system.”
The conventional wisdom has long held that the Republican Party is the party that cares about deficit reduction and balanced budgets. Those assumptions have been spectacularly wrong, at least over the last several decades.
[…] The New Republic had a report yesterday that stood out for me:
Republicans have said they want to reduce government spending and increase U.S. revenue — but not if it inconveniences rich people, apparently. When a reporter asked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy if he would consider raising taxes on wealthy Americans, he answered with a short “No” before the question was even finished. Republicans standing around him groaned and shook their heads.
To be sure, asking the wealthy to pay a little more would bring the budget closer to balance. It’s also a sound economic idea that enjoys broad public support in recent national polling.
But it’s also an approach GOP leaders dismiss reflexively as out of the question. To paraphrase Meatloaf, Republicans would do anything for fiscal responsibility, but they won’t ask the wealthy to give up some of the ineffective tax breaks the party threw their way.
The idea that GOP leaders are eager to embrace, however, are new work requirements for beneficiaries of social insurance programs — an idea that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would only save about $1 billion per year. To be sure, to you and me, $1 billion might seem like a staggering sum, but when we’re talking about recent budget deficits of $1 trillion, $1 billion is practically a rounding error.
But if new work requirements would do effectively nothing to balance the budget, why are they a top priority for the Republican leadership? Because House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his partners are far more concerned about scratching an ideological itch than the deficit they occasionally pretend to care about.
There’s plenty of other related evidence from the GOP’s ongoing debt ceiling fight, including the fact that the party’s ransom note tries to slash investments in the Internal Revenue Service — a move that would make the deficit considerably larger, not smaller.
It was also this week that the CBO told lawmakers that extending Trump-era tax breaks would cost $3.5 trillion. A party concerned about balancing the budget would see this price tag and immediately abandon plans to make the tax cuts permanent, right? Don’t be silly: Republicans are desperate to protect the ineffective tax breaks anyway.
As Bloomberg Opinion’s Jonathan Bernstein summarized this week, “[A]nyone who thinks that Republicans care about federal budget deficits — at all — is just gullible beyond belief.”
[…] in the early 1980s when the GOP made the transition in earnest from an anti-deficit party to an anti-tax party. Ronald Reagan, after running on an anti-deficit platform, racked up massive deficits [snipped the Bush era increase in deficits]
Reflecting on the era, the late Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, following several decades on Capitol Hill, told The Associated Press in 2009 that “it was standard practice not to pay for things” during the Bush/Cheney era — as if the entirety of the GOP simply forgot its fiscal principles for eight consecutive years.
Wouldn’t you know it, Republicans magically remembered those principles after Barack Obama was elected, at which point GOP officials once again insisted that nothing mattered more than deficit reduction.
That is, until Donald Trump was elected. Republicans, right on cue, kept the pattern going and decided they couldn’t care less about balancing the budget. Trump — who, like Reagan, promised voters he knew what to do about shrinking the debt — ended up adding nearly $7.8 trillion to the national debt in just one term, and most of that total was racked up before the Covid crisis.
[…] The pattern is tough to miss: For the past four decades, every Republican president has left office with a larger budget deficit than when he started, and every Democratic president has left office with a smaller budget deficit than when he started.
Right around the time of Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, GOP officials began to insist that this time, they truly, deeply care about balanced budgets, culminating in another Republican debt ceiling crisis.
[…] Republicans have ruled out the possibility of rolling back ineffective tax breaks for the wealthy, ruled out cuts to much of the federal budget, and prioritized partisan goals that have little if anything to do with fiscal responsibility.
[…] It was just a couple of months ago when Jim Jordan pointed to FBI “whistleblowers” who weren’t actually whistleblowers, and who’d given behind-the-scenes testimony that was literally unbelievable.
This week, the far-right congressman’s troubles got noticeably worse. The New York Times reported overnight:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has revoked the security clearances of three agents who either took part in the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, or later expressed views about it that placed into question their “allegiance to the United States,” the bureau said on Wednesday in a letter to congressional investigators.
And what, pray tell, does this have to do with Jordan? As it turns out, the House Judiciary Committee’s panel on government “weaponization” is holding a hearing this morning, and members are hearing from two FBI agents: Marcus Allen and Stephen Friend.
Allen and Friend are two of the agents whose security clearances were revoked in response to alleged misconduct. […] they’ve also been suspended by the bureau as the FBI reviews their cases.
A third agent, Brett Gloss, received the same punishment after the FBI determined that he broke the law by entering a restricted area of the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 while moving with the pro-Trump mob. Investigators concluded that Gloss provided “false and/or misleading information” about what he saw the day of the insurrectionist attack.
As for Jordan’s witnesses, Allen was found to have had “expressed sympathy for persons or organizations that advocate, threaten or use force or violence,” promoted conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 violence, and misled a colleague about a Jan. 6 suspect. [LOL. If Jim Jordan were capable of embarrassment, you would think he would apologize to the public and to his congressional colleagues.]
Friend, meanwhile, was apparently punished after refusing to participate in the arrest of a Jan. 6 suspect. According to a Washington Post report, bureau investigators also concluded that Friend “presented a number of security concerns related to his personal conduct, handling of protected information and ‘use of information technology.’”
When Jordan talks about his allied “whistleblowers” from within the FBI, who are eager to bolster his conspiracy theories about government agencies mistreating poor conservative victims, these are some of the folks he’s referring to. [Doofuses all]
As for the fact at least some of his alleged “whistleblowers” have also received financial support from a top Trump ally, the beleaguered committee chairman insisted Thursday morning that this shouldn’t undermine their credibility.
No, of course not. Heaven forbid. […] the hapless partisan crusade is not improving.
The man accused of posting classified information in a group chat agreed to provide information to a person who indicated they were a foreign national, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
It’s the case of Jack Teixeira, the 21-year old airman with an alleged penchant for fantasizing about mass shootings and a passing interest in international affairs.
[…] In the chats, Teixeira alternates between using his Air Force intelligence position as a way to brag online and showing solicitousness to his online correspondent.
But what’s critical here is that the unnamed user that’s corresponding with Teixeira indicates he does not live in the U.S. The filing alleges that the Discord servers Teixeira used “had at least 150 unique users, some of whom represented that they lived in foreign countries, and some of whom used foreign IP addresses.”
It all opens up potentially deeper counterintelligence concerns around the already gaping problems involved with Teixeira allegedly posting the information on an internet forum.
[…] Teixeira immediately projected knowledge and awareness that his correspondent was not in the U.S., saying that the statement was what he expected to see.
[…] “What is a ts network,” the user replied, referencing an earlier statement by Teixeira that he had been reading “a TS network.”
“Top secret,” Teixeira responded.
From there, the user asked Teixeira “what is being said now about this loose ukrainian missile?” On Nov. 15, the day of the exchange, a Ukrainian air defense missile reportedly hit a tractor in eastern Poland, prompting a period of confusion as officials and the press tried to identify whether or not the strike was intentional, and whether it came from Russia or Ukraine.
Teixeira indicated in his reply that he would be in touch, saying that he was out with COVID but that “When I do get back however I will let u know.”
Members of the forum have told journalists that Teixeira offered to research information that interested them, and prosecutors have said in earlier filings that Teixeira offered to use his security clearance to access information in response to requests from users of the forum.
[…] In one September 2022 incident, Teixeira was purportedly seen taking notes on classified information before putting the notes in his pocket. He was warned to stop, the filing says, before an October incident in which Teixeira allegedly asked “very specific questions.” That was enough to arouse attention; the day after the incident, Teixeira was asked if he was continuing to “deep dive” into classified information, before being let off with another warning.
Finally, in January 2023, yet another Air Force official noticed that Teixeira was viewing intelligence records that were unrelated to his job. […]
Comments posted by readers of the article:
Tiexiera is caught copying info that he is not authorized to see. Gets reprimanded. Keeps his clearance.
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That just stuns me. In my dad’s day all hell would have broken out in the first incident. And he would have been removed, clearances killed off
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Seems they knew for awhile that he was deep diving into areas he had no business being in as far as classified information. Why they let it slide I have no idea. Seems like that would be grounds for immediate penalties or punishment. One warning to do something he knows he shouldn’t have done is one too many, imo. That should be made clear to all from the get-go.
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There are people in the chain above him that need to be replaced and I would say asap. There needs to be some serious re-engineering on security in the military.
Imagine the thoughts of the personnel who initially submitted reports on this bit of scum, only to watch him skip again and again.
[…] While McCarthy has characterized work requirements as necessary to ensure that poor people gain independence from government assistance, they often make it more difficult for people to access the benefits they need not only to survive but to be able to work.
[…] Taking away benefits like health care, the article notes, makes it harder for people to get jobs by allowing their health to deteriorate to the point that they can’t work. A certain percentage of people who receive cash assistance under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are already required to show that they work, and able-bodied adults ages 18 to 49 can only receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for three months out of three years unless they work at least 20 hours a week.
Instituting work requirements requires a lot of paperwork, which winds up being burdensome on poor people and lucrative to the companies that administer it. The company Maximus makes billions in annual revenue to administer public assistance programs and root out nearly nonexistent fraud.
Our government needs to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling—but it can do so in ways that don’t involve the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor. Work requirements do not do much except inflame a misguided idea: that the problem with poverty in America is that people are lazy.
Between 1885 and 1917, the jewelry firm Fabergé, then headquartered in St. Petersburg, presented a series of fabulously detailed and intricately formed golden eggs to the Tsars of Russia. They are genuinely exquisite objects, involving looping traceries of metal, shells of rare minerals, and hundreds of jewels, large and small. Some include tiny figurines, miniature portraits, or even Lilliputian vehicles.
A total of 69 were produced. Most were sold off in the 1920s on the orders of cash-strapped Joseph Stalin. A dozen have been lost. In 2013, Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg paid $100 million to bring nine of the eggs back to Moscow.
At this moment, Russia seems to have a lot in common with those eggs. The majority of its past glory has been lost. Despite enormous expenditures directed by uber-oligarch Vladimir Putin, very little of it seems poised to return. Its military, its economy, and its standing in the world are all growing more miniscule by the day.
And, like those eggs, Russia appears to be extremely fragile.
Sometime in the next week, Russia might actually capture Bakhmut. Despite everything that has happened in and around the city, the remaining area of the city proper now controlled by Ukrainian forces is very small. [map at the link]
According to Russian sources, forces involving Wagner Group mercenaries reached the area of the children’s hospital on Thursday. Most Ukrainian forces seem to have retreated across the Khromove road to the area that has been called “the citadel.”
Right now, Russia is pouring artillery into that small area from three directions, trying to reduce the final collection of tall buildings in Bakhmut into powder. The relative shortage of artillery shells, which Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has complained about so many times, doesn’t matter nearly as much when just about every Russian gun in the area is firing into the same small target area.
Given another few days to carry out this process, it’s entirely possible that Prigozhin will get his opportunity to stand on the last of that rubble, wave a Wagner Group flag, and declare Bakhmut captured.
And it won’t mean f**k all.
As kos has written, this is entirely symbolic. Prigozhin has no interest in staying and trying to hold Bakhmut. He’s certainly not going to advance out of Bakhmut. One last wave of that flag—not a Russian flag, not a Russian military flag, but a flag of the private military company that he personally owns—and he is out of there.
For months, just about everyone (including Prigozhin) has noted that Bakhmut has little strategic significance. Over the full year since Russian forces drew close enough to begin shelling the town, it’s been lent a kind of importance based on the fact that Russia needed to move past Bakhmut to reach it’s genuine goals, and Ukraine wanted to hold Russia at Bakhmut as long as possible to both protect its other cities and bleed the Russian military and Wagner Group dry.
Look at that map again. Those locations in the east—the winery, the drywall factory—those are locations Russia was fighting to take nine months ago. It wasn’t until they managed to take Soledar near the end of 2022 that Wagner began to make real inroads into Bakhmut. Even then, their progress across the city has been so slow, each of those landmarks might as well be a calendar page. In the process, Wagner has lost at least 30,000 men.
Bakhmut has held through all the stages of Russia’s mobilization and through the winter offensive. It has been the hot center of all the fighting in Ukraine for so many awful months. If what’s left of the ruined city gets a chance to rest, that’s a good thing. Russia isn’t about to go anywhere from Bakhmut, even using artillery to destroy bridges heading west out of the city—stopping any of its own potential advances. Even previous thoughts of repositioning Ukrainian forces along higher ground west and north of the city appear to be irrelevant. Because it seems much more likely that the only forces who will be backpedaling in the area will be Russian.
While fighting in Bakhmut, Russia hasn’t just lost tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of armored vehicles, and dozens of aircraft. It’s lost something more important. It has shredded what remained of the fragile cohesion that held the whole operation in Ukraine together.
As kos has noted, there’s no reason for Ukraine to hurry in launching its counteroffensive. That’s because there is no longer a need to be concerned about Russia’s advance. There is no Russian advance. Instead, there’s just a daily process in which Russia’s uneasy coalition of authoritarian oligarchs looks a little less stable and a lot less capable of continuing this war.
For weeks, we’ve been staring in a mixture of amazement, amusement, and horror as Prigozhin rants against the Russian military while showing off hundreds of Wagner fighters lost to make minimal advances. [video at the link]
What should really scare Vladimir Putin is that Prigozhin, after weeks of stunts like this, is still there, still in command of Wagner, and still making demands. Not only that, Russian TV hosts are not condemning Prigozhin. The balance of power between Putin and his former caterer seems more than a little questionable.
Earlier today, Prigozhin was back on the air, once again attacking Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and blaming the Russian military for retreats around Bakhmut. [video at the link]
But notice what Prigozhin is asking for here. He’s not calling on Russian forces to advance. He’s asking them to hang on to locations around Bakhmut “for a few more days” so that he can complete his bloody ceremonial task inside the city. He’s not talking about winning; he’s talking about the speed with which they will lose.
If there has ever been a major military more disheartened, more splintered, more convinced that it is about to be crushed, that military’s leader was already in a bunker.
As Anna Nemtsova writes for The Washington Post, the Kremlin has “never been so rattled.”
Never, in more than two decades of covering Vladimir Putin’s regime, have I seen it in such an obvious state of chaos and disarray. These days, Kremlin-watchers don’t have to read tea leaves or decode cryptic utterances from the leadership to spot the signs of intrigue—it’s all out in the open, thanks to Putin confidant Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
While Russia’s infighting is certainly doing its share in creating this chaos, Nemtsova also delivers a hat tip to the Ukrainian military for using drone strikes and carefully calibrated actions to do “everything they can to undermine morale and exacerbate divisions among their enemies.”
That includes “loudly and persistently” discussing the plan for a spring offensive. For Russia, it’s almost as if each press release out of Kyiv is delivered by a tank brigade. Russian forces appear to be standing at the front already halfway turned toward the border, ready to run at the first sign of an actual attack.
The disparity in attitude even appears to be present in the trenches around Bakhmut where smiling Ukrainian forces are taking dejected Russian stragglers prisoner as they overrun position after position. None of this is making all those trenches Russia has been digging all over Ukraine seem like much of an obstacle.
Right now, those final few blocks of Bakhmut are nearly encircled by Russian artillery. With Russian forces able to direct shells into the area from three directions, and Wagner forces able to press forward from both north and east, the effort to sustain a Ukrainian presence within the city may be nearing an end. [Tweet and video at the link]
But it is still a “may be.” Much will depend on how quickly Ukraine keeps rolling up the flanks to Bakhmut’s north and south, and whether Russia or Wagner still have the forces to fight through that maze of high rises. Even rubble can be effectively defended. And even if they do, Russia is only able to apply this pressure in this one location because of circumstances they built up over a year at nearly unfathomable cost. They cannot mimic this action at any other point on the whole 1000 km front.
The Battle of Bakhmut is going to be remembered for generations. And whether Prigozhin gets to wave his flag or not, Bakhmut will be remembered as the city where Vladimir Putin’s dream of a new Russian empire was ended.
One last thing … that location that Prigozhin was begging Russian forces to hold for just a few more days? They didn’t. [Tweet and images at the link]
When assessing the price tag for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ culture war, the focus has generally turned to legal costs. After all, the Republican’s right-wing agenda, including the free trips the governor has provided for undocumented immigrants, isn’t cheap.
The Miami Herald reported late last year that DeSantis’ ideological crusade had cost Floridians nearly $17 million in legal fees as 2022 came to an end. The article quoted Bob Jarvis, a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University, who marveled at the GOP governor’s willingness to take advantage of “a blank check from the taxpayers.”
But as it turns out, that’s not the only cost associated with DeSantis’ agenda. NBC News reported today:
Disney has abandoned plans to open up a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state’s governor. Citing “changing business conditions” and the return of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the company will not move forward with construction of the campus.
A related New York Times report, citing an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, added that this was a nearly $1 billion development project that would’ve brought “more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary.”
It didn’t have to be this way.
[…] the governor last year signed a proposal critics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” policy, and Disney, a powerhouse in the Sunshine State, eventually criticized the anti-LGBTQ measure.
In a normal political environment, the governor might’ve defended his position and expressed his disagreement with the company, at which point the relevant players would’ve moved on. But in DeSantis Land, there’s nothing especially normal about politics: The far-right governor responded to the modest and inconsequential criticism by picking an ugly and prolonged fight with Disney, in part to punish the corporate giant for daring to disagree with him in public, and in part to send a signal to others that he’d retaliate against anyone who challenges his positions.
But — and this is the important part — he’s the one who’s losing the fight he picked for dumb reasons. Disney has already filed a lawsuit it’s likely to win, thanks in part to DeSantis’ own carelessness and inability to think a few moves ahead. What’s more, many prominent voices in the governor’s own political party have questioned the wisdom of the Floridian taking a position that can fairly be described as “anti-business” ahead of his presidential campaign.
Disney’s year-old press release would’ve been long forgotten by now if DeSantis had shown the good sense to ignore it. Instead, the Republican governor launched a political war against his own state’s largest employer for daring to disagree with him, costing Florida dearly.
Much of the presidency comes down to showing good judgment. DeSantis has practically disqualified himself before even kicking off his national campaign.
[…] Arizona gubernatorial dopeful Kari Lake […] remains in thrall to her delusions, including that she won her election in November and that Donald Trump is simply too stable and genius-y to have possibly lost in 2020. She is currently in court challenging her loss. And—well, gee, you never could have predicted this—it’s not going well. At all.
As Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts noted, the first day of Lake’s latest trial was a “complete and total fizzle.” According to Lake’s attorney, Kurt Olsen, the very-much-not-governor of Arizona was sitting on a powder keg of evidence proving that Arizona’s Maricopa County failed to do any signature verification on early ballots during the midterm elections. And her side called witnesses who proved exactly that.
Wait. Sorry. That was supposed to say “who proved exactly the opposite.”
Jacqueline Onigkeit, who worked as a level one reviewer during last year’s election, spent more than an hour explaining the lengths to which county went to verify signatures — the weeklong training of workers, the two shifts of level one reviewers, three levels of signature review, the admonition to get it right.
“They (supervisors) told us, ‘You need to be very cautious. You need to pay attention to what you’re doing and remember that whatever you reject or approve, you can be called in to testify,’ ” Onigkeit testified.
As a witness for the defense, Onigkeit was dynamite.
The problem is, she was supposed to be the star witness for Lake.
Wait, so why would Lake call a witness who ended up destroying her case? I’m no lawyer, but isn’t that the opposite of what you’re supposed to do? Did she find her attorney on Craigslist? And did the advertiser throw in a free futon?
But that wasn’t all. Oh, no. The hits kept coming.
According to Roberts, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson said that in order to prove her case, Lake needed to show that the county had conducted no signature verification at all. Instead, she and her lawyer helpfully proved that it had.
Olsen showed a video in which one election worker did appear to be breezing through signature verifications too quickly, but he failed to note that the worker was dismissed from those duties for not doing a thorough job—a fact that, as Roberts writes, “bolstered the county’s case that it was taking signature verification seriously.” Meanwhile, Onigkeit testified that the workers were continually told that they should be careful not to rush through the verification process.
Whoops.
Of course, while the Big Lie may triumph in the court of public opinion (at least in MAGA-land), it’s done diddly-squat in actual courts, possibly (gird your loins now) because these Big Liars have no case. And on Wednesday that was made brutally clear. Again.
That said, Big Liars are still poking at the foundations of our democracy, looking for flaws that might allow them to illegally install their once and future Burger King, who continues to serve up steamy whoppers on the daily while safely ensconced in Mar-a-Lago. Their ultimate vision, of course, is a permanent white minority rule in which Potemkin elections rubber-stamp their preordained picks. And while they’ve run into plenty of roadblocks on their way to this white man’s coup-topia, their plan remains essentially unchanged.
To be fair, it’s abundantly clear by now that election denialism is a bad campaign strategy. Relying on voters who think voting is pointless is always a bad tactic, of course, but now we have data to support the fact that Big Liars tend to be Big Losers.
According to a recent study from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, election deniers did demonstrably worse in the midterms than candidates who refused to embrace Trump’s barmy nonsense.
Los Angeles Times:
Assaying the general election results in 85 races across the country, the study found that election-denying Republicans received 2.3% less support in statewide contests than Republicans who stood fast and refused to indulge Trump’s insidious blather.
That may not sound like a lot. But it was the difference in several close contests involving prominent election deniers, including races for U.S. Senate and secretary of state in Nevada, and governor and attorney general in Arizona. In each of those elections, scoundrels and cheats — let’s call them what they are — went down to narrow, deserved defeat.
Great news, to be sure. But don’t get too comfy. Democracy is still in danger.
The nonpartisan watchdog group Informing Democracy recently put together a report on some of the perils still facing our democracy, including the fact that election deniers are worming their way into government like weevils in Lake’s squishy simulacrum of a brain.
Still, following the results of the 2022 elections, a positive narrative that most election deniers were defeated at the ballot box quickly developed within the national media, but outside of a few prominent election contests, the reality is unfortunately more pessimistic. In fact, more anti democracy actors were elected to statewide offices last year, not fewer. Across the country, candidates supporting election denialism won several statewide elections, solidifying their influence in state and federal government. These election winners include the Governors of Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota, and Texas; Secretaries of State of Indiana and Wyoming; Attorneys General of Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas; and U.S. Senators in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
At least 180 of the 222 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives elected in 2022, most of whom were incumbents, either questioned or denied the results of the 2020 presidential election. Of the 34 U.S. Senators elected or reelected in 2022, 17 expressed skepticism about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. This adds up to at least 74% of Congressional Republicans who rejected the 2020 election results. Barring their resignation or removal from office, these same officials will be charged with confirming the electoral college votes for the 2024 presidential election.
Then there’s that wacky SCOTUS, which loves nothing more than to place flaming bags of poo at the public’s doorstep and run away laughing. The court is currently considering the validity of the so-called “independent state legislature theory,” which would give partisan legislatures broad authority to gerrymander districts, disenfranchise voters, and possibly even pick their own winners. Fortunately, the Supreme Court looks poised to reject the theory, but it remains a real and horrifying threat.
[…] Texas’ GOP-led state legislature is currently pushing a bill that would give Texas’ secretary of state the power to 86 election results in the Lone Star State’s largest county possibly probably because its residents keep voting for Democrats.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill Tuesday and sent it to the state House. If it is enacted, it would allow the secretary of state to toss out election results in the state’s largest county and call a new vote if there is “good cause” to believe that at least 2% of polling places ran out of usable ballots during voting hours.
The bill would apply only to counties with populations greater than 2.7 million, effectively singling out Harris County, which is home to Houston and has by far the largest population in the state, at nearly 5 million. In recent decades, Harris County has become more Democratic.
[…] So, yes, Lake’s faceplant is both hilarious and heartening. But that doesn’t mean we can relax, fellow progressives! Democracy is still on the ballot in 2024, and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Or until MAGAs finally realize that Trump almost never tells the truth. Which pretty much means we’ll be white-knuckling our way through election nights until the heat death of the universe. And here you thought you might get a full night’s sleep sometime before the end of the millennium. You naif!
Last month, we learned that Ukraine had nine mechanized brigades reportedly trained and ready to go when it was time to begin the counteroffensive. However, many articles published in the same week suggested that Ukraine was preparing ten, or even twelve, brigades for the counter offensive.
It looks like one of those additional brigades wasn’t really lost … it was just that they were in Sweden.
The Times of London is reporting that an entire brigade—as in 3,000 to 5,000 troops and all their gear—has been training together in Sweden and are only now being deployed back to Ukraine. Rather than collecting a mishmash of hardware from various countries, this brigade has reportedly been loaded up with: Swedish modified Leopard 2 tanks, Swedish CV-90 combat vehicles, and Swedish Archer artillery. Ja. Ja. Ja.
The idea of moving this many men and women out of Ukraine to train as a coherent unit is absolutely extraordinary, and if true getting them back into the mix could be a key reason Ukraine has been biding their time on launching the counteroffensive. But, regardless of the name linked to the article, this remains something of an extraordinary claim that has not been confirmed by Ukrainian military sources.
AVDIIVKA
From December to March, Russia launched a series of attempts to break through Ukrainian defenses at Avdiivka. Other than Bakhmut, there may be no other area that has received as much Russian military effort in the last six months. Most of that ended back in March when a series of failed assaults left the area east and north of the city littered with burning Russian armor. [map at the link]
But in the last week, what started with another Russian assault seems to have generated a Ukrainian advance that erased essentially all the Russian gains around the city. Ukraine is now back at the edge of Kruta Balka, pressing against the boundaries that have existed since 2014.
It’s unclear if this was a limited advance or if Ukraine will try to exploit new positions after displacing Russian forces. The front line in this area is now only about 4 km from the regional capital city of Donetsk (population: 900,000+).
What seems to be making this possible are reports that Russia has deployed units that were at Avdiivka to join the forces trying to hold the flanks at Bakhmut. Russia is now playing Whac-a-mole, and it’s running short of hammers.
Honestly, Ukraine hasn’t even started the counteroffensive, and already it’s hard to keep up with all the moves.
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Still more gear on the way from Norway, including both artillery and counter-artillery systems. [Tweet and images at the link]
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Here are a couple of before and after shots that reverse the direction of what we’ve seen way too often since Russia invaded Ukraine. This is Bucha, scene of an ungodly massacre, mass graves, and bodies left in the street by indifferent Russian forces. The images of disaster come from just after Ukraine had liberated the area following the Battle of Kyiv. The second set of images is today. [Tweets and images at the link. Heartening!]
That’s one down, everything else that has been touched by Russia to go.
Wednesday was a vintage Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene day. After embarrassing herself and the Republican Party during a House committee hearing, Greene got into a verbal argument with Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman outside of the Capitol—in front of a lot of cameras. It amounted to being mostly political theater, and Bowman made sure to keep a consistent distance as he ribbed Greene and her party’s support of indicted New York Rep. George Santos. […]
During a Thursday press conference, Greene brought up her interactions with Bowman—one in March in New York City, and the one on Wednesday—and leaned into one of the oldest, most dangerous racist tropes in American history: She said she felt “threatened” by Bowman because his “physical mannerisms are aggressive.”
Greene proceeded to unleash 90 seconds of racist drivel. She began by saying that Bowman “has a history of aggression” against her and others. She then claimed Bowman had screamed that she was a “white supremacist” (though video of both interactions show he does not), and also claimed that being called a white supremacist is the same thing as hurling a racial epithet at a Black person. Greene then said Bowman “shoved” Rep. Thomas Massie a few weeks earlier (he didn’t—also on video), and warned that people should be “concerned” and “watch out” for Bowman. [video at the link]
When asked about Greene’s comments, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “Marjorie Taylor Greene is a complete embarrassment to the United States Congress, to the district that she represents, and to the people of Georgia. Her words and her actions speak for themselves.”
Bowman told reporters that Greene’s comments were “incredibly dangerous, and incredibly reckless,” adding that “she’s not using a dog whistle, she’s using a bullhorn to put a target on my back.” Bowman reminded people to watch the video so they could see that Greene’s statements about him were disingenuous, and therefore indicative of cruel intentions. Bowman pointed out that this is a tactic of white supremacists, who have attempted to “dehumanize Black people, black skin, and the Black humanity so that they can be more likely to be targeted for harm.”
Bowman at no time (in March on the streets of New York City, or on Tuesday on the steps of the Capitol), called Greene a “white supremacist.” […] What Bowman said back in March was that New Yorkers “will never accept hateful rhetoric in our city. Any rhetoric that divisive, any rhetoric that uplifts white supremacy—we are pushing back against that.” You can watch Bowman’s comments to the press down below.
[…]the interaction between the two lawmakers is a non-story. Bowman and Greene spoke over one another loudly, with Bowman urging Greene to “save your party,” and Greene incoherently yelling about “migrants.”
As for the incident with Massie, that was when Bowman was calling Republican lawmakers cowards for their lack of political will to do anything about guns murdering our children. It was Massie who stepped up and pointed fingers in Bowman’s face. Bowman, frankly, would have had every right to put his hands on Massie at that point, but didn’t.
What Greene is doing here, mixing the general persecution complex of the conservative movement with old racial tropes of white women needing protection from big Black men, is abhorrent. But it is also informative. American history is covered in the blood of Black men who were murdered under this brand of racism. The moral bankruptcy of Greene, her Republican Party, and Trumpism is so complete at this point that it shouldn’t be surprising—but it can still be shocking.
Here’s Bowman and Greene’s interaction on Wednesday. [video at the link]
Here’s what Bowman actually said when Greene was summarily chased out of the Big Apple. [video at the link]
Civil rights lawyer Nancy Abudu has been confirmed to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where she will be the first Black woman to sit on the Atlanta-based court.
Nancy Abudu is the first Biden judicial nominee that Senator Joe Manchin voted against.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., experienced more complications than were publicly disclosed from a recent case of shingles that left her absent from Washington for nearly three months. Feinstein, 89, had also suffered from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which occurred when shingles spread to her head and neck, and a case of encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain, a person familiar with her situation confirmed to NBC News on Thursday.
By now, you have probably heard the big news about Lauren Boebert’s impending divorce. If not, well, you just did! She hasn’t gone into detail, saying only that they had truly “irreconcilable differences.” […]
Under normal circumstances, we might not even cover this. Because this is the year 2023 and people can do what they want. […] I can’t imagine anyone wanting to stay married to either Boebert. But, the fact that she’s getting a divorce and Marjorie Taylor Greene got a divorce and Steven Crowder just got a divorce is more than just petty gossip when Republicans are out here trying to end no-fault divorce for everyone else. […]
For years, ending no-fault divorce has been a priority among the various Men’s Rights factions. Both the traditional MRAs and the MGTOWs (Men Going Their Own Way) have long been galvanized by what they believe is the “unfairness” of divorce laws for men. While this has largely been focused on child custody, alimony and child support, they are specifically opposed to no-fault divorce because they don’t think a woman should be able to decide to leave them and then take half of “their” assets. For the Christian anti-feminists and redpillers, they are angry at the idea that a woman should be allowed to leave her husband, period. The incels are upset about the “uneven distribution” of women and one man being able to marry multiple women.
They’re all fucking nuts. But for a really long time, it was mostly just them.
However, over the last year or so, the idea of banning no-fault divorce — and, to some extent, divorce in general — has gone from being the kind of thing that was only ever seriously discussed in largely anonymous manosphere forums to the slightly more mainstream right-wing pundits — like, ironically, Steven Crowder — all the way to those creating the Republican Party platforms in Texas and Louisiana.
“We urge the Legislature to rescind unilateral no-fault divorce laws,” reads the Republican platform in Texas, “to support covenant marriage, and to pass legislation extending the period of time in which a divorce may occur to six months after the date of filing for divorce.”
“Louisiana marriage laws have destroyed the institute of marriage over the past thirty to fifty years,” reads an initial draft of the proposed resolution in Louisiana. “The destruction of marriage has resulted in widespread child poverty in Louisiana.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance last year suggested that people should actually stay in marriages that are “maybe even violent,” because allowing people to “shift spouses like they change their underwear” had damaged a generation of children. Children who should have been raised by abusive parents, I guess.
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has not only called for the abolition of no-fault divorce for years, but also for arranged marriages (another idea that, frighteningly enough, is becoming increasingly popular on the Right).
“Radical Liberals want to destroy the American nuclear family so that people can depend on the government,” Lauren Boebert herself tweeted in 2021. “There is nothing more important than the family unit & every policy put forth in this country should keep this in mind.”
The party of small government, ladies and gentlemen!
This idea comes from people who hate women, and the reason they want it so badly is because they want very badly to be able to control women. And yet, strangely enough, Boebert and Greene and Steven Crowder’s wife all don’t want to be controlled or forced to be married to someone they don’t want to stay married to anymore than we do. Even more strangely, Republicans all seem quite fine with twice-divorced Donald Trump and twice-divorced Newt Gingrich, as well as the once-divorced Ronald Reagan who actually started the whole no-fault divorce trend back when he was governor of California (actually, much of the Right has started to turn on Reagan, but that is a story for another day).
How do they decide which divorces are okay […]
Part of the attraction to making abortion illegal in the first place has always been the idea that it would make it more difficult for women to be independent, to hold jobs and to leave bad relationships. Getting rid of no-fault divorce is, in many ways, the obvious next step here. […]
A key Trump lawyer’s claim about the former president’s right to retain classified information at his Mar-a-Lago resort is completely reversed from how the law actually works, argued former federal prosecutor Elie Honig on CNN Thursday.
Honig’s explanation came in response to host Sara Sidner discussing her interview with attorney Jim Trusty the previous evening, where they argued over Trump’s repeated claim that he can declassify anything he wants and take it from the National Archives just by thinking about it.
“Let’s look at the Presidential Records Act and what it actually says,” said Sidner. “It says ‘The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of presidential records,’ and under federal law, willfully removing any record or document carries the possibility of a three-year prison sentence. We went — we looked it up, as journalists do. And nowhere does it say you can mentally just think about it and they are declassified.”
“You’ve packed so many misstatements into one question or whatever it was,” said Trusty. “The Presidential Records Act does not have a criminal enforcement component to itself. Look at it again.”
“Is he right?” Sidner asked Honig. “There’s no way to criminally prosecute this? There’s no enforcement component?”
“He’s wrong on a couple respects,” said Honig. “There is an enforcement component. The Act does include some of the crimes listed by DOJ in the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. The other thing is, Mr. Trusty, who I used to work with at DOJ, not closely, he has it backwards. What the Act says is, presumptively, any White House or presidential records belong to the government, the American public. If you’re a president or former president, and you want to claim some of those as your own or restrict access, you can try to do that, and here’s the process. But he seems to say they belong to the president as an individual or human being, and if the government is lucky, they get some.”
Oggie: Mathomsays
How do they decide which divorces are okay […]
Easy. If the one wanting the divorce is rich, white, conservative, Christian, and a man, then the divorce is warranted. If the one wanting the divorce is poor or middle class, a person of colour, progressive or liberal, not an evangelical Christian nationalist, or a woman, then delay*, delay**, delay***. . . .
* poor people can’t afford lawyers, so making it more convoluted and difficult will make them stay married longer and move more money from the unwashed masses to lawyers.
** besides, liberals just want free love without consequences****
*** the only reason they want a divorce is because they don’t understand Christian marriage.*****
**** free love should only have consequences for the slut, not the man.
***** man is to the wife as god is to man.
(feeling snarky tonight)
StevoRsays
Bombshell in Aussie media -resepcted TV host, columnist & author Stan Grant stepping aside due to racism :
Since the King’s coronation, I have seen people in the media lie and distort my words. They have tried to depict me as hate filled. They have accused me of maligning Australia.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My ancestors would not allow me to be filled with hate.
I was invited to contribute to the ABC’s coverage as part of a discussion about the legacy of the monarchy. I pointed out that the crown represents the invasion and theft of our land. In the name of the crown my people were segregated on missions and reserves. Police wearing the seal of the crown took children from their families. Under the crown our people were massacred.
I speak truth with love, I offer Yindyamarra
Australia is the only Commonwealth country not to have signed treaties with First Nations people. Under the crown we remain the most impoverished and imprisoned people in the country. We cannot live in the fantasy Australia that pretends we have transcended this history. We owe it to ourselves to be better.
Truths. Hard truths. Truths not told with hate — truths offered with love. Yes, love. I repeatedly said that these truths are spoken with love for the Australia we have never been.
… (Snip)…
I am sorry that some monarchists were offended at our coverage. That was never my intent. I thought I used words of love. Clearly, I failed. I have to accept I am part of the problem. I am part of the media that fails the Australian people every day.
This is the last column I will write for the ABC for a while.
On Monday night I will present my Q+A program, then walk away. For how long? I don’t know.
I don’t take time out because of racism — I won’t give racists the satisfaction. I don’t take time out because I believe the ABC was wrong to discuss the legacy of colonisation and empire on the day of the coronation. We did that, I believe, with maturity and respect.
I take time out because we have shown again that our history — our hard truth — is too big, too fragile, too precious for the media. The media sees only battle lines, not bridges. It sees only politics.
Haha, Ronald Reagan in 1943 opened the curtains for a drag show in the film This is the Army.
So…I suppose DeSantis will demand we boycott the army, and everything Reagan-related.
Also, the Rand corporation shows that the economy is so bad 24% of servicemen suffer what they call “food insecurity” and 14% must use food stamps.
Journalists are filtered by the elite-serving propaganda system such that ‘difficult’, ‘crusading’, ‘awkward’, ‘firebrand’ reporters are usually identified and stifled from clambering beyond a few lowly rungs of the career ladder. Or, if they manage not to be ‘let go’ by their employer early on, they learn to conform to generally unspoken rules on behaving as a ‘responsible’ media professional. One such key characteristic is to rarely challenge state-corporate power, or only within carefully circumscribed limits.
Parenti explained the typical career stages of a ‘successful’ journalist:
On how the Overton Window for the media is even more pushed and biased towards the reichwing of politics than the Overton Window for the community generally sadly.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Ukrainian air defence has claimed it destroyed 19 drones and missiles out of 28 launched on Friday morning. “Three Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea and 16 drones were shot down. Shelling continues on an almost daily basis,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television. Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has posted to Telegram to say that five drones were shot down overnight above his western Ukrainian region.
Russian forces are trying to recapture land they have lost around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but Kyiv’s forces are repelling the attacks, deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Friday. Russian forces have gained some ground inside the city itself but they do not control it and fighting rages on, Maliar said in televised comments.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at Jeddah on his way to the Arab League meeting in Saudi Arabia, and he will then go on to attend the G7 meeting in Japan in person.
Russian military forces have been enhancing defensive positions in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine in recent weeks, four witnesses have told Reuters.
The United States and the rest of the G7 major economies will unveil new sanctions and export controls targeting Russia, a US official has said ahead of the G7 summit in Japan. The G7’s latest efforts were aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to get materials it needed for the battlefield, closing loopholes used to evade sanctions, further reducing international reliance on Russian energy and narrowing Moscow’s access to the international financial system, the official told reporters on Thursday.
