Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy failed in a last-ditch effort to secure an invitation to join Nato after leaders of the 31 countries signed off on a declaration that did not give Ukraine a firm timetable or clear conditions for its eventual membership.
The frustrated Ukrainian president had accused Joe Biden and other leaders present at a summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, of showing disrespect and complained that there was “no readiness” to invite his country to join.
But the dramatic lunchtime intervention had no impact on the final summit communique, issued a few hours later. It said that while “Ukraine’s future is in Nato”, the alliance would only “extend an invitation to Ukraine” when Kyiv had completed certain “democratic and security sector reforms”.
Zelenskiy said in a statement issued after the communique he would like his “faith in a strong Nato” to become confidence. “Today I embarked on a trip here with faith in decisions, with faith in partners, with faith in a strong Nato. In a Nato that does not hesitate, does not waste time and does not look back at any aggressor … And I would like this faith to become confidence.”
The communique’s language reflects opposition from Germany and the US that too firm a commitment could prompt an escalation from Russia and, if Ukraine was allowed to join the alliance while the conflict continued, it could ultimately bring Nato into a war against Moscow.
Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Nicola Davis about why octopuses are more similar to us humans than we might believe. She also hears from Prof David Scheel about our increasing understanding of the sophistication of these cephalopods, and how that should influence our treatment of them.
Jennifer Jacquet is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University and a visiting professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Miami. She is the recipient of a 2015 Alfred P. Sloan research fellowship and a 2016 Pew fellowship in marine conservation. Along with Becca Franks, Peter Godfrey-Smith and Walter Sanchez-Suarez, she published an article on “The Case Against Octopus Farming” in 2019.
In this conversation, Dr. Jacquet discusses the state of the growing octopus farming industry around the world, what life would be like for animals on the world’s first octopus factory farm proposed by Nueva Pescanova, and how this widely opposed form of intensive aquaculture can be stopped before it begins.
Dr. Jacquet 0:00
We really do have to ask ourselves why we would do this in the 21st century to an animal that the world is in love with. I mean, [in the documentary] My Octopus teacher, it’s the same species. It’s octopus vulgaris, and you have it winning the Academy Award, winning a BAFTA, and then in the same breath, announcing that we’re going to put [the octopus] into mass production. I am just baffled at how this is possible. And the truth is, I don’t think it is. I’m so encouraged by how much resistance there is to this idea….
What’s going on with the #orcauprising? You’ve probably gathered the basics: orcas are “attacking” yachts. To be strictly factual, since 2020, a small pod of orcas in the strait of Gibraltar has been interacting with sailing boats in a new way: ramming vessels, pressing their bodies and heads into the hulls and biting, even snapping off, the rudders. Over three years, more than 500 interactions have been recorded, three boats sunk and dozens of others damaged. Last month, the first instance of this behaviour was recorded in another place, when an orca rammed a boat near Shetland….
There are two fascinating things about this. First, of course, what are the orcas doing? But the second is about another species entirely: us. Why do we like this story so much? Because we do: people – including me – love the idea of orcas attacking boats. Browsing through orca memes, there’s an orca as the sickle in the hammer and sickle, with the headline “eat the rich”, and a Soviet-style graphic of a heroic orca emerging under a superyacht. “What if we kissed while watching the orcas take back the ocean,” reads one tweet with 1m views, while a much-used image of an arm holding a microphone up to a captive orca has been repurposed endlessly to highly entertaining effect – I like one where it’s “singing” a bespoke version of the Meredith Brooks classic: “I’m a [b—-] / I’m an orca / Sinking yachts /Just off Majorca [sic] / I’m a sinner I’m a whale / Imma hit you with my tail.” We’re taking great pleasure in projecting extremely human narratives and motivations on orcas. But how wrong is that, and why does it appeal?…
I love this:
“They’re very interested in us,” says [Philip] Hoare. “Every whale I’ve met, and I’ve met thousands, they’re all interested in us. Because they know there’s nothing out there in their ocean – other than other whales – that is like us. We’re talking about all this now; there’s an equivalent conversation going on in orca society. Orca are podcasting. Literally podcasting. I’ll copyright that joke!”
Russian Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov has been killed in an attack in occupied Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhya Oblast, the advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, announced on July 11…
iiandyiiiisays
I’ll be so bold as to recommend my new satirical novel, “Cultural Practices of the Heartland”, to my fellow Pharyngulites: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5YLNQHN
Tagline: The last seven years of American politics distilled into a revolting thousand-foot monster, tromping through the American heartland.
I think y’all might enjoy it!
A “whistleblower” who has repeatedly accused the Bidens of corruption has been charged by the Justice Department with arms trafficking, acting as a foreign agent for China and violating Iran sanctions.
Gal Luft, who is a citizen of both the United States and Israel, is accused of paying a former adviser to Donald Trump on behalf of principals in China in 2016 without registering as a foreign agent…
Ukraine’s SBU security service has neutralized a criminal group that terrorized residents of Chernihiv Oblast near the border with Russia, the press service of the security agency said on Telegram on July 11.
The group’s activities undermined the internal political situation in the northern region bordering Russia, the SBU said.
The offenders face up to 12 years in prison, along with confiscation of property.
The criminals created fabricated conflict situations with residents of Chernihiv Oblast and then extorted money from victims by claiming to “settle the dispute.” If people refused to pay, they were abducted and taken to locations where they were tortured…
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence has confirmed the shooting and included some very specific details about what happened to Stanislav Rzhytsky, even the type of gun used….
Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired on Monday after several former players revealed details of hazing within the football program, and days after an independent investigation confirmed hazing activities “widespread among football players.” University president Michael Schill announced Fitzgerald’s firing in a statement to the Northwestern community posted online.
While Schill said the details of the investigation would remain confidential, he revealed some new information as he explained his decision to fire Fitzgerald:
He said that 11 current or former players told investigators hazing had been ongoing, and he mentioned a new report from Monday, where more former players confirmed hazing “was systemic dating back many years.”
Schill said nudity, forced participation and “sexualized acts of a degrading nature” were part of the hazing…
On July 8, approximately 5,000 far-right protesters stormed Tbilisi Pride Fest, an LGBTQ+ festival in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The far-right movement Alt-Info and several other organizations initiated the protest, which started with several hundred protesters, including members of the Georgian Orthodox Church. As the protesters marched toward the festival, the crowd grew in size to approximately 5,000 people. When the crowd reached the festival grounds, they broke through the cordon created by Georgia’s Internal Affairs Ministry.
The protestors destroyed the festival’s stage and stands, and burned LGBTQ+ flags, as well as a flag of Ukraine. Afterwards, the protestors marched toward the Georgian Parliament Building where they continued to protest against the right of the LGBTQ+ community to host public events. According to Georgia’s Internal Affairs Ministry, no one was injured.
The festival organizers accused Georgia’s Internal Affairs Ministry of working with Alt-Info, and the government of inciting violence….
…
Several video clips taken at the festival appear to confirm that the police didn’t resist the rioters as they entered the site of the festival….
“Terrorist mob” would be a better description than “protesters.”
UPDATE: Tuesday, Jul 11, 2023 · 8:54:54 AM MDT · kos
Big kill for Ukraine, the highest ranking Russian killed in the war. [Tweets and image at the link: “As a result of the attack by Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the command post of the 58th Army in the Berdyansk region, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District, was killed.”]
Well, Russians of equal rank have been killed, but Tsokov had the largest command. The fact that Ukraine knew where he was holed up is huge, and likely took out a big swath of Russia’s command and control in a single strike.
Maybe he had his Strava on. [Strava means “strive” and is, apparently, an internet service for tracking physical exercise which incorporates social network features.]
—————————
When I was in the Army, I did fire direction for an M270 MLRS rocket artillery battery, the only kind of rocket munitions for that system were those carrying cluster bombs. Those M26 rockets carried 644 submunitions, scattering them across the area of a football field.
I’ve written about them before […] back in May of 2022, and the article was premised on a factual inaccuracy: I assumed MLRS still fired those cluster munitions, rather than the unitary GMLRS warhead. In any case, the cluster bomb part of that story is still salient, and leaned heavily on an Army report that found:
Just two years after the war’s end, the Government Accountability Office reported that M.L.R.S. rockets failed at far higher rates in combat than the Army had advertised, and that dud grenades left over from rocket attacks had killed and wounded at least 16 American troops. An Army report in the early 2000s noted that even though the M.L.R.S. was deployed in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, “not one rocket was fired because of the lack of precision and potential for collateral damage as well as the high submunition dud rate.”
Sounds terrible, right? And it was a good argument for May 2022. Today? It no longer applies, and it’s a great thing that cluster munitions are being sent. Here’s why.
First of all, no one is talking about sending MLRS/HIMARS-launched M26 rockets. Their dud rates were astronomical, and they started being dismantled a decade ago, the rocket bodies reused for GMLRS rockets. As far as anyone knows, there may not be any left. Instead, we’re talking about a version launched via 155 millimeter artillery.
RO37 has been on the story here, here, and here. [embedded links are available at the main link] I will say that people are putting too much hope on these munitions. They’re not the game-changers people claim they are, and getting those individual grenades to drop into trenches is still incredibly hard. They’re best used against light vehicles and troops out in the open. What they bring to the table, as RO37 notes, is millions of potential new rounds at a time when the West is running frightfully low on conventional artillery shells.
If you want to call “a shit-ton more artillery shells” a game-changer, then I’ll grant that. It’s a volume play.
In any case, I don’t need or want to rehash any of that. Read those links above if you want the technical details. Instead, let me explain why my original analysis no longer applies.
[Readers, see also comment 412 and comment 413 in the previous chapter of this thread.]
In short, the battlefield looked a lot different in May 2022. Russia was at least a half year away from beginning to create the trench and defensive network that scars the entire front line today. The people laying mines were the Ukrainians, trying to stop the Russian hordes from advancing. Creating a whole new class of unexploded ordnance near the population centers then-besieged by Russia could actually imperil Ukrainian defenders and civilians for marginal utility.
Russia itself used the munitions as a tool of terror, regularly dropping those cluster munitions on cities like Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. The point was to sow terror. Ukraine wasn’t in that game.
The argument against cluster munitions, and the reason 100 countries have outlawed them (though only seven out of the 20 largest countries has done so), is all about that dud rate, and the potential to maim or kill civilians long after the fighting stops.
Does anyone think any civilians will be walking that front line anytime in the next decade? Unexploded cluster bombs will be the least of the problems with millions of buried anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines, unexploded artillery shells, conventional grenades, degraded TNT, assorted booby traps, unexploded rockets and missiles, and god knows what else. The environmental pollution will add to the dangers.
This isn’t a question about introducing a brand new UXO threat to a previously clean zone. This is a part of the front that will already require massive, sustained, and long-running UXO cleanup. And those dud cluster grenades will have the chance to be swept up in the cleanup along with the tons of other ordinance that will inevitably be left behind.
Or put another way, those cluster munitions will not introduce any danger that doesn’t already exist.
That’s not all.
The desire to protect civilian lives is laudable. Yet right now, every day, Ukrainian civilians are being tortured, raped, murdered, deported, and subjugated under Russian rule. Every liberated city has borne witness to Russia’s depravity and cruelty. And where Russia doesn’t control, it rains rockets, missiles, and artillery, killing more civilians every single day.
The quicker the war ends, the fewer civilians die in the long run. […]
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleskii Reznikov listed the guidelines under which these munitions will be used:
1. Ukraine will use these munitions only for the de-occupation of our internationally recognised territories. These munitions will not be used on the officially recognized territory of russia.
2. We will not be using cluster munitions in urban areas (cities) to avoid the risks for the civilian populations – these are our people, they are Ukrainians we have a duty to protect.
Cluster munitions will be used only in the fields where there is a concentration of russian military. They will be used to break through the enemy defence lines with minimum risk for the lives of our soldiers. Saving the lives of our troops, even during extremely difficult offensive operations, remains our top priority.
3. Ukraine will keep a strict record of the use of these weapons and the local zones where they will be used.
4. Based on these records, after the de-occupation of our territories and our victory these territories will be prioritised for the purposes of de-mining. This will enable us to eradicate the risk from the unexploded elements of cluster munitions. The Minister of Defence of Ukraine is by law acting as the Head of the national de-mining agency. In this capacity I will ensure the implementation of the relevant legal framework for the de-mining process after our victory.
5. We will report to our partners about the use of these munitions, and about their efficiency to ensure the appropriate standard of transparent reporting and control.
All of this speaks to my points above: They won’t be used near civilians, but against Russian military positions in occupied territory. Any duds will be swept up as part of the broader de-mining operation. Keeping records is irrelevant; where there are Russians, cleanup will take years to finish, and the records would be fudged if any off-label use were proscribed. But if it makes everyone happy to pretend otherwise, so be it.
Yes, unexploded cluster bombs will inevitably kill some Ukrainian soldiers. But you know what will kill them more? Living Russian defenders able to fight back. The math is clear, and so is the moral authority. As long as these are kept away from civilian areas, it makes perfect sense to make use of them.
A quick addendum: Here are the world’s 10 most populous countries, and whether they have outlawed cluster munitions:
China: No
India: No
U.S.: No
Indonesia: No
Pakistan: No
Brazil: No
Nigeria: Yes
Bangladesh: No
Russia: No
Mexico: Yes
—————————-
[…] I’m laughing at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan humiliating Vladimir Putin twice in as many days, first by releasing the Azovstal commanders he had promised to hold until the end of the war, then a day later by signing off on Sweden’s NATO membership after a year or so of obstructing it.
We still don’t have confirmation of rumors claiming that Turkey will guarantee the safety of Ukrainian grain shipping vessels if Russia refuses to renew the grain corridor agreement. Just the threat of doing so should prompt Putin toward renewing the agreement, perhaps even indefinitely. What’s the alternative? Putin is better off appearing magnanimous in agreeing to extend than impotent by watching Turkey escort those vessels and Russia unable to do anything about it.
Incidentally and totally coincidentally, the U.S. has dropped opposition to the Turkish purchase of modern F-16s. […]
—————————–
Wait, what? [Tweet and screen grabs at the link: “The Krasnodar commander that was fatally shot in Russia while on a run would routinely post his route on the Strava workout app. This one from recently was liked by Kyrylo Budanov: you literally can’t make this shit up.”]
For context: {Tweet and image at the link: “Stanislav Rzhytskiy, the former commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet submarine “Krasnodar,” who fired the missiles that killed Liza Dmytriyeva, was shot dead by an unknown assailant the morning. Little Liza had Down’s Syndrome and was returning from a speech therapy session with her mother when she was killed in the Russian missile strike on Vinnytsia.”]
————————–
[…] St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad (the little gray blotch between Poland and Lithuania) sure do look squeezed. In fact, Finland and Estonia are combining their coastal defenses under unified command. [map at the link “check out NATO lake.”]
Somewhat relatedly, the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) are unifying their air forces under a single command, creating an air force powerhouse of over 250 combat aircraft. While the idea had circulated for decades, Sweden and Finland’s nonaligned status created impediments. Thanks to Putin, that is no longer a problem.
—————————–
At the beginning of the war, we all watched helplessly as Russian Grad MLRS rocket artillery systems rained unimpeded death on Kharkiv. Remember these videos? [videos at the link; attack MLRS against a city is a war crime …”]
That’s why I’ll never get tired of seeing GMLRS rockets destroying Grads by the dozens these days. [videos at the link]
This happened at the end of June, but I didn’t know about it until Rick Wilson mentioned it on Molly Jong-Fast’s podcast (he also introduced me to the term “Minivan Taliban”). Apologies if it’s already been discussed:
Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with “radioactive” mining waste that has been linked to cancer.
The measure, brought forward by the state House, adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that state officials say can be used in road construction.
The list already included ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel, which officials had previously determined are “part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.”
But unlike most of those products, phosphogypsum is not a material that is aggregated in landfills. It’s the remains left behind from mining phosphate, which is described by the EPA as being a “radioactive material” because it contains “small amounts” of uranium and radium.
Phosphate rock is mined to create fertilizer, but the leftover material, known as phosphogypsum, had decaying remains of those elements that eventually produce radon. That substance is known as a “potentially cancer-causing, radioactive gas,” a spokesperson for the EPA previously told CBS News. And because of that risk, phosphogypsum is federally required to be stored in gypstack systems – not landfills – in an attempt to prevent it from coming in contact with people and the environment.
“The Clean Air Act regulations require that phosphogypsum be managed in engineered stacks to limit public exposure from emissions of radon and other radionuclides in the material,” an EPA spokesperson previously told CBS News.
Before it can be used, the state’s Department of Transportation will need to conduct a study to “evaluate the suitability” of its use, the bill says, and “may consider any prior or ongoing studies of phosphogypsum’s road suitability in the fulfillment of this duty.” That task must be completed by April 1, 2024.
…
Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the bill is a “reckless handout to the fertilizer industry.”
“Gov. DeSantis is paving the way to a toxic legacy generations of Floridians will have to grapple with,” Bennett said. “This opens the door for dangerous radioactive waste to be dumped in roadways across the state, under the guise of a so-called feasibility study that won’t address serious health and safety concerns.”
What makes phosphogypsum so risky?
Radon, the gas emitted from phosphogypsum, trails just smoking to rank as the second-leading cause of lung cancer, and is linked to about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S., according to the EPA. The agency also says it’s the “single greatest environmental source of radiation exposure.”
…
In a statement to CBS News on Friday, the EPA said that the passing of the legislation, HB 1191, “does not affect EPA’s regulation of phosphogypsum,” noting the legislation specifies that the phosphogypsum be used “in accordance with the conditions” of the agency.
“Any request for a specific use of phosphogypsum in roads will need to be submitted to EPA,” the spokesperson said, “as EPA’s approval is legally required before the material can be used in road construction.”…
Reginald @8, so the Republican’s “credible” witness is a spy for China.
“Credible.” That’s the word that Rep. James Comer, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and other Republicans have used again and again when referring to an unnamed informant behind their supposed probe into what Comer charmingly calls “the Biden crime family.” This mysterious source wasn’t just at the heart of the purported investigation. At a press conference back in May, Comer made it clear that this man and his claims were the entire results of their four months of looking under rocks and chasing down conspiracy theories.
However, after leveling absolutely unsupported statements about “a criminal scheme involving then-VP Biden,” Comer’s conference fumbled to a halt with the admission that his one and only witness to this scheme had disappeared. “Well, we’re hopeful that we can find the informant,” said Comer on Fox News. “Remember these informants are kind of in the spy business.”
As it turns out, Comer was absolutely correct about one thing: His missing informant was in the spy business. As in he’s a spy. For the Chinese government. And an international dealer in illegal Chinese weapons. […]
the one man really at the core of the Republican case against Biden, such as it is, turns out to be Gal Luft. And “highly credible” is not the phrase most people would use to describe him. “International criminal” might be one good alternative. So would “Chinese spy.”
A dual citizen of the United States and Israel, Luft is the founder and executive director of the think tank Institute for the Analysis of Global Security as well as other organizations that now appear to be extinct. He’s been featured as an energy expert on numerous television shows, including an appearance on CNBC last year where he argued against restrictions on allowing Russia to sell oil.
On Monday, Luft was charged with multiple counts of illegally trafficking Chinese arms to Libya, the UAE, and Kenya; lying to FBI agents; and being an unregistered agent of the Chinese military.
And it’s not as if Republicans didn’t know this. The whole reason Luft was missing when it came time to testify back in May was not that he was involved in “spy stuff,” it was that he was deeply engaged in “crime stuff.” That’s because Luft had skipped bail in Cyprus to avoid being extradited over the same charges that were filed on Monday. […]
Yeah, Iowa Republicans did not realize that they had scheduled their party nominating caucuses on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
Iowa Republicans announced Saturday that the party’s presidential nominating caucuses will be held Jan. 15, on the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., putting the first votes of the 2024 election a little more than six months away as the GOP tries to reclaim the White House.
White House candidates have campaigned in Iowa since last winter, but there has been some uncertainty about the date for the caucuses that have by tradition kicked off the Republican selection process for a nominee. What’s changed is the Democratic National Committee’s election calendar, dropping Iowa as its first contest.
The Iowa Republican Party’s state central committee voted unanimously for the third Monday in January — a date that is earlier by several weeks than the past three caucuses, though not as early as 2008, when they were held just three days into the new year.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, during a call with reporters later, reported that the vote was unanimous and that he “never sensed that there was anyone even thinking about voting no” to the proposed date.
“As Republicans, we can, I, we see this as honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King in terms of having a caucus here,” Kaufmann said, noting also that committee members hadn’t considered the possibility of the contest falling on the federal holiday before arriving at the date.
Caucuses, unlike primary elections, are contests planned, financed and carried out by the parties, not state election officials. The Iowa announcement Saturday allows New Hampshire, which has not inked a primary election date but has circled Jan. 23 as its preference, to protect its first-in-the-nation status, which is codified in state law that requires the contest be held at least seven days ahead of any other primary.
The decision could have implications for both parties. Iowa Democrats had been waiting for the GOP to set a date as they try to adjust to new DNC rules on their primary order.
Democrats have proposed holding a caucus on the same day as the Republicans contest and allowing participants to vote for president via mail-in ballot. But Iowa Democrats have said they may not immediately release the results.
That could allow the state party to still hold the first-in-the-nation caucus without defying a new election-year calendar endorsed by President Joe Biden and approved by the DNC that calls for South Carolina to replace Iowa in the leadoff spot and kick off primary voting on Feb. 3.
Last month, South Carolina Republicans adopted Feb. 24 as the date for the traditional first Southern primary, leaving plenty of time for Nevada to schedule its Republican caucuses without crowding New Hampshire.
“We remain committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished first-in-the-nation caucuses, and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024,” Kaufmann said.
A large amount of surplus industrial equipment from the company MyPillow is now up for auction online, including from the company’s Minnesota factory.
The items are being auctioned off using K-BID Online Auctions and items include dock trucks, sewing machines, forklifts, boxes and more, according to the listing page. 824 items will be auctioned off and the event ends on July 18 at 7 p.m.
Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Chief Executive Officer, told Minnesota television station WCCO that the auction is a surplus auction that “is a reflection of the change from big box and mall store sales to a direct-to-consumer approach.” Lindell said MyPillow in-store sales were canceled by retailers such as Walmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond…
More questionable Republican campaign tactics, as summarized by Steve Benen:
Gov. Doug Burgum realizes that it won’t be easy to qualify for the next Republican presidential debate because, among other things, he’ll need at least 40,000 individual donors. With this in mind, the North Dakotan has begun offering $20 gift cards to the first 50,000 people who donate at least $1 to his campaign.
Also, as was noted in the previous chapter of this thread:
NBC News reported that GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign “is launching a new fundraising initiative that will see the campaign give donors 10% of the total amount of money they raise.
More Republican campaign fuckups and farcical advertising:
In Montana, Tim Sheehy’s Republican U.S. Senate campaign became the latest operation to get caught using stock images that have nothing to do with their home state. Business Insider reported that on the “Issues” section of his campaign website, Sheehy featured a green pasture in Kentucky, which disappeared soon after.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #19…
I keep thinking that California should schedule its presidential primary for the first Tuesday in January and then tell the parties that if they don’t participate, they don’t get on the general election ballot, Let’s start things off with a serious bang.
One of these things is not like the other: being a Supreme Court justice who writes books and goes on book tours to support said books, and being a Supreme Court justice who gets luxury vacations and financial assistance from billionaire friends who bankroll extreme partisan groups who are in the business of getting cases before the Supreme Court, some of them manufactured from the start. But for the Associated Press, Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s literary career is a scandal worthy of a 2,300-word exposé.
“For colleges and libraries seeking a boldfaced name for a guest lecturer, few come bigger than Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court justice who rose from poverty in the Bronx to the nation’s highest court,” AP’s investigators report. “She has benefited, too—from schools’ purchases of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of the books she has written over the years,” they gasp.
Presumably her share of those book sales are disclosed as income by Sotomayor, since AP doesn’t report otherwise. The scandal AP is trying to stir up is that her staff has “often prodded public institutions that have hosted the justice to buy her memoir or children’s books.” And that these events at public institutions are “largely out of public view,” which is interesting since they are being held at, again, public institutions like schools and libraries.
To be clear, it is not great that “taxpayer-funded court staff” are “performing tasks for the justice’s book ventures.” That is not a good look and it would be better for her to hire a personal assistant to work with the publisher to do that kind of work. But how about some perspective here? Sotomayor writes books and holds public events to discuss the books and inscribe them for attendees. It makes sense her staff ensures there are books available for purchase at these venues, which is exactly not the same thing as being flown around the world on the private jets of billionaires. Not to mention the fact that Sotomayor discloses these financial transactions herself.
In fact, in 2020 Sotomayor discovered from a request by a court reform group that she hadn’t fully disclosed six trips she took in 2016 to deliver commencement addresses and university lectures. She amended her disclosures to show the travel, lodging, and food costs that were covered by the universities.
That’s really not at all the same as being flown to Rome for a victory party by the group that got you to overturn abortion rights. Speaking of Justice Samuel Alito, what else was happening in 2016? Let’s see: The Supreme Court was hearing and ruling on a case brought by Alito’s very good friend and luxury trip gifter, Republican megadonor hedge fund owner Paul Singer. “Singer’s fund walked away with a $2.4 billion payout, a spectacular return.” Alito did not recuse himself from the case.
Now, students and librarians certainly have interests in cases that come before the Supreme Court, but damned few of them are going to have a $2.4 billion personal interest in any case that comes before the Supreme Court. It puts into real perspective a librarian deciding that having Sotomayor come to the library to talk to patrons would be nice, and having copies of her book on hand for her to sign would be a good thing.
Should there be ethics reform at the court to make sure publicly paid SCOTUS staff aren’t organizing book events? Yes. Let’s do court reform. In fact, that’s what Senate Democrats are doing this month: voting on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act in the Judiciary Committee.
But let’s not pretend that there is any kind of corruption in a justice going on a book tour to public libraries and universities. Or that it is even remotely the same as having a billionaire friend pay your kid’s private school tuition, buying and renovating your mother’s house where she continues to live rent-free, or hosting you for a luxury Alaskan fishing trip with glacier ice martinis. One of these things is definitely not like the others.
False equivalence is not a good basis for journalism.
I am usually of two minds about this “who goes first” controversy … and then I see that it does really matter in terms of media coverage, fundraising, and the public’s assessment of the various candidates.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Tuesday condemned white supremacy when asked about fellow Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hesitancy to call out white nationalists. [“Hesitancy”? Sheesh. Tuberville brazenly supports white supremacy.]
“White supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in our whole country,” he told reporters when asked about Tuberville’s latest controversial comments on white nationalism.
Tuberville faced criticism earlier this year over an interview with an Alabama radio station, during which he said of white nationalists in the military, “I call them Americans.”
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Monday, he doubled down on that statement, saying, “My opinion of a white nationalist, if someone wants to call them white nationalist, to me is an American.”
Tuberville sought to draw a distinction between white nationalism and racism, which he said he is against. He said white nationalist is a buzzword that liberals slap on their political opponents and said he didn’t necessarily want to throw people who identify as white nationalists out of the military.
[…] Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ripped Tuberville over his comments Tuesday
“The Senator from Alabama is wrong, wrong, wrong,” Schumer said. “The definition of white nationalism is not a matter of opinion.”
“For the Senator from Alabama to obscure the racist nature of white nationalism is indeed very, very dangerous,” Schumer continued. “He is fanning the flames of bigotry and intolerance.”
Former President Donald Trump is asking a judge to delay setting a trial date in his classified documents case, citing the extraordinary nature of a prosecution that could happen during the 2024 presidential race and what his lawyers cast as complex legal issues.
… Among other complications, they said, would be the challenge of selecting a jury during the 2024 presidential race, where Trump is running against the current president, Joe Biden.
“There is simply no question any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial,” Kise and Blanche wrote.
The Trump lawyers also used the filing to foreshadow some of their next steps in the case, including a likely motion to dismiss the charges; legal challenges to the special counsel’s authority; and probing the nature of the documents themselves and whether they had been properly classified.
….Trump’s team is signaling it will fight any government bid to keep some evidence secret.
“In general, the Defendants believe there should simply be no ‘secret’ evidence, nor any facts concealed from public view relative to the prosecution of a leading Presidential candidate by his political opponent,” they wrote. “Our democracy demands no less than full transparency.”
Ulitimately, it will be up to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, to decide the timing of the case.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #24…
In all seriousness, I think that (a) the primary/caucus season is far too long, and (b) that the order in which primaries and caucuses are held should be rotated from election to election, probably by keeping regional groups of states together to reduce the amount of travel required. Unfortunately, the “Always me first!” ethic precludes sensible arrangements. Unless someone puts in a hammer (such as, “do it out of order and you don’t get on the general election ballot atall“) to make the punishment severe enough to prevent the parties from going along with it.
Russia has been labeled an “alcoholic empire” and, despite Vladimir Putin abstaining from drinking, the influence of “vodka politics” remains prevalent.
Alcohol abuse is widespread not only among ordinary citizens but also among senior politicians. Recently, heavy drinking has reached alarming levels within the administration. According to a report by the Russian independent portal Verstka, Kremlin officials have escalated from seeking solace in a glass of vodka to consuming an entire bottle during their working hours.
This surge in alcohol consumption can be attributed to the stress caused by the war in Ukraine, internal tensions within the ruling camp and Western sanctions. The problem has worsened since March when Kyiv announced its upcoming counteroffensive, and Prigozhin’s rebellion, which revealed cracks in Putin’s leadership, might exacerbate the situation.
It is no wonder that Russian soldiers also turn to alcohol for comfort.
Drinking in the military has been a common practice dating back to pre-modern times, as alcohol was believed to provide soldiers with “liquid courage.” Thus rations of beverages were commonly issued to the troops. Russian forces, in particular, were traditionally dispensed a “charka” of vodka since the late 18th century. However, when abused, alcohol undermines discipline and fighting power, with servicemembers becoming “more interested in the bottle than in the battle.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed a severe problem of drunkenness among the ranks, prompting authorities to impose bans on alcohol sales in some occupied territories. However, these measures proved insufficient to curb the issue. The British Ministry of Defense identified heavy drinking as “particularly detrimental to combat effectiveness” of Russian troops, significantly contributing to the high death rates
.
The use of non-alcoholic drugs by combatants, such as opium, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine, has historically been equally widespread, and the Russian military today is no exception. The full-scale war against Ukraine faced the Kremlin leadership with an acute shortage of military personnel, primarily assault units. This led to an unprecedented recruitment advertising campaign, enticing young volunteers with a monthly baseline salary of around $2,500, a sum only 1 percent of Russians earn, while the average income is less than $700 per month. This incentive attracted the most needy and vulnerable citizens, including substance abuse addicts, to enlist in the war. [Russian recruits report not being paid what they were promised.]
Recruits, including volunteers, conscripts from the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, and mobilized Russian civilians, have not been screened for drug use.[…] Drug trafficking has long been the second largest crime after theft, and tens of thousands of young Russians regularly or periodically take illicit substances. In recent years, Russian cities have witnessed a surge in the consumption of powerful and severely habit-forming stimulants, such as mephedrone and “bath salts,” leading to an increase in addiction within the general population and, consequently, in the military.
[…] In occupied Donetsk and the Rostov regions, as well as the Krasnodar territory bordering Ukraine, drugs are easily available for servicemembers who also enrich themselves by looting, which further exacerbates the problem. […] indirect evidence indicates a growing problem, with increased drug-related criminal cases in many military courts for the purchase and distribution of illicit substances since the second half of 2022. Frequently, these courts consider combat experience and decorations as extenuating circumstances and impose minimum punishments. And command offices have even requested lenient sentences, citing the need for personnel on the front lines.
Amid the escalating issue of substance abuse in the military, the involvement of the Wagner Group is worth considering, as they recruit members from penal colonies populated by convicts with drug-related offenses. In exchange for sentences of eight to 15 years in prison, these convicts-turned-recruits can earn their freedom if they stay alive for six months in combat. Although no official statistics are available, numerous dead fighters identified as Wagner’s mercenaries buried in Bakinskaya village near Krasnodar were previously convicted of drug offenses. The presence of illegal substances in penitentiaries indicates that many of Wagner’s men had prior drug addictions, as revealed by Radio Liberty’s investigation into the mercenaries who underwent rehabilitation at the hotel resorts in the Krasnodar territory, where they rampantly consumed alcohol and drugs.
Evidence from Ukrainian troops and materials recovered from the battlefield show that many Russian soldiers have reportedly been fighting under the influence of amphetamine-like substances, particularly mephedrone. Reports also say that untrained conscripts were sent drugged as “disposable troops” in human waves to disclose Ukrainian positions and prepare the ground for better-trained units. This tactic is reminiscent of a demining technique employed by the Soviets in the Winter War (1939-40), where dulled with vodka, infantrymen marched in close-order rows clearing terrain for tank divisions. During intensive fighting in Bakhmut this spring, the Russians also launched “zombie waves,” recklessly trying to overcome Ukrainian lines. These blind and fierce charges, resembling Japanese suicidal banzai attacks during the Pacific War, suggest that soldiers may have been under the influence of drugs, although evidence is sparse.
It is important to keep in mind that there is nothing unprecedented about intoxicants helping Russian troops. Throughout history, commanders often overlooked drug use among troops as long as it did not undermine combat effectiveness and morale. And that is precisely the point: The pervasive and growing substance abuse within the Russian army adds to its generally poor condition and lack of esprit de corps.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #26…
Someone needs to take Tuberville out in back of the woodshed and apply a clue-by-4…repeatedly. It should be up to Moscow Mitch to do it, but I doubt he has the intestinal fortitude to do the job. Failing that, the Senate–generally–needs to get its act together and override Tuberville’s “hold” on military promotions. I’d bet there’s a way to do in in the Senate rules (and if there isn’t, there should be). It’d probably take a vote of 60 Senators, like most requirements to overcome obstructionism.
whheydt @28, I agree that the primary/caucus season is far too long. Other developed countries have much shorter election seasons.
In other news, here is a followup to Reginald in comment 8, and me in comment 18.
Wonkette had something to say about the “whistleblower” on whom Republicans were relying for their anti-Hunter-Biden propaganda.
Have we mentioned that House Intel Chair James Comer is full of shit? […] Oh, we say it a lot? Well, fair, because it’s totally true.
[…] it’s time to play everyone’s favorite game, What The Fuck Are Republicans On About Now? […]
Today’s topic: WHO OR WHAT IS GAL LUFT?
Okay, so you know how Comer and his band of dipshits have been hee-hawing for months about their top secret whistleblower? The one who can prove that Hunter Biden and Joe Biden took all the bribes from China? They couldn’t produce him because REASONS, and in May our pal Jamie took his big square head over to Fox to tell that Maria Bartiromo that his informant was lost.
“Well, unfortunately we can’t track down the informant. We are hopeful that the informant is still there. The whistleblower knows the informant, the whistleblower is very credible,” he told the credulous Fox host, who briefly demonstrated signs of mild skepticism, before reverting to form.
“Who in the White House is intimidating these people? Do you know?” she gasped.
“I do know,” Comer assured her. “We’re saving that for a later time.”
Friends, that time is now. Because yesterday that “informant” outed himself, running to that bastion of good journalism, the New York Post, claiming to be on the run from the US government, bent on silencing him.
Gal Luft, a dual American-Israeli citizen, headed a “think tank” called the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in DC. In the video, Luft alleges that in the course of doing very serious thought leader stuff with a Chinese energy conglomerate known as CEFC, he discovered that Hunter Biden was also doing stuff with the company, but of the bad LOCK HER UP variety. He says that he blew the whistle last year to the FBI, after which he was indicted, made bail in Cyprus, and then went on the lam for his own safety.
Naturally Jamie Comer and his chaperone, Jim Jordan, raced to Fox to rehabilitate their guy. [Tweet and video at the link]
To which the DOJ said “Bet!” and immediately unsealed the indictment against Luft.
Now, before we get into this document, let’s point out perhaps the most salient thing from a political standpoint: It was returned on November 1, 2022, i.e. before there was a Republican Congress. So the idea that the feds arrested this guy to head him off from talking to Congress is reeedonkulous. That investigation was in the works for a good long while, and a gander at the charges lets you know exactly why.
Luft is alleged to have conspired to traffic weapons and Iranian oil, in addition to violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). And while the weapons and oil may be more serious from a criminal perspective, Luft’s FARA scheme is most interesting politically.
Broadly speaking, Luft coordinated with Chinese agents to pay former CIA Director James Woolsey to author pro-China editorials in Chinese news outlets during the 2016 election and its aftermath. Woolsey was then an advisor to the Trump campaign, and when Trump won the election, Luft and his Chinese backers were ecstatic. Woolsey was also palling around with Mike Flynn at the time, and famously attended a meeting where Flynn pitched high-level Turkish government officials on a plan to black helicopter the Muslim cleric Fetullah Gülen (Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s archenemy) out of the US for the low-low price of $15 million. To his credit, Woolsey distanced himself from Flynn after that, but we can’t help but notice that Flynn also accepted money from a foreign government cutout to publish editorials under his own name advocating for warm relations between the US and another nation.
[…] Sorry for the extended flashback, but we can’t help but note that Trump, whose supporters have been screaming nonsense about Biden’s supposed ties to China, was being advised by a guy who was literally being paid by a Chinese agent to publish articles praising the CCP.
Here’s just a taste from the indictment (CC-1, or “co-conspirator 1,” is presumed to be Patrick Ho, who was sentenced in 2019 to three years in prison for bribing African officials in connection with his position at CEFC):
On or about November 12, 2016, CC-1 emailed GAL LUFT, the defendant, that “[e]ver since the publication of the articles of my ‘dialogue’ with [Woolsey] in Hong Kong and in the mainland, [he] is now a household name among the USA watchers in HK and in China. But I should think that he should hide for now, come to China on a silent trip first, then surface to speak out on Trump’s foreign policies just before his inauguration or thereafter. LUFT responded that “[w]e are debating about his role in the new admin. There are kinds of considerations … We should talk ftf as there can be a supremely unique opportunity for china.”
On or about November 13, 2016, GAL LUFT, the defendant, and CC-1 exchanged emails about the potential role of Individual-1 in the new presidential administration. LUFT reported that “[o]ur friend is now on the shortlist of the following: Sec Def[,] Sec homeland security[, and] Dir nat intel.” CC-1 replied that “[t]his side would like to see him assuming something with a ‘China’ profile. Of the three, S of D [i.e., Secretary of Defense] or DNI [i.e., Director of National Intelligence] would be good, esp the former.” LUFT wrote to CC-1 that “DNI is most likely,” and CC-1 responded later in the email chain that “may be you could reserve his ‘direct’ China link as the weapon of last resort.”
But instead of Woolsey becoming DNI, the job went to Mike Flynn — although Woolsey would presumably have been judicious enough to go away quietly and not come back four years later advocating for martial law and a coup.
Did your eyes glaze over when you read all that? Well, snap out of it, because that’s exactly what the Republicans were hoping would happen. Just check out Rep. Nancy Mace, the supposedly “moderate” one, shoveling horseshit into Maria’s ever open maw. [Tweet and video at the link]
Luft didn’t get indicted because he tried to blow the whistle on Hunter Biden. He got indicted because he was wildly corrupt and because he made false statements about it to the FBI, including in March of 2019, during the very same interview in which Comer alleges that Luft blew the whistle on Hunter Biden.
And one more thing, since we’re all the way down this weird rabbit hole. From NBC, here’s what Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell has to say about a supposedly incriminating What’sApp message from Hunter Biden regarding his China deal that Luft gave to congressional Republicans:
Lowell writes that the screenshots of the message as tweeted by Smith, “both include a photo of Mr. Biden not from 2017 but from the White House Easter Egg roll in April 2022 (long after the purported message was sent); both images portray the message in a blue bubble, when WhatsApp messages are in green; one image super-imposed the Chinese flag for the contact ID, when surely that was not how a text or contact was kept; and one purports to be a screenshot with the ‘. . .’ of someone composing a text (as in Apple’s iMessage) when that does not happen on WhatsApp.”
He writes, “In short, the images you circulated online are complete fakes.”
In summary and in conclusion, COME THE FUCK ON.
Oh, and PS: You know that IRS whistleblower Comer and the chuckleheads are touting? He’s mad that the IRS didn’t chase this shit down harder.
wzrd1says
To clarify the radiophobic points in @17, phosphogypsum has traces of radioisotopes, so does granite. Are we so alarmed over debris from granite cutting, quarrying and construction debris? Do we prohibit wells in aquifers that are bounded by granite bedrock and hence, have trace amounts of radon and uranium in the water? Do we ban brazil nuts and bananas over their radioactivity?
Nope all around. We do regulate things, especially waste products like granite dust and phosphogypsum and rightfully so. But, around 15% of all phosphogypsum used is used in construction currently worldwide.
One upside to highway resurfacing is, a lot of the debris from highway resurfacing and replacement is recycled back into the roadway surface, along now with rubber from recycled tires (adds to traction and durability).
And we’re talking about 5 – 10 ppm levels, if the phosphate source is from oceanic evaporite like Florida’s is. That’s right around the same level as an average granite kitchen countertop.
But then, we can’t let reason interfere with the use of scare quotes and a good phobia. After all, we still see people fall for fearmongering over hydric acid.
You know, water.
Since June 22, journalists at the Journal du Dimanche – known as the JDD – have voted daily to down tools in an unprecedented strike action that has kept France’s best-known Sunday paper off the shelves for the first time in its 75-year history.
The walkout by more than 95% of staff followed the shock appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune, the former editor-in-chief of a far-right magazine that was convicted of publishing racist hate speech under his tenure.
Lejeune, 34, was officially tapped by the JDD’s owner Arnaud Lagardère, though his nomination is widely seen as the work of billionaire Vincent Bolloré, France’s most dreaded corporate raider, whose takeover of the Lagardère Group won the conditional support of EU regulators in June.
Following the appointment, eight former editors of the JDD wrote a letter blasting a “provocation and proof that the far right is taking hold in the media”. They expressed outrage that the identity of the paper was being “erased” by Bolloré, who has a track record of gutting staff and overhauling the editorial line at the news outlets he has purchased in recent years.
Almost three weeks into the strike, the beleaguered newsroom has appealed to President Emmanuel Macron to take a stand, framing the tussle at the JDD as part of a wider battle for press freedom.
“When the JDD, the newspaper of temperance and balance, goes on strike, it means the situation is truly bleak,” they wrote in a letter to Macron on Saturday, pleading with the government not to let their paper “die in silence”.
They added: “Beyond the JDD, what is at stake is the independence of the press and the journalists who produce it – a pillar of democracy.”…
But then, we can’t let reason interfere with the use of scare quotes and a good phobia.
What the hell? They’re not scare quotes but actual quotes from the EPA. From there:
[Radon] is known as a “potentially cancer-causing, radioactive gas,” a spokesperson for the EPA previously told CBS News. And because of that risk, phosphogypsum is federally required to be stored in gypstack systems – not landfills – in an attempt to prevent it from coming in contact with people and the environment.
You could argue that the federal requirements are based on irrational fears, but if so that wouldn’t be the fault of the article writer.
We [the EPA in this instance] do regulate things, especially waste products like granite dust and phosphogypsum and rightfully so….
Members of a deeply conservative Amish community in Minnesota don’t need to install septic systems to dispose of their “gray water,” the state Court of Appeals ruled Monday in a long-running religious freedom case that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A three-judge panel ruled that the government “failed to demonstrate a compelling state interest” to justify overriding the religious freedom of the Amish families that challenged state regulations governing the disposal of gray water, which is water that’s been used for dishwashing, laundry, and bathing, but not toilet waste…
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach-turned-politician with no military experience, said in a televised interview that “there is nobody more military than me.”
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, the senator from Alabama said his father was “career military” and that he personally is “all for the military.” …
That wasn’t the only example of out-of-state photography on Sheehy’s website.
The photo that Sheehy originally used to illustrate his support for border security was taken in Russia, while a photo in his “Forest Management” section originates from Ukraine.
Reached for comment, Sheehy campaign spokeswoman Katie Martin blamed their campaign’s digital vendor, Push Digital, for the “unfortunate error.” …
The Justice Department has reversed course and said it no longer believes that Donald Trump should be entitled to immunity for his response to E. Jean Carroll’s accusation of sexual assault, allowing the case to move forward to trial in January.
The change in position eliminates one legal hurdle surrounding Carroll’s 2019 defamation lawsuit against Trump for statements he made while president, denying her allegation of rape a decade earlier, that he didn’t know her, and that she wasn’t his “type.”
DOJ lawyers said in a letter to lawyers for Trump and Carroll that “the Department has determined that it lacks adequate evidence” to conclude the former president was acting within the scope of his employment or serving the US government “when he denied sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll and made the other statements regarding Ms. Carroll that she has challenged in this action.”
Initially, the Justice Department under both the Trump and Biden administrations said Trump was acting within the scope of his duties when responding to reporters’ questions in 2019 about Carroll’s allegations. That essentially meant that the Justice Department would be substituted as a defendant and the case would likely be dismissed.
The case has been held up on appeal over what constitutes the scope of an employees’ duties until a Washington, DC, court provided guidance this spring, sending the case back to the judge. The judge asked the Justice Department whether its position had changed in light of the court ruling and trial from Carroll’s second lawsuit. The judge set the trial for January, at the start of the presidential primary season.
Justice Department lawyers said they took into consideration Trump’s deposition that was played in the battery and defamation trial earlier this year stemming from a separate lawsuit Carroll brought, as well as statements Trump made in October repeating the denials long after he left office, indicating he was not motivated to protect and serve the US when he first made the comments.
…
“And a jury has now found that Mr. Trump sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll long before he became President. That history supports an inference that Mr. Trump was motivated by a ‘personal grievance’ stemming from events that occurred many years prior to Mr. Trump’s presidency,” the Justice Department wrote.
I’ll say it again: I believe Tommy Tuberville thought “white nationalist” meant a white person who’s a nationalist and still only half realizes his confusion. He’s ignorant and a nitwit.
LOL, they’re talking about Tuberville on MSNBC. Nicolle Wallace: “We can’t decide if he’s more stupid or more racist.” Eddie Glaude: “So let’s just stipulate: he’s a stupid racist.”
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
@SC #17:
if it’s already been discussed
Phosphogypsum roads got a brief mention in May at xxvii p2 #475.
Sen. Josh Hawley on Tuesday insisted he was right.
On the Fourth of July, the Missouri Republican tweeted a quote about Christianity and the founding of America he said was by Patrick Henry. Historians said the quote wasn’t actually by Patrick Henry, but about Patrick Henry, from an article in a magazine called The Virginian in the 1950s. They also pointed out that the magazine often published racist and antisemitic articles.
“First of all, I think I was quoting Patrick Henry,” Hawley said. “But secondly, it’s not a goof to say that the American founders believe rightly that biblical principles and Christian principles contributing to the founding of this nation. And the idea that is somehow a cover for white nationalism is absurd. And that’s exactly the argument they were making, is that if you put that out there, we’re gonna find some way to call you a white nationalist.”…
First of all, you’re still wrong.
Second of all, refusing to admit you are wrong gives “manhood” a bad look.
Third of all, the quote you used was from the 1950s. So why are you talking about the Founding Fathers?
Fourth of all, even if the Founding Fathers were a bunch of white slave owners, wouldn’t make it good for you to br prasing them for it.
Fifth of all, that you found that particular quote indicates you were reading white nationalist literature. Why are you still trying to approvingly quote white nationalists while pretending not to be a white nationalist?
Any way you cut it, Hawley comes out of this looking bad. He is coming up for reelection in 2024.
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday said, simply and for the first time, that “white nationalists are racists.” …
“Well that’s your definition. My definition is racism is bad,” Tuberville responded.
Scott followed up to say that the definition of a white nationalist is someone believing “the white race is superior to all other races” and asked, “Do you believe that white nationalists are racist?”
“Yes, if that’s what a racist is, yes,” he said…
chrislawsonsays
Re: Tommy Tuberville — it does look like he is a genuine idiot who had no idea what the term meant, but that’s not exactly an excuse for it. As an adult and a professional politician, this smacks of motivated stupidity.
whheydtsays
Re: chrislawson @ #46…
Just remember that Tuberville’s claim to fame was as a football coach.
chrislawsonsays
Lynna@23–
I’ve just read the start of that AP story on Sotomayor. Even though this level of conduct is not even remotely at scale with the corrupt practices of the worst SCJs, it still warrants being reported. To the authors’ credit they never try to say this behaviour is on par with Thomas/Alito, they note that most of the SCJs have engaged in the same behaviour, and they quite rightly point out the glaring problem that the SC judges set their own standards and therefore have very little accountability.
The big complaint I have about the story is that they make it all about Sotomayor when it is clear that many SCJs have done much the same thing. I suspect this is because they got access to the paper trail for Sotomayor’s staff emails so they had the smoking guns. But it still doesn’t excuse the ‘OMG SOTOMAYOR!!!’ shouting balanced by a tiny whisper of ‘not to mention the others.’
Ukrainian design studio YOD Group has taken ammunition shells used by anti-aircraft tanks to defend Kyiv from drones and turned them into Downed Drone, a series of limited-edition lamps.
The Downed Drone collection contains 40 individual lamps made from shells used by Ukrainian air defense forces to defend the country’s capital on 4 May and 16 May 2023….
…The exhibition contains over 300 objects that chart the history of the pattern, from the oldest tartan ever discovered and tartan worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie to the high fashion designs of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen.
However, pieces in the exhibition were arranged thematically rather than chronologically. It is arranged into five sections – The Grid, Tartan and Innovation, Tartan and Identity, Tartan and Power, and Transcendental Tartan.
“We have for the first time, taken a design-led approach to explode tartan’s grids,” explained Maxwell. “We start by unpicking the rules of the grid and the basic principles of colour, pattern and proportion which make up tartan’s instantly recognisable setts [patterns].”
“We look at how these rules of the grid have inspired creativity for designers not only working in textile design and fashion, but also in an incredible range of different design disciplines including architecture, art, film, performance, and even data visualisation, science and technology,” she continued. “These rules of the grid are also there to be deconstructed and disrupted, offering unlimited possibilities.”…
StevoRsays
@ Pevious iteration #431. birgerjohansson
10 July 2023 at 6:29 am
NB.A long, but very important article that explains why the Republicans do what they do.
“Why the GOP wants to destroy the zoomers’ last chance for the American dream ” https://www.rawstory.com/zoomers/
Paywalled and so couldn’t access frustratingly. Sounds interesting – wish I could’ve seen it..
StevoRsays
A small lake near the Canada-US border has been chosen as the site that may define the start of a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene. The spot — named Crawford Lake — was picked from a list of a dozen contenders by a panel called the Anthropocene Working Group, who announced their decision at the International Congress on Stratigraphy in Lille overnight. The vote is the culmination of a three-year project to find the most suitable site, Colin Waters, chair of the working group, said.It’s also one step closer to confirming that Earth has entered a new epoch — one triggered by burning fossil fuels, nuclear bomb tests and other human activity.
Albeit not sure if we should call it an era of its own or just a Mass Extinction event.
whheydtsays
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #49…
whheydtsays
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #49…
Let me try that again… The AA shell casing lamps look rather nice. Unfortunately, $1100 is way out of my price range. Still…I hope they manage to sell the lamps.
whheydtsays
Reykjanes peninsula eruption live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJfiMhqLgTY
You can tell that there is still an active vent just over the hill and to the right of where the webcam is pointing. Nice view of the lava flow field from that earlier activity (i.e. yesterday), but the interesting bits are just out of frame.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is fueling a dangerous rise in bacterial drug resistance—an alarming reality made clear by a recent case report of an injured Ukrainian soldier who became infected with six different extensively drug-resistant bacteria, one of which was resistant to every antibiotic tested.
Health experts are sounding the alarm that the nearly unbeatable germs will likely spread beyond the war-torn country’s borders. “Given the forced migration of the population, multidrug resistance of wound pathogens is now a problem not only for Ukraine but also for healthcare systems around the world, especially in the EU,” Ukrainian scientists and doctors wrote in a recent letter in the Irish Journal of Medical Scientists…
French company EDF International Networks has broken ground on a pilot project to build a modern electrical power distribution system in Ukraine, Ukrainian Energy Ministry said in a Telegram post on July 10.
The initial stage focuses on building electricity distribution networks will commence in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Oblast.
“Distribution systems are one of the elements of the energy infrastructure that suffered the most damage due to Russian attacks,” said Deputy Minister of Energy, Yaroslav Demchenkov…
SC @ 35, my point is, not a soul complains if granite is used in highway construction, but they’ll scream about the same level of radioisotopes in the gypsum residue that’s long been in use throughout the construction sector.
The EPA’s primary concern isn’t the radioactivity itself, again, due to the low level present, but of environmental damage from spills from those immense mountains currently just sitting there unused.
The primary chemical present is hydrated calcium sulfate, good old drywall or plaster of paris, with other evaporites present in the case of the Florida sourced waste, as it originated as seawater evaporite deposits. Lousy for making drywall, but good enough for roofing tiles and highway construction.
That said, I’d still make approval conditional on the highway being recycled as much as possible. Most components can be recycled and should be.
lotharloosays
Anders Puck Nielsen, a Danish military analyst, on recent developments in Ukraine and why the offensive has not been very quick: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fR9HJnYXoc
cheerfulcharliesays
This will cheer P.Z. right up,
From Raw Story.
State of Minnesota’s GOP ‘s finances.
“According to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, the Republican Party of Minnesota has just $53.81 in the bank — not even enough money to buy a single Amazon Fire tablet with Prime Day discounts applied. By contrast, the party is reporting almost $334,000 in debts.”
The EPA has regulated phosphogypsum since 1989. The EPA requires phosphogypsum to be placed in stacks. All uses of phosphogypsum waste have been banned unless the waste has very little radioactivity.
In the past, phosphogypsum was incorporated into a Portland cement mixture for use in road construction. The use of phosphogypsum for such purposes is banned under the EPA final rule issued on June 3, 1992, which amends 40 CFR 61 Subpart R.
Withdrawal of Approval to Use Phosphogypsum in Government Road Projects
On June 30, 2021, the EPA withdrew previously granted conditional approval to use phosphogypsum in government road construction projects. On October 14, 2020, the EPA approved The Fertilizer Institute’s request to use phosphogypsum in government road construction projects subject to certain terms and conditions. Under Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations, EPA may approve a request for a specific use of phosphogypsum if it is determined that the proposed use is at least as protective of human health as placement in a stack. Upon review, EPA found that The Fertilizer Institute’s request did not provide all the information required for a complete request under these regulations. The EPA withdrew the approval for this reason. The decision was effective immediately, and phosphogypsum remains prohibited from use in road construction.
Note the dates. The article @ #17 doesn’t foreground it like the one at the link @ #42, but the central issue here is corruption and its harms. It’s an underreported aspect of the presidential campaign in my view. Trump’s corruption of federal agencies has been far too rarely discussed, and DeSantis is swimming in corruption.
…The last time phosphogypsum stacks were in the news was three years ago, when a giant sinkhole opened up under one in Mulberry, in Central Florida.
But they’re in the news again, because under the Trump administration, the “P” in EPA stands for “Plundering” and the current EPA chairman, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal company lobbyist, has loosened the restrictions on using this radioactive waste.
This month, Wheeler announced that based on a study by The Fertilizer Institute [the fertilizer industry lobby], the EPA would allow the radioactive waste in phosphogypsum to be used as a material in road construction.
That’s right. The same waste which since 1989 has been meticulously kept away from the public because of its inherent health risks, is now going to be used in the most public way possible, as a road-building material.
And it’s not because the EPA scientists recommended it. In fact, EPA scientists looked at using phosphogypsum that way years ago and rejected it as unsafe.
Wheeler’s justification for allowing it is because of a study done last year by The Fertilizer Institute.
So, for those keeping score at home: The polluting industry does a study saying that its radioactive waste product ought to be shared more with the public, and you, the public servant who got your job after representing one of the most heavily fined coal companies in America, think that’s a great idea.
“Allowing the reuse of phosphogypsum shows EPA’s commitment to working with industry in a way that both reduces environmental waste and protects public health,” Wheeler said in an EPA news release.
Wheeler went on to say that this “demonstrates President Trump’s commitment to ‘win-win’ environmental solutions.”
I’m not sure how much of a “win” this is for us. When the EPA explained its approval in the Federal Register, the projected benefits to public health aren’t enumerated.
It just says that the only standard it has to meet is that “the proposed use is at least as protective of human health as placement in a stack.”
Call me cynical, but if somebody was going to reassure me that using radioactive waste materials to build roads wasn’t going to increase my “lifetime risk to fatal cancer,” I would prefer the source of this research to be more medically authoritative than The Fertilizer Institute, an economic stakeholder in the waste removal.
Yielding to The Fertilizer Institute’s judgment on this issue is like deciding to ban home security systems based on a recommendation from the Home Burglars of America.
This is particularly bad news for Floridians, because The Fertilizer Institute declared that it is economically infeasible for the industry to truck this radioactive waste more than 200 miles from the stacks.
Considering that most of Florida’s stacks are centrally located on the Peninsula, that means most of the trucked phosphogypsum will stay here in the state to fulfill the industry’s radioactive road-filler plan.
Perhaps Florida’s tourism effort will one day be able to focus on the virtues of our new and improved radioactive roadways.
I’m working on a pitch.
Florida: Come for sunshine, stay for the road-related nausea and vomiting, bone marrow damage, depletion of white blood cells and internal bleeding.
Practically speaking, the Florida law signed by DeSantis won’t get around the federal regulations. It seems like more of a message to industry that he’s as happy to do their corrupt bidding as Trump was.
StevoRsays
@58. badland : Thanks! Much appreciated. That works.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Jens Stoltenberg has outlined a three-part, multi-year package that will bring “Ukraine closer to Nato”.
The plan will establish “a new Nato-Ukraine council, reaffirming that Ukraine will become a member of Nato and removing the requirement for the membership action plans”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it is “understandable that Ukraine cannot join Nato when at war” but it would have been ideal if there had been an invitation for Kyiv to join the alliance.
He added that the results of the Nato summit were good, that recognition that Ukraine did not need to follow a Membership Action Plan was important, and that he had received positive news on defence packages announced during the summit.
Reuters reports that Gen Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine who has not been since in public since the attempted Wagner mutiny last month, is “currently resting”, a lawmaker from the ruling party said on Wednesday.
Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defence Committee, is heard saying in a video posted on social media: “Surovikin is currently resting. [He is] not available for now.”
There have been unconfirmed reports that Surovikin was detained for questioning.
On this sneak-peak episode of the Russia Contingency, Aaron sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the state of the Ukrainian military’s offensive, the different axes of advance and what the offensive may be able to tell observers about the direction of the conflict. Listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of the conversation. To hear the rest, which examined the recent debates in Russia about nuclear weapons use and looked back at Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny, please consider becoming a War on the Rocks member.
Good morning and welcome to our extreme weather blog, following the latest updates on flooding and heatwaves continuing to plague areas across the US.
In Vermont, where extreme flooding led to over 100 rescues according to reports, there were warnings that a dam near the state capital of Montpelier was dangerously close to capacity. Overnight, water levels appeared to have stabilised. However, local officials warned residents to stay vigilant as more rain was expected later this week.
While the US northeast was deluged, record-breaking heat is baking the US south-west this week, putting millions under extreme heat warnings as temperatures upwards of 100F (38C) hit Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and southern California.
Even desert residents accustomed to scorching summers are feeling the relentless grip of the heat. Phoenix, which hit a 12th consecutive day of 110F on Tuesday, could see its longest ever heatwave.
We’ll bring you the latest news from the extreme weather across the US….
…“We are the ones pushing these movements about sexualizing kids and calling it sex education,” he said. “We’re the ones who are wanting, or allowing children who are 13 years old to be able to consent to anything, including body mutilation, which will only lead to consent laws around children being able to consent to have sex with adults.”
“We are the country that allows, in the last two years, 85,000 unaccompanied minors to come to our border and then be let in without any vetting, no background check, and then what do you think is happening in the economy of pedophilia?” he continued. “We are the problem, we are the demand, we are creating this.”
Right-wing media outlets have spent years falsely claiming gender-affirming care for trans youth amounts to “mutilation,” as Ballard repeated. In fact, gender-affirming care is associated with positive mental health outcomes, and by definition increases — rather than subverts — a young person’s bodily autonomy. It is also baseless anti-trans bigotry to assert that gender-affirming care is a Trojan horse to push “consent laws” that would allow adults to abuse children.
Ballard’s mention of 85,000 migrant children is a reference to a false claim that the Biden administration has “lost” those kids, an accusation that has become rampant in right-wing media. It is nearly always deployed in service of a restrictionist immigration policy, again under the guise of promoting children’s safety. Right-wing outlets have also pushed the falsehood that President Joe Biden has opened the southern border, allowing people to enter the country “with no vetting.”
Ballard’s implication that further militarization of the border would serve to protect migrant children is similarly unsupported. U.S. crackdowns on irregular border crossings appear to have the opposite effect — that is, by criminalizing the act of crossing the border, U.S. authorities create more demand for smugglers, making migrants of all ages at risk of exploitation in underground economies.
Ballard’s argument, at its core, is that gender-affirming care and liberal asylum policies are both bad for children. The solution that seemingly arises from Ballard’s point of view is a reaffirmation of rigid borders — between nations and gender categories — enforced by reactionaries with guns and either backed by the state or operating outside the law, as his character does in the film.
…
Although The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and Jezebel have highlighted the overlaps between the film’s rollout and QAnon, much of the mainstream entertainment press either failed to make that connection or actively attempted to depoliticize the movie.
…
The movie puts forward a simplistic, comforting narrative that the predation of children can be solved by good guys with guns, without addressing any of the underlying structural conditions that make people vulnerable in the first place. Exploitation of children and migrants is real, but it looks nothing like what Ballard and Caviezel claim. It is instead a decentralized outgrowth of a capitalist economic and political system that seeks cheap labor at all costs, maintained through border enforcement and police power.
People who have been trafficked are better served by communities that can provide housing, education, and safe, legal employment. Decriminalizing border crossing, removing police from so-called anti-trafficking enforcement, and creating relatively frictionless paths to citizenship would actually provide relief to people who have been exploited.
That approach runs counter to the movie’s larger reactionary project. Ballard’s anti-trans, anti-migrant rhetoric helps to illustrate the film’s underlying ideology and explain why it has found such a wide appeal across the right-wing ecosystem.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 69
Yeah, after seeing how a large hunk of humanity behaved during COVID, I have serious doubts that we can get people onboard for any sort of concerted environmental protection effort anymore.
It’s just a window into how federal agencies were corrupted during Trump’s time in the Oval Office, since much of what they did or attempted to do didn’t make it to the courts. But it’s evident in the rulings: again and again courts found that the EPA’s attempted corporate giveaways and rollbacks of environmental protections failed to provide a reasoned explanation, acted arbitrarily or capriciously, exceeded the agency’s statutory authority, violated one or more Acts, failed to follow the agency’s own rules and procedures, ignored notice and comment requirements, etc.
The devastated city of Montpelier, Vermont, was beginning a major cleanup effort on Wednesday, two days after the Winooski River broke its banks when a summer’s worth of rain fell in a few hours and devastated the city.
Debris from flooded homes and businesses fills the streets, while a coat of river mud covers roadways.
At the height of the deluge, streets turned into rivers and water nearly reached ceilings in the downtown area. No deaths have been reported, but a temporary travel ban was issued and a boil-water notice put into effect.
More than 100 roads in the worst-hit areas around Montpelier and Barre have been washed out.
With the Winooski still raging, residents described their helplessness as the slow-moving storm, tracking north from where it had devastated parts of the Hudson valley, unleashed its barrage.
“It was unexpected,” said Milo Hecht, 29. “It just kept raining and raining. It wasn’t a tropical storm, so it wasn’t foreseen, but we knew we would be getting rain. We just didn’t expect the flooding to be so severe.”
Hecht recalled the moment the river began to breach. “I was looking down a storm drain and the water was down there. Then I turned back and it was pouring out,” he said. “Everything in Montpelier got wrecked.”…
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders addressed the historic flooding in Vermont on Wednesday, saying,
We are now living through the worst natural disaster impact in the state of Vermont since 1927 when dozens of people died at that time and thank god at this point, we have not seen fatalities and we all hope that will be the case.
Sanders added that he has spoken to president Joe Biden, who is currently in Europe, and said that “he has pledged to do everything that he and his team can do.”
He also said that he is going to work with private insurance companies “to make sure that they are not nickel-and-diming people but responding to the real damage that people are seeing.”
Conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia appears to have taken one step closer to a 2024 presidential campaign, agreeing to headline an event in New Hampshire next week sponsored by the No Labels organization.
Follow the money to get a better feel for what No Labels is really up to:
[…] A number of No Labels’ biggest donors in recent years also gave the maximum contribution to Kyrsten Sinema, particularly showering the right-wing senator with donations after she refused to support President Joe Biden’s signature domestic legislation, the Build Back Better Act, in 2021.
Louis Bacon, billionaire CEO of hedge fund Moore Capital Management, gave $1 million each to No Labels and the Republican Party after donating the maximum allowable contribution to Sinema. Nelson Peltz, a major backer of former Republican President Donald Trump and a billionaire investor, gave $900,000 to two No Labels political action committees and also maxed out his donations to Sinema.
The director of No Labels called on its donors—who also include private equity executive Stephen Schwartzman of Blackstone and former 20th Century Fox CEO James Rupert Murdoch—to donate heavily to Sinema after she helped block the Build Back Better Act.
The group was highly motivated to reward lawmakers for helping to defeat Build Back Better, which included broadly popular proposals such as universal childcare.
“You would think that no labels would be all in on something that so united the country… except that it would have been paid for by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans,” said Rivera. “At the end of the day, these billionaires and large corporations are deeply invested in maintaining the status quo and opposing Democrats’ agenda for working people.”
[…] “A political organization that claims to have no ideology,” added podcast host Michael Hobbes, “is going to be a right-wing op every single time.”
I think No Labels is looking for a way to pull enough votes from Biden (or from whomever the Democrats nominate for president) to put Trump in the White House again. And, of course, backing Sinema is such a red flag. Cozying up to Manchin is also a telling detail.
(I am skeptic about the IQ map- it mainly measures if people have had enough exposure to school to do tests. Remember, the Irish used to get very poor results in the past)
Iowa Republicans, following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ (R) lead, passed a six-week abortion ban late Tuesday night after completing the entire legislative process in a one-day special session.
Reynolds had called for the special session after the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked on a very similar six-week ban last month, permanently blocking it.
Every Democrat in both chambers — joined by a handful of Republicans — opposed the ban.
Clashes between anti-abortion and abortion-rights protesters in the state capitol complex got so heated at times that state troopers had to intervene.
The ban includes a few very narrow exceptions: if the pregnancy is a result of a rape that has been reported to law enforcement or a health official within 45 days, if it’s a result of incest that has been reported to the same entities within 140 days, if there’s an incomplete miscarriage, if there’s a fetal abnormality “that in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment is incompatible with life” or if the woman’s life is “endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness or physical injury.”
Physicians’ attempts to comply with these kinds of bans in real time have already left women to suffer, as they struggle to navigate the imprecise, often political language written into the legislation.
Reynolds said she’ll sign the bill Friday, and it will go into effect immediately.
If the bill survives inevitable legal challenges, it’ll be a drastic change in Iowa’s abortion regime. The procedure is currently legal up to 22 weeks after the last period.
It would also be completely out of step with Iowans’ opinion of abortion.
Per a Des Moines Register poll published in March, 61 percent of Iowans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to the 35 percent who think it should be illegal in all or most cases. Many women don’t know that they’re pregnant at six weeks, making the ban all but comprehensive.
Tuesday’s ban makes Iowa yet another red state where the legislature has passed abortion restrictions that go much further than the majority of its constituents want. But, wielding a supermajority in the state Senate and majority in the state House, Iowa Republicans have the votes to cater to the small but vocal anti-abortion minority.
It’s not breaking news; we all know this already. Oxford defines “cult” as “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.” And by all indications, the MAGA movement is a cult.
Let’s look at some of those indications.
Weddings are traditional expressions of love, devotion, and commitment to a partner. They are a celebration of joy and happiness. That is, unless you’re a member of the MAGA cult. [Post about Donald Trump theme wedding is available at the link]
[…] responses were hilarious:
Reception playlist would be 100% Kid Rock.
Guests will be invited to use their beer cans to “build a wall” around the wedding venue.
It’s only Trump-themed if you stiff the venue, caterer, photographer, and priest.
There’ll be a wet flag-hugging contest.
Maybe they can shoot up Bud Light cans outside the reception hall.
Stock the venue bathrooms with dozens and dozens of boxes marked “classified.”
Everyone gets a classified document as a take-home gift to remember the special day.
“Nancy, I promise I will fuck your feelings today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives or until we get divorced.” “Todd, I promise I will fuck your feelings forever and ever, and if we do ever get divorced I promise to make Mexico pay for it.”
… then drove away in their rolling coal dualie with two liberals tied to the bumper.
After I finished laughing, I knew I had to share with you guys. This is just not normal behavior!
But that’s the theme here: These are not normal people. For example, normal people don’t collect “trading cards” featuring old, cranky men. [photo of Trump trading card, with ad copy]
These MAGA cultists are literally spending money on that nonsense. It gives them purpose, joy, and some weird sense of accomplishment. They might even think they’re sticking it to the libtards. We just think they’re sad.
In fact, they are so wrapped up in their cult leader that they’ve tossed aside their pocket Constitutions and support shredding our founding documents in order to keep him indefinitely in power, regardless of the will of the people. [Screenshot of posts at the link: example: “Trump should be President for Life and should be King of America and should be on Mount Rushmore next to Lincoln,” etc.]
[…] This is not a parody.
“He is the GREATEST man that has EVER lived PAST PRESENT FUTURE.”
[…] “America should be renamed TRUMPERICA in his honor.”
And yet this is the norm on Trump-focused online forums. They truly worship him as a deity.
Cults indoctrinate youth, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has been grifting hard off that angle: [Screenshot of grift selling “The Kids Guide, Donald Trump.”]
I’m tempted to order this “Kids Guide” so we can collectively laugh off whatever is in that “free” gift bundle (just pay these astronomical recurring fees!). But … nah.
Next up, this cartoon seems clearly anti-MAGA to me, but the cult loves it. They don’t support a party or an ideology; Trump represents neither. They support him, their supreme god leader. [Cartoon at the link] I mean, that Politico cartoonist literally depicted Trump using a harvesting machine to slice off the head of his supporters for cash. And they think it’s wonderful!
And now the latest culty talking point, embraced by Trump himself: Joe Biden supporters aren’t real because we haven’t built a cult around him. [Screenshot at the link] I was one of those 81 million voters, and I wouldn’t wear a Biden hat or shirt; or fly a Biden flag outside of specific campaign contexts: a campaign rally, at the Democratic convention, going door to door, near Election Day, things like that. But those are all purposeful political events designed to rally support and get out the vote.
I wouldn’t wear any of that gear or fly a flag as part of my identity, out of devotion to an individual. That’s weird and creepy and normal people don’t do that.
Only cults do.
As for that wedding picture? That account no longer tweets, and the guy never posted a picture of a Trump-autographed wedding photo. The hero he worships couldn’t be bothered to even give his disciple a signature.
As always, the devotion in this cult is a one-way street.
One good possibility: surely a cult that bonkers is self-limiting, and prone to purity purges.
In an exchange about reestablishing trust between the FBI and American people, Wray defended the agency against claims that it has been unfairly targeting the political right and their opinions.
Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., pointed the finger at Wray for purportedly perpetuating a “two-tier justice system” and asked what he’s prepared to do to earn back America’s trust.
“The American people fully understand that there is a two-tier justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their political beliefs, and that you have personally worked to weaponize the FBI against conservatives,” Hageman said. [JFC]
Wray, who is a Republican and was appointed FBI director by former President Trump, hit back that Hageman’s allegations are “insane” given his personal beliefs.
“I would disagree with your characterization of the FBI and certainly your description of my own approach,” Wray said. “The idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background.”
He added that reestablishing trust means encouraging agents to do the “right thing in the right way.”
“And that means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it,” Wray said.
[…] American domestic extremism was rising nationwide for “quite some time” before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Wray said Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Wray said the FBI saw about a 40 percent increase in the number of domestic violent extremism investigations before any motivations tied to the Capitol attack came into the picture. The types of extremism “cut across the spectrum,” from extremism motivated by race, militia ideology, anarchist ideology, the environment and abortion views.
“It really covers a wide spectrum,” Wray said.
[…] Wray pushed back on calls from some in the GOP that they should defund the FBI.
“It would be disastrous for 38,000 hardworking career law enforcement personnel in their families, but more importantly, in many ways, it would hurt our great state, local law enforcement partners who depend on us every day to work with them on a whole slew of challenging threats,” Wray said.
“It would hurt the American people, neighborhoods and communities all across this country, the people we’re protecting from cartels, violent criminals, gang members, predators, foreign and domestic terrorists, cyberattacks, I could go on and on. And the people that would help would be those same violent gangs and cartels, foreign terrorists, Chinese spies, hackers and so forth.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called on congressional appropriators Tuesday to provide bare bones funding to the agency.
“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have received startling testimony about egregious abuses, misallocation of federal law-enforcement resources, and misconduct within the leadership ranks of the FBI. We recommend that the appropriations bills eliminate any funding for the FBI that is not absolutely essential for the agency to execute its mission,” Jordan wrote.
Jordan said doing so would help with “reining in abusive federal law enforcement agencies.” […]
Questioned over the removal of content from social media platforms, Wray said the agency does not ask social media companies to censor or suppress information related to national security threats.
Wray said the FBI alerts social media companies when other intelligence agencies provide them with information about a foreign intelligence service operating accounts on the platform.
“We will call social media companies’ attention to that, but at the end of the day, we’re very clear that it’s up to the social media companies to decide whether to do something,” Wray said.
[…] In response to a line of questioning about the FBI’s knowledge surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, FBI Director Christopher Wray pushed back against claims that the FBI played a role in instigating the riot.
“This notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous and is a disservice to our brave, hardworking, dedicated men and women,” Wray said.
He also said that the FBI did not, to his knowledge, know of a plan to breach the Capitol in advance of the attack. However, the agency was “concerned” about the potential for violence and released intelligence to that effect, he said.
[…] “You will hear claims today that this indictment against Trump was unfair – maybe even that it was unlawful, that the FBI should have just asked Trump a little more nicely… These claims, of course, are completely untethered from the evidence,” Nadler said.
The ranking member also called attention to threats Wray has faced since the FBI came into the GOP’s crosshairs, and he alleged that Republicans’ allegations are rooted in a failure to find wrongdoing committed by President Biden. […]
More at the link.
wzrd1says
Farmer’s insurance is pulling out of Florida. Many other insurance companies have folded, more are refusing to write new policies in Florida citing the “man made climate crisis”. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/farmers-insurance-florida/index.html
When the insurance companies pull out, you are definitely assured to not be considered a good risk.
President Biden delivered a sweeping speech at Lithuania’s Vilnius University on Wednesday, expressing unremitting support for Ukraine and NATO unity, after day two of the annual summit for NATO leaders. The remarks come after a meeting between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier Wednesday, the Group of Seven countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States — issued a joint declaration of “unwavering” support for Ukraine.
– Biden’s speech portrayed a NATO more unified than Moscow is likely to have expected, standing together to oppose the invasion of Ukraine. “We will not waver,” he said. He described a world at an “inflection point,” tested by the war in Ukraine, among even larger and more existential challenges, including climate change and a global contest between democracy and autocracy.
– Biden and other world leaders announced a major security program to boost Ukraine’s defenses over the long term, capping a NATO Summit in which Ukraine was not invited to join the alliance but came away with a promise of years’ worth of additional military and humanitarian funding.
– Biden told Zelensky, “The United States is doing everything we can to get you everything we can,” as the meeting between the two leaders began. Zelensky thanked the United States for ongoing military aid, including Biden’s recent decision to approve the supply of widely banned cluster munitions to Ukraine. “The meeting was at least twice as long as planned, and it was as meaningful as it needed to be,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter after the discussion. He said they touched on “Long-term support. Weapons. Politics.”