The UK unveiled a swathe of new sanctions ahead of the meeting. The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced a UK ban on imports of Russian diamonds and Russian-origin copper, nickel and aluminium. Sunak also has a self-declared mission to push India into showing greater support for Ukraine….
Also from there:
Vladimir Zelenskiy is addressing the Arab League of leaders in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
We have only seen a partial clip of the speech so far. However, Zelenskiy opened by paying tribute to the “warriors” he was representing and the Ukrainian people.
He said: “Ukrainians has never chosen the war. Our troops didn’t go to other lands. We do not engage in annexation and plunder of other nation’s resources. But we will never submit to any foreigners or colonisers. That’s why we fight.
“I am sure you will understand our main emotion, the main call I want to leave in Jeddah, a noble call to all of you to help protect our people including Ukrainian Muslim community.”
He had travelled with the Ukrainian Tatar people who live in Crimea, which is home to a Muslim community.
Zelenskiy continued: “The Crimea and Tatar should remain an integral part of the Muslim community of the world, but Crimea were the first to suffer from the Russian occupation. Most of all, those who have had to suffer the occupation are Muslims.
“Unfortunately there are some among the world, and here among you who turn a blind eye to those cases and illegal annexations. I am here so everyone can take an honest look, no matter how hard the Russians try to influence, there must be independence.”
He thanked Saudi Arabia for helping negotiate the return of prisoners, and mentioned the Arab students who have visited and studied in Ukraine.
Against a backdrop of ongoing discussions around the Black Sea grain deal, which Russia is currently holding out on agreeing, Zelenskiy reminded them of the grain that is grown in Ukraine and sold to the Middle East.
He said was sure none of the other leaders would let another country take their children, as Russia has with forced repatriations of children from east Ukraine, without a “fight”.
“I greet everyone who is ready to join us on the path of justice. Ukraine posted the peace formula to end the war. You can see how it works on the example of food security,” he said. “Even when the war is thrown into our home, we do everything so the homes of other people survive. We managed to launch the Black Sea grain intitative and lift the partial Russian blockade of our ports. This stabilised food markets and helped many, many including the nations of the Arab League.
“It will also help many to return home of all captives and deportees. Each of the honourable delegation was given a document in your language with the points of the peace plan.”
Reuters reports that Igor Krasnov, the Russian prosecutor general, has declared the environmental group Greenpeace an “undesirable organisation”.
…
Agence France-Presse has more details on Russia’s ban on Greenpeace for “propaganda” reasons.
It has said that it wanted to “change power in the country,” the general prosecutor said.
The designation criminalises the work of organisations carrying the brand and puts staff at risk of prosecution. However it will continue to operate in Russia.
The office of the general prosecutor said the climate advocacy group posed “a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security” of the country.
Since the start of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, Greenpeace activists have been engaged in “anti-Russian propaganda” and called for Russia’s economic isolation, the statement said.
Greenpeace’s efforts have been “aimed at destabilising the socio-political situation and attempting to change power in the country in an unconstitutional way,” the office of the general prosecutor said.
“The environmental activities of Greenpeace are in fact accompanied by the active promotion of a political position, attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the state and are aimed at undermining its economic foundations,” the statement said.
Authorities are taking the crackdown on freedoms in Russia to an unprecedented level over a year into Moscow’s assault on Ukraine, with independent media and rights groups shut down and most key opposition figures behind bars or in exile.
In March, the justice ministry labelled the World Wildlife Fund a “foreign agent.”
The “foreign agent” label has Soviet-era connotations and has been widely used against Kremlin critics.
The designation is however less harsh than the “undesirable organisation” tag and allows bodies to continue operations in the country.
More from Ukraine’s efforts to repel a counteroffensive from Russian forces that are trying to recapture land it had lost around Bakhmut.
A Ukrainian mortar unit near the city told Reuters it had advanced this week, but was facing heavy fire from Russian forces who appeared to have significant strength in manpower and stocks of ammunition.
“The fire was intensive this week. Our forces pushed forward a little, stopped near the canal. It’s hard to push them (the Russians) out of there,” said a soldier with the call sign Medvid, which means “bear” in Ukrainian.
The unit’s troops said they were firing about 100 mortar rounds a day at Russian positions. They said their location could not be disclosed.
Ukraine says it has made small advances this week on the flanks of the city in the industrial Donbas region even as Russia’s Wagner private army has inched closer to capturing the city itself.
Deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar said the Russian forces had gained some ground inside Bakhmut in fierce fighting but did not control the city.
“The enemy is trying to regain what they have lost… but our forces are repulsing the attacks,” she said in televised remarks.
“It’s very difficult to carry out combat missions there and every metre (of advance) is like 10 kilometres in other conditions.”
She said the Russian forces had made “some progress” inside Bakhmut but did not say how far forward they had advanced.
The head of Russian mercenaries fighting in Bakhmut said the city was unlikely to fall in the next two days. Ukrainian soldiers, he said, were holed up in a makeshift “fortress” in the south of the city.
[Dan Sabbagh:] The US will back a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 and other modern fighter jets, according to a western official.
Joe Biden has already informed fellow leaders attending a G7 summit in Japan of his decision, the official said. The training will begin in the next few weeks at an unspecified site in Europe and will take a few months to complete. Such training would be a prerequisite to the transfer to Kyiv of F-16s and other western warplanes.
The decision represents a dramatic shift in stance by Washington which had previously presented the supply of F16s to Ukraine as unfeasible. The speed of the about-turn took some allies by surprise. There had been reports that the US would give a green light to other states to make preparations to supply western jet fighters, but even close allies did not expect Biden to support direct US involvement in a training programme.
The mood in Mariupol has “changed dramatically”, according to residents who thought Russia would stay forever but are now expecting a swift Ukrainian military offensive to recapture the city.
In a series of anonymous interviews with the Guardian, people said Mariupol had been transformed into a gloomy version of the Soviet Union [uh…] since the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in the Azovstal steelworks surrendered to Russian troops a year ago….
Iran has executed three men it said were implicated in the deaths of three members of the security forces during anti-government protests, drawing condemnation from rights groups and risking further international isolation.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were killed on Friday morning, the Tasnim agency reported. Crowds had gathered outside the prison where they were being held on Thursday night as rumours of their imminent executions grew….
Hundreds of civilian and military firefighters are tackling a wildfire in south-west Spain that has burned across at least 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) of land and forced the evacuation of more than 500 people since it began on Wednesday evening.
Efforts to fight the “very large and difficult” fire in the Las Hurdes and Sierra de Gata areas of northern Extremadura are being hindered by strong winds, according to the regional government, which believes the blaze was started deliberately….
New York City is sinking in part due to the extraordinary weight of its vertiginous buildings, worsening the flooding threat posed to the metropolis from the rising seas, new research has found.
The Big Apple may be the city that never sleeps but it is a city that certainly sinks, subsiding by approximately 1-2mm each year on average, with some areas of New York City plunging at double this rate, according to researchers.
This sinking is exacerbating the impact of sea level rise which is accelerating at around twice the global average as the world’s glaciers melt away and seawater expands due to global heating. The water that flanks New York City has risen by about 9in, or 22cm, since 1950 and major flooding events from storms could be up to four times more frequent than now by the end of the century due to the combination of sea level rise and hurricanes strengthened by climate change.
“A deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people faces varying degrees of hazard from inundation in New York City,” researchers wrote in the new study, published in the Earth’s Future journal.
The authors added that the risks faced by New York City will be shared by many other coastal cities around the world as the climate crisis deepens. “The combination of tectonic and anthropogenic subsidence, sea level rise, and increasing hurricane intensity imply an accelerating problem along coastal and riverfront areas,” they wrote.
This trend is being magnified by the sheer bulk of New York City’s built infrastructure. The researchers calculated that the city’s structures, which include the famous Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, weigh a total of 1.68tn lbs, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of 140 million elephants. [LOL.]
This enormous heft is pushing down on a jumble of different materials found in New York City’s ground….
…
Parsons said that New York and other coastal cities “have to get planning for this. If you get repeated exposure to seawater, you can corrode steel and destabilize buildings, which you clearly don’t want. Flooding also kills people, too, which is probably the greatest concern.”
…Rukchanok said she realised that being in government would be challenging. Ultimately, she wants to create a Thailand that is more equal, she said, pointing to the education and justice system, where the experiences of rich and poor people are very different….
StevoR @322, Stan Grant writes well. He stated his case well. Sorry to see that he felt he had to “take time out.”
I agree with his conclusion:
I take time out because we have shown again that our history — our hard truth — is too big, too fragile, too precious for the media. The media sees only battle lines, not bridges. It sees only politics.
If there’s anyone congressional Republicans should find credible in the ethics controversy surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, it’s Judge Mark L. Wolf. As The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus explained in her latest column, Wolf “has spent his career fighting against corruption and for the rule of law — as a public corruption prosecutor, as a federal judge, as a crusader against international kleptocracy.”
What’s more, he’s done so with a partisan pedigree that should bolster his credibility with GOP lawmakers: Wolf got his start in the Ford administration, before ultimately being nominated for the federal bench by Ronald Reagan.
But in 2011 and 2012, during his tenure on the Judicial Conference of the United States, which is responsible for reviewing jurists’ financial disclosure reports, Wolf examined complaints about Thomas, which he deemed credible, and which led to a series of questions about possible ethics lapses and how they were handled.
Wolf’s efforts were largely ignored. His term on the panel expired before he could get answers.
It was against this backdrop that the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on ethics rules and judicial financial disclosures. Not surprisingly, given his lengthy career and background, members invited Wolf to testify.
It was there that Wolf, now a senior judge, heard outrage from Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana — not because Wolf failed to get answers, but because he dared to ask questions. From Marcus’ column:
Kennedy dismissed Wolf as “a lone federal judge … obsessed with complaining” about Thomas but himself guilty of ethical missteps. He cited discredited information placed in the file of an FBI informant that Wolf, as a federal prosecutor, had leaked evidence to organized crime. He asserted that Wolf had engaged in a “highly unethical move — that’s an understatement” when he declined to recuse himself from a death penalty case after moderating a panel that included a professor who later became a witness in the case. He asserted that Wolf had behaved improperly when he wrote an opinion piece endorsing a code of conduct to cover Supreme Court justices. “Is Judge Wolf planning on launching a super-PAC next?” Kennedy asked.
The Post columnist also noted that as Wolf began to defend himself, the Louisianan left the room.
Well that’s a telling detail. Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana did not want to hear what the expert had to say. He just wanted to make a speech tailored for rightwing news, and then he left the room.
During the same proceedings, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah kept the slander going, insisting that he considers the allegations surrounding Thomas to be “a political witch hunt, which may be in the process of being aided and abetted by a member of the judiciary,” a reference to Wolf. [Another Republican taking time to slander the expert.]
Lee, of course, is the same GOP senator who recently tried to defend the controversial Supreme Court justice, not by addressing the specific ethics allegations, but rather by insisting that Thomas is “decent,” well liked by people who know him, and not the kind of guy who does bad things.
Years ago, in “Arrested Development,” viewers were introduced to an attorney named Bob Loblaw, who pitched a memorable message in television ads: “Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else noticed?”
The Republican defense of Thomas is similar: They’re not bothered by Thomas’ alleged misconduct; they’re bothered by anti-corruption officials like Wolf who noticed Thomas’ alleged misconduct.
If politicians such as Kennedy and Lee believe the status quo is flawless and that there is no need for reforms — policies that would apply to all judges, not just Supreme Court justices popular with the GOP — they’re welcome to make that case. But for them to slander Wolf as part of a desperate and substance-free defense of Thomas says more about the senators than the senior judge.
As recently as yesterday, against a backdrop of a looming default deadline, there was cautious optimism about the budget talks. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who’s had little positive to say of late, told reporters, “I see the path that we can come to an agreement.”
That optimism was in short supply this morning as Republicans walked away from the negotiating table, suggesting that White House officials are not being “reasonable.” (Here’s a radical thought: Those executing an extortion scheme and threatening to impose a deliberate economic catastrophe on Americans should probably avoid using the word “reasonable.”)
In order to give lawmakers enough time to approve legislation before a Republican-imposed catastrophe, McCarthy has said he’d like to see a deal completed by this weekend. As things currently stand, his GOP representatives in the talks aren’t even at the negotiating table, and it’s an open question as to when they’ll return.
By all appearances, it’s likely that Donald Trump will be pleased with the developments.
At last week’s town hall event on CNN, the former president, who’s said very little about his party’s debt ceiling crisis in recent months, was quite candid about his position. “I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if [Democrats] don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default,” Trump said, failing to note which investments he wants to eliminate.
Trump just wants to create chaos. He wants to see an economic downturn during Biden’s administration. Trump doesn’t care if he harms the entire population of planet earth to get his way.
Over the weekend, by way of his social media platform, the frontrunner for the GOP’s 2024 nomination added that his party should proceed with default “Unless the Republicans get EVERYTHING they are asking for in terms of Cost Cutting.”
This morning, Trump was similarly unsubtle, publishing this missive:
“REPUBLICANS SHOULD NOT MAKE A DEAL ON THE DEBT CEILING UNLESS THEY GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT (Including the ‘kitchen sink’). THAT’S THE WAY THE DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS DEALT WITH US. DO NOT FOLD!!!”
The idea that Democrats “dealt with” Republicans this way isn’t just wrong, it’s been contradicted by Trump himself: He actually praised Democrats for not launching a debt ceiling crisis during his presidency.
But even putting that aside, what Trump is describing is a scenario in which the White House and the Senate majority agree to literally all of the GOP’s right-wing demands, or Republicans should impose a disaster on the world.
It’s enough to make one wonder whether the former president wants to see an economic catastrophe. [No question. He does.]
As serious as this crisis is, there is an amusing angle to keep in mind: The House speaker was asked this week about the former president and his apparent eagerness to push a default scheme.
“I think President Trump is a great negotiator,” McCarthy responded. “I think President Trump, when he does that, he’s trying to help the negotiations.”
A variety of words come to mind to describe the former president’s recent rhetoric on default. “Helpful” isn’t one of them.
The House Freedom Caucus said it’s calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend his negotiation on raising the debt limit with the White House and instead focus on getting the House-passed “Limit, Save, Grow Act” through the Senate. “There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation,” a statement from the Republican group said.
Commentary:
[…] Here’s how the far-right contingent sees it: The House passed a regressive, partisan ransom note, which Freedom Caucus members effectively wrote. As Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz recently told Politico, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his team “just picked up the House Freedom Caucus plan and helped us convert it into the legislative text.”
For all the talk about pursuing a “compromise” and a “deal,” this faction is apparently convinced that the House-passed measure must be approved by the Democratic-led Senate and signed by the Democratic president. If they don’t like the far-right legislation, then Republicans should impose an economic catastrophe on Americans and the world.
In a tweet, the Freedom Caucus, in reference to their preferred bill, added, “No more discussion on watering it down. Period.”
[…] senators left town as part of the upper chamber’s Memorial Day break.
In other words, the House Freedom Caucus tried to make a fuss yesterday, and the key players effectively yawned.
So why am I mentioning it? Because the Republicans’ message helped underscore a legislative detail that often goes overlooked: If there’s an agreement that prevents a default, House GOP leaders are likely to need some Democratic votes.
It’s possible, of course, that the House Freedom Caucus is just engaged in hollow posturing, but that hasn’t traditionally been their modus operandi. It’s more likely that they’ll balk in response to any final bill that isn’t as outlandish as their original “Limit, Save, Grow Act.”
And for GOP leaders, that’s when the legislative arithmetic would get tricky. On any given floor vote, Republicans can lose no more than five of their own members without relying on Democratic votes. With this in mind, yesterday’s House Freedom Caucus message served as a timely reminder: Some far-right Republicans are prepared to reject any kind of bipartisan compromise, and in all likelihood, the total would be greater than five.
At that point, if McCarthy and GOP leaders expect to get a deal across the finish line — if, of course, such a deal materializes — they’ll need Democratic votes.
As Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told Politico this week, “What is really important, I think, to understand here is that … no matter what, Kevin McCarthy … he needs Democrats to bail him out.”
That’s almost certainly correct, and it’s a detail that should carry real weight in the negotiations: The more concessions Democrats make, the more likely rank-and-file progressive members will balk. A bill that’s too far to the right to satisfy House Democrats, and not reactionary enough to satisfy House Republicans, is likely to struggle to reach 218 votes.
The U.S. will support allied efforts to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jet. At this time, it does not seem interested in actually providing any aircraft.
I remain skeptical that the jet’s incredibly complex logistical footprint is worth operating in an environment in which neither side is flying much out of fear of both countries’ layered air defense systems. Indeed, air defense is the one thing Russia appears to have gotten right this war. That makes sense, since it directly counters NATO’s high prioritization on air superiority. Still, kinda shocking that it works given how nothing else has.
In addition, Ukraine is operating their Soviet-era jets out of dispersed highways. The F-16, with its air intake close to the ground, is far more fragile and needs clean airfields. The U.S. position is clearly that the finite money available and effort would be better spent on training and supporting other weapons systems, and I’d guess that more M1 Abrams tank brigades would ultimately be more effective in ending this war.
The Brits have already sent mid-range cruise missiles, and it looks like the French will follow suit. Those fulfill a big unmet role in pushing Russian logistics and command and control hubs even further away from the front lines. If they’re provided with the means to take out the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, that would be the icing on the cake.
I get that this is a controversial take, and there’s fierce debate around this. In a world of infinite resources, then sure, F-16s would be great. But not only do we have a fixed budget to work with, and that is almost exhausted, and President Joe Biden will have to go back to Congress and ask for more money with a skeptical Republican House. Resources are finite, and they need to be spent where they have the great bang for the buck.
Oh, and speaking of finite resources, I wouldn’t mind some more creative accounting to send more aid to Ukraine.
The Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around $3 billion, a Senate aide and a defense official said on Thursday, an error that may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces.
I don’t mean to imply that this is gimmickry, but much of our aid is old, obsolete equipment. Seems that there’s a great deal of subjectivity in valuing much of it. If an old M113 or Humvee is costing us to keep in storage, maybe donating it to Ukraine should offer a credit. Right?
——————–
Bakhmut has been an interesting story of late—nearly a year of non-stop Russian attacks against the strategically insignificant city (Ukraine’s 58th largest), tens of thousands of Russian lives lost as they (literally) inched forward, measuring their monthly progress in hundreds of meters. Yet just as Russia is mere city blocks from conquering Bakhmut, all hell has broken loose on its flanks, with a surprisingly small-scale localized counter-offensive by Ukraine taking back significant chunks of land.
What Bakhmut tells us today is that Ukraine’s forthcoming counteroffensive may not be as difficult as we’ve feared.
Just as Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group PMC (private military contractor) has Bakhmut’s complete control in its grasp, Ukrainian forces have broken through weak resistance on the city’s northern and southern flanks, putting the entire Russian effort at risk. In short, if this dynamic persists, Russian troops inside the city itself could find themselves surrounded by advancing Ukrainian forces. [map at the link]
Prigozhin can argue that his is an offensive force, that he hasn’t trained his troops for defensive actions. The fact that he hasn’t trained his troops for any actions (including offensive ones) is besides the point. He’s okay sending men to die on the advance. Someone else can die for Mother Russia in the trenches.
Still, what’s happening on the trenches tells another story, and it’s one that bodes well for Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive.
Southwest of Bakhmut, Ukraine’s Azov battalion, now rebranded as the 3rd Assault Brigade, has been making steady advances against Russian positions. This video of one such assault bears watching: [video at the link]
As I’ve mentioned before, these are small-scale attacks. In this case, it’s one M113 armored personnel carrier with an eight-man squad of infantry. No artillery support, no heavy armor. Apparently, there was supposed to be engineering support, but they never show up in this video despite numerous exasperated radio calls demanding to know where they were. Combined-arms warfare is hard even at this diminutive scale.
I remain skeptical that Ukraine can pull off large-scale combined arms warfare. No one has managed it in this war. This battle shows that if Ukraine pulls it off, Russian defenses don’t have a chance. And if they don’t … Russian defenses still don’t have a chance.
I’ll let an apoplectic Igor Girkin, the war criminal Russian nationalist who has been a fierce critic of the “special military operation” this entire war, explain what that video says about the state of Russia’s defenses:
I’ll say that the Russian Armed Forces are mostly good fighters, but what’s the point in recruiting 300, 500, or at least 900,000 of them, when, with the almost complete absence of combat control system, coherence of actions, communications, reconnaissance, fire support, training, etc, etc, they will simply be crushed as below in the video.
The video below is how the 3rd Assault Brigade “Azov” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took the platoon-strongpoint (48°29’13″N 37°54’57″E) of the Russian Armed Forces a week ago, located 2.5 km south of those positions that they had taken a little earlier (that footage with the 72nd brigade infantry fleeing from an enemy tank).
A platoon is 30-50 men. So either that “platoon strongpoint” was severely undermanned, or it was hit by Ukrainian artillery beforehand and thinned out, or 10 Ukrainians easily annihilated a much larger unit.
The assault itself lasts about 16 minutes, filmed in one shot. During this time, the enemy [Ukraine] crosses 305 meters. Where are the hand-held anti-tank weapons? Where are the anti-tank firing points with ATMs [anti-tank missiles]? Where is the minefield with TMs [likely anti-tank mines]? Where is the fire support from the flanks (from perpendicular woodlines) on the left and right? WHY THE FUCK DOES THE BMP RIDE SLOWLY IN OPEN SPACE FOR 15 MINUTES? What did they say in that video by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation? “We’re burning enemy vehicles as they approach”?
Why were our servicemen simply crushed, on foot? [He means no armor support.] Probably, the “Wagnerites” are to blame for this again, and not the commanders of the RF Armed Forces on the ground.
I’ll just say for myself that I can’t imagine that we could go like this along the woodline, hiding behind vehicles, where the enemy is on the defensive. Most likely, we would not even have had time to dismount from the vehicles, we would have been burned on the way. The enemy placed TM mines at all approaches. The BMD [infantry vehicle] could not even go to the line to pick up the wounded, so they were dragged through one more woodline. And when a group of VDV was withdrawn (only 300m) to occupy a site in the “gray zone”, they were immediately cut off from the neighboring woodline by enemy fire, preventing us from leaving and gaining a foothold at a previously set point.
Girkin is absolutely right. That Azov video is simply unbelievable. The infantry vehicle slowly chugging along, its small, lightly armed infantry squad clearing trenches without any real response except for a machine gun nest and some rifle fire. It’s ludicrously easy. When they reach the final trench, they even cart off unfired rocket-propelled grenades and other trophy ammunition. And you know the most amazing part of this? The part that truly blows me away?
Those Russian defenders were “elite” VDV paratroopers! These are literally their best troops, trained to jump out of airplanes, now left to ineffectively rot in trenches.
The Azov infantrymen are ecstatic at their new battle trophies, showing off higher-quality rifles not issued to lesser troops. But if the best-equipped Russian units lack basic anti-tank guided missiles, mortars, and other basic defensive tools, what do untrained mobilized mobiks in the rest of the trench system have? The answer has to be pretty much nothing, doesn’t it?
Girlkin is also right that if the situation was reversed, this would’ve gone a lot differently. That infantry vehicle would’ve been blown to bits, and it would’ve happened two kilometers away from where this one dismounted. He’s right that Ukraine would’ve had multiple lanes of fire, trapping attackers in the crossfire. That’s how towns like Irpin, Popasna, Severodonetsk, Avdiivka, Dovhenk’e, Bakhmut and so many others held out as long as they did. Every defensive position is smart and intentional, and the Ukrainian soldiers manning those positions know the plan.
Russia? Russia just throws men into these ditches and leaves them to die. We saw what that looks like for a mobik earlier this week, with the rescued Russian POW video and story.. But you’d expect something more from VDV paratroopers. In reality, they can’t manage basic defensive tasks my son learned in his initial infantry training.
So that’s the first big takeaway from the current Bakhmut situation: Russian troops manning defenses are poorly equipped and don’t know what they’re doing. This VDV defense was pathetic, which means the rest of Russia’s defensive manpower will be even worse. Mind-blowing, truly.
There’s a second equally shocking revelation.
Meet Russia’s 10th Tank Regiment, part of the 3rd Army Corp. The 3rd AC was created during Russia’s big mobilization last year, and was supposed to sweep in and turn the tide of the war. Manned by mobiks, older former soldiers, and obsolete equipment, it did none of that. Instead, it was parceled out across the entire front in dribs and drabs. The 10th Tank Regiment landed near Avdiivka, in the suburbs of the regional capital city of Donetsk.
There, the 10th was treated much like Russian naval infantry marines were treated around Vuhledar—forced to engage in suicidal frontal attacks against well-entrenched and armed Ukrainian defenders. [Tweet and image at the link]
Some sources have referred to the 10th Tank regiment as “elite,” but I don’t see anything indicating it deserves that designation. It’s shit mobiks who lost all their heavy equipment attempting ill-planned and executed attacks around Avdiivka. That should’ve been the end of their story.
Instead, battered, bloody, and just six weeks after their decisive defeat, their remnants have been transferred to the Bakhmut front, south of the city, to help hold the lines. [Tweets and maps at the link]
Ukraine began shelling and dropping grenades on those poor saps the second they arrived, quickly killing their commander. If there’s a story about an ill-fated unit this war, these guys are in the running. Yet Russia depends on them to plug a gap and hold a significant chunk of real estate directly south of Bakhmut.
Here’s the thing—this is usually the job of what’s called a “mobile reserve.” Those are armored units plus supporting infantry that sit in the rear, ready to plug any holes opened up by an enemy attack. It is a critical part of any defense and has to factor into gaming out an offensive war plan. Yet given what Russia scrounged up to fill this gap, they don’t have a mobile reserve.
Given its severe manpower and equipment losses, there’s little chance the 10th was fully reconstituted in the last six weeks. And if they were, it would be more untrained mobiks with zero time to integrate into their new unit. But there’s no need to worry about much of that if all they’re going to do is toss those ragged remnants into a line of trenches. Russia doesn’t care. It doesn’t actually expect them to survive.
So to recap, Russia’s best troops can’t halt even the most half-assed Ukrainian advance. Its VDV paratroopers buckled against a single squad, easily advancing 350 meters. Remember Prigozhin’s daily math from two weeks ago:
On Sunday, he announced that Wagner had advanced 100-150 meters in Bakhmut, and suffered 94 dead.
On Monday, he claimed his forces had gained 120 meters at the cost of 86 dead.
On Wednesday, it was 160 meters advanced with 103 dead.
On Thursday, he claimed 230 meters advanced and 116 of his “best fighters” killed.
In other words, eight Ukrainians plus the two driving and manning the cannon on the armored personnel carrier picked up what had likely cost Wagner around 300 dead. It’s no surprise that in one of his furious rants this week, Prigozhin claimed Ukraine had regained territory that had cost his crew 500 dead.
Meanwhile, the Azov squad suffered zero losses.
The rest of Russia’s defensive trench network will be manned by even worse-quality soldiers. And sure, they claim they’ve heavily mined those defenses, but … where were the mines in that Azov assault? There were anti-infantry snares—you could hear the armored vehicle triggering them, but there were no anti-tank mines for the vehicle to worry about.
Meanwhile, forget any notion of a competent mobile reserve. Apparently, Russia will merely round up whatever stragglers exist from a recently bloodied unit and throw them into the next line of defenses.
Obviously, Ukraine has to plan for a far more competent defense than we’re seeing in these Bakhmut flanks. But … what if that doesn’t exist? What if it’s just another Russian mirage, one of many, stretching back to Russia’s famous Potemkin villages? We’ve seen Russia’s army, air force, and navy all exposed as paper tigers. Their vaunted “combined arms” doctrine failed to show up on the first day of the war. Their propaganda has been hilariously bad.
What if that network of trenches is just another Russian fiction, designed to merely look daunting and terrifying.
We’ll find out soon enough if the hype matches the reality. But given what we’re seeing in Bakhmut today, I’m feeling particularly optimistic about Ukraine’s near-term prospects. I’ve certainly lost all faith in Russia’s ability to do anything right.
So I’ll go out on a long limb (knocking on wood) and predict that at some point, we may be writing updates about Ukraine’s real problem in its offensive—the problem of advancing so fast that they outrun their supply lines.
Another week, another Republican hoax. Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post pushed a story with a blaring frontpage headline “VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS: Outrage as upscale hotels tell 20 homeless veterans to leave.” It was based on an unverified claim from the head of a veteran’s nonprofit, and whether the Post bothered to do even the most minimal fact checking on any of those claims is, ahem, unknown.
The story was everywhere in conservative circles. Fox News screamed about it, of course, with a Republican state assemblyman calling it a “slap in the face to veterans” who are “being cast aside to allow for asylum seekers to come here.” The story was picked up by all of the conservative outlets you can think of but are embarrassed to know about, and we ain’t linking them here.
CNN’s Jake Tapper Twitter-boosted the story. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made the claim that the Biden team was only talking about veterans being hurt by Republican debt limit hostage-taking to “distract you” from stories like the Post’s.
House Republicans of course held a four-flag news conference about the claims, multi-flagged news conferences being the only duty House Republicans can still crawl out of bed for on most days. Oh, how Republicans were mad.
Surprise! Mere days later, the Post had to roll back their scoop because, yep, the whole thing was a very crude hoax. The Post and that state assemblyman mentioned above got rolled good and hard by a veterans advocate and nonprofit group head who made it up. She now looks to have forged the only physical evidence she could offer to back up her charges. When finally confronted about all the discrepancies, she admitted it didn’t happen.
Not that the Post is going to be gracious in admitting they fell for it, mind you. “The bizarre twist in New York’s mounting migrant debacle came to light when management at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh denied that veterans associated with YIT ever stayed there,” pouts Rupert Murdoch’s birdcage liner. It’s still a “mounting migrant debacle,” damn it! Just because not a word of it was true doesn’t mean it’s not!
The Times Union broke the hoax wide open, and credit should be given to Republican state assemblyman Brian Maher for confronting the nonprofit head when it became clear her story wasn’t adding up. The hotel that supposedly carried out these evictions, according to local veteran’s nonprofit head Sharon Toney-Finch, had no record of dealing with her. The alleged “receipt” she presented to Maher as proof that her nonprofit was paying for the veterans’ housing had, Maher began to suspect, signs of digital manipulation.
It was he who finally confronted Toney-Finch about her evidence after a week of loudly introducing new legislation based on those false claims, an appearance on Fox News boosting the claims, and a feting of the nonprofit head in the state legislature. It appears that a long-standing working relationship between the two was the reason behind his initial gullibility, but when the story began to unravel and his source admitted the hoax, he did two things that no national Republican lawmaker or party official may have done in the last decade:
1. He went to the press with the new evidence he had proving the hoax false.
2. He stopped believing it and instead publicly distanced himself from it.
It is impossible to imagine Rep. Jim Jordan, for example, reversing course during one of his countless pseudo-investigations after learning that one of his star witnesses was actually six woodchucks in a trenchcoat. Rep. James Comer’s entire persona consists of making bizarre and shocking claims based on no evidence at all, merely citing a general aura of suspicion that something something Joe Biden something.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler held a news conference bellowing about this latest hoax earlier this week, but in the wake of the whole farce being exposed he is so far unwilling to address it, aside from perhaps deleting tweets that now make him look like a chump.
And the Murdoch empire itself, from the New York Post to Fox “News” to Fox “Business,” is more likely to chew its arms off than admit they’ve lied to their audience. If Maher didn’t make a point of very publicly scuttling the hoax himself, the Post would likely never have bothered addressing it.
Making up false stories to demonize immigrants and conservatism’s other enemies is what Fox and the Post do on a daily basis. That is the whole point. […]
As for House Republicans, this has been just another week for them. […] The Post getting caught peddling a hoax without doing proper due diligence (like, for example, calling up the hotel and asking whether they had any record of such a thing happening) is unusual only in that on this occasion the error was so egregious they likely had to retract the story or face another Dominion-style defamation lawsuit from the hotel’s ownership. […]
Apparently a few hours before the attack, Russia moved helicopters from Bryansk to Mariupol airport reports Andriy Tsaplienko.
This reportedly is footage of Russian helicopters moving into Mariupol airport around 3 PM today….
Videos at the link.
Oggie: Mathomsays
My father, my sister and I spent much of today going through old photos for Mom’s life celebration in early June. Lots of good memories. Lots of crappy photos.
It was weird in so many ways. I am used to the idea that my mam and dad were young. Seeing the photos of them as young parents, with me as a baby or toddler, or even in elementary school, is not strange. I grew up with those photos.
However, seeing me as a young father is really weirding me out. Yeah, I’m a grandfather, but some things still hit me from left field. Oh well.
Heading back home tomorrow. Wife and I, along with my son, his wife, and his daughters, will be coming up for a one day up, one day here, one day back for the memorial.
Feeling conflicted.
She was heading down hill with dementia and was probably looking at another two or three years of decline, so I look at the bowel blockage/viral pneumonia with relief. Had I not come up, I would be feeling so guilty about feeling relief. Does that make sense? I miss her but I’m so glad she died quickly.
Oggie @335, I think mixed feelings of relief and grief are common.
My mother had Alzheimers when she died of cancer. I was so relieved that I actually smiled when I went to the nursing home to pick up her belongings. It was awkward. I felt guilty. I got over the guilt quickly because I knew what my mother faced if she had continued to live for a few more years. I still feel that mixture of relief and grief. It’s appropriate for the circumstances.
A Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant who supervised the intelligence branch of the Washington, D.C., police was indicted this week, charged with tipping off former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio about a pending warrant for his arrest just ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Tarrio, the former chair of the Proud Boys, was recently found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack, along with other members of the far-right group. Tarrio was not in Washington on Jan. 6 after his arrest in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner, as he was banned from the city by a judge the day before the attack.
Shane Lamond, 47, was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Friday. A federal grand jury charged Lamond with obstructing the investigation into the burning of the banner Dec. 12, 2020, when the Proud Boys were roaming the streets of Washington for a pro-Trump event.
Between July 2019 and January 2021, Tarrio and Lamond communicated “at least 500 times using cloud-based messaging services, including Google Voice, Apple iMessages, and Telegram, an encrypted messaging application,” the indictment said. They sent approximately 145 messages using a secret chat function on Telegram that causes messages to disappear, the indictment charged, adding “at least 101 of these messages were destroyed.” […]
A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.
An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China — including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia — found paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel. And it’s draining foreign currency reserves these countries use to pay interest on those loans, leaving some with just months before that money is gone.
Behind the scenes is China’s reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms, which has kept other major lenders from stepping in to help. On top of that is the recent discovery that borrowers have been required to put cash in hidden escrow accounts that push China to the front of the line of creditors to be paid.
Countries in AP’s analysis had as much as 50% of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt. Two of them, Zambia and Sri Lanka, have already gone into default, unable to make even interest payments on loans financing the construction of ports, mines and power plants.
In Pakistan, millions of textile workers have been laid off because the country has too much foreign debt and can’t afford to keep the electricity on and machines running.
In Kenya, the government has held back paychecks to thousands of civil service workers to save cash to pay foreign loans. The president’s chief economic adviser tweeted last month, “Salaries or default? Take your pick.”
Since Sri Lanka defaulted a year ago, a half-million industrial jobs have vanished, inflation has pierced 50% and more than half the population in many parts of the country has fallen into poverty.
Experts predict that unless China begins to soften its stance on its loans to poor countries, there could be a wave of more defaults and political upheavals.
“In a lot of the world, the clock has hit midnight,” said Harvard economist Ken Rogoff. “ China has moved in and left this geopolitical instability that could have long-lasting effects.”
How it’s playing out
A case study of how it has played out is in Zambia, a landlocked country of 20 million people in southern Africa that over the past two decades has borrowed billions of dollars from Chinese state-owned banks to build dams, railways and roads.
The loans boosted Zambia’s economy but also raised foreign interest payments so high there was little left for the government, forcing it to cut spending on healthcare, social services and subsidies to farmers for seed and fertilizer.
In the past under such circumstances, big government lenders such as the U.S., Japan and France would work out deals to forgive some debt, with each lender disclosing clearly what they were owed and on what terms so no one would feel cheated.
But China didn’t play by those rules. It refused at first to even join in multinational talks, negotiating separately with Zambia and insisting on confidentiality that barred the country from telling non-Chinese lenders the terms of the loans and whether China had devised a way of muscling to the front of the repayment line.
Amid this confusion in 2020, a group of non-Chinese lenders refused desperate pleas from Zambia to suspend interest payments, even for a few months. That refusal added to the drain on Zambia’s foreign cash reserves, the stash of mostly U.S. dollars that it used to pay interest on loans and to buy major commodities like oil. By November 2020, with little reserves left, Zambia stopped paying the interest and defaulted, locking it out of future borrowing and setting off a vicious cycle of spending cuts and deepening poverty.
Inflation in Zambia has since soared 50%, unemployment has hit a 17-year high and the nation’s currency, the kwacha, has lost 30% of its value in just seven months. A United Nations estimate of Zambians not getting enough food has nearly tripled so far this year, to 3.5 million. […]
“You’ve got a growing number of countries that are in dire financial straits,” said Parks, attributing it largely to China’s stunning rise in just a generation from being a net recipient of foreign aid to the world’s largest creditor.
“Somehow they’ve managed to do all of this out of public view,” he said. “So unless people understand how China lends, how its lending practices work, we’re never going to solve these crises.”
Commentary on the Fortune article featured in comment 339.
[…] This has been so far under the radar, most people and more critically politicians all the way up to the level of world leaders may not realize the potential dangers […] some key points.
– The amount of money owed to China through various arrangements is far larger than had been realized.
– It’s not been realized because China has gone to some effort to keep loans hidden and forbidden borrowers from listing them openly.
– The loans are often on terms that are at high interest rates, so high that governments can’t service their debt.
– Efforts by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation in the U.S. that drove up interest rates have made the situation worse — and are seen by China as an economic attack on them.
– The rise in grain and oil prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have also made the situation worse for countries struggling with debt.
– Many of the investments in assorted infrastructure projects have effectively been sabotaged by corruption and incompetence; countries owe billions for things that don’t work.
– China’s secret loan agreements force countries to put them first in line for any loan repayments, complicating bailout attempts by other international parties.
– The Chinese Central Bank has also employed tactics that have complicated the problem.
– The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been frustrated by China’s refusal to deal openly with the issue or take losses
– None of this appears to have been a coordinated Chinese strategy to crash the world economy — instead it was the product of reckless lending by Chinese banks — who are also sitting on top of huge losses from bad domestic real estate investments and can’t afford to forgive loans or take any more losses. […]
Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population.
Three orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, struck the yacht on the night of May 4 in the Strait of Gibraltar, off the coast of Spain, and pierced the rudder. “There were two smaller and one larger orca,” skipper Werner Schaufelberger told the German publication Yacht. “The little ones shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the ship with full force from the side.”
Schaufelberger said he saw the smaller orcas imitate the larger one. “The two little orcas observed the bigger one’s technique and, with a slight run-up, they too slammed into the boat.” Spanish coast guards rescued the crew and towed the boat to Barbate, but it sank at the port entrance.
Two days earlier, a pod of six orcas assailed another sailboat navigating the strait. Greg Blackburn, who was aboard the vessel, looked on as a mother orca appeared to teach her calf how to charge into the rudder. “It was definitely some form of education, teaching going on,” Blackburn told 9news.
Reports of aggressive encounters with orcas off the Iberian coast began in May 2020 and are becoming more frequent, according to a study published June 2022 in the journal Marine Mammal Science. Assaults seem to be mainly directed at sailing boats and follow a clear pattern, with orcas approaching from the stern to strike the rudder, then losing interest once they have successfully stopped the boat.
“The reports of interactions have been continuous since 2020 in places where orcas are found, either in Galicia or in the Strait,” said co-author Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and representative of the Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica, or Atlantic Orca Working Group.
The spike in aggression towards boats is a recent phenomenon, López Fernandez said. Researchers think that a traumatic event may have triggered a change in the behavior of one orca, which the rest of the population has learned to imitate.
“The orcas are doing this on purpose, of course, we don’t know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behavior based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day,” López Fernandez said.
Experts suspect that a female orca they call White Gladis suffered a “critical moment of agony” — a collision with a boat or entrapment during illegal fishing — that flipped a behavioral switch. “That traumatized orca is the one that started this behavior of physical contact with the boat,” López Fernandez said.
…
The unusual behavior could also be playful or what researchers call a “fad” — a behavior initiated by one or two individuals and temporarily picked up by others before it’s abandoned. “They are incredibly curious and playful animals and so this might be more of a play thing as opposed to an aggressive thing,” Deborah Giles, an orca researcher at the University of Washington and at the non-profit Wild Orca, told Live Science.
As the number of incidents grows, there is increased concern both for sailors and for the Iberian orca subpopulation, which is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. The last census, in 2011, recorded just 39 Iberian orcas, according to the 2022 study. “If this situation continues or intensifies, it could become a real concern for the mariners’ safety and a conservation issue for this endangered subpopulation of killer whales,” the researchers wrote.
On the one hand, scaring elementary schools kids with an AR-15 is frickin’ insane. On the other hand, scaring elementary schools kids with an AR-15 is frickin’ insane. Those are the both sides.
Tonight on @wbaltv11: A man with an AR-15 has been showing up for weeks to a school bus drop off for local elementary school students.
Parents say their kids are afraid, the man says he’s protesting @GovWesMoore’s new gun control law. You’ll hear from both sides […]
Okay. I don’t think they wanted to vacation there anyway.
Russia has banned hundreds of U.S. citizens, including former President Obama, political commentator Rachel Maddow and late-night host Stephen Colbert, from entering its territory in response to the U.S. sanctions over the Ukraine war.
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a Friday post on its website it is blocking entry for 500 Americans in response to the sanctions it said are designed to inflict the most damage possible on officials and civilians in Russia. […]
The families of Sandy Hook shooting victims said they had a strong case to reverse payments received by Alex Jones’ wife and others in his family to help satisfy $1.5 billion in judgments they won against the bankrupt right wing conspiracy theorist over his lies about the 2012 elementary school massacre.
Jones has engaged in “financial gymnastics” to hide his assets and avoid paying the judgments, spreading money to friends, family members, and shell companies, David Zensky, a lawyer for the families, said on Friday during a bankruptcy court hearing in Houston…
In August 2021, the far-right conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell held a “Prove Mike Wrong” contest.
Five million dollars, Lindell said, would go to any person who could look at his trove of “cyber data and packet captures from the 2020 November election” — which he said shows that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — and prove that it is “not valid data from the November Election.”
Robert Zeidman, a computer scientist who entered the contest, did exactly that.
Lindell refused to pay him. Now he’s taking Lindell to court to get the $5 million…
the ivory-billed woodpecker…
Researchers affiliated with the National Aviary, a zoo in Pennsylvania, say they have spotted the elusive woodpecker in Louisiana, according to a peer-reviewed study published on May 18 in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
Their sightings were made in bottomland hardwood forests — swamps found along rivers and streams — in the Bayou State between 2012 and 2021, according to the study.
They installed motion-sensitive trail cameras, training them on fallen trees thought to be favored by the woodpeckers. While other cameras were aimed at the forest canopy, where the birds were believed to forage…
Diverse & fascinating bee-autiful Hymenopteran insects coming a far broader rnage of species than most realise including some blue-banded Aussie ones and some lazy cuckoo parasite ones.
Well deserving of celebrating & caring for. Plant wisely, think of them, look out for them.
StevoRsays
Some endangered bee species from my previous Endangered Species of the Day / Week fb series hopefully of some interest here :
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Neopasiphae simplicior, a short tongued, very critically endangered West Australian native Australian bee and today’s Endangered Species of the Day.
“Flying through the grass, this bee is searching as it is lost. It is lost in time, a solitary bee that is Critically Endangered, very small and has not had any confirmed sightings since the 1980’s. This Native Bee has the scientific name of Neopasiphae simplicior. It is a black, short-tongued bee found in Forrestdale, Western Australia, within a 1km² of the nature reserve. Extensive research has failed to find any further trace of the bee and it is most likely extinct.” – Alicia Rogerson.
Then we have the critically endangered Bombus affinis or the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Found in North America, indeed living as far north as Canada with its range extending in a rather odd shape patch of the United States down almost but not quite to Atlanta in the south and along the east coast from Washington to well into Ontario. At least it used to. Once fairly common, this species hasn’t been seen in Canada since 2009 despite considerable efforts by entomologists. As its Wildlife Preservation page notes :
“The rusty-patched bumble bee gets its name from the rust-coloured patch found on the abdomens of workers and males. They also have distinctively short tongues. This means they occasionally “nectar-rob” flowers by piercing a hole through the back to access the nectar that their short tongues can’t reach. Spring queens emerge in early April, and the workers, males and new queens can live until late October, making it the species with the longest colony cycle in eastern North America.”
Sadly this species holds another much less happy distinction being the first bee species on the continental USA to be added to their list of endangered species. Habitat loss, pesticide use, Global Overheating and reduced genetic diversity in the increasingly isolated and fragmented populations has seen this species decline dramatically in number which is a worry given they play a role in pollinating 65 different genera of plants. For World Bee Days to come – with apologies to the Bard – to have this bee or not to have this bee remains an open question.
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Described as “..a monstrous fluffy ginger beast” by British ecologist David Goulson and sometimes called a Moscardon, today’s Endangered Species of World Bee Day is one of the largest as well as rarest bees, Bombus dahlbomii – also called “flying mice”” by some! Growing up to 4 cm long and dramatically orange wand also bearing yellow and black stripes this huge social bee is had to miss – and will be greatly missed if it disappears forever. The only native bumblebee found in South America, specifically Chile and Argentina, it was recently joined there by two introduced European bee species which has not gone well for the native species with its numbers crashing possibly due to competition or maybe introduced parasites from its new Hymenopteran neighbours. Which given this bees role as an important pollinator of local plants and sustaining many temperate forest species is a serious concern. It is now feared we’re fast losing this spectacular insect and, sadly, the sting in the tail of its likely loss is that it will take a lot of others with it – as well as us losing one of nature’s insect wonders with its own intrinsic worth. Can we stop that and save this bee? Maybe? Its not gone yet but on this World Bee Day, we definitely need to know we’re running out of time here.
The St. Luke’s Health System lawsuit against Ammon Bundy is not going anywhere.
Roughly three weeks ago, the far-right leader asked for the defamation case to be moved to federal court. He argued that the case “involves Federal Civil Rights violations against Petitioners” and accused St. Luke’s of using court filings to overwhelm him and the other defendants, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
U.S. District Judge David Nye, in an order filed Friday, denied Bundy’s request and granted St. Luke’s motion to dismiss Bundy’s petition, leaving the case in 4th Judicial District Court in Ada County — where Bundy has repeatedly refused to respond to court orders or even attend proceedings…
The U.S. Air Force recently conducted a first-of-its-kind test of the Tactical High-power Operational Responder, also known as THOR. A high-power microwave counter-drone system, the containerized THOR is designed to engage multiple drones at short ranges in a point defense role. This comes as the threat of drones, particularly ones operating in large groups or fully-networked swarms, becomes increasingly urgent around the globe…
StevoR @350, I have a flowering tree in my backyard. The tree is currently in its spring glory, covered with white blossoms. The bees love it. It is so full of bees that you can hear the humming from about 15 feet away.
I don’t use any kind of pesticides near that tree.
The Manhattan district attorney won’t comment, but filings in the New York attorney general’s civil case may reveal the gist of Weisselberg’s potential problem.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office — which already has charged Donald Trump with 34 felony counts in relation to the Stormy Daniels hush money scheme — has upped the ante against a potential cooperator in that case, according to a New York Times report on Friday that cited people with knowledge of the matter.
Because former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg apparently has not signaled any willingness to testify against Trump, the DA’s office has turned “in recent weeks” to exploring perjury charges against him, two of the people with knowledge of the matter told the Times.
Those charges would be in addition to, not in lieu of, any insurance fraud charges, which the DA’s team has been investigating for several months, if not longer. Indeed, prosecutors already have warned Weisselberg’s lawyers that such charges could be forthcoming and that they focus on Weisselberg’s alleged lies to an insurance company “by claiming that the value of the Trump Organization’s real estate holdings had been assessed by an independent appraiser, when in fact they had not been,” the Times reported.
The potential perjury charges, by contrast, “would center on Mr. Weisselberg’s 2020 interview with [Attorney General Leticia] James’s investigators,” during which he was “questioned about some significant errors in Mr. Trump’s financial statements,” the Times reported, citing the people with knowledge of the matter.
But what exactly could Weisselberg have potentially lied about during that interview? After all, the Times notes that Weisselberg “acknowledged that the Trump Organization had overvalued Mr. Trump’s penthouse apartment in Trump Tower by ‘give or take’ $200 million,” but that statement has been understood as an admission of the truth, not a lie in and of itself.
Let’s start with the fact that Weisselberg was interviewed by the attorney general’s office three times in 2020: on July 16, July 17, and September 24. The transcripts of those depositions are at least partially public through filings in the attorney general’s civil fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization, Trump himself, three of his children, and Weisselberg, among others.
And even a cursory read of those transcripts, coupled with other filings by the attorney general, suggests at least one potential avenue for a perjury charge: Weisselberg’s involvement in the overvaluation of Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower and at what point he knew that valuation was false.
[…] Weisselberg agreed that the valuation was premised on the apartment having square footage nearly three times the size of the actual apartment. And as the Times indicated on Friday, he further agreed the apartment was overvalued because of that mistake by “give or take” $200 million.
Weisselberg was then asked if he had ever “advised any financial institutions that the 2015 statement of financial condition contains this error.” His response? “Well, we didn’t find out about the error until the Forbes article came out, and we just issued statements year over year, we don’t make phone calls during the course of the year or send out letters during the course of the year for a situation like this. It gets adjusted the following year.”
That all seems reasonable — until you see how the attorney general portrays the facts in a brief filed last fall. That brief clearly states, “Weisselberg admitted that the Statements overvalued Mr. Trump’s apartment by ‘give or take’ $200 million — and evidence later revealed he was provided with the true facts regarding the apartment’s square footage before certifying as accurate the inflated apartment value based on false information.” A related filing that same day — an affirmation prepared by a lawyer in the attorney general’s office — details more precisely what Weisselberg knew about the Trump Tower apartment and when:
Tripling the size of the apartment for valuation purposes was intentional and deliberate fraud, not an honest mistake; documents demonstrating the true size of Mr. Trump’s triplex (most notably the condominium offering plan and associated amendments for Trump Tower) were easily accessible inside the Trump Organization, were signed by Mr. Trump, and were sent to Mr. Weisselberg in 2012.
By contrast, “the Forbes article” Weisselberg referenced in his deposition, according to the attorney general’s filings, was not provided to Weisselberg until March 2017, when he, as well as Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, were alerted that while Trump told Forbes his apartment was roughly 33,000 square feet, the magazine found property records and “concluded it was less than one third that size.”
Put another way, at least according to the attorney general’s version of events, Weisselberg didn’t learn the valuation was false after the fact, as he testified. Instead, he received documents reflecting the “true size of the triplex” years before he certified the 2015 financial statement.
Therefore, the Manhattan DA’s office has a colorable argument that Weisselberg lied under oath during his July 17, 2020, deposition. The DA’s office declined to comment for this post.
Whether that specific testimony or other statements made under oath to the attorney general’s office will result in an entirely new indictment of Weisselberg on perjury and/or insurance fraud counts is another story.
I traveled to Ukraine for several days in early May.
[…] I lived in Kyiv from 2016 to the end of 2018, and had been wanting to visit for a few reasons: to spend time with people I had missed and worried about since the full-scale invasion began, prurient interest about what had changed, and a looser feeling of wanting to be close to a place undergoing so much pain.
Most of all, though, it was curiosity. And, apart from everything else, it’s a fascinating time to be in Kyiv.
To get there, I flew to Krakow, and then took a train to the Polish-Ukraine border where I caught another train to Kyiv. There haven’t been commercial flights since February 2022, so the only way in is overland.
Because it takes nearly a day of travel to reach Kyiv, you have both a lot of time to notice on what’s going on around you — refugees preparing to return home, border guards toting an assault rifle in one hand and a passport scanner in the other — but also a sense of the distances involved in international travel that commercial flight has eliminated.
Kyiv had that same quality: something oddly archaic mapped onto an otherwise-normal landscape.
Attrition from the war is immediately visible. Around half the men I saw my age were either in uniform or visibly wounded. When I asked about this, the response was even more sobering: Ukraine’s wounded-to-killed ratio is roughly two to one; the city feels empty not only because so many people have fled westwards, but because Russia’s war has caused enough death to make it visible.
On a run one morning after an air raid, I found a spent anti-aircraft round in the middle of a track. Kyiv still maintains fortifications in case of another Russian onslaught on the capital over land: trenches are cut through some parks; concrete blocks and “hedgehog” tank traps line the medians of major streets, ready to block roads if needed again. War-themed fashion has become popular; one friend sported a t-shirt that read “War-Work Balance.” I saw one woman with a tote bag that read, “Sex is cool, but Putin’s death is better.” Everyone has an air raid app installed on their phones which sends a push notification when an air raid alert starts. Star Wars actor Mark Hamill voices it, and says “may the force be with you” to signal the alert’s end.
Kyivans are relatively safe, protected by the thickest network of anti-air defenses in the country. The Russians periodically lob missiles at the capital, and send swarms of drones.
Sirens sound if there’s a threat, but, at this point, most people don’t run for cover until they hear explosions. Russia has ballistic missiles in its arsenal and they hit faster than the speed of sound; if you hear the explosion, you’re safe, and the boom is followed by that of a rocket engine. Mobile anti-air teams drive around to shoot down drones. The experience, even when its over, reverberates throughout your body for hours and days afterwards.
Kyiv can feel a little like a modern city dragged back into darker parts of the 20th century.
Men of draft age are banned from leaving the country; the vast majority of people on my train were women, children, and the elderly. I was the only male in my train car, earning me more than a few unfriendly glances.
But on these trains, divided into compartments of four, it’s both easy and expected that you’ll chat with your compartmentmates. One woman, a widow named Lyudmyla, showed me how, in exchange for contributing money to a battalion in Ukraine’s armed forces, the soldiers were sending her personalized videos taken from what looked like the smoking ruins of destroyed buildings.
Later, on a commuter train from the Polish border to Warsaw, I chatted with another Ukrainian woman who, like me, hadn’t been to visit since the full-scale war began. That was in 2017, when she flew to Kyiv from her home in China for her grandfather’s funeral.
I had been struggling to describe the dissonance I felt, and she put it like this: a sci-fi movie where some other dimension collided with ours, creating brief moments of time travel against an otherwise normal, modern landscape. Fast food restaurants, sports, bars, people — all that was mostly intact, but with bizarre alterations, unsettling tears in the fabric of reality: tank traps outside McDonalds, people renovating the bunkers built under Stalin-era apartment buildings, homes hastily abandoned in the war’s first days taken over by vermin.
But even that sense of unreality began to feel like an especially decadent luxury afforded to me by the fact that I chose to be there, and that I had been absent from Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.
To those who live there, and particularly those who chose to stay during Russia’s partial encirclement of Kyiv at the invasion’s outset, the war has had a completely totalizing effect.
Several people who had been closer to battles, or who had stayed in Kyiv, described an intimate bond they felt with the Ukrainian army: the sense that the armed forces, personally, had saved your life.
The trauma that the war has inflicted comes out in various ways; friends chain-smoking constantly, one who had spent time in the trenches saying that he couldn’t help but feel bitter when he saw people in Kyiv smiling while knowing what’s happening elsewhere in the country. People who I formerly knew to mostly speak Russian now only use Ukrainian; one friend, Kostya, who still spoke Russian would only discuss the war in Ukrainian.
Another friend, Lena, moved to Chicago, and then Columbus, Ohio, as a refugee. She ended up describing to me an experience that sounded like a liberal’s nightmare of the modern immigrant experience: she couldn’t afford a car, and ended up spending two hours on unreliable bus lines in Ohio in the morning and in the evening, struggling between making it to English classes, minimum wage work, and taking her two-year old child to daycare that she could barely afford. Lena eventually decided it would be easier to take her chances in Kyiv, where the government provides free childcare, and moved back. [!!!]
[…] The Ukrainians I spoke to seemed far more grounded and realistic in how the war was likely to go than Americans. They seemed to think it would be years before peace, saying that Russian brutality in formerly occupied areas like Bucha proved that no compromise was possible. So many people had died, they said, that the country’s 1991 borders should be preserved, though many said that the main condition had to be ensuring that Russia would never do this again.
[…] Nearly everyone brought up, without my prodding, their extreme dread at the prospect of Trump getting re-elected, assuming that it would mean an end to U.S. military support, and perhaps the end of their ability to defend themselves.
It may be unsurprising, but the war has affected everyone I spoke with in an all-encompassing way. Thanks to the air raids, and to the draft notices, people live under this absolute rule of chance, not having grown accustomed to, but now at least familiar with, the resulting anxiety and omnipresence of injury and death.
Soon after arriving, I chatted with one close friend. She was telling me about her life, and I asked her to tell me what had been going on with her — apart from work and the war.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed 5 bills into law which a press release from the governor’s office described as “legislation to protect the innocence of Florida’s children.”
Senate Bill 254 (full text ) prohibits sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures for individuals under 18 years of age.
House Bill 1069 (full text) prohibits K-12 schools from asking students to provide their preferred title or pronoun; prohibits requiring employees or students to refer to others by their preferred pronouns; and prohibits employees from providing their preferred title or pronoun to any student if the title or pronoun does not correspond to the person’s biological sex.
Senate Bill 1438 (full text) prohibits admitting children to sexually explicit adult performances that are pornographic for children. A summary of the bills released by the governor’s office says that this includes a ban on admitting children to drag shows.
House Bill 1521 (full text) requires individual to use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to their biological sex in educational institutions, correctional institutions and public buildings.
House Bill 225 (full text) allows charter and online school students to participate in extracurricular activities at public or private schools. It also provides that high school athletic associations that include public schools must allow any school participating in a championship contest to make 2-minute opening remarks using the public address system. It goes on to provide:
The athletic association may not control, monitor, or review the content of the opening remarks and may not control the school’s choice of speaker. Member schools may not provide remarks that are derogatory, rude, or threatening. Before the opening remarks, an announcement must be made that the content of any opening remarks by a participating school is not endorsed by and does not reflect the views and or opinions of the athletic association….
A summary of the bills released by the governor’s office says that this includes the right to offer public prayer at high school sporting events.
When someone mentions nonprofits, chances are you picture homeless shelters, free medical clinics, museums and other groups that you believe are doing good one way or another.
Most of these organizations are legitimate. But not all nonprofits are principled or embrace missions everyone considers worthy of the tax-exempt status that the government grants some 2 million organizations.
You might presume that the government would automatically refuse to grant tax-exempt status to white nationalist and anti-government groups. Yet as a scholar who has researched nonprofit accountability, I’ve seen the authorities struggle to draw the line between which organizations deserve to operate as nonprofits and those that don’t.
8 purposes allowed
The wide array of U.S. nonprofits includes many media outlets, chambers of commerce and political parties. But the term usually refers to the organizations that meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Officially designated as charities, these groups don’t pay income taxes and can accept tax-deductible donations.
All 501(c)(3)s must apply to the Internal Revenue Service for tax exemption unless their revenues are less than $5,000 or they are a church, synagogue, mosque or other house of worship.
The IRS usually grants this status to any applicant with at least one of eight purposes, including being charitable or educational.
Figuring out if food banks deserve exemption is generally straightforward, as they engage in an obviously charitable activity.
Determining whether organizations are truly religious or educational is harder.
Oath Keepers Educational Foundation
Some groups with ties to the Oath Keepers — an extremist group with leaders who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — were granted this status.
Until recently, the Oath Keepers had chapters scattered across the country, and the main group never became a 501(c)(3) organization. But the Oath Keepers Educational Foundation and several smaller affiliated groups did obtain that status.
The foundation told the IRS when it sought charitable status that its primary purpose was “to give veterans an opportunity for continued involvement in community service.”
The Oath Keepers network has largely collapsed amid the prosecution of its members who engaged in the Jan. 6 attack. Most notably, founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty in 2022 of seditious conspiracy for helping plot the insurrection. He is expected to be sentenced around May 25, 2023, and could spend more than two decades in prison. Rhodes was also listed as the foundation’s president when it was established.
When the Oath Keepers’ former spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove testified before Congress in 2022, he revealed that the group was radicalizing its followers and spreading violent messaging.
The Three Percenters, another extremist group with ties to people who were convicted for their role in the Jan. 6 attacks, was a charity at that time. Its leadership subsequently dissolved the organization.
Unite the Right ties
Other white nationalist groups, such as Identity Evropa and the National Policy Institute, have received 501(c)(3) status over the years.
Both of those groups were among the organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, where participants attacked progressive counterprotesters, killing one of them and injuring many others.
Policing tax exemption
Although it’s a crime to lie on the application, some groups seeking to become charities do. The IRS doesn’t verify those statements, however, presumably because the threat of prosecution generally prevents misrepresentations, and the cost of verifying what every group says is very high.
Small groups can use a simplified version of the required form, but it is so poorly designed that the IRS has granted exemption to many ineligible organizations. In one extreme case, a scam artist set up 76 fake charities using this form, as The New York Times discovered in 2022.
Another obstacle is that applicants are usually forming new organizations […]
Respecting free speech
Because Americans prize the right to free speech, the IRS treads carefully when determining which nonprofits don’t deserve tax-exempt status.
Big Mama Rag, a radical feminist nonprofit magazine, lost its tax exemption in the late 1970s. The IRS revoked its charitable status upon seeing that the magazine refused to publish views contrary to its own. When the magazine fought back, an appeals court determined that the criteria the IRS and a district court had used to deny exemption were unconstitutional because they were based on the organization’s constitutionally protected views.
This case set an important precedent: The government considers charities advancing unpopular views to be educational enough to keep their tax-exempt status.
The IRS now evaluates educational methods, not content. Educational charities must support their assertions with facts and without inflammatory language.
The only reported court case of a group failing this test was a blatantly racist organization, the Nationalist Movement.
That organization sought to “favor Caucasian, Christian, and English-speaking Americans of Northern European descent.” The IRS revoked its 501(c)(3) status in 1994 after determining that the Nationalist Movement was a propaganda organ.
Revoking charitable status is complicated
And it is not always easy to revoke tax exemption, either.
The IRS has historically been underfunded. In 2013, when the Republican-led Congress decided that the IRS was biased against conservative nonprofits, lawmakers penalized the agency by cutting its budget and explicitly forbidding it from creating rules that would draw sharper lines between political and charitable purposes.
It turned out that the IRS was also subjecting progressive groups to an extra layer of scrutiny — and official government reports found inappropriate criteria but no anti-conservative bias. In any case, because it hampered IRS enforcement, this dust-up made it harder for the IRS to root out charities that didn’t deserve the designation.
Unfortunately, the $80 billion added to the IRS budget from 2022 to 2031 is unlikely to increase the scrutiny of charities, because there are too many other priorities, like updating software and making tax scofflaws pay up.
Maintaining diversity
The Oath Keepers Educational Foundation appears to have lost its 501(c)(3) status. The government, which makes it hard to tell why a former charity has lost its tax-exempt status, has not clearly indicated whether this was a voluntary decision on its part or the result of a negotiated settlement with the IRS.
It’s also possible that the organization simply failed to file required annual paperwork with the IRS for three years in a row. That omission automatically causes charities to lose their tax-exempt status, although it can be restored.
While the fact that the white nationalist groups mentioned above ever got charitable status is disturbing, a search of the IRS database of tax-exempt organizations shows that none of them have it today.
In my opinion, a large part of the strength of the nonprofit sector lies in its diversity of causes and viewpoints. For this reason, I think it’s better for the government to err on the side of authorizing too many tax-exempt organizations than to quash free speech or meddle with trying to determine which faith traditions are deserving.
But it should be clear that charities that encourage violence and cheer on extremism are not contributing to society with any of the purposes the IRS allows.
[Yaroslav Trofimov] The news today is not that Prigozhin claims to control 100% of Bakhmut, up from 98% a week ago. The news is that a depleted Wagner will decamp in a few days, leaving the regular Russian army deal with a Ukrainian counteroffensive on the flanks and possibly inside the city.
Indeed, Prigozhin declared victory and announced the withdrawal of his troops for redeployment to other worldwide hotspots like Sudan in Africa.
No one in Sudan or anywhere else deserves their brand of misery, but at least for Ukraine, Russia may be losing the only combat group capable of aggressively capturing territory (even if it was just 25 kms in the past year).
Joe Biden opens up door to providing F-16s to Ukraine, though details are scant.
So far, however, the U.S. has provided no details and said decisions on when, how many, and who will supply the F-16s will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway. Details on the training are equally elusive.
Meanwhile, the last Ukrainian troops may have finally left Bakhmut as Wagner Group CEO and founder Yevgeny Prigozhin declares victory. Relegated to a last few city blocks, the might of Russian artillery has been concentrated on that sector, lending its defense likely far more costly than its worth.
[Max Seddon] Take with a grain of salt. Prigozhin says Wagner’s forces have established full control over Bakhmut after a bloody siege that all but destroyed the city.
His declaration of triumph is a long rant about how Shoigu and Gerasimov were no help and Wagner mostly did it on their own. [video at the link]
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped in on the Arab Submit in Saudi Arabia, then he travelled to Japan to visit with world leaders at the G7. Totally non-coincidentally, Zelenskyy’s latest visit comes just as the United States signed onto a plan to train Ukrainian pilots in flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon; a plan that would not exist if it wasn’t a precursor to providing Ukraine with some of the fighter jets.
When Zelenskyy came to Washington D.C. just before Christmas, it was the first time he had left the borders of Ukraine since Russian tanks rolled into that nation on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Zelenskyy has made several other trips abroad, that includes a whole string of visits earlier this month that saw him sitting down with the leaders of Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. He also stopped off to visit with the Pope in Vatican City.
With the Ukrainian counteroffensive pending, and Russia experiencing both losses on the battlefield and chaos in its military leadership, there is only one thing that can stand in the way of moving this war in a positive direction: a decline of Western support. Zelenskyy knows that he needs to keep the pipeline for equipment, ammunition, and fiscal support open. Right now, that’s his most important task. He’s not needed on the front lines. His generals can plan the tactical moves. The job at hand for the Ukrainian president is reminding other world leaders that they have an enormous stake in the outcome of events, and their actions are critical to securing a Ukrainian victory.
But as Zelenskyy travels across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to cement his nation’s relationship with the rest of the world, one part of that world is conspicuously absent. Russia, and authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin, are nowhere to be found.
When the Arab League met last year, Putin delivered an address saying that “Moscow was ready to strengthen its ties” with League members. There appears to be no such address in the works this year.
In 2020, Donald Trump put out an invite for Putin to rejoin the G7 after being kicked out in 2014 following the invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. That didn’t happen, as other G7 leaders disagreed. Still, Trump worked the refs for Putin with plans to get him back in 2021. That didn’t happen either. Zelenskyy’s presence in Japan seems to underscore just how how much of a pariah Putin has made of his nation.
It’s not just that the invitations have stopped coming. It’s been a year of convoluted flight paths and cancelled trips by Russian officials after they were denied passage through the airspace of nation after nation. That makes Zelenskyy’s path to Japan particularly interesting.
[Yaroslav Trofimov] The French military plane carrying Zelensky to G7 was given overflight rights by India, Myanmar — and 🇨🇳 China.
That route is only underscores that the G7 and the Arab League aren’t the only big international meetings underway. The real shocker may be what’s happening right now in Xi’an, China. That’s where Chinese dictator Xi Jinping is leading a new Central Asia Summit. As Reuters reports, that summit includes leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—all members of the Russian-led “Commonwealth of Independent States,” through which Putin has sought to hold sway over states that were formerly under control of the Soviet Union.
But even if Russia’s most important Asian partners are present at the meeting in China, Russia very pointedly is not. Instead, these CIS members are hearing Xi, not Putin, as he “unveiled a grand plan for Central Asia’s development, from building infrastructure to boosting trade, taking on a new leadership role in a region that has traditionally been a Russian sphere of influence.”
There could not be a bigger sign of Russia’s weakness if you harnessed all the neon in the world. This is a huge, direct slap in the face from a country that Russia was just recently courting as a source of new weapons. Putin lost big on that front as well, and his going hat in hand to Xi may have been part of what made it clear this was the best possible time to make a grab for Russia’s nominal allies.
[…] what’s happening now in China is serious. It’s the kind of thing where, in the past, Russia might decide to announce a few “joint exercises” and send a few tanks along the streets of Tashkent or Ashgabat as a not-so-subtle reminder of who was the senior partner in this relationship. Except now, with 97% of the Russian military in Ukraine and only a single tank to spare for Moscow’s Victory Day parade, that’s not going to happen.
Putin is no longer a kite to which any of these leaders want to attach their string. […] the signal of weakness in Moscow can’t be missed.
Meanwhile, in Japan, NBC News reported Friday on the growing agreement to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. It’s still unclear exactly who will provide the jets […]
At a meeting in Finland at the start of the year, Ukraine’s deputy minister of defense suggested the idea of a “tank pool” to which European countries could assign their Leopard 2 tanks. That way the pool could then provide tanks to Ukraine without any one country being the first to cross that self-imposed line. When the U.K. announced the Challenger donation, that pool no longer seemed as necessary, and over the next week centered around another meeting in Ramstein, Germany, country after country pledged some of their tank fleet to Ukraine.
It turned out to not be necessary for tanks, but it might be a good way for all the nations that have now announced their willingness to train Ukrainian forces on the F-16 to deal with supplying the fighter jets. Not that it’s really necessary. The U.S. has almost 800 of the planes up and flying. However, the latest wording from Biden still seems to indicate that, while the U.S. is willing to allow other nations that are flying F-16s to pass them on to Ukraine, it’s uncertain about sending them directly.
Among the nations that have announced either support for training Ukrainian pilots, or that they might be willing to donate planes, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway have an estimated 125. The Netherlands has 24, and has expressed interest in sharing. Poland has another 48, but doesn’t seem to be anxious to hand them over until the first of its new F-35 fleet begins to arrive next year.
It’s unclear how many F-16s Zelenskyy would like to fly back to Kyiv, but right now the estimated number of fighter planes in the Ukrainian Air Force is around a hundred. Half of those are MiG-29s, about a quarter the Su-27. It would almost certainly be from this pool of pilots where Ukraine would look for F-16 trainees.
Even if the U.S. doesn’t contribute to a pool of F-16s, maybe it can pick up the tab. […]
In any case, it’s a pretty good bet that Zelenskyy won’t come back from Japan empty-handed. But Putin … getting what’s left of the Russian military out of Ukraine while it’s still there to retrieve looks like the only smart move. Putin never makes the smart move.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
tomhsays
I guess there were too many links the first time I tried to post this. At an rate, the title link below contains links to the full text of each law.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed 5 bills into law which a press release from the governor’s office described as “legislation to protect the innocence of Florida’s children.”
Senate Bill 254 prohibits sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures for individuals under 18 years of age.
House Bill 1069 prohibits K-12 schools from asking students to provide their preferred title or pronoun; prohibits requiring employees or students to refer to others by their preferred pronouns; and prohibits employees from providing their preferred title or pronoun to any student if the title or pronoun does not correspond to the person’s biological sex.
Senate Bill 1438 prohibits admitting children to sexually explicit adult performances that are pornographic for children. A summary of the bills released by the governor’s office says that this includes a ban on admitting children to drag shows.
House Bill 1521 requires individual to use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to their biological sex in educational institutions, correctional institutions and public buildings.
House Bill 225 allows charter and online school students to participate in extracurricular activities at public or private schools. It also provides that high school athletic associations that include public schools must allow any school participating in a championship contest to make 2-minute opening remarks using the public address system. It goes on to provide:
The athletic association may not control, monitor, or review the content of the opening remarks and may not control the school’s choice of speaker. Member schools may not provide remarks that are derogatory, rude, or threatening. Before the opening remarks, an announcement must be made that the content of any opening remarks by a participating school is not endorsed by and does not reflect the views and or opinions of the athletic association….
A summary of the bills released by the governor’s office says that this includes the right to offer public prayer at high school sporting events.
The Kremlin has opened a criminal case against the prosecutor and several judges on the International Criminal Court in an apparent act of retribution for the court issuing an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Investigative Committee said in a Telegram post Saturday that British prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan had brought “a knowingly innocent person to criminal liability, combined with the unlawful accusation of a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime.”
The statement said Khan, together with judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez, had “issued unlawful decisions” in arresting President Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, his presidential commissioner for children’s rights…
Ukraine will soon unleash a stealthy exploding robotic submarine against the Russian Navy.
The Toloka TLK-150 is the first underwater drone to be designed and built entirely in Ukraine and is the product of a new military-civilian partnership called Brave1…
“Russia has a new problem in the Black Sea,” said HI Sutton, a naval analyst, who described the Toloka TLK-150 as a “loitering torpedo”…
A nominee to Connecticut’s highest court withdrew her name from consideration Friday after state lawmakers raised questions about a letter she signed in 2017 supporting Amy Coney Barrett for a federal appeals court position.
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont released a statement saying Sandra Slack Glover had notified him of her decision to step aside. His announcement came four days after his nominee, a federal prosecutor with no judicial experience, appeared at a confirmation hearing before the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee. In an unusual move, the panel had held off from voting on her confirmation…
[New tweet and video] Mark and I both predicted Prigozhin would hightail it out of Bakhmut the second he could declare victory, and that’s what he says he’s doing right here. Conveniently, he takes credit for the “victory,” and Russia’s armed forces can take the blame when Ukraine inevitably liberates it.
[OSINTtechnical] Outside of Pisky, Donetsk Oblast, a disastrous Russian mechanized advance suffers significant attrition when an MT-LB hits a mine, followed soon after by a Ukrainian Javelin strike on another BMP-2. [Video at the link]
[Those are the updates at the top of the webpage. The remaining updates can be viewed by scrolling down on that page.]
RUSSIA’S ACTIONS AROUND BAKHMUT SUGGEST … SOMETHING
In the last week, as Ukrainian forces have made significant advances on the flanks of Bakhmut, and Wagner has continued to peck away at blocks within the city, Russia seems to be developing some kind of plan for what comes next.
Part of that plan appears to have come in the form of blowing up bridges near Ivanivske and Chasiv Yar. That could suggest a future defensive line that Russia intends to reach, but it really looks more like an effort to limit Ukrainian supplies coming into western Bakhmut.
Then on Friday, there was this…
Reliable sources on the ground near Soledar are reporting 🇷🇺 sapper units possible from 107th Seperate Guards Engineer-Sapper battalion, are activly mining roads leading out of Soledar. Several crossroads and fields have been mined with 100’s of AT-62M mines. [map at the link]
Mining the roads around Soledar sure looks like Russia is preparing to defend an area that’s less than what they currently hold. Soledar was captured back at the end of 2022, So retreating to that point now would mean handing back five months of territory won at enormous cost in men and materiel.
But Soledar may not be the actual line of retreat. The same thread that reported this information suggests that Russia might “fall back all the way to the defensive positions built a few months ago west of Popasna.” Popasna, as you might recall from a string of articles written over a year ago, is where the line was when the invasion began. A fall back to there wouldn’t just be a retreat from Bakhmut, it would be a retreat from almost everything Russia has managed to occupy to this point.
Why Popasna is way over … wait. It’s just 25 km down the road. In the last year, Russia has come just 25 km. That’s only about 13,000 Wagner mercenaries laid end to end. You could pretty much pave a highway with Wagnerites who have fallen taking that distance.
On Friday, the Ukrainian military gave what seems like a high end estimate for Russian losses at Bakhmut. But then, you never know.
⚡️The total number of enemy losses in the #Bakhmut direction is up to 70 thousand killed and wounded, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksii #Reznikov, said.
“According to our estimates, the Russians lose a battalion per day in Bakhmut,” Reznikov added.
Also on Friday, Wagner once again set fire to the rubble, turning what remains of Bakhmut into a hellscape of flames and broken stone. [video at the link]
Even as Ukrainian forces reportedly advanced again in several areas on the city’s flanks, the few remaining forces within Bakhmut appear to be restricted to a handful of blocks that are under both heavy artillery bombardment and incendiary attack. This may be the last time for this image. [Tweet and “BAKHMUT HOLDS! image at the link: “the defense of the city is nearly coming to an end.”]
This portion of the bloodiest engagement of the 21st century is nearly complete. But the story of Bakhmut is only about to enter another chapter.
RUSSIAN AIRBASE AT MARIUPOL STRUCK
Multiple videos on Friday show several large explosions at an airport near the occupied city of Mariupol. Speculation immediately turned to the recently announced Storm Shadow cruise missiles, but the multiple strikes—and the distance at around 80 km from the lines at Vuhledar—make it possible that this could have been done with either GLSDB or HIMARS. [videos at the link]
A large group of Russian helicopters was known to have recently been relocated to this area.
[…] “Former Trump White House Lawyer Ty Cobb explains to CNN’s Erin Burnett why he believes Trump will go to jail amid news from multiple sources that the special counsel investigating the former president will receive 16 records that show he knew the correct process for declassifying documents.”
He knew he was committing a crime.
For the sake of democracy and any hope that we as Americans can believe that there is equal justice under the law here, let’s hope this is true!