– NATO would invite Ukraine to become a member “when allies agree that conditions are met,” Stoltenberg said during the news conference with Zelensky, echoing language from a joint communiqué published Tuesday. The Ukrainian leader struck a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday, a day after he criticized NATO leaders for failing to provide Ukraine with a clear timeline for membership in the alliance. In remarks posted to Twitter Wednesday, Zelensky said it was his view that Ukraine would eventually be asked to join the alliance, after the war with Russia had ended. […]
Lynna posted about this @ #465 in the previous chapter – Guardian liveblog:
A severe marine heatwave off the coast of Florida has sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, threatening coral reefs in the area.
Sea surface temperatures around Florida have reached the highest levels on record, with daily average temperatures off the Keys on Monday just over 90F, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The warming is also happening much earlier than normal. Corals typically experience the most heat stress in August in September.
Derek Manzello, a coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch, told CNN:
We didn’t expect this heating to happen so early in the year and to be so extreme. This appears to be unprecedented in our records.
Such warm water temperatures “would be impressive any time of year, but they’re occurring when the water would already be rather warm, bringing it up to bona fide bathtub conditions that we rarely see,” Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami and hurricane expert for Capital Weather Gang, told the Washington Post.
All it takes is a sea surface warming of one degree celsius, or two to three degrees fahrenheit, beyond the reef’s normal highest temperature to trigger the heat stress that leads to bleaching, according to Manzello. In Florida, the sea surface temperatures are more than two degree celsius above that normal range and have been for one or two weeks, he said.
This could mean “significant and severe” bleaching will start in the next week and the coral could start to die altogether within a month, he said.
It still remains to be seen if this event is going to be more or less severe than previous events. However, all of the evidence right now is pointing to the fact that it’s going to be one of the more severe events we’ve seen.
Microsoft said late Tuesday a known group that primarily focuses on hacking Western governments to spy on them had successfully breached some accounts.
Hackers in China recently broke into the email accounts of around 25 organizations, including multiple government agencies, Microsoft said.
At least one of those agencies is in the U.S. government. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the central federal cybersecurity watchdog, announced Wednesday that “a Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency,” which it did not name, first discovered the breach in mid-June.
Microsoft did not name any of the affected countries or agencies, but said that the group primarily focuses on hacking western governments to spy on them. Microsoft said it worked with the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to kick the hackers out, indicating U.S. organizations are among the victims.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he and other committe members are “closely monitoring what appears to be a significant cybersecurity breach by Chinese intelligence.”
“It’s clear that the PRC is steadily improving its cyber collection capabilities directed against the U.S. and our allies,” Warner added. “Close coordination between the U.S. government and the private sector will be critical to countering this threat.” […]
wzrd1says
Gotta love the hyperbole over radiation still. Highways cannot have anything even slightly radioactive, but granite countertops can be in kitchens nationwide, including my own, at the same 5 – 10 parts per million and ratio of elements and that’s OK and apparently, given @ 63, it’s given me acute radiation poisoning and I’ve died daily for the past six months or something.
Well, if that level is giving you acute radiation syndrome, maybe you should get your ass back onto the battlestar and abandon earth, as the native environment is obviously far too hostile for you. The sun is radioactive too, guess we need to extinguish it too?
Or perhaps, try to learn how to analyze risks.
wzrd1 @82L “When the insurance companies pull out, you are definitely assured to not be considered a good risk.”
Yep. All too true.
More details:
[…] Farmers Insurance announced today it was dropping all home and auto policies in Florida and leaving the state.
The 4th insurance company to exit FL in the last year. Too much cost of repairing hurricane damage from that pesky climate change thingie that doesn’t actually exist according to the GQP and Desantis.
FL homeowners have the highest premiums in the US already and this will worsen the situation. From what I understand they pay 3-5x the rate most people pay. So my approximately $1350 a year policy would be about $4000 if I owned a home in FL instead.
This also places that much more stress on the so called “Citizens Insurance” which I believe is state / taxpayer funded and already has performed very poorly for those who have it.
GQP is taking a big risk with FL just tra-la-la-ing along pretending the problem doesn’t really exist. The situation is pissing off a lot of people and a couple major hurricanes blasting through leaving big damage and destruction behind them without much time in between could leave the system in collapse and a lot of people thinking maybe just maybe might be better to vote Dem in 2024.
Meanwhile, Muskrat announced a new AI company, TruthGPT. “We’re going to start something which I call TruthGPT,” he said, describing it as a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that “cares about understanding the universe.”
I imagine the project will have two programmers and zero support staff, in buildings with posted eviction notices taped to all doors.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Dan Goldman sent a letter to Oversight Chair James Comer requesting that he hand over any information he has received from Gal Luft, who has claimed to have information about Hunter Biden.
[Excerpt from the letter]:
“It appears as if Mr. Luft sought ‘whistleblower’ status from you in an effort to defend himself from criminal prosecution while a fugitive from justice. Worse yet, this latest episode also raises concerns that Mr. Luft may be manipulating your investigation not only for his own self-interest but perhaps also in furtherance of the [Chinese Communist Party’s] efforts to undermine U.S. security interests and the President of the United States. These recent revelations naturally raise broader concerns about the credibility and motivations of other purported whistleblowers that Congressional Republicans have relied on to support unfounded and baseless allegations. Sadly, the Luft episode severely undermines the credibility of the critical function of whistleblowers in this body.”
Commentary:
[…] Goldman and Raskin added that Comer, in addition to sharing relevant information with his colleagues, should also initiate an investigation into whether the GOP-led Oversight Committee “may have been unwittingly duped by Mr. Luft in furtherance of the [Chinese Communist Party’s] interests, as well as any potentially false statements made by Mr. Luft to Members of Congress or congressional staff.”
I’m not sure “unwittingly duped” is the right description. Though it is true that Comers seems to be that dumb. Still, it seems to me that Comers and other Republicans went shopping for someone to “dupe” them.
More commentary:
In other words, as far as Raskin and Goldman are concerned, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee might’ve undermined U.S. national security interests by embracing an accused operative of the Chinese government. Given this possibility, and the available information, the call for greater scrutiny seems responsible.
Stepping back, if Republicans kicked Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell off the House Intelligence Committee because a suspected Chinese operative reportedly tried to make inroads into the Democratic congressman’s campaign, perhaps it’s time for a related conversation about kicking Comer off the House Oversight Committee?
Record high water temperatures in the ocean around Florida, major coral bleaching event expected.
Normally, these temperatures aren’t seen until mid-August to mid-September. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/us/florida-ocean-heat-coral-bleaching-climate/index.html
Italy’s also experiencing a heat wave, as is India.
But, climate change is only a fiction invented by the commies, the Great God Big Oil says so.
Thank you for steaming quietly…
Lynna @ # 89: … requesting that he hand over any information he has received from Gal Luft…
They persecuted GalLufteo too!!1!
Reginald Selkirksays
I don’t breathe in dust from my granite countertop that gets lifted when triple-bottom trucks drive over it.
John Moralessays
Listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of the conversation. To hear the rest, which examined the recent debates in Russia about nuclear weapons use and looked back at Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny, please consider becoming a War on the Rocks member.
A group of Democratic senators is urging federal law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute some of the most popular online tax filing companies for allegedly sharing millions of taxpayers’ financial data with Meta and Google.
On Tuesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and others asked the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Treasury Department, and the IRS to investigate whether TaxSlayer, H&R Block, and TaxAct violated taxpayer privacy laws by sharing sensitive user information with the two tech firms.
Senators also released their own report Wednesday detailing the accusations, first raised by The Markup last November. The report alleges that for years, tax preparation companies infused their products with Meta and Google tracking pixels that revealed identifying information — like a user’s full name, address, and date of birth. The senators also suggest that some of the information provided, like the forms a user accessed, could be used to show “whether taxpayers were eligible for certain deductions or exemptions.” …
On Wednesday, Elon Musk formally announced the formation of xAI, a company aimed at understanding “the true nature of the universe” that will draw from a heavy bench of industry veterans to take on OpenAI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT. Musk has criticized OpenAI publicly in the past…
Ray Epps, a Trump supporter who became the focus of right-wing conspiracy theories after he protested in Washington on Jan. 6, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson for claiming he was an undercover FBI agent who helped provoke the riot at the Capitol…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not happy during the week leading up to the latest NATO meeting. Zelenskyy even shocked both NATO leaders and his fellow Ukrainians by suggesting that he would skip out on this round of talks in Vilnius, Lithuania, because there was no point in attending if it wouldn’t benefit Ukraine. Republicans, of course, immediately used this as an excuse to hustle over to Fox News and declare Zelenskyy uppity.
For some time on Tuesday, it even looked as if some kind of schism might form between Ukraine and NATO over insistence that Ukraine undergo a “multi-year process” after the war ends before the country would be invited into NATO.
But then Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden sat down for some one-on-one time, and following the meeting, all seems to be well. More than well, actually, as NATO announced still more support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy celebrated the “great success” of the meeting.
And, fortunately, Vilnius is not the only place where Ukraine is experiencing success.
Zelenskyy’s evident anger was connected to concerns about how Ukraine would advance to full NATO membership when the war is complete. Just about every nation that has entered the alliance has done so under different rules, as different member nations impose or remove restrictions and raise or lower concerns.
Zelenskyy has made it repeatedly clear that he knows NATO isn’t about to hand Ukraine a membership certificate while it means an instant war with Russia. Getting the Ukrainian flag raised in Brussels means Ukraine has to first deal with Vladimir Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion without the benefit of troops from NATO member states.
But what really kept getting caught in the Ukrainian president’s throat was the “multi-year” part of the proposed plan for Ukraine. Zelenskyy saw that plan as not just leaving the door open for prolonged vulnerability to a renewed Russian attack, but as the kind of vague, ever-receding goal line that could keep Ukraine out of NATO indefinitely. What he wants instead is a checklist of items without a timeline, so that Ukraine knows all the targets it needs to meet and can work toward them as quickly as possible. He also wants to have NATO go ahead and issue an invite now, even if Ukraine doesn’t complete the process until much later.
How all the issues have been resolved isn’t really understood at this hour, but Zelenskyy was notably happier after talking with Biden. Whatever his concerns, it appears they’ve been addressed. Polish President Andrzej Duda seems to think NATO has still fallen short, but we’ll likely have to wait a day or two before all the talks are successfully converted into signed text.
Zelenskyy: “I think by the end of the summit, we have great unity from our leaders and the security guarantees—that is a success for this summit, I think so. It’s my opinion.”
This renewed happiness may include promises to deliver Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets to Ukraine. [Tweet at the link]
It’s safe to say that Ukraine needs more ammunition at all levels, but one of the reasons they really need ATACMS is the simple cost of reaching out to hit a target at a distance. A storm shadow cruise missile is priced at around $3 million. Ukraine has already burned through an estimated 50 to 60 of these missiles, which may represent the bulk of those available.
ATACMS are not cheap, with the latest versions still clocking in around $1 million each. But the U.S. has built thousands, they have the kind of range Ukraine needs, and they should be rapidly available. There were already reports in the last two weeks that the U.S. has been preparing to send ATACMS to Ukraine, so it’s a good bet that Biden’s thinking it over will translate pretty quickly into missiles on the way.
BAKHMUT AREA [map at the link]
For the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces have been working their way toward the key town of Klishchiivka, south of Bakhmut. The town itself is important, but not nearly as important as the hills to the west. Control of those hills provides a good artillery position overlooking much of the area south of Bakhmut.
Ukraine had moved into those hills over the weekend and now they’ve moved beyond, capturing the northern end of Klishchiivka and sending more forces down a valley between the two hills. Russia tried to make a counteroffensive into the town on Tuesday but it appears to have been ineffective, with several pieces of Russian hardware lost. [Tweets, video and images at the link]
At last reports, Russian forces were clinging to the eastern edge of Klishchiivka after failing to hold back Ukrainian forces moving through most of the town. The Ukrainians are setting up firing positions on the top of those western hills, but it’s unclear at this point if their forces are moving north toward Bakhmut or east to Opytne. [Tweet and video at the link: Caucasian Muslim volunteer combat unit fighting on the side of Ukraine, reportedly on one of the dominant heights near Bakhmut.]
Additional Ukrainian assaults have been noted south of Klishchiivka at Kurdyumivka and Ozarianivka. Fighting in this area has included the destruction of at least two Russian T-90 tanks. [Tweet and video at the link]
Northwest of Bakhmut, Ukraine continues to expand its area of control in Berkhivka and has pressed further into Yahidne. There was at least one report that Ukraine has captured “all” the high ground west of Bakhmut, which would mean they’ve wrested away the hills around Dubovo-Vasylivka. If true, this section of Russian control could collapse quickly.
When Ukraine moved back into Berkhivka at the end of last week and began edging this way, it was a good sign that Russia was having trouble supplying its guns in this area, because those guns had a commanding position and had previously forced Ukraine to pull back from the Berkhivka area.
To the west, there are reports of an assault near Zaliznyanske. Ukraine was pushed out of this area by Wagner forces on March 28. Now they’re back. Fighting along this axis is said to be heavy, with Ukraine having the frustratingly vague “partial success.”
Further north, the village of Sakko i Vantsetti is living up to its anarchic name. It’s reportedly “under siege.” Both that village and Mykolaivka are said to be surrounded by Ukrainian forces while Russians continue to hold their positions inside. This appears to be part of a greater push from the north that has Ukrainian forces moving toward Soledar along three different lines. Russian forces in the area have reportedly moved to Krasnopolivka.
An unconfirmed report has Ukraine’s 10th Mountain Assault Brigade just 2.5 kilometers north of that salt mine in Soledar. Wagner forces took Soledar in the first days of the year. For Ukrainian forces to get back into that town would be a huge reversal of Russia’s assault in the Bakhmut region, and would position Ukraine to either attack Bakhmut from three directions or to surround the city and wait.
East of Bakhmut, Russia has prepared defensive positions similar to those in the south, so it’s unclear where the fight might go from here. But liberating the area in front of those defenses would be a tremendous boost.
RUSSIAN ACTIONS [map at the link]
Even while it’s losing ground around Bakhmut and in the south, Russia continues to deploy more forces into the northern end of the line, from Kreminna up to Kupyansk. One report claims Russia now has over 120,000 men in this area. There is reportedly fighting northeast of Kupyansk, with Russian forces attempting to take the town of Lyman Pershyi. Russia has also successfully moved past Dibrova west of Kreminna and come within a few kilometers of Torske. Reports that Russia reached Torske, or even took the town, are simply wrong.
That puts Russian troops within about 15 km of that other, larger Lyman. However, Russia’s advance looks to be a narrow salient along a single highway rather than any kind of broad movement, and it appears that, for now at least, they were thrown back in front of Torske.
Russia has already reportedly attempted an unsuccessful attack west of Svatove. Russian Telegram sources indicate that Russia’s goal is to “reach the river,” presumably the Oskil River, in three locations: Kupyansk, Borove, and west of Lyman. For now, none of that seems likely.
SOUTHERN FRONT
Russian sources, including Rybar, continue to claim that Ukraine left P’yatykhatky. Ukrainian sources say they don’t know what the hell the Russians are talking about. Russia has shown some videos, but since all of them seem to show fighting that took place between P’yatykhatky and Zherebyanky, none of it is very convincing. In fact, Ukraine appears to have made a slight advance toward Zherebyanky.
Like the “Ukraine is stalled at Bakhmut” message that Russian sources were repeating yesterday, this seems to be just a piece of Russian copium.
There are also reports that Ukraine is close to flanking the Russian locations at Robotyne, though it hasn’t happened without an additional cost, including a reported five to six Bradley fighting vehicles. Reports of those lost Bradleys have almost invariably ended with “but the crew got out safely,” which is great, but Robotyne has probably been the most costly point on the map.
Speaking of which, expect a new map if there is confirmed liberation of either of these areas tomorrow.
——————————-
Many video games are considered “pay to win.” Russian commanders have now put their soldiers in a position of “pay to live.” [Tweet and image at the link: Reports suggest that Russian commanders are demanding a standard bribe of a month’s salary – 100,000 rubles ($1,100) – to allow their men to go on leave. Those without money or connections are spending months fighting on the front line without being rotated or rested.]
Zelenskyy draws a simple line. [Tweet and video at the link: We will never exchange any status for any part of our territories. Even it’s just one village with one grandpa there.”]
Inflation fell to 3% in June — the 12th-consecutive month of declines. … By one measure, the U.S. economy is already close to slaying the price inflation that has bedeviled it for the better part of two years.
The Justice Department has abandoned plans to defend Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, saying in a court filing Tuesday that it no longer believes he was acting within the scope of his presidential duties in 2019 when he allegedly defamed her while denying her rape accusation.
The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth. NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years away.
Amid Donald Trump’s desperate bid to subvert the 2020 election, a top adviser, Boris Epshteyn, sent out an “urgent POTUS request” to a small group of allies.
“Need best examples of ‘election fraud’ that we’ve alleged that’s super easy to explain,” he wrote in a Dec. 7, 2020 text message. “Doesn’t necessarily have to be proven but does need to be easy to understand.”
In response, Rudy Giuliani — Trump’s lawyer who was leading the drive to amplify baseless allegations of election fraud — suggested he tell Trump about security camera footage of two Atlanta poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, moving thousands of ballots around.
“It will live in history as the theft of a state,” Giuliani wrote.
Freeman and Moss — now in the midst of a long-running defamation lawsuit against Giuliani — say in new court filings that Giuliani failed to turn over evidence of this exchange despite multiple court orders to preserve and turn over his communications. They’re asking the judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, to impose “severe” sanctions on Giuliani for what they say is a repeated, prolonged and calculated effort to defy their court-backed demands for evidence…
Wonkette: “How Is Fox News Outright Lying About Fake ‘Hunter Biden’ Whistleblowers Today?”
Does it make sense that, if the big supposed Hunter Biden whistleblower whose grundle clouds House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer obsessively sniffs has turned out to be a Chinese spy, then that guy is MORE credible about what Hunter Biden did or did not do in China? Is that the way a regular person would interpret that?
Because that’s how Team Fuckstupid over at Fox News is taking it.
Yesterday, Fox News’s John Roberts had GOP Rep. Darrell Issa on, and these were Roberts’s contributions to the conversation: [video at the link]
JOHN ROBERTS: We talked about this fellow, Gal Luft, who has been arrested and charged with being an unregistered foreign agent of China. Luft insists that he told the FBI about potential corrupt ties between the Biden family and China. The fact that he’s been arrested now and is accused of being an agent of China has got the Left just, you know, having a field day with this, saying it shreds his credibility, but the flip side of that coin is if you’re accused of being a foreign agent for China, you probably know who else is working with them.
The flip side of which coin? The flip side of the coin that if you are arrested for spying for China, you probably know all the other spies working for China? Yes, definitely, John Roberts, you halfwit, that is definitely how spying works. Everybody knows everybody, they hand out a goddamned pictorial spy directory at the beginning of every year so everybody has everybody’s phone number and address. Now to be fair, Luft’s initial allegations do involve the fact that both he and Hunter Biden did consulting-type work for executives of the same Chinese energy group. Maybe John Roberts meant to say that. Maybe Roberts really sunk his teeth into the indictment and that’s what he gleaned from it. Or maybe he literally just said that if you’re accused of being a foreign agent for China, you probably know who else is working for them.
Then John Roberts explained, correctly, that the made-up right-wing myth about David Weiss, the (Trump-appointed) US attorney in Delaware investigating Hunter Biden, asking for and being denied special counsel status had been debunked by Weiss himself, contrary to what the fake IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley has claimed. Roberts seemingly wanted to mini-fuck that chicken just one last time, insisting that “So, he may not have specifically asked to be designated special counsel, but he certainly explored the idea.” Uh huh. And they told him if he needed special counsel status he’d get it. The end.
So that was yesterday. This morning it was time for slurring rage muppet Maria Bartiromo to take her turn, and boy, the lies just flowed and flowed. As usual, our pal Aaron Rupar captured the highlights, starting here, where Bartiromo just let House Speaker Kevin McCarthy babble lies about how the IRS said David Weiss wasn’t allowed to be a special prosecutor, even though that is a thoroughly debunked and beclowned lie, according to David Weiss.
Therefore Kevin McCarthy wants to impeach Merrick Garland. [Tweet and video at the link]
In the next clip, Bartiromo and McCarthy continue to advance the easily disproven lie that Luft was somehow indicted just this week in retaliation for being a Hunter Biden whistleblower, when Luft was indicted WAY LONG BACK LAST NOVEMBER, before Republicans barely won back Congress, at which point he went on the lam. How we know that? Because it’s written on the unsealed indictment! (Remember how James Comer in all his wisdom could not find his informant for some reason? Maria Bartiromo should remember, since Comer picked Kentucky fried squirrel out of his teeth while explaining that to her back in May.) [Tweet and video at the link]
Bartiromo’s real question: “How many more whistleblowers are gonna come forward after knowing that this guy, who tried to tell the FBI and the DOJ what he knew about the transactions, business deals in the Biden family, now HE had to go on the run and now is getting indicted?”
You know, as opposed to the opposite timeline, the one that makes sense, where the indicted Chinese spy went on the run because he was indicted.
Bartiromo knows she’s lying, because she’s a goddamned fucking liar.
But they don’t care. This is how much contempt Fox News has for its viewers and for this country.
“It’s like a glimpse of what our own system would have looked like billions of years ago when it was forming,” NASA program scientist Eric Smith told The Associated Press.
Smith pointed out that the starlight visible in the image actually left there 390 years ago. On Earth in 1633, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei went on trial in Rome for saying that the Earth revolved around the sun. The Vatican in 1992 acknowledged Galileo was wronged.
* Some people who are hostile to transgender people object […] This has been compared to an earlier campaign to label homophobe a slur.
lumipunasays
The Nato summit in Vilnius has ended and the summit between US and Nordic leaders is underway here in Helsinki. Joe Biden arrived here late last evening (local time) and spent the night at a hotel that was only confirmed to the media at the last moment. The state guesthouse where Donald Trump stayed on his visit in 2018 is currently under renovation.
The two previous US-Nordic summits (in 2013 and 2016) have been held in Stockholm and Washington, so the current location isn’t entirely surprising. Nevertheless, Finnish media is hyping it up as the first time a US president visits Finland for the purpose of meeting Finnish leadership (together with the leaders of other Nordic countries). Previously, there have been a few occasions in recent decades when Finland hosted summits between the US and Soviet/Russian leaders. Now, I saw a Finnish political analyst estimate that the exact timing and location of this latest summit “can be seen at the least as flipping the middle finger to Putin”.
Up until early 2022, Finland preferred to maintain a reputation as a “neutral” country in some sense, even while leaning heavily towards the west. President Sauli Niinistö in particular tried to maintain a working diplomatic relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has now very much become a persona non grata here. The 2018 summit between Trump and Putin, as cringey and pointless as it was, was great travel and business advertisement for Finland. Now, there’s lots of political commentary noting how times changed in the last five years (or just two years, since Biden met Putin in Geneva).
This quote from the New York times was posted at 398, near the end of the previous thread, a few days ago:
On a recent afternoon along Finland’s border with Russia, an attack from Russian military bases a few miles away seemed a distant prospect.
That’s not only because, as NATO’s newest member, Finland now enjoys the guaranteed protection of 30 nations, including the United States — a development that President Biden will celebrate during a visit to Helsinki next week.
It’s also because most of the Russians once stationed in the area went to fight in Ukraine, and many if not most of them, Finnish officials say, are dead. It may be years before Russia poses a conventional military threat from across the verdant forest of pine, spruce and birch.
But there were some Russians to be seen on a sunny June day at the Vaalimaa border crossing, about midway between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. A trickle came and went, many in expensive cars: an Audi Q7, a black BMW with two sleek bikes mounted on a rack. These Russians were likely dual passport holders, possibly headed to other European countries that they can reach only by land because of flight restrictions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. […]
The relations between Finland and Russia have remained relatively good, considering that we’re actively supporting Ukraine in a massive war against Russia. Oddly enough, I haven’t seen any reports of Russian state media bringing this point up in the context of Finnish-Russian relations. There seems to be just some occasional whining on how Finland has “ruined our previously good relationship” by joining Nato, expelling some Russian spies (“diplomats”) and restricting travel for Russian citizens. There’s vague rhetoric about the collective West being an “enemy” of Russia, though the enmity is not very obvious at the Finnish-Russian border. Trade and tourism across the border have gone down to near zero, but lots of people still travel for family visits, some for work and other business.
Aside from President Niinistö, Biden will briefly meet Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, whose rightwing cabinet continues to stagger on the brink of collapse. The media have been digging up old, blatantly racist and generally hateful writings of at least two cabinet ministers and the speaker of parliament, who all stubbornly refuse to even pretend that their opinions have changed. This shitshow has been raising some attention in international media. Thus far, one formal apology has been made to Turkey for a Finnish politician using an ethnic slur in association with Turkish immigrants. How nice it is that the Nato ratification process was finished just before this new cabinet took the reins!
Orpo himself is under heavy pressure to break this unholy alliance between the fiscal right (his own party) and the fascist right. Thus far, he just keeps dodging the media and feebly repeating the words “we have zero tolerance for racism”, as if that kind of declaration has any plausibility. In other words, he’s doubling down on the the sweet rightwing economic deal he’s getting out of this. Niinistö (who has been president since 2012, and will run out of his final term early next year) is from the same fiscally right party as Orpo, but thankfully his job basically only involves representing Finland internationally. That’s a role he’s been really good at, and the role doesn’t really allow his conservative values to damage the country.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has welcomed a “good result” from the Nato summit. His remark came after Britain’s defence secretary and the US national security adviser suggested Ukraine ought to show more gratitude for the help it has received from the west, in response to Zelenskiy’s complaints that his country has not been issued a firm timetable or set of conditions for joining Nato. In regular remarks made on Thursday night, Zelenskiy struck a positive note, saying: “For the first time since independence, we have formed a security foundation for Ukraine on its way to Nato.”
The US president, Joe Biden, concluded a Nato summit on Wednesday denouncing Vladimir Putin as “craven” and promising Zelenskiy full support even without membership in the military alliance. Biden, who has made unifying Nato countries a foreign policy priority, said Putin had badly underestimated their resolve.
Ukraine claims its air defences during the night shot down all 20 “Shahed” drones and two Kalibr missiles launched by Russia. At least four people in Kyiv were injured by falling debris, and Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk reported eight civilian injuries in the last 24 hours….
Also from there:
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN on Thursday he has “no doubt” that Ukraine will become part of Nato after Russia’s war against the country ends.
Speaking to CNN host Wolf Blitzer, Austin said “I have no doubt that will happen, and we heard just about every country in the room say as much,”
When asked how close Ukraine was to meeting Nato standards, Austin said there was still work to be done. He added that others things like “judicial reform” should happen in Ukraine to “make sure that the democracy is in good shape.”
A Russian general has said he has been fired as a commander after telling Moscow’s military leadership “the truth” about the dire situation at the front in Ukraine as tensions in the Russian army grow in the aftermath of the Wagner group’s short-lived mutiny.
Maj Gen Ivan Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms army, which is fighting on the front in Ukraine near Zaporizhzhia, said in a voice message that he had been fired after he brought up problems on the battlefield, including the lack of counter-battery fire as well as deaths and injuries the army was suffering from Ukrainian attacks.
Popov’s emotional address was published late on Wednesday by Andrey Gurulyov, a retired Russian colonel general and Duma deputy.
It was not clear when Popov had recorded the message or who its intended recipients were.
Without naming them, Popov appeared to attack the head of the army, Valery Gerasimov, and the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, two of the country’s most powerful military men, accusing them of stabbing the country in the back.
“As many commanders of regiments and divisions said today, our army was not broken through the front, but our most senior commander hit us in the back, thus treacherously beheading the army in the most difficult period,” Popov said.
Popov added that he faced a choice with his superiors “to keep quiet and be a coward or to say it the way it is … Due to this, the seniors likely felt some danger in me and instantly, in one day, put together an order to the minister of defence and got rid of me.”
The open criticism of the military leadership by a senior Russian commander is rare and will dent the sense of unity that the Kremlin has been eager to project following the Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s abortive rebellion.
While Prigozhin has been openly insulting Putin’s most senior military men for months, senior members of the regular Russian army have refrained from such criticism.
…
Popov’s statements come amid mounting uncertainty within the Russian military….
Meanwhile,
Prigozhin’s current whereabouts are unknown. Flight tracking data of his private jet seen by the Guardian suggests he has flown several times between Moscow and St Petersburg, where local news outlets have reported sightings of him.
The leader of Thailand’s pro-reform party, which won the most seats in May’s election, has been blocked from taking power by a parliamentary vote that includes military-appointed senators, a move likely to provoke street protests.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward, a progressive party that has a strong youth support base, won the most votes and most seats in May’s election. But Thailand’s election rules, rewritten after a military coup in 2014, required him to have majority support from parliament to become prime minister – which meant he needed to win the backing of some military-appointed senators.
Pita ran unopposed in the vote but failed to gain a majority of the 749-member parliament. Only 324 people supported him, while 182 voted against. A further 199 abstained.
The comment sections of livestreams broadcasting the vote were filled with anger towards senators, saying they had failed to respect the will of the people, and that those who had abstained were a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Move Forward had campaigned on the promise of major reforms, including breaking up monopolies, ending military conscription, removing the military’s influence from politics and amending a strict law that forbids criticism of the monarchy.
The pledge on the monarchy is highly controversial among conservatives, and in a parliamentary session held before the vote, it was repeatedly cited as a reason why senators and lawmakers would not support him. Some accused him of risking chaos and of seeking to undermine the royal family.
…
Two days have been set aside next week for a repeat of the ballot, and Pita can run again.
It is likely that Move Forward’s coalition partner, Pheu Thai, the party associated with the exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra, will put forward a candidate for either the second or third ballot.
If Pita does run again, he is unlikely to be able to build enough support to pass, said Punchada Sirivunnabood, an associate professor at Mahidol University, in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom province.
…
A scenario where a Pheu Thai candidate is selected as prime minister may be acceptable to some voters, including those who simply want to oust Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army chief who has been in power since he led a coup in 2014, said Punchada. But young people are less likely to be satisfied with this arrangement, she said, and will protest.
Crowds gathered in central Bangkok on Wednesday evening, with some holding signs that read “Respect my vote” and “Senators don’t vote against the people’s will”….
The union representing Hollywood actors has recommended strike action after a midnight negotiation deadline passed with no agreement as the industry braces for the possibility of the first simultaneous strike by Hollywood writers and actors in more than 60 years.
In a statement, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra), the union which represents 160,000 actors, said its negotiating committee had voted unanimously to recommend a strike. The national board will decide on Thursday morning….
rorschachsays
SC @115,
having lived in Bangkok for 2 years just before the pandemic started, this is really an outrage, but it is also predictable they would try to pull something like this. Move Forward had a program that included softening penalties for “insulting” the king, a bloke with heart failure and quite a few mistresses, who spends most of his time in Bavaria drinking beer. So this is the empire striking back.
Biden is doing a press conference with Finnish president Niinistö. He seems sharp today – I think travel and international diplomacy make him a little more feisty.
Guardian liveblog:
Biden is asked what actions he would take to assure Finland that the US will remain a reliable Nato partner for decades to come considering a bipartisan group of senators in Washington attempted to pass through a law that would prevent future US presidents from withdrawing from Nato without the Senate’s approval.
Biden says: “There is no question there’s overwhelming support from the American people. There’s overwhelming support from the members of Congress, the House and the Senate. In both parties, notwithstanding the fact of some extreme elements of one party, we will stand together.”
rorschach @ #117, I didn’t know you were living there!
It is outrageous.
The pledge on the monarchy is highly controversial among conservatives, and in a parliamentary session held before the vote, it was repeatedly cited as a reason why senators and lawmakers would not support him.
Can’t imagine being a young person in 2023 and having your vote effectively nullified because of an attachment to a draconian lèse-majesté law.
lotharloosays
I was browsing the blog of the shithead known as Jerry Coyne out of curiosity, and then I saw this … you can’t really make this up.
Post titled “In which I am canceled as a transphobe” in which Jerry complains about being cancelled because a host did not want to share a live Q&A with him wisely suspecting that the topic of trans people would come up and the host was not comfortable with it. Jerry then defends himself by writing: “As you also know if you read here regularly, my only other objection to trans women occupying women’s spaces are places like women’s prisons, shelters for battered women, and rape-counseling centers. That’s as far as I go. And I’ve said a gazillion times, in all other respects I think that trans people, whether they identify as men or women, should have all the rights, respect, and equal treatment by others. I also have no issue with calling people whatever pronouns they like.”
Then, this post is followed up another post “Article on gender dysphoria retracted, probably for ideological reasons” where he implicitly promotes the idea of rapid onset dysphoria. He also mentions Littman’s paper without mentioning that data obtained via online sampling of three websites thing. Yeah Jerry, you are either lying to yourself or to all of us.
KGsays
lumipuna@113,
Yes, like most of its European counterparts, the “respectable” Finnish right seems unable to grasp that you can’t roll in shit without stinking of it.
It’s impossible to keep up with every ridiculous idea Donald Trump injects into the public discourse, but late last year, the former president explicitly crossed a line he hadn’t broached before.
Suggesting that he secretly won the 2020 election that he lost, Trump — in writing — endorsed a suspension of the United States’ constitutional order. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in December 2022, adding that the “Founders” would agree with him.
The comments were not well received, and even several Republicans were quick to make clear that they were not on board with the idea of “terminating” constitutional law in service of Trump’s conspiracy theories. Rep. John James of Michigan, for example, expressed his disapproval to WLNS in Lansing.
“A man who would suspend the Constitution can’t be trusted,” James said. “Anyone who will put their egos over people is not fit to lead.”
That was seven months ago. Business Insider reported this week that the GOP congressman has apparently changed his mind.
Rep. John James of Michigan became the latest House Republican to endorse former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign on Tuesday, joining the rest of his state’s GOP House members in doing so.
We’ve all seen politicians take some rather dramatic turns over the years, but this one was especially jarring. James went from being disgusted by Trump’s willingness to “terminate” constitutional law, and telling the public that the former president “can’t be trusted” and “is not fit to lead,” to formally endorsing Trump’s candidacy.
When a Detroit News reporter asked what led to the change of heart, the Michigan congressman — who endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump in 2016 — said he expected the former president to support policies to serve his district, adding, “It’s the fact that we are six months worse off under the Biden administration.”
I’m not sure how that makes sense. For one thing, the United States is not worse off as compared to late last year. For another, even if James were convinced otherwise, there are roughly a dozen contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. He didn’t have to throw his support behind the one he said is unfit for office.
But he did anyway.
It can be difficult to understand the far-right Republicans who’ve spent years as Trump loyalists — their willingness to go along with his lies, corruption, incompetence, etc. — but at least there’s a degree of consistency to their ideology. They’re wedded to the MAGA vision, and their commitment is unshakable.
Those who support Trump despite clearly knowing better, however, are tougher to defend.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first ever over-the-counter birth control pill in the United States Thursday, a huge advancement in contraceptive accessibility amid an ever more restrictive abortion landscape.
“Approval of this progestin-only oral contraceptive pill provides an option for consumers to purchase oral contraceptive medicine without a prescription at drug stores, convenience stores and grocery stores, as well as online,” the agency said in a statement.
It also pointed out that “almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended” — a statistic the approval of over-the-counter Opill may improve.
Final approval seemed likely after an advisory panel unanimously recommended that the pill become available without a prescription in May.
Hearings earlier this spring were replete with questions about climbing rates of maternal mortality and the adverse outcomes associated with unintended pregnancy. But the abortion landscape, critical background to any conversation about accessibility of contraception, was all but absent.
States have continued to pass extremely restrictive bans, and over half of them are categorized as “restrictive,” “very restrictive” or “most restrictive” by the Guttmacher Institute. With many women living in states where abortion is all but inaccessible, the importance of the availability of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies skyrockets.
This type of pill was initially approved for prescription use back in 1973.
Insurance companies have been pushing for this for years, so they could get out of paying for at least one form of contraception. I’m happy that women who don’t have insurance, or those who live in states where “the pill” is almost considered a form of abortion, will be able to get them, either at the pharmacy or, for many, by mail. I’m just worried about the increased cost to women.
—————————
When antihistamines go from prescription to OTC, insurance doesn’t pay. I have heard of cases where they will IF you have a doctor prescribe it.
The article includes a photo of Kennedy speaking at a right-wing Nazi rally.
Last night, as on many nights before, Robert Kennedy Jr. sprayed out a toxic stream of stupid, maddening nonsense. The subject of this particular rant (link deliberately not included) was climate change, but it could have been vaccines. Or anything that falls under his general theme of “learning things is bad, kids. […]”
I don’t want to engage with this jackass. No one really does. For the most part, people have spent the last 50 years looking at Robert Kennedy Jr., or deliberately not looking at Robert Kennedy Jr., with poorly disguised pity. Some of that is for the obvious losses his family has endured. Much of it is because he’s so obviously not just the junior Kennedy, but the lesser Kennedy.
[…] Kennedy is well aware that he’s long been considered the family member everyone wants to forget. He’s not the moral voice of the nation, quoting ancient Greek poetry in an effort to soothe America’s broken heart. He’s not the king of a new Camelot, leading an age of hope tragically cut short. He’s not the “lion of the Senate,” defending progressive values across decades. He’s the Kennedy most likely to embarrass the family twice before breakfast.
He’s not so much the family black sheep as he is that guy at the airport trying to give you a flier on why we should “nuke the whales.” He’s the 9/11 Truther who shows up uninvited at your dinner party to talk about why jet fuel isn’t hot enough to break concrete. He’s a full-time amateur asshat turned professional agent of chaos thanks to an investment by Republicans.
As it turns out, Republicans scribbling his name onto forms that make it seem that there’s something remotely legitimate about his “run for the White House” was like tossing jumper cables into this cesspool of scam artistry and self-loathing. The difficulty of sustaining this joke as more than a one-day wonder is exactly why his rhetoric keeps rising in both anger and absurdity.
His proclamations are pitched to generate the same levels of discomfort as a mosquito hovering around your ear. Taking a lesson from Donald Trump, Kennedy’s statements are riddled with such obvious mistakes, such heavy lacings of bunk, folly, trash, and drivel, that you can’t help but to want to rush to your keyboard and pound out a correction.
Don’t. Just don’t.
Don’t presume there’s something wrong with his intellect. If there’s a missing chunk of his brain, it’s not the part that allows him to understand that pollution can’t be solved by polluting more. He knows he’s lying. He knows that if he lies loudly enough, obviously enough, vilely enough, people will rise up and attempt to correct him
His failing isn’t in memory or logic. It’s ethics.
Maybe time spent in the shadow of all those family members fondly recalled for their empathy, understanding, and love for both people and knowledge was just too much for him. Maybe he’s on year 56 of his teenage rebellion. It really doesn’t matter.
What matters is that he craves engagement. Because any level of engagement requires that his basic theme—science as a cabal that must be defeated—gets air time. Right now Republicans are patting themselves on the back about what a good investment they’ve made in this slime bucket […]
Kennedy doesn’t deserve pity. He doesn’t deserve engagement. He deserves disdain.
[…] The hearing on Wednesday provided Democrats an opportunity to counter the dishonest Republican narrative that federal law enforcement was conspiring to destroy Trump and his anti-American MAGA movement. Among the Democratic representatives who availed themselves of this opportunity was California Rep. Ted Lieu. His well composed litany of the cretinous nature of the Trump administration was both informative and chilling. And he made his points simply by asking Wray a series of simple questions… [Wray answered in the affirmative to every question.]
– Trump adviser Roger Stone was convicted in a federal court, correct?
– Trump donor Elliott Broidy was convicted in a federal court, correct?
– Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in federal court, correct?
– Trump’s former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates was convicted in federal court, correct?
– Trump’s campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos was convicted in federal court, correct?
Lieu actually left out a few of Trump’s most conspicuous criminal cohorts, including Rudy Giuliani, Jeff Clark, Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon, Tom Barrack, Michael Flynn, and Allen Weisselberg. However, he delivered a succinct summary that put the criminality of Trump’s tenure in perspective…
“What these facts show is that we don’t have a two-tier system of justice. We have one Department of Justice that goes after criminals regardless of party ideology. All of these folks were convicted under the administrations of three separate Republican attorneys general (Jeff Sessions, Matt Whitaker, and Bill Barr). It is not the fault of the FBI that Donald Trump surrounded himself with criminals. Donald Trump brought that on himself. Thank you to the FBI for exposing the cesspool of corruption of these Trump associates.”
[video at the link]
And therein lies the root of the problem that Republicans have with law enforcement. Even when their own officials – including Wray himself, a Trump appointee – administer justice fairly and without political bias, Republicans will revolt if their own members are found to be crooks. […]
The undisputed champion of this malicious mauling of American justice is, of course, Trump himself. From his earliest campaign chants of “lock her up” directed at Hillary Clinton who had never been convicted or even charged with a crime, to his recent lament that Hunter Biden wasn’t executed for using drugs and not paying his taxes. Trump complained on his floundering Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, that U.S. Attorney David Weiss (another Trump appointee) was a “coward” because he let Hunter off with “a traffic ticket instead of a death sentence.” But to the GOP it is Democrats who are “weaponizing” justice. And they will continue to hold these sham hearings even though they inevitably just humiliate themselves.
lumipuna @ #113 and KG @ #121, they’re wings of the same family. From Clara Mattei’s 2022 The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism (pp. 264-265):
The [Italian Fascist state in the mid-1920s] zealously publicized its compliance with the international code of austerity, to the point that De Stefani arranged the “regular transmission of the publications of a financial character” to the British Foreign Office… Theirs was a tenacious application of austerity, one that convinced international markets to shift from speculating downward to speculating upward in favor of the revaluation of the lira, starting in October 1926.
…The day after the regime announced gold parity, Chancellor Churchill wrote to offer his “heartiest congratulations” for an achievement that “crowns the great work you have done for the re-establishment of Italian finances”…
Indeed, international financial experts explicitly pressured fascism to defeat labor’s demands. For example, while examining Italy’s request for a stabilization loan, Fed governor Strong urged Italy to maintain its balance of trade with a further reduction of cost of living and wages, which the governor of the Bank of Italy, Bonaldo Stringher, gave assurance he would achieve….
By exacting sacrifices on the working classes, Italy could finally participate in the international capitalist order. After gold stabilization, the Economist announced that it expected “foreign capital, mainly for the United States and Great Britain,” to “seek more freely temporary or permanent investment in Italy.”…
Orpo’s history in international institutions (from WP):
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)
Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, Member (2018–2019)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)
Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)
World Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)
Leave it to Page Six to get probably the best headline of the entire 2024 campaign season, and we’re saying “campaign season” loosely because this is related to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and not a real candidate.
But considering who Kennedy is and how broken his brain is, it’s probably appropriate that this is the headline coming out of one of his big important events.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. press dinner explodes in war of words and farting.” Sure, why wouldn’t it? Were the words and the farts concomitant, or did there simply happen to be both word and fart explosions that happened so near to each other that a casual bystander might assume them related? We guess we have to read the journalism article to find out.
It was a fight over climate change, which makes methane emissions appropriate, we imagine. (Don’t blame yourselves, libs. Cow farts still do way more damage to the Green New Deal than your farts.)
Page Six explains that the “polemic farting” occurred at the event at Tony’s on the Upper East Side. (“Polemic” is an argumentative word, suggesting that the farter or farters were using the farts as a debate tactic. As you will see, this is true.)
Page Six says two BOISTEROUS OLD MEN! started arguing about climate change. Page Six was there. Page Six smelt it but swears on the Bible it did not dealt it.
Somebody asked RFK Jr. about the environment. (He is an environmental lawyer, when he isn’t being an anti-vaxxer or sucking Vladimir Putin’s grundle or babbling about the CIA killing his uncle or spewing some more of Putin’s talking points, some of which he apparently gets from Tucker Carlson’s favorite Kremlin propagandist.)
And, well, “drunk gossip columnist-turned-flack Doug Dechert,” who was hosting the event, got mad. “The climate hoax!” he yelled, but not with his butthole.
And then “octogenarian art critic Anthony Haden-Guest, who appeared to have been sleeping happily for most of the dinner, was roused by the abrupt rumpus.”
Haden-Guest called Dechert a “miserable blob,” but not with his butthole.
“Shut up!” said Haden-Guest. They was just fightin’:
Dechert continued to scream wildly about the climate change “scam” while Haden-Guest peppered him with verbal volleys from across the table, calling him variously “f–king insane” and “insignificant.”
RFK Jr. was apparently just watching it all happen. We guess his brain was taking a break from Doing Its Own Research.
This is when Dechert, the climate denier — of course it was the climate denier, did you think it was the one who believes in science? — yelled “I’m farting!” He did that with his butthole!
Page Six says it was a “loud, prolonged fart,” punctuated by Dechert’s announcement.
And everybody was like what?
The room, which included a handful of journalists as well as Kennedy’s campaign manager, former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, was stunned, seemingly unsure about whether Dechert was farting at Haden-Guest personally or at the very notion of global warming.
Farting at a person is different from farting at an idea, obviously.
(Regrettably, we may assure readers that there was no room for doubt that the climate changed in the immediate environs of the dinner table.)
Told you Page Six smelled the fart.
They say somebody tried to bring up a lighter topic, like Kennedy’s father Bobby Kennedy. But some other guest — Page Six says “sadly,” but maybe they were just being funny — started talking about climate change again, at which point there was more yelling, but no reports of manmade climate farts.
When asked to comment about his, er, outburst the next day, Dechert told us: “I apologize for using my flatulence as a medium of public commentary in your presence.”
(He also asked us to refer to him either as a “gallivanting boulevardier” or a “beer-fueled sex rocket.”)
“Douglas The Fart Clown” is what we are going with. Page Six used “beer-fueled sex rocket” in the next paragraph, which shows you what suckups they are.
Anyway, Douglas The Fart Clown told them he was just that angry about climate hoax that we guess he had to fart about it. He’s known the guy he farted at forever, but desperate times call for great big cavernous farts. Haden-Guest, the non-farting participant in the debate, disagrees. He reportedly said “I am done with you,” during the fart-squabblin’, but when Page Six talked to him he seemed OK:
“I didn’t mean it,” Haden-Guest said.
“I am sure we will talk again.”
This Robert F. Kennedy Jr. press event still was more dignified than any political event Donald Trump will ever throw. He’s got a farter in his midst too. [video of Rudy Giuliani farting during Michigan Voter fraud Hearing.]
(CN) — Ohioans will take to the polls in August amid a sea of controversy to decide whether it should be more difficult to change the state’s constitution, marking an unusual election that experts say is tied to Republican efforts to thwart a pro-abortion initiative expected to hit the ballot in November.
State Issue 1, if passed, will amend the Ohio Constitution to require any future amendments to be passed with a 60% majority of statewide voters. Under the current scheme, amendments require only a simple majority: 50% of the vote plus one.
Signature requirements for groups aiming to get amendment initiatives placed on the ballot would change, too, increasing from 5% of the registered voters in 44 counties to 5% of the voters in all of Ohio’s 88 counties.
David Niven, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati, expressed concern about the “incomplete” language in the ballot measure when he spoke with Courthouse News.
“Voters are going to be very dependent on the information they bring with them to the polling place,” he said, “rather than from the language when they’re looking at the ballot.”
More concerning than the language on the ballot was the relatively small number of Ohioans who are aware the election is taking place at all.
“I would say the overwhelming majority of Ohioans don’t know this is happening,” Niven said, “and then a good chunk of those that do know don’t necessarily know all the details. This is an election for the hardcore, never-miss-a-vote-types.”
As a result, turnout is expected to be relatively low, which favors Republicans who want the amendment to pass.
An August election held last year saw just 8% of the electorate turn out to vote. Niven said he expects higher turnout this year, possibly between 20 and 30% — still a staggeringly low number for such a consequential vote.
“A tiny minority of Ohioans will be in a position to enshrine permanent minority control of the constitution,” Niven said.
That an August election is even taking place is a surprise, since the Ohio legislature outlawed them earlier this year because of concerns over excessive costs and low turnout. It took a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court — divided along party lines — to allow the election to be scheduled in the wake of the legislation, as the court determined language in the constitution took precedence over the new law.
Advocates of Issue 1 have marketed it as a way to protect the sanctity of the Ohio Constitution from outside influencers, but it’s no coincidence the election was scheduled for August in the same year a pro-abortion amendment will likely appear on the November ballot.
“The bottom line is, [Republicans] had to get this election in before the reproductive rights question made the ballot,” Niven said. “It’s entirely about abortion rights.”
Niven cited several lawmakers, including Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who have told supporters Issue 1 is being used by conservative lawmakers to keep the right to an abortion out of the state’s constitution.
“The point of this is to try to prevent a majority of Ohioans from being heard on abortion,” he said.
Issue 1 is shaping up to be a quintessential example of lawmaking in a state governed almost exclusively by one party.
Republicans hold the governor’s seat, have supermajorities in both the house and senate, and also have a majority in the state’s high court, all of which have been used for leverage in the special election.
This leverage may be necessary, according to Niven, because a majority of Ohioans don’t see eye-to-eye with their politicians…
Down the line, it’s not hard to envision scenarios in which the passage of Issue 1 hurts Republicans in future elections just as much as it may help them in the 2023 cycle.
“There is a huge backfire potential,” Niven said. “They have to live in fear of what [happens] if the reproductive rights amendment passes with 60% of the vote and now they’re looking at the prospect of having no capacity to get it out [of the constitution].”
Courthouse News Service
whheydtsays
Re: tomh @ #`129…
One may hope that many of those voting in Ohio this August will apply an old principle tp ballot propositions…if you don’t understand it, vote NO.
Five years ago this week, Donald Trump debased himself in Helsinki. Today, Joe Biden stood in the exact same place, and fared far better.
At first blush, President Joe Biden’s joint press conference today with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto might’ve seemed largely unremarkable. Many U.S. leaders have participated in similar events, here and abroad, alongside foreign heads of state, and Biden conducted himself the way we’d expect any American president to act while representing us on the international stage.
But there was a relevant context to the event that added additional significance that might not have been obvious at first glance. Politico reported:
In the same Finnish presidential palace where Donald Trump five years ago infamously sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that Russia had interfered in a U.S. election, President Joe Biden today sent Moscow a very different message.
Reasonable political observers can argue about which of Trump’s low points was the most offensive, but his 2018 summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Helsinki — which was held exactly five years ago this week — stood out as especially indefensible.
[…] after a private meeting with the autocratic leader, in which Trump took interpreters’ notes for reasons that were never explained, the Republican held a disastrous press conference in which he defended an American adversary, took cheap shots at his own country, and sided with Putin over the judgment of U.S. intelligence professionals.
Soon after, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials “were unanimous in saying that they and their colleagues were aghast at how Mr. Trump had handled himself with Mr. Putin.” One official summarized a consensus view, concluding that it was clear whose side Trump was on, and “it isn’t ours.”
In the aftermath of the event, Axios spoke to one of Trump’s own former National Security Council officials who described the situation as “a total [effing] disgrace,” adding, “The president has lost his mind.”
That was in mid-July 2018. Five years to the week later, however, the Republican’s successor didn’t just answer reporters’ questions in the same country, Biden stood in the exact same room where Trump debased himself.
What’s more, while the former American leader defended Putin’s credibility at the Finnish presidential palace, the current American leader pushed a very different line that will likely be far less popular with the Kremlin.
“Putin’s already lost the war,” Biden declared. “There is no possibility of him winning. … I think that there is going to be a circumstance where eventually, President Putin is going to decide it’s not in the interest of Russia — economically, politically or otherwise — to continue this war.”
I don’t imagine anyone in U.S. national security circles will have any questions today as to who’s side the Democrat is on.
Ahead of a pivotal Aug. 8 special election explicitly aimed at thwarting a November vote to enshrine abortion rights into Ohio’s constitution, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose just allowed anti-abortion groups to use incorrect forms to request absentee ballots after Jewish groups, whose supporters are more likely to back abortion rights, used similar forms and were rejected.
Voters next month will decide on a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by Republicans that would raise the threshold needed for voters to pass future amendments, from the current simple majority to a 60% supermajority. Notably, though, the GOP’s measure only needs a simple majority to pass—and if approved by voters, it would take effect in time for the potential abortion rights amendment this fall. That amendment appears likely to make the ballot after supporters recently turned in 710,000 signatures from voters, well above the 413,000 required statewide to qualify.
LaRose’s decision to favor anti-abortion organizations over Jewish groups comes just months after Ohio Republicans passed a restrictive new voting law that, among other things, includes one of the nation’s strictest voter ID requirements. Before the bill’s passage, Ohio had no standardized form for requesting mail ballots, but the new law now requires a specific form.
Last month, reports WEWS’ Morgan Trau, the Cleveland Jewish News published an older ballot request form, prompting officials to reject applications from voters who used it. (Many Jews consider abortion access essential under Jewish law, and members of Ohio’s Jewish community have been vocal in speaking out against the state’s six-week abortion ban, which courts have currently put on hold. A 2015 Pew study showed American Jews believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases by an 83-15 margin, a larger proportion than any other religious group.)
But after anti-abortion voters who support the GOP’s amendment made the same mistake as the Jewish News a week later, LaRose quickly acted to instruct local election boards to accept the older form if “the voter includes a valid form of ID” required under the new law
LaRose, who is poised to announce a bid for Senate next year, has openly stated that his party’s effort to restrict ballot initiatives “is 100% about keeping a radical, pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.” Other key Republican supporters of the amendment have similarly argued that the new threshold could block a planned ballot initiative to end their gerrymanders next year. […]
Wonkette: “How Much Weird Kremlin Propaganda Can You Get On The TV Now That Tucker’s Gone?”
We don’t know the exact answer to the question in our headline, but it’s been a weird couple of days. It’s the usual suspects, of course. Nobody Vladimir Putin would be surprised to see tugging on his pants leg and begging for a Snausage.
Ron Johnson, the man we used to call the Senate’s Dumbest Republican until we simply had to give that title over to Tommy Tuberville, went on “Fox & Friends” yesterday, and — well, we didn’t call him the dumbest for no reason, y’all. He said he went to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inauguration, and at that time he thought Zelenskyy really wanted peace with Putin. He just doesn’t know what happened “in the intervening period” to make Zelenskyy so anti-peace. He did allow that Putin had invaded, but still, why does Zelenskyy hate peace so much?
Journalist Mark Jacob suggests, “A full-blown Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rape and massacre of citizens, the kidnapping of children.” But Ron Johnson is just not sure, we guess. [video at the link]
Toward the end of the clip, Brian Kilmeade, the emptiest windsock on “Fox & Friends,” suggested ending the war by “give ’em 20 percent of Ukraine and say OK you can keep it.” He seemed to be looking for Johnson’s approval of his very good idea, but Johnson would not nail down specifics.
Likewise, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on Fox News last night, and he just couldn’t stop slobbering on Putin’s underwear. He bragged that Putin “twice agreed to sign the treaties that would have given us essentially everything. The only thing Putin wanted in both these treaties — in the MInsk Accords and the April ’22 treaty — was that Donbas got to stay part of Ukraine, that it would be able to protect its ethnic Russian populations from violence by the government, the US-installed government; that NATO stay out of Ukraine; and that they de-Nazify, you know, the government.”
You know, just those things. [video at the link] For the record, the only people who claim there was a real peace deal in spring of 2022 are Russian media and their associated mouthpieces. Minsk Accords sorta went out the window when Putin, you know, invaded.
The rest of it is just the kind of babbling malarkey that comes out of Putin’s wet dreams. Pretending Donbas needs to be protected from “the US-installed government” in Ukraine, that the government needs to be “de-Nazified,” that Putin should have one iota of a say in whether NATO admits Ukraine. [JFC, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just gets worse and worse.]
Piers Morgan had to step in and be the voice of reason, explaining to the absolute fucking lunatic that “the Russians have not acted in good faith at all,” and that Russia had invaded a sovereign nation. He explained, re: de-Nazification, that Zelenskyy is Jewish and not a Nazi. In response, Kennedy [complained] that Zelenskyy ran in 2019 on a “peace platform.” Where’s all that peace now? Kennedy claimed it was Zelenskyy who “suddenly pivoted” away from peace. (Like when Russia invaded and started raping and murdering and kidnapping Ukraine’s kids, maybe?)
It’s nice to have three examples when you make blog posts like this, so here is freakshow Matt Gaetz on Newsmax suggesting that instead of adding Ukraine to NATO, we add Russia. [video at the link]
“Why would you pick Ukraine? Why not extend NATO to Russia and make it an anti-China alliance?
Because that’s not what NATO fucking is.
“Like, are we really thinking that we’re more afraid of the broke-down tanks from Russia than the fact that China is building a secret military base on the island of Cuba, 90 miles away from the United States?”
[…]
“Like, if we had to pick Russia or Ukraine for NATO, one could reasonably make the argument that Russia probably provides more benefit long-term.”
[…]
“And I think one can reasonably ask the question: Has NATO expansion made us safer? I mean, has it really?”
And one would reasonably answer that it has. Really.
“Are we safer today than we were before NATO expanded into the Baltics and put us now on the brink of war? That’s not exactly what we signed up for with Sleepy Joe as the President of the United States.”
Interesting how Gaetz says “NATO” put us on the brink of war by expanding into the Baltics. Because defending oneself from Putin is just one big “Look what you made me do” for Putin himself. Because you can’t possibly blame Putin for any actions Putin takes.
[…] Good job, guys. Mother Russia thanks you for your service, as usual.
whheydtsays
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride… What I’d like to see in Ohio is for the proposition to make amendments harder to fail and then in November for the abortion guarantee measure to pass with over 60% of the vote, thus showing that the change wouldn’t have stopped it, anyway.
For each of the past 62 years, the National Defense Authorization Act has been an annual tradition of bipartisan cooperation. That’s not to say there hasn’t been significant controversy in the past, most recently during George W. Bush’s war of choice in Iraq, but national defense policy has remained a thing Democrats and Republicans could eventually agree upon because it’s always been a top priority. Then Kevin McCarthy became speaker of the House.
The Freedom Caucus has won again. They came to the Rules Committee with dozens of poison pill amendments to the bill that will direct the Pentagon on how it can spend the $886.3 billion it’s being allocated. For a couple of days McCarthy and his leadership team maintained the pretense that they were going to hold the extremists off, that they weren’t going to allow the bill to be tanked by culture war, conspiracy theory, Trumpy nonsense. That lasted all of 48 hours.
By Wednesday night McCarthy capitulated, and the House Rules committee okayed 80 poison pills that the hard-liners were pushing. If they didn’t get floor votes on their amendments, they threatened, they wouldn’t let the authorization go to the floor at all.
The amendments are ridiculous, running the gamut from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to strip $300 million from Ukraine aid to Rep. Lauren Boebert’s push to ban books in military base school libraries. The nihilists have proposed amendments to halt the renaming of military bases named after Confederate traitors, ban masks from military installations, allow recruits and service members to refuse COVID-19 vaccinations, block the Defense Department from carrying out any executive orders to combat climate change, and gut diversity and inclusion programs in the military.
Of course they are also trying to ban the military from allowing service members time off to travel for abortion and other reproductive health care, and of course they’re trying to ban health care for trans service members.
[…] These amendments, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said, signal the “MAGA circus” running wild. Democrats will object, he said, to “the extorting of your leadership by a small group of extremists in this House who are trying to force their right-wing and hard-line views on congress and on the people of this country.” If they don’t win on individual amendment votes, McGovern warned his colleagues, they’ll try to force a “self-executing” rule for the final passage that includes the amendments en bloc anyway. “What we’re worried about is what this small group of individuals that seems to be engaged in extortion on every single major bill that comes to this floor, what they will end up winning in this process.”
Republican Whip Tom Emmer told The Hill that leadership expects every Republican to vote for this bill, regardless of what ends up in it. They will force it down the throats of the majority of non-Freedom Caucus members. “If [an amendment] passes with Republican votes, if it becomes part of the NDAA, we’re gonna pass it with 218. That is our goal,” Emmer said. The supposed “centrists” will likely fold. They gave up quickly enough on their efforts to get the circus to back down.
[…] This defense bill battle is simply a preview of the fight to come on those funding bills. The House radicals are inching closer to a government shutdown by the minute, and McCarthy is letting it happen.
Re: Lynna, OM @ #135…
If no single Republican makes a motion to vacate the chair, then a Democrat should step up and do so. The stated reason should be that McCarthy is engaging in a seditious conspiracy.
(The reality is that, with even the faintest of luck, the Senate will strip out all the Sedition Caucus amendments and pass a clean NDAA. Then it will go to a conference committee and the Senate version should then go to the House on an up or down vote and everyone except the Sedition Caucus will be able to vote for it. Repeat for the other budget bills as needed.)
A mid-level state appeals court on Thursday ordered new congressional lines be drawn for New York, a ruling that could benefit Democrats in the 2024 fight for control of the U.S. House.
The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court and directed a state redistricting commission to start work on new proposed state congressional lines. Democrats are supporting the lawsuit, which seeks to scrap the 2022 lines in New York under which Republicans flipped four congressional seats.
The ruling was welcomed by Democrats as the party tries to retake the House majority they lost in last year’s elections. Republicans quickly pledged to appeal the politically charged case to New York’s highest court…
Farmers Insurance is now the fourth major home insurer to leave Florida. With no real solution to this growing problem, the DeSantis administration is blaming wokeness. “This is not about wokeness—this is about the weather,” says Wharton professor and economist Ben Keys.
California voters will decide in 2024 whether to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the state constitution, a chance for them to permanently remove an inactive ban on same-sex marriage that they approved in 2008.
The California Senate overwhelmingly passed the proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday, though most of the chamber’s eight Republicans did not take a position. It would repeal a 2008 measure, known as Proposition 8, which voters approved to ban the state from recognizing same-sex marriages.
In practice, that law has been void for about a decade. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage in the state. But it remains on the books and can only be removed by voters.
“What we are doing today is joyous,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat representing San Francisco. “What the voters, I believe, will do next year is joyous. This is about recognizing the fundamental humanity of all 40 million Californians.”
Wiener and Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low, both members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, introduced the legislation after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year that overturned the right to an abortion, putting the fates of other previously decided rights into uncertain territory. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said at the time the court should reconsider its rulings on prominent cases such as the 2015 decision requiring states to recognize and issue licenses for same-sex marriages.
In an emotional debate on the Senate floor, lawmakers said the proposed amendment was long overdue. Democratic Sen. Caroline Menjivar, who is lesbian, fought back tears while sharing a story about her family members refusing to attend her wedding.
“This vote goes beyond faith. It goes to the damage it causes to me and my LGBTQ+ families and friends,” Menjivar said. …
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went into the NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania, obviously upset about a lack of progress in providing Ukraine a route to NATO membership. Hours later, he emerged from a one-on-one meeting with President Joe Biden seemingly more upbeat about the day’s results.
But at the end of the day, it was clear that Zelenskyy’s attitude was more resignation than satisfaction. Ukraine was given assurances of more military assistance, and those assurances help meet the nation’s immediate need in the face of a war that has churned on, 24/7, for the past 504 days. However, Ukraine was denied the one thing it most wanted: a promise that, when the war is done, it will be accepted as a member of NATO.
There’s one big reason behind why, one day after the NATO summit, Zelenskyy is still fuming over this point. At the heart of his fury is a serious concern, even a deep fear, that’s not focused on what Russia will do in the future, but what America will do in the next two years.
The most basic fear that Ukraine has is this: They’re worried that Joe Biden might lose the 2024 election.
Yes, Ukrainians, from Zelenskyy down to the guys in the trenches, often see Biden as the man who is holding up the assistance they really need. Who made it so hard to get Western tanks? Or longer-range artillery? Or Patriot missile systems? Or F-16s? Who is still refusing to hand over long-range missiles in the necessary numbers? For every one of these questions, it’s possible to point at leaders in Germany or France or other nations that have also made temporizing statements or put the brakes on a necessary system. But it’s easy to come back to Biden as the old dude who keeps saying no, then no again, before he finally says yes—but only after a few thousand more Ukrainians have died.
Even so, Ukrainians understand that they are not going to do better than Biden. Sure, they’d be happy were the White House occupied by a pro-Ukrainian firebrand who was loading up half the U.S. military on a truck and dispatching it to Kyiv. But they know that’s not going to happen.
They know this because, while Americans are largely ignorant about the political systems, parties, and issues of nations around the world (and even our close allies), just about everyone across the globe has a pretty good sense of how things are going in America. It’s a necessity. People like to have some idea of which way the giant is moving so it doesn’t crush them in passing.
Ukraine, and particularly Zelenskyy, have not forgotten how things were under Donald Trump, when the price of even modest cooperation meant being roped into an effort to solicit international skullduggery. More than that, they know that should Republicans return to power in 2024, things will be worse for Ukraine. They also know that Biden’s reelection is far from a sure thing.
Trump has made it clear that, should he somehow regain the White House, assistance to Ukraine will come to a swift end. Instead, he will push heavily for Ukraine to give up, give in, and hand over even more land to Russia in exchange for “peace.” Presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has articulated policies that are just as bad, if not worse.
Both Trump and DeSantis made opposing giving cluster bombs to Ukraine part of their stump speeches this week, with DeSantis repeating the rhetoric of Republicans in Congress about halting the “open-ended blank check” that they claim Biden has extended to Ukraine. Former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley may be out there saying good things about supporting Ukraine, but Haley is also polling at 3%. Ukrainians read those polls.
What Ukrainians fear, with great justification, is that a hypothetical Republican White House in 2024 would not just cut Ukraine off from further military assistance and pressure leaders to reach a settlement that leaves Russia still in occupation of Ukrainian land, but that the U.S. would block Ukraine from membership in NATO. Every year Ukraine is not in NATO is a year for Russia to repair, restock, and try again.
Membership in NATO provides a degree of safety that cannot be matched by any other individual agreement or pledge of support. That’s why there is a NATO.
Zelenskyy is also aware—as Turkish President Recep Erdoğan just vividly demonstrated—that any NATO member can hold up the acceptance of new members. Ukraine is already sweating what to do about Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who has seen to it that his country is the one NATO member that hasn’t sent any assistance to Ukraine. Orbán might be placated, particularly if Russia comes out of this war demonstrably weakened. But if America acts as a doorstop, the door is going to stay stopped.
And sure, if Trump returns to power, there might not even be a NATO. But Ukraine can’t do a damn thing about that except try to win faster (which is exactly that Zelenskyy promised to do).
All this is why what Ukraine wanted going into Vilnius, and what it still wants coming out, is a promise that when the war is over, Ukraine will become a member of NATO if it meets a set of predefined standards.
Ukraine knows that it won’t be accepted into NATO while the war is still underway. It understands that there are issues with defining what it means for the war to be over (a cease fire? An agreement with Russia still on Ukrainian territory? Russia forced completely out of Ukraine?). Ukrainians are also well aware that NATO will want promises showing that the country will be a contributor to the alliance, not a constant drain of resources. But Ukraine wants to have a ticket to the dance in hand so that if it can show that if the price is paid, admission is guaranteed.
Failure to secure that ticket leaves Ukraine subject not just to the whims of Vladimir Putin, but the possibility that the U.S. (or some other nation) could drop endless roadblocks in its path, making Ukraine more vulnerable to attack indefinitely. That’s why not getting any form of definitive agreement was so disappointing.
Zelenskyy was back on Twitter last night putting the best face on these results.
We are returning home with a good result for our country, and very importantly, for our warriors. A good reinforcement with weapons. …
Very importantly, during these two days of the Summit, we have put to rest any doubts and ambiguities about whether Ukraine will be in NATO. It will! For the first time, not only do all Allies agree on this, but a significant majority in the Alliance is vigorously pushing for it. Never before have the words “you are equal among equals” for Ukraine from other NATO members sounded truly meaningful. Now everyone understands that this is a fact. Equal among equals. And we will definitely reaffirm this fact with our victory. And with our accession to NATO.
He also extended special thanks to Biden.
I thank Mr. Biden and the whole of America for showing that global freedom really does rely on American leadership. We are equally committed to a robust defense of freedom, and work together with America to achieve this.
Zelenskyy went on to thank a number of countries, including those where Ukrainian pilots are to begin training soon on F-16 jets, and Germany for sending new Patriot missile systems. But the fact that he’s returning home with Ukraine’s admission to NATO supported only by a lot of statements—not by a signed agreement—is still frustrating.
It also appears that some of the frustration was felt by Biden, who almost certainly would like to give Zelenskyy what he wants but is constantly juggling his own concerns, from domestic politics to the unity of NATO. In this case, it’s pretty clear that Biden would like to hand Ukraine that golden ticket today, but is worried about creating schisms that eventually make the situation for Ukraine worse. See if you can tell. [video at the link: "Just another example of how quick and sharp Biden is, despite the narrative being pushed by some ..."]
And, as it turns out, some friendly Russians also have some advice for Americans as we approach the next election cycle. [video at the link: babushkas giving advice, "Your leaders lead you right to hell."]
But then, Zelenskyy does have an idea of the best way to get past Ukraine’s problems. As Ukrainian Pravda reports, the way for Ukraine to secure its place in NATO is to win the war before the next NATO summit, which is to be held in Washington, D.C., next year. That sounds like a plan.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
StevoRsays
The United States will not pay reparations to developing countries hit by climate-fuelled disasters, John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate change says.
Mr Kerry was asked during a congressional hearing before a House of Representatives foreign affairs oversight subcommittee whether the US would contribute to a fund that would pay countries that have been damaged by floods, storms and other climate-driven disasters.
“No, under no circumstances,” the former secretary of state said in response to a query from US Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the subcommittee. … (snip)..The United States has backed the creation of a funding mechanism to address the “loss and damage” incurred by vulnerable countries as result of major or recurring disasters that was secured at the COP27 conference in Egypt last November.
But the deal did not spell out who would pay into the fund or how money would be disbursed.
Ukrainian forces continued to take more of Klishchiivka, south of Bakhmut, on Thursday. The northern part of the town now appears to be under Ukrainian control. Russian forces have reportedly been hiding in houses in the southern part, requiring some door-to-door searches. In other cases, Russian infantry is being removed from the town through less subtle means. [Tweet and video at the link]
Earlier today, Russia attempted a counterattack against Ukrainian forces moving into Klishchiivka, but this effort seems to have been weak and poorly planned. At the very least, it was unsuccessful.
Here’s DeepState’s map for the Klishchiivka area over the past several days. Keep in mind that they are intentionally reporting about two days behind. Even so, the news is pretty much all good. [map at the link]
South of Klishchiivka, Ukraine is reportedly moving forward at both Kurdyumivka and Ozarianivka. Waiting for more details.
BERKHIVKA
On Thursday morning, Russia counterattacked recently established Ukrainian positions in Berkhivka, northwest of Bakhmut. Ukraine had previously moved into Berkhivka, only to be forced to retreat because of artillery from the higher ground around Dubovo-Vasylivka. Then earlier this week Ukraine moved back into Berkhivka, with the guns to the west seemingly muted. However, Russian forces may have moved Ukraine back from the town on Thursday, depending on which sources you believe. There is one set of claims that Ukraine is continuing to advance through Berkhivka, with fighting now restricted to the area on the far northern end of the town. There are also reports that Ukraine was forced to retreat from Berkhivka, surrendering a portion of what was gained in the past week. In this scenario, Russian forces seem to have come down from the north, not the west. Fighting is reported to be going on to both the west and east of Berkhivka, with Ukrainian forces still pushing into Yahdine.
However, if Russia did capture anything, it came at a cost. This T-90 was reportedly in that area. [Tweet and video at the link]
RUSSIA AFTER PRIGOZHIN’S ABORTED COUP
The Kyiv Independent is just one of several papers that has taken a look this week at the turmoil in Russia following the still incomprehensible events in the last week of June. Since then, Russia’s economy has gone (even more) on the skids, Russian media seems to be on tenterhooks, and Russian politics are more confusing than ever. And it all leads back to the illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine:
The rebellion also caused a split among supporters of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Some backed Wagner due to their discontent with Russia’s military leadership, while others lashed out at Prigozhin and called him a traitor who jeopardized Russia’s war effort.
Alexander Khodakovsky, who had been a Russian-backed proxy leader in the Donbas until 2022 and is currently serving as a top official of Russia’s National Guard, said that the rebellion had split Russian society “in half.”
However, there’s one point of confusion that has now been cleared up. [Tweet and image at the link: “General Surovikin was detained and interrogated hours after the Prigozhin mutiny began. Surovikin is in custody. About 30 other military officers were detained with him…”]
———————–
[Video of a young boy kissing a large photo of his dad, sho died in battle and “fought for freedom and democracy in Ukraine and Europe.” “Heroes forever. This kid breaks my heart.” The video shows an extended display of many dead heroes.]
Jon McNaughton Improves History, Has Trump, Tucker, Alex Jones Founding America
Wonkette link An image of the painting is available at the link.
America’s greatest art troll, Jon McNaughton, has returned to the large-format rightwing fever dream style that brought him fame all those years ago when Jesus handed the Constitution to George Washington as a barbershop quartet of Founders (including Abe Lincoln, who technically came later) looked on in wonder. McNaughton’s latest work, with the concise title “Speak The Truth: Unleashing The Untamed Spirit Of Freedom” (I Shall Never Hear Thy Sweet Chirrup More Alas), depicts all the rightwing media figures you can think of and some you can’t, assembled in Independence Hall to sign the Constitution, No Libs Allowed.
McNaughton also includes that Deist libertine Ben Franklin, who seems to be wondering who the hell all those strangely dressed people are.
As is traditional for a McNaugton painting, the author includes a long whiny explication of his motives, noting that his ode to Freedom of Speech for Rightwing Podcasters was inspired by Howard Chandler Christy’s 1939 painting of the same subject, which McNaughton claims has “unfortunately been dismissed and forgotten by the elite in Washington” because, well, he doesn’t like that it’s been “relegated to the east grand stairway of the House wing and seldom included in Capitol tours.” He suspects that’s because George Washington is “portrayed looking up to Heaven with gratitude,” because you know nobody is allowed to believe in God anymore, and certainly not in the Capitol where every session begins with a prayer.
McNaughton also suspects the painting was shuffled off to a place of shame by critics who “disapprove of the artist’s chosen method and means of painting it.” We assume he’s grumpy about the snooty modernists who mock him too, for painting in a realistic style when all the degenerates in the art world today prefer crazy abstract art like your kid could paint.
The great thing about modern wingnuts is that they can find ways to be victimized by literally anything.
Also, we checked the Architect of the Capitol’s website, and it turns out that apart from the 16 months when it was displayed in the Rotunda after its 1940 unveiling, Christy’s “Signing of the Constitution” has always hung exactly where it is now. It was not demoted by an atheist, nor was it banished by someone who wanted all of George Washington’s facial features on one side of his head. We can only assume McNaughton didn’t bother finding that out, or that he has a burning grudge against the godless Woke Postmodernist Art Mob of 1942.
Like several of McNaughton’s earlier works, the painting includes an answer key, and in a weird burst of effort, McNaughton provides a brief description of all 39 historical figures and rightwing bozos in the painting. Donald Trump, sitting where Christy had Franklin seated, is “A Giant Among Men,” even though he appears to be about 35 in the painting.
From his initial presidential campaign to his successful term in office, Trump has been subject to relentless attacks and scrutiny. He has faced constant opposition, yet his unfiltered words and unapologetic actions have resonated with a significant portion of the population. In the painting, Trump stands as a symbol of defiance, challenging the status quo. If we have a fair election without interference or fraud, he will win in 2024. If not, I dare think what will happen.
Rush Limbaugh is there (“Picture him leaning forward, whispering his insights into the ear of President Trump, a moment that encapsulates the profound influence he wielded.”), as is Elon Musk (“at great personal cost, Musk champions the necessity of freedom of expression”) and serial liar James O’Keefe (who’s all about “exposing the truth through the unfettered exercise of free speech”). Tucker Carlson got cancelled for being TOO truthy, but he’s there with the rest of them.