[…] Jim Jordan’s whistleblowers showed up, and he probably wishes they hadn’t. Not so much “whistleblowers,” turns out, as disgruntled, insurrectionist whackjobs, on Trumpworld conspiracy theorist Kash Patel’s payroll, who had their security clearances revoked for wholly legitimate reasons, like the guy who “expressed sympathy for persons or organizations that advocate, threaten, or use force or violence,” for example. […]
If Rudy Giuliani turned out to be, like, five thousand slugs in a trench coat, would you really be surprised? “No, that makes perfect sense,” you’d say, as they slithered away into the night. Anyway, you know what he did, I don’t want to talk about it. […] [see comments 235, 238 and 247]
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says mass shootings are “karma” for allowing abortion, which is silly, because everyone knows they’re karma for Pizzagate. […]
Didja catch the latest polling? Biden up six on Trump? Up seven? After the FUCKING DAYS of cacophonous wailing and rending of garments launched by one outlier, which I ignored here because fuck the Eeyore brigade, should we not celebrate counterbalancing data with something approaching equal vigor?
[…] What’s this, “Judge who ruled for Trump on 2020 election loses Pennsylvania primary?” My cup runneth o’er.
…so I’m off to refill it, (with beer, if that’s somehow unclear) and enjoy the relative quiet of a Tucker-free media, while it lasts. […]
[…] In February, Mr. DeSantis traveled to Newark on a jet owned by Jeffrey Soffer, a prominent hotel owner who, according to several lawmakers and lobbyists, has sought a change in state law that would allow him to expand gambling to his Miami Beach resort. […]
FLORIDA (The Borowitz Report)—Shortly after the corporate giant cancelled plans for a new campus in Lake Nona, Florida, residents of the state demanded to know where Disney was going so that they could come with.
Across the state, Floridians indicated a desperate desire to join Disney in its departure, suggesting that an unprecedented exodus may soon be under way.
“When I think of Florida, I think of gun violence, draconian abortion laws, and book banning,” Carol Foyler, who lives in Boca Raton, said. “When I think of Disney, I think of teacups, princesses, and singing animals. I want to be where Disney is.”
“I’ve lived in Florida all my life and never considered leaving before,” Harland Dorrinson, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, said. “But, wherever Disney goes, Ron DeSantis won’t be there, and that’s good enough for me.”
Tracy Klugian, who resides in Tampa, expressed a sentiment echoed by millions of others in the state. “I’d rather live in Disney without Florida than in Florida without Disney,” she said.
A failed Republican congressional candidate allied with prominent Stop The Steal conspiracy theorists has admitted to fabricating a story about child sex trafficking to gain attention for his campaign.
Ryan Dark White, who ran a longshot Senate bid in Maryland under the name Jon McGreevey and sometimes referred to himself as the “Patriot Whistleblower,” caused a furor last year when he described lurid acts of child abuse that he allegedly witnessed while working in an adult bookstore. White’s claims of child trafficking made him a sympathetic figure on the far right, where he had made similar and baseless allegations against Mike Pence and Chief Justice John Roberts following Trump’s 2022 election loss.
But the adult bookstore claims were a lie, White admitted this month…
rockets keep exploding and more […] are taking wealthy passengers
[…]
The bill mandates “crew” and participants alike fill out a waiver that grants legal immunities to space companies in cases of injury or death. […] there is no longer any expectation for companies to be responsible for damages from risks they “reasonably should have known” about.
[…]
The overwhelmingly bipartisan move […] is mirrored by how much [SpaceX and Blue Origin] donate to politicians of both parties.
StevoRsays
Huh, dunno had that weird formatting stuff up happened..
The UN’s Alice Edwards speaks truth here :
The United Nations’ torture watchdog has urged Australia to end its “inhumane”, indefinite detention of asylum seekers and immigrants and make reparations for historical human rights abuses. UN special rapporteur on torture Alice Edwards said Australia and the United Kingdom were outliers in not setting time limits on immigration detention.
… (snip) .. Edwards said, when individuals spent more than three months in detention “without an end in sight, being held in legal limbo”, their treatment could begin to be classified as enduring degrading, inhumane or psychological torture. “It is inhumane to allow never-ending, unreviewable detention,” Edwards said.
WATRNING :Semi-paywalled, one free article (per month?) then have to subscribe to see. So annoying!
Our inhuman refugee policies have been a disgrace & stain on Australia’s national reputation since Howard was PM. Long overdue we changed to a compassionate, reasonable approach processing them here, quickly and with kindness :
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. Their latest summary:
US President Joe Biden has announced a new package of military aid of up to $375m to Ukraine, telling President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the US is doing all it can to strengthen Ukraine’s defence. The package includes ammunition, artillery, armoured vehicles and training.
In his G7 speech, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv’s plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine was “an obvious expression of rationality”, and sought support for his “peace formula”. He thanked western leaders for achieving “a level of cooperation which ensures that democracy, international law, and freedom are respected”, but questioned: “Is this enough?”
There has been some confusion over whether Russia has taken the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Vladimir Putin congratulated troops on its “liberation”. Ukraine’s spokesperson said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not confirm Bakhmut’s capture after his comments at the G7 were reported as confirming that Ukraine had lost the city. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said that Ukrainian forces had partly encircled the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut along the flanks and still maintained control of a private sector in the city.
Also from there:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has laid flowers at a cenotaph in Hiroshima honouring those who died after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945.
Accompanied by the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Zelenskiy earlier visited the Peace Memorial Museum, where exhibits show the full horror of the attack, in which an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people died instantly, with the death toll rising to 140,000 by the end of the year as more succumbed to burns and illnesses caused by exposure to radiation.
The names of more than 300,000 people whose deaths during the past 78 years have been attributed to the bombing are listed at the cenotaph, whose inscription reads: “Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.”
After laying bouquets on podiums, Kishida and Zelenskiy lowered their heads and posed for a photograph before listening to an explanation of the memorial from the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui.
Ukrainian forces have partly encircled the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut along the flanks and still maintain control of a private sector in the city, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said.
She made the remarks on the Telegram messaging app shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the battle had ended with a Russian victory.
Maliar said Ukrainian troops are continuing their advances along Bakhmut’s outskirts and have claimed part of the heights overlooking the city.
She wrote:
Our forces have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy.
Therefore, the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls.
Maliar added that Ukrainian troops are still defending industrial and infrastructure facilities in Bakhmut.
German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Berlin police told Reuters “a file had been opened” after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning.
Residents of the Russian Belgorod are demanding weapons from the governor to “protect the city from Ukrainian offensive” to “stop the destruction of civilian infrastructure” – how about asking them to stop the war and withdraw from Ukraine?
Subtitled video at the link. I’m sure these yahoos will have no problem holding off the AFU with small arms (since Ukraine has no intention of invading Belgorod).
Answering questions from journalists, Zelenskiy asserted that Bakhmut has not been captured by Russia and that Ukrainian troops remain in the city, but that he couldn’t give clear information.
He said:
We are fighting thanks to the courage of our people, our warriors.
I clearly understand what has taken place in Bakhmut.
I cannot share with you the tactical views of our military.
Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words.
It’s time to celebrate the birthplace of democracy with a Greek election! With more than 30 parties and coalitions vying for votes, the stage is set for political chaos. Isn’t democracy wonderful? Alex Andreou speaks to journalist and correspondent for ERT, Evdoxia Lymperi, to try and understand one of the year’s most unpredictable elections.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurist’s prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the state’s efforts to take over Disney World’s governing body.
DeSantis ‘ attorney filed a motion in federal court in Tallahassee on Friday seeking to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker from overseeing the lawsuit filed by Disney last month. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his appointees violated the company’s right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters after Disney opposed Florida legislation that critics have dubbed ”Don’t Say Gay.” …
A top Ukrainian general has said that Kyiv’s forces controlled an “insignificant” part of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but that the foothold would be enough to enter the devastated city when the situation changed.
In a Telegram post, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyiv’s forces were advancing on Russian forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut and that they were getting closer to a “tactical encirclement” of the city.
In Moldova, tens of thousands of people have gathered the capital Chisinau to support their pro-Western government’s drive towards Europe amid what officials have said are Russian efforts to destabilise their country.
Reuters reports:
Moldova has been badly hit by the impact of Moscow’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, which Chisinau has repeatedly condemned, and applied to join the European Union.
President [Maia] Sandu has accused Russia of seeking to sabotage its European integration by fuelling anti-government protests and propaganda. Moscow denies meddling in Moldova’s affairs.
At the rally organised by her government, Sandu pledged that Moldova would become an EU member by 2030, and said:
Moldova does not want to be blackmailed by the Kremlin.
We don’t want to be on the outskirts of Europe anymore.
“Thank God for the hard hats!” declared Richard Nixon during his first term. “Why the construction workers holler, ‘U. S. A., all the way!,’” read a 1970 New York Times headline. “The Day the White Working Class Turned Republican,” read another New York Times headline, 50 years later in 2020.
We’re now more than five decades since this narrative first arose: The hardhats love America, and the hippies hate it. Whether Nixon or Trump is in the White House, news media, film, and TV tell us that the working class—good, honest blue-collar folk—are people of God, family, and country, unlike those spoiled, rich, out-of-touch lefty elites.
This binary framework is presented as organic, the result of working people and unions feeling left out by the lofty exclusivism of the Left. But, as history shows, this didn’t happen entirely naturally or spontaneously; the “hardhats vs. hippies” narrative was, in part, manufactured by right-wing political and union operatives, more concerned with a McCarthyist imperative to destroy any and all social movements in the global south than with any notion of worker justice and liberation.
On this episode, we explore this history, looking at the ways in which rightwing factions of organized labor bolstered dangerous US foreign policy throughout the Cold War, deliberately crafting the false yet persistent notion that union […?]
America has a gun problem, and not just inside its own borders. Thousands of guns cross into Mexico every year, fuelling an epidemic of violence between drug cartels. Ioan Grillo is the author of ‘Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartels’. He’s spent time with gun manufacturers, speaking to FBI agents and at murder scenes to decipher just how deep the issue lies. He joined Seth Thevoz in the Bunker from Mexico City.
There were some frankly bizarre statements made at the National Conservatism Conference. Now it’s over, we’re left asking: what was the point of it all? Our Seth Thevoz was there and spoke to Andrew Harrison about what he made of it. Plus, Kemi Badenoch: problem solver or is she just making everything worse? We know the answer….
“What if you were writing a profile on someone named Janet and I was your editor, and I was like, ‘I’m sorry, for balance, find someone who wants to kill Janet’?” This week, Tuck Woodstock, host of Gender Reveal, takes us on a journey through the New York Times’ coverage of trans issues—and in the end, he points the way to a better future.
There’s something really sick about their coverage. The absurdly low standards, reckless cruelty, dogged gaslighting, attacks on critics,… – it’s all so persistent and gratuitous, and I can’t put my finger on what’s behind it.
Featuring Jules Gill-Peterson on Histories of the Transgender Child. Amid this right-wing reaction, a discussion of the history of trans medicine and trans children—and also trans politics more generally.
We’re republishing this episode, which was originally released in June of 2022. There are more guns than cars in the United States. And studies show that gun sales go up following mass shootings. Ryan Busse 30 years as a leader at one of America’s most popular gun companies. Busse is a former firearms executive at Kimber America and is author of “Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America,” in which he talks about how America’s multibillion-dollar gun industry has profited from and fueled cultural divisions. He joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this point, why he chose to leave the industry, what he observed behind closed doors at NRA meetings, how political division fuels extremism and what the failure to enact stricter legislation means for the future of our democracy.
I have some issues with these last two, but they’re worth a listen.
Striking how Putin is adopting Trump’s perceived enemies as his own. The new Russian sanctions list includes people Trump considers adversaries like Letitia James, Brad Raffensperger and the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt even though none has anything to do with Russia policy.
You might legitimately wonder what New York Attorney General Letitia James, Georgia’s Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger, and Capitol police officer Lt. Michael Byrd, who shot the insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt, could possibly have possibly done to warrant the imposition of sanctions by Vladimir Putin, the corrupt and murderous dictator of the Russian Federation.
What sort of heinous act could they have committed to deserve such harsh treatment? Surely, there must be something they did, something they have in common to earn Putin’s everlasting ire… oh, wait!
As reported by Peter Baker, writing for the New York Times:
Russia has expanded its list of sanctioned Americans in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the latest curbs imposed by the United States. But what is particularly striking is how much President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is adopting perceived enemies of former President Donald J. Trump as his own.
Among the 500 people singled out for travel and financial restrictions on Friday were Americans seen as adversaries by Mr. Trump, including Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who has investigated and sued him. Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia who rebuffed Mr. Trump’s pressure to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election, also made the list. And Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot the pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021, was another notable name.
None of those three has anything to do with Russia policy and the only reason they would have come to Moscow’s attention is because Mr. Trump has publicly assailed them..
For anyone who ever doubted the symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship between Donald Trump and Russia, well, those doubts should now be put to rest. Asked for an explanation, the Russian Foreign Ministry effectively gave away the game.
The Russian Foreign Ministry offered no specific explanation for why they would be included on the list but did say that among its targets were “those in government and law enforcement agencies who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called storming of the Capitol.”
Except neither Ms. James, Mr. Raffensperger, nor Lt. Byrd ever “persecuted” the Jan. 6 seditionists. James is prosecuting Trump’s crimes in New York, Raffensperger simply found himself in Trump’s crosshairs for declining to rig the 2020 election, and Mr. Byrd was simply doing his sworn duty defending the Capitol and the U.S. Congress when he shot Babbitt. The list also includes Delaware attorney general Kathy Jennings, who sharply criticized Trump’s and Republicans’ attempts to “sabotage” the 2020 elections, and Wisconsin attorney general Josh Kaul, who backed a federal probe into Republicans’ “phony electors” plot in that state.
The only thread of commonality here is that all of these people have drawn the ire of the American right-wing, the Republican party, and Donald Trump himself for thwarting the ambitions of … Donald Trump.
The same Donald Trump who very recently telegraphed that he’d pull the rug out from under Ukraine if he managed to get himself elected again. The same Donald Trump who was impeached for trying to extort invented political dirt from Ukraine in order to get himself elected again. The same Donald Trump who eagerly solicited and accepted assistance from Russia to get himself elected in the first place, back in 2016.
And the same Donald Trump who incited the insurrection against the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Really, you couldn’t draw a clearer picture between Russia and Trump if you tried. Now, thanks to his pal Vladimir Putin, you don’t have to. […]
SC @390, sorry I didn’t see your post on that subject before I also posted about Putin sanctioning people who pushback against Trump. Thinking alike … again.
I assume you saw my earlier post in which I noted that Putin had sanctioned Rachel Maddow. LOL
In all honesty, I have covered many wars in several decades and I can say that I haven’t seen in a long time a more hysteric way to declare “victory” as we see now around Bakhmut. And I’m not even into the semantics whether Russians hold 95%, 98% or 100%. The very fact that they phrase it that way is hilarious in its own.
As I have mentioned already few days ago, Russians do not intend to move any further, or more precisely, they are not capable to move any further, which simply begs the question what was this all about. What strategic value offers Bakhmut in itself? The answer is simple. None. This fact was even stated by Prigozhin, Strelkov and others. It is a military travesty, aiming only for political games of the involved Russian warlords.
The Ukrainian strategy on the other side has been coherent and quite clear. First, to deny Russians entry to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, secondly, bind Russian forces and prepare for their counteroffensive and, third, in the process decimating their ranks, which – when reflecting 100,000 Russian casualties – they have achieved with flying colors. The only threat was a potential encirclement of Bakhmut with the subsequent destruction of the Ukrainian armies in it, but that was averted and Russians were forced to run against the heaviest fortification, a stupidity in itself and exactly how Ukrainian strategist can ask for.
Ukrainians have even achieved additional tactical advantages by binding additional Russian forces in Bakhmut. Russians were so obsessed with Bakhmut that they were depleting lines and more importantly ammunition in Kreminna, Svatove, Avdiivka and Vuhledar. Literally every single one of those named areas ended in total disasters. Especially, Vuhledar can be called an epic fail.
However, when you look at the numbers than you can see that Bakhmut was actually the worst sector for Russians, because for the sake of just “staying in this area” it makes literally no difference whether you stay inside Bakhmut or 7km more to the East, because this is their pathetic “progress” in almost 10 months. It is however a complete difference when you have those 100,000 men and millions of artillery shells at your disposal. Even some Russians are starting to realize this.
You do not have to take my word, the developments in battlefield will say this in the clearest language. History is full of examples where political lunatics forced their military leaders into steps which any sane military commander would never have done. The terms “pyrrhic victory, second Stalingrad etc.” have been used more than once. Maybe we will even add “Bakhmut victory” to the books. It certainly deserves a place in military idiocy.
Who is this guy threatening to execute me? And how does he have so many followers?
Commentary:
Rep. Eric Swalwell was threatened on Twitter by ex-NFL player Bruce Miller. The threat is so ugly and repellent it is difficult to even repeat it, but I believe it clarifies how the fascist demons have been let loose by the MAGA movement. […]
Miller appeared to confirm that the message was from him on Thursday, and insisted that he was just “trolling” and playing a “harmless game of ‘would you rather.’ [Miller’s post: “Almost time!!! Would you rather guantanamo of just execution (Three laughing face emojis, with tears of laughter) fuckin traitor.”]
[…] I have not seen that he has been arrested, just asked to speak with Capitol Police. […]
Miller has a history of arrests in violent incidents. In 2015, he was arrested on suspicion of spousal battery in Santa Clara; police in that case said that Miller shoved his girlfriend and broke her phone. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor in that case. The 49ers cut him in 2016 after he was arrested and charged with seven felonies for a bizarre episode at a Fisherman’s Wharf hotel. Police in that case said that Miller entered the wrong hotel room and beat a 70-year-old man and his son with a cane. Video from that night showed a bloody and apparently woozy Miller. The wife of the 70-year-old man testified in court that Miller threatened to kill her son and husband; Miller pleaded not guilty and charges were reportedly later dropped. [excerpted from sfgate]
[…] demons that were loosened by Trump among the MAGAs. Disinhibition of adherence to the social contract. Boebert and Taylor Greene heckling the President. Boebert having numerous encounters with the police tells people that getting kicked off of flights is “patriotic.” Trump telling supporters and cops to “rough them up.” The gospel that the one who screams the loudest and most frequently, wins. It goes on and on and is a daily occurrence, replete with AR-15s. […]
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday [today] that early June is a “hard deadline” for the federal government to raise the debt ceiling and warned that bills will go unpaid if Congress fails to reach a deal before the U.S. runs out of money […]
“I indicated in my last letter to Congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven’t changed my assessment,” Yellen said. “So I think that that’s a hard deadline.”
[…] The president opened a press conference in Japan by urging Republicans to “move from their extreme positions,” which he criticized as “frankly unacceptable.”
[…] Speaking to reporters after his appearance on Fox, McCarthy said his message to Biden is: “We have to be responsible, we have to be sensible about this, we can’t spend more money than we spent this year.” [Sheesh. McCarthy is spouting bullshit.]
Republicans returned to the debt ceiling negotiating table Friday night after temporarily pausing talks with the White House that they said were “not productive.” Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican, who was tapped by McCarthy to lead negotiations with White House staff, told reporters they had “a candid discussion about realistic numbers, a realistic path forward and something that truly changes the trajectory of this country’s spending and debt problem.” [“realistic” as defined by Republicans means “unfuckingbelievably whacko,” and also “not practical.”]
The U.S. hit the statutory debt limit in January and has been using “extraordinary measures” to pay the bills. […]
Last fall, Marielle Williamson, a senior at Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles, set up a table just outside her school’s college center. Stocked with free stickers and cartons of Oatly oat milk, she settled in to tell people about the environmental and ethical benefits of plant-based milk. Classmates soon crowded around for samples of oat- or pea protein-based beverages.
“Students loved it,” Williamson told Grist.
But when she began planning a similar event this spring, school administrators pushed back. Citing federal regulations against school-sanctioned activities that could “directly or indirectly restrict the sale or marketing” of cow’s milk, school administrators refused to greenlight Williamson’s second event — unless she agreed to also distribute pro-dairy information.
That would “counter the whole point of the campaign,” Williamson said. “It felt wrong.” So she dropped the idea and opted for an alternative strategy, one that’s already drawing much more attention: a First Amendment legal complaint. On May 2, Williamson filed an unprecedented federal lawsuit against her school district and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, arguing that compelling her to distribute “dairy promotions” violates her right to free speech.
“I didn’t want to just sit there and be like, ‘OK, I guess I can’t do anything,’” she said.
Williamson’s lawsuit, which was endorsed last week by the Los Angeles Times editorial board and is now the subject of national news coverage, has become a platform for her broader criticisms about the dairy industry. It’s part of a growing, youth-led movement against the Agriculture Department’s “milk mandate” — a requirement that public schools offer moo juice at every meal service — and other federal rules that make it difficult for students to access plant-based alternatives.
Some students oppose the rules because they are vegan. Others simply find cow’s milk gross. But they’re generally united by a few common factors: the prevalence of lactose intolerance, particularly among students of color; the way industrial dairy farms treat cows; and the industry’s outsize climate and environmental impacts.
“Animal agriculture produces 14.5 percent of [global] greenhouse gas emissions and nobody’s talking about it,” Williamson said. At last year’s United Nations climate summit in Egypt, she added, “they had one booth on food out of hundreds.”
Under federal law, public schools participating in the National School Lunch Program — a child nutrition program established in 1946 — must offer two kinds of unflavored, low- or nonfat “fluid milk,” meaning skim or 1 percent, with every meal. Students can get a nondairy substitute, but only with a doctor’s note saying they have a “disability” restricting their diet.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, says the program is intended to support kids’ healthy development, but experts say its roots are more political than nutritional….
…
In fact, most people — about 68 percent of the global population, including the vast majority of people of color — can’t even digest milk after infancy. In the U.S., some 80 percent of all African Americans and Native Americans and more than 90 percent of Asian Americans have a genetic inability to digest lactose. Americans with Northern European heritage are least likely to be lactose intolerant, prompting some lawmakers to call the USDA’s mandatory milk program “dietary racism.”…
⚡️Land Forces chief says Ukrainian troops may soon encircle Bakhmut.
Ukrainian troops keep advancing on the flanks and are approaching a “tactical encirclement” of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s Land Forces, reported on May 21.
Imagine being Prigozhin, and losing tens of thousands of men to get themselves surrounded.
Really looks like they want to go south, doesn’t it? Donetsk area getting hit hard as well. [map at the link]
Legit Dark Brandon moment:
JOURNALIST: Russia says giving Ukraine F-16s is a “colossal risk”
BIDEN: It is, for them
Russia has truly lost all respect. Not even the civilians targeted by their rockets and missiles fear them anymore. It’s is universal disgust and defiance.
The mercenary Wagner Group’s founder and CE0, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared victory (again) Saturday, making sure to stress how useless Russia’s ministry of defense was in the capture of Ukraine’s 58th largest city. [Tweet and video at the link]
Confirming what Mark Sumner and I predicted multiple times, Prigozhin then declared his troops would withdraw from the city on May 25, leaving the city’s defense to the regular Russian army. He’s happy to take credit for the capture, letting his rival Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu to take the blame when Ukraine inevitably liberates the city.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin congratulated Prigozhin directly for the city’s capture according to state media. “Vladimir Putin congratulates Wagner assault teams as well as all Russian troops, who rendered the required assistance and shielded the flanks, with the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk,” read a Kremlin statement. “Everyone, who distinguished himself in the battle, will be recommended for the state decorations.”
“Artemovsk” is Russia’s name for Bakhmut. Despite Prigozhin’s unhinged attacks on the war effort in recent weeks, Putin is still backing him.
Yes, there was celebration, but the mood on Russian Telegram and Twitter seemed oddly subdued, none fitting the effort put into this operation. When even Prigozhin says that “the village of Bakhmut is of no strategic importance for further progress to the west,” there’s not much here to celebrate. It’s also hard to really sell the “liberation” narrative when every single resident has been driven from the city, every structure destroyed.
Bakhmut mattered when Russia dreamt of enveloping Ukrainian defenses in the Donbas with a pincer maneuver that ran through Bakhmut in the south, and Izyum in the north. But Izyum was liberated last October, rendering that strategy moot. So now Russia gets to sit in Bakhmut’s ruins for no discernible reason.
You know who the big winner is? Ukraine.
Lots of people, me included, have argued that Ukraine would be better served occupying the heights west of Bakhmut, firing into Russian troops in the town. Now, they get to do exactly that. [map at the link]
All those hills west of Bakhmut, except for the heights at Berkhivka, are still held by Ukraine, and Ukraine’s success on the flanks means they are likely to stay that way.
With Ukraine maintaining line-of-sight into Bakhmut, it’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. There’s a reason that Prigozhin recorded his video in Bakhmut’s center, as opposed to the city’s more recently captured western districts. It’s not safe over there. Once Wagner retreats, Russia might not even bother laying any real defense. Ukraine isn’t going to make an exposed frontal assault on the town. They aren’t wastefully stupid like Wagner. And there’s zero value in the rubble. What matters is that Russia’s offensive has culminated, they are no longer trying to advance, and any invaders that saunter into Ukraine’s line of vision will be pulverized.
Meanwhile, Prigozhin looks to redeploy his mercenary group to Sudan and other African hotspots, where he can terrorize the local population and plunder its natural resources. If Putin allows him to do that, that’s terrible news for Africa, but that’s one less chit Russia will have to play in Ukraine.
In other words, Ukraine is now in a better place than it was before Wagner’s Pyrrhic victory. War historians will debate the value of Ukraine’s fierce extended defense for decades. But for now, none of that matters. Ukraine has the upper hand.
p.s. The Chechen Kadyrovites promised to relieve Wagner forces in Bakhmut. Two weeks later, they still haven’t shown up. I’ll be shocked if they ever do.
[…] With the United State’s blessing, a Western coalition is now set to deliver F-16s to Ukraine after proper training. While the Biden administration hasn’t explicitly stated, the U.S., with over 1,000 F-16s in service, will necessarily have to be a donor. Most people assume the biggest challenge is training pilots, but that’s the easy part. As we’ve hammered over and over again in our coverage, the real challenge is the maintenance and logistics. Check out this great thread on the difficulties of supporting airplanes:
I don’t think people quite grok how much tonnage of spare parts is required to keep military aircraft in reliable flying condition, and how hard it is, especially when they’re legacy aircraft. So, let me tell you a story. https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1659330020270014464
At this point, it’s clear everyone thinks Ukraine has the ability to support the aircraft, but it’s not going to happen quickly, not unless private military contractors handle much of the early maintenance (which is a thing that could very well happen). Ukraine certainly expects to have the planes by the fall.
What isn’t a challenge or worry is Putin. “We see that western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario,” Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, told the state agency TASS. “It involves colossal risks for themselves. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the goals we have set.” [LOL]
Blah blah blah blah. it’s the same tired script Russia trots out each time Ukraine scores a new weapons system.
“Now a few important, very important words for those who may be tempted to intervene in the ongoing events,” said Putin on February 24, 2002, just two days after he launched his illegal invasion. “Whoever tries to hinder us, or threaten our country or our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to consequences that you have never faced in your history. [Sounds very Trumpian.] We are ready for any turn of events. All necessary decisions in this regard have been made. I hope that I will be heard.”
“All necessary decisions have been made.”
“We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals.”
So many “necessary” things have been accomplished, so many “immediate consequences” threatened. Yet Russia has no real means to back up their threats, which just makes it look even sadder and more pathetic. It’s amazing how such (veiled nuclear) threats once stymied the delivery of better weapons, be they HIMARS, or tanks, or mid-range cruise missiles, or aircraft. By now, we definitively have a “boy who cried wolf” situation. No one believes or cares what the Kremlin says or threatens.
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There are several avenues for Ukraine’s coming counteroffensive. [map at the link]
Everyone is expecting Ukraine to push south into Zaporizhzhia oblast, either toward Melitopol or Mariupol, in order to sever Putin’s cherished “land bridge” between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula. That’s certainly what Russia thinks, with an intricate network of trenches and other defensive emplacements crisis-crossing that entire region.
I’ve previously championed the Starobilsk approach for two reasons. First of all, it would cut a major supply route from the Belgorod region into eastern Ukraine. Additionally, Starobilsk is the hub of the entire region’s transportation network. Every road and rail line radiates out from the town like spokes on a wheel. Once Ukraine takes it, that entire chunk of red in that northeastern corner of Ukraine would be instantly liberated.
However, I’m now convinced Russia has all but conceded it already. It’s had plenty of time to reroute its logistics through eastern Ukraine. And it’s only built a single line of new trench defenses east of Svatove. Given its challenges in manning that 1,000+ kilometer front, and its clear lack of a mobile reserve, it seems unlikely there’s much there—just enough to keep Ukrainian forces fixed on that front, but not enough to present real resistance if Ukraine makes a serious effort to punch through Svatove.
Therefore, assuming Russia has moved its logistics, a Ukrainian attack in this direction would be of little value. Liberating all that empty steppe would look great on a map, but it would do little to bring Ukraine closer to victory.
The Melitopol and Donetsk directions make the most strategic sense. If Russia puts up stiff resistance, then it’s best to dedicate the bulk of Ukraine’s storm brigades in those directions. But if Russian resistance collapses quickly, throwing a brigade or two up around Svatove to push through to Starobilsk would be a great “cherry on top.”
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Vitaly and his wife celebrated learning Vitalia was pregnant November 2022. He died days later on the front lines. That baby has now been born. [Tweet and images at the link]
Gutting.
“Please, everyone who knows my husband, Vitaly Kirkach-Antonenko, congratulate him on becoming a father. Anyone in Slovyansk, visit him and give to him flowers. He will never be able to hug his little daughter, but Vitaly was waiting for her. We dreamed together about this day, we imagined our joy and pride when we would be able to hold our firstborn in our arms. Thank you to everyone who helped us all this time, thanks to your support during these most terrible six months” • wrote Natalya Kyrkach-Antonenko.
Ukrainians have one of the most poignant sendoff for their fallen heroes: [Tweet and video at the link]
“A line of summit and hotel staff awaited @POTUS as he left the G7 Summit host hotel in Hiroshima. In true @POTUS fashion, he stopped to take photos with everyone! A perfect way to say thank you to Japan for hosting a successful summit.”
Wholesome video at the (Twitter) link.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Video: Chris Hayes – Casualties of the culture war (8:17)
– The threat of severe penalties for doctors forced a woman to carry a fetus with Potter syndrome to term, knowing immediate asphyxiation would follow.
– Tampa’s Pride event was cancelled because an anti-drag law made it illegal.
– A ban on gender-affirming healthcare for children.
a first-of-its-kind federal investigation […] a federal law that requires hospitals to treat patients in emergency situations. […] they stand to lose future access to crucial Medicare and Medicaid funding. Physicians […] could incur fines, and patients may be able to sue for monetary damages
[…]
Both cases are under appeal […] neither has faced sanctions
[…]
doctors face a lopsided set of potential legal repercussions […] penalties for violating [the federal law] include fines. […] violating state abortion bans could include prison time and loss of license.
[…]
In Texas, the attorney general has argued that the medical exceptions granted under the ban do not apply to abortions intended to prevent an emergency.
[…]
The process for investigating hospitals to determine if they are complying with [the federal law] is “complaint driven” […] Anyone can file
Mexican prosecutors announced Saturday night that they are withdrawing a case against a woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for killing a man as he raped and attacked her.
In a ruling last week that touched off a public outcry, a court in Mexico State said that while it agreed 23-year-old Roxana Ruiz was raped in 2021, it found her guilty of homicide with “excessive use of legitimate defense.” It also ordered Ruiz to pay more than $16,000 in reparations to the family of her attacker…
“excessive use of legitimate force” – because when you are minding your own business and are unexpectedly attacked, you should know precisely the amount of ‘legitimate force’ to use.
/s
A federal inquiry has found numerous incidents of wrongdoing by a Trump appointee who served as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, including attempting to force out agency executives for their political believes.
The Office of Special Counsel found that “during his less-than-eight-month tenure CEO [Michael] Pack was responsible for numerous improper activities,” including “abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, or a violation of law, rule, or regulation.” The OSC’s report concluded that Pack “abused his authority and retaliated against career USAGM executives who engaged in whistleblowing.” …
A New South Wales police officer has been found guilty of assaulting an Indigenous teenager during an arrest in Sydney in 2020.Video of the incident shows Constable Ryan Barlow holding the 16-year-old’s arms behind his back and using a “leg sweep” to take him to the ground. Today, Magistrate Rami Attia told Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court Barlow remained in control of the teenager throughout the physical altercation, and said the boy was complying with the arrest.
Bad cop’s boss refuses to look at police brutality against elderly dementia patient because of “courage”” (LOLwhat?!) news story :
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb says it “takes courage” not to view the body-cam footage of an elderly woman being tasered, and that she wants “a complete picture” of the incident before she looks at it.Commissioner Webb on Monday defended her decision not to watch the moment 95-year-old Clare Nowland was tasered by an officer at an aged-care home in the NSW Snowy Mountains. She said Ms Nowland, a dementia patient who was holding a knife, remained in a “dire” condition after falling and striking her head at the Cooma facility on Wednesday. The state’s top police officer said she had not seen the body-worn video of the officers involved, and the family did not want it released publicly.
Oh and our racist ex-cop opposition “leader” the Gestapotato Dutton makes the Indigenous Voice about race :
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the Indigenous Voice to Parliament will “re-racialise our nation” in a speech the Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney describes as “disinformation” and scare-mongering.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Fighting has broken out along the Russian border with Ukraine after self-described Russian partisan forces launched a cross-border raid and claimed to have overrun a border settlement for the first time in the war.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, which describes itself as an anti-Kremlin militia seeking to overthrow the Kremlin and liberate Russia from Vladimir Putin, claimed to have crossed the border and overrun the settlement of Kozinka, while sending units into the town of Grayvoron in Russia’s Belgorod region.
Any capture of territory has not been independently confirmed by journalists on the ground. The militia has mostly existed on social media and it is not known to have participated in any major battles during the war.
But both Russia and Ukrainian officials have confirmed fighting at the border and social media video has shown armoured vehicles appearing to overrun a Russian border post near Grayvoron.
“We are the same Russians as you,” said a statement put out by the group on social media. “We are distinguished only by the fact that we no longer wanted to justify the actions of criminals in power and took up arms to defend our and your freedom. But today it’s time for everyone to take responsibility for their future. It’s time to put an end to the Kremlin’s dictatorship.”
Other video posted to social media showed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter trailing flares over the town of Kozinka and videos of smoke rising from the settlement with the sounds of emergency sirens clearly audible.
The governor of the Belgorod region confirmed an attack on Monday, writing that “sabotage and reconnaissance group of the armed forces of Ukraine have entered the territory of the Grayvoron district. The armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with the border service, Rosgvardiya and the FSB, are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy.”
Ukraine has disavowed connection to the Russian partisan fighters, saying that they act independently and are not subject to military control.
Fighting is continuing in Bakhmut, Ukraine’s armed forces have said in their morning update after Russia claimed to have completed the “liberation” of the eastern city over the weekend. Confusion has reigned as Ukrainian officials rejected the claims.
“[In Bakhmut] the enemy continues to lead offensive actions. Fighting for the city of Bakhmut continues,” the armed forces said, adding that over the past day Russian forces had “unsuccessfully tried to recover lost positions south of the [nearby] settlement of Ivanivske”. Russia had also carried out air strikes on Bakhmut.
It has been impossible to verify the conflicting statements over the devastated city, which has assumed symbolic importance as a measure of which side has the resilience to prevail in the war overall.
Riding high on an election victory few expected, Greece’s prime minister has said he will push for a repeat poll “as soon as possible” after a landslide win that left the centre-right party short of a parliamentary majority under a new voting system.
Hours after his centre-right New Democracy party clinched almost 41% of the vote – 20 percentage points ahead of its main rival, the leftwing Syriza – Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday he would not waste time trying to form a coalition government.
“I believe the message of the ballot is very clear,” he told the country’s president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, adding it was impossible to form a new government under the current parliament. “I intend to return the exploratory mandate this afternoon. We will proceed to elections as soon as possible.”
A follow-up poll could be held on 25 June, a week earlier than originally envisaged, he said.
…
Under a new electoral system of proportional representation, New Democracy fell five seats short of a majority in Athens’ 300-seat house despite an extraordinary victory in which the party not only routed its opponent but exceeded its landslide result in 2019, when Mitsotakis ousted the Syriza leader, Alexis Tsipras. The leftwing party, by contrast, won just over 20%, posting what Tsipras would quickly describe as “an extremely negative result”.
…
Prior to Sunday’s vote, Mitsotakis, 55, had repeatedly urged Greeks to give him the mandate that would allow him to form a single-party government that could implement an ambitious reform programme. The next ballot, crucially, will take place under an electoral system of reinforced representation that will grant the winning party as many as 50 bonus seats.
It had been thought that the governing party’s popularity had been severely dented by a wiretapping scandal and a devastating train crash – events that cast a pall over Mitsotakis, a former banker, personally.
But Syriza’s unexpectedly poor performance appeared to uphold the view that Greeks had voted for stability – despite many being perturbed by what has been perceived as democratic backsliding under the centre-right government with the spy scandal highlighting those concerns.
In an election dominated by anxiety over the cost of living crisis, Greeks singled out the economy, citing memories of the nation’s debt drama a decade ago and the punishing austerity meted out in return for emergency funds to keep the country afloat.
Sunday’s ballot was the first since the EU and IMF, which orchestrated the biggest bailout in global financial history to avert a Greek default, ceased supervising the country’s finances. Tsipras was catapulted into power on the back of widespread anger over austerity, transforming his party from a fringe group capable of picking up about 4% of the vote to a political force to be reckoned with.
Hours after his devastating defeat on Sunday party officials insisted the 48-year-old would lead the party to elections in June but would immediately press ahead with “a change of strategy.” But there was also a sense that Tsipras’s days at the helm of Syriza could also be numbered if June’s electoral result is as disastrous.
‘It feels like a gold rush,” says Timnit Gebru. “In fact, it is a gold rush. And a lot of the people who are making money are not the people actually in the midst of it. But it’s humans who decide whether all this should be done or not. We should remember that we have the agency to do that.”
Gebru is talking about her specialised field: artificial intelligence. On the day we speak via a video call, she is in Kigali, Rwanda, preparing to host a workshop and chair a panel at an international conference on AI. It will address the huge growth in AI’s capabilities, as well as something that the frenzied conversation about AI misses out: the fact that many of its systems may well be built on a huge mess of biases, inequalities and imbalances of power.
This gathering, the clunkily titled International Conference on Learning Representations, marks the first time people in the field have come together in an African country – which makes a powerful point about big tech’s neglect of the global south. When Gebru talks about the way that AI “impacts people all over the world and they don’t get to have a say on how they should shape it”, the issue is thrown into even sharper relief by her backstory.
…
After her departure [from Google], Gebru founded Dair, the Distributed AI Research Institute, to which she now devotes her working time. “We have people in the US and the EU, and in Africa,” she says. “We have social scientists, computer scientists, engineers, refugee advocates, labour organisers, activists … it’s a mix of people.”