Bill O’Reilly puts in an appearance, sans sexual harassment payouts, but a “vital presence in our media landscape, enlightening and enriching public discourse,” because where would we be without “Fuck it, we’ll do it live!” and “Who put the moon there, smart guy?”
Also, there’s Mark Levin, who “possesses a mind that dissects core issues with the precision of a nuclear missile,” just one of many reminders that McNaughton writes every bit as well as he paints. Alex Jones is also a pursuer of truth, just never you mind that “billion-dollar lawsuit related to his coverage of the Sandy Hook Massacre,” OK?
Convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza is also a super patriot whose “eloquence in communicating ideas and logical reasoning, which hold immense value for our cherished freedoms as Americans, has captivated” McNaughton again and again, as have shiny objects glinting in the sun.
Also Ben Shapiro, with whom McNaughton really sympathizes because Libs are mean to him too. Shapiro is often unfairly and absurdly labeled “as a Nazi racist, despite his Jewish identity and his daily donning of the Yamaka.” We think McNaughton meant Yakuza there.
Plus a bunch of other assholes nobody would ever invite to dinner, the end.
KGsays
Lymna, OM@128,
Well, I’m such Dechert’s fart made more sense than his words!
KGsays
lumipuna @ #113 and KG @ #121, they’re [the “respectable centre-right” and (neo-)fascists] wings of the same family. – SC@127
I think that’s a complex question, or better, several distinct but related questions. It’s certainly the case that pre-war fascism got a lot of support from “respectable right” economists, politicians and journalists, both objectively (austerity policies “paved the way” for fascism in multiple countries, arms supplies to the Spanish Republic were blocked) and subjectively (“Hurrah for the Blackshirts” as the notorious Daily Mail headline had it in Britain). Postwar, the “respectable right” made considerable efforts to distance themselves from fascism both rhetorically and in policy terms (e.g. accepting aspects of the welfare state, trade union rights and nationalisations of public utilities), perhaps particularly in Germany and the UK. Their sincerity can be doubted, but personally I’m convinced that for example Harold Macmillan, UK PM from 1956-63, meant it. This “postwar settlement” broke down in the 1970s, with the return of “austerity”, but until more recently, the effort to at least appear to oppose the far right was maintained. It is this which has increasingly been abandoned in recent years.
In mid-June, the European Parliament voted in favor of new legislation that would, among other things, require batteries in consumer devices like smartphones to be easily removable and replaceable. This week, the European Council officially agreed to the new regulation. Now, when the European Council and Parliament sign on the dotted line, the clock will start ticking for manufacturers to ensure their devices have replaceable batteries by 2027 — that is, if they want to sell their devices in the EU. Android Authority reports: …
If you feed America’s most important legal document—the US Constitution—into a tool designed to detect text written by AI models like ChatGPT, it will tell you that the document was almost certainly written by AI. But unless James Madison was a time traveler, that can’t be the case. Why do AI writing detection tools give false positives? We spoke to several experts—and the creator of AI writing detector GPTZero—to find out…
Reginald Selkirksays
@148: Alternate explanation: James Madison was a time-traveling cyborg.
In response to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on military promotions, the Alabama Republican has faced pressure from leaders of the armed forces. And veterans. And every living former secretary of Defense. And congressional Democrats.
Yesterday, as NBC News reported, it was President Joe Biden’s turn.
President Joe Biden denounced Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations at a joint news conference with Finland’s president in Helsinki on Thursday, calling Tuberville’s actions “totally irresponsible.” … Biden, standing beside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, said he would be willing to talk to Tuberville “if I thought there’s any possibility of him changing his ridiculous position. He’s jeopardizing U.S. security with what he’s doing.”
The Democrat went on to describe the GOP senator’s tantrum as “bizarre,” before turning his attention to Tuberville’s party.
“I expect the Republican Party to stand up — stand up and do something about it,” Biden added. “It’s within their power to do that. … I’m confident that the mainstream Republican Party no longer, does not support what he’s doing, but they got to stand up and be counted. That’s how it ends.”
Soon after, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to the far-right senator yesterday, adding that Austin explained to Tuberville how his holds are causing “uncertainty in the force” and jeopardizing “military readiness.”
The senator didn’t change course after the conversation, but he did suggest a shift is possible. NBC News’ report added:
Tuberville told NBC News that he would consider lifting his blockade if the Senate would agree to vote on whether to keep the current policy and the Pentagon and the White House would promise to rescind it should the vote fail. “If it fails, it’s got to go back to the original,” Tuberville said of the policy. He had previously said he would lift his holds only if the policy were rescinded.
I’ll confess that I don’t fully know what the senator meant, especially when he said the policy must “go back to the original,” but I think this signaled at least some degree of flexibility. […]
I wouldn’t call that “flexibility.” Instead, I just think that dunderhead Tuberville has finally figured out that he is wallowing in shit and he needs to find a way to climb out. He’s looking for a way out of the mess he made.
[…] Sen. Lindsey Graham made some related comments yesterday.
The South Carolinian said he agreed with Tuberville’s anti-abortion policy goal, but went on to tell NBC News, “The point about holding up promotions, we need to end that.”
Congressional Republicans’ anti-Biden crusade appeared to suffer an embarrassing setback this week. Gal Luft, the elusive “informant” whom the GOP has relied on to fuel allegations, was charged with being an unregistered agent for China, trying to broker secret arms deals, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, and lying to federal agents.
Or put another way, the source at the heart of Republican conspiracy theories appears to have a bit of a credibility problem.
[…] common sense might suggest that this is now the point at which Republicans either look for new witnesses or find a different obsession. And yet, there was House Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday, telling reporters that the criminal charges against the GOP “informant” actually makes the party’s anti-Biden case “stronger.” [video at the link. Unbelievable tap dancing around the subject by McCarthy. So bad you couldn't make it up.]
[…] On Wednesday, two Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, not only pressed Committee Chairman James Comer to hand over the information he received from Luft, they urged Comer to determine whether the GOP-led panel “may have been unwittingly duped by Mr. Luft in furtherance of the [Chinese Communist Party’s] interests.”
Yesterday, as HuffPost reported, Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida went further down the same path.
“You want to talk about national security?” Moskowitz continued. “It’s why you guys are here. It’s about national security but [Republicans on the Oversight Committee are] working with an indicted Chinese agent who does business with the Iranian regime and is an illegal arms dealer to Libya.” He added: “All of this in order to own Hunter Biden. That’s how far they’ve stooped. It reads like a ‘007’ movie, this indictment, except they’re working with the villain.”
Moskowitz went on to explain that he’s sent a request to the House’s select committee on China, asking its chairman to investigate whether the Chinese Communist Party has “manipulated” the information Oversight Committee Republicans have relied on. The Florida Democrat also noted that he’s contacted the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee, asking them to also examine the implications of Oversight Committee Republicans “working with” an “indicted foreign agent.”
Goldman wasted little time in endorsing Moskowitz’s efforts.
Evidently, they weren’t persuaded by the House speaker’s assurances that the Republicans’ case is now “stronger.”
[…] Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) put forth one amendment to strike $300 million in Ukraine funding that failed […] Another proposal from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), which would have prohibited all security assistance for Ukraine, similarly failed […]
We’re no longer talking about a handful of fringe figures: As an Axios report noted, Gaetz’s proposal would’ve blocked all U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, and nearly one-third of the House Republican conference went on the record in support of the change.
The GOP’s so-called “Putin wing,” in other words, appears to be getting bigger.
[…] The House Republicans’ funding bill for the Labor and Health and Human Services departments completely eliminates all of the funding for clinics in the five-decades-old Title X Family Planning Program—the program that provides free and subsidized contraception and health care for millions of low-income Americans.
Title X clinics—think Planned Parenthood—have been in Republican crosshairs for years now in the abortion wars. Most recently, in 2019, the Trump administration forced a gag rule that banned doctors in the Title X program from telling people how they could safely and legally access abortion. Planned Parenthood and other clinics withdrew from the program as a result, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, that reduced the program’s national family planning network’s patient capacity in half. President Joe Biden ended that gag rule in his first year in office and the clinics have been rebuilding since, which is why Republicans are now escalating the fight to simply eliminate them altogether.
The clinics still exist and are still providing abortions in states where it’s still legal, with the critical support of federal funds. It’s not only abortion and contraception services they provide, it’s comprehensive health care: wellness exams, cancer screenings, education, and STD and HIV testing. A study in 2016 found that 60% of the people who received contraceptive care from program clinics were using the clinics for primary care. They hadn’t seen another doctor in the previous year.
This is another wholesale attack on people’s health care, but mostly it’s about taking away birth control and taking away the fundamental right of Americans to plan their families and their future. It’s not “pro-life” or preventing abortions, it’s about control. The Republicans make that clear because along with zeroing out Title X, they plan to also completely defund the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.
It’s worth noting as well that this isn’t coming from the whack-jobs in the Freedom Caucus—it’s the full committee’s bill. This is the official policy of the Republican House, the same Republicans who jeopardized national security and military readiness on Thursday when they nearly unanimously voted to stop allowing service members to travel out of the states where they’re stationed to receive reproductive health care.
This is who they are, and they are clearly not going to stop at abortion. Not after getting the green light from the Supreme Court to take on birth control. We’re in the middle of a full-on attack on reproductive freedom, and the other side is playing for keeps. For the millions of men and women who rely on clinic health care and reproductive freedom, the 2024 stakes could not be higher.
File under “Nice fuckin’ grift if you can get it” and “These goddamned people” and “Wait is that legal?”
The New York Times is reporting that a Trump super PAC literally paid Melon Trump to walk her fuckin’ ass downstairs at Mar-a-Lago, say a few words into the microphone, and walk her fuckin’ ass back upstairs.
That’s right. It was $155,000 American ameros, and it was for “speaking engagement.” Downfuckinstairs. At her own goddamn house.
[…] Read some Maggie Haberman while we’re gone:
A super PAC aligned with former President Donald J. Trump paid Melania Trump $155,000 in late 2021, an unusual payment that was not visible in the group’s initial federal reports and came to light only in a filing by Mr. Trump on Thursday.
The money was listed as pay for a “speaking engagement” by Ms. Trump in the new filing, a personal financial disclosure by Mr. Trump. The $155,000 payment was made in December 2021 by Make America Great Again, Again, which at the time was Mr. Trump’s leading super PAC.
Ms. Trump’s name, however, did not appear on the super PAC’s list of expenditures, which were made public last year.
There’s always that plot twist. There’s never not that plot twist.
Instead, the super PAC’s report showed two payments, for $125,000 and $30,000, to “Designer’s Management Agency,” which lists Ms. Trump as a client on its website.
Who among us does not occasionally go by the name “Designer’s Management Agency”?
So, the new filing lists it as $155,000, all together, to Melania Put On Some Motherfucking Underpants And Walked Downstairs Goddamned Incorporated, LLC. Or whatever her real name is. But the original filing lists it differently, as two payments for “event planning consulting,” per FEC records. We are just trying to keep up here.
Regardless, we can be sure the super PAC Make America Great Again Again Again Great Again Whole Buncha Times (MAGAAAAGAAGHAGHGAWBT) (or whatever) paid $155,000 to the wife of the guy who would announce about a year later that he was running for president again. We don’t want to go out on a limb and suggest the Trumps have a loving marriage or anything, but that does kind of sound to us like finding new and fun ways to grab some personal cash from your own super PAC.
Always be grifting! And then grift some more off your legal troubles! And then grift off your indictments!
But wait, we’re still stuck on whether this was for “speaking engagement” or for something else. Haberman and her writing buddy Shane Goldmacher report that the super PAC in question has folded and subsequently prairie dogged back up with a new name. But they quote an (anonymous) spox for the old super PAC who says the original $125,000 was paid to Melon’s “agency” for services rendered of “choosing tableware, arranging settings and picking floral arrangements,” and the remaining $30,000 for other shit.
So was it for “speaking engagement,” or it was for setting the table for some goddamned dinner the super PAC threw at Mar-a-Lago? […]
Actually posted on Facebook by the owner, Christine Geiger, of Studio 8 Hair Lab in Traverse City, Michigan, as reported by Wonkette:
“If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer.
You are not welcome at this salon. Period.
Should you request to have a particular pronoun used please note we may simply refer to you as “hey you”.
Regardless of MI HB 4744. ([KISS EMOJI] my ASS Governor Witchmere [WINKY SMILE LAUGH TONGUE EMOJI])
This is America; free speech. This small business has the right to refuse services. We are not bound to any oaths as realtors are regarding discrimination. My recent airport experience validates this. […]”
Commentary from Wonkette:
[…] she’s just calling trans people animals. […] The rest just tells us she’s a barely literate conservative fascist asshole (“Witchmere”?) who took all those lies about how she’s a special and talented child of God a little bit too seriously.
Heartland Signal explains that the Michigan law Geiger refers to, HB 4744, is being misunderstood by stupid people to mean that they can be fined $10,000 for using the wrong pronoun. The fact that Ms. Geiger is so upset by the possibility of being asked to use somebody’s preferred pronouns does tell us what a thin-skinned, easily triggered lunatic she is.
She seems emboldened by the recent 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenisweb designer ruling from the illegitimate partisan hack Supreme Court, which found that if anti-LGBTQ+ bigots who provide services are feeling imaginary wounded by imaginary LGBTQ+ clients trying to get them to do imaginary things that go against their dumb fucking religious beliefs, then they have every right to discriminate against real people. However in an AP interview she said it had nothing to do with that.
To be fair, she may not read the real news. One of her most recent Facebook posts is some creep whining that people aren’t taking that fake QAnon Jim Caviezel child trafficking movie seriously. And in the same AP article, she says it’s about what she’s under the impression schools and doctors are telling kids about gender identification. Check out her Twitter. She is delusional batshit.
Parents of Traverse City and surrounding areas: This again is the Studio 8 Hair Lab. You probably will want to keep your kids away from there for a number of reasons.
Geiger is being rightly lambasted and humiliated on the local Facebooks, and in response, she posted this meandering comment the other day:
I have no issues with LGB. It’s the TQ+ that I’m not going to support. For those that don’t know what the + is for, it’s for MAP (Minor Attracted Person aka: pedophile)
Incorrect, you fucking weirdo. But we hear that gullible fascist white Christians are telling themselves that these days. And if gullible fascist white Christians are saying it, you can be approximately 100 percent certain it’s wrong.
(Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta quips that Geiger might be mistaking it for the cross in a Catholic Church. We’d add that it could be in a Southern Baptist Church or a conservative Presbyterian church or some other mostly white evangelical megachurch that has a praise and worship band.)
This stance was taken to insure that clients have the best experience
Does she mean the bigoted white clients with the bumpits gettin’ their hair fancy so they can go out on dates with their dads to the Purity Ball? Is it just lines of Duggar impersonators around the block all getting the same haircut? We are just curious, we don’t know the clientele Geiger typically serves.
and I am admitting that since I am not willing to play the pronoun game
It is a very hard game, especially considering how often stylists refer to their clients in the third person while they’re cutting hair.
or cater to requests outside of what I perceive as normal
What this dumbfuck perceives as normal.
this probably isn’t the best option for that type of client.
“That type of client” = a paying customer who wants their hair done.
There are over 800 licensed stylists in the County.
And over 800 who aren’t publicly outing themselves as literal actual pieces of rotting gargoyle shit right now.
There are plenty of salons/stylists willing to cater to what I will not. This is a free country and I am not a slave to any narrative.
Bless her heart, now she thinks she’s a slave. Because somebody might ask her to use a pronoun.
Conservatives need to acclimate these woke individuals to their new reality.
LMAO. Definitely for sure it is the wokes who need the acclimating. Not the whinyass snowflake Christian conservatives who act like they’re being attacked by lions when you ask them to play by the same rules as everyone else.
Conservatives have HAD ENOUGH of their ideologies being projected onto us.We used to “just let them be”. Most of us kept our opinions to ourselves. I mean why look for unnecessary conflict; right? Well the other side used this against us. They mistook our silence for weakness and look where it got us.
“The other side” used the bigots’ complete silence (LOL) to try to pass laws that say all people should be treated equally and not discriminated against. What a hellscape.
So now many of us bark back we speak out and we make it CLEAR where we stand on these issues. They can’t handle it. They aren’t prepared for this. So I am more than willing to take the first rounds of strike backs in hopes that more of you will see this and be inspired to stand up tall and speak your own truths and not simply let them be.
Okeydoke, you dumbass baby.
Geiger is facing a lot of blowback for being such a prolapsed anus. The city — which is where Pete and Chasten Buttigieg live, but we doubt they were letting [Geiger] up here cut their hair — is investigating her for discrimination.
She’s had to get rid of the salon’s Facebook page, and its Instagram (which says it has one follower) is now private. (You can see its bio, though, which says it’s a “A private CONSERVATIVE business that does not cater to woke ideologies.” […])
Everybody’s having fun with her salon’s online reviews. You may feel free to do that as well. (While you’re at it, go leave a nice review for this place in Pennsylvania, the Studio 8 Hair Loft, whose name is close but ISN’T THE SAME PLACE. They are getting caught in the crossfire, and have made exceptionally clear that they welcome everybody and aren’t literal human garbage like Christine Geiger of Traverse City, Michigan.)
The salon hair product maker Jack Winn Pro posted a long Facebook post saying Geiger’s salon, which has been using their products, is invited to please never use their products ever again. In fact she is literally no longer authorized.
[…] Additionally, all decent people who provide services in the area should shut your doors when you see her coming. It’s just free speech, baby, and you don’t have to be a slave to her narrative.
This is also a good time to note that, after the recent SCOTUS ruling, all good people really should follow the general advice in this viral Facebook post: It says:
New cake purchase policy: every case request begins with “I’m gay, and I need a marriage cake.” Wait for response, and if they’re accommodating, then you can say, “Actually I need a birthday cake for my son, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a piece of shit.”
Feel free to sub in pronoun requests and the like to make it more trans-inclusive. And it can be for literally any business. […]
The National Defense Authorization Act was poised to be a bipartisan success story. Republican culture warriors in the House had other ideas.
The name of the bill understates its significance. The National Defense Authorization Act, generally known as the NDAA, might sound bureaucratic, but as regular readers know, it’s actually a massive, annual defense spending bill that funds the United States military.
But that’s not all it does. The NDAA also guides Pentagon policy, touching on everything from troop levels to weapons systems to military personnel policy. It takes months to negotiate the details, and by some measures, as much legislative work goes into this one package as any other bill in a typical Congress.
Traditionally, the NDAA has advanced as bipartisan legislation, and this year it was shaping up to be a rare example of Democrats and Republicans working together on an important bill. The Senate Armed Services Committee, for example, advanced its legislation with a bipartisan 25-1 vote. The House Armed Services Committee advanced its version of the NDAA on a bipartisan, 58-1 vote.
With this in mind, there was reason for optimism that when it came to military spending and policy, Congress would avoid the kind of political food fights that too often tarnish congressional policymaking. That optimism, of course, was misplaced: House Republicans decided to give the NDAA a far-right touch-up on the floor, turning an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill into an ugly vehicle for a culture war. NBC News reported:
The House narrowly passed an annual defense policy bill on Friday after Republicans added provisions on abortion and transgender surgeries — measures that were a nonstarter for Democrats. The legislation, which will have to be reconciled with the Senate’s version, passed in a 219-210 vote.
The final vote wasn’t entirely partisan — four Democrats voted for the bill, while four Republicans voted against it — but overwhelmingly, members voted along party lines.
And how is it that a bill that sailed through committee on a bipartisan, 58-1 vote ended up being so contentious? Far-right House Republicans told their party’s leaders that they’d reject the legislation without votes on a series of culture war amendments. That left GOP leaders with a choice: They could pass the bill with Democratic votes, or they could move the bill sharply to the right, push Democrats away, and pass a partisan version of the NDAA with overwhelming Republican backing.
Not surprisingly, the party chose the latter option, which meant a flurry of votes on amendments last night and this morning that turned a bipartisan bill into a divisive one.
The result is an NDAA that would, among other things, limit abortion access for servicemembers, end diversity training in the military, curtail transgender care, prohibit work on combatting climate change, and even restrict what Defense Department schools can teach.
There is no chance, of course, that the Democratic-led Senate will go along with such measures, and it’s a safe bet that the negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions will be incredibly difficult.
Eventually, some kind of compromise is likely to emerge, but the far-right members responsible for making the House version of the NDAA worse have already said they’re not going to support a bipartisan solution. From the NBC News report:
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., said Friday that his members won’t give into a bipartisan compromise. “We are not going to back down. We’re not going to give up on the cause that is righteous and we’re going to keep fighting for it,” Perry said at a press conference with members of the conservative caucus.
As I wrote in my June 26 post, Christian nationalist Rep. Mike Turner introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2024 that would in effect SHUT DOWN the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) by making it ILLEGAL for members of the military to even communicate with MRFF! That amendment was PASSED by the House Armed Services Committee (sneakily inserted into a large package of amendments to dupe all the Democrats into voting for it) and became part of the House version of the NDAA.
THE WHOLE HOUSE HAS NOW PASSED THE BILL WITH TURNER’S DESPICABLE, VINDICTIVE, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IN IT!!!
We need everybody to take a minute and fill out our easy little form to send MRFF’s letter to your representative and senators. I’ll explain why doing this could still SAVE MRFF below, but before getting bogged down in details …
For those unfamiliar with the process that the NDAA goes through before becoming the final bill that’s signed into law, here’s a brief explanation. The House and the Senate each independently write and pass their own versions of the NDAA. Then, a Conference Committee, made up of members from both the House and the Senate, reconcile the two versions of the bill. In other words, if something is in one bill but not the other, the Conference Committee decides whether it stays in or gets removed. Since Turner’s amendment to SHUT DOWN MRFF is only in the House version of the bill, it is the Conference Committee that will decide its fate, and it is imperative to the survival of MRFF that the Conference Committee’s decision is to remove it!
We do not yet know who the members of the Conference Committee are going to be, which is why we are imploring EVERYONE here to send MRFF’s letter to their representative and senators to ensure that as many members as possible see it. So …
Here is the text of Turner’s amendment, which, if it is not removed by the Conference Committee and remains in the final bill, will obliterate MRFF’s ability to protect and advocate on behalf of our service members facing religious discrimination, harassment, and aggressive proselytizing. […]
The Biden administration announced Friday that it will forgive the student loans of more than 800,000 borrowers who enrolled in income-driven repayment plans.
The plan will forgive $39 billion in federal student loans, according to the Education Department, through “fixes” to the count of monthly payments borrowers have made.
The Education Department first announced last year that it would offer a one-time adjustment to help address any inaccuracies in payment counts for borrowers in the plans.
“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress toward forgiveness,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement Friday. “By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve.” he said.
The forgiveness comes weeks after the Supreme Court rejected a broader plan by the Biden administration to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student debt for tens of millions of borrowers meeting certain income limits. The high court ruled the president did not have the authority to implement the new plan. In response, President Biden said he would pursue a “new path” to give borrowers relief.
The debt relief announced Friday affects borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, which allow forgiveness after making a certain number of monthly payments.
But the plans have drawn criticism over the years because of poor communication between the Education Department, loan servicers and borrowers. A NPR investigation in 2022 detailed failures in the program.
According to the Education Department, Friday’s action “also addresses concerns about practices by loan servicers that put borrowers into forbearance in violation of Department rules.”
[…] In coming days, qualifying borrowers who have met the necessary threshold for forgiveness will be notified. Types of loans covered include Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans held by the Education Department, including Parent PLUS loans.
[…] In an interview published late on Thursday, Mr. Putin divulged new details about a three-hour meeting in the Kremlin with members of the Wagner mercenary group and its boss, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, at the end of June, just days after the uprising. The revelation of the meeting by the Kremlin this week was a surprise after Mr. Putin had earlier denounced the leaders of the rebellion as traitors.
Depicting himself as a mediator, Mr. Putin said that he had praised regular Wagner fighters for their military feats on the front lines, but suggested that Mr. Prigozhin should be sidelined and that they could keep fighting under a different commander. He said that he “regretted that they had appeared dragged” into the mutiny. […]
Belarus’s Ministry of Defense said Friday that soldiers from Russia’s Wagner military company were training its security forces, offering a rare if vague sign of the group’s presence in the country after its failed uprising against Moscow last month.
The ministry said in a statement that Wagner soldiers were instructing members of a local Belarusian force in defense and battlefield tactics. A Belarusian television channel released video of what its correspondent said was training for conscripts and local territorial defense soldiers by Wagner fighters “at a training base near Asipovichy,” about 55 miles from the capital, Minsk.
“The most important feature of the training is that there are fighters of the private military company Wagner, who are sharing their battle experiences with Belarus,” the correspondent, Svetlana Smyk, of VoenTV, or MilitaryTV, said on camera, while men in uniform lined up in formation behind her. […]
The location of Russia’s Wagner fighters remained a mystery on Friday after the Pentagon said the mercenary force was not participating in the war in Ukraine in any significant way, and President Vladimir Putin said they had refused his suggestion to return to the front lines.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries were not participating in military operations in Ukraine “in any significant capacity,” the Pentagon said in a briefing Thursday.
According to the Pentagon’s assessment, the majority of Wagner forces are still in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said, but “really effectively are no longer contributing as a significant combat capability.”
Putin said he had told Wagner commanders in a meeting at the Kremlin, just five days after they staged a brief armed mutiny last month, that they could serve their country again. But with one condition — that it would not be under the leadership of former insider, Prigozhin, who masterminded the revolt that shook the Kremlin.
Speaking with Russia’s influential Kommersant newspaper that he offered Wagner fighters “several employment options,” including returning to combat under the guidance of one of their immediate commanders.
“Many nodded when I said this,” Putin said, according to Kommersant. But Prigozhin, who Putin said did not see this, refused. Putin did not elaborate on what happened afterward, or what, if any, conclusions were reached about Wagner’s future.
Putin’s account could not be verified and Wagner officials were not available to discuss the details of the encounter.
Still, the interview sheds a rare light on the turmoil inside the Kremlin since the mutiny attempt on June 24 saw its fighters march on Moscow without much resistance.
Wagner has been pivotal for Russia’s war in Ukraine. It is one of the best trained and most battle-hardened units at Moscow’s disposal and has waged some of the bloodiest fighting on the ground. In May, it captured the eastern city of Bakhmut after months of grueling battles, delivering a rare victory for the Kremlin. […]
Greece will shut the ancient Acropolis for a few hours on Friday to protect visitors to one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites from a heatwave enveloping Athens and other countries in southern Europe.
The Acropolis Hill, home to the Parthenon temple that is visited by millions of tourists every year, will be closed from noon to 5 p.m. (0900 GMT-1400 GMT) on Friday, authorities said.
Greece’s meteorological service forecast temperatures peaking at 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) in Athens by midday, but the mercury on the Acropolis Hill that overlooks the Greek capital is usually higher due to its altitude and lack of shade…
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are asking Georgia’s highest court to prevent the district attorney who has been investigating his actions in the wake of the 2020 election from prosecuting him and to throw out a special grand jury report that is part of the inquiry…
“Even in an extraordinarily novel case of national significance, one would expect matters to take their normal procedural course within a reasonable time,” the filings say. “But nothing about these processes have been normal or reasonable. And the all-but-unavoidable conclusion is that the anomalies below are because Petitioner is President Donald J. Trump.” …
WTF? They are claiming things are going too fast? It is now July of 2023, and the actions in question happened in January 2021. I don’t see any merit in this request.
Just a few months into Donald Trump’s presidency, the Republican made some highly controversial choices as he filled his cabinet. Among his problematic selections was Alexander Acosta, who was tapped to lead the Department of Labor despite some rather serious questions — which were widely known at the time — about a deal he struck with Jeffrey Epstein.
Two years later, Acosta resigned under a cloud of scandal, raising questions about what the senators who confirmed him in the first place were thinking.
Among those who put Acosta in the White House cabinet, in addition to Senate Republicans, was conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who sided with the then-GOP majority. All of this came to mind yesterday, reading this report in Roll Call:
Sen. Joe Manchin III said Thursday he would oppose Julie Su’s nomination to be Labor secretary, weakening her chances of confirmation. Amid opposition from Republicans and without the Manchin’s vote, Su must shore up the support of the remaining 50 Democrats and independents who caucus with them, including Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who have not said how they will vote.
Manchin issued a statement complaining about Su’s “progressive background.”
Keep in mind, Manchin voted two years ago to confirm Su as deputy secretary of Labor, and by all accounts, she performed well in the job. What’s more, the accomplished attorney has also served as the acting secretary of Labor for the last four months, without incident.
But the West Virginian — who was comfortable looking past Acosta’s background during the Trump era — isn’t convinced that Su has the experience necessary to, as he put it, “collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises.”
To the extent that such details matter, Su also spent two years serving as California’s Labor secretary, and as The Los Angeles Times report in April, “Typically, an official embraced by organized labor would face chillier relationships with employers. But business leaders in California said Su was accessible and receptive.”
The same report added, “[A] number of employer groups, particularly those based in California, have been active supporters” of Su, despite her progressive efforts on behalf of workers.
Or put another way, it’s almost as if Manchin had to overlook reality altogether before concluding that he’d oppose her nomination, despite having backed Trump’s far more controversial choice for the same position six years ago.
Look, I’m mindful of the circumstances. Manchin’s term is nearly up, and he’s running in an increasingly red state. It’s to his benefit to be seen in conflict with the Biden White House.
But that doesn’t make any of this right.
Indeed, this week’s example isn’t even the first. When Trump nominated Kevin Hassett to lead the White House Council of Economic Advisers, he had a rather problematic background. Manchin voted for him anyway. But when Biden tapped Jared Bernstein for the same position, Manchin balked, despite Bernstein’s superior qualifications.
The conservative Democrat’s opposition to Biden’s nominees would be easier to take if he hadn’t supported worse Trump nominees for the same positions.
As for Su, her nomination is clearly in trouble, despite her preparation for the job, the fact that she’s already doing the job well, and the ostensible Senate Democratic majority. But as NBC News reported this week, Su “could just keep running the department anyway. Federal law places no limits on how long Su can serve as acting labor secretary without being confirmed.”
There were multiple reports on Thursday that Russia was massing forces near the city of Kreminna for a large push to the west. Considering recent evidence that Russia has extended a salient 15 kilometers west of Kreminna to capture the village of Torske, that threat might seem serious. But I failed to even work it into the update yesterday.
The reason it was left out was that those reports of Russia capturing Torske were an exaggeration. So were reports that Ukrainian troops had been forced to abandon that settlement. The best information available is that Russian forces moved north of a highway to Kreminna and reached a treeline east of Torske on about July 6. Ukrainian artillery then hit these positions. Russia fell back. They haven’t come beyond that point since.
Fighting continues in this area, with Russia making more assaults toward Torske and Ukrainian artillery hitting back from positions on the other side of the narrow Zherebets River. The area east of the river, including the center of Torske, is currently a “gray zone” as Russia continues to press. That’s not because Russia is there, but because Russia keeps making assaults.
However, this is hardly the “turn of the tide!” or “end of the counteroffensive!” that Russian sources are reporting in ecstasy. It’s just one of several areas this week where Russia has made big claims in an effort to change public perception of what’s happening in Ukraine.
The potential for a Russian push out of Kreminna certainly does require attention, especially since it follows claims that Russia moved as many as 120,000 troops into the northern lines in an effort to recapture Kupyansk, Lyman, and positions along the Oskil River. Right now, Russian sources are continuing to make unsupported claims that their troops have moved past Torske and are advancing toward Lyman. There is no evidence to support these claims.
What’s happening along the northern front between Kreminna and Kupyansk doesn’t seem to, so far at least, be affecting Ukraine’s efforts to push into Russian-controlled territory around Bakhmut or on the southern front between Donetsk and Vasylivka. However, as Ukraine maintains a careful silence as part of operational security, Russian sources are increasingly taking the lead when it comes to the news of the war available on Telegram, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media sources. Russia is setting the tone, and that tone is depressing.
In the past week, Russia has claimed that Ukrainian troops abandoned the town of P’yatykhatky after “an entire platoon” of Ukrainian soldiers there was “massacred” by Russian artillery. In support of this, Russian sources released videos that, on careful analysis, show a handful of Ukrainian troops being killed as they took positions in a boobytrapped trench about 1 kilometer southwest of P’yatykhatky near the Russian-occupied village of Zherebyanky. But by showing the video of a single vehicle and four bodies from multiple angles and mixing in video of artillery strikes from drone footage taken a week earlier, Russian propagandists have made it seem that Ukrainian losses were much greater. Searching Twitter for P’yatykhatky at this moment will bring up dozens of Russian claims about the utter destruction of Ukrainian forces at this location before turning up even one indication that things are not quite as Russia is claiming.
Something very similar happened in the town of Berkhivka on Thursday. Russian sources made repeated claims that Ukraine had been forced out of the town, that Russia was advancing to the south, and that Ukraine’s whole counteroffensive at Bakhmut had been “halted” as Russia, you guessed it, “turned the tide” and went back on the offensive.
There was no evidence then, and there’s still no evidence now, that this was true. Unusually at this point in the war, there is actual Ukrainian video from the area showing that Russian forces attempted to reenter Berkhivka by attacking from a forested area on the northwest. The attack failed. So did at least one other attack through the same area.
I don’t want to diminish the issues here or come across as a cheerleader who only reports positive developments. The situation west of Kreminna is definitely not good and could become serious if Russia is able to push more troops through the still-developing salient. Fighting between P’yatykhatky and Zherebyanky, like fighting at most locations on the southern front, has gone on for far too long and there have been some severe costs on the Ukrainian side. And while Berkhivka may now be under Ukrainian control, Russia’s ability to counterattack in the area shows that Ukraine has not secured vital positions on high ground to the west.
However, at the moment, Ukraine is still advancing in the South, picking up another reported 1.7 km in areas south of Velyka Novosilka over the past two days. It’s still advancing at Bakhmut, liberating both Berkhivka and a large part of Klishchiivka. Ukraine is advancing in other areas, including further south of Bakhmut at Kurdyumivka.
There is no question that Ukraine remains on the offensive as Russia sacrifices both men and equipment in an effort to cling to the territory it has illegally occupied. However, in this season of lies, it may not seem this way.
For example, here’s Russia reporting the destruction of a Ukrainian tank along the southern front.. [Tweet and video at the link: “Russians posted a video that they knew was a lie.”]
But that tank isn’t being hit by artillery, or even running into a mine. The tank is purposely exploding mines using a device to clear minefields. The tank is fine. Russia knew it was fine. They just took advantage of a blurry, distant video to make it seem that Ukraine had lost a tank. The tank carried on within seconds of this explosion, passing through the minefield and leaving behind a safe path for others to follow.
When it comes to news from Ukraine, if it seems too good to be true, or too bad to be true, double-check the sources. Because right now, most of what’s making it onto social media originates from Moscow troll farms.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
This part of the update provides proof that Russian propaganda is full of lies. Many thanks to Mark Sumner for taking the time to verify specific examples.
Let’s start with atheists. John Lennox is a Northern Irish mathematician, bioethicist and Christian apologist who said in an interview:
“As a scientist, the very bottom line for me is that atheism doesn’t even give me a reason to trust the mind with which I do science because it tells me that the mind with which I’m doing science is essentially equal to the brain. And the brain is the end product of a mindless, unguided process. Well, no scientist I have ever asked would trust a computer if he or she thought it was the end product of a mindless, unguided process. So, there’s a big black hole at the bottom of atheism’s thinking when it comes to science.”
And yet most atheists continue to overlook the irrationality of their approach. You see, it is only reasonable to trust your mind if an intelligent Creator produced it. Otherwise, it is utter foolishness to place full confidence in a brain that simply evolved from a mindless process…
This is wrong in multiple ways.
They take Lennox’s word as truth without examining whether it is true or even rational.
They dismiss the power of evolution by means of natural selection to hone function.
They assume that one could trust a brain produced by an intelligent Creator, even though this 1) has never been tested, since no intelligent Creator exists and 2) that Creator might, due to ulterior motives or incompetence, produce a brain which is not trustworthy.
If there is an intelligent Creator, why doesn’t every person think 100% rationally all the time? The observed shortfall of human thinking needs some explanation.
So some don’t believe in Climate Change? Siberia? Really.
I could go on and on about the temperatures soaring across America. Phoenix, Nevada, Louisiana, Florida….all triple temps with heat indexes climbing higher and higher. If the grids collapse, we are in deep deep trouble.
It was close to 90 at 3AM in central Florida this morning. We are fortunate. We have AC. We have AC as long as we have a power grid functioning. […] it is difficult to stay cooped up in the house day after day without a break.
I came inside and it felt very warm inside the house and said, “Has my AC gone out or what… […] I looked at the thermostat and it was 87 degrees inside. I further investigated and somehow by accident or somehow no one owned up to turning the AC off. […] Menopausal and post menopausal women sometimes get really aggravated when they get annoyed and especially when overheated. I turned the AC back on and the house cooled down to 78 in about an hour. It then hit me, wow….that AC was only off for a little while….what if we lose power over the power grids and overuse of the cooling units by so many.
I tend to overthink things and thought, well one could use a generator and then proceeded to think but people would run out of fuel for the generators in no time. With record setting heat waves and a few brown outs we have had, what about other areas and people who depend on AC to keep from suffering or dying from heat exhaustion.
[…] Solar is no answer in Florida because one has to go through their power companies to use. That alone is ridiculous but you know who our governor is so there is that.
When I read this, I got to thinking about the power grids again.
100-Degree Fahrenheit Temperature Confirmed in Siberia; 90s Measured at Russian Arctic Coast
– One city in northern Russia soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on June 20.
– This extreme temperature record was confirmed by a Russian met agency Tuesday.
– On June 30, a location along Russia’s Arctic coast soared into the 90s.
– These temperatures may be the hottest on record anywhere in the Arctic.
– Siberia has seen the planet’s largest temperature anomalies so far in 2020.
– This is an area more known for its extreme winter cold, rather than searing heat.
– On June 20, the high temperature in Verkhoyansk, a town in northeast Russia about 260 miles south of the Arctic coast and about 6 miles north of the Arctic Circle, topped out at 38 degrees Celsius, or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
This extreme temperature was confirmed by the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring after a request from the World Meteorological Organization, topping the city’s previous record set on July 25, 1988. Temperature records in Verkhoyansk date to 1885.
BAKHMUT [map at the link]
In the Berkhivka area, most of the action now seems to be confined to the wooded region northwest of the town. Ukrainian forces reportedly have a goal of proceeding toward Krasna Hora, which would place Ukraine back in control of that critical set of highway junctions just half a kilometer from Berkhivka. Control of this area was important to Russia in capturing Bakhmut. It will be important to Ukraine in liberating Bakhmut.
At the location marked southwest of Yahidne, Ukrainian artillery took out multiple Russian vehicles that were attempting to advance. However, that Russia was still driving in this area shows that it’s not fully under Ukrainian control.
While artillery fire from the west seems to be substantially diminished, for now it appears that Russia still controls the high ground near Dubovo-Vasylivka. There were confusing reports on Thursday indicating that Ukraine had liberated “all high ground” near Bakhmut, but there’s no evidence that Ukraine has retaken this area northwest of the Berkhivka reservoir.
Heavy fighting was reported to the northwest around Zaliznyanske back on July 10, but there have been no updates from this area since then. [map at the link]
At Klishchiivka, Ukraine has secured the critical heights west of the town, sent troops down into the town from the northern hill, and moved through a valley between the two hills to occupy portions of the town. There were reports on Thursday that Russian troops were attempting to continue holding houses in the southern portion of Klishchiivka, forcing Ukraine to go door to door in an effort to clear them out. There are also several small trench networks near the town, which may be why there are reports this morning claiming that Ukraine has begun using U.S. cluster munitions in the area (Note: this is likely false. Each time a new weapon gets announced, Russian forces in some area of Ukraine report that it is being used against them, even if that weapon is months from reaching the battlefield.)
Reports are split over whether Ukrainian forces mean to move east to Opytne, south to Avdriivka, or north toward Bakhmut. More than one answer may be correct. [map at the link]
The most important location in this area is not Klishchiivka village, but this area of heights northwest of Klishchiivka proper. The area within the blue ring represents a hilltop that includes a trench network, fortifications, and prepared positions for artillery. It’s this position that now allows Ukrainian artillery to ange across most of the area south of Bakhmut.
Russia is claiming that additional special forces have reinforced positions near the canal south of Klishchiivka. But there seems to have been no change in positions in this area.
SOUTHERN FRONT [map at the link]
Over the past two days, Ukrainian forces have picked their way across a small river and between a string of reservoirs to attack Pryyutne from the north. There was intense fighting north of the village, in which Ukraine apparently lost several vehicles. However, there are unconfirmed reports in the past few hours that Ukraine has liberated Pryyutne.
More fighting continues to the east near Staromaiorske, where Russian forces were reportedly being driven slowly south. There are also reports that Ukraine is approaching Urozhaine from the east, but these are unconfirmed for the moment.
Meanwhile, Russian sources are reporting that Ukraine has placed a large number of troops in the area of Levadne and they are either moving toward Stepove or have already liberated it. This is also unconfirmed.
It’s an unconfirmed trifecta. Stay tuned for updates.
———————-
[Tweet at the link: “Ergodan announces grain deal extension. Kremlin refuses to comment! Brilliant move, russia now has to either confirm they have been “bested” again … or call Ergodan a liar. Neither option offers them a way to save face.”]
‘Stunning cache of gold coins found in Kentucky corn field”
They have melted down the gold plates of Moroni!
birgerjohanssonsays
Here is a muslim scholar I can get along with just fine.
It is a bit long, and has a lot of arabic koran quotes but it shows muslims stretching their wings when given intellectual freedom (outside places like Saudi Arabia).
“The role of reason in religion” https://youtu.be/UuLDZkLvxvo
“These ads are false. Oprah Winfrey does not have anything to do with these products,” Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for Winfrey’s company Harpo Inc., told ProPublica.
Such scam ads have proliferated on right-wing websites worldwide in the past eight months. They use fake endorsements from celebrities including Winfrey, country music singers Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire, Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk, actor Ryan Reynolds, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder to promote dubious medicines and cryptocurrency frauds. Conservative publishers make money from each click on a deceptive ad, exploiting their like-minded readers.
The ads were placed by AdStyle, an ad network whose corporate website lists it as being registered in Delaware with an office in Boca Raton, Florida. Its website said it is “trusted by” major brands including Toyota, Ikea, EA Games and L’Oréal. But Florida and Delaware corporate registries have no record of AdStyle, which appears to be operated by a Latvian couple living in Italy. Spokespeople for Toyota, Ikea and EA Games said they could not find any records of those companies working with AdStyle. L’Oréal did not respond to queries…
A federal judge has ordered the attorneys for failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and ex-Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem to reimburse Maricopa County for the $122,200 in taxpayers money that was wasted in their 2022 lawsuit, in which they called for the use of paper ballots over electronic voting machines in the midterm election.
Finding Lake and Finchem to have violated the law by “pursuing frivolous constitutional claims,” in which they insisted that voting machines produced inaccurate results, U.S. District Court John J. Tuchi squashed their suit back in August and awarded sanctions to the county in December, per request. Now their bill has come due…
A self-described “idiot” who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and stole a wallet and a framed photo of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison on Friday.
Kevin Lyons, a 40-year-old father from Chicago, was previously found guilty of a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding along with disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and entering and remaining in a restricted building…
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted a temporary stay of a July 4 order putting sweeping limitations on the Biden administration’s communications with social media companies.
[…] The stay comes after a request last week from the Justice Department, which warned U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty’s order could chill law enforcement activity to protect national security interests.
[…] Doughty’s order prohibited key Biden administration agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies about “protected free speech.” The Justice Department has argued this is an overly broad restriction, which could result in the government being unable to warn people about falsehoods on social media in times of emergency, even blocking the president from warning people of falsehoods during a natural disaster. […]
Special counsel Jack Smith is opposing former President Donald Trump’s request to delay the trial over his alleged mishandling of classified documents until after the 2024 election.
In a court filing Thursday, the special counsel’s legal team rejected the defendants’ argument that a fair trial couldn’t be convened ahead of the presidential election. Prosecutors cited the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, which says judicial officers should set trials “at the earliest practicable time,” with allowances for only limited delays in limited circumstances.
“The Defendants chide the Government for seeking an ‘expedited’ trial but in doing so they have it exactly backward,” assistant special counsel David Harbach wrote. “A speedy trial is a foundational requirement of the Constitution and the United States Code, not a Government preference that must be justified.”
Lawyers for Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta had said in a filing this week that starting the trial in December — the timeline sought by the special counsel — would be “unreasonable, telling, and … result in a miscarriage of justice.”
Harbach disputed that characterization Thursday, writing: “There is no basis in law or fact for proceeding in such an indeterminate and open-ended fashion, and the Defendants provide none.”
He instead urged U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, to set the trial date for December. […]
A Trump spokesman responded to the special counsel’s filing by accusing Smith, the Justice Department and the FBI of election interference.
He said that the case “should never reach trial” and that it should be dismissed based on the Presidential Records Act and other cases, which Trump and his lawyers have portrayed as key to their defense.
The special counsel’s office argued in Thursday’s filing that such a defense “borders on frivolous” and does not merit the delay of court proceedings.
“As for the impact of the Presidential Records Act on this prosecution, any argument that it mandates dismissal of the Indictment or forms a defense to the charges here borders on frivolous,” Harbach wrote, adding that the Presidential Records Acts is “not a criminal statute, and in no way purports to address the retention of national security information.”
“The Defendants are, of course, free to make whatever arguments they like for dismissal of the Indictment, and the Government will respond promptly,” Harbach wrote. “But they should not be permitted to gesture at a baseless legal argument, call it ‘novel,’ and then claim that the Court will require an indefinite continuance in order to resolve it.”
wzrd1says
Well, if the court were to allow a continuance for Trump, all one needs to do after committing any crime at all is to perpetually run for POTUS, filing as soon as an election is lost for the next election and never come to trial.
As for the court order @ 175, there is the principle of nonacquiescence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonacquiescence
It’s been done in the past, repeatedly. Indeed, habitually in the case of the IRS.
And in the case of rights vs national security, the courts have routinely found for national security, as rights cease to exist were the nation to cease to exist. At least, that’s what the SCOTUS found long ago.
And the court would be left with either making a summary judgement to be further set aside by the executive branch or the court would be placed in the ludicrous position of finding contempt and ordering the executive branch to arrest itself. Given President Jackson wasn’t arrested for contempt of the SCOTUS, the principle of nonacquiescence stands.
StevoRsays
Signal boost for this blog post from Abe Drayton’s Oceanoxia blog here :
I’ll be honest: If you had asked me how air pollution was contributing to the decline in insect populations, I would have guessed ill health through inhaling, drinking, or eating air pollution, but I wouldn’t have gone with “it messes with their sense of smell”. Given the fig wasp thing I mentioned above, I guess it should have been higher on my list, but I apparently didn’t give it enough thought. I think it’s partly that being a visual creature that gets food from stores, I sometimes forget the importance of smell to other animals.
A search for the remains of Native American children buried at the site of a former boarding school in the US state of Nebraska will continue next week after four days of searching failed to uncover any bones. … (snip)… The federally run school, which operated from 1884–1934 was one of America’s largest and longest-running institutions. It was designed to assimilate Native American children by separating them from their families and tribes and breaking their culture and language.
“These were not schools. It was a prison camp, a work camp,” Ms gaiashkibos, whose mother attended the school, said. “The children were used as labour. It wasn’t a lovely place to learn your education.” She said the catalyst for the community’s investigations was the discovery in 2021 of more than 1,000 unmarked graves at the sites of former boarding schools across the border in Canada.
..(snip).. Researchers and volunteers from the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation project and the Genoa US Indian School Foundation scoured records to conclude that 86 children perished at the school. While some of the children’s bodies were returned home, others were buried somewhere on the school’s 260-hectare campus. This year, archaeologists discovered four anomalies — disturbances in the soil that could indicate a grave shaft. An earlier search involving cadaver dogs also indicated the possible presence of human remains in the area. Watching the excavation from the shade of a tree, surrounded by corn fields was Carolyn Fiscus, an enrolled member of the Winnebago tribe.
Might we have found Dark Matter stars shining in the early cosmos? Could be.. The new space telescope has found 3 possible candidates :
“Discovering a new type of star is pretty interesting all by itself, but discovering it’s dark matter that’s powering this — that would be huge,” study co-author Katherine Freese, director of the Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Texas, Austin, said in a statement. … (Snip).. Dark stars may be fueled by particles of dark matter, just as “normal” stars like our sun are powered by “normal” matter. Dark stars, if they do indeed exist, may be key to helping us understand how the universe first got light. For about 15 years, scientists have speculated that “dark stars” were among the first our universe ever produced, when it was just 700 million years old.
..(Snip).. JWST’s observations suggest that the three distant objects, which all are from early in the universe’s history, meet the key characteristics of dark stars: they are luminous, but too cool for fusion to be happening, the July 11 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences stated.
Scientists have made a surprising discovery in a sample returned from an asteroid: Embedded in its rocks are grains of stardust.
The dust, which came from distant stars and drifted through space for millions or billions of years, could provide clues about how the solar system formed, according to Ann Nguyen, a cosmochemist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas…
Fast-forward a couple billion years: In 2019, a Japanese spacecraft visited a little asteroid called Ryugu. It scooped up a tiny sample, and an even tinier portion of that sample found its way to Nguyen’s lab…
But as her team writes in the journal Science Advances, the samples contained organic molecules from deep space, pieces of ancient rock from the very edge of the solar system, and many tiny grains of perfectly preserved stardust.
Nguyen says the grains look different than the material from our own solar system, because different stars leave different nuclear signatures in the atoms…
The Guardian recently did a deep dive into the chilling effect some of Florida’s new election regulations are having on voter registration. And if we still had a functioning Supreme Court, you might assume the voter suppression laws the state has passed would be summarily struck down. But we don’t, so outrage—and, of course, getting out the vote where and when we still can—appears to be our only recourse.
According to The Guardian, Florida has levied more than $100,000 in fines against 26 voter registration groups since last September over what any reasonable person would deem a series of honest—and largely unpreventable—mistakes.
In other words, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the surly Southern suzerain who perpetually looks as if a Pekingese in a Kwanzaa sweater has spent the past 20 minutes humping his shin, is doing his best to turn his state into a permanent Republican redoubt. And, sadly, in many ways, he’s already succeeding.
The Guardian:
The fines, which range from $50 to tens of thousands of dollars, were levied by the state’s office of election crimes and security, a first-of-its-kind agency created at the behest of DeSantis in 2022 to investigate voter fraud. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and the office has already come under scrutiny for bringing criminal charges against people who appeared to be confused about their voting eligibility.
[…] If you’re a longtime fan of democracy, you likely remember DeSantis’ systematic campaign to round up outlaws who had no clue they were breaking the law by voting. It smacked of voter intimidation, because it was.
Election watchdogs worry the new policies could have a chilling effect on engaging voters. There has already been a drop in voter registrations this year compared with 2019 – the last full year leading into a presidential election, according to Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida. Through 1 June of this year, 2,430 new registrations had come from third-party voter registration organizations, he said. That’s on pace to be a sharp decrease from the 63,212 new voter registrations third-party groups submitted by the end of 2019.
A crackdown on third-party voter registration groups is also likely to disproportionately affect Floridians of color, who are about five times more likely to register with third-party groups than white voters are.
Well, there you have it: I buried the lede. Then again, overt bigotry is always the lede in any DeSantis-adjacent tale. But there it is, spelled out in Black and brown: DeSantis’ new policies and office of election crimes say it all. He would prefer that Floridians of color stop voting.
[…]While the new regulations may not be quite as egregious as a Jim Crow-era poll tax or literacy test, they’re undeniably a tool the government can use to separate voters—particularly Democratic-leaning voters—from the ballot box.
For instance, one nonprofit The Guardian cited, the Hispanic Federation, was notified in May that it was being fined $7,500 because a mere 15—out of more than 16,500—voter registrations were sent to the wrong county. Reporters Sam Levine and Andrew Witherspoon reviewed those applications and found that “in nearly all of them, the voter incorrectly wrote on their own applications that they lived in Polk County. In many cases, the address they listed was just over the county line in Osceola County.”
One voter lived just 300 feet from the county line, while another lived 660 feet away. The Hispanic Federation paid the fine, but called the levy a “gross misapplication” of the law.
“Despite our good faith efforts, professionalism, and due diligence, we cannot eliminate some applications from being processed with errors as we have not been given access to an official mechanism to verify the information of each applicant—which is, in any case, not our role,” the group stated. “There is no claim that we intentionally misrepresented, nor is there a claim that we diverted, such registrations from the correct county or that we held on to the registrations beyond the required period in which they were to be delivered.”
While any reasonable person would conclude that the Hispanic Federation should not have been dinged to the tune of $7,500 for a small handful of honest mistakes, the harshness of the penalty is almost certainly a feature and not a bug.
[…] Clearly, that’s had an impact on these organizations’ operations. In fact one group, the for-profit Hard Knocks Strategies, has been fined $47,600 since 2022 for submitting forms late and to the wrong jurisdiction. Another group, Poder Latinx, received a $26,000 fine for sending 52 applications to the wrong county.
[…] “Are voter registration organizations on the right being targeted as aggressively and frequently in Florida as those seeking to register voters of color and other underrepresented communities? Given Gov. DeSantis’ track record, that question may be rhetorical.” […]
Dark Stars, which are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium with less than 0.1% of the mass in the form of dark matter. Since they remain cool (without a central hot core), there is no fusion inside them; instead, DM annihilations happen throughout their volume. Dark stars are giant, puffy (~10 AU) and cool (surface temperatures ~10,000 K) objects [able to accrete the material around them and become very massive (there is not enough ionizing radiation to prevent accretion), up to ten million solar masses with up to ten billion solar luminosities].
[…]
Once the dark matter runs out and the [Supermassive Dark Star] dies, it collapses to a black hole; thus dark stars may provide seeds for the supermassive black holes observed throughout the Universe […] For a more definitive answer, higher-quality spectroscopy of the objects will be required.
[…]
in the process of star formation […] If the DM particles are their own antiparticles [and present in sufficient density], then their annihilation provides a heat source […] We wish to emphasize that Dark Stars are made almost entirely of ordinary matter […] We considered two types of DM particles: Weakly Interacting Dark Matter (WIMPs, in most of our papers) and Self Interacting Dark Matter (SIDM).
StevoRsays
@ ^ CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain : Thanks for that. Very much appreciated.
Since Feb. 24, 2022, every week has been a bad week for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. But this past week was next-level bad.
Let us count the ways.
TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN BETRAYS PUTIN IN MULTIPLE WAYS
After a year of obstructing Sweden’s NATO membership, and threatening to continue withholding support if the European Union didn’t take up Turkey’s bid for membership, Erdoğan flip-flopped and agreed to ratify the bid. While autocratic Hungary still stands in the way, its opposition is expected to crumble now that powerhouse Turkey is onboard.
After pretending that Russia’s war was, in part, predicated on stopping NATO expansion, Russia now has two new NATO members on its eastern flank—Finland and Sweden. Finland’s border with Russia, at 1,340 kilometers, is by far the longest of any NATO nation.
Erdoğan also tossed aside an agreement with Russia to host the commanders of the Azov detachment that defended Mariupol and the Azovstal plant until the end of the war. The best Russia could muster in response? To whine that it had not been consulted in advance. [tweet and nice image of Zelensky bringing home Azovstal commanders]
As the tweet above says, Erdoğan also announced his support for Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, which now seems like a done deal after the war is over. That doesn’t just mean Ukraine in NATO, sharing an even longer border with Russian than Finland, but also Crimea in NATO, which would further squeeze Russia’s water access on its European side.
Finally, after playing footsie with Russia for several years, angering the U.S. by purchasing a Russian air defense system, and his European allies by being an autocratic a-hole, Erdoğan is quite clearly pivoting back to the West. It’s a sign that he realizes that North American and Europe are the path toward economic development and security, not the supposed “global south” that Russia wanted to lead.
MORE TURKEY! ERDOĞAN FORCES RUSSIA TO MAINTAIN GRAIN CORRIDOR DEAL
Despite demands that Russia get concessions for renewing the grain corridor deal that allows Ukraine to export grain, Erdoğan announced that after talking to Putin, Russia would agree to its extension.
The calculus seems simple: Turkey was prepared to personally guarantee the safety of those vessels, and there wasn’t a damn thing Putin could do about it. Any attack on Turkish naval vessels would drag NATO into the war. So rather than sit by, humiliated and impotent as the grain continued to flow, Putin was forced to pretend to look magnanimous by renewing the agreement.
Also, guess who the biggest buyer of the Ukrainian grain is? It’s China.
BRICS ISN’T RUSSIA’S SAVIOR
Speaking of the global south, Russia has been a driving force of the BRICS alliance—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Its key organizing rationale is that it’s a counterweight to the West and the former colonial powers that continue to destabilize and exploit much of the developing world.
The problem is that China and India hate each other, and have engaged in a low-intensity border war for several years. India is slowly pivoting away from Russia as it seeks not just more modern and effective Western weaponry to counter China’s aggression, but also closer defense ties with the United States for the same reason—and no one wants to be seen with Putin.
Tying this in to Vlad’s very bad week, South Africa is hosting a BRICS summit August 22-24, and as a signatory to the International Criminal Court, it is obligated to arrest Putin if he steps foot in the country. The South African government floated the possibility of pulling out of the ICC treaty, but the blowback was fierce and Pretoria backed off. This week, it meekly requested that Russia not send Putin.
[…] The Russians are not happy, though. They want him to come.”
South Africa suggested moving the summit to China, but Russia weirdly rejected that (as did Brazil). A proposal to hold the summit virtually was rejected by all the other members.
Meanwhile, as Russia faces increasing difficulties with ammunition and equipment, military behemoth China has refused to come to its aid. And at the United Nations, the BRICS nations have mostly abstained in resolutions condemning the war, none of them backing up their supposed ally.
And by buying Ukrainian grain, China is a key source of foreign currency for the cash-starved Ukrainian government.
UKRAINE WILL NOT NEED AN ACTION PLAN TO JOIN NATO
Ukraine didn’t get the iron-clad commitment to join NATO it desperately wanted at last week’s summit, but it was never going to get it. If nothing else, NATO membership requires the ratification of all members, and that’s not something you can guarantee years before any such votes would take place. But the NATO allies did announce that Ukraine would not need to execute one key part of that process, the Membership Action Plan, thus accelerating its inclusion after the end of the war.
Ukraine’s NATO ascension isn’t a matter of if, but when.
CLUSTER MUNITIONS ARRIVED IN UKRAINE
American-delivered cluster munitions have made it to Ukraine.
We’ve extensively covered the debate about the ammunition […]
No matter where you stand on the issue, it’s bad news from Putin’s forces trying to hold the lines.
FRANCE IS SENDING LONG-RANGE CRUISE MISSILES
Following in the United Kingdom’s footsteps, France is sending around 50 of its version of Storm Shadow missiles, called SCALPs, to Ukraine. That would double up the number Ukraine has already reportedly used—to huge effect on Russian leadership and logistics. [Tweet and images at the link]
THE UNITED STATES WILL LIKELY SEND ATACMS LONG-RANGE ROCKETS
But it’s not a done deal. [Tweet and image at the link]
Ukraine really doesn’t have an ATACMS equivalent, and even if it did, more is better. The point here, however, is that last year, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said ATACMS could lead to a broader war, and definitively ruled them out. But Biden opened the door. And as we’ve seen this entire war, once a door is open, and someone says a weapons system is “being considered,” it usually means it’ll be green lit soon thereafter.
PUTIN LOCKED UP HIS GENERALS
One way to degrade Russia’s command and control capabilities is to kill generals on the battlefield, like the one above. Another way is for Putin to take care of it himself. General Sergey Surovikin was the war’s supreme commander not too long ago, and was behind the vast fortifications that are slowing down Ukraine’s full liberation. But he was also close to Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, and has disappeared following the mutiny of June 23-24.
Why this arrest didn’t happen last week, but rather two weeks ago, questions about his whereabouts, and those of other generals and officers close to Prigozhin, have swirled around Russia all week. It adds to the post-Wagner revolt chaos.
ONE GENERAL RESIGNS, AND UNLOADS ON ARTILLERY WOES
General Ivan Popov was forced to resign from his command in charge of Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia, the location of one of Ukraine’s biggest counteroffensive pushes.
He didn’t go quietly.
A difficult situation with the leadership emerged. It was a choice between remaining silent and afraid and saying what they wanted to hear, or calling things for what they are. In your name, in the name of all perished comrades-in-arms, I didn’t have the right to lie. Hence I named all the problems that exist today in the army regarding operations, supply. I pointed the attention to the most important tragedy of the modern war—the lack of counter-battery fire, lack of artillery reconnaissance stations, and mass casualties and injuries of our brothers from enemy artillery.
I also raised a number of other issues, expressed them to the highest levels, did it openly and very brutally. Due to this, the seniors likely felt some danger in me and instantly, in one day, put together an order to the Minister of Defence and got rid of me.
As many commanders of regiments and divisions said today, our army was not broken through the front, but our most senior commander hit us in the back, thus treacherously beheading the army in the most difficult period.
This message confirms Ukrainian claims of massive success in destroying Russian artillery. The next general to succeed Popov now knows he can’t open his mouth to improve the situation at the front. Russia’s The Bell further expands on the artillery situation:
[A]s for counter-battery combat, this is a systemic weak point of the Russian Armed Forces: they have been writing about it for literally decades. Artillery systems supplied by NATO to Ukraine are superior to Russian ones in terms of accuracy and range, and artillery reconnaissance radars—in terms of mass and parameters. Russia is losing 1:4 to Ukraine in terms of destroyed howitzers and MLRS, and the Russian numerical advantage in these weapons is disappearing.
So awesome.
PRIGOZHIN, MEANWHILE IS RUNNING AROUND FREE, AND REFUSES TO CEDE CONTROL OF HIS MERCENARIES
Prigozhin is likely alive, free, and still commanding Wagner forces. How is he still alive? Russian war criminal Igor Girkin thinks that Prigozhin’s rebellion was successful, and the balance of power is shifting in his direction.
THE COUP WAS SUCCESSFUL. The powers within the ruling mafia are currently being redistributed as (or close to) planned by the conspirators behind Prigozhin. The “Shoigu-Vorobiev-Sobyanin Tower” has lost some of its positions (although not completely demolished), and part of its influence and resources “flows” into the group of oligarchs of the “Ozero Cooperative” (Rotenbergs, Kovalchuks and Co.). This group, vitally interested in ending the war “on any terms” – will not let us win in any case and will lead the president to realize the need to accept defeat and transfer supreme power to a successor nominated from this group (Kiriyenko? Prigozhin?).
Don’t accept that guy’s word as gospel. Right now, Kremlin politics are a mess, and it’s fertile ground for conspiracists to spin their yarns—perhaps as disinformation campaigns to further one faction over another.
Still, how the hell is Prigozhin still alive?
Meanwhile, Putin says that Wagner forces, at Prigozhin’s direction, refused his order to return to the front lines. What a weird admission of weakness—one that seemingly confirms that Prigozhin is still calling the shots. If he was dead, he wouldn’t be blocking Wagner’s return to the front.
THE RUBLE COLLAPSES
Well, the ruble has been on a free-fall all year. [chart at the link] But the Prigozhin rebellion caused another 12% drop. The consequences? Nothing good for the Russian economy.
FINLAND AND ESTONIA ANNOUNCE COMBINED COASTAL DEFENSES
Russia’s Baltic fleet is already effectively bottled up by the NATO lake, but its most immediate neighbors have implied they’ll counter any naval defenses by combining their coastal defense commands. Check out how tightly squeezed Russia’s access to St. Petersburg is, its second-biggest city and home to part of its Baltic Fleet. [map at the link]
Russia also hosts elements of its Baltic fleet at Kaliningrad—the gray blotch between Poland and Lithuania.
This comes on top of the agreement by the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) to put their air force under unified command—something that can now move forward with Sweden’s imminent NATO membership.
Meanwhile, most (if not all) NATO members confirmed their intention to hit the required 2% of GDP in defense spending, after slacking for much of the past few decades.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is throwing his money around to silence his critics:
In May of this year I received a draft civil complaint from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attorneys that they intend to file in the Southern District of New York. The complaint states that “Mr. Kennedy files this action to publicly establish the truth, to rehabilitate his name and reputation, and to seek appropriate remedies for the harm caused by Defendants’ intentionally false statements.”
According to the attorneys, Kennedy spent over $1 million to discover my true identity, and he intends to recover those costs plus damages. (Note: like most DKos users, I never made a concerted effort to conceal my identity. As my username indicates, I am a proud registered Democrat in the Great State of Maine — as Mr. Kennedy no doubts knows.) […]
The complaint dates back to August 2020 when I posted this diary concerning a speech RFK Jr. made at a massive demonstration in Berlin protesting the (largely successful) anti-Covid restrictions put in place by then-chancellor Angela Merkel. A reporter for Berlin’s largest daily newspaper — Der Tagesspiegel — was on the scene and I summarized very briefly his excellent piece […]
The draft complaint against me states that the Berlin protest was “initiated by the group Querdenken — a democratic movement whose name means “lateral thinking” and who vehemently oppose all forms of fascim and extremism.” This is false. The Querdenken are an anti-democratic, pro-Russia, anti-science group that has been under investigation by the German Verfassungsschutz for its ties to right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi organizations. The leader of the Querdenken — MIchael Ballweg — who appears on stage with Kennedy at the Berlin demonstration — has close ties to right-wing extremist groups and was imprisoned last year for fraud and money-laundering.
I am publishing this diary now because Mr. Kennedy is scheduled to testify next week for Jim Jordan’s panel on censorship by the Biden Administration. This is the height of hypocrisy: Kennedy wants the free rein to express his dangerous vaccine conspiracies while using his vast wealth to abuse the courts to silence me and other critics.
[…] “Presidential candidate” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who publicly shared that he offered to pretend to separate from wife Cheryl Hines the last time he made a creepy anti-Semitic comment, in order to “protect” her — held a press dinner on Tuesday night that involved not just the “polemic farting” reported by Page Six (and Wonkette!) earlier this week, but also more deeply offensive and bizarre anti-Semitic comments from RFK Jr.
Perhaps Cheryl may want to reconsider that offer!
“COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” he said at the dinner.
No, there isn’t. I mean, sure, there is in the way that there’s an “argument” for everything, but it’s not an argument that anyone normal or well-informed is having. It’s an argument in the way that “the middle ages never happened!” is an argument.
COVID-19 can’t be “ethnically targeted” because it is not a bio-weapon. There are certainly genetic factors that make certain illnesses or diseases or viruses more prevalent in some ethnic groups than others, but it doesn’t mean they are targeted bioweapons.
“COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” he continued. “The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
Is it that the Chinese are more immune, or could it have been a combination of more drastic lockdown initiatives in the beginning or the Chinese government underreporting COVID-related deaths?
As far as Jewish people are concerned, studies showed that American Jews were actually more likely than other populations to get COVID.
After the story was initially reported by the New York Post, Kennedy took to Twitter to claim that he totally didn’t mean for his comments to be seen as anti-Semitic or Sinophobic, or taken to mean that he thought that COVID-19 was a bioweapon targeting everyone but Chinese Jews, just that he read a thing saying they were less likely to be affected and that this simply serves as a “proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons.”
The @nypost story is mistaken. I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews. I accurately pointed out — during an off-the-record conversation — that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races since the furin cleave docking site is most compatible with Blacks and Caucasians and least compatible with ethnic Chinese, Finns, and Ashkenazi Jews. In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons. I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered. That study is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32664879/
Except we already know that there are diseases and conditions and even viruses that are more or even exclusively prevalent in different ethnic populations. That is common knowledge. Given his beliefs about COVID-19 and vaccines and other statements he has made, it’s fairly clear where he was going with this.
This is the thing with conspiracy theories. This is the direction they all go in the end. People think that they’re not being anti-Semitic, that they’re just doubling down super hard because it’s hard to convince people of things that are ridiculous and untrue, but somehow it always leads to them saying some obviously anti-Semitic nonsense. Given the “there are no coincidences!” spirit of so much conspiratorial thinking, you’d think they’d consider that it’s not a “coincidence” that they always seem to end up landing on “the Jews.”
Re: Lynna, OM @ #186…
As regards the Russian Baltic fleet… With all of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in NATO, the alliance has full control of the Kattegat. So the Baltic fleet can be kept in the Baltic, should NATO so desire.
The shooting occurred at around 10:40 a.m. in Hampton, a city south of Atlanta, officials said.
A county government official in Georgia says at least four people have been killed in a mass shooting in a small community south of Atlanta.
A statement from Henry County officials said police were still investigating an “active shooter incident” that occurred late Saturday morning at a subdivision in Hampton, a city of about 8,500 people about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Atlanta.
“I can confirm that four people are deceased,” county government spokeswoman Melissa Robinson told The Associated Press by phone. “As of right now, the suspect is still at large.” […]
Our universe could be twice as old as current estimates, according to a new study that challenges the dominant cosmological model and sheds new light on the so-called “impossible early galaxy problem.”
The work is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society…
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has seen his State TV channel experience a humiliating primetime hack, in which millions of his people were warned “the hour of reckoning has come.”
Cyber forces were able to hack into the network and broadcast the message via different broadcasters across Russia…
Georgia, the peach state, is out of peaches.
A February heat wave, followed by a pair of frosts killed off a significant part of Georgia’s peaches this year, but climate is ever unchanging. Ignore that rock melting, it’s totally normal. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/15/business/georgia-peach-shortage/index.html
Excuse me while I sit this roast outside on a rock to broil… Ah, good! Found my Brussels sprouts to roast alongside it.
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu electrified the crowd Friday by hitting 20 straight shots and scoring a record 37 of a possible 40 points to win the three-point shooting contest during WNBA all-star weekend in a performance that will be incredibly difficult to match.
She made 25 of 27 shots in Las Vegas to break the event record for the WNBA and NBA — and nearly meeting her own high standards…
ach year, as part of our overall assessment of state business climates, CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study considers how welcoming each state is to workers and their families.
Life, Health and Inclusion is one of the study’s ten categories of competitiveness. And this year, with the nationwide worker shortage so severe, the category is taking on increased importance in our methodology.
We consider multiple quality of life factors, including crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. We also look at the quality and availability of childcare, which is one of the most important factors in getting parents back into the workforce.
Casting the widest possible net for workers means not turning anyone away. So we consider inclusiveness in state laws by measuring protections against discrimination, as well as voting rights. And with surveys showing a substantial percentage of women considering abortion restrictions when making a choice of where to live in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights are part of this year’s equation as well…
Ah, but Twitter’s cash flow is also negative. Ironic to still have a negative cash flow, as he’s not been paying Twitter’s rent and server rental bills.
wzrd1says
@188, what’s amazing is, with his claims of mythical enhanced immunity, he’s insulted everyone on the planet, who watched live reports of the horrific death rates of both Chinese citizens in Wuhan and NYC’s Ashkenazi Jews, both of whom had death rates that put burial services months behind and filled up cemeteries.
Yet somehow, he’s still showing up in the polling for Democrats. I’d vote for Attila the Hun over him.
A neighbor commented on this nonsense and other RFK Jr antics with, “Just what’s that man been drinking?!” and all I could think of was Korsakoff syndrome…
while everyone was paying attention to the protests, Reddit made some other big changes […] the removal of years of users’ private conversations […]
“In an effort to have a smooth and quick transition to this new infrastructure, we will migrate chat [logs and] messages sent from January 1, 2023 onward. This change will be effective starting June 30th.”
* Submitting a data request or old.reddit may get them, reportedly not for everyone.
wzrd1says
Well, data storage is ever so phenomenally expensive and CPU cycles, fantastically outrageous in expense that converting, copying and storing that data might cost a few (gasp!) thousand dollars.
So, they’ll weed those messages out.
Well, unless someone wants to buy all of that data for mining…
Oh well, guess one could always ask the NSA for a copy.
Oh! Was that my outside voice? My bad.
Andrew Tate, for example, who was recently released from jail on rape and human trafficking charges, posted that he’d been paid over $20,000 by Twitter.
[…]
[A] former Twitter executive […] cast doubt on Twitter’s revamped metrics, including impressions. “The numbers are […] all completely made up. It really feels like they’re arbitrarily writing checks to people they like, which is not a sustainable creator strategy.”
Much like how everything evolves to become crabs, all right wing scams evolve to become herbalife
Verified users only make money off each other?
What an amazing MLM this is!!!!
Elon Musk: […] What matters is how many ads were shown to other verified users. Only verified users count, as it is otherwise trivial to game with bots.
Reginald Selkirksays
Well, unless someone wants to buy all of that data for mining…
I have noticed that the Internet seems to have slowed down in the last few months. I suspect a sizable number of people are training AIs, but not paying for it.
An obscure non-profit political group in Iowa that has been attempting to portray Donald Trump as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community is doubling down on its unlikely claim, producing a second flyer condemning the former president for “fighting conservatives” over trans rights.
The mailer repeats the messaging from the original communication that the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for next year’s election is a “trailblazer for trans”.
The new missive, reported on Saturday by the Iowa political blog Bleeding Heartland, introduces a rainbow-colored heart to the mix, and says Trump “opposed conservative members of Congress when they tried to strip the US Mexico Canada agreement of language protecting sexual orientation and gender identity”.
Conversely, a 2019 analysis by the Yale law journal notes that the Trump administration, which it said was “hostile to transgender people”, had watered down such protections in the language of the agreement, but was unable to eliminate it entirely despite its best efforts.
The flyer was published by a group called Advancing Our Values, a Des Moines-based non-profit that registered with the secretary of state’s office only two weeks ago. Renewed efforts by the Guardian to reach the group were unsuccessful…
Are they trying to promote Trump to liberals, or damage him to conservatives? I suspect the latter.
Depending on whom you ask, the surprise hit US film Sound of Freedom is a “provocative and gripping” film offering “moral clarity” on a harrowing, child-threatening issue – or else it is a “QAnon-tinged thriller… designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.” Either way, it’s clear this movie is not just a movie. It has become something else, something more…
A 34-year-old homicide suspect who escaped from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail earlier this month has been caught after he was discovered by a homeowner in his backyard, officials said.
Michael Charles Burham, who escaped from the Warren County Jail on July 6, was captured Saturday evening in Warren County, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said in an evening news conference.
According to Bivens, just before 4 p.m. Eastern time, a homeowner in Conewango Township called authorities to report that he had “encountered Burham” camping in his backyard after his dog began barking, and he and his wife went to investigate…
This is the headline from the story in the Guardian, Jul 15: State guard set up by DeSantis is being trained as personal militia, veterans say
A Florida state guard established by the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, under the guise of a civilian disaster relief force is instead being trained as an armed, combat-ready militia under his personal command, according to military veteran recruits who have quit the program.
This is based on Jul 14 story from the Miami Herald: Veterans quit as training, mission for DeSantis’ State Guard turn militaristic
Over 30 days in June, teenagers out of high school and retired military veterans came to Camp Blanding, the National Guard base near Jacksonville. Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a non-military mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster. Instead, the state’s National Guard trained the volunteers for combat. Khakis and polos were replaced by camouflaged uniforms. Volunteers assured they could keep their facial hair were ordered to shave. And they were drilled on how to rappel with ropes, navigate through the woods and respond to incidents under military command. [emphasis added]
DeSantis’ general in charge didn’t even deny it:
DeSantis’ office referred questions to Major General John D. Haas, Florida’s adjutant general overseeing the Florida National Guard. In a statement, Haas said the State Guard was a “military organization” that will be used not just for emergencies but for “aiding law enforcement with riots and illegal immigration.”
This is not the National Guard, which can answer to the federal government:
Unlike the National Guard, State Guard members can’t be deployed by the federal government. They answer only to the governor.