The institute’s fellows, she tells me, include a former Amazon delivery driver, plus people with experience of the monotonous and sometimes traumatic job of manually labelling online content – including illegal and toxic material – to train AI systems. Much of this work happens in developing countries. “There’s a lot of exploitation in the field of AI, and we want to make that visible so that people know what’s wrong,” she says. “But also, AI is not magic. There are a lot of people involved – humans.”
Running alongside this is a quest to push beyond the tendency of the tech industry and the media to focus attention on worries about AI taking over the planet and wiping out humanity while questions about what the technology does, and who it benefits and damages, remain unheard.
“That conversation ascribes agency to a tool rather than the humans building the tool,” she says. “That means you can aggregate responsibility: ‘It’s not me that’s the problem. It’s the tool. It’s super-powerful. We don’t know what it’s going to do.’ Well, no – it’s you that’s the problem. You’re building something with certain characteristics for your profit. That’s extremely distracting, and it takes the attention away from real harms and things that we need to do. Right now.”…
Gov. McMaster’s office says ‘hunt them with dogs’ comment was ‘joke.’ SC Dems want apology.
… According to The State reporter Joseph Bustos, McMaster said: “I look forward to the day that democrats are so rare, we have to hunt them with dogs.” … McMaster’s communications director, Brandon Charochak, said the governor meant the comment as a ‘joke.’
… Chris Salley, chair of the Anderson County Democratic Party, said in a statement:
“Yesterday, Governor Henry McMaster threatened me, my family, and thousands of other Anderson County residents who are Democrats when he said he looks forward to the day he can “hunt us with dogs.”
If the Governor is not willing to apologize and retract this racially-tinged dog whistle, Anderson County Democrats join the Charleston County Democratic Party in asking the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to open an investigation into this threat and incitement of political violence.
“joke” or “it’s just a joke” is boundary testing and boundary pushing by Bruce Miller (397) and Governor Henry McMaster (421). I have to tell people on nextdoor that I will pay attention to it.
birgerjohanssonsays
There is a evopsych author named David Buss. I have not kept up with the issue. Is he a serious guy or just some pop science author?
I am asking because Swedish newspapers have been writing about him recently.
Trump Was Warned
[…] Trump was warned by his lawyer Evan Corcoran that he could not retain classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after they were subpoenaed last year by a DC federal grand jury, the Guardian reports.
The report is based on roughly 50 pages of contemporaneous notes kept by Corcoran and described to the Guardian. Special Counsel Jack Smith has the notes as well as grand jury testimony from Corcoran after the prosecution team succeeded in piercing attorney-client privilege. A federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence to believe that Corcoran’s legal counsel was used in furtherance of a crime.
Corcoran himself searched a storage room at Mar-a-Lago and returned some but – as an FBI search would later reveal – not all of the classified documents retained by Trump:
The federal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith has recently focused on why the subpoena was not compiled with, notably whether Trump arranged for boxes of classified documents to be moved out of the storage room so he could illegally retain them.
The notes also apparently contain Corcoran’s impressions of Trump:
In addition to his exchange with Trump, Corcoran described Trump’s facial expressions and reactions whenever they discussed the subpoena. The unusually detailed nature of his notes is said to have irritated Trump, who only learned about them after the notes themselves were subpoenaed.
… Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education confirmed that Deputy Science Minister Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died on Saturday. The ministry said he “became ill” while on board a plane carrying Russian delegates home after a business trip to Cuba. The flight made an emergency landing in southern Russia but doctors couldn’t save him… No cause of death was released. …
… Kucherenko allegedly told [independent Russian journalist Roman] Super that it was impossible for him to leave because authorities had taken away his passport. “And there’s no world that would be happy to see a deputy Russian minister after this fascist invasion,” Kucherenko said, according to Super. …
Kucherenko was married to Diana Gurtskaya, a blind pop singer who has received numerous awards in Russia including People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, the highest title given to Russians in the performing arts. … She has also publicly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly signing a 2014 open letter from Russia’s cultural figures supporting the illegal annexation of Crimea.
Yes, I’m keeping an eye on the Belgorod situation, where some undetermined group (claiming to be Russian partisans, but you never know) ambushed a border outpost and “liberated” several towns.
[posted by Liz Cookman] I spoke with @legion_svoboda to confirm the operation to “liberate” Russia’s #Belgorod. They said they’re working independently of Ukraine & have taken three villages so far and are now fighting for Grayvoron. They claim the surprise left Russian troops “fleeing in panic”
Seems like a big troll to me. There is no indication these guys have the manpower for anything but embarrassing Putin. [Tweet and map at the link]
If nothing else, this should force Russia to deploy troops along its long border with Ukraine, draining it of manpower along the active front. As such, this could very well be part of Ukraine’s “shaping the battlefield” operations. Finally, if you see Ukrainians joke that these “partisans” got their armored vehicles at “any Russian military store,” that’s a reference to 2014, when Russia claimed its Luhansk and Donetsk militias bought their hundreds of tanks at a Russian military store. That cheeky troll actually does suggest Ukraine is having a hand in this operation.
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The famous Greek general King Pyrrhus of Epirus, having defeated the Romans at Heraclea in 280 B.C. and at Asculum a year later, remarked, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.” We all know about pyrrhic victories, but the additional context is surprisingly relevant today. From Plutarch’s telling:
The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.
With Bakhmut’s fall to the Russians after one year of trying, Is anyone else in Russia pondering Pyrrhus’ fate? Certainly not in Russian Telegram and Twitter, where vile pro-Putin trash are celebrating their great “victory” after an initial muted reaction.
Sure, it has been a rough year for Russian and its stans, with about 40% of Russia’s initial 2022 war gains rolled back last fall thanks to big Ukrainian counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts. But the manufactured joy over Bakhmut is truly something to behold.
There’s Jason Hinkle, an odious American conservative and Trumpite who has hitched his wagon to the Putin train.
Wagner not only liberated Bakhmut today, they also humiliated NATO leadership who sacrificed $200B & the second largest army in Europe to “secure Bakhmut at all costs.”
Imagine pretending that NATO, which hasn’t provided $200 billion of anything (but we wish), did so only to defend Ukraine’s 58th largest city.
Imagine pretending that Russia “liberated” a city that it has been literally razed to the ground. [Tweet and video of Bakhmut back when it was a flourishing city]
David Sacks is Elon Musk’s hype man, and just as odious.
Regional transport & logistics hub: Bakhmut gives Russia access to key roads and rail. It places larger cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk within easy range of Russian artillery.
Ukraine holds the high ground west of Bakhmut. Imagine being so stupid as to think Russia could actually move rail through that graveyard. Meanwhile, Kramatorsk is 55 kilometers away from Bakhmut. Russia’s longest-range artillery reaches 29 kilometers, so nowhere in range, much less “easy” range. If he’s talking about missiles and rockets, those already could (and regularly do) hit Kramatorsk and next-door Sloviansk. Russia didn’t need Bakhmut to rain destruction on its civilians.
More Sacks:
Unique defensive fortifications: Bakhmut’s network of subterranean salt mines and tunnels (100+ miles) contributed to its defensibility.
That was Soledar, a completely different city. But sure, take this guy seriously. And one last bit of Sacks:
“Fortress Bakhmut”: Bakhmut became a rallying cry for Ukrainian resistance. Zelensky called it “the fortress of our morale” and gave a Bakhmut flag to the US Congress. “The fight for Bakhmut will change the trajectory of our war for independence and for freedom,” he said.
The fight for Bakhmut did change the trajectory of the war. It fixed Russian forces in the area, stopping attempts to advance around Vuhledar, Kreminna, Svatove, and Adviika. It cost Russia around 100,000 casualties, and it depleted Russia’s ammunition stocks—something that even notorious Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan was forced to admit:
[posted by Julia Davis: Meanwhile in Russia: head of RT Margarita Simonyan acknowledges that ammo shortages are very real. She proposes that after completing their workday, all citizens should travel to military factories and make ammunition for 2 hours per day to help out.
Another large Russian troll account on Twitter spiked the football:
Russia have officially taken Bakhmut, AFU air defenses are so useless that Zelensky refuses to return to Ukraine, and Russia’s actual forces are still intact thanks to Wagner. Just wanted to revisit to ask if you still think Ukraine are winning?
Zelenskyy was in Japan nailing down hundreds of millions in new aid and F-16s. Vladimir Putin was in … well, he can’t go anywhere or he might get arrested for war crimes. Meanwhile, the Chinese are moving in on Russia’s former sphere of influence in Central Asia, and Putin wasn’t even invited.
Furthermore, Russian forces are so depleted around Bakhmut that small squad-sized Ukrainian pushes are retaking several kilometers of territory in the city’s northern and southern flanks.
So yes, Ukraine is still winning. [Tweet exchange between Elon Musk and Dmitry Medvedev] Medved is Putin’s favorite troll, the Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and a former puppet “president.” Truthfully, It would be great if Musk went and checked out Bakhmut today. Please, please, please someone make it happen. And no, I don’t mean that I want Musk to get hurt; I mean perhaps his worldview might shift if he saw what Russian “liberation” actually looks like. He should take Sacks with him as well, as hopeless as a cause that would be. [Tweet and image at the link]
Do these people listen to the gibberish they’re spewing? A very prominent pro-Russian troll:
The Battle of Bakhmut is over. It was one of the longest battles of the 21st century to date, and certainly the bloodiest.
Russia won. In doing so it destroyed much of the Ukrainian Army’s combat power while buying time to generate forces for future offensives.
Wait, Russia needed time to regenerate forces? But the war was only supposed to last three days! What were they doing for the entirety of last year? What were the 400,000 soldiers they mobilized last fall all about? That wasn’t regenerating forces? And if you’re trying to buy time to regenerate forces, why would you go on the attack, which is inherently more costly than any defense?
It’s really hilarious seeing the same people who shrugged off losing over 14,000 square kilometers around Kherson and Kharkiv last fall suddenly decide that one small city with a pre-war population of 75,000 is the most significant victory ever. But I guess the belief that Russia is just holding back is still a real cope in their world.
The only reason why the Bakhmut meat-grinder is finally over is because a major Russian offensive is coming in June, after the mud dries.
Newsflash: Russia already launched its “major Russian offensive” back in January. If someone didn’t notice, it’s because the effort was that sad, pathetic, and ineffective. […]
So what’s next? Pretty much this: [Tweets and images at the link. “Strategic regrouping.” etc.]
Wagner is hightailing it out, and no one left is able to push the front forward. Ukraine holds the high ground west of Bakhmut and line-of-sight straight into the city. Any Russian forces out in the open will be fish in a barrel.
Ukrainian forces are advancing steadily toward Klischiivka to Bakhmut’s southwest. Once they take the heights overlooking the settlement, the Russian garrison in the town will have to retreat. There is one last line of defense after that, that T0513 north-south highway, currently manned by battle-depleted mobiks. [Tweets, images and maps at the link]
We talked about the 3rd Army on Friday—the saddest, most ill-fated unit this entire war. R037 had a hilarious comment about them in that story:
1 extra lesson: The Russian 3rd Army Corps may be the worst unit in Russian history.
– First battle: Reserve unit committed to stop the Kharkiv Counteroffensive. Started fleeing while after barely beginning fighting, and mauled being pursued by UKR 3rd Tank Brig
– Second Battle: Units of 3rd Corps sent to Kharson front, where they arrived in time to be defeated.
– Third battle: Battle of Avdiivka, launched repeated armored assaults south of the city that lost almost all their armor.
– Fourth Battle: Battle of Bakhmut—deployed as reserve troops on the southern flank.
I still think this is the worst unit in Russian history, but the 3rd Army Corps is giving it a run for its money. And if the Ukrainian army decides it’s worth the effort, it may be the last thing between Ukraine and a return to Popasna, which Russia took way back on May 7 of last year after weeks of human-wave attacks. ([…]
The 3rd Army Corp’s best hope is that Ukraine stops at Klischiivka, content to use its heights to pound Russian positions in Bakhmut, while deploying its new storm brigades in some other direction. Otherwise, this might be the location of their ultimate demise.
———————–
Check out this great story by community member R037 on ways Ukraine could use the F-16. He leads by saying, “I have the utmost respect for Kos’ analysis and expertise; but, on the matter of the F-16’s utility, I disagree.” To be clear, my concerns are more about the logistical complexity and breathtakingly high cost of the weapons system. I’d rather have more of other stuff in theater, like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. That said, his argument rests on this scenario:
So a mission might go like this: F-16s will be flying CAP (combat air patrol) within 60-70 km of the front at low altitudes to avoid radar detection. The section of F-16s would be armed with AMRAAMs. An E-3 sentry would coordinate their movements while flying about 300km behind the front lines, giving it the ability to detect targets 100km behind Russian lines, but avoiding entering into S-400 long-range SAM battery ranges.
If a high-altitude fighter enters into the combat environment (within E-3 Sentry detection range) even far behind enemy lines, the F-16s receive data-linked targeting data and can line up and fire AMRAAMs. Flying low, the F-16s will be difficult to detect on radar, and can strike stealthily because of their low altitude—this would help to prevent Russian fighters from flying high-altitude CAP behind friendly lines.
Holy shit, that would be amazing! Yup, I’m game. Sign me up! Except … that entire scenario is predicated on 1) having AMRAAM missiles with their (up to) 160-kilometer range, and 2) hitting targets inside Russia, as Putin’s air force lobs its implements of death far behind the front lines, from the safety of Russian territory.
Yet, 1) there’s no suggestion that Ukraine will get AMRAAM missiles, and we know how squishy the allies get on anything long-range, but even worse, 2) the U.S. has gotten explicit assurance from Ukraine that they will not hit any targets inside Russian territory or its airspace. “All of the capabilities that the United States has proven to Ukraine come with the basic proposition that the United States is not enabling or supporting attacks on Russian territory,” said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to the assembled press at the G7 summit in Hiroshima. “That will go for the support for the provision of F-16s by any party as well.”
So yes, it would be amazing to strike Russian aircraft hiding over its own territory, but the current rules of engagement prohibit that. This restriction severely limits Ukraine’s ability to protect its airspace and land, and severely limits the effectiveness of the aircraft.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Congress eyed measures intended to give the economy a boost, and House Republicans were only too pleased to pitch their ideas. By any fair measure, the GOP bill included little more than tax cuts for corporations that the party wanted anyway. Even the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal conceded the plan “mainly padded corporate bottom lines.”
Democrats, eager to go on the offensive, convened focus groups to help sharpen their message. The party, however, quickly discovered a problem: Voters literally couldn’t believe that Republicans would respond to deadly terrorism by pushing corporate tax breaks. As The New York Times’ Paul Krugman explained at the time, the Republican proposal “was so extreme that when political consultants tried to get reactions from voter focus groups, the voters refused to believe that they were describing the bill accurately.”
More than a decade later, it happened again: A super PAC supporting Barack Obama’s re-election informed focus group participants about Paul Ryan’s budget plan and Mitt Romney’s support for it. As the New York Times reported soon after, respondents “simply refused to believe” what they were hearing.
As Jon Chait summarized at the time, focus group participants were receiving accurate descriptions of real GOP proposals, but the truth “struck those voters as so cartoonishly evil that they found the charge implausible.”
It must be frustrating for Democratic strategists to tell a room full of voters the truth, only to hear in response, “That can’t be right.”
[…] All of this came to mind reading the latest column from The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, who summarized a key element of the Republican Party’s ongoing debt ceiling crisis.
House Republicans decided to hold the economy hostage to slash assistance for low-income Americans while protecting tax cuts for the wealthy. That’s a factual statement, not a partisan complaint.
Quite right. I can’t help but wonder, though, what incredulous focus group participants might say.
To be sure, it doesn’t help when prominent media outlets tell the public that debt-ceiling crises are normal (they’re not), and that if the United States were to default, “both parties“ would deserve the blame (they wouldn’t).
But as much as the coverage matters, there’s no escaping the scandalous radicalism of the underlying extortion plot.
Republicans, abandoning their own country’s legislative process, are demanding drastic spending cuts, which would disproportionately punish low-income Americans and working families, including making it more difficult for the poor to put food on the table. If Democrats refuse to pay this ransom, the GOP says, Republicans will crash the economy on purpose and impose a catastrophe on the world.
Simultaneously, as the extortion plot advances, those same GOP policymakers insist that trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy must be protected at all costs, and the massive Pentagon budget shouldn’t just be shielded from any budget cuts, it should be even bigger.
What’s more, as a dangerous deadline approaches, Republicans say they’re looking for a “compromise,” but they’ve offered effectively nothing in the way of concessions, and they continue to make radical NEW additions to their already radical ransom note.
Would participants in a focus group believe these truths, or to borrow Chait’s phrasing from 11 years ago, would they see this avoidable Republican crisis as “cartoonishly evil”?
Even though this won’t come as new news to many of you, the following is still a clarifying prism. A negotiation is usually two sides haggling to get things they want. Leverage is often unequal. Sometimes one side isn’t “getting” anything but rather just trying to give up as little as possible. But in this negotiation, Republicans are getting various policy priorities and Democrats are “getting” Republican agreement not to create a global financial crisis. That’s extortion, not negotiation. A government can’t operate in any consistent or sustainable way when policy deliverables go to the party willing to credibly threaten the most damage to the country itself.
On Saturday the NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida in response to the relentless Republican attacks on Black, LGBTQ+, and immigrant families. In a statement, the NAACP wrote: “The travel advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”
On Sunday, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz criticized the NAACP’s stance on Twitter, saying that while they did good work for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, “Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly they’ve lost their way.“
The responses were the only catharsis one can have in the face of such an ahistorical statement.
Let’s begin with King’s daughter.
What my father would be deeply concerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida.
As many people pointed out, King spent a good deal of his life calling for similar responses to attempts at fascist terrorism against people of color.
[posted by Kevin M. Kruse] In 1965, Dr. King called for a national boycott of the state of Alabama, saying that Democratic Gov. George Wallace’s policies constituted “a reign of terror” against Black Americans.
The moniker “Cancun Cruz” has been earned by Ted. [Tweet and video showing Cruz leaving Texas to vacation in Cancun during a cold snap that caused a deadly power outage in Texas.]
An insightful observation. “Bizarre”, “Utterly dishonest” are both phrases that could easily appear on your business card. […]
Let’s check in with war criminal and fierce Russian nationalist war critic Igor Girkin, whose continued existence likely surprises even him. I asked at the top if anyone in Russia was pondering King Pyrrhus. Girkin might be the only one.
I already briefly expressed my opinion on the conclusion of the assault on Bakhmut in Telegram. But, reading the strainedly joyful comments on VKontakte [the Russian Facebook], I thought that it would be necessary to calmly and in detail once again go through this operation here too, which is now being inflated in every possible way (in order to stick “victorious laurels” on the bald head of “Cook” [Prigozhin]).
I wrote above about the “manufactured joy” from the pro-Russian side. Girkin says, “strained joyful comments.” We see the same thing—an attempt to hype themselves up over something that isn’t that much of a victory. I’m skipping a bunch of good stuff in the interest of space, so click the link above to read what I am omitting.
[The Bakhmut] operation ended in a strategic failure of our troops. The enemy has NOT been ousted from the Donbas in all the main directions, in most directions – has not been moved at all. During the offensive, the RF Armed Forces used up a lot of trained manpower, exhausted almost to the bottom the stocks of weapons, equipment and ammunition necessary for further offensive operations. Therefore, increased attention has been paid to Bakhmut’s “capture” for the past 2 months – it was necessary to achieve at least some result “for propaganda” in order to “take a breath” later … Look, we “won” … And yesterday they stopped immediately at outskirts of Bakhmut, as soon as they crawled to it, there is no strength to go further […] [WOW!]
I consider the victory near Bakhmut:
– Initially unnecessary (“distraction to an unusable object”, I wrote about this many times);
– Pyrrhic. It was not worth the effort and money spent on it …
Girkin now expects Ukrainian forces to have the upper hand in their coming counteroffensive because Russian frontline units are exhausted from constant combat the last five months, they are running low on ammunition, and wherever Ukraine decides to attack, […] Russia’s lines are too thinned out to present any offensive threat.
My favorite videos are “life is returning to normal videos.” [Tweet and video at the link] Of course, Kharkiv is anything but normal, as it was shelled heavily the following night.
So-called populist politicians are uniformly bullies by nature, but there aren’t many politicians out there who are both bullies and so visibly, relentlessly gutless as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis gave the keynote speech on Saturday night at the anti-abortion group Florida Family Policy Council’s annual dinner. This is the usual stuff of political campaigning; DeSantis’ staff undoubtedly scheduled his appearance to show support for the far-right movement currently pressing for nationwide abortion bans. The message the audience is supposed to take from the speech: “See there, I am one of you.”
In DeSantis’ case, however, that message has to remain almost entirely subliminal. DeSantis may have been speaking to one of the most prominent anti-abortion groups in the state, for the express purpose of polishing, yet again, his fringe-right bona fides, but The Washington Post reports that during DeSantis’ entire 40-minute speech, he mentioned abortion only once, and only by euphemism, and for a grand total of … 20 seconds.
“We believe that everybody counts, everybody is special — and our Heartbeat Protection Act shows that we say what we mean and we mean what we say,” said DeSantis, according to the Post. Then after a brief allusion to there being “much more to do,” he skedaddled from the issue to instead regale the anti-abortion group with what he must have imagined they really wanted to hear about, standard stump stuff about his tax policies.
In all fairness to Ron, this is because he is gutless—tragically, shamefully gutless, in the full medical meaning of the phrase. The man has hydraulics where his guts should be. DeSantis may want to brag to his friendly audience about his latest acts of far-right cruelty, but DeSantis does not give a damn about any of it, not really; it was all a show in order to position him for a competition with the seditionist Donald Trump for the Republican nomination to the presidency, and now his more pressing concern is to keep his own mouth shut about it.
Why? Because DeSantis and the rest of the Republican Party are terrified of the public’s fury at far-right abortion bans. Republican anti-abortion measures remain blazingly unpopular with the public, one of the most hot-button issues working against Republicanism that there currently is, and no matter how many posh galas for the theocratic far-right each Republican candidate might attend, when the primaries are over and they have to face out-party challengers each Republican is terrified that their quotes to these far-right groups will come back to haunt them.
So, in Ron’s case, that means he can’t even muster the guts to even mention abortion to an anti-abortion group on the occasion of being feted for his anti-abortion stances—not for longer than 20 seconds, anyway. Lordy, what if someone makes tapes?
[…] DeSantis is a born coward. He’s going to be running from his own shadow from day one.
The states along the Colorado River — a vital source of water and electricity for the American West — reached an agreement with the Biden administration to conserve an unprecedented amount of their water supply in exchange for $1.2 billion in federal funding, state and federal officials said on Monday.
After nearly a year of negotiations and multiple missed deadlines, the deal amounts to a temporary solution intended to protect the country’s largest reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — from dropping to critical levels over the next three years. These reservoirs have fallen dramatically as the warming climate and the past two decades of drought have pared down the river’s natural flow by some 20 percent.
To stabilize the river, the three states that comprise the Lower Basin — California, Arizona, and Nevada — have agreed to voluntarily conserve 3 million acre-feet of water over the next three years, which amounts to 13 percent of these states’ total allocation from the river. The Biden administration has committed to compensating the states for three quarters of the water savings — or 2.3 million acre-feet — which would amount to some $1.2 billion in federal funds, the people familiar with the talks said. The money from the Inflation Reduction Act would pay farmers, Native American tribes, cities and others who voluntarily forego their supplies.
“There are 40 million people, seven states, and 30 Tribal Nations who rely on the Colorado River Basin for basic services such as drinking water and electricity,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement on Monday. “Today’s announcement is a testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to working with states, Tribes and communities throughout the West to find consensus solutions in the face of climate change and sustained drought.”
[…] Tom Buschatzke, Arizona’s commissioner to the Colorado River talks, stressed on Monday that the deal did not represent a final outcome and the parties have agreed to a new proposal to be analyzed by the Interior Department in the months ahead.
[…] The deal comes with emergency provisions if the reservoirs fall farther than expected in the next three years. The states would take additional action to protect reservoir elevations of 1,000 feet above sea level at Lake Mead and 3,500 feet at Lake Powell.
The heavy rain and snow that battered Western states this winter helped ease the crisis on the Colorado River and provided time and space for negotiators to reach a deal. As spring runoff begins, the reservoirs have started rising and the dire predictions about reaching critical thresholds have receded, for now.
The 3 million acre-feet in reductions over three years is less than some of the more dire scenarios that were laid out in the federal government’s environmental review. But state and federal officials have said they are comfortable that these reductions will be enough to protect the reservoirs until 2026, when the states and the federal government have been planning a major renegotiation of how the Colorado River gets divvied up.
[…] The fact that much of the water conservation could take place this year and next year — as opposed to starting in 2024 under the alternatives outlined in the current draft environmental impact statement — make it a more appealing alternative that will leave reservoirs at higher levels […]
The Freedom of Russia Legion, whose fighters claim to be fighting on the side of Ukraine, said its goal was to create a “demilitarised zone” in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast…
The Freedom of Russia Legion said this in relation to the videos they shared on the morning of Monday, 22 May, in which its fighters claim to have “liberated” the Russian villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol, and to have started an assault on the town of Grayvoron in the Belgorod Oblast.
The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps announced earlier that they were “liberating” settlements in Belgorod Oblast from the current Russian government. They asserted that the villages of Kozinka and Gora-Podol were just the beginning, and that their goal was to “liberate” all of Russia…
Soldiers on the front in Ukraine adhere to a maxim that grows more sacrosanct the longer they survive: If you want to live, dig. In mid-March, I arrived at a small Army position in the eastern region of the Donbas, where shock waves and shrapnel had reduced the surrounding trees to splintered canes. Artillery had churned up so much earth that you could no longer distinguish between craters and the natural topography. Eight infantrymen were rebuilding a machine-gun nest that Russian shelling had obliterated the previous week, killing one of their comrades. A torn piece of a jacket, from a separate blast, hung on a branch high above us. A log-covered dugout, where the soldiers slept, was about five feet deep and not much wider. At the sound of a Russian helicopter, everyone squeezed inside. A direct hit from a mortar had charred the timber. To refortify the structure, new logs had been stacked over the burned ones. Ukrainian soldiers often employ netting or other camouflage to evade drone surveillance, but here subterfuge would have been futile. Russian forces had already pinpointed the position and seemed determined to eradicate it. As for the infantrymen, their mission was straightforward: not to leave and not to die.
The helicopter deployed several rockets somewhere up the tree line. The soldiers climbed back into the light, found their shovels, and resumed working. One of them, called Syava, had a missing front tooth and wore a large combat knife on his belt. The others began mocking the knife as unsuitable for a modern industrial conflict.
“I’ll give it to you as a gift after the war,” Syava said.
“ ‘After the war’—so optimistic!”
Everybody laughed. On the front, to talk about the future, or to imagine experiencing a reality distinct from the baleful present, smacked of naïveté or hubris.
[…] Syava and his comrades belonged to an infantry battalion in the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which had been fighting without respite for more than a year. The brigade was originally based near Odesa, the historic port city on the Black Sea. At the start of the invasion, Russian forces from Crimea, the southern peninsula that Vladimir Putin had annexed in 2014, failed to reach Odesa but did capture another coastal city, Kherson. The 28th Brigade was at the forefront of an ensuing campaign to liberate Kherson. For some six months, the Russians staved off the Ukrainians with a deluge of artillery and air strikes […]. Finally, in November, Russia withdrew across the Dnipro River. Battered members of the 28th Brigade were among the first Ukrainian troops to enter Kherson. Crowds greeted them there as heroes. Before they could recover, they were sent three hundred miles northeast, to the outskirts of Bakhmut, a besieged city that was becoming the scene of the most ferocious violence of the war.
Syava’s battalion, which numbered about six hundred men, was posted on the edge of a village south of Bakhmut. The village was controlled by the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization notorious for committing atrocities in Africa and the Middle East. For the war in Ukraine, Wagner recruited thousands of inmates from Russian prisons by offering them pardons in exchange for combat tours. The onslaught of expendable convicts proved too much for the Ukrainians, who were still reeling from Kherson and had not yet replenished their ranks and matériel. The commander of the battalion, a thirty-nine-year-old lieutenant colonel named Pavlo, said of the Wagner fighters, “They were like zombies. They used the prisoners like a wall of meat. It didn’t matter how many we killed—they kept coming.”
Within weeks, the battalion faced annihilation: entire platoons had been wiped out in close-contact firefights, and some seventy men had been encircled and massacred. The dwindling survivors, one officer told me, “became useless because they were so tired.” In January, what was left of the battalion retreated from the village and established defensive positions in the tree lines and open farmland a mile to the west. “Wagner kicked our asses,” the officer said.
The Russian mercenaries subsequently left for Bakhmut, to shore up other forces there, and the conventional troops who replaced them were far less numerous and suicidal. By the time I joined the battalion, about two months had passed since it had lost the battle for the village, and during the interim neither side had attempted a major operation against the other. It was all the Ukrainians could do to maintain the stalemate. Pavlo estimated that, owing to the casualties his unit had sustained, eighty per cent of his men were new draftees. “They’re civilians with no experience,” he said. “If they give me ten, I’m lucky when three of them can fight.”
We were in his bunker, which had been dug in the back yard of a half-demolished farmhouse; the constant rumble of artillery vibrated through the dirt walls. […] His military call sign was Cranky, and he was renowned for his temper, but he spoke sympathetically about his weaker soldiers and their fears. Even for him, a career officer of twenty-three years, this phase of the war had been harrowing.
[…] Just two of the soldiers who were rebuilding the machine-gun nest had been with the battalion since Kherson. One of them, a twenty-nine-year-old construction worker called Bison—because he was built like one—had been hospitalized three times: after being shot in the shoulder, after being wounded by shrapnel in the ankle and knee, and after being wounded by shrapnel in the back and arm. The other veteran, code-named Odesa, had enlisted in the Army in 2015, after dropping out of college. Short and stocky, he had the same serene deportment as Bison. The uncanny extent to which both men had adapted to their lethal environment underscored the agitation of the recent arrivals, who flinched whenever something whistled overhead or crashed nearby.
[…] Because the high attrition rate had disproportionately affected the bravest and most aggressive soldiers—a phenomenon that one officer called “reverse natural selection”—seasoned infantrymen like Odesa and Bison were extremely valuable and extremely fatigued.
[…] On the Zero Line, there was only enough water for drinking, not for washing, and the men’s cracked fingernails and thickly calloused palms were so encrusted with dirt that it seemed to have become part of them. […]
Russian state media: ‘Majority’ of residents flee Belgorod Oblast villages along border.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, said that the “majority” of residents in the border villages of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast have fled.
Earlier on May 22, the Russian Volunteer Corps, allegedly fighting on Ukraine’s side, claimed its members conducted combat operations in Belgorod Oblast.
It’s the water supply that 40 million Americans rely on, and a group of states has reached a temporary deal with the Biden administration on how to share it.
What’s using all that water? Hint: It’s less about long showers and more about what’s for dinner….
none of the doctors from the adolescent health clinic are still employed there […] soon after Attorney General Ken Paxton […] investigating the clinic for providing gender-affirming care
[…]
Patients […] scrambling […] many looking outside Texas. But gender-affirming care was only a small part of what this clinic provided, […] eating disorders and mental health issues […] menstrual disorders […] developmental disabilities.
officers who since joining Florida police departments have been arrested for kidnapping and murder and officers who, before they moved […] had numerous complaints […] from excessive force to false imprisonment to sexual extortion.
[…]
police have come from all across the nation, a number […] fleeing the NYPD, which faced significant backlash for their violent response to the racial justice protests in 2020
ozone-depleting substances […] are also responsible for causing 30% of the temperature increase we saw globally from 1955 to 2005. […] By banning ODSs, the Montreal Protocol unintentionally prevented 1°C of warming by 2050.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Russia has opened a terrorism investigation over the events in Belgorod, where an anti-Kremlin militia claimed to have overrun a Russian border settlement. Fighting broke out along the Russian border with Ukraine after self-described Russian partisan forces launched a cross-border raid, claiming to have overrun a border settlement for the first time in the war. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that “Ukrainian militants” were still active in the region. [The Guardian has a report: “Belgorod: the Russian region being dragged into Putin’s war on Ukraine,” which is quite a title.]
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov warned resident[s] against returning to their homes, saying that “The cleaning of the territory by the ministry of defence together with law enforcement agencies continues”. He confirmed that residents of nine settlements had been resettled as a result of the fighting.
Ukrainian forces still control the south-western edge of the city of Bakhmut and fighting in the city itself has decreased, deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Tuesday. She wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv’s forces had made some progress “on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut” and that Russian forces, which say they have taken the city itself, were continuing to clear areas they control.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited marines on Tuesday on the Vuhledar-Maryinka defence line in the Donetsk region, as part of celebrations for the national day of Ukrainian marines.
…
Ukraine’s general staff said that on Monday Russia carried out 20 missile strikes against Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts, using cruise missiles, Iskander-M ballistic missiles, and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles over the past day. It also claimed that Russia launched 48 airstrikes using Shahed drones, and targeted both civilian and military targets with up to 90 strikes using multiple-launch rocket systems….
Sources at the Italian state broadcaster, Rai, have accused Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government of wanting to bend the organisation to its will and “cancel Italy’s antifascism footprints” after a series of high-profile departures.
In recent weeks Carlo Fuortes resigned as chief executive, citing pressure from the government, while Fabio Fazio, a left-leaning talkshow host, and his co-presenter, Luciana Littizzetto, a comedian known for her monologues targeting conservatives, left after failing to get their contracts for the popular Che Tempo Che Fa programme renewed. More departures are expected over the coming months….
…As Ohio law currently stands, voters can amend the state constitution by a direct vote with a simple majority. If it passes this November, one such ballot initiative – brought forward by Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom – would codify the right to abortion in the Ohio constitution.
But Republicans in the Ohio house of representatives passed a proposal on 10 May that could make it much harder for that abortion rights measure to pass by requiring a supermajority vote for ballot measures. The proposal, Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR-2), is scheduled to come before voters in an August special election.
Opponents of the bill have already filed suit to stop the 8 August election, citing the state legislature’s recent move to prohibit August special elections. Given the short timeframe – election officials will begin to prepare ballots next month – the lawsuit would need to be resolved quickly to have an effect on the upcoming election.
…
In states like Ohio, where GOP-gerrymandered maps – deemed unconstitutional by the state’s highest court – have stymied attempts to pass progressive legislation, groups have used ballot initiatives to enact those laws instead. But only 24 states allow citizens to directly enact legislation or constitutional amendments, and Republican legislators have increasingly moved to restrict the ability to pass initiatives by a direct vote.
In 2022, Arizona Republicans used a ballot initiative to require a supermajority for proposals that would involve raising taxes and to limit ballot initiatives to focus on a single subject. As in Ohio, the move in Arizona was passed in advance of a ballot initiative to add abortion rights to the state constitution.
A similar push by Republicans failed this month in Missouri, where voters could see an abortion rights amendment up for a direct vote as soon as 2024. Similar bills have been introduced to restrict the use of ballot initiatives in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Idaho.
Voting rights advocates in Ohio point to the long-term consequences of the measure for the passage of popular legislation.
“It is going to affect all of democracy, not just abortion,” said Kayla Griffin, state director of the voting rights group All Voting Is Local. “It will be increasingly hard for the people’s voice to be heard in a state that does not listen to the voice of the people.”
A range of anti-abortion and business groups with ties to the national right wing have voiced their support for the measure to restrict ballot initiatives in Ohio….
…
Also supporting the bill is the Ohio Restaurant Association, an affiliate of the National Restaurant Association, which has historically opposed legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour. A measure to raise the Ohio minimum wage to $15 via ballot initiative is pending in the state and could be put to a vote in November 2024.
Meanwhile, the Republican maneuver has generated a wave of opposition at the grassroots. More than 50 Ohio organizations have endorsed the Vote No in August campaign, which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the measure’s passage. On 10 May, protesters flooded the state capitol building to oppose the measure.
…
Voting rights advocates opposing the measure say they will face unusually tough hurdles in getting out the vote in the August special election, given that the state passed in January a raft of restrictive voting laws. The laws limit the early voting period, reduce the amount of time voters have to turn in mail-in ballots and impose stricter voter identification requirements….
Moscow claims to have pushed back the fighters it says launched a crossborder attack from Ukraine to the Belgorod region, Reuters reports, noting that the claim could not immediately be independently verified.
There has been little clarity about who ordered the attack. Russia has claimed it was carried out by “Ukrainian militants”, dismissing reports they had self-identified as an ethnic Russian anti-Kremlin militia. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were many ethnic Russians inside Ukraine, and that this did not mean they were not Ukrainian militants, ultimately.
Kyiv has disavowed connection to the Russian partisan fighters, saying they act independently and are not subject to military control.
Russia’s defence ministry claims remnants of the units it blamed for the attack have now been forced back into Ukrainian territory. In its daily briefing, the ministry has said more than 70 attackers were killed. Reuters was unable to verify that report.
I just got off the phone with the operation’s leader, who was in a pretty good mood. Didn’t sound at all like 70 of his fighters had been eliminated. In fact, he said the operation wasn’t over.
In the fifteenth month of the full-scale war, the official #Kremlin (via #Peskov) finally formulated the goal of the “special military operation”: to prevent the fall of the #Belgorod region. Utterly unwitting and short-sighted. They should think one step ahead and start a new information campaign of “Russian victory”: “Done. Together forever. #Kaluga, #Tula, #Ryazan are #Russia”.
Seriously, it’s time for the Russian regime to think about objective reality: the sooner you leave all the territories of #Ukraine, the less of a catastrophe Russia will end up with in the end…
The driver of a truck that crashed into security barriers near the White House on Monday night has been identified as a 19-year-old from Missouri who was arrested on multiple charges, including threatening to kill or harm a president, vice president or family member, officials said.
The driver was Sai Varshith Kandula of Chesterfield, U.S. Park Police said Tuesday morning.
Kandula was further charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and trespassing.
Authorities said the preliminary investigation indicates Kandula “intentionally crashed” into the bollards outside Lafayette Park. A Nazi flag was seized by authorities at the scene of the incident…
A man who was walking on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him, authorities said.
I was told not to tweet this until the houses adjourned for fear of jinxing it, but the Minnesota legislature just completed what is probably the most productive session anywhere in the country since probably the New Deal. Sweeping bills and reforms across every area of life.
Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor part accompanied this monumental session with a six-vote margin in the House and a bare one-vote majority in the Senate. The scale of their achievement cannot be overstated.
With no votes to spare, Minnesota Democrats have implemented vast new social programs, enacted protections for groups threatened by far-right states and the Supreme Court, strengthened unions, poured money into schools, replaced infrastructure, and fed every Minnesota child.
I want to do this justice so tomorrow I’m going to add all the high points to this thread, but with the session ending a few minutes ago I wanted to emphasize that something really incredible has happened here. I hope all the DFL legislators sleep well tonight.