DeSantis and his tame legislature know what they’re doing:
That month [March], state lawmakers and the governor revealed that they wanted to assign the State Guard $89 million to buy boats, planes and helicopters. They wanted a specialized unit within the guard to have police powers and the ability to carry weapons. And they wanted to boost the State Guard to 1,500 members. Instead of being activated only during emergencies within Florida, they could be sent to any state to “protect and defend the people of Florida from threats to public safety.” [emphasis added]
DeSantis has already sent troops to Texas to “protect” the border, as well as shipping undocumented immigrants from there to “librul” destinations. Now he’s building a private army that he claims he has the power to send anywhere, any time.
[…] Godwin’s Law notwithstanding, the comparison to Hitler’s Brown Shirts is almost inescapable.
I’ll let the Guardian have the last words:
On the governor’s shopping list were helicopters, boats, police powers and reportedly even cellphone-hacking technology for a force outside of federal jurisdiction, and accountable directly to him.
“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” Brian Newhouse, a retired navy veteran with 20 years’ experience, told the reporters.
And. . .
Democrats expressed fear in 2021, when DeSantis first proposed to reactivate the state guard dormant since the second world war, that it would eventually become a paramilitary force beholden only to Florida’s authoritarian leader.
“No governor should have his own handpicked secret police,” said Charlie Crist, the losing Democrat candidate when DeSantis was re-elected in November.
I have to add a final thought: The way he’s going, DeSantis doesn’t need to win the White House (and he may be admitting that’s not going to happen). He is laying the foundation for a separate country (in fact, if not in name) under his personal control. And though I hate to interject someone’s religion into this, DeSantis is a Catholic, and very much a traditional one. This isn’t just a dictatorship he’s working on; it’s a theocratic one.
Thank you for publishing this! I found this story very disturbing. I also think I know where the militia is coming from: police offers who were fired over allegations of murder, domestic battery, and sexual assault. DeS has spent $13.5M bringing them to Florida, per a Guardian story in May
among the almost 600 officers who moved to Florida and received the bonus – or were recruited in state – are a sizable number who either arrived with a range of complaints against them, or have since accrued criminal charges, the online media outlet Daily Dot has discovered.
They include a former trainee deputy with the Escambia county sheriff’s office charged with murdering her husband; an officer with the Miramar police department fired for domestic battery and kidnapping; and a former member of the New York police department (NYPD) who was hired by the Palm Beach police department having once been accused of an improper sexual proposition.
—————————-
How could this unit deploy to a state where they’re not wanted? What legal authority could they have to operate in another state? It’s one thing to send them to a state like Texas who may welcome them, but if they showed up in Massachusetts, how would that be legal there?
————————
It does not have to be legal when they have more guns than the courts.
———————
This is dictator stuff, and it’s a preview of what DeSantis will do if given more power.
———————-
Mussolini had his Black Shirt thugs; Hitler had his Brown Shirt thugs; DeSantis has his Camouflage Shirt thugs.
————————-
I doubt that this is even legal. The limited sovereignty permitted to the individual states does not extend to having their own independent military force. Yes, the National Guard units are commanded by the individual state governors, but can be nationalized at will and so fall ultimately under the Federal government’s control. Private militias — and that’s what this appears to be — have been illegal for a very long time. Unfortunately, it’s a law that’s not especially well enforced, if at all — witness the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, etc. etc. Still, it’s on the books.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.) shared his concerns in an interview on Sunday over the impact of the No Labels’ third-party movement on President Biden’s reelection campaign.
No Labels announced last week Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) will appear at its New Hampshire town hall as speculation grows over whether he will make a third-party bid in the 2024 election.
When asked by host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” if he thought Manchin and No Labels could cost Biden his reelection, Kelly said he doesn’t think of No Labels as a political party.
“I mean, this is a few individuals putting dark money behind an organization. It should not be about a few rich people. So, obviously I’m concerned about what’s going on here in Arizona and across the country,” Kelly said.
“I think the president has a very strong record to run on, and we have got about 18 months before the next election, and my hope is that this all gets sorted out,” Kelly added.
[…] No Labels has pushed for a third-party candidate as polling indicates a possible rematch between Biden and former President Trump.
The group will launch what it’s calling its “Common Sense” agenda at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire on Monday. […]
I think that both the No Labels campaign and the Robert Kennedy Jr. campaign will have a negative effect. Both campaigns are backed by rightwing whackos, and by rightwing money.
Lax rules let the foreign-owned company pump water from state land to grow alfalfa for the kingdom’s cattle.
A megadrought has seared Arizona, stressing its rivers and reservoirs and reducing water to a trickle in the homes of farmworkers near this desert valley.
But green fields of alfalfa stretch across thousands of acres of the desert land, shimmering in the burning sunlight. Wells draw water from deep underground, turning the parched earth into verdant farmland.
For nearly a decade, the state of Arizona has leased this rural terrain west of Phoenix to a Saudi-owned company, allowing it to pump all the water it needs to grow the alfalfa hay — a crop it exports to feed the kingdom’s dairy cows. And, for years, the state did not know how much water the company was consuming.
The lack of information was a choice.
Soon after the company, Fondomonte Arizona, arrived in the Butler Valley in 2015, state planners suggested asking the company to install meters and report its water use, according to a memo reviewed by The Washington Post. That way, the memo argued, the state could “at least obtain accurate information” on water drained from the valley — water that could otherwise serve as backup for booming urban areas.
But the proposal “hit a stone wall,” John Schneeman, one of the planners, told The Post. It was spurned, he said, by officials in the administration of then-Gov. Doug Ducey (R) who were “cautious of tangling with a powerful company.” The proposal also ran headlong into a view, deeply held in the rural West, that water is private property that comes with access to land, rather than a public resource.
The inaction was an early sign of how state officials gave leeway to Fondomonte as a global fight for water took root in the Arizona desert. Leaving water unprotected amid a drought worsened by climate change has been a boon to Saudi Arabia, where industrial-scale farming of forage crops such as alfalfa is banned to conserve the Persian Gulf nation’s limited water supply.
A Post investigation — based on government documents and interviews with public officials, ranchers in the valley, farmworkers, and townspeople who live near the alfalfa fields — found that Arizona’s lax regulatory environment and sophisticated lobbying by the Saudi-owned company allowed a scarce American resource to flow unchecked to a foreign corporation. To advance its interests before the state, Fondomonte hired an influential Republican lawyer as well as a former member of Congress. And it sought to win over its rural neighbors, providing a high school with donations that included Fondomonte-sponsored sports bags and face masks emblazoned with the company logo to protect students from covid. [map at the link]
[…] State officials now acknowledge that decades of farming and explosive growth have dangerously diminished Arizona’s water reserves. The rising scarcity has deepened rifts between urban and rural communities and turned Fondomonte into a political flash point. The company is hardly alone in using state-owned land to irrigate crops: Fondomonte holds four of the roughly 20 state agricultural leases across Arizona’s three major transport basins, where state law allows transfer of water to cities. But its foreign ownership and strict limits on water use in its home country have fueled outrage here.
Last month, the new governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, unveiled a long-awaited study showing that groundwater in parts of the Phoenix area was insufficient to meet projected demand over the next century. Her administration also recently sought details about water use on state-owned land. Only after the state threatened to cancel Fondomonte’s leases last month did the company disclose how much it pumps annually in the Butler Valley, according to communications released as part of a public-records request. Its consumption is equivalent to that of a city of more than 50,000 people, experts said.
The governor’s aides are now preparing plans not to renew Fondomonte’s leases in the Butler Valley when they expire next year, according to a staff recommendation obtained by The Post. A decision has not been finalized. If Hobbs acts, a confrontation with the company could follow, with implications not just for foreign companies with interest in American natural resources but also for the future of agriculture as drought intensifies in the Southwest and cities clamor for rural water reserves.
The Saudi-owned farm has split the local community, where Holly Irwin, a La Paz County supervisor who has opposed Fondomonte’s presence for years, said that “foreign companies have come to take our water because they don’t have any left back home.” […]
Fondomonte also expanded to California, eventually purchasing more than 3,000 acres across the border from Arizona, near the town of Blythe. Its farming operation there is built on another precious water source, the Colorado River […]
The Saudi firm’s arrival in Arizona showed how trade liberalization and improvements in transportation and logistics have allowed companies to control arable land all over the world and manage scarcity back home. Rising global food demand has put pressure on freshwater resources sucked from the ground in such large quantities that, according to a recent study, the Earth’s tilt has shifted.
In a 2014 corporate report, Almarai celebrated that Fondomonte’s expansion in Arizona put the company on track to import 100 percent of its animal feed — part of a “strategy for conservation of the Kingdom’s water resources.” […]
Britain: Suella Braverman in dust-up with defence minister Ben Wallace.
For those not following Brit politics, Braverman is one of the worst tories still in a position of power. https://youtu.be/gU-OVU5traQ
… As part of that work, Brar is participating in the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association’s (BCFGA) project, collaborating with a federally operated laboratory to develop more resilient cherries.
The Summerland Research and Development Centre (SRDC), established by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 1936, has been cross-breeding cherry trees to create a resilient fruit that remains firm and resistant to splitting even in extreme temperatures and heavy rainfall…
Amritpal Singh, a research scientist at the SRDC, reveals that over the past 15 years, his laboratory has been developing two cherry varieties, SPC-470 and SPC-411.
These varieties are notably firmer than their predecessors and less prone to splitting in the face of extreme rainfall and temperatures…
Middletown is home to a Best Cleaners, where an unofficial part of staff member Jennifer Malon’s job has become protecting turtles from perhaps the most perilous stage of their migratory journey: two lanes of asphalt.
Malon and other staff help mother turtles across the road in front of the business and let them follow the path to the marsh where they lay their eggs, which happens to run through the building. Then, once hatched, the babies come back through and staff help them avoid the man-paved death-trap separating them from the pond where they live…
“Oh no, we are getting resistance to our attempts to force our religious views on the general populace. It’s as if we are under attack!”
Jeansays
About #223, isn’t it interesting that there is not a single word about those cherries characteristics as food (taste, texture, nutrition, …). I don’t know if that’s a reporting issue or if that’s not really looked at in the research but it’s definitely an issue about the food industry being more about industry than food.
Back in November of last year, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) maven Defmon dug into satellite images of a Russian logistics base at a coal mine in Yuvileine, on the outskirts of Luhansk city. Sifting through the images, he found several warehouse complexes with dozens of vehicles orbiting, a large fueling station, a maintenance area, more buildings that seemed to be administrative or barracks, and convoys of vehicles on the roads around the complex.
Outside the range of GMLRS rocket artillery, Russia had built itself a major logistics base next to the only major Russian-occupied city, Luhansk.
The existence of this logistics center, 90 kilometers from the front line, provided major impetus for delivering ATAMS long-range rockets to Ukraine. Ukraine’s successful Kharkiv and Kherson counteroffensive were preceded by major disruptions to Russia’s logistics networks. Similar future success would require the same kind of preparation work (or “shaping” as the military kids say). Ukraine still hasn’t received those American-made rockets, but they did get long-range cruise missiles from the United Kingdom and, soon, France. And then this happened. [Tweets, video and aerial view at the link]
So just like GMLRS rockets hampered Russian logistics ahead of Ukraine’s Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives, Ukraine is degrading Russian logistics and command control with their new longer-range toys. And if ATACMS finals gets greenly? Oh Lordy.
The arrival of American cluster bombs clearly has Russia rattled, as they immediately claimed Ukraine had hit the facility with them, citing multiple explosions. That could be the sound of ammunition cooking off, but it could simply be the arrival of multiple Storm Shadows. That coal mine facility was a target-rich environment.
Still, American cluster munitions are coming, and my god I wish they had been quietly shipped. The hysteria over them has reached absurd heights, something that Vladimir Putin has been happy to fuel. [Tweet and video at the link] The idea that Russia hasn’t used them is laughably absurd, and there is plenty of evidence to prove it. This video has been making the rounds today on Twitter: [Tweet and video at the link]
But there are even better ones I still clearly remember, like this one: [Tweet and video at the link. “The terrible bombing happened in broad daylight on an average street in Kharkiv. The video shows the Russians dropping cluster bombs on civilian houses and passing cars.”]
Or this one: [Tweet and video at the link]
And they’ve been using them in Ukraine long before 2022: [Tweet and video at the link]
I looked for one that really stuck with me from the earliest days but I can’t find it. It was a car driving through a cluster bomb barrage, seen via the dash cam. It was harrowing, to say the least. Point is, there’s nothing new about Russia using cluster bombs. Ukraine has had them too, and Turkey has supplied them with additional cluster munitions, though Ukraine uses theirs strictly against military targets (what a concept).
But the issue is now magnified because Turkey delivered their quietly, and numbers appear to have been limited. The U.S. has a massive stockpile, and promises to alleviate much of the ammunition shortage that have slowed the Ukrainian advance. Will those cluster munitions create an unexploded ordinance (UXO) problem in the future? Sure, but there’s already a severe UXO problem in the places that Ukraine will use them—the front lines. There are parts of Ukraine that will be inaccessible to civilians for years, maybe decades. Ukrainian cluster bomblets will be a fraction of that problem.
Meanwhile, who can point out what is wrong with this tweet: [Tweet and image at the link, quoting The Washington Post: “Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and reserves the right to use them if Ukraine does, Russian President Vladimir Putin said …”] It is the height of irresponsibility to uncritically report Putin’s lies without the full context. To be clear, the story does have that context, but how many people will click through and be able to read the paywalled story? RTFS (read the fucking story) doesn’t apply when the story is inaccessible to most.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal handed it well while reporting on Donald Trump’s latest idiocy:
Former President Donald Trump, who seeks to return to the White House next year, has accused Biden of risking World War III by supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions, a type of ammunition that Russia has been using in abundance, and boasted that he could end the conflict within 24 hours, without saying how.
Yes, Russia has been using cluster munitions in abundance, in addition to thermobaric munitions and incendiary munitions and anything it can throw at Ukrainians short of chemical or nuclear weapons. And unlike Ukraine, Russia has been delivering that payload against civilian targets.
A tsunami warning for Southern Alaska was lifted two hours after it was issued Saturday night, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Anchorage downgraded the alert to a tsunami advisory about an hour after it first went out, and ultimately cancelled the advisory an hour later.
The initial earthquake occurred about 50 miles south of Sand Point, Alaska, and at a depth of about 20 miles, according to the Alaska Earthquake Center. It was followed by several aftershocks, including a 5.7 magnitude quake just minutes later.
The Shumagin Islands region, where Saturday’s earthquake occurred, has seen several large temblors in recent years. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region in July 2020, followed by an 8.2 magnitude quake in July 2021, according to the earthquake center based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“The once quiet ‘Shumagin Gap’ isn’t so quiet anymore!” the center tweeted on Sunday morning.
For the “Ukraine doesn’t have air support” people, what do they think American air power does on the battlefield? It does stuff like this: [Tweet and video at the link.]
Honestly, I don’t know what magic task people think air support does in a near-peer war (as opposed to the counterinsurgency operations of the War on Terror). It destroys enemy equipment, supply depots, and command and control centers behind the front lines. Drones and HIMARS/MLRS are taking care of all that in this war. Ukraine’s problems have nothing to do with air support, and everything to do with a lack of mine-clearing equipment and proper combined arms training, while dealing with Russia’s massed artillery—all of which would be difficult under the best conditions, for the best-trained combat brigades.
Ukraine has been systematically degrading Russian artillery, logistics, and leadership for several months now, which is exactly what the U.S. would be doing if this was their war.
Also: [Tweet and image at the link: “the Armed Forces of Ukraine report that HIMARS destroyed the S-400 missile system russia used to strike a cafe in Kramatorsk resulting in 12 people including 3 children losing their lives and 60 wounded.”]
Early Sunday (American time zones), a slew of Russian sources claimed Ukraine had liberated Staromaiorske, south of Velyka Novosilka in the direction of Mariupol. [map at the link]
I’ll pull back the map so you can see where exactly this is: [map at the link]
As exciting as that seemed, never bet on Russian sources, even when they say what you want to hear. Ukraine’s general staff later announced that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine control the northern part of Staromaiorske, Donetsk region.” A subsequent statement claimed that “In the Shakhtarsk sector, in the northern part of Staromaiorske, Donetsk Oblast, the enemy made an unsuccessful attempt to regain lost ground.” They both say that Ukraine controls the northern part of the settlement, except the second statement adds that Russia made one of their weird outside-their-trenches counterattacks. Still, that northern part sits higher than the rest of the settlement, likely making it untenable for Russian defenders to stay.
This axis of approach appears to be bearing the most fruit for Ukraine, and that might be a good thing. The approach toward Mariupol only has a single defensive trench system, unlike the layers upon layers seen in the direction of Melitopol to the west of here.
Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.
From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.
Six months. 181 days. 28 mass killings. 140 victims. One country.
“What a ghastly milestone,” said Brent Leatherwood, whose three children were in class at a private Christian school in Nashville on March 27 when a former student killed three children and three adults. “You never think your family would be a part of a statistic like that.”
Leatherwood, a prominent Republican in a state that hasn’t strengthened gun laws, believes something must be done to get guns out of the hands of people who might become violent. […]
A mass killing is defined as an occurrence when four or more people are slain, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. A database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University tracks this large-scale violence dating back to 2006.
The 2023 milestone beat the previous record of 27 mass killings, which was only set in the second half of 2022. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, never imagined records like this when he began overseeing the database about five years ago.
“We used to say there were two to three dozen a year,” Fox said. “The fact that there’s 28 in half a year is a staggering statistic.”
But the chaos of the first six months of 2023 doesn’t automatically doom the last six months. The remainder of the year could be calmer, despite more violence over the July Fourthholiday weekend. […]
Pop-history tropes bugged me on first watch: relatable stunts prove grand conclusions that overturn dogma. Presenting oral tradition that way, especially, because very little lore made it onscreen. It was better the second time as I tallied “blink and you’ll miss it” details.
The First Inventors docu summary 1/4
Design to Survive
* Gunditjmara lava flow / eel weir trap aquaculture older than Egyptian pyramids.
A controversy exists concerning the extent to which these features are the results of natural environmental processes […] a mythical “romancing of the landscape” […] However, fresh archaeological work…
* Ian McNevin (anthro archaeologist). Stone tools at the bottom of a channel near a 6,600 year-old charcoal layer.
* Martin Tomko (spatial infosci). LIDAR mapped extensive winding channels with dozens of storage ponds. And hundreds of stone huts.
* Corey Bradshaw (ecologist). Simulations (considering paleoclimate, terrain, water, food, known archaeological sites, trade routes, dreaming relationships, linquistic relationships) indicated most likely migration came via a 70km sea crossing from Asia to NW Australia (along Bali to Timor).
* Victor Steffensen (fire master, cultural burning traditions). Fire-stick farming created artificial biomes, long since overgrown from neglect.
* Michael-Shawn Fletcher (biogeographer). Surrey Hills. In 1827 British cartographer Henry Hellier, among other Europeans described northern Tasmania as grassland, now rainforest. Tree core samples indicate nearly all trees were under 170 years old (of 500 yr lifespan). Sediment analysis indicated 12,000 years of human management; 200 years ago burnings stopped; Eucalypts and rainforest invaded.
* Aunty Fran Bodkin (botanist). Compiled the Dharawal Pharmacopeia, a catalogue of traditional plant use.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
The First Inventors docu summary 2/4
Science of Story
* Last Glacial Maximum ended 20k years ago. Ice age thaw caused 120m sea rise, within a single lifetime in places.
* 22 First Nations groups have oral tradition of a time when oceans were lower and ancestors lived in places now submerged.
* Jonathan Benjamin (maritime archaeologist), Chris Wilson (archaeologist), Mick O’Leary (marine geoscientist). Stone tool evidence of human settlements on Murujuga coastal sea floor (15m deep).
* Lynne Kelly (memory champion). Telephone game fails for an arbitrary sentence. Contrasted with a mnemonic demo of associating locations with trivia and having characters walk among them.
* Yidumduma Bill Harney (Wardaman elder). Songlines preserve landmark navigation. Demo of a presenter wandering woods at night.
* Karlie Noon (astronomer). Pleiades has 6 visible stars, yet various world cultures refer to 7 sisters. A theory: the seventh—now too crowded to distinguish—once had a more observable position 100k years ago.
* Jo McDonald (archaeologist). Murujuga petroglyphs on giant rock piles. 30k years ago = desert land animals; 10-15k ago = sea animals; coinciding with rising sea levels and coastline creeping inland.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
The First Inventors docu summary 3/4
Connected Continent
* Pottery shards of composition similar to 2k-3k year-old ones in New Guinea, suggesting a trade route circumnavigating the Coral Sea from Jiigurru to Rossel Island.
* Sean Ulm (archaeologist). Simulations of 30-40k year-old intracontinental trade web (optimizing distance, landmarks, water, terrain, etc.) resemble modern highway routes.
* Lynette Riley (lecturer). Kinship systems (moities, totems, skin names) govern marriage to avoid inbreeding.
* Jared Field (mathematical biologist). Gamilaraay kinship system works without elaborate branching geneology, minimizing risk for populations down to 24 people (rather than hundreds in other cultures).
* Totem system delegates aspects of ecological management to individuals’ personal identity.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
The First Inventors docu summary 4/4
Navigating the Future
* Sonya Brown (aerospace design lecturer). 10,000-year-old boomerang was an aerofoil wing. Team built and flew a quad-copter drone with (><) boomerang-pairs for blades, conceived in 1914 by native inventor David Unaipon.
* Aunty Fran Bodkin (botanist). Edibility tests: rub on back of hand (reaction=bad), taste, swallow (emetic=bad).
* Gerald Muench (pharmacologist). Analyzing water gum leaves yielded a novel anti-inflammatory compound; among 100 entries from Fran’s book being tested.
* Robert Redford and Jr (djungkayi), Ben Lewis (fire manager). Chain-dropping incendiary pellets from helicopter to preemptively burn brush in Arnhem Land, for wildfire prevention. Halves carbon emissions.
* Yidumduma Bill Harney (Wardaman elder). The Wardaman “Gandawag Moon Story” (p23,84-87, condensed here) was alluded to in severely edited fashion. The “Moon Dreaming” rock art site depicts the Moon Spirit wearing a gumumdunga (headdress). Elder Yidumduma looks at variations in moon haloes (refracted light through ice in cirrus clouds) to predict storms. Counting rings and enclosed stars. No mention of accuracy.
[Similar US folklore]: generally true […] These types of clouds do not produce rain or snow, but they often are forerunners of a low pressure system that could produce rain or snow in a day or two. […] One study shows that moon rings predicting rain are about 66 percent correct […] Some people believe that the number of stars inside the halo indicate how many days away
After months of pushback and legal warnings, Peoria Unified School District governing board member Heather Rooks said on Thursday she will refrain from quoting Scripture during board meetings.
Rooks, who joined the board in January, had been reciting Bible verses during the portion of governing board meetings reserved for members to “publicly recognize schools, groups or individuals who have made a contribution to the district, as well as share information related to their service as Board members.” …
When a user who you are not following and isn’t subscribed to Twitter Blue attempts to message you, they receive a prompt urging them to subscribe to Twitter Blue.
[…]
Twitter went ahead and made it the default option for every user that previously […] set to allow DMs from all Twitter users. […] You can change it back. […] a user does need to be aware that it was changed in the first place.
wzrd1says
There was a question if Florida could deploy its state defense force to another state.
The answer is yes, if the other state has declared an emergency and that state’s governor requests them. Otherwise, nope. Sending SDF or the National Guard uninvited is an invasion and just as illegal as if a governor decided to invade Canada or Mexico.
In time of major disaster or insurrection, the POTUS can federalize the SDF of the states, but only for domestic duty, as they were authorized to replace the National Guard when they were sent overseas to war.
As for authorized duties, some states can and do authorize combatant roles for their SDF, most do not. Some authorize weapons, either crew served or sidearms, others do not. “Sending them anywhere” is decidedly not authorized, as invasion of another state is decidedly not Constitutional. Attempting to do so would simply get them ordered up by the POTUS and placed under US Armed Forces control and supervision.
Kyiv’s navy and Ukraine’s security service (SBU) carried out a “special operation” using seaborne drones, an SBU source has told AFP.
Waterborne drones struck the sole bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimea peninsula on Monday, a major conduit for Russia’s troops in Ukraine, in a deadly attack which is said to have killed a civilian couple and injured their daughter.
The explosion hit the Kerch Bridge just hours before a crucial deal to export Ukrainian grain was to expire. There has not yet been word from talks in Istanbul, where Turkish and UN officials were trying to persuade Russia to agree another extension of the deal that was first signed there in July 2022.
Denise Christ regularly comes across injured wildlife in her work rescuing beached or stranded marine mammals along the California coast. But she’s been shocked by the hundreds of sea lions and dolphins found on the shore in recent weeks, dead or dying from neurotoxin poisoning.
…
The animals were sickened by domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by algae that are a food source for fish, which are then eaten by sea lions and dolphins. Algal blooms are not unusual this time of year, but this summer’s crisis follows another one less than a year ago, alarming and overwhelming the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute team based about 120 miles (190 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
…
There is no official explanation for the outbreak, but experts have several theories. Algal blooms are fed by agricultural runoff, and this year California experienced heavier than normal rainfall… Others from the institute said warming oceans due to climate change were spurring algae growth.
birgerjohanssonsays
Extrasolar meteorites have long been detected by radar as they are burning up, så they move much too fast to be part of the solar system. This is about the quest to retrieve remnants of one of these extrasolar meteorites.
“Anomalous? The first potential recovery of extrasolar materials” https://youtu.be/vkY41ayT1jQ
Reginald Selkirksays
I heard some Russian guy being interviewed on the BBC claiming that the railroad portion of the Kerch bridge carries military traffic, but the roadway is strictly civilian, and therefore the attack on the bridge was an act of terrorism.
1) I don’t believe that Russia strictly prohibits military traffic on that route.
2) Even so, a major transportation channel is a legit military target
3) Meanwhile, Russia has attacked may residences, hospitals, power plants and electrical grid, and dams. They have no business accusing anyone of terrorism.
Vienna, a city synonymous with shady cold war intrigue, has once again become the espionage capital of Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and Austria’s government seems in no rush to change that.
After an explosion in undercover activity, the country’s three largest opposition parties in spring jointly backed legislative changes to finally criminalise espionage in Austria. But months later, their efforts have got nowhere thanks to repeated government stalling…
Austria was a “veritable aircraft carrier” of illegal Russian agents at the heart of the continent, a senior European spymaster told the Financial Times last year…
StevoRsays
Jovian MWC 758c is not only sculpting its stars protolanetary disk but also seems to be the reddest planet beyond our solar system :
Green Head beach residents said the cylinder was about 2.5m wide and between 2.5m and 3m long, Australia’s public broadcaster reported…
Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said the item was possibly a fuel tank from a rocket that had fallen into the Indian Ocean at some stage in the past 12 months.
The Australian space agency said it was possible the giant cylinder could have fallen from a “foreign space launch vehicle” and it would liaise with other international agencies…
Kevin McCarthy warned, “A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke.” It should’ve come with a MAGA-to-English translation guide.
The National Defense Authorization Act was poised to be a bipartisan success story. The House Armed Services Committee advanced its version of the NDAA on a bipartisan, 58-1 vote, and the legislation appeared on track to avoid the kind of political food fights that too often tarnish congressional policymaking.
Then Republican culture warriors in the House got to work, demanding a series of far-right changes to the package dealing with military spending and defense policy. This wasn’t part of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s original plan — The New York Times’ Michelle Cottle said the GOP leader engaged in “futile pleading“ with his own members — but the Californian, left with limited options, allowed his members to dramatically alter the NDAA.
The result, as we discussed last week, is an NDAA that would, among other things, limit abortion access for servicemembers, end diversity training in the military, curtail transgender care, prohibit work on combatting climate change, and even restrict what Defense Department schools can teach.
Asked on Friday why in the world Republicans took a bipartisan military bill and turned into a vehicle for far-right culture war priorities, McCarthy seemed quite enthusiastic about his party’s handiwork. The House speaker told reporters:
“Stop using taxpayer money to do their own wokeism. A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke. We don’t want Disneyland to train our military.”
As the video from the press conference made clear, McCarthy did not appear to be kidding. [video at the link]
[…] McCarthy was apparently so proud of his quote about not wanting Disneyland to train our military that he promoted the line via social media.
In terms of a critique of the House speaker’s position, it’s hard to even know where to start. In fact, I’m hard pressed to explain what McCarthy even meant. Evidently, he’s under the impression that the bipartisan bill approved by the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee would train U.S. troops “in woke” — phrasing that probably should’ve come with some kind of MAGA-to-English translation guide.
What’s more, I’m baffled by the idea that without these far-right changes to the NDAA, it would be Disneyland that would be training the troops.
But arguably the most important takeaway from McCarthy’s weird rhetoric is how familiar it was — because we’d heard similar comments during the NDAA floor debate from his members. Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, for example, insisted last week that the military is suffering a “loss of focus” because of “woke ideology.”
That’s absurd, of course, but it’s the sort of line one might expect from a House Freedom Caucus members. And therein lies the point: Much of the political world is accustomed to thinking about the gap between fringe congressional Republicans and members of GOP leadership, but too often, these dividing lines have been blurred to the point that they hardly exist.
When mindless jabbering about “wokeism” is as common in the speaker’s office as it is from his far-right flank, there’s a problem.
Diversity Training for most military recruits is one hour. Just one hour. That’s mandatory training upon entering service, and then once a year thereafter. It includes information about diversity, sexual harassment, sexual assault, etc. “Diversity: All attributes, experiences, cultures, characteristics, and backgrounds of the Total Force which are reflective of the Nation we serve and enable the Army to deploy, fight, and win.” There are claims on some websites that the Air Force spends 16 hours on diversity training, but I haven’t found confirmation for that. For context, army trainees receive about 100 hours of basic rifle marksmanship instruction over a three-week period. The Combat Infantryman’s course is 26 weeks long and designed to develop Riflemen in a number of areas to ensure that they are ready to take their place in a RIFLES Battalion.
Looks to me like the cry of “woke” from rightwing dunderheads is nonsense.
For months, much of the political world overlooked Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on military promotions, but as the Alabama Republican’s tantrum starts to actually affect the armed forces, the senator’s radical tactics have gone from the background to the foreground.
As we discussed last week, the pressure campaign to convince Tuberville to be more responsible includes U.S. military leaders. And veterans. And every living former secretary of Defense. And congressional Democrats. And the Lincoln Project, which launched this new ad last week, which will air on Fox News in the D.C. area and in Birmingham, Alabama. (It will also run digitally at several Marine bases.)
President Joe Biden added his voice last week, condemning the Alabaman’s “ridiculous” scheme, and telling the public that Tuberville is “jeopardizing U.S. security with what he’s doing.”
All of this appears to have gotten the senator’s attention, and late last week, he published a brief item online, suggesting he’s not to blame for his own gambit.
“I didn’t start this. The Biden [administration] injected politics in the military and imposed an unlawful abortion policy on American taxpayers. I am trying to get politics out of the military.”
[OMFG]
[…] If we’re going to have a conversation about who, specifically, “started this,” the story begins with Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices overturning Roe v. Wade. It was at that point that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin created a policy to ensure that all American troops have access to reproductive health care.
As an Associated Press report summarized last week, in a memo issued last year, “Austin said service members and their families were worried they may not get equal access to health care, including abortions. And as many states began to impose more abortion restrictions, he noted that service members who often must move for various missions or training would be forced to travel further, take more time off work and pay more to access reproductive health care.”
In other words, the Biden administration decided to provide U.S. military personnel with protections. This, in Tuberville’s mind, “injected politics” into the military — which left him no choice but to impose an unprecedented blockade that’s drawn bipartisan criticisms, and which continues to undermine his own country’s national security needs.
[…] (Tuberville has no legal background whatsoever. Actual lawyers have defended the Pentagon’s policy as entirely permissible.)
[…] If Tuberville is convinced the policy is at odds with existing law, he can support a lawsuit challenging the benefits for troops. He also happens to be a sitting U.S. senator who can do what senators are supposed to do: introduce legislation and make the case for its merits.
[…] he has other choices.
What the Alabaman prefers to do is effectively argue that the Pentagon is protecting troops in a way he disapproves of, which he believes absolves him of any wrongdoing as he throws a partisan tantrum that one general condemned last week as “reprehensible” and “dangerous.”
Tuberville “didn’t start this”? Not only does reality suggest otherwise, the GOP senator is in a position to end his blockade at any time. He just doesn’t want to, which makes it impossible for him to avoid the blame for his own tactics.
wzrd1says
@ 249, the last unidentified object washed up in Australia equally mystified everyone, but a quick search online showed it to be a mooring buoy.
Unfortunately, there’s only one view of this one, can’t see if there are tubes or cables at the one end. But, that’s an unusual color for anything rocket related internals.
birgerjohanssonsays
A question to experts
– If the jet stream is causing extreme weather by getting ‘stuck’, can a temporary intervention like introducing dust or aerosols into the stratosphere alter the heat balance enough to destabilise the jet stream, after which the intervention can end (as distinct from permanent geoengineering)?
.
“Researchers link climate change to “lazier” jet stream, leading to extreme weather” https://phys.org/news/2023-07-links-climate-lazier-jet-stream.html
You’ve probably seen the brouhaha about ersatz Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr getting in trouble for saying that COVID was “ethnically targeted” to “spare the Jews.” I wanted to take a moment dig into just what happened, just what he said and what if anything it all means. This is one of those crazy and yet in many ways predictable stories that manages to be both deeply stupid and yet also quite illustrative of our times.
First, what’s the story? I noticed immediately that all the coverage stemmed from a single story in The New York Post (not a great sign) by Jonathan Levine. I’ve had a couple run-ins with Levine over the years, or at least I’ve seen pieces of his that struck me as tendentious, either by design or lack of familiarity with certain political questions. Don’t get hung up on whether I was right or wrong about him. I note this only to highlight that even though I have an extremely low opinion of RFK Jr I went into this story with more than a little skepticism.
But in this case, Levine was right on the mark. Kennedy’s words are his words. In fact Levine was so right on the mark it’s a bit shocking he was the only one to write it up. Lots of reporters were at this dinner and a lot of them wrote it up. But none mentioned this. The most one can say about Levine’s reporting in this case is that he drew out the obvious implication of Kennedy’s remark which was necessary because Kennedy used the standard ‘many people are saying’ and ‘just asking questions’ type phrasings that are the calling card of his brand of conspiracy freaks. But again, his words are his words. He’s guilty as charged.
Here’s what he said …
“COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately … COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese … We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact.”
[…] I’ve seen a number of Kennedy fans, a few of them Jewish, defending these remarks because, they argue, he doesn’t specifically claim that someone deliberately engineered COVID to spare Jews. He just says that there’s “an argument” that it was targeted. But, who knows? Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Again, many people are saying … [I despise that kind of cowardly approach. That was also Tucker Carlson’s tactic for introducing misinformation into his Fox News casts.]
To my mind, though, the anti-Semitism is almost the least interesting part of this. Kennedy is a full-of-himself conspiracy theorist and bullshit artist. The whole line of thought he’s spouting here is textbook. He makes these pretty outrageous claims. Each link in the chain of his argument comes in a factitious wrapping of bullshit. He claims as a given, for instance, that Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews have greater immunity to COVID. There’s no evidence of this. There’s no evidence of this about “Caucasians and Black people” either, though African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID, presumably through a mix of occupational exposure, pre-existing conditions in the United States and more limited access to the health care system. But again, it’s not just that the big neon-light crazy claim isn’t true. The secondary, in-passing claims are equally bogus.
Kennedy also makes the general remark that China and the U.S. are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on “ethnically targeted bioweapons,” as though this is a given [!!!], even if his other claims about sparing the Jews may be surprising to some people. I can’t claim to know just what the U.S. or China are or are not doing in what are presumably secret programs. But I’ve been around DC and the national security chatosphere long enough to know bullshit at a distance. […] Great Powers likely study or consider all sorts of crazy stuff at some hypothetical level. But this kind of talk is generally the fantasy or agitprop of warmongers and xenophobes. I mentioned earlier the factitious nature of Kennedy’s speech. He routinely peppers his comments with “there are papers” or “I could show you papers.” But these papers either don’t exist or don’t show anything remotely like what he claims. In this case he mentions a paper which supposedly backed all this up but which actually notes broadly that some viruses could have differential presentations in different ethnic groups. [Yep. Classic misinformation-dissemination ploy]
Even with my own very limited understanding of virology and human genetic diversity I suspect it would be extremely hard to engineer a virus that was deadly for one ethnic group and not a problem for another. To be specific, perhaps some geneticists and virologists could engineer a pathogen that killed 30% of victims with predominantly European ancestry and only 15% of people with predominantly Chinese ancestry. But is that a very good weapon for China to release into the world? I kind of doubt it. And I suspect even that kind of differential is wildly beyond anyone’s scientific ability. Besides, what if the engineered virus evolved to kill Chinese just as effectively? Certainly over the last three years we’ve learned that viruses evolve pretty quickly and in unpredictable ways. This whole line of argument seems silly, though again I’m sure there’s some intelligence report somewhere showing that some scientists have studied the question.
So where is Kennedy getting this from?
What’s gotten far less attention (understandably) than the anti-Semitic neo-blood libel stuff are comments that come just a moment later. After making the sparing-the-Jew claims, he shifts back to the general topic of the ethnically targeted bioweapons that the U.S., China and other powers are allegedly developing. “We are developing ethnic bioweapons. That’s what all those labs in the Ukraine are about. They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA.” Does this sound familiar? Here Kennedy is repeating the thoroughly discredited claims Russia made in the Spring of 2022 to justify its invasion of Ukraine, claiming the the CIA was running bioweapons labs in Ukraine to target ethnic Russians. The claim apparently first emerged on QAnon message boards and then hopped to Russian propaganda outlets and then the stateside Trumposphere.
[…] What does it mean? Is Kennedy an antisemite? One of the most instructive things I’ve read on this comes from the writer John Ganz in a post he wrote on the Kennedy press dinner hellscape.
A lot of political discussions get bogged down in trying to divine what people feel in their heart. What do they really think? Well, I happen to think for the most part people aren’t thinking very much at all. Usually, they are just talking: They are participating in discourses that have certain structural possibilities and inherent rules. RFK Jr. plays the language-game “conspiracy” and one available move in that game is “the Jews.”
If you consume a lot of conspiracy material you will brush up against antisemitic propaganda very fast. The fact that it is taboo makes it a tempting move in the discourse: the entire conspiracy game revolves around discovering forbidden knowledge, so the upset caused by mouthing off an antisemitic opinion seems to confirm that you landed on the right square: “Oh, so you’re saying I can’t say that, therefore it must be true.” The more you object and get upset, the more it seems to confirm the correctness of the view.
[Yes. Good addition to the analysis of the situation.]
[…] It’s no defense of Kennedy on whether he’s an antisemite really. He says antisemitic things. He says things that aren’t just kinda unfriendly to Jews but suggest horrific and genocidal conspiracies Jews are behind. What he means or believes in his heart hardly matters. He operates in this bullshit world, one in which you glom on to the claims that are most provocative, the most radioactive, and most opposed to “establishment” thinking. Anti-Semitism is just one of the building blocks you’ll eventually use because it’s got the most forbidden power. […]
As a general policy, we shouldn’t listen to people who routinely make nonsensical claims and back them up by referencing studies that either don’t exist or don’t say what the person claims. This should be obvious. It should be as obvious with his anti-vaxxery as it is with his Jewish world conspiracies. There’s no real difference between Kennedy’s anti-Semitic genocide conspiracy theory, his general anti-vaxxery or the various other nonsense he spews if you take a moment to hear him talk. It’s the common parlance of Twitter-based “independent thinkers.” It’s a recurrent theme in American life which for the moment is uniquely rooted in the Trumpite authoritarian world and its various fellow travelers and fellow traveling groups. None of it is any real surprise.
Reginald Selkirksays
@253: The next line of the script reads, “What could possibly go wrong?”
In theory, conspiracy crank Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is both running for president and claims to be outraged when anyone suggests he has allied himself with Nazis. In practice, Kennedy’s presidential run is a publicity stunt at best—and damn do white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other antisemitic groups love this guy. And why wouldn’t they, when he keeps propping up their favorite conspiracy claims?
You may remember, unfortunately, Kennedy’s recent boozy New York City press dinner that, as the tabloid Page Six put it, “descended into a foul bout of screaming and polemic farting,” which sounds like more of a Steve Bannon thing but what do we know. It was there that Kennedy piped up with the theory that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted.” [See comment 254.]
[…] This was another iteration of Kennedy’s claims that China and the U.S. both have been “developing ethnic bioweapons,” and that “they’re collecting Russian DNA, they’re collecting Chinese DNA” for the purpose, and as you can imagine the antisemitic far right is absolutely giddy with Kennedy’s latest burps. Neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and other antisemites praised it as “100% correct” and “perhaps the greatest thing he ever said.”
That’s not exactly surprising since Kennedy is parroting a neo-Nazi claim to begin with. From the pandemic’s beginning, the same violence-peddling antisemitic whackjobs who believe “the Jews” are behind all world events were keen to come up with reasons why “the Jews” were behind the emergence of a new deadly pandemic disease or the new vaccine helping to protect the world from it. This is because they are dirtbags.
[…] Kennedy has based his whole recent career on listening to and appealing to dirtbags […]
For the record, Kennedy is stupid. [I agree.] In general, to be sure, but specifically about this. If anything, studies suggest that Jewish people have been disproportionately harmed by COVID. Kennedy’s assertion that those of Chinese descent were similarly spared appears to come from Kennedy’s willingness to believe the Chinese government’s own ludicrous undercounts of pandemic deaths, which would mean that Kennedy is actually more willing here to believe even Chinese government claims than actual scientists. If that doesn’t sum up the anti-vaccine conspiracy whackjob’s whole career, I’m not sure what would.
Kennedy’s claims here, however, do not only resonate with the neo-Nazi groups whose views he’s parroting. For years now, Kennedy has clung to the far right as a major base of support, and Republican donors have been showering him with cash so that he can keep doing it.
Judd Legum has a new report on the fundraising side and notes that “the lion’s share of Kennedy’s biggest donors have previously only donated to Republicans.”
Through June 30, Kennedy’s campaign has collected the maximum, $6,600, from 96 individuals. Of that group, 37 individuals have previously only donated to Republican candidates for federal office. Only 19 have a history of consistently supporting Democratic candidates. The remainder either have no giving history (30), have donated to members of both parties (8), or supported Libertarian or alternative candidates (2).
That’s not too surprising given Kennedy’s eagerness to promote his ever-shifting conspiracy agenda on antisemitic and white supremacist venues like Gab, or with the fascism-promoting Michael Flynn and his “ReAwaken America” tour.
[…] Kennedy’s voting base might consist of neo-Nazis, antisemites, and anti-vaccine QAnon whackadoos, but his powerbase seems to come mostly from Republicans most known for doing crimes. Kennedy himself has dipped into the “Republicans doing crimes” genre, with his anti-vaccine “Children’s Health Defense” group illegally donating $50,000 to the hard-right Republican Attorneys General Association.
It would be fascinating to find out how Kennedy just happened to repeat one of the most ridiculous antisemitic conspiracy theories peddled by neo-Nazi groups, but the answer is probably simple. He hangs out in all the places antisemites congregate; he probably was told this one backstage before or after one of his many, many promotional appearances with far-right groups that trade in such claims, and his brain, already marinated in every other conspiracy theory the world has on offer, thought it sounded great enough to repeat.
The leader of the Communist Party in Russian-occupied Transnistria, Oleg Khorzhan, was found dead in his home at the age of 47, the Moldovan service of Radio Liberty reported on July 17.
Khorzhan’s body with numerous stab wounds was found at his home in in a village near Tiraspol, the capital of the Russian-occupied region.
According to the so-called Transnistrian Interior Ministry, Khorzhan was found with “signs of violent death” by his wife next to an “open and empty safe”…
Khorzhan is a former member of the “parliament” in occupied Transnistria. In 2006, he opened a reception office in Tiraspol for the head of the now-banned Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Symonenko. He supported strengthening ties with Russia….
A pair of explosions at the Kerch Bridge around 3 AM local time on Monday resulted in a section of the bridge visibly dropping several feet, making vehicle traffic on the bridge impossible. In addition, Russian officials have reported damage to one of the bridge’s support pillars. Repairs are estimated to take at least one month. In the meantime, Russia is scrambling to reroute vehicle traffic along a land route and expand freight ferry service across the nearly 20-kilometer span of water between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.
Russia is claiming that there has been no damage to the rail line crossing the bridge, but it is unclear if that service was operating at full capacity. Trains only began crossing the bridge again in May following the earlier attack on the bridge using explosives on a fuel truck on Oct. 8, 2022. Rail traffic is currently halted as Russian engineers examine the damage to the bridge.
The attack on the bridge was reportedly carried out by the Ukrainian navy using sea drones. On Sunday, Russia filmed a naval drone cutting across the bay at Sevastopol, on the opposite side of Crimea. This drone was reportedly part of an attack that may have included as many as eight naval drones and an unknown number of flying drones. Russia reported that these drones had been destroyed, but the released videos showed only one disabled drone.
Though Russian officials have attempted to minimize reports of the damage, images from the bridge clearly show that this isn’t going to be a matter of just adjusting a few connections. Sections of the roadbed are missing and it’s likely at least one span of the bridge will need to be replaced completely. [Tweet and video at the link]
It took over four months before the bridge was actually reopened to vehicle traffic after the earlier attack. At the moment, it doesn’t appear that this attack did as much damage as the very powerful fuel truck explosion last October. However, it’s hard to see what’s going on below the bridge span. If there is serious damage to the support pillar, repairs could be much more complex than just replacing a span of bridge. [tweet and images at the link]
The attack on the bridge comes as Ukraine continues to press its counteroffensive in the south. Over the weekend, Ukraine reportedly moved into parts of the villages of Staromaiorske and Pryyutne. In addition, Ukraine reportedly moved to the edge of Robotyne, with continued heavy fighting in that area. [map at the link]
At Pryyutne, Ukrainian forces are reportedly moving down the western edge of the town and pressing to the south. At Staromaiorske, Ukrainian forces are in the streets at the northern end of the settlement but have not yet secured the whole town. (Note that on the map, areas east of Urozhaine may not be actively under dispute. It’s just that control over this area, particularly the open fields, is unclear.)
There are reports that some Russian forces have fallen back to Staromlynivka, but take all such reports with a large grain of salt. So far Russian forces have fought to maintain every meter of ground in the south and there’s no evidence of a significant shift in that strategy.
It’s not clear how the damage to the bridge will affect Russia’s ability to supply and maintain its forces on the southern front. It’s likely that most if not all supplies to the areas now being contested come in along the coast via the M14 highway and rail lines in that area. These will not be disrupted by the bridge damage, though they will need to deal with increased traffic. [Tweet and video at the link.]
Russia is instructing civilians heading in and out of Crimea to use the land bridge, rerouting them hundreds of kilometers through the active front lines. For context, the distance of the green line in the image below between Rostov on Don to Djankoi is 635 kilometers. [map at the link, showing the land route to Crimea.]
The bridge damage will have a more severe effect on Russia’s ability to maintain its forces in Crimea and in the eastern portions of Kherson Oblast. However, right now the only threat to those forces is Ukraine’s small position on the east side of the Dnipro River across from Kherson. Despite an extended effort involving everything from artillery to missiles, Russia has not been able to dislodge this Ukrainian force. However, without bridges across the Dnipro to support movement of heavy equipment, Ukraine has been unable to extend this area more than a short distance from the river.
RUSSIA SAYS GRAIN DEAL IS AT AN END
Shortly after Ukraine’s successful attack on the bridge, Russia announced that it would not renew the deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain under the supervision of Turkey. Cutting off the flow of grain from Ukraine could have serious implications for both grain prices and the availability of food in parts of Africa that are heavily dependent on grain from this region.
Since it was put in place last July, nearly 33 million tons of wheat and corn have been exported from Ukraine under the program. Over half the grain purchased for the U.N.’s World Food Program in 2022, and three-quarters purchased so far in 2023, came from Ukraine. U.N. officials credit the grain deal with reducing world grain prices by 20%.
The last ship to leave a Ukrainian port under the expiring deal pulled away from the port of Odesa on Sunday. Multiparty talks including officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the U.N. had been ongoing in Istanbul with hopes of extending the grain deal. Those talks now seem to have ended. China, which is the largest destination for Ukrainian grain, is eager to extend the deal and can exert its own pressure on Russia.
Last Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reported that he and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin were in agreement that the deal should be extended. But a Kremlin spokesperson indicated on Monday that the deal was over and would not be renewed.
While it may be easy for Russia to blame the end of the deal on the bridge attack, there have been indications for some time that Putin intended to end the deal. Last week, both U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the International Rescue Committee wrote to Putin, warning of “catastrophic” effects if a deal was not reached. However, Putin appeared in a televised speech on Thursday evening in which he said Russia had voluntarily extended the deal “many times,” but in the end “that’s enough.”
There have been some reports that Putin was unwilling to continue the deal out of anger–not at Ukraine, but at Erdogan. In the last two weeks, Erdogan dropped opposition to Sweden joining NATO and released five Ukrainian military commanders who had been part of the defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol (one of whom rejoined his unit today). Russia claims their deal with Turkey required the Azovstal leaders to be held until the war was over. [In other words, Putin is as petty and as vengeful as Trump.]
Beginning last October, Turkey made a series of statements indicating that it would keep the grain deal open even if Russia decided to end it. In the last few weeks, Ukrainian Telegram channels have reported that Turkey had restated this claim to Ukraine, reassuring them that the deal would remain even without Russian support.
There have been some interpretations that this means Turkish ships would escort grain carriers through the Black Sea, challenging Russian forces to open fire on ships from a country that is part of NATO, but whether this is an accurate representation of Turkey’s promises to Ukraine or extrapolated from the few public statements last year isn’t clear.
Ukraine has already announced that it supports continuing the agreement without Russia. But since the entire agreement is simply Russia agreeing not to sink civilian shipping in exchange for the U.N. helping it to sell Russian grain and fertilizer, it’s unclear what “continuing the agreement” really means.
BAKHMUT
Fighting continues in several areas around Bakhmut. To the south of the city, Ukraine is continuing to expand its area of control around Klishchiivka. That includes a push toward Andriivka, which is the next town to the south. [Tweet and video at the link]
A lot of what’s going on in the area right now appears to be capturing or eliminating isolated groups of Russian soldiers who continue to occupy positions in trenches or buildings. At the same time, Russian artillery continues to hit Ukrainian forces and there are numerous mines and boobytraps, making Ukraine’s advance into these positions a lot more difficult than just driving forward.
However, there are reported advances all along the area south of Bakhmut down to Kurdyumivka where Ukrainian forces have entered the town and are fighting with Russian forces. [Tweet and video at the link]
To the northwest of Bakhmut, fighting continues around the forest and reservoir west of Berkhivka, but the bigger advance might be that moving down on Soledar from the north. Right now details are sketchy and, as with most reports in this area, videos and images are several days old. But Ukraine appears to have made good progress in this area over the weekend.
——————–
[Tweet and video at the link: “Another Russian fighter jet has crashed near Yeysk. This time, a SU-25 went down over the Black Sea.”]
Sad Russians whose summer plans have been disrupted. [Tweet with examples at the link: “Russian tourist chats are full of panicked Russians who di not get the vacation they desired […]”]
Also, you’ve been appropriately warned: [Tweet and video at the link: “To call this ‘cringe’ would be an understatement of the century. Brace yourselves. If you’re planning to watch the whole video make sure to grab a bucket just in case you might need to throw up.” Bad music, bad group singing by women dressed in Russian uniforms: “We will aim our Sarmats at the United States, putting in the coordinates,” (followed by threats against NATO, and by extremely bad rapping about “tragedy” that awaits the USA, etc.]
@Gerashchenko_en
Russian tourist chats are full of panicked Russians who did not get the vacation they desired. I’ve translated some of their posts below.
-—
“Important information for those who are going to get out of Crimea by land route. The most important thing is to stock up on the necessary amount of water. Local “entrepreneurs” decided to take advantage of this situation and in order to enrich themselves increased the price by 8-10 times!
-—
Being on the territory of Crimea download offline maps, on the territory of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk regions, you can use mobile communication only if you have a SIM-card Phoenix, but there is an option to buy it right in the queue in front of the checkpoint, there they sell them for 2000 rubles.
-—
The situation with toilets is also miserable, free toilets at petrol stations have been closed, they justify themselves by saying that the influx of people is too large, you can make an agreement for 500 roubles, for children, pregnant women, disabled people and participants of the SMO the price is 400 roubles”.
-—
“The first border has been passed. Customs. We fuelled up at the last Lukoil petrol station, but there are no toilets there. There are big traffic jams in the opposite direction, towards Rostov. Documents and passports and child’s birth certificate were checked at the checkpoint. At the customs there is a toilet and a lot of people on foot with their bags, their bags are checked there like at the airport. For those with cars, only the documents.”
-—
“Why didn’t they say they guarantee safety on the land road to Crimea, if they can’t protect the Crimean bridge, and it’s a 50/50 ride there?”
-—
“Yes, Megaphone [cellphone service provider] is completely dead, it doesn’t show anything.”
-—
“Just yesterday I was thinking what a moron one should be to go on holiday to Crimea now.Well, now the holiday will definitely be remembered when they go home through the front.They are disrupting the logistics of our military with traffic jams, stupid [F-word that is slur against homosexual men].”
-—
“One thing that annoys me is that after the first time, the competent authorities swore that ordinary people have nothing to fear, that now combat dolphins, medusas, shrimps and plankton guard the bridge 50 hours a day. F**k, how did that happen? !!!!!! Did they screw up again? !!!!!!!!”
-—
“Are there gas stations along the road in the new territories?” SureBandits, too, not just gas stations”.
Re that last Tweet with video: Polka rap probably has a very limited future. (The Russian Army themed backup singers really put the capital K in Kringe Kremlin Klowns).
But it’s fascinating that some Russian dead-enders apparently fail to see the irony of appropriating something so American — and African-American specifically — when their dream is undoubtedly a pasty white Russia dominated globe. […]
———————-
They are from the top secret BBB division — Barmy Baby Babuski
————————-
The Right can’t art. This is a UNIVERSAL truth, as that Sarmat video proves.
KGsays
Russian tourist chats are full of panicked Russians who did not get the vacation they desired. – Lynna, OM quoting DailyKos@259
There have been some interpretations that this means Turkish ships would escort grain carriers through the Black Sea, challenging Russian forces to open fire on ships from a country that is part of NATO
I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?
Either they do and then it’s NATO attacking, or they don’t and then the grain is at the bottom of the sea. At the end of the day, how do you stop a warship without firing on it?
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 260
Polka rap probably has a very limited future.
Ask Weird Al, he might be able to do something with it.
On Jan. 23, 2020, the same day that Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial began, Daily Kos diverted from following that story to cover what was then referred to as the “Wuhan virus,” after the city in China where the first outbreak of the highly infectious disease was reported. At the time of that report, there had been 17 deaths connected to the virus, but with 21 million people under lockdown in China and scientists already working to sequence the virus, that report ended with reassurance that “Restricting the spread of an emerging disease remains a near-impossible task, but health officials around the world are giving it a really extraordinary try.”
That report was the first of more than 500 that would follow. Daily Kos’ coverage included Trump’s promotion of increasingly unlikely outlandish “cures” and Dr. Anthony Fauci becoming a hero to Americans as well as a villain to conspiracy theorists. Seemingly overnight this became a world in which everyone was all too familiar with overflowing hospitals, cheering weary healthcare workers at the end of their shift, and terms like “spike protein” or “variant.”
Since then, there have been another 6,899,724 deaths. Of those, 1,134,710 happened in the United States. At its worst, the level of excess mortalities in the United States rose to an astounding 46%, including not just deaths directly attributed to COVID-19, but those who died because they couldn’t get adequate treatment in a pandemic-driven world.
However, over the first half of this year, the level of excess deaths has hit another very important number. That number is 0%. As far as deaths are concerned, the pandemic may be over. [I know six people who currently have Covid, and it is not a trivial experience for them. Devastating exhaustion. “Hell.” etc. Yes, they are recovering. Yes, they took Paxlovid. Yes, they are not in the hospital, but it is still horrible.]
[…] However, the CDC values also show that many states have quit breaking out COVID-19 deaths into a separate category. That’s a trend that started two years ago, when some Republican governors found it highly inconvenient to admit that people were dying from COVID-19 in their states. But even for those states where COVID deaths are shuffled in among deaths due to “respiratory failure” or “cardiac arrest,” the damage being caused by COVID-19 should show up in the form of excess deaths.
But in the first half of 2023, that signal disappeared. [chart at the link]
The chart of excess deaths in the U.S. clearly shows the spike of initial deaths largely centered in the Northeast, where many medical facilities were overrun and life-saving equipment like ventilators became a huge topic of concern. Additional spikes appear as the disease spreads across the country, peaking at the end of 2020 when most states had lowered any restrictions and people traveled to see their families around the holidays. There’s a sharp drop in the rate of deaths in spring of 2021, as vaccines begin a widespread rollout. However, more spikes come in the fall of 2021 with the arrival of the 200% more infectious delta variant, and at the end of the year with still more travel and more family get-togethers. Then rates drop off again before the arrival of the still more infectious omicron variant, which drives a prolonged period of elevated deaths that peaks … with family travel and get-togethers at the end of the year.
Then the rates drop again at the beginning of 2023. And they have stayed down.
However, there’s another way of looking at this, with just a little annotation, that adds a cautionary note to the current celebration. [chart at the link]
Looked at this way, it’s easy to see that every year of the pandemic has ended in much the same way, with that travel-related spike in which millions of Americans ran around the country stirring the mix and making sure that the latest variant was spread far and wide. When that spike subsides, each year has seen a big decline in excess deaths. There are two reasons for this. One is probably that following the spike more people have a level of exposure to the latest variant and have gained at least partial immunity. The other factor is that many of the most susceptible died during that holiday spike.
In each of the previous years, that low level of post-holiday deaths continued for some time, but only until a new variant that was either more contagious or more evasive of past infection became dominant. Then the number of deaths rose again.
It’s easy to read into those declining humps the idea that each variant has become weaker than the one before. That’s not the case. Untreated delta in a person with no immunity is actually 3.45 times more likely to be deadly than early variants up to alpha, and untreated omicron is about the same. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evolutionary pressure on viruses to become less deadly. In fact, since the same factors that make a disease more infectious can also make it more likely to result in the death of the host, diseases can easily move from mild to more deadly over time.
What’s different about 2023 so far is that no new variant has appeared that is significantly more contagious, or more evasive, than omicron. Also, the CDC estimates that 96% of Americans have antibodies to at least one variant of COVID-19 through either vaccination or exposure. Put that all together, and you get a season where COVID deaths have just stayed down.
The other big factor is treatment. In 2020, medical workers were in the dark on how to handle a COVID-19 infection. Now, in addition to over 75% of the population being vaccinated at least once, the steps to more effectively treat COVID-19 are better understood. Plus there are new tools like Paxlovid which can reduce the rate of death, even if it doesn’t necessarily help people get over symptoms more quickly, Improved treatment over time is a big factor in why each of those peaks in mortality tends to be smaller than the previous.
That’s fantastic. But it’s also not a guarantee of peachy keen sailing from here on out.
Scientists around the world are still tracking variants of concern, two of which are thought to be more contagious than baseline omicron while maintaining about the same level of severity. Those variants, or others with similar statistics, could become dominant in the United States in coming weeks, creating a new crest in mortality. All of these variants are descended from omicron. Right now, alpha, delta, and all the other variants and subvariants are either essentially extinct or found only at very low levels in the population. Omicron has won the evolution game by simply being more infectious than all the rest—including by being the variant most likely to infect people who have already been infected by past variants.
The good news is that the relative level of change in infectiousness between these latest variants is much lower than the two-times, or even five-times jumps seen earlier. The SARS-CoV-2 virus underwent a period in which the billions of people infected, pouring out quadrillions of new viruses, created a high-speed evolutionary showdown for most infectious virus ever. But having obtained a measles-like rate of contagiousness, the structure of the virus may not offer any other opportunities for big jumps that don’t involve a whole series of changes to the genetic sequence.
So the next big wave may never come—or it may begin next week. But even if the threat still looms out there, the level of deaths at this moment deserves real celebration.
Yes, things could get worse again quickly. Yes, levels of hospitalization haven’t dropped nearly as sharply as deaths, so COVID-19 is still making thousands of people a day very, very sick. Yes, long COVID remains a poorly understood problem that is affecting the lives of millions and will affect both the economy and the stability of health care programs. Yes, COVID-19 probably has more nasty sequelae waiting in the wings that we don’t understand at the moment.
But right now, the number of people dying from COVID-19 in the United States has dropped to a level that is pretty much lost in statistical noise. Numbers that were once going up by thousands a day are now going up by single digits. This is all much better than I expected.
That’s worth celebrating. Just please don’t blow the candles out while they’re on the cake. Because … germs.
Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have stirred controversy by co-authoring a Supreme Court opinion declaring that yachts are people.
The sweeping opinion, which yachts’-rights organizations immediately hailed as “long overdue,” grants the luxury vessels the unlimited ability to entertain government officials on their decks in order to gain political influence.
“For decades, yachts have been tireless in their struggle to be treated like human beings,” Harland Dorrinson, the president of the National Council on Equality for Boats, said. “For them, this victory represents the end of a long, hard regatta.”
“The public should note that yacht owners have traditionally referred to their boats as ‘she,’ ” he added. “Given that, this is the most pro-female opinion this Court is likely to issue.”
But some legal scholars, such as Professor Davis Logsdon, of the University of Minnesota Law School, believe that reclassifying yachts as people could have unintended consequences.
“Thanks to the conservative super-majority on the Court, yachts are gaining rights at the same time that actual people are losing theirs,” Logsdon said. “In order to be treated like humans, people may soon have to claim to be yachts.”
An abducted teenager is now safe at home, thanks in part to the collaborative work between Nintendo and the FBI, as well as volunteers from Hear Their Voices. ABC15 reports that the unnamed child disappeared from her Virginia home on August 3, 2022. She was missing for 11 days before the FBI and Tolleson police pinpointed her location and surrounded her abductor’s apartment in Arizona…
Her abductor was reportedly a 28-year-old man, Ethan Roberts. He made friends with the victim on the internet, before going to Virginia to abduct her, according to court documents.
When the 14-year-old was taken from Virginia, she was allowed to bring her Nintendo Switch games console. ABC15 reports that during her captivity, the victim watched YouTube and downloaded a game, thereby dropping “digital breadcrumbs.” Thanks to a connected Switch gaming friend in her Virginia locality, authorities were alerted…
After the digital breadcrumbs were picked up, on day 10, the FBI and Nintendo worked to locate the girl’s Switch console via its IP address. She was freed from Roberts’ apartment the next day, and is now at home in Virginia recovering from her ordeal…
birgerjohanssonsays
I suppose the super-traditionalist Republicans will want to have this practice back. After all, it is only the unborn they care about.
Potentially good campaign news, as summarized from a Politico article:
[…] incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema hasn’t officially announced her 2024 plans, but the Arizona independent’s campaign coffers are adding to her electoral difficulties: In the second quarter, she raised $1.7 million, as compared to her Democratic rival, Rep. Ruben Gallego, who brought in $3.1 million over the same three-month period.
House and Senate Republicans may be divided on whether or not the United States ought to put the brakes on military aid to Ukraine, allowing Russian kleptocrat Vladimir Putin to pillage the country as he may, but the activists of the Republican base aren’t conflicted. That’s the takeaway from Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action conference last weekend—or at least, that’s the takeaway Kirk wants to push.
There’s reason for skepticism given that Kirk’s outfit is among the most unabashedly pro-fascist groups in Republicanism, is virulently pro-Donald Trump, and are such brazen liars that they might just be making the whole thing up. According to Kirk, in a straw poll of conference attendees, a near-unanimous 95.8% of them voted against supporting “U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine.”
[…] A few media outlets have picked this one up, but so far I haven’t seen any of them point out that Turning Point USA is a brazen propaganda outfit and it wouldn’t exactly be a shock to learn that event organizers threw out whatever the actual vote totals were and wrote up “95.8%” because it sounded better. Then again, this is a crowd of dyed-in-the-wool true believers; The seditionist Donald Trump was the keynote speaker for the conference, and in other straw poll results the crowd picked conspiracy crank Kari Lake as their favorite vice presidential choice and the JFK Jr.-like Vivek Ramaswamy as their presidential choice if Trump’s remaining classified document boxes fell on his head and killed him while he was using a yet-unsearched Bedminster bathroom.
So while Kirk could be lying his ass off about his own poll’s results, the news that over 95% of Turning Point’s willing conference attendees favor cutting off U.S. “involvement” in the defense of a European nation Putin wants to put back under Russia’s thumb wouldn’t exactly be a stunner either. This is a group that’s self-selected to be pro-Trump, pro-conspiracy, and even pro-Putin if Donald points his mouth at a microphone to demand it of them. Fascists gotta fash, and all that.
What this does again hint at, though, is that no matter what alleged Republican leaders might have to say about it, the activists in the party, as in the people who are putting in the actual legwork to boost the sedition-agnostic party into new power in 2024, are taking an anti-Ukraine stance as a given. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake notes that the Turning Point poll came immediately after Tucker Carlson turned the allegedly evangelical Family Leadership conference to badger Republican presidential contenders into taking anti-Ukraine stances.
Blake also points out that support for Ukraine is in the 2-to-1 range among American voters in general, and even Republican voters support U.S. assistance for Ukraine, if only barely, at 52%.
[…] The activist base is way out of the American mainstream on this one—and it’s the activist base that turns out for events like the Family Leadership shindig and the Turning Point fascist-o-rama, so they’re the ones getting in the faces of Republican candidates who don’t toe that same line. It’s going to be a dangerous game for Republican candidates at all levels. Launching a new candidacy will either require placating the anti-Ukraine crowd now only to walk it all back later, or (more likely) will force candidates to look like absolute doorknobs as they try to evade the question entirely.
As for how those activist Republicans turned from aggressively interventionist, at first jumping from the Afghanistan War into another Iraq War while frothing for military intervention against Iran, to a new insistence that a war of conquest inside Europe and launched by would-be Soviet restorationists is none of our business?
That one’s a puzzler, and I’ve yet to hear a more plausible explanation than the obvious one. Paul Manafort and other American politicos began to make serious cash boosting Russian ambitions in Europe. Manafort’s pro-Russia ties led directly to fellow Trump booster Rudy Giuliani latching on to a pro-Russia disinformation campaign in Ukraine targeting, yet again, a Trump political enemy. Trump attempted to flat-out extort the Ukrainian government to produce so-called evidence in the plot. Trump got his crooked ass impeached for the effort. Reps. Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, and the rest of Republicanism were tasked with defending Trump, which required new partisan claims that Actually it was Ukraine that was corrupt, and now here we are, with a vast majority of diehard Republican Party activists now basing their worldviews around two decades of post-Soviet Russian disinformation.
That’s how you end up with a Tucker Carlson, and with Turning Point USA, and with Newsmax (lol), and with claims that Jared Kushner’s Saudi billions are on the up-and-up but that Hunter Biden’s art career is where the “real” corruption lies. This is what happens when you base a whole movement around justifying every word-burp that comes out of Dear Leader’s bullshitting mouth. It gets very silly, very fast, and before you know it you’re on Vladimir Putin’s side of things and nobody can quite figure out how it happened.
An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state’s new ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, just days after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law.
That means abortion is once again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the courts assess the new law’s constitutionality.
The new law prohibits almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure in a rare, all-day special session last week, prompting a legal challenge by the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic. Judge Joseph Seidlin held a hearing on the matter Friday, but said he would take the issue under advisement — just as Reynolds signed the bill into law about a mile away. […]
Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025
The former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the White House and limit the independence of federal agencies. by Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman [writing for the New York Times.]
Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.
Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.
Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.
Mr. Trump intends to bring independent agencies — like the Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control.
He [Trump] wants to revive the practice of “impounding” funds, refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon.
He intends to strip employment protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants, making it easier to replace them if they are deemed obstacles to his agenda. And he plans to scour the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaucracies to remove officials he has vilified as “the sick political class that hates our country.”
[…] The two driving forces of this effort to reshape the executive branch are Mr. Trump’s own campaign policy shop and a well-funded network of conservative groups, many of which are populated by former senior Trump administration officials who would most likely play key roles in any second term.
Mr. Vought and Mr. McEntee are involved in Project 2025, a $22 million presidential transition operation that is preparing policies, personnel lists and transition plans to recommend to any Republican who may win the 2024 election. The transition project, the scale of which is unprecedented in conservative politics, is led by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency. [Red flag!]
That work at Heritage dovetails with plans on the Trump campaign website to expand presidential power that were drafted primarily by two of Mr. Trump’s advisers, Vincent Haley and Ross Worthington, with input from other advisers, including Stephen Miller, the architect of the former president’s hard-line immigration agenda. […]
Commentary:
[…] It’s past time to stop treating the Heritage Foundation as anything but what it is: a strategic planning arm for the oligarchs funding the demagogues and Fascists undermining democracy in this country.
They have a list of who to go after; they are planning a purge on taking office. There should be alarm bells going off everywhere. They have a legal theory to use to justify this, one that last came up when George W. Bush was lying us into war of choice and pulling off a lot of other outrageous things in the service of the NeoCon agenda.
[…] The legal theory rejects the idea that the government is composed of three separate branches with overlapping powers to check and balance each other. Instead, the theory’s adherents argue that Article 2 of the Constitution gives the president complete control of the executive branch, so Congress cannot empower agency heads to make decisions or restrict the president’s ability to fire them. Reagan administration lawyers developed the theory as they sought to advance a deregulatory agenda.
But wait — there’s more.
“The notion of independent federal agencies or federal employees who don’t answer to the president violates the very foundation of our democratic republic,” said Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, adding that the contributors to Project 2025 are committed to “dismantling this rogue administrative state.”
Personal power has always been a driving force for Mr. Trump. He often gestures toward it in a more simplistic manner, such as in 2019, when he declared to a cheering crowd, “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”
And…
Mr. Trump and his allies also want to transform the civil service — government employees who are supposed to be nonpartisan professionals and experts with protections against being fired for political reasons.
The former president views the civil service as a den of “deep staters” who were trying to thwart him at every turn, including by raising legal or pragmatic objections to his immigration policies, among many other examples. Toward the end of his term, his aides drafted an executive order, “Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service,” that removed employment protections from career officials whose jobs were deemed linked to policymaking.
[…] Mr. Trump himself has characterized his intentions rather differently — promising on his campaign website to “find and remove the radicals who have infiltrated the federal Department of Education” and listing a litany of targets at a rally last month.
[…] To advance their agenda, they are willing to give unchecked power to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is an incompetent, corrupt, amoral, narcissistic loon who will be a disaster if returned to power.
They are willing to empower him and embrace an authoritarian personality cult because they see that as the only way they can overturn and reverse America’s slow and erratic progress towards a country that is more just, more equitable, more democratic, and more sustainable — because they see that progress as a threat to themselves and their status.
[…] Their biggest weapon is the unchecked power of money.
[…] They are aided and abetted by the reluctance of the press to give up the comfort of being ‘fair and balanced’ because it would require them to make a judgment in their reporting. […]
In their ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court justices said this about banning Willis from the case: “We note only that Petitioner has not presented in his original petition either the facts or the law necessary to mandate Willis’s disqualification by this Court at this time on this record.” …
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Monday called on Democrats to “do something” about antisemitic remarks being made by members of their caucus, after Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) stirred up a firestorm for calling Israel a “racist state,” a comment she later walked back…
Meanwhile, what has McCarthy done about George Santos, MTG, Lauren Boebert and the entire Freedom Caucus? Plus, notice that criticism of government policy of the state of Isarel is being deliberately mistaken for “anti-semitism.”
The D.C. government entered into a contract with a convicted felon who claims he’s invented a way to double the range of electric vehicles.
Self-described inventor Lawrence Hardge created a small box to be installed into D.C.’s parking enforcement vehicles. Electrical engineers say this product is untested and practically impossible…
“We solved numerous problems where the Chevy Bolt does not overheat,” Hardge in his posted video. “We increased the mileage. We also solved some other issues.” …
According to a Jackson Advocate article out of Hardge’s home state of Mississippi, Hardge claimed in 2022 that he “had been notified by the University of Michigan, which is located only 35 miles from Hardge Global Manufacturing offices in Farmington Hills, that he is being prepped for a possible Nobel Prize nomination by the university.” …
whheydtsays
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #276….
Color me extremely skeptical. That’s of the claims and the claimant.
StevoRsays
@250. Lynna, OM :
From the source hyperlinked there :
The result, as we discussed last week, is an NDAA that would, among other things, limit abortion access for servicemembers, end diversity training in the military, curtail transgender care, prohibit work on combatting climate change, and even restrict what Defense Department schools can teach.
Emphasis added. Aside from the obvious cruelty, this is sheer insanity.
(Thought this was DeathSantis but turns out it was Kevin McCarthy. You’d think both of them -but the former living in Florida with all the going underwater consequences there esp would realise that at some level..)
StevoRsays
@262. LykeX :
I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?
Either they do and then it’s NATO attacking, or they don’t and then the grain is at the bottom of the sea. At the end of the day, how do you stop a warship without firing on it?
Physically block it using your ships to keep their ships away by their position, physical collision or ramming them?
Entangling their rudders and propellers?
Attaching them to other ships or objects that are more massive and stationary or heading in the other direction and capable of literally pulling their ships back? Sorta like the paddler-wheeler verssus screw propelled warship tug of war?*
Hypothetically, having a hypotehtical presumably gravity or underwater volcano activating device that raises the sea bed underneath them in order to ground them and prevent their progress?
Of course, those are also really likely to result in war and death and carnage too so.. yeah. But technically not firing on them so there’s that.
The tests culminated in the famous tug of war, when, reported The Times newspaper, ‘the vessels being fastened to each other, with their heads (bows -ed) in opposite directions, the Rattler towed the Alecto, in spite of all her attempts to run away astern, at the rate of two miles and a half an hour.’
Of cours einthis case that would require bigger ships somehow attaching and importantly staying attached to the Russian ships here which cannot see working.
StevoRsays
PS. Another thought – having a ship or barge-y type object that is or can be somehow turned into the equivalent of a massive floating glue-y chewing gum that you force the Russian ships to ram or contact which them sticks to and envelops their ships and thereby prevents or seriously slows them moving.
Of course that requires alien tech and we have nothing remotely like that available far as I know.. so, yeah. A fictional SF idea answer to an all too serious and present threat.
John Moralessays
“A fictional SF idea” — heh.
StevoR, LykeX’s question was “I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?”
The obvious answer is that if Turkey is officially escorting those ships, then they will defend those ships with things that go “boom!”. That’s what escorting them means in this case, it’s not some sort of ceremonial thing.
Kinda lose more face if they don’t than if they do.
Easy enough for the Turks to wait until the escorted ship actually is attacked before the “boom!” phase.
And Turkey is in NATO.
And Russia is not even handling Ukraine, so how could they handle NATO?
StevoRsays
Hope folks find these interesting :
.***
It may look like a small, unspectacular herby thing but this Week’s Endangered Species of the Week is actually something very special being one of the world’s rarest plants – the critically endangered Anogramma ascensionis or Ascension Island Parsley Fern. Found only on the eponymous South Atlantic island ,it was once considered extinct before four individuals were found in 2010 and cultivated by conservationists. Native to Ascension island, it was soon driven almost to extinction by feral species starting with goats introduced by Pertugese explorers in the 16th century and including its compeditor, the introduced weed maidenhair fern (Adiantum), which along with predation by exotic grazers and habitat loss meant it vanished for 60 years. Previously more widespread on the island though always needing damp conditions and never common, today only 40 plants are known to exist in the wild in an area of just 7 hectares surviving on rocky cliffs with Britain’s Kew Gardens leading efforts to cultivate the species’ spores and hopefully keep it alive for future generations.
About the speculation of how Russia would handle grain ships with no deal in place, assuming Turkish escorts… The usual method would be to send a boarding party on board and start giving orders to the ship’s captain. To stop the escorts from interfering, one would usually want to bring a bigger ship than the escort and sort of just dare the escort to shoot first (though given the general performance shown by the Russian Navy, that could get…iffy). The other traditional alternative is for the Russians to send out a submarine and torpedo the grain ships.
On the whole, I suspect the most effective way to handle the situation would be to re-flag the bulk carriers in Turkey and also send Turkish escorts. Then, no matter what sort of response the Russians make it is likely to be an act of war on a NATO nation.
(And if the Russians try to set up someone claiming to be acting on their own, and not under command of the Russian state, then it is an act of piracy, with the logical consequences that follow.)
whheydtsays
Re: 283…
I should add that, to the best of my knowledge, Letters of Marque and Reprisal are banned under interntional Law (Law of the Sea?), so no matter what paperwork you have, claiming to be a privateer will get you automatically classed as a pirate.
(Note: The US Constitution grants Congress the power to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal.)
StevoRsays
Might be late with this one given the date even with the UA being a day behind timezones ~wise but :
A “cannibal” coronal mass ejection birthed from multiple solar storms, including a surprise “dark eruption,” is currently on a collision course with Earth and could trigger a sizable geomagnetic storm on our planet when it hits on Tuesday (July 18). ..(snip).. A cannibal CME is created when an initial CME is followed by a second faster one. When the second CME catches up to the first cloud, it engulfs it, creating a single, massive wave of plasma. … (snip)..A simulation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center showed that the second storm will catch up with the first CME and form a cannibalistic cloud, with a strong likelihood of it hitting Earth on July 18. Both CMEs came from C-class solar flares, the mid-tier of solar eruption strength. On their own, they would be too weak to trigger significant geomagnetic storms. But their combined size and speed mean they are likely to trigger a G1 or G2 level disturbance, the two highest classes for a geomagnetic storm.
Cannibal CMEs are rare because they require successive CMEs that are perfectly aligned and traveling at specific speeds. But there have been several in the last few years.
The coronal mass ejection does not appear to have resulted in many impressive northern lights displays, ir there would be mention of it in media.
The regions är north where northern lights are most visible have rather bright nights still, ruining visibility.
.
Better batteries!
High-performance lithium batteries soon degrade from “dendrite formation”.
It looks like a solution is in the horizon. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-carbon-stabilized-li-si-anodes-all-solid-state-li-ion.html
KGsays
If the jet stream is causing extreme weather by getting ‘stuck’, can a temporary intervention like introducing dust or aerosols into the stratosphere alter the heat balance enough to destabilise the jet stream, after which the intervention can end (as distinct from permanent geoengineering)? – birgerjohansson@253
I don’t know (I’m not a climate expert), but supposing this would work, I can give at least one answer to Reginald Selkirk’s #255:
What could possibly go wrong?
Suppose, after the intervention, the jet stream does shift and as a result, there are catastrophic floods/heat/cold/nameless abominations crawling forth from the depths, somewhere else. How much could the interveners be sued for, and would they have been able to obtain insurance?
The U.S. government on Monday sued a New York-based company for allegedly operating a so-called “massive ‘consent farm’ enterprise” to trick nearly 1 million people a day into providing personal information and consent to receive telemarketing calls.
Fluent LLC was accused of having since 2011 used deceptive ads and websites to promise free rewards, including from familiar brands such as Amazon and Walmart, that were impossible to obtain, and interviews for jobs that did not exist.
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission said Fluent’s true purpose was to sell “leads” to telemarketers that later inundated consumers with robocalls, texts and emails about auto warranties, debt reduction, for-profit education, pain cream, solar energy and other products and services.
According to a complaint filed in the West Palm Beach, Florida federal court, tens of millions of people were deceived, including many on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, with Fluent in 2018 and 2019 alone generating $93.4 million in revenue from selling more than 620 million leads.
Fluent operates under such names as Flash Rewards, the National Consumer Center, The Reward Genius, Up Rewards, FindDreamJobs, JobsOnDemand and StartACareerToday, the complaint said…
Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist from Flinders University in Adelaide, said the cylinder is likely the third phase of a polar satellite launch vehicle previously launched by India.
“It is identical in dimension and materials,” Gorman told CNN, comparing it with launch vehicles used by India since 2010.
Space rockets are multi-stage, meaning they are made up of various compartments carrying fuel, each of which are dumped in a sequential order when the propellant runs out, with much of the debris falling back to Earth.
Gorman also said the largely intact color and shape of the cylinder suggests that it did not reach outer space before it detached, sparing it from intense burn with the atmosphere on re-entry. It may have landed in the ocean about five to 10 years ago until a recent deep sea storm pushed it to the shore, she added…
An American national reportedly serving in the U.S. Army defected to North Korea on Tuesday, according to local media reports.
The United Nations Command, a military force which operates in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) dividing the Korean Peninsula, announced that a U.S. national had crossed the border…
According to South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, the man is a private in the U.S. Army. Unnamed American officials similarly told The Washington Post that the man is a U.S. Army soldier. One also said that the detained man was recently scheduled to get on a flight to the U.S. but he never boarded the plane, adding: “This was a deliberate decision on part of the service member to cross.” The United States is now reportedly trying to establish his whereabouts and condition…
Reginald @274, that is such good news. It shows that, at least in one limited way, the justice system is working properly. Nice put-down of Trump’s attorneys.
I think it was Andrew Weissman who said that the Trump petition to remove the Georgia DA never had a chance, and that even Trump’s lawyers knew that. They probably filed the petition anyway just because Trump insisted.
Israel may be about to export its Merkava tank for the first time. One customer may be an Arab country. Another could be a European nation at odds with Turkey.
For now, the details are cryptic. “There are two potential countries with which we are holding advanced negotiations,” Yair Koles, a retired brigadier general who heads the defense export division of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, told business publication Calcalist. “I am not allowed to give the names, but one of them is on the European continent.”
The European nation in question is actually Cyprus, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which in June cited an unnamed Cypriot official who said negotiations are underway. The Arab nation is Morocco, Spanish outlet El Espanol reported this month…
It’s not uncommon for politicians to take an interest in pop culture, but it’s best when they do so in a coherent way. Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, is amazingly bad at it.
For example, a decade ago, just six months into the Texas Republican’s congressional career, Cruz tried to condemn the Affordable Care Act by reading “Green Eggs and Ham” on the Senate floor. “The difference with green eggs and ham — when Americans tried it, they discovered they did not like green eggs and ham, and they did not like Obamacare, either,” he declared. “They did not like Obamacare in a box, with a fox, in a house, or with a mouse.”
There was, however, a small problem with the effort: Cruz apparently didn’t read all the way to the end of the story, since Dr. Seuss’ main character discovered that green eggs and ham really weren’t so bad after all. Indeed, the protagonist came to regret criticizing something he didn’t fully understand, and ended up celebrating the very thing he’d complained about so bitterly. Cruz had it all backwards.
Two years ago, the Texan tried again, launching a surprisingly aggressive offensive against Big Bird because the Muppet used social media to help inform kids about important public health information. Cruz insisted that the Sesame Street character was guilty of promoting “government propaganda.”
The senator’s criticisms were weird and misguided, but as we discussed at the time, he didn’t seem to care. And the more Cruz faced pushback, the more he kept the offensive going: A Washington Post report noted at the time that the Republican senator “tweeted or retweeted Big Bird attacks” far more than he commented on a mass-casualty event in Houston that happened around the same time.
The good news is, Cruz has moved on from Dr. Seuss and Big Bird. The bad news, the GOP lawmaker is now worked up about Barbie. As The New Republic summarized last week:
A growing number of voices on the right are accusing the upcoming Barbie movie of pushing Chinese propaganda. The film, which comes out July 21, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, who leave Barbie Land to explore the real world. In one scene before they leave, a rough, hand-drawn map of the world can be seen in the background. The map includes the so-called nine-dash line, a much-disputed division of territory in the South China Sea.
The accusation is incredibly foolish. As Dan Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University, explained last week, the cartoonish image from the film is “a nonsense map. There are squiggles and arrows and hashtags and dotted lines all over the damn place. To the extent that the map is supposed to depict the Pacific Rim, the dotted line is nowhere close to where the actual nine-dash line is.”
In other words, the map is not a secret message, intended to warp audiences’ minds.
And yet, there was Cruz, taking an exceedingly weird interest in the movie. In fact, a spokesperson for the senator told the Daily Mail last week, “China wants to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think, and they leverage their massive film markets to coerce American companies into pushing [Chinese Communist Party] propaganda — just like the way the Barbie film seems to have done with the map.”
Soon after, Cruz kept at it, suggesting that “Barbie” is somehow responsible for promoting Chinese propaganda.
If the GOP senator wants to take an occasional interest in the culture outside of politics, fine. But it’d far better for Cruz if his cultural commentary wasn’t quite so absurd. Big Bird isn’t his enemy; Dr. Seuss can’t be used to undermine support for the ACA; and the idea that “Barbie” includes secret political messages from Beijing is incredibly foolish, even by the low standards of Republican politics in 2023.
Maybe Cruz could pick up a new hobby? Maybe something to do with governing and trying to pass worthwhile legislation?
StevoRsays
@281. John Morales :
“A fictional SF idea” — heh.
StevoR, LykeX’s question was “I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?”
Actually the question I was answering was the one after that of : ..how do you stop a warship without firing on it?
Which, yeah, tautiologpous a bit but it could’ve been a fictional Western idea like a really big lasso and very strong posse or a romance novel of, erm, seducing the ship or its captain and convincing them not to attack I guess?
More seriously I think #283 whheydt has the best plan here with :
..the most effective way to handle the situation would be to re-flag the bulk carriers in Turkey and also send Turkish escorts. Then, no matter what sort of response the Russians make it is likely to be an act of war on a NATO nation.
Although that also risks starting WW III but then that’s kinda where we ae now with Putin in charge anyhow and almost whatever we do short of letting Putin have his way here which, NO, just no.
StevoRsays
How did “tautologous” turn into that word dangnabbit?
A conservative Republican provision of the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill that would prohibit Defense Department personnel from communicating with an established civil rights group survived a contentious House vote Friday. The amendment, slipped into the House version of the defense authorization bill by Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, would forbid service members from contacting the Military Religious Freedom Foundation or its leadership. The legislation would also bar commanders from taking “any action or mak[ing] any decision as a result of any claim, objection or protest” made by the group “without the authority of the Secretary of Defense.”
Commentary:
[…] For those unfamiliar with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the civil liberties group was created by Mikey Weinstein, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, a veteran, and an attorney who worked in the Reagan White House. He’s also an ardent proponent of the separation of church and state.
With this in mind, Weinstein’s organization works to keep the military religiously neutral, preventing proselytizing, and routinely drawing the ire of the far-right. (The late TV preacher Pat Robertson famously condemned Weinstein as “a little Jewish radical.”)
[…] House Republicans settled on a new plan: If American servicemen and women have concerns about religious liberty, they would no longer be permitted to contact the Military Religious Freedom Foundation — whether their concerns have merit or not.
What’s more, if the Military Religious Freedom Foundation brought a legal problem to the attention of a military leader, commanders would have no choice but to ignore the issue without the direct approval of the Defense secretary, who presumably has other things to do.
The Senate’s version of the NDAA has not yet passed, but once it does, there will be a conference committee to reconcile the competing versions of the legislation. Whether the final bill will include restrictions on troops interacting with a civil liberties group remains to be seen.
The spectacle of the Republican Party’s efforts to malign Democrats is spiraling ever deeper into an abyss of pitiful nonsense. Since they have nothing of substance with which to attack President Biden and the Democrats. so they have resorted to humiliating themselves with preposterous rants and fabricated scandals.
[…] On Sunday, the Shadow GOP Speaker, Marjorie Taylor Greene, delivered a speech at the ultra right-wing Turning Point conference. She was surely convinced that her oratory would sink the Democratic Party and President Biden. Unfortunately for her, it had quite the opposite effect. So much so, in fact, that Biden embraced her speech and reposted on Twitter with the retort that said simply “”Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.” Greene began by noting the similarities between LBJ and Biden, saying that…
“Lyndon B. Johnson was the majority leader in the Senate. Does that sound familiar? He was Vice President to Kennedy, Joe was Vice President Obama. He was appointed as the president after JFK was assassinated. Then he was elected. His big socialist programs were the Great Society.
“The Great Society were big government programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare, the Office of Economic Opportunity and big labor and labor unions. Now LBJ had the Great Society, but Joe Biden had Build Back Better. And he still was working on it, the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on and Joe Biden is attempting to complete.”
OH NOES!!! What a monster. President Biden is successfully addressing “education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare.” Whatever will become of America and her poor, beleaguered people when those problems have been mitigated?
Indeed. Biden has followed in the hallowed footsteps of past Democratic leaders who also sought to improve the lives and everyday Americans. And he is proud of having done so. It is the longtime mission of Democrats to advance the interests of hard-working people and middle-class citizens. As opposed to the mission of Republicans to advance the interests of corporations and the wealthy.
Greene continued with what she regards as failures of the Biden administration, such as $32 trillion of debt, much of which is attributable to Trump. She adds remarks about homelessness, which Republicans have never sought to address, or even pretend to care about. Then she comes to inflation, which has gone down for the last twelve consecutive months.
The speech that Greene disgorged was so ridiculous that the Lincoln Project turned it into a Democratic advertisement. And a damn good one… [video at the link]
wzrd1says
Musk is suing the lawyers who forced him to go through with his purchase of Twitter.
Given that contracts were involved and that whole law thing, well, one can indeed sue a ham sandwich, that doesn’t mean one can win.
@290, the last time I saw a very, very similar story in Australia for a washed ashore mystery object, it turned out to be a mooring buoy. Which was my first thought and confirmed with a Google image search.
This one is odder, possibly a tank, but it’s a decidedly odd color paint job for a rocket internal – even for a military rocket. I’d love to see more views of it, I’ve only saw one angle of the object, so can’t tell if cabling is the far end or tubing. A steel cable says it’s a float, tubing says it’s a tank, manifold with busted stuff and wires, a tank.
Emily Rauhala of The Washington Post reports on a heightening of U.S./Russia/China tensions in the Arctic region.
For several years now, European and U.S. security and intelligence officials have been keeping a closer eye on the world above the Arctic Circle, knowing that melting polar ice will open new trade routes, propel a race for natural resources and reshape global security. Western officials watched as Russia revived Soviet-era military sites and while China planned a “Polar Silk Road.”
But the war in Ukraine and the dramatic deterioration of Western relations with Moscow have put the frostbitten borderlands between Norway and Russia on heightened alert, while increasing the geostrategic importance of the Arctic.
The result is an uptick in military, diplomatic and intelligence interest that could usher in an iteration of the “Great Game,” the 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence in Asia.
For Russia, because the war in Ukraine has diminished Moscow’s conventional military forces and hobbled the Russian economy, its Arctic assets have become more critical. “The Arctic has become more important because the nukes are more important,” said Maj. Gen. Lars Sivert Lervik, the chief of the Norwegian army.
Yep. I expect Putin to pay more and more attention to the Arctic Circle, and to Russian dominance in that area.
The examination defined family annihilation as cases in which an individual killed at least two kinds of family members. That could be a spouse or partner, children and parents. The data also includes killings involving stepfamily as well as ex-partners or spouses.
In the review of killings from 2020 through the end of this past April, Texas led the nation with 33 cases of family annihilations, with Florida coming in second with 18…
NATO navies have been spending more time working on anti-submarine warfare in response to that threat, and for militaries in the Nordic region, which includes NATO’s new member and what will be the next country to join, the concern has prompted renewed interest in expanding their own undersea fleets…
… “Russian ground forces survivability relies on effectively detecting Ukrainian artillery and striking against it, often with its force’s own artillery,” Britain’s defense ministry said in a Monday intelligence update. “A key component of this approach is counter-battery radars, which allow commanders to rapidly locate enemy gun lines.”
But the defense ministry noted that Russia is “suffering from a worsening shortage of counter-battery radars, especially its modern Zoopark-1M. Only a handful of the originally deployed Zoopark fleet are likely to remain operational in Ukraine.”
According to an analysis by the open-source intelligence site Oryx, at least 38 Russian radars have been destroyed, damaged, or captured in Ukraine. This includes as few as eight Zoopark-1Ms, high-value systems that allow Russia to track and detect Ukrainian munitions, though they are vulnerable to detection because of their active electromagnetic signature.
A counter-battery radar is designed to detect incoming fire and almost immediately estimate the position from which it was fired, allowing artillery to rapidly return fire before the enemy crews move their guns…
Officers working for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative have been ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat, according to an email from a Department of Public Safety trooper who described the actions as “inhumane.”
The July 3 account, reviewed by Hearst Newspapers, discloses several previously unreported incidents the trooper witnessed in Eagle Pass, where the state of Texas has strung miles of razor wire and deployed a wall of buoys in the Rio Grande. […]
According to the email, a pregnant woman having a miscarriage was found caught in the wire, doubled over in pain. And a four-year-old passed out from heat exhaustion after she tried to go through it and was pushed back by Texas National Guard soldiers.
Posted by readers of the article:
Since this involved the US border, which by all rights is a federal purview, could there be federal criminal charges here, and perhaps a move in the federal courts to get the State of Texas officials to either coordinate and report to the federal authorities or cease and desist.
———————-
Yes. This might even qualify as a “crime against humanity.”
———————–
At the very least, Mexico could issue an arrest warrant for Texas’ Governor Abbott, along with his National Guard commanders.
———————
The US has steadfastly refused to join the International Criminal Court precisely to avoid the obvious result of Americans being summoned to the Hague for their crimes against humanity.
———————
So, could we federally charge both the issuer of this rule (Abbott) and everybody who obeys it with murder for each death, and thus label them all serial killers?
———————
Troopers of the Texas National Guard were noted in story as the enforcement officers responsible for the actions. The Border Patrol was not mentioned. Texas’ governor, Abbott, is responsible for actions of the National Guard units he activated and ordered to the border.
————————–
Public officials enjoy qualified immunity for actions taken in the course of their job. However, that immunity is not absolute. Specifically, actions that are clear violations of law are not covered (so, you can’t murder someone, or suborn murder, and claim that act was part of your official duties).
—————————
They hire thugs and psychopaths, like those DeathSantis is recruiting for his personal militia.
—————————
And Gov. Abbott is supposed to be a good Christian.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 309
And Gov. Abbott is supposed to be a good Christian.
Considering the tyranny, ignorance, and bloodshed committed to advance that filthy religion, he IS behaving like a Christian.
In a rambling tirade, Donald Trump confirmed that he’s now the target of a criminal probe in the Jan. 6 case. He could testify first, but that’s unlikely.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump’s classified documents scandal has already led to the former president’s criminal indictment. The question has long been whether Smith’s parallel probe, into the Republican efforts to overturn the 2020 election, would generate the same result.
The answer is coming into sharper focus. My MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained this morning:
Donald Trump on Tuesday said he received a target letter in special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 probe, which, if true, would indicate charges against the former president are coming related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In a rambling social media post styled as a Trump 2024 campaign statement, the leading GOP presidential candidate said he got the letter on Sunday, which he said gave him four days to appear before the grand jury on the matter.
To be sure, it’s impossible to know when to believe the former president’s claims. In fact, ahead of his first indictment in New York, Trump made up a date when he expected to be charged, which turned out to be false.
That said, in this instance, Trump’s latest claim appears to be true: NBC News confirmed with two sources with direct knowledge of the matter that he really did receive a target letter from the special counsel’s office.
[…] in the world of criminal prosecutions, “target” is a term of art. Revisiting our earlier coverage, a separate NBC News report recently explained, “There are three general categories in criminal investigations: a witness (someone with relevant information), a subject (someone whose conduct is within the realm of the grand jury’s work) and a target (someone prosecutors believe committed a crime).”
Justice Department guidelines encourage prosecutors to notify targets in advance of filing charges — and those who receive target letters are often indicted.
[…] According to his version of events, the former president has been offered an opportunity to appear before the grand jury considering evidence in this case — and it’s an invitation he will almost certainly decline.
Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney, senior FBI official, and legal analyst for NBC News, explained on MSNBC today, “It’s an invitation from the Department of Justice for Trump to present his side of the story to the grand jury if he so chooses. But there’s nothing in it for him. There’s absolutely no way this man could tell the truth. Lying to a federal grand jury could bring additional charges, including possible perjury and obstruction of justice. He’s very, very unlikely to talk the grand jury out of indicting him. So, I expect he respectfully declines.”
Once that happens, the special counsel is likely to propose an indictment to the grand jury, which will decide whether to bring charges.
As for Trump, he conceded in his weird and meandering written statement that he’s facing a “probable fourth” indictment, which also happens to be true: As we discussed this morning, the former president’s lawyers asked the Georgia Supreme Court to prevent possible charges from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. The justices were unanimous in rejecting the case, making an indictment that much more likely.
Meanwhile, in the classified documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed, is meeting today with prosecutors and the defendant’s attorneys to discuss the upcoming proceedings.
Ah, yes, Trump turned to “Cattturd” to get some comfort on social media:
[…] Trump went on a posting spree and shared six messages from the pseudonymous right-wing influencer “Catturd2” including some that suggested the Republican Party should work to remove Attorney General Merrick Garland for his efforts to investigate Trump.
“The Republican Party must fight fire with fire, and right now, or it will be extinguished!!!” Trump wrote as he shared a lengthy post in which “Catturd2” blasted the GOP for being “too chicken shit to impeach” and described the FBI as “the secret police for the Dem party.”
“The Republican Party = spineless, worthless, good-for-nothing cowards,” Catturd2 declared in the message shared by the former president. [Trump often rants about how no one is protecting him.]
[…] A target letter like the one Smith sent Trump typically indicates an imminent indictment. Spokespeople for the special counsel and Trump did not respond to questions about the potential charges detailed in the target letter. Along with the potential of charges from the special counsel, Trump is widely expected to be indicted by Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, as part of her office’s own investigation into the extensive efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in that state.
The growing pile of indictments against Trump is utterly unprecedented. He is the first president — former or current — to be charged with criminal activity.
Trump has made a habit of responding to developments in these various cases with a slew of posts on Truth, which he helped launch after he and other right-wing figures were banned from mainstream social media platforms in the wake of the January 6 attack.
“Catturd2” is a vocal defender of Trump who has amassed over a million followers on the site and more than 1.8 million followers on Twitter with a blend of folksy hyperpartisanship, conspiracy theories, and crude scatological humor. The account, which Rolling Stone identified as being administered by a Florida man, has been turned into something of a mini MAGA media empire with a store selling merch and even “a Catturd novel” with a “sci-fi” plot featuring a protagonist who has committed what they believe to be a righteous terror attack. Despite some of the extremism and, frankly, utter weirdness coming from the account, it has managed to interact with major right-wing figures including Trump, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk.
Five minutes after his Truth post sharing Catturd’s message calling for Garland’s impeachment, Trump amplified it a second time.
“The Republican Party must get tough, now. This is the strong sentiment that’s flowing through the veins of Patriots. DO SOMETHING!!!” Trump wrote. [Trump is not going to “do something,” (other than commit more crimes), but he wants other people to do something. Something like January 6?]
Trump evidently hung out on Catturd’s page after twice sharing the post calling for Garland’s impeachment. Within the next forty minutes, Trump amplified four more of Catturd’s posts without adding comment. One of the posts was a collage that showed the White House among what Catturd described as “pictures of crack houses” in an apparent reference to the Hunter Biden scandal and the cocaine recently found in the West Wing.
The former president then shared three posts from Catturd that alluded to Trump’s overwhelming frontrunner status in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Those messages made clear why Trump might enjoy the account so much. In Catturd’s world, the power Trump has been accused of illegally refusing to relinquish is never, ever called into question.
“Let’s face it, the primary is over,” Catturd wrote in one of the posts shared by the former president, adding, “Trump 2024.”
AGJeffLandry joined 17 other AGs in signing a letter Mississippi AG Lynn Finch sent last month to the Biden admin saying states need access to info about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states [18 Attorneys General!]:
Mississippi Attorney General Wants Info On Out-of-State Abortions, Gender-Affirming Care
Mississippi authorities need access to information about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states, Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the Biden administration in a June 16 letter. Attorneys general from 18 other states signed onto the letter.
Fitch’s letter calls on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to drop a proposed rule change that would prevent states from obtaining private health information “for a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation into or proceeding against any person in connection with seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive health care … outside of the state where the investigation or proceeding is authorized” and “is lawful in the state where it is provided.”
Fitch’s letter accuses the Biden administration of pushing “a false narrative that States are seeking to treat pregnant women as criminals or punish medical personnel who provide lifesaving care.”
“Based on this lie, the Administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs,” the letter says. “… The proposed rule defies the governing statute, would unlawfully interfere with States’ authority to enforce their laws, and does not serve any legitimate need.” [Text quoted from Mississippi Free press]
[Details from laillunimator.com:]
Louisiana AG Jeff Landry wants info on out-of-state abortions, gender-affirming care; Spokesman says it’s needed to ‘investigate the sexual abuse of children’
Louisiana’s Jeff Landry joined 17 other state attorneys general in signing a letter Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Finch sent last month to the Biden administration saying those states need access to information about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states.
[…] Most of the attorneys general that signed the letter are from states with strict abortion restrictions.
More states, including Louisiana, are seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare, particularly for transgender youth.
[…] Finch’s letter accuses the Biden administration of pushing a false narrative that states are seeking to criminalize pregnant women.
“Last year, the Supreme Court held that abortion is a matter that is entrusted to “the people and their elected representatives” to address,” Finch wrote in the letter. “The Administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs.”
[Tweets, maps, and more info at the link]
Wikipedia:
The fugitive slave laws were laws passed by the United States Congress in 1793 and 1850 to provide for the return of enslaved people who escaped from one state into another state or territory
Speaking to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace about what Texas will become in the wake of the draconian law that will allow any person to sue someone for aiding in an abortion, former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said that it would lead to a “lynch mob” mentality among Texas residents.
“The whole point, Nicolle, is to prevent vigilante justice, to have a sense of rules, rights and obligations that can’t be taken away by the lynch mob,” he said. “We’re not going to let state officials enforce this, just your neighbor or anyone down the street can just sue you if they think you had anything to do with an abortion. And the Supreme Court, five justices, notably not the Chief Justice, but, you know, the other Republican nominees on the court, all said, yeah, that’s fine.”
Katyal said that anti-abortion conservatives may be excited about this, but this kind of law could present some strange unintended consequences. […]
Texas state troopers assigned to Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown […] have been ordered to “push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat,” according to reporting by the Houston Chronicle, based on an email from a Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper working as a medic. CNN has also obtained the same documents.
As part of his effort to make undocumented immigrants just go away forever so he can become president, Abbott has recently installed long strings of “deterrence buoys” in the middle of the Rio Grande, along with miles of razor wire along the banks. The buoys are installed along some of the areas that are relatively easy to cross, leading some migrants to try crossing more dangerous sections of the river. Mexico has complained that the buoys violate a treaty between the US and Mexico […]
The email, dated July 3, reports on events from the week of June 24 to July 1, And reports that within just one seven-hour period, two medics treated, as CNN summarizes:
– A 4-year-old girl passed out in 100-degree heat after Texas (National) Guard personnel pushed the group she was in back towards Mexico
– A man with a significant laceration on his leg, suffered when he tried to rescue his child from razor wire placed on a deterrence buoy in the Rio Grande
– A 15-year-old boy with a broken leg, suffered when he tried to cross a more dangerous part of the river away from the buoys
– A 19-year-old woman trapped in the wire having a miscarriage
In addition, CNN reports, the next day, a mother and two children were dragged underwater while trying to cross in an area where there wasn’t any wire. The woman and one child were pulled out by officers on a DPS boat after about a minute underwater but were pronounced dead at a hospital; the other child’s body was recovered later, and no doubt Abbott and his supporters would say that’s too bad but she shouldn’t have crossed illegally, which is a misdemeanor, but makes white people mad enough that capital punishment is clearly deserved.
In another incident, on June 25, the medics were told to butt out while other troopers were busy violating human rights in the name of “border security”:
[T]roopers came across a group of 120 people camped out along a fence set up along the river. The group included several small children and babies who were nursing, the trooper wrote. The entire group was exhausted, hungry and tired, the trooper wrote. The shift officer in command ordered the troopers to “push the people back into the water to go to Mexico,” the email says.
The trooper wrote that the troopers decided it was not the right thing to do “with the very real potential of exhausted people drowning.” They called command again and expressed their concerns and were given the order to “tell them to go to Mexico and get into our vehicle and leave,” the trooper wrote. After they left, other troopers worked with Border Patrol to provide care to the migrants, the email said.
It’s not clear from either CNN or the Chronicle whether the group was ultimately forced back to Mexico; if the Border Patrol was on the scene, it seems more likely they were detained by the feds, after which they may well have been deported under current border policy, but not forced back into the river.
The trooper medic wrote that he believed
“we a have stepped over a line into the in humane [sic]. We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God. We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such.”
No word on whether he has been disciplined for dragging God into it in a way that suggests migrants are human.
He also suggested that the razor wire could be placed more humanely, to allow migrants to walk along the US bank of the river until they reach points where they can be taken into custody by the Border Patrol. He also called for the wire to be regularly patrolled to rescue families as needed, and for the razor wire to be lit up at night “so people can see the wire and not stumble into it as a trap.” But what fun would that be?
CNN reports that Texas DPS’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating the trooper’s claims, and we’re sure he’ll be fired for putting the state’s policies in writing.
Last week, the the Houston Chronicle reported that the Border Patrol is none too happy about Abbott’s buoys and barbed wire, according to an internal US Customs and Border Protection document:
The wire is preventing agents from getting to asylum-seekers — some of whom have said they have been stuck in the river for hours and days, exposed to the elements with little to no help from Texas Department of Public Safety officers, according to the document.
Migrants are now traversing the banks of the river along spools of thick, sharp wire, increasing the chance of drownings, the document warns. And with water levels rising and some of the wire placed inside the river and not visible, there is a “high risk” of injury, it says.
The document was dated just days before four migrants, including an infant, drowned in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. Officials have not said the wire played a role in the drownings. A Texas DPS spokesman has said the migrants were found floating along the river by state officials July 1
.
In another incident, a Fox News reporter tweeted video of a Border Patrol agent cutting through the razor wire so Border Patrol agents could rescue a group of migrants with several small children from the extreme heat.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement saying this was all Joe Biden’s fault and that the lack of razor wire was what made the border unsafe, but fuck Greg Abbott, we won’t include his other lies here.
We can only assume that Donald Trump will now campaign on a pledge to fire any Border Patrol officers caught giving water to migrants or preventing them from drowning, and then Ron DeSantis will hire contractors to bring migrants from Texas so they can be drowned in Florida instead.
johnson catmansays
re Lynna @313:
Fitch’s letter accuses the Biden administration of pushing “a false narrative that States are seeking to treat pregnant women as criminals or punish medical personnel who provide lifesaving care.”
LIAR!! Even though it is not yet illegal to go to another state to take advantage of differing laws, it appears that republicans are trying to make it illegal to do so if the activity is restricted in their state. The information that they want is none of their damn business.
Wonkette: “In Montana, You Can Stomp A Homeless Man To Death And A Judge Will Let A Neo-Nazi Bail You Out”
[…] a young man had stomped a homeless man to death, pulping his face and skull. The homeless man, Scott Bryan, was a Native American who’d been living at a motel in Kalispell.
[…] one of the three people who bailed out young Kaleb Fleck, 19, after he stomped Bryan to death was a known neo-Nazi — and son of a former Montana Senate majority leader — Zachariah Harp.
Harp isn’t a secret neo-Nazi. He’s a loud and proud one, renting out the library to show Holocaust denial films, a “a central player in the Flathead Valley’s white supremacist movement for some time,” per the Montana Human Rights Network’s Travis McAdam.
The movement he’s active in, at least a dozen years ago, when the Southern Poverty Law Center was already tracking him, is the “Creativity Movement”:
a self-styled racist and anti-Semitic religious organization that worships no deity, but proclaims that “what is good for the white race is the highest virtue, and what is bad for the white race is the ultimate sin.” (The Creativity Movement is the new name for what was once known as the World Church of the Creator. Its 1990s leader, Matt Hale, is now serving a 40-year prison sentence for soliciting the murder of a federal judge.)
[…] Kalispell is represented by the out-loudest of the fringe Right. It was one of the first places to obstreperously refuse public health orders from Gov. Steve Bullock, the last Democratic governor Montana will see for a while. […] It was one of the first places to hound out its own public health officer. It’s lousy with Nazis and their milder, merely lunatic-fringe companions. How do they always find and infest the most beautiful places?
[…] Montana’s always been racist, but they used to have the decency to shut up about it in public. Trump gave them permission to let their racist freak flags fly.
Not everyone in Montana is terrible of course: I miss my beloveds there […] But people tell you who they are in the voting booth. And my Montana is gone.
Long ago, in the mid 1970s, Montana was a purple state. I am sorry to hear that parts of Montana are infested with Nazis and with Nazi-wannabes.
I know good people who live in Montana. It is awful to hear that they are now surrounded by rightwing whackos.
johnson catman @316. True. The Attorneys General from red states DO want to punish pregnant women who seek reproductive care in other states. They are blatantly lying when they say they don’t want to punish anyone.
And they do want to punish medical professionals (or anyone else) who helps women that are seeking abortions or any other reproductive care that rightwing whackos decide is illegal. Ditto for those people that seek gender-affirming care, and for people that help others seeking gender-affirming care.
Of course the rightwing doofuses label some of their actions as being necessary to “investigate the sexual abuse of children.” Orwellian liars. It’s infuriating.
As the Northern Hemisphere approaches summer’s peak, heat is testing the limits of human survival in Earth’s hottest spots — and demonstrating the extremes that are increasingly possible and probable against the backdrop of accelerating global warming.
In recent days, China set an all-time high of nearly 126 degrees Fahrenheit, while Death Valley hit 128 degrees, two shy of the highest reliably measured temperature on Earth. Phoenix was expected to observe a record-breaking 19th consecutive day at or above 110 degrees Tuesday. And in the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees, nearing — or surpassing — levels thought to be the most intense the human body can withstand.
Such conditions are more than enough to overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature, experts said, and offer a glimpse of dangers only expected to become more prevalent as global warming increases extremes in heat and humidity.
Without the help of air conditioning, fans or shade, the body only has its own cooling system to withstand heat. Some body heat can escape through convection and radiation, though that is only effective if the air temperature is lower than body temperature.
Otherwise, sweating is the only way to cool down, transferring heat from the body to the air as it turns from a liquid to a vapor. But that, too, has its limits.
“Sweating is only effective in cooling our bodies if it evaporates,” said Larry Kenney, a professor at Pennsylvania State University who studies physiological responses to heat. Sweat that pools on the skin or drips off “represents dehydration, without any cooling effect,” he said.
Research has shown the human body loses its ability to cool itself via sweating at 95 degrees (35 degrees Celsius) on a scale known as the wet bulb global temperature, which factors in a combination of temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover. Unlike the heat index, which rises above the air temperature based on humidity, the wet bulb globe temperature is not designed to be interpreted as a measure of how hot it feels outside.
A study Kenney published last year estimates that the body’s cooling systems struggle at an even lower wet bulb global temperature, closer to 88 degrees (31 degrees Celsius) even for young and healthy people, based on observations of volunteer test subjects in a weather-controlled chamber.
At that point, exposure to such heat and humidity can strain the heart and cause body temperatures to rise unabatedly, Kenney said. That’s why extreme heat is most dangerous for older people and those with heart conditions.
On Sunday at the Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran, air temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, and the air was nearly saturated with humidity. That translated to a wet bulb temperature of 92.7 degrees (33.7 degrees Celsius), according to data and a wet bulb conversion calculator from the National Weather Service.
The heat and humidity were so intense, they translated to a heat index value that was literally off the charts. The heat index is designed to max out at about 136 degrees, but on Sunday it surpassed 150 degrees in the Persian Gulf.
Well beyond the Middle East, wet bulb temperatures were approaching dangerous levels. Across the southwestern and southeastern United States, wet bulb temperatures hovered in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees on Monday, according to Weather Service data.
Research published in 2020 found that dangerously high wet bulb temperatures are occurring far more frequently — more than twice as often since 1979.
This year, the extreme conditions are occurring alongside a large surge in global heat. It is the product of a resurgent planet-warming El Niño climate pattern on top of greenhouse gas-driven warming. […]
A severe and prolonged heat wave in Southern Europe is near its peak, setting some all-time records and threatening more.
The heat wave, referred to as Cerebrus in Europe, has brought widespread temperatures above 100 degrees (38 Celsius) to the Mediterranean region over the past week.
A slew of records were broken Tuesday as the hottest pulse of this heat wave — expected to last until Thursday — affects the region. Temperatures topped 104 degrees (40 C) in parts of Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Bosnia. Sicily saw temperatures as high as 115 degrees (46.3 C).
Rome’s major airport reached at least 104 degrees Tuesday, setting a record for July and closing in on the all-time record of 105 degrees (40.6 C) in August 1981. Another station in the Rome metro area reached a scorching 109 degrees (42.9 C), which is a record for the city and the Vatican, according to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera. […]
The sweltering temperatures come after the journal Nature reported that more than 60,000 people died in Europe in heat waves last summer. […]
The Houston Chronicle has an absolutely stunning report charging Texas state troopers with carrying out acts intended to kill or injure asylum-seekers. It comes after the Texas Department of Public Safety strung miles of razor wire along the shores of the Rio Grande and, even more controversially, floated a line of deadly razor wire-wrapped barrels in the river itself, all meant to “deter” asylum-seekers from attempting the swim.
[…] The email, which the trooper sent to a superior, suggests that Texas has set “traps” of razor wire-wrapped barrels in parts of the river with high water and low visibility. And it says the wire has increased the risk of drownings by forcing migrants into deeper stretches of the river.
The line of buoys anchored in the river is clearly intended as a deadly trap; there’s no counterargument. The barrels themselves are wrapped loosely in razor wire, likely to cause severe injuries. Asylum-seekers who attempt to swim under the buoys will find themselves blocked and potentially trapped by “webbing going down into the water” that’s anchored to the riverbed.
[…] That the newest Republican plan to block asylum-seekers is “inhumane” is beyond dispute. With a design clearly aimed more at injuring desperate people than preventing “smuggling,” it again crosses the line into being almost glibly malevolent.
Texas is rapidly becoming a failed state, and it’s not because desperate asylum-seekers are sometimes making it across its militarized border. It’s because the state’s increasingly fascist government now seems to have absolute contempt for human rights, for the lives of its own citizens, and others.
Abbott’s plan to snag and drown asylum-seekers before they can sully his precious Republican state with their presence has definitely launched him back into the lead as the most odious and performatively evil of state leaders. Texas officials are now eagerly embracing murder, which might be one of the few ways they could ever have topped their support for an attempted coup.
The 2024 election is rapidly approaching. And while most eyes have been on the White House, the fate of Congress also rests in the balance. On Tuesday, allies of the Congressional Black Caucus launched a new super PAC, the Rolling Sea Action fund, primarily aimed at flipping the House.
While control of the House is always an important electoral goal, Democrats have a unique opportunity this election cycle. As we’ve previously reported on, for the first time, ever, a Black Congressman, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), is leading a major party in Congress. If Democrats win in 2024, Jeffries is in line to become the first Black speaker of the House…
Navy veteran and former congressional candidate Phil Ehr (D) announced on Monday that he’s launching a Senate bid to take on Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) next year in Florida.
Ehr last ran for Congress in 2020 against Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, losing by more than 30 points…
birgerjohanssonsays
“Cell phone data as investigative tool” at Mano Singham’s blog has some fun data, comparing self-reported church attendance with attendance as per cell phone data.
You can probably guess the result.
Re: John Morales @ #329… (Ref: StevoR @ #295).
Get a bigger warship. One might well wonder what the Russian reaction would be if the US sent an Iowa-class battleship to the Black Sea to act as a grain ship escort…. I’m not sure the Russian Navy has anything there that would do much more that leave a scorched spot on the paint on one, whereas a 16″ shell would be pretty effective on any Russian ship there, even if it turned out to be a dud.
Tax data obtained by ProPublica provides a glimpse of what congressional investigators would find if Crow were to open his books to them. Crow’s voyages with Thomas, the data shows, contributed to a nice side benefit: They helped reduce Crow’s tax bill.
The rich, as we’ve reported, often deduct millions of dollars from their taxes related to buying and operating their jets and yachts. Crow followed that formula through a company that purported to charter his superyacht. But a closer examination of how Crow used the yacht raises questions about his compliance with the tax code, experts said. Despite Crow’s representations to the IRS, ProPublica reporters could find no evidence that his yacht company was actually a profit-seeking business, as the law requires.
“Based on what information is available, this has the look of a textbook billionaire tax scam,” said Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “These new details only raise more questions about Mr. Crow’s tax practices, which could begin to explain why he’s been stonewalling the Finance Committee’s investigation for months.” …
Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates that confirmed they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 people would face eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The top charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
The group includes the head of the Republican National Committee’s chapter in Michigan, Kathy Berden, as well as the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Meshawn Maddock, and Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot…
Former Ohio governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said Tuesday he’s “proud” of decisions he’s made to publicly disavow former President Trump in the past and called on 2024 GOP presidential candidates to have the courage to do the same.
“When I took on Trump, from the beginning — refused to endorse him, refused to go to the convention, endorsed Joe Biden — I’m not calling myself out as a great leader. But what I’ll say is: So what? I did what I felt I had to do,” the former Ohio governor said in an interview on MSNBC.
“And today, I look in the mirror, I’m proud of myself. And so is my family and my friends, and more people are coming to the conclusion that maybe Kasich was right,” Kasich added…
The last “moderate” Republican realizes that the crowd has turned on him…
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, which describes itself as a nontheistic nonprofit, is giving Leon County School District an ultimatum: Ban the Bible or stop banning books altogether.
In an email sent to school board members on July 14, Freedom from Religion foundation piled onto a recent successful effort by the local chapter of conservative group Moms for Liberty to pull five books found in Leon County high schools…
“We don’t believe any books should be banned, including the Bible,” Line told the Tallahassee Democrat in an interview. “In cases like this where a school district appears to be using a footpath to discriminate, we demand that they apply that equally across the board to all books that have sexually explicit content, including the Bible.”
Freedom from Religion says the Bible should be banned based on the same reasoning Moms for Liberty presented in their request; “sexually explicit content.” …
Joe Kennedy III, a former U.S. representative from Massachusetts who is now special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, rebuked the comments in a Twitter post on Monday. “My uncle’s comments were hurtful and wrong. I unequivocally condemn what he said,” Kennedy III wrote.
Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, also blasted her brother’s remarks as “deplorable and untruthful.”
“His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stand for, with our 50+-year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination,” she said.
Joe Kennedy II offered a similar take. “Bobby’s comments are morally and factually wrong,” he said in a statement. “They play on antisemitic myths and stoke mistrust of the Chinese. His remarks in no way reflect the words and actions of our father, Robert F. Kennedy.” …
John Moralessays
Get a bigger warship.
Um, NATO is a military alliance. With ships, with submarines, with missiles, with air assets, with satellites, with lots of other stuff.
And members most certainly keep in touch regarding military matters and ongoing operations.
Turkey is a member of NATO.
Point being that whatever surface stuff is around the ship(s) is not the determining factor.
Also, note how Sweden finally got the go-ahead to join, and how Turkey got F16s again.
So. Türkiye gets the face.
No need for US ships too nearby, after all, they’re not the escorts.
(Relatedly, Russian naval forces have lost a shitload of reputation since the 2022 invasion began, what with all the oopsies)
wzrd1says
@331, all of the battleships were retired. If the Navy could get any back from the museums that hold them, it’d take a minimum of 3 years of multi-billion dollar work to make them serviceable again and train a crew on operating the antiques.
Stopping a warship without firing? Ram them. First, aggressively maneuver, risking collision, if necessary, ram them. A common tactic even through WWI.
Better: Have the cargo ship flagged under a major naval power’s flag, especially a NATO power and have that nation’s warships escort it. Any attempt to board or interfere with its movement then becomes an act of war.
Add in a nuclear submarine, well, they’re quiet, they can stay submerged for months and one mark 48 torpedo will split a warship completely in half – literally.
Wow, AT&T damns themselves with their own words.
AT&T stock prices have taken a major beating due to reports that many, many miles of lead covered telephone cables remain in use in their network.
Lead pipe covered cables came into common use, largely initially lead-tin in 1888, in 1912, lead-antimony was found to be as durable and less expensive. Lead pipe covered telephone cables, per AT&T were phased out in the 1950’s.
So, AT&T admits to not maintaining their wires since the 1950’s. https://about.att.com/pages/legacy-cables
That is basically their admission, as in the 1950’s, everything switched to plastic covering for insulation.
But, AT&T says it’s safe. Apparently, lead is good for your health. Oddly, I doubt that the executives at AT&T would want those lead pipes in their back yards, only ours. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/18/business/att-verizon-telecom-stocks/index.html
wzrd1says
Oh, more specifics on Musk’s laughable legal action against the lawyers that forced him to buy Twitter.
Twitter had retained a law firm to enjoin Musk to complete his contracted and agreed to purchase of Twitter at its agreed to high price per share. After some balking and threatened filing, his attorneys convinced him to follow through on his contract.
The firm had a success payment bonus of $90 million, which Twitter happily paid. Musk is alleging that Twitter somehow secretly paid them in an unlawful manner, because paying for bills that are lawfully due but you dislike is illegal in his excuse for a mind.
Suffice it to say, every attorney that’s reviewed his filing broke into open laughter, it’s just that bad and destined to be laughed out of court.
Pity, a contempt of court all around would be a good call, both for Musk and his attorneys for filing such a frivolous matter and wasting the court’s time with such an utterly meritless case.
On Sunday, I wrote this (bolded emphasis not in the original):
Honestly, I don’t know what magic task people think air support does in a near-peer war (as opposed to the counterinsurgency operations of the War on Terror). It destroys enemy equipment, supply depots, and command and control centers behind the front lines. Drones and HIMARS/MLRS are taking care of all that in this war. Ukraine’s problems have nothing to do with air support, and everything to do with a lack of mine-clearing equipment and proper combined arms training, while dealing with Russia’s massed artillery—all of which would be difficult under the best conditions, for the best-trained combat brigades.
This assertion, which seemed self-evident to me given the utter lack of video showing combined-arms actions, got some pushback in the comments. There is certainly this well-intentioned notion that people underestimate Ukraine and that they are capable of anything and everything if just given the chance.
New information from the front confirms my observations.
Franz-Stefan Gady is a conflict journalist and military analyst with experience embedding with NATO forces, Kurdish militias, and the (former) Afghan national army. He just spent time at the front in Ukraine with prominent (on Twitter) military analysts Michael Koffman and Rob Lee, and has reported back on what he saw. This is a transcript of his relevant tweet thread:
Counteroffensive:
1.) By and large this is an infantryman’s fight (squad, platoon & company level) supported by artillery along most of the frontline. This has several implications: 1st: Progress is measured by yards/meters and not km/miles given reduced mobility.
2nd: Mechanized formations are rarely deployed due to lack of enablers for maneuver. This includes insufficient quantities of de-mining equipment, air defenses, ATGMs etc.
2.) Ukrainian forces have still not mastered combined arms operations at scale. Operations are more sequential than synchronized. This creates various problems for the offense & IMO is the main cause for slow progress.
3.) [Ukrainian] forces by default have switched to a strategy of attrition relying on sequential fires rather than maneuver. This is the reason why cluster munitions are critical to extend current fire rates into the fall: weakening Russian defenses to a degree that enables maneuver.
4.) Minefields are a problem as most observers know. They confine maneuver space & slow advances. But much more impactful than the minefields per se on Ukraine’s ability to break through Russian defenses is Ukraine’s inability to conduct complex combined arms operations at scale.
Lack of a comprehensive combined arms approach at scale makes Ukrainian forces more vulnerable to Russian ATGMs, artillery etc. while advancing. So it’s not just about equipment. There’s simply no systematic pulling apart of the Russian defensive system that I could observe.
5.) The character of this offensive will only likely change if there is a more systematic approach to breaking through Russian defenses, perhaps paired with or causing a severe degradation of Russian morale, that will lead to a sudden or gradual collapse of Russian defenses.
Absent a sudden collapse of Russian defenses, I suspect this will remain a bloody attritional fight with reserve units being fed in incrementally in the coming weeks & months.
6.) There is limited evidence of a systematic deep battle that methodically degrades Russian C2/munitions. Despite rationing on the Russian side, ammunition is available and Russians appear to have fairly good battlefield ISR coverage.
Russians also had no need to deploy operational reserves yet to fend off Ukrainian attacks.There is also evidence of reduced impact of HIMARS strikes due to effective Russian countermeasures. (This is important to keep in mind re. any potential tac. impact of delivery of ATACMs.)
Russian forces, even if severely degraded & lacking ammo, are likely capable of delaying, containing or repulsing individual platoon- or company-sized Ukrainian advances unless these attacks are better coordinated & synchronized along the broader frontline.
7.) Quality of Russian forces varies. Attrition is hitting them hard but they are defending their positions well, according to Ukrainians we spoke to. They have been quite adaptable at the tactical level and are broadly defending according to Soviet/Russian doctrine.
8.) Russian artillery rationing is real & happening. Ukraine has established fire superiority in tube artillery while Russia retains superiority in MRLSs in the South. Localized fire superiority in some calibers alone does not suffice, however, to break through Russian defenses.
9.) An additional influx of weapons systems (e.g., ATACMs, air defense systems, MBTs, IFVs etc.) while important to sustain the war effort, will likely not have a decisive tactical impact without adaptation and more effective integration.
Ukraine will have to better synchronize & adapt current tactics, without which western equipment will not prove tac. decisive in the long run. This is happening but it is slow work in progress. (Most NATO-style militaries would struggle with this even more than the Ukrainians IMO).
10.) The above is also true for breaching operations. Additional mine clearing equipment is needed & will be helpful (especially man-portable mine-clearing systems) but not decisive without better integration of fire & maneuver at scale.
(Again, I cannot emphasize enough how difficult this is to pull off in wartime.)
Monocausal explanations for failure (like lack of de-mining equipment) do not reflect reality. E.g Some Ukrainian assaults were stopped by Russian ATGMs even before reaching the 1st Russian minefield.
11.) There is a dearth of artillery barrels that is difficult to address given production rates and delivery timelines.
12.) So far Ukraine’s approach in this counteroffensive has been first and foremost direct assaults on Russian positions supported by a rudimentary deep battle approach. And no, these direct assaults are not mere probing attacks.
13.) There is evidence of tactical cyber operations supporting closing of kinetic kill-chains. That is cyber ISR contributing to identifying & tracking targets on the battlefield. Starlink remains absolutely key for Ukrainian C2.
14.) Quality of Ukrainian officers and NCOs we met appears excellent & morale remains high. However, there are some force quality issues emerging with less able bodied & older men called up for service now.
15.) The narrative that Ukrainian progress thus far is slow just because of a lack of weapons deliveries and support is monocausal & is not shared by those we spoke to actually fighting & exercising command on the frontline.
16.) It goes without saying that in a war of attrition, more artillery ammunition & hardware is always needed and needs to be steadily supplied. (Western support of Ukraine certainly should continue as there is still the prospect that the counteroffensive will make gains.)
But soldiers fighting on the frontline we spoke to are all too aware that lack of progress is often more due to force employment, poor tactics, lack of coordination [between] units, bureaucratic red tape/infighting, Soviet style thinking etc. & …Russians putting up stiff resistance.
None of this is new to anyone reading me the past year and a half—I’ve long argued that combined arms warfare is incredibly difficult, that NATO armies struggle with it even with regular training, and that Ukraine couldn’t just learn it in 3-6 months, no matter how smart and motivated they are.
Gady writes that, “Ukrainian forces have still not mastered combined arms operations at scale. Operations are more sequential than synchronized.” In proper combined arms operations, all the elements work together as one. By sequential, he means something like this: Artillery strikes these trenches first, then armor softens them up more before infantry moves in to finish the job.: [Tweet and video at the link]
I mean, this only looks badass because in this specific example, the Russians in the trench didn’t have anti-tank missiles. Otherwise, this Ukrainian tank would’ve been toast: [Tweet and video at the link]
In proper combined arms operations the infantry are a screening force, protecting the armor from enemy infantry carrying anti-tank guided missiles. Rolling out the tanks ahead of the infantry makes them sitting ducks for those ATGMs, as we’ve seen at least twice during this counteroffensive and as noted in the thread above.
Ukrainians on the front lines also are noting that Russian troops are fighting. The hope that they would surrender en masse or flee has proven, thus far, unfounded.
On the plus side, I’ve noted the Ukrainian focus on eliminating Russian artillery and how effective those efforts have become. That is confirmed in the thread above noting how Ukraine now has an advantage with tube artillery even if Russia still has a MLRS advantage. Tube artillery packs a bigger punch, and Russian MLRS is a fraction as effective as Ukraine’s NATO-standard MLRS (HIMARS and M270s). However, against the kind of squad-sized assaults Ukraine is currently using, Russia MLRS likely has the same kind of impact as cluster munitions—smaller dispersed explosives over a wide area. Russian MLRS also has a longer range than tube artillery, which is why less of it has been eliminated by Ukrainian counterbattery fire.
Finally, I’ve argued that no single weapons system or munition will be a game-changer. In fact, as noted in the thread above, Russia is even learning to protect itself better from GMLRS rocket artillery. It’s interesting that Ukrainian forces on the ground recognize this: “The narrative that Ukrainian progress thus far is slow just because of a lack of weapons deliveries and support is monocausal & is not shared by those we spoke to actually fighting & exercising command on the frontline.” Ukrainian war supporters want to blame everyone else for the apparent lack of progress: It’s a lack of F-16s! It’s a lack of ATACMS long-range rocket artillery! It’s a lack of X, Y, and Z!
This Ukrainian Tartar serving as an intelligence officer in the Ukrainian army has been critical of his own side for months, arguing that too many old-school officers remain in command, using the same outdated tactics that have served Russia poorly. “In the past, I wrote about challenges that our troops were facing near Bakhmut. I received criticism from both compatriots and foreign supporters of our country for saying it, but I turned out to be right about it. Regrettably, we remain in a state of ongoing uncertainty, with neither clear victories nor losses,” he tweeted. “What saddens me further is our tendency to shift blame onto our allies and partners, instead of acknowledging our own recurring mistakes.”
Ukraine needs more of everything, for sure. As I’ve argued and as noted in the thread above, Ukraine needs a hell of a lot more engineering mine-clearing equipment, but F-16s won’t make a measurable difference on the front lines. They are better suited for air defense operations and chasing Russia’s Black Sea fleet out of Crimea. ATACMS are limited in supply and will help degrade Russian logistics. Cluster munitions will alleviate ammunition shortages. None of the above can help Ukraine move faster as long as it doesn’t have the capability to properly use its Western (and Soviet, for that matter) gear to punch through Russian lines and wreak havoc in its rear.
If this update seems downbeat, it’s because it’s acknowledging real challenges at the front. Ukraine is advancing, but it’s doing so the slow attritional way: small units clearing trenches one by one. Ukraine’s shaping operations—destroying Russian artillery, command and control nodes, and logistical hubs—will continue to degrade Russia’s war effort in a positive way, hampering both its defenses and future offensive capabilities. And The New York Times reported that Ukraine has paused to reevaluate its tactics, which is actually a good thing. War is like a chess match, and armies almost constantly make adjustments during war, learning from their mistakes and better taking advantage of their enemy’s missteps.
But these shifting tactics means the hope for a quick knockout blow amidst collapsed Russian lines is essentially dead. Slow and steady will hopefully win the race.
As Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in northeast Ohio to promote House Republicans’ plan to sharply increase domestic production of energy from fossil fuels last month, the signs of rising global temperatures could not be ignored. Smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air. When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees.
The Republicans do not have a climate plan.
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #339…
I suspect that the permissions to display former US warships probably contain clauses requiring their return if the Navy wants them. I agree, though, about what it would take to put an Iowa-class back in service. (Plus, for those that don’t follow such things, only 4 were ever built. There was a 5th–the USS Wyoming–under construction when WW2 ended, but it was scrapped without being completed. The two–was to be three–roughly comparable Japanese battleships were both sunk by aircraft, while the third in that series–the Shinano–was completed as an aircraft carrier and, before being ready for use, sunk coming out of Tokyo Bay. That’s a story in itself.)
I did suggest re-flagging the grain ships under the Turkish flag and giving them Turkish escorts. That would avoid any issues of (potentially) belligerent ships transiting the Bosphorus. Using any other NATO flag would, of course, work as well.
Submarine…not so sure that’s a good idea. Much of the Black Sea is relatively shallow.
As for ramming….an Iowa-class battleship could to an exemplary job of that on pretty much anything afloat today. Might not want to meet an ice breaker bow on, but any other type of ship or an ice breaker and any other angle would probably pretty much do the job.
The head of engineering for the company that operates former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social app told Reuters on Monday he had resigned, in a blow for the venture. Alex Gleason’s departure comes amid a period of prolonged uncertainty for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).
Weird how the United States is “feared” without waving around nuclear threats. [Tweets and video at the link: “We should be feared the way America is feared!” So says Tigran Keosayan, who is married to the head of RT, Margarita Simonyan […]]
Meanwhile, Wagner is no more. [Tweet and image at the link]
Russian media “Mozhem Obyasnit” reports the end of Wagner PMC:
“Wagner PMC will no longer exist, this is the decision of the Chief.” Prigozhin’s PMC has ceased to exist, most of its mercenaries will go to Shoigu.
Wagner PMC that didn’t exist on paper has now been closed as an unofficial armed formation as well. This was reported to the project “We Can Explain” by four sources: an official close to the presidential administration, an interlocutor close to the PMC and two veterans of “Wagner”.
🔹The decision to liquidate “Wagner” in Russia is final and was made personally by Vladimir Putin, says a source close to the Presidential Administration in the Ministry of Defence. “There will be no Wagner in Russia – this is the decision of ” Chief “. They will not be in Molkino either, Defense Ministry contractors and fighters of other PMCs will remain there,” he claims. About the fact that Prigozhin’s mercenaries will no longer be in Molkino, says another source of the Ministry of Defence, close to this PMC. “Right now, several thousand fighters are indeed moving out of Molkino.”
🔹Now the process of separation of “Wagner” is underway, says a fighter of this PMC. According to him, the authorities offer everyone to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Of those who have made their decision – most of the rank-and-file Prigozhin mercenaries have decided to go to Shoigu’s ministry. The project interlocutor did not provide specific figures. But a Wagner veteran, who has been fighting in this formation for more than five years, told the Ministry of Defence: “The most experienced of his infantrymen remained with Prigozhin, and no one is going to take them under the wing of the Defense Ministry.”
🔹 In Russia, recruitment for Wagner PMC has been stopped, the correspondent of the Ministry of Defence was convinced. Most of the company’s phones for recruiting new employees are unavailable. Two numbers play the message “wait for connection with the operator”, but for 5 minutes it still does not happen. Wagner’s foreman, nicknamed Bavarets, is also unavailable – he doesn’t answer either by phone or in messengers, although he used to be available almost around the clock. Most groups in Russian social media VLkontakte, dedicated to Wagner PMC, are blocked “at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office”.
🔹Several hundred Wagner fighters are already in Belarus, but they are practically disarmed, another PMC veteran says. “They did surrender equipment to the Ministry of Defense. Not all of it, but 90 percent – for sure,” he said. Lithuanian National Defense Minister Arvydas Anushauskas said roughly the same thing the other day. “I wouldn’t call them units, I would call them groups that are transferred to Belarus without weapons, ammunition and logistics, the number is small,” Anušauskas claimed. Monitoring group “Belaruski Gayun” reported that a column of “Wagnerites” was traveling to a tent camp in the village of Ciel. According to its data, today Prigozhin’s plane landed at the military airfield in Machulishchy.”
While the Russian defense ministry claims that the Wagnerites are signing contracts with the Russian army, Wagner veterans dispute those claims: “The most experienced of his infantrymen remained with Prigozhin, and no one is going to take them under the wing of the Defense Ministry.” If I had to guess, a good number of them signed up with Russian armed forces or maybe Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s own private army, Patriot PMC (private military contractor), because having private armies is all the rage in Russia these days. And likely a bunch did not. Either way, good riddance to these war criminals. It’s good to see them off the Ukrainian battlefield as an organization.
Israel lent several antiquities to the White House [for a few weeks] in 2019, including ancient clay lamps for a White House Hanukkah event. […] they wound up at Mar-a-Lago. […] The Israeli Antiquities Authority is worried about […] where Trump might be storing them
In-N-Out Burger, the California-based restaurant chain, will soon prohibit employees at its locations in five states from wearing a mask unless they obtain a doctor’s note, a company customer service representative confirmed on Tuesday.
The rule will go into effect on Aug. 14 for employees at the chain’s locations in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah, according to internal company emails leaked on social media last week. Employees who then choose to wear a mask will be required to use an N-95 provided by the company.
In California, which has a law preventing employers from banning masks, and in Oregon, In-N-Out will continue to allow employees to wear masks if they choose, but they may only wear the N-95s provided by the company.
In October 2021, In-N-Out had to temporarily shut down its San Francisco location because it refused to comply with the city’s requirement that all restaurants check vaccine cards for indoor diners. The establishment reopened later that month, but only for outdoor dining.
That In-N-Out Burger problem is easy enough, tangle up their license renewals for a few months with tons of lost forms and red tape.
Then, health inspections. The dirty secret of restaurants is, few pass health inspections without a violation either being overlooked or cited for correction, let the slack disappear. The public safety must be guaranteed or society destabilizes.
rorschach, not unexpected. The god-emperor still lets his wrathful side be felt, for the more heat directed anywhere but him, the better and national security problems are solved by his mighty telepathy.
All, while CNN is reporting how a third indictment would be the death knell of his influence, again underestimating the power of the Church of Trump.
In a blow to tribes, a U.S. appeals court has denied a last ditch legal effort to block construction of what’s expected to be the largest lithium mine in North America on federal land in Nevada.
In a decision Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. government did not violate federal environmental laws when it approved Lithium Nevada’s Thacker Pass mine in the waning days of the Trump administration…
The world’s richest known lithium deposit lies deep in the woods of western Maine, in a yawning, sparkling mouth of white and brown rocks that looks like a landslide carved into the side of Plumbago Mountain.
Mary Freeman and her husband Gary found the deposit five years ago while hunting for tourmaline, a striking, multi-colored gemstone found in the region…
Now, the Freemans want to expand this pit, near the town of Newry, Maine, so they can mine spodumene, crystals that contain the lithium the U.S. needs for the clean energy transition. The timing of their discovery, in what has been named Plumbago North, is remarkable; the Freemans have stumbled across one of the only hard-rock sources of lithium in the U.S. at a time when the material is desperately needed for the clean energy transition…
But like just about everywhere in the U.S. where new mines have been proposed, there is strong opposition here. Maine has some of the strictest mining and water quality standards in the country, and prohibits digging for metals in open pits larger than three acres. There have not been any active metal mines in the state for decades, and no company has applied for a permit since a particularly strict law passed in 2017…
wzrd1says
The grain ship vs military vessels point may well be mooted. Russia has been bombarding grain storage facilities overnight with cruise missiles and drones. Can’t ship that which was incinerated, fuck the rest of the world, let them eat cake and Russian fertilizer (Russia selling their fertilizer was part of the grain deal, but given the Beirut harbor blast, few wanted any part of Russian fertilizer).
I suspect that Russia won’t be deterred unless strikes occur heavily within her own borders, stirring unrest in the primary population centers.
Who else but Prigozhin could be wanted for treason at breakfast, pardoned by dinner and after completing a home relocation, meeting Putin for tea a few days after? The question now is, is Putin now a puppet himself?
Well, I do wonder if anyone has asked the PRC how they feel about having to resource their grain at a much higher price, thanks to Russia destroying their Ukrainian grain at its source… Put a few wedges into sensitive spots.
Britain.
Context: The Sun. Far-right rag (currently having trouble) constantly complaining that the unemployed and other poor have it too good.
Quote: “Bet a few hacks at The Sun secretly hopes that the paper closes and they are made redundant.
The prospect of the job centre giving them a 99″ flat screen TV and a 40,000£ car and never working again must be appealing”.
Legal experts expect Donald Trump to be indicted in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 probe after he received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s team, predicting it will blow up the former president’s attempts to delay his federal proceedings until after the 2024 election…
“This means that Trump will be indicted in the January 6th investigation,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti tweeted about the target letter. “This indictment will likely be brought in D.C. federal court, which means that the importance of Judge Aileen Cannon’s rulings in the Mar-a-Lago case are diminished.” MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin agreed that the implication of the likely indictment in D.C. is that even “if Cannon caves to Trump’s demands not to set ANY trial date, she now can’t single-handedly prevent a federal trial before Election Day. The federal judges in DC have handled [hundreds] of 1/6 cases rapidly—and his should be no exception.” …
wzrd1says
@355, is RFK Jr ever right at all these days? Especially given bitcoin collapses and fraud charges?
@356, wanna see that lithium mined immediately? Just suddenly need to make up more lithium deuteride, it’ll be out of the ground in a New York minute.
For clean energy (I’m guessing it’s for batteries), nope. But, there are other promising batteries being investigated, including iron based, which has existed in the past and only needs some modern updates.
Meanwhile, Big Money wins against the Nations again, business as usual, treaties be damned.
Best government that money can buy!
For those unfamiliar, lithium is actually quite rare in the universe. While it’s a light element, it also easily fissions and fuses, so typically is burned inside of a star about as quickly as it’s generated. But, it’s hardly the only potential game in town for energy storage. Its just this decade’s MacGuffin. Nickle-iron batteries are perfect for large storage usage, leave the lithium for portable devices, where size is a premium. Long in usage, were discontinued in 1972 when Edison’s battery plant was purchased by a new owner, but had long service in standby power and forklift batteries, for two examples.
Archaeologists in Siberia have discovered the untouched 3,000-year-old grave of a person thought to be a charioteer — indicating for the first time that horse-drawn chariots were used in the region.
The skeletal remains were interred with a distinctive hooked metal attachment for a belt, which allowed drivers of horse-drawn chariots to tie their reins to their waists and free their hands. This type of artifact has also been found in Chinese and Mongolian graves…
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., announced Tuesday he would be introducing legislation in the House of Representatives “to defund” Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“I will be introducing legislation to DEFUND Jack Smith’s witch hunt against President Trump,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter just hours after former President Donald Trump confirmed on social media that he had been notified he was a target in the investigation and expected to face an arrest and indictment.
“They are attacking our democracy and engaging in election interference right now. The United States Congress has the capability to stop this election interference, and we must act immediately!” Gaetz added…
Prosecuting someone for an attempted coup is “attacking our democracy”? Up is down, black is white.
Taco Bell succeeded in its petition to remove the “Taco Tuesday” trademark held by Taco John’s, claiming it held an unfair monopoly over the phrase. Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel backed down from the fight on Tuesday, saying it isn’t worth the legal fees to retain the regional chain’s trademark…
Residents in Greenpoint, Brooklyn reportedly took it upon themselves to catch the culprit who had been throwing ripped-out pages of 1970s porn magazines, junk mail, children’s stories, Bibles, and old Reader’s Digest pages from his car every Sunday for four years. NYPD Sergeant John Trzcinski was identified and received a slap on the wrist for years of excessive littering on Noble Street in April, Gothamist first reported…
The Russian-appointed puppet leader of occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, has said that an ammunition depot in the Kirovske district was on fire and announced an evacuation of the residents of four settlements in the depot’s vicinity…
For the second school board meeting in a row, a parade of public speakers sounded off Monday on a controversial English lesson at Chapin High School. But the public’s thoughts this time were almost the polar opposite of the last board meeting.
Monday’s meeting was the second to be dominated by discussion of a lesson plan by Chapin High School English teacher Mary Wood. The lesson on systemic racism, which featured a book by renowned Black author Ta-Nehisi Coates, became controversial when it was shut down this past spring because of concerns it violated state law…
In February, Wood introduced her advanced placement language arts class at Chapin High School to the memoir “Between the World and Me” by Coates. The award-winning 2015 book recaps American racial history and its impact on his life growing up Black in inner-city Baltimore. The memoir was written in the form of a letter addressed to Coates’ teenaged son…
Coates himself was present for Monday’s school board meeting, but did not speak. Neither did Wood, who was also present…
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Wednesday that expands access to abortions later in pregnancy in Maine, joining a half-dozen states that leave it to doctors and patients to make the decision without restrictions on timing.
The new law allows abortions at any time if deemed medically necessary by a doctor, making the law one of the nation’s least restrictive. The old law banned abortions after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks, but allowed an exception if the patient’s life is at risk…
KGsays
Indian opposition unites in attempt to oust Narendra Modi. Modi apparently remains personally very popular according to polls (which says nothing good about the majority of Indians), although this does not necessarily translate into votes for the BJP. In 2019 it won 37.36% of the vote, but 282 out of 543 seats up for election – India has the undemocratic FPTP system, like the UK and USA. That suggests that if the opposition alliance can agree to put up a single candidate in each seat, the BJP could be defeated.
“The lab has not received any federal funding from the US National Institutes of Health since July 2020, according to an HHS spokesperson.
The determination came after the research institute failed to provide the National Institutes of Health with requested documents amid reported safety concerns at the lab.”
No need to apologise though, it is the same with people choosing not to wear a mask now(we just had the press sec admit that anyone wishing to meet POTUS still has to mask and test), people can not make informed personal risk assessments, because they are not privy to the real numbers. I stunned a bunch of public health physicians this morning during a talk by pointing out that more people died of Covid in June 2023 than in June 2021. Remember, 2023, “pandemic is over” territory. It’s hopeless.
For the first time in a long time, Americans are starting to see some good news about infrastructure. The Biden White House boasts about major new projects and investments on a nearly daily basis; Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, has reason to celebrate an impressive infrastructure triumph in Philadelphia; and J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor recently announced the largest multi-year infrastructure repair program in state history.
It’s against this backdrop that congressional Republicans are making a new push — to cut infrastructure funding. Reminding readers about the bipartisan infrastructure package that passed in the last Congress, The Washington Post reported, “It took decades for Congress to deliver on its promise to pour new money into the nation’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and internet connections. Now, House Republicans are trying to slash some of the same funds.”
A series of GOP bills to finance the federal government in 2024 would wipe out billions of dollars meant to repair the nation’s aging infrastructure, potentially undercutting a 2021 law that was one of Washington’s rare recent bipartisan achievements. The proposed cuts could hamstring some of the most urgently needed public-works projects across the country, from improving rail safety to reducing lead contamination at schools.
The Post’s article added that congressional Republicans — in the name of “fiscal responsibility” that the party ignored before there was a Democrat in the Oval Office — are pushing these cuts “at a time when the country is grappling with the real-life consequences of its own infrastructure failures, from train derailments in Ohio and Pennsylvania to the collapse of a key portion of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia last month.”
It’s worth emphasizing that some GOP lawmakers are pushing for these reductions, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll succeed: The Democratic-led Senate and the Biden administration will have some say in the matter.
But the fact that so many members of the House Republican majority see this as an area ripe for budget cuts — despite recent polling showing Americans calling for greater infrastructure investments — says a great deal about the contemporary GOP’s priorities.
There’s also, of course, the relevant fact that more than a few House Republicans are trying to take credit for infrastructure projects in their districts — even after they voted against the bills that made these investments possible, and even after they denounced the underlying legislation as “socialism.”
Trying to cut the funding several GOP lawmakers have celebrated doesn’t make their hypocrisy any easier to defend.
[…] As the day began, this greeted readers at the top of the page: “Looming indictment wrenches open the central question of 2024: Is Trump fit to serve?” Here’s the lede:
Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he expects to soon be a thrice-indicted candidate is forcing GOP candidates to fully contend with the fundamental question of the 2024 presidential primary. Is the former president fit to reoccupy the office?
[…] The question about the Republican nominee’s character had already been answered. Trump had spent the campaign presenting himself to the electorate as a cruel and racist buffoon who lied uncontrollably, mocked those with disabilities, ridiculed heroic veterans, and was heard bragging about sexually assaulting women.
[…] members of the former president’s staff have already answered the question — out loud, in public, and on the record. For example, former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, who worked closely with Trump for a year and a half, has stated plainly that the former president is not “fit for office.” Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who also worked alongside Trump for a year and a half, used nearly identical phrasing: “I think he’s unfit for office.”
[…] We are, after all, talking about a man who’s already been indicted twice, and who’ll very likely be indicted twice more. He’s also been impeached twice and held liable for sexually abusing and defaming a woman. What’s more, while in office, the Republican proved himself to be corrupt, incompetent, and overtly hostile toward democracy, American institutions, U.S. allies, and the rule of law.
How can “Is Trump fit to serve?” be “the central question of 2024”?
There are a variety of alternatives in the mix for the actual central question. Will Republican primary voters care about the former president’s faults and failures, which make him unfit to serve? Will the GOP base be informed about this? Will Trump’s rivals make a credible effort to shine a light on the former president’s scandalous record?
[…] “Is Trump fit to serve?” has a painfully obvious answer.
Jason Aldean sees nothing wrong with the lyrics or video for his song “Try That In A Small Town.” While the single has garnered serious backlash for seemingly promoting violence, Aldean argues that it’s just about promoting a sense of community. And who among us doesn’t feel the spirit of togetherness when hearing the words: “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / You cross that line, it won’t take long / For you to find out, I recommend you don’t / Try that in a small town.” …
Former First Lady Melania Trump is hoping to go, as they say in the crypto community, to the moon. Despite crashes that have hit the crypto and NFT market hard in recent months, Melania Trump announced the launch of a new “limited-edition digital collectible” on Tuesday. Her new NFT, “Man on the Moon,” is being marketed as a celebration of the moon landing, which occurred 54 years ago this week.
“I am proud to celebrate the great achievement of these astronauts and remain inspired by American ingenuity,” she said in a statement announcing the NFT.
The “digital collectible,” which is in a limited edition of 500 and is being sold for $75 each, features an image of an American astronaut and the iconic quote Neil Armstrong’s uttered as he took the first steps on the surface of the moon: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
This NFT is not Melania Trump’s first leap into the crypto space. She previously launched a digital collectible in January 2022 […] Melania Trump’s initial NFT did not necessarily catch fire. Experts believe the image, which was a portrait of Trump, was actually purchased by the former first lady or whoever set up the sale after not finding another buyer.
In the roughly year-and-a-half since Melania Trump’s first NFT launch, the market for the digital images has crashed along with the price of cryptocurrency. According to the crypto site Coindesk, some measures show that NFT values hit their lowest point in two years earlier this month. Some experts attribute the crash to a lack of demand and interest from the general public following the initial burst of attention that swirled around NFTs.
Despite the crashes, Melania Trump and Donald Trump, have experienced some success with NFTs. In December 2022, President Trump launched a “collection” of $99 NFT trading cards that featured images of him in various settings and costumes including dressed as a superhero and a cowboy. Amid ridicule from critics and even some supporters, those cards and a second similar series purportedly sold out.
Melania Trump’s “Man on the Moon” NFT is being launched and sold via “USA Memorabilia,” a website that is billed as “a premiere platform featuring United States memorabilia.” USA Memorabilia, which seems to solely sell NFTs, did not immediately respond to questions about its ownership. The company uses Solana, a cryptocurrency that has recently received scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Melania Trump’s first NFT also utilized Solana, as did a second offering she made with “USA Memorabilia” in February 2022. That NFT, which was dubbed the “POTUS TRUMP NFT Collection,” featured 10,000 limited edition images of the Trump presidency with backgrounds of stars, gold, and silver. According to a press release for that collection, the former first lady provided “creative direction” on the NFTs, which were also launched and sold by “USA Memorabilia.” While hundreds of pieces of the “POTUS TRUMP NFT Collection” have purportedly been sold, as of this writing, there is still substantial inventory available on the site.
Marketing materials for the 2022 “POTUS TRUMP NFT Collection” indicated it was “available” through USA Memorabilia and “powered by Parler,” a right wing social media platform that was backed in part by megadonor Rebekah Mercer. Melania Trump’s latest partnership with USA Memorabilia includes no mention of Parler, which was sold to a new owner and taken offline in April.