The guy on the far right in the 2nd picture [of the “Russian Volunteers” in Belgorod allegedly] is Russian Aleksandr Skachkov, who the SBU arrested in 2020 during a raid on people selling translated versions of the Christchurch Shooter’s Manifesto, following our reporting on the topic:…
…
If you’re unclear of his current political views, it seems the patch he’s wearing makes that pretty clear….
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Monday appeared to suggest the GOP investigation into President Biden’s family members and their finances is really about helping Trump win in 2024. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
Turkey’s third-placed presidential election candidate, Sinan Ogan, on Monday backed frontrunner Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a boost ahead of the scheduled runoff vote.
Ogan, who received 5.17% of votes in the first round of the presidential election that took place on May 14, told a news conference in Ankara that he will back the incumbent Erdogan, rather than his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, in the presidential runoff planned for May 28…
Texas state lawmakers crept closer late Monday night to approving a series of bills aimed at stripping one of the country’s largest cities of the authority to run its own elections.
The measures single out Harris County, home both to 4.7 million people and to much of the city of Houston, the biggest in Texas.
Texas state lawmakers are poised on Tuesday to pass two bills: one which would fire Harris County’s elections administrator, and another which would lay out a process to give the Texas Secretary of State veto power over how elections are run in the area.
One amendment added late on Monday night in the state House made the legislature’s intent even harder to ignore, clarifying that the measures are meant to apply only to one very specific, large, Democratic-voting city — and not the rest of Texas. The Texas Secretary of State, per the amendment, only has veto power over election policies in counties with a population of 4 million or more. After Harris, Dallas County is the second-largest, and has a population of 2.6 million per the most recent census.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that the legislation would “strip autonomy from the county.” The state Senate now has to approve the measure.
Texas lawmakers have spent years using voter fraud conspiracy theories to attack elections administration in heavily populated areas that happen to be voting increasingly Democratic. Many of these emerged out of former President Trump’s effort to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, though the author of the two bills in question has faced accusations of voter suppression for years preceding Trump’s attempt to stay in office after defeat.
…
The state lawmaker sponsoring SB 1750 and SB 1933 is Senator Paul Bettencourt (R), a former Harris County tax assessor-collector who was responsible for running the county’s elections during his tenure in the office from 1998 to 2008.
…
Bettencourt tweeted later on Tuesday that he ran into former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Texas Capitol, and said that he had assured the former Number 10 resident that he was “cracking down on a leftist progressive (Harris County) Elections Administrator.”
A Moscow court has extended the detention of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia on espionage charges at the end of March.
During a brief hearing on Tuesday, the court ordered that Gershkovich should remain in jail until 30 August, Russian news agencies report. His pre-trial detention was initially set to expire next week. He is being held in the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, and could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Gershkovich, 31, is the first American journalist to be detained in Russia on spying charges since the end of the cold war. He was detained in the Urals city of Ekaterinburg while there on a reporting trip at the end of March.
Russia’s FSB security service has claimed he was collecting state secrets about Russia’s military industrial complex. Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal have denied the charges. An open letter to Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, signed by more than 300 foreign correspondents who have worked in Russia, read:
We have no doubt that the only purpose and intention of his work was to inform his readers about the current reality in Russia.
It has been widely speculated that Russia arrested Gershkovich with the hope of trading him for Russian intelligence officers or other persons of interest to Moscow arrested in western countries, but so far there appears to have been little progress in discussions over a possible exchange.
Last month, Joe Biden praised the “absolute courage” of Gershkovich and said he was “working like hell” to secure his release.
Russia’s embassy in Norway has criticised a planned visit by a US aircraft carrier to Oslo as an “illogical and harmful” show of force, AFP reports.
The 337-metre (1,106-foot) USS General Ford is scheduled to dock in the Norwegian capital this week. The Russian embassy spokesman Timur Chekanov has told the agency:
There are no issues in the North that require a military solution, nor issues that require outside intervention. Considering that Oslo admits that Russia poses no direct military threat to Norway [when did Oslo “admit” that?], such shows of force seem illogical and harmful.
The first-in-class aircraft carrier is a nuclear-powered ship with a displacement of more than 100,000 tonnes.
The US Navy announced in early May that the ship had departed Norfolk on its “first combat deployment”, following a shorter two-month deployment in the autumn of 2022. The Norwegian defence minister Bjorn Arild Gram told the news agency NTB:
The fact that a new aircraft carrier is now making its first visit to Norwegian waters is very positive for our cooperation with the Americans.
Relations between the Nato member Norway and Russia – with which the Scandinavian country shares a border – have deteriorated sharply in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
StevoRsays
Man onc e famous for artwork now better known as a convicted pedophile Rolf Harris ahs died :
WARNING : Pretty much as you’d expect really. Grinning dead pedo’s face,refernces to his child abusing crimes.
Reginald Selkirksays
Bettencourt tweeted later on Tuesday that he ran into former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Texas Capitol, and said that he had assured the former Number 10 resident that he was “cracking down on a leftist progressive (Harris County) Elections Administrator.”
Because a former prime minister of Britain cares deeply about partisan Texas politics?
SC @440, you’re welcome. Colorado River water is a big issue across a wide swath of the western USA. It’s really difficult to get people to change their ways when it comes to using water. I think the Biden Administration was right to use a carrot-and-stick approach.
I find a lot of people talking about “getting their fair share of the water,” and fewer people talking about more basic issues like how to use less water.
KGsays
SC@447, 454,
It seems unwise, to say the least, for Ukraine to allow a force of Russian “partisans” with neo-Nazi links to operate from its territory, however much they, and we, might feel that turnabout is fair play.
KG @ #463, I don’t think anyone has established what exactly is going on with this group. I remember the last time they started something around the border some people noted that (IIRC) German intelligence had in the past suspected links between some of them and the GRU or FSB. Now the Guardian is reporting on photos of them with NATO vehicles or something and it’s rousing my suspicions. The whole thing is very sketch and potentially some sort of influence operation (possibly connected to the Kremlin and state media stoking fears of an immanent invasion along the border for the past several weeks). I’m not saying the Ukrainians definitely aren’t abetting it, but I haven’t seen any solid evidence of who’s behind what and what’s just opportunistic trolling/propaganda.
We reported earlier that Russia claims to have pushed back the militants who attacked the border region of Belgorod. Here’s an update on the claims from the Russian defence ministry, which says its forces surrounded the fighters and defeated them with “air strikes, artillery fire and active action by border units”.
According to Reuters, it claims that – alongside the more-than 70 militants who were killed – four armoured vehicles and five pick-up trucks were destroyed.
The remnants of the nationalists were pushed back to Ukrainian territory, where they continued to be hit by gunfire until they were completely eliminated.
The Belgorod regional governor said one civilian had been killed “at the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces”. Reuters has been unable to verify any of the assertions.
One of the two fighting groups – the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) – said on social media: “One day we’ll come to stay.”
Moscow has blamed Kyiv, but – while Ukraine’s government has said it is watching the situation – it insists it has “nothing to do with it”.
KG @463, and SC @447, 454 and 464: I have watched Russia exert pressure on some regions to fight harder against Ukraine. Russia’s Belgorod province borders Ukraine’s Luhansk, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. I wonder if this is just another Putin ploy to rouse animosity toward Ukraine?
As SC noted, the whole thing is very sketchy. Even without the supposed neo-Nazi links, it is sketchy. Too many questions. Not enough answers.
StevoRsays
A rare rodent despite its ordinary appearance that hides a strange little understood genetic secret, the Ryukyu Spiny Rat or Amami long-haired Rat (Tokudaia osimensis) is this Week’s Endangered Species of the Week. A seemingly typical albeit slightly punk-y looking rat earning its name by its 2 cm long spiny hairs; this species is found only on a single Japanese island, Amami having an extremely small range and a fragmented and declining population although its small range isn’t the main reason why it is in trouble. Scientists studying thsi species have leant that it is actually genetically remarkable in losing its Y-Chromosome – and yet this too isn’t the reason it is vanishing.
This funny mouse is also regularly found in burrows inhabited by the Habu pit viper (Protobothrops flavoviridis) but, once again that also isn’t its problem because, oddly, it seems to co-exist just fine with that unlikely partner.
The actual cause of this small mammal’s endangered plight is habitat loss combined with competition from introduced pests not just its close Rattus rattus or House Rat cousin but also intorduced mongooses*, feral cats and feral dogs.
Its very close rodentine relative – once thought to be the same species but since discovered to be own unique one the Tokunoshima Spiny Rat (Tokudaia tokunoshimensis) also lacks a Y-chromosome and is also endangered and restricted solely to its namesake island. It might be small but this species does have thsoe special features and hopefully we can learn more and not lose it forever with some care and effort.
Wiradjuri journalist, author & TV host Stan Grant’s speech before stepping away after racism and death threats and controversy following an honest if controversial discussion on Aussie TV of the Britsh monarchy & its imapct on Oz before the latest British Monarch was crowned. Critical of media, racism and more.
Don’t agree with all of it – Grant is a variety of Christian FWIW – and wasn’t his biggest fan but still worth listening to I think.
StevoRsays
@470. SC (Salty Current) :Just curious but are these the same people who used to and probly still will call left wing progressive people “snowflakes” becoz .. yeah.
Bits and pieces of campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:
* We’ve reached the point at which Republican presidential candidates have to be asked whether they might try to overturn the election results if they lose. Sen. Tim Scott told NBC News yesterday that he would not.
* Speaking of the South Carolinian, every recent GOP candidate looks for a billionaire backer, and Scott has apparently found one: Oracle co-founder and Republican megadonor Larry Ellison is preparing to spend considerable sums backing the senator’s 2024 candidacy.
* In related news, Donald Trump tends to condemn his rivals for the GOP nomination, but the former president published a surprisingly pleasant missive to his social media platform yesterday, wishing Scott luck, and comparing him favorably to “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
* After Lev Parnas was arrested in 2019 for funneling a Russian oligarch’s money into American political campaigns, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed his connections to the controversial businessman. A new Reuters report, however, said the two “worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor.”
From Politico: Whoops! Foreign imagery keeps creeping into [Republican] campaign ads.
Videos include stock imagery from Russia, Ukraine, Italy and Estonia. […] More at the link.
Example: One of Glenn Youngkin’s ads uses video in which you can plainly see the red, white and green symbol of the Italian Air force, and you can seed the word “Typhoon” on the jet’s tail. “A scene that was supposed to show an American jet actually featured a Eurofighter Typhoon from the Italian Air Force.”
More, (irony alert):
Former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign made a similar mistake earlier this month, as Ukrainian photographers claimed the organization had used footage from after Russia’s invasion to depict Americans suffering under President Joe Biden.
“Under Biden’s unprecedented inflation, the hope of home-ownership — gone. And young adults, forced to abandon seeking the American dream to live in their parents’ basement longer,” a voice says in the video.
A man is seen sitting on a beanbag chair in a dark room. But that wasn’t a struggling young adult living in his parent’s basement — it featured an actor in an actual sheltered basement in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, meant to show the struggles of living under air raid sirens, the owner of the company that produced the footage told the New York Post.
Another portion of the video shows a couple walking away from a realtor as the words “unprecedented inflation” appear on screen. That, too, was shot in Ukraine, the videographer told the Post.[…]
Self-proclaimed “fighter against nazis”, the president of the so-called Russian Federation had a lackey bring him a 17th-century map to show that no Ukraine existed back then. Typically, this is enough grounds for him to kill several hundred thousand of foreign and own people in the 21st century. After over a year of getting beaten, having ran his country into the ground, and leaving it with no future, the accused child kidnapper continues pushing the line he made up just to stay in power for the rest of his life.
Notice the words “quasi-state developments” he used: he is not just talking about Ukraine, he is also talking about the Baltic countries, perhaps Finland, Central Asia, and other nations and territories that were fully or partially annexed by the Russian Empire. For this individual, none of these states should exist, they should be eliminated and annexed back to Russia.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess was questioned during a Senate Estimates hearing whether recent public demonstrations signalled a growing threat from Neo-Nazi groups.
Mr Burgess suggested while the demonstrations are becoming more brazen, they are primarily aimed at driving recruitment, and do not necessarily indicate a growing terror threat from Neo-Nazi groups.
… (Snip)…
Mr Burgess said it could be that the recent Neo-Nazi activity has been aimed at building influence, and trying to legitimately influence politics and public discourse.
..(snip)..
Greens Senator David Shoebridge questioned the ASIO director on why only three of the 29 ‘listed’ terror organisations are right-wing groups, given the 70-30 split.
When a terror organisation becomes ‘listed’, it becomes illegal to be a member of such a group, or provide funding or resources to it.
The first right-wing group to be listed was the ‘Sonnenkrieg Division’, a UK-based group, which was listed in 2019.Mr Burgess said the right-wing groups are often “smarter” and avoid publicly advocating terrorism, which would see them listed.
Gen. Hertling thinks the Belgorod incursion was a raid (Twitter link). It’s possible, although some of the evidence doesn’t quite fit. If it was, and it was planned or permitted by the AFU, then I agree with KG @ #463.
KGsays
SC@464, 465, Lynna OM@468,
Yes, fair points. As far as who was behind the “raid” is concerned, we can wait and see, but often in similar cases (the pipelines, the killing of Dugina…) that hasn’t provided any resolution!
House Republicans are bidding for steep spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. First, though, they paused during their private weekly meeting on Tuesday to bid for something else: Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s used chapstick.
Really.
The fundraising auction of McCarthy’s used cherry lip balm ended when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) placed a winning $100,000 bid, as confirmed by her spokesperson. She only began bidding after the California Republican chose to sweeten the deal: He agreed to attend a dinner with the winner and whichever donors and supporters they planned to bring along. That cash is headed for the House GOP campaign arm…
What’s the latest addition to the menu at Hamburger Mary’s? The famed burger chain is now serving justice.
Hamburger Mary’s in Orlando has filed suit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claiming that his campaign against LGBTQ+ people and drag queens has deprived the business of its First Amendment rights, and the new drag laws have deprived the company of customers.
Last week, DeSantis signed bills aimed at transgender people, specifically treatments for minors, the use of trans and nonbinary pronouns in school, bathroom access, and keeping children from attending drag shows.
Hamburger Mary’s hosts drag performances including bingo, trivia, and comedy, and on Sundays they offer popular “family friendly” events that children are invited to attend. However, in the lawsuit, the restaurant alleges after the bill was signed it lost 20% of its bookings for Sunday and future events…
This update written by Mark Sumner is topped with an inspiring image of “Experienced drone pilot Marta, from the group Female Pilots of Ukraine, instructs others on flying the DJI M30. 20 May 2023.”
For the last two days, any news about Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has been all but drowned out by Russia’s invasion of … Russia. On Monday, fighters reportedly belonging to the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps crossed the border into Belgorod oblast and swiftly moved through the town of Kozinka, where they captured a Russian BTR-82A armored personnel carrier, before going on to the village of Glotovo. On Monday night, video showed more trucks reportedly belonging to these organizations moving into the area, and videos on Tuesday morning showed these forces apparently moving with ease along the highway between the two locations.
The immediate reaction from many quarters was a kind of celebration. While most people realized that this was a small action that posed no actual threat to the government of dictator Vladimir Putin, just the thought of this Russian-on-Russian action was enough to spark visions of the breakdown in the Russian military and civil structure that has seemed so possible since the war began. That it was just a few guys and Russia still couldn’t mount any kind of effort to push them out only made it more hilarious.
As pleasing as it may be to contemplate a Russian collapse, the people involved in this Belgorod homecoming are definitely not heroes. Announcements from these groups have included genocidal messages about LGBTQ+ people that make Russia’s abusive and inhuman practices seem mild. At least one of those featured in the videos is an out-and-out neo-Nazi who has previously listed Timothy McVeigh among his idols. These are not the good guys, and it’s unclear if anything about this is really helping Ukraine.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press quoted a senior official in Moscow who claimed that Russian troops had “killed more than 70 attackers in a battle that lasted around 24 hours,” ending the incursion into Belgorod oblast. At the same time, videos and images continued to show those anti-Putin Russians very much alive—and apparently unharassed—as they moved deeper into Russia, reportedly approaching the more substantial town of Grayvolon. At about 9 AM ET, pro-Russian group Rybar stated that fighting between the “Ukrainian saboteurs” and Russian forces was ongoing, with the Russian forces under the command of Chief of Staff of Russia’s Ground Forces Alexander Lapin.
So … they’re all dead. Except they’re not. And the fight is ongoing. Maybe.
The Rybar message seems to indicate that Russia is treating this seriously, but considering how long the would-be Belgorod nationalists have played around inside Russian territory, it seems like a case of trying to slam a big barn door shut well after the horses have escaped—the horses in this case being any concept that Russia has decent border security, or that it is capable of addressing an armed force inside its own territory.
While no one should expect that this series of events will result in a lengthy conflict within Russia, that doesn’t mean it won’t result in some of the 97% of the Russian military currently deployed in Ukraine heading back across the border. Because the one thing that seems obvious now is that had this been a serious incursion supported by more than a handful of guys in purloined vehicles, they very well might have plunged straight on to the city of Belgorod, capturing military bases and rail junctions in passing.
Russia’s internal defense turns out to be nonexistent, and on Russian television, they acknowledge that fact. [Tweet and video at the link]
It would be nice to think that back in the basement of the presidential palace in Kyiv, some military planner was tapping a pencil against his teeth and thinking, “How can we convince Russia to move significant forces off the front line before the counteroffensive, and also get rid of these neo-Nazi asshats who don’t want to listen to orders anyway? Hey! How about we…” But it’s very unlikely that happened.
The best bet is that the Freedom of Russia Legion and RVC guys got bored staring across the border and did what another group of the same guys did back in March, when the Russian Volunteer Corps strolled into the villages of Lyubechane and Sushany in Bryansk oblast. That event, which involved a reported 45 members of the RVC, seems very similar to what’s happened in Kozinka and Glotovo. The group, on that occasion, also easily pushed past an unprepared border guard, reportedly destroying two vehicles in the process. After a day of walking around, raising flags, and confusing local civilians, they withdrew.
In both cases, the official Ukrainian military position has been that they did not send these forces or authorize them to go. Which is easy to believe. Ukraine is extremely sensitive to the idea that it is the victim of this conflict. As appealing as it may be to seek revenge on the Russian side of the border, especially after watching Bakhmut get slowly pulverized over the last eight months, Ukraine, for the most part, has demonstrated extreme restraint. Any military crossing of the Russian border by ground forces is likely to be part of a broader strategy—and watching neo-nazis go wild in a U.S.-made MRAP is not that strategy.
It’s quite possible that the incursion into Belgorod will end the same way as the one into Bryansk, with most of the RVC forces slipping back across the border. But Russia doesn’t seem to think that’s the only possibility.
Andriy Yusov of Ukrainian intelligence service:
Russians started withdrawing nuclear warheads from a storage facility in Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
“There is even additional information regarding evacuation activities. Belgorod-22 facility, which is a nuclear ammunition storage facility, is being urgently evacuated; also Russians are being evacuated from the area near Grayvoron,” he said.
The guys who crossed the border into Belgorod may simply be off the leash. On the other hand, there have now been two such events, at almost opposite ends of the current border between Russia and Ukraine. In both cases, Russia’s border defenses have proved inadequate, and they apparently have no ability to rapidly address such breeches with the air forces, Rosgvardia, or those vaunted VDV paratroopers. As a test of Russia’s ability to respond to an unexpected assault, this could score at least a B+. Russia’s response is definitely an F.
Youtube link to a campaign ad featuring a voice over by Jon Hamm.
Commentary:
Last year, former Marine Lucas Kunce ran a strong campaign for Senate in Missouri, but came up short in the Democratic primary against Trudy Busch Valentine. In January, Kunce launched a new bid for Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s seat, with an amazing advertisement directed at Hawley’s cowardly participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Team Kunce has released a new campaign ad directed at Hawley, and it picks up where the last one left off. With a voice over by St. Louis, Missouri, native—and actor—Jon Hamm, the spot begins, “Manhood. You’d hope that means courage.” The reference to Hawley’s poorly reviewed new book “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs,” is easy to see.
With Hamm’s help, Team Kunce successfully juxtaposes the sitting senator’s cowardly actions over the past two decades against the virtues of courage and masculinity Hawley frequently proclaims ownership of.
[…] Hawley’s spineless grabs for power are revealed in the second and more inspiring part of the video, with Hamm proclaiming, “Courage is something you have to show us.” From here the audience gets to see Kunce’s working-class upbringing, the financial hardships he and his family faced, his service in the Marines, and ultimately, his service to his community.
If misinformation is your thing, you can do no better than listening to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo. […]
Bartiromo was front-and-center in the network’s post-2020 election campaign to conceal the fact that Donald Trump is a colossal, one-term loser, and so you’d think she’d be one of the first out the door. And yet you’d be wrong.
Fox reportedly dissolved its investigative team on Friday, prompting concerned observers to ask, “Wait, Fox News has an investigative team? WTF? What do they investigate?”
Rolling Stone:
“The rank and file journalists are getting let go. Meanwhile, upper management are sitting pretty while they are the execs responsible for the Dominion debacle,” one Fox employee tells Rolling Stone, which has confirmed the unit has been axed. “We are the sacrificial lambs.” […]
Dominion filed a defamation suit against Fox in 2021 for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election results. The misinformation at the heart of the lawsuit was pushed largely through the network’s opinion hosts, which operate independently from its news division and aren’t held to typical journalistic standards.
“The outrage is that Suzanne Scott and Maria Bartiromo keep their jobs,” the employee says, referring to the network CEO and one of its opinion hosts named in the lawsuit, respectively. “Meanwhile the journalists get let go. We are in shock.”
Yes, Bartiromo and Suzanne Scott. You might even call them the unwitting architects of Dominion’s successful bid to hold Fox accountable for its election lies. Bartiromo, for instance, gave pro-Big Lie attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell airtime after it had already been determined they were of one mind, and neither of them was quite sure who was using it at any given moment.
Los Angeles Times:
Bartiromo testified that no one in management did anything to stop her or force her to correct the record. While Bartiromo devoted time to the story, top executives, reporters and even Fox News stars such as Tucker Carlson and Dana Perino were saying privately that Trump’s claims were bogus and questioned the sanity of Powell and Giuliani. […]
Much of the deposition testimony related to Bartiromo focuses on the appearances by Powell and Giuliani. The duo were given a platform in front of the “Sunday Morning Futures” audience of nearly 2 million viewers a week, where they amplified Trump’s false election claims.
Bartiromo herself made misstatements, such as repeating inaccurate claims that Dominion was owned by voting software company Smartmatic, which is also suing Fox News and other conservative networks for defamation.
Meanwhile, Scott, whose brain has presumably not melted under the Fox studio klieg lights or the beatific gleam of Donald J. Trump’s irresistible jowl-forward smile, was as culpable as anyone else for Fox’s Dominion face-plant.
In fact, at one point Scott actually complained about on-air fact-checks that threatened to deflate the network’s ever-expanding Big Lie balloon:
The top executive at Fox News was furious one of the network’s reporters was fact-checking Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, writing in a December 2020 email that it was “bad for business”.
Suzanne Scott, the chief executive of Fox News, was responding in early December 2020 to an on-air fact-check by Eric Shawn, one of the network’s anchors. “This has to stop now,” she wrote to Meade Cooper, another Fox executive. “This is bad business and there clearly is a lack of understanding [sic] what is happening in these shows. The audience is furious and we are just feeding them material. Bad for business.”
For the record, a Fox spokesperson issued a “clarification” after the email was made public, saying, “This is not about fact-checking—the issue at hand is one host calling out another.” Okay, even if we give that spokesperson the benefit of the doubt, it’s still not a great look! News organizations are supposed to be interested in sussing out the truth by any means necessary. Anyway, why would you believe a statement from the spokesperson for a network that doesn’t fact-check anything?
In another email, which Scott sent to Fox News President Jay Wallace after reporter Kristin Fisher fact-checked a Rudy Giuliani press conference, she lamented that, “I can’t keep defending these reporters who don’t understand our viewers and how to handle stories. We need to manage this. […] The audience feels like we crapped on [them] and we have damaged their trust and belief in us.”
Nice. Way to stand in the gap for democracy, Suzanne.
And yet Scott and Bartiromo get to keep their posh offices. It sort of reminds me of that time the financial sector cratered the U.S. economy and a bunch of regular folks lost their jobs, but the people who did the cratering got generous bonuses. Or when then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker used the crisis to screw over the state’s teachers.
That shit has to stop happening. Seriously. Will it? Bwahahahahahaha! Of course not, you naif! These people have less than zero shame.
One reason that Ukraine may not have pushed for this week’s crossing into Belgorod is that they’re still not prepared to launch their counteroffensive. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Ukraine isn’t just training the forces that make up those nine, or ten, or twelve new battalions by having them shoot off blanks on training courses in western Ukraine. Those people have also been spending time at the front, confronting explosions, enemy fire, and the hardest thing of all—learning to fire at fellow human beings.
“What if he’s one of our guys?” the soldier asks.
“Fire,” Pain orders again. “Fire.”
When the soldier hesitates, Pain shoots his own rifle over the man’s shoulder. Eventually, the other soldier starts to fire as well.
Some of those soldiers at the front lines in Bakhmut ended up firing 1,000 rounds a day. They’ve had their turn fighting in muddy trenches and sheltering from massed artillery fire. They’ve had the excitement of advancing to take an enemy position, but they’ve also surrendered ground. They’ve lost people. Some of them are also veterans of the Kharkiv counteroffensive last fall.
Watching months of videos and images showing Ukraine forces training in western Ukraine and in other countries, it’s tempting to think of the troops about to enter the battle at the counteroffensive as recruits fresh from basic. Some of them are. But most of these forces are far from green, and their training is anything but basic.
They’re going to come to the front not just carrying new weapons and new knowledge, but with the memories of what it meant to stand in a muddy trench and watch the people around them fall. None of them is going to want to be in that position again.
TWO WEEKS IN THE TRENCHES
New Yorker has a closeup look at what two weeks in those trenches on the front lines are like [see comment 436]. In this case, field reporter Luke Mogelson joined a small group of Ukrainian soldiers in a tough spot on the front lines. Their small log-fortified home inside one of the trenches had been identified by the Russians and was constantly targeted by both artillery and missiles launched from helicopters. They were surrounded by a field of craters, and by tattered remnants of the dead. They had simple instructions that were hard to follow: Don’t leave, but don’t die.
It’s a very tough read, and not least of all because these men have been fighting for so long, all over Ukraine, and even victory only brings them reassignment to another battlefield.
The 28th Brigade was at the forefront of an ensuing campaign to liberate Kherson. For some six months, the Russians staved off the Ukrainians with a deluge of artillery and air strikes, exacting a devastating toll whose precise scale Ukraine has kept secret. Finally, in November, Russia withdrew across the Dnipro River. Battered members of the 28th Brigade were among the first Ukrainian troops to enter Kherson. Crowds greeted them there as heroes. Before they could recover, they were sent three hundred miles northeast, to the outskirts of Bakhmut, a besieged city that was becoming the scene of the most ferocious violence of the war.
The men in this story are almost the opposite of those in the Journal piece. For them, there have been no lengthy rotations away from the front. For the new soldiers who have joined them, there has been little time for any training at all. They were smashed by Wagner forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut, put at the center of artillery strikes near the city, and given raw recruits to replace their heavy losses. Of the 600 who started off together from Odesa, barely 100 remain.
Hopefully, when that counteroffensive finally comes, it will be their turn to follow, not lead. Or better yet, time to rotate far from the front lines to rest, if not recover, from everything they have seen.
——————————– With the distraction of Belgorod, it was easy to miss that the Russians got their butts handed to them in a big way directly west of the city of Donetsk. Russia tried to move forces down the E50 highway, and it very much did not work out for them. [Tweet and map at the link]
Not only did the Russians lose a reported 20 vehicles, they also saw a large number of infantry both killed and captured. Some of this fighting appears to have been to the southwest of the circled area on the map above, putting it even closer to the city of Donetsk and well inside the territory that Russia nominally controls. This could indicate that an attempted Russian attack is resulting in not just a loss of men and materiel, but also a loss of territory.
———————-
The Ukrainian military thought it was a good day for a rerun of this classic video.
Hey there. We need to talk—again. You got over your fear of sending us tanks. But now we hear you’re worried about sending us fighter jets. Worry no more. [video at the link]
As the dangerous debt ceiling deadline draws closer, there’s a reflexive push in some circles to blame “both sides.” In fact, earlier this month, independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was explicit on this point, telling CBS News’ Margaret Brennan that “both parties” bear responsibility.
The idea is obviously at odds with reality, but the public is embracing it anyway: The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, for example, found that Americans would blame a debt ceiling crisis on congressional Republicans and President Joe Biden in roughly equal measure.
The tricky part is identifying what, exactly, Democrats have done to warrant blame.
One of the more common criticisms is that Democrats controlled the White House and Congress for two years, and they should’ve dealt with the debt ceiling before radicalized Republicans took control of the House. It’s not an unreasonable point — if it were up to me, Democrats would have eliminated the debt ceiling statute altogether — but it’s not quite that simple.
The fact of the matter is that Democrats did raise the debt ceiling before the GOP took over the House, but not after the 2022 midterm elections. Why not?
Because they didn’t have the votes. A debt ceiling increase would’ve needed 60 votes in the Senate, and there was no way 10 Republicans would’ve gone along with such a move. Democrats could’ve tried to go around the GOP by using the budget reconciliation process, but that would’ve required unanimity among Senate Democrats, which didn’t exist: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia rejected the idea during the post-election lame-duck session.
But there’s also a problem with the premise of the criticism: Republicans chose to effectively light the fuse on a default bomb that threatens our collective wellbeing. GOP officials knew exactly how dangerous this would be, but they launched the radical extortion scheme anyway.
[…] It’s Republicans who made a conscious choice to impose this crisis on us.
The even more common criticism is that Democratic leaders were too slow in agreeing to participate in talks. A deeply unfortunate New York Times analysis summarized the broader dynamic this way over the weekend:
Democrats lambaste Republicans for taking the debt ceiling hostage to appease “extreme MAGA” conservatives bent on shrinking government spending. Republicans hit Democrats for waiting too long to open talks and not taking G.O.P. demands seriously.
Utter bullshit … just repeating ignorant Republican talking points.
This is, to be sure, a popular line among Republicans, who, on a nearly daily basis, insist Democrats waited months to engage in negotiations. By GOP leaders’ reasoning, the lengthy delay “threatens default.”
That’s ridiculous.
Part of the problem is that Republicans spent months effectively demanding that Democrats pay the GOP a ransom, while failing to fill out their ransom note. It wasn’t until late April — less than a month ago — when House Republicans passed a right-wing bill, and bipartisan talks began soon after.
But again, it’s the premise that’s bizarre. It’s as if a group of hostage takers were to argue, “We called to arrange a meeting in which you could tell us about the ransom you’ll pay, and you let the phone ring too many times, so really it’s your fault if we hurt the hostages we took.”
This need not be complicated: Republicans created this crisis. They’re threatening to impose a catastrophe on us if their demands aren’t met. Democrats, in contrast, have never engaged in these tactics, and they’ve pleaded with GOP leaders to take default off the table — pleas that Republicans have rejected.
I will point out that Republicans mouth the words, “We do not want a default,” but then they cynically proceed with actions that belie those words.
On Monday, a pair of AI-generated images appeared on social media platforms Twitter and Telegram. One of these showed what was reportedly a large explosion at the Pentagon. The second, posted a few minutes later, showed what was reported to be a separate explosion at the White House. Both of these images were swiftly reposted thousands of times on both platforms.
Notably, they were shared on Twitter by new “gold check” accounts belonging to what Twitter now considers an “official” business. In this case, it was the Russian state-owned media outlet RT that retweeted the images. Shortly afterward, a blue-checkmark account reportedly belonging to Bloomberg News did the same. [!!!]
Within a few minutes, The Street reports the S&P stock index lost more than $500 billion dollars. Most of that value gradually returned over the next few minutes as it became clear the pictures were fake. They had been generated by an AI art program. The blue-check Bloomberg account (as well as several other blue-check accounts with authoritative names) was also a fake.
This is all the result of Elon Musk’s ending Twitter’s previous system of verification and replacing it with one where $8 buys whatever name you want.
The RT account and the attack on the stability of our economy were absolutely real. [Tweet and images at the link]
[…] it’s unclear how much effect the fake images—and the mostly fake accounts that spread them—had on the overall market results for the day. It’s also unclear just how much money may have vanished in the form of fees applied to funds, including many retirement funds, where investors are charged each time the fund buys or sells stock.
Most of the change in the stock market was probably not generated by human beings hitting the panic button out of concern over some possible catastrophe; most stocks aren’t traded by human beings. Massive movements, like the one that sent the S&P crashing down and back up on Monday, are managed by a different kind of AI that run evaluations that sweep up information from all directions.
But this situation was not completely free of human beings. Someone ordered those images from Midjourney or a similar AI-based image generator. Someone put them on social media. Someone probably started the market tumble.
But none of those human beings were critical to this event. With half a day’s coding or less, it would be perfectly possible to create a crisis bot that would sift through the current news, order up images of a plausible disaster, mount them on social media, boost them with thousands or tens of thousands of retweets and links, push them with apparently authoritative accounts, and pitch them in a way tailor-made to trigger a response from the bots that operate the stock market, the bond market, the commodities market, or just about any other aspect of the economy.
They could do it regularly, randomly, or on targeted occasions. They could do it much more convincingly than these two images—and in ways that were much more difficult to refute. Whether what happened on Monday was a trial balloon, cyber warfare, or someone just farting around, we should be taking the results of that action very, very seriously.
[…] Given enough time, experts can determine whether an image, video, or audio recording is a fake, but not before they’ve spread widely. Every refutation can be countered by more fakes. And all the debunkings in the world won’t sway people who have an ideological interest in believing those fakes, or stop those fakes from spreading.
[…] Right now, human beings both author and understand the code behind the large-model, limited-purpose AIs that dominate the news cycle. But even with that, it’s impossible for humans to understand the decisions that these systems make based on the interaction of the millions, or billions, of documents they have been fed. Very soon, our understanding won’t even extend to the code itself, as the code will be written and modified by other AI systems.
[…] This is a right here, right now problem in which these systems are already powerful enough to eliminate millions of jobs, change the direction of the economy, and sway the outcome of an election. Like a hammer, they are tools. Like a hammer, they can also be weapons.
Until we put some regulations on these systems, we are all part of the experiment, like it or not. If we don’t put that regulation in place almost immediately, there’s a very good chance that it will be too late.
Harlan Crow, Texas real estate magnate and very dear friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has instructed his lawyer to tell yet another Senate committee to pound sand. Congress doesn’t have the authority to oversee the Supreme Court, the lawyer asserted in a response to the Judiciary Committee’s request for details of the millions of dollars in gifts, travel, hospitality, and real estate transactions provided to Thomas by Crow—money and perks that Thomas has failed to disclose for decades, potentially in violation of federal disclosure laws.
“After careful consideration,” Crow’s lawyer, Michael Bopp, writes, “we do not believe the Committee has the authority to investigate Mr. Crow’s personal friendship with Justice Clarence Thomas.” Of course it has that authority. That whole “checks and balances” business we all learned about in civics class—that’s what that’s about. The founders wouldn’t have allowed for the impeachment of Supreme Court justices if they didn’t intend for Congress to be able to check the court.
Crow’s lawyer isn’t just asserting that the Supreme Court is off limits, but that anyone a justice receives special favors from is off limits, too. Life’s great when you’re an untouchable billionaire in America. What the committee was asking for is Crow’s records, not Thomas’, as Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin pointed out. “Mr. Crow’s letter relies on a separation of powers defense when Mr. Crow does not work, and has never worked, for the Supreme Court.” […]
Hawley’s poorly reviewed new book “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs,”…
I’m reading (interspersed with, like, ten other things) Peter Gay’s The Cultivation of Hatred: The Bourgeois Experience, Victoria to Freud. It describes “manliness” – alongside “competition” (Social Darwinism, eugenics, etc.) and the construction of the Other – as one of the alibis for aggression and hatred in the nineteenth century. With no substantive changes (other than maybe an increase in vapidity and panic), that rhetoric is being reproduced now. They could take one of these texts (Thomas Hughes’s 1879 The Manliness of Christ, for example) and just update it a bit and it would fit right in today.
Fox reportedly dissolved its investigative team on Friday, prompting concerned observers to ask, “Wait, Fox News has an investigative team? WTF? What do they investigate?”
The value they [men in the “cult of honor” antebellum South] placed on manliness was extraordinary. In June 1861, as the American Civil War was heating up, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar [yes, that was this fool’s real name], a prominent secessionist, justified the conflict by invoking the Iliad and, not unexpectedly, the crucial difference between the male and the female: “The fight had to come. We are men, not women. The quarrel had lasted long enough. We hate each other so – the fight had to come. Even Homer’s heroes, after they had stormed and scolded enough, fought like brave men, long and well.”…
tomhsays
NYT: South Carolina Senate Passes 6-Week Abortion Ban The legislation, which faced a filibuster led by five women senators, now heads to the governor who has said he will sign it.
By Kate Zernike and Ava Sasani / May 23, 2023
The South Carolina Senate passed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy on Tuesday, after a filibuster led by five women senators, including three Republicans, failed to block it. The bill will drastically reduce access to abortion in a state that has become an unexpected destination for women seeking the procedure as almost every other Southern state has moved toward bans.
The legislation now heads to Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican who has said he will sign it. Abortion-rights advocates said they would challenge the ban in court, where it would test a State Supreme Court ruling in January that struck down a previous six-week ban and found a right to abortion in the State Constitution.
The legislation had exposed divisions among Republicans over how far to go in restricting abortion, a struggle that has played out in other legislatures in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the regulation of abortion to the states.
The women who filibustered, calling themselves the “Sister Senators,” argued that the bill set up so many hurdles that almost no one would be able to get an abortion in South Carolina. Because pregnancy is considered to start on the first day of a woman’s last menstrual period, six weeks is roughly two weeks after she has missed a period, before many women know they are pregnant.
The bill requires any woman seeking an abortion to first have two in-person doctors’ visits and two ultrasounds. Senator Katrina Shealy, one of the Republican women who opposed the six-week ban, said on Tuesday: “We are not God. We need to let people make decisions for themselves.”
Though the bill offers exceptions for victims of rape and incest, and in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities or where the woman’s life and health are at risk, those exceptions are only available up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The governor had called a rare special session of the legislature to try to pass a ban, seeking to resolve a standoff between the House and Senate.
While both chambers are controlled by Republicans, the House is more conservative and had pushed three times to get the Senate to pass a bill banning almost all abortions starting at conception. Three times, the women in the Senate and three Republican male colleagues successfully filibustered. The Republican women argued instead for a 12-week ban, or to put the question to voters in a ballot measure.