[…] As of this writing, Melania Trump’s “Man on the Moon” NFT was made available about two-and-a-half hours ago and, since then, seven of the 500 collectibles have been sold.
Ineffective grifting?
As one reader noted: “One small step for man, one giant leap grift for mankind me.”
Posted on the NASA Regulations for Merchandising Requests website page:
NASA is not approving any merchandising applications involving Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), as they are not consistent with the categories of products the Agency is approved to merchandise. Further, as stated in the NASA Media Usage Guidelines, NASA does not wish for its images to be used in connection with NFTs.
Also posted by a reader of the article:
It seems the reason for NFTs is that you can’t buy hardly anything else with crypto. So now you can exchange worthless “currency” for something else that’s worthless.
During the 2016 elections, Russian government agents hacked into the Democratic National Committee and into Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, then dumped the stolen data in an effort to sabotage Donald Trump’s election opponent. The more we learn about the supposed “Hunter Biden laptop,” a scandal meant to roil the campaign of Donald Trump’s election opponent four years later, the more it looks like somebody was following the same hack-and-dump playbook.
Marcy Wheeler has a new post that breaks down some of the many, many known oddities of the supposed “laptop.” When you consider that the whole premise of the story to begin with is that a “Hunter Biden” allegedly wandered into a random Delaware computer repair shop, handed over a damaged laptop, completely forgot about it afterward, and then somehow the computer dude and/or allies decided that Donald Trump ratf–ker Rudy freaking Giuliani was the person he needed to deliver the laptop’s data to, dozens of other oddities piled on top of that begin to turn what started out as farce into a full three-ring circus of weird.
[…] Quite a lot of evidence suggests that in 2018 or 2019, Hunter Biden was the target of a successful phish or other hack that gave an outside party access to his iCloud account, his email accounts, and other data.
Of special note is a window of time during which Hunter was receiving addiction treatment (from the disgraced ex-Fox News talking head Dr. Keith Ablow, no less, just to put a nearly cartoonish spin on all this yet again) and appears to have had “limited” online communications. Despite those limited communications, somebody was using this period of time to make a hell of a lot of technical changes to Hunter’s iCloud and email accounts, including:
– Changed the password and related phone numbers to his rhb iCloud account
– Installed and gave full access to his droidhunter gmail account a real app, called Hunter, that can send email on someone else’s behalf
– Signed into that droidhunter account using a new device
– Again changed emails and phone numbers associated with his rhb account
– Asked for a full copy of his rhbdc iCloud account
– Reset the password of that rhbdc iCloud account
– Made droidhunter account the notification email for the rhbdc account
– Downloaded all Hunter’s Apple Store purchases […]
– Signed into the droidhunter account from a burner phone
– Restored the prior trusted phone number
– Added software that could record calls
– Started erasing and then locked a laptop — probably the one that would eventually end up in Mac Isaac’s store
The list goes on, but the changes line up almost precisely with what you’d see in the aftermath of a successful phishing attack or other security breach. Passwords and security-related phone numbers were changed, access was granted to additional devices and burner phones, there was a “full copy” made of his iCloud account, some spyware or spyware-adjacent new tools were installed, and after a full data dump was made, some of the security changes were reverted so as to obfuscate what had just gone on.
The emails from Hunter around this time period don’t suggest a man deep in the weeds of tweaking his own online security details, to put it mildly, so we’re left wondering just who was doing all this fiddling.
The sheer number should have raised alarms that people had broken into Hunter Biden’s iCloud accounts when the IRS asked Apple for Hunter Biden’s subscriber information in November 2019, in advance of writing a subpoena for the laptop in custody of John Paul Mac Isaac. Additionally, there were a bunch of attempts to get into Hunter Biden’s Venmo account, and the account added two new Remembered Devices within 12 minutes of each other in August 2018, one in the LA foothills and the other in Las Vegas. That and other details (including texts and emails) might have raised questions about whether sex workers from the very same escort service on which the IRS had predicated this entire investigation took steps to compromise Hunter Biden’s devices.
The evidence is very good, then, that Hunter Biden’s online accounts were successfully hacked shortly before a “laptop” purportedly belonging to him mysteriously showed up in a Delaware computer repair shop, packed with seemingly legitimate data that then was handed over to Rudy freaking Giuliani, the man in Donald Trump’s orbit most intimately involved in ginning up dirt, any dirt at all, about Hunter Biden during Trump’s reelection bid.
A bunch of media outlets have previously breathlessly reported that the laptop had been “verified” as belonging to Hunter Biden while simultaneously fudging what that means. It means that the laptop, or at least its alleged hard drive, does indeed contain data from Hunter’s email and iCloud accounts. There’s another obvious scenario, though, and that’s the exact hack-and-dump scheme that the FBI was warning Twitter and Facebook off of before the New York Post reported its original scoop revealing the alleged existence of the laptop.
Government disinformation specialists were warning, in the wake of Giuliani’s already exposed anti-Biden ratf–king efforts based in part on hoaxes pushed by pro-Russian interests (see: Trump’s impeachment, as in the first one and not the second one) that foreign disinformation aimed at bending the 2020 elections was still prevalent. Counterintelligence specialists were on watch, especially after Russian agents successfully hacked into the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in 2016, “dumping” the stolen information through multiple entities in an attempt to boost Trump’s chances of winning.
What we have in the Hunter laptop case appears to be an uncannily similar series of events. Hunter’s email, iCloud, Venmo, and other accounts appear to have been breached in 2018 and 2019. His data was copied, spyware was installed, and cursory attempts to cover up the breach were made.
And then, lo and behold, a laptop containing a copy of that data—one that showed clear evidence of the data being tampered with—gets dumped at a computer repair shop, never to be picked up again, while a copy of its data somehow makes it to Giuliani.
The only thing that would make all of this sketchier than it already is? A bizarre Russian link—and the joke’s on you if you thought there wouldn’t be one because weirdly, very very weirdly, the escort service suspected of possibly being an origin point for hacks of Hunter’s Venmo account appears to be tied to Russia. [Yep. There’s a link to Russia.]
[…] From the beginning, few news outlets besides the New York Post were willing to touch this story because from the computer repairman himself to the specifics of what was allegedly found and how, all of it looked like a hack and dump. Republicans have bellowed in outrage at how little traction the story is getting in the media even now that the data is supposedly “confirmed” to be Hunter’s. But that’s not surprising either; it’s almost certainly the result of criminal hacking.
Oh, and there also hasn’t been much found on the laptop that wasn’t already known: Hunter Biden has suffered through addiction, has spent substantial cash on drugs and sex workers, and has muddled through his troubled life slightly better than most addicts might due to his perceived closeness to his well-connected father. But it would be a hell of a thing if this episode turned out to be exactly the Giuliani-assisted foreign operation it appeared to be from the moment the New York Post wrote it up.
In fact the FBI explicitly rejected using the laptop (its hard drive) as evidence of anything after evaluating its chain of custody and finding it blatantly compromised. Though the FBI should have used the laptop/drive as evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the USA among other Federal felonies.
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calling “Hunter Biden’s laptop” has more data on it (by like 50%) than the capacity of the original laptop’s hard drive.
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And through it all, nothing leads back to Joe Biden except that Hunter is his son. That is enough for the MAGA cult to impute blame to the President, but not with people with more than two functioning brain cells and a synapse.
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The real question that needs to be asked of the FBI in this case, which the Republicans won’t because it doesn’t actually help their case, is why did it take them 8 months to CONSIDER doing a forensic audit of the hard drive? Marcy brings that up in one of her posts on it; the FBI only decided to do a forensic audit of the drive after they leanred that Rudy was the source.
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Think about that: The IRS got a laptop purportedly handed over directly from the son of the then former VP, and they didn’t do the most basic things (!!!!!) to validate the data ON IT for 10 months.
And … then they discovered Rudy had a tie to it.
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NBC News: Gary Shapley, the IRS agent whose claims have been refuted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in charge of the Hunter Biden case, is represented by Empower Oversight — a group run by former Republican legislative staffers with long-standing GOP ties.
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Brought to you from Russia with Love on the Global Disinformation Network led by Fearless Leader
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The real lesson here is that Putin is working on skewing 2024 right now.
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I’m surprised Putin has any time or energy to spare for us since he started his splendiforously successful “special military operation” in February 2023.
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He now has even more reason to determine who is the US president, in order to end military assistance to Ukraine. He has to expend more energy than before interfering in our democracy. No doubt that is happening every single day.
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Meanwhile, the GOP frontrunner for president is a twice impeached, 71 counts indicted, sexually abusive corrupt traitor who should in all fairness be in prison. But in the stupid world of whataboutism, the GOP has a laptop. Madness.
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I’ve never swallowed the laptop story and this explanation makes sense. Hunter seems to have been targeted by sophisticated hackers and we can reasonably assume they were Russian.
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Put “laptop” in quotes, please. A convincing case has been made that the multiply-copied hard drive of highly dubious origin, being shopped around as “Hunter Biden’s laptop”, was not a laptop at all.
A hearing before Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday made it clear that Donald Trump is unlikely to face trial in connection with his theft and retention of classified national security documents before the 2024 election. It’s still possible. Prosecuting attorneys from the Department of Justice are still insisting that it can be done. But every indicator suggests that Cannon is going to sit back and give Trump the one thing he wants most: endless delays.
It’s hard to fault special counsel Jack Smith. From the moment he was appointed last November, Smith has worked diligently to assemble a team, seat multiple grand juries, review evidence, interview witnesses, and indict Donald Trump on 37 felony counts. That’s not a bad set of accomplishments in just over seven months, especially considering Smith was overseeing an entirely separate investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election at the same time.
That’s not to say everyone acted as quickly as they might have to move this case forward. Attorney General Merrick Garland spent months before naming Smith as special counsel. But the primary cause for delay has been Cannon’s absolute willingness to grant Trump’s every request. There’s no sign this is going to stop any time soon, and the DOJ’s only method to rein in Cannon could only make things worse.
On Tuesday, Cannon refused to set a date for the beginning of Trump’s trial. Federal prosecutors want the trial in December. Trump’s attorneys made two simultaneous arguments: Trump was only being charged because he is running for president, and because he is running for president, Trump should get special treatment. They insisted that the trial shouldn’t happen before mid-November of 2024 so that it wouldn’t interfere with Trump’s campaign. Basically, Trump gets special treatment […]
So far, Cannon seems to be nodding along. Despite her insisting at the start of Tuesday’s proceedings that they should be able to set a timetable, no timetable has been set. It’s not even clear when there will be another hearing on proceedings. On the ladder of things that need to be done, Cannon still hasn’t put up the first rung.
But the biggest signal of Cannon’s inclinations might not have come when debating the trial date. When prosecutors asked Cannon to issue a protective order over classified discovery, she denied it on grounds that there had been a “lack of meaningful conferral” with Trump’s defense team. But the reason the two legal teams didn’t meet over this matter was that Trump’s team dodged the meeting. They told government attorneys they were unable to meet at the proposed time, then failed to return phone calls to discuss a possible date.
In her ruling, Cannon did what she has done at every step for Trump: reward him with further delays of the process. The government still has to get Trump’s team to meet to protect vital national security documents during the discovery phase of the trial. Trump’s team has seen a perfect demonstration that failing to comply gets them exactly what they want.
Since Trump’s attorneys sought out Cannon last summer, it’s been clear that her allegiance was entirely to Trump. Cannon has been a judge for less than three years. She’s only spent 14 days in trials. Her only appearance in law books comes from being slapped down hard by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals over her unprecedented awarding of a special master to review classified documents and her continuous efforts to slow this already unnecessary process.
There are 26 active judges in the Southern District of Florida. It’s fair to say that Cannon is the judge who is both the least qualified and the most prejudiced when it comes to handling this case.
That Cannon ended up back in charge of the case is a result of two factors. One is a self-imposed division within the Southern District that slices up cases by area. Cannon is one of just four judges who hear cases in the Palm Beach area where Mar-a-Lago is located. One of those is a senior judge who is rarely assigned to cases. The other factor is a tradition that assumes a judge who was involved in an earlier part of a case retains knowledge that could be valuable as the case goes to trial.
The first factor narrowed the odds that Cannon would end up sitting on this case to 1 in 3. The second made it practically guaranteed.
That Cannon’s previous participation in the case was to put her thumb on the scale so obviously that the 11th Circuit stepped in to squash her whole tedious and time-consuming special master folly doesn’t matter. The assumption is that past involvement was a good thing, even if it wasn’t.
Trump’s one real skill in life may be his understanding of how easy it is for someone with adequate resources to delay any court action. Drag your feet. File motions. Delay. Appeal motions. Ask for hearings. Delay more. Appeal. Appeal to a higher court. Wait until the last possible second … then appeal on a different basis. All of this is how Trump survived both congressional investigations and how he’s survived over 3,500 lawsuits.
Trump’s team already has Cannon right on the edge of declaring the classified documents case “complex,” which is just another way of saying that everything drops down a gear to move even more slowly.
Here’s one theoretical course of events going forward: Cannon delays setting a timetable until October or November, then agrees to the post-election date set by Trump. The DOJ goes to the 11th Circuit seeking removal of Cannon. The 11th Circuit agrees and … there will still be no trial before the election.
In the appeals over the search at Mar-a-Lago, it took four months before the 11th Circuit overturned Cannon’s orders creating a special master. A similar timetable this round could easily mean any effort to remove Cannon would, even if successful, not come until around the date of the first 2024 primary, and that’s if the special counsel’s team is successful. Rejecting Cannon’s unprecedented use of a special master was an easy call. Removing a district judge from a case won’t come without some fretting and without clear evidence that Cannon is over the line.
Trump’s trial could possibly pick up in March or April of 2024. There is absolutely no law that says it can’t. But if the case is handed off to another judge, the process is going to start over and that judge is going to feel real pressure around taking Trump from campaign trail to classified documents trial.
Overall, the odds of Trump facing trial on these charges before the 2024 election are remote. And, of course, should any Republican gain office in the next election, the odds are 100% that Trump will either be pardoned or the attorney general will instruct the DOJ to drop the case.
But assuming Trump loses, expect his attorneys to be back in a judge’s chambers in November 2024, asking for a delay.
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu announced on Wednesday he will not run for reelection, leaving open a gubernatorial seat in a swing state heading into the 2024 election…
Shortly following Sununu’s Wednesday announcement, Former New Hampshire state Senator Republican Chuck Morse announced he will run for governor. Morse ran in the Republican primary for Senate in 2022 but finished second in the primary to Buldoc…
Former Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte teased a possible announcement in a statement thanking Sununu, and said the next governor of New Hampshire “must be a tough and tested conservative.” A New Hampshire Republican close to Ayotte tells CNN she intends to announce her candidacy in the coming days…
Last week, Manchester, New Hampshire, Mayor Joyce Craig announced her bid for the Democratic nomination in the governor’s race. New Hampshire Executive Council member Democrat Cinde Warmington has also announced her gubernatorial campaign…
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #361…
Yeah….the NiFe Edison cell. Bit of problem that will need some work. Output voltage collapses to around 10% of nominal cell voltage under heavy load (which is why we don’t use them for starter batteries in cars. A starter motor can do okay when the 12v PbAcid batteries drops to 7v under load. Doesn’t work so well if a 12v NiFe battery only provides 1.2v.)
It’s possible that a sintered plate cell (which tech was pioneered for NiCad cells) might be some help, but I don’t know if anyone has tried it.
(FYI…John W. Campbell, as editor of SF magazine Analog wrote about these issues in articles in the 1960s, so none of the issues are exactly new.)
Five passengers and at least one flight attendant were wheeled out of a Delta flight 555 from Harry Reid Las Vegas Airport to Atlanta and sent to the hospital after receiving emergency care from medics providing oxygen to the victims suffering from heat illness after the plane sat on the tarmac in outside temperatures of over 110 degrees Fahrenheit for three hours.
There was no temperature reported in the interior of the plane. The aircraft had no air conditioning.
There are a lot of unanswered questions, such as was the Tarmac melted from the heat. Delta will investigate the incident and hopefully provide much more detail than was reported by witnesses.
The pilot informed passengers the plane would be turning around due to emergencies, according to a Fox News producer who was aboard the flight.
Those in the cabin were instructed to remain in their seats until paramedics could meet the plane.
As the situation worsened, the Fox producer witnessed passengers faint and others soil themselves as the plane sat in the baking 111F (43.8C) heat. Flight attendants were seen running up and down the aisles with oxygen tanks and babies screamed as passengers were told to remain seated, according to Fox Business.
[…] At least five passengers were carted off the plane in a stretcher after the jet taxied back to the terminal. Passengers were allowed to deboard, and some stayed, believe it or not. The flight was later canceled.
Las Vegas and the Southwest have been seeing record-high temperatures for weeks. The National Weather Service warned residents that although the city is in a hot desert, particularly brutal in summer, it is not typical desert heat this time. This time is different. [Tweet and image of warning sign that includes this phrase: “NO SIGNIFICANT COOLDOWN OVERNIGHT.”]
Climate change is a threat multiplier. In Phoenix, some people have second-degree burns from the heat from contact on surfaces, such as concrete and blacktop.
Democratic Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly of Arizona, in an interview with ABC 15, relayed what he observed in space and urged the Senate to act.
“When I went into space four times, I mean, I could see how thin the atmosphere is over this planet. It’s as thin as a contact lens on an eyeball, and we have got to do a better job taking care of it,” Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“I have not seen in my time in the Senate many folks that deny that the climate is changing. That was a thing of the past. Now is: What do we do about it? We passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a big down payment on reducing the amount of carbon we put up into the atmosphere. That will make a difference over time. We obviously have to do more,” he added.
[Tweets from a Fox producer who was on the flight, as well as additional tweets and charts showing the heatwave profile.]
Scientific studies have determined that flight turbulence is increasing due to worsening climate conditions. [video at the link]
[…] From Fortune Magazine on GQP greenwashing.
When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees.
The idea — simple yet massively ambitious — revealed recent Republican thinking on how to address climate change. The party is no longer denying that global warming exists, yet is searching for a response to sweltering summers, weather disasters and rising sea levels that doesn’t involve abandoning their enthusiastic support for American-produced energy from burning oil, coal and gas.
“We need to manage our forests better so our environment can be stronger,” McCarthy said, adding, “Let’s replace Russian natural gas with American natural gas and let’s not only have a cleaner world, let’s have a safer world.”
The solution to the looming catastrophe for the GQP is to plant a trillion trees worldwide. Sounds great but overly simplistic. First, our priority should be saving every last forest remnant on the planet and restoring healthy topsoil, as it, too, is a carbon sink. Secondly, the idiotic plan would also require a land area the size of the lower 48 states. Where will we get our groceries? Thirdly it is all lies and bullshit and is magical thinking at best that is their plan, and only plan. Their plan will not keep one single molecule of carbon to remain in the ground. It is instead a plan to increase even more carbon into the atmosphere, preserve their power and pay back the fossil fuel industry for giving them that power. […]
the tree-planting push has drawn intense pushback from environmental scientists who call it a distraction from cutting emissions from fossil fuels. The authors of the original study have also clarified that planting trees does not eliminate “the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Planting one trillion trees would also require a massive amount of space — roughly the size of the continental United States. And more trees could even increase the risk of wildfires by serving as fuel in a warming world.
“There is a lot of value to planting trees, but it is not a panacea,” said Mark Ashton, a professor of forest ecology at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
[Tweets, quotes, and video showing an amplified pattern in the jet stream, with a series hit ridges]
Wonkette: Jason Aldean’s Pro-Lynching Video Pulled From Country Music Television On Account Of ‘Pro-Lynching’
Monday, CMT yanked the video for country music singer Jason Aldean’s gross new single, “Try That in a Small Town,” after a few days of collective open-mouthed horror at the offensive images and message.
Aldean’s label, Broken Bow Records/BMG, released the video Friday and it was in rotation on CMT through Sunday, presumably until someone actually watched it.
The video was almost comically offensive. Aldean appears in front of a Tennessee courthouse with the flag behind him. It is the US flag, not the Confederate, so that’s something at least. However, according to Ashton Pittman at the Mississippi Free Press, this is also the site “where a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927. That’s where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don’t respect police.”
It’s arguably worse that this probably wasn’t intentional. It just reinforces that Tennessee’s racist history is truly inescapable, even when conjuring up “good old days” that were more brutal than good. [Tweet and images at the link]
[…] there are what I generously describe as the song’s lyrics. They begin, “Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk/Carjack an old lady at a red light/Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store/Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like.”
I lived in New York City for 15 years and I didn’t meet anyone who thought petty crime and old lady terrorism was “cool.” I swear it seems as if right-wingers have dystopian fantasies about people and places they don’t actually know. Aldean is from Macon, Georgia, and lives in Nashville. What’s his problem?
He continues, “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/Stomp on the flag and light it up/
Yeah, ya think you’re tough.”
Now he’s moved on to what truly offends him — free expression and defiance of (white male) authority, and here’s where he goes full Birth of a Nation: “Well, try that in a small town/See how far ya make it down the road/Around here, we take care of our own/You cross that line, it won’t take long/For you to find out, I recommend you don’t try that in a small town.”
For all his previous concern about disrespecting cops, there’s no actual mention in this last verse of the criminal justice system — you know, the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. “See how far ya make it down the road” and “it won’t take long” would suggest a speedy (lack of) trial at the end of a rope.
Yeah, it’s 2023 and this guy is dropping a pro-lynching anthem.
He’s also predictably touchy about his masculinity stand-in: “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/They say one day they’re gonna round up/Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck.”
Did his grandfather bequeath him an AR-15? Because no one’s trying to “round up” those country rifles Jed Clampett used to find “bubbling crude.” Also, who does he think the government will send to confiscate his guns — Friends of Trees? No, it’ll be the cops, whom he’s overtly threatening with noose “justice.”
When the video launched, Aldean said, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way.”
Vigilante mobs taking the law into their own hands don’t promote a sense of community for me […]
“Try That In A Small Town” and its accompanying video weren’t well received, and not just because they both sucked. [Tweeted response from Sheryl Crow]
Gun safety advocate Shannon Watts pointed out that Aldean was on stage at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017 when a gunman fired into the crowd, killing 60 people and injuring 413. The gunman did far more than rob a convenience store or burn a flag, yet rampant gun violence is not what Aldean decries in his song.
Nashville resident and actual musician Sheryl Crow tweeted Tuesday, “I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”
Maintaining her spotless record of always being wrong about everything, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee defended Aldean and claimed he’d been “cancel cultured,” which is right-wing speak for “public criticism of a public work.” These are the same people who bullied Dylan Mulvaney because she drank Bud Light while trans. [Tweets at the link]
Aldean didn’t offer anything so prosaic as an apology for offending people. Instead, he presented himself as the true victim. […]
He whined on social media Tuesday, “In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
Sir, if none of your footage of supposed riots and attacks on the police includes the January 6 Capitol attack, your agenda is fairly obvious.
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it,” he went on, “and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage — and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far. As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91 — where so many lost their lives — and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”
Aldean abruptly cancelled a performance Sunday in Hartford, Connecticut, after suffering heat exhaustion. (Connecticut has endured a recent heat wave.) I’m not bringing this up to gloat or anything, but rather point out that he wasn’t felled by rampant crime in a Democratic-run state but by climate change.
And it is quaint that he mentions flag burning. We have all seen the video from Jan 6 of a federal police officer being beaten with the staff of an American flag while a mob chanted “U_S_A! U_S_A!” I guess that violence and faux patriotism in service of fascism just isn’t as offensive as burning a piece of cloth.
The new US aid package is being provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which involves purchasing equipment from industry rather than removing it from US Army stocks.
The package primarily includes four NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems and ammunition for them, 152 mm artillery shells, TOW anti-tank missiles, and high-precision aviation ammunition.
The previously announced Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade drones, as well as anti-UAV and electronic warfare tools, are also mentioned.
In addition, the United States will purchase for Ukraine 150 fuel tankers, 115 tactical vehicles for towing and transporting equipment, 50 tactical vehicles for the evacuation of equipment, equipment for the protection of ports and harbours and mine clearance, as well as tactical secure communication systems…
Whether Missouri voters get a chance weigh in on legalizing abortion is now up to state Supreme Court judges, who on Tuesday heard arguments in a case about Republican infighting that has stalled the amendment’s progress.
Judges did not indicate when they might rule on the case, which centers around a proposed amendment to enshrine in the constitution the individual right to make decisions about abortion, childbirth and birth control. Abortion-rights supporters proposed it after the state banned almost all abortions last summer.
The amendment hit a snag in April, when Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey refused to sign off on Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s cost estimate.
Without Bailey’s approval, abortion-rights supporters have not been able to start work getting the signatures needed to put the measure before voters in 2024.
They sued, and a circuit court judge last month ordered Bailey to approve the cost estimate. He has not, instead appealing to the Supreme Court to validate him…
Officials and activists associated with the D.C. Democratic Party on Tuesday expressed their opposition to a proposal for ranked choice voting and open primaries to be adopted for the city’s elections, arguing that a proposed ballot initiative would violate the law and discriminate against seniors.
The debate took place during a four-hour meeting of the D.C. Board of Elections, which is tasked with deciding whether the proposal — which was first unveiled in May by the Make All Votes Count D.C. campaign — is eligible to be placed on the ballot for next year’s election…
Russia attacked the city of Odesa with a barrage of missiles and drones in the early hours of Wednesday morning, causing significant damage. Reports indicate damage to docks and equipment used to load grain ships. In addition, over 60,000 tons of grain held in storage were reported to have been destroyed in an attack that local officials described as “hellish.”
This is the second straight night that Odesa has been subject to waves of attack. Russia has declared these attacks to be “retribution” for the attack on the Karch Bridge connecting Russia to occupied Crimea. However, by attacking the grain facilities, Russia isn’t just damaging Ukraine: They are attacking every nation and every person whose life depends on grain exports from the highly productive fields of Ukraine. Russia is also directly launching an attack on the stability of global food prices.
At the same time it was launching these attacks, Russia made it clear that it now considered any grain ships in the Black Sea to be subject to attack. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously indicated that Turkey would protect grain ships even if Russia failed to cooperate, but it’s uncertain that Turkish vessels will actually risk damage to escort grain ships, or that grain ships would be willing to take the risk.
On Wednesday morning, the Russian ministry of defense issued a statement:
“In connection with the termination of the Black Sea Initiative and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 00.00 Moscow time on July 20, 2023, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea waters will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo. The flag countries of such vessels will be considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime.”
The message is clearly meant to convey a threat not only to ships, but to any nation whose flag happens to be on a ship loading Ukrainian grain (which would largely be nations like Liberia and Panama, whose flags are on many commercial vessels). At this stage of the conflict, Russia’s threat against these nations means even less than its endless threats toward those nations that have openly provided the Ukrainian military with everything from tanks to ships to long-range missiles. However, even if the threat against the nations is all bluster, the threat against the ships themselves could be very real. Commercial ships are not designed to square off against warships—even if it’s the Russian navy.
The bigger factor for ships can be summed up in a single word: insurance.
Even if the owners of a ship feel like bearding the Russian dragon in a sea that it has long considered home territory, and even if Turkish naval vessels are tagging along, it’s unlikely that the large international companies that insure ships at sea would be willing to provide coverage for ships heading to Ukrainian ports in these conditions. A ship owner might be willing to put a ship and its crew at risk, but they’re probably not going to do it without the prospect that any disaster will be covered by a check. [Tweet and images of damaged grain terminals.]
According to the U.N., under the terms of the Black Sea agreement, Ukraine has exported 16.9 million tonnes of corn and 8.9 million tonnes of wheat. Over 4.4 million tonnes went to the World Food Program, making Ukraine the primary source of food for the millions of people served by the WFP. Right now that supply line to the rest of the world has been cut off by the direct action of Vladimir Putin.
The attack on Odesa seems designed to underscore the end of the grain deal, but the destruction there hasn’t been limited to the area around the port. In this latest round of attack, the Ukrainian general staff reports that Russia launched:
– 32 Shahed-136/131 drones from a base in eastern Crimea
– 16 Kalibr cruise missiles from ships stationed in the Black Sea
– Eight Kh-22 cruise missiles from Tu-22M3 “backfire” bombers over the Black Sea
– Six P-800 Oniks cruise missiles from coastal batteries in Crimea
– One Kh-59 missile from a Su-35 jet over the Black Sea
Ukrainian air defenses reportedly intercepted 23 drones, 13 Kalibr missiles, and the Kh-59. However, that still left 11 drones and a dozen missiles to strike targets around the city. Air defenses in Odesa are good, but the number of devices coming at the city in a coordinated attack clearly overwhelmed those systems. [Tweet and video at the link: “[…] The city was repeatedly attacked by Kalibr cruise missiles, Kh-22 missiles, and Shahed drones.”]
[…] NBC News reported on what transpired after Trump disclosed the target letter he received from special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
Trump called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and urged them to rally support for him from their rank-and-file members, two people familiar with the calls said. Stefanik, who has publicly endorsed Trump in his re-election campaign, and McCarthy, who has not, both defended the former president Tuesday in on-camera remarks to reporters, claiming the investigation against him was politically motivated.
A related New York Times report added that, as part of his conversation with Stefanik, “the former president lingered on the line as they discussed ways to use the Republican-led House committees to try to attack the investigations.” A CNN report also noted that Trump and Stefanik went over how she could “use her role” on the conspiratorial “weaponization” committee to advance the former president’s interests.
Predictably, as the day progressed, McCarthy and Stefanik scrambled to push tiresome and misguided rhetoric about the justice system, prosecutors, and conspiracy theories that only far-right partisans can see. The GOP duo also criticized the former president’s likely indictment that they have not read, making it impossible for them to know whether it has merit or not.
None of this was especially surprising, of course, but what stood out for me was the congressional leaders’ willingness to position themselves as followers. In effect, Trump, who has long perceived his partisan allies on Capitol Hill as employees, is the shadow speaker of the House, while the actual speaker and GOP conference chair are obedient members of Trump’s whip team.
Trump wanted McCarthy and Stefanik to take his side over law enforcement, and his apparent subordinates complied. Trump wanted McCarthy and Stefanik to help rally support among their colleagues, so they said they would. Trump wanted McCarthy and Stefanik to commit to using congressional committees as vehicles for his grievances, and they’re now prepared to do exactly that.
It’s one thing for House Republicans to support the former president’s comeback bid, but it’s pitiful to see ostensibly powerful congressional leaders play such subservient roles.
The Russian dictator may be threatening nations that try to provide grain to a starving world, but he’s also clearly afraid to step outside the boundaries of the areas where people still fear his military.
The next meeting of the “BRICS” nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is slated to take place in Johannesburg on Aug. 22-24. This group has become more and more important to Russia over the past decade, especially as its CSTO alliance of six former Soviet republics has become more disorganized and less likely to follow Putin’s lead.
The original focus of this conference was to undercut the dollar’s role as the world’s default currency. However, the decline of Russia’s economy (and the sanctions that are allowing other BRICS nations to pick up Russian oil and gas at discount prices) make progress on that front less likely.
Still, Putin was expected to be at the conference in person until March, when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Russia is not a signatory to the ICC (neither is the United States). But South Africa is a member of the ICC, so in theory Putin could be arrested there as soon as he stepped off the plane.
South African leaders have been carefully stepping around the issue for months, unwilling to say if they would assist in or prevent Putin’s arrest. But now the issue appears to be solved because Putin will remain at the other end of a 14,975-kilometer table back in Moscow. Instead, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will attend the Johannesburg summit.
It seems that when push comes to shove, Putin is unwilling to take the risk. Somebody ought to test that in other ways … maybe, say, someone with a grain ship.
————————
This trenching machine will now be taking a break. [video at the link]
————————–
A new U.S. assistance package for Ukraine has been announced. And when is someone going to bring me a good picture of a Phoenix Ghost? [List from defense.gov: The capabilities in this announcement, which totals $1.3 billion, include:
– Four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and munitions;
– 152mm artillery rounds;
– Mine clearing equipment;
– Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
– Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS);
– Precision aerial munitions;
– Counter-UAS and electronic warfare detection equipment;
– 150 fuel trucks;
– 115 tactical vehicles to tow and haul equipment;
– 50 tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
– Port and harbor security equipment;
– Tactical secure communications systems;
– Support for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities.]
—————————-
There are reports today that Ukrainian forces have made further advances in and around Klishchiivka, as well as to the south near Andriivka. Waiting for details. [video at the link showing "Muslim Corps Caucasus" (as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine) entering the village of Klishchiivka.]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s puny attempts to punish the Walt Disney Company for opposing his bigotry agenda, which includes “don’t say gay” legislation that banned discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, continue to blow up in his face, as Disney redirects its economic might to California.
It has been well-reported that immigrants are fleeing Florida to escape the harsh, anti-immigrant policies DeSantis recently enacted as part of his so-called war on woke (a term he says opponents cannot define and he cannot define correctly), leaving farmers and builders to scramble for workers. Now, adding to Florida’s economic woes,
the ill wind of Disney’s war with Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ+ rights appears to be blowing some magic pixie dust towards California as the theme park giant reins back its investment in Florida and ramps up spending in the Golden state.
On its way out of Florida, Disney not only canceled a $1B office-campus project that would have added 2,000 jobs to central Florida, but it also unveiled plans to shutter a “Star Wars-themed luxury hotel” it had opened in Orlando just last year. Explaining these changes in plans, Disney representatives have referred to DeSantis as “anti-business” and cited “changing business conditions” in Florida. A business analyst told the Guardian,
“DeSantis has done lasting harm to Disney’s investments in Florida…. I’m in touch with a lot of CEOs who are looking at those issues right now and thinking, ‘Where should I invest? What’s best for the long run?’”
Disney’s answer: California, which now will add some Disney dinero to its world-beating economy. The company
is all in on Disneyland Forward, an ambitious rolling program of growth at its two Anaheim theme parks. The company projects the program will generate $253m annually and more than 2,200 new jobs.
After receiving a briefing on Disney’s plan to invest in its Southern California properties “for decades to come,” California governor Gavin Newsom, in a prepared statement, said
“In California, we don’t just tolerate our diversity – we celebrate it and all the ways it makes us stronger.”
Newsom added,
“Our inclusivity and acceptance attract new talent and ideas that drive our economic growth and make California a hotspot for world-leading companies to grow and prosper.”
[…] If California were a country, its 2022 GDP of $3.6T would produce the world’s fifth largest economy, ahead of India, France and the U.K. and behind only the U.S., China, Japan and Germany, and nearly twice the size of the economy of Canada, which has a similar-size population.
Man who had jail sentence commuted by Trump arrested again
Trump commuted Eliyahu Weinstein’s sentence in 2021.
ByAaron Katersky and Lucien Bruggeman
July 19, 2023, 1:50 PM
1:30
A New Jersey Ponzi scheme architect, whose 24-year prison sentence was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in 2021, has been arrested again Wednesday on charges he defrauded investors by making false promises involving humanitarian supplies destined for Ukraine.
Eliyahu Weinstein and four other men were charged with conspiring to defraud 150 individual investors of more than $35 million and with conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.
“This is now the third time this office has charged Weinstein with a large-scale scheme to rip off investors,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said during a news conference in Newark on Wednesday.
This time, Weinstein allegedly used a fake name and falsely promised access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula, and first-aid kits supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine, prosecutors said.
“These were brazen and sophisticated crimes that involved multiple coconspirators that can came from Weinstein’s playbook of fraud,” Sellinger said.
Weinstein was convicted twice in New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. His first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and his second case stemmed from additional fraud Weinstein committed while on pretrial release. Those crimes resulted in combined losses to investors of $230 million, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to serve 24 years in prison.
On Jan. 19, 2021, after Weinstein had served less than eight years, Trump commuted Weinstein’s term to time served.
Soon after his release from prison, Weinstein allegedly began orchestrating a new scheme to solicit money from investors through a company called Optimus Investments Inc., according to the criminal complaint.
Weinstein ran Optimus while using a fake name, “Mike Konig,” keeping his true name and identity hidden because, as Weinstein acknowledged in a secretly recorded conversation, investors wouldn’t give them “a penny” if they learned of Weinstein’s involvement, the complaint said.
Weinstein joins a growing list of people who secured clemency from former President Donald Trump and have since faced additional legal scrutiny, as ABC News reported earlier this year.
At the time, ABC News reviewed the 238 people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted during the Trump administration and found at least ten who were back under investigation, charged with a crime, or already convicted.
Legal experts called this recurring theme unprecedented — but not entirely unexpected, given the former president’s unorthodox approach to the pardon process.
“President Trump bypassed the formal and orderly Justice Department process in favor of an informal and fairly chaotic White House operation, relying in some cases on his personal views and in others on recommendations from people he knew or who gained access to him in various ways,” said Margaret Love, a lawyer who represents clients seeking pardons and a former U.S. Pardon Attorney, a Justice Department appointee who helps advise presidents on grants of clemency.
“So, it might have been predicted,” Love said at the time, “that some who made it through that lax gauntlet were going to get in trouble again.”
At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and six others wounded in a shooting in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, hours ahead of the opening match of the Women’s soccer World Cup in the city.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the soccer tournament would proceed as planned, adding the shooting appeared to be the actions of an individual and that police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident…
Retired Navy combat veteran Hung Cao, who ran an energetic but unsuccessful campaign last year for a blue-leaning northern Virginia U.S. House seat, has set his sights on the U.S. Senate, announcing Tuesday that he’s seeking the 2024 Republican nomination to challenge Democrat Tim Kaine.
Good luck with a name like Hung Cao.
“We are losing our country. You know it. But you also know you can’t say it. We’re forced to say that wrong is right,” he said in a video announcement that took aim at President Joe Biden…
Who are “we” and to whom are we losing the country? Why not just say that you don’t think liberals are people?
wzrd1says
whheydt @ 383, that’s for primary deep cycle, high current usage. For steady current usage, they performed quite well. That said, research appears to still be ongoing.
We’ll see, could pan out, could come to nothing, such is research. There are also people looking at aluminum based cells, although I’m a lot dubious on that for chemical reasons.
Reginald Selkirk @ 394, as usual, God’s a shit shot then. The vaccines are made in Missouri, Massachusetts and Michigan. Maybe he should take a pot shot at me in Pennsylvania, he’d likely hit Florida.
Oh well, I warned Him that attending the Don Knotts school of marksmanship was a bad idea.
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed new guidelines for corporate mergers, took steps to disclose the junk fees charged by landlords and launched a crackdown on price-gouging in the food industry. […]
It’s FOSS, an open source advocacy group got a DMCA takedown notice served to them for a tutorial “Complete Guide for Managing Startup Applications in Ubuntu Linux: Learn to Add, Remove or Delay Startup Programs”. Apparently, that is alleged to belong to the owners of a TV series “StartUp”, about “A desperate banker, a Haitian-American gang lord and a Cuban-American hacker are forced to work together to unwittingly create their version of the American dream – organized crime 2.0.”.
Huh, granted, managing startup applications in some operating systems can seem like a criminal enterprise at times, but I don’t see a relation. Or maybe anything hacking and computer now is claimed by the production team?
Naw, just a bot scanning and with all of the ineptitude about in scraping content configuration, yeah, false alarms. Get some myself, as apparently one Linux distro (Kali) was a movie or something, according to Crumcast. https://itsfoss.com/r/435ecdbc?m=16600f6e-3f95-47b8-8b4d-be02ba4f51be
They managed to get it sorted out.
Just as I managed it by asking if Comcast really wanted me to CC the entire mess to the Kali mailing list, to see what the entire IT security community thought of their idiocy, which quickly got that matter sent to file 13.
I quite disagree with the tone and message of the latest post by Kos on the Ukrainian military situation. It feels really very one-sided, without looking at the other side of the equation.
For me, it reads like “We thought/expected that Ukraine would apply (ideal) combined arms warfare led by (ideal) Western-style officers, implemented by (ideal) Western-style soldiers allegedly riding (shiny new) Western equipment. And now they don’t”.
Oh well, did anyone really believe in it? How could that be possible?
How much time does it take to train an officer? Normally, you select your best junior officers and send them to an academy for at least a year. But who will be stopping the Russian offensive when the best Ukrainian officers are away studying and training in combined arms warfare?
Also, the best junior officers tend to die while fighting. We all cheer when we hear a Russian colonel or general being taken out — but the best Ukrainian officers die as well, and there are not many of them.
Those officers who survived the first year of this war — and are currently available for frontline command— are the people who used to sit deep in the rear (and they were sitting there for a reason).
There are also younger soldiers (or, more precisely, “newer” — the mobilized civilians are not so young) who can be promoted to officers. But to be able to command large military formations, they still have to be taught, educated, and trained. And they can’t, because —you guessed it — they are doing the fighting now.
Further, how would those officers be trained in combined arms without knowing what arms they have to combine?
As of February 2022, all arms that Ukraine had was a very limited reserve of former Soviet weapons, inmost cases of older models and smaller quantities than Russia. That was more or less enough for a limited-time,limited-scale combined arms defense — and Ukraine was more or less prepared for that kind of combined arms warfare – and did well with that. Exceeding the expectations of many Western combined arms specialists.
(Yes, it was a shame for us to have been so unprepared for the big war, but that’s a question for another discussion).
There was not any clear commitment, nor a schedule, nor an expectation of what — and whether, and when,and how much — the West will deliver to Ukraine. So, what combined arms offensive training are we talking about here?
The Western air defense only started arriving in late autumn last year in any relevant amounts. The tanks have become available for studying and training in spring this year. When do you have the time to learn how to combine them?
(And not all of that equipment was so shiny — a large portion of Western-supplied equipment is 30 or 50-year old technology and sometimes manufactured quite a long time ago). [Illustrations showing the “Dynamics of the “Balance of Power in War.”]
The same applies to the servicemen. Ukraine used to have a fairly well-trained and more or less combat-familiar force in February 2022. These were the people who took the first Russian blow — and were dying and wounded and captured in thousands during the first months of the war.
They are no more. I would guess that 80% of the current Ukrainian army are the people who did not know how to shoot just 18 months ago. Ukraine is still building a system of efficient mobilization and preparation of men for the military service. And it is doing this during the war. All training bases, barracks, and any significant concentration of troops or equipment are (or have been until very recently) under constant threat of a Russian missile strike.
Of course, a four-week infantry training course somewhere in the UK is better than nothing. But let us be clear here — does someone believe a four-week prep course of former civilians produces a soldier — or a unit — capable of making a combined arms offensive?
Also, is combat arms warfare a real thing at all?
What was the last time a Western army — any army at all — undertook a successful “proper combined arms operation” against an equally armed opponent?
I am not a military expert, but all that I have seen here on the DailyKos blogs was a computer animation of a combined arms breach of enemy defense carried out after reaching an aerial superiority.
Yes, probably Ukraine can breach the Russian defensive line in one place by spending all HIMARSes and Storm Shadows in a matter of three days at one place of Russian defense — and then what? What to do with the Russian reserves which would rush to the point of breach? What about the Russian aviation and explosive drones that would hunt Ukrainian advance forces lacking air defense and radio jamming defense? What about the other parts of the 2,450-kilometre-long front, where Russia can start a new offensive? [Illustration showing that the front line of the Russian-Ukrainian war is as long as a car ride from Barcelona to Warsaw.]
I am not here to piss off the friends of Ukraine around the world. As I write these words this night in my apartment in Kyiv, I am still fully aware that Ukraine survived to this day due to the military and financial support of the democratic world.
But if you are friends, please keep your expectations realistic. All I am calling for is a realistic, down to earth approach, and some understanding.
Ukraine is learning to fight a large war – one of the largest in the last 50 years – while fighting. And by making mistakes. Mistakes that leave many Ukrainian families mourning every day.
Ukraine is learning how to make an offensive against an enemy who is simply still outnumbering the Ukrainian army.
Against an enemy who had been making war and militarization one of the main pillars of its domestic and international policy and practice for the last 20 years. They had their toddlers riding in toy tanks at children military parades! And they had the notion of killing Ukrainians normalized in their public conscience.
An enemy who is strong in radio-electronic warfare (affecting front-line communication, use of drones and any guided ammunition).
And in air defense.
Against an enemy who had seriously infiltrated the Ukrainian military and political system and is still meddling in the Ukrainian media and public opinion field, taking advantage of the Ukrainian democratic governance system that values freedoms and liberties.
Against an enemy that has all of its military industry and overall economy largely intact, while Ukraine had most of its military and industrial capacities physically destroyed in the first weeks of the war.
Against an enemy who is capable of blowing up a huge river dam and intentionally creating an enormous flood endangering tens of thousands of human lives in order to thwart the Ukrainian offensive across the river and reduce the length of the front line.
In an ideal world, on 24 February 2022, Ukraine could possibly ask Russia for a pause of 18 months,while Ukraine would wait for 3 months for the West to debate on whether to help Ukraine or not and then another 6 months on whether the West can spare any armored equipment or advanced air defense systems for Ukraine.
Then the best, carefully selected Ukrainian officers could travel to Europe for another 6-12 months to study combat arms warfare, while hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians were getting proper military training and instruction and learning to use the now available Western air defense and tanks and planes and other modern equipment, which was supplied in quantities that matched the Russian quantities on the front.
And all that time Russia would quietly wait at the border, doing nothing.
Yes, I would love to see and live that scenario.
But we are living in the real world now. And in the real world, the current counter-offensive is the best thing that we have. And yes, it boils down to the fact of who has more of everything — more artillery, more MRLSs, more armored vehicles, more de-mining equipment, more Storm Shadows (to replace non-existent aviation), more mobile air defense systems to support the advancing units, more counter-battery equipment,more drones for surveillance and loitering, and more well-trained soldiers to use all of that.
This is war as it is. Aside from some foreign volunteers acting in their private capacity, nobody is willing to come and show Ukrainians how to fight this war in a proper, combined arms way. And we are fighting as well as we can. Doing what we can, where we are, with what we have.
Believe me — if we could, we would have done better. We are the most interested people on earth to end this war, as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience and for hanging on with us in these difficult times.
[…] I have been told in the comments that I misunderstood Kos’ post that was aiming at quelling the expectations of many people on the West and explaining the reasons for the apparently slow progress of the Ukraine’s offensive and that our messages are going essentially in the same direction.
My pain, and my point, however, goes a bit deeper: I disagree that Ukrainian actions shall be described or considered with any reference to the “golden standard” of a “combined arms operation” or a similar concept born or embedded in the current doctrine and/or recent practice of the US army, and I insist that Ukraine’s performance can — and has — only be measured against the real circumstances which we have on the ground and the real military capabilities that Ukraine possesses now.
With all that said, I continue to be a devoted and grateful reader of Daily Kos’ coverage of the war.
birgerjohanssonsays
On a more domestic side, there is a new word. Phone snubbing = phubbing.
They came in peace for everyone, winning the Cold War Space Race and beating the Russians.
They saw Earth with every other human that has ever lived and died on hanging high in the black daytime sky, able to be blotted out by an outstretched thumb.
They returned five more times – the last in 1972. We have not been back or ventured further since then at least as living beings – only via our robotic surrogates. An extraordinary milestone and accomplishment of our species.
Of course, Artemis 2 and 3 will hopefully be taking humanity back to lunar space in coming years soon all going to plan.
Famed hacker Kevin Mitnick, who earned a spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, served five years in prison, then became a security consultant and author thereafter, with many other adventures along the way, is dead at 59. He had pancreatic cancer.
…
A plaintiff vomited during her testimony in a lawsuit against the state of Texas over its abortion ban.
Samantha Casiano is one of 13 women and two OB-GYNs suing Texas and asking a judge to define what constitutes a medical emergency under the state’s abortion laws, according to NBC News. The two-day hearings began on July 19 and saw Casiano appear alongside two other women who spoke about their nonviable pregnancies while on the stand…
Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”
After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” …
In the back room of Peace Tree Brewing in Des Moines, under soft white string lights, Republican businessman Perry Johnson opened his presidential pitch by summing up his conservative credentials.
Johnson, who has never held elective office and knows he’s an unfamiliar face in a crowded GOP field, told about a dozen voters last week that he’s “pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, anti-woke and anti-China,” — and “if you don’t like it, well, tough.”…
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 414
I’m sorry, out of everything mentioned in this article, why does the gastric distress of the plaintive matter? Besides the headline and the lead sentence, the vomiting isn’t mentioned anywhere?
It’s been nearly 25 years since I took a journalism course and my professors would have marked me down for such an irrelevant point. What the fuck are they teaching reporters these days?
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday she’s rolling out a new state logo and slogan to appear on Iowa’s interstate highway welcome signs and state agency websites…
Republicans have a fucked up idea of what constitutes “freedom.” This comes just after Iowa passed on onerous anti-abortion law that severely impinges on reproductive freedom.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 397
Explaining these changes in plans, Disney representatives have referred to DeSantis as “anti-business” and cited “changing business conditions” in Florida. A business analyst told the Guardian…
He. Heh heh. Ha. Haha. HA! HAHA BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Sorry, but the irony of a bunch of capitalists calling a bunch of other capitalists “anti-business” is just too hilarious for my inner Marxist.
An IRS plan to test drive a new electronic free-file tax return system next year has got supporters and critics of the idea mobilizing to sway the public and Congress over whether the government should set up a permanent program to help people file their taxes without needing to pay somebody else to figure out what they owe.
On one side, civil society groups this week launched a coalition to promote the move toward a government-run free-file program. On the other, tax preparation firms like Intuit — the parent company of TurboTax — and H&R Block have been pouring millions into trying to stop the idea cold.
The advocacy groups are exponentially out-monied…
In which Big Tax Prep pretends that they are looking out for our interests after they have abused the current system by selling unnecessary services and failing to safeguard client privacy.
The woman, a resident of Schirmeck in the French department of Bas-Rhin, said that she was sitting on her terrace at around 4 a.m. local time on July 6 when she heard a shock on the roof. A pebble then fell off the roof and hit her at rib level…
The paper showed an image of the suspected space rock (embedded below), which is black and has sharp edges. But it is in these images that the first cracks in the meteorite explanation appear. Observatoire de Paris astronomer Jeremie Vaubaillon explained that the rock pictured is definitely not from outer space.
“The pictures CLEARLY show this is NOT a meteorite! These rocks have way too many angles to be meteorites. Remember that during its flight in the atmosphere, the initial rock melts because of the surrounding super-hot plasma,” Vaubaillon told Space.com via email. “Picture an ice cube melting: There is quickly no angular pieces left. Well, the same is happening for a meteorite as it passes through the atmosphere.”
The rock also has a “bubbled” and irregular surface. This feature is common with volcanic rocks: bubbles of lava are frozen in as the molten rock quickly cools. Space rocks that pass through Earth’s atmosphere, on the other hand, tend to have smooth surfaces due to the heat they experience and the melting it causes, as Vaubaillon noted…
Melania Trump released her latest collection of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), this time commemorating humanity’s giant leap on the Moon with a famous photo of NASA Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking on the lunar surface. There’s just one thing though: NASA does not approve the use of its imagery for the digital tokens…
@356, @361, @383, @402 all talked about Batteries. I want to add my perspective from experience.
There are so many variables in the strengths and weaknesses of battery chemistry. There are dozens of different battery types. Lithium batts (dozens of variants) are really only needed when low weight is a factor, Nickel Metal Hydride (replacing poisonous Nickel Cadmium) that had a bad ‘memory effect’ problem) is very good. There are ‘Edison Cells’ NiFe that have are still usable that are 80 years old. They stood up to heavy current draw in the Baker Electric and other EVs of the 1900s without that drastic output voltage drop. But, one I favor is the Deep cycle AGM (absorbed gas mat) Lead-Acid battery. They are actually quite good for many purposes. They can be ~98% recycled, don’t rely on problematic exotic materials, don’t leak or off-gas, are rugged and have a long cycle life. Many of my peers still use them to power their DIY EV conversions and they are great and in use for standby power for thousands off-grid homes, etc.
Police in Washington, D.C., say they are “baffled” as to the identity of the person who hurled ketchup at the Department of Justice headquarters.
The act of vandalism, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, left a red smear the approximate size of a paper plate on the side of the D.O.J. building, the Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed.
An investigation of debris near the smear site indicates that French fries “may have played a role” in the incident, according to an M.P.D. spokesman.
The spokesman, Harland Dorrinson, held an impromptu press conference to urge residents of the District to “remain calm,” assuring them that the ketchup-hurling event “appears to be an isolated incident,” though the identity of the perpetrator remains unknown.
“M.P.D. profilers are working on this case around the clock,” he said. “They are attempting to determine who had the motivation, the lack of impulse control, and the access to ketchup and fries to commit such an act.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise appeared on Fox Business last week, and made clear that he still, even now, is unmoved by climate change evidence. [JFC]
“We had hot summers 150 years ago, when we didn’t have the combustion engine,” the Louisiana Republican declared. “But they don’t want to talk honestly about science; they just want to control your life.”
The idea that some nefarious “they” are determined to “control” Americans’ lives is deeply odd, and offered fresh evidence that GOP lawmakers might benefit from actually having a conversation or two with those who accept reality. Honestly, why would those who understand global warming want to “control your life”? To what end? Who thinks this way?
But the rest of the Republican leader’s quote was just as notable. To hear Scalise tell it, to “talk honestly about science” would mean acknowledging that hot summers are routine. But if the congressman is sincere about his interest in an “honest” dialog, there’s plenty of evidence Scalise really ought to consider. As USA Today reported:
Summers are always hot. But this summer is different in some profound ways. Record-breaking temperatures are hitting multiple cities. Phoenix recorded an unprecedented nineteen consecutive days over 110 degrees. Death Valley reached 128 on Sunday. Records are falling everywhere. It’s not your imagination: This is not a typical summer.
And while there are a variety of factors contributing to recent temperatures, the article explained that human-caused climate change is clearly a major factor.
Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist, told the newspaper that natural variability still exists, “but we’re starting to see the long-term, human-caused warming signal overwhelming that volatility. At this point, there aren’t any unprecedentedly extreme heat events on Earth that haven’t been exacerbated by climate change.”
I know enough about contemporary American politics to know that no amount of evidence would persuade Scalise, but if he could get over his conspiracy theory about unidentified rascals who want to “control” Americans’ lives for some unstated reason, the GOP leader might realize that an “honest” conversation about science would lead to some facts he prefers not to acknowledge. The New York Times reported last week:
Catastrophic floods in the Hudson Valley. An unrelenting heat dome over Phoenix. Ocean temperatures hitting 90 degrees Fahrenheit off the coast of Miami. A surprising deluge in Vermont, a rare tornado in Delaware. A decade ago, any one of these events would have been seen as an aberration. This week, they are happening simultaneously as climate change fuels extreme weather […]
The same report pointed to research that deadly flooding in Pakistan in 2022, a heat dome over the Pacific Northwest in 2021, and Hurricane Maria in 2017 “were all made worse by climate change.”
Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Times, “Climate change is here, now. It’s not far away in the Antarctic and it’s not off in the future. It’s these climate change fueled extreme weather events that we are all living through.”
Even if Scalise is inclined to shrug his shoulders in response to all of this, shouldn’t he at least care about fiscal responsibility? From the Times’ report:
Weather disasters that cost more than $1 billion in damage are on the upswing in the United States, according to a Climate Central analysis of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 1980, the average time between billion-dollar disasters was 82 days. From 2018-22, the average time between these most extreme events, even controlled for inflation, was just 18 days.
“Climate change is pushing these events to new levels,” Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at Climate Central, added. “We don’t get breaks in between them to recover like we used to.”
If the House majority leader wants to “talk honestly about science,” then let’s talk honestly about science.
A town clerk in Michigan will be barred from running any elections after being charged earlier this week by the state attorney general for acting as a fake elector in 2020 for then-President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, the Michigan Bureau of Elections notified Stan Grot, a Republican who has served as the Shelby Township clerk since 2012, that he will be prohibited from administering elections while the charges are pending…
A federal judge in West Virginia has ruled that the state corrections agency can’t force an incarcerated atheist and secular humanist to participate in religiously-affiliated programming to be eligible for parole.
In a sweeping 60-page decision issued Tuesday, Charleston-based U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin said Saint Marys Correctional Center inmate Andrew Miller “easily meets his threshold burden of showing an impingement on his rights.”
The state’s “unmitigated actions force Mr. Miller to choose between two distinct but equally irreparable injuries,” the judge wrote. He can either “submit to government coercion and engage in religious exercise at odds with his own beliefs,” or “remain incarcerated until at least April 2025.”
Goodwin issued a preliminary injunction requiring West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials to remove completion of a state-run and federally-funded residential substance abuse program from Miller’s parole eligibility requirements. The agency did not return a request for comment Thursday…
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 428
Honestly, why would those who understand global warming want to “control your life”?
Because yahoos like Scalise think that “those who understand” are really nefarious totalitarian leftists, inventing fake environmental crises (e.g. global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, dioxins, etc.) as a means to destroy capitalism and American “freedom.”
To what end?
Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Satanism (yes, really), and a bunch of other right-wing boogie men.
Who thinks this way?
Paranoid brought up to think that “Big Government” is out to get them.
The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Republican attorney general to stand down and allow an initiative petition to legalize abortion in the state to move forward.
Supreme Court judges unanimously affirmed a lower court’s decision that Attorney General Andrew Bailey must approve the cost estimate provided by the auditor, despite Bailey’s insistence that the cost to taxpayers of restoring abortion rights could be as much as a million times higher than what the auditor found.
Because Bailey refused to approve Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s cost estimate, the secretary of state has not been able to give the amendment his stamp of approval that is needed for supporters to begin gathering voter signatures to put it on the ballot in 2024…
For years, Brevard conservatives have correctly mocked “nanny state” politicians who attempt to protect us from ourselves. From opposing bans on Big Gulps to fast food to gas stoves, Republicans have always stood for individual freedom over government intrusion. That’s why we are baffled by the Brevard Republican Executive Committee’s decision to call for a total ban on COVID vaccines…
A new judge in Oklahoma is facing scrutiny after courtroom video showed her scrolling through social media and texting throughout a murder trial, a newspaper reports.
Security video obtained by The Oklahoman shows Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom texting or messaging for minutes at a time during jury selection, opening statements and testimony in the trial for a man in the beating death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son. At one point, Soderstrom searched for a GIF, an animated image.
Soderstrom, 50, can also be seen checking Facebook during the trial, which began last month in Chandler, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City, the newspaper reported.
Soderstrom was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November…
for StevoR and everyone. I’m relying on your sense of humor. this is a crosspost from the post on death to lawns since it may be dormant by now. The following was posted somewhere on the internet. I just put a copy for people to see: http://theartsinarizona.org/australianAnimals.jpg
Russia has ended the grain corridor deal, which allowed Ukraine to export agricultural products through the Black Sea. China was the largest recipient of those products, receiving almost one-quarter of them. A significant percentage went through United Nations food programs to Africa, making them a key weapon in the fight against hunger. Being a purveyor of cruelty and misery, Russia doesn’t care.
What Russia doesn’t realize is that the grain corridor deal didn’t just protect shipping to and from Ukraine, but Russian shipping as well. Barring a last-minute reversal, the Black Sea is now the newest battleground in this godforsaken war.
Having seen Russia blink time and time again, there is still a very real chance, perhaps 50-50, that the grain deal will be reinstated. Much depends on Turkey and whether its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decides to play hardball. Turkey’s navy could very well protect Black Sea shipping. Russia’s navy wouldn’t stand a chance in a faceoff. And that’s just in a one-on-one fight. Any attack on Turkish ships would trigger NATO’s Article 5, bringing the entirety of the alliance into the fight.
Yet that is the danger which might push NATO’s top countries, including the United States, to dissuade Erdogan from taking any steps to actively protect those shipping lanes. Odds are good that Vladimir Putin would back down, but President Joe Biden has been adamant about avoiding anything that might spark a wider conflagration. I doubt there’s any appetite in the capitals of any of NATO’s largest powers to risk direct confrontation over grain that’s mostly headed to China and Africa. While Europe also gets a significant amount of Ukrainian grain, those goods are shipped via rail and remain unaffected by Russia’s actions.
Yesterday, Russia announced, “In connection with the termination of the Black Sea Initiative and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 00.00 Moscow time on July 20, 2023, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea waters will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo. The flag countries of such vessels will be considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime.”
Ukraine has now echoed that very same threat: “The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine warns that from 00:00 on July 21, 2023, all vessels heading in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of seaports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian seaports located on the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia, may be considered by Ukraine as carrying military goods with all the associated risks.”
This is not an idle threat.
In the early days of the war, rumors abounded of an imminent Russian amphibious assault on the major port city of Odesa. You might remember I remained skeptical through all the hysteria, noting that Russia simply didn’t have the juice to mount that incredibly difficult undertaking against a city of 1 million. But Ukraine took the threat seriously from the start, and among its earliest asks were anti-ship missiles to fend off any such assault from the sea.
The allies responded by sending Harpoon anti-ship missiles, arriving in late May 2022. Normally air- or ship-fired, they were adapted to launch from ground-based launchers. Meanwhile, Ukraine was working on its own Neptune anti-ship missile. It was two of those that sank the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva. However, they were in short supply at the time. Ukraine has had over a year to build up its stocks of them.
The Neptune has a range of 200 kilometers. The Harpoon has a range of 125 kilometers if sea- (or ground) launched, but 220 kilometers from the air. Given how many NATO-standard missiles have been modified to launch from Mig-29s this past year, we could probably safely assume the Harpoon has similarly been adapted to Ukraine’s air force.
This is what 200 kilometers from Russia’s main naval base in Sevastopol looks like: [map at the link]
Meanwhile, another anti-ship missile appears headed to Ukraine, as Poland is negotiating handing over its supply of JSM anti-ship missiles. This is a mobile ground-launched system, with a range of over 200 kilometers. While it doesn’t have the range to hit Sevastopol, it’ll be able to target any Russian ships within 200 kilometers of the Ukrainian coast. There is a very real probability that Russia will be unable to operate any surface vessels on the western side of Crimea.
Leave it to Putin to ignore the consequences during his petulant tantrum, but shipping to Crimea is now in danger. And while any Ukrainian aircraft flying within range will be subject to Russian air defenses, the range is far enough that they can fly low over the water to avoid radar, pop up when in range, launch, and dive back down before air defenses have time to react. There is significant NATO drone and manned air surveillance over the Black Sea, giving Ukraine a wealth of intelligence and targeting information.
Maybe that’s what will need to happen before Putin reconsiders his refusal to renew the agreement.
Ukraine is already able to strike the Crimean bridge from afar, and its forces are creeping deeper into the land bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula. By blowing the Kakhovka dam, Russia cut off Crimea’s water supply. By blocking shipping to Crimea, Ukraine will be better able to lay siege to Crimea, restricting Russia’s ability to supply its forces and civilian squatters occupying that piece of occupied territory.
On a related note, lots of people are asking why NATO doesn’t protect Ukrainian grain shipments. Aside from the risk of escalating the conflict—and I doubt few would want a wider war over grain shipments to China and Africa—the fact is NATO could not deploy any warships to the Black Sea. Per Ukraine’s request, Turkey closed off the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits per the Montreux Convention. That means that warships may not pass unless they are returning to their home ports.
Activating the convention means that Russia can’t reinforce its Black Sea fleet with additional warships based elsewhere, but it also means that NATO can’t send ships into the Black Sea to protect commercial shipping.
A federal grand jury deciding whether to indict former President Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election is meeting Thursday and hearing testimony from an aide [William Russell] who was with Trump for much of the day on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Supreme Court would have to abide by stronger ethics standards under legislation approved on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, a response to recent revelations about donor-funded trips by justices. The bill faced united opposition from Republicans, who said it could ‘destroy’ the court.
U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the bipartisan Ban Stock Trading for Government Officials Act.
More from Gillibrand:
“The legislation would create stringent stock trading bans and disclosure requirements for Congress, senior executive branch officials, and their spouses and dependents. The bill bans stock trading, stock ownership, and blind trusts; imposes heavy penalties for executive branch stock trading; requires reporting of federal benefits; creates additional transparency in financial disclosure reports; and increases transaction report penalties under the original STOCK Act.” …
Josh Hawley signing on to something that isn’t repulsive?
Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut, is ending legacy admissions, which give a leg up to the children of alumni, just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.
Elon Musk’s X Corp. is serving a subpoena on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), days after Warren urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an investigation into Musk’s dual role running Tesla and Twitter.
Musk’s subpoena demands documents and communications related to Warren’s letter to the SEC, as well as Warren’s communications with the SEC and Federal Trade Commission. Musk is seeking documents going back to October 27, 2022, the day he completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.
…
My understanding is that subpoenas must be approved by judges. So Musk filing for one is not the same as it being granted. Anyway, I expect this will backfire on him, and reinforce the growing impression that he is quite stupid.
[…] “The Court would be remiss if it did not address the ill-advised television program of March 6, 2023,” the judge [Judge Royce Lamberth] wrote in a 35-page opinion, referring to [Tucker] Carlson’s segment on the riot. “Not only was the broadcast replete with misstatements and misrepresentations regarding the events of January 6, 2021 too numerous to count, the host explicitly questioned the integrity of this Court — not to mention the legitimacy of the entire U.S. criminal justice system — with inflammatory characterizations of cherry-picked videos stripped of their proper context.”
“Those of us who have presided over dozens of cases arising from, listened to hundreds of hours of testimony describing, and reviewed thousands of pages of briefing about the attack on our democracy of January 6 know all too well that neither the events of that day nor any particular defendant’s involvement can be fully captured in a seconds-long video carelessly, or perhaps even cynically, aired in a television segment or attached to a tweet,” the judge continued.
In early March— weeks after receiving exclusive access to Jan. 6 security footage from McCarthy — Carlson took to his former conspiracy theory swamp show to try and undermine the facts surrounding the Capitol attack, mostly through a montage of carefully selected and clipped videos. During the segment he highlighted Chansley walking through Capitol hallways accompanied by police officers and falsely claimed that the deadly riot was a “mostly peaceful chaos” with “sightseers” touring the building with police escorts.
The painfully selective edit of the Jan. 6 footage Carlson aired received bipartisan backlash, including from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), for its misleading narrative.
But despite all the pushback, following the broadcast, Chansley — who pleaded guilty in September 2021 to obstructing Congress’ proceeding — filed a motion arguing that the footage Carlson made public is exculpatory to his case and claimed that the government withheld the footage.
In the opinion Lamberth rejected Chansley’s argument, saying none of the videos aired by Carlson are actually exculpatory — despite the defendant and his legal team’s claims — especially given the context of the footage and the conduct Chansley admitted to during his trial.
“[Chansley’s] argument suffers from the same fatal defect as the March 6, 2023 broadcast,” the judge wrote. “It lacks the context of what occurred before and after … Whether the videos from the March 6, 2023 television segment are viewed individually or in context with the rest of the evidence against Mr. Chansley, the videos are not exculpatory.”
We have our first video of American-supplied cluster munitions reportedly in action: [Tweet and video at the link]
For all the talk of using cluster munitions to break through Russian lines, this is actually their best-use case: against infantry (and thin-skinned vehicles) out in the open. Too bad Ukraine didn’t have them earlier; it would’ve been great to use them against the Wagner human-wave attacks around Bakhmut and elsewhere, saving the traditional artillery rounds for targeting hardened defensive positions. But oh well.
Mark Sumner geolocated that video: [map at the link]
These Russians had just left their lines, into the gray zone, before being pulverized.
This is the same front line outside Donetsk City, around 100%-destroyed Marinka, that Russia has tried to break this entire war. Apparently, they’re now trying the Wagner approach of sending out waves of unprotected infantry against hardened Ukrainian positions. Cluster munitions will make short work of them, and might actually convince Russia to give up on those tactics. It sucks for the poor mobilized being sent out to die, but for the sake of Ukraine, let’s hope they don’t change those tactics. It’s easier to kill Russians outside of trenches than in them.
To be clear, I’d rather those Russians all surrender or abandon their posts, because I’m tired of seeing people die. But so far, for whatever reasons, most Russian soldiers continue to fight.
————————-
[Tweet and video of the 47th “Magura” clearing trenches and taking prisoners near the village of Robotyne.]
The approach toward Robotyne has been incredibly costly for Ukraine, but they continue to inch forward. And that’s the story along most of the active front line: Russia continues to put up fierce resistance in front of their prepared defenses. As noted before, it makes for slow Ukrainian advances, but also has proven far more costly to Russia than if they sat in their trenches. Just look at Marinka and Russia’s failed efforts to break Ukrainian defenses around Donetsk city. Hardened defenses work really well.
Akira MacKenzie @417
So you didn’t read very far into the article, this starts two paragraphs in (all of three sentences):
On the first day of the hearing, Casiano spoke about being diagnosed at 20 weeks gestation with anencephaly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anencephaly is a severe congenital disorder that results in a baby being born without portions of its brain and skull.
Upon the diagnosis, Casiano’s obstetrician ultimately provided her with information about funeral homes.
Casiano read a doctor’s note while on the stand which described her pregnancy as high-risk. In recalling her experience, Casiano was overtaken by tears and threw up, prompting the judge overseeing the case to call for a recess.
Upon returning to the stand, Casiano said she’d experienced a physical reaction to remembering this traumatic period in her life, saying it “just makes my body remember, and it just reacts.” She also shared that she considered having an abortion in another state but feared losing her job or being made to face punishment.
“I felt like I was imprisoned in my own body,” she testified.
Casiano ultimately went into early labor with Halo, who died four hours later.
“I now have a psychiatrist,” Casiano added. “I now vomit a lot more. I’ve never vomited before like that, ever, before my pregnancy. My body’s never reacted that way.”
Tuesday was an absolutely astounding day around the planet. In city after city, previous all-time high temperature records weren’t just broken, they were shattered. In Rome, it was 109.2 degrees Fahrenheit. In parts of Spain, over 112 degrees. In Sicily, over 115 degrees.
On the same day, temperatures in Sanbao, China, hit 126 degrees while in Death Valley, it reached 129 degrees. That last number was a record for the date, but it still fell short of the all-time high, which was a supposed 134 degrees recorded at Death Valley in 1913. (Many sources have bumped that number down to 130 degrees, citing issues with the 1913 reading.) If the Death Valley number wasn’t an all-time high it was the only one, because at those other locations the temperature records for any date were broken by as much as 3.5 degrees.
t’s not just the absolute heat that’s amazing, it’s the persistence. Almost a year ago, the world set an all-time high temperature reading on July 24, 2022. That value tied the old record, set in 2016, for a single day. Then it dropped back.
This year is different. On July 3, 2023, the old temperature record was broken. Since then the temperature has never fallen to what had been the previous record. For 17 straight days, the Earth has been hotter than it was on any previous date in the last 100,000 years. And by some measures, the rise in temperature this year alone matches all the warming over the last 15 years. The climate crisis has ceased being a marathon and become a sprint. [Air Temperature graph at the link]
The reason that we’re seeing this warm up isn’t particularly mysterious: A cool La Niña current was in place in the eastern Pacific from 2020 to 2023. Thanks to that current, enormous amounts of heat were carried down into the ocean, warming deep waters to record levels but keeping the land from feeling the full brunt of excess heat being trapped by layers of man-made greenhouse gasses. That La Niña ended earlier this year and has been replaced by a strong El Niño current. The change in circulation means the oceans are no longer soaking up the excess heat so effectively.
Temperatures on both the land and the surface of the oceans are going up rapidly. Sea surface temperatures are even hotter than air temperatures compared to their respective averages over the last two decades. [Sea Surface Temperature graph at the link]
But of course, there have been La Niña periods in the past followed by strong El Niño—even “Super” El Niño periods. Many of those cycles have produced years that were warmer than the years just before them. However, none of those past cycles have generated the kind of increase seen so far in 2023. The increase in temperatures due to the blanket of man-made greenhouse gasses was already a crisis. It’s getting warmer, and will keep getting warmer until we eliminate enough of that greenhouse blanket to let the world cool down, or at least stay even. Now that crisis seems to be in overdrive, fast-forwarding to conditions many hoped we wouldn’t see for decades.
The persistence of the heat can be seen in cities like Phoenix, which has experienced 19 straight days with temperatures in excess of 110 degrees. [Tweet and image at the link]
When it comes to Day 20, conditions in Phoenix are even more terrifying. [Tweet and image at the link]
The result of that prolonged heat is a growing death toll, even in a city where air conditioning is nearly ubiquitous. At least 18 people were dead from heat related causes as of Tuesday.
As Mother Jones reported last week, the extreme weather is having an effect on “human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies.” In May, the United States Department of Agriculture predicted booming crops of both corn and soybeans in the United States; so far those projections seem to be holding up in spite of the intense heat and frequent storms. But areas of Europe such as the Netherlands, where temperatures tend to be cooler and more consistent, the record heat is already bringing talk of crop failures and loss of livestock. Combined with the potential loss of grain out of Ukraine due to Russia’s withdrawal from a deal that had allowed export of wheat and corn in spite of the ongoing war, the world faces the potential for significant shortages of food in the coming months.
Awful as all this sounds, it’s far from over. As The Washington Post reports:
Forecasts show the extreme heat expanding through this weekend, with approximately 80 million people experiencing a temperature or heat index above 105 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and continuing well into next week.
[…] The reason things just keep getting worse in the short term is that the “heat dome” over the southern U.S. and Mexico keeps intensifying. This heat dome is actually an area of high pressure that traps an area of heat. More heat results in more high pressure. More high pressure traps more heat. Eventually this system will become unstable and fall apart. Unfortunately, that’s not happening today. [Tweet and map at the link]
And the same thing is going to continue over Europe. [Tweet and map at the link]
Right now there’s an entire band of these heat domes looped around the world, each one acting as a frying pan for the area of the planet within its boundaries. The edges of these heat domes are also associated with strong storms, so even for those not in the middle of the heat, the situation can be far from ideal. [Tweet and image showing giant hail report from NE Italy.]
The extreme heat is straining electrical grids in many areas. When survival depends on running an air conditioner, then people will run an air conditioner even if they are being warned to cut back on electrical use. Combine high demand and those powerful storms, and the result is electrical repair crews scrambling to keep things running across the nation.
In some areas, renewable energy is proving to be the key to keeping up with increased demand. In Texas, with its often unreliable independent grid and often extremely high demand-driven pricing, the last few weeks would have seen soaring prices or even widespread grid failures were it not for one thing: solar power. [video at the link]
This globe-girdling heat wave will end sometime in the next few weeks, but 2023 isn’t the end of the process. It’s not even the middle.
The Biden administration has injected record levels of funding into the research, development, and deployment of renewable energy. But companies need to move fast, because if you think this year is hot … just wait until 2024.
What is also alarming is the low temperatures, which one day this week hit 97. Most mornings the low is over 90, so I found sitting out with the dogs drinking coffee at 5am, I had to spray myself off with the hose.
This morning I got a text from a friend that the 5am low in her section of the valley was 101.
———————-
The hottest I’ve ever experienced is 115 F. That was over ¼ century ago in Moab, UT in August. It was definitely a dry heat. We drank a ton of water but never had to pee, and we could feel the moisture evaporating from our eyeballs. Do not recommend.
[…] “If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”
What? Like … what?
You’re going to put me on a cruise ship? You’re going to take me to the Smithsonian? You’re going to read me the complete written works of Mike Huckabee? What the hell are you even going on about?
[…] it’s difficult to believe that Donald Trump would issue such an incredibly lame-ass threat and take credit for it, and even promote it, when it sounds like Donald was just wingin’ it and thought he was narrating a snuff film.
But it’s got to be Trump, because nobody else would issue a lame-ass threat anywhere near as lame-ass as “going to do things to you that have never been done before.” That’s one of his signature turns of phrase, one of the things he burps when he can’t think of any actual examples and has to fill space. You know, like, “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice,” which was a for-real thing this clown-faced seditionist actually piped up with inside the damn White House, resulting in days of analysis in which the press tried to figure out whether Donald knew who Frederick Douglass was and that he’s been dead since 1891.
“… going to do things to you that have never been done before?” That’s your threat? […] If you’re going to threaten your enemies, Donald, you need to expend more effort than promising to do “things” while an electric organ vomits out its intestines in the background.
And since when do alleged presidential candidates put out videos of themselves in grainy black and white, paired with threatening music and ominous warnings of what’s gonna happen if you elect them?
Do you not even understand which side of your own campaign you’re supposed to be on? Do you think you’re running to be Darth Vader? A lazy, bored Darth Vader slouching at the base of a dying foghorn, trying to threaten Princess Leia but unwilling to make even the smallest effort to think up what threat to use?
[…] Dude, what the hell you doin’ over there?
You already tried to overthrow the whole U.S. government because you were having a whiny poopy baby tantrum over losing an election. What grainy black-and-white thing are you trying to suggest you’re going to do that’s worse than whiny baby treason?
[…] All of this is way, way too abstract for your enemies to give a flying damn about. […]
Try harder or go home, you half-assed national traitor. You’re not running to be the new Hannibal Lecter, you stubby-thumbed mirror-humper. There are actual Kennedys out there scarier than you, you pathetic burnt-out bulb in a bathroom chandelier.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #441…
Hmmm…. In light of the former discussions about the situation…one wonders what would happen if a Chinese flagged grain ship headed for a Ukrainian port. Would the Russians dare fire on it? Would Putin declare China a belligerent on Ukraine’s side…? Could be interesting.
Jazzletsays
whheydt @455
And what a way for China to play the “good guy” on the world stage too, if some of the grain went to the UN food programmes.
whheydt @455 and Jazzlet @456, very interesting idea. China needs that grain. Maybe they could just go get it?
There is this issue to consider:
[…] the fact is NATO could not deploy any warships to the Black Sea. Per Ukraine’s request, Turkey closed off the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits per the Montreux Convention. That means that warships may not pass unless they are returning to their home ports.
Activating the convention means that Russia can’t reinforce its Black Sea fleet with additional warships based elsewhere, but it also means that NATO can’t send ships into the Black Sea to protect commercial shipping.
Can China send ships into the Black Sea? Or can China re-flag Turkish ships? I don’t know enough about the issues nor about the possible solutions.
Wonkette: I DID NOT SAY THOSE ANTISEMITIC ANTI-VAX THINGS! Says Guy Who Said Those Antisemitic Anti-Vax Things
Highlights from another shitshow.
Jim Jordan’s Committee To Weaponize MAGA Republicans Against The American People had another one of its hearings Thursday, on “censorship,” so of course they brought in lunatic troll spoiler presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Definitely a productive use of Congress’s time.
But real Democrats know what to do in this situation, so they just repeatedly exposed Kennedy as a loser and a clown, over and over and over and over again.
(Aaron Rupar and Acyn live-tweeted the hearing, as per usual, so that’s where these videos came from.)
For our money, one of the best moments of the whole entire hearing was when Rep. Gerry Connolly essentially called Kennedy a shame to his family right to his face. [video at the link]
“I revere your name,” Connolly said. “You’re not here to propound your case for censorship. You are here for cynical reasons to be used politically by that side of the aisle to embarrass the current president of the United States, and you’re an enabler in that effort today. And it brings shame on a storied name that I revere. I began my political interest with your father, and it makes me profoundly sad to see where we have descended today in this hearing.”
He didn’t say the words “your father would be ashamed of you,” but we can all read between the lines.
And Kennedy continued to bring shame to his father throughout the hearing. He angrily yelled at Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who committed the sin of quoting his antisemitic batshit words about Covid verbatim. [video at the link]
“A few months ago, Mr. Kennedy, you compared Covid public health policies to barbaric murderous tactics of Nazi Germany, saying that Jewish people in Nazi Germany had more freedom than Americans facing Covid health restrictions. In hindsight, Mr. Kennedy, do you reject this absurd and deeply hurtful and harmful comparison, or do you still stand by it?”
And he called her a liar. So she entered his quote into the congressional record and reclaimed her time.
Kennedy lied and said, “I have never been anti-vax. I have never told the public to avoid vaccination.” He yelled about his views being misrepresented. [video at the link, Kennedy red-faced, angry, and stupid]
In response, Dems on the committee tweeted the receipts.
It was just kind of like that, the whole time. Some of it wasn’t even about Kennedy, but rather was just Republicans shouting out disinformation and doing auditions for Fox News’s primetime coverage tonight.
Jim Jordan started it off babbling right-wing conspiracy theories about Hank Aaron dying of the Covid vaccine, as opposed to dying of “old.” Harriet Hageman, the batshit conspiracy theorist who replaced Liz Cheney in the US House, said batshit conspiracy theories about the FBI stealing the 2020 election for Joe Biden.
Elise Stefanik maundered on about Hunter Biden’s laptop, and even Kennedy was like IDK, dude. (Maybe a vaccine ate the part of his brain responsible for opinions about Hunter Biden’s laptop.) [video at the link]
And Democrats just went HARD, both at Kennedy and at the entire charade.
There are a bunch of clips from committee ranking member Del. Stacey Plaskett that are worth your time, but this one is particularly awesome in its simplicity. Why are we having this hearing today? Plaskett explained: [video at the link]
“I want to be abundantly clear about what else is happening in this room,” she said. “The MAGA Republicans are trying to scare social media companies into not taking down blatantly false information in the lead-up to our 2024 presidential election. Chair Jordan knows, as we do, that when conspiracy theories succeed, so does Donald Trump.”
She reminded the class that Russia attacked the 2016 election, tried it in 2020, and is gonna try it again in 2024. And the only way Republicans have a prayer of “winning” is by having America’s most hostile enemy steal it for their best boy and his band of merry Republican congressional fluffers.
In response to the hearing, the usual braying asses at Fox News accused Democrats of “censoring” RFK Jr. In a hearing about censorship, no less! [video of Fox News coverage featuring Jason Chaffetz]
“I never thought the Democrats would go after a Kennedy,” said Jason Chaffetz. “I never thought I would see that day. Unbelievable that they would, in literally a hearing about censorship, they would try to censor this witness. That is unbelievable to me!” [So Fox News is repeating Kennedy’s lie that he is being “censored.”]
It is all so unbelievable to him!
Sure thing, dude.
Have the whole thing. Do what you want with it. [video at the link]
Reginald Selkirksays
@458: In which quoting someone accurately is called “censorship.” What a time we live in.
Federico Klein, who worked in the State Department during the Trump administration, was convicted by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, also a Trump appointee, following a bench trial that unfolded last week. Klein was represented by Stanley Woodward, an attorney for several former Trump officials, including Russell, who was testifying elsewhere in the federal courthouse. Klein, who was 42 at the time of his arrest, faced charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; obstruction of an official proceeding; civil disorder; as well as misdemeanor offenses…
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #457…
BIG differences between commericial and military ships. It’s very common for commercial ships to be registered in countries other than that of the owners or operators–or of the members of the crew. That’s done for regulatory (i.e. flag a ship in a country with lax regulations) or tax (i.e. low tax countries). That’s a “flag of convenience” and legal.
To re-flag a warship is THE original “false flag”. That is, flying the flag of a country other than the owner of the ship, pretending to be who you aren’t (often, the side you’re fighting against). It’s fictional, but C. S. Forester deals with such actions in at least one of his Horatio Hornblower books. (Even though writing fiction, Forester actually was quite expert on Naval history.)
To re-flag a Turkish warship in the Black Sea would be either a really dicey operation with all manner of legal complications and potential consequences, or it would require Turkey to transfer ownership of the warship to China…and would likely have problems of its own. (How much NATO equipment is likely to be on such a ship that NATO would really prefer China not to get a close look at?)
So…no. The Montreux Convention means that nobody’s warships get to transit the Bosphorus (with the earlier noted exception of ships returning to home ports). Commercial ships get to go through, unless they are flagged from countries with which Turkey is at war (which there aren’t any at the moment).
All of this is what led to my musing about China (who wants to buy quite a lot of grain from Ukraine) sending commercial vessels into Ukraine ports to pick up the grain. This would put Putin in a real jam. If he makes good on his word and takes any action against a Chinese ship, China is going to be really annoyed with Putin. If he doesn’t take action against such Chinese ships, then he is–once again–shown to be a paper tiger. Either way, there is no risk of involving NATO.
John Moralessays
whheydt, China likes the rather cheap crude and gas it’s getting as a result of sanctions on Russia, and a lot of Russia’s trade there is in yuan.
So. Not gonna happen.
re:
If he doesn’t take action against such Chinese ships, then he is–once again–shown to be a paper tiger.
Paper tiger or not, the war is ongoing and it’s his doing.
(Paper cuts really hurt!)
whheydtsays
Re: me @ #461…
Some considerations I should have added to last paragraph….
Putin has also said that any country (one must presume going the flag country of a commercial ship) going into Ukraine’s ports will be presumed to be a belligerent on Ukraine’s side. That is, effectively, declaring war on any country that does so.
Does Putin really want to declare war on his BFF China? What with chunks of the Russian Far East that China would like to own? Where is Putin going to find an army to stop the Chinese from just walking in and grabbing whatever they want? We’ve been told that something like 97% of the effective combat force of the Russian army is tied up in Ukraine and it’s obvious that the Russian army supplies of critical equipment–artillery, tanks, IFVs, support vehicles, etc.–have been badly mauled in Ukraine. So what would Putin fight the Chinese with?
Moon Mist can refer to many things: a flavor of Faygo soda, a Magic the Gathering card. But for Nova Scotians, Moon Mist is an eye-catching, mouthwatering blend of three distinct flavors of ice cream: grape, banana, and bubblegum.
It’s an unusual combo, to say the least. One theory says that a flavor company shopped it around in the early 1980s, as Nova Scotian dairies started churning out the tricolored variety at roughly the same time. The result was a hit in Canada’s Atlantic provinces, where it’s the most popular flavor of ice cream…
John Moralessays
whheydt:
So what would Putin fight the Chinese with?
Again: why should the Chinese pick a fight with Russia?
(Because that’s what your hypothetical scenario requires)
whheydtsays
Re: John Morales @ #465…
China wants Ukraine’s grain (they’ve been getting quite a bit of it), they’ve had their eyes on chunks of Russian Far East for some time. (China, like Russia, thinks any territory that has ever been theirs, should be again and forevermore.) Russia is probably the weakest its ever been and is unlikely to have its army tied up so thoroughly again, so the time looks good.
Granted, China likes buying Russian oil and gas at bargain basement prices.
And in the end, it wouldn’t be China picking a fight with Russia, rather China looking out for its own interests and seeing if Putin will actually try to follow through. He might not.
But a new systematic review, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour on Thursday, suggests the scientific evidence for some of the most commonly recommended happiness-boosting strategies is fairly weak. That’s not to say the strategies don’t work, just that scientists know less about who they might work for and when they might work than people think.
The researchers behind the review — Dunigan Folk, a psychology Ph.D. student, and his professor, Elizabeth Dunn, at the University of British Columbia — first conducted an internet search to determine the five most common strategies being recommended in the media when people searched via Google with terms like “how to be happy” and “happiness strategies.” …
wzrd1says
I dunno, China might have a tough time of it, should Russia cut off Chinese oil. Siberian oilfields are ever so distant from China…
Although, Ukraine still has options. One being, a revival of something fairly old, but initially devastating. Q-ships.
What appear to be unarmed merchantmen plying trade routes in time of commerce raiding, who when engaged, drop their disguise and suddenly the harmless little lamb that’s being engaged by the wolf of an armed aggressor, turns into a porcupine.
They were devastating against German U-boats in WWI and Japanese U-boats in WWII (the Germans didn’t fall for them in WWII, learning the hard way).
They’d be of limited utility, both due to high probability of vessel loss with the combatant vessel and well, Russians aren’t stupid and would swiftly catch on, but they’d force greater standoff between aggressor and merchantmen.
Although, one also wonders, given Russia declaring all vessels sailing into Ukrainian ports as targets, if a passenger ship were to sail into a Ukrainian port, are they going to sink a civilian ocean liner full of noncombatants from a neutral nation and hence, commit an act of war against that nation? Are they willing to commit to World War Putin?
wzrd1says
Jazzlet @ 450, thanks. I was going to comment, as I’ve saw anencephaly cases and the appearance of the victim does frequently induce nausea and/or vomiting in those unprepared for such a sight.
The name suggests headless, they’re usually not, but a lot of the head simply never develops, so one can have a small section of brain that’s exposed, most of the brain simply missing, along with most of the cranium or entire segments of the head just never developed.
I’d provide example images, save that I can’t think of an offense where someone deserves such a horrific punishment.
But, for those wanting nightmare food, think of any kind of severely misshapen head where it’s apparent the brain could never have developed on one end of the scale, to a neonate with a teratoma for a head.
So yeah, even the mythical Vulcans would find such a sight emotionally distressing. Distressing enough to me, that reviving those memories has delayed my breakfast indefinitely.
wzrd1says
DeStupid is on the march again, now urging the state’s pension fund manager to consider legal action against Bud Light’s parent company over their audacity of wanting to include The Other into their customer base.
Basically, after learning that the state pension fund has money invested in AB InBev, he wants to sue the company because of their advertisement embracing trans persons as customers. While claiming to embrace capitalism and small government.
I guess his new State Guard haven’t gotten their brown shirts issued yet… https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/politics/desantis-letter-bud-light-company/index.html
Boy, is he flailing to keep his campaign off of the autopsy table!
StevoRsays
Seems DART had a really big boulder-chucking impact on asteroid moon Dimorphos :
By tapping into the Hubble Space Telescope’s powerful optics, astronomers found that the probe’s impact on Dimorphos – which occurred while it flew at about 14,000 mph (22,530 km/h) – produced a “swarm of boulders.” And it’s possible, the agency says, that these shards came from the asteroid target itself. (Presumably menaing Dimorphos the target moon NOT Didymos the atseroid Dimorphos orbits -ed?) …(snip)… In terms of the boulders themselves, Jewitt and fellow researchers identified 37 free-flung rocks spurting off of Dimorphos that range in size from three feet to 22 feet (.9 meters to 6.7 meters) across and have a collective mass about 0.1% the mass of the asteroid. These objects appeared to be drifting away from their source at just over a half-mile per hour (0.8 km/h), which NASA likens to “roughly the walking speed of a giant tortoise.”
Huh, again, use anything but the metric system eh Americans? Though it is a picturesque, effective and vivid way of describing it, I’ll admit.
KGsays
Does Putin really want to declare war on his BFF China? – whheydt@463
No. But nor does China (i.e. Xi Jinping) want to humiliate Putin, let alone risk war with Russia – which would likely mean Russia nuking Beijing. China might try to negotiate a pass to dock at Ukrainian ports and collect grain, it is not going to send a ship there without having such a pass. Nor is China going to invade Siberia as long as there is a nuclear-armed Russian Federation or successor state in control of that region. Such ideas are fantasies. China can easily live with any outcome to the war, and is probably fine with it continuing indefinitely – it hampers the USA in “pivoting” to the Pacific, increases Russian dependence on China, and ensures a supply of cheap oil and gas. Increased grain prices are inconvenient, but by no means disastrous.
The Florida judge overseeing President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified records trial won’t give the former President what he wants — for now.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for the Southern District of Florida scheduled Trump’s trial on charges of unlawfully retaining national defense information, obstruction, and conspiracy for May 20, 2024.
Trump’s attorneys had asked Cannon to indefinitely delay scheduling a trial date, saying that the 2024 election would make finding an impartial jury pool impossible. Federal prosecutors with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office wanted the trial to begin in December 2023.
It’s a relative defeat for Trump, who benefitted last year from a series of rulings that Cannon issued in a civil case that he brought to halt the DOJ’s use of records it seized from Mar-a-Lago for its investigation. […]
In the Friday order, Cannon wrote that Trump’s arguments about his status as a current presidential candidate were “unnecessary to resolution of the Government’s motion at this juncture.” It leaves room for the issue potentially to reappear in the future, but takes it out of consideration for now.
Smith had asked for an unusually early trial for the case, which involves complicated procedures around classification. Cannon designated the case as complex in her ruling, and described Smith’s request as “atypically accelerated and inconsistent with ensuring a fair trial.”
Per the schedule that Cannon set, the two sides have one month to trade arguments about a classified information protective order which Cannon, by law, has to issue.
The trial date itself may be further delayed.
wzrd1says
Trump classified documents trial date set.
Pretrial griping for 14-May-24. Tentative trial start date 20-May-24.
Dates subject to change by god-emperor’s decree… https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/trump-trial-date/index.html
Other cases are racked and stacked, with the potential for more to come sometime before Sol’s red giant stage ends.
Given the sheer volume of cases currently filed, the bar association of multiple states must be thanking their lucky stars for so much business. He’s a one man stimulus check for the legal profession!
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have been calling state legislators about the map, which could affect control of Congress.
Alabama Republicans rejected calls to draw a second majority-Black congressional district this week, instead creating maps that Democrats and advocates say completely ignore a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
A federal court ordered the state to redraw its congressional map last year to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.” The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling this year, prompting the Legislature to call a special session to redraw the map this week.
But on Friday, the Republican-controlled Legislature is poised to pass a map with just one majority-Black seat. They’re currently considering two drafts: The House map includes a second district that is 42% Black, while the Senate map includes a district that is 38% Black. Lawmakers are expected to meet Friday in conference committee to select one of those maps, or a compromise.
Neither would give Black voters a real shot at winning congressional seats, Democrats and advocates said in interviews and floor debates.
[…] House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and much of the rest of Alabama’s congressional delegation have reached out to Republican legislators, according to Republican state House Speaker Nathan Ledbetter.
[…] McCarthy reached out to plan sponsors and is concerned about maintaining his House majority, Ledbetter said, while Tuberville called Thursday morning and said he was surprised the Supreme Court had ruled against the state, given the court’s conservative tilt.
[…] “I’d like to know where they’re going to go and whether they’re in the process of happening,” he said. “I know the Democrats are trying very hard to redraw New York. … I think people should be very fair in this process to be able to see what’s happening. I like to know what’s going to happen out there.”
Republicans have insisted the maps would give Black voters an opportunity to elect the representatives of their choice as required by the courts, but Democrats, voting rights experts and the groups that sued the original maps disagree.
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, a Democrat from Birmingham, expressed shock that GOP legislators “would blatantly flip off the United States Supreme Court” with the map in debate this week.
Kareem Clayton, an Alabama native who is a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said his team looked at 15 recent elections to see how the proposed district lines would perform.
They found that the candidate preferred by Black voters would win four times out of 15 under the House plan, while Black voters could elect their preferred candidate just once under the Senate plan. And that win was narrow, deriving from a remarkable upset: former Sen. Doug Jones’ historic upset over Roy Moore, a Republican accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers.
[…] The voting and civil rights groups that challenged the map as a violation of the Voting Rights Act promised to fight the new one as well.
Plaintiffs can submit objections in the coming weeks under the current court order, and the federal judges will consider them at an Aug. 14 hearing. The court can decide to hire an outside expert to redraw the maps if it agrees that the map is another racial gerrymander.
[…] “Alabama Republicans are intentionally drawing political retention maps at the expense of Black Alabamians — in defiance of the Supreme Court and the Alabama district court. It is a continuation of the state’s long, sordid history of disenfranchising Black voters,” she [Marina Jenkins, the executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation] said, promising to challenge the maps in court.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Deuel Ross, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said the plaintiffs were disappointed in Alabama’s responses to the court orders.
“This is exactly why the Voting Rights Act was first created — this sort of stubbornness of states,” he said in an interview. “Even when a court says that they’re violating federal law or the Constitution, they continue to fail to do the right thing. It’s troubling, but it’s part of a troubling history that has existed in America and Alabama for a long time.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley released an FBI FD-1023 form related to the Hunter Biden investigation. These forms are not intended to be public documents and it is highly unusual to release them publicly. These are the forms that the FBI uses to “record raw, unverified reporting from confidential human sources.” They do not represent the results of investigations, and “recording this information does not validate it or establish its credibility.”
These forms are not classified, but they are kept in confidence for a number of reasons that are mostly connected with protecting sources. The FBI has made it clear to Grassley repeatedly that releasing the form would have a negative impact not just on this case, but on every case that depends on confidential human sources.
Grassley released it anyway […] Grassley is doing this to forward a story that he knows is a lie.
The form, which is dated June 2020, claims to be sourced from a businessman who was introduced to leadership at Burisma energy in Ukraine in “late 2015 or early 2016” to help the company find a U.S. company to purchase. During a meeting with Burisma leadership, the source claims that he was told Hunter Biden was put on the company board to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.” Asked why it isn’t Hunter doing the job of locating a U.S. form to purchase, he’s told that “Hunter is not that smart.” Finally the source is told by Burisma executive Mykola Zlochevsky that the company has to pay $5 million to Joe Biden and another $5 million to Hunter Biden because they are being investigated by Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, and Burisma needed Biden to “deal with Shokin.”
The story then jumps to a phone call in 2016. Or maybe it was 2017. As with the original meeting, the source can’t recall the year, though he recalls the dialogue word for word. This time Zlochevsky complains that Burisma was forced to pay Biden, using a term that the source describes as “Russian-criminal-slang,” and now that Trump has been elected their investment is worthless. However, Shokin has been fired, so there was no investigation and no one would ever know about the money they paid the Bidens.
Jump forward to 2019 when CHS again meets with Burisma executives and Zlochevsky brags to the source about how clever they were in hiding the payments to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, and how no one will ever find those payments. According to the source, this is the kind of thing Ukrainian businessmen like to brag about in casual conversation.
Finally, it comes down to this bit where one of the Burisma executives tells the source:
“… he has many text messages and ‘recordings’ that show he was coerced to make such payments … he had a total of “17 recordings” involving the Bidens; two of the recordings included Joe Biden, and the remaining 15 recordings only Included Hunter Biden. … These recordings evidence Zlochevskiy was somehow coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired.”
If any of this sounds slightly familiar, it’s because it’s the exact story that Rudy Giuliani told to The New York Times in May 2019. In that story, Hunter Biden was placed on the board of Burisma in 2014 not because he was clearly a well-placed American with years of experience in lobbying, investment banking, and corporate governance who might be essential to an energy company looking to expand internationally, but because his father could get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired.
And Shokin was fired in 2016. The Ukrainian parliament voted him out after Joe Biden made it clear that the United States was very concerned about Shokin and might withhold or delay assistance to Ukraine unless he was removed. That’s a real thing. Biden even bragged about it later, telling a group of foreign policy advisers that he confronted the Ukrainian president and demanded Shokin’s firing.
Except the reason that Shokin was fired was because he was not investigating cases of corruption and was instead either turning a blind eye or an outstretched hand when dealing with Ukrainian oligarchs who were making off with billions. Both the U.S. and the U.K. governments had been pressuring Ukraine about Shokin for over a year before Joe Biden’s visit. In fact, the thing that upset the U.K. government most was that Shokin was refusing to investigate one firm in particular: Burisma. [!!!]
As the head of a Ukrainian anti-corruption organization told Radio Free Europe, Shokin had dumped the investigation of Burisma when he took office.
“Ironically, Joe Biden asked Shokin to leave because the prosecutor failed [to pursue] the Burisma investigation, not because Shokin was tough and active with this case,” Kaleniuk said.
When The New York Times ran Giuliani’s version of the story in 2019, it took Bloomberg News just one week to rip it apart.
… at the time Biden made his ultimatum, the probe into the company—Burisma Holdings, owned by Mykola Zlochevsky—had been long dormant, according to the former official, Vitaliy Kasko.
“There was no pressure from anyone from the U.S. to close cases against Zlochevsky,” Kasko said in an interview last week. “It was shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015.”
From the beginning of this whole affair, and in fact from the moment Giuliani set foot in Ukraine, it’s been obvious that in getting Shokin fired Joe Biden wasn’t protecting Burisma, he was taking action that put the company under renewed scrutiny. And in fact prosecutors did reopen their investigation of Burisma, reviewing multiple instances in which Zlochevsky was suspected of crimes.
All of this—all of it—was thoroughly covered just two years ago, including just how Giuliani generated his claims against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden in the first place.
Giuliani made a personal visit to an outgoing prosecutor, tried to convince him to play ball, and even called Trump directly while in the prosecutor’s office so that Trump could explain how excited he was about the “investigation” into Biden. The prosecutor even went so far as to add some new false claims, asserting that Joe Biden personally took a payment to act as an agent of a Ukrainian company.
That moment when Giuliani was making calls directly to the White House from the office of an outgoing official is the genesis of the idea that Joe Biden took some kind of payment from Burisma. Until that moment, it had come up nowhere. From no one.
Over the following months, Giuliani assembled a group of known criminals and former members of the pro-Russian government who had been ousted with the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He found several willing to play along with his growing story, but they had a price: They wanted Trump to get rid of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was too effective in fighting corruption. Trump gave them exactly what they wanted to get his false evidence against Biden, but even in 2019 the holes in the story were so big that the whole scheme was obviously a … scheme.
The document that the FBI held was clearly authored by someone who was part of Giuliani’s plot, and it was clearly Giuliani himself who pointed out this document to Grassley and others. The document contains exactly the same false, easily disproved claims […] It’s all part of what Trump was trying to get Zelenskyy to say when he made his impeachment-worthy phone call to the Ukrainian leader.
The content of the FD-1023 form is a lie. What’s more, Grassley knows it is a lie. He knows this has all been investigated and found to be baseless accusations. And he knows that releasing this document causes real, genuine harm.
[…] Grassley was sent a letter […]asking him expressly to remind everyone involved to keep in mind the importance of keeping these documents secure. Instead, Grassley did the opposite: He published the FD-1023 in blatant defiance of the FBI’s request.
Why did he do it? He did it for the same reason that Republicans had been seeking release of the document all along, and that was because they knew it would generate headlines like this:
Bidens allegedly ‘coerced’ Burisma CEO to pay them millions to help get Ukraine prosecutor fired: FBI form
[…] There is a genuine broad streak of corruption in this case, and it runs right through Iowa.
@476
If the Alabama GOP continues to defy a court order, the next step should be the appointment of a “special master” to draw the districts to the court’s liking.
There was a great deal wrong with Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy, but among the most conspicuous problems was the Republican’s deliberate decision to avoid any focus on governing and policy details. […]
One of the future president’s top policy advisers said at the time that voters would be “bored to tears” if the GOP campaign focused on governing. Trump himself insisted “the public doesn’t care” about public policy, which came on the heels of a campaign insider saying Trump didn’t want to “waste time on policy.”
As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes summarized in September 2016, the prospect of a Trump presidency was, for all intents and purposes, a “black box.” The host added, “No one, probably not even Trump, knows what the hell it looks like.”
Four years later, the then-incumbent president was no better. […] At one point, when the issue came up during a Fox News interview, the Republican boasted that he “would do new things” in a second term — but he failed to identify what any of those “new things” might be.
Eventually, Team Trump released a 50-point bulleted list of post-election priorities, but as we discussed soon after, to call the list an agenda would be far too generous: It included goals such as “return to normal in 2021.” The items on the list hardly counted as half-written tweets, much less elements of a presidential governing agenda.
As Election Day neared, Joe Biden’s campaign website featured relatively detailed proposals on 46 policy areas. […] Trump’s website featured literally zero policy plans […]
The good news is, as part of his 2024 candidacy, Trump has some relatively specific ideas about what he’d do with power if voters return him to the White House, and the electorate will have ample opportunity to assess them on the merits. The bad news is, those ideas are fundamentally at odds with how the United States government is supposed to function.
[…] I’m referring to the revelations from this New York Times report, published earlier this week, sketching out the details of something called Project 2025: the Republican’s plan for “a sweeping expansion of presidential power” that would concentrate authority “directly in his hands.”
[Trump and his associates intend] to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.
The vision is, among other things, ambitious.
– Federal agencies that currently work independently would be controlled by Trump.
– Congressionally approved government spending simply would not happen, at Trump’s discretion, as his prospective administration makes plan to renew “impounding” practices.
– Exploiting something called Schedule F, tens of thousands of career civil servants would be stripped of their civil employment protections.
– Similarly, a hunt would begin within intelligence, diplomatic, and national security agencies, looking for employees Team Trump deemed ideologically unfit for public service.
Or put another way, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination finally has a post-election plan. It’s called a radical and authoritarian-style power grab. […]
What’s more, before the former president’s supporters suggest that the Times’ report is some kind of exaggeration, there’s ample evidence to the contrary. As Dan Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts, noted, “It will be difficult for the Trump campaign to claim inaccuracies in the story, since the [article] quotes liberally from Trump loyalists like John McEntee, Russell Vought, Steven Cheung, and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.”
What we’re left with is a leading presidential contender, who sought national office twice without anything resembling a governing platform, settling on a post-election plan — which is fundamentally at odds with his own country’s democracy.
Trump was asked yesterday whether he’d consider conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a possible running mate, and he didn’t say no. “People have suggested it. There are a lot of people suggesting it,” the Republican replied. “He’s a smart guy.”
We already knew electric vehicles don’t do so well when it gets really cold outside. Well, apparently they don’t really like extreme heat either. According to Automotive News, the recent heat wave across much of the Southern and Western U.S. has brought their range issue to the forefront.
A Seattle-based EV battery and range analytics company called Recurrent has reportedly tested thousands of vehicles in various weather conditions. It found that many vehicles experienced “significant declines” in their range as temperatures rose. Some apparently suffered a 31 percent drop when temps got about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That is less than ideal. At cooler temperatures, the outlet reports that the range loss wasn’t as high. There was an average of 5 percent reduction at 90 degrees and 2.8 percent at 80, so it’s definitely not linear…
Caption for image that tops the article: This image released in the final report by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol shows a graphic that illustrates the difference between real and fake Presidential Elector Ballots from Arizona.
Republican Congress members held another of their many, many rage-filled hearings on Thursday. This one had the stated purpose of propping Republican-supported spoiler candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in front of the cameras so that he could spew his racist, antisemitic, anti-scientific conspiracy theories while crying to a worldwide audience that he was being censored.
But of course, that wasn’t the sole purpose of the hearing. Republicans also used the time to spread their own elaborate conspiracy theories and talk about America’s most crucial issues: Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and Hunter Biden’s laptop. At least this time around they did not choose to illustrate their points with revenge porn. [A reference to Marjorie Taylor Greene entering an image of Hunter Biden’s penis into the Congressional Record during the hearing.]
As Republicans rolled on through the day, tossing their own brand of woo woo onto the heaping pile of ugly and harmful nonsense that Kennedy carried into the chamber, one thing about all this began to make sense: Republicans should believe in an elaborate scheme involving thousands of individuals and hundreds of officials cooperating to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Because that’s exactly what happened. [LOL]
NPR has been keeping a handy database of those involved in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. As of July 14, a total of 1,064 people have faced charges in connection to the failed insurrection. Of those, 617 have pleaded guilty. Another 124 have faced trials. Only two have been acquitted.
Estimates of those who battered their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6 put the number at over 2,000. In addition, hundreds more pro-Donald Trump rioters battered police, damaged structures, and violated D.C. weapons laws. So it’s likely that all the numbers above will continue to grow as more of those involved are identified and arrested.
But these people are, for the most part, just foot soldiers. Sure, among them were members of the Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to years in federal prison, but even these guys were way down in the pecking order. They are the followers.
This week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged 16 false electors who signed certificates alleging that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election with eight felonies each, including conspiracy to commit election law forgery. Each of these charges has a maximum sentence of 14 years. Since the 16 false electors range in age from 55 to 81, they may want to rethink their retirement plans.
But Michigan isn’t the only state that had slates of false electors, or the only state where they may face charges. Wisconsin has been considering charges against the 10 false electors there, and a lawsuit is moving ahead that seeks $2.4 million in damages from the electors and from the Trump lawyers who advised them. False electors in other states have been connected to subpoenas from the FBI and meetings with the office of the special counsel, suggesting that federal charges may soon be filed by Jack Smith.
In all, there are 84 of these false electors scattered across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As the AZ Mirror reports, the group includes:
– Georgia’s current lieutenant governor.
– A former Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona.
– A county councilman from Pennsylvania.
– Two former Republican candidates for governor of Pennsylvania.
– An alderperson from Wisconsin.
– A former member of the Wisconsin Election Commission.
In Michigan, those already charged include a Republican National Committee member, the clerk of Shelby Township, a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and the mayor of a small city.
The full list is rotten with the names of Republican county chairs, co-chairs, treasurers, and others with authority in the party. More names come from the heads of Republican-aligned think tanks, institutes, and foundations. The false elector list reads like a who’s who of Republicans in each state.
These 84 people aren’t just mid-level officers in the insurrection: They’re people who absolutely knew better. They weren’t people picked off the street, or even volunteers from a Trump rally. They were insiders. Those who showed up at the Capitol to scream and break windows may have been ignorant enough to believe Trump and the angry rhetoric flying their way. These false electors were fully aware they were lying when they signed their names to fake certificates while claiming to be duly appointed representatives of their state’s voting results.
They were knowledgeable, willing participants in a scheme to overturn the outcome of a free and fair election for president of the United States.
The false electors were far from alone in that knowledge. Dozens, if not hundreds, more Republican officials and politicians were involved. This includes people like attorney Robert Cheeley, who met with Georgia state legislators and showed them video clips edited to make it seem like election workers were involved in fraud. Or Sen. Ron Johnson, who not only had a hand in organizing false electors in Wisconsin, but handed Mike Pence a list of false electors in the middle of the chaotic and violent events on Jan. 6.
At the top of the pyramid were Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and others who weren’t just involved in the false elector scheme: They were the authors. They weren’t taking orders. They were creating the strategy and tactics that resulted in the outreach to those false electors, the lies told to legislators, and the rallies that kept Trump voters riled up and ready to march.
Keeping Trump in power was the goal of the scheme, but Trump wasn’t alone. There were literally hundreds of Republicans who were aware of what was going on and took part in the efforts to defeat the outcome of a democratic election. They should believe in conspiracies. Because they’re conspirators.
And they’re excited about giving it another try.
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 482, lithium ion batteries are known to lose efficiency, like most other batteries, as they go below or above specific operating temperatures.
More worrisome is, thermal runaway in lithium ion batteries is around 67 C or 153 F. That sounds extreme, but remember that the batteries generate their own heat while discharging or charging and they’re usually contained in the undercarriage of the vehicle, so heat dissipation can be problematic and pavement radiation also becomes a factor.
Once the batteries go into runaway, the cells begin to short, advancing the runaway and expelling hot gases. https://engineering.purdue.edu/P2SAC/presentations/documents/Lithium-Ion-Battery-Thermal-Runaway.pdf
Here’s a nice bus that had a lithium ion fire.
Of course, that was in a notoriously hot climate, Paris, France.
Now, the fun part. Lead-acid batteries, traditional car battery types, have a similar runaway issue, at similar temperatures. But, the energy per unit area is much lower, so the fires are less spectacular and oh yeah, the plates aren’t flammable. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/2.030302jes
Long and short, batteries are chemical, so like many chemical reactions, are temperature to reaction linked, sluggish when cold, increasing in reactivity when hot.
Fortunately, there’s no such thing as global warming, otherwise we might have to worry, as Phoenix, Aridzona’s street temperatures can reach 180 F (82.22 C), heaven knows what they’d be if the place heated up even more.
CO2, it made Venus the heaven that it is today. Who wants to go backpacking for the weekend on Venus?
In February 2019, Michael Cohen enraged Donald Trump and his team by testifying before the House Oversight Committee and making a series of damaging allegations about the then-president. The lawyer’s testimony was, among other things, the first domino that led to Trump’s indictment in New York.
It was a week later when Cohen went further, filing a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization, alleging that the business owed him quite a bit of money. Today, as NBC News reported, that case was resolved.
Former Trump personal lawyer-turned-ferocious critic Michael Cohen has settled his lawsuit seeking $1.3 million in legal fees from the Trump Organization, sources told NBC News. Attorneys for Cohen and the Trump company were in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Friday working out the final terms of the deal, which were not disclosed.
The litigants appear to have waited until the last minute: Jurors had already been selected for this case, and opening arguments were set to begin on Monday.
Note, this now-settled case filed by Cohen is separate from a related lawsuit filed against Cohen: In April, Trump sued his former fixer, seeking at least a half-billion dollars — no, that’s not a typo — over alleged breaches of contract and “unjust enrichment.”
Whether today’s settlement touched on the former president’s $500 million case is, at least for now, unclear.
But as one of Team Trump’s many legal disputes fades away, I’m reminded of something then-candidate Trump said in 2016. “I don’t settle cases,” the Republican bragged during a primary debate in 2016. “I don’t do it because that’s why I don’t get sued very often, because I don’t settle, unlike a lot of other people.”
And yet, the Republican appears to settle cases with some regularity. Last fall, for example, he reached a settlement with a group of protesters who claimed his security guards assaulted them outside Trump Tower in 2015.
Three years earlier, he also settled a case regarding his fraudulent charitable foundation, paying $2 million in penalties, and shuttering the entity altogether.
The settlement came after the then-president publicly declared, “I won’t settle this case!”
None of this, of course, should be confused with the $25 million settlement Trump had to pay in the Trump University case, in which the president ran a “school” that was little more than a scam created to take advantage of unsuspecting students who trusted the Republican.
He also vowed not to settle that case, shortly before he settled the case.
Florida is trying to defend new Black history standards that have drawn sharp criticism, including from Vice President Kamala Harris. “Just yesterday in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” Harris said Thursday evening, speaking at Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.’s national convention. “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”
Harris will speak in Florida on Friday afternoon, where she will return to the subject. Meanwhile, Florida continues to attempt to gaslight us on this subject.
The Florida Board of Education released a statement from Dr. William Allen and Dr. Frances Presley Rice essentially accusing critics of disrespecting enslaved people. A provision of the curriculum standard is, “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Here’s the defense: “The intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted. [sic] This is factual and well documented.”
The statement continued, “Some examples include: blacksmiths like Ned Cobb, Henry Blair, Lewis Latimer and John Henry; shoemakers like James Forten, Paul Cuffe and Betty Washington Lewis; fishing and shipping industry workers like Jupiter Hammon, John Chavis, William Whipper and Crispus Attucks; tailors like Elizabeth Keckley, James Thomas and Marietta Carter; and teachers like Betsey Stockton and Booker T. Washington.”
Oh, well, a tiny minority of people who were forced to labor for enslavers developed some skills which, while primarily used for the benefit of their enslavers, were occasionally of benefit to themselves. That’s clearly one of the key facts of the system of slavery about which all Florida schoolchildren must be informed!
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts recently had an exhibit called “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina,” which focused on a man known as Dave the Potter, later identified as David Drake. In addition to being a skilled potter working for the benefit and profit of a series of owners, Drake was a poet who would inscribe brief poems into the clay jars he made—a remarkable act for someone who was banned from knowing how to read or write. More remarkable still is the content of some of those poems.
“I wonder where is all my relation/Friendship to all — and every nation,” Drake inscribed on one pot in 1857. Another piece read, “nineteen days before Christmas — Eve — / Lots of people after its over, how they will greave,” a reference to how slaves would often be sold or leased on New Year’s Day, breaking up families. [That is remarkable]
Dave the Potter fits directly into the Florida benchmarks as a skilled craftsperson. He is remembered by history, with his work selling for six figures. But his poems speak directly to the horrifying reality of his life and of the lives of every other person in that evil system.
“Any attempt to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage and resiliency during a difficult time in American history,” according to Allen and Presley Rice in full gaslighting mode. “Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants.”
Are we supposed to be surprised and gratified that enslaved people gained skills? Are they imagining that our assumption would be every single one of the millions of people enslaved in the United States over the years functioned as the witless property their enslavers tried to force them to be? They’re framing “[i]nstruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” as some kind of statement of empowerment, but all it says is that of the many people who developed and exercised skills because it benefited their owners for them to do so, a very few were allowed to benefit from it at all, and whatever small benefit they got was within the context of being treated as property. One of the main things enslaved people did with any money they were allowed to earn was try to save up to buy their freedom, or that of their family members. That’s the kind “personal benefit” involved here.
Allen and Presley Rice want us to believe that it’s disrespectful to enslaved people to not talk about how they “took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants,” but you can do that without implying the system was set up to enable that, as the Florida Black history benchmark does.
The Florida Black history guidelines and their glaring offenses against the teaching of Black history are inherently a part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to gut teaching about anything that might possibly offend right-wing white parents. The standards specifically mention Ruby Bridges, but just months ago a Disney movie about Bridges was removed from schools in one Florida county. Florida law enacted under DeSantis has textbook publishers so scared of telling the truth about Black history that one removed mentions of race from the Rosa Parks story. DeSantis faced off against the College Board with demands to weaken the curriculum in an Advanced Placement African American Studies class. The Florida Board of Education has no standing to deny that any curriculum it approves will be watered down at best.
All of this is part of DeSantis’ effort to elevate himself as a presidential primary candidate in a party that has spent the last several years freaking out about the possibility that race, racism, and Black history might be taken seriously in schools. DeSantis made a cynical bet that pandering to white people worried their kids might start asking too many questions about race and racism was the way forward for a Republican would-be president. And his early polling numbers, before people became familiar with DeSantis himself, show that it had appeal for the Republican base. So, yeah, as the vice president said, “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us.” [video at the link]
The investment company that planned to merge with the parent company of former President Trump’s Truth Social app has been fined $18 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency announced Thursday.
Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) raised roughly $300 million in 2021 and later promised that it would merge with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), but the SEC claims its disclosures to investors were misleading.
The merger has not yet occurred, but with the SEC matter settled it may be able to go ahead. If it does not finish by a Sept. 8 deadline, the roughly $300 million will be returned.
DWAC is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a blank-check firm that can buy and help bring a company public. The SEC alleges DWAC planned on buying the Trump company before it raised its $300 million in IPO funds, but did not reveal that plan to investors as required.
“DWAC failed to disclose its discussions with TMTG and failed to disclose a material conflict of interest of its CEO and Chairman,” SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.
“[…] these disclosure failures are particularly problematic because investors focus on factors such as the SPAC’s management team and potential merger targets when making financial decisions.”
The company will have to pay the fine if the merger goes through. The SEC began the investigation shortly after DWAC announced its intent to merge with the Trump media company in 2021.
In June, three DWAC investors were charged with insider trading related to the merger deal, making a total of $22 million off the company’s stock using privileged information. […]
Trump himself is not accused of wrongdoing in this case, however Trump is the guy that associated himself with unethical people in order to get Truth Social up and running.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Friday, requesting that an ethics watchdog “immediately” initiate a review of Greene’s conduct after she showed sexually explicit photos of Biden at a congressional hearing this week.
In a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), Biden attorney Abbe David Lowell slammed Greene’s actions as “abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct.”
“Now more than ever, the House has a duty to make loud and clear that it does not endorse, condone, or agree with her outrageous, undignified conduct and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives,” Lowell wrote.
The OCE is a non-partisan, independent entity previously established by the House that reviews allegations of misconduct involving lawmakers, officers and House staffers and, if warranted, refers matters to the Ethics Committee.
[…] The episode in question took place Wednesday during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing that featured testimony from two IRS whistleblowers […] [“whistleblowers” should be quotes. There are many questionable aspects of their testimony and concerning their status as “whistleblowers.”]
During her time to question the witnesses, Greene held up posters that showed graphic sexual photos from the laptop hard drive that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden. The faces of other individuals involved in the sex acts were censored with black boxes, but Biden’s face was visible in the photos.
See also comments 377 and 378 concerning the corrupted hard drives that are being passed around by Republicans and labeled “Hunter Biden’s laptop,” when in fact they are not.
[…] Even our best metric for understanding all of the consequences of heat is flawed. Most health research on heat focuses on deaths and to a lesser extent hospital admissions. Vivek Shandas, Portland State University professor of climate adaptation, calls the focus on mortality overly “blunt measures” that fail to capture how climate change is harming the world’s mental and physical health. While most of the studies discussed below track heat-related deaths, they are more likely missing a bigger picture: There’s an even broader population suffering from heat, but in ways that don’t lead to hospitalization or death.
What’s the physical toll of extreme heat?
Cardiovascular
The primary performer in helping cool the body down is the heart. It is under special strain when temperatures rise, and the vast number of deaths associated with a heat wave isn’t directly from heatstroke, when the organs can shut down from overheating, but because the heart can’t keep up.
Several systems in the body work overtime to keep internal organs cool as temperatures rise. In hotter temperatures, the heart moves more blood to the skin, so that the heat can dissipate into the environment. The evaporation of sweat is essential to the process. But as the body ages, it becomes less efficient at achieving all this, less able to pump enough blood with every beat, worse at increasing skin blood flow, and less able to sweat to cool down. Not only does the body become less efficient at cooling down, but older adults are also more likely to be taking medications that affect their ability to regulate internal temperatures.
Healthy individuals, young and old, aren’t immune either. The cause can be environmental: The Texas Tribune reported that last month at least five prisoners died of heart attacks during heat waves, in a state where two-thirds of prisons lack air conditioning. Two of the men were only 34 and 35.
Cardiovascular failure is one reason death counts in a heat wave are highly disputed and chronically undercounted. Health researchers try to make up for the gaps in reporting by looking at excess mortality to nail down more accurate data.
A recent study published in Nature Medicine found that the 2022 summer heat waves led to over 60,000 deaths in Europe, with younger men and older women at higher risk. It almost broke the previous record of as many as 70,000 excess deaths across Europe in the summer of 2003. During a heat dome in the Pacific Northwest two years ago, official estimates registered a few hundred deaths, but ultimately the death toll was likely well over 1,000. […]
Much more at the link, including effects on pregnant women as well as the fetus; a 20% rise in respiratory illness like pneumonia; effects on sleep quality; emotional and mental tolls (suicide rates and violent crime go up); negative effects on student’s capacity to learn; negative affects on all human decision making; temperatures in public housing and in prisons show that officials are either neglecting their duties and/or flying blind when coping with heat waves.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has described western Polish territory as a “gift” from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, claiming that it was his actions that caused Poland to receive this area from Germany after World War II.
“The western territories of present-day Poland are a gift from Stalin to the Poles, have our friends in Warsaw forgotten about this? We will remind you,” Putin threatened at a meeting with members of the Russian security council on July 21…
whheydtsays
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #490…
Yeah… And western Ukraine used to be part of Poland (including, IIRC, the city of Lviv), while Russia took over some eastern parts of what was Ukraine. Lots of map rearrangement in Eastern Europe at the end of WW2. Because Stalin wanted it that way.
A B.C. family’s attempt to trade in their birth certificates for access to mythic, secret bank accounts containing untold riches has prompted a scathing decision from a judge, who called their claims “incoherent, unintelligible nonsense.”
Jason and Nadia Zimmer, residents of Abbotsford, B.C. — a city about 70 kilometres southeast of Vancouver — along with their daughter Taliyah, filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year, arguing that they were each “promised heir to the kingdom” at birth, but they have been unfairly denied their rightful property by government officials.
Their claim appears to draw on a decades-old pseudolegal scheme promoted by leaders in the Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) world, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill said in a judgment posted online this week, describing it as completely devoid of any merit…
The Department of Justice has weighed in on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s deadly border trap targeting migrants crossing the Rio Grande. In a Thursday letter to Abbott, the DOJ warned the state that it would be filing legal action to force Texas to remove the mid-river buoys wrapped in razor wire. While the department did not come right out and accuse Abbott and his fellow Republicans of being murderous, criminal monsters, it sure hinted at it.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the letter stated, citing a clause in the law that “prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”),” says the letter, which was obtained by CNN.
At issue is the design of the Republican-pushed border obstruction, which seems plainly intended to cause death.
A line of razor wire-wrapped buoys has been floated in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, a current hotspot for asylum-seekers seeking to cross the border to U.S. soil. Migrants who attempt to swim under the buoys may find themselves snagged on underwater netting anchored to the riverbed. Miles of razor wire have also been installed on the riverbank, “deterring” migrants from crossing but also blocking rescuers from reaching migrants injured by the river and its new traps.
The Justice Department issued its threat after two stories in the Houston Chronicle revealed claims that troopers were being ordered to “push small children” attempting to cross the river “back into the Rio Grande” and that Texas officials had installed razor wire blocking federal Border Patrol agents from parts of a site housing a makeshift riverside migrant processing center.
So yes: The Texas government’s border trap would appear to be illegal in an entire array of ways. It violates a U.S.-Mexico treaty forbidding such constructions. It violates federal law by blocking a navigable river and by not receiving authorization from the Army Corps of Engineers for the plan. Submerged razor wire and razor wire that is now concealed by plants growing along the riverbank pose a deadly danger to federal agents patrolling the border and to agents and emergency responders attempting lifesaving rescues. The wire has blocked the Border Patrol from accessing many parts of the river at all. The wire poses an even greater risk to the public and the environment if, as is inevitable, flooding dislodges large segments of wire and sends it tumbling downriver to rest in tangles at the bottom of the river or in large snags on the shoreline.
And all of that is aside from the main issue, which is that the Texas government has installed miles of traps clearly intended to maim or kill migrants who risk crossing them. An unclimbable wall is one thing; tangles of razor wire installed to snag flesh and clothes on the surface or banks of a flowing river are certain to cause drownings, and there’s no plausible argument to the contrary.
[…] It’s a shame that we will likely never see Texas state officials prosecuted and jailed for acts of negligent homicide, or for the injuries to migrants that are already escalating after installation of the wire. That is what should happen. Filing suit to have the wire removed should be the first federal action, but certainly not the last.
My two most controversial takes in Ukraine analysis are 1) F-16s won’t change the situation on the ground, and 2) modern battle tanks are obsolete.
I’ve been hitting the former quite a bit lately, so why not take on the latter for a change?
The long-running argument against tanks in this war is reflected in the numbers. According to the Oryx database of visually confirmed destroyed Russian equipment, Russia has lost 2,146 tanks. Ukraine claims double that destroyed: 4,133. That’s a lot of tanks for minimal territorial gains over the past year and a half of war.
The reasons are twofold: The proliferation of ATGMs, shoulder-launched anti-tank guided missiles, means it is difficult for armor to advance against prepared defensive positions without facing a swarm of incoming missiles. Meanwhile, drones have supplanted most aircraft in threatening armor from the air. Who needs expensive and exposed helicopters and ground-support aircraft like A-10 Warthogs when a $400 first-person view suicide drone can deliver explosive payload against tanks?
As a result we’ve seen countless videos like this one of a Javelin strike (and maybe two) on Russian tanks on an open field. [[video at the link]
Meanwhile, those FPV drones are wreaking all sorts of havoc. [video at the link] And their cheapness allows combatants to flood the zone with them. As I wrote recently:
Airpower is expensive. A modern F-35, the newest NATO-standard aircraft, costs around $110 million per copy, including its ground support equipment; $7 million per year in basic maintenance; and $42,000 per hour to fly.
Just that $42,000 would buy 100 kamikaze drones, able to hit far more targets than that aircraft in a one-hour sortie (plus the cost of the ordinance, which would run tens or hundreds of thousands more).
Meanwhile, the counterargument in defense of the relevancy of tanks is that Russia simply sucks and has misused its tanks, unable to do effective combined-arms warfare that would better shield those tanks from those attacks. Ukraine has supported the “tanks matter” crowd by vociferously requesting Western armor, arguing that they would more effectively operate those tanks and couldn’t liberate their lands without them. Yet the slow progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive shows that combined-arms warfare is hard, Ukrainian tanks are just as vulnerable to Russian ATGMs and drones, and the modern battlefield is just incredibly hostile to those big beasts. [[video at the link]
The era of tank-versus-tank battles is over. No F-16s, cluster bombs, or more tanks will prevent these kinds of drones or missile attacks from dominating the battlefield. War analysts MIchael Koffman and Rob Lee, fresh off a visit to the front lines, discussed what they learned on this sobering podcast. This was the same visit that led to the analysis I recently covered on Ukraine’s challenges pushing forward. The two note that the early attacks in this counteroffensive weren’t “probing” attacks seeking Russian weak spots but a real “attempt to conduct a rapid breakthrough of Russian lines in multiple areas.”
They are clear that the counteroffensive continues and many of Ukraine’s reserves haven’t been committed, but this initial phase “was not a success.” On the plus side, the Ukrainian general staff recognized things weren’t working and quickly reassessed their tactics. But what do those new tactics look like? Lots of infantry.
As Koffman and Lee explain, it has become a battle of tree lines. Like this one: [video at the link]
Ukraine will clear the trenches in those tree lines and occupy positions. Russian armor and artillery will engage from several kilometers away. If those Ukrainian troops have ATGMs then they’re in better shape, but if not, they have no way of reaching out that far. And since the grounds behind them remain heavily mined, it is difficult to resupply them as it’s all done on foot.
“It’s coming down to a war of infantry mine-clearing and infantry attacks backed by artillery backed by drones,” Lee said. What’s missing from that sentence? Tanks. Russian forces aren’t as effective at deploying mines, but they have a “thick concentration of anti-tank guided missiles.” Add Russian suicide drones and limited air power (mostly helicopters), and it’s clear that any attempt to push forward with armor could suffer the same fate as Russia did with its own offensive capabilities. And just as Bakhmut was taken by infantry, with Wagner mercenaries surrendering armor in favor of suicidal infantry assaults, Ukraine is realizing the severe limits to armor. Thankfully Ukraine isn’t following Wagner’s suicidal examples.
None of this is to say that armor is useless. Here is the 3rd Assault Brigade, formerly Azov, using tanks to soften up a trench line on a tree line. [video at the link]
And here they are using armor in what appears to be a decent combined arms manner to advance 2 kilometers around Bakhmut. [video at the link]
But the armor lost per kilometer gained is frightfully high, leading Ukraine to rely far more heavily on that combination of artillery and infantry. Cluster munitions will help a great deal to soften up defenses, not just because of their ability to scatter bomblets over a wide area but because it gives Ukrainian artillery far more shells to fire in an environment in which ammunition scarcity is a real thing.
Koffman and Lee concluded that Ukraine is excellent at defending but simply doesn’t have the experience in engaging in offensive actions, unable to scale them up to larger unit sizes. Lack of proper training meant that they attacked at dawn, unable to take advantage of their Western armor’s superior night vision optics by attacking at night when Russian defenders would be blind.
Even in the video above it’s a handful of tanks and infantry, not the kinds of massed power that might actually punch through well-defended lines. And they’re attacking during the day. Night operations are infinitely harder.
The small numbers of armor involved in each engagement means that as it did when Ukraine faced the same type of movement by Russia last year, it’s easier for defenders to hold their ground and pick off a handful of armored vehicles than it would be if faced with dozens of vehicles bearing down on their position, signaling imminent death.
Ultimately this means that hopes of a massive Ukrainian breakthrough and collapse of the Russian lines won’t happen and that gains will have to be ground out, mostly by infantry. That doesn’t make any gains less exciting, it just means it’ll take longer to accomplish what we all hoped—unrealistically in hindsight—would be quick work.
As for tanks, the United States realizes the challenges. Its new tank concept goes heavy on anti-drone and anti-ATGM defenses.
The AbramsX also includes more protection from the growing threat of aerial drones. Reese said the design features an amped-up active protection system with three radars and launchers instead of two creating a perimeter around the tank.
“So instead of the two that normally create the donut around the vehicle, we have a third one that creates a dome over the top of the vehicle, for 360 degrees,” he said. “It’s not fully developed yet, but it’s close.”
Sounds expensive for a system that—if it ever makes it to production—will be incredibly complicated and can likely be defeated by a swarm of 20 or so simple drones at a cost of $8,000. The future of warfare will look very different.
Seven leading artificial intelligence companies have agreed to a handful of industry best practices, a first step toward more meaningful regulation, the White House announced Thursday. The companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — have agreed to the principles that include security, transparency with the public and testing of their products internally before debuting them to the public.
War criminal Igor Girkin, who despite that title entertained us with his blistering critiques of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the Russian war effort, has finally been arrested. He belongs in the Hague for his role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 that killed all 298 aboard at a time when he commanded Russian forces in Ukraine. But rotting in a Russian prison might be just as good. [Tweet and video at the link]
Looks like Putin is going after his entire network. [Tweet, video and image at the link]
If you’re wondering what finally spurred this action, Girkin attacked Putin directly on his Telegram account last week: “The country cannot survive another six years of this cowardly low-life in power.” Russia tolerates criticism of the war and its generals from their nationalist right, but Putin himself is above all reproach. Girkin went where he wasn’t supposed to.
Of course he knew what would happen. I do wonder if there’s an end game here. Just like the bizarre machinations around Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, there are chess pieces moving on some mysterious board. Girkin wanted to be arrested. He wanted to be martyred. The question is why.
A Nebraska teenager who used abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy was sentenced on Thursday to 90 days in jail after she pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally concealing human remains.
President Biden has picked Dr. Paul Friedrichs, a military combat surgeon and retired Air Force major general who helped lead the Covid-19 response at the Pentagon, to head a new White House office created by Congress to prepare for and manage future biological threats.
Hooray!
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Re Reginald Selkirk’s #435 in the last chapter of the previous Thread, here’s “Fast Car” (the original), because it’s such a good song.
Many thanks to PZ for giving The Infinite Thread a new lease on life.
For the convenience of readers, here are a few links back to the previous chapter of this thread:
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2023/04/11/infinite-thread-xxvii/comment-page-7/#comment-2187126
DOJ Immediately Tries Again After Trump Judge Denies Request To Pause His Social Media Contact Ban
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2023/04/11/infinite-thread-xxvii/comment-page-7/#comment-2187107
Erdoğan agrees to support Sweden’s Nato bid
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2023/04/11/infinite-thread-xxvii/comment-page-7/#comment-2187099
Florida ocean temperatures at ‘downright shocking’ levels.
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2023/04/11/infinite-thread-xxvii/comment-page-7/#comment-2187097
“State laws targeting LGBTQ rights have a new foe: federal judges”
Twitter wins big name backer against Threads – but it’s the Taliban
Some related links:
Guardian podcast – “The awe-inspiring intelligence of octopuses”:
The Sentient Media Podcast – “How to Stop Octopus Farming with Dr. Jennifer Jacquet”:
Guardian – “The orca uprising: whales are ramming boats – but are they inspired by revenge, grief or memory?”:
I love this:
From the links in the article: “In 1987, Orcas Had A Fashion Of Wearing A Dead Salmon As A Hat”: “For one summer only, a strange trend spread around several pods….”
Oleg Tsokov latest Russian general to die in Ukraine
I’ll be so bold as to recommend my new satirical novel, “Cultural Practices of the Heartland”, to my fellow Pharyngulites:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5YLNQHN
Tagline: The last seven years of American politics distilled into a revolting thousand-foot monster, tromping through the American heartland.
I think y’all might enjoy it!
‘Whistleblower’ who accused Bidens of corruption is charged with arms trafficking and violating Iran sanctions
Grand jury selected to consider Donald Trump election fraud case
Russian ex-navy commander shot dead while jogging in Krasnodar
SBU agents nabs Chernihiv criminal gang accused of abducting, torturing citizens
Re #10 – Kyiv Post – “EXPLAINED: Russian Commander Shot Dead After Posting Runs on Strava Running App”:
Northwestern fires football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid hazing scandal
Meduza – “Thousands of far-right protesters storm LGBTQ+ festival in Tbilisi”:
“Terrorist mob” would be a better description than “protesters.”
Ukraine Update: About those cluster bombs, [and other updates]
As many as six lunar landers could launch in the next six months
This happened at the end of June, but I didn’t know about it until Rick Wilson mentioned it on Molly Jong-Fast’s podcast (he also introduced me to the term “Minivan Taliban”). Apologies if it’s already been discussed:
CBS – “Florida bill allowing radioactive roads made of potentially cancer-causing mining waste signed by DeSantis”:
Reginald @8, so the Republican’s “credible” witness is a spy for China.
Link.
More at the link.
Yeah, Iowa Republicans did not realize that they had scheduled their party nominating caucuses on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
WISTV link
MyPillow auctioning off hundreds of items after retailers drop product, Mike Lindell says
More questionable Republican campaign tactics, as summarized by Steve Benen:
Also, as was noted in the previous chapter of this thread:
More Republican campaign fuckups and farcical advertising:
Re: Lynna, OM @ #19…
I keep thinking that California should schedule its presidential primary for the first Tuesday in January and then tell the parties that if they don’t participate, they don’t get on the general election ballot, Let’s start things off with a serious bang.
AP stretches for a new Supreme Court scandal
False equivalence is not a good basis for journalism.
whheydt, Good idea.
I am usually of two minds about this “who goes first” controversy … and then I see that it does really matter in terms of media coverage, fundraising, and the public’s assessment of the various candidates.
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on Supreme Court ethics
McConnell denounces white supremacy in response to Tuberville controversy
Schumer is correct.
NPR:
Trump asks the judge to delay the start of his classified documents trial
Carrie Johnson / July 11, 2023
Re: Lynna, OM @ #24…
In all seriousness, I think that (a) the primary/caucus season is far too long, and (b) that the order in which primaries and caucuses are held should be rotated from election to election, probably by keeping regional groups of states together to reduce the amount of travel required. Unfortunately, the “Always me first!” ethic precludes sensible arrangements. Unless someone puts in a hammer (such as, “do it out of order and you don’t get on the general election ballot at all“) to make the punishment severe enough to prevent the parties from going along with it.
Russian troops are battling high and drunk: It’s nothing new
Re: Lynna, OM @ #26…
Someone needs to take Tuberville out in back of the woodshed and apply a clue-by-4…repeatedly. It should be up to Moscow Mitch to do it, but I doubt he has the intestinal fortitude to do the job. Failing that, the Senate–generally–needs to get its act together and override Tuberville’s “hold” on military promotions. I’d bet there’s a way to do in in the Senate rules (and if there isn’t, there should be). It’d probably take a vote of 60 Senators, like most requirements to overcome obstructionism.
whheydt @28, I agree that the primary/caucus season is far too long. Other developed countries have much shorter election seasons.
In other news, here is a followup to Reginald in comment 8, and me in comment 18.
Wonkette had something to say about the “whistleblower” on whom Republicans were relying for their anti-Hunter-Biden propaganda.
To clarify the radiophobic points in @17, phosphogypsum has traces of radioisotopes, so does granite. Are we so alarmed over debris from granite cutting, quarrying and construction debris? Do we prohibit wells in aquifers that are bounded by granite bedrock and hence, have trace amounts of radon and uranium in the water? Do we ban brazil nuts and bananas over their radioactivity?
Nope all around. We do regulate things, especially waste products like granite dust and phosphogypsum and rightfully so. But, around 15% of all phosphogypsum used is used in construction currently worldwide.
One upside to highway resurfacing is, a lot of the debris from highway resurfacing and replacement is recycled back into the roadway surface, along now with rubber from recycled tires (adds to traction and durability).
And we’re talking about 5 – 10 ppm levels, if the phosphate source is from oceanic evaporite like Florida’s is. That’s right around the same level as an average granite kitchen countertop.
But then, we can’t let reason interfere with the use of scare quotes and a good phobia. After all, we still see people fall for fearmongering over hydric acid.
You know, water.
“Don’t Say Gay” Florida Republican Accused of Sexually Harassing Two Male Staffers
France 24 – “France’s Murdoch? Right-wing media swoop threatens ‘pillar of French democracy’”:
wzrd1 @ #32:
What the hell? They’re not scare quotes but actual quotes from the EPA. From there:
You could argue that the federal requirements are based on irrational fears, but if so that wouldn’t be the fault of the article writer.
Not sure what your point is.
Court sides with Amish families in case that pits septic tank rules against religious beliefs
@26, 30
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach with no military experience himself, said ‘There is nobody more military than me’
@21
GOP Senate candidate uses Kentucky photo to tout his support for Montana agriculture — then quickly replaces it when asked about it
CNN – “DOJ no longer believes Trump should have immunity from E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit”:
I’ll say it again: I believe Tommy Tuberville thought “white nationalist” meant a white person who’s a nationalist and still only half realizes his confusion. He’s ignorant and a nitwit.
LOL, they’re talking about Tuberville on MSNBC. Nicolle Wallace: “We can’t decide if he’s more stupid or more racist.” Eddie Glaude: “So let’s just stipulate: he’s a stupid racist.”
@SC #17:
Phosphogypsum roads got a brief mention in May at xxvii p2 #475.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ #42, thanks!
After mistakenly quoting racist magazine, Hawley says critics overuse white nationalist label
First of all, you’re still wrong.
Second of all, refusing to admit you are wrong gives “manhood” a bad look.
Third of all, the quote you used was from the 1950s. So why are you talking about the Founding Fathers?
Fourth of all, even if the Founding Fathers were a bunch of white slave owners, wouldn’t make it good for you to br prasing them for it.
Fifth of all, that you found that particular quote indicates you were reading white nationalist literature. Why are you still trying to approvingly quote white nationalists while pretending not to be a white nationalist?
Any way you cut it, Hawley comes out of this looking bad. He is coming up for reelection in 2024.
@Tommy Tumor
Tommy Tuberville reverses his claim that white nationalists are unfairly labeled racist
Re: Tommy Tuberville — it does look like he is a genuine idiot who had no idea what the term meant, but that’s not exactly an excuse for it. As an adult and a professional politician, this smacks of motivated stupidity.
Re: chrislawson @ #46…
Just remember that Tuberville’s claim to fame was as a football coach.
Lynna@23–
I’ve just read the start of that AP story on Sotomayor. Even though this level of conduct is not even remotely at scale with the corrupt practices of the worst SCJs, it still warrants being reported. To the authors’ credit they never try to say this behaviour is on par with Thomas/Alito, they note that most of the SCJs have engaged in the same behaviour, and they quite rightly point out the glaring problem that the SC judges set their own standards and therefore have very little accountability.
The big complaint I have about the story is that they make it all about Sotomayor when it is clear that many SCJs have done much the same thing. I suspect this is because they got access to the paper trail for Sotomayor’s staff emails so they had the smoking guns. But it still doesn’t excuse the ‘OMG SOTOMAYOR!!!’ shouting balanced by a tiny whisper of ‘not to mention the others.’
Dezeen:
“YOD Group turns Ukraine air-raid shells into lamps to symbolise that ‘light always wins'”:
“V&A Dundee exhibition ‘busts some important myths’ about Tartan”:
@ Pevious iteration #431. birgerjohansson
Paywalled and so couldn’t access frustratingly. Sounds interesting – wish I could’ve seen it..
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-07-12/anthropocene-epoch-golden-spike-crawford-lake-canada-human/102574376
Albeit not sure if we should call it an era of its own or just a Mass Extinction event.
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #49…
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #49…
Let me try that again… The AA shell casing lamps look rather nice. Unfortunately, $1100 is way out of my price range. Still…I hope they manage to sell the lamps.
Reykjanes peninsula eruption live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJfiMhqLgTY
You can tell that there is still an active vent just over the hill and to the right of where the webcam is pointing. Nice view of the lava flow field from that earlier activity (i.e. yesterday), but the interesting bits are just out of frame.
One Ukrainian soldier had six extensively drug-resistant bacterial infections
French company begins upgrading Ukraine’s power grid
The new shark species emerging from the deep
@50 StevoR: https://tinyurl.com/bdcpc52t
SC @ 35, my point is, not a soul complains if granite is used in highway construction, but they’ll scream about the same level of radioisotopes in the gypsum residue that’s long been in use throughout the construction sector.
The EPA’s primary concern isn’t the radioactivity itself, again, due to the low level present, but of environmental damage from spills from those immense mountains currently just sitting there unused.
The primary chemical present is hydrated calcium sulfate, good old drywall or plaster of paris, with other evaporites present in the case of the Florida sourced waste, as it originated as seawater evaporite deposits. Lousy for making drywall, but good enough for roofing tiles and highway construction.
That said, I’d still make approval conditional on the highway being recycled as much as possible. Most components can be recycled and should be.
Anders Puck Nielsen, a Danish military analyst, on recent developments in Ukraine and why the offensive has not been very quick: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fR9HJnYXoc
This will cheer P.Z. right up,
From Raw Story.
State of Minnesota’s GOP ‘s finances.
“According to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, the Republican Party of Minnesota has just $53.81 in the bank — not even enough money to buy a single Amazon Fire tablet with Prime Day discounts applied. By contrast, the party is reporting almost $334,000 in debts.”
EPA – “Radioactive Material From Fertilizer Production”:
EPA – “TENORM: Fertilizer and Fertilizer Production Wastes”:
EPA – “Subpart R: National Emission Standards for Radon Emissions From Phosphogypsum Stacks”:
Note the dates. The article @ #17 doesn’t foreground it like the one at the link @ #42, but the central issue here is corruption and its harms. It’s an underreported aspect of the presidential campaign in my view. Trump’s corruption of federal agencies has been far too rarely discussed, and DeSantis is swimming in corruption.
Frank Cerabino in the Palm Beach Post in late 2020 – “Cerabino: Trump EPA puts Florida on radioactive road to ruin”:
Practically speaking, the Florida law signed by DeSantis won’t get around the federal regulations. It seems like more of a message to industry that he’s as happy to do their corrupt bidding as Trump was.
@58. badland : Thanks! Much appreciated. That works.
Milan Kundera has died.
Olympic Runner Caster Semenya Wins Case Against Testosterone Rules
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Also, War On the Rocks – “Assessing Ukraine’s Three Axes of Advance”:
The Guardian has a liveblog about extreme weather in the US:
Nathalie Tocci in the Guardian – “After two years of real progress on climate, a European ‘greenlash’ is brewing”:
More re Lynna’s #404 in the previous chapter – MMFA – “Tim Ballard’s misleading anti-trafficking rhetoric slips seamlessly into transphobia and xenophobia while promoting “Sound of Freedom” on Fox News”:
@ 69
Yeah, after seeing how a large hunk of humanity behaved during COVID, I have serious doubts that we can get people onboard for any sort of concerted environmental protection effort anymore.
This from the Institute for Policy Integrity is very useful: “Roundup: Trump-Era Agency Policy in the Courts.”
It’s just a window into how federal agencies were corrupted during Trump’s time in the Oval Office, since much of what they did or attempted to do didn’t make it to the courts. But it’s evident in the rulings: again and again courts found that the EPA’s attempted corporate giveaways and rollbacks of environmental protections failed to provide a reasoned explanation, acted arbitrarily or capriciously, exceeded the agency’s statutory authority, violated one or more Acts, failed to follow the agency’s own rules and procedures, ignored notice and comment requirements, etc.
Wikipedia – “Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration.”
Guardian – ” ‘Everything got wrecked’: Vermont city begins cleanup after devastating flood”:
Guardian liveblog:
chrislawson @48: “I’ve just read the start of that AP story on Sotomayor. …”
Thanks for that input. Very thoughtful. I agree with you.
Oh no. I don’t like this:
Follow the money to get a better feel for what No Labels is really up to:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-labels-funded-by-billionaires
I think No Labels is looking for a way to pull enough votes from Biden (or from whomever the Democrats nominate for president) to put Trump in the White House again. And, of course, backing Sinema is such a red flag. Cozying up to Manchin is also a telling detail.
https://youtu.be/kjQYhEn2bBk
Maps to watch when you are bored.
(I am skeptic about the IQ map- it mainly measures if people have had enough exposure to school to do tests. Remember, the Irish used to get very poor results in the past)
Iowa Republicans Ram Through Six-Week Abortion Ban In One-Day Special Session
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/iowa-republicans-six-week-abortion
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on running for president
The cult of MAGA is getting weirder
One good possibility: surely a cult that bonkers is self-limiting, and prone to purity purges.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has been testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
More at the link.
Farmer’s insurance is pulling out of Florida. Many other insurance companies have folded, more are refusing to write new policies in Florida citing the “man made climate crisis”.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/farmers-insurance-florida/index.html
When the insurance companies pull out, you are definitely assured to not be considered a good risk.
‘We will not waver,’ Biden says, in sweeping speech on support for Ukraine.
Washington Post link
Lynna posted about this @ #465 in the previous chapter – Guardian liveblog:
China-based hackers breached email accounts, Microsoft says
Microsoft said late Tuesday a known group that primarily focuses on hacking Western governments to spy on them had successfully breached some accounts.
Gotta love the hyperbole over radiation still. Highways cannot have anything even slightly radioactive, but granite countertops can be in kitchens nationwide, including my own, at the same 5 – 10 parts per million and ratio of elements and that’s OK and apparently, given @ 63, it’s given me acute radiation poisoning and I’ve died daily for the past six months or something.
Well, if that level is giving you acute radiation syndrome, maybe you should get your ass back onto the battlestar and abandon earth, as the native environment is obviously far too hostile for you. The sun is radioactive too, guess we need to extinguish it too?
Or perhaps, try to learn how to analyze risks.
wzrd1 @82L “When the insurance companies pull out, you are definitely assured to not be considered a good risk.”
Yep. All too true.
More details:
Link
Tomato crop failure from excessive heat and rains in India.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/india-tomato-shortage-climate-mcdonalds-intl-hnk/index.html
Meanwhile, Muskrat announced a new AI company, TruthGPT. “We’re going to start something which I call TruthGPT,” he said, describing it as a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that “cares about understanding the universe.”
I imagine the project will have two programmers and zero support staff, in buildings with posted eviction notices taped to all doors.
Followup to comments 8, 18 and 31.
Politico reported:
Commentary:
I’m not sure “unwittingly duped” is the right description. Though it is true that Comers seems to be that dumb. Still, it seems to me that Comers and other Republicans went shopping for someone to “dupe” them.
More commentary:
Link
LOL.
Humans arrived in the Americas much earlier than believed, up to 27,000 years ago.
“Giant sloth pendants indicate humans settled the Americas earlier than thought”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/12/sloth-jewelry-human-arrive-americas
Record high water temperatures in the ocean around Florida, major coral bleaching event expected.
Normally, these temperatures aren’t seen until mid-August to mid-September.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/us/florida-ocean-heat-coral-bleaching-climate/index.html
Italy’s also experiencing a heat wave, as is India.
But, climate change is only a fiction invented by the commies, the Great God Big Oil says so.
Thank you for steaming quietly…
Huffington Post
“I narrowly escapes being recruited by a cult. Then I realised I was already in one.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gwen-shamblin-remnant-cult_n_64a82462e4b03d308d949c5d
Lynna @ # 89: … requesting that he hand over any information he has received from Gal Luft…
They persecuted GalLufteo too!!1!
I don’t breathe in dust from my granite countertop that gets lifted when triple-bottom trucks drive over it.
LOL
Democrats call on DOJ to investigate tax sites for sharing financial information with Meta
Clueless git searches for ultimate reality
[Reginald @98, it’s unanchored]
Good view of the active fissure eruption in Iceland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m82bI1QCRdA
Pro-Trump protester Ray Epps files defamation suit against Fox News
Ukraine Update: Zelenskyy declares there is ‘great unity’ following NATO summit.
NBC News:
NBC News:
Associated Press:
Link
Georgia election workers say Giuliani failed to turn over key evidence in defamation suit
Wonkette: “How Is Fox News Outright Lying About Fake ‘Hunter Biden’ Whistleblowers Today?”
Ari Melber just talked about this:
“Sheila E. Looks Back on the Rich, Rhythmic Path That Led Her to Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
Well deserved.
“TITO PUENTE,SHEILA E AND PETE ESCOVEDO-LATINA FAMILIA.”
Lynna @ #105, wow.
Follow-up to xxvii p6 #344:
Wiktionary’s cisgender article has been corrected. Alarm-raiser got some closure.
The Nato summit in Vilnius has ended and the summit between US and Nordic leaders is underway here in Helsinki. Joe Biden arrived here late last evening (local time) and spent the night at a hotel that was only confirmed to the media at the last moment. The state guesthouse where Donald Trump stayed on his visit in 2018 is currently under renovation.
The two previous US-Nordic summits (in 2013 and 2016) have been held in Stockholm and Washington, so the current location isn’t entirely surprising. Nevertheless, Finnish media is hyping it up as the first time a US president visits Finland for the purpose of meeting Finnish leadership (together with the leaders of other Nordic countries). Previously, there have been a few occasions in recent decades when Finland hosted summits between the US and Soviet/Russian leaders. Now, I saw a Finnish political analyst estimate that the exact timing and location of this latest summit “can be seen at the least as flipping the middle finger to Putin”.
Up until early 2022, Finland preferred to maintain a reputation as a “neutral” country in some sense, even while leaning heavily towards the west. President Sauli Niinistö in particular tried to maintain a working diplomatic relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has now very much become a persona non grata here. The 2018 summit between Trump and Putin, as cringey and pointless as it was, was great travel and business advertisement for Finland. Now, there’s lots of political commentary noting how times changed in the last five years (or just two years, since Biden met Putin in Geneva).