Their Republican colleagues in the Senate rejected that 12-week proposal, with Senator Richard Cash saying it would lead to “abortion on demand” in South Carolina.
[…]
The Republican leadership in the legislature had been eager to pass a ban that could challenge the State Supreme Court decision from January. The justice who wrote that decision was the only woman on the bench, and she made ample reference to the expansion of rights for women since Roe was decided in 1973.
But she retired shortly after and was replaced by a man, making South Carolina the only state with an all-male high court.
In the days leading up to the debate, Shane Massey, the Republican Senate majority leader, declared that South Carolina had become “the abortion capital of the Southeast.”
“The pro-life members of the Senate believe this is unacceptable,” he said.
Before the final vote on Tuesday evening, the six-week ban was fiercely condemned by the Republican women senators and their Democratic colleagues.
“When you wake up, when your sisters wake up, when your daughters wake up, and you want to know who took away your rights, it was the Republicans,” said Brad Hutto, the Democratic Senate minority leader.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has called for the resignation of House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) after he presided over the house “in an obviously intoxicated state.” Paxton also called for an investigation into the incident…
In Texas, the attorney general has argued that the medical exceptions granted under the ban do not apply to abortions intended to prevent an emergency.
That’s insane. Medical professionals have a responsibility to prevent emergencies when they can. They should refuse en masse to abide by this.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG) filed a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post last week, claiming the news outlet made false and defamatory statements against the company. The lawsuit claims The Post knowingly published “false” articles “in order to harm TMTG’s business” and alleges that the outlet conspired with an ex-TMTG employee who provided documents to create a “fraudulent narrative about securities fraud.”
The Post’s article, “Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social,” was published two months after The Guardian’s story, which is addressed in the lawsuit, saying it falsely claimed the bank, ES Family Trust, could obtain a large stake in TMTG. The outlets also reported that Trump’s company allegedly paid the ES Family Trust a $240,000 finder’s fee for arranging the $8 million loan deal, which the company claims it never paid.
The Post’s article referenced internal documents obtained from whistleblower Will Wilkerson who was the former executive vice president of operations at TMTG. Wilkerson provided roughly 150,000 emails, contracts, and other internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and investigators in Florida and New York, The Washington Post reported in a separate article last month. However, Trump’s company claims in the lawsuit that Wilkerson was a disgruntled ex-employee who had been justly terminated and had allegedly provided false information to several media outlets…
A band of moderate House Democrats is preparing to help rescue House Speaker Kevin McCarthy should he forge a bipartisan deal to avert a US default that sparks a revolt by ultra-conservatives.
The offer is purely hypothetical at the moment but at least 10 Democrats are ready to cross party lines to back him retaining his post as speaker if Republican hard-liners try to oust McCarthy in the aftermath of a debt-limit deal, said Representative Dean Phillips, who is involved in the effort.
“There’s a loosely knitted group of Democrats that would reward a show of courage by the speaker, if it came to that,” the Minnesota congressman said, adding that people close to McCarthy have “been made aware” the contingency is available…
WTF? Did I just read the words “courage” and “McCarthy” in the same sentence?
A Texas House committee revealed Tuesday it was investigating the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton over his push for $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who had accused Paxton of misconduct.
The news came hours after Paxton called on the House speaker, Dade Phelan, to resign over alleged drunkenness while leading the House, a remarkable moment of acrimony between two of Texas’ top Republicans.
Phelan’s office fired back, noting the investigation has been going on since March.
“The motives for and timing behind Paxton’s statement today couldn’t be more evident,” Phelan spokesperson Cait Wittman said in a statement. “Mr. Paxton’s statement today amounts to little more than a last ditch effort to save face.”
The series of events underscored the new legal jeopardy Paxton is facing on top of his already yearslong run of scandals. The House General Investigating Committee has broad authority to probe alleged misconduct in state government and can initiate impeachment proceedings against a state officer.
The drama also underscored the political divide between Phelan and the vocally conservative Paxton, who hails from a wing of the Texas GOP that persistently criticizes the House as insufficiently conservative. Paxton is a loyalist of former President Donald Trump; Phelan is skeptical of Trump’s hold on the party.
News of the House investigation into Paxton was initially revealed during a brief public meeting of the House General Investigating Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The panel unanimously voted to issue two subpoenas in “Matter A” — one to “John Doe No. 6” and the other to Paxton’s office. The committee is scheduled to meet again at 8 a.m. Wednesday to hear testimony in the matter.
The committee also issued a letter directing Paxton’s office to preserve all evidence related to the investigation. That letter told Paxton the committee “has been conducting an investigation related to your request for $3.3 million dollars of public money to pay a settlement resolving litigation between your agency and terminated whistleblowers.”
In February, Paxton reached a $3.3 million settlement with four former deputies who claimed they had been fired in retaliation for reporting Paxton’s alleged misconduct to federal investigators. Lawmakers in both chambers have balked at authorizing taxpayer dollars to pay for it, and Phelan has said he personally opposes it.
A draft of the state budget that lawmakers have to pass in the coming days prohibits state funds from going toward the settlement.
Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the news of the investigation. But about two hours before General Investigating Committee Chair Andrew S. Murr’s announcement of the subpoenas, Paxton took to Twitter to abruptly call for Phelan’s resignation, accusing him of presiding over his chamber “in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication.” Paxton also asked the House General Investigating to probe Phelan.
Over the weekend, a video clip went viral that showed Phelan slurring his words while overseeing House floor proceedings Friday night. Phelan’s office has repeatedly declined to comment on what took place….
Looking forward to our virtual campaign fundraiser and celebration tonight with @StevieVanZandt, one of the great rockers and political-change agents of our time whose beautiful bandanas and amazing solidarity helped me through five months of intensive chemotherapy.
Are you aware of professional reviews on [?] this material?
I don’t need it.
For what age group would you recommend this material?
Not for schools.
StevoRsays
Someone should tell Clarence Thomas and the Perjurers Trump foisted tocreate his treason SCOTUS about this and what should be expected of Justices :
A South Australian judge has resigned amid an investigation into a “complaint about his conduct.”..(Snip)..Chief Justice Chris Kourakis also issued a statement saying he could not comment about Judge Heffernan.
“However, speaking generally, the community rightly expects that those persons to whom it entrusts the administration of justice observe the highest standards of respectful and decent conduct, according to all with whom they interact the dignity to which they are entitled,” he said in a statement.
“Any person who cannot meet those standards should not seek judicial office or expect to remain in office.”
Pence vows to stand behind ‘principled jurist’ Clarence Thomas amid scrutiny
The Republican Party has become the very cancel culture it pretends to rail against
UPDATE: Kremlin Drone Attack Staged & Photoshopped
More at the link.
NBC News:
Trump prohibited from posting evidence in hush money case to social media, judge rules
By Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian / 5/8/23
In resurfaced video, Danielle Smith ties vaccinated Albertans to those who fall for tyrants
Our new space telescope’s view of “Sauron’s eye” :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-09/nasa-james-webb-telescope-spots-debris-fomalhaut/102320240
As the disks around Fomalhaut used to be called!
Summarized by Steve Benen from an NBC News article:
Followup to Reginald in comment #1:
Link
Followup to comment 7.
You can view the ad here. The ad is one minute long.
Hitler-promoting antisemites will speak at Trump’s Miami hotel alongside Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and other Trump personalities
More at the link.
Some details:
More details:
The robotic spacecraft that we sent to see Pluto then Arrokoth faces an uncertain fate but still has a lot to offer. Really hope this gets sorted out well and soon :
https://www.space.com/new-horizons-pluto-probe-debate
More weirdness in the “friendship” between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and real estate developer and Nazi relic collector Harlan Crow:
Link
Wonkette: “Mitch McConnell Won’t Save Nation From MAGA Default, Will Be Mitch McConnell Instead”
Followup to comment 10.
Wonkette: “Trump Hotel, Trump Kid Throwing Fun Weekend Bash With Actual Nazis, Is That Bad?”
https://www.wonkette.com/can-hispanics-be-white-supremacist-nazis
Jessica Valenti – Texas is Fabricating Abortion Data
Ukraine Update: Putin presides over shrunken parade as reports show Wagner retreat from Bakhmut
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @16, Texas Republicans are using manipulated statistics to lie. Soon, they will be using those manipulated/falsified statistics to back up their draconian anti-abortion policies.
I am really disgusted by this tactic. It’s like forcing math to lie. Ladapo in Florida is doing something similar with COVID statistics. See this info in the previous chapter of this thread: https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2023/04/11/infinite-thread-xxvii/comment-page-2/#comment-2176331
More disputes about financial facts:
Link
Popping in with E. Jean Carroll verdict: Trump sexually abused and harmed and defamed her. Total damages awarded: around $5 million.
Followup to comment 17.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view the updates.
SC @20, thanks for that! Good news.
Blustering, stupid Trump says he will appeal:
Maybe he will not show up for the supposed appeal either. Maybe the appeal itself will not materialize anywhere other than Trump’s rat nest of a brain.
A Scientist Says He’s Solved the Bermuda Triangle, Just Like That
He must be a bit behind on his reading.
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery – Solved ISBN 0450028615 was first published by Larry Kusche in 1975.
The bottom line: once you correct for inaccurate and sensationalized reports, there is no mystery left.
‘Somerset Gimp’ arrested again for terrifying motorist who thought he was a badger
Judge to order Wisconsin Elections Commission to reconsider fake elector complaint without the commissioner who joined the scheme
US busts Russian cyber operation in dozens of countries
Accused ‘ghost candidate’ faces campaign finance charges
Taiwan Will Defend TSMC From US Bombing in the Event of a China War
Responses to the verdict that found Trump sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll:
Link
It is misogynistic to insult a man by implying he is a woman, or by outright calling him a woman.
Link
Kinda like when Trump called Mike Pence a [P-word] for refusing to aid and abet the insurrection/coup.
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1655921760368205824
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1656035936054984707
https://www.wonkette.com/oklahoma-gov-murders-oklahoma-pbs-for-the-children
Polish mayor falls to death from hotel balcony in Sardinia, Italy
@Lynna, OM #P2-494
Tweet: Tucker Carlson (snarkily excerpted)
Of course he’s not referring to himself.
Feds File Criminal Charges Against George Santos
My latest Endnagered Species of the Week FWIW.
.***
For this week’s Endangered species of the Week I’ve chosen a snail that is no threat to anyone’s gardens, the carnivorous, blind, Tumbling Creek Cavesnail. (Antrobia culveri.) A cave dwelling mollusc, this species is found only in a single subterranean stream in Missouri, USA, south of the Mark Twain National Forest. It is also the only creature in its whole genus and is perhps understandably little-known and studied. So what does a snail living underwater and underground where no green plants live eat? It apparently feeds on aquatic microfauna or a biofilm of bacteria that’s near bat guano meaning it probably indirectly needs the bats in the cave to survive. It now has what most be one of the most restricted ranges of all species on Earth given wikipedia notes :
Only discovered in the 1970’s at least by scientists, there were once as many as fifteen thousand of these tiny troglobites but cave counts revealed a staggering decline to only 1% of this recently thus its listing on the Endangeed species by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2002. It is thought that this is due to changes for the worse in water quality from erosion and pollution though this has not yet been scientifically confirmed. Whatever, the cause this is one small, harmless snail in very serious trouble and here’s hoping we can still save it.
.***
See also this excellent news article here :
https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/cave-snail-may-offer-new-template-for-viewing-endangered-species/article_4dda31dc-3446-11e4-ab45-001a4bcf887a.html
On septic tanks, snails and how they help not hinder communities as well as here :
https://www.tumblingcreekcave.org/4_protection.html
with photos of work done for snails and the people and environment alike and whilst not this exact species the difficulties of studying such tiny cave species is neatly illustrated here by some of the people doing this – 8 minutes long
^ PS. Can’t resist adding this excerpt from the classic Joplin Globe news article here :
Lol and yeck!
@36
Santos in federal custody as feds unseal 13-count indictment
Breaking news – 7 mins ago apparently!
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-10/republican-politician-george-santos-arrested-graft-charges/102330046
Good!
@35
Tucker Carlson says he’ll launch new show on Twitter
Ha ha ha. Twitter is rapidly shrinking as it transforms into a right wing cesspool. This will only accelerate the process. All that is lacking is a viable alternative.
Kaliningrad: Russia fury as Poland body recommends renaming exclave
Putin cancels visa requirement for Georgian citizens and removes ban on direct flights to Georgia
Some of the first humans in the Americas came from China, study finds
Italy Intends to Exit China Belt and Road Pact as Ties Sour
Today’s WTF moment:
Matt Gaetz slams 2 Fox News hosts for over-sexualizing AOC and joking that he might divorce his wife and marry her instead
How to plan your next insurrection:
Twitter to soon allow calls, encrypted messaging
Alabama Bill Would Require Schools to Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’
Well I guess that’s better than the Confederate national anthem(?)
Guardian – Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low temperatures
Rep. Nancy Mace says people want to see her Jell-O wrestle with Marjorie Taylor Greene
Mace overestimates her fame. People would totally want to see MTG and Lauren Boebert go at it though.
@ 48
Yes because mindless jingoism is vital to our children’s education.
It’s funny how the right love to portray themselves these principled liberty-minded scoff-laws, but they demand we be made to sing the national jingle, recite their fascist loyalty oath (i.e. “The Pledge of Allegiance”), and grovel before their fabric idol on pain of being branded “disloyal.”
No, on second thought, it isn’t funny at all.
City Tests Traffic Light That Only Turns Green for Drivers Who Obey the Speed Limit
In an NBC News interview yesterday, former Vice President Mike Pence was asked about the verdict against Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case. “I think that’s a question for the American people,” he said, adding that he had never witnessed Trump sexually assault anyone.
That made me laugh. Trump chose to NOT sexually assault women in front of über Christian Mike Pence. Does this mean that Trump does have some boundaries? Or is it just that Mike Pence doesn’t hang out with women who are Trump’s “type”?
More laughter today after reading comment 35, posted by CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain.
Tucker Carlson is remarkably good at describing himself!
Republicans don’t like working within the rules:
Link
Followup to comment 35.
Where Things Stand: He’s Giving Up $25 Million For … That?
Ukraine Update: Russian military teeters on the brink of chaos, as Ukrainian forces advance
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
I think Biden should cite the government’s oft-stated policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
Guerilla Arsonists Just Set Fire to Russia’s Supersonic Bomber
In “oh FFS” news:
WTF, CNN? Trump town hall set to proceed as planned
Regarding comment 56: On Putin’s vaunted “victory day,” Russians in the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade fled from Bakhmut.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
An atheist and a Bible scholar strike podcast gold
Wonkette: “New York Times And Kyrsten Sinema Team Up For Whatever This Foul Sh*t Is”
Eric Trump Gonna Sue Rachel Maddow For Talking About His Nazi Pals, Quoting Them Verbatim
https://www.wonkette.com/eric-trump-rachel-maddow-nazis
Feinstein returns to Congress but told to keep ‘lighter schedule’ amid recovery
There’s a New Plan to Relocate Hubble Space Telescope and Extend Its Lifespan
Texas Has Bullet-Proof School Shooting Plan: Replacing School Counselors With Jesus
Achieving linguistic justice for African American English
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-linguistic-justice-african-american-english.html
Reginald @65, I hope they come up with a successful plan to save Hubble!
In other news, yes a few Republicans have noted that a jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation just might make him less electable. However, other Republicans disagree:
Link
Satire from Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Elon Musk urges Don Lemon to launch new show on Twitter
ibid. #70
Musk, however, responded to the news Tuesday by claiming he had not signed a deal with Carlson.
“I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever,” he tweeted. “Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”
More satire from Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
You really could not make this shit up with a tractor-trailer load of Mary K:
Horrifying stories of women chased down by the LAPD abortion squad before Roe vs. Wade
Microsoft Bets That Fusion Power Is Closer Than Many Think
Prescribed alcohol program in Halifax to add social activities after finding surprising side effect
Journalists publish map of over 200 Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea
Good news, as reported by the Associated Press:
Finally, a vaccine for one of the deadliest forms of cancer
Link
Miscarriage of justice:
Link
This European Satellite Giant Is Coming for Starlink.
To compete with American rivals, Eutelsat’s Eva Berneke first has to navigate Russia’s war in Ukraine, Brexit politics, and jamming attacks by Iran.
WIRED link
Fox News hit with new defamation lawsuit after massive settlement
NBA Legends Dwyane Wade and Grant Hill ‘Dream’ Democrat Picks to Run Against Sen. Rick Scott
The material so secret we forgot how to make it
https://youtu.be/Y6tqIf31YTc
or
https://youtu.be/Y6tqlf31YTc
Slashdot in turn links to a WSJ article behind a paywall. It’s not clear what Microsoft is actually risking, so how is it a “bet”? They have promised to buy electricity produced by fusion “within about five years” from the company Helion, but in the (I would say absolutely certain) event that no such electricity is produced in that timeframe, they get paid financial penalties (assuming Helion hasn’t gone bankrupt), and what would they lose?
NASA tests bot built to slither across, and beneath, alien worlds’ ice
Francis Scarr:
Map at the (Twitter) link.
Noel on Twitter:
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
CNN’s open-mic night for Trump was a disgrace
Link
Followup to comment 91.
Excerpt from the Aaron Rupar Twitter thread referenced above:
The prehistory guys.
https://youtu.be/CPdiNDIEpTM
or
https://youtu.be/CPdiNDlEpTM
Also in the Guardian:
“‘The forever prisoner’: Abu Zubaydah’s drawings expose the US’s depraved torture policy”:
“Toe-curlingly bad television: Trump’s torturous town hall backfires on CNN”:
(From there: “…Collins could have been forgiven for thinking her bosses have got it in for her: first a morning show with Don Lemon, now a dark night of the soul with Caligula.”)
“French leaders warn of toxic rows over immigration after arson attack”:
“Turkish presidential candidate quits race after release of alleged sex tape”:
Followup to comments 10 and 63.
https://www.wonkette.com/eric-trump-nazis
Satire from Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Reginald Selkirk@75
The barriers to fusion are not just magnetohydrodynamic. Probably the biggest problem–and one I’ve barely seen addressed–is that fusion cannot work on Earth without tritium–and tritium is rare, unstable and difficult to make. It doesn’t occur in nature. You have to make it by irradiating deutrium (as heavy water) with neutrons and then separate the tritium from the much more plentiful deuterium. The only source of it is a company processing heavy water for the few CANDU reactors left running. And tritium is unstable–halflife of 12.33 years, so you cannot stockpile it.
A single fusion would tear through the planet’s entire supply of tritium in les than a year. Fusion ain’t gonna save us.
Kentucky candidate promises no ‘transgenders in our school system’
The CNN disaster did do one really really really good thing: it gave ex-President Sex Offender even more rope to the prosecutors.
There is no “Biden Corporation”, in the way that there is a “Trump Organization” with all the offspring serving roles.
Leah Remini on Substack (originally a Twitter thread):
The Virgin Islands Government Can’t Find Google’s Larry Page to Subpoena Him in Its Jeffrey Epstein Lawsuit
GOP senator says he won’t support Trump in 2024: ‘Where do I begin?’
It is sad that this is considered newsworthy.
TPM – “Birth Control Pill Closer Than Ever To Over-The-Counter Availability Amid Abortion Crackdowns”:
US FDA ends ban on blood donations from gay men
Police mistake goat for man yelling ‘help’
Public Seminar – “Atlanta’s Haunted Forest: Reckoning with a city’s settler colonial and racist legacies”:
Some podcast episodes:
5-4 – “The Shadow Docket with Steve Vladeck”:
The War on Cars – “104. Arrested Mobility with Charles Brown”:
Our Hen House – “Environmental and Animal Rights Journalism w/Spencer Roberts”:
Why Is This Happening? – “The Explosion of Online Sports Betting with Eric Lipton”:
The Heavy, “Hurricane Coming.”
Ukraine Update: Zelenskyy calls for more time before counteroffensive
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Ian Millhiser at Vox – “The Supreme Court rediscovers humility — in a case about pigs”:
They upheld the California law. Much more at the link. Complex and difficult to excerpt.
One part of the debt ceiling fight cuts the GOP’s way: Much of the public struggles with the basics, so Republicans can get away with dangerous tactics.
Josh Marshall:
Link
Followup to comment 111.
More Ukraine updates:
Even more Ukraine updates coming soon.
Link. Scroll down at the link to view updates.
It seems possible that Tommy Tuberville thinks “white nationalists” refers to white people who are nationalists.
Masks Work. Distorting Science to Dispute the Evidence Doesn’t
snarkrates@98,
Tritium can also be produced by a neutron interacting with lithium-6 (this is exothermic, but consumes the neutron) or lithium-7 (this is endothermic, but a neutron is emitted, so one neutron produced by deuterium-tritium fusion could in principle produce more than one atom of tritium). This is the path fusion-fanbois tend to favour, suggesting that fusion reactors will breed their own fuel. No-one, AFAIK, has come up with a plausible way of actually producing as much tritium as is consumed.
Wow – Vox – “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is somehow the best animal rights movie of the year”:
(The article has spoilers.)
If Trump keeps insulting E. Jean Carroll, her lawyers say, she could keep suing him
@Reginald Selkirk #104:
Indeed.
What Todd Young said to rioters on Jan 6:
Elon Musk Says He Has Hired a New Twitter CEO
Followup to comments 111 and 115.
Even more Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view the updates.
Russia in full panic mode that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has started everywhere all at once
Link
Followup to comment 124.
Just to be clear, the Ukrainian counteroffensive hasn’t begun yet. The Russians are just panicking so much that it looks like mistakes will be made and some Russians will die because of the panic.
‘You Don’t Actually Have Any Facts’: Even Fox Isn’t Buying GOP’s Claims About Biden’s Foreign Business Dealings
They can’t even get Steve Doocy on their bandwagon. I guess FauxNews is afraid of another lawsuit.
Followup to @Reginald Selkirk #122:
Toot: Amy Diehl
Tweet: Max Berger
@Reginald Selkirk #75, @KG #86, @snarkrates #98:
MIT – This startup says its first fusion plant is five years away. Experts doubt it.
Science – Out of Gas
One of the few fun things about the war was the anemic, 3-hour Russian Victory Day parade.
“Putin’s victory day debacle; nafo reacts”
Three western milbloggers laughing their asses off and drinking whisky while watching.
https://youtu.be/a1tCP8gZZAc
Largest – though not brightest – astronomical “explosion” since the Big Bang seen :
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/12/astronomers-identify-largest-cosmic-explosion-ever-observed
Aptly in the Firewworsk galaxy , NGC 6946 – 5 min long clip here.
See also : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-12/astronomers-puzzled-by-largest-ever-cosmic-explosion/102339246
Largest – though not brightest – astronomical “explosion” since the Big Bang seen :
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/12/astronomers-identify-largest-cosmic-explosion-ever-observed
Aptly in the Firewworsk galaxy , NGC 6946 – 5 min long clip here.
See also : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-12/astronomers-puzzled-by-largest-ever-cosmic-explosion/102339246
Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain@128,
I see from your link that Helion is going for deuterium-helium3 fusion. According to this article, that’s considerably more difficult to achieve than deuterium-tritium in terms of the required temperature, although it would have some advantages if it can be done, but it also has the same basic problem that one of the ingredients (helium-3) is simply not available in significant quantities on earth. There’s more on the moon apparently.
Oops.
Erratum for @ 129.
The podcast lasted three hours but Putin’s itsy bitsy parade only lasted one hour.
With one (1) tank, no flyovers.
And most of the soldiers were very young cadets, with most officers being 50+ .
There were exceptions, like the marine infantry from the Petersburg area that have not yet been strip-mined for the war.
It would have been less embarassing to cancel the parade than show how stressed and resource-strapped the Russian military has become.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @127.
OMG, Linda Yaccarino follows Sidney Powell, Mike Pompeo, Tulsi Gabbard, Libs of TikTok and other doofuses! So Elon Musk hired a sort of female Trump to run Twitter? What (more) could go wrong?
Link
Link
https://twitter.com/paulwaldman1/status/1656645326617411585
From Jeff Greenfield:
Josh Marshall:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-problem-for-cnn
New Florida Law Protects Conscience Rights of Health Care Providers
May 12, 2023
https://twitter.com/ChrisCillizza/status/1657002080991600640
From Chris Cillizza:
Photo shows Trump standing in front of a CNN location that looks like it has been bombed. “Emergency” is prominent on a sign. There’s copious smoke and debris.
Ukraine Update: The counteroffensive hasn’t begun, but Russian panic is well underway
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
George Santos made the Republicans’ bill to recover fraudulent Covid unemployment benefits embarrassing, but it wasn’t the only flaw in the legislation.
Oh.
The HuffPost report flagged Rep. Danny Davis’ remarks during the legislative debate. “These Democratic anti-fraud dollars helped the Department of Labor create an important cross-checking system to catch fraudsters who apply for unemployment in one state while receiving income in another,” the Illinois Democrat explained, “a practice for which a Republican House member reportedly was indicted earlier this week.” […]
Followup to comment 141.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down for updates.
Accidentally funny stuff courtesy of Republicans in Texas:
“LOL” Files: Texas Republicans May Be on Verge of Banning the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Wonkette:
Backlogged Courts, and Years of Delays, Await Many Migrants
New York Times link
A severe shortage of immigration judges has led to long delays for asylum cases. The backlog is expected to grow now that pandemic-era border restrictions have been lifted.
More at the link.
What was that bit about? Does the law expire in 18 months? Is he expecting it to be overturned?
BREAKING: Lori Vallow found guilty of murdering her two children
Fishing cheats net prison sentence over scandal
Scientists are vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia
Former Trump prosecutor slams GOP ‘political theater,’ takes the Fifth at deposition
Boy uses slingshot to shoot 17-year-old trying to kidnap his sister, Michigan cops say
An 8-year-old girl was hunting for mushrooms in her backyard when someone popped out from the nearby woods, according to Michigan State Police.
The 17-year-old male then grabbed onto the girl, holding her mouth shut, “before a struggle ensued” on Wednesday, May 10, police said.
The girl’s 13-year-old brother saw the attack before his younger sister was able to break free, according to a May 12 news release.
Her brother used his slingshot to shoot the attacker, hitting him in his head and chest, police said.
Michigan State Police troopers from the Alpena Post were called to the home in Alpena Township for an attempted kidnapping, authorities said…
Kansas governor vetoes measures to aid anti-abortion centers, limit health officials’ power
A Texas woman was fatally shot by a boyfriend angry she had an abortion, police say
Evidence Of ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Use By Ukraine Emerges
Binance Announces Exit from Canada, Citing Regulatory Tensions
We Try Martin House’s Mayonnaise Beer … ‘for Some Reason’
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
“‘4 in total, a rainy day for the Russian aviation’, writes Rybar.” (Twitter link)
Dmitri:
Translated communication at the (Twitter) link.
“Unsure how the Su-34 [now also an Su-35] & Mi-8(s) dropped out of the sky, but if you feel elated imagine how Syrians who were defenceless against the VKS for so long must feel.
High probability each VKS combat pilot who died murdered tens of civilians in that war everyone has forgotten about.”
(Twitter link)
Associated Press:
That’s a reference to the surge which some people expected when Title 42 disappeared.
New York Times:
NBC News:
Bad news.
Guardian liveblog:
I’ve read speculations that it was saboteurs with MANPADS, friendly fire from Russian air defense freaked out about Storm Shadows, and Storm Shadows.
Mykhailo Podolyak on Twitter:
North Carolina governor vetoes abortion limits, launches override showdown
Was Tyrannosaurus An Aquatic Ambush Predator? – nearly 12 mins long.
FBI agents raid condo unit owned by Russians at Trump Towers in Sunny Isles
Holy Shit.
Washington Post link. Much more at the link.
AM radio is being removed from many cars.
Washington Post link
Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla and other automakers are eliminating AM radio from some new vehicles, stirring protests against the loss of a medium that has shaped American life for a century.
Much more at the link.
I confess to having a lack of objectivity on this issue. A few years before he died, my father became a political rightwing extremist largely because he listened to Rush Limbaugh on AM radio every day.
People’s minds can be poisoned over time.
Re 43:
Meanwhile, Finnish media reports that Russia has recently revoked at least some long term tourist visas held by Finns. There was no announcement, just people being turned away at the border. Unclear if Russia is still issuing new tourist visas, or any visas.
Since early last year, Finland has advised against travel to Russia. Some people still go there to buy cheap gas, while others have family or work or property across the border. Russians haven’t been able to enter Finland on tourist visas since last September. If the new policy is meant to be reciprocal, Russia isn’t making it widely known.
Guardian liveblog:
WaPo:
An influencer’s AI clone will be your girlfriend for $1 a minute
By Taylor Lorenz / May 13, 2023
Quick Explainer: Ukraine’s strategy of mixed-force tank brigades
Wonkette:
Kyiv Independent – “Belarusian media: Lukashenko taken to hospital amid speculations of poor health”:
Business Insider – “Twitter appeared to limit the reach of investigative news site Bellingcat days after Elon Musk suggested its Texas mall shooter investigation was a ‘psyop'”:
SC @176, Bellingcat has a stellar reputation for presenting facts and truth. Of course, Elon Musk would want to limit Bellingcat.
Disgusting behavior on Musk’s part.
Also, Musk is plainly in error when he posts things like: ” “I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!”
From NBC News:
Israel and Palestinians agree to cease-fire ending days of fighting and bloodshed
The cease-fire was mediated by Egypt and will start at 10 p.m. local time.
Florida Students Refuse To Let Skeevy MAGA Speaker Ruin Their Graduation Ceremony
https://www.wonkette.com/new-college-of-florida-commencement
Paul Krugman discusses an issue that is often overlooked:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/opinion/pharma-tax-avoidance-trump.html
Missouri lawmakers fail to raise bar to amend constitution, easing path for abortion vote
Oh noez, democracy. We can’t have that.
Attorney General James Secures $615,000 from Companies that Supplied Fake Comments to Influence FCC’s Repeal of Net Neutrality Rules>
Reginald Selkirk @ # 182 – I hope NY AG James gets more than such a feeble wrist-slap with her case against Trump.
Fox News wants a massive increase in its cable fees — which will be paid for by all cable subscribers
If that rate goes up to $3 per subscriber, Fox News would be earning more than $1.8 billion annually from affiliate revenue alone.
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-14/chance-of-2023-el-ni%C3%B1o-australia-now-above-90-per-cent/102340672
I’m dreading this. Means a potential horror Summer of bushfires and heatwaves and drought here. Inevitable and likely tohave global impacts esp with GlobalOverheating.
An extraordinary hit from outer space here :
https://www.space.com/meteorite-strike-new-jersey-house-confirmed
@Reginald Selkirk #132:
Mastodon Thread and continuation: Carl T. Bergstrom
From the continuation:
Specifics of the glaringly bad methodology are left at the links for brevity.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Thorough election coverage in the Guardian:
“Erdoğan’s grip on power tested as Turkey votes in pivotal election”:
“Thailand election day arrives with hope of unseating junta generals from power”:
“India’s Congress party defeats Narendra Modi’s BJP in Karnataka state elections”:
Assorted links:
Tech Won’t Save Us – “How Cities Sell Themselves to the Tech Industry w/ David A. Banks”:
Hoy – “Por qué Finlandia representa la nueva guerra fría de Europa”:
The Bunker – “Bunker USA: The evolution of America’s far right extremists”:
The Guardian’s glowing review – “Homegrown review: Timothy McVeigh and the rise of the Trumpist threat”:
Guardian – “Climate crisis deniers target scientists for vicious abuse on Musk’s Twitter”:
Noel on Twitter:
Guardian liveblog:
More re #112 above:
Slate – “The Supreme Court’s Pork Decision Fractured the Justices in the Weirdest Way Possible”:
Vox – “The Supreme Court’s ruling on Prop 12 is a win against factory farming. But the pigs’ lives will still suck.”:
Law & Crime
‘Right to be let alone’: Montana Supreme Court unanimously extends abortion rights against latest GOP efforts, rejects ‘excessive governmental interference’ in women’s lives
Colin Kalmbacher / May 13, 2023
@187 CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain
Thanks for the follow-up.
Minnesota humanists take out billboards to spread the secular word
The Guardian now has a Turkey elections liveblog. From there:
Quick explainer: Think highly of Ukrainian Commander in Chief Zaluzhnyi? You likely underrate him
Not exactly a “quick” explainer, but interesting.
France 24:
“‘The country is becoming a desert’: Drought-struck Spain is running out of water”:
“Kenya cult death toll reaches 200, with more than 600 reported missing”:
Guardian liveblog:
Link
Excerpt from a long article:
Link
Link
Ron DeSantis is such a doofus.
Kyiv Independent:
Maria Bartiromo’s head is filled with cotton candy. (Twitter link)
Stained glass window shows Jesus Christ with dark skin, stirring questions about race in New England
Some good news from beyond earth orbit: Stuck antenna freed on Jupiter-bound spacecraft. This is ESA’s recently-launched Juice probe to the icy moons of Jupiter, and the antenna was key to the whole mission, required for investigating the oceans believed to exist (and possibly to harbour life) beneath the three moons’ icy surfaces. Juice is due to arrive in the Jovian system in July 2031. I’ve reached an age where the duration of such projects is a considerable chunk of my life expectancy (just over half, I reckon)!
News that did not happen: debunking some of the misleading stuff that is being spread around.
Link
Many more details are available at the link.
Sununu is dangerous
Link.
It’s a good thing that Zelensky has diplomatic skills.
Erythrina schliebenii, a critically endangered type of Coral Tree endemic to Tanzania in East Africa and thought to be extinct not once but twice only to be rediscovered is this Week’s Endangered Species of the Week. Originally discovered by Western scientists in the 1930’s this spiky trunked species gets the second part of its botanical name from Hans-Joachim Schlieben, a German botanist and collector and the first ‘Erythrina’ part from its red flowers. Its then known population near Lake Latumba – the area that gives it its common name of the Lake Latumba Coral tree – was cleared for agricultural plantation in the 1940’s and it was declared extinct after no further sightings in 1998. A precious new population was subsequently rediscovered by people working for the University of Dar es Salaam in 2001 in the Namatimbili Forest. Sadly that population too, was soon destroyed falling victim to commercial logging in 2008 and, again, it was thought extinct. Then in 2012 a single population of this lazarus species was discovered near the hamlet of Kilwa with about fifty trees growing on rocky limestone. Despite its rareity, this tree known to locals as “Mnungunungu” in Swahili and “Mlindimila” was a literal life-saver as a traditional medicine apparently being effective in reducing fevers when used properly. There is also at least one paper – abstract linked in comments below – studying this marvellous plant’s value as a possible source of chemicals that may fight breast cancer. Conservationists are working to save it now and we have to wonder how many species like this are disappearing unstudied and what possible medicines are being lost forever with them – let alone their own intrinsic value and beauty and unique evolutionary histories. Having nearly lost this wonderful member of the legume family twice before, we are now on what must be our very last precious, precarious chance to save it. Will we?
See : https://rainforestprojects.org/bringing-one-tree-back-from-the-brink/
Plus : https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6b00839?fbclid=IwAR2v9OKKtadXc01IJpNqC02Xde_9zdE_eeEFenQ5PWV0cNndSM0nXfToiF4
As well as wikipage here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrina_schliebenii
^ Tidied up link for scientific paper abstract here :
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6b00839
Excerpt :
Note of caution when playing with because some Coral Trees very possibly including this Erythrina schliebeni species too produce botanical chemicals that are poisonous as well as useful :
Source : https://treesociety.org.zw/tree-life/338/
Also :
Source : https://wwf.panda.org/?203811%2F
Janet Schrunk Ericksen named chancellor of University of Minnesota’s Morris campus
It’s not just that one Republican forgot who was president in 2020, it’s that several Republicans keep forgetting who was president in 2020.
Link
What the ..:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65599302
Just one?
Dr Becky debunks alien bulldust and explains what the studies of radio from exoplaet aurora around YZ Cet really reveals – ten minutes youtube clip here.
WaPo:
DeSantis signs bill to defund DEI programs at Florida’s public colleges
Jack Stripling / May 15, 2023
Re: #218. If laws like this are not incontrovertibly unconstitutional, what the hell does ‘free speech’ and the first amendment actually mean? DeSantis and other fascists keep doing this shit, and I know that some courts are finding them to be unconstitutional, but it seems so piecemeal. I’m no lawyer. How can this be stopped?
EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Hill Staffer Is A Prominent Follower Of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes
Evidence shows Congressman Paul Gosar’s digital director is behind an online persona that Fuentes called one of his “strongest soldiers.”
More at the link. I snipped quite a bit.
Neo-Nazis in government.
Ukraine Update: Zelenskyy gets military aid during European trip. Did Wagner’s head sell Russia out?
Followup to comment 221.
Posted by readers of the article:
GOP eyes new measures to make debt ceiling hostage note even worse
Link
Oh No, What Is Joe Biden Doing To James Comer’s Informants Who Are Definitely Real And Not Imaginary?
https://www.wonkette.com/james-comer-maria-bartiromo-biden-informant-missing
Good coverage from Wonkette. I can’t post it here because it triggers PZ’s filters.
Here are some excerpts:
Florida teacher investigated by state agency for showing Disney movie in class
By Ana Goñi-Lessan / May 15, 2023
Surprise, surprise. Mr. Freeze Peach Absolutist is a total poser.
Musk loses free speech court battle; Tesla to keep pre-screening tweets
vs
Musk defends enabling Turkish censorship on Twitter, calling it his “choice”
Tweet: Kyle Griffin
(Regarding the Magneto thread.)
Tweet: Alex Zeldin
Musk being an antisemite on top of everything else is hardly a surprise…
.
Important medical news.
Scientists use AI to identify likely drug targets in search for Alzheimer’s cure
https://medicalxpress.com/2023-05-scientists-ai-drug-alzheimer.html
Here we go!
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-scientists-ai-drug-alzheimer.html
Kyiv says it shoots down volley of Russian hypersonic missiles
Olympic gold-medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is running for U.S. Congress
Biden admin may halt plans to move Space Command to Alabama over abortion law
Macron follows Britain by sending French ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles to Ukraine
Rudy Giuliani Accused of Rape and Sexual Harassment in Bombshell 70-Page Lawsuit
ibid:
The circus is back in town!
Head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court arrested after accepting $2.7 million bribe
From text quoted by Reginald @235:
That was a smart move on Noelle Dunphy’s part. Working for Rudy Giuliani? Not so smart.
Those are some tapes I do not want to hear. Yuck.
From text quoted by Reginald @233:
I’ve seen media coverage of other Republican-controlled states being reminded by business leaders that restricting reproductive health care for women will hurt business.
Yes, it will. And, although it is a bit cynical to focus on the money, that alone might make rightwing doofuses moderate their anti-woman legislation
Reuters link
That report is from 2021. Everybody knew, and they knew a long time ago, that restricting health care hurts business.
re Reginald Selkirk @237: Too bad that we can’t rid the US Supreme Court of the justice that has accepted gifts, trips, etc. that probably amount to at least that much. Crooked is as crooked does.
Why it matters when the media normalizes debt ceiling crises
I agree.
Josh Marshall:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/durham-and-the-abiding-canard
The Worst Part Of The Durham Report Is What’s Not In It
Followup to CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @228, and to birgerjohansson @229.
Wonkette: “Elon Musk Has Some Thoughts About This One Jew”
Good commentary on Musk’s overly simplified, conspiracy-theory-dominated worldview. Musk is a doofus with money.
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house
See the list of videos to choose the one featuring Andrew Weissmann. Weissmann provided the best analysis that I have seen of the Durham report.
Link
Followup to comment 238.
One example of those Rudy Giuliani tapes that are mentioned in the lawsuit. This is a description of one of the offensive conversations that were recorded … and it is not the most offensive. I won’t post any of the others.
Link
Another link:
https://eddsa.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/public/650033_2023_Noelle_Dunphy_v_Rudolph_W_Giuliani_et_al_COMPLAINT_10.pdf
[Explanation: Oregon Republican Senators are boycotting the legislative session, preventing the Senate from reaching a quorum. This is to prevent passage of bills exanding abortion coverage, expanding state coverage of medical services for transgender individuals, and making several other changes to state laws regulating reproductive and gender-affirming care. Measure 113, approved by almost 70% of voters last November, disqualifies from reelection any state lawmaker who receives 10 or more unexcused absences during a legislative session.]
Oregon Senate walkout continues, 3 senators now in violation of Measure 113
Dianne Lugo / May 15, 2023
Salem Statesman Journal
The Plastic Crisis Finally Gets Emergency Status
WIRED link
Plastic pollution costs the world up to $600 billion a year. A new UN report provides a road map for drastic action.
More at the link.
Ukraine Update: So what the heck is going on around Bakhmut?
Followup to comment 250.
Ukraine update:
Link
More about “hypersonic speed” at the link.
Satire from Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Replication of high-temperature superconductor comes up empty
@231:
US assessing potential damage of Patriot missile defense system following Russian attack near Kyiv
Followup to comment 176 (SC), 177, 228 (CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain), and 224.
Link
Link
The Daily Beast:
Commentary:
Link
Daily Beast:
Commentary:
NBC News
Parents file a police report after teacher offers LGBTQ-themed book to her middle schoolers
By Danielle Campoamor / May 16, 2023
Re: #258. Again, WTF? Does Illinois have laws against what this teacher did? What could the rationale be for her district to do that? My wife is a public librarian here ion Wisconsin, a state much more right-leaning than Illinois. Her library has these kinds of books on their shelves. I’m on the school board here in our little district. If this came before us, and someone suggested suspending the teacher, you’d know I’d ask, “for WHAT?”
Has Illinois passed some of these insane anti-[insert marginalized group here] laws? ILLINOIS?!
The two faces of Nancy Mace were on display at House GOP’s Biden news conference
@ Paul K #259
As far as I know, there’s no specific law against this. But she’s being investigated for the charge of child endangerment which is a serious charge in every state, of course. Whether she’ll actually be charged is unknown, but the incident was enough for her to resign after 20 years.
This video via Abe Drayton’s Oceanoxia is a powerful thought-provoking one :
https://proxy.freethought.online/oceanoxia/2023/05/16/video-two-minutes/
Also makes you wonder about Repugliklan notions of a “Good Samaritan” being someone who kills people rather than helps them.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also from there:
Updates to #189 above:
Turkey’s presidential election is going to a run-off on May 28.
The Move Forward Party won the election in Thailand, but things will be complicated…moving forward.
AJ – “Thailand election: Will military elite let opposition take power?”:
I am in Maine right now.
My 83-year-old mother suffered from dementia. Dad, who is 88, and my sister, who is 61, took care of her as best they could. A week and a half ago, Mom was working out in the garden, so she still had some quality of life. Her greatest fear was ending up in a nursing home.
My mother went into the hospital last week for dehydration. Discovered she had a raging case of bacterial pneumonia. Caused by aspiration of vomit. Vomiting caused by a bowel blockage. By Saturday, they knew that her chances of surviving the surgery were less than 50/50 and, even if she did, she would be in severe pain and probably never be able to come back home. So the antibiotics were discontinued, she was put on a morphine drip, and died Sunday.
I drove up on Monday (spent Sunday at my twin granddaughter’s 4th birthday party). On Tuesday, Dad and sister and I had a long talk with their UU pastor to plan the celebration of life in Mom’s memory. She, the pastor, was able to draw so many memories out of us about Mom, memories from before the dementia really started her downhill three years ago, memories of the good and the bad, and even positive spins on some of the bad memories. Mom was passionate about life and family, and that passion could sometimes show up as a mama bear protecting the cubs. Sister and I both remember, many times, hoping that Mom would not make our school-crisis-du jour into her crusade (“Please, Mom, don’t get involved”), but even that showed Mom in a positive light. The two hours we spent with the pastor did more for our grieving process than anything else. She helped our grief flow in a good way.
So that’s where I am now — physically and mentally.
On another note, that UU pastor is exactly what we needed. Why the hell can’t other pastors (I’m looking at you, evangelical assholes) focus on the family as she did, not focusing on heaven and hell, redemption, and recruiting?
Long-sought universal flu vaccine: mRNA-based candidate enters clinical trial
Trump-backed Daniel Cameron wins GOP primary for Kentucky governor, will face incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert files for divorce from husband of nearly 2 decades
Texas passes bill stripping authority from cities
“The party of local control”
News from elections in the US yesterday:
NBC – “Florida Democrats flip the Jacksonville mayor’s office in a major upset”:
Bolts (great article) – “Reformers Soar in Pittsburgh Primaries, Opening New Chapter for Decarceral Efforts”:
Colorado Sun – “Yemi Mobolade elected mayor of Colorado Springs — the first Black man elected to lead the city — in political upheaval”:
North Carolina GOP overrides governor’s veto to ban most abortions after 12 weeks
Condolences, Oggie. I’m glad you and your family had a good experience with the pastor. It can help so much.
Extreme weather notably flooding has cancelled the Formula One San Marino Grand Prix :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-17/emilia-romagna-f1-grand-prix-called-off-due-to-weather/102360058
I can’t recall a time when weather caused an F1 race to be cancelled & its a sport I’ve followed since 1985 so.. wow. Of course there’s arguably a few extremely wet races that arguably should have been called off & a few years ago (?) we had a Belgian “Grand Prix” that was consisted solely of a few laps behind the safety car but still..
I fear that Global Overheating and its continuing worsening will mean that this won’t be the klast GRand prix that gets cancelled due toextreme weather. One of the less severe – if still painful for many – consequences of a more and more unstable and extreme planet we’ve created – and are creating.
@ 265. Oggie: Mathom : My deepest condolences. I’m so sorry to read that.
Taniel on Twitter:
From that thread:
Noel on Twitter (audio in Russian at the link):
@ 273. Of course, San Marino is in Northern Italy..
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-17/five-die-in-floods-in-italy-croatia-bosnia/102359924
Meanwhile :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-17/98pc-chance-one-of-the-next-five-years-will-be-the-hottest-ever/102357690
Also perhaps predictably :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-17/chevron-australia-carbon-capture-storage-gorgon-third-capacity/102357652
Assorted Guardian links:
“Devastating floods in Italy claim lives and leave thousands homeless”:
(See also StevoR’s #273.)
Today’s podcast – “Has Ukraine’s spring offensive begun?”:
“The gentrification font: how a sleek typeface became a neighborhood omen”:
Guardian liveblog:
Josh Hawley Explains How the Bible Can Solve Our Country’s Masculinity Crisis
Dianne Feinstein Bizarrely Tells Reporter After 3-Month Absence: ‘I Haven’t Been Gone’
“ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Erdogan says Russia agrees to extend deal that allows Ukraine to ship grain through Black Sea in win for food security.”
NBC – “Ecuadorian president ends impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving National Assembly”:
SC and StevoR:
Thanks. The word ‘catharsis’ is one I now understand both academically and emotionally.
Re: Oggie: Mathom @ #265…
My condolences.
This is what Ecuador’s constitution (of 2008) says:
PBS Newshour has a thought-provoking article here :
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-the-american-dream-convinced-people-loneliness-is-normal
Plus what I was looking for there which is this :
Source : https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/american-museum-of-natural-history-opens-stunning-new-expansion
Guardian – “Naomi Klein investigates ‘conspiracy theory culture’ that has shaken her life”:
Oggie @265:
My condolences. You and your family went through a lot. It is difficult to care for a person with dementia.
When my father died, the pastor made a big deal out of preaching about my father’s end-of-life conversion and baptism, holding him up as an example to us heathens. The pastor was in full-on recruiting mode. My father was not a believer. He went through the ceremony at the church is a rather desperate and touching effort to please/placate my mother who was in the early throes of dementia. It was as if the pastor did not really know my father.
We had a memorial service in a church to please my mother. After that, we heathens went on a memorial camping trip and scattered my father’s ashes in the mountains.
whheydt and Lynna:
Thank you.
My sister and father have been taking care of Mom. Which has been tough.
The UU pastor was wonderful at asking open ended questions that got us talking and remembering.
This pastor knew both of them very well. My dad, as a church elder, quietly pushed her to the top of the list for hiring a new pastor. Which she didn’t know until years later.
Kevin McCarthy is really irritating:
Link
Followup to comments 242, 243 and 245.
There’s no there there, but Republicans want to lock people up based on the bull that Durham wrote.
Link
I expected Republicans to spin the Durham report to a ridiculous degree, but this is even worse than I thought. Republicans are indulging in rhetoric that will foment more violence. Doofuses are immune to facts.
Followup to comments 242, 243 and 245 and 293.
GOP uses Durham report to pretend the Russia scandal wasn’t real
I realize much of the right doesn’t want to hear this, but the Russia scandal was legitimate before the Durham report, and it’s still legitimate now.
Wonkette: “Brian Kilmeade Saw In Durham Report Where Hillary’s Russia Hoaxes Started Ukraine War, And He Is MAD”
Washington Post link
More at the link.
Ukraine Update: Interview with Russian POW tells story of harrowing escape
In the update provided at the original link, there are numerous embedded links.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
A few unrelated observations:
1) Sympathies and support for Oggie.
2) Reginald Selkirk @ # 280: Josh Hawley Explains How the Bible Can Solve Our Country’s Masculinity Crisis
Anybody seeking answers about masculinity from Josh Hawley doesn’t even understand the question.
3) We haven’t seen uncle frogy here for a while (I tried a search for his ‘nym, but the FtB search system couldn’t find anything, and DuckDuckGo couldn’t find anything later than 2021). Anybody know how he (or blf) is doing?
Followup to comment 297.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
Elon Musk’s CNBC Interview Makes Marjorie Taylor Greene Sound Thoughtful
https://www.wonkette.com/elon-musk-allen-shooter-cnbc-interview
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-18/alex-greenwich-to-sue-mark-latham-for-defamation-over-tweet/102360646
On Ëyeball” exoplanets around red dwarf stars flipping and what it impies for habitability here – 12 & half mins long on youtube.
NYU School of Law – Trump’s Most Pivotal, Incriminating Admission on CNN
Condolences Oggie. At least your mother’s worst fear did not come to pass.
Disgracefully, the BBC reported the publication of the Durham Report as if it was a valid piece of work that raised serious issues (although it did note Durham was appointed by Trump). I don’t know whether this should be attributed to bothysiderism or simple incompetence – the responsible editorial staff just being ignorant about US politics.
My condolences Oggie.
WaPo:
School librarians face a new penalty in the banned-book wars: Prison
By Hannah Natanson / May 18, 2023
We’re occasionally reminded that Republicans don’t actually care about deficits. At all. Not even a little. They barely bother to maintain the pretense.
FBI revokes security clearances from Jim Jordan’s latest witnesses
New Filings Show Alleged Leaker Teixiera Discussing Russia-Ukraine War With Someone Outside US
Comments posted by readers of the article:
Link
Ukraine Update: Russia appears as fragile as a Faberge Egg
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
DeSantis’ costly crusade: Disney scraps $1 billion Florida project
Big Liar Kari Lake got humiliated in court, but elections are still endangered
Followup to comment 312.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view the updates.
Jamaal Bowman: Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘put a target on my back’
Good news, as posted by Bloomberg:
Nancy Abudu is the first Biden judicial nominee that Senator Joe Manchin voted against.
Followup to Reginald’s comment 281.
NBC News:
Wonkette
Where does Team Trumprupt find these people? I mean, that are, apparently, lawyers licensed to practice law in some state or another, but, though I am not a lawyer (and never played one on TV, these lawyers are the gang that can’t shoot straight or read a statute.
Easy. If the one wanting the divorce is rich, white, conservative, Christian, and a man, then the divorce is warranted. If the one wanting the divorce is poor or middle class, a person of colour, progressive or liberal, not an evangelical Christian nationalist, or a woman, then delay*, delay**, delay***. . . .
* poor people can’t afford lawyers, so making it more convoluted and difficult will make them stay married longer and move more money from the unwashed masses to lawyers.
** besides, liberals just want free love without consequences****
*** the only reason they want a divorce is because they don’t understand Christian marriage.*****
**** free love should only have consequences for the slut, not the man.
***** man is to the wife as god is to man.
(feeling snarky tonight)
Bombshell in Aussie media -resepcted TV host, columnist & author Stan Grant stepping aside due to racism :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-19/stan-grant-media-target-racist-abuse-coronation-coverage-enough/102368652
Haha, Ronald Reagan in 1943 opened the curtains for a drag show in the film This is the Army.
So…I suppose DeSantis will demand we boycott the army, and everything Reagan-related.
Also, the Rand corporation shows that the economy is so bad 24% of servicemen suffer what they call “food insecurity” and 14% must use food stamps.
Here is the link
https://youtu.be/HautJ80SoU0
Source : https://johnmenadue.com/climate-breakdown-extinction-and-the-most-stupid-boast/
On how the Overton Window for the media is even more pushed and biased towards the reichwing of politics than the Overton Window for the community generally sadly.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also from there:
Also from the Guardian:
“‘It’s like the USSR’: residents on life in Mariupol a year since Russian occupation”:
“Iran executes three men accused over anti-government protests”:
“Villages evacuated as ‘very large’ wildfire ravages south-west Spain”:
“New York City is sinking due to weight of its skyscrapers, new research finds”:
“‘We’re starting a new era’: Thailand’s giant-killing MP Ice on her election upset”:
StevoR @322, Stan Grant writes well. He stated his case well. Sorry to see that he felt he had to “take time out.”
I agree with his conclusion:
For Republicans to slander an anti-corruption judge as part of a Clarence Thomas defense says more about the GOP senators than their intended target.
Well that’s a telling detail. Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana did not want to hear what the expert had to say. He just wanted to make a speech tailored for rightwing news, and then he left the room.
As budget talks ‘pause,’ Trump pushes dangerous default scheme
Trump just wants to create chaos. He wants to see an economic downturn during Biden’s administration. Trump doesn’t care if he harms the entire population of planet earth to get his way.
Followup to comment 330.
Washington Post:
Commentary:
Link
Ukraine Update: Russia’s Bakhmut collapse bodes ill for its future defenses
Shocker: House GOP and Fox News spread an anti-immigrant lie
Noel on Twitter:
Videos at the link.
My father, my sister and I spent much of today going through old photos for Mom’s life celebration in early June. Lots of good memories. Lots of crappy photos.
It was weird in so many ways. I am used to the idea that my mam and dad were young. Seeing the photos of them as young parents, with me as a baby or toddler, or even in elementary school, is not strange. I grew up with those photos.
However, seeing me as a young father is really weirding me out. Yeah, I’m a grandfather, but some things still hit me from left field. Oh well.
Heading back home tomorrow. Wife and I, along with my son, his wife, and his daughters, will be coming up for a one day up, one day here, one day back for the memorial.
Feeling conflicted.
She was heading down hill with dementia and was probably looking at another two or three years of decline, so I look at the bowel blockage/viral pneumonia with relief. Had I not come up, I would be feeling so guilty about feeling relief. Does that make sense? I miss her but I’m so glad she died quickly.
Oggie @335, I think mixed feelings of relief and grief are common.
My mother had Alzheimers when she died of cancer. I was so relieved that I actually smiled when I went to the nursing home to pick up her belongings. It was awkward. I felt guilty. I got over the guilt quickly because I knew what my mother faced if she had continued to live for a few more years. I still feel that mixture of relief and grief. It’s appropriate for the circumstances.
Tweet o’ the day.
NBC News:
Link
‘In a lot of the world, the clock has hit midnight’: China is calling in loans to dozens of countries from Pakistan to Kenya
Fortune link
More at the link.
Commentary on the Fortune article featured in comment 339.
Link
Live Science – “Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?”:
Ted Lieu:
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1659378655959678978
Ted Lieu was responding to this:
Photo of man with gun is available at the link.
Okay. I don’t think they wanted to vacation there anyway.
Link
Sandy Hook families seek to reverse payments Alex Jones made to wife
Russian bomber shot down by Patriot system
@248 followup:
Oregon Senate walkout continues as 6 more Republicans banned from re-election
Winner of ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ contest takes Mike Lindell to court for $5 million after successfully proving him wrong
‘Iconic’ bird was feared extinct for decades — until appearing on Louisiana trail cam
A vitally important story from the UK: Couple get payout after water buffaloes fall into Essex swimming pool.
Happy World Bee Day (May 20th) everyone! 🙂
https://www.gov.si/en/registries/projects/world-bee-day/
Vital pollinators.
Diverse & fascinating bee-autiful Hymenopteran insects coming a far broader rnage of species than most realise including some blue-banded Aussie ones and some lazy cuckoo parasite ones.
Well deserving of celebrating & caring for. Plant wisely, think of them, look out for them.
Some endangered bee species from my previous Endangered Species of the Day / Week fb series hopefully of some interest here :
.***
Neopasiphae simplicior, a short tongued, very critically endangered West Australian native Australian bee and today’s Endangered Species of the Day.
Source : https://www.pinterest.se/pin/285134220146504230/
.***
Then we have the critically endangered Bombus affinis or the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Found in North America, indeed living as far north as Canada with its range extending in a rather odd shape patch of the United States down almost but not quite to Atlanta in the south and along the east coast from Washington to well into Ontario. At least it used to. Once fairly common, this species hasn’t been seen in Canada since 2009 despite considerable efforts by entomologists. As its Wildlife Preservation page notes :
Source : Rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) WPC profile page – https://wildlifepreservation.ca/blog/rusty-patched-bumble-bee/
Sadly this species holds another much less happy distinction being the first bee species on the continental USA to be added to their list of endangered species. Habitat loss, pesticide use, Global Overheating and reduced genetic diversity in the increasingly isolated and fragmented populations has seen this species decline dramatically in number which is a worry given they play a role in pollinating 65 different genera of plants. For World Bee Days to come – with apologies to the Bard – to have this bee or not to have this bee remains an open question.
.***
Described as “..a monstrous fluffy ginger beast” by British ecologist David Goulson and sometimes called a Moscardon, today’s Endangered Species of World Bee Day is one of the largest as well as rarest bees, Bombus dahlbomii – also called “flying mice”” by some! Growing up to 4 cm long and dramatically orange wand also bearing yellow and black stripes this huge social bee is had to miss – and will be greatly missed if it disappears forever. The only native bumblebee found in South America, specifically Chile and Argentina, it was recently joined there by two introduced European bee species which has not gone well for the native species with its numbers crashing possibly due to competition or maybe introduced parasites from its new Hymenopteran neighbours. Which given this bees role as an important pollinator of local plants and sustaining many temperate forest species is a serious concern. It is now feared we’re fast losing this spectacular insect and, sadly, the sting in the tail of its likely loss is that it will take a lot of others with it – as well as us losing one of nature’s insect wonders with its own intrinsic worth. Can we stop that and save this bee? Maybe? Its not gone yet but on this World Bee Day, we definitely need to know we’re running out of time here.
See : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/04/the-battle-to-save-the-worlds-biggest-bumblebee-from-european-invaders
Bundy, state court no-show, wanted St. Luke’s case in federal court. A judge just ruled
Marjorie Taylor Greene Roasted For Saying She Feels ‘Threatened’ By ‘Aggressive’ Congressman Jamaal Bowman
Uh, no.
THOR Microwave Anti-Drone System Downs Swarms In Test
Marjorie Taylor Greene Announces Articles Of Impeachment Against Biden
A promising drug for the menopause
Fezolinetant
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fezolinetant
StevoR @350, I have a flowering tree in my backyard. The tree is currently in its spring glory, covered with white blossoms. The bees love it. It is so full of bees that you can hear the humming from about 15 feet away.
I don’t use any kind of pesticides near that tree.
Happy World Bee Day!
Why former Trump Org executive Allen Weisselberg could face perjury charges
The Manhattan district attorney won’t comment, but filings in the New York attorney general’s civil case may reveal the gist of Weisselberg’s potential problem.
A confusing nest of lies.
A Short Week In Kyiv
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime/a-short-week-in-kyiv
ReligionClause / Friday, May 19, 2023
Florida Governor Signs 5 Bills Labeled As “Protecting Innocence of Florida’s Children”
Link
Ukraine Update: Zelenskyy is at the G7, Putin is nowhere
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
I guess there were too many links the first time I tried to post this. At an rate, the title link below contains links to the full text of each law.
ReligionClause / Friday, May 19, 2023
Florida Governor Signs 5 Bills Labeled As “Protecting Innocence of Florida’s Children”
Russia issues retaliatory arrest warrant for International Criminal Court prosecutor
The Satanic Temple: Think you know about Satanists? Maybe you don’t
Exploding underwater drone set to be unleashed against Russian Navy
Connecticut high court nominee who supported Amy Coney Barrett withdraws
Followup to comment 361.
More Ukraine updates:
Link
Link
Link
Expect more of this style of corruption:
New York Times link
Satire from Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Senate Candidate ‘Patriot Whistleblower’ Admits to Fabricating Sex Trafficking Story
Salman Rushdie honored at PEN America gala, first in-person appearance since stabbing
No longer World Bee Day now – except maybe in Alaska & Hawaii & some Pacific islands(?) timezones but still a great clip on
man working to photograph and preserve the endangered Rusty-patched Bumblee species here – just over 7 minites long.
TheNewRepublic – Florida Passes Bill to Protect Billionaires if Their Exploding Rockets Kill People
Huh, dunno had that weird formatting stuff up happened..
The UN’s Alice Edwards speaks truth here :
https://www.smh.com.au/national/limitless-detention-of-refugees-is-inhumane-and-must-end-says-un-torture-watchdog-20230414-p5d0et.html
WATRNING :Semi-paywalled, one free article (per month?) then have to subscribe to see. So annoying!
Our inhuman refugee policies have been a disgrace & stain on Australia’s national reputation since Howard was PM. Long overdue we changed to a compassionate, reasonable approach processing them here, quickly and with kindness :
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. Their latest summary:
Also from there:
Dmitri on Twitter:
Subtitled video at the link. I’m sure these yahoos will have no problem holding off the AFU with small arms (since Ukraine has no intention of invading Belgorod).
Guardian liveblog:
Guardian – “As Greece goes to the polls, scandal, disaster and apathy eat into PM’s lead”:
The Bunker – “Up and Athens: The Greek elections explained”:
“Plethoric” and pretty wild.
DeSantis asks that judge be disqualified from Disney’s free speech lawsuit
Ready the Ig Nobel: Researchers incorporate used diapers into concrete
Also in the Guardian:
“Russian mercenaries behind slaughter of 500 in Mali village, UN report finds”:
“Romance, strife, and broadcasting rights: African telenovela goes global”:
Tweet o’ the day.
More re #s 283 and 286 above – CounterVortex – “Oil intrigues behind Ecuador auto-golpe.”
Guardian liveblog:
Guardian liveblog:
Some podcast episodes:
Citations Needed – “Ep. 182: Hardhats vs Hippies and the Cold War Curation of the Conservative Union Guy Trope”:
The Bunker – “Bunker USA: How American guns fuel Mexico’s cartels”:
Oh God, What Now? – “The Anti-Nat C League: Inside the far right’s Glastonbury for wingnuts”:
More podcast episodes:
You’re Wrong About – “We Need to Talk About the New York Times with Tuck Woodstock”:
There’s something really sick about their coverage. The absurdly low standards, reckless cruelty, dogged gaslighting, attacks on critics,… – it’s all so persistent and gratuitous, and I can’t put my finger on what’s behind it.
Dig (Jacobin Radio) – “Trans Children w/ Jules Gill-Peterson”:
Why Is This Happening? – “A gun industry insider perspective with Ryan Busse (2022)”:
I have some issues with these last two, but they’re worth a listen.
LOL. (Twitter link)
Peter Baker:
David Corn:
Link
SC @390, sorry I didn’t see your post on that subject before I also posted about Putin sanctioning people who pushback against Trump. Thinking alike … again.
I assume you saw my earlier post in which I noted that Putin had sanctioned Rachel Maddow. LOL
(((Tendar))) on Twitter:
Lynna @ #392, I did! I’m surprised it took them so long to get to Obama!
@ 391
Dear Mr. Putin:
Эшли Бэббит получила ровно то, что заслуживала. Мы надеемся, что вы встретите такой же конец.
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1658938288067997697
Representative Eric Swalwell:
Commentary:
Link
SC @394, and Stephen Colbert! LOL.
In other news: Yellen says early June is ‘hard deadline’ for raising debt limit, warns bills will go unpaid
Grist – “This LA teen is suing her school district — and the USDA — to promote nondairy milk”:
More at the link.
“Maybe the worse retail politician ever. Just brutal to watch.”
Video at the Twitter link.
DeSantis: What’s your name?
Guy: [says his name]
DeSantis: OK.
Ukraine Update: Bakhmut falls, Russia gains nothing but future misery
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
NAACP issues travel advisory for Florida over DeSantis’ ‘aggressive attempts to erase Black history’
The civil rights organization has warned that the state is “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
True.
Mass shooting at Missouri nightclub leaves at least 3 dead
Three of the victims were transported to hospital but a short time later one of them was pronounced dead, police in Kansas City said.
This is a developing story.
Mass shooting at Missouri nightclub leaves at least 3 dead
Three of the victims were transported to hospital but a short time later one of them was pronounced dead, police in Kansas City said.
This is a developing story.
Followup to comment 401.
More Ukraine updates:
“Officials of the Kherson Defense Forces confirmed the downing of a Su-35 of the Russian Air Forces over the Black Sea.”
“An bright light or explosion could be seen in Russian-occupied Simferopol. Since then a blackout hit the city.”
Video and images at the (Twitter) link.
“A line of summit and hotel staff awaited @POTUS as he left the G7 Summit host hotel in Hiroshima. In true @POTUS fashion, he stopped to take photos with everyone! A perfect way to say thank you to Japan for hosting a successful summit.”
Wholesome video at the (Twitter) link.
Video: Chris Hayes – Casualties of the culture war (8:17)
– The threat of severe penalties for doctors forced a woman to carry a fetus with Potter syndrome to term, knowing immediate asphyxiation would follow.
– Tampa’s Pride event was cancelled because an anti-drag law made it illegal.
– A ban on gender-affirming healthcare for children.
TPM – Hospitals in [Missouri and Kansas] denied an abortion to a miscarrying patient. Investigators say they broke federal law.
Mexico prosecutors withdraw case against woman sentenced to prison for killing man raping her
“excessive use of legitimate force” – because when you are minding your own business and are unexpectedly attacked, you should know precisely the amount of ‘legitimate force’ to use.
/s
Epstein ‘threatened to reveal’ Bill Gates’s alleged affair with Russian bridge player
Federal Inquiry Finds Trump-Appointed CEO Abused Power at Voice of America
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) show the location of a new supernova in galaxy M101.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230522.html
@ ^ whheydt : Cheers!
bad cop, bad cop gets convicted news story :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/nsw-police-officer-found-guilty-of-assaulting-indigenous-teen/102376612
Bad cop’s boss refuses to look at police brutality against elderly dementia patient because of “courage”” (LOLwhat?!) news story :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/nsw-police-boss-defends-call-not-to-watch-95yo-being-tasered/102376328
Oh and our racist ex-cop opposition “leader” the Gestapotato Dutton makes the Indigenous Voice about race :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/peter-dutton-says-indigenous-voice-will-re-racialise-the-country/102378700
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Tweet o’ the day.
Guardian – update to #380 – “Greek PM seeks new poll in push for absolute majority after election win”:
Guardian – “‘There was all sorts of toxic behaviour’: Timnit Gebru on her sacking by Google, AI’s dangers and big tech’s biases”:
Twitter thread on the “Belgorod incursion.”
Another state needs to go on the “too dangerous to visit” list:
Democrats … hunt them with dogs
“joke” or “it’s just a joke” is boundary testing and boundary pushing by Bruce Miller (397) and Governor Henry McMaster (421). I have to tell people on nextdoor that I will pay attention to it.
There is a evopsych author named David Buss. I have not kept up with the issue. Is he a serious guy or just some pop science author?
I am asking because Swedish newspapers have been writing about him recently.
Jack Smith Has 50 Pages Of Real-Time Notes From Evan Corcoran
More details … we want more details.
Russian Deputy Minister Dies Suddenly After Slamming ‘Fascist Invasion’ of Ukraine
Ukraine Update: The pro-Russian world unconvincingly celebrates its pyrrhic victory
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Would a focus group believe the truth about the Republicans’ debt ceiling plan, or would the facts be perceived as “cartoonishly evil”?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/perspective-6
Josh Marshall:
Followup to SC’s comment 417.
‘Utterly dishonest’: Twitter reacts to Ted Cruz’s NAACP criticisms
More at the link.
Followup to comment 426.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view the updates.
Cowardly DeSantis strikes again
Biden Names FCC Picks, Pushes for Democratic Majority at Deadlocked Agency
Colorado River states reach deal with Biden to protect drought-stricken river.
Washington Post link
Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware won’t seek reelection, opening up seat in liberal state
Freedom of Russia Legion says they are creating a “demilitarised zone” in Russia
Two Weeks at the Front in Ukraine.
In the trenches in the Donbas, infantrymen face unrelenting horrors, from missiles to grenades to helicopter fire.
New Yorker link
Much more at the link.
! – Kyiv Independent:
From Reginald Selkirk’s #435:
I had to read that about 50 times today before my brain could stop reversing the letters to turn the beginning into “gravy.”
Russian Media Monitor (YT link) – “Russian state TV plots retaliation against the West.”
An actual statement made on Russian state TV today:
Lynna @ #433, thank you for your posts about the Colorado River. I wouldn’t have been following it at all otherwise.
NYT:
It’s ranching.
Holy shit this is horrific.
TexasTribune – After doctors left Dell Children’s adolescent clinic, Austin teens and their families are scrambling to find specialty care
DailyDot – These are the cops Ron DeSantis paid to come to Florida
Hakai – By Fighting the Ozone Hole, We Accidentally Saved Ourselves
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also in today’s Guardian:
“Australian media’s racism reckoning: Indigenous journalist quits over ‘unrelenting’ abuse”:
“Italian government accused of exerting ‘ruthless’ influence at state broadcaster”:
“Ohioans are trying to make abortion a right. So Republicans want to rewrite the rules”:
Guardian liveblog:
Christopher Miller on Twitter:
Mykhailo Podolyak on Twitter:
19-year-old arrested on multiple charges after crashing into barriers near the White House
Man gets stuck waist-deep in Alaska mud flats, drowns as tide comes in
Ron DeSantis is learning that not every state wants to be Florida
Will Stancil last night on Twitter:
Judge rules against Kari Lake, affirms Hobbs as AZ governor in election signature verification trial
Elliot Higgins on Twitter:
Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning (YT link) – “Rep. Comer may have inadvertently revealed Biden probe’s true intention”:
Turkey’s third-placed presidential election candidate backs Erdogan
TPM – “Texas GOP Moves To Commandeer Elections In Houston”:
Tweet with Johnson and much more at the link.
Guardian liveblog:
Guardian liveblog:
Man onc e famous for artwork now better known as a convicted pedophile Rolf Harris ahs died :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/disgraced-paedophile-rolf-harris-dies-aged-93/12371306
WARNING : Pretty much as you’d expect really. Grinning dead pedo’s face,refernces to his child abusing crimes.
Because a former prime minister of Britain cares deeply about partisan Texas politics?
SC @440, you’re welcome. Colorado River water is a big issue across a wide swath of the western USA. It’s really difficult to get people to change their ways when it comes to using water. I think the Biden Administration was right to use a carrot-and-stick approach.
Colorado River Lower Basin States Reach Agreement on Conservation Proposal
I find a lot of people talking about “getting their fair share of the water,” and fewer people talking about more basic issues like how to use less water.
SC@447, 454,
It seems unwise, to say the least, for Ukraine to allow a force of Russian “partisans” with neo-Nazi links to operate from its territory, however much they, and we, might feel that turnabout is fair play.
KG @ #463, I don’t think anyone has established what exactly is going on with this group. I remember the last time they started something around the border some people noted that (IIRC) German intelligence had in the past suspected links between some of them and the GRU or FSB. Now the Guardian is reporting on photos of them with NATO vehicles or something and it’s rousing my suspicions. The whole thing is very sketch and potentially some sort of influence operation (possibly connected to the Kremlin and state media stoking fears of an immanent invasion along the border for the past several weeks). I’m not saying the Ukrainians definitely aren’t abetting it, but I haven’t seen any solid evidence of who’s behind what and what’s just opportunistic trolling/propaganda.
I noted the Nazi links @ #454.
Guardian liveblog:
What a surprise! Not: Texas pushes church into state with bills on school chaplains, Ten Commandments
KG @463, and SC @447, 454 and 464: I have watched Russia exert pressure on some regions to fight harder against Ukraine. Russia’s Belgorod province borders Ukraine’s Luhansk, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. I wonder if this is just another Putin ploy to rouse animosity toward Ukraine?
As SC noted, the whole thing is very sketchy. Even without the supposed neo-Nazi links, it is sketchy. Too many questions. Not enough answers.
See : https://amami-horizon.com/en/nature/animal/tokudaia-osimensis
Plus : https://greekreporter.com/2022/11/30/rat-without-y-chromosome-human-genetic-future/
As well as wikipage : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyu_spiny_rat
Raw Story – “Florida school bans poem read at Biden inauguration after objection of just one parent.”
Wiradjuri journalist, author & TV host Stan Grant’s speech before stepping away after racism and death threats and controversy following an honest if controversial discussion on Aussie TV of the Britsh monarchy & its imapct on Oz before the latest British Monarch was crowned. Critical of media, racism and more.
Don’t agree with all of it – Grant is a variety of Christian FWIW – and wasn’t his biggest fan but still worth listening to I think.
@470. SC (Salty Current) :Just curious but are these the same people who used to and probly still will call left wing progressive people “snowflakes” becoz .. yeah.
Bits and pieces of campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:
From Politico: Whoops! Foreign imagery keeps creeping into [Republican] campaign ads.
Videos include stock imagery from Russia, Ukraine, Italy and Estonia. […] More at the link.
Example: One of Glenn Youngkin’s ads uses video in which you can plainly see the red, white and green symbol of the Italian Air force, and you can seed the word “Typhoon” on the jet’s tail. “A scene that was supposed to show an American jet actually featured a Eurofighter Typhoon from the Italian Air Force.”
More, (irony alert):
Dmitri on Twitter:
Subtitled video at the link.
Tweet o’ the day.
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/asio-boss-warns-neo-nazi-groups-becoming-more-emboldened/102383558
Gen. Hertling thinks the Belgorod incursion was a raid (Twitter link). It’s possible, although some of the evidence doesn’t quite fit. If it was, and it was planned or permitted by the AFU, then I agree with KG @ #463.
SC@464, 465, Lynna OM@468,
Yes, fair points. As far as who was behind the “raid” is concerned, we can wait and see, but often in similar cases (the pipelines, the killing of Dugina…) that hasn’t provided any resolution!
Guess who just bid $100K for McCarthy’s used chapstick
The Florida Tourist Bureau is going to love this.
Rick Scott issues travel advisory for ‘socialists,’ warning Florida is ‘openly hostile’ to them
Hamburger Mary’s Is Dragging Ron DeSantis… To Court
Ukraine Update: Revolt in Belgorod may be troubling for Russia, but the guys involved are no heroes
This update written by Mark Sumner is topped with an inspiring image of “Experienced drone pilot Marta, from the group Female Pilots of Ukraine, instructs others on flying the DJI M30. 20 May 2023.”
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Youtube link to a campaign ad featuring a voice over by Jon Hamm.
Commentary:
Link
Link
Followup to comment 482.
More Ukraine updates:
Utter bullshit … just repeating ignorant Republican talking points.
I will point out that Republicans mouth the words, “We do not want a default,” but then they cynically proceed with actions that belie those words.
Link
Guess what happened to stock market due to AI images on Twitter
Link
Link
I’m reading (interspersed with, like, ten other things) Peter Gay’s The Cultivation of Hatred: The Bourgeois Experience, Victoria to Freud. It describes “manliness” – alongside “competition” (Social Darwinism, eugenics, etc.) and the construction of the Other – as one of the alibis for aggression and hatred in the nineteenth century. With no substantive changes (other than maybe an increase in vapidity and panic), that rhetoric is being reproduced now. They could take one of these texts (Thomas Hughes’s 1879 The Manliness of Christ, for example) and just update it a bit and it would fit right in today.
Hee.
From The Cultivation of Hatred (p. 112):
NYT:
South Carolina Senate Passes 6-Week Abortion Ban
The legislation, which faced a filibuster led by five women senators, now heads to the governor who has said he will sign it.
By Kate Zernike and Ava Sasani / May 23, 2023
Texas AG Calls for Resignation of ‘Obviously’ Drunk GOP House Speaker
Quoted @ #410:
That’s insane. Medical professionals have a responsibility to prevent emergencies when they can. They should refuse en masse to abide by this.
Jimmy Carter, 3 months into hospice, is aware of tributes, enjoying ice cream
Trump’s Media Company Wants $3.8 Billion in Lawsuit Against Washington Post
Band of Democrats Readies McCarthy Lifeline for a Moderate Debt Compromise
WTF? Did I just read the words “courage” and “McCarthy” in the same sentence?
Reginald Selkirk @ #492,
Texas Tribune – “House panel investigating AG Ken Paxton’s office; Paxton calls on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign”:
More at the link. Developing story, to be sure!
Rep. Raskin on Twitter:
That reminds me – it’s been a while since I shared one of my favorite videos.
Amanda Gorman tweeted about the ban @ #470 and shared the complaint.
Someone should tell Clarence Thomas and the Perjurers Trump foisted tocreate his treason SCOTUS about this and what should be expected of Justices :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/south-australian-judge-resigns-amid-investigation/102383402
If it is expected of Judges in Oz why not those over in the States too?
Generally people can’t lie their way into jobs then get to keep them or behave badly and not be sacked so..