This quote from the New York times was posted at 398, near the end of the previous thread, a few days ago:
The relations between Finland and Russia have remained relatively good, considering that we’re actively supporting Ukraine in a massive war against Russia. Oddly enough, I haven’t seen any reports of Russian state media bringing this point up in the context of Finnish-Russian relations. There seems to be just some occasional whining on how Finland has “ruined our previously good relationship” by joining Nato, expelling some Russian spies (“diplomats”) and restricting travel for Russian citizens. There’s vague rhetoric about the collective West being an “enemy” of Russia, though the enmity is not very obvious at the Finnish-Russian border. Trade and tourism across the border have gone down to near zero, but lots of people still travel for family visits, some for work and other business.
Chipotle tests robot that can prepare avocados to make guacamole faster
Something I forgot to mention,
Aside from President Niinistö, Biden will briefly meet Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, whose rightwing cabinet continues to stagger on the brink of collapse. The media have been digging up old, blatantly racist and generally hateful writings of at least two cabinet ministers and the speaker of parliament, who all stubbornly refuse to even pretend that their opinions have changed. This shitshow has been raising some attention in international media. Thus far, one formal apology has been made to Turkey for a Finnish politician using an ethnic slur in association with Turkish immigrants. How nice it is that the Nato ratification process was finished just before this new cabinet took the reins!
Orpo himself is under heavy pressure to break this unholy alliance between the fiscal right (his own party) and the fascist right. Thus far, he just keeps dodging the media and feebly repeating the words “we have zero tolerance for racism”, as if that kind of declaration has any plausibility. In other words, he’s doubling down on the the sweet rightwing economic deal he’s getting out of this. Niinistö (who has been president since 2012, and will run out of his final term early next year) is from the same fiscally right party as Orpo, but thankfully his job basically only involves representing Finland internationally. That’s a role he’s been really good at, and the role doesn’t really allow his conservative values to damage the country.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also from there:
We could use some of that here.
Guardian – “Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about Ukraine problems”:
Meanwhile,
Just swanning about.
Guardian – “Thailand’s winning candidate for PM blocked from power”:
Guardian – “Hollywood actors’ union recommends strike as talks deadline passes”:
SC @115,
having lived in Bangkok for 2 years just before the pandemic started, this is really an outrage, but it is also predictable they would try to pull something like this. Move Forward had a program that included softening penalties for “insulting” the king, a bloke with heart failure and quite a few mistresses, who spends most of his time in Bavaria drinking beer. So this is the empire striking back.
Biden is doing a press conference with Finnish president Niinistö. He seems sharp today – I think travel and international diplomacy make him a little more feisty.
Guardian liveblog:
rorschach @ #117, I didn’t know you were living there!
It is outrageous.
Can’t imagine being a young person in 2023 and having your vote effectively nullified because of an attachment to a draconian lèse-majesté law.
I was browsing the blog of the shithead known as Jerry Coyne out of curiosity, and then I saw this … you can’t really make this up.
Post titled “In which I am canceled as a transphobe” in which Jerry complains about being cancelled because a host did not want to share a live Q&A with him wisely suspecting that the topic of trans people would come up and the host was not comfortable with it. Jerry then defends himself by writing: “As you also know if you read here regularly, my only other objection to trans women occupying women’s spaces are places like women’s prisons, shelters for battered women, and rape-counseling centers. That’s as far as I go. And I’ve said a gazillion times, in all other respects I think that trans people, whether they identify as men or women, should have all the rights, respect, and equal treatment by others. I also have no issue with calling people whatever pronouns they like.”
Then, this post is followed up another post “Article on gender dysphoria retracted, probably for ideological reasons” where he implicitly promotes the idea of rapid onset dysphoria. He also mentions Littman’s paper without mentioning that data obtained via online sampling of three websites thing. Yeah Jerry, you are either lying to yourself or to all of us.
lumipuna@113,
Yes, like most of its European counterparts, the “respectable” Finnish right seems unable to grasp that you can’t roll in shit without stinking of it.
Link
About damned time.
FDA Approves First Ever Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fda-birth-control-approval
Followup to comment 123.
Posted by readers of the article:
Robert Kennedy Jr. isn’t an idiot, he’s just immoral and making you angry is his job
The article includes a photo of Kennedy speaking at a right-wing Nazi rally.
Followup to comment 81.
Link
lumipuna @ #113 and KG @ #121, they’re wings of the same family. From Clara Mattei’s 2022 The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism (pp. 264-265):
Orpo’s history in international institutions (from WP):
https://www.wonkette.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-farting-page-six
Contentious special election will have long-lasting consequences for Ohio Constitution, abortion rights
KEVIN KOENINGER / July 12, 2023
Courthouse News Service
Re: tomh @ #`129…
One may hope that many of those voting in Ohio this August will apply an old principle tp ballot propositions…if you don’t understand it, vote NO.
Biden shows how a president should conduct himself in Helsinki
Five years ago this week, Donald Trump debased himself in Helsinki. Today, Joe Biden stood in the exact same place, and fared far better.
Followup to tomh @129.
Link
Wonkette: “How Much Weird Kremlin Propaganda Can You Get On The TV Now That Tucker’s Gone?”
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride… What I’d like to see in Ohio is for the proposition to make amendments harder to fail and then in November for the abortion guarantee measure to pass with over 60% of the vote, thus showing that the change wouldn’t have stopped it, anyway.
Link
Re: Lynna, OM @ #135…
If no single Republican makes a motion to vacate the chair, then a Democrat should step up and do so. The stated reason should be that McCarthy is engaging in a seditious conspiracy.
(The reality is that, with even the faintest of luck, the Senate will strip out all the Sedition Caucus amendments and pass a clean NDAA. Then it will go to a conference committee and the Senate version should then go to the House on an up or down vote and everyone except the Sedition Caucus will be able to vote for it. Repeat for the other budget bills as needed.)
Appeals court orders new congressional lines in New York, a potential boon for Democrats
Chris Hayes last night (YT link) – “‘Bud Light of insurance’: Florida official blames insurer crisis on wokeness”:
Yes! https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/california-anti-gay-marriage-law/3272060/
Ukraine Update: Anger, apprehension, reassurance, and resignation at the NATO summit
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-14/us-will-under-no-circumstances-pay-climate-reparations/102600700
Wow. Good Global citizenship and responsible government huh? (Not.)
Very “progressive” of them, truly
Followup to comment 140.
More Ukraine updates:
Jon McNaughton Improves History, Has Trump, Tucker, Alex Jones Founding America
Wonkette link An image of the painting is available at the link.
Lymna, OM@128,
Well, I’m such Dechert’s fart made more sense than his words!
I think that’s a complex question, or better, several distinct but related questions. It’s certainly the case that pre-war fascism got a lot of support from “respectable right” economists, politicians and journalists, both objectively (austerity policies “paved the way” for fascism in multiple countries, arms supplies to the Spanish Republic were blocked) and subjectively (“Hurrah for the Blackshirts” as the notorious Daily Mail headline had it in Britain). Postwar, the “respectable right” made considerable efforts to distance themselves from fascism both rhetorically and in policy terms (e.g. accepting aspects of the welfare state, trade union rights and nationalisations of public utilities), perhaps particularly in Germany and the UK. Their sincerity can be doubted, but personally I’m convinced that for example Harold Macmillan, UK PM from 1956-63, meant it. This “postwar settlement” broke down in the 1970s, with the return of “austerity”, but until more recently, the effort to at least appear to oppose the far right was maintained. It is this which has increasingly been abandoned in recent years.
It’s Official: Smartphones Will Need To Have Replaceable Batteries By 2027
Why AI detectors think the US Constitution was written by AI
@148: Alternate explanation: James Madison was a time-traveling cyborg.
Tommy Tuberville has faced all kinds of pressure in response to his blockade on military promotions, and President Biden has now joined the push.
I wouldn’t call that “flexibility.” Instead, I just think that dunderhead Tuberville has finally figured out that he is wallowing in shit and he needs to find a way to climb out. He’s looking for a way out of the mess he made.
Followup to comments 8, 18, 31, and 89.
Kevin McCarthy is confident that the indictment against the GOP’s anti-Biden “informant” actually makes the party’s case “stronger.” It really doesn’t.
Link
Republicans ended federal abortion protections. Now they’re going after birth control
And the grift goes on:
Link
Actually posted on Facebook by the owner, Christine Geiger, of Studio 8 Hair Lab in Traverse City, Michigan, as reported by Wonkette:
Commentary from Wonkette:
Sunak is inviting Crown Prince Bonesaw to visit the UK. OK, so he’s a torturing, murdering despot but hey, there’s serious money at stake here!
Followup to comments 135 and 136.
GOP advances defense package after adding culture war priorities
The National Defense Authorization Act was poised to be a bipartisan success story. Republican culture warriors in the House had other ideas.
Followup to comment 157.
House passes NDAA with amendment to SHUT MRFF DOWN!!! Please HELP! Send our letter to reps/senators!
More at the link.
Biden administration announces $39 billion in student loan forgiveness.
Washington Post link
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/07/14/world/russia-ukraine-news
Wagner mercenaries not part of front-line fight in Ukraine, U.S. says
Greece briefly shuts Acropolis site to protect tourists from heatwave
Trump asks top Georgia court to disqualify election probe prosecutor and toss grand jury report
WTF? They are claiming things are going too fast? It is now July of 2023, and the actions in question happened in January 2021. I don’t see any merit in this request.
Joe Manchin betrays Democrats yet again:
Link
Ukraine Update: There’s a rich harvest of Russian propaganda across Ukraine
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
This part of the update provides proof that Russian propaganda is full of lies. Many thanks to Mark Sumner for taking the time to verify specific examples.
Why atheists and Christians should never trust themselves
This is wrong in multiple ways.
They take Lennox’s word as truth without examining whether it is true or even rational.
They dismiss the power of evolution by means of natural selection to hone function.
They assume that one could trust a brain produced by an intelligent Creator, even though this 1) has never been tested, since no intelligent Creator exists and 2) that Creator might, due to ulterior motives or incompetence, produce a brain which is not trustworthy.
If there is an intelligent Creator, why doesn’t every person think 100% rationally all the time? The observed shortfall of human thinking needs some explanation.
100 degree temps in Siberia confirmed.
Followup to comment 165.
More Ukraine updates:
I love it when crooks stumble over their own feet.
“Tory MP group investigation for potential corruption”.
https://youtu.be/IwEvDZtJdUM
or possibly
https://youtu.be/lwEvDZtJdUM
‘Stunning cache of gold coins found in Kentucky corn field”
They have melted down the gold plates of Moroni!
Here is a muslim scholar I can get along with just fine.
It is a bit long, and has a lot of arabic koran quotes but it shows muslims stretching their wings when given intellectual freedom (outside places like Saudi Arabia).
“The role of reason in religion”
https://youtu.be/UuLDZkLvxvo
Right-Wing Websites Connected to Former Trump Lawyer Are Scamming Loyal Followers With Phony Celebrity Pitches
Kari Lake’s attorneys responsible for cost of bogus election lawsuit
‘Idiot’ Jan. 6 rioter who stole John Lewis photo from Nancy Pelosi’s office gets 4 years
Washington Post:
NBC News:
Well, if the court were to allow a continuance for Trump, all one needs to do after committing any crime at all is to perpetually run for POTUS, filing as soon as an election is lost for the next election and never come to trial.
As for the court order @ 175, there is the principle of nonacquiescence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonacquiescence
It’s been done in the past, repeatedly. Indeed, habitually in the case of the IRS.
And in the case of rights vs national security, the courts have routinely found for national security, as rights cease to exist were the nation to cease to exist. At least, that’s what the SCOTUS found long ago.
And the court would be left with either making a summary judgement to be further set aside by the executive branch or the court would be placed in the ludicrous position of finding contempt and ordering the executive branch to arrest itself. Given President Jackson wasn’t arrested for contempt of the SCOTUS, the principle of nonacquiescence stands.
Signal boost for this blog post from Abe Drayton’s Oceanoxia blog here :
Source : https://proxy.freethought.online/oceanoxia/2023/07/13/research-clarifies-air-pollutions-role-in-insect-decline/
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-15/search-for-remains-of-native-american-boarding-students-fails-to/102602958
Might we have found Dark Matter stars shining in the early cosmos? Could be.. The new space telescope has found 3 possible candidates :
Source : https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-stars-dark-matter
Researchers discover stardust sprinkled on a nearby asteroid
Florida Man’s voter suppression efforts:
@StevoR #180:
PNAS – Supermassive Dark Star candidates seen by JWST
@ ^ CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain : Thanks for that. Very much appreciated.
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich takes on the FBI’s opponents
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @183, thanks for that explanation.
In other news: Ukraine Update: Putin just had his worst week of the war
Robert Kennedy Jr. is throwing his money around to silence his critics:
Link
More at the link, including embedded links to previous posts.
Followup to comment 128.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/rfk-leaning-even-harder-into-the
Re: Lynna, OM @ #186…
As regards the Russian Baltic fleet… With all of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in NATO, the alliance has full control of the Kattegat. So the Baltic fleet can be kept in the Baltic, should NATO so desire.
At least 4 killed in mass shooting in small Georgia city outside Atlanta, spokeswoman says
The shooting occurred at around 10:40 a.m. in Hampton, a city south of Atlanta, officials said.
whheydt @189, interesting point. Putin’s playpen is getting smaller
Re: Lynna, OM @ #187…
I see an anti-SLAPP suit in the works. So far as I know, NY has reasonably good (strong) anti-SLAPP laws.
New research puts age of universe at 26.7 billion years, nearly twice as old as previously believed
Will have to see how it is received.
Russia’s State TV Hacked: Millions Told “The Hour Of Reckoning Has Come” – In Ukrainian
Convergence of Dumb:
Eric Clapton tried to donate $5,000 to RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign. But it got refunded because he’s British.
Georgia, the peach state, is out of peaches.
A February heat wave, followed by a pair of frosts killed off a significant part of Georgia’s peaches this year, but climate is ever unchanging. Ignore that rock melting, it’s totally normal.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/15/business/georgia-peach-shortage/index.html
Excuse me while I sit this roast outside on a rock to broil… Ah, good! Found my Brussels sprouts to roast alongside it.
Gay furry hackers are targeting US states for passing anti-trans legislation
This new fire-proof material is made from fungus and could save your home
Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu breaks 3-point contest record for WNBA and NBA, surpassing Steph Curry
These are America’s 10 worst states to live and work in for 2023, and there’s a big surprise at the very bottom
Elon Musk says Twitter’s ad revenue has dropped by 50 percent
Yay! His mission is half done.
Ah, but Twitter’s cash flow is also negative. Ironic to still have a negative cash flow, as he’s not been paying Twitter’s rent and server rental bills.
@188, what’s amazing is, with his claims of mythical enhanced immunity, he’s insulted everyone on the planet, who watched live reports of the horrific death rates of both Chinese citizens in Wuhan and NYC’s Ashkenazi Jews, both of whom had death rates that put burial services months behind and filled up cemeteries.
Yet somehow, he’s still showing up in the polling for Democrats. I’d vote for Attila the Hun over him.
A neighbor commented on this nonsense and other RFK Jr antics with, “Just what’s that man been drinking?!” and all I could think of was Korsakoff syndrome…
Reddit removes years of chat and message archives from users’ accounts
* Submitting a data request or old.reddit may get them, reportedly not for everyone.
Well, data storage is ever so phenomenally expensive and CPU cycles, fantastically outrageous in expense that converting, copying and storing that data might cost a few (gasp!) thousand dollars.
So, they’ll weed those messages out.
Well, unless someone wants to buy all of that data for mining…
Oh well, guess one could always ask the NSA for a copy.
Oh! Was that my outside voice? My bad.
WaPo – Far-right Twitter influencers first on Elon Musk’s monetization scheme
Tweet:
I have noticed that the Internet seems to have slowed down in the last few months. I suspect a sizable number of people are training AIs, but not paying for it.
Obscure Iowa non-profit produces new flyer calling Trump ‘trailblazer for trans’
Are they trying to promote Trump to liberals, or damage him to conservatives? I suspect the latter.
DeSantis fires campaign staff amid cash crunch as he lags far behind Trump in polls
7.2-magnitude earthquake recorded in Alaska, triggering brief tsunami warning
Benjamin Netanyahu discharged from hospital after heart tests
Result of the tests: he doesn’t have one.
Sound of Freedom: Is the child trafficking drama a watershed moment for ‘faith-based’ filmmaking?
Pennsylvania inmate captured over a week after making his escape
Cartoon: Tommy Tuberville
Link
DeSantis is using Floridian taxpayer’s money to fund his private militia.
Followup to comment 215.
Posted by readers of the article:
Followup to comment 76.
Mark Kelly ‘concerned’ about impact of No Labels on Biden campaign
I think that both the No Labels campaign and the Robert Kennedy Jr. campaign will have a negative effect. Both campaigns are backed by rightwing whackos, and by rightwing money.
How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona.
Washington Post link
Lax rules let the foreign-owned company pump water from state land to grow alfalfa for the kingdom’s cattle.
More at the main link.
Additional Washington Post link: Humans have used enough groundwater to shift Earth’s tilt
AGU link: Drift of Earth’s Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise 1993–2010
“Any victim is a liar”
-Sexual violence scandals in Italy expose deep-seated sexism
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/16/any-victim-is-a-liar-sexual-violence-scandals-in-italy-reveals-deep-seated-sexism
I got one word wrong.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/16/any-victim-is-a-liar-sexual-violence-scandals-in-italy-expose-deep-seated-sexism
Test
Britain: Suella Braverman in dust-up with defence minister Ben Wallace.
For those not following Brit politics, Braverman is one of the worst tories still in a position of power.
https://youtu.be/gU-OVU5traQ
B.C. farmers test game-changing cherries developed by federal lab
Why dozens of turtles march through this Connecticut dry-cleaner each year
Carlos Alcaraz beats Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon men’s title
London’s new ‘super sewer’ to end Thames pollution blight
Iowa evangelicals feel under attack — and many don’t see Trump as their savior
“Oh no, we are getting resistance to our attempts to force our religious views on the general populace. It’s as if we are under attack!”
About #223, isn’t it interesting that there is not a single word about those cherries characteristics as food (taste, texture, nutrition, …). I don’t know if that’s a reporting issue or if that’s not really looked at in the research but it’s definitely an issue about the food industry being more about industry than food.
Ukraine Update: Long range missiles disrupt Russian logistics, plus cluster bomb hysteria
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Tsunami warning lifted after earthquake off Alaska coast
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich tackles Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hostage-taking
Followup to comment 229.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
US sets a grim milestone with new record for the deadliest six months of mass killings
More at the link.
Follow-up to @StevoR xxvii p5 #475:
Pop-history tropes bugged me on first watch: relatable stunts prove grand conclusions that overturn dogma. Presenting oral tradition that way, especially, because very little lore made it onscreen. It was better the second time as I tallied “blink and you’ll miss it” details.
The First Inventors docu summary 1/4
Design to Survive
* Gunditjmara lava flow / eel weir trap aquaculture older than Egyptian pyramids.
* Ian McNevin (anthro archaeologist). Stone tools at the bottom of a channel near a 6,600 year-old charcoal layer.
* Martin Tomko (spatial infosci). LIDAR mapped extensive winding channels with dozens of storage ponds. And hundreds of stone huts.
* Corey Bradshaw (ecologist). Simulations (considering paleoclimate, terrain, water, food, known archaeological sites, trade routes, dreaming relationships, linquistic relationships) indicated most likely migration came via a 70km sea crossing from Asia to NW Australia (along Bali to Timor).
* Victor Steffensen (fire master, cultural burning traditions). Fire-stick farming created artificial biomes, long since overgrown from neglect.
* Michael-Shawn Fletcher (biogeographer). Surrey Hills. In 1827 British cartographer Henry Hellier, among other Europeans described northern Tasmania as grassland, now rainforest. Tree core samples indicate nearly all trees were under 170 years old (of 500 yr lifespan). Sediment analysis indicated 12,000 years of human management; 200 years ago burnings stopped; Eucalypts and rainforest invaded.
* Aunty Fran Bodkin (botanist). Compiled the Dharawal Pharmacopeia, a catalogue of traditional plant use.
The First Inventors docu summary 2/4
Science of Story
* Last Glacial Maximum ended 20k years ago. Ice age thaw caused 120m sea rise, within a single lifetime in places.
* 22 First Nations groups have oral tradition of a time when oceans were lower and ancestors lived in places now submerged.
* Jonathan Benjamin (maritime archaeologist), Chris Wilson (archaeologist), Mick O’Leary (marine geoscientist). Stone tool evidence of human settlements on Murujuga coastal sea floor (15m deep).
* Lynne Kelly (memory champion). Telephone game fails for an arbitrary sentence. Contrasted with a mnemonic demo of associating locations with trivia and having characters walk among them.
* Yidumduma Bill Harney (Wardaman elder). Songlines preserve landmark navigation. Demo of a presenter wandering woods at night.
* Karlie Noon (astronomer). Pleiades has 6 visible stars, yet various world cultures refer to 7 sisters. A theory: the seventh—now too crowded to distinguish—once had a more observable position 100k years ago.
* Jo McDonald (archaeologist). Murujuga petroglyphs on giant rock piles. 30k years ago = desert land animals; 10-15k ago = sea animals; coinciding with rising sea levels and coastline creeping inland.
The First Inventors docu summary 3/4
Connected Continent
* Pottery shards of composition similar to 2k-3k year-old ones in New Guinea, suggesting a trade route circumnavigating the Coral Sea from Jiigurru to Rossel Island.
* Piers Kelly (linguistic anthropologist). Australian Message Stick Database. Transmitted by messengers, they coordinated movement of people/resources.
* Sean Ulm (archaeologist). Simulations of 30-40k year-old intracontinental trade web (optimizing distance, landmarks, water, terrain, etc.) resemble modern highway routes.
* Lynette Riley (lecturer). Kinship systems (moities, totems, skin names) govern marriage to avoid inbreeding.
* Jared Field (mathematical biologist). Gamilaraay kinship system works without elaborate branching geneology, minimizing risk for populations down to 24 people (rather than hundreds in other cultures).
* Totem system delegates aspects of ecological management to individuals’ personal identity.
The First Inventors docu summary 4/4
Navigating the Future
* Sonya Brown (aerospace design lecturer). 10,000-year-old boomerang was an aerofoil wing. Team built and flew a quad-copter drone with (><) boomerang-pairs for blades, conceived in 1914 by native inventor David Unaipon.
* Aunty Fran Bodkin (botanist). Edibility tests: rub on back of hand (reaction=bad), taste, swallow (emetic=bad).
* Gerald Muench (pharmacologist). Analyzing water gum leaves yielded a novel anti-inflammatory compound; among 100 entries from Fran’s book being tested.
* Robert Redford and Jr (djungkayi), Ben Lewis (fire manager). Chain-dropping incendiary pellets from helicopter to preemptively burn brush in Arnhem Land, for wildfire prevention. Halves carbon emissions.
* Yidumduma Bill Harney (Wardaman elder). The Wardaman “Gandawag Moon Story” (p23,84-87, condensed here) was alluded to in severely edited fashion. The “Moon Dreaming” rock art site depicts the Moon Spirit wearing a gumumdunga (headdress). Elder Yidumduma looks at variations in moon haloes (refracted light through ice in cirrus clouds) to predict storms. Counting rings and enclosed stars. No mention of accuracy.
Woman carried out of Ga. elections board meeting by her arms and legs
Martyrdom denied!
Peoria Unified School District board member says she will stop quoting Bible verses
Twitter changed DM settings so users […] can’t message you
There was a question if Florida could deploy its state defense force to another state.
The answer is yes, if the other state has declared an emergency and that state’s governor requests them. Otherwise, nope. Sending SDF or the National Guard uninvited is an invasion and just as illegal as if a governor decided to invade Canada or Mexico.
In time of major disaster or insurrection, the POTUS can federalize the SDF of the states, but only for domestic duty, as they were authorized to replace the National Guard when they were sent overseas to war.
As for authorized duties, some states can and do authorize combatant roles for their SDF, most do not. Some authorize weapons, either crew served or sidearms, others do not. “Sending them anywhere” is decidedly not authorized, as invasion of another state is decidedly not Constitutional. Attempting to do so would simply get them ordered up by the POTUS and placed under US Armed Forces control and supervision.
Evidence for a 36 million year long cycle affecting biodiversity
https://youtu.be/rWXdh3UVx8w
Ukraine’s security services claim Kerch Bridge attack – AFP
Not really a great surprise.
Marine animal poisonings overwhelm California volunteers:
Extrasolar meteorites have long been detected by radar as they are burning up, så they move much too fast to be part of the solar system. This is about the quest to retrieve remnants of one of these extrasolar meteorites.
“Anomalous? The first potential recovery of extrasolar materials”
https://youtu.be/vkY41ayT1jQ
I heard some Russian guy being interviewed on the BBC claiming that the railroad portion of the Kerch bridge carries military traffic, but the roadway is strictly civilian, and therefore the attack on the bridge was an act of terrorism.
1) I don’t believe that Russia strictly prohibits military traffic on that route.
2) Even so, a major transportation channel is a legit military target
3) Meanwhile, Russia has attacked may residences, hospitals, power plants and electrical grid, and dams. They have no business accusing anyone of terrorism.
‘It’s really the Wild West’: Vienna’s spying problem spins out of control
Jovian MWC 758c is not only sculpting its stars protolanetary disk but also seems to be the reddest planet beyond our solar system :
https://www.space.com/giant-exoplanet-carves-star-spiral-arms
Australia baffled as unidentified mystery object washes up on beach
Kevin McCarthy warns of ‘Disneyland’ training the U.S. military
Kevin McCarthy warned, “A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke.” It should’ve come with a MAGA-to-English translation guide.
Diversity Training for most military recruits is one hour. Just one hour. That’s mandatory training upon entering service, and then once a year thereafter. It includes information about diversity, sexual harassment, sexual assault, etc. “Diversity: All attributes, experiences, cultures, characteristics, and backgrounds of the Total Force which are reflective of the Nation we serve and enable the Army to deploy, fight, and win.” There are claims on some websites that the Air Force spends 16 hours on diversity training, but I haven’t found confirmation for that. For context, army trainees receive about 100 hours of basic rifle marksmanship instruction over a three-week period. The Combat Infantryman’s course is 26 weeks long and designed to develop Riflemen in a number of areas to ensure that they are ready to take their place in a RIFLES Battalion.
Looks to me like the cry of “woke” from rightwing dunderheads is nonsense.
Tommy Tuberville suggested the Biden administration is to blame for his radical blockade against military promotions. Reality suggests otherwise.
@ 249, the last unidentified object washed up in Australia equally mystified everyone, but a quick search online showed it to be a mooring buoy.
Unfortunately, there’s only one view of this one, can’t see if there are tubes or cables at the one end. But, that’s an unusual color for anything rocket related internals.
A question to experts
– If the jet stream is causing extreme weather by getting ‘stuck’, can a temporary intervention like introducing dust or aerosols into the stratosphere alter the heat balance enough to destabilise the jet stream, after which the intervention can end (as distinct from permanent geoengineering)?
.
“Researchers link climate change to “lazier” jet stream, leading to extreme weather”
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-links-climate-lazier-jet-stream.html
Josh Marshall, Into the Kennedy Bullshitosphere, Now with Bonus Anti-Semitism.
@253: The next line of the script reads, “What could possibly go wrong?”
Neo-Nazis are giddy over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s antisemitic COVID-19 conspiracy theory
Transnistrian communist leader found dead at home
Ukraine Update: Kerch Bridge damaged by reported naval drone attack
Followup to comment 258.
Followup to comment 258.
Posted by readers of the article:
The heart bleeds for them, does it not?
I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?
Either they do and then it’s NATO attacking, or they don’t and then the grain is at the bottom of the sea. At the end of the day, how do you stop a warship without firing on it?
@ 260
Ask Weird Al, he might be able to do something with it.
Link
Low-cost online interventions may encourage young voters
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-low-cost-online-interventions-young-voters.html
Satire written by Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Nintendo Switch Helps FBI Locate Abducted Teenager
I suppose the super-traditionalist Republicans will want to have this practice back. After all, it is only the unborn they care about.
“New book suggests historical infanticide in Europe was likely more widespread than estimated ”
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-historical-infanticide-europe-widespread.html
Potentially good campaign news, as summarized from a Politico article:
Link
Link
Red warning flags everywhere.
Commentary:
Link
Citing Trump case, Pentagon leak suspect Teixeira urges judge to release him while he awaits trial
Georgia Supreme Court denies Trump’s petition to remove DA, judge from election probe case
McCarthy: Democrats need to ‘do something’ about antisemitic remarks
Meanwhile, what has McCarthy done about George Santos, MTG, Lauren Boebert and the entire Freedom Caucus? Plus, notice that criticism of government policy of the state of Isarel is being deliberately mistaken for “anti-semitism.”
Convicted felon gets DC contract to install car battery tech called impossible by experts
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #276….
Color me extremely skeptical. That’s of the claims and the claimant.
@250. Lynna, OM :
From the source hyperlinked there :
Emphasis added. Aside from the obvious cruelty, this is sheer insanity.
(Thought this was DeathSantis but turns out it was Kevin McCarthy. You’d think both of them -but the former living in Florida with all the going underwater consequences there esp would realise that at some level..)
@262. LykeX :
Physically block it using your ships to keep their ships away by their position, physical collision or ramming them?
Entangling their rudders and propellers?
Attaching them to other ships or objects that are more massive and stationary or heading in the other direction and capable of literally pulling their ships back? Sorta like the paddler-wheeler verssus screw propelled warship tug of war?*
Hypothetically, having a hypotehtical presumably gravity or underwater volcano activating device that raises the sea bed underneath them in order to ground them and prevent their progress?
Of course, those are also really likely to result in war and death and carnage too so.. yeah. But technically not firing on them so there’s that.
.* See :
https://bowcreektoanatahan.wordpress.com/propeller-versus-paddle-the-tug-of-war-between-hms-rattler-and-the-alecto/
Of cours einthis case that would require bigger ships somehow attaching and importantly staying attached to the Russian ships here which cannot see working.
PS. Another thought – having a ship or barge-y type object that is or can be somehow turned into the equivalent of a massive floating glue-y chewing gum that you force the Russian ships to ram or contact which them sticks to and envelops their ships and thereby prevents or seriously slows them moving.
Of course that requires alien tech and we have nothing remotely like that available far as I know.. so, yeah. A fictional SF idea answer to an all too serious and present threat.
“A fictional SF idea” — heh.
StevoR, LykeX’s question was “I’m unclear about this point, because why couldn’t Russia just turn that right back; approach the grain ships and dare the Turkish ships to open fire?”
The obvious answer is that if Turkey is officially escorting those ships, then they will defend those ships with things that go “boom!”. That’s what escorting them means in this case, it’s not some sort of ceremonial thing.
Kinda lose more face if they don’t than if they do.
Easy enough for the Turks to wait until the escorted ship actually is attacked before the “boom!” phase.
And Turkey is in NATO.
And Russia is not even handling Ukraine, so how could they handle NATO?
Hope folks find these interesting :
.***
It may look like a small, unspectacular herby thing but this Week’s Endangered Species of the Week is actually something very special being one of the world’s rarest plants – the critically endangered Anogramma ascensionis or Ascension Island Parsley Fern. Found only on the eponymous South Atlantic island ,it was once considered extinct before four individuals were found in 2010 and cultivated by conservationists. Native to Ascension island, it was soon driven almost to extinction by feral species starting with goats introduced by Pertugese explorers in the 16th century and including its compeditor, the introduced weed maidenhair fern (Adiantum), which along with predation by exotic grazers and habitat loss meant it vanished for 60 years. Previously more widespread on the island though always needing damp conditions and never common, today only 40 plants are known to exist in the wild in an area of just 7 hectares surviving on rocky cliffs with Britain’s Kew Gardens leading efforts to cultivate the species’ spores and hopefully keep it alive for future generations.
See :
https://www.bbc.com/news/10402534
& https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anogramma_ascensionis
Plus someone else’s plant of the Week inthis case here : https://eaglesonmeadows.com/plant-of-the-week-ascension-island-parsley-fern/
About the speculation of how Russia would handle grain ships with no deal in place, assuming Turkish escorts… The usual method would be to send a boarding party on board and start giving orders to the ship’s captain. To stop the escorts from interfering, one would usually want to bring a bigger ship than the escort and sort of just dare the escort to shoot first (though given the general performance shown by the Russian Navy, that could get…iffy). The other traditional alternative is for the Russians to send out a submarine and torpedo the grain ships.
On the whole, I suspect the most effective way to handle the situation would be to re-flag the bulk carriers in Turkey and also send Turkish escorts. Then, no matter what sort of response the Russians make it is likely to be an act of war on a NATO nation.
(And if the Russians try to set up someone claiming to be acting on their own, and not under command of the Russian state, then it is an act of piracy, with the logical consequences that follow.)
Re: 283…
I should add that, to the best of my knowledge, Letters of Marque and Reprisal are banned under interntional Law (Law of the Sea?), so no matter what paperwork you have, claiming to be a privateer will get you automatically classed as a pirate.
(Note: The US Constitution grants Congress the power to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal.)
Might be late with this one given the date even with the UA being a day behind timezones ~wise but :
Source : https://www.space.com/sun-coronal-mass-ejection-devoured-dark-eruption-smash-into-earth-july-18
The coronal mass ejection does not appear to have resulted in many impressive northern lights displays, ir there would be mention of it in media.
The regions är north where northern lights are most visible have rather bright nights still, ruining visibility.
.
Better batteries!
High-performance lithium batteries soon degrade from “dendrite formation”.
It looks like a solution is in the horizon.
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-carbon-stabilized-li-si-anodes-all-solid-state-li-ion.html
I don’t know (I’m not a climate expert), but supposing this would work, I can give at least one answer to Reginald Selkirk’s #255:
What could possibly go wrong?
Suppose, after the intervention, the jet stream does shift and as a result, there are catastrophic floods/heat/cold/nameless abominations crawling forth from the depths, somewhere else. How much could the interveners be sued for, and would they have been able to obtain insurance?
Threads Continues to Copy Twitter’s Worst Elements With New Rate Limits
Threads Usage Drops By Half From Initial Surge
US sues ‘consent farm’ operator for ‘massive’ telemarketing deception
@249:
Mystery cylinder on Western Australia beach likely space junk, authorities say
U.S. Soldier Reportedly Cackled ‘HA-HA-HA!’ While Defecting to North Korea
Reginald @274, that is such good news. It shows that, at least in one limited way, the justice system is working properly. Nice put-down of Trump’s attorneys.
I think it was Andrew Weissman who said that the Trump petition to remove the Georgia DA never had a chance, and that even Trump’s lawyers knew that. They probably filed the petition anyway just because Trump insisted.
Israel’s workhorse Merkava tank could soon be refilling foreign arsenals depleted by the war in Ukraine
From Dr. Seuss to Big Bird to Barbie, Ted Cruz keeps taking an interest in the politics of pop culture. He also keeps embarrassing himself.
@281. John Morales :
Actually the question I was answering was the one after that of : ..how do you stop a warship without firing on it?
Which, yeah, tautiologpous a bit but it could’ve been a fictional Western idea like a really big lasso and very strong posse or a romance novel of, erm, seducing the ship or its captain and convincing them not to attack I guess?
More seriously I think #283 whheydt has the best plan here with :
Although that also risks starting WW III but then that’s kinda where we ae now with Putin in charge anyhow and almost whatever we do short of letting Putin have his way here which, NO, just no.
How did “tautologous” turn into that word dangnabbit?
The Military Times:
Commentary:
Link
Cartoon: Striking back
HAH! President Biden Trolls Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Hysterically Lame Swipe at Democratic Successes
Musk is suing the lawyers who forced him to go through with his purchase of Twitter.
Given that contracts were involved and that whole law thing, well, one can indeed sue a ham sandwich, that doesn’t mean one can win.
@290, the last time I saw a very, very similar story in Australia for a washed ashore mystery object, it turned out to be a mooring buoy. Which was my first thought and confirmed with a Google image search.
This one is odder, possibly a tank, but it’s a decidedly odd color paint job for a rocket internal – even for a military rocket. I’d love to see more views of it, I’ve only saw one angle of the object, so can’t tell if cabling is the far end or tubing. A steel cable says it’s a float, tubing says it’s a tank, manifold with busted stuff and wires, a tank.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
See the menu to the right of the video to choose the segment of the Rachel Maddow Show.
There’s also this segment:
And Rachel did a great job covering “Trump, Republican allies make plan to concentrate power in Trump’s hands.” See comment 272.
Emily Rauhala of The Washington Post reports on a heightening of U.S./Russia/China tensions in the Arctic region.
Yep. I expect Putin to pay more and more attention to the Arctic Circle, and to Russian dominance in that area.
Texas leads the nation in ‘family annihilation’ cases, study finds
@302:
NATO’s northernmost members are preparing for an undersea showdown with Russia
Russian forces are running out of the critical radars they need to defeat Ukraine’s artillery, UK intel says
Rep. Adam Schiff’s Senate campaign is sitting on more money than any presidential campaign
French Woman Hit by Apparent Meteorite While Relaxing on Her Terrace
I am sure that The Orange Menace would gladly return the items for a seven-figure “finder’s fee”.
Exclusive: Texas troopers told to push children into Rio Grande, deny water to migrants, records say.
Houston Chronicle link
Photos of razor wire: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/17/2181853/-Texas-DPS-Trooper-Claims-Officers-Ordered-to-Push-Children-and-Nursing-Babies-Back-Into-Rio-Grande
Posted by readers of the article:
@ 309
Considering the tyranny, ignorance, and bloodshed committed to advance that filthy religion, he IS behaving like a Christian.
New target letter raises prospect of yet another Trump indictment
In a rambling tirade, Donald Trump confirmed that he’s now the target of a criminal probe in the Jan. 6 case. He could testify first, but that’s unlikely.
Followup to comment 311.
Ah, yes, Trump turned to “Cattturd” to get some comfort on social media:
Link
Catturd is Trump’s comfort blanket.
GOP AGs want a ‘fugitive slave act’ to track their states’ abortion and trans felons
Wikipedia:
Followup to comment 313.
Texas will ultimately turn into a ‘lynch mob’ and ‘vigilante justice’
https://www.rawstory.com/texas-abortion-lynch-mob-vigilante/
Video at the link.
Followup to comments 309 and 310 (Akira @310).
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Ordered Troopers To Push Children Into The River
https://www.wonkette.com/p/texas-state-troopers-just-going-full
re Lynna @313:
LIAR!! Even though it is not yet illegal to go to another state to take advantage of differing laws, it appears that republicans are trying to make it illegal to do so if the activity is restricted in their state. The information that they want is none of their damn business.
Wonkette: “In Montana, You Can Stomp A Homeless Man To Death And A Judge Will Let A Neo-Nazi Bail You Out”
Long ago, in the mid 1970s, Montana was a purple state. I am sorry to hear that parts of Montana are infested with Nazis and with Nazi-wannabes.
I know good people who live in Montana. It is awful to hear that they are now surrounded by rightwing whackos.
johnson catman @316. True. The Attorneys General from red states DO want to punish pregnant women who seek reproductive care in other states. They are blatantly lying when they say they don’t want to punish anyone.
And they do want to punish medical professionals (or anyone else) who helps women that are seeking abortions or any other reproductive care that rightwing whackos decide is illegal. Ditto for those people that seek gender-affirming care, and for people that help others seeking gender-affirming care.
Of course the rightwing doofuses label some of their actions as being necessary to “investigate the sexual abuse of children.” Orwellian liars. It’s infuriating.
The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival.
Washington Post link
Followup to comment 319.
Washington Post link
Followup to comments 309, 310 and 315.
Link
@312:
I’ve got to agree with Catturd2 on this one. But of course I am thinking of 2019 – 2021.
Congressional Black Caucus Aligned Super PAC Shakes Up 2024 Election
Her obituary requested donations to an abortion clinic. It’s a final political act for some
Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick, who’ll oversee Paxton impeachment trial, gets $3M from pro-Paxton PAC
Rick Scott gets Democratic challenger in Navy veteran Phil Ehr
“Cell phone data as investigative tool” at Mano Singham’s blog has some fun data, comparing self-reported church attendance with attendance as per cell phone data.
You can probably guess the result.
The new entry of God Awful Movies has arrived.
“GAM 413 Charly”
https://youtu.be/n2oOpqh-Ius
or maybe
https://youtu.be/n2oOpqh-lus
StevoR @295:
Two obvious methods: (1) mines, and (2) credible threat of retaliation.
Family that made a $1M selling bleach as a medical cure finally in court
Re: John Morales @ #329… (Ref: StevoR @ #295).
Get a bigger warship. One might well wonder what the Russian reaction would be if the US sent an Iowa-class battleship to the Black Sea to act as a grain ship escort…. I’m not sure the Russian Navy has anything there that would do much more that leave a scorched spot on the paint on one, whereas a 16″ shell would be pretty effective on any Russian ship there, even if it turned out to be a dud.
How Harlan Crow Slashed his Tax Bill by Taking Clarence Thomas on Superyacht Cruises
Pro Publica July 17, 2023
Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery felonies
Kasich urges GOP candidates to ‘step up and say something’ after Trump gets target letter
The last “moderate” Republican realizes that the crowd has turned on him…
‘Nontheistic’ nonprofit calls for Bible ban in Leon schools, citing Moms for Liberty efforts
No Labels founder vows to end third-party effort if it aids Trump
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Tell us another.
Kennedy Clan Comes Out Against RFK Jr.’s Latest Outrage
Um, NATO is a military alliance. With ships, with submarines, with missiles, with air assets, with satellites, with lots of other stuff.
And members most certainly keep in touch regarding military matters and ongoing operations.
Turkey is a member of NATO.
Point being that whatever surface stuff is around the ship(s) is not the determining factor.
Also, note how Sweden finally got the go-ahead to join, and how Turkey got F16s again.
So. Türkiye gets the face.
No need for US ships too nearby, after all, they’re not the escorts.
(Relatedly, Russian naval forces have lost a shitload of reputation since the 2022 invasion began, what with all the oopsies)
@331, all of the battleships were retired. If the Navy could get any back from the museums that hold them, it’d take a minimum of 3 years of multi-billion dollar work to make them serviceable again and train a crew on operating the antiques.
Stopping a warship without firing? Ram them. First, aggressively maneuver, risking collision, if necessary, ram them. A common tactic even through WWI.
Better: Have the cargo ship flagged under a major naval power’s flag, especially a NATO power and have that nation’s warships escort it. Any attempt to board or interfere with its movement then becomes an act of war.
Add in a nuclear submarine, well, they’re quiet, they can stay submerged for months and one mark 48 torpedo will split a warship completely in half – literally.
Score one for child labor!
A 16 year old in a chicken processing plant in Mississippi died in a work related accident during sanitation operations. OSHA is on the case.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/18/us/mississippi-chicken-processing-plant-16-year-old-death/index.html
Maybe they’ll start letting preschoolers work there next.
Wow, AT&T damns themselves with their own words.
AT&T stock prices have taken a major beating due to reports that many, many miles of lead covered telephone cables remain in use in their network.
Lead pipe covered cables came into common use, largely initially lead-tin in 1888, in 1912, lead-antimony was found to be as durable and less expensive. Lead pipe covered telephone cables, per AT&T were phased out in the 1950’s.
So, AT&T admits to not maintaining their wires since the 1950’s.
https://about.att.com/pages/legacy-cables
That is basically their admission, as in the 1950’s, everything switched to plastic covering for insulation.
But, AT&T says it’s safe. Apparently, lead is good for your health. Oddly, I doubt that the executives at AT&T would want those lead pipes in their back yards, only ours.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/18/business/att-verizon-telecom-stocks/index.html
Oh, more specifics on Musk’s laughable legal action against the lawyers that forced him to buy Twitter.
Twitter had retained a law firm to enjoin Musk to complete his contracted and agreed to purchase of Twitter at its agreed to high price per share. After some balking and threatened filing, his attorneys convinced him to follow through on his contract.
The firm had a success payment bonus of $90 million, which Twitter happily paid. Musk is alleging that Twitter somehow secretly paid them in an unlawful manner, because paying for bills that are lawfully due but you dislike is illegal in his excuse for a mind.
Suffice it to say, every attorney that’s reviewed his filing broke into open laughter, it’s just that bad and destined to be laughed out of court.
Pity, a contempt of court all around would be a good call, both for Musk and his attorneys for filing such a frivolous matter and wasting the court’s time with such an utterly meritless case.
Re: Stopping warships without firing.
That GPS spoofing thing the Russians started doing to ships a a few years ago.
@Lynna #301:
There’s a YouTube Maddow playlist of permanent clips, friendlier for linking.
* AG abortion records and Trump concentrating power
Ukraine Update: Analysis from the front spotlights Ukraine’s challenges
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
NBC News:
The Republicans do not have a climate plan.
Re: wzrd1 @ #339…
I suspect that the permissions to display former US warships probably contain clauses requiring their return if the Navy wants them. I agree, though, about what it would take to put an Iowa-class back in service. (Plus, for those that don’t follow such things, only 4 were ever built. There was a 5th–the USS Wyoming–under construction when WW2 ended, but it was scrapped without being completed. The two–was to be three–roughly comparable Japanese battleships were both sunk by aircraft, while the third in that series–the Shinano–was completed as an aircraft carrier and, before being ready for use, sunk coming out of Tokyo Bay. That’s a story in itself.)
I did suggest re-flagging the grain ships under the Turkish flag and giving them Turkish escorts. That would avoid any issues of (potentially) belligerent ships transiting the Bosphorus. Using any other NATO flag would, of course, work as well.
Submarine…not so sure that’s a good idea. Much of the Black Sea is relatively shallow.
As for ramming….an Iowa-class battleship could to an exemplary job of that on pretty much anything afloat today. Might not want to meet an ice breaker bow on, but any other type of ship or an ice breaker and any other angle would probably pretty much do the job.
Reuters:
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @344, thank you. That is a convenient resource.
Followup to comment 345.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
Israel Struggling to Recover Ancient Artifacts Trump Took to Mar-a-Lago
NYT
In-N-Out Burger to Require Doctor’s Note for Employees to Wear Masks
Rebecca Carballo / July 18, 2023
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/18/politics/biden-admin-suspends-wuhan-lab-funding/index.html
Told you so, didnt I.
That In-N-Out Burger problem is easy enough, tangle up their license renewals for a few months with tons of lost forms and red tape.
Then, health inspections. The dirty secret of restaurants is, few pass health inspections without a violation either being overlooked or cited for correction, let the slack disappear. The public safety must be guaranteed or society destabilizes.
rorschach, not unexpected. The god-emperor still lets his wrathful side be felt, for the more heat directed anywhere but him, the better and national security problems are solved by his mighty telepathy.
All, while CNN is reporting how a third indictment would be the death knell of his influence, again underestimating the power of the Church of Trump.
Oh, Trump stole Israeli artifacts that were loaned to the White House. Ancient oil lamps were loaned to the White House to celebrate Hanukkah and now, they’re not returned, but being stored at Mar-a-Lago, location of storage there unknown, but of concern for Israeli antiquities authorities.
https://www.salon.com/2023/07/18/israeli-national-treasures-stranded-in-dc-discovered-stashed-at-mar-a-lago-resort-report/
Knowing him, they’re in another bathroom or even the cesspool.
RFK Jr. Announces Bold Plan to Back Dollar With Bitcoin, End Bitcoin Taxes
Tribes object. But a federal ruling approves construction of the largest lithium mine
Gem Hunters Found the Lithium America Needs. Maine Won’t Let Them Dig It Up
The grain ship vs military vessels point may well be mooted. Russia has been bombarding grain storage facilities overnight with cruise missiles and drones. Can’t ship that which was incinerated, fuck the rest of the world, let them eat cake and Russian fertilizer (Russia selling their fertilizer was part of the grain deal, but given the Beirut harbor blast, few wanted any part of Russian fertilizer).
I suspect that Russia won’t be deterred unless strikes occur heavily within her own borders, stirring unrest in the primary population centers.
Who else but Prigozhin could be wanted for treason at breakfast, pardoned by dinner and after completing a home relocation, meeting Putin for tea a few days after? The question now is, is Putin now a puppet himself?
Well, I do wonder if anyone has asked the PRC how they feel about having to resource their grain at a much higher price, thanks to Russia destroying their Ukrainian grain at its source… Put a few wedges into sensitive spots.
The ultimate Trump test is near. Which side are you on, Republicans?
Britain.
Context: The Sun. Far-right rag (currently having trouble) constantly complaining that the unemployed and other poor have it too good.
Quote: “Bet a few hacks at The Sun secretly hopes that the paper closes and they are made redundant.
The prospect of the job centre giving them a 99″ flat screen TV and a 40,000£ car and never working again must be appealing”.
Experts: Jack Smith’s latest move means Trump can’t use Judge Cannon to prevent pre-election trial
@355, is RFK Jr ever right at all these days? Especially given bitcoin collapses and fraud charges?
@356, wanna see that lithium mined immediately? Just suddenly need to make up more lithium deuteride, it’ll be out of the ground in a New York minute.
For clean energy (I’m guessing it’s for batteries), nope. But, there are other promising batteries being investigated, including iron based, which has existed in the past and only needs some modern updates.
Meanwhile, Big Money wins against the Nations again, business as usual, treaties be damned.
Best government that money can buy!
For those unfamiliar, lithium is actually quite rare in the universe. While it’s a light element, it also easily fissions and fuses, so typically is burned inside of a star about as quickly as it’s generated. But, it’s hardly the only potential game in town for energy storage. Its just this decade’s MacGuffin. Nickle-iron batteries are perfect for large storage usage, leave the lithium for portable devices, where size is a premium. Long in usage, were discontinued in 1972 when Edison’s battery plant was purchased by a new owner, but had long service in standby power and forklift batteries, for two examples.
3,000-year-old untouched burial of ‘charioteer’ discovered in Siberia
Florida’s Matt Gaetz to introduce bill defunding Jack Smith investigation targeting Trump: ‘We must act’
Prosecuting someone for an attempted coup is “attacking our democracy”? Up is down, black is white.
‘Taco Tuesday’ Has Been Liberated From Its Corporate Overlords
NYPD Sergeant Reportedly Identified as Brooklyn’s Compulsive Litterer
Russian occupation authorities report fire at military training grounds in Crimea, over 2,000 people evacuated
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates shows up at SC school board meeting debating his book
Maine governor expands access to abortion later in pregnancy
Indian opposition unites in attempt to oust Narendra Modi. Modi apparently remains personally very popular according to polls (which says nothing good about the majority of Indians), although this does not necessarily translate into votes for the BJP. In 2019 it won 37.36% of the vote, but 282 out of 543 seats up for election – India has the undemocratic FPTP system, like the UK and USA. That suggests that if the opposition alliance can agree to put up a single candidate in each seat, the BJP could be defeated.
A very important two-hour presentation
“The world’s biggest problem? Poweful psychopaths”
https://youtu.be/3eBN_9rMoVI
or
https://youtu.be/3eBN_9rMoVl
“The lab has not received any federal funding from the US National Institutes of Health since July 2020, according to an HHS spokesperson.
The determination came after the research institute failed to provide the National Institutes of Health with requested documents amid reported safety concerns at the lab.”
No need to apologise though, it is the same with people choosing not to wear a mask now(we just had the press sec admit that anyone wishing to meet POTUS still has to mask and test), people can not make informed personal risk assessments, because they are not privy to the real numbers. I stunned a bunch of public health physicians this morning during a talk by pointing out that more people died of Covid in June 2023 than in June 2021. Remember, 2023, “pandemic is over” territory. It’s hopeless.
Yeah, “pandemic is over ” (headdesk)
.
Good news for a change. I knew coffee was magic!
“Espresso coffee prevents Alzheimer’s tau proteins from clumping in lab tests”
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-espresso-coffee-alzheimer-tau-protein.html
As Americans start to see some good news about infrastructure, congressional Republicans see this as a good time to slash infrastructure investments.
A Politico headline read, “Looming indictment wrenches open the central question of 2024: Is Trump fit to serve?” Isn’t the answer already obvious?
Jason Aldean tries to explain away his threatening “Small Town” song
The Crypto Market Crash Is Not Stopping Melania Trump From Selling NFTs
Ineffective grifting?
As one reader noted: “One small step for man, one giant
leapgrift formankindme.”Posted on the NASA Regulations for Merchandising Requests website page:
Also posted by a reader of the article:
Tacky grifting.
Hunter Biden’s ‘laptop’ looks more and more like a politically motivated criminal scheme
Followup to comment 377.
Posted by readers of the article:
Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announces his resignation after flaws were found in his research
Trump loses bid for new trial on damages in E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse, defamation case
Link
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announces he will not seek reelection
Re: wzrd1 @ #361…
Yeah….the NiFe Edison cell. Bit of problem that will need some work. Output voltage collapses to around 10% of nominal cell voltage under heavy load (which is why we don’t use them for starter batteries in cars. A starter motor can do okay when the 12v PbAcid batteries drops to 7v under load. Doesn’t work so well if a 12v NiFe battery only provides 1.2v.)
It’s possible that a sintered plate cell (which tech was pioneered for NiCad cells) might be some help, but I don’t know if anyone has tried it.
(FYI…John W. Campbell, as editor of SF magazine Analog wrote about these issues in articles in the 1960s, so none of the issues are exactly new.)
Well, that doesn’t encourage me to get on a plane anytime soon.
After sitting hours in heat on the Las Vegas tarmac, passengers pass out and soil themselves.
The Biden video mocking Marjorie Taylor Greene speech hit over 30M views in 12 hours.
See comment 299.
See also, PZ’s post: Gosh, I sure hope Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps working for the Biden campaign
Followup to Reginald 2375.
Wonkette: Jason Aldean’s Pro-Lynching Video Pulled From Country Music Television On Account Of ‘Pro-Lynching’
Heat has killed at least 18 people in Arizona’s Maricopa County this year
Another 69 deaths are under investigation. The county is one of the few that has revamped its reporting to ensure heat deaths are accounted for.
Granted, filming in front of a famous lynching locale and showing images of George Floyd era civil rights marches isn’t “lyrics.”
Reminds me of:
Oklahoma superintendent of schools says Tulsa Race Massacre wasn’t due to color of anyone’s skin
And it is quaint that he mentions flag burning. We have all seen the video from Jan 6 of a federal police officer being beaten with the staff of an American flag while a mob chanted “U_S_A! U_S_A!” I guess that violence and faux patriotism in service of fascism just isn’t as offensive as burning a piece of cloth.
NASAMS, shells and equipment: US announces US$1.3 billion in new military aid to Ukraine
Missouri Supreme Court weighs fate of amendment to restore abortion rights
D.C. Democratic Party Pushes To Keep Ranked Choice Voting And Open Primaries Off The Ballot
Ukraine Update: Russia attacks Odesa with drones and missiles as grain deal ends
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Trump as puppeteer of Republicans in Congress:
Link
God takes His revenge for vaccines:
North Carolina tornado that damaged Pfizer plant and shut down I-95 was at least an EF-2, NWS says
Followup to comment 392.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on the 2024 choice
Link
Crime and crime again….
https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-jail-sentence-commuted-trump-arrested/story?id=101500341
A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean shakes Central America
Three killed in Auckland shootout ahead of World Cup kick off
Navy veteran Hung Cao enters GOP race to challenge Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024
Good luck with a name like Hung Cao.
Who are “we” and to whom are we losing the country? Why not just say that you don’t think liberals are people?
whheydt @ 383, that’s for primary deep cycle, high current usage. For steady current usage, they performed quite well. That said, research appears to still be ongoing.
We’ll see, could pan out, could come to nothing, such is research. There are also people looking at aluminum based cells, although I’m a lot dubious on that for chemical reasons.
Reginald Selkirk @ 394, as usual, God’s a shit shot then. The vaccines are made in Missouri, Massachusetts and Michigan. Maybe he should take a pot shot at me in Pennsylvania, he’d likely hit Florida.
Oh well, I warned Him that attending the Don Knotts school of marksmanship was a bad idea.
Associated Press link.
It’s FOSS, an open source advocacy group got a DMCA takedown notice served to them for a tutorial “Complete Guide for Managing Startup Applications in Ubuntu Linux: Learn to Add, Remove or Delay Startup Programs”. Apparently, that is alleged to belong to the owners of a TV series “StartUp”, about “A desperate banker, a Haitian-American gang lord and a Cuban-American hacker are forced to work together to unwittingly create their version of the American dream – organized crime 2.0.”.
Huh, granted, managing startup applications in some operating systems can seem like a criminal enterprise at times, but I don’t see a relation. Or maybe anything hacking and computer now is claimed by the production team?
Naw, just a bot scanning and with all of the ineptitude about in scraping content configuration, yeah, false alarms. Get some myself, as apparently one Linux distro (Kali) was a movie or something, according to Crumcast.
https://itsfoss.com/r/435ecdbc?m=16600f6e-3f95-47b8-8b4d-be02ba4f51be
They managed to get it sorted out.
Just as I managed it by asking if Comcast really wanted me to CC the entire mess to the Kali mailing list, to see what the entire IT security community thought of their idiocy, which quickly got that matter sent to file 13.
Shall we expect a combined arms offensive from Ukraine now?
On a more domestic side, there is a new word. Phone snubbing = phubbing.
“Study shows regular phubbing could be damaging marriages”
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-regular-phubbing-marriages.html
‘Private equity’ firms are like cancer.
“Private equity takeovers of health care services linked to patient harm”
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-private-takeovers-health-linked.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-private-equity-takeovers-health-linked.html
NB
A Mosquito-friendly gene drive may lead to a malaria-free future
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-mosquito-friendly-gene-malaria-free-future.html
Well, Texass has done it, increased both maternal and infant mortality.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/health/texas-abortion-ban-infant-mortality-invs/index.html
I have faith in their ability to drive our national infant and maternal mortality rate to far higher than the lowest score developing nation.
The scathing atheist has a new episode.
“The Scathing Atheist 544 Sissified Edition”
https://youtu.be/yBPrbhJtXko
On July 20th – 21st July Australian time – back in 1969, Humanity landed on another world in person for the first time.
Tranquillity base, the eagle has landed” NASA clip – 2 mins & 36 seconds long
They came in peace for everyone, winning the Cold War Space Race and beating the Russians.
They saw Earth with every other human that has ever lived and died on hanging high in the black daytime sky, able to be blotted out by an outstretched thumb.
They returned five more times – the last in 1972. We have not been back or ventured further since then at least as living beings – only via our robotic surrogates. An extraordinary milestone and accomplishment of our species.
Of course, Artemis 2 and 3 will hopefully be taking humanity back to lunar space in coming years soon all going to plan.
Kevin Mitnick, 1963-2023
Woman vomits while testifying in lawsuit against Texas over abortion ban
Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People
Longshot presidential hopeful Perry Johnson says he can win – if he makes the debate stage
@ 414
I’m sorry, out of everything mentioned in this article, why does the gastric distress of the plaintive matter? Besides the headline and the lead sentence, the vomiting isn’t mentioned anywhere?
It’s been nearly 25 years since I took a journalism course and my professors would have marked me down for such an irrelevant point. What the fuck are they teaching reporters these days?
Gov. Kim Reynolds rolls out new Iowa logo, ‘Freedom to Flourish’ slogan for welcome signs
Republicans have a fucked up idea of what constitutes “freedom.” This comes just after Iowa passed on onerous anti-abortion law that severely impinges on reproductive freedom.
@ 397
He. Heh heh. Ha. Haha. HA! HAHA BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Sorry, but the irony of a bunch of capitalists calling a bunch of other capitalists “anti-business” is just too hilarious for my inner Marxist.
IRS steps toward a new free-file tax return system have both supporters and critics mobilizing
In which Big Tax Prep pretends that they are looking out for our interests after they have abused the current system by selling unnecessary services and failing to safeguard client privacy.
@307:
‘Meteorite’ that struck French woman was just a regular Earth rock, experts say
to PZ and everyone, regardless of his views on religion, I see Prof. Juan Cole as providing an important article on one aspect of ‘human evolution’ here:
https://www.juancole.com/2023/07/survival-species-textured.html
Melania Trump’s Apollo 11 NFTs Violate NASA Guidelines
Fossil Discovery Reveals Two Previously Unknown Species of Sabertooth Cats
@356, @361, @383, @402 all talked about Batteries. I want to add my perspective from experience.
There are so many variables in the strengths and weaknesses of battery chemistry. There are dozens of different battery types. Lithium batts (dozens of variants) are really only needed when low weight is a factor, Nickel Metal Hydride (replacing poisonous Nickel Cadmium) that had a bad ‘memory effect’ problem) is very good. There are ‘Edison Cells’ NiFe that have are still usable that are 80 years old. They stood up to heavy current draw in the Baker Electric and other EVs of the 1900s without that drastic output voltage drop. But, one I favor is the Deep cycle AGM (absorbed gas mat) Lead-Acid battery. They are actually quite good for many purposes. They can be ~98% recycled, don’t rely on problematic exotic materials, don’t leak or off-gas, are rugged and have a long cycle life. Many of my peers still use them to power their DIY EV conversions and they are great and in use for standby power for thousands off-grid homes, etc.
Satire written by Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
On a different subject, many thanks to shermanj for adding to the discussion about batteries in comment 425.
New Zealand and Australia both win on day one of World Cup
Link
The Bible will stay in Florida’s Palm Beach County schools, board decides
I am so shocked by this outcome (roll-eyes)
@333:
Michigan clerk stripped of election duties after being charged for acting as fake elector in 2020
Judge: West Virginia can’t require incarcerated atheist to participate in religious programming
@ 428
Because yahoos like Scalise think that “those who understand” are really nefarious totalitarian leftists, inventing fake environmental crises (e.g. global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, dioxins, etc.) as a means to destroy capitalism and American “freedom.”
Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Satanism (yes, really), and a bunch of other right-wing boogie men.
Paranoid brought up to think that “Big Government” is out to get them.
Edit: Paranoids brought up…
Protesters storm Swedish embassy in Iraq over Quran burning plan
Iraq expels Swedish ambassador over planned Koran burning
@ 434
A bunch of Islamophobes inflaming racial and religious tensions resulting in the storming of an embassy? That sounds familiar.
How long until Swedish right wingers start screaming about their own version of “BENGHAZI!!!!”
@390
Missouri Supreme Court orders the GOP attorney general to stand down in fight over abortion costs
That was prompt.
Brevard GOP’s call to ban COVID vaccine is baffling: Letters to the Editor, July 19, 2023
MSNBC Analyst Suggests How Trump Can Prevent Future Indictments: ‘Stop Criming’
Video shows Oklahoma judge scrolling social media and texting on cell phone during trial
for StevoR and everyone. I’m relying on your sense of humor. this is a crosspost from the post on death to lawns since it may be dormant by now. The following was posted somewhere on the internet. I just put a copy for people to see:
http://theartsinarizona.org/australianAnimals.jpg
Ukraine Update: Putin quits grain deal, putting Russia’s own shipping in danger
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
NBC News:
Associated Press:
U.S. Senator Gillibrand Introduces Bill to Ban Stock Trading by Congress
Josh Hawley signing on to something that isn’t repulsive?
New York Times:
Musk subpoenas Elizabeth Warren days after she called for Tesla investigation
My understanding is that subpoenas must be approved by judges. So Musk filing for one is not the same as it being granted. Anyway, I expect this will backfire on him, and reinforce the growing impression that he is quite stupid.
Link
@330
“Church of Bleach” family guilty on all counts, plans to appeal
Followup to comment 441.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
Akira MacKenzie @417
So you didn’t read very far into the article, this starts two paragraphs in (all of three sentences):
Reginald Selkirk @ 448
That was quick, jolly good.
It’s hot as hell—and it’s going to get worse
Followup to comment 452.
Posted by readers of the article:
Trump issues bizarre video threatening to ‘do things to you that have never been done before’
Re: Lynna, OM @ #441…
Hmmm…. In light of the former discussions about the situation…one wonders what would happen if a Chinese flagged grain ship headed for a Ukrainian port. Would the Russians dare fire on it? Would Putin declare China a belligerent on Ukraine’s side…? Could be interesting.
whheydt @455
And what a way for China to play the “good guy” on the world stage too, if some of the grain went to the UN food programmes.
whheydt @455 and Jazzlet @456, very interesting idea. China needs that grain. Maybe they could just go get it?
There is this issue to consider:
Can China send ships into the Black Sea? Or can China re-flag Turkish ships? I don’t know enough about the issues nor about the possible solutions.
Wonkette: I DID NOT SAY THOSE ANTISEMITIC ANTI-VAX THINGS! Says Guy Who Said Those Antisemitic Anti-Vax Things
Highlights from another shitshow.
@458: In which quoting someone accurately is called “censorship.” What a time we live in.
Trump State Department appointee found guilty of seven felonies in Jan. 6 case
Re: Lynna, OM @ #457…
BIG differences between commericial and military ships. It’s very common for commercial ships to be registered in countries other than that of the owners or operators–or of the members of the crew. That’s done for regulatory (i.e. flag a ship in a country with lax regulations) or tax (i.e. low tax countries). That’s a “flag of convenience” and legal.
To re-flag a warship is THE original “false flag”. That is, flying the flag of a country other than the owner of the ship, pretending to be who you aren’t (often, the side you’re fighting against). It’s fictional, but C. S. Forester deals with such actions in at least one of his Horatio Hornblower books. (Even though writing fiction, Forester actually was quite expert on Naval history.)
To re-flag a Turkish warship in the Black Sea would be either a really dicey operation with all manner of legal complications and potential consequences, or it would require Turkey to transfer ownership of the warship to China…and would likely have problems of its own. (How much NATO equipment is likely to be on such a ship that NATO would really prefer China not to get a close look at?)
So…no. The Montreux Convention means that nobody’s warships get to transit the Bosphorus (with the earlier noted exception of ships returning to home ports). Commercial ships get to go through, unless they are flagged from countries with which Turkey is at war (which there aren’t any at the moment).
All of this is what led to my musing about China (who wants to buy quite a lot of grain from Ukraine) sending commercial vessels into Ukraine ports to pick up the grain. This would put Putin in a real jam. If he makes good on his word and takes any action against a Chinese ship, China is going to be really annoyed with Putin. If he doesn’t take action against such Chinese ships, then he is–once again–shown to be a paper tiger. Either way, there is no risk of involving NATO.
whheydt, China likes the rather cheap crude and gas it’s getting as a result of sanctions on Russia, and a lot of Russia’s trade there is in yuan.
So. Not gonna happen.
re:
Paper tiger or not, the war is ongoing and it’s his doing.
(Paper cuts really hurt!)
Re: me @ #461…
Some considerations I should have added to last paragraph….
Putin has also said that any country (one must presume going the flag country of a commercial ship) going into Ukraine’s ports will be presumed to be a belligerent on Ukraine’s side. That is, effectively, declaring war on any country that does so.
Does Putin really want to declare war on his BFF China? What with chunks of the Russian Far East that China would like to own? Where is Putin going to find an army to stop the Chinese from just walking in and grabbing whatever they want? We’ve been told that something like 97% of the effective combat force of the Russian army is tied up in Ukraine and it’s obvious that the Russian army supplies of critical equipment–artillery, tanks, IFVs, support vehicles, etc.–have been badly mauled in Ukraine. So what would Putin fight the Chinese with?
Moon Mist
whheydt:
Again: why should the Chinese pick a fight with Russia?
(Because that’s what your hypothetical scenario requires)
Re: John Morales @ #465…
China wants Ukraine’s grain (they’ve been getting quite a bit of it), they’ve had their eyes on chunks of Russian Far East for some time. (China, like Russia, thinks any territory that has ever been theirs, should be again and forevermore.) Russia is probably the weakest its ever been and is unlikely to have its army tied up so thoroughly again, so the time looks good.
Granted, China likes buying Russian oil and gas at bargain basement prices.
And in the end, it wouldn’t be China picking a fight with Russia, rather China looking out for its own interests and seeing if Putin will actually try to follow through. He might not.
‘How to Be Happy’ Strategies Need Stronger Evidence, Scientists Say
I dunno, China might have a tough time of it, should Russia cut off Chinese oil. Siberian oilfields are ever so distant from China…
Although, Ukraine still has options. One being, a revival of something fairly old, but initially devastating. Q-ships.
What appear to be unarmed merchantmen plying trade routes in time of commerce raiding, who when engaged, drop their disguise and suddenly the harmless little lamb that’s being engaged by the wolf of an armed aggressor, turns into a porcupine.
They were devastating against German U-boats in WWI and Japanese U-boats in WWII (the Germans didn’t fall for them in WWII, learning the hard way).
They’d be of limited utility, both due to high probability of vessel loss with the combatant vessel and well, Russians aren’t stupid and would swiftly catch on, but they’d force greater standoff between aggressor and merchantmen.
Although, one also wonders, given Russia declaring all vessels sailing into Ukrainian ports as targets, if a passenger ship were to sail into a Ukrainian port, are they going to sink a civilian ocean liner full of noncombatants from a neutral nation and hence, commit an act of war against that nation? Are they willing to commit to World War Putin?
Jazzlet @ 450, thanks. I was going to comment, as I’ve saw anencephaly cases and the appearance of the victim does frequently induce nausea and/or vomiting in those unprepared for such a sight.
The name suggests headless, they’re usually not, but a lot of the head simply never develops, so one can have a small section of brain that’s exposed, most of the brain simply missing, along with most of the cranium or entire segments of the head just never developed.
I’d provide example images, save that I can’t think of an offense where someone deserves such a horrific punishment.
But, for those wanting nightmare food, think of any kind of severely misshapen head where it’s apparent the brain could never have developed on one end of the scale, to a neonate with a teratoma for a head.
So yeah, even the mythical Vulcans would find such a sight emotionally distressing. Distressing enough to me, that reviving those memories has delayed my breakfast indefinitely.
DeStupid is on the march again, now urging the state’s pension fund manager to consider legal action against Bud Light’s parent company over their audacity of wanting to include The Other into their customer base.
Basically, after learning that the state pension fund has money invested in AB InBev, he wants to sue the company because of their advertisement embracing trans persons as customers. While claiming to embrace capitalism and small government.
I guess his new State Guard haven’t gotten their brown shirts issued yet…
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/politics/desantis-letter-bud-light-company/index.html
Boy, is he flailing to keep his campaign off of the autopsy table!
Seems DART had a really big boulder-chucking impact on asteroid moon Dimorphos :
Source : https://www.space.com/hubble-telescope-nasa-dart-mission-asteroid-space-boulders
Huh, again, use anything but the metric system eh Americans? Though it is a picturesque, effective and vivid way of describing it, I’ll admit.
No. But nor does China (i.e. Xi Jinping) want to humiliate Putin, let alone risk war with Russia – which would likely mean Russia nuking Beijing. China might try to negotiate a pass to dock at Ukrainian ports and collect grain, it is not going to send a ship there without having such a pass. Nor is China going to invade Siberia as long as there is a nuclear-armed Russian Federation or successor state in control of that region. Such ideas are fantasies. China can easily live with any outcome to the war, and is probably fine with it continuing indefinitely – it hampers the USA in “pivoting” to the Pacific, increases Russian dependence on China, and ensures a supply of cheap oil and gas. Increased grain prices are inconvenient, but by no means disastrous.
https://www.joemygod.com/2023/07/voice-study-bisexual-men-sound-the-most-masculine/
Cannon Sets May ’24 Trial Date For Trump Docs Case
Trump classified documents trial date set.
Pretrial griping for 14-May-24. Tentative trial start date 20-May-24.
Dates subject to change by god-emperor’s decree…
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/trump-trial-date/index.html
Other cases are racked and stacked, with the potential for more to come sometime before Sol’s red giant stage ends.
Given the sheer volume of cases currently filed, the bar association of multiple states must be thanking their lucky stars for so much business. He’s a one man stimulus check for the legal profession!
Alabama GOP refuses to draw second Black district, despite Supreme Court order
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have been calling state legislators about the map, which could affect control of Congress.
Sen. Chuck Grassley put American lives at risk to spread a document he knew was a lie
Italy being Italy, now making children literally motherless bastards legally.
Morally, they never heard of moral, given recent a court decision that legalizes groping women if it’s under a specified amount of time…
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/europe/italy-lesbian-couples-birth-certificates-scli-intl/index.html
There are times that I’m glad my grandparents were from Sicily, not Italy. ;)
@476
If the Alabama GOP continues to defy a court order, the next step should be the appointment of a “special master” to draw the districts to the court’s liking.
Why Donald Trump’s radical post-election agenda matters
As summarized by Steve Benen:
JFC.
It’s Too Hot For EVs To Work Right
It’s no wonder Republicans believe in conspiracy theories
Caption for image that tops the article: This image released in the final report by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol shows a graphic that illustrates the difference between real and fake Presidential Elector Ballots from Arizona.
Reginald Selkirk @ 482, lithium ion batteries are known to lose efficiency, like most other batteries, as they go below or above specific operating temperatures.
More worrisome is, thermal runaway in lithium ion batteries is around 67 C or 153 F. That sounds extreme, but remember that the batteries generate their own heat while discharging or charging and they’re usually contained in the undercarriage of the vehicle, so heat dissipation can be problematic and pavement radiation also becomes a factor.
Once the batteries go into runaway, the cells begin to short, advancing the runaway and expelling hot gases.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/P2SAC/presentations/documents/Lithium-Ion-Battery-Thermal-Runaway.pdf
Here’s a nice bus that had a lithium ion fire.
Of course, that was in a notoriously hot climate, Paris, France.
Now, the fun part. Lead-acid batteries, traditional car battery types, have a similar runaway issue, at similar temperatures. But, the energy per unit area is much lower, so the fires are less spectacular and oh yeah, the plates aren’t flammable.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/2.030302jes
Long and short, batteries are chemical, so like many chemical reactions, are temperature to reaction linked, sluggish when cold, increasing in reactivity when hot.
Fortunately, there’s no such thing as global warming, otherwise we might have to worry, as Phoenix, Aridzona’s street temperatures can reach 180 F (82.22 C), heaven knows what they’d be if the place heated up even more.
CO2, it made Venus the heaven that it is today. Who wants to go backpacking for the weekend on Venus?
For a guy who boasted about never settling civil lawsuits, Donald Trump and his operation sure do agree to a lot of out-of-court legal settlements.
Followup to comment 485.
Trump-tied SPAC agrees to pay $18M penalty in federal settlement
Trump himself is not accused of wrongdoing in this case, however Trump is the guy that associated himself with unethical people in order to get Truth Social up and running.
Hunter Biden’s attorney files ethics complaint against Marjorie Taylor Greene for showing sexual images
See also comments 377 and 378 concerning the corrupted hard drives that are being passed around by Republicans and labeled “Hunter Biden’s laptop,” when in fact they are not.
Much more at the link, including effects on pregnant women as well as the fetus; a 20% rise in respiratory illness like pneumonia; effects on sleep quality; emotional and mental tolls (suicide rates and violent crime go up); negative effects on student’s capacity to learn; negative affects on all human decision making; temperatures in public housing and in prisons show that officials are either neglecting their duties and/or flying blind when coping with heat waves.
Putin claims that western Poland is gift from Stalin
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #490…
Yeah… And western Ukraine used to be part of Poland (including, IIRC, the city of Lviv), while Russia took over some eastern parts of what was Ukraine. Lots of map rearrangement in Eastern Europe at the end of WW2. Because Stalin wanted it that way.
Germany transfers first batch of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine
US Abrams tanks may be delivered to Ukraine earlier than expected, says military journalist
Gorilla thought to be male surprises zoo with birth
B.C. judge rejects pseudolegal lawsuit based on ‘extremely peculiar’ idea from the conspiracy world
Followup to comments 309, 310, 315 and 321.
Good: Justice Department orders Texas to remove deadly—and illegal—Rio Grande traps
Ukraine Update: Tanks aren’t obsolete … but maybe they are?
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
NBC News:
Followup to comment 496.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
New York Times:
New York Times: