Well, it looks like Kansas just became a Constitution free zone. Newspaper raided by police, all computers confiscated, the owner’s computer at home, router and all employee cell phones and computers as well.
Oddly, the court shows no warrant of probable cause, which is kind of required to issue a search warrant. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/us/kansas-marion-county-newspaper-police-raid/index.html
One odd allegation was that the newspaper owner being suspected of identity theft, something about driving without a valid driver’s license, which are decidedly not the same thing. Sounds more like crooked businessmen and cops running rampant.
Oh, I’m unaware of any home routers that retain any kind of logging after being disconnected, so this is obviously just a snatch and grab operation. I’m willing to bet that when the newspaper gets their file servers back, they’ll likely be broken.
wzrd1says
@ 496, ever price a large drone? They’re several million dollars as well. Anything hefty enough to carry meaningful amounts of explosives costs every bit as much or more than an airplane.
Pierce R. Butlersays
Sad sequel to previous posts about the Kansas Kops blackshirt raid on the Monroe County Recorder newspaper:
Republicans have spent most of the Biden administration dominating the conversation around parents’ and students’ rights, history, and college admissions. Now Education Secretary Miguel Cardona seems like he’s ready to go on offense.
Last week, he brought the fight to Alabama, a red state with a complicated racial history, and I sat down with him at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Birmingham.
Cardona, a veteran educator and father of two, has increasingly waded into the fray in recent weeks. In response to GOP attacks on public education and the Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and student loan debt, he has responded with policy — where the department has the power to — and rhetoric.
As I’ve written, education, a perennial priority of presidential election cycles for voters, is on the ballot and being politicized anew headed into 2024. […]
“I realized I’ve gotta be careful not to give people national platforms for what they’re doing, but focus on what we’re doing,” Cardona told me Thursday. “That’s been my focus and I’m proud of the work we’re doing. But every once in a while, when I hear people spewing and they don’t know what they’re talking about, it’s really important that I speak up, because there are a lot of parents, students, educators that need somebody that’s going to call out hypocrisy and b.s.”
The Biden administration has increasingly confronted GOP attacks on public education in recent weeks, a shift after leaving the public argument with Republicans largely to outside groups.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been among the more prominent voices pushing back against GOP efforts to ban books or avoid or misrepresent the country’s ugly racial past in the classroom. She has taken the fight directly to Florida […]
Cardona addressed the NAACP at its national convention, where he publicly called out Harvard’s legacy admissions policy days after the Education Department announced it was opening a civil rights investigation into the long-held practice. In our interview, he reiterated his disappointment in the ruling striking down affirmative action, calling the Supreme Court’s decision “very bad” but adding that the moment was also an opportunity to rethink college admissions.
“It seems like public education is under attack in many different ways,” Cardona said. “We lost one of the best tools schools had to ensure diversity but this has also galvanized us to have real conversations about college admissions practices. […]
Guidance for college presidents on lawful college admissions practices is due within the week […]
The federal government has no role in setting curricula or setting educational or quality standards for schools or colleges. The Department of Education manages federal financial aid, collects data on schools and is supposed to ensure equal access for all students. Much of its power lies in how it uses its bully pulpit to focus attention on key priorities […]
Cardona expressed his frustration at state-level efforts to limit what children learn and to marginalize LGBTQ+ youth — and about his limited ability to respond. He said he is “very concerned” about the recent changes to Florida’s curriculum that suggest there was a “personal benefit” to slavery and the potential for further attempts to whitewash our country’s history.
[…] He also talked about the Education Department’s efforts to raise teacher pay and address the teacher shortage, saying, “We’ve allowed martyrdom for teachers. Maybe we do that because 75 percent of them are women. Would we do that if 75 percent of them were men?”
He called on parents and students to make their voices heard in communities.
“As secretary of education, I have less authority over curriculum than I did as commissioner of education in Connecticut, as a district leader, a teacher, and as a principal,” Cardona said. “That concerns me, because as a parent and an educator, I have strong feelings about diversifying the curriculum. To me, we all have a responsibility. So let’s get serious, let’s get organized.”
Cardona sees the department’s role as a civil rights organization and defender of public education — a departure from his predecessors in Republican administrations. The last education secretary, Betsy DeVos, pushed policies in favor of private school education and spoke openly about abolishing the department — something several GOP presidential hopefuls have also brought up already this cycle. […]
Bears repeating: Even Trump supporters didn’t believe Donald Trump’s agenda would lead to a rollback in reproductive rights.
Celinda Lake, a veteran pollster:
[…] voters didn’t believe Trump would actually fight to restrict abortion. But over his four years as president, Trump put three justices on the Supreme Court — all provided decisive votes to end the right to legal abortion.
Commentary:
“I was doing focus groups in Michigan with women, and I said: ‘Donald Trump is going to defund Planned Parenthood.’ And the women said, ‘No he’s not, that’s ridiculous.’ And I said I can show you the clip on TV, and I played the news for them,” Lake said. “And they said, ‘Are you kidding me? I don’t care what he says.’”
“So in 2016, it was very hard to make him anti-choice. After Dobbs, it’s not,” the pollster added. “And the linkage to his court — the Trump judges and the MAGA judges is very, very clear to voters.”
[…] There was a great deal of complacency about reproductive rights in the recent past, with plenty of mainstream voters confident that the Roe precedent would hang on indefinitely. All of those assumptions, obviously, have been reassessed.
But can we also pause to marvel at focus group members’ incredulity?
As regular readers might recall, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Congress eyed measures intended to give the economy a boost, and House Republicans were only too pleased to pitch their ideas. By any fair measure, the GOP bill included little more than tax cuts for corporations that the party wanted anyway. Even the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal conceded the plan “mainly padded corporate bottom lines.”
Democrats, eager to go on the offensive, convened focus groups to help sharpen their message. The party, however, quickly discovered a problem: Voters literally couldn’t believe that Republicans would respond to deadly terrorism by pushing corporate tax breaks. As The New York Times’ Paul Krugman explained at the time, the Republican proposal “was so extreme that when political consultants tried to get reactions from voter focus groups, the voters refused to believe that they were describing the bill accurately.”
More than a decade later, it happened again: A super PAC supporting Barack Obama’s re-election informed focus group participants about Paul Ryan’s budget plan and Mitt Romney’s support for it. As the New York Times reported soon after, respondents “simply refused to believe” what they were hearing, despite the fact that what they were hearing was true.
As New York magazine’s Jon Chait summarized at the time, focus group participants were receiving accurate descriptions of real GOP proposals, but the truth “struck those voters as so cartoonishly evil that they found the charge implausible.”
It must be frustrating for Democratic strategists to tell a room full of voters the truth, only to hear in response, “That can’t be right.”
[…] The problem, of course, is that Lake wasn’t exaggerating to those focus group members, and the warnings about the changes to come were real.
For all the talk about American voters being cynical, sometimes they’re not quite cynical enough.
The campaign to bring a top-four primary to Idaho won a largely favorable verdict on Thursday when the state Supreme Court unanimously rejected the ballot summary crafted by far-right Attorney General Raúl Labrador and ordered him to issue a new one. However, the deadline for Idahoans for Open Primaries to turn in signatures to get its initiative on the November 2024 ballot will remain May 1 after the court declined the group’s request to extend it.
The plan under consideration would replace Idaho’s partisan primaries with the same type of system that was pioneered in Alaska in 2022. All candidates, regardless of party, would compete in one primary, and the four contenders with the most votes would advance to an instant-runoff general election. The measure would apply to races for Congress, the governorship and other statewide offices, the legislature, and county posts, though it would not impact presidential elections or contests for judicial office.
Labrador, though, wants to preserve the status quo that has benefited Republican hardliners like himself. “Let’s defeat these bad ideas coming from liberal outside groups,” he tweeted in May. The attorney general, who spent his four terms in the U.S. House as one of the most prominent tea party shit-talkers, was tasked with writing the summary that voters will see on their ballots, and he produced language that so displeased organizers they immediately filed a suit to challenge it.
[…] During oral arguments, Justice Robyn Brody had suggested that Labrador was using the words “blanket primary” because they’ve been used to describe practices in California and Washington, two blue states that Idaho conservatives love to rail against. “Doesn’t that drive home the point that the petitioners are making here,” she asked, “which is you’re dooming this to failure before it even gets out of the blocks?”
[…] It would only take a simple majority of voters to approve the initiative, but that likely wouldn’t be the end of the battle. While a win would repeal a law the legislature passed earlier this year to bar ranked-choice voting, the Idaho Capital Sun notes that legislative Republicans could try to pass a new bill to repeal it all over again.
Posted by readers of the article:
It may not change the likelihood of a republican winning the race, but it massively increases the chances that the republican that wins wouldn’t be a member of the far right treason-loving portion of the party. There are still some sane republicans out there, even if the number is dwindling.
——————-
Look at Alaska. With ranked choice, they elected a Democrat to the House. And Murkowski got re-elected to the Senate despite defying the MAGAites on some important votes, defeating a hard-right MAGAist in the process.
Basically, the top-4 ranked choice runoff freed Murkowski from having to pander to the hard right that dominates Republican primaries.
Obviously I’d rather have a D than Murkowski. But I’d rather have Murkowski than a MAGAite.
——————-
The fact that the republicans are so much against it tells me that they know it jeopardizes the hard right’s lock on power.
———————
ranked choice voting allows the Ds to vote for the least crazy candidate, which may benefit the rest of society regardless of party.
——————-
It will help less radical Republicans
I had written last year how social media had lit up Donald Trump over his ultra-cheap, pauper’s grave that he made for Ivana right next to the first hole on Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. I also pointed out that this was likely a grift, since in New Jersey, cemeteries are exempt from income, property, and sales tax.
One year later: […] The grave is now so overgrown and unkempt it is barely visible. How the hell can Trump justify this? How can any of Ivana’s kids be okay with this? Photos
Donald Trump was raked over the coals last year for his poor treatment of Ivana, even after her death. People all over social media posted photos of more elaborate graves for their pets than the mother of his children got. Yet even after all that, Trump has managed to degrade her memory even more and leave absolutely no doubt of the kind of person he is.
In the Daily Mail piece, a Trump official had promised a larger headstone once “the soil sets.” Yeah, it’s been well over a year. There was never an intention to revamp the grave—it’s just neglected and forgotten. You’d think with the $2 billion that Jared Kushner got from the Saudis he could have coughed up a few bucks to let his wife’s mom rest in some kind of dignity.
BTW, if this is true that they are still charging Ivana’s estate for maintenance, I’d demand my money back: [Tweet and photo at the link: “they’re charging her estate for burial costs, maintenance fees.”]
[…] any small joy in watching a humiliating weekend for Ron DeSantis vanishes when you remember that a twice-impeached former president facing criminal charges is now all but certain to win the Republican presidential nomination.
Photos from the Iowa State Fair, and details about the crowd heckling DeSantis, are available at the link.
Illinois is doing some pretty great things with guns these days — by which I mean the state is making it a whole lot tougher for terrible people to get the kind of terrible weaponry that makes a mass shooting so easy these days, as well as taking on the gun manufacturers.
On Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court found the state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons entirely constitutional and on Saturday, Gov. Pritzker signed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act into law, which will “prohibit advertising and marketing that encourages para-military or unlawful private militia activity and advertising to individuals under 18,” bar gun companies from creating cartoons, stuffed animals and children’s clothing for marketing purposes and make it possible for victims of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers.
[…] Perhaps the unhappiest of all Republicans in the state right now is Darren Bailey, who lost to Pritzker in the last gubernatorial election. He is so unhappy, in fact, that he stood in front of an American flag on his porch this week and threatened to suicide by cop if someone comes to take his semiautomatic guns away from him. [video at the link]
He said:
I’m standing here on my front porch. This porch kind of became famous through the governor’s run, it became famous when I was speaking on nonsense. And I made a statement. And sometimes when we make these statements, we don’t know where this is going to go, but if need be, this front porch will be my final stand. I will not allow anyone to infringe on my property, on my Second Amendment rights. I will not allow anyone to come and take anything from me. And if need be, as I quoted before, I will die on this front porch before I give up any of my Second Amendment freedoms.
[…] Of course, no one is actually coming for Bailey’s guns. The ban is on the purchase, sale or import of “assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, .50-caliber rifles or .50-caliber cartridges,” but those who already own them will get to keep them and will have until 2024 to register them with the state police — surely those who “back the blue” have no problem with that.
This refers to the argument that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a provision that limits people from returning to public office if they have since “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort” to those who have, would bar Trump from running. Two convservative lawyers, staunch Federalist Society members, have written a paper set to be published in the Pennsylvania Law Review, advancing this very view.
“Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: ‘Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?’ That’d be a big problem,” Trump said when asked about the topic. “It’d be a very precarious one for Republicans because he’d be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision. You don’t want to be running and have that kind of thing over your head.”
Trump added: “I’d hate to see something like that get in his way. But a lot of people are talking about it and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport.”
CNN, January 6, 2016:
TRUMP: Well, here’s what I think. What I think I do, I’d go and seek a declaratory judgment if I was Ted.
BLITZER: What does that mean?
TRUMP: It means you go to court.
BLITZER: Which court?
TRUMP: You go to federal court to ask for what’s called a declaratory judgment. You go in seeking the decision of the court, without a court case. You go right in. You go before a judge. You do it quickly. It can go quickly, declaratory judgment. It’s very good. I’ve used it on numerous occasions. I’ve been pretty good with it actually.
So when there’s a doubt because there’s a doubt. What Ted doesn’t want to happen is, he doesn’t want to be in there. I mean, I think I’m going to win. I’m leading in every poll by a lot.
But I have a lot of friends in the Republican Party. I have a lot of friends all over the place, all right? If Ted should eke it out and I hope that doesn’t happen, and he’s got this cloud over his head, I don’t think it’s going to be possible for him to do very well. I don’t think it’s actually possible for the Republicans to let it happen because he’ll have this cloud.
So what you do is go in immediately like tomorrow, this afternoon, you go to federal court, you ask for declaratory judgment. That’s — you want the court to rule and once the court rules you have your decision.
BLITZER: But that could take a long time for the court because I don’t think the Supreme Court has never really ruled on what is a natural born citizen.
TRUMP: That’s the problem, is this doubt. People have doubt. Again, this was not my suggestion. I didn’t bring this up. A reporter asked me the question but the Democrats have brought it up and you had somebody, a Congressman say no matter what happens, we’re going to be suing on this matter. That’s a tough matter for Ted.
[. . .]
Look, with Ted, he should ask for declaratory judgment because that would clear it all out. And I’m doing this for the good of Ted, I’m not doing for (inaudible) because I like him, and he likes me. We have a good relationship.
This would clear it up. You go into court and ask for declaratory judgment. The judge will rule. And once the judge rules that he is OK then the Democrats can’t bring a lawsuit later on.
Oh dear, another effect of weather patterns that include episodes of extreme heat:
[…] Pregnancy tests generally should be stored at a temperature between 36 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Emergency contraception pills should be kept between 68 and 77 degrees, per the Food and Drug Administration, though they can be transported in temperatures ranging between 59 and 86 degrees. For condoms, the World Health Organization recommends an average shipment temperature no warmer than 86 degrees, noting that peak temperatures shouldn’t exceed 122 degrees and that condoms could be damaged if they are stored at above 104 degrees for an extended period of time.
Extreme heat has already complicated efforts to disseminate contraceptive supplies. Last month, staff from the Lilith Fund reported heat damage to about $3,500 worth of pregnancy tests, thermometers and condoms, the result of a temporary air-conditioning outage at a storage facility in San Antonio. The organization was able to raise money from supporters to replace those items, but will be factoring heat risk in future budgets. […]
Trump is being hit with so many indictments that it is proving a challenge for his lawyers — too many fronts, not enough troops. Maybe he could get all of the criminal indictments (federal, New York, coming up in Georgia) as a class action lawsuit so his lawyers would only have to defend him once?
birgerjohanssonsays
Huffington Post: Georgia voting systems breach tied to Trump legal team by texts.
Recently, 2 JDAMs hit this high-rise building in Urozhaine and eliminated they entire position from which Russians were coordinating their operations, probably killing every Russian there.
The Ukrainian MoD released two spectacular videos, showing surviving Russian troops fleeing from Urozhaine.
It is absolute carnage because those Russians have no armored vehicles, no vehicles at all and flee in broad daylight on an open road and fields. The 2nd video is even worse for them because it shows the usage of cluster ammunition, blasting those troops into absolute bits.
This is just another video proving the low quality of Russian command structures. To give so panicking withdrawal orders and allowing the own troops being literally destroyed with no cover from the dark or some vehicles is a masterclass in failure in itself.
It is unlikely that there are any Russian troops alive in Urozhaine.
Classic scheme: first they surrender Urozhaine, then they start blaming everyone for their faults. In reality, elite Russian troops were unable to withstand the onslaught and were pushed out. But we are not stopping here.
Translated document at the link.
wzrd1says
A class action prosecution? Sounds like quite a novel idea.
I think that Trump needs to get a bigger boat. It’s looking like Georgia is going to drop an expected dozen indictments soon.
Oggie: Mathomsays
I really hope that Georgia hits him and his minions with RICO indictments. He is so deserving of the dishonor.
Oggie: Mathomsays
Actually, given the support of Trump, the excusing of obvious crimes, the financing of said crimes and the defense of said crimes, the stochastic terrorism aimed at all of Trump’s perceived enemies, maybe the entire GOP should be charged under RICO laws with conspiracy to overthrow the United States Government . . .
The animal welfare activist group Animal Outlook has been investigating the meat industry for over two decades, having documented chickens buried and roasted alive, thrashing pigs killed at a high-speed slaughterhouse, fish bludgeoned to death, and cows kicked and beaten, among many other cruelties. But at a pig breeding farm in Minnesota, 120 miles southeast of Minneapolis, between late 2019 and early 2020, an undercover investigator with the organization witnessed some of the worst cruelty they’d ever seen.
“It was brutal,” the investigator, who requested anonymity due to the covert nature of undercover investigations, told Vox. “They’re all really bad,” they said, referring to other investigations they’ve conducted, “but this one looked like a house of horrors.”…
Horrific. And so shameful that academics are part of this.
Infighting in Mariupol between Russian soldiers. A couple of days ago Kadyrovites got into a shootout with mobilized soldiers close to Mariupol also. Tension seems to rise.
Short video at the link. Seems like we’re just beginning to see more of this again – videos of infighting, videos complaining about a lack of leadership and supplies, videos of Russian soldiers basically abandoned,… Very good.
Paul Ksays
SC (Salty Current) @ 21: That article was gut-wrenching. And to read that much of what the undercover reporting exposed was common practice, and has been for decades, made it worse. And the nasty process of feeding pigs diseased parts of dead animals mixed with feces has been ‘studied since 1950’. Not just done, but scientifically studied for effectiveness, and, I assume, ‘improvement’, for over 70 years. Horrific.
The ability of humans to objectify anything when money can be made off of it is limitless. Animals, pigs in this case, are just things; literally, in the legal and economic sense, ‘commodities’. Factory farm workers don’t simply not care about their suffering, they make sport of it. The only research into working with them as actual living creatures seems to be for the purpose of propaganda, getting the public to have ‘trust and faith’ in the pork industry. Just disgusting.
Oggie: Mathomsays
Wife just got a text from a lawyer she knows. Right-winger, Trumpist, and a lawyer. His text to her claimed that Willis cannot charge Trump as he never lived in Georgia.
I know that he knows that is bullshit, but so many willfully ignorant Trumpists that he also most likely texted it to are probably nodding so hard they are causing themselves brain damage.
Yesterday morning at 6:15 am Provo time, Craig Robertson was shot and killed by the FBI after posting to Facebook that he was going to assassinate President Biden during his trip this week to Utah.
Had the FBI not stopped him, he may well have pulled it off: he had a high-tech sniper rifle and apparently knew how to use it. The shoot-out he started with FBI agents trying to arrest him, if nothing else, was a tell.
This, I believe, is exactly what Donald Trump wants.
In response to Trump’s rants, according to Vice News, Robertson had posted to Facebook multiple screeds about the “stolen” 2020 election. Believing Trump’s lie that President Biden was an illegitimate pretender to the White House, he posted:
“IN MY DREAM I SEE JOE BIDEN’S BODY IN A DARK CORNER OF A DC PARKING GARAGE WITH HIS HEAD SEVERED AND LYING IN A HUGE PUDDLE OF BLOOD. HOORAH!!!”
When news came that President Biden was coming to Utah this week, Robertson posted:
“PERHAPS UTAH WILL BECOME FAMOUS THIS WEEK AS THE PLACE A SNIPER TOOK OUT BIDEN THE MARXIST.”
Just a few days earlier, Trump had publicly condemned “the Marxists” who he said were persecuting him.
In openly encouraging rage and violence, Trump is following a well-worn path blazed by many terrorist leaders before him.
Osama bin Laden, for example, never killed anybody. Several narratives suggest he didn’t even know the details of 9/11 until the twin towers had fallen.
Bin Laden also apparently didn’t fund the attack on 9/11 (according to the 9/11 Commission), just as Trump didn’t fund Robertson or the thousands of terrorists who attempted to murder Vice President Pence and Speaker Pelosi on January 6th.
As ABC News reporter John Miller, who interviewed bin Laden and covered 9/11 extensively, wrote:
“He didn’t pay for the World Trade Center bombing or the plot to kill Clinton, but [he thought] they were good ideas.”
Bin Laden inspired the attack with his rhetoric, just as Trump has inspired numerous terrorist assaults here in America with his rhetoric.
ABC News did a deep dive into presidential-inspired terrorism in America. While George W. Bush and Barack Obama said a lot of things in their combined 16 years in office, some fairly controversial, the network reports:
“ABC News could not find a single criminal case filed in federal or state court where an act of violence or threat was made in the name of President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush.”
That was very much not the case with Trump, however:
“But a nationwide review conducted by ABC News has identified at least 54 criminal cases where Trump was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence, or allegations of assault.”
From August 15, 2015 to April 30, 2020 (the article was published in May, 2020, long before the January 6th terror attack on the Capitol), ABC Newsidentified over fifty separate cases where acts or attempted acts of terror were carried out against people Trump had targeted.
They ranged from beatings to murders to attempted mass killings:
“The 54 cases identified by ABC News are remarkable in that a link to the president is captured in court documents and police statements, under the penalty of perjury or contempt.
“These links are not speculative – they are documented in official records. And in the majority of cases identified by ABC News, it was perpetrators themselves who invoked the president in connection with their case, not anyone else.”
In the three-plus years since, there have, no doubt, been hundreds more. And now Trump is turning up the volume, stoking the often-violent fury of the people unfortunate enough to believe his lies.
Consider the top headline at Raw Story yesterday:
“‘Just the beginning’: Ex-FBI official warns more assassins could be inspired by Trump”
No former president in American history has encouraged such violence or tried to inspire stochastic terrorism.
It has simply never happened here before.
Outside of the Confederacy, no American politician has worked so hard to tear America apart, to pit citizens against each other, to destroy our republic from within. Neither has any former president made alliance with and taken hundreds of millions of dollars from hostile foreign agents like Putin’s oligarchs and Saudi Arabia’s MBS.
No president has ever invited a mob to attack the US Capitol and terrorize lawmakers to change the outcome of an election. This terrorist act led to the death of nine people, including four police officers, and Donald Trump has not only not apologized, but he has praised the terrorists he summoned and promised to pardon them.
He plays a song he sings with them at every one of his rallies. He speaks along with the prisoners, people accused of violence that could extend as far as murder. In solidarity with “their cause.”
He has never once condemned any of the murders, attempted murders and bombings, or other acts of violence that have been committed in his name over the past seven years. Instead, we hear that there are “very fine people on both sides.”
Frank Figliuzzi, former Assistant Director for Counterintelligence at the FBI, whose work involved terrorism and understands it well, told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner last night:
“If you think you’ve seen this before, it’s because you have. It is a common theme, this concept that somebody is controlling the globe, controlling elections, and politics. And it’s all bad. They’re vile, they’re subhuman. And it’s also something called stochastic terrorism, which is the concept that some leader figures are putting out people as less than human, dehumanizing them, they’re evil, and therefore it becomes easier for people to respond to that ideology and act out violently.
He talked about how this would actually be the second wave of Trump terrorism in America, were it to happen again.
“We certainly saw it in large numbers of people, a thousand arrested already, on January 6th, we saw people willing to die, including Ashli Babbitt, who consumed these Trump conspiracy theories, wrapped up in a Trump campaign flag as she’s breaching security at the Capitol. We saw it in Cincinnati where a man breached security, or tried to, at the FBI’s Cincinnati field office. Ended up dying in a cornfield after hours of standoff.”
Figliuzzi seemed struck by the solemnity of a former president encouraging acts of terrorism, and where it may go:
“I’m afraid this is not in any way the end of this, but rather just the beginning, as we continue to see Trump and his cohorts making vile accusations against people that are now prosecuting Trump, whether they are prosecutors or judges. So there is more of this coming. And law enforcement’s challenge, of course, is to get out in front of this before the really bad thing happens.”
Trump posting a picture of himself threatening New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg with a baseball bat isn’t cute or funny: it’s a call for brutality or an assassination. It’s an incitement to terrorism.
Now, facing the possibility of time in prison for his crimes, Trump is encouraging the wannabe and weekend terrorists among his base to murder witnesses, prosecutors, and the judges overseeing his case. And to influence jurors so at least one person may lie when questioned by the judge and claim that he is not a fervent Trump follower but then vote to hang the jury.
That would teach them to challenge him. They should have known better, like all those women, he would tell you. The criminal justice system shouldn’t have tried to come after him, he proclaims. Soon there will be carnage.
Outside of the occasional mob boss prosecution, only cases of terrorism have provoked state or federal officials to engage in the extensive security precautions now needed because of Trump’s incitements.
How can our newspapers and other media not see this? Anybody who has been in or near a country in a civil war understands the role Trump is playing.
Trump has openly said he wants to release information which the government says could be used to target people who have investigated him, testified against him, and might serve on the jury that could condemn him.
He is demanding the right to release it all, in defiance of every legal norm known, to devastate the case against him by polluting the jury pool through winning the case in the media before it even gets to court. If he can do that, the court action will seem petty.
Perception is everything, and he knows it. Every dictator in history knows it: that’s how they became dictators.
This is a man with no scruples and no limits. Anything you can imagine, he can probably exceed. Consider the headline at Mediaite yesterday:
“‘My Blood Ran Cold’: Ex-Trump Official Horrified By ‘Criminal Plot’ to Have Military ‘Turn Their Guns on Civilians to Facilitate a Losing Candidate’”
He has repeatedly lied to his followers that his First Amendment free speech rights are being abused, as a setup to cause Americans to lose confidence in our form of government.
In fact, the protective order that will be the focus of this Friday’s meeting in Judge Chutkan’s courtroom is designed to make sure the jury sees the evidence against Trump before he can publicize it to pollute the jury pool and intimidate witnesses who may testify against him.
Such protective orders are routine, but Trump wants to be tried in the court of public opinion, which he knows how to manipulate, rather than in a court of law, where he knows he will probably lose. He believes if he can get in the White House he can pardon himself, a classic dictator’s move. Terrorists like this kind of thing, too.
The mainstream American media has always been a few steps behind Trump in his march toward an attempted fascist takeover of America.
It took them years to use the simple word “lies” to describe his lies. They were reluctant to use the word “terrorism” in connection with January 6th (although The New York Times published an op-ed concluding that it was, in fact, a terrorist attack).
Now, even in the face of naked attacks on the rule of law, our court system, the FBI, and President Biden and VP Harris — they are reluctant to bluntly identify what are clearly incitements of a terrorist reaction to Trump’s prosecutions like we saw yesterday in Idaho.
Had similar characterizations of our police, courts, and intelligence agencies come from the president of Iran, for example, every media outlet in America would be identifying it as an explicit call to either tear the country apart or justify and activate terrorist violence.
Rachel Maddow recently noted that history won’t be asking how it was possible that a former president of the United States could be prosecuted for his crimes; instead, history will ask how such a criminal could have ever become president in the first place.
The answer, as we all know, was laid out by Robert Mueller’s investigation (the unredacted version of which Merrick Garland is still keeping confidential, even though it was written specifically to be released publicly).
Vladimir Putin made sure Paul Manafort was installed as Trump’s campaign manager after Viktor Yanukovych, the Putin puppet Manafort had installed in Ukraine, was thrown out.
Manafort, who didn’t even ask for a paycheck for running Trump’s campaign but did all the work for free, then fed confidential internal polling data to Russian intelligence showing where “persuasion” could help Trump or hurt Clinton.
That persuasion came to America by way of 29 million social media posts, viewed or liked 126 million times, from Prigozhin’s Internet Research Agency — the Kremlin — specifically targeting American voters Manafort had identified in a half-dozen or so states.
In Pennsylvania, Trump won by 44,292 votes. In Wisconsin it was 22,748 votes, and in Michigan a mere 10,704 votes. Had Prigozhin not been successful in targeting those 77,744 voters for Putin and Trump, Hillary Clinton would — by any reasonable estimate — have become president in 2016.
Putin’s terror campaign is now targeting Ukraine, the country Trump withheld weapons from and tried to blackmail into helping him steal the 2020 election.
Putin’s man Trump’s terror campaign is now targeting us, at least those of us who are not straight white Trump supporters, as he has done virtually every day since he came down the escalator in Trump Tower and began his hateful rant about “Mexican rapists and murderers.”
How long will our court and criminal justice system tolerate this ongoing assault, this open campaign to promote stochastic terror?
How long will our media recoil from calling him a terrorist as more and more Americans are terrorized, beaten, and murdered by people invoking his name the way Mohamed Atta invoked bin Laden’s?
How long will the GOP continue to tolerate a man who encourages terrorism — even against members of his own party — among their ranks?
It’s possible that we “ain’t seen nothing yet” and Trump will activate far more widespread terror activity and violence before he goes down.
It could be a disaster like none of us have ever lived through, but that I have personally seen in several countries that descended into war.
I helped develop a refugee center in Uganda in the middle of the war with Idi Amin. And I was in South Sudan, on the border with Darfur, as the villages were being burned by the Janjaweed just 15 miles from me. And a few other uncomfortable places in the years I did international relief work.
When people turn against each other in the same country, from what I’ve seen, it is the most brutal kind of warfare.
It’s also possible that this fever will soon break, and America will begin to return to some semblance of normalcy as a whole new set of crises provoked by climate change beset our land and redirect our attention.
Ukraine remains hush hush about things, but it’s all over Russian sources—Ukraine has retaken Urozhaine, on the road to Mariupol, on the most thinly defended axis of Ukraine’s southern assaults. Along with reported gains crossing the Dnipro south of Kherson, and some other tactical advances along the front, it’s been a good couple of days for Ukraine.
We may finally be at a place where Russia’s forces are degraded enough for Ukraine to finally advance.
While most of the southern front consists of multiple layers of defenses, the approach toward Mariupol only has one. It’s the right-most arrow in the map below: [map at the link]
Perhaps Russia thought the towns along the road toward Mariupol provide enough urban defensive terrain to obviate the need for more extensive trench fortifications. Or maybe they think the distance to Mariupol is far enough that any Ukrainian thrust would struggle logistically. Or maybe they were going to get to it eventually and ran out of time. Whatever the reason, this is an incredibly promising direction for Ukraine.
In yesterday’s update, RO37 wrote about Russia’s stupidity in defending Urozhaine on this approach. In short, Russian forces in Urozhaine have been surrounded on three sides since late July, and under constant artillery barrage for two weeks. [map at the link]
It was an untenable position, yet Russia has exhibited a “don’t surrender an inch” philosophy that has certainly slowed the Ukrainian advance, but also has most definitely cost it unnecessary lives and equipment. Nothing proves Russia’s moral rot more than it’s lack of give-a-fucks for its soldiers’ lives. We humans are a savage species, but a social one. At our core, we protect our tribe. Except for Russia. Russia doesn’t. And as RO37 noted, Russian forces in Urozhaine paid the price.
[T]he Russian decision not to withdraw from Urozhaine after Ukraine liberated Staromaiorske and the counterattacks to regain the position failed cannot possibly be militarily justified. These Russian soldiers were left in an utterly vulnerable position where they would be exposed to Ukrainian firepower. This has been a fully lopsided fight for Ukraine, as its forces were able to strike at Russian positions at will for two weeks
Additionally, Russia’s artillery advantage has been decimated in the last several months, with Ukraine claiming 20-30 destroyed batteries every single day. While those numbers are impossible to verify (about half are typically visually identified), one Russian blogger agrees and called it the “genocide of the artillery of the Russian Federation.” And as pro-Russia propagandists find excuses for losing Urozhaine, that growing artillery disparity is an obvious one.
The enemy has matured to use our Mariupol tactics: he sends a small group until faces fire contact, pulls back and strikes with artillery at the identified position. After that, he crawls into the cleared basement… This is possible only with the unpunished work of artillery – we return to the question of counter-battery fire. If we do not change the situation, we
can lose Urozhaine.
When in the trenches, it always seems like the other side has unlimited artillery and yours does nothing. Indeed, counter-battery fire, by definition, happens way behind the front lines. If dug-in Russians in Urozhaine are getting pummeled by artillery, any Russian counter-battery fire will target that Ukrainian artillery 15-25 kilometers behind the front lines. The Russians in Urozhaine will never hear or see those shells landing so far away. Still, every indication is that the volume of Russian artillery has dropped dramatically, perhaps as much as half from last year’s peak
And for those Russians in Urozhaine, all they know is that they were getting hammered by the Ukrainians, now reinforced with 2-3 million cluster shells, while advancing Ukrainian forces aren’t getting similar treatment. In this video, Russians retreating from Urozhaine are shredded by Ukrainian artillery, including cluster bombs. [Tweet and video at the link. The Russian forces were retreating on foot.]
[…] The Russians have no armor, no trucks, running on foot for their lives as cluster munitions shred them to bits. Russia’s commanders couldn’t even give them the small mercy of allowing a night-time retreat, under cover of darkness. You can easily match this bendy road with the map up above. They were making a run for the next village of Zavitne Bazhannya, off that right turn.
Artillery isn’t the only excuse for their loss. It’s Russia, so you can always blame alcohol.
Today, the village of Urozhayne in South Donetsk direction was surrendered.
In recent weeks, fighters of the Kaskad OBTF and the 40th Marine Brigade have been stubbornly resisting the Armed Forces of Ukraine there. The assault groups of the 40th brigade repeatedly launched counterattacks and drove the enemy out of Urozhayne. Virtually every Marine who participated in the fighting was wounded.
The problem in holding the village is mostly due to the lack of desire to defend it on the part of the 36th army. The tank units of the 37th brigade refused to support the infantry in the battles for Urozhayne, arguing that the tanks were supposedly being destroyed immediately after entering the firing position. The infantry of the brigade retreated from all the forest belts east of Urozhaine on the 10th. This was argued by the fact that they no longer have personnel for combat operations. In fact, half of the brigade is busy drinking alcohol in the rear, and the officers are not able to bring them to their senses. But for some reason, the 37th brigade continues to be thrown into the most important sectors of the front, which they successfully leave to the enemy.
Probably they will again receive a decent amount of awards for Urozhaine, as it was after the battles for Novodonetske. But the storm troopers of the Marines from Storm Z, who voluntarily signed contracts and do not give up an inch of land without a fight, are not
entitled to awards.
Every marine defending the town was heroically wounded, how wonderful! Glory to Russia! Actually, it’s funny that this blogger calls them “marines,” since they are actually Storm Z—penal battalions run by the Russian ministry of defense after they shut down Wagner’s prison recruitment. Marines, in any competent armed forces, are elite troops. And Russia’s 40th Marine Brigade, shredded in pointless attacks against Vuhledar back in January, is now made up of Wagner-style cannon fodder. At the time, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed up to 70% of that unit, and they were clearly right. It is now a “marine” unit in name only.
But again, notice the weird worshipping of the idea of not “giving up an inch of land.” It’s ingrained in Russian culture. But regardless, this author better be careful, lest he get thrown in prison for violating the Russian law against “dishonoring the military.” He can’t be calling the 37th brigade a bunch of cowardly drunkards without consequences!
Here’s another Russian war blogger, this one celebrating that weird fetish for counterattacking lost gains, wasting men and equipment out in the open instead of retreating to those dug-in defensive lines:
The enemy outplayed us Harvest we – For several days we withstood its onslaught, but somewhere there was a failure. We are still fighting back, but the situation is not in our favor. The enemy has already tried to hoist the Flag at the village council today, but one armor was blown up, the artillery worked on the rest and they pulled back – but this is a matter of time. And although the capture of this village will cost the enemy a great price, its loss after such heroic resistance is painful for us. It does not console, but slightly reconciles with the situation, that if he takes each village in the same way as Harvest, it will soon end. We hope that we will somehow dodge and push the enemy back—but we have to be realistic.
With Urozhaine clear of Russians, what now? [map at the link]
The next village down is Zavitne Bazhannya, the town those fleeing Russians were trying to reach. If you look closely, it’s surrounded by a river, though people say it’s more of a creek. As a defensive location, it suffers from much of the same problems Urozhaine did, with Ukrainian forces holding higher ground to its north, and that eastern flank open to attack. The chances Russia has any armor left there is zilch. Indeed, remember that Russian blogger above complaining that the drunkards at the 37th brigade refused to send armor to defend, as “the tanks were supposedly being destroyed immediately after entering the firing position.” I laugh at “supposedly.” We have all the video evidence showing it’s true. The bigger shock there is that there are Russian commanders, drunk or not, who are aware of that reality and are trying to conserve their equipment.
So if Zavitne Bazhannya is just a bunch of penal-colony infantry, surrounded by a small river or creek, no need to target it. Soviet doctrine is to place a small blocking force at the entrance to town, and move the main force down south. Trapped and lacking supplies, they are more likely to surrender than not. Reports claim that Ukraine is already busy de-mining the approaches to Staromlynivka, the next big prize.
Remember, Ukraine realized that it could not move its armor through the heavily mined terrain. So it shifted tactics to infantry small-unit assaults supported by artillery. At night, sappers work the fields, manually removing the mines. It’s hard, dangerous, and slow work. Ukraine’s defense minister said yesterday that, “The Ukrainian Armed Forces are excavating 5 mines for every m2, installed by Russian troops in order to disrupt Ukraine’s counteroffensive.” A square meter is 10.7 square feet. So that’s one mine per ever 2’ x 1’ box. That is essentially universal mine coverage. Entire fields are blanketed with those dastardly explosives. [Wow. That’s a lot of mines. The Russians basically paved the place with mines.]
But once cleared, armor can move up and use its heavy firepower to dislodge Russian defensive positions. It’s “combined arms” Ukrainian style. You gotta adapt to the war you’re fighting, with the equipment you have.
As you can see in the map above, Russia’s main defensive line is south of Staromlynivka, the only one in this direction. Given that Russia is wasting its manpower defending in front of that line, it seems far less scary as a roadblock than earlier this year. That doesn’t mean it won’t be difficult and bloody to cross, it just means that if Russia is defending every inch of territory in front of it, including using effective urban terrain for defense, then what makes that line any different, especially if it has fewer men and armor manning it because it was wasted in its approaches?
We haven’t seen much of the Western armor since the first days of Ukraine’s failed armored-spear attack. But if Ukraine breaks through this line? Then we’ll see that armor romp. Here’s what happens when Ukraine breaks that line: [map at the link]
Ukraine has two very good options. It could dive bomb down to Mariupol. It’s around 120 kilometers, so not an insignificant distance, but we’re talking a 2-3 hour drive in peacetime. Depending on how much resistance Russia could muster, Ukraine could reach it in a matter of days. Now supplying that vanguard is a challenge, and it would be the Mother of All Salients, but it would certainly be a devastating advance for Russian morale, and severing Vladimir Putin’s precious “land bridge” connecting mainland Russia to Crimea would be a devastating strategic loss for him
And Ukraine wouldn’t even have to enter Mariupol. All it would need to do is establish fire control over its supply lines, and we have another Kherson city in the makings—so long as the Ukrainian blocking force had secure supply lines of its own.
The other option, equally difficult but even more valuable, would be to loop west, behind all of Russia’s carefully established defensive positions, cutting them off from the rear. This was what Russia hoped to do in the early days of the war, cutting off the extensive Ukrainian defenses in the Donbas, many of which remain in place to this day. [map at the link]
Cutting off those Russian defenses from the rear would serve two major purposes—first of all, it would lead to the mass surrender of Russian forces. It is far preferable to capture than to kill a Russian—it saves Ukrainian lives (and mental health—Ukraine’s post-war PTSD problem will be horrendous), and it gives Ukraine tradable resources to return its own captured POWs, kidnapped children, and perhaps even provide leverage in negotiations to reopen shipping lanes and other strategic goals.
Second of all, Russia has been Ukraine’s largest weapons supplier over the past year and a half. Russia has moved an incredible amount of equipment to this front. Capturing a significant percentage of it intact would go a long way toward further equipping Ukrainian forces for the future liberation of Crimea and the Donbas.
The road to get to those two options, however, remains long. Russia will likely defend Staromlynivka with the same single-minded ferocity it defended Urozhaine. Ukraine will need weeks to de-mine the approaches around it, while gradually liberating towns on the flanks to maintain a flat front. Ukraine has very clearly worked to avoid putting itself into its own disadvantageous salients.
Meanwhile, Ukraine seems to be making nice progress around Robotyne, on the approach to Tokmak. Sources on both sides agree that Ukraine has entered the northern parts of the town, which means they have either breached, or are in the process of breaching Russia’s first main defensive line in that direction. [map at the link]
Here’s the big picture overview, for context: [map at the link]
Ukrainian artillery strikes on Russia’s main defensive line can be seen in satellite imagery, which has replaced FIRMS satellite data to track the advance of the front lines among the open source intelligence community. [satellite image at the link]
Russia’s most prominent war blogger, War Gonzo, has reinforced claims of Ukrainian successes:
On the Zaporizhzhia direction … On the Robotyne-Verbove line, the FU is not giving up its attempts to advance. The danger for Russian units is that Ukrainian units have overcome most of the minefields in this area. But they have not reached the main line of the Russian Armed Forces’ defensive fortifications.
Remember, take away the minefields, and armor can now move up. This is fantastic news.
And in the Bakhmut direction, Russia has reportedly retaken the southern part of Klishchiivka in a furious counter-assault using some of their best troops—VDV airborne. [Tweet and video at the link: “The Russian forces are counter attacking in Klishchiivka. Today information emerged that Russian airborne troops and LNR motorized rifle brigade elements are relocated to Klishchiivka. In this video a T-90 and two BMP’s are engaging the AFU. Klishchiivka is currently contested.”]
This is quite alright, let Russia race armor across open fields to retake lost positions. Wasting some of their best forces here, rather than holding them in reserve to handle any breakthroughs at the southern front or pushing their somewhat effective offensive in the north, toward Kupyansk, is exactly what Ukraine wants.
Ukraine’s goal here isn’t to retake the territory, it is to bleed Russia dry, so that when the breakthrough happens, Russia has nothing left to respond to it. That said, that might be one of the most competent-looking attacks by the Russians I’ve seen this entire war. We don’t see infantry, so who knows if they competently followed up with an infantry assault, but it’s a very clean-looking operation with the armor and artillery working in concert. It must’ve been terrible for any Ukrainians on the receiving end.
————————
Life finds a way. Russia launched missiles into civilian targets in Zaporizhzhia. One of them shattered the windows of a post office. [Tweet and video at the link: “all the windows shattered, and they had to put plywood up to cover it. So these women decided to paint the plywood and I think it came out great.”]
—————————-
After the raid-that-seems-to-have-turned into something more at Kozachi Laheri, south of Kherson across the Dnipro river, Russian sources reported that a Russian officer had gone missing. Turns out, he had! He was captured by Ukraine, and now seems to be happily giving up the goods on Russian defensive positions in the area: [Tweet, video and satellite image at the link: “A video is now actively circulating in the media, as claimed, video is showing the Russian commander of the reconnaissance group of the regiment 1822, Major Tomov, who was captured by Ukrainian forces in the area of the Kazachi Lahery, left bank Kherson region.”]
A small central Kansas police department is facing a firestorm of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner — a move deemed by several press freedom watchdogs as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of a free press.
The Marion County Record said in its own published reports that police raided the newspaper’s office on Friday, seizing the newspaper’s computers, phones and file server and the personal cellphones of staff, based on a search warrant. One Record reporter said one of her fingers was injured when Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody wrested her cellphone out of her hand, according to the report.
Police simultaneously raided the home of Eric Meyer, the newspaper’s publisher and co-owner, seizing computers, his cellphone and the home’s internet router, Meyer said. Meyer’s 98-year-old mother — Record co-owner Joan Meyer who lived in the home with her son — collapsed and died Saturday, Meyer said, blaming her death on the stress of the raid of her home.
Meyer said in his newspaper’s report that he believes the raid was prompted by a story published last week about a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. Newell had police remove Meyer and a newspaper reporter from her restaurant early this month, who were there to cover a public reception for U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican representing the area. The police chief and other officials also attended and were acknowledged at the reception, and the Marion Police Department highlighted the event on its Facebook page.
The next week at a city council meeting, Newell publicly accused the newspaper of using illegal means to get information on a drunk driving conviction against her. The newspaper countered that it received that information unsolicited, which it sought to verify through public online records. It eventually decided not to run a story on Newell’s DUI, but it did run a story on the city council meeting, in which Newell confirmed the 2008 DUI conviction herself.
A two-page search warrant, signed by a local judge, lists Newell as the victim of alleged crimes by the newspaper. When the newspaper asked for a copy of the probable cause affidavit required by law to issue a search warrant, the district court issued a signed statement saying no such affidavit was on file, the Record reported.
[…] Cody, the police chief, defended the raid on Sunday, saying in an email to The Associated Press that while federal law usually requires a subpoena — not just a search warrant — to raid a newsroom, there is an exception “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”
Cody did not give details about what that alleged wrongdoing entailed.
Cody, who was hired in late April as Marion’s police chief after serving 24 years in the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, did not respond to questions about whether police filed a probable cause affidavit for the search warrant. He also did not answer questions about how police believe Newell was victimized.
Meyer said the newspaper plans to sue the police department and possibly others, calling the raid an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment’s free press guarantee.
Press freedom and civil rights organizations agreed that police, the local prosecutor’s office and the judge who signed off on the search warrant overstepped their authority.
“It seems like one of the most aggressive police raids of a news organization or entity in quite some time,” said Sharon Brett, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. The breadth of the raid and the aggressiveness in which it was carried out seems to be “quite an alarming abuse of authority from the local police department,” Brett said.
Seth Stern, director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement that the raid appeared to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, “and basic human decency.”
“This looks like the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes,” Stern said. “The anti-press rhetoric that’s become so pervasive in this country has become more than just talk and is creating a dangerous environment for journalists trying to do their jobs.”
more than 30 news organizations, including The New York Times, Dow Jones and The Washington Post, have written to the chief of the Marion Police Department to condemn its raid on the Marion County Record
@14
Maybe he could get all of the criminal indictments (federal, New York, coming up in Georgia) as a class action lawsuit so his lawyers would only have to defend him once?
Absolutely not, since the charges in each case are very different. It’s not just different accusers making the same charges.
And to me, the best part is the Georgia case. Since those are state charges, there is no possibility of a presidential federal pardon.
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #29…
Unless he makes a diversity of locale claim (he lives in Florida, the charges are brought in Georgia) to move the proceedings to Federal court. IANAL so I’m not sure that would count as “federal charges” subject to a presidential pardon, but I’d bet there is a precedent somewhere about that situation.
A member of the White House press corps has filed a lawsuit against White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the Secret Service, alleging they wrongfully revoked his press badge.
In his suit filed Thursday, African journalist Simon Ateba argues that the White House policy for revoking press access violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. President Biden’s White House announced new rules in May that – for the first time – allowed for rescinding a press badge.
“Defendants violated Mr. Ateba’s First Amendment rights by changing the criteria for hard pass credentials to intentionally prevent Mr. Ateba from obtaining hard pass access,” the lawsuit reads.
“Defendants did so by adopting credentialing criteria specifically designed to exclude Mr. Ateba from eligibility. Such discrimination amounts to a content-based regulation and viewpoint discrimination against Mr. Ateba in violation of the First Amendment,” it continues…
Ateba, who works for Today News Africa, has been at the center of several briefing room blowups. The journalist lashed out at Jean-Pierre during a March 20 briefing when the White House was playing host to the celebrity cast of “Ted Lasso.”..
Outside of the occasional mob boss prosecution, only cases of terrorism have provoked state or federal officials to engage in the extensive security precautions now needed because of Trump’s incitements.
Sitting lawmaker calling for violence. The GOP has become a party of fascist thugs. Read #Strongmen to see how that works out.
Video at the link of Matt Gaetz standing with Trump in Iowa and saying: “I cannot stand these people that are destroying our country … we know that only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington DC.”
[In 1932,] Litten was excoriated in the Nazi press as the “Red Death Defender” and readers were urged to “Put a stop to his dirty work”. It was no longer possible for Litten to go out in public without a bodyguard.
A prominent Saudi scholar and Snapchat influencer has been arrested by Saudi authorities in what experts said was evidence of the kingdom’s extreme crackdown on social media users.
The arrest of Mohammed Alhajji, a public health expert who completed his dissertation in the US, follows the disappearance and recent arrests of other prominent influencers for “crimes” that include the perceived criticism of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and support for women’s rights.
Alhajji’s arrest was confirmed by two sources with close knowledge of the matter.
There was no indication or additional information about why the influencer – who was seen as apolitical and supportive of the Saudi government – was detained.
Alhajji had been scheduled to speak at an event in Riyadh on Sunday but observers noted that a tweet describing the event had been deleted in recent days.
It followed recent news of the arrest of Manahel al-Otaibi, a 29-year-old certified fitness instructor and artist who frequently promoted female empowerment on her social media accounts. Among other charges, Otaibi was accused by Saudi authorities of using a hashtag – translated to #societyisready – to call for an end to male guardianship rules. Another Snapchat influencer, Mansour Al-Raqiba, who had more than 2 million followers, was sentenced to 27 years in jail for allegedly privately criticising the crown prince.
…
Alhajji has a verified Snapchat account and 385,000 followers on Twitter. In interviews highlighting his academic success in the US, where he attended graduate and undergraduate university, Alhajji was described as a social media personality who wanted to use his platform to explain public health issues to a Saudi audience.
“It’s like a reality TV show, a lens for people 7,000 miles away to observe my PhD life in the US, my life in Philly,” he was quoted telling a Temple University news outlet.
Describing his then-recent move back home to Saudi Arabia, he noted that he had built enough of a following to get recognised. “They call me Dr Mohammed,” he said. Alhajji graduated from Temple with a PhD in 2020. His research on the spread of sickle cell disease, a common genetic disease in Saudi Arabia, earned him an award from the American Public Health Association Genomics Forum and the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, a human rights group founded by Khashoggi, said Saudi Arabia was notably now arresting prominent voices that had “nothing to do with politics” because any independent voice was seen as a threat in the mind of “MBS”, as the crown prince is known. The disappearance of people like Alhajji, for no known reason, was one of the “terror” tactics used by the crown prince, she said.
“MBS also knows he’s free to do whatever he wants in the country because he is secure in his impunity, with the likes of Biden, Macron and Sunak falling over themselves to woo him for weapons purchases and happy to look the other way about anything else,” she said, referring to the US, French, and British leaders.
Alhajji was described by those who have followed his work as member of Saudi Arabia’s elite, who had formerly represented the MISK Foundation, a government organisation meant to encourage Saudi youth, which was founded by Mohammed bin Salman. He also appeared before a UN body in 2019 representing Saudi Arabia.
…
Social media companies have declined to comment on the disappearances and arrests of their most prominent users in the kingdom, including the decades-long sentences against two women – Noura al-Qahtani and Salma al-Shehab – for tweets and likes on Twitter that were deemed offensive.
Snapchat CEO and founder Evan Spiegel was in Saudi Arabia in December 2022. The company declined to comment on Alhajji’s arrest. It has more than 20 million users in the kingdom – including an estimated 90% of 13-to-34-year-olds.
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oggie: Mathomsays
Reginald Selkirk @29:
Absolutely not, since the charges in each case are very different. It’s not just different accusers making the same charges.
Yeah. That was humour.
I may have majored in history, but I do know at least some shit.
whheydt @31:
Blockquote>Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #29…
Unless he makes a diversity of locale claim (he lives in Florida, the charges are brought in Georgia) to move the proceedings to Federal court. IANAL so I’m not sure that would count as “federal charges” subject to a presidential pardon, but I’d bet there is a precedent somewhere about that situation.
My comment regarding a class action lawsuit really was humour.
Or maybe I really am stupid and it isn’t.
Sorry.
wzrd @33:
I fuckin apologize. It was attempted (and obviously failed) humour. Drop it.
wzrd1says
Oggie: Mathom @ 37, I realized it was humor, hence the tone of my response. :)
Reginald Selkirksays
@24
Wife just got a text from a lawyer she knows. Right-winger, Trumpist, and a lawyer. His text to her claimed that Willis cannot charge Trump as he never lived in Georgia…
Ask him if he is willing to bet his legal license on it.
birgerjohanssonsays
This game is inspired by Giger, Beksinski and Wayne Barlowe.
Methinks I have found the utopia the Republicans want to create…
I will consider that a ringing endorsement. We have all seen the quality of people whom T-rump picks.
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 39, not a very good lawyer or bar, if he isn’t aware of extradition.
There’s something about being a Trumpite that seems to delete the follower’s intellect entirely.
Oggie: Mathomsays
Regarding my @24:
He is a very good lawyer, highly respected by judges and magistrates in the area. His mass texts, like the one sent to Wife, are not actually related to his law practice, but rather to his activities with the local GOP.
An attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan was thwarted by Pakistan’s military, leaving two militants dead and the Chinese workers unharmed, police say.
Chakar Baloch, the police superintendent for the district of Gwadar, where the attack took place, told CNN that a clearance operation is underway after clashes between police and militants went on for two hours. Two security personnel were injured.
In a statement to CNN, the Baloch Liberation Army, a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack…
The German company Rheinmetall will hand over the Luna NG unmanned aerial reconnaissance system to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the end of 2023.
The Luna NG consists of a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks, the newspaper writes.
It is noted that NG stands for the “new generation” of the Luna drone, as other models of drones have already been delivered to Ukraine from the warehouses of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces.
The publication writes that Luna NG is a newly developed state-of-the-art UAV that surpasses previous models in all important operational characteristics. The drone can not only be used as a reconnaissance system but is also capable of providing an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network, intercepting or jamming communications.
The Rheinmetall group website reports that the ultra-light Luna NG provides a flight time of more than 12 hours and a data transmission range of more than 100 km…
@ #473 in the previous chapter of the thread I linked to a podcast in which Joe Cirincione is interviewed. They link to his series on “the science, history and politics of the beginning of the nuclear age.”
For the sun, this process has been continuing for about 4.5 billion years and will end some 5–6 billion years hence when most of the its atoms have been fused up the chain into carbon, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, and sulfur. Massive stars, many times the size of our sun, can synthesize atoms all the way to iron before collapsing in a supernova explosion whose shockwave forges trace amounts of the heavier elements up to and including uranium and scatters all these elements into the universe.
Every one of these atoms found on earth was created by this nuclear synthesis. The iron in our blood came from a supernova.
I found it very helpful. The Guardian had an article a few days ago – “Before Oppenheimer, there was Manhattan: this underrated drama is a must-see.” I really enjoyed the first season, didn’t love the second, wish there had been a third. In any case, I think I would have understood some of the storylines better had I read this series first.
A statement from his campaign clarified his position on Sunday. “Today, Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” the statement read. “Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion.”
StevoRsays
A team of Earth scientists at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science’s Grassland Research Institute, working with colleagues from several institutions in the U.S., has found evidence that the rise in photosynthesis rates around the world caused by the increase of carbon dioxide, has slowed dramatically. In their research, reported in the journal Science, the group measured changes in global photosynthesis rates over the past several decades.
… (Snip)… Prior research has shown that as levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose over the past century, plants have taken advantage of the increase in the gas by speeding up photosynthesis and have been taking more carbon out of the atmosphere. The net effect has been a brake on global warming. In this new effort, the research team found evidence that rising atmospheric CO2 has slowed the rate of increase in global photosynthesis because the atmosphere has also grown drier.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Seven people including a 23-day-old baby girl were killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Sunday, the country’s internal affairs ministry said.
Artillery shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnipro River, killed a family – a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy and the 23-day-old girl – and another resident.
Two men were killed in the neighbouring village of Stanislav, where a woman was also wounded….
A Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea on Sunday as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.
In July, Russia halted participation in the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Moscow said that it deemed all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons.
On Sunday, Russia said its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection.
Russia said the vessel was making its way toward the Ukrainian port of Izmail. Refinitiv shipping data showed that the ship was currently near the coast of Bulgaria and heading toward the Romanian port of Sulina.
“To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons,” the Russian defence ministry said.
The Russian military boarded the vessel with the help of a Ka-29 helicopter, the ministry said. “After the inspection group completed its work onboard, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail.”
A Turkish defence ministry official said he had heard an incident had taken place involving a ship heading for Romania, and that Ankara was looking into it. Reuters could not immediately reach the vessel or its owners for comment.
A senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the incident was a “clear violation of international law of the sea, an act of piracy and a crime against civilian vessels of a third country in the waters of other states.”
The adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted that “Ukraine will draw all the necessary conclusions and choose the best possible response”.
Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured a clutch of territory around the war-battered eastern town of Bakhmut last week, wresting back land taken by Russian forces this summer.
Here’s the AFP news agency’s report:
Kyiv launched a highly-anticipated counter-offensive in June after building up assault battalions and stockpiling Western-donated weapons but has acknowledged slow progress.
“In the Bakhmut sector, three square kilometres (1.2 square miles) were liberated last week,” deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar told state television.
“In total, 40 square kilometres have been liberated on the southern flank of the Bakhmut sector,” she added.
Russian forces, spearheaded by the Wagner mercenary group, captured the town of some 70,000 in May after months of fierce fighting.
Ukrainian forces have also been pressing against deeply entrenched Russian forces in the south of the country, in two regions the Kremlin said it had annexed last year.
Malyar said Ukrainian forces had been pushing towards the captured towns of Melitopol and Berdyansk, adding that “hostilities are continuing in Urozhaine”, a settlement on the southern front in the Donetsk region.
“We have certain successes there. Our forces also had certain successes on the south of Staromayorsk,” the deputy defence minister said, referring to another nearby town.
Malyar also confirmed that Ukrainian troops had conducted “certain tasks” on the left bank of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.
The river was rendered the de facto front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region after Kyiv recaptured the territory’s main city, also called Kherson, in November.
“We cannot reveal the details but we completed these tasks. In order to entrench there, it is necessary to dislodge the enemy and clear the territory,” Malyar said.
A Russian attack force just outside Andriivka (south of Bakhmut) failed to take the town. 3 of Russia’s most “modern” T-90M, one MT-LB and a fifth vehicle (possible a BMP) have been knocked out.
The far-right populist Javier Milei rocked Argentina’s political establishment on Sunday by emerging as the leader in primary elections to choose presidential candidates for the October general election.
Milei, an admirer of the former US president Donald Trump, says Argentina’s central bank should be abolished, thinks the climate crisis is a lie, characterises sex education as a ploy to destroy the family, believes the sale of human organs should be legal and wants to make it easier to own handguns.
Votes were still being counted late on Sunday but analysts agreed that the upstart candidate, who gained notoriety – and a rockstar-like following – by angrily ranting against the “political caste”, did much better than expected and is a real contender for the presidency.
With about 92% of polling locations reporting, Milei had about 30% of the total vote, according to official results. The candidates in the main opposition coalition, United for Change, were at 28% and the current governing coalition, Union for the Homeland, had 27%.
Celebrating in his election headquarters, Milei vowed to bring “an end to the parasitic, corrupt and useless political caste that exists in this country”.
“Today we took the first step toward the reconstruction of Argentina,” he said. “A different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always.”
Before the election, analysts had warned that a better than expected showing for Milei, 52, would likely upset financial markets and lead to a sharp plunge in the value of Argentina’s peso, amid uncertainty about what economic policies he could implement if he became president.
Though Sunday’s voting was officially to pick candidates for various political blocs, it was also viewed as a nationwide poll on where candidates stand with Argentines before the October election.
Milei, who has been a lawmaker in the lower house of Argentina’s Congress since 2021 [not a total outsider, then], did not have a competitor in the presidential primary of his Liberty Advances party.
The initial results suggested Argentina has become the latest country in the region where voters are looking to an outsider candidate as a way of expressing anger against traditional politicians….
David McCormick had a clear explanation for why his fellow Republican, Dr. Mehmet Oz, lost a critical Pennsylvania Senate seat: Voters viewed the daytime television celebrity as an interloper from New Jersey with limited ties to the state he hoped to represent.
“People want to know that the person that they’re voting for ‘gets it,’” McCormick, who narrowly lost to Oz in a GOP primary, said in March when asked to offer a postmortem of the general election defeat. “And part of ‘getting it’ is understanding that you just didn’t come in yesterday.”
As Republicans aim to gain the one seat they need to retake the Senate in next year’s elections, McCormick is a top recruit. And before his anticipated campaign, he’s working to avoid Oz’s fate, frequently noting his upbringing in Pennsylvania, his ownership of a home in Pittsburgh and a family farm near Bloomsburg.
“I live in Pennsylvania,” McCormick said during a March appearance on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast.
But the reality is more complex. While McCormick does own a home in Pittsburgh, a review of public records, real estate listings and footage from recent interviews indicates he still lives on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast,” one of the densest concentrations of wealth in America. The former hedge fund CEO rents a $16 million mansion in Westport that features a 1,500-bottle wine cellar, an elevator and a “private waterfront resort” overlooking Long Island Sound…
The ruble hit a 17-month low against the dollar Monday, highlighting the growing squeeze on Russia’s economy from Western sanctions and a slump in export revenues.
The Russian currency has lost nearly 40% of its value this year, weakening past 100 rubles to the dollar, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine takes a heavy toll….
New footage from the 3rd separate assault brigade.
“The assault units cleared the front dugouts of the Russians. And for further advancement, tankers worked on the positions of the occupiers. The enemy fired from tank guns with small arms. But this did not prevent our unit from successfully eliminating them and continuing the advance.”
James Gunn’s DC Studios feature from director Angel Manuel Soto debuts its new era’s first superhero…
Critics and pop culture commentators are raving about the film, which blasts into theaters on August 18. ..
@3 Lynna, OM provided a link back. Thanks, Lynna.
I’ve been reading about this. the family has been running the paper for decades. It’s a small town in Kansas and the entire 5-main police force ransacked the paper’s office and terrorized the 98yr old co-owner so much she died. Police culture is getting more and more out of hand: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/sonali-kolhatkar/107305/the-rise-of-private-cops-how-not-to-tackle-homelessness by Sonali Kolhatkar | August 14, 2023
the guard was not responding with compassion. Seconds earlier, the tall and very muscular man sporting a flak jacket emblazoned with the word “security,” had walked right by me toward the unhoused man and savagely knocked him to the ground without provocation or warning. Blood streamed from the victim’s face and onto the sidewalk. He stood up as the guard hovered over him and stumbled toward the damaged glasses that had fallen off his face during the assault. The guard, who was twice the man’s size, picked up and offered him the hat that had also fallen off his head and ushered him away.
And, homelessness will continue to rise rapidly as inequality and greedflation driven housing prices soar.
Yes, we are re-entering the Dark Ages
Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown created a political action committee to “help elect Republicans” but most of its funds were spent paying down debt from his failed previous campaign. The group donated less than 7% of its funds to the candidates it was set up to support, according to campaign finance records – a move one campaign finance expert likened to using the PAC as a “slush fund.”
Brown formed the Duty First PAC in July 2022, saying the organization would help Republicans take back Congress. A month earlier, Brown lost the Republican Senate primary to Adam Laxalt after raising an impressive $4.4 million for his upstart campaign, but his campaign was left with more than $300,000 in debt.
Now Brown is running again in Nevada as a top recruit of Senate Republicans.
A former Army captain, Brown made lofty promises when launching his PAC, Duty First.
“With your support, we will: Defeat the socialist Democrats. Help elect Republicans who believe in accountability to the Constitution and service to the people. Stand with the #DutyFirst movement, chip in with a grassroots contribution today,” he said in a tweet announcing the PAC.
“We’ll ensure that the socialist agenda of the Democrats does not win in November, and the Republicans continue to be held accountable to defending our Constitution and defending our conservative principles. The country’s counting on us,” Brown said in an accompanying video for the PAC’s launch in July 2022.
Since then, the PAC raised a small amount – just $91,500 – and used the majority of their money – $55,000 – to repay debt from Brown’s failed campaign for Senate, which Brown had transferred over. Campaign finance experts told CNN this falls into a legal gray area. […]
Reginald @45 and SC @48, there’s a transcript of what Kennedy actually said. He can’t really walk that back.
Sunday morning, Kennedy was much more specific, telling NBC: “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.” Pressed on whether that meant signing a federal ban at 15 or 21 weeks, he said yes.
“Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child,” he continued, adding “I’m for medical freedom. Individuals are able to make their own choices.”
[…] A leading conservative anti-abortion group, Susan B. Anthony List, praised Kennedy’s position in a statement, calling it “a stark contrast to the Democratic Party’s radical stance of abortion on demand. … Kennedy is one of the few prominent Democrats aligned with the consensus of the people today. Every candidate should be asked, ‘Where do you draw the line?’”
In the interview, Kennedy defended running as a Democrat, despite espousing multiple typically conservative talking points during the 15-minute appearance. […]
ATLANTA — If Donald Trump is indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, it will not be the first time the former president will answer to criminal charges in a courtroom. But this time, the entire process will likely play out on live television.
Unlike federal or Manhattan courts, where the former president appeared for his three previous arraignments, Georgia law requires that cameras be allowed into judicial proceedings with a judge’s approval.
In 2018, the Georgia Supreme Court, in an order amending the law to include smartphones, underscored the importance of transparency: “Open courtrooms are an indispensable element of an effective and respected judicial system.
“It is the policy of Georgia’s courts to promote access to and understanding of court proceedings not only by the participants in them but also by the general public and by news media who will report on the proceedings to the public.”
And unlike in New York, where Trump told the world he had been indicted but the public had to wait days until the document was unsealed, Georgia requires that indictments be made public immediately.
The presiding judge has the final say on camera access. Media organizations are required to file a formal request, known as a Rule 22, for the judge’s consideration. The filing is often considered more of a formality, as the requests are almost always granted.
This means that if the former president is indicted and required to travel to Atlanta for an in-person arraignment, the world would likely see him on camera for the first time as a defendant, standing before a judge and entering a plea. Up until now, there have been only a handful of photos allowed in the New York City courtroom before his arraignments. And there has been no video of Trump — or his lawyers — uttering the words “not guilty.”
It also means a potential criminal trial could be televised in its entirety.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has spent more than two years investigating whether Trump and his allies broke the law in Georgia in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. As that process unfolded in Fulton County Superior Court, it also played out in front of television cameras.
Cameras captured the seating of the special grand jury impaneled to investigate election interference. Earlier this year, Judge Robert McBurney also allowed cameras inside a contentious hearing to determine if the Special Purpose Grand Jury’s report would be released to the public.
And last month, cameras were present for the seating of the grand jury that will hear Willis’ case against Trump and his associates, likely next week.
McBurney, who has overseen most of the proceedings related to Willis’ investigation into election interference, is particularly media savvy. Many of his hearings, including those regarding the Trump investigation, have been live-streamed on his YouTube channel.
Under Georgia law, judges can weigh several factors when deciding whether to allow cameras, including the consent of the parties involved, concerns over safety of those participating in proceedings and the impact on due process.
Millions of Americans had their sensitive medical and health information stolen after hackers exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in the widely used MOVEit file transfer software raided systems operated by tech giant IBM.
Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), which is responsible for administering Colorado’s Medicaid program, confirmed on Friday that it had fallen victim to the MOVEit mass-hacks, exposing the data of more than four million patients.
In a data breach notification to those affected, Colorado’s HCPF said that the data was compromised because IBM, one of the state’s vendors, “uses the MOVEit application to move HCPF data files in the normal course of business.”
The letter states that while no HCPF or Colorado state government systems were affected by this issue, “certain HCPF files on the MOVEit application used by IBM were accessed by the unauthorized actor.”
These files include patients’ full names, dates of birth, home addresses, Social Security numbers, Medicaid and Medicare ID numbers, income information, clinical and medical data including lab results and medication, and health insurance information…
[Trump] has done exactly that more than once, making racist comments about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in 2016, and more recently, slamming U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and Judge Arthur Engoron in New York.
In those earlier instances, however, the Republican had civil matters before the jurists. Conditions are far different for the former president now that he’s under indictment. As Politico reported this morning:
Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his newest criminal case early Monday, testing her three-day-old warning that he refrain from “inflammatory” attacks against those involved in his case.
The first sign of trouble came about a week ago, when the former president used his social media platform to argue, “THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE ‘ASSIGNED.’” He never got around to saying why he had a problem with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, but by all appearances, he was trying to score political points, not make an argument based on merit.
Earlier this morning, however, Trump’s offensive intensified, pointing to Chutkan’s comments during the sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter. The judge’s comments were hardly outlandish — they were, in fact, accurate and fair — but the Republican nevertheless told the public that Chutkan is “VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!”
A day earlier, Trump also promoted a related message from someone who insisted that Chutkan “openly admitted she’s running election interference against Trump.” In reality, the judge said no such thing, and the person making the claim — a Republican named Mike Davis — used to work for a Republican senator who voted to confirm Chutkan to the federal bench.
At face value, it’s obviously difficult to defend Trump trying to smear a judge who’s done nothing wrong, but in this instance, that’s only a small part of a larger problem.
Unlike the earlier civil cases in which Trump lashed out at judges, the former president is now a suspected felon facing federal criminal charges. With this in mind, it was just last week when Chutkan provided defense counsel with some rather important instructions. From the aforementioned Politico report:
During a hearing Friday, Chutkan — appointed to the bench in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama after a unanimous confirmation in the Senate — repeatedly emphasized she would not consider politics in her courtroom during Trump’s proceedings. And she warned Trump, who has a history of publicly assailing judges, prosecutors and those arrayed against him as witnesses, that his inflammatory remarks could force her to speed up his criminal trial.
[…] perhaps the indicted former president is trying to test the limits of what he can get away with.
Whatever his motivation, it would appear Trump has set up a collision course with the judge overseeing one of his most important criminal cases. Watch this space.
Trump stepped up his broadsides against the investigation into election interference in Georgia today, calling the district attorney “phoney” and the grounds for the investigation “ridiculous.” “WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THE FULTON COUNTY GRAND JURY THAT I DID NOT TAMPER WITH THE ELECTION,” he wrote on Truth Social. “THE PEOPLE THAT TAMPERED WITH IT WERE THE ONES THAT RIGGED IT.”
[Trump] has done exactly that more than once, making racist comments about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in 2016, and more recently, slamming U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and Judge Arthur Engoron in New York.
He does it constantly, targeting anyone involved in his trials who doesn’t act as he wishes – judges, prosecutors, investigators, jurors,… And he just recycles the same stupid accusations and insults. People were fretting the other day about Trump calling someone – Jack Smith, IIRC – a “sick puppy.” But a quick google search shows him using this same tired phrase multiple times over the years. People he’s called a “sick puppy” include Kim Jong Un; Nancy Pelosi; Alec Baldwin; John Bolton; the mass murderer in Thousand Oaks, CA; and his staff secretary Rob Porter. You would think his followers would tire of being whipped up against someone new every few days with the same rote MadLib attacks, but they never seem to.
wzrd1says
RE: Wikipedia article on Rebecca Bradley (justice) and edit warring story, don’t see any apparent edit warring going on, but there is exceptionally heavy editing activity on her Wikipedia article. Given the press, I’ve posted a notice of unusual activity on the Wikipedia admin notice board, referencing the news article, allegations in the talk page as well and both editing one’s own page and general press notice meriting a suggested semi-protected status, as the volume of IP only editors has increased. I also suggested that an admin take a closer look at the activity.
Normally, I’d take a more in depth look and report, but I just got in from the store and both need to cool down and rest my flaming back.
Rather than risking edit warring begin and literally crash Wikipedia, which actually has happened in the past.
@ 66, Trump ignoring orders as usual, which again proves he’s no comprehension of the first rule of being in court: DON’T PISS OFF THE JUDGE!
Alas, it’s SSDD. Maybe if someone actually gave him reason to regret his misbehavior, he’d stop. Or at least pay heavily and enjoy the stay inside the house of many doors.
The US on Monday said it will send Ukraine new security assistance valued at $200m.
The aid includes air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities, and additional mine-clearing equipment, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said in a statement.
Twenty-two Russian diplomats flew out of the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Monday, leaving behind a skeleton staff as relations between the two countries deteriorated after Moldova last month ordered Moscow withdraw most of its delegation.
Moldovan officials have said the reduction of staff at the Russian embassy to 25 from 80 will establish parity with Moldova’s embassy in Moscow.
Moldovan media outlets published a video of two buses being escorted out of the Russian embassy by police and driving in the direction of the airport….
Ukraine’s city of Odesa was hit by two waves of attacks overnight: a total of 15 drones, and 8 Kalibr missiles, according to the governor of the local region. The governor of the region on the Black Sea said falling rocket fragment had resulted in fires breaking out. “Windows in buildings were blown out by the blast wave,” Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops at brigade headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian frontline region of Donetsk on Monday, his website said. According to the site, Zelenskiy visited brigades involved in attacks on the section of the frontline facing Soledar, the Russian-held town north of Bakhmut, Reuters reports.
The rouble has fallen to its weakest point in almost 17 months as a collapse in export revenues and growing military spending increase pressure on Russia’s economy. The currency, which has been steadily losing value in a long fall since the beginning of the year, slid past the psychologically important level of 100 to the dollar on Monday morning.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised justice after Russian shelling killed seven people – including a 22-day-old infant – and wounded at least 22 others Kherson on Sunday. Local officials in the southern region, which Kyiv liberated part of last year, have declared a day of mourning for Monday.
…
Christian Lindner, German’s finance minister, said his country stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine, as he arrived in Kyiv for his first visit since the start of the war. Lindner said he would hold “very concrete” talks with Ukrainian officials on how the German finance ministry can support Ukraine now and in the future, AFP reports….
Re # 68, to be clear, I didn’t mean to minimize the danger or legal significance of Trump’s attacks. I just can’t believe his followers have gone eight years watching new enemies declared regularly using the same insults and epithets and they never seem to get bored with it or to question how all of these people – including those Trump hired or appointed or worked with for years, those he previously praised, and judges and jurors randomly assigned to his cases – somehow suddenly fit the same evil mold.
Donald Trump publicly insisted on Monday that a key witness in Georgia’s grand jury probe shouldn’t testify this week as ordered—a brazen ask that one legal expert described as “witness tampering in real time.”
Georgia’s former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, was the witness at the center of the early morning tirade from Trump, who has been raging for weeks as the Fulton County grand jury is seemingly inching closer to filing criminal charges against him over alleged efforts to meddle in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
While singling Duncan out on Monday, Trump misspelled his first name.
“I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “He shouldn’t.”
Scores of legal experts were shocked by the brazen post.
“This morning’s first attempt at witness intimidation,” attorney George Conway, a frequent Trump critic whose ex-wife Kellyanne worked in the Trump administration, posted to Twitter.
Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade posted a similar sentiment, writing that Trump’s morning rant was “witness tampering in real time.”
Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, similarly called the post “blatantly unlawful stuff” that could warrant a charge of influencing witnesses.
“This is exceptionally bad even for Donald Trump,” he said.
[…]
Just prior to calling Duncan out by name, Trump spent Monday morning ranting in all-caps about his latest legal woes—insisting he’s being framed to cover up an illegitimate election, despite having no evidence to support that.
“I understand through illegal leaks to the fake news media that phoney (sic) Fani Willis, the D.A. of Fulton County, Georgia, wants desperately to indict me on the ridiculous grounds of tampering with the 2020 presidential election,” Trump wrote. “No, I didn’t tamper with the election! Those who rigged & stole the election were the ones doing the tampering, & they are the slime that should be prosecuted.”
Trump has repeatedly launched nasty online attacks on Willis, who is Black, baselessly suggesting that she’s “racist” and had an “affair” with a “gang member.”
D.C. lawyer Bradley P. Moss described Trump’s rambling post about Duncan as “taunting,” adding that he’s “just begging for trouble from whatever judge gets assigned that case if, as expected, Willis indicts him tomorrow.”
[…] Can Trump bow out of the race, admit to some offenses and get off with a comparatively light global sentence? What would justify that?
My reason for writing this post today is that I think this way of looking at the question gets the calculus wrong. The news David covers today, of Trump spending the weekend attacking DC district Judge Tanya Chutkan, explains why. This entire range of cases Trump faces, indeed Trump’s whole decade-long smash and grab run through American public life, is about one thing: who is bigger? The American republic, the state, or Donald Trump?
I was talking with David this morning about just what the rules are for publicly attacking your judge during your trial. But the details are beside the point. Trump is trying to make this, as he does in every part of his life, a battle over who is dominating who, who’s calling the shots. Trump or Judge Chutkan? To the extent there’s a legal strategy behind it, it is to turn the trial into a grudge match so that Trump’s lawyers can go to the DC circuit on appeal and say, “Look. This got personal between my client and the judge. She couldn’t see past the fight. So the whole process is tainted.”
As I noted, the real issue here is, who’s dominating who? Not just Trump vs. Judge Chutkan but Trump vs the American republic. And that gets us to our question of punishment. What is far more important than specific punishments is an accounting: Trump admitting he lost the 2020 election, that he knew he lost and tried to reverse the result and that he was wrong to do so (add here a comparable accounting for the MAL docs case and the other crimes). He has to admit that the outcomes of elections are also final and that he has to respect those results like everyone else. It would have to be the kind of detailed and specific accounting that he couldn’t easily say a few days later he’d only made under duress. In so many words, Trump has to come clean and admit that the law is the law and he has to follow it like everyone else.
If I were a prosecutor in charge of crafting a plea or a judge tasked with accepting one, I would be willing to set aside a lot of punishment to get that. I’m not saying he should get away scot free. I’m describing the relative importance of both things.
Needless to say, it is almost unimaginable that Trump would ever do anything like that. So, short of that, the law should simply take its course. That’s the other way the republic demonstrates who is in charge. Personally, I don’t really care about Donald Trump the person one way or another. I’m not invested in him serving some number of years behind bars if convicted and I wouldn’t lose any sleep over him spending the rest of his life in federal prison. The republic is important; Trump’s not. That’s the whole story from start to finish.
wzrd1says
Well, it’s official, the Wikipedia Rebecca Bradley (justice) article just went protected, conflict of interest RfC is escalated and BLP policy violations are entered and escalated.
I’m glad to see that I remain far from alone in an intense dislike of things like this turning into a goat rope.
Having had something like this happen before, I suspect final action will be keeping the page protected, logs hidden for a cooling off period and a certain jurist getting a Wiki pee-pee smack. Given the edit warring was months ago, further action beyond a possible brief suspension is unlikely and unwarranted.
Laughably, one IP from the UK kept trying to add her being a “Russian agent” and all other manner of Red Scare bullshit into the article, their IP now having some difficulties in editing Wikipedia. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
For the record, I’m only an editor on Wikipedia. But, my logs also reflect that I don’t edit war and have rarely raised such issues with admins, save when things were going to get labor intensive.
It was a multibillion-dollar strike, so stealthy and precise that the only visible sign was a notice that suddenly vanished from a government website.
In August 2017, a federal agency with sweeping powers over the health care industry posted a notice informing insurance companies that they weren’t allowed to charge physicians a fee when the companies paid the doctors for their work. Six months later, that statement disappeared without explanation.
The vanishing notice was the result of a behind-the-scenes campaign by the insurance industry and its middlemen that has largely escaped public notice — but that has had massive financial consequences that have rippled through the health care universe. The insurers’ invisible victory has tightened the financial vise on doctors and hospitals, nurtured a thriving industry of middlemen and allowed health insurers to do something no other industry does: Take one last cut even as it pays its bills.
Insurers now routinely require doctors to kick back as much as 5% if they want to be paid electronically. Even when physicians ask to be paid by check, doctors say, insurers often resume the electronic payments — and the fees — against their wishes. Despite protests from doctors and hospitals, the insurers and their middlemen refuse to back down.
There are plenty of reasons doctors are furious with the insurance industry. Insurers have slashed their reimbursement rates, cost them patients by excluding them from their provider networks, and forced them to spend extra time seeking pre-authorizations for ever more procedures and battling denials of coverage.
Paying fees to get paid is the final blow for some. “All these additional fees are the reason why you see small practices folding up on a regular basis, or at least contributing to it,” said Dr. Terence Gray, an anesthesiologist in Scarborough, Maine. Some medical clinics told ProPublica they are seeking ways to raise their rates in response to the fees, which would pass the costs on to patients.
[…] Almost 60% of medical practices said they were compelled to pay fees for electronic payment at least some of the time, according to a 2021 survey. And the frequency has increased since then, according to medical clinics. With more than $2 trillion in medical claims being paid electronically each year, these fees likely add up to billions of dollars annually.
[…] “I have to pay $1.8M in expenses that I could use on PPE for our employees, or setting up testing sites, or providing charity care, or covering other community benefits.” Most clinics are smaller, and they estimated annual losses of $100,000 or less. Even that figure is more than enough to cover the salary of a registered nurse.
The shift from paper to electronic processing, which began in the early 2000s and accelerated after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, was intended to increase efficiency and save money. The story of how a cost-saving initiative ended up benefiting private insurers reveals a lot about what ails the U.S. medical system and why Americans pay more for health care than people in other developed countries. In this case, it took less than a decade for a new industry of middlemen, owned by private equity funds and giant conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group, to cash in.
How these players managed to create this lucrative niche has never previously been reported. And the story is coming to light in part because one doctor, initially incensed by the fees, and then baffled by CMS’ unexplained zigzags, decided to try to figure out what was going on. Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, a urologist who runs his own clinic in New York City, made it his mission to take on both the insurers and the federal bureaucracy. He began filing voluminous public records requests with CMS.
[…] The records showed, again and again, federal officials deferring not only to a single company, but to a single executive.
Over the past five years, CMS adopted that company’s positions on fees. Shteynshlyuger discovered that, when it comes to the issue he cares about, the most powerful decision-maker wasn’t a CMS official. It was the chief lobbyist for a middleman company called Zelis. And that man just happened to be a former CMS staffer who had authored a key federal rule on electronic payments.
For Shteynshlyuger, the intersection of medicine and money has a particular resonance. He was born in the Soviet Union, in what is now Ukraine, and his brother nearly died of pneumonia as an infant because doctors refused to administer an antibiotic. The doctors wanted his family to pay a “bribe,” according to Shteynshlyuger. His grandmother ended up finding a different doctor to pay off and his brother got the medicine. […]
Today, Shteynshlyuger sees the fees for electronic payment through a similar lens. […] He studied biology and economics in college and is capable of both rage at perceived unfairness and dispassionate observations about health policy. The unjust fees, as he sees them, threaten his medical practice, which he designed to serve middle-class patients. He prices his services at a discount. “Low cost is what keeps me in the business,” he said.
[…] Shteynshlyuger and other doctors say payment processors routinely sign them up for high-fee payment methods without their consent. A brochure for one payment company, Change Healthcare, boasted of automatically enrolling 100,000 doctors and hospitals in a plan to receive virtual credit cards and sharing some $8 million a year in revenues with the large insurer it was working for.
[…] Shteynshlyuger started filing complaints with CMS. The responses he received struck him as curious. CMS itself usually didn’t offer an opinion. Instead, it forwarded letters from a Zelis executive named Matthew Albright, who answered Shteynshlyuger’s complaints on at least five occasions. (The agency said this passive approach is part of its “informal” complaint resolution process.)
When Shteynshlyuger pressed a CMS official to articulate the agency’s position after it passed along Albright’s answer, the official wrote that the agency receives the “identical legal response” from Zelis to all such complaints. She added: “They believe that, according to their interpretation of the regulation, they are compliant.”
Shteynshlyuger was flummoxed. Who was Matthew Albright? A quick Google search revealed that Albright had once worked for CMS. That only piqued Shteynshlyuger’s interest. Had Albright been involved in the removal of the CMS notice prohibiting fees?
[…] At CMS, Albright drafted a rule, published in 2012, that laid out standards for paying doctors via electronic funds transfers. The Affordable Care Act required all insurers to offer EFTs and encouraged doctors to accept them, and electronic payments quickly became the go-to method for handling medical claims. A CMS analysis predicted that eliminating the labor of manually processing paper checks and receipts would lead to savings of $3 billion to $4.5 billion over 10 years.
[…] The shift to electronic funds transfers facilitated the growth of an industry of payment processors. It also made Albright’s skill set very valuable. In 2014, he was recruited to the industry he previously regulated. Two years later, he landed at Zelis. The company had just been created via a merger of four businesses owned by Parthenon Capital, a private equity firm. Zelis is now co-owned by private equity giant Bain Capital and headed by a former Bain partner.
[…] The tone of the conversations between Albright and CMS could be downright chummy. “Should we respond to it as per usual?” Albright asked in another July 2019 email about a new complaint filed by a doctor in Washington state. “Send the Zelis response for documentation purposes,” Wheeler responded in between banter that she and Albright exchanged about Chicago’s winter weather (bad) and architecture (great).
[…] What Shteynshlyuger didn’t know was that, less than two years earlier, a lobbying campaign had begun behind the scenes at CMS. The documents that he eventually obtained would provide a rare, nearly day-by-day glimpse into how one lobbyist — Albright — managed to bend the agency to his will with an artful combination of cajoling, argument and legal threats.
[…] in January 2018, Zelis brought in the lawyers. A firm called Nixon Peabody wrote to CMS, demanding that the agency “withdraw or correct the offending language” in its notice. Nixon Peabody argued that the fee prohibition wasn’t a restatement of existing rules but that it amounted to a new rule that should have been issued via the formal rulemaking process. Nixon Peabody threatened to sue if CMS didn’t comply with Zelis’ demand. […]
The legal threat set off a scramble within CMS. “Let’s just take it down,” Gerhardt wrote in a Feb. 9, 2018, email to colleagues. Her division not only removed the notice saying that fees were prohibited but also went so far as to institute a moratorium on any new notices. CMS was essentially depriving all medical providers of guidance on these issues because one company had complained.
[…] The American Medical Association and over 90 other physician groups have urged the Biden administration to reinstate guidance protecting doctors’ right to receive EFTs without fees. For its part, the massive Veterans Health Administration system has been refusing to pay the fees, which it has described as illegal in letters to Zelis and insurers.
So far the protests have had no visible effect. In fact, when CMS finally issued a new explainer that addressed fees in July 2022, more than four years after erasing the previous one, the agency made explicit what had previously been implicit: EFT fees are allowed.
[…] In mid-December, Shteynshlyuger finally got the long-awaited replies to eight other complaints he had filed over the years. CMS dismissed all eight because Shteynshlyuger didn’t file them against insurers but instead against companies like Zelis, which CMS referred to as “business associates” of the insurers. CMS said it now believes its oversight extends only to insurers, not to their business associates. The phrasing may have been bureaucratic, but the news was dramatic: CMS had fully surrendered, giving up on regulating payment processors entirely.
A Montana state court today sided with young people who sued the state for promoting the fossil fuel industry through its energy policy, which they alleged prohibits Montana from weighing greenhouse gas emissions in approving the development of new factories and power plants. This prohibition, 16 plaintiffs ages 5 to 22 successfully argued, violates their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.”
Experts previously predicted that a win for youths in Montana would set an important legal precedent for how courts can hold states accountable for climate inaction. The same legal organization representing Montana’s young plaintiffs, Our Children’s Trust, is currently pursuing similar cases in four other states, The Washington Post reported…
In Episode 186 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines the coup d’etat in Niger, which now threatens to plunge West Africa into regional war—with potential for escalation involving the Great Powers. Lines are drawn, with the Western-backed ECOWAS demanding the junta cede power, and Russian-backed Mali and Burkina Faso backing the junta up. Pro-junta demonstrators in Niger’s capital, Niamey, wave the Russian flag—probably to express displeasure at US and French neo-colonialism. The Wagner Group, which already has troops in Mali and Burkina Faso, has expressed its support for the junta, and offered fighters to help stabilize the regime. Elements of the tankie pseudo-left in the West are similarly rallying around the junta. Amid this, leaders of the Tuareg resistance in Niger have returned to arms to resist the new regime, and the country’s mine workers union is also demanding a return to democratic rule.
Stay for his a cappella rendition of and commentary on Alpha Blondy’s “Super powers.” :)
Where private equity investors make acquisitions, bankruptcies tend to follow. […] Now, private equity investors appear to have found a new target: oil and gas companies operating on public land in the Western US.
A new report from Public Citizen […] reveals the industry’s interest in oil and gas extracted from public land in the West (the Private Equity Stakeholder Project co-authored the report). Companies backed by private equity have taken in 78 percent of all federal drilling permits approved in Colorado since 2017, and 50 percent of those in Utah. In total, according to the report, private-equity-backed companies hold approximately $380 million in unplugged oil and gas wells in four Western oil states: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
In general, private equity refers to investors, such as hedge funds or venture capital outfits, that borrow large amounts of money to acquire struggling companies. The newly acquired company is then saddled with that accumulated debt. Meanwhile, the private equity firm tends to repay itself and its investors using fees, shareholder payments, and debt restructuring. These tactics often mean big returns for the private equity fund’s investors.
But since private equity tends to focus on declining industries, this profit-squeezing model can result in the acquired companies going bankrupt. The Public Citizen study noted that private equity firms chew through companies quickly, holding them for an average of five years. And when oil companies go bankrupt, orphaned wells can be left behind to leak methane into the atmosphere, while the costs of plugging them ultimately falls on the public.
[…] it really starts this chain of selling these companies to more and more potentially irresponsible actors.”
[…] When the pandemic caused energy prices to tank in 2020, nearly 60 percent of the oil companies that declared bankruptcy had private equity backing […]
[…] there’s a documented trend in the past several years of large, publicly traded oil and gas companies offloading their less-desirable assets to private companies with fewer financial resources to pay for cleanup […] In the past two years, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project has found that private equity firms spent $25 billion acquiring oil and gas assets from public markets and taking them private.
Some of private equity’s biggest players are getting into the oil and gas game—among them Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management and KKR—with a noticeable focus on companies in the Western US.
[…] The report also details how private equity firms have joined the oil and gas industry cycle of passing along rather than plugging under-performing wells.
[…] This is a persistent problem within the industry. Rather than plug their low-performing assets, companies often sell them to less financially solvent operators. Existing regulatory regimes, meanwhile, are unable to force companies to put forward the true cost of cleanup. This is a particular problem on federal public land. A 2019 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 99 percent of federal oil and gas leases have financial assurance bonds that would be unable to pay for the full cost of cleanup.
In July, the Biden administration proposed substantial increases to the bonds for federal oil and gas operators. But for now, private equity-backed drillers continue to operate on public land with only a fraction of the full cost of cleanup set aside. […]
A list of criminal charges in Georgia against former President Donald Trump briefly appeared Monday on a Fulton County website, but prosecutors said Trump had not been indicted in a long-running investigation of the 2020 presidential election.
A Fulton County grand jury began hearing from witnesses Monday. Shortly after 12 p.m., Reuters reported on a list of several criminal charges to be brought against Trump, including state racketeering counts, conspiracy to commit false statements, and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
Reuters, which later published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly afterward. A spokesperson for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the report of charges being filed was “inaccurate,” but declined to comment further…
Shortly after the defeat of Ohio Issue 1, redistricting reform advocates took the first step toward a ballot measure that would strip politicians of their mapmaking powers.
The proposed consitutional amendment, submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for an initial language review Monday, would scrap the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a seven-member body created to draw districts for the Ohio House and Senate, and wrest mapmaking from Ohio lawmakers on the congressional map.
Instead, a 15-member commission of Democrats, Republicans and independents from across the state would draw the lines.
Under the proposal, current and former politicians, political party officials, lobbyists and certain large political donors would be barred from serving on the new “Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission.” The commission would be prohibited from drawing districts that favor one party or politician over the others.
Backers, who are calling themselves “Citizens Not Politicians,” hope to make the November 2024 ballot along with races for president and U.S. Senate…
Last week, Massachusetts became the eighth state to offer students universal school lunch. Like so many other progressive ideas, universal free lunch is an overwhelmingly popular program, with 74 percent of voters saying they wanted to keep the early COVID-era provision around forever.
But how is the mystery meat being made? Well, in Massachusetts, the money is coming out of a four percent tax on millionaires that passed in the state last year and has so far brought the state over a billion dollars in revenue.
Universal free lunches are not the only thing the tax is funding. About half of the revenue is expected to go to infrastructure and transportation, while the other half is going to education, finding initiatives like this and like allowing undocumented immigrants who went to high school in the state to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges.
Here’s why this is smart — people making over a million a year are not going to feel much of a twinge from the missing four percent. […] What they will notice is that the roads are less congested, that school is maybe more pleasant for their kids and they will appreciate that they have one less thing on their plate to have to consciously think about.
It may not be a major cost to the wealthy to pay for their children’s lunches, but everyone likes not having to worry that in their rush to get everything done, they forgot something important. […]
The Biden administration has sought to do something similar, with the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act, introduced in March of last year. Under the act, those making over $100 million a year would pay a minimum 20 percent income tax on the full-range of their income, including on unrealized capital gains, which are not currently taxed at all. Those who already pay 20 percent on all of their income would not be affected, while those who do not pay that much due to so much of their wealth coming from unrealized capital gains on their stocks, bonds and other investments, will have to make up the difference.
This would mean that billionaires would have to pay taxes every year the way the rest of us schmucks do, instead of just sitting on their earnings for years, decades and possibly generations.
Various other billionaire taxes have been proposed by other Democrats, Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren in particular. Where the Massachusetts law gets it really right, however, is by offering voters tangible things that affect their everyday lives. While paying down the deficit is a noble idea, it’s not necessarily something that people can look at every day and go “Boy, this is really making things better in my actual life!”
People want nice things and less stress in their lives. Programs that have minimal sting and a lot of positive impact are what will build loyalty and trust with voters, and a tiny tax on millionaires funding universal school lunch and cutting down on traffic congestion (a big deal in Boston) is a great way to do that.
STORY: These explosions are part of a demining test in southern Ukraine.
The idea is to turn a run-of-the-mill excavator into a demining powerhouse.
Engineer Vitalii explains:
“The device de-mines thanks to these chains… When it rotates, the impact can be like hitting with 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds). Any mine, whether anti-tank or anti-personnel, will detonate. Alternatively, we can mount some kind of knifes on it that plow the soil.” …
Bless Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s heart. It’s hard to keep track of when you’re supposed to pretend to be a real Democrat, we guess.
He was at the Iowa State Fair — you know, where the people who are legit running for president go — and NBC News’s Ali Vitali asked him a simple question about abortion. You want to ban it, after 15 weeks or maybe 21? Yes. Wait no. Hold on, this is a ginormously confusing question, can you ask him an easier one like “If your baby was a door-to-door vaccine salesman, would you abort it?”
The exchange was very straightforward, and Vitali gave Kennedy multiple opportunities to give a coherent answer that reflected his understanding of the question asked of him. So it’s weird, then, that hours later, the Kennedy campaign (which is a totally real thing) released a statement saying oh, the candidate was just very confused and does not support any abortion bans.
Vitali asked Kennedy if he would “sign a federal protection to protect the rights that were in the Roe precedent if you were president.” Kennedy offered up that “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.”
At which point Wonkette will just stop right here and ask how many bullshit anti-abortion talking points this brain-addled clown can cram into one sentence. It’s like he mixed in some right-wing Christian hate group talking points with his Kremlin propaganda that day. (To be fair, those are essentially the same talking points.)
“Abort a child.” Like the fetus is in there practicing its times tables at three months gestation. Or “first three months of life,” as Mr. Science referred to it.
[Transcript at the link]
“You would cap it at 15 weeks?” “Yes,” he said. “Or 21 weeks?” Vitali asked. “Yes, three months,” he said, not necessarily demonstrating any kind of stable relationship with the field of mathematics, but being pretty clear he would permit a ban of some sort. Vitali clarified one more time, he’s saying he would permit a ban on abortion. “Yes. I would.”
“You know, once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting that child.” Child, child, child, he kept saying, like Amy Coney Barrett had installed a cattle prod in his bottom and he sure as heck wasn’t going to accidentally say “fetus” again, please don’t shock him no more.
Let’s look at that freaked out clarification issued by the real and not just an elaborate troll Kennedy campaign. Note that it isn’t actually a quote from the candidate himself. [Text at the link]
[…] You can watch the Iowa State Fair video yourself here and do your own research into whether the Iowa State Fair was too noisy for Kennedy to hear the questions, and judge whether he seems any more incoherent than usual. Did a stampede of cows run between Kennedy and Vitali during the conversation, because they were late for the swimsuit competition in the Miss Cow pageant?
Did his face start displaying a message that said “buffering” and did they try turning him off, waiting 60 seconds and turning him on again?
[…] No real actual Democrats praised him for his reversal, because he’s a piece of shit and fuck him. The end.
As of Monday morning, it appears that Ukraine is either close to capturing, or may have already captured, the towns of Robotyne and Urozhaine along the southern front. In addition, Ukrainian troops are moving both east and west of the town of Pryyutne. At any moment, there may be an official announcement that these locations have been liberated.
But they won’t be—not in any way that makes sense. There is no one living in these villages. There are few if any buildings still standing in any of these locations.
What’s happening in southern Ukraine and in the area around Bakhmut is nothing like the counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson, in which Ukraine genuinely liberated hundreds of still-functional settlements from occupying Russians. What’s going on now is purely a wrestling match for tactical positions. And despite the Western gear sent to Ukraine, it’s a fight that’s largely happening on the terms that Russia has set down: artillery battles and small-unit actions.
No one is being saved in Robotyne. No one is going to line the streets to greet Ukrainian soldiers in Urozhaine. There won’t be many scenes of flags being raised over city buildings.
But that doesn’t mean this fight is for nothing. Because it’s for everything.
I’ve been gone for the past two weeks. You may not have noticed, but my aching shoulders and knees are confirmation that I did go backpacking a couple of months before my 64th birthday with equipment that was anything but “ultralight.”
Returning from the wilderness, I now find that Ukraine’s positions in both the east and south haven’t changed by more than a few hundred meters. I desperately wish it was otherwise. So do Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and every poor Ukrainian soldier on the front line.
This fight is not going according to anyone’s schedule.
It’s not that Ukraine can’t take more territory. But again and again, the calculation comes down to this: For the moment, there’s a lot of territory that is not worth taking.
The best example of this might be found not on the southern border, but just below Bakhmut at the town of Klishchiivka. It’s been more than a month since the Ukrainian army captured the hills west of Klishchiivka, sent forces into the southern end of that town, and forced Russian troops to withdraw from all but the northeast edge of the settlement. It seemed like a sure bet that Klishchiivka would be taken the next day. Or the next.
Klishchiivka is still sitting there with Ukraine controlling those hills, controlling the south end of the town, and Russia hanging on at the northeast edge. That’s not because Russia has waged some kind of tough defense of its positions in the town (though they have sent reinforcements to the area). Ukraine has both the tactical position and the forces in the area to push down out of those hills and take the remainder of Klishchiivka. It’s just that … so what if it did? Again, there’s no one living there to be liberated, few structures to be saved, and most importantly, Klishchiivka is on low, flat ground that creates a tough tactical position to hold without losses.
If Ukraine was prepared to move north into Bakhmut, or to drive east toward Russian defensive positions in the area, Klishchiivka would fall in a matter of hours. But they’re not ready to make those assaults. So for right now, Ukraine holds the positions of tactical importance on the west of Klishchiivka and ignores the rest.
Unlike Vladimir Putin and his demand that Wagner forces take Bakhmut no matter what, Zelenskyy seems uninterested in taking settlements to score idiot-goals. That’s been seen repeatedly in actions along the southern front, where Ukraine has moved its forces around some settlements, taken others, and even surrendered positions when it became evident that the cost of holding them was too high.
Ukraine now has a lot of Western gear, but it lacks the training and experience to carry out large-scale combined arms operations. As a result, most of what’s happening in southern Ukraine is being conducted in a way that looks more like how Russia fights than how any Western army operates: pounding it out with artillery, infantry moving in small numbers, tanks all too often operating in an unsupported manner that results in a lot of dead tanks. All of it proceeded by combat engineers clearing out minefields by hand under cover of darkness.
But none of that means that Ukraine is moving foolishly. The whole of the counteroffensive to this point has been in the form of an army getting a feel for what it can, and cannot, accomplish. These are largely inexperienced soldiers driving around in the cast-off arms created by a dozen nations over six decades. Considering that, they’re doing fantastically.
That Ukrainian army has also been getting a feel for dealing with a Russian army that was vastly reinforced by repeated rounds of conscription and bolstered by months of defensive preparations. Russia may not be the “second best army in the world,” but it is certainly one of the largest. Those hundreds of thousands of troops may be poorly trained, erratically armed, and miserably led, but that doesn’t mean they can’t kill people. Guns make it easy. Artillery makes it really easy.
So … what’s happening at Robotyne and Urozhaine has almost nothing to do with the patches of ground that used to be Robotyne and Urozhaine. It’s about taking those tactical positions that allow Ukraine to achieve three strategic goals:
Minimize Ukrainian losses to sustain Ukraine’s offensive capabilities.
Maximize Russian losses to degrade Russia’s defensive capabilities.
Seek a breakthrough that allows Ukrainian forces to move toward large, occupied cities like Melitopol and Mariupol.
What’s happening at the locations where Ukraine is engaged in active attacks is only important in the sense that it promotes all of these goals. Ukraine needs to do these things, and preferably all of them at once.
Ukraine has sacrificed large numbers of both men and equipment to capture Robotyne. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Not for Robotyne.
But if in taking Robotyne, Ukraine has significantly degraded the Russian army and positioned itself to advance on the defensive lines that prevent rapid movement to the south, then sure. It probably was worth those lost tanks, lost fighting vehicles, and even the irreplaceable men and women who died to make that tiny advance.
We don’t really know if it was worth it at this point. Ukraine probably doesn’t know, either. What happens next will tell us whether the price of these advances was far too dear or a bargain.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
tomhsays
From the NYT Live blog:
The presiding judge, Robert McBurney, just appeared briefly and told the deputies in his Fulton County courtroom that “we need to keep this courtroom and this courthouse open” beyond the usual closing time. It’s a sign that chances are growing that an indictment in the Trump investigation could come this evening.
Judge McBurney has been conducting business as usual. While he was presiding over a murder case, an attorney for the defendant, seeking bond for her client, said, “The Fulton County jail system is an incredibly unsafe place for a human being to reside.” It’s unclear whether former President Trump or his allies would be processed at the county jail if indicted; it is currently under federal investigation after multiple inmate deaths there.
The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment.
“I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m really just excited and elated and thrilled.”
The challengers’ lawyers described the first-of-its-kind ruling as a “game-changer” and a “sweeping win” which campaigners hope will give a boost to similar cases tackling the climate crisis.
In a case that made headlines around the US and internationally, 16 plaintiffs, aged five to 22, had alleged the state government’s pro-fossil fuel policies contributed to climate change.
In trial hearings in June, they testified that that these policies therefore violated provisions in the state constitution that guarantee a “clean and healthful environment,” among other constitutional protections.
On Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley said that by prohibiting government agencies from considering climate impacts when deciding whether or not to permit energy projects, Montana is contributing to the climate crisis and stopping the state from addressing that crisis. The 103-page order came several weeks after the closely watched trial came to a close on 20 June.
“My initial reaction is, we’re pretty over the moon,” Melissa Hornbein, an attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center who represented the plaintiffs in the 2020 lawsuit said, reacting to the news. “It’s a very good order.”
Julia Olson, who founded Our Children’s Trust, the non-profit law firm that brought the suit alongside Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law, said the case marks the first time in US history that the merits of a case led a court to rule that a government violated young people’s constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuels.
“In a sweeping win for our clients, the Honorable Judge Kathy Seeley declared Montana’s fossil fuel-promoting laws unconstitutional and enjoined their implementation,” she said. “As fires rage in the west, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos.”
The challengers had alleged that they “have been and will continue to be harmed by the dangerous impacts of fossil fuels and the climate crisis.” Similar suits have been filed by young people across the US, but Held v Montana was the first case to reach a trial.
Among the policies the challengers targeted: a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) barring the state from considering how its energy economy climate change impacts. This year, state lawmakers amended the provision to specifically ban the state from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews for new energy projects.
That provision is unconstitutional, Seeley ruled.
“By prohibiting consideration of climate change, [greenhouse gas] emissions, and how additional GHG emissions will contribute to climate change or be consistent with the Montana constitution, the MEPA limitation violates plaintiffs’ right to a clean and healthful environment,” Seeley wrote.
…
In her Monday ruling, Seeley also enjoined another 2023 state policy which put stricter parameters around groups’ ability to sue government agencies over permitting decisions under the Montana Environmental Policy Act. That policy “eliminates MEPA litigants’ remedies that prevent irreversible degradation of the environment, and it fails to further a compelling state interest”, rendering it unconstitutional, Seeley wrote.
…
She also confirmed the lawsuit’s assertions that fossil fuels cause climate change, that every additional ton of greenhouse gas pollution warms the planet, and that harms to the plaintiffs “will grow increasingly severe and irreversible without science-based actions to address climate change”.
“Judge Seeley really understood not only the issues of law, but the very complex scientific issues surrounding the climate crisis as well as clearly the impacts on these particular plaintiffs,” Hornbein said.
Michael Gerrard, the founder of Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, praised Seeley’s order.
“I think this is the strongest decision on climate change ever issued by any court,” he said in an email.
Several other states and around 150 other countries have a right to a healthy environment explicitly stated in their constitutions. This ruling may inspire similar lawsuits around the world.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers very effectively put on the stand several young Montana residents who testified how they were personally affected negatively by climate change. Putting a human face on this global problem worked well in this courtroom, and may well be followed elsewhere.
…
The state, which previously vowed to fight the decision if the plaintiffs won, now has 60 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Montana supreme court.
The verdict sets a positive tone for the future of youth-led climate lawsuits.
“This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate,” said Olson. “More rulings like this will certainly come.”
Youth-led constitutional climate lawsuits, brought by Our Children’s Trust, are also pending in four other states. One of those cases, brought by Hawaii youth plaintiffs, is set to go to trial in June 2024, attorneys announced last week.
A similar federal lawsuit filed by Our Children’s Trust, 2015’s Juliana v United States, is also pending. This past June, a US district court ruled in favor of the youth plaintiffs, allowing that their claims can be decided at trial in open court, but a trial date has yet to be set.
“The case in Montana is a clear sign that seeking climate justice through the courts is a viable and powerful strategy,” said Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
[…] Ukrainian forces are currently pressing to the south on both the east and west of the village of Pryyutne. Ukraine is also known to have forces in the northern part of Urozhaine and has reportedly liberated the town.
The explosion marker represents a point where a large Russian convoy was reportedly destroyed just east of Zavitne. Assuming Ukraine continues to move largely along the highway, Zavitne will be the next point of conflict, but it is still several kilometers north of Russia’s major defensive line in the area. [two annotated satellite images at the link]
Exactly how much of Robotyne is now controlled by Ukraine depends on the source. They’re said to have completely liberated Robotyne in some places, while others have troops still “on the outskirts.” The best evidence says that Ukraine had forces in the northern edge of Robotyne two days ago and they have since made more advances.
The Russian defensive lines are further north in the area. Ukraine has already moved past two small disconnected lines. Another of these smaller defensive lines lies between Robotyne and Novoprokopivka (which is misspelled on the map, but I will fix before the next round). The main defensive line in the area is just south of Novoprokopivka.
————————
One of the strangest things happening in Ukraine right now has to be the gradually widening front along the Dnipro River. Even without a functional bridge or pontoon bridge, Ukraine has now been able to position troops on the east side of the river both above Oleshky and to the west of Kozachi Laheri. These positions haven’t just managed to hold in the face of Russian artillery and missile attacks, they’ve spread in a thin strip along an extended area of riverfront.
Ukraine has not been able to bring enough forces across the river to make an assault on a sizable town. Russia has not been able to generate enough force to eliminate the cross-river positions. So next time we’ll take a closer look at this area and try to determine what happens now.
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[Tweet and video at the link: Ukrainian recovery vehicle towing a captured Russian T-72B3]
[Tweet and video at the link: Russian positions being hit in southern part of Robotyne.]
[Tweet and image at the link: the installation of the trident on the “Motherland” monument has been completed.!]
[Tweet from Zelenskyy: I thank @POTUS Joseph Biden, the U.S. Congress, and the American people for a new $200 million assistance package. Air defense missiles, artillery ammo, mine clearing systems, and anti-tank weapons will add strength to our Defense Forces. Another step toward our joint victory!]
[Chart comparing U.S. $ to Russian Ruble over time: from September 2022 to the present.] Those sanctions will never work! [/sarcasm]
There are several possible measures of success. There is attrition — who kills more of whom. There is territory seized — how much of what was mine is now his, and vice versa. And, there is a more intangible measure — the national will to fight.
I don’t think anyone could criticize the Ukrainian’s will to fight. They are fighting for their very survival. It’s trite, but true — if Russia quits fighting, the war’s over. If Ukraine quits fighting, Ukraine is over.
Russia — the Russian people — never have seemed to be fully vested in this. They support the fight because of jingoism and propaganda. Those clever sayings and the patriotic messages start to fall flat, though, when the body bags keep coming home. And, in Russia’s case, when there is no body bag to come home because they left the body behind on the battlefield.
So, as we enter the slogging phase of the war, where victories are measured in whatever way we can, let us not lose faith. Ukraine can maintain their will to fight — they must. At some point, the Russians are going to get tired of this.
—————————–
One measure of success that can be felt by ordinary Russians is, how is their standard of living doing?
This afternoon Russia’s Central Bank made a surprise announcement that it will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow, after the ruble fell to be less than a US cent. (After the announcement, the ruble rose slightly, back to be more than a cent.) Yahoo! News interviewed some Russians in Moscow today, and here’s a quote:
“Prices will rise, which means that the standard of living will fall. It has already fallen, and it will fall even more — there are definitely more poor people,” said Vladimir Bessosedny, a retired teacher.
Specialist teams are searching through Maui’s charred ruins for the missing, but only 3% of the affected area had been searched with cadaver dogs as of Sunday. The confirmed death toll rose to 96 early Monday and is expected to increase.
wzrd1says
Lynna, OM @ 75, it’s called regulatory capture. Governmental worker in charge of regulation retires and is hired by industry. Or similar, switches employers back and forth, government to industry and back, entirely undermining regulation.
Saw it in the DoD and other agencies every damned day.
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 82, so Hobart’s Funnies got reinvented?
Good.
wzrd1says
Lynna, OM @ 89, war has never really been about who kills or destroys more on the battlefield, but who destroys more of the adversary enough, GDP effort, personnel and material to make the effort of continuing war so damaging to that side as to make it more acceptable for them to surrender or at least sue for peace on the other side’s terms as one can.
We left Punic wars far behind long ago, especially given the Pyrrhic victory lesson.
Hence, the surrender ending WWI and well, the surrenders ending WWII.
The lack of inflicting that expense leading to the Koreas, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the onset of the second cold war.
wzrd1says
@ 90, reports are, when remains have been found, when trying to pick them up for removal, they fell apart. Cooked through and through.
Saw it in severe burn patients at times, it’s beyond ugly.
The ugliest being in some living patients, when an arm brushed a door and fell off of the still living patient and no blood loss ensued. Suffice it to say that survival was unlikely.
EMS, civilian and military tend to develop a rather unique sense of humor we’ve also learned to suppress around the public. Gallows humor is pale in comparison.
It keeps one from self-harm.
Reginald Selkirksays
@83
Kennedy offered up that “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.”
That’s stupid. During their first three months of life, young girls are busy eating, pooping and crying. Asking them to make decisions about their reproductive health decades n the future seems a bit much.
Italy’s far-right ruling party has been ordered to pay damages to a same-sex couple for using a photo of them with their newborn son without their consent in an anti-surrogacy campaign.
BJ Barone and Frankie Nelson welcomed their son Milo with the help of a surrogate mother in 2014.
A photo taken of that moment went viral, but it was then used by Brothers of Italy in 2016.
The party has been ordered to pay the couple €10,000 (£8,600) each.
Brothers of Italy – Fratelli d’Italia in Italian – were ordered to pay for the “offensive use of their image” after Italian LGBT law firm Gay Lex took on the case. The party is appealing the decision. ..
wzrd1says
I actually grew enough courage to bear watching the video.
Cringeworthy.
First, roar, as she “did”, then raise arms, present the biggest surface size, it’s a juvenile.
Second, it’s a juvenile, honestly, I’d consider risking play. I don’t recommend you do, you don’t know vulnerable points or if it’s actually starving and desperate, how to get away. That age, even at age 61, I can kill by hand, manually, with significant injury or with my knife – either pocket unit or belt unit, each having an equal 2 1/2 inch blade – don’t recommend that for readers.
Third, it’s a juvenile, retreat fascinated it, it followed and did display potential play behavior. If mamma is around, hell will ensue.
Remember second reactionary view? It’d be unpleasant. It’d retreat, which is unusual with much of my animal play. I don’t want the bear to habituate playing with humans, it’s a death sentence to it and peers. https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/08/14/bear-doorbell-camera-florida-affil-cprog-vpx.wesh
Wrong answer in a few ways. First, have a plan going for the fucking door. I know, panic, but if you’ve a plan, played it repeatedly in memory and tried rehearsing it a couple of times, you’d not blunder into your own door and find it an obstacle and if things were south, you’d be lunch.
Second, if in bear country, have something more interesting about. Always kept a bear grenade around. A glass jar of sealed, utterly sanitized outside, honey. Toss it away nearby, it’ll interest the bear more than you.
Final option, lethal.
Camped with my disabled wife and the kids repeatedly, had a black bear come through camp repeatedly, even had one step on the head of one kid through the tent side, due to a bear blunder. I was armed with jar and firearm, Toto (not her real name, but she looked just like Toto from the Wizard of Oz, save with a more yiping bark to welcome us or something that’d frighten off wolves, when she was alarmed.
And did chase a black bear around our tents 3 times, before it paused in my unexpected flashlight beam, to be bitten on its heels.
Now, do pretty close to the same, although if a brown bear, I’d further discourage it painfully via some sting.
Plan B was my pistol, A the jar of honey I didn’t mention, C was my rifle. It works on all large game on the continent.
I don’t take a crap without a plan.
An especially good idea at my age.
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 95, after birth, at 3 months old and after being born, killing a child is rightfully considered murder.
Before birth, if the fetus cannot survive and doesn’t, when born, it’s not a child, nor is a stillborn – under biblical conditions.
So, all such bullshit, from fetal life and after, smokescreen for covering black heresy, adding shit to the Bible, inserting words into their God’s mouth against his will.
Something summary execution by burning was once a penalty for.
Abortion was never covered in the bible, save in one speculative case presented by PZ and that’s beyond iffy.
Righteous God or heretical god, which do you want to play in that chess game? I go for scripture, regardless of faith, I’ve long been learning it and using it appropriately.
I do need to replace my lost Book of Mormon.
Indian faiths, those abound and I’m still getting research artifacts.
For Juedeo-Christian faiths, I’ve more than enough ammunition, save with thread splitters in evangelical BS. That whole profit by Chistian whored it up.
Got a laugh over the “Devil’s lettuce”, apparently, marijuana. So, God fucked up, the devil became God and created something, making God by nature lesser? That’s your faith’s official stance, that a perfect God fucked up?
Can argue with the latter, literally drunk.
The former, I have to utilize their “evidence” properly against them, around 99% is easy, the rest are actual scholars and I’m still working on that one in my spare time.
Thus far, as usual, it all comes down to nothing, mistransliteration or misapprehension, mostly by will.
I also give a different lies to children theory, one doesn’t tell children how well you boned mommy to conceive them, save in a Marvel Comic film.
One does explain that the sky is blue for simplistic reasons, not explaining, ruinously, why it’s blue to specific spectral adsorption.
Trust me, tried it both ways.
And mommy and daddy loved each other so much, after a marital problem, that one hate fucked the other does not work. Maybe (actually, is, in one case I know of), that’s true, maybe it’s not, the kid doesn’t need to know at that time.
Later, for medical reasons, such might be necessary, otherwise, there ain’t no storks.
And if any birds want to deliver something to me now, please do drop into my never presented net for catfish.
Love catfish, but the net would be wasted.
I may be drunk, but I’m not illogical.
Working on the last part, due to physical pain.
No, tried, literally everything else and eagerly await novel results that have efficacy.
But, I’m literally awaiting a five year old trying to cure disease, in what is for them handling daddy’s gun.
Everything new is a weapon, until cleared.
Remember, I worked in government?
Newly released video shows U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, being slammed to the ground by police and angrily confronting a state trooper with profanity during a hectic altercation late last month at a rodeo outside Amarillo.
“You are a fucking full-on dick!” Jackson told the trooper after being brought off the ground, according to bodycam footage provided by the Department of Public Safety. “You better recalculate, motherfucker!”
The DPS trooper, identified in a sheriff’s report as “Trooper Young,” repeatedly told Jackson that multiple people asked him to step aside so EMS could respond to a medical emergency. Jackson, a physician to two presidents, disagreed and continued to confront Young on the sidelines of the event, with bystanders physically restraining Jackson as he lunged toward the trooper, jabbing his finger and yelling profanities.
“I’m gonna call the governor tomorrow and I’m gonna talk to him about this shit because this is fuckin’ ridiculous,” Jackson told Young at one point. “Fuckin’ ridiculous.”
Jackson’s office has insisted that he had been trying to help somebody who needed medical attention and that EMS had not yet arrived when he was summoned to help. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the videos but has emphasized his desire to help amid a chaotic situation and blamed “overly aggressive and incompetent actions” by local authorities.
DPS released the 31-minute bodycam video — and a shorter dashcam video — Monday in response to an open records request from The Texas Tribune. There is no audio during parts of the videos, something DPS acknowledged in a letter to the Tribune without providing a reason. DPS also blurred out images of the person receiving medical care.
The dashcam video provides another angle of Jackson furiously confronting the trooper before leaving the rodeo. The video contains audio of the confrontation, which occurred near the hood of the trooper’s car, but country music drowns out the voices. […]
The videos confirm the general narrative of a report released Friday by the local sheriff, Tam Terry of Carson County. The report included accounts from multiple officers who responded to the scene late on the night of July 29 at the White Deer Rodeo. Among the claims is that Jackson threatened to beat up the trooper and later in a phone call threatened to go after Terry politically.
Jackson’s office has said he was summoned to help with a medical emergency involving a teenage girl before first responders arrived. He was “briefly detained” amid the chaos and confusion, according to his office.
His office has emphasized he was “not drinking,” though the sheriff’s report challenges that assertion.
In response to the report, a Jackson spokesperson issued a defiant statement saying he was prevented from giving medical care “due to overly aggressive and incompetent actions” by local authorities. The spokesperson, Kate Lair, said Jackson would not apologize for “sparing no effort to help in a medical emergency” in a hectic environment.
About 16 and a half minutes into the bodycam video, Jackson and other people are crouched over the person experiencing the medical emergency when the trooper appears to gesture toward Jackson to get back. Jackson eventually rises up and appears to be confronting the trooper angrily and is then led away from the trooper. Less than a half-minute later, the video shows two officers taking Jackson to the ground and handcuffing him, holding him to the ground with his face down. It is not until 50 seconds later that Jackson is shown standing again. There is no audio during that part.
A short time later, the audio returns and the bodycam video shows Jackson confronting Young, cursing at him and leaning toward him.
“I asked you to get back and you did not get back,” the trooper said.
Their confrontation continues a couple minutes later at a different location. Jackson continued to deny that he repeatedly disobeyed orders to get back, telling Young he was “the first motherfucker” to tell him to do that.
At one point, a man tries to escort Jackson away from the trooper and calm him down.
“Walk with me!” the man said. “Goodness gracious, buddy.”
Jackson refused to walk away and stressed to Young that he “was just trying to help” and is an emergency room doctor. Young said he understood that but added that Jackson needed to listen to his commands.
“I know you’re there to help, right? But I got EMS coming on scene,” Young said to Jackson, who disputed the trooper’s timeline of events. “I said, ‘Hey, we got a car coming.’ Multiple people moved out the way. You came down on your knees and somebody was trying to put something in her mouth that didn’t need to be. We asked not to, right?”
That comment appeared to refer to part of the sheriff’s report that said Jackson tried to care for the patient by putting a gumball in her mouth as a way to elevate blood sugar. Jackson suggested to Young that he did that because she may have been hypoglycemic; Young said she was anemic and Jackson disagreed, telling Young he does not have the medical knowledge to know that.
Jackson eventually leaves the area and gets in a car to depart the rodeo. He continues to yell profanities and can be heard saying, “You fucked up, motherfucker,” as he gets in the car.
Once Jackson is off camera, people around Young can be heard asking who he is. “Someone said he’s a senator,” one said. Young appeared to be unfamiliar with Jackson.
Two witnesses, Chris and Jodi Jordan of Hereford, said they were 5 to 6 feet away from the initial confrontation. They said they do not believe Jackson received adequate notice prior to his apprehension that he needed to back away because EMS was on the way. They said officers “barely missed the concrete” when they took Jackson to the ground.
“From our view, he never saw EMS,” Jodi Jordan said. “He was away from the patient before they showed up on scene.”
The Jordans said they believed Jackson acted responsibly.
“He was simply trying to help someone,” Chris Jordan said.
The incident happened at the White Deer Rodeo, an annual event in a town by the same name about 40 miles northeast of Amarillo. An estimated 4,000 people were in attendance.
Jackson was first elected in 2020 to represent Texas’ 13th Congressional District, a deeply conservative district in the Panhandle. He served as White House doctor for Barack Obama and Donald Trump and remains an ardent supporter of Trump and his 2024 comeback campaign.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has filed criminal charges against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Earlier Monday, a court website published what appeared to be a list of charges against Trump, then took it down, with the court clerk’s office describing the document as “fictitious.” But at the same time, reports emerged that the grand jury was engaging in a marathon day of testimony. It was inevitable that there would be some kind of right-wing conspiracy theory about any charges against Trump, and that publication and denial provided the excuse. […]
Violation of the Georgia RICO Act. And other crimes.
“I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied. This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes,” Clinton said during an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program Monday. “The only satisfaction is that the system is working. That all of the efforts by Trump and his allies and enablers to try and silence the truth and undermine democracy have been brought into the light. And justice is being pursued.”
In an appearance on Fox News tonight, Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called on GOP lawmakers to “cut off” funding for special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
“I think Republicans are going to have to have the guts to stand up and say, ‘No, this is over.’ And the first place to do that is the budget … just cut off the money on Sept. 30,” he said, referring to the last day of the fiscal year, when government funding is set to run out unless new funding legislation is signed into law.
“They should do whatever it takes to close down this entire anti-constitutional, ruthless breaking of the law,” Gingrich said.
He went further to decry the grand juries involved in each of the indictments, calling them unfair and not accurate juries of Trump’s peers. The solution, he said, was to go after Smith’s funding. […]
Donald Trump
Rudy Giuliani
John Eastman
Mark Meadows
Kenneth Chesebro
Jeffrey Clark
Jenna Ellis
Ray Stallings Smith III
Robert David Cheeley
Michael Roman
David Shafer
Shawn Micah Thresher Still
Stephen Cliffgard Lee
Harrison William Prescott Floyd
Trevian Kutti
Sidney Powell
Cathleen Alston Latham
Scott Graham Hall
Misty Latham AKA Emily Misty Hayes
These include violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiring to file false documents.
Defendant Donald John Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020. One of the states he lost was Georgia. Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. That conspiracy contained common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.
THE ENTERPRISE
At all times relevant to this Count ofthe Indictment, the Defendants, as well as others not named as defendants, unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere. Defendants Donald John Trump, Rudolph William Louis Giuliani, John Charles Eastman, Mark Randall Meadows, Kenneth John Chesebro, Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Jenna Lynn Ellis, Ray Stallings Smith III, Robert David Cheeley, Michael A. Roman, David James Shafer, Shawn Micah Tresher Still, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, Harrison William Prescott Floyd, Trevian C. Kutti, Sidney Katherine Powell, Cathleen Alston Latham, Scott Graham Hall, Misty Hampton, unindicted co-conspirators Individual 1 through Individual 30, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, constituted criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and perjury.
This criminal organization constituted an enterprise as that term is defined in O.C.G.A. l6-14-3(3), that is, group of individuals associated in fact. The Defendants and other members and associates of the enterprise had connections and relationships with one another and with the enterprise.
‘The enterprise constituted an ongoing organization whose members and associates functioned as continuing unit for common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise. The enterprise operated in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, in other states, including, but not limited to, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and in the District of Columbia. The enterprise operated for period of time sufficient to permit its members and associates to pursue its objectives. […]
And the Grand Jurors aforesaid, in the name and behalf of the citizens of Georgia, do charge and accuse DONALD JOHN TRUMP with the offense of FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS, O.C.G.A. 16-10-20, for the said accused, in the County of Fulton and
State of Georgia, on or about the 17th day of September 2021, knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully made the following false statement and representation to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger:
l. “As stated to you previously, the number of false and/or irregular votes is far greater than needed to change the Georgia election result”;
said statement being within the jurisdiction of the Ofiice of the Georgia Secretary of State and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation […]
Yep, Trump put that particular false statement in writing.
And the Grand Jurors aforesaid, in the name and behalf of the citizens of Georgia, do charge and accuse DONALD JOHN TRUMP with the offense of FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS, O.C.G.A. 16-10-20, for the said accused, in the County of Fulton and State of Georgia, on or about the 2nd day of January 2021, knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully made at least one of the following false statements and representations to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs, and Georgia Secretary of State General Counsel Ryan Germany:
1. That anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000 ballots were dropped mysteriously into the rolls in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia;
2. That thousands of people attempted to vote in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia and were told they could not because ballot had already been cast in their name;
3. That 4,502 people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia who were not on the voter registration list;
4. That 904 people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia who were registered at an address that was post ofiice box;
5. That Ruby Freeman was professional vote scammer and known political operative;
6. That Ruby Freeman, her daughter, and others were responsible for fraudulently awarding at least 18,000 ballots to Joseph R. Biden at State Farm Arena in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia;
7. That close to 5,000 dead people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia;
8. That 139% of people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Detroit;
9. That 200,000 more votes were recorded than the number ofpeople who voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Pennsylvania;
10. That thousands of dead people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Michigan;
ll. That Ruby Freeman stuffed the ballot boxes;
12. That hundreds of thousands of ballots had been “dumped” into Fulton County and another county adjacent to Fulton County in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia;
Trump’s name is mentioned in the indictment documents more than 190 times. Trump was personally involved. As Neal Katyal noted, Trump was “hands on” in the criminal activity.
13. That he won the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia by 400,000 votes;
said statements being within the jurisdiction of the Office ofthe Georgia Secretary of State and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, departments and agencies of state government, contrary to the laws of said State, the good order, peace and dignity thereof;
Yep, as expected the Trump campaign has issued a statement with the subject line: “The Truth About Fans Willis.”
The statement is titled: “A Family Steeped in Hate.” One of the paragraphs begins: “Fani Willis is the The Daughter Of A Former Black Panther.” The statement also goes on to highlight the Swahili meaning of Fani (Prosperous) …. and so forth.
Hey @AWeissmann_ and @JoyceWhiteVance, do you read this as Georgia has gotten unindicted coconspirator individual 20 to flip?
——————-
Trump is not only indicted, his name is mentioned 193 times in the indictment, and the charges go out of the way to show Trump directly violated the law
Fani Willis is asking defendants to voluntarily turn themselves in by Friday noon, August 25th.
She wants a trial date within the next six months. All 19 defendants will be tried together.
In the weeks during which most of this happened, tens of thousands of people in the US were dying. The vaccine had just become available, and Trump was doing fuck-all to organize its distribution or encourage people to get it, while refusing to allow officials to work on the transition with the incoming administration. In addition to stealing national security documents, this is what Trump was occupied with during that time. He and his henchmen and henchwomen were haranguing the speakers of state legislatures by phone or setting up meetings with them pretty much every day of the week. This is what they were doing. Crime.
Andrew Weissmann says that Fani Willis saying all 19 will be tried together may mean that all may be arraigned, but is likely that only a few will be in the courtroom at one time. Some people may plead out. Arrangements will be made so that you don’t have all 19 defendants and their lawyers in the courtroom at one time.
Willis also said also that innocence or guilt will be decided by a jury.
Particularly interesting in relation to Graeber and Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything, which I’m currently reading (the book’s main argument is against technological determinism in relation to political systems).
wzrd1says
From the article in @ 124, as near as I can tell for their justification for there being no evidence of a centralized state authority is that everyone had similar houses.
So, I’m guessing that if there isn’t a castle or mansion, there is no central government and the coordination was fully democratic and close coordination was accomplished by hand wave.
Sorry, loads of assumptions, minimal evidence in the story. If you’ve ever worked in construction, you’d know that when laying pipes, one must coordinate a great many things, ranging from trench lines through pipe sizes, depth, width of trench and more. So, one does have to have some central coordinating authority in place and interestingly, no special houses are needed, only coordinating managers are needed.
That’s a lot. But as this is The Register, a technology publication, we’ll focus on the IT-related aspects of the indictment, which are covered by Count 7, titled “Unlawful Breach of Election Equipment in Georgia and Elsewhere” and described as follows:
Members of the enterprise, including several of the Defendants, corruptly conspired in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere to unlawfully access secure voting equipment and voter data. In Georgia, members of the enterprise stole data, including ballot images, voting equipment software, and personal voter information. The stolen data was then distributed to other members of the enterprise, including members in other states.
The indictment alleges that some members of the conspiracy “conspired to use a computer with knowledge that such use was without authority and with the intention of taking and appropriating information, data, and software, the property of Dominion Voting Systems Corporation.”
Some of those indicted used computers “with the intention of examining personal data with knowledge that such examination was without authority.”
Reginald Selkirk @ 129
This way, if Australia and England get beaten, at least I do not need to feel embarassed about it.
.
NB: Like finding the very first concentration camp.
People tend to forget the role Portugal played, or the supporting role of arab slavers when the business spread to the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic.
Where are the dragons when people really need to get burned alive?
Texas wants Planned Parenthood to give back millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements — and pay far more in fines on top of that — in a lawsuit that appears to be the first of its kind brought by a state against the largest abortion provider in the U.S.
A hearing was set for Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who earlier this year put access to the most common method of abortion in the U.S. in limbo with a ruling that invalidated approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.
The case now before him in America’s biggest red state does not surround abortion, which has been banned in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. But Planned Parenthood argues the attempt to recoup at least $17 million in Medicaid payments for health services, including cancer screenings, is a new effort to weaken the organization after years of Republican-led laws that stripped funding and imposed restrictions on how its clinics operate.
At issue is money Planned Parenthood received for health services before Texas removed the organization from the state’s Medicaid program in 2021. Texas had begun trying to oust Planned Parenthood four years earlier and is seeking repayment for services billed during that time…
KGsays
wzrd1@125,
Yeah, I’ll take the word of an opinionated pseudonymous blog-commenter over that of relevant experts, every time.
KGsays
KG@133,
Sorry, wzrd1, that was uncalled-for. But the article says:
the water pipes run along roads and walls to divert rainwater and show an advanced level of central planning at the neolithic site.
so it is not denying that building the system would have required “central planning”, but that such planning depended on the existence of social hierarchy. Indivduals or groups can be given leadership roles in certain activities, without having a general power to command others or extract surplus. Graebner and Wengrow give numerous examples from the anthropological literature, but within archeology, there has long been a belief that complex hydrological systems can only be produced by states – exemplified in Wittfogel’s Oriental Despotism.
“People like me and people like you” have a new anthem—that is if you’re one of the 9.2 million people who watched the premiere of relatively unknown country artist Oliver Anthony’s song “Rich Men North Of Richmond” over the weekend. And while one might hope a song with the above lyric might be an ode to unity in our divided country à la “Imagine,” the reality—as you can probably guess—is less sunny.
The song comes from Oliver Anthony (Oliver Anthony Music on streaming platforms), an aspiring farmer who lives with his three dogs in Farmville, Virginia. While the raspy-voiced artist had amassed a modest following through blue-collar anthems such as “Ain’t Gotta Dollar” and “I’ve Got To Get Sober” (which he apparently recorded on his cell phone), “Rich Men North Of Richmond”—a self-professed ode to “the working class and your average hard-working young man who may have lost hope in the grind of trying to get by”—is his first bona fide hit.
In the single week since Anthony released the song last Tuesday, it has soared to number one on both the iTunes General chart and the iTunes Country chart, knocking Jason Aldean’s similarly contentious “Try That In A Small Town” all the way down to number five (behind two other Oliver Anthony Music tracks, no less). Anthony currently holds 18 out of 40 slots on the Country list, and, as of this writing, the song sits at number 9 on the US Spotify Top 50. But if you’d never heard of him before this weekend, you certainly wouldn’t be alone. While Anthony was previously a small artist by any metric (i.e. the phone-recorded songs), one telling comparison is Spotify monthly listeners, for which Anthony currently sits at 889,435, just 8% of Jason Aldean’s 11 million. (It’s unclear how much this number has increased in the past week.)
Like Jason Aldean before him, Anthony is using a lot of, let’s say “vague” language to describe a song whose lyrics do all the real talking for him. “Maybe that is the problem today, is we just don’t talk enough common sense anymore, you know? We kind of went a little off the deep end,” he said in his intro video. And, sure, it’s hard to disagree with that on principle, but let’s take a look at the kind of “common sense” Anthony is talking about together. Here’s the song’s second verse:
I wish politicians would look out for miners / And not just minors on an island somewhere
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat / And the obese milkin’ welfare
Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground / ‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down…
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Russian forces unleashed a barrage of missiles on regions across Ukraine overnight, killing civilians and damaging infrastructure.
The barrage came as Moscow’s war on its neighbour nears the 18-month mark, and just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference where the fighting in Ukraine is likely to dominate the agenda.
The Ukrainian air force says Russia fired a total of 28 cruise missiles at the country early Tuesday. Sixteen of them were intercepted.
Damage has been reported in the regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Donetsk.
The Ukrainian government is to build new fortifications and military infrastructure in northeast regions that border Russia and Belarus at a cost of nearly $35 million, prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday.
…
The Chernihiv region that borders Russia and Belarus was partially occupied at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, but it was later liberated.
Belarus, the Kremlin’s closest ally, initially supported the Russian invasion, opening its borders to Russian troops marching on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
Minsk also provided its territory to fighters from the Wagner mercenary group whose move to Belarus was part of a deal that ended their attempted mutiny in June. The eastern Kharkiv region, which borders the Russian region of Belgorod, is still partially occupied and has been the site of active fighting in recent weeks.
Since the liberation of its territories, Ukraine has been actively building defences on its borders to prevent being invaded again. It maintains a significant force in the north….
Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and the leader of the liberal Golos party, said Ukraine will boycott the Olympic Games if Russia and Belarus participate in the competition.
Rudik also rejected the “myth” that “sport is out of politics”, saying the Russia has killed 340 athletes and coaches. These claims have not been independently verified.
This comes as a Russian missile destroyed a sports facility in Dnipro.
“Strange beings,” locals said, visiting an isolated Indigenous community in rural Peru at night, harassing its inhabitants and attempting to kidnap a 15-year-old girl…
Members of the Peruvian Navy and Police traveled to the isolated community, which is located 10 hours by boat from the Maynas provincial capital of Iquitos, to investigate the strange disturbances in early August. Last week, authorities announced that they believed the perpetrators were members of illegal gold mining gangs from Colombia and Brazil using advanced flying technology to terrorize the community, according to RPP Noticias. Carlos Castro Quintanilla, the lead investigator in the case, said that 80 percent of illegal gold dredging in the region is located in the Nanay river basin, where the Ikitu community is located…
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted Donald Trump on Monday for working to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, just weeks after Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted him on federal charges for his efforts to subvert the democratic process nationwide.
It all seems pretty damning, but the wily former president has an ace up his sleeve: He going to simply prove the election was rigged and convince Willis and Smith to drop the charges.
“A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey,” Trump announced Tuesday morning on Truth Social. “Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others – There will be a complete EXONERATION! They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!” …
Sure, Jan.
larparsays
“…will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster,…”
The press should not show up. They will, but they shouldn’t.
I’m very interested in the numbers in the Georgia indictment. Several are clearly just vague, invented large round numbers or ranges: “anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000” GA ballots were “dropped mysteriously into the rolls”; “between 12,000 and 24,000” ballots were illegally counted by election workers at State Farm Arena in Fulton County; Ruby Freeman and her daughter awarded “at least 18,000” ballots to Biden; “hundreds of thousands” of ballots were “dumped” into Fulton and an adjacent county; Trump won in GA by 400,000 votes; etc.
More intriguing are the precise and generally consistently used figures. The number of GA mail-in ballots they claimed were counted with no record of having been returned to an elections office was
“at least 96,600” (12-3-20) and 96,600 (12-10-20). The number of felons they claimed had voted illegally in GA was 2,506 (12-3-20), 2,560 (12-30-20), and “as many as 2,506” (12-31-20). The number of underage people they claimed had illegally registered to vote in GA before their 17th birthday ahead of the 2020 election was 66,248 (12-3-20), and the number they later claimed had actually voted illegally was “at least 66,247” (12-31-20). The number of people in GA who they claimed voted but weren’t listed as registered to vote was 2,423 (12-3-20), “at least 2,423” (12-31-20), and 4,502 (1-2-21). The number of people they claimed voted in GA having illegally registered to vote using a PO box was 1,043 (12-3-20), “at least 1,043” (12-31-20), and 904 (1-2-21).
The most interesting is their claim about dead people having voted in GA: “10,315 or more” (12-3-20), 10,315 (12-30-20), “as many as 10,315 or more” (12-31-20), “close to 5,000” (1-2-21), “more than 10,300” (1-6-21).
Who first wrote down these numbers and where? Where did they come from? Were they taken from some data on deaths or registrations or some such and then just transferred into claims about illegal voting? The Representative from GA-12, Rick Allen (R), received 10,315 votes in Coffee County in 2020. Did they just grab the figure from there? (Incidentally, his opponent, Liz Johnson, received 4,243 votes there, which seems sort of like the 2,423 unregistered voters they claimed, but I may be getting carried away with this idea…) Or did they invent these specific numbers out of whole cloth? And again, who did it first and where? Is there a paper trail?
The UK should finally acknowledge its leading role in the 1953 coup that toppled Iran’s last democratically elected leader, for the sake of Britain’s credibility and the Iranian reform movement, a former foreign secretary has said.
The US formally admitted its role 10 years ago with the declassification of a large volume of intelligence documents, which made clear that the ousting of the elected prime minister, Mohammad Mosadegh, 70 years ago this week was a joint CIA-MI6 endeavour. The formal UK government position is to refuse to comment on an intelligence matter.
The original plot, codenamed Operation Boot, was drafted by MI6 after Mosadegh became prime minister and the dominant British oil company in Iran was nationalised. Harry Truman’s administration did not want anything to do with it, seeing Mosadegh as a bulwark against communism, but Winston Churchill was able to persuade his successor, Dwight Eisenhower. In the spring of 1953, the CIA began joint planning with MI6 and the operation was renamed Ajax.
On the 70th anniversary of the coup on Tuesday, David Owen, who was foreign secretary from 1977 to 1979, told the Guardian: “There are good reasons for acknowledging the UK’s role with the US in 1953 in overthrowing democratic developments. By admitting that we were wrong to do so and damaged the steps that were developing towards a democratic Iran, we make reforms now a little more likely.”
During Lord Owen’s tenure at the Foreign Office, the ailing shah’s regime fell in the Islamic Revolution, which many historians view as a delayed consequence of the death of Iranian democracy in August 1953.
…
“Today, women’s powerful arguments for reform in Iran are being heard and respected because they are true to a political spirit that has a long history in Iran. The British government today would help their cause and make it more likely to succeed and not be brushed aside if we admitted past errors in 1953, as I have admitted errors I made from 1977 to 79.”
A new film, Coup 53, traces the history of the coup, focusing on a young British spy who played a pivotal role, Norman Darbyshire. Despite receiving rave reviews, director Taghi Amirani and veteran Hollywood editor Walter Murch have not been able to find a distributor, a fact they attribute to the continuing cloak of official UK secrecy.
“We have had the most bizarre and sinister attempts at supressing both the contents of the film and its chances of getting distribution in many twisted incidents worthy of [John] le Carré,” Amirani said.
Richard Norton-Taylor, the author of The State of Secrecy, a book about UK intelligence and the media, said: “It is sad, absurd and, indeed, counterproductive for the British government to continue to hide behind its age-old mantra of ‘neither confirm nor deny’ and still refuse to admit MI6’s leading role in Mosadegh’s overthrow when so much, including official CIA documents, has been revealed about it for so many years.”
Days before Salvador Allende’s confirmation as Chile’s president in 1970, US President Richard Nixon met with a rightwing Chilean media mogul to discuss blocking the socialist leader’s path to the presidency, newly declassified documents have revealed.
The documents, published in a new Spanish edition of the Pinochet files by archivist and writer Peter Kornbluh, include Nixon’s agenda for 15 September 1970, which shows a meeting in the Oval Office with Agustín Edwards, the owner of the conservative El Mercurio media group.
A day earlier, Edwards had met CIA director Richard Helms. Notes from that conversation detail the media baron’s observations on various members of the military, prompting Nixon to request a “gameplan” for a coup that would prevent Allende’s inauguration.
Allende had won a slender victory over rival Jorge Alessandri in presidential elections, but with no clear majority, the electoral system at the time required congress to ratify the candidate who would form a government.
In secret, and with the support of President Nixon’s White House, a plan was hatched for the military to seize power, dissolve congress and block Allende’s inauguration.
Alongside munitions and payments, Edwards conveyed the military’s demands for “clear and specific guarantees” as well as “assurances they would not be abandoned and ostracized”, according to a memorandum entitled “Conversation with Agustín Edwards, Owner of El Mercurio Chilean Newspaper Chain, 18 September 1970”, which had previously been heavily redacted.
“It is incredible that, 50 years later, we’re still learning key details of how the US were trying to block, thwart, undermine and destabilise the first elected socialist president in Chile,” said Kornbluh.
“Chile is one of the most infamous CIA covert operations, and one where you have an explicit link to the president of the United States ordering that you overthrow a democratically elected government. These documents remind us of the malevolence of US foreign policy in Chile.”
After the meetings in Washington, the CIA provided one of the conspirators with a life-insurance policy and “hush money”, while another received guns, ammunition and $50,000 in cash to carry out the plot, which involved the kidnap of General René Schneider, the then head of the Chilean armed forces, who was considered loyal to the constitution.
The attempt was botched and Gen Schneider died three days later of the gunshot wounds he sustained when his car was ambushed on 22 October 1970.
Transcripts of a telephone call Nixon made to his national security adviser Henry Kissinger the following day are also among the revelations, during which Kissinger confesses that “it’s probably too late” to prevent an Allende government, and dismisses the Chilean armed forces as a “pretty incompetent bunch”.
“Neither one of them showed any remorse that General Schneider was dying,” explained Kornbluh. “What they were pissed off about was that the Chilean military hadn’t carried out the plot that had been scripted.”
The incident went some way toward galvanising public support in favour of Allende, and Chile’s congress duly ratified his presidency in a vote on 24 October.
After Allende’s inauguration, Edwards’s paper, El Mercurio, and the CIA worked continuously to undermine Allende’s government. On 11 September 1973, Augusto Pinochet launched a bloody coup d’etat, in which thousands died – including Allende – and ushered in 17 years of military rule.
Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup, Chile’s current president, Gabriel Boric, has requested Joe Biden’s government for more information on US involvement in the plot.
Juan Gabriel Valdés, Boric’s ambassador in Washington, has formally asked President Biden to release documents detailing Oval Office conversations on Chile between 1973 and 1974.
Many records from the time remain classified or redacted and the bitter legacy of the dictatorship continues to divide Chile.
…
Boric, 37, and a generation of student activists turned politicians are adamant that the dictatorship needs to be fully reckoned with and condemned.
But on the right, many remain loyal to Pinochet. On the 49th anniversary of the coup last year, the twice-defeated far-right presidential candidate José Antonio Kast tweeted that Chile had “chosen freedom” in the military coup.
A documentary about the complicity of the newspaper El Mercurio in the military coup of 1973 and in the crimes of the Pinochet dictatorship, in an investigation carried out by 5 journalism students from the University of Chile that leads to the dismantling of the press montages made by the newspaper.
birgerjohanssonsays
SC @ 140
To find answers, maybe we should consult the My Pillow guy. He has made two “docu-movies” about how Biden stole the election.
Eli, Heath and Noah have given them the full God Awful Movies treatment.
😂
GAM 287 Absolute Proof https://youtu.be/E63v1vD1XWw
As the political world waited for Donald Trump’s indictment to come down in Fulton County, Georgia, it wasn’t especially surprising to see Fox News’ Sean Hannity scramble to defend his longtime ally. What was surprising, however, was one of his guests.
A Daily Beast explained:
As each of the three major cable news networks prepared for the possibility of an indictment of Donald Trump Monday night in Georgia, Fox News host Sean Hannity turned to none other than Paul Manafort. Hannity, who had written to Manafort that he would do “anything” to help the former Trump campaign chairman while he was being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, teed him up with questions about whether the Department of Justice “has been politicized and weaponized.”</blockquote<
[…] As Trump’s fourth indictment was poised to be released, one of the former president’s most reliable media allies spoke to one of the former president’s former campaign chairmen. Together, they told viewers that Trump deserved to be seen as some kind of victim of systemic abuses.
Manafort decried the “weaponization” of law enforcement, while Hannity lamented the “two-tiered justice system” that definitely exists in the imaginations of Republicans everywhere.
But just below the surface, there was an unacknowledged complication: Manafort isn’t just Trump’s former campaign chairman.
On the contrary, Manafort oversaw Trump’s political operation in 2016, before he was convicted of a variety of felonies, including tax fraud and bank fraud, and he even served some time in federal prison — right up until Trump pardoned him shortly before Christmas 2020, rewarding his former aide for failing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Or put another way, while the Fox host complained about a “two-tiered justice system,” his guest appears to have been the beneficiary of a two-tiered justice system — with one set of standards for Trump’s pals, and a competing set of standards for everyone else.
What’s more, while Manafort told Hannity last night that federal investigators knew “there was no Russian collusion,” what viewers didn’t hear was that the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Manafort “represented a grave counterintelligence threat” due to his relationship with a Russian intelligence officer.
“The Committee found that Manafort’s presence on the Campaign and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign,” the Senate report added.
There were no questions along these lines. Perhaps they ran out of time.
New York magazine’s Jon Chait, “Maybe, just maybe, the reason Trump keeps getting indicted for crimes is not that the criminal justice system is in the grips of a vast liberal conspiracy but that he is, in fact, a criminal?”
The Maddow Blog’s Steve Benen, “The question isn’t why the former president has been indicted four times, it’s how he managed to go this long without having been indicted before.”
The basic structure here: 1 count of RICO applied to all 19 defendants. 161 overt acts, of which DA has to prove only 2, in furtherance of the conspiracy. 40 of those are crimes, and those are charged separately, re only those defendants who committed them as counts 2-41.
We actually do not know which Trump idiot’s seething rage is our favorite right now (Alina Habba), but for fairness’s sake we’ll use this post to stomp on several Trump people […]
Indicted Jenna Ellis, are you Live, Laugh, Loving about how much Jesus loves you and getting ratio-ed to fuck for it? [Jenna Ellis posted: “The Democrats and the Fulton County DA are criminalizing the practice of law. I am resolved to trust the Lord and I will simply continue to honor, praise, and serve Him. I deeply appreciate all of my friends who have reached out offering encouragement and support.” The tweet is accompanied by a poster-like presentation, in fancy cursive font, of “even so it is well with my soul”]
Maybe she can teach people how to do tacky Bible crafts in prison.
Let’s move on to Trump lawyer Alina Habba — surprise! — one of the few people Donald Trump has met in his life who isn’t currently indicted under Georgia state law in a massive RICO conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
You know Alina Habba. She’s the Trump lawyer who’s an idiot. Sorry, that didn’t narrow things down. She’s this one. And she’s been all over the TV today and last night bein’ so mad, because she’s just so mad right now.
Here is a clip of Habba on “Fox & Friends” nervously sniping at Steve Doocy that “You used to love Trump!” This was in response to Doocy asking if Trump knows the Georgia indictment is a “perilous threat.”
Specifically here is how that exchange went: [video at the link]
DOOCY: Does President Trump know that this is a perilous threat?
HABBA: We do not agree that it is a perilous threat because we actually have inside information. I love it when people …
DOOCY: What inside information?
HABBA: Well, the inside information, Steve! And you know, you used to love Trump, bwAWHUAHUAHAUAH I GOTTA TELL YA!
She said more words in that train of thought, but that’s a good stopping place.
The rest of that clip consists of Habba cannon-firing more bullshit from her gullet while Poor Stupid Brian Kilmeade tried to suggest Hillary Clinton said “every day” that Trump was an illegitimate president. (Clinton conceded the morning after the election, dressed regally in purple, and last night she was on Rachel Maddow instead of being indicted for 91 felonies overall in four jurisdictions.)
Habba said this is “third world stuff.” She lied and said the indictment “went up before a grand jury voted on it,” because all the raccoon-brained wingers have decided that whatever happened with that weird, unofficial document that was briefly posted to the Georgia courts website yesterday was tantamount to … well, they haven’t decided what it’s tantamount to, but it definitely invalidates the charges against Trump, certainly, probably.
After that, Habba started a-fussin’ about the fact that Trump will be mugshotted in Georgia. (Also? Cameras in the courtroom!) “This man is the most famous person in the world!”
Sorry, Ms. Habba, but this website we just found said it’s still Barack Obama. Others say it’s Cristiano Ronaldo or even fuckin’ Elon, but none of them give Trump number one billing. Being first place really isn’t his thing.
Oh, these motherfucking babies, how they are raging.
On Newsmax last night, Matt Schlapp coped by fawning all over Trump as a “big strong amazing guy” who has “broad shoulders.” So that was, um, weird, considering his recent history. Alina Habba was there too, making poo face. [video at the link]
In summary and in conclusion, Jesus loves Jenna Ellis (wrong), Alina Habba has the inside information (wrong), and Matt Schlapp has starbursts over Donald Trump’s big burly shoulders (sicko).
tomhsays
One question on some minds is which of the four judges overseeing Trump’s trials will actually clamp down on his unending stream of lies and insults. One possibility is the most recent, Scott McAfee, who is set to oversee the Georgia trial. Although only appointed judge six months ago, unlike the Florida newbie he actually has experience, being a state and federal prosecutor for 10 years. In June, McAfee fined pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood $5,000 in contempt of court for violating an order against insulting his former legal associates, with a threat of more serious penalties if he repeated it. So maybe there’s hope.
After a three-year chase to find a Utah man who posed as a medical doctor to sell hoax cures for diseases, including COVID-19, has ended in felony charges for a Cedar Hills resident.
Gordon Hunter Pedersen sold a “structural alkaline silver” product online as a preventative cure for COVID-19 early in the pandemic, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said in a statement. He also claimed in YouTube videos to be a board-certified “Anti-Aging Medical Doctor” with a Ph.D. in immunology and naturopathic medicine, according to the release, while donning a white lab coat and stethoscope in his online presence…
whheydtsays
I doubt that anything will be done about his lies, unless the lies read as attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors. And, of course, Judge “Loose” Cannon won’t do anything no matter what he says unless it would get her automatically tossed off the case.
A Georgia state agency said Tuesday that it will name a special prosecutor to consider whether the state’s Republican lieutenant governor should face criminal charges after former president Donald Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted Monday for working to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was one of 16 Republican electors who falsely claimed that Trump won Georgia. As a state senator, he also sought a special session of Georgia’s Legislature aimed at overturning President Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state. But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred by a judge from indicting Jones. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney agreed with Jones that Willis, an elected Democrat, had a conflict of interest because she hosted a fundraiser for the Democrat who lost to Jones in the 2022 election for lieutenant governor.
McBurney said in a hearing that Willis’ decision to host the fundraiser was a “what are you thinking?” moment.
That leaves the Prosecuting Attorneys Council, a state agency that supports district attorneys, to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Jones’ actions were criminal. Pete Skandalakis, the council’s executive director, said Tuesday that he will begin looking for an appropriate prosecutor…
Mike Lindell is coming back to Springfield this week, and he’s bringing his Election Crime Bureau Summit with him.
Wednesday and Thursday, Lindell is hosting guests at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center to witness the unveiling of his plan to secure elections in the country.
Lindell, who is known as the founder of MyPillow, says his plan is something that will draw support from Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. The goal of the plan, he said, is to “ensure the integrity of our electoral system and protect our Constitutional republic from the Deep State.” …
How much ink does an all-in-one printer need in order to fax a document? Or to scan one to your computer? The obvious answer is “none.” But if you own certain printers from companies like HP and Canon, you won’t be able to use core features unless the device has ink—even if those features have nothing to do with ink…
Moment of schadenfreude, seeing Rudi Giuliani in a very deep hole:
It’s been challenging to keep up with Rudy Giuliani’s ongoing difficulties. As recently as last month, for example, a Washington, D.C.-based bar discipline committee concluded that the former New York City mayor should be disbarred for “frivolous” and “destructive” efforts to derail the 2020 presidential election.
[…] Giuliani has also received attention from special counsel Jack Smith’s office; he was recently smacked with discovery sanctions; he’s facing a credible defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems; and the defamation lawsuit he’s facing from former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss continues to be a humiliating problem.
Last night’s news, however, is qualitatively worse and more serious. NBC News reported:
While working as a federal prosecutor in New York in the 1980s, Rudy Giuliani was hailed for his innovative use of racketeering laws against the mob. Now he’s facing a similar charge — violation of Georgia’s RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act — for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy with then-President Donald Trump and others in a bid to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Up until very recently, the worst-case scenario for Giuliani appeared to be disbarment, disgrace, and dramatic financial penalties. Now, if convicted, the former mayor is facing the prospect of a prison sentence stemming from a criminal charge he personally helped pioneer.
But it’s not just Giuliani. The Fulton County indictment is different from Trump’s other indictments in a variety of ways, but among the most obvious — and most important — is the fact that the former president has been charged alongside a sizable group of co-conspirators.
[…] Time will tell, of course, how the case proceeds, but as a Washington Post analysis noted, “The indictments could ramp up pressure on the defendants to provide information and possibly even serve as witnesses against Trump, either in Georgia or in the federal case, where charges could still be brought against them.”
Or put another way, the list of co-conspirators comes alongside an unavoidable question: Who’ll flip first?
As Donald Trump was being indicted yet again, along with 18 of his best buddies, on 41 charges in the state of Georgia, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was going on Fox News to make a circular argument so small-minded it could fit on a needle-point.
“This should be decided at the ballot box, not in a bunch of liberal jurisdictions trying to put the man in jail.” [video at the link]
It’s hard not to mention here that Trump is facing dozens of charges in a variety of jurisdictions for trying to specifically take away decisions made by Americans at said ballot box.
The Republican Party has spent the better part of the last seven years practicing some real heavy duty apologetics for the words and actions of Trump. One of his biggest cheerleaders has been Graham. Once a very prescient critic of Trump, Graham quickly turned to defending Trump against all charges and criticisms. It earned him mostly scorn from MAGA-world (of course anyone not named Donald Trump seems to earn scorn from the MAGA-world). Graham now receives scorn from both sides of the aisle—so he’s got that going for him.
[Examples of scorn posted online: “OK, unindicted co-conspirator.”
——————
“Lindsey Graham got caught trying to have Black votes thrown out in Georgia. Keep reminding everyone of this.”]
True story. The good news for Lindsey is that he will get to see Trump “exonerate” himself—according to Donald Trump—at a press conference sometime next week.
Look who’s got a whole stinky angry upper lip like she smelled somethin’ funny. It’s old Kayleigh “Milktoast” McEnany!
We guess she learned her lesson after that one time she ran afoul of her lord and savior Donald Trump by saying some poll numbers that were not as perfect as he might have liked. She has of course joined the chorus of Upset Ursulas who are defending Trump’s honor on the TV, after he so embarrassingly caught his 79th, 80th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th and 91st felony charges last night in Georgia.
In the clip we will feature for our end of day dessert post, the one where we discuss what the moral of today’s stories are and reflect on how America can do better tomorrow, Ms. McEnany is bein’ a real Kayleigh McGRRRARGHenany about Hillary Clinton’s appearance on the Maddow show last evening.
She is also being a major fucking liar, because she is major fucking liar. When she goes to hell, the devil will be like “Hey bud, those were some good dang lies, and I am the Father of Those, so you know it means something coming from me!” and she’ll be like “Aw shucks” and then they will line dance to that “Rich Men North Of Richmond” song, assuming it is country line dancing night that night, in hell.
WE DIGRESS.
In this clip, McEnany is FURIOUS WE SAY FURIOUS that Hillary Clinton went on the Maddow show last night and wouldn’t stop maniacally devil laughing at Trump for being indicted. [video at the link]
The clip begins with a typical braindead Fox News discussion about how it’s fine for Donald Trump to try to overthrow the Republic because “Stacey Abrams” and because he was just asking questions. The chyron? “Hillary Clinton laughs over Trump GA indictment.” Uh oh! Lying garbage trash liars are lying!
McEnany said, “It’s SO GROSS to see her laughing! Positively giddy!” McEnany claimed that after the third indictment, she turned on CNN and there was Hillary Clinton, “cackling!”
Now we don’t know what this lying fucking liar thinks she saw on CNN after the third indictment, but we know that this Fox News segment was about his fourth, and the headline was that Hillary Clinton was laughing.
Which isn’t true.
It is true that Clinton has an uproarious laugh and makes for great screengrabs, but if you actually watched Clinton’s interview with Maddow, you saw that while they kind of laughed briefly about how they didn’t know they’d be talking about this when they set up the interview, the rest of it was quite somber and serious. […]
“I don’t feel any satisfaction, I feel great, you know, just great profound sadness that we have a former president that has been indicted for so many charges that went right to the heart of whether or not our democracy would survive.”
And Hillary Clinton’s commentary continued from there.
And any Fox News pundit or chyron who tells you otherwise is lying, the way they did about Dominion Voting Systems, because that’s the kind of contempt they have for their viewers.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Francesca Gino, a researcher on dishonesty who last month was placed on administrative leave from Harvard Business School after allegations of systematic data manipulation in four papers she co-authored. The alleged data manipulation appeared, in a few cases, chillingly blatant. Looking at Microsoft Excel version control (which stores old versions of a current file), various rows in a spreadsheet of data seem manipulated. The data before the apparent manipulation failed to show evidence of the effect the researchers had hoped to find; the data after it did.
In total, three researchers — Joe Simmons, Leif Nelson, and Uri Simonsohn — published four blog posts to their blog Data Colada, pointing out places where the data in these papers shows signs of being manipulated. In 2021, they also privately reported their finding to Harvard, which conducted an investigation before placing Gino on leave and sending retraction notices for the papers in question.
Gino is now suing the three researchers who published the blog posts pointing out the alleged data manipulation, asking for “not less than $25 million.” (She is also suing Harvard.) Her argument is that because of the allegations of fraud, she lost her professional reputation and a lot of income. (Harvard Business School professors can make a lot of money through speaking appearances and book deals). I reached out to Gino for comment earlier this week but did not hear back before publication deadline…
The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use any at-home tests made by Universal Meditech, Inc. (UMI), the company behind an illegal medical lab hidden in a warehouse in the small city of Reedley, California. The lab was shut down earlier this year by local, state, and federal agencies, which are still working to clear the site, properly dispose of all its hazardous contents, and investigate those responsible…
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows officially filed Tuesday to move the case brought against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into federal court, just a day after he was indicted along with former President Donald Trump and 17 others on charges of attempting to overturn Trump’s election loss in the state.
The filing from Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger and Atlanta-based attorney Joseph Englert is based on a federal law that they argue requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office…
After years of neglecting electronic warfare, the US Army is rushing to revitalize its jamming capabilities.
The catalyst is the Ukraine war, where cheap but plentiful drones are playing a vital — almost decisive — role, doing everything from spotting for artillery to destroying armored vehicles.
At the same time, jamming has emerged as perhaps the most effective counter-drone weapon: Ukraine may be losing 10,000 drones a month — many to Russian electronic-warfare systems — while Ukraine is striving to boost its jamming capabilities. Rather than using scarce and expensive anti-aircraft missiles and guns to shoot down a drone that may cost only a few hundred dollars, it’s easier to disrupt the link between the drone and its operator, causing it to crash.
This has put fresh impetus behind the US Army’s electronic-warfare upgrades. The Army is “fundamentally reinvesting in rebuilding our tactical electronic-warfare capability after that largely left the force over the last 20 years,” Douglas Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology, told reporters during an August 7 roundtable discussion…
Three suspected spies for Russia in the UK have been arrested and charged in a major national security investigation, the BBC can reveal.
The defendants, all Bulgarian nationals, were held in February and have been remanded in custody since.
They are charged with possessing identity documents with “improper intention”, and are alleged to have had these knowing they were fake.
It is alleged they were working for the Russian security services.
The documents include passports, identity cards and other documents for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
The trio were among five people arrested in February on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act…
Last month, the United States approved the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine. The decision was controversial, as the munitions are banned by treaty in over 100 countries. But it was a smart move: At a time of severe ammunition shortage, the U.S. had over 3 million rounds of cluster munitions waiting to be destroyed. It was better to put them to use, providing Ukraine with a brand new capability previously out of their reach. I wrote about the decision here and here.
A Russian Telegram account, from an officer supposedly at the front, shows just how effective those cluster bombs have been.
The Telegram account of “Colonel Shuvalov” (an obvious nom de guerre) has been a fierce critic of Russian military disinformation, recently bemoaning local commanders for sending false information to Moscow for fear of being held accountable for their losses. He’s also been apoplectic about the effectiveness of Ukraine cluster munitions.
Note: There’s no confirmation that he’s indeed a Russian colonel, or even a Russian, so apply the requisite grain of salt. Also note that I’ve run the Russian-language posts through Telegram’s translate feature, then adjusted the translation for readability. I don’t think I introduced any translation errors, but … you are forewarned.
Anyway, let’s go to the posts. The first one is from July 25:
About cluster munitions
The situation with cluster munitions is extremely difficult. Undoubtedly, we have the largest stocks of such ammunition. But all the good news ends there.
First, any ammunition needs a gun. And our counter-battery situation is a little worse than catastrophic, and trending worse. To this day, there is no systemic solution, while the generals and officers who raised this issue were exiled to the very edge of the borders or to Syria.
“Counter-battery” refers to the destruction of enemy artillery. Ukraine has clear advantages in the radars that triangulate the location of artillery batteries, drones to hunt them, and longer-range artillery to hit them. Apparently, any Russian officer who brings up the seriousness of the situation gets exiled.
Secondly, the parity of losses from the use of cluster munitions by both sides. I do not want to please the enemy by providing accurate data from different sectors of the front, but so far the ratio of “cluster war” is in the range between 1:4 to 1:7, and this is not in our favor. [That is, seven Ukrainian cluster shells to a single Russian one]. Taking into account the fact that the technique is taking out our guns, the ratio will grow in an even worse direction for us over time.
Thirdly, it is necessary to separately consider the strategy for the integrated use of these munitions. The enemy does not just attack – he initially cuts off both the supply routes and the retreat of our units with such shelling. Without a comprehensive solution (satellite reconnaissance, aerial reconnaissance on the ground, the availability of operational reserves and evacuation mechanisms), we cannot effectively respond.
Fourth, there is nothing wrong with admitting that there is a problem and starting to solve it. If only because until the problem is recognized, its solution cannot be decomposed into an administrative-command structure of decisions.
Fifth, it is foolish to hope that, although excellent for their time morally and technically, our outdated ammunition can compete with modern foreign developments. The enemy has significant dominance in both ammunition and guns. No one talks about panic, but in such conditions we are about to run into a qualitative shift in the parity of forces. Are we ready to pay for one destroyed enemy with 25-30 of our guys? The answer is obvious, right? Well, then why are we doing everything that will get us there? Or rather, why are we not doing anything to prevent such a situation?
Sixth, if we continue to hush up the problem, then the enemy will promote it. As a result, in addition to problematic losses, we will have a powerful demoralizing factor at the front. And then you can arrest 10 or 100 generals and even shoot all the colonels— the situation will not get any better.
Guys, the problem needs to be solved. So far, we have a local catastrophe with parity in the use of cluster munitions. We will not react – the catastrophe will not go away, but will become global
While the author is fixated on the ratio of cluster munitions between the two sides, his problem is really Russia’s lack of effective counter-battery operations and the resulting artillery disparity between the two sides. Cluster munitions exacerbate the problem two ways: They have given Ukraine a new steady supply of ammunition sorely lacking as recently as last month, and cluster bombs are a great way to take out artillery without needing to use expensive laser-guided shells or GMLRS rockets (costing over $100,000 each) or hope for a lucky shot from conventional artillery. [Tweet and video at the link]
Colonel Shuvalov followed up with another update today:
And again about cluster munitions, it’s hard for me to understand why we need to manipulate statistics if in response to our bluster, we suffer colossal real difficulties.
I already wrote about cluster munitions – https://t.me/shouvalov/20. Basically nothing has changed, but a lot needs to be added. The authorities were fully informed that everything was not as it seemed in the initial reports. It is impossible not to take into account the effects of modern Western cluster munitions—they shamelessly mow down both fighters at the front (not only at the front) and civilian infrastructure in the rear.
Note: I was going to mock the claim of “modern” Western cluster munitions, but it turns out the U.S. didn’t stop manufacturing those shells until 2008. So relative to the Soviet junk Russia has, that is quite modern.
Civil infrastructure is a separate item. Cluster shells recently flew over Tokmok and devastated trucks and drivers. The Defense Ministry decided not to publicize this because there was a risk of reciprocal publication of data from the enemy with arguments that the civilian targets were not quite simple and not very civilian. But there were military correspondents with sources in the camp who unleashed anger on the vile NATO members to their readers with attached videos as proof—something the enemy might not have had. And now the enemy can quite boldly show that their goals were legal from a military point of view. And all by our hands…
So, a couple of things here. First of all, the translation is a bit rough, but I’m pretty sure he means that by releasing video of the attack’s aftermath, those Russian sources showed that the target was legitimately military, preventing Russia from pretending the target was civilian.
He might be referring to this video, in which you can hear ammunition cooking off: [Tweet, map and video at the link]
Furthermore, there’s zero chance Ukraine hit Tokmak with cluster munitions. They are simply not in range. Any such strikes would’ve needed GMLRS rocket artillery or Storm Shadow cruise missiles. I don’t doubt the guy believes it; it’s such a stupid thing to lie about, and it’s what gives this account an air of authenticity to me. The fog of war is thick for those in the midst of that fog, and I could see how cluster bombs could be suddenly blamed for all of Russia’s ills, just like GMLRS rocket artillery was once credited for every single Ukrainian attack against Russia, even when it clearly wasn’t involved.
We [the Russian government] should have focused all our efforts into blocking the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine: to declare that we would not use such munitions, to tear apart the Europeans who have banned cluster munitions. There was a chance. But they [the Americans] assumed we were weak and we happily fell for it and declared that we had plenty of these munitions ourselves.
Yes, we have many. You can search for photos. Basically, an illiquid asset killed by time, the rest—morally and technically obsolete. And with the guns, everything is not very good.
Very smart thought, and again, it gives this account an air of authenticity. When the U.S. announced it would deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine, it tore the NATO alliance apart, eliciting fierce denouncements from several European capitals and restlessness among key Democrats. Russia could’ve smartly played them all off against each other. Imagine key well-meaning progressive Democrats joining with pro-Putin MAGA Republicans to defund the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Imagine Biden facing a revolt among our European allies if he carried through on the promise to deliver those shells.
Instead, Russia loudly declared that they had more cluster bombs than Ukraine and would “start” using them (despite the myriad videos showing that Russia had used cluster munitions from the first day of the war). It turned the story from “Ukraine uses banned munitions” to “both sides do it.” At that point, Ukraine was home free, and all resistance to the American deliveries dissipated.
If the author is right and Russia’s own supply of cluster munitions are old, nonfunctional, and obsolete, well, that just adds an extra dose of irony to the situation.
Now you can’t undo the situation. And when you are proven weak, it’s stupid to scare you with the fact that “I’m not weak twice already”—it’s stupid [I can’t make that more readable, it must be some Russian proverb]. The [Russian] General Staff already understands this, but they cannot fix it, there is no solution. The guys on the front line are taking a beating, and it’s not easy at all. Those wounded by cluster munitions often die, and this is a very painful and terrible death. The enemy has learned (yes, imagine, they are also learning!) to cut off the path of reinforcements or the withdrawal of forces with artillery, and trenches do not protect from cluster munitions. You can’t save yourself with a tourniquet, after being hit by cluster bombs you need solid medical care, if you even survived. In the trenches, a terrible mess is left with the living and the dying, who are sometimes completely impossible to help.
In such cases, the enemy methodically waits for our forces rushing to help their comrades. I saw all this in Chechnya, when a sniper left a wounded man to pull other guys to him. But there was actually a single work, but with cluster bombs—it is similar, but scaled up tens and hundreds of times. We need a counter-battery fight, but it is not there. You need a lot of things, but first of all—you need to finally admit the problem and start solving it, and not throw around the words that “we will hit you now, yes, we will hit you kaaaaak.”
It’s not some colonel from a hospital bed shouting about the problem dealing with cluster munitions. It’s the voices of hundreds of guys dying in terrible agony in the trenches and the widows of hundreds killed by them in just these couple of weeks that are shouting about these problems. And I specifically do not specify whether there are really hundreds, or already thousands—we will not please the enemy with statistics. [It’s clearly thousands, sheesh, he’s not really trying to hide it well.]
The army needs a solution. The cluster munition situation is terrible, and worst of all, we try to hide the problem when we need a solution. And this is already beyond the capabilities of individual generals and commanders to fix.
The frustration is palpable, but there honestly is no solution. He’s clearly saying that Moscow needs to solve the situation, but where is Russia going to get longer-range artillery? Their best option is to manufacture more kamikaze drones, but Ukraine is reportedly getting better at the electronic warfare capabilities needed to counter them. And in any case, Russia still has to find the guns, and they clearly lack the reconnaissance abilities (counter-battery radar, satellite, aircraft, drone) to find Ukrainian guns and destroy them before they have a chance to scatter.
And as for supplies, the U.S. will no longer use cluster bombs, so unlike other weapons in short supply, there’s no reason not to clear out its entire stock of three million shells. Ukraine won’t lack artillery munitions for the rest of this war. By the time they’ve burned through these cluster shells, regular shell production in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere (Pakistan, maybe South Korea) will be able to meet demand. And until then, 3 million cluster bombs will kill a lot of Russians, and clear a lot of positions.
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
wzrd1says
Lynna, OM @ 146, I take exception to one remark, as I’ve met Trump and as I’ve committed no crimes, remain without indictment or accusation. ;)
Reginald Selkirk @ 160, the US Big Army always did have a major weakness, preparing to fight the next war – based upon the last war. Hence, being unprepared for Nazi Germany in WWII, unprepared for the Korean War, trying to fight the Korean War in Vietnam, the GWOT, being so disorganized as to be literally unclassifiable and now, finding suddenly it’s technologies are making it irrelevant with a basic jamming kit.
I’ll not go into specifics, but one could, were one still around, build a proper jamming kit with modern technology from parts scored from a local Radio Shack. Of course, there are other parts sources now, one of my personal favorites is DigiKey, individual parts at a moderate premium, get ’em by the roll on industrial cheap.
Can get parts cheaper from China, but those can get so sketchy I’d not trust them on a masturbation toy for a chipmunk. OK, a rat, as I happen to like chipmunks, rats, not so much after a brief problem with two.
Rats, unlike Trump, are too smart for their own good. Trump does the whole comic series villain thing, quite fully, complete with incriminating monologue.
Big Army doesn’t actually look ahead, usually, for once it is. Now, it’s catch-up time. Literally looking like the mess when the “carcinotron” was discovered (“cancer for RADAR”, actually properly named backward wave oscillators) by NATO allies a half century ago or so. Today, I can do that with variable capacitor diodes, tunneling diodes, etc. All, relying upon quantum mechanics, which knowledge haters loathe.
Well, right until the bald monkey finds out the rock he wants to hit the other bald monkey over the head with won’t work, then he goes and looks up the rejected outcase and embraces them.
If at the inception of humanity, knowledge and learning was equally rejected, we’d still not have fucking fire.
birgerjohansson @ #142, admittedly I’ve had a gummy, but that grew on me. The part about the numbers in the first one is really funny (especially when they point out that his spreadsheet has one line listing 615,000 votes but with no explanation of what allegedly makes them problematic or illegitimate). I was crying laughing in the second one when they talk about how he interrupted his movie with breaking news.
wzrd1says
A commentary here.
Last week, CNN was rife with coverage of a faltering Ukraine attack. Doom was forecast, in uppercase and skeletons or something.
Given CNN’s coverage, based upon early D-day invasion numbers, CNN would’ve declared WWII lost, the Nazis won. They fixated upon one phase, fixed the time and snapshotted badly off target.
Now, I use a number of sources, many not US based, but diverse enough to typically not get factional diverted in specific viewpoints.
Most of the world doesn’t.
I do use NPR, glancingly, previously more, but after Trump’s sabotage attempts, not as much. Now, I’m trusting BBC to a fair extent, Al Jazeera and a few others (at least I do personally know some of the AJ correspondents personally, given we shared a villa compound in their nation and have been to their homes (many being former BBC correspondents)).
And given my former occupation, press is viewed with distrust, lest operational details go astray and a mission turns into a bloodbath, rather than as clean as possible, usually.
Details, no, but generalities, yes.
Although, with the GWOT, all conventions of warfare were out the window, non-signatory, non-participation, etc.
We did a little better than the other guys, that’s still an ongoing project to do even better and accomplish the mission. Hence, authorizing SF issue hollowpoints…
Yeah, I don’t drink enough.
wzrd1says
SC @ 165, have you saw a doctor about that gummy growth? It could cause serious harm, as excessive laughter can cause death by exhaustion!
I’ll just get my ball sock on the way out the door…
is currently spaking at the National Press Club on TV – c2, ABC – right now. (SA timezone obvs.) Don’t agree with her on everything but she often has some interesting and good things to say.
Robotyne keeps looking better and better. [Tweet and map at the link: “Ukrainian forces have broken through the Russian defense positions in the north and east of Robotyne and pushed the enemy from significant parts out of the town. Also, some areas west of the town have been cleared from any Russian presence.”]
Robotyne is important as it would put Tokmak, one of Russia’s most important logistical hubs on the entire front, within range of tube artillery. At that point, Ukraine could hit Russian targets in the city using cluster munitions.
Some reports have Russians clinging to the last southern corner of the town while Ukrainian forces advance on the eastern flank.
This all points puts Ukraine well south of that first defensive line in this area: [map at the link shows Russian defensive emplacements.]
The pace of advance has certainly picked up in the past week. It points to a collapsing Russian defense. Now we wait to see if Russia rallies with reserves, or if Ukraine will continue to gain steadily.
Meanwhile, Russian sources are now admitting their advance toward Kupyansk in the Kharkiv/Luhansk border is slowing because of a “troop rotation.” What we know for sure is that Ukrainian claims that Russia had amassed 100,000 troops and hundreds of tanks in that axis of advance were bullshit. I said it at the time, and it’s borne out. There was no way Russia was committing that kind of force up there.
Ukraine never took the bait, happy to cede some territory as the defense continues to be manned by lesser-equipped and trained Territorial Defense Forces. They certainly haven’t felt the need to rush reserves up there, which is the entire reason Russia is pushing here.
On the heels of a fourth indictment for Donald Trump, President Joe Biden focused on manufacturing jobs in a speech at a Wisconsin factory — putting his ideas for growth up against his Republican rivals in a bid to win over voters in a key state in next year’s presidential election.
Sounds like Ron DeSantis in Florida paved the way for other Republican governors to hobble education.
NBC News:
The Arkansas Education Department abruptly removed course credit for an Advanced Placement African American Studies course, just months after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed bills limiting what educators can teach in public schools.
The Biden administration is highlighting its efforts to combat abuses in the consumer-data industry, with regulators such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau planning on issuing new rules and pledging aggressive oversight of so-called data brokers that compile and sell data on millions of Americans.
The company formerly known as Twitter on Tuesday slowed the speed with which users could access links to the New York Times, Facebook and other news organizations and online competitors, a move that appeared targeted at companies that have drawn the ire of owner Elon Musk.
Mike Davis, who is a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley was interviewed on Fox News:
“Under the Georgia law, there is a statute that limits the Republican governor’s ability to pardon, and I think that the legislature in Georgia needs to amend that statute and give Governor Kemp the ability to pardon in this situation because this is clear election interference,” Davis said. “[…] they are trying to have Democrat prosecutors, Democrat judges and Democrat juries and Democrat hellholes decide the next presidential election instead of the American people.”
Though the state’s legislature is controlled by Republicans and an amendment to the state constitution could be proposed in either the state House or Senate, changing the constitution in Georgia, like other states, would be a significant undertaking, requiring the approval of both a supermajority in the legislature and of Georgia voters.
[…] even if Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp were so inclined, he doesn’t have that option [to pardon Trump]. Georgia is one of very few states where the governor has no pardon power at all. Trump may have picked the very worst place to FAFO.
In 1936, Georgia elected a governor called E. D. “Ed” Rivers. Rivers expanded state services and even offered his state a “Little New Deal.” He supported programs like rural electrification and nearly doubled state spending on education.
Before you start cheering, note that Rivers was also extraordinarily corrupt, even in a state known at the time for corruption. He had a habit of settling disputes with political opponents by sending in the Georgia National Guard. Oh yeah, and he was the “Grand Titan” of the Ku Klux Klan.
But most importantly for this story, one of the ways the violent racist governor was padding his pockets was by selling pardons. Rivers assembled an entire pardon-selling “racket” (too bad there were no racketeering laws at the time) peddling pardons all over the state. He even had a system where he would pre-sign blank pardons, then send a driver around to prisons to see who had the money to get their name filled in. No crime too serious, no bribe too large, just sign here.
The result of this was that Georgia stripped the governor of pardon power.
There are 37 states that leave pardons entirely up to the governor. In another five states, the governor can issue pardons, but only to those people whose names are brought to him by a state pardon board. Seven other states have pardons that are issued by independent commissions, not the governor. Florida is, as you might expect, something of a mess, with both the governor and cabinet members weighing in on pardons.
Technically, Georgia is one of those states that put pardon power entirely in the hands of a pardon board, with no authority to the governor, but Georgia’s board of pardons also has some fairly severe limitations. As with most states, it can’t waive charges that haven’t gone to trial or interrupt trials in progress. So even if that board is packed with MAGA, Trump can’t count on it to bail him out of the case in Fulton County.
But it’s worse than that, because the Georgia board doesn’t hand out pardons in the sense that Trump scattered them among his criminal pals like Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, and Dinesh D’Souza. Nobody in Georgia receives a get out of jail free card.
What the Georgia board provides is a way for people to clear their records … but it can only be delivered five years after any sentence has been fully served. And even then, it comes only if during those five years, the former prisoner has “lived a law-abiding life.”
The only possibility of avoiding jail time if Trump is convicted in Georgia comes buried deep in Georgia Code Title 17, which restores some authority to judges when dealing with mandatory sentences. Whether any aspect of this statute applies to RICO cases like the one Trump and company are facing is something that will take some court decisions all on its own.
Of course, Republicans are already horrified by the idea that Trump could face a sentence that can’t be pardoned, and they are on the case. [Tweet and video featuring Mike Davis. See comment 173.]
I can think of a … few … reasons why Gov. Brian Kemp might not make it priority number one to pardon Trump.
However, there’s an even better reason this is unlikely to happen: That state board of pardons was created through a constitutional amendment, meaning it would take a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Georgia legislature, as well as a statewide vote, to roll that authority back to the governor. Republicans might try an end-run around that by changing the authority of the board, but that would be subject to legal questions unlikely to be settled before Trump has been tucked beneath the rough alongside the 13th tee.
Trump made the bad decision to expressly attempt to overturn votes in a county with a district attorney willing to stand up to the heat of his supporters, to commit crimes that subject Trump to a RICO act that imposes required jail time, and to do it all in a state where no one can bail him out.
This is the “and find out” section of the story. It’s shaping up to be a good one.
Re: #174
“The only possibility of avoiding jail time if Trump is convicted in Georgia comes buried deep in Georgia Code Title 17…” [Which has to do with a work-release program]
This makes it sound as though there would be mandatory prison time if Trump is convicted, and I’ve read the same in other places, though not everywhere.The actual statute reads:
Criminal Penalties for Violation of Code Section 16-14-4 [Trump is charged with violating the RICO Act, O.C.G.A. §16-14-4.]
a. Any person convicted of the offense of engaging in activity in violation of Code Section 16-14-4 shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by not less than five nor more than 20 years’ imprisonment or the fine specified in subsection (b) of this Code section, or both. [My bold.]
It’s true that if he is sentenced to prison the mandatory minimum time is 5 years, but the law allows prison or a fine (or both), the amount being described in the next subsection.
tomhsays
Re: My #175
While conviction on the RICO charge doesn’t ensure that Trump goes to jail, there is one charge that does. If they can convict him on charge #5, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, O.C.G.A. §16-4-7, the penalty reads:
GA Code § 16-4-7 (2022)
b. A person convicted of the offense of criminal solicitation to commit a felony shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years.
This is the first charge of all four indictments that would require him to go to jail.
Reginald Selkirksays
@173:
“because this is clear election interference…”
These people just don’t get irony, do they?
He seems to realize that election interference is a bad thing, but then complains when it is prosecuted.
Rare earth elements (REEs) are widely used in renewable energy technology and electronic devices, from cell phones, televisions, and computers to almost every part of a vehicle. The demand for these elements increases annually; however, their supply is geopolitically limited, and they are extracted by environmentally unsustainable mining practices.
Now, researchers from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have created a proof-of-concept solution – extracting REEs from coal fly ash, a fine, powdery waste product from the combustion of coal.
The team developed this novel extraction process using supercritical fluid, commonly used to decaffeinate coffee, to recover these critically needed REEs from material that would have otherwise been discarded in a landfill. A supercritical fluid is a substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point with properties between a liquid and a gas…
wzrd1says
Fox News host suggests we should “get rid of all of the women”. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/media/greg-gutfeld-sexist-rant-fox-news/index.html
Suggested all women should go to Venus.
I suggest he should go to Venus, have a protracted stay in the upper atmosphere, where it’s 1 atmosphere in pressure and the clouds are sulfuric acid, then drop what’s left to the molten lead temperature surface.
Where, incidentally, the atmospheric pressure and density is supercritical.
Seriously, it is.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Tuesday filed to move the case brought against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to federal court.
Meadows’ attorneys argued that federal law requires the removal of the case to federal court when a federal official is acting “under color” of their duties, ABC News reported. Sources told the outlet that former President Donald Trump is expected to mount a similar effort.
Meadows attorney George Terwilliger argued in the filing that the former Trump aide was merely doing his job…
Legal experts expressed skepticism at Meadows’ argument.
Terwilliger is “now in the unenviable position of arguing that using authority one only has because they’re a public official to try to overturn an election is acting [within] the scope of official duties—a tight needle to thread, if he can,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
New York University Law Prof. Ryan Goodman said it was “difficult to see how his defense lawyers can argue he was acting under ‘color of his federal office'” given the allegations against him…
Sergey Surovikin, deputy commander of the joint grouping of Russian troops in Ukraine, has been suspended from his job, placed under house arrest and ordered to keep quiet until his name is forgotten…
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 182, so now we see a defense of, “Your Honor, I was acting in my scope of duties in federal office by committing sedition”.
How well does a lead balloon float again?
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Ukraine’s forces have entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Urozhaine after recapturing the settlement in the Donetsk region from Russian forces, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said. Hanna Maliar posted on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday morning that the village had been liberated, adding that offensive operations continue.
Five sources in Moscow have told Reuters that authorities were considering reimposing stringent capital controls as the rouble showed signs of strain.…
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Russian-built Kerch strait bridge connecting Crimea to the mainland last month, saying it had been conducted by remotely controlled sea drones.
Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the agency, told CNN that the drone, called “sea baby” [:)], was developed internally and that two were packed with 850kg warheads when they exploded and damaged the road and rail bridge on 17 July. Two people were killed in the attack.
“Using these drones we have recently conducted a successful hit of the Crimean Bridge,” Malyuk said, as well as more recent attacks on a Russian warship and an oil tanker, said by Kyiv to be supplying fuel for Russia’s military.
Until now, Kyiv has been coy about taking responsibility for attacks on Russian infrastructure, or in Crimea or in Russia itself, but the intelligence chief was keen to talk up the maritime threat to its enemy.
Malyuk said in the interview:
We are working on a number of new interesting operations, including in the Black Sea waters. I promise you, it’ll be exciting, especially for our enemies.
Russia takes particular pride in the Kerch strait bridge, a 12-mile crossing built after Moscow occupied Crimea in 2014. President Putin was filmed visiting the bridge after its completion, telling workers its construction was a miracle.
But its position as a strategic connection between Crimea and the Russian mainland has made it a repeated target for Ukraine. It was also damaged in an apparent truck bombing last October, an attack that Malyuk also claimed responsibility for, although the intelligence chief declined to provide evidence.
Russia resumed its targeting of grain infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, local officials said on Wednesday, using drones in overnight strikes on storage facilities and ports along the Danube River that Kyiv has increasingly used for grain transport to Europe after Moscow broke off a key wartime export deal through the Black Sea. [More war crimes.]
Here’s Associated Press’ reports on the developments:
Officials say Russia has resumed its targeting of grain infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, using drones in overnight strikes on storage facilities and ports along the Danube River. Kyiv has increasingly used those terminals for grain transport to Europe after Moscow broke off a key wartime export deal through the Black Sea.
At the same time, a loaded container ship stuck at the port of Odesa since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 17 months ago set sail and was heading through the Black Sea to the Bosporus along a temporary corridor established by Ukraine for merchant shipping.
Ukraine’s economy, crunched by the war, is heavily dependent on farming. Its agricultural exports, like those of Russia, are also crucial for world supplies of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food that developing nations rely on.
After the Kremlin tore up a month ago an agreement brokered last summer by the U.N. and Turkey to ensure safe Ukraine grain exports through the Black Sea, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube and road and rail links into Europe. But transport costs that way are much higher, some European countries have balked at the consequences for local grain prices, and the Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports.
Odesa governor Oleh Kiper said the primary targets of Russia’s overnight drone bombardment were port terminals and grain silos, including at the ports in the Danube delta. Air defenses managed to intercept 13 drones, according to Kiper.
It was the latest attack amid weeks of aerial strikes as Russia has targeted the Danube delta ports, which are only about 15km (10 miles) from the Romanian border. The Danube is Europe’s second-longest river and a key transport route.
…Russia has taken deliberate aim at Ukraine’s environment: its rivers, forests and fields. Many of Ukraine’s natural reserves – its animal and sea life, water and impressive biodiversity – have been terribly damaged or polluted. Toxins leak from its damaged industries and infrastructure. Global food security is at risk. The world cannot afford to ignore this growing environmental threat….
…The band said that Flowers’ comments onstage “meant to suggest that all of The Killers’ audience and fans are ‘brothers and sisters’”, but that they recognised this meaning “could be misconstrued”….
Kyiv angrily rejects proposal from secretary general’s chief of staff, saying it would reward Russian aggression…
…Jenssen was careful to stress that he was simply airing an idea and that “it must be up to Ukraine to decide when and on what terms they want to negotiate”, reflecting Nato’s position that no peace settlement with Ukraine should be agreed without Ukraine….
Colonel General Gennady Zhidko, a top Russian Army commander who was dismissed as Moscow suffered setbacks in the Ukraine war, has died at the age of 57, a regional governor announced on Wednesday.
The former commander of Russia’s Eastern Military District and the former Russian deputy minister of defense died in Moscow “after a long illness,” Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of Khabarovsk Krai said in a post on Telegram.
Zhidko served as Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria in 2016, and in 2018 was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District. He was made deputy minister of defense in 2021.
In October 2022, he was removed from his post as commander of the Southern Grouping of Forces and replaced by General Sergei Surovikin, after just months on the job. His dismissal came as Russia suffered heavy losses in the war….
After Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed her own state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, for defending the integrity of Georgia’s system of elections, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked the right-wing congresswoman about a possible U.S. Senate campaign in 2026. “I haven’t made up my mind whether I will do that or not,” she replied. “I have a lot of things to think about. Am I going to be a part of President Trump’s Cabinet if he wins? Is it possible that I’ll be VP?”
Lawfare: What the Heck Happened in Coffee County, Georgia? A detailed look back at the computer intrusion that features prominently in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s election interference indictment
Anna Bower / August 15, 2023
Shortly before noon on Jan. 7, 2021, with the nation still reeling from the aftermath of the attempted insurrection in Washington, D.C., a Republican Party official ushers a computer forensics team into an elections office in far-away Coffee County, Georgia.
According to a combination of court filings, depositions in subsequent litigation, and the indictment filed Monday evening in Fulton County, Georgia, the forensics team—a group of employees of an Atlanta-based firm called SullivanStrickler—has driven into the rural south Georgia town of Douglas at the behest of Sidney Powell, a lawyer working with then-President Donald Trump’s legal team. They are joined by a man named Scott Hall, a bail bondsman and Republican poll watcher who flew down separately from Atlanta.
Cathy Latham, a public school teacher and chairwoman of the Coffee County GOP, escorts the group inside. There, they are welcomed by two local elections officials, Misty Hampton and Eric Chaney, and a former member of the elections board, Ed Voyles.
Video surveillance detailed in the litigation shows what happens next: Over the course of several hours, the forensics team handles, scans, and copies the state’s most sensitive voting software and equipment. All of this takes place without authorization from any court of law. The elections board will later claim it did not authorize the entry or copying, which the Georgia secretary of state’s office has referred to as “unauthorized access to the equipment that former Coffee County election officials allowed in violation of state law.”
Days before the forensics team sets foot in Douglas, which is about 130 miles southwest of Savannah, voters had arrived at the elections office to mark their ballots in the state’s runoff election for the U.S. Senate, a race that would tip the balance of power in the upper house of Congress. Two months before that, some 15,000 people flocked to the polls in the rural county, as Joe Biden and Donald Trump battled for the presidency. Later, in a recorded phone call entered as evidence in litigation, Hall will claim that the forensics group “scanned every freaking ballot” cast in those races.
“They scanned all the equipment, imaged all the hard drives, and scanned every single ballot,” he will say in March 2021.
Throughout the month of January 2021, similar breaches occur on at least three other occasions, as additional outsiders are again given access to the state’s voting equipment. Forensic copies are subsequently accessed by more than a dozen individuals across several states, the court records show.
Until Monday, no individual involved in the apparent breach in Coffee County had been held accountable. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has said that it has been investigating the matter for more than a year, prompting questions about the sluggishness of the investigation. An open records request submitted by Lawfare to Coffee County reveals that the GBI recently seized the desktop computer used by Hampton at the elections office—more than two and a half years after the breach. Meanwhile, at the federal level, there have been no public signs that the Justice Department or the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith has taken any steps to investigate the events in Coffee County, despite calls for them to do so.
A separate open records request submitted by Lawfare returned no responsive documents for subpoenas or other communications between Coffee County elections officials and federal law enforcement authorities. A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Yet, just over 200 miles from Douglas, in Atlanta, one prosecutor has taken a deep interest in the events in Coffee County.
In her sweeping indictment handed up on Monday, the Coffee County breach features prominently throughout. Powell, Latham, Hall, and Hampton are all charged under the mammoth indictment’s racketeering charge, which alleges that “several of the Defendants corruptly conspired … to unlawfully access secure voting equipment and voter data” and “stole data, including ballot images, voting equipment software and personal voter information.” According to the indictment, the “stolen data was then distributed to other members of the enterprise, including members in other states.”
In addition, Powell, Latham, Hall, and Hampton face charges of conspiracy to commit election fraud (Counts 32-33), conspiracy to commit computer theft (Count 34), conspiracy to commit computer trespass (Count 35), conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy (Count 36), and conspiracy to defraud the state (Count 37).
Unlike many criminal defendants, former president Donald Trump is not shy about attacking prosecutors who have brought charges against him. His presidential campaign is airing this television ad, which attacks the three prosecutors who have charged him with felonies, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who has sued the Trump family and the Trump Organization on charges they engaged in widespread fraud. The ad includes Trump’s voice at the end saying, “I’m Donald J. Trump and I approve this message.”
Most of the prosecutors get just one-line attacks. More than half of the 60-second ad focuses on Willis (D), the district attorney for Georgia’s Fulton County. Willis charged Trump with seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, according to an indictment unveiled Monday night after a 2½-year investigation.
The Trump campaign provided The Fact Checker with the source material for the claims, with Trump spokesman Steven Cheung saying “the ad cleared legal from all the networks.” But upon inspection, three of the four claims made in the ad fall apart pretty quickly. Here’s our assessment of the statements, in the order they appear in the ad. After the ad appeared, Willis sent an email to her staff saying it contained “derogatory and false information about me.”
Since this is a roundup, we’re not issuing a Pinocchio rating — but three of these claims fall in the Three-to-Four-Pinocchio range.
“So incompetent, on her watch violent crimes have exploded.”
During the voice-over, this text appears on the screen: “Atlanta violence: Nearly 60% more murders so far this year.” The source cited in the ad is a local Atlanta Fox News report from June 15, 2021. Cheung also supplied another report, from the same TV station, saying Atlanta homicides increased for the third consecutive year in 2022.
Note that the ad claims there were “60 percent more murders this year” but the article is from 2021. That meant it covered only the first six months of Willis’s tenure as district attorney, during a period when crime had spiked nationwide in part because of the pandemic. That’s a misleading metric.
It’s now two years later — and crime is falling. Through Aug. 5, homicides in Atlanta are down nearly 25 percent from 2022 (from 97 killings to 73) and rape has been cut in half (from 81 incidents to 36). Aggravated assault is down 22 percent.
“So tainted, Willis was thrown off one case for trying to prosecute a political opponent.”
This claim has validity. The ad cites a New York Times article that describes an embarrassing incident in the investigation of the Trump election case — when an Atlanta judge disqualified Willis from seeking a criminal case against one person allied with Trump.
State Sen. Burt Jones (R), one of 16 pro-Trump “alternate electors” in Georgia, was running for lieutenant governor and Willis had hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic opponent. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said that presented a conflict of interest, calling Willis’s decision to headline the fundraiser a “what-are-you-thinking moment.”
Jones, who won in 2022, is not out of the woods yet. Now that Willis has brought charges against other alternate electors, a special prosecutor will be named to see if Jones also should face criminal charges. [Good]
“So corrupt, Willis got caught hiding a relationship with a gang member she was prosecuting.”
This is the most off-the-wall claim. As framed, the ad appears to suggest some sort of intimate relationship between Willis and the gang member. That’s bad enough. But it also gets a basic fact wrong — she was not prosecuting the gang member in question but friends of his.
Cheung directed us to articles in Rolling Stone and the Root, as well as a YouTube clip from No Jumper Clips discussing the Rolling Stone article.
The key article is from Rolling Stone, which interviewed one of Willis’s last clients, a co-founder of the Young Stoner Life music crew, before she switched from being a defense lawyer to a prosecutor. The client, YSL Mondo, said Willis defended him in a 2019 aggravated assault case and told Rolling Stone he was puzzled why she had now brought a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) case alleging the group was a criminal gang.
Mondo, whose legal name is Fremondo Crenshaw, was not charged in the YSL indictment brought by Willis, which claims the group is responsible for murders across Atlanta. But since the Rolling Stone interview appeared, Mondo has been charged with gun, drug and gang charges in DeKalb County. He is also awaiting trial on a separate case in Cobb County after police say he strangled and assaulted a woman. (Both counties are outside Willis’s jurisdiction.)
“This is not her character, this is not who she is,” Mondo told Rolling Stone. “I done had auntie-to-nephew, mother-to-son type of talks with her. I know this not her character.” He called her a “great attorney” but said he hadn’t spoken to her since his case was resolved.
Willis didn’t try to hide the relationship when Rolling Stone asked for comment, saying, “I can say I liked him” and hoped he was doing well. “When I represented [him], he received 110% effort from me,” she told Rolling Stone. “I advocated for him with zeal. I tend to meet my clients where they are. I hope you understand what that means. I want to see him do amazing things with his life, and I hope that’s where he’s headed.”
The ad only hints at a “relationship,” but four days after the ad first appeared, Trump dropped any pretense of nuance during a speech in Windham, N.H. In the speech, Trump claimed: “They say — I guess — they say that she was after a certain gang and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member.” He made a similar statement in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
“So dishonest, Willis was accused of creating a fake subpoena.”
Note that the ad says Willis was accused of doing this. The ad also includes text that says “Fani Willis was accused of prosecutorial misconduct,” attributing this claim to attorney Brian Steel. There was such an accusation, though it did not concern Willis — and it was rejected.
Steel is the attorney for Young Thug, the leader of YSL. He filed a motion asking for the charges against Jeffery Williams (Young Thug’s real name) be dismissed because the district attorney’s office issued what he called a “sham subpoena” to obtain information from Hertz about a car rented in Williams’s name that allegedly was tied to a homicide in the case.
But the subpoena was issued in 2016 — four years before Willis became the district attorney. Steel’s accusation concerned the district attorney’s office — not Willis herself.
In any case, the judge in the case in December denied Steel’s motion, saying the Hertz records could remain in the case. So the accusation failed.
When Sen. Ron Johnson sat down with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo late last week, the interview began on an unfortunate note. The host boasted about having taken ivermectin to treat Covid in 2020, adding, “and now three years later, the FDA says, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s fine. Take ivermectin.’”
That wasn’t even close to being true. The FDA does not tell the public that ivermectin is a “fine” treatment for Covid because it’s not: The FDA, NIH, World Health Organization, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and even the company that makes ivermectin all agree that the drug is not effective in treating Covid.
Alas, the interview did not improve as the Wisconsin Republican started sharing related thoughts of his own. As The Daily Beast summarized:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) went on an epic fear-mongering rant on Friday, telling Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that COVID-19 was “pre-planned” by unnamed elites with the goal of taking away human rights. “This is all pre-planned by an elite group of people,” Johnson said when discussing the pandemic and vaccines with the right-wing TV host, adding that this group wants “to take total control over our lives.”
[…] Johnson has cultivated a dreadful record on everything from to the Jan. 6 attack to Russian disinformation to the 2020 presidential election.
But I continue to believe Johnson’s most dangerous rhetoric has focused on Covid and vaccines. […] desperately trying to undermine public confidence in the vaccines.
He’s also the senator who famously suggested that people should use mouthwash as a coronavirus treatment.
I mention all of this for a few reasons. The first, obviously, is that it’s quite odd to see a prominent public official — who actually led the Senate committee responsible for domestic security policy for six long years — claim that Covid was “pre-planned” by a secret group of “elite” people he hasn’t identified. It’s unfortunate when a random crank on Twitter says this to his four followers, but it’s more unsettling when a three-term U.S. senator peddles the line to a national television audience.
[…] the far-right Wisconsinite has no idea what he’s talking about.
But let’s also not forget that Johnson has been equally eager of late to share a variety of other ideas. The Republican returned to Fox Business on Tuesday, for example, insisting that he “knows” that there were “all kinds of irregularities” in the 2020 presidential election, adding that his conspiracy theories about the election are “indisputable.”
A day later, Johnson appeared on Newsmax, another conservative outlet, claiming that prosecutors holding Donald Trump accountable for alleged crimes makes the senator feel as if the United States is “like the Soviet Union.”
The rhetoric was, of course, quite bonkers, but for conservative voters unsure what to believe, consider the larger context: The far-right politician telling the public that U.S. officials are trying to “imprison their political opponents” is the same far-right politician who claims Covid was “pre-planned by an elite group of people.”
As a GOP lawmaker introduces an impeachment resolution targeting President Biden, it’s a good time to ask: How many of these measures are we up to now?
Rep. Greg Steube isn’t exactly known for moderation. Last month, for example, the Florida Republican said he believes President Joe Biden might’ve committed “treason,” and the congressman is counting on a future GOP administration to “move forward with charges like that.”
Steube, however, isn’t necessarily prepared to wait that long to go after the Democratic president. Last week, the far-right Floridian appeared on Newsmax, a conservative media outlet, to boast about a new impeachment resolution he intended to file, which he said would go after Biden “for bribery, for extortion, obstruction of justice, fraud, [and] financial involvement in drugs and prostitution.”
[…] For the record, the text of the impeachment resolution really does accuse Biden of “financial involvement in drug and prostitution activities,” which I think breaks new historical ground for unhinged congressional allegations against a sitting American president.
There is no reason to assume anyone will actually take Steube’s measure seriously — it currently has zero co-sponsors — but its introduction got me thinking: How many Republican impeachment resolutions targeting Biden are we up to now?
The answer, it turns out, is six.
– Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was first, unveiling her anti-Biden impeachment resolution on May 18. (It currently has four co-sponsors.)
– Rep. Bill Posey of Florida acted on the same day, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution also on May 18. (It currently has one co-sponsor.)
– Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee was next, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution on June 12. (It currently has three co-sponsors.)
– Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was fourth, unveiling her anti-Biden impeachment resolution a day later on June 13. (It currently has four co-sponsors.)
– Rep. Chip Roy of Texas was fifth, unveiling his anti-Biden impeachment resolution on June 22. (It currently has zero co-sponsors.)
And now Steube has joined the unfortunate club. (There are, incidentally, other pending impeachment resolutions targeting other members of the administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, among others.)
I don’t seriously expect any of these resolutions to pass the House, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly raised the prospect of an impeachment inquiry […]
You’ve probably noticed that Donald Trump has announced that he’s holding a press conference Monday in which he’ll release a 100-page report which shows both that the 2020 election in Georgia was “stolen” and that all charges against him and his criminal associates should be dropped. In other words, he’s responding to the charges by doubling down on the Big Lie. This isn’t surprising. Trump only has one gear — all-in and over-the-top. But as Clark Neily says in this post at CATO, “Being an inveterate liar is a major liability in litigation.”
He also has an apt description of who Trump is. These are all points we’ve made before. But it’s a tight and concise run-through.
America has seen its fair share of lying politicians, but Donald Trump is in a class of his own. He appears to view literally any interaction with another human being as an opportunity to be exploited and a game to be won. In Trump’s world, rules are for chumps, norms are for losers, and the truth is whatever you can get another person to believe — nothing more. And of course, history makes clear that this approach has been quite effective at advancing Trump’s interests in certain settings — preening on the set of a game show, for example, or spinning up a fawning, frothing crowd at a campaign event.
But not only will those antics not work in a courtroom, they will backfire. Given the nature of the allegations against him, Trump will have to take the stand even though he has a right not to, and given his nature, he will lie to the jury just like he has lied to everyone else his entire life.
I note this because Trump’s press conference seems to presage a new and insipid public debate about what Donald Trump really believes. We’d be remiss if we didn’t note that it’s actually irrelevant what Trump believes. Believing the bank owes you money isn’t a defense for robbing the bank. But that’s not the core point. Trump’s current antics are like a liar’s version of a fake insanity defense in which the defendant makes a spectacle of bizarre behavior to prove his case. Surely, we’re supposed be thinking, or rather doubting, he wouldn’t go back to the well, provide yet more evidence for the prosecution, unless he somehow truly believe this stuff.
But Trump doesn’t think of truth or lies the way you or I do. Most imperfect people, which is to say all of us, exist in a tension between what we believe is true and what is good for or pleasing to us. If we have strong character we hew closely to the former, both in what we say to others and what we say to ourselves. The key to understanding Trump is that it’s not that he hews toward the latter. It’s that the tension doesn’t exist. What he says is simply what works for him. Whether it’s true is irrelevant and I suspect isn’t even part of Trump’s internal dialog. It’s like asking an actor whether she really loved her husband like she claimed in her blockbuster movie or whether she was lying. It’s a nonsensical question. She was acting.
It’s the same with Trump. It’s a nonsensical question. As Neily accurately puts it, for Trump every interaction is simply a game to be won. Getting into what Trump really “believes” is simply condemning yourself to operating with Trump’s never ending scam. At a basic level he doesn’t believe anything. He’s just playing a game and hoping that you will play it along with him.
Last year, a man stopped in at a phone store in midtown Manhattan and picked up a new cell phone. In 1995, a man calling himself “Robert Kling” walked into a body shop in Kansas and rented a Ryder truck. This January, a man in Massachusetts celebrated the new year by buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies.
The phone guy was Rex Heuermann, also known as the Gilgo Beach killer, who used his burner phones to solicit victims. The truck renter was Timothy McVeigh, who drove that truck to Oklahoma City. The guy with the sudden yen to clean also happens to have a missing wife and a blood-stained knife that he somehow overlooked.
All of them would still be walking around free if courts were using the standard of evidence Rep. Jim Jordan now wants to apply to Donald Trump and his allies.
In the wake of the latest criminal indictment against Donald Trump and 18 others, Republicans have latched on to what may be their silliest argument yet—an argument that tries to forgive a massive interstate conspiracy to overthrow the government by breaking it down into its smallest components. And then trying to argue that if you dice them up small enough, none of the pieces are really a crime on their own.
There’s no finer example of this fallacy than the one provided by Jordan, Trump’s well-showered defender.
Mark Meadows asked for a phone number.
@JennaEllisEsq gave legal advice.
But somehow the Fulton County DA thinks this is a vast criminal conspiracy?
Totally ridiculous.
Maybe the DA should focus on the REAL crime, murders, and corruption happening in her county every day!
Hey, everyone makes phone calls, right? Heuermann made them to taunt the relatives of his victims, while former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made them so that he and Trump could lean on state officials and convince them to reverse the results of the election.
Cyanide is just nitrogen and carbon, people. You can find both of those things in the air. Are you telling me we shouldn’t breathe?
Not only has Jordan—and Fox News, and a wave of other Trump supporters—tried to reduce the case down to illogically small components, they’ve also done some pretty massive cherry-picking. In Meadows’ case, his actions in the indictment were not limited to just “making a phone call.” Other actions by Meadows in the indictment include:
– Meeting with Trump and the leaders of the Michigan Legislature in the Oval Office and making false statements about fraud in the election. (Act 5)
– Sending a text message to gather information on Pennsylvania officials so that Trump could repeat the pitch to them. (Act 6)
– Meeting with Pennsylvania legislators at the White House to discuss “holding a special session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.” (Act 9)
– Asking Trump adviser John McEntee to “prepare a memorandum outlining strategy for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” (Act 19)
– Traveling to Cobb County, Georgia, and attempting to get into the audit of mail-in ballot signatures, then arguing with the Georgia deputy secretary of state and members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation about being let into the closed audit. (Act 92)
– Arranging for Trump to talk with the Georgia secretary of state’s chief investigator so that he could pressure that investigator to find “the right answer.” (Act 93)
– Sending a message to the chief investigator asking, “Is there way to speed up Fulton county signature verification in order to have results before Jan 6 if the trump campaign assist financially?” (Act 96)
The actual charge against Meadows comes from his efforts to persuade Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “to engage in conduct constituting the felony offense … by unlawfully altering, unlawfully adjusting, and otherwise unlawfully influencing the certified returns for presidential electors.”
Likewise, Jordan’s pretense that Trump attorney Jenna Ellis was only “offering legal advice” covers a lot of ground, including:
– Holding a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters, where she “made false statements concerning fraud in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia and elsewhere.” (Act 2)
– Speaking at a meeting of Pennsylvania legislators where she “solicited, requested, and importuned the Pennsylvania legislators present at the meeting to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.” (Act 8)
– Followed up that first meeting by taking part in the White House meeting with Pennsylvania legislators. (Act 9)
– Calling the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives “for the purpose of soliciting, requesting, and importuning him to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Pennsylvania.” (Act 10)
– Then doing the same thing with the head of the Pennsylvania state Senate.(Act 11)
– Then calling the speaker again. (Act 12)
– Then the president pro tempore again. (Act 13)
– Traveling to Phoenix, where she “solicited, requested, and importuned the Arizona legislators present at the meeting to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona.” (Act 17)
– Meeting with the speaker of the Arizona state House “to call for a special session of the Arizona State Legislature.” (Act 20)
– Traveling to Michigan to appear at a meeting of the Michigan House of Representatives, where she solicited Michigan legislators to unlawfully appoint Trump electors. (Act 21)
– Traveling to Georgia to meet with members of the state Senate and—no shocker here—soliciting legislators to unlawfully appoint Trump electors. (Act 22)
– Authoring a memo that “outlined strategy for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” (Act 107)
– Authoring a memo stating, “the Vice President should begin alphabetically in order of the states, and coming first to Arizona, not open the purported certification, but simply stop the count at that juncture.” (Act 126)
So Ellis just “offering legal advice” included trips to at least five states where she tried to convince state legislatures to throw out the results of the election and appoint new electors, making multiple phone calls to state officials to convince them to call special sessions, and writing at least two memos outlining how Pence could break the electoral certification process on Jan. 6.
Frankly, the most amazing thing is that Meadows and Ellis have the fewest charges in the indictment. Each of them is charged with a single count in addition to their participation in the overall racketeering scheme that earned the whole group a RICO charge. Ellis earned an additional charge of unlawful solicitation for her efforts to persuade Georgia legislators to appoint false electors (Count 2). Meadows got dinged for attempting to get a public official to violate their oath of office for his efforts to lean on Raffensperger (Count 28).
That Republicans are singling out tiny fragments of these actions and trying to make it seem as if that makes the whole indictment invalid is absurd in the extreme. Not only are these acts just a fraction of the total picture, but even the smallest, normal, everyday action can be illegal when it is done in furtherance of a crime. Just ask any getaway driver.
Then again, Jordan is an expert at overlooking large crimes broken down into smaller incidents. After all, since when is it a crime for a doctor to meet with a college athlete?
President Biden is slated Wednesday to commemorate the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The measure contains numerous Democratic priorities to address climate change and lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs.
Recent polling indicates that many voters are unaware of the act, which also supports the green energy sector and sets a price cap on insulin. […]
Reginald Selkirksays
@198:
In a grand jury proceeding, a drug bust was under discussion. Police testified that when the alleged perp was arrested, he had a scale and a supply of small plastic bags in his car. One juror objected that possession of these items is not a crime. That is true, but it establishes intent to distribute, which makes a big difference in the charges and possible sentencing the accused might face.
Today is the one-year anniversary of Joe Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law, and there’s plenty of reason for the administration to take a victory lap. The IRA is the single biggest step the USA has ever taken to address climate change, and a recent analysis projects that it will cut America’s carbon dioxide emissions significantly,
by 33% to 40% by 2030, compared to a 2005 baseline. Before the IRA passed, the country was on track for reductions of just 25% to 31%, so the floor is now higher than the ceiling was prior to the legislation.
Another report, from the Rhodium Group, projects a wider possible range of reductions at either end, between 29 percent and 42 percent reduced greenhouse gases by 2030. Adding in the full suite of Biden climate policies that are “on the books as of June 2023,” Rhodium projects total emissions reductions of “32-51% below 2005 levels in 2035.”
To meet the goals of the Paris agreement — which Biden rejoined on his first day in office, after Donald Trump told the planet to take a flying fuck at the mooooon — we’ll have to do substantially more, which is just one of many reasons we have to reelect Biden and retake Congress. But today, let’s light a solar-powered LED candle to celebrate what as huge achievement the IRA is in getting us on the right track.
Shoulda Called It The ‘Climate And Healthcare Act’ Or Something
A year on, Biden is admitting that calling the bill the “Inflation Reduction Act” may have been a mistake. It was a useful short-term choice last summer, when worries about inflation seemed like a top issue for the fall midterms, but Biden said at a recent fundraiser in Utah, “I wish I hadn’t called it that because it has less to do with reducing inflation than it has to do with providing alternatives that generate economic growth,” like the climate provisions and the healthcare reforms.
Hilariously, Fox News cited that as an “admission” that the bill was worthless, when it was more an admission that the messaging around the bill should have focused on climate, jobs, and healthcare.
[…] while large majorities of Americans say they support many of the policies included in the IRA, like tax credits to encourage home solar and adoption of utility-grade wind and solar energy, only 27 percent of respondents said they knew “a great deal” or “a good amount” about the “Inflation Reduction Act” that actually includes those policies. Yikes!
Worse, despite the huge actions Biden has taken on climate, a large majority of Americans — 57 percent — say they disapprove of how Biden is handling climate change. (We assume that would also include some chunk of Republicans who are angry that he’s doing anything at all, although the survey didn’t ask follow-ups about whether respondents thought he was doing too much or too little.)
Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?
In just its first year, the IRA has already sparked a hell of a lot of clean energy investments and jobs, sez Reuters, even before some of the law’s biggest incentives kick in in 2024 and 2025:
[There] have been more than 270 new clean energy projects announced since its passage, with investments totaling some $132 billion, according to a Bank of America analyst report.
Roughly half of those investment dollars are going to electric vehicles and batteries, while the rest are going to renewable energy like solar, wind and nuclear. These investments are expected to be accompanied by over 86,000 jobs, including 50,000 jobs related to EVs.
In a report on Tuesday, Moody’s said the legislation is likely supporting growth in gross domestic product, productivity and innovation.
[…] Another report cited in a White House fact sheet set the number of clean energy jobs created by the IRA in its first year at 170,000. The total projected jobs that’ll be created over the 10 years of the IRA should be around 1.5 million.
The biggest impacts are yet to come, as the IRA’s incentives and loans in clean energy will speed up the transition away from fossil fuels. And since there’s no cap on the tax incentives for clean energy — both consumer stuff, like incentives to install heat pumps, home solar, etc., and for industrial development of clean energy manufacturing and the like — the total investment is likely to dwarf the $400 billion commonly touted when the bill was passed. Goldman Sachs estimated in April the total federal outlay by 2032 will be closer to $1.2 trillion, which of course makes deficit hawks mad, but that ignores Goldman’s forecast of economic activity that’ll ripple through the economy as a result:
The IRA includes incentives that make most clean tech — solar, wind, electric vehicles (EVs), and storage, as well as bio-energy, clean hydrogen, and carbon capture — profitable at large scale. Goldman Sachs Research estimates that the IRA’s impact could encourage $11 trillion of total infrastructure investments by 2050. By 2032, our analysts estimate there will be $2.9 trillion of cumulative investment opportunity across sectors for the re-invention of U.S. energy system, or on average $290 billion annually.
So yeah, that’s worth a victory lap!
Healthcare Savings
Also too, let’s not forget the other big achievement in the IRA, its multiple provisions to improve American healthcare, some of which went into place immediately, like capping Medicare copays for insulin at $35 a month. (Never forget, though, that Republicans shot down a provision to cap insulin prices for everyone.) Within a few months of the IRA’s passage, multiple major drug manufacturers capped prices on several of their popular insulin products too, for people with and without private health insurance. On top of that, the IRA extended for three years the American Rescue Plan’s premium reductions for Obamacare health insurance, resulting in an average premium savings of $2400 annually for 13 million Americans.
Other IRA provisions on healthcare will be rolled out in the next few years. Let’s review!
– 2025: Medicare Part D beneficiaries will have their out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs capped at $2,000 a year.
– 2026: Medicare’s first negotiated price reductions on the 10 most expensive prescription drugs will go into effect.
– 2027 to 2030: each year, more negotiated drug prices will go into effect, so that by 203 more than 80 prescription drugs will be subject to negotiation.
When you are a hustler and a bustler like Donald Trump, you get used to a busy schedule. He’s always been like this, including back when he was president, juggling his important schedule of watching Fox News all morning and then going to work at noon.
And now Axios laments that it is happening again. Shut up, this is journalism! The Axios kind! It has bullet points! Axios is lamenting “Trump’s 2024 Collision,” and says his court dates are disrupting his campaign calendar.
Maybe Trump should hire a scheduling secretary or something. Uh oh, Trump! Don’t ask your scheduling secretary to help you drain the pool in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy or anything! Whew, that was a close one.
You can tell Axios cares about this story, because it refers to Trump’s scheduling tribulations as an “extraordinary collision course” that will be on “stark display” in the next two weeks. It then proceeds to explain some of his schedule.
We will use bullet points, to make Axios feel like it is in its safe space. In the next two weeks Trump has:
° “Nearly half a dozen court hearings and 2024 campaign-related events.”
° Wait.
° “Nearly half a dozen” is simply a generous way to say “five or fewer.”
° Does he have “nearly half a dozen” court hearings AND “nearly half a dozen” campaign events?
° Or is he having “nearly half a dozen” of both of those things COMBINED?
° Because if so that would mean we are reading an entire Axios about how Donald Trump has five or fewer things on his schedule over the course of the next 14 days. Are they all on the same afternoon or something?
° Are we supposed to be terrified this will eat into the time he likes to use flicking ketchup at the wall with a spoon or dining with child Nazis?
° Also there is golf, he’s been playing a lot of golf lately. Here is a news story about Trump playing golf a few days before his Georgia indictment and lookin’ extra grumpy.
° “Trump won’t have to attend every court hearing,” wait WHAT?
°Trump has five or fewer things on his schedule, but he doesn’t have to go to all of them?
° OK here is his actual schedule:
° Monday, August 21 he is supposed to do “press conference” at Bedminster. This is the one where he says he’s releasing a VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION FRAUD REPORT that will cause everybody to drop all the charges. Sounds very MyPillowy. And bullshit. Likelihood of Trump canceling: We are guessing high.
° Wednesday, August 23 he is supposed to do “Republican primary debate.” The latest news there is that Trump is “tempted” to attend. But maybe he will not.
° Friday, August 25 he’s supposed to turn himself in to the authorities in Atlanta. But uh oh! There’s also a hearing that day in his stolen classified docs case in Florida! Does Trump have to go? Axios does not say!
° Monday, August 28 there is a hearing with Judge Tanya Chutkan in DC in the election-stealing, Republic-overthrowing case. She’s going to set a trial date.
Yes, you betcha, that is “almost half a dozen” things that Trump may or may not have to attend, with the exception of the one where he shows up and gets mugshotted in Atlanta, which he definitely has to attend. And he may have to definitely show up in DC.
Oh, but he also has to “campaign” for “president!” Which he is definitely only doing because he wants to steal the election in 2024 so he can pardon himself from all his upcoming criminal convictions.
This has been a Wonkette post making fun of an Axios post about how Trump definitely has to show up for exactly one (1) thing in the next two weeks, or maybe two (2) but they are not on the same day.
In the latest controversial change at Elon Musk’s social network, the service formerly named Twitter reportedly added a five-second delay when users load links to certain news sites and rival social networks. The New York Times and Reuters were affected by the delay with the t.co link-shortening service used by X, according to several news reports published yesterday.
X eliminated the delay in links to news sites yesterday afternoon, according to Reuters and The Washington Post. “When contacted for comment, X confirmed the delay was removed but did not elaborate,” Reuters wrote.
Links from X to the NYT and Reuters loaded almost instantly for us today. But we still found delays of three to five seconds in links to Substack, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads today in our tests…
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who’s running in the state’s closely watched Senate race, has parted ways with his press secretary after the aide tweeted criticism of former President Trump.
LaRose’s interim press secretary Mary Cianciolo confirmed to The Hill that Rob Nichols “is no longer employed at the Office of the Ohio Secretary of State.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer and NBC News had reported Nichols’s firing…
The search warrant that led to a raid of a local Kansas newspaper’s office has been withdrawn amid national backlash, authorities said Wednesday.
The Marion County attorney confirmed that after reviewing the warrant executed at several locations on Friday, including the offices of the Marion County Record, “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between the alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”
County Attorney Joel Ensey added that he asked local law enforcement, the same ones who executed the search warrants just days prior, to return the seized material to its owners. The three raids occurred at the newspaper office, the home of publisher Eric Meyer and his mother, and the home of Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel…
johnson catmansays
re Reginald Selkirk @205: I wonder how they plan to return the life of Eric Meyer’s mother?
Angry Muslims went on a rampage Wednesday, attacking a Christian area in eastern Pakistan, burning a church and damaging at least four others, police and local Christians said. The mob also demolished a man’s house after accusing him of desecrating Islam’s holy book and attacked several other Christian homes.
The attacks in Jaranwala, in the district of Faisalabad in Punjab province, erupted after some Muslims living in the area claimed that a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend had torn out pages from a Quran, thrown them on the ground and written insulting remarks on others…
Update to #186, from the (now closed) Guardian liveblog:
A senior Nato official has apologised and clarified his comments, a day after he said publicly that Ukraine could give up territory to Russia in exchange for Nato membership and an end to the war. Stian Jenssen, the chief of staff to the Nato secretary general, gave an interview to the VG newspaper that originally reported on his comments. “My statement about this was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and I shouldn’t have said it that way. It was a mistake,” he said.
It’s funny reading Russian channels because they keep banging on about the same things that led to Prigozhin’s revolt. No one forgot anything. And the opportunity for another armed revolt (or even a bigger event) is not zero. Just need to wait a little.
Much of Maui has been decimated following one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, wildfires are still ravaging Canada, ice in the arctic is melting rapidly, sea levels are rising and we’ve had the hottest day measured on our planet this year. There’s a lot happening as it relates to climate change. “It’s not the summer from hell, it’s the summer that sort of is hell,” says our guest this week. Bill McKibben is an environmentalist, educator, author and founder of Third Act, which has a mission to organize people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. He’s also a founder of 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign. His 1989 book, “The End of Nature” is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. McKibben recently wrote a piece for the New Yorker titled, “To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower?,” which talks about the degrowth movement, which calls on countries to embrace zero or negative G.D.P. growth, making a comeback. He joins WITHpod to discuss the growth debates of the 70s vs. contemporary ones, parallels between protecting the planet and our democracy, why this moment is such an inflection point and more.
There is no place more relaxing than a beautiful garden, and nothing better to eat than homegrown fruits and vegetables, but what is a vegan to do when all of the potting soils and fertilizers are riddled with animal products? Jimmy Videle has the answers, and he joins us today to discuss his new book, The Veganic Grower’s Handbook: Cultivating Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs from Urban Backyard to Rural Farmyard, as well as the new North American Veganic Certification Standard….
The Rising Anxieties segment introduced me to the “girl plate,” which I guess is also called a “girl dinner.” (Some shill is whining about how the Popeye’s, IIRC, girl plate doesn’t contain any chickens; I agree with Mariann Sullivan – a vegan version of the plate they describe sounds delicious.)
Scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of the National Weather Service — have increased their prediction for the ongoing 2023 Atlantic hurricane season from a near-normal level of activity to an above-normal level of activity… Forecasters believe that current ocean and atmospheric conditions, such as record-warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures, are likely to counterbalance the usually limiting atmospheric conditions associated with the ongoing El Nino event.
NOAA forecasters have increased the likelihood of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season to 60% (increased from the outlook issued in May, which predicted a 30% chance). The likelihood of near-normal activity has decreased to 25%, down from the 40% chances outlined in May’s outlook. This new update gives the Atlantic a 15% chance of seeing a below-normal season.
NOAA’s update to the 2023 outlook — which covers the entire six-month hurricane season that ends on Nov. 30 — calls for 14-21 named storms (winds of 39 mph or greater), of which 6-11 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater). Of those, 2-5 could become major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence. These updated ranges include storms that have already formed this season.
…
“The main climate factors expected to influence the 2023 Atlantic hurricane activity are the ongoing El Nino and the warm phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, including record-warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Considering those factors, the updated outlook calls for more activity, so we urge everyone to prepare now for the continuing season.”
El Nino conditions are currently being observed and there is a greater than 95% chance that El Nino will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter, according to the latest ENSO discussion from the Climate Prediction Center. El Nino usually results in atmospheric conditions that help to lessen tropical activity during the Atlantic hurricane season. So far, those limiting conditions have been slow to develop and climate scientists are forecasting that the associated impacts that tend to limit tropical cyclone activity may not be in place for much of the remaining hurricane season.
A below-normal wind shear forecast, slightly below-normal Atlantic trade winds and a near- or above-normal West African Monsoon were also key factors in shaping this updated seasonal forecast.
…
In June, NOAA deployed a new model to help produce hurricane forecasts. The Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System was put into operations on June 27 and will run alongside existing models for the 2023 season before replacing them as NOAA’s premier hurricane forecasting model.
NOAA urges everyone in vulnerable areas to have a well-thought-out hurricane plan and stay informed through official channels as this season progresses.
On Monday, German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall announced that it is preparing to send its LUNA NG reconnaissance drone to Ukraine as part of Germany’s latest military aid package, announced on the same day. Delivery is expected by the end of 2023.
The number of drones to be sent was not announced, but a representative of Germany’s Ministry of Defense commented that procurement costs for the drone system were in the “low double-digit millions of euros,” which would suggest perhaps $15 million to $20 million.
The LUNA UAVs belong to a class of advanced medium-size high-altitude reconnaissance drones. Precise unit costs for the LUNA NG could not be found, but similar advanced medium reconnaissance drones were in the $300,000 to $400,000 per unit range. If procurement costs were around $15 million, this would suggest the delivery of around 40 to 50 units.
Compared to the low-cost, small, low-altitude quad-rotary drones used for front-line observation, the LUNA is a completely different beast.
Costing 50 to 100 times more than those low-cost drones, the LUNA has far more advanced technology packed into it. It is intended to survive longer—and accomplish more— than the nearly disposable low-cost models.
While the small reconnaissance drones currently operated by Ukraine near the front lines rarely fly higher than a few thousand feet, the LUNA is intended to quickly ascend to an altitude of over 16,000 feet (5 kilometers).
This improves survivability by several factors:
– Low observability due to smaller size and radar cross-section.
– Low acoustic and heat profile, with a quiet electrical motor with little heat emission.
– The high-altitude flight prevents most cost-effective countermeasures.
– Fully pre-programmable flight paths that can be altered or steered by datalink, but can avoid electronic and GPS jamming entirely by relying on onboard self-steering functionality and inflight artificial intelligence.
Many reconnaissance drones are lost to Russian electronic warfare, where jamming prevents the drone operator from continuing to direct the drone. However, the LUNA is capable of conducting its entire mission autonomously from start to finish. It does not need to rely on an active datalink or GPS signal.
LUNA’s high-altitude flight paths help to prevent most Russian anti-aircraft weaponry from targeting it, and even if it were detected, employing a $1 million+ anti-aircraft missile to knock out a drone costing one-third to one-fifth as much as the missile is a losing proposition for most foes.
The high altitude combines with high-resolution cameras plus advanced infrared and radar scanning equipment, permitting the drone to observe very far distances—an observable perimeter of over 40 km radius. LUNA is capable of maintaining surveillance in low visibility conditions, including nighttime, cloud cover, fog, or smoke. The system includes AI visual analysis that helps spot enemy movement and equipment locations and allows for rapid data review. That quick analysis can provide speedy identification of enemy targets or changes in disposition.
A LUNA NG has a flight time of up to 12 hours and is capable of maintaining a direct datalink of distances of up to 100 km, and satellite datalinks of up to 300 km. On a single flight, it can surveil up to 30,000 square kilometers. For comparison, the entire Zaporizhzhia Oblast is just a little more than 27,000 square kilometers.
As such, the LUNA NG represents a class of high-altitude, low-observable advanced reconnaissance drones at the cutting edge of Western drone technology.
——————————–
Compared to suicide drones, bomb-dropping drones, or large bomber-like drones like the Bayraktar or MQ-1C Gray Eagle, the value of a reconnaissance drone may be hard for the average person to grasp.
Certainly, one extremely important aspect of reconnaissance is identifying the location and strength of enemy dispositions. It’s easy to understand that if one side knows where the enemy has placed their units and defenses and the other side does not have comparable information, the side with greater knowledge has a massive advantage.
There’s another important aspect to reconnaissance drones like the LUNA, and it’s in winning the artillery war.
In an Ukraine Update last month, I described how advantages in counterbattery radar provide an edge for Ukrainian artillery units over their Russian counterparts. This has helped lead to a lopsided 3:1 advantage in artillery kills for Ukraine.
Why is counterbattery radar valuable? Because it helps artillery units identify the locations of enemy artillery and other valuable targets.
What can a datalink-equipped, high-altitude, high-tech drone that can use AI analysis and high-resolution cameras to identify enemy targets up to 40 km away do? Identify enemy targets, like artillery or troops/equipment concentrations, for one thing. Considering that Russian artillery only have ranges of around 20 km or less, the LUNA can fly a good 15 km behind the front lines and see deep enough into Russian-controlled territory to help spot Russian artillery or troops on the move.
[…] For example, a LUNA drone flying around Orikhiv, about 10 km behind the current front lines at Robotyne, could observe an enormous area relative to the size of the battlefield. [map at the link shows the potential range of LUNA]
With its lengthy flight time, LUNA also can fly for very long periods and provide near-live coverage over wide swaths over the front lines in crucial sectors, all while remaining relatively safe from Russian observation or retaliation.
The LUNA NG, paired with Excalibur GPS-guided shells, HIMARS GMRLS rockets, Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and other long-range precision munitions, will multiply the effectiveness of weapons already at Ukraine’s disposal.
And the observation abilities of the LUNA NG will also greatly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of conventional artillery as well through target identification.
When describing the Battle of Urozhaine on Saturday, I noted that “observation is firepower.” The LUNA NG drone doesn’t carry firepower of its own, but its powerful reconnaissance abilities will only improve the firepower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces by providing it with more powerful eyes.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Aug 16, 2023 · 2:20:43 PM MDT · Hunter
It’s started: NBC News now reports that a list of grand juror addresses has already been published to an unnamed “fringe website.”
If you’ve taken the time to read the new Fulton County indictment of Donald Trump that charges him for his attempts to get Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results either flipped in his favor or fraudulently replaced during the Jan. 6 coup attempt, you were probably alarmed to see the names of the grand jurors responsible for the indictment right there on page nine of the publicly released document. This is a feature of Georgia state law intended to boost transparency.
But it also means Trump’s base of violence-minded insurrectionists immediately knows the identities of all of the private Georgia citizens who were summoned to grand jury duty and, after hearing the case and witness testimony presented by the district attorney, agreed that there was evidence Donald and friends committed a whole lot of crimes.
The Washington Post reports that Trump’s oozing base is already contemplating revenge against the grand jurors. On Tuesday, photos of “at least two” jurors were posted online and members of “pro-Trump extremist forums” (I suspect we all know which ones) were arguing with each other over whether “people need to be outside these peoples houses” or whether that would be walking into a deep state and media trap.
In practice, the arguments are irrelevant. As we have seen most recently in the case of the Provo, Utah, Trump supporter shot dead in an FBI raid of his house spurred by the man’s threats against President Joe Biden, and again in countless cases of real and attempted domestic terrorism aimed at conservatism’s political or supposed social enemy, such violence tends to be carried out by lone extremists who do not particularly care whether the rest of their movement argues about their violence in random online forums.
It may only be because of the speed with which the Post’s story was written, but nowhere in the story is there much indication that Georgia officials are taking any particular steps to ensure the safety of the now-known grand jurors. The Post has Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, giving an extremely awkward quote that comes real damn close to identifying the problem without actually doing it:
“[Grand jurors] typically issue the indictments and go about their business,” Skandalakis said. “I’ve indicted gang cases in which people are concerned for their safety, and I think that’s probably what happened here.”
There you go, sport: What you have here is a gang case. There’s a self-organized quasimilitia all putting on red hats and declaring themselves the real enforcers of justice in their neighborhoods […]
Do your thing, every prosecutor in America.
The Post’s story notes that the jurors they tried to contact were all making themselves scarce and refusing attempts to contact them. It also notes the most on-point recent example of random Georgian citizens being targeted by Trump’s violence-minded mob after Trump and his team began peddling hoaxes meant to single them out for retribution: Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman have been subjected to years of racist and violent threats solely because Trump and his dipshit seditionist fixer Rudy Giuliani peddled bizarre hoaxes claiming that Moss, as an election worker, somehow rigged the Georgia state elections with nothing more than a breath mint.
Those two had to go into hiding to escape from Trump’s hoax-believing mob. There’s not a chance in hell Trump won’t single out the grand jurors who voted to indict him with a new hoax proclaiming them to be “deep state” plants, or “crisis actors,” or whatever […]
Instead of waiting for it to inevitably happen, one hopes that the FBI or other federal agencies are already taking over to provide protection and trace any threats the jurors receive back to the perpetrators for speedy and public arrests. Every law enforcement agency in America now knows how Trump and his allies target those who participate in investigations of their crimes. When it happens this time around, make sure it’s added to the pile of charges.
We’re dealing with an organized crime ring making use of our televisions to send orders to a distinctly unorganized gang of frothing backers. Threats against witnesses, government figures, and even singled-out jurors have been a part of this criminal conspiracy from its beginning.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld parts of a decision limiting access to a widely used abortion pill, but the ruling will have no immediate impact on the availability of the drug, mifepristone. In their ruling, a three-judge panel on the conservative-leaning U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Food and Drug Administration failed to adequately take into account safety concerns when it loosened access to mifepristone in 2016.
I predict even worse court rulings to come, and even worse Republican policies.
The Texas attorney general’s office on Tuesday appealed the decision of a judge to temporarily block a new law passed by Republicans to abolish Harris County’s elections chief position. The decision earlier Tuesday by a Travis County district judge ruled that the law is unconstitutional and would disrupt this fall’s elections. The Texas attorney general’s office filed its appeal in the Texas Supreme Court, keeping Travis County District Judge Karin Crump’s order from taking effect.
Congressional leaders are pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month, acknowledging the House and Senate are nowhere near agreement on spending levels to keep federal operations running.
Doesn’t matter what Trump believes, or claims to believe.
[…] it almost seems as if Trump is deliberately trying to draw a judicial reprimand. He’s obviously and deliberately going over the line again and again, even when receiving clear instructions. Maybe that’s because he can’t help himself. Maybe that’s because he enjoys watching his supporters threaten violence against judges and other officials. Maybe he feels like his best way forward is to keep as many people as possible in turmoil. Very likely it’s all three.
However, the biggest point of this seems to be reinforcement of the idea that Trump really believes his own bulls**t. Which does not matter. At all.
The center point of the RICO charge in Georgia, as well as the four federal charges presented by the jury in Washington, doesn’t require that Trump knows he is lying. In fact, those federal charges make it clear:
The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won.
If Trump had a right to lie, then what’s the problem? And why do his lies keep getting listed in the Georgia indictment? That’s also explained in the federal indictment. Trump had a right to lie, and to “formally change the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means.”
That included going to court. That included asking for a recount. That included challenging ballots and procedures.
That did not include attempting to obstruct the process of government, or attempting to get an elections official to alter the vote, or soliciting the selection of false electors, or trying to get state legislators to decertify election results.
The reason that Trump’s lies appear on the Georgia indictment is not because they are lies, but because he made up those lies in furtherance of his efforts to unlawfully overturn the outcome of the election.
The Georgia indictment breaks the false statements into three groups: false statements made to solicit action by state legislatures, false statements made to solicit actions from state officials, and harassment of campaign worker Ruby Freeman. Trump was on television every day during the period covered by the investigation, usually several times a day. He also had a number of rallies and speeches, but only a handful of Trump’s false statements are called out because those are statements that fit the above categories.
Trump is welcome to believe he won Georgia. He can believe 5,000 zombies voted in Georgia and 125,000 ghosts pulled the lever in Detroit. He is free to take those claims to court, to file requests for recounts, and to seek redress through every legal means. But having done that, he can’t use these statements or any other statements as a means to solicit illegal activity.
That’s the problem, and it doesn’t matter what Trump believes.
As the federal indictment puts it, Trump engaged in:
A conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified.
Or, as the RICO charge in the Georgia indictment puts it, Trump:
Knowingly and willingly joined a conspiracy to change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.
In support of that conspiracy, Trump lied. And of course he did. Because the truth is that he lost.
Grand jurors are regular Americans doing their civic duty. Sick that Trump supporters are targeting grand jurors.
A deep rot exists in the extreme MAGA core that is anti-democratic, anti-American and violent. It’s made worse when GOP leaders like @SpeakerMcCarthy remain silent.
An update to the update in comment 213: The “fringe website” posted the home addresses of the grand jurors.
Marijuana legalization will be on the ballot in Ohio in November, the secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday.
Petitioners submitted 127,772 signatures from all over Ohio to qualify for November a referendum to legalize the growing and sale of marijuana to people 21 and over. They needed about 124,000 signatures — 3.5 percent of the votes in the last gubernatorial election. The signatures also had to cover at least 1.5 percent of voters from half of Ohio’s 88 counties…
Republicans attempt to damage the referendum system in Ohio seems to be an example of the Streisand Effect.
An 11-year-old rape victim was allowed an abortion in Peru over the weekend after being initially refused the procedure, in a case that rights groups say highlights the lack of support for minors who suffer sexual abuse.
The girl, publicly identified only as “Mila,” was raped for years by her stepfather, according to a police report. Earlier this month, Mila – approaching 18 weeks pregnant – was turned away at a hospital in the Amazon region of Loreto, which refused to perform the abortion.
The case caused a furor and after the United Nations urged the Peruvian state to intervene, Mila was brought to the capital Lima and state doctors authorized the abortion…
In exclusive video obtained by “The Beat with Ari Melber,” Trump adviser and ally Roger Stone is seen pushing a plot to overthrow the 2020 Election. In this report, Melber, MSNBC’s Chief Legal Correspondent, breaks the exclusive news and reports on its wider context amidst several election probes and indictments.
wzrd1says
There is only one possible source for that grand juror list, within the courthouse itself. So, it’s a given that those who do have access to that information are having their activities examined quite closely, computer logs are being scrutinized, etc. Because, it really is a big deal when grand juries are tampered with – even after they’ve been discharged from their duties.
wzrd1 @ #222, the list was in the indictment itself. It’s part of Georgia law.
wzrd1says
SC, Georgia law requires the list of grand jury empaneled and their home addresses on an indictment?!
How can a grand jury be secret, if such is an open public record?
I’ll admit, I’ve not read the Georgia indictment, read the NY and federal ones, not Georgia’s, as my eyes have been misbehaving for some reason (difficulty focusing on text, which is odd, given I wear reading glasses and I have intraocular lenses replacing my natural lenses, basically giving me fixed focus for distance). If those issues continue, I’ll be speaking to my ophthalmologist about them, as one suggests a circulatory issue in the retina and with preexisting lattice degeneration, yeah, I can swiftly run out of retinas. Can’t seem to find my spares.
wzrd1says
Just re-watched the film “Ultrasound”, which reminded me of our current AI woes of confabulation.
Quite well constructed in the film was the confabulation possible, when memory is interfered with.
Do watch the film, released in 2022, considering confabulation vs hallucination, after actually looking up the difference in a medical dictionary.
Both are artifacts of the mind, but from different causes, even if somewhat similar, causing revealing malfunctions in recall.
The film gives a fairly brief, but scope filled suggestion under hypnosis, introduces a nonsensical ultrasound sequence signal to induce it, after learning the cruder trick from a hypnosis entertainer/conman.
The ultrasound is obviously bullshit, the rest is confabulation built upon a skeletal structure of introduced myth, while suggestible.
tomhsays
Re: #224
Georgia has arguably the most transparent judicial system in the country. Just about all trials are televised and Grand Jury names are included in indictments. The addresses were hunted down and published by Trump supporters.
wzrd1says
A lot wandering along the wayside, but still one question in life of a sparse few to ask.
A recurring issue arose the other day, significant heat stress with dehydration gets met the following day with diarrhea.
I’ve noticed it, erm, repeatedly, when I’ve entirely failed to bring along water when it’s significantly hot outside and exerted myself.
I’ve postulated colonal rehydration, it is a water scavenging system, then suffering a rebound after return to base rehydration.
Supporting, urine concentrates, higher than normal exertion, RTB and rehydrate, non-entertainment ensues the following day.
And lower than normal response to Immodium, which typically takes a work week to get out of my system, there, only a day or two.
Something noted over a decade.
And lacking Immodium, a day to three shorter, urine color concentration gauged, due to lack of supplies.
So, medical types, think it’s a rebound effect?
I keep forgetting to ask my GI doc, largely due to far more significant issues.
Another odd issue, ancient as it is, remains unexplained.
Gallbladder gets removed, due to cholesterol stones. A few, quite significant in size.
Immediately after and for nine months, I became significantly lactose intolerant.
Just for those months.
Given the organs involved, it’s an insolvable problem for me.
Lactase is produced far south of the systems involved in surgery.
The condition existed.
HX: infantile lactose intolerance, life threatening. Some heavier milk fats have presented digestive issues.
After those months, I was able to tolerate milk, butter and cheese.
Just curious, as it does confound me.
Previously, my wife confounded me, requiring time and inquiry to ascertain the cause. She died, so, I’ve residual questions.
So, physicists, do fear… ;)
John Moralessays
wzrd1, I’m no doctor, but evidently, best to avoid significant heat stress.
StevoRsays
Even a conservative Judge in the USA :
Judy Woodruff (PBS interviewer- ed) :
Retired Judge Michael Luttig is one of the most influential conservatives to have served in the federal judiciary. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while he was on the appellate circuit, served as assistant counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and was the assistant attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, who later appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals.
He was twice considered for nomination himself to the Supreme Court.
..(Snip)…
J. Michael Luttig:
Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy.
.. (Snip)..
J. Michael Luttig : .. as of today, and for the past two-and-a-half years, since January 6, 2021, it has been the Republicans who have reprehensibly failed us as Americans. On January 6, the former president and the Republican allies, his allies and supporters, declared war on American democracy.
Judy Woodruff:
How much responsibility does former President Trump himself bear for all this?
J. Michael Luttig:
He bears a disproportionate share of responsibility, if not the entire responsibility.
The former president sought to overturn an American election which he had lost fair and square. For four years, these claims by the former president and his Republican allies have corroded and corrupted American democracy and American elections. Vast, vast numbers of Americans, into the millions, today no longer believe in the elections in the United States of America.
They no longer believe in the institutions of law and democracy in America, the very pillars of our foundation. And many of those people have begun even to question the Constitution of the United States.
Personally, I’d say Murdoch’s malignant media empire and the far reich conspiracy theorist media sphere generally deserves a big proprotion of blame here too – but yes – & later on there :
J. Michael Luttig: Any leader, Republican or Democrat, who has not spoken against January 6 and the former president’s role in it has betrayed their oath.
January 6 and what the former president did is not politics. And it certainly is not partisan politics. This is far above and beyond politics.
And, as we now know, it’s literally crimes against the United States of America. But all of our politicians, and especially the Republicans, have regarded it as nothing more than politics. In that respect, they have failed Americans. It’s critical to American democracy that you have two very strong political parties who are competing against each other on the issues, the public policy issues before the nation.
We can’t have one party who is supporting and defending what occurred on January 6, together with the president of the United States who caused January 6. We can’t have that. We cannot function until the Republican Party comes to its senses.
And, in my view, I don’t consider the Republican Party a political party in the United States at the moment.
Judy Woodruff:
Luttig added that he believes the country can’t be set on course again unless a number of those elected officials lose their jobs.
All clear already really but good to see him say it and say it it so plainly. Big question is will that happen? Make it so please Americans.
wzrd1says
@ 226, hopefully, further discovery will find inner circle or Subject #1 compliant in the publication.
Perfect additional RICO violations and just turning him into a common mobster in the general public eye.
I spent some time terrorizing terrorists. What most don’t realize is, most terrorists are organized crime types, offending against the US abroad and at home.
Wasn’t allowed to do anything for at home, but abroad, well, that’s a different matter.
Terrorist defined as killing schools full of children, maternity centers full of delivering mothers, etc, just to force everyone to surrender.
So, we sent a bigger monster.
I approach as if the monster threatened my family, at a same level of savagery, specifically targeted.
Kill wives, your wife gets targeted, worse than you did. Most stopped cold, once they realized what they unleashed upon themselves and surrendered.
GITMO, well, it’s a mixed bag, some really did need to stay there forever, most didn’t.
Contrastingly, I’m a nice guy in person, face to face, I’m congenial, friendly and so cool you can keep a side of beef fresh next to me for a month.
But, harm children, it’s quite likely you’d either witness your own children’s remains eaten by pigs of join them.
Yeah, there’s the other side, the non-Santa side, the monster that hunts monsters.
There are times that I miss that.
Thankfully, those are rare times and I far prefer to play with babies, puppies, fawns and even kittens.
And I still remain the only monster that can successfully hand feed a dik-dik gazelle, with photographs to prove it.
Early “training”, poverty in new marriage, worked for some Organized Guys as personal security.
Knew what the Italian Mafia types scopes of acceptability were and remain, learned Russian Mafia scopes, Triads, etc. Went to military again.
Stupid version, I’ll happily shoot someone in the nuts to get a proper response that I’ll still not trust, knees first though.
Flame frightens more than even knives.
Explaining vivisection works.
Being thankful to only need to sharpen knife due to typical utility and meal preparation usage.
After all, ogres have layers. Stinky and make people cry.
Or something.
Why does Trump incessantly remind me of all that I’ve tried to suppress for a decade?
Oh yeah, my wife and I met him back around 2000. Guest of honor at a Chamber function. Literally, a 95% attrition rate the following year, courtesy of Trump.
Boor of the party speaker.
Honestly, I’m glad my parents are gone. Currently, I’m starting to wish that I joined them.
But then, there are some Royal Gems on offer, if support network fails for this old fart.
Personally, I’d prefer to roll with puppies, kittens and babies.
The other side, we’ll not discuss.
A Texas woman has been arrested on charges that she threatened to kill Tanya S. Chutkan, the Washington federal judge tasked with overseeing the prosecution of former president Donald Trump on allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election.
Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Tex., left an Aug. 5 voice mail at Chutkin’s chambers in which she called her a racial slur and threatened her, saying, “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, b—-,” according to criminal complaint documents filed Friday.
Shry also threatened to kill Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), as well as all Washington Democrats and members of the LGBTQ community broadly, the criminal complaint stated. She left the voice mail two days after Trump was arraigned on charges of election interference.
Shry told agents from the Department of Homeland Security that she left the voice mail and that she had no plans to visit D.C. or carry out an attack. However, she told the agents there would be a reason to worry if Jackson Lee traveled to Alvin.
Shry was denied bail and ordered to be held after a detention hearing in federal district court in Houston.
@227:
I’ve noticed it, erm, repeatedly, when I’ve entirely failed to bring along water when it’s significantly hot outside and exerted myself…
When this occured, did you intake a lot of water as soon as possible to compensate? If so, try including some electrolytes. Say 1 Gatorade to 2 straight water.
birgerjohanssonsays
The legendary BBC talk show host Michael Patterson has died at 88. He was active as TV host 1971-2007.
Former President Donald Trump’s promised press conference to refute the allegations in the indictment handed up by the Fulton County DA’s Office is now very much in doubt, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Sources tell ABC News that Trump’s legal advisors have told him that holding such a press conference with dubious claims of voter fraud will only complicate his legal problems and some of his attorneys have advised him to cancel it. [. . . . ]
And we all know just how good Trump is at following legal advice.
This also shows that his attorneys still do not understand Trump. This has nothing to do with getting the case dismissed. This has nothing to do with the Georgia case at all. It has everything to do with Trump wanting the spotlight on Trump. It has everything to do with Trump wanting to be seen to win TODAY no matter the cost down the road. And it has everything to do with telling his loyal followers that Trump is their saviour and he will forgive their terrorist acts committed to save him.
Two farmers who plowed $1 million into a documentary that would supposedly come out before the 2020 election and expose Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s corrupt dealings in Ukraine want their money back.
In 2019, a new lawsuit alleges, California fruit-and-nut farming magnates and brothers Baldev and Kewel Munger met Tim Yale, a Republican political operative at a fundraiser. A few months later, Yale introduced them to Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, according to the suit. By then, Giuliani was hard at work trying to dig up election-year dirt on Joe Biden in his capacity as President Trump’s personal attorney.
Giuliani, the lawsuit alleges, asked for the farmers’ help finance efforts to make sure Trump was elected to a second term. But Giuliani wasn’t seeking a donation — he wanted them to invest in a documentary.
The suit was filed this month by a Munger-owned LLC, one of several entities controlled by the multinational agro-barons, who also hold part ownership of Naturipe, the world’s largest producer of blueberries.
Giuliani was working with Yale and cannabis investor George Dickson III, per the suit. The lawsuit claims that the three men pitched the farmers on a film that would be “a possible ‘kill shot’ to Biden’s presidential campaign.” The three men “all represented that they possessed key documents that were ‘smoking guns’ that would establish that the Ukrainian government engaged in a quid pro quo exchange with the Biden family to benefit Burisma,” the complaint continues…
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Ukraine will not be able to operate US-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday. “It’s already obvious we won’t be able to defend Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets during this autumn and winter,” Ihnat told a joint telethon broadcast by Ukrainian channels.
The US condemned Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure and called for Moscow to return immediately to the grain deal, the state department said on Wednesday. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, did not care about global food security, the state department deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, told reporters after Ukraine said earlier on Wednesday Russia had attacked its grain storage facilities overnight.
A civilian cargo vessel has left Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa, Kyiv has said, despite warnings from Russia that its navy could target ships using the Black Sea export hubs. The announcement raises the spectre of a standoff with Russian warships, after Moscow pulled out of a key deal last month brokered by the UN and Turkey, which guaranteed safe passage for grain shipments from three Ukrainian ports….
Also from there:
It is up to Ukraine to decide when the conditions are right to join any negotiations after the Russian invasion, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, emphasising the alliance’s unchanged stance after comments this week by a senior colleague, Reuters reports.
“It is the Ukrainians, and only the Ukrainians, who can decide when there are conditions in place for negotiations, and who can decide at the negotiating table what is an acceptable solution,” Stoltenberg said.
Speaking at a conference in the Norwegian town of Arendal, he added that Nato’s role was to support Ukraine….
Germany has delivered two more IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports.
The German government announced on Thursday the delivery of another military aid package to Ukraine, including two IRIS-T air defence systems and about 4,500 rounds of 155 mm ammunition.
Olexander Scherba, the ambassador for strategic communications for Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs, responded to the news with “Danke, Deutschland! This will save many lives!”
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said: “Many thanks to our partners for IRIS-T. Our sky will be more protected.”
Mary Trump says her uncle, Donald Trump, is worsening his legal problems with incendiary social media posts because his “fear of humiliation is so strong that he cannot course-correct.”
“There’s been a really interesting shift over the last few months, or couple of years,” Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner in an interview Wednesday.
“The way in which he is presenting himself in social media, the attacking nature, the aggressiveness. That used to be strategy for him, you know, [he] used to throw temper tantrums strategically to get his way. It’s not strategy anymore.”
Facing four indictments, Trump has doubled down on his usual playbook, lashing out at those working to hold him accountable. Judges, prosecutors and grand jurors involved in his cases have received violent threats.
A woman in Texas was arrested on Wednesday on charges she threatened to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s federal indictment linked to his push to overturn the 2020 election. “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you,” Abigail Jo Shry allegedly said in a voice message for the judge.
“He is literally doing what he’s done in other contexts, which is pushing the envelope to see how much he can get away with, which obviously, until this time, has been everything,” Mary Trump said.
“But the unconscious fear, terror, and especially fear of humiliation is so strong that he cannot course-correct and realize that doing what he’s always done is this time not going to get him what he wants.”
“In fact, quite the opposite,” she added.
Trump has been indicted on a total of 91 felonies in two federal cases and two state cases. In New York, he’s charged with falsifying business records. In Georgia, he’s expected to be arraigned soon in a sprawling racketeering and conspiracy case over an alleged scheme to change the election results in the state. The federal cases are tied to his handling of classified materials and his 2021 coup attempt.
Trump has raged at people involved in all four cases, largely ignoring judges’ warnings to curb his inflammatory rhetoric.
“IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” he wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month.
Hundreds of millions of people across the globe are living amid unprecedented temperatures, with July becoming the hottest month on record. Another heatwave is building in the US Pacific north-west.
Heat is the main cause of weather-related death in the US. How does it affect the body?
“Heat stress means that the body is experiencing a deep build-up of heat – more than it can release,” said Uwe Reischl, professor in the school of public and population health at Boise State University. Depending on the severity of heat, symptoms can range from the uncomfortable to the fatal….
The burning debate on the American left this week: is sunscreen socialist?
It was sparked last Thursday when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke out about the poor quality of sun creams in the US compared to elsewhere. “I was in South Korea earlier this year and it is so clear how far advanced the rest of the world is on sunscreen, and we deserve better in the US,” the congresswoman said in a social media video filmed with [name removed], a skincare brand CEO.
Ocasio-Cortez said that the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations on sunscreen, which haven’t been updated since 1999, are needlessly blocking Americans’ access to higher-performance UV filters that can be found in other countries. “It’s not too corny – please contact your member of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez instructed her viewers. “Ask them to break through some of the regulatory barriers at the FDA.”…
A “granfluencer” known as “our Filipino grandma” is among an army of US-based influencers being used by fossil fuel giants to promote major polluters to younger audiences, DeSmog can reveal.
TikTok star Nora Capistrano Sangalang – known as “Mama Nora” or “Lola” – is best known for posting videos of her family and her insistence that her young fans are well fed.
In September 2022, however, she stepped into a new realm – posting an advert promoting Shell’s fuel rewards programme to her over two million followers on TikTok and Instagram….
The United States government on Thursday approved Israel’s request to export the co-developed Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany, in what will be Israel’s largest-ever single defense deal…
The Arrow 3 is currently Israel’s most advanced long-range missile defense system, meant to intercept ballistic missiles while they are still outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, taking out projectiles and their nuclear, biological, chemical or conventional warheads closer to their launch sites, from a distance of up to 2,400 kilometers (1,490 miles). Work is underway on the development of a yet more advanced system, the Arrow 4…
Ukraine said it shot down two advanced Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters in a single morning this week.
Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade posted on Facebook that soldiers destroyed a Ka-52 at around 7:40 a.m. on Thursday using a portable air-defense missile system near Robotyne, a village in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
This followed an update from the commander of Ukraine’s air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, who said on Telegram that a Ka-52 was destroyed that same morning near Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk region…
The Kansas magistrate judge who authorized a police raid of the Marion County Record newsroom over its probe into a local restaurateur’s drunken-driving record has her own hidden history of driving under the influence.
Judge Laura Viar, who was appointed on Jan. 1 to fill a vacant 8th Judicial District magistrate seat, was arrested at least twice for DUI in two different Kansas counties in 2012, a Wichita Eagle investigation found.
She was the lead prosecutor for Morris County at the time.
Viar’s DUI history could face scrutiny because the warrant she approved for the controversial raid came in response to the Marion County Record digging into the DUI history of restaurant owner Kari Newell. The Viar-authorized raid came after Newell complained about the newspaper’s investigation into her criminal background…
A newly formed tropical storm, named Hilary, is forecast by AccuWeather meteorologists to wander close enough to the southwestern United States to raise the likelihood of torrential rain and the potential for major flash flooding beginning this weekend and lasting into next week…
Dr. Caitlin Bernard—an abortion provider who became nationally recognized when she disclosed that she provided abortion care for a 10-year-old rape victim from another state—was rejected from receiving a prestigious award by the state of Indiana. Initially, the judges who selected Bernard were given no information about the rejection of the assistant professor from the University of Indiana.
When the IndyStar reached out, the Indiana Civil Rights Commission eventually said it was because Bernard received a $3,000 fine and letter of reprimand in May when the state licensing board decided she violated privacy laws by speaking about her treatment of a pregnant child rape victim.
The newspaper was unable to determine who exactly insisted on nixing Bernard’s name. Stephanie Slone, deputy director of internal and external programming at the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, gave a statement to the newspaper: “After reviewing the backgrounds and supporting documentation of the nominations provided by the council of judges, it was determined that Dr. Bernard’s nomination was not appropriate due to her ongoing case with the Medical Licensing Board.”
The Torchbearer Awards were created in 2004 to “honor the many achievements of Hoosier women.” IndyStar reported that Bernard was among 60 nominations given to the panel of judges. Bernard was among a half dozen finalists; the newspaper reported that her nomination was unanimous…
StevoRsays
BBC has a good story on India’s lunar mission here :
India’s third lunar mission is inching closer to the Moon’s little-explored south pole where it aims to set down a lander and rover on 23 August. On Thursday, the lander detached from the propulsion module, which carried it close to the Moon, beginning its last phase of the mission. Chandrayaan-3, however, may not be the first to land on the south pole if it’s beaten by a new Russian mission. Luna-25, launched last week, is expected to land a day or two earlier.
A while to go still but looking forward to both these landing and bringing us new knowledge about places humans haven’t yet been.
birgerjohanssonsays
Oh. My. God.
God Awful Movies have dug up another christian/patriotic film, and it is hilariously bad.
Britain has hatched a plot with Ukraine to assassinate pro-Moscow leaders in Africa, a Russian diplomatic and military source has claimed.
Russia’s three leading news agencies simultaneously published almost identical reports on Wednesday that cited the unnamed source as saying up to a hundred Ukrainian personnel with combat experience had been selected by Kyiv for the clandestine operation.
The source said the “punitive saboteur unit consisting of Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis” had been trained by MI6 and would soon be dispatched to Africa, where Moscow has sought to expand its influence in recent years, to “impede” Russia’s co-operation with the continent…
A Florida man who stole a riot shield and used it help push against officers in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a half in prison, prosecutors said.
Joshua Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, was sentenced to 18 months Wednesday, a little more than five months after he was found guilty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington said in a statement…
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Georgia is “criminalizing contesting an election,” in reaction to former President Donald Trump being indicted for a fourth time in recent months, this time in connection to efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
“He’s being prosecuted in a way to make challenging an election a crime just for him,” Graham said in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” show Wednesday…
After his client was charged with armed bank robbery, defense attorney Lindsay Graham Cracker stated, “They’re trying to make withdrawing money from the bank illegal.”
wzrd1 @230, Please do not post stuff like this on this thread: “harm children, it’s quite likely you’d either witness your own children’s remains eaten by pigs of join them.”
birgerjohanssonsays
Reginald Selkirk @ 251
Methinks they are projecting.
.
Today is a very important day for Swedish culinary traditions.
No, not lutefisk.
It is the first day of the North Swedish surströmming * season.
The cans were sold out in hours, but you can buy individual cans online at prices varying fron 10 to 100 $.
*fermented herring. Going back to the era before preservatives and refrigerators it is very much an aquired taste.
To hear Matt Gaetz tell it, the impeachment process won’t remove Joe Biden from office, but it will sully the president ahead of his re-election bid. [JFC]
As of today, congressional Republicans have filed six separate impeachment resolutions targeting President Joe Biden. Of course, today isn’t over yet, and it’s possible we’ll soon see a seventh.
The half-dozen impeachment resolutions have quite a bit in common. They were all introduced by far-right House members. They all fail to point to any evidence of the Democrat actually doing anything wrong. And they’re all destined to eventually fail, since there’s no way 67 senators will convict the president and remove Biden from office in response to a scandal that doesn’t exist.
So why are so many GOP members bothering? As it turns out, Rep. Matt Gaetz participated in a Twitter Space earlier this week and the Florida Republican explained the entire strategy, out loud, with unexpected candor. As The New Republic summarized:
Representative Matt Gaetz has finally said the quiet part out loud: Republicans don’t have enough evidence to impeach and convict Joe Biden. They just want to make him look bad enough that he loses the 2024 election.
The congressman acknowledged that, realistically, those expecting to remove Biden from office through the impeachment process need to lower their expectations. “Let me break it to all of you: There’s no conviction and removal of Joe Biden coming on impeachment,” Gaetz conceded. “I know that. You know that. Anyone with rational thought knows that given Chuck Schumer’s control of the Senate. And frankly, the way that that Senate Republicans view Joe Biden and seem to work with him for their own selfish objectives.”
But if the goal isn’t to use impeachment for its stated purpose, why would Gaetz be such an enthusiastic proponent of pursuing it anyway?
“[T]he purpose of the impeachment to me is to use the Senate as the stage,” he explained. “But [senators are] not the jury. The jury is the American people. And if we had the Senate as the stage and the platform for James Comer to put on his evidence and advance this impeachment, it will not result in a conviction, but the true verdict can still be rendered by the American people.”
Oh. So as Gaetz sees it, whether the impeachment process works as designed is irrelevant. Rather, what GOP members of Congress should do, according to the Florida Republican, is use the process to sully Biden ahead of his re-election bid. The “trial” would effectively be an attack ad. The political theatrics wouldn’t be incidental; they’d be the sole purpose of the exercise.
For his part, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly raised the prospect of an impeachment inquiry, but Gaetz dismissed such talk.
“I think when we talk about it like, ‘Oh well, if we have an inquiry, then we can get more evidence!’ what you’re saying implicitly in that is that you don’t feel like you have sufficient evidence now,” the Floridian added. “It’s actually a degradation of your existing evidence to take that approach rather than proceeding I think, a more, more explicitly towards impeachment.”
As much as I appreciate Gaetz’s willingness to elucidate the partisan plan, there’s a nagging detail he apparently doesn’t yet appreciate: There is no incriminating evidence against Biden. House GOP leaders are “implicitly” saying they don’t have “sufficient evidence now” because — wait for it — they don’t have sufficient evidence now.
[…] The congressman may have grand ambitions of weaponizing the impeachment process, but unless he and his Republican colleagues uncover actual wrongdoing, the entire strategy rests on a foundation of sand.
Nevertheless, it’ll be worth keeping this in mind when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill in a few weeks, and impeachment proponents swear up and down that there’s nothing “political” about their intentions.
Tom Cotton wants voters to decide Donald Trump’s fate. Has the senator not noticed that Trump doesn’t respect or accept election results he doesn’t like?
It didn’t exactly come as a surprise when Sen. Tom Cotton rallied behind Donald Trump in the wake of the former president’s latest indictment. But what struck me as interesting was how the Arkansas Republican responded to this week’s developments in Fulton County.
Here was Cotton’s pitch yesterday during an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s program:
“I understand that Democrats and liberals in the media can’t stand Donald Trump, and they’d do anything to stop him. But it would be much better from their point of view, and the point of view of the country, if they try to stop him on the campaign trail and at the ballot box, and let the American people make these choices, as opposed to having rabid zealots like Jack Smith or partisans like Alvin Bragg and the woman in Atlanta make these decisions for them, to try to take Donald Trump out of contention.”
For now, let’s put aside some of the more obvious flaws in the far-right senator’s comments. We could dwell on some of the details — it wasn’t “liberals in the media” sitting on the grand juries; there’s nothing to suggest the special counsel is a “rabid zealot”; the “woman in Atlanta” has a name — but we can revisit these concerns at another time.
What’s more, let’s also brush past the highly relevant detail that indicting Trump does not actually take him “out of contention” for elected office, making the senator’s entire argument rather odd.
Instead, what stood out as especially notable was Cotton’s belief that the former president’s detractors should try to stop him “at the ballot box,” as opposed to wanting to see him held accountable in the courts for alleged crimes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said effectively the same thing on Fox News shortly before Trump’s latest indictment was unsealed. “The American people can decide whether they want him to be president or not,” the South Carolina Republican said. “This should be decided at the ballot box.”
Sen. Ted Cruz used slightly different phrasing, but the Republican pushed a very similar line during his own Fox News appearance this week. To hear the Texan tell it, Democrats only support Trump’s prosecution “because they’re afraid of the voters.”
This doesn’t have to be complicated. There are a handful of ways to hold Trump accountable for wrongdoing. He can be charged by prosecutors who’ve assembled evidence by way of a grand jury, but Republicans are against that. He can be punished by the Congress — impeachment, conviction, and being barred from office — but Republicans are against that, too.
Or Trump can be defeated by the electorate — which certainly has some appeal, though there’s one glaring problem: Americans already tried that.
As we discussed earlier in the week, it’s obviously true that in a democracy, differences are resolved at the ballot box. But — and this is the important part — when the American electorate went to ballot boxes and cast votes in 2020, Trump and his cohorts decided not to accept the results. In fact, according to evidence compiled by prosecutors across multiple jurisdictions, the outgoing president decided to try to overturn the election and put illegitimate power in the hands of the candidate who lost.
In other words, the United States tried to decide the former president’s fate at the ballot box, and Trump decided not to care. This isn’t some obscure, tangential point; it’s the foundation of the entire scandal.
Cotton and his cohorts have made the case that election results should reign supreme, but the accused felon — the one they’re so eager to defend — has made clear that he doesn’t respect or accept election results he doesn’t like.
Do these Republican senators not understand this, or are they simply pretending to be obtuse?
Tim Scott’s first economic pitch — we were better off three years ago — was wrong. His new pitch — we were better off one year ago — is just as bad.
It was exactly a year ago yesterday when President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, and Democrats were eager to celebrate the measure’s anniversary. […] The Inflation Reduction Act has been a success across multiple fronts.
Sen. Tim Scott, the only sitting senator in the Republicans’ 2024 presidential field, published a message to social media yesterday arguing that the Democrats shouldn’t be too pleased with their triumph:
“Today, President Biden is celebrating his Inflation Acceleration Act while Americans are living the truth: we’re all worse off today than we were one year ago. You can’t sugar coat reality.”
If the message sounds at all familiar, it’s because the South Carolinian has gone down this road before. As recently as late-June, Scott argued online, “Three years ago, our economy was thriving. Today, we’re all worse off under the Biden administration.”
This led to all kinds of fact-checking — from, among others, me — noting that the economy had improved dramatically between June 2020 and June 2023, and by bringing this up, Scott was helping promote a point that made Biden look better, not worse.
Soon after, the senator’s unfortunate missive was quietly deleted, which was probably for the best. There was no point in having a GOP presidential candidate inadvertently help remind the public about the Democratic incumbent’s successes on the nation’s most politically potent priority.
But now, evidently, Scott is giving it another try. Never mind that stuff he said about the economy being better off three years ago; the new pitch is that the economy was better off one year ago.
Except, that’s wrong, too.
The Republican senator didn’t point to any specific metrics, but it’s not difficult to review the basics. In August 2022, the available economic data showed the economy contracting slightly, while in August 2023, the latest data found the economy growing at a healthy clip.
In August 2022, the nation’s unemployment rate was 3.7%. While we don’t yet know the jobless rate for August 2023, the most recently available data shows an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
[…] And what about inflation? Scott might’ve thought it was clever to publish an online message that described the Inflation Reduction Act as the “Inflation Acceleration Act,” but when Biden signed the legislation into law a year ago, the nation’s inflation rate was above 8%. Now it’s nearly 3%.
[…] Scott wrote, “[W]e’re all worse off today than we were one year ago.” The Republican presidential hopeful characterized this as “the truth,” adding, “You can’t sugar coat reality.”
No, but apparently you can mischaracterize reality for political purposes. By any fair measure, the economy is better off today than a year ago.
Rather than say that Tim Scott is mischaracterizing reality, I would say that he is telling a lie … well, several lies. He is pushing disinformation like a common trumpian sycophant.
Yesterday, Wonkette had a jolly little post about poor Axios, having a panic attack and about to throw all its bullet points out the window, because it was freaked out over Donald Trump’s busy schedule. Court dates! Campaign events! Five things on his schedule in two weeks! What kind of meta-human can pull off such a feat!
Of course, one of those events he definitely didn’t have to go to, and another one Wonkette rated as “Likelihood of Trump canceling: We are guessing high.” Why? Because it was some dumbass MyPillow-esque press conference at Bedminster, announced on Truth Social, where Trump was allegedly going to BLOW THIS WHOLE THING WIDE OPEN!
This was the one where Trump said he had a “CONCLUSIVE” and “Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable” report on election fraud that would result in “complete EXONERATION,” at which point all people everywhere would drop the charges against Trump. (Detailed but Irrefutable? We are beyond trying to figure out what kind of illiterate babbling rodent taught that man to speak English.)
[…] Well, you are going to be shocked all the way out of your pantaloons, because ABC News is reporting that the Bedminster Total Exoneration press conference might not be happening.
So relax-ios, Axios! Trump’s schedule for getting booked in the slammer is clearing up quite nicely!
Fuming about his unpaid legal bills, Rudolph Giuliani has claimed that Donald J. Trump could never have garnered so many indictments without his help.
“Those indictments didn’t happen all by themselves,” the former New York mayor told Fox News. “It took a village, and that village was me.”
Giuliani said that it was “particularly hurtful” that he had not been remunerated for obtaining Trump’s indictments since they have been so pivotal to the former President’s burgeoning lead in the Republican Presidential primary.
“Thanks to those indictments, he’s leading Ron DeSantis by double digits,” Giuliani said. “Now, I’m not making a threat here, but maybe if Trump doesn’t pay me I go to work for DeSantis as his lawyer. Yeah, maybe I do that. After a pinch or two of Rudy magic, you just watch those indictments roll in.”
The conclusion dashes hopes that LK-99 — a compound of copper, lead, phosphorus and oxygen — marked the discovery of the first superconductor that works at room temperature and ambient pressure. Instead, studies have shown that impurities in the material — in particular, copper sulfide — were responsible for the sharp drops in electrical resistivity and partial levitation over a magnet, which looked similar to properties exhibited by superconductors…
Reginald Selkirksays
@265
“It took a villagevillain, and that villagevillain was me.”
FIFY
Reginald Selkirksays
@265
BTW I think Andy Borowitz does a terrific job of satire, which must be difficult when dealing with a reality that is so cartoonish.
Lynna @ #257, I know! IIRC, he also started plotting the “Stop the Steal” manipulation campaign in like 2015. He’s been pulling this shit for 50 years.
It’s so infuriating. The Electoral College itself (like the Senate) is already blatantly anti-democratic and gives Republicans an unfair advantage – they can “win” the presidency even when they lose by millions of votes. But when they can’t even manage to get their full minority rule through that unfair advantage (alongside their voter suppression and disenfranchisement efforts), they’re happy to engage in further anti-democratic trickery to secure and retain power. They’re totally prepared to exploit aspects of the EC process, activating Republican elections boards, Republican governors and other state officials, gerrymandered state legislatures, the gerrymandered House, Republican Senators, the Vice President, Republican judges (Trump at the Ellipse on January 6th: “You know, look, I’m not happy with the Supreme Court…. I picked three people. I fought like hell for them. One in particular, I fought…. And you know what, they couldn’t give a damn. They couldn’t give a damn. Let him rule the right way.”), and violent mobs to reject the will of the voters.
A few short weeks ago, the world was taken aback by claims of a room-temperature superconductor—a scientific finding that could redefine modern physics as we know it. Those claims turned out to be bunk, and a South Korean university is investigating a complaint made against the professor who published them in a paper.
Bloomberg reports that Korea University is specifically investigating a complaint that Young-Wan Kwon published the paper about the superconductor breakthrough without the permission of his co-authors. Kwon uploaded a pre-print manuscript describing the superconductor, called LK-99, to Cornell University’s arXiv server at the end of July. Now, a Korea University official has told Bloomberg that the case warranted an immediate probe, which should take approximately six months…
According to arXiv, Kwon uploaded the paper to the repository on July 22 with co-authors Sukbae Lee and Ji-Hoon Kim. A few hours later, Lee and Kim uploaded another paper to arXiv with four other co-authors—Kwon was noticeably missing from the byline. Kim Hyun Tak, a professor of physics at the College of William & Mary, reportedly told Bloomberg earlier this month that the group uploaded the second paper as a response to Kwon uploading the original manuscript…
Interesting, but this deals with publication ethics, not the conduct of the research.
…In order to go further in understanding the similarities and differences between European nationalisms and European regionalism – and thus to think about exactly what kind of imagined community Europe is – it is necessary to examine in more detail the process of identity formation in each case. But in doing so, it is important to distinguish myths about national and regional identities – that is, simplifying and comforting stories that are themselves the product of nationalism or regionalism – from more critical accounts of identity formation. Because “pro-Europeans” themselves believe in the importance of strengthening European identity, their attempts to create a “narrative” for the EU often mythologise it in order to create a “usable past” rather than deepen our understanding of it.
In particular, there is a tendency to think of European identity formation on the basis of an idealised and simplistic view of its history. Europe is often imagined as a closed system – in other words, as a region that has its own self-contained history separate from that of other regions.
This reduces European history to a linear story, going from ancient Greece and Rome through Christianity, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and finally to the EU. It erases the deep interconnections with other histories – both the multiple external influences on Europe, particularly from Africa and the Middle East (the presence of non-Europe within Europe) and the interactions of Europeans with the rest of the world beyond the contested and shifting geographical boundaries of Europe (that is, the presence of Europe within non-Europe). In terms of identity formation, thinking of Europe as a closed system in this way obscures the role of “constitutive outsiders” – that is, the others against whom an identity is defined….
…
…The cultural element of European regionalism did not simply disappear after 1945, as many “pro-Europeans” like to believe. Rather, it continued in a more subtle form – and informed the postwar European project, which did not create a new, purely civic regionalism. Rather than European regionalism in general, it is this cultural element of European regionalism, particularly the post-second world war version of it centred on the EU, that we might call “Eurowhiteness”.
Alexey Navalny, the opposition politician sentenced to 19 years in prison last week, has released his first extended piece of writing since the trial, expressing a deep disappointment with the past two decades of democratic politics in Russia. We’re publishing the full English text of Navalny’s essay that first appeared on his website under the title “My Fear and Loathing.”…
A week after a Moscow court added another 19 years to Alexey Navalny’s prison time (for various supposed “extremist” crimes), his associates published an essay written in his name titled “My Fear and Loathing.” In the manifesto, as it soon became known in the news media and on social networks, Navalny argued that the root of many of Russia’s most fundamental problems today can be found in the 1990s — specifically in the compromises and expediencies liberals then embraced at the expense of democracy. Navalny also criticized multiple individuals by name and warned that figures in Russia’s contemporary opposition are repeating their predecessors’ mistakes. The text sparked a discussion among Russian liberals about the legacy of the 1990s and whether Navalny has the right to castigate that era’s politicians and public figures when his allies today have sometimes exhibited questionable judgment. Many even question whether Navalny even wrote the essay. Meduza collected some of the reactions to the 1990s Manifesto….
It’s so bizarre that there’s no mention of global capitalism in this discussion at all.
More than 60 people are believed to have died after the boat they were travelling on from Senegal was found off Cape Verde, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
At least 63 asylum seekers are thought to have died, while the 38 survivors include four children between the ages of 12 and 16, an IOM spokesperson told AFP.
Police said the long wooden fishing vessel was spotted on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean off west Africa, about 150 nautical miles (277 kilometres) from the Cape Verdean island of Sal.
Initial reports suggested the vessel had sunk, but it was later clarified that it was found drifting. The vessel was located by a Spanish fishing boat, which alerted Cape Verdean authorities.
It was not immediately clear when the incident occurred, but according to survivors the boat left Senegal on 10 July with about 100 passengers on board.
…
Cape Verde lies about 350 miles (600km) off the coast on the maritime route to Spain’s Canary Islands.
The Atlantic migration route from west Africa to the Canary Islands, typically used to reach mainland Spain, is one of the world’s deadliest.
“Safe and regular pathways to migration are sorely lacking, which is what gives room to smugglers and traffickers to put people on these deadly journeys,” the IOM said.
At least 559 people died attempting to reach the Canary Islands in 2022, while 126 people died or went missing on the same route in the first six months of this year, with 15 shipwrecks recorded, according to IOM.
In July, another 15 people drowned when a boat capsized off the coast of Senegal’s capital Dakar.
As migration returns to the top of Europe’s political agenda, including in the UK, Europe’s border and coastguard agency said last week that irregular arrivals had risen by 13% between January and July to 176,100, the highest number for the period since 2016.
Frontex said the increase was entirely driven by a 115% rise in the number of people using the “central Mediterranean” route, which is now the main migratory route into the EU and accounts for more than half of all border detections.
At least 11 migrants died on Monday and seven others remained missing after the boat they were travelling on capsized off the Tunisia’s coast, according to Tunisian authorities.
The week before, another 41 people are feared to have died after a boat sank in rough seas off the Italian island of Lampedusa in the central Mediterranean.
[Europe as realized in practice has made the Mediterranean not a center around which a shared identity is created but a barrier and a deathtrap for “outsiders.”]
birgerjohanssonsays
I am finding claims that the Ukrainan counter-battery fire has been so effective that they are now beginning to outgun the Russian artillery.
I am holding off celebrating until there are more confirmations but remember- the Russian army is built around massive artillery superiority.
If they lose that, they will be in a situation för which the top brass has ko training and the conscript army infantry has not exactly prvoven itself to be skilled and flexible.
A Canadian woman was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison in Washington Thursday in the mailing of a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump at the White House.
Pascale Ferrier, 56, had pleaded guilty to violating biological weapons prohibitions in letters sent to Trump and to police officials in Texas, where she had been jailed for several weeks in 2019…
A court watchdog has filed a complaint against the federal judge who ordered “religious-liberty training” for a trio of Southwest Airlines lawyers as part of their punishment for not fully following his orders in a case involving speech about abortion.
The leader of Fix the Court says U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr’s choice of training conducted by a Christian legal-advocacy group is “strange and unprecedented.”
Fix the Court, a small, nonpartisan group known mostly for monitoring the U.S. Supreme Court, filed the judicial-misconduct petition Tuesday with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans.
The group’s executive director, Gabe Roth, took particular aim at the Dallas judge’s selection of Alliance Defending Freedom to conduct day-long training for three Southwest lawyers in a case involving a flight attendant who said she was fired for comments objecting to abortion. The conservative ADF has represented clients opposing abortion, same-sex marriages and transgender rights.
Roth said ethics training would have been fine, but the judge should not have ordered training run by any organization tied to a particular faith.
“Starr’s order sets a dangerous precedent, and he deserves sanctions himself for this awful judgment call,” he said…
A Republican state senator in Georgia has moved to impeach the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis.
The move comes in the wake of Willis’s delivery of a 41-count indictment against the former president Donald Trump and his operatives on state racketeering and conspiracy charges over efforts to reverse Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss in the state…
On Thursday, Colton Moore wrote a letter to Governor Brian Kemp in which he called for an emergency review of Willis’s actions.
“We, the undersigned … hereby certify to you … that in our opinion an emergency exists in the affairs of the state, requiring a special session to be convened … for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis,” Moore wrote…
He is certifying that he has an opinion? Pompous git.
Workers at an Erie, Pennsylvania, plant that makes locomotives for Wabtec Corporation are striking, and one of their conditions might surprise you: They’re rallying to shift their production practices to greener technology.
This condition may seem surprising because the locomotives the plant makes generally run on diesel fuel, something not often used in the same sentence as “green.”
The 1,400 striking workers are represented by the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America Union (UE) and have been on strike since late June, but contract renegotiations started back in April, reported Grist.
Scott Slawson, the president of UE’s Erie chapter, told Grist that his union and the train operator union are pushing for greener technology and higher environmental standards industry-wide. He further said that it’s a passionate fight for them, and they’re in it for the long haul.
Compared to both cars and planes, trains aren’t massive polluters, but every bit of reduction of toxic planet-warming gases counts. This is especially true considering the transportation industry overall is responsible for the highest amount of polluting, heat-trapping gases, accounting for 29% of total U.S. air pollution, per the Environmental Protection Agency.
Also, trains release pollutants from diesel fuel in the cities and towns where they operate, heightening the risk of cancer from air pollution and creating other health risks.
To stop this pollution, train companies would switch to pollution-reducing locomotives — called Tier 4 locomotives made by companies like Wabtec — that would cut pollution by a whopping 70%, Grist reported.
Considering several big rail companies have made climate pledges, you’d think switching to these cleaner, greener locomotives would be quick, but the opposite is true.
Slawson and the striking workers want to speed up the transition and are saying so loud and clear.
“It’s not just about building the locomotive; it’s about requiring the rail industry as a whole to make this switch,” Slawson told Grist. “Even though rail is one of the least polluting things out there, there still has to be a push to adopt the newest technologies.”
In the same article, Liz Ratzloff, co-executive director of the Labor Network for Sustainability, said: “[The Wabtec strike] shows the potential power of workers, communities, and the labor movement in addressing the climate crisis where companies are uninterested and unwilling, and the government is seemingly unable.”
A major problem with trying to speed up the adoption of the Tier-4 locomotives is the actual life-span of locomotives. Whether steam locomotives, diesel-electric locomotives, electric locomotives, or even hydraulic-electric locomotives, for the past 120 years, they have had a main line life span of 18 to 22 year. Around 20 years of pulling heavy freight trains, or fast passenger trains, and, even with regular rebuilds, the price per mile skyrockets due to repair, maintenance, and fuel costs. The older locomotives are not thrown away. Instead, main line roads use them as helper engines — pushing trains up steep grades — of as switching locomotives in railroad yards. After five to fifteen years of that, they are still not put out to pasture. Instead, they are traded in for new locomotives — components are rebuilt and reused or recycled into rebuilding projects — or sell them (often after an update rebuild) to short line railroads which basically do the retail business of railroads — a couple of cars to this industry, a dozen to that one, etc. Shortline railroads keep the locomotives in service for decades. One of the local short lines near me is still using GE Century Class locomotives (C-425s and C-426s (which are renamed U-boats) from the mid-1960s. And they are still in service. A new locomotive is an expensive proposition. Discarding them, or downgrading them, or selling them before their time will not help the railroad’s bottom line. The only way this will happen is through government intervention. Otherwise, it will be another 50 years before the last of the old locomotives are too expensive to even run on short lines.
Two Belarusian poems from the 19th Century have been declared “extremist”, in a sign of an expanding crackdown on criticism of the authorities.
Vincent Dunin-Martsinkevich’s poems relate to a nationalist uprising against the Russian Empire…
An announcement by the prosecutor’s office in the capital Minsk on Thursday said that the two poems, The Winds are Floating and Conversation of an Elderly Man, along with a foreword to the author’s collected works by literary critic Yazep Yanushkevich, had been declared “extremist material”.
The poems were written during the Kastus Kalinowski rebellion of 1863 by Belarusians and Poles in what was then Poland and a part of the Russian Empire…
The confirmed death toll from Hawaii’s wildfires now stands at 111. That number of deaths is still expected to rise.
NBC News:
Hawaii’s attorney general announced Thursday that she will tap a ‘third-party private organization’ to investigate how state and county agencies handled the monstrous wildfires that ripped across Maui, ravaging communities.
Transgender youth in North Carolina lost access Wednesday to gender-affirming treatments after the Republican-led General Assembly overrode the Democratic governor’s vetoes of that legislation and other bills touching on gender in sports and LGBTQ+ instruction in the classroom.
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has requested that the judge overseeing his federal 2020 election interference case schedule his trial for April of 2026 — more than two and a half years from now. …
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell unveiled his long-hyped plan to catch supposed election thieves red-handed on Thursday—and it may get you arrested in multiple states, municipalities, and federal aviation zones…
Undeterred, Lindell is moving forward with a new scheme for future elections, and it involves flying drones in or around polling sites to check for suspicious WiFi…
During the Thursday symposium (called the “Election Crime Bureau”) in Springfield, Missouri, Lindell touted the benefits of his new “wireless monitoring device” (WMD), which he said can scrape data on nearby devices with internet access like phones and computers. If the device is in a polling place, and it sees a new device come online, that could be proof of a Chinese plot to hack the building and toggle a few more votes away from Republicans…
Lindell’s plan is to attach the WMD to small drones and pilot them into or near voting sites. He demonstrated this by flying a loud hobbyist drone through the back door of the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, where the conference was taking place…
I think you can add the FCC to the list of government agencies that might have a problem with this.
Former President Donald Trump reposted a meme of the DC National Guard stationed outside of the Lincoln Memorial in an effort to slam President Joe Biden—but as it turns out, that photo was taken during his own administration.
“If you need 10,000 armed soldiers to protect your inauguration from the people then you probably weren’t elected by the people,” the Truth Social meme says, suggesting that Mr Biden lost the election that brought him to power…
Donald Trump has abruptly cancelled his proposed news conference at which he claimed he was going to unveil a report that would clear him of any wrongdoing and charges he tried to interfere with the presidential election in Georgia.
The former president took to Twitter on Thursday evening to say that he would not be going through with the Friday media event at the advice of his lawyers.
“Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Election on Monday, my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings as we fight to dismiss this disgraceful Indictment by a publicity & campaign finance seeking D.A., who sadly presides over a record breaking Murder & Violent Crime area, Atlanta. Therefore, the News Conference is no longer necessary!” he wrote on Truth Social.
With Urozhaine officially liberated, Ukraine is accelerating its advances in this axis of the front. Within the next few weeks we’ll know which side has the greater reserves, with Ukraine either able to exploit this opening, or Russia stopping it cold.
First, let’s look at the big picture overview of this part of the front: [map at the link]
That leftmost direction, toward Melitopol, appears dead in the water for now. Ukraine has breached the first line of defenses north of Robotyne in the middle advance. And we now have real movement on the rightmost one, toward Mariupol where Ukraine officially liberated the town of Urozhaine this week. Now, the good guys are wasting no time consolidating their gains. This map is from Suriyak, a pro-Russian source that has proven consistently accurate: [map at the link]
Ukraine has methodically flattened the front line on every single one of its advances, and this one is no different. This is generally important to avoid any salients that could threaten the flanks of any advancing spearhead. And here, Ukraine is clearly interested in flattening that line all the way to Vuhledar, to the east. And to do this, Ukraine is attacking in the direction of Kermenchyk: [map at the link]
This makes a ton of sense. Once Ukraine reaches Kermenchyk, it cuts off Russian forces in both Novodonetske to its north, and Novomaiorske to its northeast. They either retreat now, or risk being killed or captured down the road. And as Suriyak’s map above shows, Ukraine is off to a good start on its way to Kermenchyk.
Meanwhile, there’s also action west of Urozhaine. Check out the topography of that area: [topographical map at the link] Red is high ground, with hills rising to the west of the Mokri Yali river valley overlooking the road down which Ukraine has been advancing. If Ukraine occupies that high ground, there’s no need to directly assault Zavitne Bazhannya to advance further south. And same thing with Staromlynivka further down. Occupy that high ground on both sides of that river valley, and you have fire control over those settlements. It would become untenable for Russia to maintain any presence.
Let’s take a look at Russia’s defenses in that advance: [map at the link]
The main Russian defensive line is still a ways down, but do not assume that there are no Russian defenses up in those hills. They might not be the complex lines Ukraine will see further south, but they will feature much of what we’ve seen already: Ukrainian infantry assaults on Russian trenches dug into tree lines between open fields. It might not be fast, efficient work. But it should methodically give Ukraine the high-ground coverage it needs for continued gains to the south.
And remember, that major line south of Staromlynivka is the only major defensive line in this approach, hence my favorite graphic right now, which you already saw up above: [map at the link] Break through in this direction, and Ukraine can either push hard toward Melitopol Mariupol, its armor freed from endless minefields, or loop around to the west and cut off all those Russian defensive lines from behind. Neither would be easy to execute or support logistically, but this is what Ukraine is working toward.
——————————
Everyone is so excited about this: [Tweet and videos at the link: “180,000 tungsten balls moment.”]
Guys, that’s not a good thing. There’s zero reason Ukraine should waste a single $120,000 GMLRS rocket on a shed and a dozen mobiks at a sad firing range. Those rockets are in incredibly short supply, and they’d be better used taking out enemy artillery, supply depots, or command and control centers. And if there aren’t enough of those targets to hit, then use that rocket on a 100-meter stretch of trenchline. Ukrainians are dying taking those trenches one by one. Give them a hand with one of those rockets and save a few of their lives.
Or, hoard those rockets for when Ukraine reaches Russia’s main defensive lines. These would do a number on those lines.
This? This is pathetic and if I was in the Pentagon, I’d wonder if Ukraine has already gotten enough GMLRS rockets to meet their needs.
wzrd1says
” Unlike the federal system, when someone is indicted in Fulton County, the indictment includes the names of all the grand jurors who served on the 26-member panel that handed up the charges. However, the indictment, which is a public record that’s available on the court website, does not include their addresses or any other personally identifiable information.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday afternoon that it was “aware that personal information of members of the Fulton County Grand Jury is being shared on various platforms” and that investigators are trying to “track down the origin of threats” against the grand jurors.
Yay, even disinformation is to be found here.
Fuck it, nuke the entire planet with cobalt-60 devices, call it won and done.
wzrd1 @ #292, that’s exactly what tomh explained @ #226 (and, in fact, what was described in Lynna’s #213). I’m not sure what’s got you so confused about this, but reading more carefully seems a better option than calling to destroy the planet.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
A large fire is burning at the Novorossiysk fuel oil terminal in Novorossiysk, one of the largest ports on the Black Sea that is located about 107 miles (172 km) from Crimea.
The terminal, which has a capacity of 119,000 cubic metres and a throughput of 5 million tons a year, is Russia’s main oil export hub in the region.
It’s unclear as of now if the fire was caused by a Ukrainian drone strike, of which there have been several on Russian territory in the past day.
…Disaster capitalism – the well-worn tactic of exploiting moments of extreme collective trauma to rapidly push through unpopular laws that benefit a small elite – relies on this cruel dynamic. As Lee Cataluna, an Indigenous Maui-born journalist, observed recently, the people on the frontlines of disaster are necessarily focused on “survival stuff. Announcements. Services. Instructions. Help. Go here to get gas. Look at this list to see if your husband’s name is there” – not on coercive real estate deals or backroom policy moves. Which is exactly why the tactic too often succeeds.
Disaster capitalism has taken many forms in different contexts. In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there was an immediate move to replace public schools with charter schools, and to bulldoze public housing projects to make way for gentrifying townhouses. In Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the public schools were once again under siege, and there was a push to privatize the electricity grid before the storm had made landfall. In Thailand and Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, valuable beachfront land, previously stewarded by small-scale fishers and farmers, was seized by real estate developers while their rightful occupants were stuck in evacuation camps.
It’s always a little different, which is why some Native Hawaiians have taken to calling their unique version by a slightly different term: plantation disaster capitalism. It’s a name that speaks to contemporary forms of neocolonialism and climate profiteering, like the real estate agents who have been cold-calling Lahaina residents who have lost everything to the fire and prodding them to sell their ancestral lands rather than wait for compensation. But it also places these moves inside the long and ongoing history of settler colonial resource theft and trickery, making clear that while disaster capitalism might have some modern disguises, it’s a very old tactic. A tactic that Native Hawaiians have a great deal of experience resisting.
…
Right now, the eyes of the world are on Maui, but many don’t know where to look. Yes, look to the wreckage, the grieving families, the traumatized children, the incinerated artifacts, and donate what you can to community-led groups on the ground. But look below and beyond that too. To the aquifers and streams, and the plantation-era diversion ditches and reservoirs. Because that’s where the water is, and whoever controls the water controls the future of Maui.
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss Sam Bankman-Fried having his bail revoked and Sam Altman’s plan to scan all of our irises to get us into crypto and supposedly protect us from AI.
Molly White is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and a fellow at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab….
They have a dystopian image of a Google data center, which was oddly enough “courtesy of Google.”
From the article:
In Ireland, data centres use approximately 18 per cent of the country’s total electricity, meaning its 70 data centres consume more energy than all the urban dwellings combined.
After years of secrecy, Google has started publishing its usage statistics, reporting that its data centres worldwide used 5.2 billion gallons of water in 2022.
…Tega Brain: I think in the field of computer science, there’s always been this idea of computing being unlimited and infinite. The example I always give is if you look at the Turing Machine, which is the conceptual idea for what a computer is that Alan Turing came up with in the 1930s, it’s like this system that has a head that can read and write data on an infinite roll of tape. And that’s the model for all computers, like all computing programmes can be run on this Turing Machine. And yet there’s this infinite roll of tape in that concept! It produces this imagining that we will always be able to collect more data, store it, work with it.
There’s not a culture of considering the material impacts and the fact that these systems are reliant on giant energy-sucking, water-sucking data centres that are all around the world….
The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s case in Delaware dismissed two misdemeanor tax charges against him in a filing Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika dismissed the charges after David Weiss, the federal prosecutor leading the case against Biden, moved to dismiss them last week to bring charges in Washington, D.C., or California. Weiss was appointed as special counsel last Friday by Attorney General Merrick Garland after he asked for the role…
Oggie: Mathomsays
Donald Trump has abruptly cancelled his proposed news conference at which he claimed he was going to unveil a report that would clear him of any wrongdoing and charges he tried to interfere with the presidential election in Georgia.
Damn. I was looking forward to that. I would have been entertaining.(<<<That was humour. Don’t jump on me.) And I bet the prosecuting attorney in Georgia would have thought it more than entertaining.
The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s case in Delaware dismissed two misdemeanor tax charges against him in a filing Thursday.
Good. Those were bullshit charges. And it will be spun by organized crime (that’d be the GOP and their sycophants) as an impeachable offense. Against someone.
A recent news segment posted by Reuters highlights how combat engineers of Ukraine’s 128th ‘Transcarpathia’ Mountain Assault brigade are using indigenously produced spider boots strapped over their combat boots to protect themselves from the dense minefields impeding Ukrainian assaults on Russian fortifications in southern Ukraine.
The four-pronged spider boots reduce risks from mines through several mechanisms…
Lawmakers have elected the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party’s candidate for parliamentary speaker following a closely watched vote that augurs well for Pedro Sanchez’s efforts to return as prime minister.
Thursday’s session was widely seen as a trial run before a crucial investiture vote – which determines who forms the government – after an inconclusive July election.
Francina Armengol, 52, was named parliamentary speaker – the third-highest office in Spain after the king and the prime minister – with an absolute majority of 178 votes in the 350-seat chamber.
Her election was secured following a last-minute deal with the hardline Catalan separatist party JxCat, which has been cast in the role of kingmaker.
During the July polls, neither the left nor the right won enough seats to constitute a working majority of 176 mandates – with each side only able to amass the cross-party support of 171 lawmakers…
A British farm has urged visitors to stop posing naked for photographs in its field of sunflowers.
The owners of Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island, off England’s south coast, issued the unusual request on social media, having noticed a growing number of visitors stripping naked to pose for pictures among the blooms…
A Moscow judge has granted a request from the Russian Justice Ministry to dissolve Sakharov Center, one of the country’s oldest human rights organizations.
The Justice Ministry’s Moscow branch submitted the request in July.
Sakharov Center was founded by Elena Bonner, a human rights activist and the wife of dissident physicist Andrey Sakharov. Its mission is to educate the public about human rights and preserve Sakharov’s legacy. In January 2023, Moscow’s municipal authorities evicted the organization from its premises, citing its designation as a “foreign agent.”
The GUR reports that it struck high Russian officials during a meeting in Enerhodar. The so-called head of the city department, Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Pavel Valerievich Chesanov and his deputies received numerous injuries.
Would Americans believe GOP talking points about the Trump indictments? Apparently not.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s four criminal indictments, a variety of Republicans have suggested that the public would “see through” prosecutors’ efforts and reject the indictments’ legitimacy. The “American people,” assorted GOP voices have said, will side with the former president.
There’s fresh evidence pointing in the opposite direction. From the latest national polling report from Quinnipiac University.
In the wake of a federal indictment accusing former President Donald Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Americans 54 — 42 percent think Trump should be prosecuted on criminal charges, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University national poll released today.
Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac polling analyst, explained, “Not only do a large majority of Americans regard the federal charges as serious, more than half of Americans think the former president should face prosecution.”
Not surprisingly, the partisan gaps were enormous — 95% of Democrats think Trump should be criminally prosecuted for his post-defeat efforts, 85% of Republicans do not — but the survey results found that independents are not siding with the former president: By a 57%-to-37% margin, Quinnipiac found independent voters agreeing that Trump should be prosecuted.
The top-line results do not appear to be an outlier: The latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted shortly before this week’s Fulton County indictment, also found that 53% of Americans “approve of the Justice Department indicting Trump over his efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election.”
[…] these results were hardly inevitable. […] For the better part of a year, there’s been a noticeable asymmetry to the public conversation: One side of the political divide has flooded the airwaves with vitriol, insisting an indictment would be proof of a corrupt Justice Department and an unjust system, while the other side has been largely circumspect, saying very little about the suspect, the process, and his alleged crimes.
Given this, Americans have generally only heard one side of the argument. As Republicans have screamed bloody murder in defense of Trump, Democrats have largely responded with “Anyone want to talk about infrastructure and the importance of reproductive rights?”
Indeed, it’s no secret that the Biden White House made a deliberate decision to stay silent — and the party directed congressional Democrats to bite their tongues, too.
[…] And yet, despite this asymmetry, the polling evidence suggests the public didn’t buy what Republicans were selling after Trump’s first indictment, or his second indictment, and GOP rhetoric isn’t proving persuasive in the wake of his latest indictments, either.
Even for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, this is a lot. Sinema’s traditional standout areas are 1) attention-seeking displays of ego and 2) peacocking about her moderate bipartisan compromising blah blah blah. She’s doing a fine job of combining the two as she attempts to insert herself into the ongoing drama of Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on all military promotions, which has left three of the branches of the military lacking Senate-confirmed leaders.
In response to state abortion bans, the Pentagon instituted a policy paying for service members and their family members to travel out of state to obtain abortion care. Tuberville doesn’t like this, so he is blocking all military promotions and says he’ll continue doing this until the Pentagon relents. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and a number of retired generals have said that it’s harming military readiness. Tuberville’s position is that one single senator should be able to micromanage the decisions of even the largest federal agency. Sinema’s view—of course—is that what this situation needs is a compromise brokered by her.
“I know that Coach does not want to undermine the readiness of our United States military,” Sinema said when asked about the situation at a recent meeting of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the recording of which was obtained by NBC News. In that case, one solution to this would be for “Coach” (gag) to stop undermining the readiness of our United States military, but that is not Sinema’s preferred solution.
She continued, “And I know that the United States military and the administration does not want to undermine the authority and the right of any United States senator. What we need are for folks to step off a little bit from their positions and find that middle ground to solve the challenge that we’re facing.” Yeah, no. The authority of any United States senator does not extend to unilaterally making personnel decisions for federal agencies. What if another senator wanted to make a different personnel decision for the Pentagon? You can’t have 100 different senators all having their individual demands honored outside of the process of drafting legislation and passing it into law.
“I’ve volunteered to help do that,” Sinema said, always eager to make herself the center of any story. “We’ll see if they take me up on the offer.”
There is nothing to take her up on. There is no compromise possible here. There is only negotiating with a hostage-taker or not. A Department of Defense spokesperson recently made clear that the answer is “not,” saying: “If you are a service member stationed in a state that has rolled back or restricted health care access, you are often stationed there because you were assigned there. It is not that you chose to go there. And so a service member in Alabama deserves to have the same access to health care as a service member in California, as a service member stationed in Korea.” And the policy is not specific to abortion: “We have a travel policy that allows for our service members to take advantage of health care that should be accessible to them.”
But Sinema, who claims to support reproductive rights, doesn’t want to talk about what the policy actually does. She wants to talk about compromise. “What we’re in is a position of pain — we’re in a pinch point right now,” she said. “Coach wants something the military and the administration is not willing to give him. But it would be a mistake to take away that tool from a United States senator because it is an important tool to address unmet needs.” The “tool” in question is the ability to create pain as long as that senator is willing to hold out and, importantly, their party is willing to back them. This kind of action from a Democrat simply wouldn’t fly because Democrats are not about breaking the government, even for causes they feel are righteous. And Sinema’s implication that this is some timeless matter of Senate prerogatives is false. The current heavy usage of holds in the Senate only emerged in the 1970s, and there have been repeated efforts to reform it since.
“So what I’m encouraging both Coach and the administration to do is to be flexible in finding a solution,” Sinema continued. “There is always a solution to be had. It may not be everything the Coach wants. And it may not be everything that the United States military or the administration wants. But there is a solution to be found. And so what I have offered to both Coach and to the administration is to help in any way that I can to help find that solution, because it does exist. It always exists.”
No, no, and again no. Why should the administration make concessions to a single senator? If Tuberville wants this so much, let him get a law passed. Sinema would get her vote on that legislation if Tuberville brought it up. But as retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro recently told Politico, Tuberville is “a coward, in my book. He won’t even bring an amendment to the floor and get it voted on to change the policy.” And Sinema thinks her desire for attention is better served by thrusting herself in as the one true bipartisan negotiator than by being one out of 100 votes in the Senate.
An exorcism-loving Alabama priest has fled to Italy with a recent high school graduate whose family is desperately trying to get the teen to return home, according to reports by local news outlet Lagniappe Mobile.
Alex Crow, 30, was a priest who listened to confessions at the McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, also visiting classes and chaperoning trips with high school students. This summer, he traveled to Europe with a just-turned 18-year-old, whose name is being withheld in case she was a victim of juvenile crime. At first, Mobile authorities said they did not believe the relationship was sexual in nature, but they’ve since released two letters Crow wrote that suggest otherwise, including a love letter to the teen for Valentine’s Day. In that note, he professed his love for her, claimed they’re married, and said he tried to steal her some flowers from a Virgin Mary statue, “but there were too many people around.” …
Lagniappe Mobile reports that former students said Crow often screamed about demons and tried to perform exorcisms on and in front of students, including on a trip to Guatemala in 2022. Parents have complained about Crow to the Archdiocese of Mobile, and County Sheriff Paul Burch said they told Crow to stay away from another young woman in the past. Parents at the school were worried he was “brainwashing” their children, performing exorcisms on them and providing alcohol for them at bonfires. One parent said their child has refused to come home after Crow convinced them their household was controlled by demons…
The sole abortion clinic in California’s Imperial Valley County—right along the border with Arizona—burned down in a fire on Tuesday. The destruction of the clinic deals a gutting blow to abortion access for residents of both Southern California, and Arizonans who have to seek care out of state, due to their state’s 15-week ban.
The three-alarm fire at the El Centro Planned Parenthood clinic, which officials say began at 2:01 a.m., took fire crews about three hours to extinguish. KPBS reported that the fire required a “total of nine units responded to the fire including in addition to 20 mutual aid firefighters.” No clinic staff members or patients were present during the fire and no civilians were hurt…
[…] Full text of Xweet from ”Radicalized” podcast host Jim Stewartson:
At “Election Summit 2023” Mike Lindell says the quiet part about his christofascist motivations. [And fundraising. Don’t forget the fundraising.]
Cheerleading the 2020 Big Lie that led to J6, Lindell says “there’s a bright side… hey if we’re wrong… it’s End Times and all of us believers go up to Heaven. It’s a win-win.”
This apocalyptic Christian myth, largely fueled by oil & gas money, has been motivating Americans to push us towards chaos for decades because they believe if things get bad it’s fine because Jesus is coming to save them.
The problem with this idea is that anyone who is not a “believer” is supposed to get “left behind” in a bloodbath. They consider this a good thing when it’s blatantly genocidal propaganda. […]
Transcript!
LINDELL: “And you never gave up, instead of getting attacked and attacked and attacked, because you knew we get this one chance or we lose the American dream forever. That’s it. We lose our country. There is a bright side to all this, though. Hey, if we’re wrong it’s end times, all us believers go to heaven, you know. It’s a win-win.”
[Applause. Lindell laughs.]
Well, it’s not really a win-win for unbelievers—more like win-win-really big loss. But since they clearly don’t care what we think, it stands to reason they don’t care how we feel, either—as long as we feel uncomfortable and really, really hot.
And if anyone thought this summit was just another opportunity for right-wing zealots to whine about all the usual made-up dangers to the republic, how would they explain the fact that Gen. Mike Flynn and Steven Bannon were there?
The End is Nigh
At the “ELECTION CRIME BUREAU” conference, Mein Pillow Guy & Steve Bannon cheer on Lt. General Nazi Mike Flynn as he rants about “freedom,” “forced family fun,” & indoctrinating children—before he breaks into what can only be called hysteria.
MICHAEL FLYNN: “They didn’t think that we were going to go back to our founders, right? What’s in the DNA of an American citizen? It’s something called freedom. Okay? It’s in our DNA. And I’ll tell you, you don’t fight, you don’t fight an enemy because you hate the enemy. You fight an enemy because you love your country. You love your faith, you love your family.
“And that’s why we’re fighting, because I know, when I look around, there was a couple of young people here today that had young kids here today. You know, my mom used to call it ‘forced family fun,’ right? Dragging the kids to some event. But when I look at those children, and thank you to those people that brought your children here to these things—even though they don’t understand what’s going on* —but you’re bringing them because that’s what we’re doing. …
“When I look around the audience here, and there’s a lot of relatively young people, but the generation that I’m a part of, the generation that we’re a part of, we’ve got to take this country back, because the future generations are working their asses off, and little babies are trying to grow up, and we’re trying to keep them from, what, drag queen hour? I mean, come on, folks. We are not going to have this. We are not going to have this in this country. Enough is enough.”
[…] You got that, folks? Freedom is the most important thing ever. It’s in every American’s DNA. Also, you shouldn’t be allowed to bring your kid to a drag queen story hour, because that’s not the kind of DNA freedom Flynn’s talking about.
[…] The whole point of Lindell’s summit—which was not about evidence, because they “already have all the evidence”—was to unveil a new election system that’s so awesome it will instantly rescue our country from the brink of ruin. Which is why Lindell waited until Day Two of the event to reveal it. Because if you make an earth-shattering announcement that no one can stop talking about at the beginning of a conference, hardly anyone will stick around for the rest of your presentation—and even fewer will buy pillows.
Of course, if you’re not that into pillows, you can always get a big Trump knife. There’s something at this summit for everyone. Other than credible evidence of election fraud, of course. [video that includes big ass knife]
Of course, Lindell’s new election system is more trustworthy than the current one because God gave him the idea personally. And at 1 PM Central on Thursday, the struggling pillow magnate finally unveiled the plan, which he’s sure you’ll love “unless you’re part of the evil.”
I was tuned in at 1 PM Central, but the big reveal was slightly delayed by a plug for an energy supplement. Then Lindell opened the announcement with a prayer to Jesus asking that The Plan—which God came up with personally, remember—will actually work.
And then, I shit you not, this happened right before Lindell was ready to make his announcement. [video at the link, shows Mike Lindell shouting at the audience like a self-righteous preacher ... only to have his microphone stop working]
Back off, Satan!
And the big reveal? Lindell and crew have created a “wireless monitoring device” that can detect if a voting machine is connected to the internet and endangering votes. The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona caught a dizzying screenshot.
“The Plan” by Mike Lindell is some kind of device on a drone called a Wireless Monitoring Device (WMD) that will pick up wireless networks near polling areas, which he claims will prove in real time if votes are being “stolen.”
Lindell further demonstrated his plan by flying such a drone into the conference hall with one of these WMD devices strapped to it. And, according to Lindell, it monitored everyone’s devices in the building to see if they were connected to the internet.
And there you go. America is saved by WMDs. (No, not those kind!)
That said, I still have qualms. First of all, this would be weird even if voting machines were connected to the internet—which, to be clear, they’re not. Some states do allow machines to include modems that connect to “secure, private network configurations” so they can easily transmit election results, but they’re never connected to the public internet. Regardless, the vast majority of ballots cast in 2020 had paper backups, and Georgia, for example, hand-recounted all of its presidential ballots.
But how would mysterious drones hovering over our heads as we vote work? No chance that could create havoc, is there? Of course not! God has vetted this plan personally, so such havoc has been deemed impossible!
And so it is written: Lindell saves the world for the third time. And just in case anyone doesn’t think this is a grift, researcher and author Devin Burghart would like a word. [Tweets and images at the link: “Lindell tells the audience that people need to purchase the WMD units, immediately, from the Lindell Offense Fund. Lindell – “This is money that is needed to secure our elections today… save our country.”]
@306
And I know that the United States military and the administration does not want to undermine the authority and the right of any United States senator.
I certainly do. The current filibuster rule is nothing like the historical filibuster. The senator does not have to speak for long hours or exert any effort. It is more like a personal veto for each and every one of the 100 senators. Anyone respecting the filibuster rule for the sake of ‘tradition’ ought to want it to revert to the old form.
U.S. officials have told CBS News it appears the Ukrainian military has made progress in advancing on the Russian-held city of Tokmak– a vital barrier city that stands between the Ukrainian forces and the southeastern city of Melitopol.
One of the goals of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is to advance south through heavy Russian fortifications in a bid to reclaim occupied Melitopol – the gateway to Crimea, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 and a vital Russian transit hub.
A U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday that Ukrainian forces have made it through a Russian minefield north of Tokmak and are now engaging with the first line of Russian defenses holding the city.
Recapturing cities like Tokmak, and a further advance on to Melitipol, will be a daunting task for a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has made incremental gains since it launched earlier this summer….
The Biden administration on Friday announced an extension and expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already in the U.S., saying that Russia’s ongoing military invasion of their country and the ensuing humanitarian crisis prevents them from safely returning.
The expansion is expected to make 166,700 additional individuals eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This is on top of allowing 26,000 current beneficiaries to retain their TPS status through April 19, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. […]
TPS for Ukrainians was expected to expire on Oct. 19, but is being extended for 18 months.
[…] There are more than 6.2 million Ukrainians who have registered as refugees in Europe, and an estimated 5.1 million internally displaced in their homeland, according to the latest data from the United Nations.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #306…
Sinema gives herself away by referring to Tuberville as “Coach.” One wonders if she refers to Trump as “President”, too?
As noted, the “compromise” is for Tuberville to submit a bill to override the Pentagon policy and let it wend it’s way through the legislative process (it’d probably be laughed at in committee and dropped, which is–likely–why he isn’t going that route).
The cryptic job listings began appearing online early this year.
The tasks were menial — posting fliers or hanging signs in public spaces — and the pay meager. But for a handful of refugees from eastern Ukraine, the promise of quick cash was too good to pass up.
Respondents soon realized there was a catch: The jobs involved distributing pro-Russian propaganda on behalf of an anonymous employer. For those willing to complete the assignments anyway, the work then took a more ominous turn.
Within weeks, recruits were tasked with scouting Polish seaports, placing cameras along railways and hiding tracking devices in military cargo, according to Polish investigators. Then, in March, came startling new orders to derail trains carrying weapons to Ukraine.
Polish authorities now believe that the mysterious employer was Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, and that the foiled operation posed the most serious Russian threat on NATO soil since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Russia’s objective was to disrupt a weapons pipeline through Poland that accounts for more than 80 percent of the military hardware delivered to Ukraine, a massive flow that has altered the course of the war and that Russia has seemed helpless to interdict, according to Polish and Western security officials. [Illustrations and maps at the link]
Instead, the case has become another damaging blow to Russia’s spy services […]
Russia assembled a team of amateurs, including by using Russian-language postings on Telegram channels in Poland that are frequented by Ukrainian refugees, according to Polish officials, whose account was confirmed by their U.S. intelligence counterparts.
[…] “This threat was eliminated, but the broader threat remains,” said the investigator, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing security concerns and the sensitivity of the case. Russia’s spy services remain active in Poland, he said, and “will try to eliminate the mistakes they made.”
Details about Russia’s use of the popular Telegram app to recruit operatives and the extent of the attacks the GRU was allegedly pursuing have not been previously disclosed.
[…] One of those suspects, Maria Medvedeva, 19, was detained while traveling extensively around Poland with a boyfriend, Vladislav Posmityukha, who has also been charged with espionage. Her father, Pavel Medvedev, said in a recent interview with The Post that the photos they posted on social media prompted him to ask how they were paying for their excursions.
His daughter explained that Posmityukha had cryptocurrency accounts holding “money received from Russia for some actions,” Medvedev said. “She said that he was doing something at a high level and wasn’t telling her.”
[…] Russia’s inability to interdict this constant stream of lethal cargo, whether before it enters Ukraine or as it crosses the western half of the country, has baffled military officials and experts.
“It is astounding to me that here we are 18 months [into the war] and they have not been able to destroy a single convoy or train,” said Ben Hodges, a retired U.S. Army general who served as commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe. “Not one moving target has been hit.”
[…] “Since the outset of the conflict, multiple Russian lines of effort have failed to disrupt Western military aid deliveries to Ukraine,” read a top-secret slide circulated among U.S. military commanders in February. […]
U.S. spy agencies warned in February that Russia was likely to seek ways to “sabotage logistic [sites] on NATO territory with plausible deniability,” meaning in ways that would be difficult to attribute to Russia […]
Outsourcing operations to Ukrainian and Belarusian nationals was one way to accomplish that.
[…] Distributing such material served two purposes, officials said: fanning anti-Ukraine sentiment in Poland but also testing recruits’ willingness to carry out assignments against the government hosting them.
[…] “Every cell had a leader, a trusted person of Russian intelligence services,” according to the ABW. Those at lower levels were kept in the dark and “did not know each other unless it was necessary.”
[…] The United States has taken significant steps to deter attacks, deploying hundreds of troops from the 10th Mountain Division and Patriot antimissile batteries to the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, about 65 miles from the border with Ukraine. […]
The region is crawling with clandestine security. Poland has deployed hundreds of agents to safeguard transit links and border crossings that are also monitored by Western drones, spy planes and satellites, officials said.
[…] Ukraine has also faced its own struggle to root out Russian informant networks, making hundreds of arrests. Among those detained was a rail worker in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region who was arrested in February and accused of sending the coordinates of stations where weapons shipments were offloaded.
Ukraine’s military has sought to minimize its vulnerability to Russian strikes by using decoys, including mock-ups of the HIMARS rocket launchers provided by the United States, and breaking down shipments into smaller packages dispersed swiftly across the front.
Polish officials involved in the investigation described the case as unlike any other they have encountered, reflecting levels of improvisation and desperation on the part of Russian spy services facing unprecedented pressures. […]
One thing in @ 310 makes me curious. How is the alleged WMD device to monitor equipment and networks it isn’t linked to, given traffic is encrypted for wireless these days? The most he could accomplish is detecting a wireless signal and that wouldn’t be easily discerned from a voter’s or staffer’s cell phone WiFi and a standalone network and actual internet connectivity would not be detectable unless he was joined to the encrypted network.
Nothing he said makes a lick of sense, not that his audience would know.
KG @ #317, yes, that map makes me skeptical as well. Even if they mean that (allegedly) strongest line of defenses to the north, it would be surprising for them to have reached it since yesterday, and for CBS to be the only ones to be reporting it. And it seems highly unlikely they would have some lone salient extending that far south. But no one seems to be refuting the report of some progress in general, either. There’s almost no news today!
Throughout Twitter’s rebrand into X, advertisers have started becoming more confident using the platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino recently told CNBC. To bring more advertisers back, X has added new brand safety controls to stop ads from appearing where advertisers don’t want them to appear. However, amid these improvements, at least two brands have once again suspended advertising on X, CNN reported—after a Media Matters report shared screenshots of their ads appearing next to posts from a verified pro-Nazi account.
According to CNN, the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and NCTA-The Internet and Television Association “immediately paused their ad spending on X after CNN flagged their ads on the pro-Nazi account.” This account—which was verified in April and has now been suspended—”shared content celebrating Hitler and the Nazi Party,” with some posts garnering “hundreds of thousands of views,” CNN reported.
Before its suspension, other brands appeared in this account’s feed, including The Athletic, MLB, the Atlanta Falcons, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Amazon, and Office Depot, Media Matters reported…
Pierce R. Butlersays
wzrd1 @ # 318: The most he could accomplish is detecting a wireless signal …
That would only matter to a good-faith effort to detect tampering. For Lindell, false positives present no problem at all.
“See? Look! All those bluetooth and wifi signals came straight from Beijing!!1!”
“Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” Elon Musk wrote. “Makes no sense.” The post was a response to a Tesla fan account who asked whether there was any reason to use block instead of mute.
Regarded as a safety feature by many users, the suggestion that block could be going the way of the service’s old verification system was greeted with backlash from concerned users.
“Twitter gives people a variety of tools to control their experience, including blocking,” the company writes on its help page. “Blocking helps people in restricting specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their Tweets, and following them. If you have been blocked by another account on Twitter, you can still block other accounts (including any that have blocked you).”
While Mute may still remain, the features are not the same. Block restricts fellow users from interacting with, viewing and following an account. Mute simply hides your posts from their stream. Users are not made aware that they have been muted. Musk adds that the block feature will remain for direct messages…
A federal judge has denied former President Trump’s attempt to delay a January civil trial in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against him.
After U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan earlier this summer rejected Trump’s bid to toss the lawsuit, Trump appealed that decision and requested Kaplan pause the trial in the meantime.
“He has not engaged with this Court’s analysis of either question and thus shown no likelihood of success on appeal. Accordingly, this Court certifies that Mr. Trump’s appeal is frivolous and therefore has not divested this Court of jurisdiction,” wrote Kaplan […]
Trump’s appeal is still pending, but Friday’s ruling would allow the Jan. 15 trial to take place as scheduled. […]
What to know about the Category 4 storm
– Hurricane Hilary strengthened to a Category 4 storm early Friday and is expected to weaken before reaching California.
– The National Weather Service warned the system was expected to bring “significant impacts” to the Southwest this weekend into early next week.
– The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for parts of Southern California, a first for that part of the United States.
– If the system makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it will be a rarity. The last time this happened in the past century was in Long Beach in 1939.
[…] News of Hurricane Hilary barreling toward Southern California has drawn reminders of “El Cordonazo,” a tropical storm that hit the state nearly 84 years ago.
“El Cordonazo,” which made landfall in Long Beach in September 1939, is the last tropical storm recorded in California.
Also known as “The Lash of St. Francis,” the storm “lost hurricane status shortly before moving onshore at San Pedro” and caused the greatest September rainfall ever in the area, the National Weather Service said in a document recounting the history of significant weather events in SoCal.
Rainfall in Los Angeles was recorded at 5.4 inches in 24 hours, per the agency’s data. Eastern Coachella Valley was under 2 feet of water.
A total of 45 people died in the floods and 48 more died at sea.
“Californians were generally unprepared and were alerted to their vulnerability to tropical storms,” the agency said. “In response, the weather bureau established a forecast office for southern California, which began operations in February of 1940.”
[…] A giant heat dome over the middle of the country is partly to blame for Hilary’s unusual path toward Southern California, according to hurricane experts.
The heat dome, created by a high-pressure system trapped in place, is expected to bring stiflingly hot temperatures to large portions of the central and southeastern United States through the weekend. But this high-pressure system and its associated winds are also influencing Hurricane Hilary’s movements, essentially pulling the storm toward California. […]
[…] Having now encountered U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, Trump has run back to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida to complain about all the nasty things Special Counsel Jack Smith is doing to him in DC.
In a weird little filing in the Mar-a-Lago case, Trump’s obsequiousness toward Cannon results in the use of “Your Honor” nine (9!) times in a four-page document.
Trump’s complaint is that the special counsel is proposing dates for the Jan. 6 case that conflict with dates already set in the Mar-a-Lago case – and he wants Cannon to haul prosecutors into court and force them to explain themselves. […]
[…] Almost from its inception, the Republican Party was a pro-business, anti-labor party that grounded its positions in claims of maintaining “traditional values.” That kind of party exists in almost every democracy, usually with an inclination to pound ideas of “law and order” and to look questionably at anything that deviates from the racial/cultural alignment of their base. That is what makes the right, the right—and also what positions such parties so that they are easily tipped toward extremism in the form of authoritarianism. That fascism ended up being a melding of corporate interests and authoritarian governance wasn’t a coincidence. It’s just everything in every conservative, pro-business party turned up to 11.
Over the 16 decades of its existence, the Republican Party has backed some pretty godawful positions and earned the enmity of the public on the numerous occasions when its greed über alles policies have resulted in widespread misery. (See Depression, Great, and Recession, Great.) But by and large it has also been a party that saw its best path forward as coinciding with the health of the nation, even if there were some vast disagreements about what was best for the nation.
For example, Richard Nixon famously signed onto creating the Environmental Protection Agency, then turned around and vetoed the Clean Water Act only to have the Senate vote to override his veto just two hours later, with 17 Republicans signing on. That’s a party that was 1) willing to work in a bipartisan way to benefit the nation, and 2) not stuck in lockstep behind a single leader.
But less than a decade later, Ronald Reagan was in office on a platform that wasn’t just anti-EPA, but anti-government and heavy on the cult of personality. Reagan showed that it was possible to harness the vague dissatisfaction that exists around particular government policies and turn it into a broad wave of support for crippling government in general—especially if that wave was injected with hefty doses of racism based on confidently told lies.
Reagan didn’t invent the idea that rural and suburban whites were coming out on the short end of the government stick, even though they very much were not. He just took ideas that were clearly abhorrent when spewed by George Wallace and made them more palatable to a Republican Party that was looking for some route out of the post-Watergate confusion.
Even those who didn’t think Watergate was a dinosaur-killing asteroid certainly expected the party to spend multiple election cycles wandering in the wilderness. Instead, a radical “mutation” in the form of Reagan’s racism, anti-intellectualism, and anti-government populism offered an immediate path back to the White House. It didn’t just lift the party from what seemed to be near-inevitable destruction, it gifted Republicans with three straight terms in the White House.
It’s little wonder that when Republicans lost in 1992, their next go-to guy was someone who promised to take Reagan’s positions to the next logical step. Newt Gingrich wasn’t just there to double down on the idea of limiting government, he was all in on the idea of eroding governance. The preamble to Gingrich’s “Contract with America” wasn’t about any specific policy so much as it was about making it more difficult for Congress to either pass or enforce any policies at all. Then it got back to ratcheting up the authoritarianism and racism Reagan had championed in a series of steps designed specifically to punish Blacks, militarize police, protect corporations from their own mistakes, and encourage xenophobia at home and abroad.
[…] Gingrich himself soon became too distasteful even for his fellow Republican legislators, but the plan he laid out might as well have been a map straight to Donald Trump’s penthouse.
Trump is the end result of the innate qualities of the GOP, […] with a healthy dose of Roger Stone’s gleeful dirty tricks. Nothing Trump said after descending on his gold-plated escalator was original to Trump. It’s the worst of the worst derived from generations of Republican candidates. […]
The primary means of making this shift was not through logical argument about the benefits of Republican policy. Movement came through the same tactics employed by “happy warrior” Reagan: hate and fear. That’s also not a new thing. Hate, especially in the form of racism, has long been the most effective means of persuading people to take actions that with any reflection would obviously be damaging to their own interests. Make people hate enough and keep them scared enough, and that reflection never happens.
But if you feel like something has changed in the last few years, you’re not wrong.
[…] political theorists used to spend a lot of time talking about the “Overton Window.” That was a metaphor based on the theories of 1990s political analyst Joseph Overton, who posited that unacceptable ideas could be made acceptable over time through gradual shifts.
There’s not much talk about that window anymore because there no longer seems to be anything that’s unacceptable.
It’s easy to keep thinking that “they can always go lower,” and that certainly seemed true of Trump’s time in office, but … can they? […] Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene dominating her party through a willingness to abandon anything approaching simple decency, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy signing on to every plot and scheme as he clings desperately to the illusion of power, what’s left? The most prominent Republicans in the party today are those most willing to tell the ugliest lies, to be the most overtly racist, to be the most rabidly anti-government, and to encourage the most violent divisions. That’s not just the current pantheon; it’s even more true of their “rising stars.”
[…] When you’ve labeled your opponents satanic pedophile communist cannibals in service to a deep state conspiracy of international (read: Jewish) billionaires, what action can’t be justified? More importantly, what do you do for an encore?
Right now, Republicans appear to be running almost entirely on a syrup derived from attacking the LGBTQ+ community, but there’s only so many times you can say “drag queen story time” before it loses its punch. They’ve already consumed the good stuff.
[…] that doesn’t mean they’ve done their worst. If Trump is the inevitable product of processes that have been selecting for Trump-like features over four-plus decades, it’s equally certain what comes next: Democracy itself is evil and opposing democracy is God’s will.
[…] Republicans have been attempting to limit the right to vote since well before that right was extended to over half the population. Right now, Republicans are pressing to raise the voting age, pushing ancient claims that only property owners should be allowed to vote, and lining up behind the idea that only parents should be allowed to vote. They’re even increasingly tapping the idea of rolling back women’s suffrage, which has become a regular theme on social media. And all of this is on top of the accelerated efforts to gerrymander, limit polling places, purge voter rolls, end mail-in ballots, increase voter ID requirements, and otherwise restrict who can vote.
Trump ended the last election with false claims that voting was unfair. Republicans are moving inexorably to the idea that voting itself is a bad idea.
Republicans have already neatly rolled up their position into the phrase, “America is not a democracy.” This statement is usually dismissed with the assumption that Republicans don’t understand that a republic is a form of democracy. But that’s not what they mean. They mean it’s not a democracy.
It doesn’t matter if this is nonsense. What matters is that it empowers them to take any action they want against democracy […] when you’re fighting communist pedophile cannibals in the name of God, anything you do is, by definition, on the side of the angels. The racist, ignorant, hate-filled angels.
The idea that federal elections should be settled by state legislatures, not popular vote, may be the subject of court cases now. It will be the only acceptable Republican position within a handful of election cycles. Then they’ll move on to how those state legislatures are selected, including pressing for states to be able to satisfy their greatest disenfranchisement dreams.
[…] Of course, there’s another option: The Republican Party goes extinct.
[…] Let’s hope it goes that way, because it really is us or them, where “us” is America.
This same narrative history can be applied to the economic policy of the GOP, and their financial record over the last 30 years. Tax cuts for the wealthiest and most powerful, run up the deficit, then scream for social spending cuts. Driving more and more of the middle-class into poverty as the nation’s wealth is locked away in billionaire’s coffers. They cause an economic crash, then a Democrat gets elected to fix it.
————————–
The descent of the Republican Party into full-on authoritarianism was hastened by Grover Norquist, and he deserves special opprobrium for creating the curtain behind which this crap was developed.
——————————
Trump really wants to be an American Hitler — for the power and adoration, and to punish all who aggrieved him.
Investigators leading the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have released nearly 4,000 pages of documents that lay out in new detail how the embattled Republican allegedly used multiple cellphones and an alias on a ride-sharing app to conceal an affair, and pressured top aides to help a donor who is now facing criminal charges.
The reams of exhibits, most of which were publicly filed late Thursday and include emails and text messages, are the foundation of House Republicans’ case that Paxton abused his office and should be ousted at the end of a historic impeachment trial that begins Sept. 5 in the Texas Capitol. […]
It sounds like the drones are not recording traffic, they are just looking for devices advertising connections on Wi-fi, and it logs their MAC addresses.
Your phone can do this. All it would take is an app for a wi-fi enabled smartphone. The whole drone angle is completely unnecessary and absurd.
We are preparing powerful things for Ukraine, strengthening our state, our warriors. Today and this week in general, it is the main task. Weapons for our warriors. New opportunities for our defense. New support packages from our partners.
We are doing everything so that on the eve of the Independence Day of our country, it can be said that Ukraine has taken another step towards the circle of the strongest states in the world. Our team is currently working particularly intensively.
You will see the news for Ukraine. We prepare them with our neighbors in the EU. And also in those regions of Europe where our cooperation with the states has not yet been sufficient. And, of course, with our European partners, with whom we have already proved more than once that European leadership in defending freedom is of global importance.
Next week is the time of important events for Ukraine. We will not lose a single day of preparation. We will not miss any result for Ukraine. We work every day. Every day we add strength to Ukraine. And I thank everyone who does the same! For Ukraine – only strength!
Glory to all our warriors! Glory to everyone who works for victory! For the sake of freedom and independence!
Glory to Ukraine!
Subtitled video at the link.
wzrd1says
@ 330, my computers already have all the software needed for a war drive. Still doesn’t provide any worthwhile evidence beyond that a device is advertising its SSID. And a broadcast SSID isn’t evidence of internet connectivity, as one hasn’t joined that network.
Way beyond wacky, to say the least. Even money, whoever sold him those devices saw him coming from way off.
I suspect that the far right really does want to overthrow the government via civil war and undermining our government within the legislature, while undermining faith in our election systems are key elements trying to drive toward that goal.
Episode #21 of our weekly video podcast “This Week in Ukraine” is dedicated to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, gains and setbacks of the last two months, and what to expect going forward.
Host Anastasiia Lapatina is joined by the Kyiv Independent’s reporter Francis Farrell.
I recommend this. Honestly, I get emotional watching. These young people are so composed and professional in the face of the attack on their country. And I adore their little set and how calm and informative the discussion is. It’s a complete contrast to the ugliness and hysteria of Russian media.
Scientists Capture Close-Up Footage of a Deep-Sea Transparent Glass Squid
CLICK!
…That is very Zen, thank you.
whheydtsays
As regards a Lindell’s WiFi detector drones… He’s probably pushing the idea of using drones because these days, between various scare at airports and a ll the activity in Ukraine, drones are a hot topic.
As for specifics… I have an electronic name badge that advertises an SSID. It has no other connections. The purpose is so I can use another device to connect to it to change settings or shut it down cleanly. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a 3.5″ LCD panel. Even simpler (and cheaper), if someone wanted to do it would be a bare Pi0W with software to support for an open SSID. $15 for the Pi0W, $5 for the microSD card to boot from, $10 or so for a small powerbank, and $1 or so for a 6″ USB-A to microUSB-B cable to connect the battery to the Pi0W and it’ll run for 10 to 12 hours.
Prof Mauro claims the invention, called LionGlass, is ten times stronger than standard glass. Imagine a wine bottle unscathed, even after falling onto a tiled kitchen floor…
One key detail is that, unlike standard glass, the production of this glass doesn’t need soda ash or limestone. The alternative ingredients are currently a closely guarded secret…
LionGlass, by contrast, does not use these carbon-rich materials and its production temperatures are 300C to 400C lower.
The catch is that, because the glass has a lower thermal tolerance than other glasses, it can’t be used for smartphone or tablet screens, which are in high demand…
With layoffs predicted in the local pork industry and a looming high-profile trial over the theft — or rescue — of two sickly piglets [as they later note: “A Washington County jury found Wayne Hsiung and Paul Picklesimer not guilty on all charges in October 2022.”], a group of animal rights activists spent the 2022 Pioneer Day holiday in Beaver, trying to strike up conversations with passersby.
The Beaver County sheriff and deputies ordered them to stop and to leave, the activists later said in a federal civil rights lawsuit — and the county is now settling that case by paying them $52,000 plus their attorney fees.
The money will be paid to two organizations, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) SF Bay Area and Utah Animal Rights Coalition, and to three people who claim county officials violated their First Amendment rights.
The settlement is a “tremendous victory for the animals as well as the constitutional rights we all cherish,” Jeremy Beckham, a spokesperson for the Utah coalition, said in a news release Monday.
The lawsuit against the county was filed in August 2022, and the settlement is the latest development in a legal saga centered around Smithfield Foods, then the county’s largest employer.
…
The two animal welfare groups said the settlement will be donated to nonprofit organizations that help animals, including the sanctuary that took in the two piglets taken from the Smithfield farm.
“I’m glad to see Beaver County paying towards the veterinary and life care expenses for the pigs who suffered at Smithfield, animals the County should have protected from abuse in the first place,” Corwin said in the news release….
The founder of Project Veritas, a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings, is under investigation by a suburban New York prosecutor’s office in the latest fallout after his ouster from the group over allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent organization funds.
The Westchester County district attorney’s office confirmed Friday it is “looking into” matters concerning James O’Keefe, who was suspended in February and later fired as chairman and CEO. The Project Veritas board said he spent “an excessive amount of donor funds” on personal luxuries.
Jin Whang, a spokesperson for District Attorney Mimi Rocah, declined to discuss the subject or details of the investigation, or what potential charges, if any, O’Keefe could face. Whang cautioned that investigations can have a variety of outcomes, not necessarily resulting in criminal charges…
birgerjohanssonsays
Edward Norton turns 54 today, having survived being stabbed by Hannibal Lecter.
A rebellious campaign within the California Republican Party to break away from its historic opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage is dividing the party weeks before planned appearances by former President Trump and other GOP White House hopefuls.
A proposed platform overhaul, which could be voted on at the state GOP’s fall convention in Anaheim, is a remarkable break from conservative dogma in the state that nurtured Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon…
Meanwhile, the Texas GOP platform will probably call for impeachment of Biden and secession. Voting for a Republican furthers the cause of the party as a whole, which has gone wholly insane.
The Washington Post published a bombshell story today reporting that the “U.S. intelligence community assesses that Ukraine’s counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol.” The Post further notes that after being briefed on the intelligence report, Congress has split between Republicans wanting to halt additional aid, and Democrats and some Republicans arguing for doing even more.
While painted as a “grim assessment,” a close look at the supposed report doesn’t quite support that. Let’s take a methodical look at both the story and the purported contents of that report.
The story begins with the intelligence report, claiming that U.S. intelligence doesn’t believe Ukraine can reach Melitopol, which is on the Azov Sea, thus severing the “land bridge” connecting Crimea to mainland Russia. That’s one of Vladimir Putin’s key invasion goals, and the only one his forces have managed to accomplish to this day.
Of all of Ukraine’s possible counterattack options, they picked the toughest, best-defended direction—splitting the land bridge in half. It was always billed as the highest-risk, highest-reward option, and both sides have bet everything on it.
Ukraine’s forces, which are pushing toward Melitopol from the town of Robotyne more than 50 miles away, will remain several miles outside of the city, U.S. officials said. U.S., Western and Ukrainian government officials interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
The story begins so grimly: “Ukraine won’t reach Melitopol.” Then it says that actually, they’ll get within several miles” of Melitopol. That’s … not grim at all!
If Ukraine punches their way 47 miles out from Robotyne (which they still haven’t secured) through three major defensive lines and end up a few miles away from Meltipol, the counteroffensive will have been a rousing success. Just look at the map! [map at the link]
Remember, the entire point of this counteroffensive is to sever the land bridge. Let’s say Ukraine gets down to Myrne, north of Melitopol. That’s an 8-kilometer drive from Melitopol, or around 5 miles. It’s also 8 kilometers, as the crow flies, to the M14 highway, the only road connecting the city to mainland Russia in the eastward direction. All other roads in that direction will have already been cut off by the Ukrainian advance.
Eight kilometers is well within tube artillery and drone range. Ukraine can severely limit Russia’s ability to supply the city from that direction. But what about Crimea?
Both the E105 highway’s entrance into southern Melitopol and the M14 highway’s entrance in western Melitopol are around 17 kilometers away, well within the typical 25-kilometer base range of Ukraine’s Western artillery guns. And quite frankly, if Ukraine is this close to Melitopol, the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia won’t last long. Ukraine has shown it has the drone capability to severely damage the bridge, and it will be under constant assault. Not to mention, ATACMS missiles have a range of 300 kilometers. Myrne is around 200 kilometers from the Kerch Bridge. Ukraine doesn’t have those long-range missiles yet, but like every other major weapons system, they will eventually get them after its allies stop hemming and hawing for no discernable reason.
So really, if Ukraine is able to push within a few miles of Melitopol, then they’ve effectively won. The land bridge is severed, Crimea is isolated, and Ukraine doesn’t have to assault Melitopol. It can simply lay siege to the invaders.
So how can the story paint this as a “grim assessment”?
Maybe the reporters and editors who worked on the article don’t know enough about the war and geography and artillery to know that “reaching Melitopol” isn’t the goal. The goal is to cut off the land bridge. And to do that, all Ukraine has to do is get within 20 kilometers of Melitopol’s supply roads.
The second option is that the report has gone through a game of telephone, and repeated tellings have mangled what it actually states. Heck, maybe it was leaked and selectively quoted by a MAGA Republican trying to build opposition to any further Ukraine aid. And, back to the point above, the people working on the story don’t understand what they’re writing and fell for bad spin.
Because, to be very clear, if U.S. intelligence truly says that Ukraine will get close to Melitopol, the headline should be very different.
Funnily enough, given the current state of the battlefield, I’d guess that Ukraine has a greater chance of reaching Mariupol, with just a single major defensive line separating the city and the advancing Ukrainians. Anyway, back to the story:
Joint war games conducted by the U.S., British and Ukrainian militaries anticipated such losses but envisioned Kyiv accepting the casualties as the cost of piercing through Russia’s main defensive line, said U.S. and Western officials.
But Ukraine chose to stem the losses on the battlefield and switch to a tactic of relying on smaller units to push forward across different areas of the front. That resulted in Ukraine making incremental gains in different pockets over the summer.
This is … interesting. Aside from some odd voices of caution, most Western (and Ukrainian) military and diplomatic sources expressed nothing but confidence that Russian lines would crumble in the face of a Ukrainian Western-equipped juggernaut. Now we’re hearing that NATO war planners assumed even higher casualties busting through the first lines? Even the idea that Ukraine got cold feet after the first assaults failed is fascinating. If true, it certainly feels like a plot twist.
Western gear is superior to Russian gear for two reasons. Firstly, it is designed to protect crew and passengers, so chances of survival are higher when vehicles are hit. It doesn’t mean they are impervious to destruction, just that the West values its soldiers and designs its vehicles to keep them alive. Secondly, Western vehicle and weapons optics allow for nighttime operation, at a time when Russian defenders are mostly blind.
We’ve seen videos of Ukrainian soldiers surviving direct hits or mine strikes on their vehicles. Yay! But their vehicles were still destroyed, and they are a finite resource.
The bigger problem is Ukraine’s inability to conduct nighttime operations. The original strike was supposed to happen at night, but reports claim that either commanders were late to get started, or were simply incapable of moving in the dark. As a result, they advanced in full sight of Russia’s surveillance drones and got predictably mauled.
Ukraine’s inability to move larger formations in concert, aka combined arms maneuvers involving armor, infantry, engineers, aviation (drones), artillery, electronic warfare, and logistics, made a single point of attack nonviable, unfortunately. I warned from early on that Ukraine didn’t have the time to properly train combined arms, and they clearly didn’t even have time to learn how to move in the dark. Without those skills, sending their new armor into the teeth of Russian mine- and drone-infested defenses was never going to succeed.
Ukraine’s small-unit advance is actually quite okay! Russia’s weird obsession with defending every inch of territory in front of their defenses means Ukraine has been able to severely attrit the Russian defense while systematically degrading Russia’s big artillery advantage through effective counter-battery fire. Who cares if the advance is slow right now, if Russia’s defenses are eroded to the point that Ukraine can get to the outskirts of Melitopol by the end of this year, the beginning of next year, or next summer? The point is to break Russia’s will to fight, and right now, they’re still fighting hard.
This kind of advance is also calendar-agnostic. The fall rains won’t have much of an effect on advancing infantry. Heavy armor gets bogged down, not infantry in Humvees with artillery coverage. Slow and steady can certainly win the race here, if things ultimately resort to that. I wouldn’t assume that’s the case, however. The possibility of a major breakthrough still exists.
The bleak outlook, briefed to some Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, has already prompted a blame game inside closed-door meetings. Some Republicans are now balking at President Biden’s request for an additional $20.6 billion in Ukraine aid given the offensive’s modest results. Other Republicans and, to a lesser extent, hawkish Democrats have faulted the administration for not sending more powerful weapons to Ukraine sooner.
U.S. officials reject criticisms that F-16 fighter jets or longer-range missile systems such as ATACMS would have resulted in a different outcome. “The problem remains piercing Russia’s main defensive line, and there’s no evidence these systems would’ve been a panacea,” a senior administration official said.
“Some Republicans” were balking at any additional aid because they love Russia and Putin and want Ukraine to lose. This intelligence report, assuming it says what the article claims it says, is handy ammunition for this crowd, but they never needed it. The pro-Ukraine side actually has the stronger case here. The only possible excuse for not delivering ATACMS at this point is simply that there aren’t any to give, which would be surprising.
I continue to argue that F-16s wouldn’t make a real difference on the front lines, where drones and mines are the biggest challenge. Russia has hundreds or thousands of fighter jets, and you don’t see them at the front lines in any appreciable numbers. Why? Because both sides have incredibly dense air defense networks. Neither side will ever get air superiority. A few dozen F-16s certainly won’t change that equation. Those fighter jets would be critical for other key tasks.
It’s also hard to fault the West when Ukraine can only muster eight English-speaking pilots to train on the jets. I still can’t believe that they didn’t have all their key and senior military personnel learning English this past year. It’s the language of NATO. And you can’t have a translator with you on a single-seat jet fighter up in the air.
But M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles? They should’ve been sent earlier. Same with M1 Abrams tanks. We’ve long talked about the logistical challenges of fielding advanced Western gear, which is why Ukraine’s allies shipped 1960s-era M113 armored personnel carriers at the very start. But those should’ve merely been stopgaps while working through the more complex logistical challenges, instead of waiting and waiting and waiting to finally begin to plan for the better gear.
Given the fierce opposition from human rights groups, allied countries, and both opportunistic Republicans and well-meaning but naive Democrats in Congress, people underestimate just how courageous it was for President Joe Biden to authorize the shipment of cluster munitions. Ukraine’s current strategy relies on massive artillery fires to replace what NATO would accomplish via airpower. Given the global shortage of artillery shells, 2 to 3 million cluster rounds are as close to game-changing as you’ll get in this counteroffensive. But now, it’s time to authorize that new $20.6 billion aid package to send more ammunition, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Abrams main battle tanks, and desperately needed mine-clearing equipment in preparation for the next stage of the war in 2024.
Authorize everything, all at once. Signal to Putin that Ukraine will have hundreds of Abrams tanks and thousands of Bradleys next year. Putin needs to lose hope that the U.S. will lose interest, or that the 2024 presidential election (and a potential Donald Trump victory) will bail him out. By authorizing and announcing massive reinforcements today, it would go a long way to ending the war tomorrow.
U.S. officials said the Pentagon recommended multiple times that Ukraine concentrate a large mass of forces on a single breakthrough point. Though Ukraine opted for a different strategy, officials said it was Kyiv’s call to make given the profound sacrifice Ukrainian troops were making on the battlefield.
Ukraine can’t do combined arms warfare at scale. Massing their forces in one place then dribbling them into the Russian woodchipper would help no one. See how Russia’s vaunted marines were slaughtered at Vuhledar. Kyiv made the right choice.
And again, while it hasn’t led to a dramatic Ukrainian breakthrough, Ukraine is putting massive pressure along both the Tokmak and Mariupol directions, as well as causing havoc in Kherson, across the Dnipro River. Russia is fiercely defending, but its forces are being deployed outside of their prepared defenses. At some point, something will snap.
Analysts say the challenges Ukraine has faced are multifaceted, but nearly all agree that Russia surpassed expectations when it comes to its proficiency in defending occupied territory.
“The most deterministic factor of how this offensive has gone thus far is the quality of Russian defenses,” said Lee, noting Russia’s use of trenches, mines and aviation. “They had a lot of time and they prepared them very well … and made it very difficult for Ukraine to advance.”
We’ve seen video after video of Russians in trenches fighting to the death rather than surrender. It’s a real thing; they’re fighting hard. And it’s not because of “blocking forces” willing to shoot them from behind. It’s time that people stop denigrating the individual bravery of these Russian invaders. Yes, their drafted mobiks are a disaster. But where they have much higher-quality contract soldiers manning key defensive positions, they aren’t easy to dislodge.
The Ukrainians have for months poured tremendous resources into Bakhmut, including soldiers, ammunition and time, but they have lost control of the city and have made only modest gains in capturing territory around it. And while the close-in, trench-line fighting is different in Bakhmut from the problem of mines in the south, the focus has left some in the Biden administration concerned that overcommitting in the east may have eroded the potency of the counteroffensive in the south.
Ukraine did not deploy its elite forces to the Bakhmut defense, and those defenders engaged in a fighting retreat that bled Russia’s winter offensive dry. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s best forces had time to train in Germany, Sweden, and Poland because their comrades were dying in Bakhmut, tying up Russia’s advance. Despite high hopes for its winter offensive, all Russia had to show for it at the end was the dead husk of a strategically irrelevant city at a cost of tens of thousands dead and maimed.
Like the battle for Severodonetsk last year, military historians will argue over whether the defense made sense, but objectively, none of it impacted the troops now taking part in the Ukrainian counteroffensive. And it’s hard to complain about ammunition expended, since Ukraine would’ve had to hold off the Russian advance somewhere. It wasn’t like that ammo was gratuitously wasted. Funneling the entire Russian advance into a single axis likely allowed less ammo to be expended.
But it is reasonable to question whether it makes sense for Ukraine to expend resources to regain territory around Bakhmut. The reformed Azov brigade—one of Ukraine’s best fighting units—has been fighting trenchline to trenchline to advance north and south of Ukraine, and they now control strategic high ground around western Bakhmut. For now, they seem content to stay there, picking off Russians attempting to retake lost positions, occasionally ceding some ground when necessary to avoid losses.
Would those Azov soldiers be better used in the southern counteroffensive? I don’t see how. Ukraine still has a significant number of uncommitted reserves. It makes tactical sense for Ukraine to pin down a significant chunk of Russia’s forces in the Bakhmut area.
U.S. officials said Washington was still open to Kyiv surprising skeptics and overcoming the odds. One defense official said it is possible that Ukraine could buck historical norms and continue the counteroffensive through the winter, when everything including keeping soldiers warm and stocked with food and ammunition becomes much more difficult.
Yes, winter is more difficult … for both sides. So who suffers more: the side with the extended supply lines and a history of logistical difficulties, or the side with the shorter supply lines? [map at the link]
Let’s be honest: Ukrainians and Russians showed this past winter that they’re not afraid of the cold. It’s a hardship they’re well accustomed to. It will be important to equip Ukrainian troops with the proper cold-weather gear, and that’s a place where its allies can step up. It’s even a wonderful opportunity for those who refuse to donate military gear, like say, Switzerland or South Korea, to step up with this kind of “non-lethal” aid.
In any case, there’s undoubtedly an intelligence report that notes that Ukraine’s advance is slower than hoped for; that’s not controversial. But the rest? We actually don’t know what the report says, and if it indeed predicts Ukraine will eventually get a few miles from Melitopol, that is actually fantastic news. But I wouldn’t even bet on that.
All we know is what we see, and right now, Ukraine is putting extreme pressure on the Russian defense while effectively destroying their artillery advantage. They’re doing what they need to do to create the conditions for more dramatic gains down the road.
It’s not quick and it’s not painless. But it’s working within the confines of a drone- and mine-infested battlefield reality that even NATO has never had to deal with.
I’ll repeat this for emphasis: “We actually don’t know what the report says.” True. However, from the details provided in the Washington post article, it sounds to me like Republican propaganda, or like Republicans spinning a report to make it say what they would like for it to say.
Guessing games underway after fall of Urozhaine, progress near Robotyne – and a call from senior Russian commander to “freeze the front.”
Analysis
Following advances there, pro-Ukrainian milbloggers are speculating that the moves near Robotyne are part of broader play to take Tokmak, a vital supply, transportation and command hub for Russian forces in the south.
Operational Aspects on the Southern Front
The senior commander of Russian southern front forces suggested that Russia “freeze the war along current frontlines,” ISW reported. “Vostok” Battalion commander Alexander Khodakovsky stated that Russia will not be able to topple Ukraine militarily in the near term and that Russian forces are unlikely to easily occupy additional Ukrainian cities. His comments came after the fall of Urozhaine and may be part of Kremlin power games, ISW said.
In its own assessment of the situation on the southern front, ISW said: “Recent Ukrainian advances north and northeast of Robotyne (10 kilometers south of Orikhiv) in western Zaporizhzhia may allow Ukrainian forces to begin operating in the areas past the densest minefields. If the areas around the second Russian line of defense are less heavily mined, then they would likely be more conducive to more rapid Ukrainian gains…
[Following their wider degradation in defending Robotyne and Urozhaine], the lack of Russian operational reserves means that Russian forces will have to reinforce certain areas of the front at the expense of others, likely weakening Russian defensive lines in aggregate and offering Ukrainian forces opportunities for exploitation.”
Additional geolocated footage published on August 14 indicates that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) advanced southwest of Novoprokorivka (16 kilometers south of Orikhiv), according to ISW.
Pro-Russian milblogger Rybar said on Telegram that “units of the RF Armed Forces are heroically holding back the onslaught of the AFU at the Robotyne-Verbove line.” Heroism is often synonymous with massive casualties in Russian war descriptions.
…
Other Operational Aspects
…
The Ukrainian partisan movement in occupied territories – Atesh – said “the occupiers are preparing a large-scale mobilization for almost all age groups of Crimea.” Atesh believes that the mobilization will take place after the staged “elections,” which are scheduled for September.
…
Operational Aspects – Eastern Front
Geolocated footage published on August 16 indicates that Ukrainian forces made marginal gains in southern Klishchiivka (7 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut), according to ISW.
Pro-Russian milblogger Rybar posted that “the difficult situation remains near Klishchiivka.”
Operational Aspects – Northern Front
Pro-Russian milbloggers claimed progress near Kupyansk, which ISW acknowledged some advances….
Your story is only as good as your sources. If you only talk to pearl clutchers, you end up with a “grim assessment.”
———————-
Bah. This [the Washington Post article] is more of the media’s desire to tell a bad news story because it gets more clicks.
———————–
General Winter has often been a feared opponent in this area of conflict, but General Boredom, commander of short attention spans and desire for quick and easy victory, in the long run, is the most dangerous to Ukraine.
———————-
“Ukraine’s forces, which are pushing toward Melitopol from the town of Robotyne more than 50 miles away, will remain several miles outside of the city, U.S. officials said. ”
This seems garbled, and I’m skeptical that what is meant is that the Ukrainians will keep advancing until the are several miles from Melitopol, and then come to a stop. That seems like it is way too specific to be an actual intelligence assessment.
What does it mean? I don’t know. It could be that Robotyne is the intended antecedent for “the city,” even though it’s not a good description of Robotyne. The time frame of the sentence is unclear. Maybe the WaPo journalists don’t understand how to interpret what they were told. Maybe they were fed gibberish.
I wouldn’t draw any dramatic conclusions from that sentence.
———————–
It likely means that the Ukrainians aren’t going to directly attack a city like Melitopol since urban warfare can be to the advantage of a defender. In addition, they certainly want to minimize Ukrainian civilian casualties. The best way to eventually take Melitopol is to cut off supplies to the Russians there (and everywhere in the south). And you can do that if you are several kilometers outside the city.
————————
A question I have about the reports that there are only 8 pilots that can speak sufficient English to be trained on F-16s. I can’t speak for Ukraine itself, but everywhere I’ve traveled in Europe (as far east as Budapest), people speak English quite well. In commercial aviation and in many other things, English is the international language. So I must admit some skepticism about be able to only finding 8 pilots that can be trained. There has got to be something else behind that report that isn’t public.
President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed to expand security and economic cooperation on Friday, after a summit at Camp David that sought to bridge generations of friction between the two Asian powers and to forge a trilateral bulwark against North Korea and the growing influence of China.
[…] As President Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday, no country loomed more prominently in the background than China. The three-way talks on Friday focused on establishing more secure supply chains that bypass China and figuring out which emerging technologies to try to keep out of the hands of the Chinese military. […]
Christopher Worrell, a Florida Proud Boy convicted on seven counts stemming from his actions during the Jan. 6 riot, was scheduled to be sentenced today in Washington, D.C, federal court but is now missing, according to a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Georgia’s most powerful Republican politicians rejected pro-Donald Trump calls to change the state constitution to give the governor direct authority to pardon those convicted of crimes.
Defendant Donald Trump faces charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, among other felonies relating to Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
One aspect of the case that drew headlines recently was special counsel Jack Smith and Trump’s legal team’s dispute over when to schedule the upcoming trial. The prosecution has proposed a trial date of Jan. 2, 2024. Trump’s legal team has countered with a trial date of April 2026. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan will ultimately make the call.
Trump’s legal team contends, in part, that they need years to review the massive amount of information Smith’s team has filed. Well, I’m here to explain to you that the Jan. 2 trial date is perfectly reasonable, and I am extremely well qualified to make that judgment.
As the Associated Press reports, Team Trump argues that
[the] years-long delay is necessary both because of the unprecedented nature of the case and the “massive” amount of information — 11.5 million pages — that they have to review. They said they would have to review about 100,000 pages per day in order to meet the Justice Department’s proposed trial date.
“If we were to print and stack 11.5 million pages of documents, with no gap between pages, at 200 pages per inch, the result would be a tower of paper stretching nearly 5,000 feet into the sky. That is taller than the Washington Monument, stacked on top of itself eight times, with nearly a million pages to spare,”
Though my (pseudonymous) writing here focuses on the Russian war in Ukraine, I have previously mentioned that I’m an attorney. My work gyrates between super busy 100-plus-hour weeks to very low intensity—for an attorney—40-hour weeks. In those “slow” periods, I take time to write articles for Daily Kos, where I am now a Community Contributor.
Who I am matters as you read this particular story because I’m not just an attorney, I’m a very specialized attorney. My specialization happens to be very relevant to Trump’s case in D.C. I work as the senior manager of the discovery services operations division for a highly specialized legal services vendor focused on foreign-language electronic discovery.
“Discovery” is the legal process wherein each side of a litigation exchanges evidence with the other. It’s a process that is nearly unique to the United States. In most countries, attorneys must have a fairly clear idea of what kind of evidence that they want from the other side, and issue a subpoena requesting the other side produce that evidence.
In the United States, it’s permissible to ask broad sweeping questions, requesting production of anything that relates to the case.
The discovery process is frequently cited as having entered the electronic discovery era, also known as e-discovery, with the Enron prosecutions in 2001. Enron executives infamously destroyed many of their paper records in hopes of evading prosecution for SEC violations. To make up for the lost paper documentation, Enron investigators made broad sweeping requests for production of electronic records: emails, computer files, and other electronic records relating to alleged violations by Enron executives.
Electronic discovery gradually transformed what large-scale litigation discovery looked like. Whereas litigation evidentiary rooms might have been filled with bankers’ boxes full of documents (like the Nuremberg trial documentation pictured above), the focus of investigations shifted into the electronic realm. Emails, text messages, WhatsApp chat logs, standalone computer files, and notes: This what modern discovery focuses on today.
And so the volume of available evidence for review in major litigation exploded.
[snipped example]
In the mid- to late-2000s, a legal services industry emerged, catering to major law firms’ electronic discovery (e-discovery) needs. These companies were providing technical services to host, sort, and organize the data, plus assist in its production. It’s a model where low-cost contract attorney teams review documentation and are subcontracted for such by major law firms.
[snipped examples of foreign-language e-discovery] we are a niche specialist in a field of niche specialists, working predominantly on major anti-trust cases or federal international bribery cases—complex financial crimes.
As the head of the foreign language services e-discovery division, my days are spent in the voluminous analysis of multilingual electronic evidence. At e-discovery conferences, I teach other attorneys and corporate legal departments about e-discovery processes, and I frequently talk about the roles of technology-assisted review when analyzing large volumes of data.
All of this is to say that I don’t believe I’m exaggerating when I state that I am probably one of just a handful of specialized attorneys in the United States best qualified to talk about labor requirements in analyzing large volumes of evidence in litigation.
Still with me?
When Trump’s attorneys are talking about needing to review 11.5 million pages of evidence, Trump’s legal team is not, or should not, be the only ones reviewing the evidence. No major law firm would ever approach a case of this magnitude in that way. They would absolutely subcontract the review of evidence to an e-discovery vendor like my employer, who would then assemble a team of attorneys to review the evidence on their behalf, with the most important evidence compiled into a report.
Also, this isn’t an exceptional amount of data for such a major litigation. In one case I’m currently working on, we began with over 10 million electronic files. Files, not pages—and many of the files are 15-20 pages long. Assuming conservatively that each file was five pages or so long, I think we’re looking at around 50 million pages of evidence.
My company will analyze these files and report back to the law firm in six weeks. Not six years. Not six months. Six weeks. We have 54 attorneys working on this matter, which spans three languages. Speed is simply a function of resources committed—it’s not rocket science.
In an average, typical case, one might expect an average attorney to review around 40 documents/electronic files per hour. Assuming five pages per document, that’s around 200 pages an hour, and around 1,600 pages per eight-hour day (and we often don’t work eight-hour days).
Yet even assuming eight-hour days, a team of 50 attorneys can get through 80,000 pages per day, 2.4 million in a month. That can be boosted to 3-4 million pages a month through longer hours.
[…] Furthermore, it’s simply not necessary to look at every page of evidence. Documents are routinely scanned, which allows them to be searched electronically. Even on a most basic and unsophisticated level, these scanned documents can be keyword-searched, which can sharply limit what is likely to be necessary to be reviewed.
Important documentation can be frontloaded.
Artificial intelligence can also be utilized. An intelligent learning process called TAR 2.0 can identify documents that are similar to others previously deemed unimportant. This can reduce the amount of documents needing to be manually reviewed, often by 20-30%.
Even without using such tools, 11.5 million pages of evidence simply don’t add up to the kind of overwhelming volume that the Trump legal team suggests. E-discovery vendors routinely handle such matters in a matter of a few months or less.
Chutkan, of course, is undoubtedly aware of common practices in handling larger volumes of evidence in major litigation. I think she is unlikely to be sympathetic to Team Trump’s claims of the need for a years-long delay.
For Trump’s legal team to suggest that such volume requires years of review potentially implies complete ignorance of modern major litigation practices. More likely, it is a disingenuous ploy to undermine the credibility of the court in the public eye when their request is denied. TrumpWorld is all but certain to fall for it—but I know you won’t.
I should just shit in my hand and write freedom on it. Someone will buy it.
wzrd1says
A case of locally acquired malaria has been confirmed in Maryland, the state Department of Health said Friday. The person was briefly hospitalized and is recovering at home.
The agency declined to give more details about the person except to say they live in the Washington, D.C., area. They did not have a history of recent travel outside the US or to other states where locally acquired malaria has been reported. Nine cases have been reported this summer in Florida and Texas, the first in the US in 20 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/health/malaria-maryland/index.html
Former President Trump’s presidential campaign unveiled a new endorsement seal Friday aimed at stopping scammers who falsely claim an affiliation with Trump and his campaign while fundraising.
Trump’s campaign announced Friday it would grant a “Seal of Approval” to a group of candidates and committees that the president endorses or supports. The gold seal, which reads “Official Team Trump,” is intended to distinguish between “authorized uses of his name and likeness and unauthorized uses,” the campaign said.
The campaign said the seal will protect Trump’s donors and supports from “illegitimate organizations” that claim to be affiliated with Trump and his campaign…
That’s because “Tanning Mom” Patricia Krentcil just announced that she’s running in Florida’s 2024 Senate race as a Republican, according to a Tuesday report from TMZ.
Krentcil attained internet infamy in 2012 after she was arrested for allegedly putting her 5-year-old daughter in a tanning booth. She denied the accusation and pleaded not guilty in the case, which was ultimately dropped in 2013.
Krentcil has been out of the spotlight in recent years, though she previously sought to extend her 15 minutes of fame by recording the original song “Free 2 Be Me,” challenging fellow viral sensation Nadya “Octomom” Suleman to a boxing match, and even making a cameo in a gay porn…
Yet another tropical disturbance is being tracked in the Atlantic Ocean by the National Hurricane Center, bringing the tally of active systems to four.
One of the disturbances, No. 4, is set to move into the Gulf of Mexico, which will be affecting South Florida and the Florida Keys — bringing even more rain to an already saturated area.
The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is Sept. 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October…
Of the 153,209,283 X accounts following Musk […] 42 percent […] have zero followers […] over 72 percent […] have less than 10 followers […] More than 40 percent […] have 4 or more numbers in their @ handle
John Moralessays
CompulsoryAccount7746, you have 4 or more numbers in your handle.
Believed to form from direct collapse of massive gas clouds and with forty million solar masses each :
Astronomers may have discovered the first evidence of heavy black hole “seeds” in the early universe.
These so-called seeds could help explain how some supermassive black holes with masses equivalent to millions, or even billions, times that of the sun could have grown quickly enough to exist less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
A six-year-old child was among the seven people who were killed when a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited Sweden on Saturday, his first visit to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. The Swedish government said he will meet officials in Harpsund, about 75 miles west of Stockholm. He will also meet Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at a palace in the area, AP reports.
Russia launched drone attacks against parts of northern, central and western Ukraine early on Saturday, damaging civilian infrastructure in at least two regions, Ukrainian authorities said. Kyiv’s air force said the military shot down 15 of the 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones that had been launched, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian forces have continued their advance in the south along the course of the Mokri Yaly River, securing the village of Urozhaine in the face of stiff Russian resistance, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence report….
The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, saying authorities there were “facing the worst wildfire season ever”, as thousands were evacuated from cities east of Vancouver.
Premier David Eby said on Friday night: “Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”…
…The World Health Organization announced on Thursday it was designating BA.2.86 a “variant under monitoring” – while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has similarly reported it is keeping a close eye on the variant after it was discovered in Michigan.
As well as outstanding questions over the severity of the variant, it is unclear whether it will become the dominant form of the virus.
Its many genetic changes – it has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein relative to the current predominant variant – and its detection in several countries have put scientists on alert.
Prof Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said BA.2.86 was the most striking Covid strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron.
“The most plausible scenario is that the lineage acquired its mutations during a long-term infection in an immunocompromised person over a year ago and then spread back into the community,” he said.
“BA.2.86 has since then probably been circulating in a region of the world with poor viral surveillance, and has now been repeatedly exported to other places in the world.”
Balloux added that how well the new variant fared relative to other Omicron subvariants would become clearer in the coming weeks.
“Nothing is known at this stage about its intrinsic transmissibility and virulence,” he said.
“A priori, it is not expected to behave differently from current Omicron strains in circulation.
“Even in the worst-case scenario, where BA.2.86 caused a major new wave of cases, we are not expecting to witness comparable levels of severe disease and death as we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants spread,” he added, noting that most people have now been vaccinated, infected with Covid, or both.
But, he said: “It remains that a large wave of infection by BA.2.86, or any future comparable variant, would be an unwelcome event.”
StevoRsays
Musk’s latest massively bad brainfart :
Billionaire owner Elon Musk has signalled his intention to scrap the blocking feature from X, formerly known as Twitter. Musk said blocking would be “deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs”, indicating the option would still be available for direct messages between users of the social media platform. The feature is used to restrict interactions with specific accounts on the platform. The proposal brought a flurry of opposition, including from anti-bullying activist Monica Lewinsky. “I can assure you it’s a critical tool to keep people safe online,” she posted on X.
In May, the World Health Organization issued an alarming report that declared widely used non-sugar sweeteners like aspartame are likely ineffective for weight loss, and long term consumption may increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.
A few months later, WHO declared aspartame, a key ingredient in Diet Coke, to be a “possible carcinogen”, then quickly issued a third report that seemed to contradict its previous findings – people could continue consuming the product at levels determined to be safe decades ago, before new science cited by WHO raised health concerns.
That contradiction stems from beverage industry corruption of the review process by consultants tied to an alleged Coca-Cola front group, the public health advocacy group US Right-To-Know said in a recent report.
It uncovered eight WHO panelists involved with assessing safe levels of aspartame consumption who are beverage industry consultants who currently or previously worked with the alleged Coke front group, International Life Sciences Institute (Ilsi).
Their involvement in developing intake guidelines represents “an obvious conflict of interest”, said Gary Ruskin, US Right-To-Know’s executive director. “Because of this conflict of interest, [the daily intake] conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,” he added…
In a study of studies, researchers concluded that eyeglasses that block blue light might not deliver on claims made by advertisers or optometrist offices. They caution consumers to think twice about shelling out the extra cash for the specs.
To reach their conclusion, researchers at the University of Melbourne with colleagues from Monash University, and City, University of London looked at 17 published studies from six different countries relating to the use of eyeglasses that block blue light. The randomized control studies ranged in size from five to 156 participants and each took place over a time period of just less than one day to five weeks.
They found that based on the current research, nothing conclusive could be said about the benefits of blue-light-blocking glasses on overall eye health, sleep quality, or visual performance. This is despite the facts that there are a range of advertising claims regarding these very benefits, and that such lenses are often prescribed for patients based on their alleged efficacy…
There are six types of Republican voters, according to The New York Times’ Nate Cohn, in a party that’s “not necessarily a populist-conservative MAGA monolith.” Cohn is working hard to support that “not necessarily.”…
…
There are some contortions here, is what I’m saying. One of the biggest is in what is never mentioned: Jan. 6, and election denial more generally. This is a long take on how the party is not a MAGA monolith, trying to pick apart what differentiates some Republicans from other Republicans without ever going into which of them adhere to one of the defining traits of their party these days. That seems like a big thing to leave out….
Incredible:
The blue-collar populists
Just 12% of Republicans. “Whites without a degree make up nearly three-quarters of this predominantly Northern group.” They support abortion rights but mostly they’re loyal to Trump and oh-holy-crap racist. Or, as Cohn puts it, they rank high on “racial conservatism.” They too were likely to be attacking the Capitol, not that Cohn thinks that’s a relevant thing to talk about.
“ProfRobert” in the comments:
Honestly, there are only three kinds of Republican voters: 1) Nazis, 2) People OK with Nazis, and 3) People OK with People Who Are OK with Nazis. That’s the universe.
The whale who began her life in the cold waters of the Pacific north-west only to end up in a small enclosure at the Miami Seaquarium has died. On Friday afternoon, a social media post announced that Toki – who was also known by her performing name Lolita, and the name the Lummi tribe gave her, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut – had died. She was believed to be 57.
…
Toki was born into the L-pod of resident killer whales. While still a young whale, she was captured from her mother and shipped across the country to become a performer in an aquarium. Over time, she inspired activist campaigns, songs and people to speak out on her behalf. Plans were in place for millions of dollars to fund her flight back to her home waters – to live out her days in a sea pen being fed salmon, in communication distance of her kin.
…
In March, the owners of the Miami Seaquarium announced a “formal and binding agreement” with a group called the Friends of Lolita to begin the process of returning Tokitae to Puget Sound. A news release indicated that the joint effort is “working toward and hope the relocation will be possible in the next 18 to 24 months”.
The indigenous Lummi people believe she is a member of their extended family, and [Orca Network founder Howard] Garrett says he hopes her remains can return to the waters she once swam. He said: “Toki was my hero, to show me what courage and patience mean; my mission, to see her returned to her familiar home where she was born and raised; and my mentor, to model grace and compassion for all.”
A crowd-funded remote-controlled mechanical stretcher invented by a toy designer is now evacuating injured Ukrainian soldiers from the front lines.
Ukraine’s ministry of defence said that the stretcher mounted on small tracks can carry up to 150kg over rough terrain, with its controller able to operate it safely from a distance of 100 metres.
It quoted a Ukrainian combat medic as saying that the mechanical stretcher made it far safer to evacuate injured soldiers under fire…
@ 365, blue blocker sunglasses have been around for decades. They only fairly recently became a fad, with all manner of benefits proclaimed without any evidence whatsoever.
Indeed, back in the late 1970’s, they were uncommon and largely could only be found in sporting goods stores as “shooting glasses”. I’ll admit, they did help sharpen the view slightly, but never did increase accuracy all that much, as the human eye doesn’t focus the color blue very well at all. They were slightly more useful where one had an excess of blue light, such as on the water or flying and regular sunglasses did a far better job – especially polarized sunglasses.
I far more often use “smoke gray” polarized lenses or just clear protective lenses, although I do have one set of protective glasses that have the optional blue blocking tint to remain unused (they just came with a bunch of lenses to not use, they’re one set of the above mentioned clear lenses bearing glasses currently).
I do recall one militarily useful filtered lens, in military binoculars, a coating that filtered out specific wavelengths of green, causing foliage to nearly gray out, clearly allowing camouflaged vehicles stand out clearly. The coating also protected somewhat from certain bands of laser illuminators, lowering the risk of blindness if one were illuminated by a ranging laser.
Of course, if I found myself being illuminated by a ranging laser of eye injurious power, it’s fairly likely something conducive to ruining my weekend plans on a permanent basis is likely to be shortly along its way to visit.
StevoR @363, Musk just wants to make sure people can’t block him or any of his whacko/Nazi friends.
SC @366, I am truly tried of seeing the New York Times working to rehabilitate Trump and his cult followers.
wzrd1says
The missing, with warrant issued for to be sentenced Proud Boys member now has the FBI on his trail.
A bit interesting, as usually fugitives are chased by the US Marshal Service, not the FBI.
Anyone have an idea why that’s so, do let me know. Things can get counterintuitive in federal land, I mean the US Marshal Service also provides policing for the US Antarctic Program.
And if any wants entertainment, figure out how a space alien could get an entry visit for your country, as they certainly couldn’t visit their local embassy. ;)
Sounds like the makings for a science fiction version of The Terminal.
There’s been another uptick in stories about the Republican base and their deep-seated political beliefs that turn on a dime whenever you bring up the surnames Trump or Biden. The funniest is probably the hapless Iowa business owner now famous for a CNN interview in which he praised the government’s new grants that have really boosted his business, only to also oppose them because President Joe Biden did them. […]
It was The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey who pointed us to a glorious tidbit in the recent New Yorker pre-obituary of the Ron DeSantis campaign: Hunting for anti-Trump messaging they might use, the campaign found that 70% of polled Republicans agreed the pandemic lockdowns during the Trump presidency were bad.
If they switched the language to a direct attack on Trump, calling them “Trump’s COVID lockdowns,” though, the numbers flipped completely. Seventy percent of Republicans wouldn’t agree that those were bad. [LOL]
A similar but more durable dynamic is the regular polling of the public’s general feelings about “the economy.” A new poll has 57% of Republicans believing their own personal “financial situation” is either good or excellent right now … but more than 3 in 4 of them still believe that the “economy” itself is getting worse, and 19 in 20 believe Biden is making it worse. [OMFG]
We have long known that reality can’t hold a candle to what members of the Republican base want to believe inside their own noggins, but the Trump era has solidified that dichotomy. It now seems almost a point of pride for Republican politicians and voters alike to switch out their political beliefs not just by the day, but by the question. Almost the entirety of the party changes their positions to match whatever position Trump has last stated. […] We Support Whatever Dear Leader Thinks […]
Honestly, the most frustrating part of it all might be that we liberals know, with absolute certainty, how to tweak Republicanism’s core beliefs to be whatever we want them to be and still, we’re not taking advantage of this.
The best path for the Democratic infrastructure plan was obvious from the start. Forget a milquetoast attempt at coddling Republican sensibilities by calling it the “Inflation Reduction Act,” borrowing the latest Republican framing to pass the thing off as a whimpering genuflection to the Fox News punditry. Instead, you could put together a massive anti-climate change plan, stuff it with jobs, bullet trains, and a complete phase-out of the internal combustion engine, and slap a name on it like the “Donald Trump American Awesomeness Act.” The Republican base would be flooding phone lines demanding their Republican representatives vote for the thing right the hell now.
From the beginning, there was a way to make Republicans wear masks during a pandemic. You call them Tactical Respiratory Underpants for Militant Patriots and tell the Republican base that the government is trying to stop them from wearing them. […]
Why do we keep overthinking these things when Trump’s base has made it clear they like being deceived, they want people to keep deceiving them, and they won’t put up with people not deceiving them? Lie our asses off and tell them Trump was the inspiration for free school lunches for every child in America. We’ll tell them he’s personally paying for every meal. […]
Now, I’m not thickheaded. I know full well there are two main problems with this plan. The first would be that while we could probably save the planet and certainly society by slapping Trump’s name on everything, it would require seeing Trump’s name on everything. It would be a hellscape. A hellscape of free health insurance, lower global temperatures, and the continued existence of Florida, to be sure, but if the price is seeing Trump’s smirking mug on every corner, then it’s quite possible the majority of America would prefer apocalypse. It’s a tough sell.
A lesser but still pertinent problem is that Trump is, unfortunately, still alive, and he might be expected to object to this plan. But this is an easy one to solve: Through his entire life, Trump has only done anything for the sake of money. Have the Biden administration cut him some checks to keep his mouth shut and he’ll do it and come back for more.
This is a man who partnered with journalist-murdering Saudi royalty to get a few million bucks thrown towards his golf resorts. It wouldn’t take any more cash to get him to support universal health care, a complete transition to renewable energy sources […]
Ah-ha, you say. But won’t that start a bidding war? The government may have a lot of money to throw around, but it’s still not clear they can compete with American billionaires who keep separate yachts for hosting Supreme Court justices. Not only will the oil companies start bidding up the prices for Trump’s opinions near-immediately, but everyone from Vladimir Putin to the Chinese government will be joining the Trump Opinions Auction. It’s unsustainable!
You would be correct, and that brings us to the simplest and most foolproof of my proposals, the one that Republicans could never mount a proper counter to.
Joe Biden should simply change his name to Donald Trump.
There’s very little downside to this. The Republican base that likes being lied to very damn much will love being lied to with such vigor that they can no longer even tell which party Trump is in. […]
Want to rope in the entire QAnon movement and make them Democratic believers? Biden can claim that he was the “real” Trump all along, and that orange-tinted documents thief in Florida was just an imposter. If you’re the kind of person who believes JFK is still alive and will be arriving to seize control of the government any day now, you’re going to go absolutely bananas for that claim.
[…] The Donald Trump who used to be Joe Biden can then introduce the Donald Trump energy plan. The Donald Trump Health Care Plan. The Donald Trump Abortion Assistance Act. The Donald Trump Wilderness Preservation Act. […]
Everybody’s already used to Trump saying two contradictory things at once; what does it matter if it’s one person or two doing the contradicting?
But the best part of the plan is that it is very likely Trump will be going to prison soon. A very nice prison, to be sure. A prison with gold toilets and furniture that looks like it was stolen from French royals after they were dispatched to the guillotines. But unless it has its own television studio, the former Donald Trump won’t be able to object much to a new Donald Trump taking over the airwaves in his absence.
The Republican Party already made the decision that they’re not going to have policies anymore, they’re just going to support whatever “Donald Trump” thinks. […] Let’s just find them a new Trump so they stop having to worry their pretty little heads about these things.
It’s hard to go 15 minutes watching cable news without hearing some random Republican talking about the mythical “Biden crime family.” However, the indictment laid out in Fulton County, Georgia, on Monday describes a very real crime family—one in which 19 defendants are facing 41 felony counts, including a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations violation, commonly referred to as RICO.
But even those 19 names don’t come close to telling the whole story of the Donald Trump Crime Family. The total number of those involved in the scheme is at least in the hundreds, including 84 people who signed on as false electors and dozens of state and local officials who cooperated in arranging their selection.
In the indictment, 30 people come in for special attention as “unindicted co-conspirators.” Some of them evaded charges because their involvement in the criminal acts mentioned in the indictment was incidental—like being present at a meeting where some portion of the scheme was discussed. Others surely avoided prosecution because when District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigators came calling, those unnamed folks hurried to spill everything they knew. Some of them are familiar names. Some of them should be familiar names. In any case, filling out the list helps show that those who landed a charge are just the tip of a very large and very ugly iceberg.
The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Daily Beast have all taken a stab at putting name tags on the co-conspirators. There’s a smattering of disagreement among the three lists, and more than a few slots are still unclaimed. Here’s what we know about those who were involved in the Trump Crime Family scheme but who have so far avoided facing legal repercussions. Not all have been clearly identified, but most have. They can be broken into a few categories.
THE INSIDERS
Individual 1 appears, appropriately enough, in the first act described by the indictment—a discussion with Trump that took place four days before the election in which Trump admits that he plans to claim victory and to allege election fraud. The name The Daily Beast puts to the other participant in this discussion is Tom Fitton. […] Fitton runs the far-right legal scam organization known as Judicial Watch. Those are the guys who make daily claims about how their prowess in court has forced President Joe Biden to turn over some new information that some agency was hiding under a rock. And if you’ll only send them another $5 or $10 or maybe $100, boy will they get that Biden this time! Rinse, repeat, spam five more times tomorrow. It would be really great to have the full text of the conversation as Trump explained to Fitton his whole plan for throwing the election into disruption even before it had happened. Maybe Judicial Watch should get on that.
Individual 2 was the recipient of a lengthy voicemail from Rudy Giuliani, which has to be a sort of nightmare scenario for anyone. It’s clear this was one of the false electors, but other than being forced to listen to Giuliani lie about fraud in the election, it’s uncertain they did anything more. Regardless, it is crystal clear they turned evidence of Giulani’s lies over to the investigators. Good job, number two. No one seems to have a good candidate for this individual.
Individual 3 was a lot more active and more obvious, because that individual “appeared at a press conference at the Republican National Committee Headquarters” along with Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, according to Act 3 of the indictment. Honestly that leaves a couple of possibilities, but the best guess from The Daily Beast is Boris Epshteyn. Epshteyn is one of those names many had hoped to find on the indictment, and his involvement goes well beyond this single appearance. There he is again in Act 94 exchanging emails with Jan. 6 idea man John Eastman and Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro (both indicted) as they plot new ways for Republicans in the House to screw up the election process. He’s back again with the same pair in Act 109 working out ways to “disrupt and delay” the process on Jan. 6. Honestly, Epshteyn’s squeal should have been audible across the continent for him to have avoided having the “un” struck from “unindicted.”
Individual 4 also makes repeat appearances. In fact, this person is everywhere talking to everyone. There they are in Act 4, getting an email instructing them to assist bail bondsman Scott Hall, who is described as “someone who has been looking into the election on behalf of the president.” Hall was involved in another case where he was accused of using his political connections in an effort to extort a sheriff into “donations.” Exactly how the very much indicted Hall became a go-to guy for Trump and Citizens United chief David Bossie is going to be one of the more interesting stories of the trial, but Individual 4 makes a return in Act 63 in connection with indicted political operative Mike Roman. They’re back again in Act 66, involved in an email chain with Roman and indicted Georgia state Sen. David Shafer. They’re involved again in Act 67, this time with Shafer alone. Then in Act 68, Individual 4 is back to solicit Giuliani’s contact information from Roman. In Act 71, Individual 4 is on the receiving end of an email from Chesebro containing information to be used by the Georgia false electors. In Act 72, Chesebro taps them again to remind them that Giuliani “wants to keep this quiet until after all the voting is done.” In Act 73, Shafer messages them to give the details of the false electors meeting. Hasty texts about the movement of the false electors are in Act 76. In Act 86, Individual 4 lets Roman know that all the paperwork is done and that it “went smoothly.” Frankly, this person was so neck-deep in the planning and execution of the fake electors scheme that they have to be the key witness to the nuts and bolts of how this was carried out. The Guardian pegs Robert Sinners, a former state director for the Georgia Republican Party, former regional director for the Republican National Lawyers Association, and the current communications director for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as Individual 4. Assuming they are right, I don’t know how a guy who was at the center of Trump’s scheme in Georgia ends up working for the guy who is best known for resisting Trump’s efforts to strong-arm him.
Individuals 5 and 6 are difficult to pick apart, because all their appearances in the indictment are connected to Trump’s legal team and several occur together. Individual 5 is in Act 20 meeting with Arizona representatives in the company of Giuliani and Ellis. Individual 5 is alone in getting an email that was also sent to Giuliani in Act 40 and an email from Chesebro in Act 61. Both Individuals 5 and 6 appear in Act 9, where they are part of a meeting with Pennsylvania legislators headed up by Trump, Giuliani, Ellis, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Individuals 5 and 6 are a double act again in Act 17, where they are part of a meeting with Arizona legislators involving both Giuliani and Ellis. Individual 6’s only solo appearance comes in Act 91, where Sidney Powell insists that she and Individual 6 must get “all the data” from legal technology (i.e., voting machine hacking) firm SullivanStrickler LLC. The close association with the legal team and the frequent pairing of these two make me think of Trump attorney couple Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova. However, The Daily Beast went over past statements and concluded that Giuliani’s eternal pal Bernie Kerik is Individual 5. Both The Daily Beast and The Washington Post peg Powell-loving conspiracy theorist Phil Waldron as Individual 6.
FALSE ELECTORS AND FRIENDS
Individual 7 shows up in Act 18, Act 63, Act 77, and Act 86. In all but one of these instances (Act 18), they are the recipient of emails on the planning of the false electors scheme. That’s it for what we know.
Individual 8 was a participant in the Georgia meeting where Giuliani, Ellis, and Trump’s Atlanta-based attorney, Ray Smith, tried to convince legislators to set aside the election results and pick the Trump-selected electors. Multiple sources peg this individual as then-state senator and current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. None of the other unindicted co-conspirators come close to Jones’ 17 assumed appearances in the indictment. He’s all over the place (Acts 34, 35, 38, 68, 73, 79–82, 102, 161) exchanging emails with Eastman on plans to call for a special legislative session, trying to get an official nod for the false electors, and tweeting, “… today is the day we need you to call your state Senate & House Reps & ask them to sign the petition for a special session.” He’s also named (as Individual 8) in many of the charges. He was working with Roman. And Chesebro. And Giuliani. And seems to have been right at the core of efforts to crush democracy in Georgia … and yet he didn’t get indicted. Why? Because Jones convinced Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney to disqualify Willis from targeting him due to her connections with a fundraiser for Jones’ Democratic opponent. He’s not indicted at the moment because Willis couldn’t indict him. But considering Jones’ deep involvement in the most egregious aspects of this scheme, don’t be surprised if someone else pulls that trigger. A Georgia special counsel has been named to investigate Jones. [Correct. Jones is not going to be unindicted for long.]
Individual 9 was clearly one of the 16 fake electors that Roman and his merry band hustled through the state Republican HQ. They show up in Acts 47 and 48 as the recipient of documents that were sent out by Roman and Chesebro. (They were also obviously the source of these documents for Willis’ team.) They sent a text agreeing to attend the meeting of the Trump presidential elector nominees (Act 74) and joined in (Acts 79–82), which is the big summary of all the false electors doing false electoring. Based on email addresses from one of the messages, The Daily Beast tags this person as Joseph Brannan, who is the former treasurer of the Georgia Republican Party.
Individuals 10-19 are more false electors. None of them seem to have done anything particularly interesting except being on the receiving end of emails from Chesebro and Shafer. Oh, and they all showed up to sign a bunch of forged documents and make a bunch of illegal statements, and they should all be very happy Willis had bigger fish to fry.
THE MIKE FLYNN CATEGORY
Individual 20 appears just once in the indictment: That’s in Act 90, where they are part of the infamous White House meeting where Giuliani and Trump listened as Powell explained that it was time to have the military seize the voting machines, have Trump appoint her special counsel of a general inquisition, and blow away any pretense of democracy. The obvious candidate for this role is former general and full-time fascist Michael Flynn. Flynn was known to be there, and the description of Individual 20’s role in this event (discussing “certain strategies and theories”) matches what was known of Flynn’s participation. […] Former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, head of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, names Flynn as one of two possibilities. I’m sticking with Flynn.
THE RUBY FREEMAN THREAT TEAM
Individual 23 appears in an interesting place in the indictment: That’s in Act 115 and Act 127, right in the middle of a long (long) list of efforts made by “Black Voices for Trump” director Harrison Floyd and former Kayne West publicist Trevian Kutti to harass poll worker Ruby Freeman. These acts record at least 30 instances of the pair trying to get to Freeman. If you want a clue what that was like, watch this video of Kutti telling Freeman she’s “a loose end” that needs to be taken care of and muttering other totally not death threats. How Individual 23 was connected to this awfulness isn’t clear, but they need to take a lot of showers and do a hell of a lot of penance if they were involved in this slime. Has anyone mentioned that Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss are GD real American heroes?
SIDNEY POWELL’S HACKERS
Individuals 21 and 22 appear in Act 91 in an email from Powell to the chief operations officer of SullivanStrickler LLC insisting that they get all the data from that company’s hacking into Dominion voting machines in Michigan. Other than that … I have nothing.
Individual 24 was a hands-on participant in the effort to steal data from voting machines in Coffee County that features in Act 143. The Washington Post identifies this individual as Alex Cruce, who is on surveillance video arriving at the elections office. Cruce claims he thought he “had permission” to be there and attempt to get data from the machines. Why he thinks he had permission is a mystery likely to be resolved in testimony.
Individual 25 is identified by both The Washington Post and The Daily Beast as Doug Logan. While Cruce says he didn’t get any data from the machine, Act 150 points at Logan for illegally accessing and “downloading … data from a server” over a period of four days. What does someone have to do to get indicted around this place? If that’s not enough for you, Logan was the head of a company called Cyber Ninjas at the time. That’s the same Cyber Ninjas that conducted the Republican legislature-mandated audit of the vote in Arizona—and turned up nothing.
Individual 26 is, according to The Washington Post, Powell associate Todd Sanders, who in Act 151 downloaded some of the SullivanStrickler LLC data. However, that wasn’t his only involvement. According to the Post, Sanders also joined the SullivanStrickler team on a jaunt up to Michigan to copy more data there and was “the Powell team’s person on the ground in Nevada.”
Individual 27 is another of those cited for downloading SullivanStrickler’s illegally obtained data, this time in Act 152. The Post indicates this to be Conan Hayes, a freelance “data expert” and Trump fanatic whose connection to events is unclear.
Individual 28 not only accessed the data in Act 153, but instructed SullivanStrickler to send it to another of the co-conspirators connected to Powell as part of Act 155. The Daily Beast and The Washington Post agree that this was Jim Penrose, who is described by The Daily Beast as a “former National Security Agency officer-turned-Powell lackey.” Penrose, who was involved with Powell before the incidents in Coffee County occurred, appears to be the person who first tapped SullivanStrickler to do Trump’s data hacking.
Individual 29 makes a one-time appearance in Act 154 as one of those who former Coffee County Elections Director Misty Hampton escorted to the servers. The Washington Post tags Jeffrey Lenberg from New Mexico, who pretty much confessed to his presence on the podcast “Conservative Daily.” Like Cruce, Lenberg says he thought he had permission to show up and access Dominion Voting System’s machines. He doesn’t say who put him on a plane to Georgia and steered him to Hampton.
Individual 30 isn’t actually a hacker. According to the Post, she’s assistant attorney Stefanie Lambert, who also had the bad taste, bad fortune, and bad judgment to work with Powell. In Act 155, Lambert was the recipient of a copy of all the data taken in Coffee County. The Washington Post tried to contact Lambert and got back a tart, “There is no law preventing local clerks from seeking independent expert analysis of voting machines.” Her team is right about that. However, there are plenty of laws against those clerks putting people on planes and dispatching them to elections offices with instructions to break into voting machines and pull out both data and software. Somehow Lambert is evading those laws in the Georgia case. But don’t worry: She’s already been handed four felony indictments in Michigan by state special prosecutor D.J. Hilson. It’s always nice when there’s a happy ending. [LOL]
Like Lambert, others who didn’t make the first cut in Willis’ indictment are likely to find that they made the team elsewhere. And really, a RICO trial involving 19 defendants is already going to need a modest stadium if Willis really wants to try them all at once.
So some of these folks will keep the “un” in “unindicted” for now. But they shouldn’t get too comfortable.
Way too much work # 373. Easier and more efficient to have an AI trained in Trumpisms, guided by actual realism and it generate Trump speeches and Trump videos.
It’d be win-win, at least the world would have one Trump with intelligence.
Trump just posted this to Truth Social, and it’s alarming.
Partial transcript:
“So now that I have full subpoena power because of the freedom of speech sham indictment by crooked Joe Biden, deranged Jack Smith and the DOJ, it has just been reported that the unselect January 6th committee — they are unselect indeed — of political hacks and thugs has illegally destroyed all of their records and their documents,” Trump claimed.
“So they took all of their records, all of their documents, they reported it, tried to get me indicted and probably did, and then they destroyed everything,” he continued. “This is unthinkable and the fake political indictment against me must be immediately withdrawn.”
Trump’s audition for Drunk History
——————–
These outbursts are his attempt to sooth his damaged ego, and try to convince his base that he is innocent. He knows that nobody is buying it, but he says it over and over hoping that, like in the past, if he says it enough times people will believe it. [Yep. And it might work. See comment 273.]
———————-
Sounds more deranged than is normal for him, yessirree.
———————-
They may have him on lithium and/or Haloperidol. Or maybe just a high-dose benzo.
No way he’s not being medicated.
Of course Trump has a known history of abusing Adderall, so he may be mixing that with his prescribed meds.
————————–
How about, he is mentally ill, has been for a long time and has been getting worse lately? And his “close family” and “friends” don’t have the guts or don’t care enough to take him to a Psychiatric Institution? I am doing Occam’s Razor thinking.
————————
Just end any statement about Trump, or what Trump does, with “because he’s a fucking moron,” and you’ll never again have to scratch your head and wonder why.
—————————-
I’m not gonna lie, if it hadn’t come from Trump himself I’d wonder if it was a deepfake. Something about it just looks very uncanny valley
[…] Right now, he speaks weakly, feebly. Push that message over and over again. Keep it simple. His lawyers have talked some sense to him and he isn’t speaking off the cuff. He’s got to think his words and actions through. And that is obviously taking the piss out of him. That’s the picture above. […]
I saw the same thing when he was alone speaking after the Washington indictment in the rain. The indictments and the lawyers are slowing him down. Making him second guess himself sounds weak and it’s starting to reflect in his support.
[…] Call him weak. Don’t make the Desantis mistake thinking that his policies are popular, they’re not. Forget calling him, lunatic, madman, idiot etc. Weak, frail, … these words work. Keep it simple and pass it along.
Guardian liveblog quoting a full article by Andrew Roth:
As the Kremlin took urgent measures to stabilise the plummeting rouble last week, one thing became clear: rampant spending on its war machine and social welfare programmes could not go on for ever. Few observers believe the Russian economy is in danger of imminent collapse. But it has reached a point, they say, where the Kremlin may have to weigh the cost of spending trillions of roubles on its war with Ukraine, and withstanding unprecedented sanctions, while maintaining prewar levels of public spending.
“In the grand scheme of things, as long as Russia continues to spend so madly – both war spending and on expensive imports – the rouble is not going to improve fundamentally,” said Alexey Eremenko, associate director at consultancy Control Risks. “There’s a structural issue underlying it all … A good question is whether we are at the point yet where the Kremlin has to seriously slash war spending or accept serious damage to the public welfare.”
Jeansays
Interesting article about the ineligibility of Donald Trump to hold any public office due to section 3 of the 14th amendment. There is also this video about it with the 2 authors.
I do hope that this will get more publicly discussed and become a real possibility as an outcome, as it should be. The additional advantage to the removal of TFG from the presidential race is that it also removes any deadline for holding him accountable for his many crimes.
Ukraine arrested three female suspects that were part of an alleged spy ring that fed military intelligence to Russia and the Wagner Group. The bust came one day after Ukraine announced it foiled assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
tomhsays
Re: #379
This is being widely discussed, including this lengthy article in the Los Angeles Times just yesterday, which claims it may be the “dominant” issue of the primary season. Bear in mind, though, that the odds of it actually coming to fruition are extremely low. The outcome would rest on the courts defining “insurrection and rebellion” and whether those apply. And the Supreme Court, well…..they’re not the most courageous group we’ve ever seen.
Certain elevations have played such key roles in important battles in history that they’re etched into the popular consciousness. Others may be less well-known in the mainstream, but might be familiar only to those who follow military history.
Where the heights of the Tokmak offensive will land remains to be seen.
Bunker Hill, for example, needs no introduction, at least for an American audience. Located in Charlestown, just north of Boston, this was the hill where militia forces that would go on to form the Continental Army caused heavy casualties to British forces. Throwing back two assaults by the Brits before being forced to retreat when they ran out of ammunition, the Continentals showed that they could deal horrific losses when challenged.
Bunker Hill is just 34m (110 ft) high. Numerous other hills might seem surprisingly small to many. Consider Napoleon’s famous victory at Austerlitz, which was sealed by the capture of the Pratzen Heights, which rise just 10-12 meters above their surroundings.
The Union Army’s defense of Little Round Top on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg turned out to be a key moment that helped turn the tide of the Civil War. The peak of Little Round Top looms less than 49 meters above the surrounding topography.
Eight Allied and German divisions furiously fought over Hill 70 outside of Lens, France, during WWI in 1917. Hill 70 was just 70 meters tall.
Some 1600 Marines died capturing Sugar Loaf Hill during the Battle of Okinawa. The hill loomed just over 15 meters above its surroundings.
It’s conceptually easy to understand how an army positioned on a literal mountain would be a formidable foe. Iwo Jima’s Mt. Suribachi—167 meters high—was turned into a giant underground fortress, with interconnected tunnels, hidden machine gun pits, and camouflaged artillery emplacements.
By contrast, how could Sugar Loaf Hill pose any threat? The U.S. Marines who advanced on the position on May 12, 1945 felt no differently, assuming it would be little more than a virtual bump on the road.
To their horror, the Marines realized that from their elevated positions, Japanese defenders could see and obtain line of sight on virtually any unit that was approached. Furthermore, two other similarly small hills (called Horseshoe Hill and Half Moon Hill by the Americans) had also been turned into formidable defensive positions. Together, the three hills allowed the Japanese defenders to cover weaknesses and create interlocking fields of fire that devastated the advancing Marines.
It would take eight days, numerous failed assaults, and 3000 U.S. Marine casualties, including those 1600 who gave their lives to capture “that goddamn little hill.”
To understand how even small hills confer tactical advantages, it help to think of the height of hills in terms of buildings, rather than comparing them to mountains. A 9- or 10-meter hill might sound tiny—but it’s essentially the same height as a three-story buillding.
If a soldier attempts to use bumps in the ground as cover to approach a target, being higher up than an opponent is a major advantage. Cover is rendered less effective on the ground, while the height advantage conceals more of the person firing down.
A similar effect happens with armored vehicle. It is easier for an armored vehicle shooting down to secure a line of sight on targets than the opposite.
Even small advantages in elevation can have outsized effects. [Illustration t the link]
But why does all this matter? In the Battle of Tokmak, Ukraine has been fighting literally uphill for virtually the entire battle. [map at the link]
Tokmak is arguably the heaviest-defended city in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Russia has established a string of defense lines to impede the Ukrainian advance. Advancing from the north, Ukraine has been forced to overcome defensive line after defensive line, with multiple lines still to go. [map at the link]
Ukraine’s powerful Bradley fighting vehicles of the 47th Brigade have led the way, supported by Leopard 2 tanks from the 33rd brigade.
Bradleys appear to have played a particularly central role in the combat in this sector. The 47th brigade began the counteroffensive with 90 Bradleys at the beginning of June.
Bradleys are one of the most powerful infantry fighting vehicles, known as IFVs for short, in the world, with powerful armor, a digital fire-controlled, high-powered 25 mm auto-cannon that can shred the armor of almost any Russian armored vehicle—short of a main battle tank. Its TOW-3 antitank missies can take out Russian tanks from over 3000 meters, making the Bradley one of the few “tank killer” IFVs capable of dominating older Soviet model tanks while also threatening even the most advanced Russian tanks.
The 47th has helped spearhead Ukrainian attacks that have now managed to punch through three separate layers of Russian defenses. [map at the link]
ided by the 47th, Ukraine’s 65th and 116th brigades have managed to liberate the northern third of Robotyne. The full liberation of Robotyne would represent securing a highway through the first major line of Russian defenses—and major progress.
Yet to help bring Ukraine to this point, it appears the 47th has paid a heavy price. Oryx has documented the loss of 50 Bradleys; 24 destroyed, 26 damaged. This is the absolute baseline of losses the 47th could have suffered, as Oryx counts only visually confirmed losses.
However, the hardware Ukraine has lost with regards to Bradleys has been quickly replenished. Since the start of the offensive, the U.S. has sent 93 additional Bradley units. This has likely made good on the 47th’s hardware losses. Bradleys are renowned for the survivability they offer troops, so in many cases of Bradleys that were immobilized but not destroyed, the crews were able to simply retreat.
But for all the heavy armor and high survivability, Ukraine is still losing troops, including in damaged Bradleys. It has likely lost some combat strength from the first day of the counteroffensive, but thanks to plentiful replacements for the lost Bradleys, Ukraine likely is still fielding a powerful force.
Ukraine has steadfastly preserved some of its most powerful and decorated units, such as the 82nd, 1st Tank, and 92nd Mechanized brigades. It chose this moment to commit one of its most powerful fresh brigades: the 82nd Air Assault, with western tanks (Leopard 2A4) and IFVs (Marders and Strykers).
With this new combination of the 82nd and 47th, Ukraine is now attempting to break through Russia’s defense line between Novoprokopivka and Vaselivka. It is here that Ukraine has an opportunity to finally fight past all of Russia’s counter offensive defenses on higher ground, and start fighting downhill for a change. [map at the link]
Ukraine’s goal appears to be the tallest hill that the Russians hold in this area. It’s a 166-meter tall hill I personally have taken to calling “Hill 166.” This is not an official name, but rather one I personally use for ease of distinguishing various localities.
Every position west of Hill 166 lies at a lower elevation, giving Ukraine the advantage of artillery fire support that not only flanks, but controls a dominant height over enemies to the west. Once Ukraine gets past Hill 166, the rest of the way to Tokmak only goes downhill—in the good way. [map at the link]
The 47th and 82nd brigades’ push up Hill 166 represents the last elevated obstacle that Ukraine must advance past.
Those who are dismissive of Ukraine’s chances of significant strategic gain suggest that Ukraine has only broken through a few small defensive lines, and there are too many more to overcome to make significant progress. [map at the link]
[…] Till now, Ukraine had always been fighting fortified enemy positions that were uphill.
Once Ukraine is able to wrest that height advantage away from the Russians, it could be Ukraine that advances downhill upon enemy positions—perhaps in a battle that might make “hill” history.
The Luna 25 spacecraft reported an “emergency situation on board,” Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said on Saturday.
An incident occurred as the spacecraft was trying to enter a pre-landing orbit, according to Roscosmos.
“During the operation, an emergency situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters,” Roscosmos said in a Telegram post.
“The management team is currently analyzing the situation,” the space agency added.
It’s not yet clear if the issue will prevent the lunar lander, which was slated to land near the moon’s south pole as soon as Monday, from attempting a touchdown.
Russia’s Luna 25 lander mission marked the country’s first attempt at landing a spacecraft on the moon since the Soviet era. The last lunar lander, Luna 24, landed on the lunar surface on August 18, 1976.
The spacecraft launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Oblast aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket on August 10, setting the vehicle on a swift trip to the moon.
Luna 25’s trajectory allowed it to surpass India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, which launched in mid-July, on the way to the lunar surface.
Media characterizations that India and Russia are racing for the lunar south pole, however, aren’t entirely accurate, according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. He pointed out that both projects have been in the works for more than a decade.
Safely landing a spacecraft on the lunar surface would mark a huge step for Russia’s space program.
Luna 25 is also seen as a proving ground for future robotic lunar exploration missions by Roscosmos. Several future Luna missions are slated to make use of the same spacecraft design.
Russia is also seeking to prove that its civil space program, which some experts say has faced issues for decades, can still perform in high-profile, high-stakes missions.
“They were having a lot of problems with quality control, corruption, with funding,” said Victoria Samson, the Washington office director for Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the peaceful exploration of outer space.
The student population got smaller and smaller while fancy new buildings appeared.
West Virginia University would like you to believe that its plan to make draconian budget cuts is strictly a financial decision. WVU, West Virginia’s flagship land-grant university, which is located in the small city of Morgantown on the state’s northern border with Pennsylvania, is rushing to eliminate 9 percent of its majors (32 programs in total), all foreign language programs, and 16 percent of full-time faculty members (169 in total) in response to a $45 million budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024…
Yet, perhaps most perplexing, Gee refuses to address what seems to be the root cause of WVU’s budgetary crisis: the rapid withdrawal of state funding from the school. While Gee cited increased costs and population decline as causes of WVU’s financial issues, he notably failed to mention that overall state funding has dramatically decreased in recent years. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy posits that the majority of WVU’s funding issues are due to this decrease. But Gee refused to ask for an increase in state funding…
To be clear: Gee is not solving a structural issue. He is not cutting back on administrative excess. (Students are demanding that the WVU administration face an independent audit.) One cannot help but wonder if the cuts are driven by a hostility to liberal arts education couched in the sterile ambiguity of financial considerations. WVU isn’t the first place to experience this particular impact of austerity. Rpk Group, a consulting firm that WVU employed, has previously helped to cut academic programs in Kansas and at institutions like New Jersey City University, preserving and generating revenue primarily for majors and degree programs that serve the tech industry. In the Nation, Lisa M. Corrigan describes what’s happening at WVU as “a trial balloon for doing this elsewhere.” …
wzrd1says
It’s interesting that first the Indian probe, now the Russian probe are having problems reaching the south lunar pole. I’m wondering if the southernmost mascon is giving them issues, things can be a bit… lumpy approaching the pole, especially that one monster.
Of course, if it was easy, it wouldn’t be rocket science.
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #386…
My wife was doing temp work at Berkeley’s Space Sciences Lb and was asked one day how to do something in a word processing program. The person asking said, “I know it’s not rocket science. I’m a rocket scientist.”
wzrd1says
whheydt @ 387, worked around the type. Fun enough to work with and socialize with.
Ironically, I’m rather lousy with office products, but can wrangle networks, network drives, the OS proper, etc, while still intelligently converse about rockets. But then, one of my hobbies was building model rockets. Haven’t had a failure of one since I was a pre-teen, even for home ginned up designs. Or a balance issue since that age.
And my original background was as a CET, so control circuits, analog or digital are pretty close to instinctive in response to a novel design.
Navigation inside of a gravity well, hell, I have trouble with that on the ground. ;)
Advanced spreadsheet work, beyond me. That’s what Google is for. Figuring out a problem with Oracle, that’ll take a bit longer than if I called in a specialist, but I’ve managed it and hated every second of it, due to the potential for making things worse or data loss.
And scripting, well, I literally have scripts that decide which scripts to write for a specific need. For some, the easiest way to define them for review as to provide the script and a Karnaugh map.
I’m also well known for walking on water, but it has to be very, very cold, for a fairly lengthy amount of time. :P
Suffice it to say, if it’s mass concentrations throwing off navigational curves due to gravitational attraction forces, landing would be even more challenging than even Armstrong could’ve wrangled.
Still, it could just be two misconfigurations or construction/implementation errors, small sample set and all. In an ideal world, I’d want to toss a few small crash landers with full telemetry and track them all the way to impact, just to be sure. Better than designing for pretty much everything remotely possible, due to mass constraints.
The minimum intervention for the maximal benefit, not just jump in with heroic effort and really turn everything into a flaming mess.
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #388…
I really don’t think the Russian lander problem is the mascon. it’s more likely either a hardware fault (functionally, a QC problem) or software.
My wife was an SF fan from way back, including writing Star Trek fanfic and compiling the first 2 years of the Star Trek Concordance (third year and onward being done by Bjo Trimble). Since she had a degree in Linguistics, she developed a grammar for the Vulcan language (as opposed to a selective word list) and coined one term that has actually worked its way–uncredited–in the canon: ni var. The Vulcan grammar she wrote is still the basis from currently extant conlangs of it. She went on from there to write SF and fantasy, including two published novels and 30+ short stories. She was very much not a computer person, though for all that she got along with them better most people who weren’t heavily into computers, especially for her generation (born in 1942). The first text editor she learned was vi and used to touch type vi while embedding nroff/troff commands on the fly. She also got to the point that she could use all the common pre-processors like tbl and eqn, so long as somebody else told what the results were supposed to look like.
wzrd1says
Just re-watched one of my favorite “alien first contact films”, Arrival, a 2016 film.
Few plot omissions, few gaffes, human nature a bit unusual – save for extreme stress and secrecy, and overall concept being space-time has time not exceptionally relevant overall, in specific ways, yeah.
And plot line violations were well enough covered.
Alas, there can be no II, save if it’s 3000 years in the future, when humanity answers the distress call.
Not a biggie here, Hollywood
likely yearns for a cheap-o-matic pop-off.
Hollywood reminds me of Lincoln’s patent office. Shortly before the Civil War, the patent office clerk suggested to Lincoln abolishing the patent office, as all possible inventions were already invented. Lincoln declined.
Eventually, Hollywood will originate. Hopefully, before the sun goes out.
As for linguistics, yeah, totally fuck-all in accuracy. But, publicly reasonably understandable, I’d only add cultural sharing for mutual comprehension.
And I only curse in 6 languages fluently.
Basic understanding to find a bathroom, only 3. Barely.
But, get a gist of conversation. Random words get absorbed, learning as well. Depends upon the environment.
Feel ooofu today, my back hurts after walking to my usual supermarket. Mashallah, it didn’t kill me yet.
Talking about mama, that’s a larger vocabulary, as when momma got discussed, I know when a weapon is about to come out.
Written language, I’m dyslexic, are you fucking serious?!
Still, great film.
wzrd1says
Another favorite was Clara.
John Moralessays
wzrd1 @390, the movie doesn’t really do the story justice, takes the usual liberties.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has approved Ukrainian-made SkyKnight drones for military use.
Source: Ukraine’s Defence Ministry
Quote: “Artificial intelligence, a maximum payload of 2.5 kg and automatic flight mode: the Defence Ministry has approved domestic SkyKnight UAVs for military use.”…
There’s too much horror in stories of women and girls unable to get abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but even so, this one from Time magazine stands out. “She Wasn’t Able to Get an Abortion. Now She’s a Mom. Soon She’ll Start 7th Grade,” the headline reads. The story of a child raped by a stranger and too traumatized to tell her mother what happened to her—a child whose doctor says “She just had no clue” she was pregnant—is heartbreaking. But the bigger picture in Mississippi, the state that pushed Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to the Supreme Court and succeeded in getting Roe overturned, is enraging even without the trauma of a child rape victim.
Here’s a key paragraph where Mississippi shows itself:
Mississippi’s abortion ban is expected to result in thousands of additional births, often to low-income, high-risk mothers. Dr. Daniel Edney, Mississippi’s top health official, tells TIME his department is “actively preparing” for roughly 4,000 additional live births this year alone. Edney says improving maternal-health outcomes is the “No. 1 priority” for the Mississippi health department, which has invested $2 million into its Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies program to provide extra support for new mothers. “There is a sense of following through, and not just as a predominantly pro-life state,” says Edney. “We don’t just care about life in utero. We care about life, period, and that includes the mother’s life and the baby’s life.”
The state is investing $2 million into a program to provide extra support for new mothers, while anticipating an additional 4,000 births because it banned abortion. That’s $500 per baby. A year’s supply of diapers typically costs more than $800. That doesn’t even begin to factor in the mother’s lost income, the extremely high cost of formula, clothes, and more. In any case, this is not money that is going directly to families: It’s a program offering home visits and referrals for existing supports like food stamps.
A pittance of $500 per child is not “a sense of following through.” It is a joke. Somewhat more helpful is that Mississippi finally extended Medicaid coverage for new mothers to 12 months from its previous 60 days, after Gov. Tate Reeves dragged his feet for months, claiming he needed more data on whether extending health coverage to postpartum patients would be a good idea. That move came after Mississippi’s maternal mortality rate worsened between analyses of data from 2013 to 2016 and data from 2017 to 2019—a decline that fell on Black women, while maternal mortality rates for white women improved slightly.
The fact that Mississippi forced a traumatized child to give birth—because her mother didn’t know a rape exception to the state’s abortion ban existed, and because in any case that exception is a bit of language in the law to make it sound better and not a real, functional thing that people can access—is terrible. It’s the intent of the law, and it’s cruel. That the police in her case don’t seem to have any sense of urgency about finding her rapist is also unspeakably bad.
But Mississippi’s abortion ban, and other state laws like it, are not cruel only in the most horrifying cases. They represent a vast and callous disregard for women’s lives all around. That includes women like Lationna Halbert, who got pregnant in the weeks between when her hormonal birth control implant expired and when she could afford a new one, then sought an abortion from the Jackson Women’s Health Organization the month after Dobbs was decided. Instead, she gave birth in a hospital with no hot water and brought her baby home knowing she had no help paying for child care (and poor availability of affordable child care, in any case) so that she could go back to work. She had to put her dreams of going to cosmetology school on hold, while her boyfriend worked long hours to support their family.
These bans also make care worse for pregnant people who are seeking medical supervision throughout pregnancy and delivery, because, as Time reports, abortion bans make health care deserts worse:
When Emory University researcher Ariana Traub surveyed almost 500 third- and fourth-year medical students in 2022, close to 80% said that abortion laws influenced where they planned to apply to residency. Nearly 60% said they were unlikely to apply to any residency programs in states with abortion restrictions. Traub had assumed that abortion would be most important to students studying obstetrics, but was surprised to find that three-quarters of students across all medical specialties said that Dobbs was affecting their residency decisions.
Why? Because they do not want to live in states where their own health care or that of their family members would be compromised. “More than 24% of women in Mississippi have no birthing hospital within a 30-minute drive,” Time reports, “compared to the national average of roughly 10%.” And that’s before the Dobbs effect really takes hold.
Mississippi does not care about the lives of women, or children who become pregnant, or children who are born to families that are more likely to be in poverty because abortion was not available in the state with the highest overall and child poverty rates. There is no “sense of following through.” They do not “care about life, period, and that includes the mother’s life and the baby’s life.” It’s past time for them to stop pretending they do.
Update 2: CNN’s Clare Duffy and Brian Fung followed up on Media Matters’ reporting and found ads for other brands on the pro-Hitler account prior to its suspension. They reported that “spokespeople for NCTA and pharmaceutical company Gilead said that they immediately paused their ad spending on X after CNN flagged their ads on the pro-Nazi account.” They added: “Wednesday’s report suggests that the company still has work to do if it wants to avoid monetizing, and placing ads alongside, objectionable content.”
Update: Following the publication of this article, X suspended the openly pro-Hitler account. The suspension came only after the company verified the account; allowed it to repeatedly post antisemitic content; and monetized it by placing advertisements for major brands on the account. X’s monetization of the account also happened even though the company had reportedly acknowledged that the antisemitic account engaged in “violent speech.”
Under the leadership of CEO Linda Yaccarino, X (formerly known as Twitter) has been placing ads […] on a verified pro-Adolf Hitler account that encourages antisemitic harassment. The company continues to monetize the openly antisemitic account despite reportedly acknowledging it had violated the platform’s “rules against violent speech.”
During an August 10 interview with CNBC, Yaccarino falsely claimed that brands are “protected from the risk of being next to” toxic content and “by all objective metrics, X is a much healthier and safer platform than it was a year ago.” [bullshit]
Media Matters and other observers have documented how X has remained a dangerous cesspool of content, especially for advertisers. Since Elon Musk took over the company, X has placed ads for numerous brands directly on Holocaust denial, white nationalist, and neo-Nazi accounts. Ads have also appeared next to content from the accounts of extremists that have been restored under Musk.
New American Union is a pro-fascist account that celebrates Hitler and his National Socialist Party (aka the Nazi Party). It’s been “verified since April 2023” and has thousands of followers, meaning that the account meets at least two of the criteria for X’s revenue sharing program — and that money from X’s advertisers could eventually end up in the account’s pockets.
The following are several representative posts from the account promoting Nazism: [images at the link]
New American Union has been allowed to continue posting on X despite the platform’s awareness of the account’s extremism. New American Union wrote on June 1 that the account had been “locked” and then “restored.” On June 24, the account posted that X had found it in violation of the platform’s “rules against violent speech” and temporarily restricted its posting ability. New American Union then stated on July 13 that it had “been dealing with a mass reporting situation on this account.”
Since Yaccarino’s CNBC appearance, Media Matters found ads for the following brands on the pro-Hitler account:
Action Network
Adobe
Amazon
Atlanta Falcons
BritBox
Corn Nuts / Hormel Foods
FIFA Women’s World Cup
Fortune
Gallup
Gilead Sciences
MLB
Office Depot
Regal
Samsung
Sports Illustrated
The Athletic / The New York Times Co.
The Herd with Colin Cowherd / Fox Sports
USA Today
While The New York Times Co. property The Athletic has been advertising on X, The Washington Post recently reported that X “has been slowing the speed with which users could access links to the New York Times.”
Here’s how the Falcons’ ad appeared on New American Union’s feed: [Tweets, images and video at the link]
[…]
[…] Following Trump’s lead, right-wing media resorted to personal attacks on Willis, calling her a “thug” and “nutcase”
Radio host Mark Levin declared that “Fani Willis hates this country,” in a rant about the attorneys prosecuting Trump. [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 8/15/23]
Conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called Willis a “thug” who is indicting Trump for “watching cable television.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 8/16/23]
Defendant Rudy Giuliani: Willis “seems like a pretty incompetent, sloppy prosecutor.” He added, “if she worked for me, I would have fired her.” Giuliani, who was also charged in the Georgia indictment, stressed that “what she did yesterday with that indictment is inexcusable.” [Newsmax, Eric Bolling the Balance, 8/15/23]
Newsmax host Chris Plante called Willis a “nutcase.” Plante also downplayed the charges, claiming Trump and the others were “facing prison time” simply for “asking for a phone number” and “watching a live public hearing on Newsmax.” [Newsmax, The Right Squad, 8/15/23]
Pro-Trump “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec posted a fatphobic and sexist smear about Willis. Posobiec tweeted Gov. Brian Kemp a photoshopped picture of Willis on Lizzo’s nude album cover with the phrase “OnlyFanis,” a reference to the sex work website OnlyFans. [Twitter/X, 8/15/23] [JFC. That is exceptionally execrable behavior, even for a rightwing doofus.]
Newsmax guest Dick Morris accused Willis of charging Trump to appease the Black community. “She’s African American and she’s basically doing what the community wants her to do,” Morris said. “This is not something that’s based on law or on facts.” [Newsmax, The Right Squad, 8/14/23] [Oh, FFS.]
OAN host Chanel Rion called Willis the “Cheap Backroom Plea Bargain Harlot of Fulton County.” Rion also claimed, “‘Probable cause’ and ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ are standards LIGHTYEARS beyond Fani’s reach or understanding.” [Twitter/X, 8/15/23] [OMG, racism and misogyny]
Right-wing pundit and serial plagiarist Benny Johnson called Willis “a deeply, deeply corrupt individual” in a “ratchet county” and an “emissary of the globalists, someone … here to destroy, and sanction, and bring in the end of America.” Johnson continued, “You are a despicable creature.” [The Benny Show, 8/15/23] […]
One of the most harrowing songs ever. Nina delivers it perfectly, with a barely controlled righteous rage against slave traders. The piano playing is superb and the understated percussion and sitar work well. It’s great that it is now on You Tube but it’s not exactly easy listening.
As racist right-wing governing bodies attempt to erase teaching the truth about this country’s birth and growth that were sustained by enslaving Black people, it’s important to mark an historic date in that history: the Jamestown landing on Aug. 20, 1619, and The New York Times’ ambitious and award-winning “The 1619 Project,” launched on the 400th anniversary in 2019.
While slavery here actually began earlier, “The 1619 Project” brought enslavement back into the mainstream discussion, which has only intensified over the past four years. Such debates—as well as the pure BS being spewed in support of Florida’s claims of slavery’s “benefits” to those in bondage—got me thinking about the music that tells the story of the brutal voyages here, and the fates that befell enslaved Africans and their descendants once—or if—they arrived. […]
YouTube link to Rhiannon Giddens singing At the Purchaser’s Option.
YouTube link to Richie Havens singing Follow the Drinking Gourd.”
The Drinking Gourd song was supposedly used by an Underground Railroad operative to encode escape instructions and a map. These directions then enabled fleeing slaves to make their way north from Mobile, Alabama to the Ohio River and freedom. […] re-examining the Drinking Gourd song as history rather than folklore raises many questions.
Youtube link to Cynthia Erivo singing Stand Up.
From the motion picture HARRIET, the Original Song “STAND UP” is written by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo.
In other news, David Brooks is being clueless about his own privileged position is society (again), and he is being pompous while condescending to others (again).
In the seventh paragraph of David Brooks’ latest New York Times column, titled, “To Be Happy, Marriage Matters More Than Career,” he confesses, “As I confront young adults who think this way [not prioritizing marriage], I am seized by an unfortunate urge to sermonize.” Since Brooks has already been sermonizing for six previous paragraphs, you might think this is the turning point, the place where he will exert some sociological imagination and curtail his unfortunate urge to sermonize. You might think that if you’ve never read anything by Brooks, anyway. Of course, he continues right on sermonizing in the exact same vein in which he started off.
Brooks lectures about the importance of marriage with all the sanctimony you’d expect of a man who, a couple years after divorcing his wife of decades, fell rapturously in love with a woman 23 years younger than himself and remarried. But it’s more than that. He’s also a financially comfortable if not downright wealthy older man lecturing young adults about how to respond to their generation’s financial precarity.
Because that’s Brooks’ point: The young people these days are too concerned with their careers and not concerned enough with getting married. They are thinking about establishing careers now and see marriage as a more distant goal, “something to enter into after they’ve successfully established themselves as adults.” As a result, they are sacrificing their own happiness, so they dang well need that lecture from Brooks.
In the course of his sermonizing, Brooks offers up a series of studies purporting to show this to be true. I do not have the luxury of time that Brooks has to develop each jewel of a column he writes, still less whatever research resources The New York Times puts at the disposal of its most high-profile columnists. In this case, though, Brooks’ research appears to have been overwhelmingly outsourced to the Institute for Family Studies, a right-wing think tank dedicated to promoting marriage and traditional family life. [snipped details]
[…] Brooks vaguely gestures at the well-established fact that happier people tend to be more likely to get married to begin with, but he’s not very interested in discussing it. He cites a study finding that marriage is the most significant factor associated with happiness, but doesn’t get into how higher income and education level are also correlated with happiness—and that people with higher income and education levels are more likely to be married.
Brooks certainly doesn’t have space for a study by Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld finding that while women are substantially more likely than men to initiate divorce—something that shows up in decades of data on divorce—they are not more likely to initiate breakups in nonmarital relationships. In other words, there’s something about marriage specifically that makes women want out at higher rates.
The thing is that Brooks isn’t wrong about correlations between marriage and happiness. He’s just totally unconcerned with who it benefits and how and why, to say nothing of the relationship between correlation and causation here. He knows he has to give lip service to how “[w]e could do a lot to raise the marriage rate by increasing wages — financial precarity inhibits marriage,” but that falls short of acknowledging that declines in marriage rates overall are driven by larger declines among working-class and poor people. Lower-income people are less likely to be happy and less likely to be married, but would getting married magically fix people’s lives? […]
When he opens the column by talking about young adults he spends time around whose “common operating assumption seems to be that professional life is at the core of life and that marriage would be something nice to add on top sometime down the road,” does anyone think Brooks is referring to a lot of time spent chatting with low-income people without college degrees? Those are the people less likely to get married, and there are concrete reasons for that. But Brooks wants to talk about what he’s hearing from what he doesn’t admit but we can reasonably presume are highly educated young people kicking off what they expect will eventually be lucrative careers. […]
“Partly as a result of these attitudes,” he writes—“these attitudes” being people establishing their careers before getting married—“there is less marriage in America today. The marriage rate is close to the lowest level in American history.” But “partly” is doing a lot of work there. Brooks is arguing that marriage levels are down because of vibes, when the data pretty clearly indicates that economic precarity plays a more significant role. If Brooks wants to bemoan the marriage rates, that’s where he should be looking. It just wouldn’t fit with his whole smug-conservative-condescending-to-the-libs persona, so he’s not interested.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation on Saturday after a wildfire continued to spread through Spokane County, leaving at least one person dead and destroying more than 185 structures in its wake.
[…] As of Sunday morning, the so-called Gray Fire spread over 10,892 acres and was 0 percent contained, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
The Gray Fire closed an interstate highway, I-90, from Sprague to Geiser.
[…] Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of the county.
This summer, land temperatures reached record highs, putting a brutal heat dome over 116 million Americans, fueling massive wildfires and prompting warnings to stay indoors. Likewise, at sea, marine heat wave conditions are now encompassing 44 percent of our ocean globally, bleaching our coral reefs and propelling the migration of fish populations.
So much of our understanding of these weather events and how to respond, are possible because of our nation’s deep investment in long-term scientific monitoring and analysis of the land and ocean. And while the brutal temperatures feel like a wake up call, we’ve known these conditions were coming, projected through decades of research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Day in and day out, NOAA works to understand and predict changes in our climate, weather, ocean and coasts, to share that information with others, and lead our country’s response to these forces. They are both our intelligence and ground troops against the threats of our climate.
Yet this knowledge gathering and sharing—that helps communities, ecosystems, and industries prepare and adapt —continues to be threatened by House Republicans in Congress.
Their latest ploy, the House of Representatives appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024, is littered with funding cuts and policy riders that put into question whether some policymakers are experiencing the same extreme weather conditions as other Americans. In the case of NOAA, the House wants to slash funding by more than $920 million from current levels, an unwarranted 14 percent cut.
Even more troubling, the bill includes language that would ban NOAA from conducting any climate change-related fisheries research and blocks funds for broader climate change research for the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
A ban on studying climate change does not make the issue disappear. It only makes us less prepared to protect our communities, to steward our ecosystems and resources, and ensure our ocean economy thrives long-term. […]
Shop owner Lauri Carleton was murdered by some creep upset that she displayed a pride flag.
California boutique owner Lauri Carleton was shot dead this week by a person who was reportedly very upset over the fact that she displayed a pride flag in the front of her shop, Mag Pi.
According to the San Bernardino police, the suspect “made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton.”
Following the shooting, police found the suspect, still armed and apparently quite riled up.
“When deputies attempted to contact the suspect, a lethal force encounter occurred and the suspect was pronounced deceased,” an update read.
Carleton is survived by her husband and nine children.
What the actual hell is going on here?
I am in no way trying to make excuses for the pile of human excrement who shot and killed a woman over a flag, but how badly poisoned does someone’s brain have to be to do that? Look at how far they are willing to take this nonsense.
As much as the shooter themselves is at fault here, this is also the fault of Ron DeSantis, Christine Pushaw and Chaya “LibsOfTikTok” Raichik, who started all of this “LGBTQ people are ‘groomers’” shit. It’s the fault of right-wing polemics who jumped right on that train and ran with it once they realized it was going to be a smash hit for them.
They didn’t want to be called bigots for hating LGBTQ+ so they made up a bunch of nonsense about how they were pedophiles who were out to “groom” children with drag queen storytimes and pronouns, they started crying out about pride flags and accusing anyone displaying one, any business celebrating Pride Month, of somehow being in on some mass conspiracy to molest children.
Why? Because all the GOP had left was culture war nonsense that seemed like it should have died off a decade ago and they needed something to reel their voters in. It’s hardly as if their economic message is exactly resonating with anyone these days — it’s simply not the right time for “give rich people more money and the wealth will just trickle down.” But the old tactics didn’t work, because most people had largely come around on LGBTQ+ rights. So they had to go with “Actually, they’re trying to molest children and that’s our problem with them. We are heroes, not bigots!” […]
y all accounts, Lauri Carleton was a lovely person and beloved member of her community. It is horrifying that her life ended this way, and as much as the shooter themselves is to blame for what happened to her … they’re not the only one.
whheydtsays
Re: the earlier discussion about the Russian Luna 25 mission. It’s on the surface of the Moon now. Got there the hard way. It crashed.
birgerjohanssonsays
Yes. I suspected the Russians would have a hard time to get it to work- the last time they did a soft landing on the Moon was in the 1970s.
Luna 15 was very close to getting a lunar sample for a return journey alternatively landing a remote-cobtrolled lunar rover before Apollo 11 landed, but it crashed when Apollo 11 was en route.
birgerjohanssonsays
According to The Guardian, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife “are in the final chapter”.
birgerjohanssonsays
British researchers at Hemel Hempstead have been working on a safe substitute for alcohol that reduces shyness but does not cause hangover.
It attaches to only two of the GABA receptors. You can not die from a huge dose.
This article is accompanied by a nice selfie of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Mark Rutte announcing Netherland’s transfer of all its F-16s to Ukraine.
Big news and lots of happy pictures, as the Dutch and the Danes both confirmed they would be transferring their entire F-16 fleets to Ukraine. But nothing is currently driving more misunderstanding, distrust, anger, frustration, and impossible expectations on pro-Ukrainian spaces than the eventual delivery and use of F-16s to the front. So that’s what we’ll focus on today’s update.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Netherlands today for the big announcement, touring the Dutch Air Force base in which its F-16s are based. [Tweet and video at the link]
Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel says 42 F-16s will be sent, which is the Netherlands’ entire supply, including a dozen that had been “provisionally” sold to another country.
Another picture: [Tweet and image at the link: “Zelenskyi in the cockpit of one of the F-16 fighter jets that the Netherlands will supply to Ukraine. Next to him is Lieutenant General Andre Steur, commander of the Royal Dutch Air Force.”]
And another photo: [Tweet and image at the link: “It’s always good to see #Ukraine’s president Zelensky smile. Even better when he’s smiling in an F-16 fighter. Seen here with Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen at the Skrydstrup airbase in Vojens, Denmark.”]
Zelenskky then went to Denmark for the second big announcement, where another 19 F-16s were promised to Ukraine. [Tweet and video at the link]
Note that these are all 1970s-era airframes but fully upgraded to the AM/BM standard, which means their electronics closely approximate the latest versions. Both countries had already phased them out in favor of modern F-35s (the new NATO standard).
These announcements culminated a year of extensive lobbying by Zelenskyy and his government for modern NATO aircraft, and mean that Ukraine will have at least 61 F-16s. All eyes will now turn to Norway, which just retired 57 F-16s for its own transition to the F-35. Twelve of them have been sold to Draken International, a private US-based group that, according to Wikipedia, “offers airborne adversary support (Red Air), Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), Close Air Support (CAS), flight training, threat simulation, electronic warfare support, aerial refueling, research, and testing services to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. defense contractors and aerospace firms, provided by a fleet of former military aircraft.”
If you’re wondering why the U.S. Air Force can’t handle those tasks itself, instead of outsourcing to a private military contractor, Join the club. In any case, they are the largest private operator of military aircraft in the world.
Even assuming that sale is irrevocable, that still leaves Norway with 45 F-16s it could transfer to Ukraine.
No other European country has F-16s available. The Greeks and Turks have massive fleets … pointed at each other. Belgium’s F-35s don’t arrive until 2024-25. Several Eastern European nations have upgraded to F-16s from their old Soviet junk, and can’t give up their new aircraft.
Some of the largest F-16 fleets are actually in the Middle East, but Israel and Egypt (among others) haven’t been the helping kind, and are pointing those weapons at each other anyway. Taiwan and South Korea face active threats, so they can’t help out. So that leaves … us. [Tweets at the link: Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall tells reporters this morning that sending F-16s to Ukraine is going to help in the conflict, but “it’s not going to be a dramatic game-changer.” Interestingly, he did not rule out sending Ukraine U.S. F-16s, rather than third-party. “I don’t know … there’s a lot of possibilities.”
The U.S. doesn’t have any up-to-date spares sitting anywhere in storage. The famous “boneyard” in the Arizona desert has an unspecified number of old F-16s, but they’ve been sitting in the desert for decades and would require complete overhauls and updates. It took Boeing 12 years to refurbish 75 obsolete boneyard F-16s back to flying status. Those were made into unmanned target drones, which might even be easier to refurbish since they didn’t need modern systems installed.
The U.S. does have about a thousand F-16s on active duty, so maybe a dozen or two could be spared? In total, the ceiling for Ukraine seems to be around 100 F-16s.
But now, the challenges.
First of all, Ukraine could only muster up eight pilots for initial training. Turns out, you need to speak English to read the manuals and receive instruction in NATO’s official language. (French is also an official NATO language, but really, it’s just English.) Ukraine has gotten by using translators for other kind of systems training, like HIMARS rocket artillery and Patriot air defenses, but you can’t have a translator up with you in a single-seat jet fighter while receiving instructions from ground crews and instructors. Apparently, no one in Ukraine thought it would be helpful to begin a large-scale English-language training effort for key personnel. [I’m still not completely buying this explanation. I think some background information is missing.]
Now that training manuals have been officially authorized for Ukraine, they are undoubtedly in the process of translating them for the next batch of pilots, who will almost certainly be trained by these initial eight. Great! But that means that these initial eight won’t be flying combat missions. They’ll be training the rest of the necessary pilots, further delaying their introduction into the battlefield. No one can blame the West for that.
That’s not stopping a hysterical strain of commentary claiming that training pilots is somehow a Western scheme to further sabotage Ukraine. [Oh, FFS!] [Tweet at the link] This is so ridiculous, I can’t even.
One, it’s a weird assumption that there are “retired” pilots ready to go fight a near-peer hot war. Why would they? They’re all flying for Draken International, or, you know, they’re retired. How many are ready and willing to die for another nation? We would know if there was, indeed, a huge pool of experienced fighters ready to join the Ukrainian Air Force Foreign Legion, and there are undoubtedly some. But to assume that retired pilots are lining up to die for Ukraine is ludicrous.
But even more ridiculous, it’s amazing to me that a year and a half into this war, people still don’t understand that logistics is the game. The pilot is the easy part! For land forces, I’ve written several times how only 15% of a fighting force actually pulls a trigger or pushes a button firing a weapon. The bulk of an army is truck drivers, mechanics, electronic maintenance, medics, armorers, supply clerks, command and control, cooks, etc. For something as complex as an F-16? It’s even more lopsided.
Check out this little Pentagon news release:
Six F-16 Fighting Falcons accompanied by approximately 300 personnel and cargo deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy, to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, Aug. 9, 2015.
Six planes required an average of 50 personnel each to operate and maintain.
This excellent thread by Norwegian pilot Justin Bronk, a Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Military Technology at RUSI, London. and a Professor at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, explains in some detail the challenges in operating the F-16.
A thread on the US approval for #F16 transfer to #Ukraine once pilot training is complete: This US decision is important as it clears one of the obstacles to delivery from European operators – US authorisation as the original manufacturer. Several issues remain, however: (1/10)
The first is who will service and turn the jets once in country? F-16 is a complex aircraft and the airframes likely to be sent are quite old. Even on high risk timeframes it will take years to train journeyman or master level maintainers who can supervise and assure. (2/10)
This means that just like any other FMS customer that the US has helped set up with an F-16 fleet, there will be a heavy reliance on civilian contractors to supervise and provide on-the-job training to Ukrainian maintainers in-country, even after months of initial training (3/10)
We’ve discussed it in the past—initial training is just the first step in any soldier/sailor/airman’s military career. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs, like sergeants) with decades of combined experience are critical in teaching new soldiers how to properly do their jobs. Just think of someone coming out of college, being further trained in their career by experienced managers, and perfecting their craft over years and decades. No one is an expert after the first round of training/education. It is impossible to perfect anything of real value in a few months, no matter how motivated.
Just look at Ukraine’s inability to execute combined arms maneuvers in their counteroffensive. They spent several months in Germany over the winter and spring practicing combined arms, but that wasn’t anywhere near enough time. The most experienced NATO units struggle with combined arms maneuvers even when drilling it constantly.
So yes, it is literally impossible to maintain those systems without a heavy reliance on civilian contractors. I don’t see any realistic scenario in which those complex Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine aren’t mostly maintained by civilian contractors, playing the role of NCOs as Ukrainian soldiers hone their craft under their guidance. The alternative is that the batteries are driven across the border to Poland or Romania every time something serious breaks, and that’s not tenable in the middle of a war.
This is an issue because any F-16 bases set up inside Ukraine will be priority targets for Russian cruise and ballistic missile strikes. Therefore, more ground support equipment and contractors are needed to enable dispersed basing, and they’ll still be actively targeted (4/10)
This increases the political risk of Western contractors being killed by Russian strikes and in any case the US Administration has a ‘no boots on the ground in Ukraine’ policy, so no US contractor support is likely without a major policy change there. (5/10)
Not sure how the U.S could limit the presence of American contractors. Heck, there are entire units of Ukrainian Foreign Legion made up of American ex-soldiers (usually seen grouped with Canadians and Brits, because of the language kinship). It does mean that American companies likely won’t be allowed to take on maintenance contracts, but that’s easy enough to work around.
But, note the massive support requirements—50 personnel per aircraft. I’d be surprised if there were that many Americans serving in the foreign legion altogether, and it’s easier to find an ex-infantryman than it is to find an ex technician proficient in one of the many highly specialized tasks required to maintain this complex aircraft.
The F-16s likely to be sent are Dutch, Danish and Norwegian, but those air forces need their own F-16 maintainers + contractors to retrain on F-35 to support their current fleets. Thus, where the required maintainers come from is a key question that is so far unanswered (6/10)
The Twitterati think this is easy. People are magically available to do everything from flying the planes, to maintaining its complex radar systems, to maintaining the jet engine, to everything else! But no, it’s not.
The West didn’t slow walk the release of complex systems to Ukraine for shits and giggles. It did so because it’s complicated. An M113 is a 1960s-era piece of crap armored personnel carrier, but the most junior mechanic can maintain it. An M2 Bradley is a last-generation infantry fighting vehicle, and worlds-better than the M113s it replaced, but it comes at an additional logistical and maintenance cost.
Same with tanks, from Eastern European nations delivering the last of their Soviet-era junk, to Leopard tanks, to M1 Abrams coming soon to a battlefield in Ukraine. Bolstering their supply of Soviet-era gear required no additional skills. But each new Western system is a heavy burden, forcing Ukraine to significantly ramp up its logistical capabilities, all the while maintaining dozens of foreign weapons systems (something no other army is required to do). And it needs to do this all in the middle of a war. This shit is hard! And it can’t all be done at once.
Another key question is how to finance this in the near term. F-16 is cheap by Western fast jet standards but is still very expensive. Essential US support would have come out of the limited Presidential Drawdown Authority budget for military support to Ukraine as a whole (7/10)
Given a lack of European capacity, the key is finding a way to support Ukrainian Air Force to set up and sustainably operate F-16s without unacceptably drawing finite PDA budget away from more critical supplies of artillery, ammunition, tanks, IFVs, Patriot missiles etc.(8/10)
This is a big challenge, and an underreported one.
An F-16 cost $27,000 to fly for one hour.
And each hour it flies, it requires 17 man-hours of maintenance. These older Dutch and Danish F-16s might require even more maintenance, given they entered service in 1979 and 1980, respectively, so over 40 years old.
That’s not including the cost of ordinance.
War is expensive. A U.S. Army combat brigade—60 Abrams, 60 Bradley IFVs and 112 M113, costs $67,000 per mile. And those are estimates from a decade ago when fuel was cheaper. But when the budget is limited, hard decisions have to be made.
It will also take significant time to train Ukrainian pilots as formation leaders to execute the complex 4-8 ship tactics required for the F-16 to operate effectively near the frontline under the concurrent threats of Russian layered SAM systems and fighter CAPs with R-37M (9/10)
Lastly, the weapons given will be critical to how effective an F-16 fleet can be. Key items like the long ranged AIM-120D variant of AMRAAM and JASSM standoff missile have yet to be approved, and may be deemed too sensitive to risk Russian (and Chinese) capture/ analysis (10/10).
Back to training. Tweet nine is directly analogous to the “combined arms” conundrum. You can train soldiers to perform simple individual tasks. But ask them to work as part of an orchestrated greater whole, and shit quickly falls apart. Ukraine was unable to quickly learn how to combine its infantry, artillery, engineering, air (drones), armor, intelligence, electronic warfare, and logistics into one effective fighting machine. The best it can manage is infantry assaults preceded by an artillery barrage. Armor comes in to soften defensive positions beforehand. Engineers come out at night and de-mine fields in the dark. Drones do their own thing, irrelevant what anyone else is doing. Heck, they’ve got HIMARS rocket artillery hitting random training grounds out in the rear instead of prepared Russian defensive positions on the front lines.
Combined arms is hard work, and it was never reasonable to expect Ukraine to learn it over the winter or spring.
Same thing here—flying a plane is one thing. Flying it in proper formation is another thing. And to maximize its effectiveness, the F-16 needs to fly in groups, each plane fulfilling a different-but-critical mission like suppressing enemy radar, targeting enemy air defenses, protecting against enemy fighter jets, and performing whatever mission they’re actually carrying out (whether it’s close air support of ground forces, or taking out Russian warships, or attacking the Kerch Bridge).
If history is any guide, we’ll end up seeing what we already see with the Ukrainian air force—lone planes (or at most, a pair) carrying out singular missions, unable to perform the complex combined maneuvers needed to best perform their tasks.
That’s not to say that there isn’t value to the F-16, even in the short term. I want to see them take out the Black Sea Fleet with their Harpoons and open up the shipping corridors out of Odesa in the Black Sea (the ships just need to get to Romanian territorial waters and they’re home free). In addition, F-16s can more effectively deploy HARM anti-radar missiles than the way they’ve been jury-rigged on MiG-29s—the more degraded Russia’s air defenses are, the better Ukraine’s drones will be able to do their thing at the front.
But I would also love to see Ukraine field several brigades of M1 Abrams tanks, with hundreds of infantry fighting vehicles in support. It’s clear Ukraine needs more heavy armored brigades. I want to see Ukraine get longer-range missiles like ATACMS, which replace many of the tasks that a NATO Air Force performs (like hitting logistics and bridges in the deep rear).
I’d like to see Ukraine’s Territorial Defense forces better trained up. There are still reports of many of them getting 2-3 weeks of “training” before being shipped off to the front. That’s right, it’s not just Russia rushing mobilized soldiers to the front.
None of that is incompatible with the incoming F-16s, but would prove far more valuable in retaking lost territory than 100 F-16s (at best) ever will, and likely cost less in the end.
Ukraine’s budget isn’t infinite. We can all wish it was, and argue that it should be, but the political reality is what it is, and Russia is banking that the longer this goes on, the more restless Western governments will become in funding Ukraine’s military. We see it domestically with Donald Trump and his people’s more aggressive support for Putin and Russia’s annexation of significant chunks of Ukraine. It’s happening in countries all around Europe. Thus far, it hasn’t worked, but time isn’t on our side.
That’s why everyone should be focused on what Ukraine needs to win now, and less on capabilities that will have limited impact on taking ground, and won’t even come online until next year.
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[Tweet and video at the link: Zelensky: “We are willing to swap Belgorod for NATO membership.” This is the press conference gold you get when a comedian is in charge of a country.]
————————
Assuming the is true, this is a big deal: [Tweet and image at the link: Ukrainian quadcopter attack on Soltsy Air Base.] These are the strategic bombers launching devastating cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities. Take them out. [map at the link] 750 kilometers? The only way that was a quadcopter is if it was launched locally by infiltrators, a very real possibility. If it came from Ukrainian territory, it would’ve have to be a fixed-wing done.
Suspected North Korean hackers have targeted a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise being held this week though classified information has not been compromised, South Korean police said on Sunday.
South Korean and U.S. forces will on Monday begin 11-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian summer exercises to improve their ability to respond to North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea objects to such exercises saying they are preparations by the U.S. and its South Korean ally for an invasion of it.
The hackers were believed to be linked to a North Korean group that researchers call Kimsuky, and they carried out their hack via emails to South Korean contractors working at the South Korea-U.S. combined exercise war simulation centre, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said in a statement.
“It was confirmed that military-related information was not stolen,” police said in a statement on Sunday…
Soltsy-2 airbase, which is home to Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire swing-wing bombers, was hit by a drone strike yesterday. Images of black smoking billowing from the base further solidified those reports, but it wasn’t clear what was burning. Now, photos have emerged that show a Tu-22M3 engulfed in flames at the base…
Seven stages of the so-called “nude Tour de France” were banned for public indecency in restrictions which climate activists said was “state intimidation”.
The cyclists are taking part in the World Naked Bike Ride, an annual event launched in 2004 in London and which last year crossed the capital without raising eyebrows. However, since the tour kicked off in Nantes, western France, on Aug 8, local authorities have prohibited seven stages by decree…
Christians should not fear artificial intelligence (AI) as it cannot talk to God, the former head of the Church of Scotland has said.
The Very Rev Albert Bogle said AI was “not alive or even intelligent” and cannot replicate what “humans do in an act of worship”.
Instead he argued that congregations and presbyteries would be “foolish” not to consider embracing technological advances to try and spread the gospel of Jesus.
He noted that the first artificially created service was held in Germany in June, with 98 per cent of its content attributed to AI, but argued that it was the “human two per cent that gave it meaning.”
Writing in next month’s edition of the Church’s house magazine, Life and Work, he said that Christian worship occurs “only when hearts and minds are joined together by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit”…
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
No, Georgia officials didn’t err in releasing Trump indictment with grand jurors’ names
CLAIM: Officials in Fulton County, Georgia, forgot to redact the names of the grand jurors who indicted former President Donald Trump this week in relation to his actions following the 2020 election.
THE FACTS: It is standard that indictments in Georgia include the names of the grand jurors, in part because it provides defendants the opportunity to challenge the composition of the grand jury, legal experts told the AP. But after a grand jury indicted Trump as well as 18 others on Monday for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss in the state, some quickly spread a claim that officials erred in releasing the indictment by including the jurors’ names. “First they ‘leak’ the indictment before the jury even voted, then they forget to redact juror names,” reads one popular post on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, seemingly referencing the fact that the court accidentally posted a list of criminal charges against Trump before he was actually indicted. […] In fact, the Georgia Supreme Court has consistently held that an indictment without the names of grand jurors is considered “defective,” said Elizabeth Taxel, an assistant clinical professor of law at the University of Georgia. Though there isn’t a Georgia statute that explicitly states that the names of the grand jurors must be written in the indictment, “that requirement is both inferred from the statutes governing the grand jury process and is established through hundred years of case law,” Taxel said in an email. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that it, along with other agencies, is investigating threats targeting members of the jury. — Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in New Jersey contributed this report.
Conspiracy theories falsely tie Maui wildfires to ‘smart cities’ and tech conferences
CLAIM: Maui hosted a conference about making the entire island into a “smart city” in January and will host another summit next month about using artificial intelligence to govern the island, proving recent wildfires were deliberately set to transform these ideas into reality.
THE FACTS: The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences in January was not about turning Maui into a “smart island.” It is an annual gathering focused on emerging issues in the information technology sector globally. Next month’s Hawaii Digital Government Summit, similarly, is not specifically focused on using AI on Maui, but about how governments across the state can better adapt emerging technologies. It also takes place on another Hawaiian island, not Maui. But as authorities continue to probe what sparked the wildfires in Maui this month, social media users are suggesting the conferences were indicative of a plan to raze the island in order to realize their vision for a so-called “smart” city. […] They aren’t designed to restrict people’s movements or freedoms. The conferences in Hawaii, meanwhile, are broad in scope and not focused solely on smart cities, 15-minute cities, Maui or even the state of Hawaii. “There is no truth to the horrendous assertion that the fires were deliberately set to raze the historic town of Lāhainā, which was the first Capitol of the Hawaiian Kingdom,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s office wrote in an emailed statement, referring to the Maui community at the epicenter of the destruction. […] “The idea of resorting to destructive measures, causing harm to a historic landmark and resulting in numerous fatalities, all in an attempt to transform Maui into a smart island, stretches the boundaries of my imagination,” Bui wrote in an email. […] — Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo in New York contributed this report.
Trees and poles standing amid Maui fire wreckage aren’t unusual, contrary to conspiracy theories
CLAIM: Scenes from the Maui wildfires show cars and buildings badly damaged near trees and poles that remain standing, suggesting a wildfire wasn’t the cause.
THE FACTS: Such observations from the fires on the Hawaiian island are not unusual, experts say. Wildfires often spew fiery embers that hit larger targets like homes and cars. Trees that catch fire are typically not completely vaporized, in part because of their water content — contrary to suggestions online. “The powers that be are at work again. This was no wildfire,” a voiceover on one Facebook video states, showing photos of Maui wreckage. “A wildfire that demolishes buildings, leaving trees standing, leaving restaurant umbrellas and trees untouched – yet having the power to destroy a boat in the middle of the ocean … What we are seeing here is definitely no wildfire. Wildfires do not completely burn out vehicles, glass and all, yet leaving nearby trees and utility poles still standing upright.” But Michael Gollner, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, who leads a fire research lab, said “it’s actually very common that wildfires will burn out structures and vehicles but leave surrounding trees, utility poles, and other vegetation unscathed.” Wildfires are often spread to homes and other structures via embers — small, burning particles that break from vegetation or structures, Gollner told the AP in an email. [more details at the link]— Angelo Fichera
Pfizer’s CEO has not been arrested by the US Marine Corps
CLAIM: The U.S. Marine Corps arrested Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and killed his bodyguards.
THE FACTS: Bourla has not been arrested, Pfizer confirmed in a statement to the AP. The claim was made in a post by a website that says it publishes “humor, parody, and satire” and has previously published similar false stories. Social media users nevertheless shared the false claim this week. “United States Marines on Monday captured Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and killed his two bodyguards during a military-sanctioned operation to apprehend the fiendish clot shot manufacturer following his return to the United States,” reads the post, which was published last week on the website Real Raw News and has since been deleted. […] The AP has previously debunked multiple false claims about Bourla, including that he was arrested by the FBI.— Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed this report.
Obviously, it’s because of a high capacity band-aid, holding back a veritable flood of bullshit.
JFC, that’s about as lame as “my dog ate my homework”, for the very reasons Reginald Selkirk mentioned. Drawn, loaded firearm, aimed and booger picker on the trigger. I can’t think of a traffic interaction where I’ve considered using a firearm during.
Just weapons grade bullshit.
wzrd1says
@ 418, I consider it an absolute indictment of what a shambles our education system is, as anyone who has even the coarsest comprehension of civics 101 would know that our military is prohibited from making arrests within the US when there isn’t martial law declarations due to a severe emergency in place. That whole Posse Comitatus Act thing and all.
Hell, the last time I heard of any violation of that act, a USAF officer’s career came to a spectacular and immediate end.
It’s almost as if some yearn for armed military patrolling streets and arresting random people!
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #421…
Some probably do yearn for that, but they assume that they (or people who think like them) aren’t going to be the ones randomly arrested (or shot).
Watching a 2021 film, “Nobody”, found while looking for “My Name is Nobody”, a 1974 film.
Both, quite well liked.
The 2021, quite dissimilar to the Ford starring film, retired wet work cleaner is doing the mundane, things happen, he goes off in frustration to a fairly petty crime and contrived escalation ensues involving Russian Mafia antics, he goes off the handle properly. Good guy gets the girl, rides into the sunset.
But, it reminded me of a Billy Joel song, brought to mind when my wife saw me go off in a more threatening situation.
She looked at me differently after that, a dangerous creature that she was the only keyholder to its cage.
Called her my failsafe.
Now, only age is the failsafe and that’s decidedly unsafe.
Still, a good movie and the motivation for his violence initially is fairly accurate.
As in, been similar in situation, done similar, but thankfully, didn’t piss off Russian Mafia, only injured a few would-be rapists badly.
And I’d do it again, although, due to aging, probably worse for them. Let one go, it’s as bad as letting the lot go, so all needed to be neutralized, testified against and punished by the penal system, the problematic business shuttered due to damages.
Someone wants to be an asshole, that’s fine, rolls down my back, trying harm, that does push my “push to start” button and despite needing a cane to walk, I still move faster than most and with adrenaline, my strength shocks an adversary. I just love peace and quiet.
Oh, “Arrival” pdf version of what I assume is the source for the film, for once, I actually prefer the film version.
It was slightly more cogent, if missing more theory present in the text. Emotional content was the winner.
Parental angst, yeah, well recognized in text and as usual, not recognized in the film.
Pity that the twain could not meet, due to running length and iron Hollywood rules on running time.
birgerjohanssonsays
The storm Hilary has hit Mexico, the intense rain has already caused damage. It is moving on towards California.
Before anyone else makes a joke, I would mention the animated TV series “The Super ”
When the protagonist hears on the radio an approaching hurricane is named “El Negro” he exclaims “finally they have named something after us Black folks”.
The radio continues: “El Negro is predicted to be the most destructive hurricane of the season”.
Protagonist: “Goddammit!”.
birgerjohanssonsays
The Harvard professor Frank Hu states that anyone who follows five simple rules can add ten years to their life span, after the largest lifestyle/health study ever
(lacking a subscription, I did not get to the interesting bit).
Christians should not fear artificial intelligence (AI) as it cannot talk to God, the former head of the Church of Scotland has said.
The Very Rev Albert Bogle said AI was “not alive or even intelligent” and cannot replicate what “humans do in an act of worship”. – Reginald Selkirk@417 quoting Yahoo
The imagination bogles! Seems to me the almost unbelievably reverend gentlemen is taking a lot on himself: if the omnipotent creator wishes to have a chat with ChatGPT, it is surely within its powers to do so, granting the AI life and intelligence if it so wishes!
KGsays
Re: the earlier discussion about the Russian Luna 25 mission. It’s on the surface of the Moon now. Got there the hard way. It crashed. – whheydt@409
Rumour has it that the moon shot it down, fearing it was the start of a Russian invasion!
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed Danish parliament in Copenhagen this morning, thanking Danish politicians for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
He warned that if Russia succeeded in the war then other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression.
Zelenskiy said:
All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail.
International law will not be resuscitated, democracies of the world, each of them can become a target – either for missiles, or for mercenaries, or for destabilisation, and I am sure you can fill it.
But Ukraine will prevail. Thank you for all the help provided to Ukraine.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Ukrainian troops have had “success” southeast of the village of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia, but gave no details.
She said Russian troops had tried unsuccessfully to take back lost positions east of Robotyne, Reuters reports.
“We should not underestimate the enemy,” Maliar said. “We should all be patient and support our armed forces.”
An Iranian military delegation has arrived in Moscow to discuss cooperation between Iranian and Russian ground forces, state news agency TASS reported on Monday, citing Russia’s defence ministry.
Russia and Iran, both under Western economic sanctions, have forged closer relations in military and other areas since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine….
Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said he has new “scientific evidence” that 2020 election fraud actually happened ― and that he intends to use it to prove his innocence in the Georgia criminal case against him…
@425. birgerjohansson : They should name hurricanes and heatwaves etc .. fater Fossil Fool companies eg Hurricane Exxon, the BP drought, Santos heatwave, etc..
Some very disturbing Climate info here regarding methane levels :
Full terminations take several thousands of years to complete, but many include a creeping onset of warming, then a very abrupt phase of extremely rapid climate change that can take a century or less, followed by a longer, slower period during which the great ice caps finally melt. In the abrupt phase of the great change that brought about the modern climate, Greenland’s temperature rose by around 10°C within a few decades. During these abrupt phases, methane climbs very steeply indeed.
Is something dramatic underway?
Methane fluctuated widely in pre-industrial times. But its increasingly rapid growth since 2006 is comparable with records of methane from the early years of abrupt phases of past termination events, like the one that warmed Greenland so dramatically less than 12,000 years ago.
…For some activists, there’s an even better alternative: take that money and put it into communities, so that fewer people end up in jail to begin with. “Why is it that people need to go to jail to get access to services that should be resourced well in their community, to prevent them from going to jail the first place?” asks Woods Ervin, an organizer with the prison abolitionist group Critical Resistance. What most Rikers inmates really need is mental health care, Ervin argues, and if more communities had those services in place then more prisoners could be released.
By putting those services inside jails, New York City seems to have “given up” on its people, says Jan Lee. “The message is: we’re going to put things in to help you, but we’re going to put them in the place where we know you’re going to end up, which is jail,” he says….
The website for former President Donald Trump’s legal defense fund appears to have been hacked and defaced over the weekend. As of the writing of this blog, the defacement is still live on the site and has not been taken down.
The Patriot Legal Defense Fund is a fundraising effort launched about a week ago by high-level members of the Trump team. The stated goal of the fund is to help pay the legal expenses of Trump’s political allies and staffers, many of whom are currently mired in the numerous, ongoing legal investigations into the former President. While the Patriot fund has notably said it won’t be paying the legal bills for Trump or his family, The Daily Beast recently flagged some potential ethics issues involving the group that are probably worth looking into.
To add to Trump’s troubles, it appears that someone hacked the fund’s website on Friday. An archived version of the site shows that, prior to the hacking, it included Trump’s catchphrase—“Make America Great Again”—and asked visitors to “Help DEFEND Donald Trump!!!!” with a financial donation of some kind. Now, however, the site says something quite different.
The hacker, whoever they are, crossed out Trump’s name and appended to the site’s banner “America Is Already Great.” They then posted a rambling screed about “lies” and Trump’s growing list of legal troubles. It reads, in part:…
birgerjohanssonsays
A Swizz weather balloon recently had to climb to a record 5300 m (17,400 ft) before the temperature fell to 0°C.
This underlines the extreme heat over Europe this summer.
Normally you expect the snow line on some equatorial mountain like Kilimanjaro to be that high.
Russians continue to frantically attack Klishchiivka south of Bakhmut but they have a huge problem: the Ukrainian positions overlooking the village from which any movement can be monitored and Russian troops effectively repelled, which btw. happens on a daily base. (Screenshot 1)
Due to the high losses, Russians tried to outflank the Ukrainian vantage position by attacking from the north, using 3 MBTs and 3 BMPs. (Screenshot 2)
But an Ukrainian drone detected them approaching and the following barrage of Ukrainian artillery smashed 2 MBTs and 2 BMPs, destroying this Russian attack group, including scores of Russian infantry at these coordinates:
WarGonzo’s Pegov thought an interview with mobiks would be a great idea, but they revealed how back home, they’re not so popular, even called murderers.
ISRO on Monday said a two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and Chandrayaan-3’s Lunar Module has been established.
“‘Welcome, buddy!’ Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM,” the national space agency said in a post on ‘X’.
ISRO said on Sunday the lander module of Chandrayaan-3, the third lunar mission of India, is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on August 23…
This is going to be interesting with the failure of the Russian moonshot.
Australia on Monday announced that it will buy more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US for its navy, for 1.3 billion Australian dollars ($83 million; €76 million).
With this deal, Australia will join the small league of countries that have the 1,500 kilometer (932 mile)-range missiles. Britain and the United States are the only two countries that have the missile technology…
Australia’s recent weapon purchases suggest the country is investing heavily in ramping up its military power and preparing for unforeseen attacks from its adversaries like China…
Trump voters are more likely to believe the former president is telling them the truth than their friends and family or religious leaders, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll…
Do you try to keep up with animal-related legislation but sometimes find yourself wondering what it all means? This week we get some answers regarding the hugely important EATS Act and the effort to eradicate state animal welfare laws from Chris Green, Executive Director of the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law.
Bobby J. Smith II’s book Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (UNC Press, 2023 )unearths a food story buried deep within the soil of American civil rights history. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and oral histories, Smith re-examines the Mississippi civil rights movement as a period when activists expanded the meaning of civil rights to address food as integral to sociopolitical and economic conditions. For decades, white economic and political actors used food as a weapon against Black sharecropping communities in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, but members of these communities collaborated with activists to transform food into a tool of resistance. Today, Black youth are building a food justice movement in the Delta to continue this story, grappling with inequalities that continue to shape their lives.
Drawing on multiple disciplines including critical food studies, Black studies, history, sociology, and southern studies, Smith makes critical connections between civil rights activism and present-day food justice activism in Black communities, revealing how power struggles over food empower them to envision Black food futures in which communities have the full autonomy and capacity to imagine, design, create, and sustain a self-sufficient local food system.
Advocates in yet another state are working to put abortion rights to a popular vote. A Nebraska group called “Protect Our Rights” filed paperwork with the stated intent of amending the state constitution in 2024 to protect the right to abortion, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
“Protect our Rights is a grassroots coalition who believe that all Nebraskans have a right to the freedom to make their own decisions about pregnancy and abortion, without government interference,” said Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska. “I think the majority of Nebraskans agree that the government shouldn’t be involved in these decisions,” Curry Grubb said, adding that abortion rights are “becoming more and more of a nonpartisan issue.”
Advocates will need to file petition language with the Secretary of State before they can begin collecting signatures to put the measure on the ballot. They’ll need to collect about 123,000 valid signatures from registered voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties…
It’s been about a month since a New York Times report introduced the political world to something called “Project 2025.” The initiative, crafted by Donald Trump’s team and its allies, is designed to “alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government.”
As part of this “sweeping expansion of presidential power,” due to be implemented after the next Inauguration Day in 2025, federal offices and agencies that currently operate with a degree of independence from White House political interference would suddenly find themselves under Trump’s direct control.
What we’re continuing to learn, however, is that under the same project, other federal offices and agencies would find that their objectives have been radically altered. ABC News reported:
Among hundreds of other changes, Project 2025’s nearly 1,000-page policy blueprint, called “Mandate for Leadership,” singles out the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, which is the arm of the Department of Homeland Security focused on guarding the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the systems used to conduct elections.
The report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that the Project 2025 blueprint “recommends ending CISA’s efforts to counter the flow of mis- and disinformation.”
If the name of the agency sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination: CISA might’ve once been obscure, but it ultimately took on a greater political significance.
Revisiting our earlier coverage, it was the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security that created the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in 2018, and part of CISA’s purview was (and is) to combat misinformation and disinformation.
By any fair measure, it was a success: CISA spent much of 2020, among other things, combatting foreign interference in our elections and preventing attacks. The office was led by Christopher Krebs, who served as the nation’s top cybersecurity official, and who earned bipartisan praise for his work. The Washington Post’s David Ignatius noted after the 2020 elections, “When the history books about this election are written, Krebs will be one of the heroes.”
The day Ignatius’ column was published, Donald Trump fired Krebs. The then-president wanted CISA to go along with ridiculous lies about the 2020 elections, and when Krebs instead told the truth, he was shown the door.
Nearly three years later, Trump’s operation wants to derail CISA’s work altogether.
A larger pattern is starting to take shape. Republicans sued to stop federal officials from working with social media companies to combat misinformation; GOP officials helped derail a Department of Homeland Security initiative to counter disinformation; and as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones recently noted, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan’s so-called “weaponization” panel released a report in June that also condemned efforts to combat disinformation.
It’s against this backdrop that Team Trump also wants to take a sledgehammer to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. […]
Austria’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his first government, which collapsed in a scandal in 2019, prosecutors said Friday. An indictment against Kurz, his former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, and a third person was filed at the state court in Vienna, the prosecutors’ office that investigates corruption cases said in a statement. The court said Kurz will go on trial on Oct. 18.
Commentary:
[…] Kurz has denied wrongdoing and issued a statement in which he said he expects to be exonerated at trial.
What the former chancellor did not do was lash out wildly at prosecutors, target judges, attack the integrity of his country’s judicial system, or publish statements via social media that read, “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK! … IT’S TIME!!! … WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. … PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”
The former Austrian leader also hasn’t publicly derided talk of “peaceful” demonstrations, while suggesting that his indictment might cause “potential death [and] destruction” that “could be catastrophic for our Country.”
You probably see where I’m going with this.
I can’t speak with any authority about Kurz’s scandal or its merits, but the fact that a former leader has been charged with a crime is not that unusual. To be sure, Donald Trump’s four indictments are extraordinary in the U.S. tradition […]
In the wake of Trump’s indictments, much of the GOP settled on an unfortunate talking point: Only “third world” countries allow for former leaders to face criminal charges. Such indictments are common in “banana republics,” Trump’s partisan allies have repeatedly argued, but stable and mature democracies wouldn’t tolerate prosecutors pursuing a former head of state, just because there’s evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
But this has never made any sense. […] stable democracies that take the rule of law seriously hold criminal suspects accountable — even if they’re politically powerful, and even if they served in government at the highest levels. In fact, on the international stage, this has happened in recent years with some regularity.
Italy prosecuted a former prime minister. France prosecuted a former president and a former prime minister. South Africa prosecuted a former president. South Korea prosecuted a former president. Brazil has prosecuted more than one former president. Israel has prosecuted more than one former prime minister. Germany prosecuted a former president. Portugal prosecuted a former prime minister. Croatia prosecuted a former prime minister. Argentina prosecuted a former president.
As recently as June, Nicola Sturgeon, the former head of the Scottish government, was arrested on allegations of financial misconduct. Now, Austria’s former chancellor has been indicted, too.
These instances did not lead to violence. The criminal cases were tried without incident. These countries’ political systems persevered just fine, without talk of institutional breakdowns.
[…] Last fall, as the criminal investigations into Trump intensified, former Vice President Mike Pence tried to argue that the scrutiny itself sent “the wrong message to the wider world that looks to America as the gold standard.”
[…] Around the same time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken participated in a discussion with his NATO counterparts, and he told reporters soon after that none of them brought up the criminal allegations surrounding the former president.
I’m not suggesting that it’s a good thing when a nation’s former chief executive is accused of crimes, but I am suggesting that it’s a relatively common thing in advanced democracies, Republican hysteria notwithstanding.
Northwestern University Thursday late afternoon announced that it’s willing to cut the number of concerts it’s seeking to hold at the new Ryan Field from 10 to six per year.
University President Michael Schill, in a statement, also said the school is willing to drop its request for a text amendment that would have permitted an unlimited number of 10,000-person university events at the stadium.
And it is now proposing to limit community-based activities at the stadium and its plazas to 60 days per year.
Schill also announced additional financial incentives to the community for the project, including: …
Our society has serious but overlooked problem. The person that shot and killed the store owner in Arrowhead Calif. over a pride flag obviously had a fatal infection of intolerant, violent hatred. I checked around and main stream news has provided almost no information about the killer. If we don’t know the cause of his hatred; what implanted that infection of violence and hatred in his mind, we will not be able to neutralize the source of that infection. It is important that society not hide, ignore or rationalize these sources of hatred, violence and intolerance or it will continue to grow and infect others’ minds; resulting in our society rotting from the inside outward.
At this point, Donald Trump faces four separate indictments, 91 felony charges, and a current maximum sentence of 696.5 years in prison. Which sounds like a good start.
But in addition to his tax fraud, theft of classified documents, and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, there’s another big area of concern where Trump currently faces no charges. As The Guardian reported back in June of 2022, Trump not only raked in $250 million by whining to his followers about how the “witch hunt” was out to get him, he claimed to be stashing that money away in a “election defense fund” that never existed.
Now, the 18 co-defendants in Georgia and three co-defendants in Florida would like some of that cash to deal with their own, very real, legal concerns. But that’s not happening.
On Monday, Jenna Ellis, former Trump attorney and current host of the “Jenna Ellis Show on X,” took to social media to express clear displeasure and a none-too-subtle threat. [tweet at the link]
[…] Rudy Giuliani repeatedly tried to get Trump to part with some cash. In Giuliani’s case, he isn’t looking for a gift at the moment. He only wants Trump to pay the bills Giuliani has turned in since he signed on to help Trump in the scheme to smear President Joe Biden, run Trump’s legal team during its long losing streak following the election, play a major role in the efforts to overturn the results through illegal means. Trump reportedly owes Giuliani “millions.”
[…] Ellis and Giuliani are learning what hundreds of carpenters, cabinet makers, plumbers, dishwashers, painters, bartenders, and supposed “friends” have learned before: Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills. According to PBS, Trump’s PAC recently put out $40 million in legal fees to defend Trump. But the outlay to defend anyone else—from his former chief of staff to the guy who helps him select those extra-long ties—is bupkis.
Somehow, all these people thought they were on “Team Trump.” But Trump is, and always was, a solo act.
Right now, Ellis’ social media feed is full of appeals for cash. However, the amounts raised don’t look to be even close to what Ellis and others will need as they look forward to months of legal preparation for the Georgia case.
By a total lack of coincidence, Trump raking in $250 million in 2022 for his nonexistent fund was followed by a sharp decline in Republican small-dollar donations. Rather than seeing the usual bump as the 2022 midterms approached, Republicans actually saw the numbers go down.
As The New York Times reported, total online donations dropped by 12% “across all federal Republican campaigns and committees.”
“Some Republicans blamed inflation. Some blamed tech platforms. Others accused certain campaigns and committees—in particular the highly aggressive Trump operation—of simply overfishing and polluting a limited donor pool for everyone.”
The millionaires and billionaires still cut enough checks to Republican PACs to prevent the 2022 election from being a total disaster … but it was still a pretty big disaster, and by the time it was over, they knew who to blame. As Laura Clawson reported, what was troubling Republicans was absolutely “a Trump problem.”
Now Trump’s co-defendants have a Trump problem […] Trump didn’t pay them what he owes them, he’s not offering to help with their legal bills, and the evidence against many of them is enough to have even Perry Mason throw in the towel.
They’re begging for help from all those Trump voters who cheered them on back when Ellis, Giuliani, and the rest were giving press conferences at landscaping firms, promising to provide evidence of election fraud that doesn’t exist. But Trump voters don’t care. Trump voters trust Trump more than they trust their own families, but that trust extends to no one else. No one. When you serve a cult leader, the cult leader benefits, and you … who are you again?
In addition to begging, Ellis and the rest have one other alternative when it comes to dealing with their big legal woes: They can make a deal with Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis, plead guilty to reduced charges, and provide additional evidence against Trump.
That possibility really should concern Trump. […] prosecutors know such a threat will bring the little fishes swarming out to feed on offers of deals. And with 18 co-defendants sharing Trump’s hot water, Willis’ fishing season is likely to be a good one.
Trump may not recognize the danger. More likely, he sees the threat but it only makes him more determined to sit on the pile of cash he extracted from people who think he’s the second coming of sliced bread. After all, any threat to testify against Trump is disloyalty. Trump hates disloyalty. Especially among the people he refused to pay and left twisting in the wind after they put their careers on the line for him.
Short diary. Nicole Wallace interviewing Harry Dunn on MSNBC. Video embed below.
For those to whom video isn’t so easily accessible, here are my main takeaways:
– Officer Dunn reminds us of a quote from Officer Michael Fanone: “I went to Hell and back, only for people to tell me that Hell doesn’t exist.”
– Ms. Wallace and Officer Dunn discuss Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony, they credit her with making indictments possible.
[…]
– Officer Dunn on the subject of ideological purity and extending “grace” to those who are too soon old and too late smart*: “ … ‘better late than never’ is the optimist’s way of looking at it … the pessimistic way was saying ‘you should have done it from the beginning’. … And the realist’s is where I guess I am: ‘I’m mad at you for not doing it earlier, but I’m glad you did it’. “
*this phrase [too soon old and too late smart*] is my preferred way to look at it, not something said in the broadcast.
[…]I hope you all enjoy this interview and Officer Dunn’s candor and, well, simple decency, as much as I did.
It takes a couple of minutes for this interview to begin; don’t worry, this is the right clip. [video at the link]
The Biden administration is urging U.S. citizens in Belarus to depart the country immediately and warned against travel there in a statement published Monday.
The updated travel warning comes after bordering countries Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have stepped up security along the border over concerns about Russian Wagner mercenary forces exiled in the country.
The State Department, in its warning, encouraged Americans still in Belarus to depart the country immediately and categorized the country as a Level 4 risk, the highest security warning.
Belarus’s longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko, known as Europe’s last dictator, has been a key facilitator of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, and is under a catalog of U.S. sanctions for human rights abuses and political repression against Belarusian people who challenged his claim to election victory in 2020.
The U.S. mission in Belarus is scaled down and only handles emergency American Citizen Services.
Lukashenko’s welcoming of Wagner forces in a deal with Putin that ended the mercenary group’s short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin has raised concern in NATO-member countries on its border.
“Do not travel to Belarus due to Belarusian authorities’ continued facilitation of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, the buildup of Russian military forces in Belarus, the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the potential of civil unrest, the risk of detention, and the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Belarus,” the State Department wrote in its warning.
Last week, Lithuania closed two of its six border crossings with Belarus. The State Department urged Americans to travel through the remaining, open border crossings, warning that the Polish, Lithuanian, and Latvian governments have stated that further closures of border crossings with Belarus are possible.
Poland has one remaining border crossing with Belarus open, while Latvia has two crossings open.
Both Poland and Latvia have increased troops at their borders with Belarus. They also accuse Lukashenko of weaponizing migrants from Middle Eastern countries by flying them to Belarus and sending them across the border.
Too many media outlets are latching on to a misleading verbal framework when they discuss the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Stalemate, stalled, sputtering — these are the words that increasingly find their way into commentaries about the Ukrainian counteroffensive. They are misleading.
The other set of popular words are sports similes. Like poor boxers, Ukraine is said to have failed to deliver a knockout punch. Like football linemen, the Russians have dug in and are putting up a tough defense. These, too, are misleading.
Taken together, both sets of words reveal a mindset that views the war and Ukraine’s efforts to win it as a game, less so for the Ukrainians and Russians who are dying and rotting in trenches, and more so for Western analysts and commentators who worry less about the death and destruction that Russian President Vladimir Putin has unleashed and more about their reputations. Did they predict the final score correctly? Will their standing suffer if they do not?
Harvard University’s Stephen M. Walt captures this mindset perfectly: “If it [the war] ends with Ukraine in ruins, Russia in possession of a big chunk of Ukrainian territory, and Putin still in power, the people who kept clamoring to continue the war and predicting a Ukrainian triumph are going to look pretty silly.”
As one of those people who keeps clamoring to continue the war and predicting a Ukrainian triumph, I can assure Walt that silliness is the very last thing I will worry about if Ukraine loses. Instead, I will bemoan the genocide of the Ukrainian nation, the destruction of Ukrainian statehood, the triumph of Russian fascism and the certainty that Russian expansionism won’t stop at Ukraine’s borders.
I can also assure Walt that no one in this camp will feel silly; that, instead, everyone will feel that an enormous tragedy has taken place […]
Because the war and counteroffensive are subliminally treated as a game, we expect the former to end quickly (after all, who can sit through more than three hours of baseball?) and the latter to result in a massive breakthrough pretty much immediately. Anything short of a few touchdown passes and interceptions must mean that the offensive is going badly and the game will end in a tie. […]
In fact, there is no stalemate, and the Ukrainian counteroffensive neither has stalled nor is sputtering. Ukraine is making incremental progress on several fronts; killing hundreds of Russian soldiers daily while clearing densely packed minefields (five mines per square meter); knocking out bridges, railroads, fuel depots, ammunition dumps, and control and command centers — in short, degrading Russia’s ability to fight the war.
[…] When applied to war, the language of sports is, of course, offensive. It demeans the victims by transforming them into points and suggests that both sides are equally responsible for the war. But the language of sports is also revealing, suggesting that the people who use it don’t fully empathize with the victims of war and the suffering they experience. As one analyst correctly said, “there are not many moral wars being fought in the world, but this happens to be one, and for that reason alone, it is a cause worth supporting regardless of the cynical bylines being peddled with increasing fervor.”
There’s a photograph making the rounds on Facebook of a severely wounded Ukrainian soldier lying in a bed, and both legs have been severed just below the hips. One can imagine that there must be hundreds more like him on both sides of the front. Analysts speak of kilometers won or lost, of soldiers killed or wounded, of infrastructure destroyed or rebuilt. That’s important, of course, but such a clinical approach to human tragedy seems inadequate, wrong and vaguely obscene.
Naturally, analysts must analyze and commentators must comment. But they should never forget that what strikes them as a sporting event, in which rival theories are fighting it out over which will appear sillier, is actually hell on Earth.
Why is Tucker Carlson trending on the internet today? Did somebody give him a job? You know, besides throwing the stick in the backyard for Donald Trump during Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate?
More specifically, why are people such as former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger calling Tucker a “traitor to the US”?
To answer these questions briefly: No, nobody gave Tucker a job, he’s still doing this pathetic “Tucker on Twitter” thing, because we guess he’s at a dead end, and sniffing Elon’s grundle is his rock bottom. But he did an interview with the president of Serbia, and in the process said a bunch of completely anti-American things that are pretty much indistinguishable from what any Russian spy or Kremlin official might say.
In other words, the old Tucker still exists, although he’s worse for the wear. You will see in this video that the past several months have taken their toll, or perhaps the past several months without Fox News hair and makeup have taken their toll. He looks old as shit, like he’s going to play Mitch McConnell in a Netflix biopic. [video at the link]
American media isn’t really reporting on Tucker’s interview with Aleksandar Vučić, which was conducted at the Serbian embassy in Budapest. (Oh, how surprising that Tucker is lapdancing his way through Hungary again.) Luckily, Russian state media is breathlessly reporting his goings-on, so RT does some transcribing to save us the task.
Tucker notes early on that NATO bombed Serbia in 1999. (You will be shocked that Tucker is spreading an anti-NATO message. Again.) And he was just getting started […]
“One of the points [Vučić] made is that the war in Ukraine, the war against Russia led by NATO, has crushed the European economy,” Carlson explained. [Oh, FFS! Really?] “The destruction of Nord Stream by the Biden administration, either directly or through proxies, is killing the German economy.
Carlson characterized the situation as “completely crazy,” noting that the German economy is the largest economy in Europe by far “and so the downstream effects of that, one NATO country effectively attacking another NATO country are felt throughout Europe.” [rat-fucking bullshit whacko hard spin]
“The war against Russia led by NATO.” You know, as if Vladimir Putin didn’t somehow make the unilateral decision to invade Ukraine and start exploding and kidnapping children and babies. As if Russian lies about NATO threatening its borders are worthy of swallowing like fresh borscht. As if Putin hasn’t told us all his lunatic reasons for invading Ukraine.
“The destruction of Nord Stream by the Biden administration.” By the Biden administration? OK, Boris.
Also Germany is one of America’s primary allies, in general and in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s genocidal war. We don’t need Moscow, either directly or through its proxies, concern trolling about its economic issues, or about NATO countries “effectively” attacking other NATO countries.
“This war is hurting everybody — possibly with the exception in the long term of Russia — and empowering everybody outside of the Gulf States, China, Turkey,” Carlson claimed, describing the ongoing global shift of power away from the United States and the West to the East as a “world reset” that the American public seems to be unaware of.
How shocking that Tucker apparently believes the only country not being hurt long-term here is his Mother Russia. (We are all free to google for ourselves and learn about what this war has actually done to Russia’s economy, military, standing in the world and long-term prospects.) [See SC’s comment 55, also comments 87 and 89]
It’s just like the old days, isn’t it?
Of course in the old days, Tucker got millions of amero-bucks from Rupert Murdoch to rile up his ignorant fans with Russian talking points.
Is he getting amero-bucks from elsewhere now? Or is he just doing this for love of (not this) country?
Questions, questions.
RT ends its article about this quoting the Serbian president, who said last month that “with all the strength of the West, Russia will not be defeated on the battlefield.” So he sounds like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Or Tucker.
Or Putin.
Tomato, to-mah-to. Potato, Russian word for potato.
[…] More than 18,000 people are without power in Los Angeles after the damaging effects of Hilary, said Martin Adams, general manager and chief engineer at the L.A. Department of Water and Power, in a news conference Monday morning.
The storm’s effects are being felt in Boise, which is 400 miles closer to Canada than the hard-hit Mexican border.
Idaho’s south-central mountains generally received 1 to 2.5 inches in 48 hours, tweeted the National Weather Service, adding that Monday morning set at least a seven-decade record for the highest amount of moisture observed in the atmosphere by weather balloons.
[…] Death Valley is known for its lack of rain. The average there for an entire year is about 2 inches. That was accomplished in a few hours with Hilary.
Heavy rain bands passed through the region much of Sunday night, delivering flooding downpours to the valley. From 3 a.m. Sunday to 3 a.m. Monday, automated reporting from the Badwater Basin station showed 2.29 inches, while nearby Stovepipe Wells received 3.18 inches. […]
Rainfall records were set in Southern California, but so far there have been no reports of deaths or major storm damage in Los Angeles, officials said. The impact in other cities is still being assessed.
Southern California residents on Monday were assessing the impact of Hilary, a powerful storm whose strong winds and lashing rains transformed roads into streams, broke rainfall records, downed trees and power lines and knocked out 911 systems in several places.
Officials warned that the extent of the damage was not yet known, though initial reports indicated that Southern California had evaded the worst. Areas to the north and northeast were still at risk of heavy rain and flooding from the storm, which weakened to a post-tropical cyclone with winds that were expected to dissipate further as the day wore on.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and other officials said the city had emerged without any known storm deaths, and that the damage was minor.
“Los Angeles was tested, but we came through it, and we came through it with minimal impacts,” said the president of the Los Angeles City Council, Paul Krekorian.
In the desert and mountain regions of Southern California, poor drainage could still leave some roads impassable. A roughly 20-mile section of Interstate 10 near Palm Springs was shut down on Monday morning because of storm-related effects.
Up to an additional four inches of rain was possible on Monday across parts of California and Nevada, and flood watches were in effect for eastern Oregon and most of Idaho as the remnants of the storm moves north.
Here’s what else to know:
Three cities in California — Cathedral City, Indio and Palm Springs — said 911 lines were down. Officials in Los Angeles said there had been reports of at least 150 tree-related issues in the city, as well as downed electrical wires and 17 minor mudflows. About 40,000 customers were without electricity in California.
[…] Just as the first bands of heavy rain fell on Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake — unrelated to the tropical storm — struck northwest of the city. There were no reports of major damage or injuries, but an estimated 12 million people live in the affected area, further fraying the region’s nerves.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared a state of emergency in several counties in the south, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego. The city of Indio, which has about 92,000 residents and is in Riverside County, also declared a state of emergency on Sunday. Across the state, officials canceled events, closed parks and beaches, and deployed more than 7,500 emergency responders.
Before Hilary reached the United States, it battered Baja California, Mexico, where one person died and another was missing, but Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, posted in Spanish that “fortunately, there was not much damage.”
George Conway, the ex-Republican operative and former husband of Donald Trump’s campaign manager and senior advisor Kellyanne Conway took to Truth Social on Monday morning to brutally mock the former president over his claim to “immunity” from criminal charges.
Responding to Trump’s promotion of a Fox News clip during which Right-leaning attorney David Rivkin argued that Trump had “Constitutionally-based immunity” and” absolute immunity,” Conway assured him that he would have neither.
“Hi @realDonaldTrump. Sorry about the four criminal indictments, and about the civil rape case you lost to my friend E. Jean Carroll,” began Conway. “I know you’re still real mad at me for finding E. Jean the lawyer she hired to sue you, and about my telling everyone you’re a narcissistic psychopath and stuff. But I can help you on this presidential immunity thing, ‘cause it happens that I know a little about it. You can actually save some of the money you scammed off your supporters and have been using to pay your legal bills.”
I know you’re really busy with all the criminal cases and had to skip the debate and don’t like to read much, so I’ll cut to the TL;DR here. Which is that, apart from the fact you’re no longer president-I know you hate to hear it, but you did lose to Sleepy Joe and you know it!–you’re gonna lose a presidential immunity argument in Georgia for the same reason Clinton lost to [Paula] Jones and you lost to the Manhattan DA, which also happens to be the same reason why you weren’t (and still aren’t!) immune from being sued for raping and defaming E. Jean.
You see, when you did all the bad things you did, you weren’t acting within what the Supreme Court calls “the outer perimeter” of your official duties and responsibilities as president. (I know “perimeter” is a big word for you; think of it as being like a property line in real estate. Or maybe Vanky can explain it to you?) Turns out that (like the Supreme Court told you!) presidents aren’t above the law!!
Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club chair to explain the sacred mission of America’s sheriffs, his bright blue eyes and warm smile belying the intensity of the cause.
“The sheriff is supposed to be protecting the public from evil,” the chief law enforcement officer for Barry County, Michigan, said during a break in the National Sheriffs’ Association 2023 conference in June. “When your government is evil or out of line, that’s what the sheriff is there for, protecting them from that.”
Leaf is on the advisory board of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, founded in 2011 by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack. The group, known as CSPOA, teaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing to enforce any law they deem unconstitutional or “unjust.”
“The safest way to actually achieve that is to have local law enforcement understand that they have no obligation to enforce such laws,” Mack said in an interview. “They’re not laws at all anyway. If they’re unjust laws, they are laws of tyranny.”
[…] The sheriffs group has railed against gun control laws, COVID-19 mask mandates and public health restrictions, as well as alleged election fraud. It has also quietly spread its ideology across the country, seeking to become more mainstream in part by securing state approval for taxpayer-funded law enforcement training, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found.
Over the last five years, the group has hosted trainings, rallies, speeches and meetings in at least 30 states for law enforcement officers, political figures, private organizations and members of the public, according to the Howard Center’s seven-month probe, conducted in collaboration with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
The group has held formal trainings on its “constitutional” curriculum for law enforcement officers in at least 13 of those states. In six states, the training was approved for officers’ continuing education credits. The group also has supporters who sit on three state boards in charge of law enforcement training standards.
Legal experts warn that such training — especially when it’s approved for state credit — can undermine the democratic processes enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and is part of what Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University, called a “broader insurrectionist ideology” that has gripped the nation since the 2020 presidential election.
“They have no authority, not under their state constitutions or implementing statutes to decide what’s constitutional and what’s not constitutional. That’s what courts have the authority to do, not sheriffs,” McCord said.
“There’s another sort of evil lurking there,” McCord added, “because CSPOA is now essentially part of a broader movement in the United States to think it’s OK to use political violence if we disagree with some sort of government policy.” […]
Much more at the link.
I don’t like the “evil” framing of the issue. Too religious.
These guys are batsh*t crazy. Mack tried to takeover Navajo County several years ago by getting his followers to move there and elect him sheriff. Hopis, Navajos, and White Mountain Apache prevented that from happening. Three members of the five-member Board of Supervisors were Native American.
———————
these are “God fearing Christians” too. Reminds me of my KKK grandfather
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Sunday that he thinks Donald Trump should drop out of the 2024 presidential election as the former president faces criminal charges from four indictments. “I think so,” Cassidy said when he was asked in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether he thinks Trump should drop out.
Commentary:
[…] At face value, it’s certainly notable when a sitting Republican senator tells a national television audience that the frontrunner of his party’s presidential nomination should quit the race. But in this case, it’s also worth dwelling on the details — because the senator’s position included some fine print.
Cassidy didn’t raise concerns about Trump’s corruption, alleged crimes, dishonesty, or incompetence. Rather, the senator said the former president should end his candidacy because he believes Trump “will lose to Joe Biden.” Cassidy went on to complain that, as far as he’s concerned, Trump isn’t far enough to the right on Social Security.
But as part of the same interview, CNN’s Kasie Hunt asked the senator whether he’s prepared to support his party’s ticket if Trump ultimately wins the Republican nomination. “I’m going to vote for a Republican,” Cassidy replied. […]
On Fox News, this is what passes for news about Hurricane Hillary:
On Sunday, Fox News’ “The Big Weekend” show opened with host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (known as “Kennedy” since her equally self-absorbed MTV host days), saying, “The big story tonight, the wrath of Tropical Storm Hilary.” After saying there were “42 million desperate souls in the path of the storm,” Kennedy made a “joke” that after making landfall in Mexico, “they let it right into the country because it’s Biden’s America.”
She added another “joke” about how old Joe Biden is. I guess the “42 million desperate souls in the path of the storm” was just a preamble for xenophobic and ageist digs? [video at the link]
Outlets like Fox News are desperately trying to square a circle: They must beat a propaganda drum that says the end of the world is coming due to Democratic policies while being entertaining enough to keep their pillow- and gold-buying audience from changing the channel in despair. The note they hit most often is rage, but that can exhaust their audience.
“The Big Weekend” show relies on what Kennedy has always suggested to the world was a sense of humor. The world has never actually bought it, and Kennedy has failed her way upwards into her current spot at Fox. She’s a special sort of broken toy. Reactions to this bit of business were worth a look.
[Excerpt from the responses: “He didn’t use his sharpie to divert it like a real President would.”
—————–
Simple News for simple people.
———————–
I remember when Rush Limbaugh accused Obama of sending a hurricane to Florida, like Obama is some kind of wizard.
———————
Conservatives tend to be bad at humor. Humor requires an awareness of absurdity, which is ruled out for anyone who accepts conservative thinking.
————————
even their humor is zero-sum. To make themselves (and the idjits who find the “jokes” amusing) feel better, they must denigrate someone else. etc.]
Remember back in 2001 when George W. Bush claimed to have forged a deep, spiritual connection with Vladimir Putin?
“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy,” the then-president said, adding “I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
[…] Donald Trump also has thoughts about Vladimir Putin’s eyes. Namely, that he himself is the apple of them, and thus the Russian dictator would never have invaded Ukraine were Trump still in the White House.
“Putin would have never gone into Ukraine, but that was just one my relationship with him, my personality over his,” he assured very serious journalist Larry Kudlow, AKA his own former economic advisor. “I used to speak to him, was the apple of his eye, but I said ‘don’t ever do it.’ It was, you know, tough stuff there.”
Well, it’s a lot. Although, it’s more or less exactly what one would expect from a guy who stole an oversize “love note” from the murderous North Korean despot.
Here on Planet Earth, Donald Trump spent the entirety of the 2016 campaign playing footsie with the Kremlin, even as he insisted that Putin would obviously prefer the pantsuit lady for president. And now that Trump has actually invaded Ukraine again, MAGAworld castigates the West for provoking Mother Russia with its talk of letting Ukraine join NATO and blames Ukrainians for refusing to hand their country over to Russia. Not exactly “tough stuff.” [video at the link]
In the lead up to his remarks on Putin, Trump and Kudlow engaged in extensive argle-bargle on the tried-and-true policy of “trade wars are good and easy to win.” Trump then tied his economic policies to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “he wouldn’t have done it for another reason, and maybe this is even stronger.”
“We, with this green energy, drove up oil, the oil price so high where he was getting close to $125 a barrel,” Trump insisted. “He made so much money that he was able to go and prosecute the war.”
This is of course such an insane amalgam of lies and half-truths it’s almost impossible to debunk — it’s his signature move! For starters: the Green New Deal was never enacted; the price of oil was wildly depressed in 2020 thanks to a price war between Russia and the Saudis in February, hilariously timed to coincide with a global pandemic that hit in April; OPEC finally stepped in and restored order by cutting production when global demand collapsed during COVID; the price of a barrel of oil briefly spiked above $120 in March of 2023 because of the invasion of Ukraine; and it’s currently back down around $80.
All of which Larry Kudlow knows perfectly well, although he bobbled his head in a maniacal show of agreement throughout the interview. And you could tell Trump’s supporters this stuff — even pointing them to a chart of historical oil prices — but they’d just accuse you of being in the pocket of Soros, and you’d be no better off than when you started.
In summary and in conclusion, Trump and Putin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. […]
Millions are expected to watch two legendary prevaricators face off for the world lying championship this Wednesday night.
The event is being characterized in some quarters as a generational struggle, as a fifty-four-year-old upstart seeks to wrest the crown of mendacity from an aging but still dangerous seventy-seven-year-old.
Those who favor the younger man’s chances in this battle of whoppers point to his role in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit, which resulted in a payout of $787.5 million, dwarfing the three million dollars the older man was obliged to pay for defaming E. Jean Carroll.
But, according to the renowned promoter Don King, the chance of an upset is precisely what will attract millions of eyeballs on Wednesday night. “For lying fans, this is Ali vs. Frazier,” he declared.
Former President Donald Trump was granted a $200,000 bond on Monday ahead of the Republican’s expected surrender at the Fulton County jail.
Under the terms of the consent bond order, Trump can’t perform any acts of witness intimidation or communicate directly or indirectly about the facts of the case with any codefendants except through his lawyer.
[…]
A handful of other defendants were also granted bond orders on Monday, including attorneys John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro and Ray Smith. Scott Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman who was involved in the Coffee County election data breach, also received a bond order.
[The Consent Bond Order is here. It includes…]
(2) The Defendant shall not violate the laws of this State, the laws of any other state, the laws of the United States of America, or any other local laws.
(3) The Defendant shall appear in court as directed by the Court. Jd.
(4) The Defendant shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a codefendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice. Id. This shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
a. The Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any codefendant;
b. The Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any witness including, but not limited to, the individuals designated in the Indictment as an unindicated co-conspirators Individual 1 through Individual 30;
c. The Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any victim;
d. The Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against the community or to any property in the community;
e. The above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media;
(5) The Defendant shall not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case with any person known to him to be a codefendant in this case except through his or her counsel.
Vivek Ramaswamy is once again Just Asking Questions about what happened on 9/11.
In an interview with the Atlantic, the GOP presidential candidate spontaneously turned to the subject during an exchange about whether Americans know the “truth about what really happened” during the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
“I don’t know, but we can handle it,” said Ramaswamy. “Whatever it is, we can handle it. Government agents. How many government agents were in the field? Right?”
He then pivoted to September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four jetliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania — killing close to 3,000 people.
“I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” he said. “Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right?” …
Oh look, billionaire Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy made news. Oh look, it’s for something cringe again. Oh look, Republicanism is just a collection of conspiracy theories stuffed into a burlap sack and paraded through town on a flatbed truck. Oh look, now it’s headed right for us.
An Atlantic article profiling Ramaswamy is making news for one particular tidbit in which the gadfly narcissist brings up a conspiracy theory old enough to buy liquor, insisting, “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right?”
What a clever little ploy not at all diminished by being the same ploy every bullshit artist uses to put forward their favorite conspiracy claims under the banner of “just asking.” The answer to Vivek’s question turns out to be a big fat zero, which has been known for two decades now. […]
It’s just so, so damn tiring. Ramaswamy is just so utterly uninspiring, even as a gadfly. He writes a book condemning wokeness purely as a stunt. He runs for president purely as a stunt. The man seems bent on boring us all to death while he preens for public attention. The point of being a gadfly candidate is to bring something new to the table. Ross Perot brought charts, Vivek–what have you got? And 9/11 conspiracy theories old enough to vote don’t count.
Another mini-profile of Ramaswamy today also suggests the candidate’s vapidity but adds a genuinely interesting little tidbit. ABC News reports that on throwing his hat into the Republican presidential cesspit, Ramaswamy told “conservative operatives” that his candidacy could dissuade Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from running for president himself, or at least damage him as a candidate.
On one hand, that is an oddly specific reason to launch a national political campaign. On the other hand, going to extravagant, eye-wateringly expensive lengths to personally screw with DeSantis is among the most relatable motives any of us could ever come up with. Who among us would not, if we had a billion dollars in the bank, be tempted to spend an eight-figure sum on making DeSantis feel bad?
[…] It’s baffling how much work some billionaires will do to make sure they have as much public attention as it’s possible to buy. Dude, just buy a private island and a gold-plated Xbox and live your best rich guy life. Leave the rest of us out of it.
We pride ourselves on offering up free advice to ambitious Republicans around here, however, so here’s my advice for Ramaswamy: Make Wednesday’s debate your swan song. Bow out with a bang. Take the advice you gave to that audience in Iowa when you rapped along to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”: You only get one shot. Stand up on that stage, say the only reason you ever ran was to mess with DeSantis and wreck his campaign, and then announce that since Ron already wrecked his campaign good and hard and without any of your help, your goal has been accomplished and you’re leaving the campaign.
Also, fly everyone in the audience to an all-expenses-paid vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando on your own dime, but only if they all wear matching “Ron DeSantis Sucks” T-shirts. Boom, campaign done.
Republicans who are members of the House Freedom Caucus are bloviating all over the place, and at an accelerated rate:
The House Freedom Caucus has set the stage for a government shutdown, issuing a list of demands on Monday that they know will never be met. They are thereby setting up a test of wills between themselves and basically everyone else in the House and Senate, starting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Congress will need to pass a temporary funding bill to keep the government open when current funding ends on Sept. 30, and the Freedom Caucus is insisting it will not back a clean continuing resolution. Even a short-term bill, they insist, would need to include their far-right demands.
Freedom Caucus members are opposing any bill that “continues Democrats’ bloated COVID-era spending,” which is to say they’d oppose a short-term spending bill that didn’t make cuts right off the bat because they didn’t like the last government spending bill to pass. Additionally, they say, they won’t support any spending bill unless it includes the hateful immigration bill House Republicans said was a “first week” priority, but only managed to pass in May. They are vowing to oppose any bill that doesn’t “[a]ddress the unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI to focus them on prosecuting real criminals instead of conducting political witch hunts and targeting law-abiding citizens” [They mean that the Justice Department should stop prosecuting Donald Trump, and that the FBI should not investigate any Republicans for any reason, especially not for crimes they committed.] and “[e]nd the Left’s cancerous woke policies in the Pentagon undermining our military’s core warfighting mission.”
So first off they want a rollback to pre-pandemic spending levels, plus a bill that it took months for the House to pass as a stand-alone and that stands no chance in the Senate. But as unlikely as that is, at least it’s a concrete ask. From there, it gets murkier. How is a spending bill supposed to “address the unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI”? Presumably cutting off the special counsel’s investigation into Donald Trump, but this is a demand that could cover a lot of ground, some of which the different members of the Freedom Caucus probably don’t even agree on. Finally, they are demanding a legislative ban on various military policies they don’t like, presumably starting with the military’s policy of paying for service members and their families to travel for medical care, including abortion, and maybe policies allowing trans service members to serve openly in the military. But again, railing against “cancerous woke policies” is pretty vague language, especially considering that these days “woke” means anything a Republican doesn’t like. In some Republican hands, “End the Left’s cancerous woke policies” could mean resegregating the military.
In translation, the Freedom Caucus is saying that it wants a government shutdown because they know that these demands will never be met. The only way to keep the government open will be for McCarthy to rely on Democratic votes to get a clean continuing resolution and, ultimately, a funding bill through the House. The Freedom Caucus is banking—with good reason—on McCarthy being unwilling to do that. But just in case this is the moment McCarthy finds a spine, the Freedom Caucus said it would “oppose any attempt by Washington to revert to its old playbook of using a series of short-term funding extensions designed to push Congress up against a December deadline to force the passage of yet another monstrous, budget busting, pork filled, lobbyist handout omnibus spending bill at year’s end and we will use every procedural tool necessary to prevent that outcome.” In other words, if you try to pass this without us, we will do whatever it takes to block it from getting a vote.
It’s not clear that the Freedom Caucus demands could get through the House with its very narrow Republican control. They definitely can’t get through the Senate. So when the Freedom Caucus says that its support is contingent on getting all of their demands and that its members will do whatever possible to block a House vote on a bill they don’t like, they’re saying they want a shutdown. Let’s be very, very clear about that as the possibility of a government shutdown looms next month: It’s not both sides. It’s House Republicans.
@390: You liked the science fiction film Arrival (2016), but have you ever seen the science fiction film The Arrival (1996, starring Charlie Sheen)? I recommend it. Now showing on tubitv.com (free with ads)
wzrd1says
Shouldn’t those be “Ron DeSantis Sucks” pride t-shirts?
You know, fully bury the hatchet, full head deep. ;)
wzrd1says
Reginald Selkirk @ 472, actually watched that again two nights ago.
Felt too much like reality, only with full governmental cooperation and support of the aliens goals to cook the planet…
Although, their black hole bombs were unrealistic in the extreme, as no emitting accretion disc formed.
wzrd1says
As for TV series, re-watching Last Resort.
Suffice it to say, I concur with the Captain’s reservations that premised an entirely Trumplike decision. Something inconsiderable at the time of the series airing and cancellation.
On Sunday, Russia claimed to have captured the village of Synkivka, a scant 6 kilometers northeast of the strategically important town of Kupyansk in northern Ukraine. Other reports indicated that Ukraine has begun evacuating civilians from Kupyansk, and that a Russian attack on Kupyansk could come shortly. However, those claims now appear to be exaggerated. At the moment, Ukrainian authorities indicate that they have full control of Kupyansk and that Russia’s tactical gains, if any, are minor.
But even as Ukraine is dealing with the situation near the extreme northern end of the line, the whole region from Kupyansk down to the forests south of Kreminna continues to be a concern. As Forbes noted at the beginning of August, Russia has concentrated half its forces in the north. They’ve tried to advance around Kupyansk, west of Svatove, and both south and west of Kreminna. Fighting around Kreminna has been intense for weeks.
Russia’s claims about a big advance at Kupyansk may be overblown, but the sheer number of men they’ve placed in the north means that Ukraine has to keep a significant force in place—a force that can’t be sent south or east to the lines where Ukraine is advancing.
Months before Ukrainian forces began a counteroffensive in the south, Russia had already announced its own new offensive in the north. Throughout the winter months, Russia struggled to fight its way out of Kreminna, Svatove, and the small area of Kharkiv oblast it still controlled north of Kupyansk, without much success.
When spring came, Russian military bloggers bragged that Russia had moved another 120,000 men into the area, with the intention of driving to the Oskil River while forcing Ukraine out of Lyman, Borove, and Kupyansk. Russia even seemed to be making a push in that direction three weeks ago, moving out of Svatove to capture three villages along the road to Borove and increasing pressure west of Kreminna. But those Russian “victories” were rolled back almost as soon as they happened. Within a week, boundaries in both areas seemed to be back to where they were in February.
Over a period of six weeks, Russian forces have ground out slow gains west of Kreminna. There have been false claims that Russian forces made a breakthrough and were on the brink of recapturing Lyman, but so far the action is still confined mostly to a salient that stretches west from Kreminna toward the town of Torske. Russia’s push at Kreminna is definitely getting attention from Ukraine, as multiple units have been shuffled into this area. Intense fighting continues both in that western salient and in the forests south of Kreminna, where Ukrainian troops have managed to hold on to positions despite months of Russia trying to push them out.
But north of Kupyansk, Russia has been able to take territory and hold it. Now they may be on the edge of a genuine threat … or it may be little more than propaganda. [Map at the link]
Should Russia launch a significant assault on Kupyansk, it’s unclear if Ukraine would attempt to maintain a position on the eastern bank of the Oskil or step back across the bridge to defend the larger portion of Kupyansk, which is on the western side. The bridge would certainly be the easiest point of defense. However, if they surrender the eastern part of that area of the town, it could open Russia to more movement south, along the eastern bank of the Oskil, not only threatening a series of towns there but possibly cutting off Ukrainian forces along the P07 highway down to Svatove.
However, all of that may be academic. Despite Russia’s reported advance and capture of Synkivka, in a statement issued on Telegram, Ukrainian armed forces were extremely dismissive of the supposed Russian gains, saying, “The Russians do not even have a tactical success near Kupyansk, we have strengthened our reserves.”
A video widely circulated on Russian outlets was said to show Russian forces driving through Synkivka, but it didn’t take long before that video was widely debunked as not matching either the buildings or the streets in the village. In fact, the video comes from Voronove, in an area of Luhansk that Russia has occupied since 2014. Russia may hold Synkivka, or it may still be contested. It’s unclear. [Tweet and video at the link]
According to the Telegram statement, Russia suffered over 150 casualties in the assault on Synkivka, along with “two T-72 tanks, three armored vehicles, a D-30 howitzer, a mortar and a command and observation post.” This followed a reported six repelled attacks on Synkivka last Friday, during which Russia was also reported to have lost several vehicles.
The capture of Synkivka would ordinarily be barely worth noting. The village is small, with a pre-war population of around 350. Russia’s advance was also small, less than 1.5 kilometers from their previously known position. If Russia really was positioned to threaten the capture of Kupyansk, it would represent a genuine concern. But that does not seem to be the case right now, despite Russian propaganda and some overnight panic among bloggers rather than soldiers.
Following the Kharkiv counteroffensive, Ukraine devoted limited forces to the area north and east of Kupyansk as it moved to take Lyman to its south, secure the area east of the Oskil River, and position itself for moves into Luhansk oblast through Kreminna. At one point, Ukraine forces moved up those roads north and east of Kupyansk to liberate not just Synkivka, but Lyman Pershyi, Vilshana, and the cluster of villages east of Dvorichna.
However, Ukraine never seemed to actually garrison these locations north of Synkivka. Russia didn’t so much recapture them as just wander back in that direction once Ukraine had stopped operating in the area. Movements in this area have been very small until recently—like squad-level, not even platoon-level small.
It’s hard to determine how much larger the fight in the area of Kupyansk is now, but if Russia actually lost 150 men capturing Synkivka, that’s surely the biggest fight in the area since the Kharkiv counteroffensive wound down. This could be the most significant combat in this area of the entire invasion, with some claims that Russia threw thousands of troops at Synkivka. But that doesn’t mean it will make a difference tactically, much less strategically, as Ukraine’s efforts in the area appear to be more defensive. They are content, for now, to hold their positions while the counteroffensive continues in the south.
Synkivka gives Russia something to brag about and allows them to at least pretend to threaten Kupyansk, distracting from Ukrainian actions in the east and south. Whether it does anything more—or whether it was worth the cost Russia seemed to have paid for it—remains to be seen. About the only factor that would give this fight real value would be if Ukraine had to move enough reserves to the area that it had an impact on fighting elsewhere on the front. So far, when talking about the action at Kupyansk, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Even so, Kupyansk will be an area to watch for a few days. If Synkivka is quickly tipped back into Ukraine’s column, this whole affair will have no more impact than the three villages Russia gained, then lost, west of Svatove. If Russia still has Synkivka two weeks from now, that might be a concern.
————————————–
Meanwhile, in the place where fighting has been ongoing for weeks, Ukraine appears to have liberated the towns of Robotyne and Urozhaine.
At Robotyne (pre-war population 500), Russia still claims the village is under Kremlin control while the official Ukrainian military position is only that Ukrainian forces have reached the center of the village. However, Telegram insists that Ukraine has full control, with Russian occupiers being driven from their last positions along the southern edge of the town. The fighting now seems to be stretching out toward the town of Verbove, where Ukraine has reportedly come in contact with the dragon’s teeth and tank trenches of Russia’s main defensive line. However, those reports are unofficial and similar claims made two weeks ago turned out to be false. Drone video, or it didn’t happen. Stay tuned. [map at the link]
At Urozhaine (pre-war population 1,000) things are more official. Ukrainian forces hold the town and the next big fight is expected to be 4 kilometers to the south at Staromlynivka, where Russia’s main defensive lines in that area are found. However, instead of moving straight south toward Staromlynivka, Ukraine appears to be spreading out east and west to take the heights overlooking the Mokri Yali River valley, which they will eventually need to descend to continue their advance. This protects their flanks and also provides fire control over those villages by positioning Ukrainian forces above the Russian garrisons below.
Ukraine is pressing southwest from the area of Staromaiorske, and southeast from Urozhaine. Ukrainian forces are reportedly especially keen on taking Kermenchyk to the east, securing the road and cutting off any Russian forces that remain around Novodonetske.
—————————–
We’ve talked many times about the fact that Russia has been fighting in front of its main defensive lines, and while there are reasons why this can make sense, there are also some obvious downsides. Those downsides become even more obvious as the distance between the prepared defenses and those advanced fighting positions begins to shrink. [Tweet and sat image at the link: “Russian forces will suffer as they get pushed closer to the Surovikin line. The same things which makes you benefit from a defensive line will also make you suffer if you are on the wrong side of it.]
That squeezing of Russian forces in front of the defensive positions may have occurred at a couple of places near Robotyne in the past couple of days, forcing surviving Russian forces to step back to the other side of the trenches.
—————————
Look who’s having some fun in the sun. [Tweet and video at the link: “Progozhin releases his first post-putsch video — from the Sahel. He says he is making Russia great again in Africa and doesn’t mind the 50 degree (centigrade) heat.”]
Just to throw a bit more water on russian claims, Militarnyi’s breakdown of why they assess Synkivka’s capture by Russia as being Russian propaganda. They show Russian claims of visual evidence are actually Voronovo, in Luhansk, not Synkivka as claimed. https://mil.in.ua/en/news/russian-infantry-eliminated-near-synkivka/
————————–
The road to Crimea has not yet been severed, but Crimea is rapidly loosing its value as a military asset.
At least 114 people died in the wildfires, he [Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen] said. Of the victims, 27 have been identified, with families of 11 of them notified. More than 1,285 people have been located safe, he said.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden viewed the damage on Maui today.
Reuters has this dispatch from the streets of Kyiv where destroyed Russian military vehicles were on display
Ukraine lined up the burnt-out husks of Russian tanks and fighting vehicles along the capital Kyiv’s central drag on Monday as Ukrainians prepare to mark their second wartime Independence Day this week.
The national holiday, which commemorates 32 years of post-Soviet independence from Moscow on Thursday, falls exactly 18 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its southern neighbour.
People walked along Kreshchatyk Street in the heart of the capital staring at the charred shells of armoured combat vehicles and other bits of hardware, arranged in a long line like a military parade of the dead.
Kyiv resident Natalia Koval, 59, expressed horror at what the battlefield trophies represented, but said she was confident Ukraine would eventually defeat Russia.
“Our state will celebrate,” she said. “Yes, maybe not yet – but the moment will come, and this victory will be not only ours but a victory for the entire world.”
Residents in central Kyiv said they liked having the wrecked Russian hardware on display and that they hoped it would raise the fighting spirit of Ukrainians.
“I think it’s a good idea to show what our army is capable of doing and … to show how bad [the Russians] are at fighting,” said 23-year-old Mark Omelchenko.
“It’s important to see such examples of our victories.”
Mykola Kaplun, a 74-year-old from the central city of Vinnytsia who was visiting his granddaughter, said he was grateful for western support in a war which, he conceded, sometimes feels as if it has dragged on too long.
“But the feeling that victory will definitely come has not changed,” he said. “And my intuition tells me that all this will end by the end of the year, with our victory.”
Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stepped up criticism of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine on Monday, saying war crimes that have taken place in the country “must be punished under international law.”
Speaking to press alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mitsotakis, the centre right politician whose government has stood by Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion last February, said he “unreservedly condemned” Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Greece, he said, had not only backed sanctions against Moscow despite their negative impact on its economy but had actively championed its EU integration with delegations in Athens signing an agreement outlining Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic perspectives.
In a series of attacks over the past two days, agents cooperating with Ukrainian military intelligence have destroyed or damaged five Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers used to strike Ukraine, New Voice reported, citing unnamed sources in Ukrainian military intelligence.
According to NV’s sources, agents attacked the Soltsy military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod Oblast on Aug. 19, destroying a Tu-22 M3 bomber and damaging two more aircraft.
The source also said that on the morning of Aug. 21, two more Russian bombers were damaged in Russia’s Kaluga Oblast at the Shaykovka airfield as a result of a drone attack carried out by saboteurs working with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate.
“These drone operations are coordinated by the (Intelligence Directorate) and have caused sensitive losses to the enemy in military aviation. And the most important thing is that such planes are no longer produced in the aggressor country,” the source told NV.
Intelligence Directorate representative Andriy Yusov separately told Ukrainian Liga news on Aug. 21 that “at least one plane” was damaged at the Shaykovka airfield following a drone attack.
“At least one plane is damaged. As in most cases, the Russian regime is trying to hide the true extent of losses and damage,” Yusov told Liga.
Regarding Ukraine’s military intelligence activities in Russia, Yusov said that the Intelligence Directorate “continues to perform tasks, including on the territory of the aggressor state.”
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, the Shaykovka base hosts Russian Tu-22M bombers, used to attack Ukraine. Russia reportedly launched four Kh-22 cruise missiles over Ukraine with planes from this base on Aug. 15….
While embroiled in warfare in Ukraine, the Kremlin has increasingly felt the need to explain itself to younger Russians. Starting this fall, Russia’s college students will be required to take a state-approved course on the “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood.” The curriculum (packaged as a series of video-lectures) is a brainchild of Andrey Polosin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko. Meduza’s correspondent Andrey Pertsev, who has covered Russia’s new ideological curriculum as it emerged and came together, watched the online lectures and talked to the people who made the videos. Here’s a survey of the new Russian ideology as it’s going to be taught at Russia’s schools, from “passionaries” and “the Russian world” to Russia’s unofficial state symbols — the birch and the bear….
(Compare the staging of the event for students pictured here with the set of the Kyiv Independent’s podcast @ #333.)
wzrd1says
Saw one news report on Maui that suggested over 1000 dead, not quite renting it at all, let alone buying it.
Typical figures, I’m anticipating around 300, kid hugging dog is a heart tugger, but well, reality.
That is based upon usual escalation of reported numbers in a disaster area. Shit gets blurry in a major disaster event, massively blurry, miscommunications, errors in reported numbers, etc and well, worse.
If the count of dead halted immediately, due to a lack of deaths, I’d be the happiest person on the entire planet, not expecting that, as a lot of area needs to be excavated and explored for remains.
whheydtsays
Re: wzrd1 @ #480…
I saw one report stating that there are still some 850 people missing on Maui.
wzrd1says
That number is as good as a Russian number, given the level of disaster. It’s a clusterfuck from hell.
Long and short, it’ll be much higher at the end of the counting.
And some water rationing bullshit will figure strongly at the end.
It could’ve been worse, but it could’ve been much lower.
But, the GOP ruled, as usual.
Their results, as usual rule the news, published as anyone else’s fault, during their rule.
Honestly, I don’t drink enough.
My successes in the military wasn’t due to being nice, compliant or well, being a nice guy. It was due to figuring out how the other bastard thought and countering it.
My wife was the one that kept me, erm, more sane.
wzrd1says
For the record, I’ve now gone a week with dreams of my wife and I conversing, to suddenly awaken realizing she’s been deceased for over a year.
Imagine awakening to realize, as you look over a shoulder, knowing she isn’t there, after over 41 years.
I really don’t drink enough!
Especially as we approach year two.
wzrd1says
Oh, comfort side, I’ve everything for split pea soup preparation. Annoyingly, only still 1/3 od ingredients for proper red lentil soup.
Given the perishable nature of ingredients, it’ll be split pea.
Annoyance, a shop that was local, behaving as if business was a hobby and abandoning ship just when I wanted three ingredients.
Masala garam, fenugreek and curry leaves.
Mortar and pestled the lot many times.
Anyone wanting to shoot the lot along, feel free.
Consider it pica, as there is a specific nutrient lack that I’m craving.
Easier with zinc, mussels works in my pasta sauce, steamed as the sauce defrosts.
Confirmed by blood testing.
The Biden administration is revoking licenses from hundreds of firearms dealers in a significant escalation of federal enforcement actions that has angered many in the gun industry. … The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has revoked the licenses of 122 gun dealers in the fiscal year that began in October, up from 90 for all last fiscal year and 27 in 2021.
wzrd1says
Oh, split pea soup?
Fry garlic and onions copiously (to me, there’s no such thing as excess in either, save for sweetness, then onion predominates). Add a shit ton of water to split peas. grate some carrots, boil and stir a lot.
Thicken as the bread rises, enjoy the two.
Never have a fixed recipe, it depends upon ingredients freshness and freshness of bread.
Pasta sauce is equally simple. Tomato ingredients, preferably fresh to be blanched and peeled, if not, canned tomatoes and especially crushed tomatoes. Add an onion of garlic for a two liter pot or greater, add whole coarsely diced onions, generous basil leaves, some kind of fattyish meat to neutralize acids, cook the lot together until the meat falls off of the bones and fats switch from foam to puddles on top of the sauce.
Bones needed to thicken the sauce.
Usually, my preference is for fresh pork hocks, but due to locality, I’ve been using neckbones.
Grandma used just pig’s feet, although back then, significant parts of the hocks were included. She was also known to enjoy chicken’s feet, which I’ve never considered trying.
Those would be for soup, like I use for duck feet.
Never disrespect the life you took, personally or offhand, for your meal, use every part or you’ve disrespected that lost life.
Plant or animal.
And by definition, leftovers are good, they’re ingredients for tomorrow’s meal.
Oh, all recipes are according to “to taste”, I don’t have your tongue, but my average score is nearly 100% loving my general recipes, under that loose guidance.
Someday, I’ll try haggis, just for giggles, as I missed one opportunity and did try blood pudding and some other far reaching regional dishes.
As in, a kimchi omelette is wonderful. With a properly fatty cheese.
The more fish into the kimchi, the more wonderful the breakfast for me.
I’ve also enjoyed an Iranian appetizer of raw onion and garlic, shocking all present by enjoying the same for the first time and enjoying it since.
All Americans don’t have a flat palate. :)
whheydtsays
Re: wrzd1 @ #483…
My profound condolences. In a week, it will be 14 months since my wife of 51 years died.
wzrd1says
Lynna, OM @ 485, want some fun?
Look up how many licensed firearms distributors.
This is literally pissing onto an erupting volcano.
Limiting distributorship isn’t the problem, limiting maniacs and idiots is the issue and well, we consider mental health even outside of lifestyle, hence, until criminal occurs, who gives a shit.
Because, paying for prisons is cheaper than paying for mental health care.
So, get gunz, they’re kool!*
*I’m a multiple firearms owner, hunter and precision marksman for cash prize. Yeah, despite that, we’re on the same team.
Regulated is a thing, speech is indeed regulated, that whole conspiracy and sedition thing says that.
Regulated means, when, where and how expressed.
I express firearm usage hunting (thus far, unsuccessfully), self-defense and magically defending against artillery with a rifle or pistol or something. No clue on the latter, know about game being smarter than me, found their marked calendars and something about deer flights to the Bahamas or something.
Marksmanship contests, won plenty of turkeys and hams.
Killing people? I’d prefer not to, my firearms are secured, so anyone invading would most likely be met by a retired SF type with a knife.
Not my preferred thing to remember or dream about at all. But, did it, when duty called.
Guns are like hammers in a way, they’re tools. How one uses a tool matters.
Argue, I’ll stand above you with a 10 pound sled hammer to suggest you find a superior viewpoint – briefly.
I prefer 10 pounders, as 8 pounders tend to bounce off of concrete.
I prefer my gun usage to greasing a car, should I ever find a damned grease point again.
Or winning a turkey or ham.
I’ve killed enough people, back when I was in the Army.
And morons, wanna think you can take the US DoD on? OK, just antique MLRS, tell me legends on your proficiency against something killing you fro 30 miles away.
Firearms have their rare usages, daily life shouldn’t ever be a part of such, not for the public, not for the police and not even for our military.
Qualification doesn’t require usage.
Put away the toys, children!**
**Full disclosure, the only man to outshoot me was one of our battalion’s snipers, who outscored me by one point, meaning one round superior on killing target point.
He was also an off duty cop, who espoused yearning to rape a woman in a combat situation, right until I objected.
Granted, we were both drunk in the NCO club, but well, drunks do reveal themselves.
Thank goodness for Geneva and Hague Conventions and their enforcement!
Now, would there was a tournament for a ham right now. Ham bones with meat aren’t cheap right now and I really want a few soups.
wzrd1says
BTW, maybe a recipe exchange would be welcome here? Any volunteers?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s near-total abortion ban is set to take effect within days after the Indiana Supreme Court on Monday denied a rehearing in the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
The denial of the rehearing means the ban will take effect once a June 30 ruling upholding the ban is certified, a procedural step expected to take just days, court spokesperson Kathryn Dolan said in an email to news media.
The state’s highest court ruled June 30 that the abortion ban doesn’t violate the Indiana constitution. That removed a major hurdle to enforcing the ban Republicans approved last summer ahead of a wave of restrictions by conservative states in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
In a 4-1 decision Monday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its order that Planned Parenthood and other health care providers “cannot show a reasonable likelihood of success” with their challenge to the abortion restrictions.
The ACLU of Indiana’s executive director, Jane Henegar, released a statement saying Monday was “a dark day in Indiana’s history.”
“We have seen the horrifying impact of bans like this across the country, and the narrow exceptions included in this extreme ban will undoubtedly put Hoosiers’ lives at risk. … Every person should have the fundamental freedom to control their own body and politicians’ personal opinions should play no part in this personal decision,” Henegar’s statement said.
Attorney General Todd Rokita also released a statement, saying, “This is great news for Hoosier life and liberty. We defeated the pro-death advocates who try to interject their views in a state that clearly voted for life.”
Indiana’s Republican-backed ban ends most abortions in the state, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy. Indiana became the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Indiana’s six abortion clinics stopped providing abortions late last month ahead of the ban officially taking effect.
Courthouse News Service
John Moralessays
[personal]
wzrd1, whheydt, I salute you. I don’t know I’d have your strength.
Me, I eloped with my wife (9 years before we were married) when she was 16 (I was 18). In my 63rd year now.
I think… um, around 7 weeks total apart from each other in all that time.
(You are good examples, but I still want to go first)
StevoRsays
Grim and horrifying news – this is far more than just a tree :
An arborist has confirmed that a birthing tree in western Victoria sacred to the Djab Wurrung people has been poisoned. The arborist determined the poison was applied via three holes cut into the tree, which had its trunk was spray-painted with the words “build the road”, between Thursday, August 10 and Friday, August 11.
But Major Roads Projects Victoria says the tree, where generations of Djab Wurrung babies have been born, is not in the path of the proposed route of the duplication of the Western Highway between Ararat and Buangor.
Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation general manager of bio-cultural landscapes John Clarke said he was optimistic the tree would survive.
“It was a malicious and despicable act,” he said.
“We can only see it as a clear attack on us as a community.”
Political polarization in the US has become a major issue, as Republicans and Democrats increasingly inhabit separate realities on topics as diverse as election results and infectious diseases. An actual separation seems to underly some of these differences, as members of the two parties tend to live in relatively homogeneous communities, cluster together on social media, and rely on completely different news sources…
I do not like the “both sides” framing.
Now, a team of researchers has tested whether social media can potentially help the situation by getting people with opposite political leanings talking to each other about controversial topics. While this significantly reduced polarization, it appeared to be more effective for Republican participants…
They are the ones more in need of correction.
whheydtsays
Re: John Morales @ #491…
I wouldn’t claim that I am in any way happy that my wife died first. One could easily debate–and we did–the relative merits of who lasted longer. Statistically, we were likely to die around the same time as she was 7 years older than me, but statistics don’t really apply to individual cases.
wzrd1says
Statistically, statistics apply the way they always apply – counterintuitively, as few get to sit top dead center at the top of the bell curve.
StevoR, were I king, I’d simply cancel that road entirely and inform the community that they have the tree attacker to thank for the canceled road and halfway constructed mess. And recommend they thank that individual daily and unpleasantly.
Less effort expended than investigating fruitlessly, someone likely does know and well, inconvenienced communities do find their own kind of justice.
Fortunately, I’m not a king.
Well, it looks like Kansas just became a Constitution free zone. Newspaper raided by police, all computers confiscated, the owner’s computer at home, router and all employee cell phones and computers as well.
Oddly, the court shows no warrant of probable cause, which is kind of required to issue a search warrant.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/us/kansas-marion-county-newspaper-police-raid/index.html
One odd allegation was that the newspaper owner being suspected of identity theft, something about driving without a valid driver’s license, which are decidedly not the same thing. Sounds more like crooked businessmen and cops running rampant.
Oh, I’m unaware of any home routers that retain any kind of logging after being disconnected, so this is obviously just a snatch and grab operation. I’m willing to bet that when the newspaper gets their file servers back, they’ll likely be broken.
@ 496, ever price a large drone? They’re several million dollars as well. Anything hefty enough to carry meaningful amounts of explosives costs every bit as much or more than an airplane.
Sad sequel to previous posts about the
Kansas Kopsblackshirt raid on the Monroe County Recorder newspaper:Publisher’s mother dies from ‘shock and grief’ as police defend ‘brazen’ raid on Kansas newspaper
For the convenience of readers, here is a link back to comment 499 in the previous chapter of this thread.
“Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones.”
Time to cut Poland off from all EU funding.
Amidst Republican attacks on education, Biden’s education secretary is ready to fight back
More at the link.
Bears repeating: Even Trump supporters didn’t believe Donald Trump’s agenda would lead to a rollback in reproductive rights.
Celinda Lake, a veteran pollster:
Commentary:
Link
When Trump or other Republicans tell you they are going to take democracy-destroying actions, believe them.
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on the smoking gun
Good news … so far: Idaho’s top court smacks down far-right attorney general’s move to undermine ranked-choice measure
Posted by readers of the article:
Ivana Trump’s grave is now completely overgrown.
Photos from the Iowa State Fair, and details about the crowd heckling DeSantis, are available at the link.
https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2023/08/ron-desantis-iowa/
Illinois Republican Will Suicide By Cop On His Porch If They Come For His Assault Weapons
https://www.wonkette.com/p/illinois-republican-will-suicide
No one is coming to take Darren Bailey’s guns.
Will Donald Trump follow the legal advice he gave to Ted Cruz in 2016 on litigation challenges to ballot eligibility?
DEREK MULLER / August 13, 2023
This refers to the argument that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a provision that limits people from returning to public office if they have since “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort” to those who have, would bar Trump from running. Two convservative lawyers, staunch Federalist Society members, have written a paper set to be published in the Pennsylvania Law Review, advancing this very view.
Washington Post, January 5, 2016:
Election Law Blog
Oh dear, another effect of weather patterns that include episodes of extreme heat:
Link
Trump is being hit with so many indictments that it is proving a challenge for his lawyers — too many fronts, not enough troops. Maybe he could get all of the criminal indictments (federal, New York, coming up in Georgia) as a class action lawsuit so his lawyers would only have to defend him once?
Huffington Post: Georgia voting systems breach tied to Trump legal team by texts.
Tendar on tafkat:
Tendar on tafkat:
Dmitri on tafkat:
Translated document at the link.
A class action prosecution? Sounds like quite a novel idea.
I think that Trump needs to get a bigger boat. It’s looking like Georgia is going to drop an expected dozen indictments soon.
I really hope that Georgia hits him and his minions with RICO indictments. He is so deserving of the dishonor.
Actually, given the support of Trump, the excusing of obvious crimes, the financing of said crimes and the defense of said crimes, the stochastic terrorism aimed at all of Trump’s perceived enemies, maybe the entire GOP should be charged under RICO laws with conspiracy to overthrow the United States Government . . .
Vox – “A new investigation exposes the stomach-churning practice that goes into making your bacon”:
Horrific. And so shameful that academics are part of this.
Noel on Tafkat:
Short video at the link. Seems like we’re just beginning to see more of this again – videos of infighting, videos complaining about a lack of leadership and supplies, videos of Russian soldiers basically abandoned,… Very good.
SC (Salty Current) @ 21: That article was gut-wrenching. And to read that much of what the undercover reporting exposed was common practice, and has been for decades, made it worse. And the nasty process of feeding pigs diseased parts of dead animals mixed with feces has been ‘studied since 1950’. Not just done, but scientifically studied for effectiveness, and, I assume, ‘improvement’, for over 70 years. Horrific.
The ability of humans to objectify anything when money can be made off of it is limitless. Animals, pigs in this case, are just things; literally, in the legal and economic sense, ‘commodities’. Factory farm workers don’t simply not care about their suffering, they make sport of it. The only research into working with them as actual living creatures seems to be for the purpose of propaganda, getting the public to have ‘trust and faith’ in the pork industry. Just disgusting.
Wife just got a text from a lawyer she knows. Right-winger, Trumpist, and a lawyer. His text to her claimed that Willis cannot charge Trump as he never lived in Georgia.
I know that he knows that is bullshit, but so many willfully ignorant Trumpists that he also most likely texted it to are probably nodding so hard they are causing themselves brain damage.
Is Trump following the same well-worn path blazed by other terrorist leaders?
Ukraine Update: Ukraine retakes Urozhaine, and it’s a big deal
Followup to comments 2 and 3.
Link
Followup to comment 27.
https://twitter.com/BenMullin/status/1690824247038382080
Absolutely not, since the charges in each case are very different. It’s not just different accusers making the same charges.
And to me, the best part is the Georgia case. Since those are state charges, there is no possibility of a presidential federal pardon.
Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #29…
Unless he makes a diversity of locale claim (he lives in Florida, the charges are brought in Georgia) to move the proceedings to Federal court. IANAL so I’m not sure that would count as “federal charges” subject to a presidential pardon, but I’d bet there is a precedent somewhere about that situation.
White House reporter sues Karine Jean-Pierre after losing press pass
whheydt @ 31, not allowed, as these aren’t civil cases, but criminal cases.
https://www.justice.gov/usao/justice-101/federal-courts#:~:text=Criminal%20cases%20may%20not%20be%20brought%20under%20diversity,may%20only%20bring%20criminal%20prosecutions%20in%20federal%20court.
“Criminal cases may not be brought under diversity jurisdiction. States may only bring criminal prosecutions in state courts, and the federal government may only bring criminal prosecutions in federal court. “
Quoted in Oggie’s #25:
In related news, Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Tafkat:
Video at the link of Matt Gaetz standing with Trump in Iowa and saying: “I cannot stand these people that are destroying our country … we know that only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington DC.”
From the Wikipedia page on the lawyer Hans Litten:
Kyiv Independent – “Putin cracks down on pro-war opposition as all-out war falters.”
Guardian – “Arrest of Saudi scholar and influencer another sign of social media crackdown”:
Reginald Selkirk @29:
Yeah. That was humour.
I may have majored in history, but I do know at least some shit.
whheydt @31:
Blockquote>Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #29…
Unless he makes a diversity of locale claim (he lives in Florida, the charges are brought in Georgia) to move the proceedings to Federal court. IANAL so I’m not sure that would count as “federal charges” subject to a presidential pardon, but I’d bet there is a precedent somewhere about that situation.
My comment regarding a class action lawsuit really was humour.
Or maybe I really am stupid and it isn’t.
Sorry.
wzrd @33:
I fuckin apologize. It was attempted (and obviously failed) humour. Drop it.
Oggie: Mathom @ 37, I realized it was humor, hence the tone of my response. :)
Ask him if he is willing to bet his legal license on it.
This game is inspired by Giger, Beksinski and Wayne Barlowe.
Methinks I have found the utopia the Republicans want to create…
“The biomechanical nightmare of ‘Scorn’ ”
https://youtu.be/YGzeYfwVa5U
Trump on David Weiss appointment: ‘He would not have been picked by me’
I will consider that a ringing endorsement. We have all seen the quality of people whom T-rump picks.
Reginald Selkirk @ 39, not a very good lawyer or bar, if he isn’t aware of extradition.
There’s something about being a Trumpite that seems to delete the follower’s intellect entirely.
Regarding my @24:
He is a very good lawyer, highly respected by judges and magistrates in the area. His mass texts, like the one sent to Wife, are not actually related to his law practice, but rather to his activities with the local GOP.
Pakistani militants attack convoy of Chinese engineers
RFK Jr. says he’d sign a federal ban on abortions after three months of pregnancy
Go away already.
Rheinmetall will hand over cutting-edge UAV to Ukraine by end of year
@ #473 in the previous chapter of the thread I linked to a podcast in which Joe Cirincione is interviewed. They link to his series on “the science, history and politics of the beginning of the nuclear age.”
Here’s the link to the beginning: “History of the Nuclear World, Part I.”
From Part V:
I found it very helpful. The Guardian had an article a few days ago – “Before Oppenheimer, there was Manhattan: this underrated drama is a must-see.” I really enjoyed the first season, didn’t love the second, wish there had been a third. In any case, I think I would have understood some of the storylines better had I read this series first.
Seriously. Malevolent fucking crackpot.
RFK Jr. Walks Back Saying He’d Sign a Federal Ban on Abortions After Three Months of Pregnancy
Source : https://phys.org/news/2023-08-global-photosynthesis-due-carbon-dioxide.html
Very bad news for AI security.
“Don’t expect quick fixes in ‘red-teaming’ of AI models. Security was an afterthought”
https://www.techxplore.com/news/2023-08-dont-quick-red-teaming-ai-afterthought.html
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Tendar on Tafkat:
Coordinates, video, and map at the link.
Guardian – “Far-right outsider takes shock lead in Argentinian primary elections”:
FFS.
David McCormick is gearing up for a Senate run in Pennsylvania. But he lives in Connecticut
CNN – “Russia’s ruble hits a 17-month low to the dollar as the Ukraine war bites”:
Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley has been quietly editing her own Wikipedia page
Editing your own page is a no-no.
Noel on Tafkat:
Immersive video at the link (sound on).
Blue Beetle Reactions Blast Low Expectations With Resounding Praise
Tommy Tuberville is living in Florida while serving as a senator for Alabama.
https://youtu.be/NUYNrSAd4LY
@3 Lynna, OM provided a link back. Thanks, Lynna.
I’ve been reading about this. the family has been running the paper for decades. It’s a small town in Kansas and the entire 5-main police force ransacked the paper’s office and terrorized the 98yr old co-owner so much she died. Police culture is getting more and more out of hand:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/sonali-kolhatkar/107305/the-rise-of-private-cops-how-not-to-tackle-homelessness by Sonali Kolhatkar | August 14, 2023
the guard was not responding with compassion. Seconds earlier, the tall and very muscular man sporting a flak jacket emblazoned with the word “security,” had walked right by me toward the unhoused man and savagely knocked him to the ground without provocation or warning. Blood streamed from the victim’s face and onto the sidewalk. He stood up as the guard hovered over him and stumbled toward the damaged glasses that had fallen off his face during the assault. The guard, who was twice the man’s size, picked up and offered him the hat that had also fallen off his head and ushered him away.
And, homelessness will continue to rise rapidly as inequality and greedflation driven housing prices soar.
Yes, we are re-entering the Dark Ages
Speaking of Tommy Potato-head,
US Navy joins Army, Marine Corps in having no Senate-confirmed leader, in historic first
CNN reported on another possible campaign grifting scheme run by a Republican candidate: Nevada GOP Senate candidate raised money to help other candidates – the funds mostly paid down his old campaign’s debt instead
Reginald @45 and SC @48, there’s a transcript of what Kennedy actually said. He can’t really walk that back.
NBC News
In Georgia, cameras could sharpen the focus on Trump in the courtroom
By Blayne Alexander and Charlie Gile / Aug. 14, 2023
Millions of Americans’ health data stolen after MOVEit hackers targeted IBM
In Donald Trump’s elections criminal case, a judge instructed him to avoid inflammatory public rhetoric. It now appears he’s ignoring the court’s warning.
I would say that he is still ignoring the court’s warning. Same as it ever was.
NYT Live:
Quoted in Lynna’s #66:
He does it constantly, targeting anyone involved in his trials who doesn’t act as he wishes – judges, prosecutors, investigators, jurors,… And he just recycles the same stupid accusations and insults. People were fretting the other day about Trump calling someone – Jack Smith, IIRC – a “sick puppy.” But a quick google search shows him using this same tired phrase multiple times over the years. People he’s called a “sick puppy” include Kim Jong Un; Nancy Pelosi; Alec Baldwin; John Bolton; the mass murderer in Thousand Oaks, CA; and his staff secretary Rob Porter. You would think his followers would tire of being whipped up against someone new every few days with the same rote MadLib attacks, but they never seem to.
RE: Wikipedia article on Rebecca Bradley (justice) and edit warring story, don’t see any apparent edit warring going on, but there is exceptionally heavy editing activity on her Wikipedia article. Given the press, I’ve posted a notice of unusual activity on the Wikipedia admin notice board, referencing the news article, allegations in the talk page as well and both editing one’s own page and general press notice meriting a suggested semi-protected status, as the volume of IP only editors has increased. I also suggested that an admin take a closer look at the activity.
Normally, I’d take a more in depth look and report, but I just got in from the store and both need to cool down and rest my flaming back.
Rather than risking edit warring begin and literally crash Wikipedia, which actually has happened in the past.
@ 66, Trump ignoring orders as usual, which again proves he’s no comprehension of the first rule of being in court: DON’T PISS OFF THE JUDGE!
Alas, it’s SSDD. Maybe if someone actually gave him reason to regret his misbehavior, he’d stop. Or at least pay heavily and enjoy the stay inside the house of many doors.
Guardian liveblog:
Dmitri on Tafkat:
Translated post at the link. I especially like “Telegram repulsing of the enemy” and “information cover.”
Re # 68, to be clear, I didn’t mean to minimize the danger or legal significance of Trump’s attacks. I just can’t believe his followers have gone eight years watching new enemies declared regularly using the same insults and epithets and they never seem to get bored with it or to question how all of these people – including those Trump hired or appointed or worked with for years, those he previously praised, and judges and jurors randomly assigned to his cases – somehow suddenly fit the same evil mold.
Trump Goes on ‘Blatantly Unlawful’ Rant Against Georgia Grand Jury Witness
Josh Fiallo / 8/14/2023
Daily Beast
Trump’s Dominance Cage Match with The Courts and Why He has To Lose, written by Josh Marshall.
Well, it’s official, the Wikipedia Rebecca Bradley (justice) article just went protected, conflict of interest RfC is escalated and BLP policy violations are entered and escalated.
I’m glad to see that I remain far from alone in an intense dislike of things like this turning into a goat rope.
Having had something like this happen before, I suspect final action will be keeping the page protected, logs hidden for a cooling off period and a certain jurist getting a Wiki pee-pee smack. Given the edit warring was months ago, further action beyond a possible brief suspension is unlikely and unwarranted.
Laughably, one IP from the UK kept trying to add her being a “Russian agent” and all other manner of Red Scare bullshit into the article, their IP now having some difficulties in editing Wikipedia. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
For the record, I’m only an editor on Wikipedia. But, my logs also reflect that I don’t edit war and have rarely raised such issues with admins, save when things were going to get labor intensive.
A Hidden, Lobbyist-Boosted Fee Costs Doctors Millions Every Year
JFC. It’s just a gigantic grift.
Montana loses fight against youth climate activists in landmark ruling
CounterVortex – “Podcast: flashpoint Niger”:
Stay for his a cappella rendition of and commentary on Alpha Blondy’s “Super powers.” :)
Link
It looks like Private Equity firms and the oil/gas industry are cooperating in a scam that passes cleanup costs on to the public.
Georgia court website publishes, then takes down, list of criminal charges against Trump
Advocates take first step toward independent redistricting commission in Ohio
A Teeny Tiny Tax On Millionaires Is Funding Universal School Lunches In Massachusetts, Plus Other Good Stuff!
Turns out we CAN have nice things
https://www.wonkette.com/p/a-teeny-tiny-tax-on-millionaires
Ukraine tests homemade demining machine
Followup to comments 49 and 63.
Ukraine Update: Robotyne cannot be liberated
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
From the NYT Live blog:
Guardian – “‘Game-changer’: judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial”:
Followup to comment 84.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
It really is.
Followup to comments 84 and 87.
Posted by readers of the article:
NBC News:
Lynna, OM @ 75, it’s called regulatory capture. Governmental worker in charge of regulation retires and is hired by industry. Or similar, switches employers back and forth, government to industry and back, entirely undermining regulation.
Saw it in the DoD and other agencies every damned day.
Reginald Selkirk @ 82, so Hobart’s Funnies got reinvented?
Good.
Lynna, OM @ 89, war has never really been about who kills or destroys more on the battlefield, but who destroys more of the adversary enough, GDP effort, personnel and material to make the effort of continuing war so damaging to that side as to make it more acceptable for them to surrender or at least sue for peace on the other side’s terms as one can.
We left Punic wars far behind long ago, especially given the Pyrrhic victory lesson.
Hence, the surrender ending WWI and well, the surrenders ending WWII.
The lack of inflicting that expense leading to the Koreas, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the onset of the second cold war.
@ 90, reports are, when remains have been found, when trying to pick them up for removal, they fell apart. Cooked through and through.
Saw it in severe burn patients at times, it’s beyond ugly.
The ugliest being in some living patients, when an arm brushed a door and fell off of the still living patient and no blood loss ensued. Suffice it to say that survival was unlikely.
EMS, civilian and military tend to develop a rather unique sense of humor we’ve also learned to suppress around the public. Gallows humor is pale in comparison.
It keeps one from self-harm.
That’s stupid. During their first three months of life, young girls are busy eating, pooping and crying. Asking them to make decisions about their reproductive health decades n the future seems a bit much.
Canadian couple win damages from Italian ruling party
I actually grew enough courage to bear watching the video.
Cringeworthy.
First, roar, as she “did”, then raise arms, present the biggest surface size, it’s a juvenile.
Second, it’s a juvenile, honestly, I’d consider risking play. I don’t recommend you do, you don’t know vulnerable points or if it’s actually starving and desperate, how to get away. That age, even at age 61, I can kill by hand, manually, with significant injury or with my knife – either pocket unit or belt unit, each having an equal 2 1/2 inch blade – don’t recommend that for readers.
Third, it’s a juvenile, retreat fascinated it, it followed and did display potential play behavior. If mamma is around, hell will ensue.
Remember second reactionary view? It’d be unpleasant. It’d retreat, which is unusual with much of my animal play. I don’t want the bear to habituate playing with humans, it’s a death sentence to it and peers.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/08/14/bear-doorbell-camera-florida-affil-cprog-vpx.wesh
Wrong answer in a few ways. First, have a plan going for the fucking door. I know, panic, but if you’ve a plan, played it repeatedly in memory and tried rehearsing it a couple of times, you’d not blunder into your own door and find it an obstacle and if things were south, you’d be lunch.
Second, if in bear country, have something more interesting about. Always kept a bear grenade around. A glass jar of sealed, utterly sanitized outside, honey. Toss it away nearby, it’ll interest the bear more than you.
Final option, lethal.
Camped with my disabled wife and the kids repeatedly, had a black bear come through camp repeatedly, even had one step on the head of one kid through the tent side, due to a bear blunder. I was armed with jar and firearm, Toto (not her real name, but she looked just like Toto from the Wizard of Oz, save with a more yiping bark to welcome us or something that’d frighten off wolves, when she was alarmed.
And did chase a black bear around our tents 3 times, before it paused in my unexpected flashlight beam, to be bitten on its heels.
Now, do pretty close to the same, although if a brown bear, I’d further discourage it painfully via some sting.
Plan B was my pistol, A the jar of honey I didn’t mention, C was my rifle. It works on all large game on the continent.
I don’t take a crap without a plan.
An especially good idea at my age.
Reginald Selkirk @ 95, after birth, at 3 months old and after being born, killing a child is rightfully considered murder.
Before birth, if the fetus cannot survive and doesn’t, when born, it’s not a child, nor is a stillborn – under biblical conditions.
So, all such bullshit, from fetal life and after, smokescreen for covering black heresy, adding shit to the Bible, inserting words into their God’s mouth against his will.
Something summary execution by burning was once a penalty for.
Abortion was never covered in the bible, save in one speculative case presented by PZ and that’s beyond iffy.
Righteous God or heretical god, which do you want to play in that chess game? I go for scripture, regardless of faith, I’ve long been learning it and using it appropriately.
I do need to replace my lost Book of Mormon.
Indian faiths, those abound and I’m still getting research artifacts.
For Juedeo-Christian faiths, I’ve more than enough ammunition, save with thread splitters in evangelical BS. That whole profit by Chistian whored it up.
Got a laugh over the “Devil’s lettuce”, apparently, marijuana. So, God fucked up, the devil became God and created something, making God by nature lesser? That’s your faith’s official stance, that a perfect God fucked up?
Can argue with the latter, literally drunk.
The former, I have to utilize their “evidence” properly against them, around 99% is easy, the rest are actual scholars and I’m still working on that one in my spare time.
Thus far, as usual, it all comes down to nothing, mistransliteration or misapprehension, mostly by will.
I also give a different lies to children theory, one doesn’t tell children how well you boned mommy to conceive them, save in a Marvel Comic film.
One does explain that the sky is blue for simplistic reasons, not explaining, ruinously, why it’s blue to specific spectral adsorption.
Trust me, tried it both ways.
And mommy and daddy loved each other so much, after a marital problem, that one hate fucked the other does not work. Maybe (actually, is, in one case I know of), that’s true, maybe it’s not, the kid doesn’t need to know at that time.
Later, for medical reasons, such might be necessary, otherwise, there ain’t no storks.
And if any birds want to deliver something to me now, please do drop into my never presented net for catfish.
Love catfish, but the net would be wasted.
I may be drunk, but I’m not illogical.
Working on the last part, due to physical pain.
No, tried, literally everything else and eagerly await novel results that have efficacy.
But, I’m literally awaiting a five year old trying to cure disease, in what is for them handling daddy’s gun.
Everything new is a weapon, until cleared.
Remember, I worked in government?
wzrd1 @91, so common that there’s a name for it. Disgusting.
Reginald @95, LOL. Dark humor.
Link
The Georgia grand jury has returned ten indictments.
Trump has been indicted in Georgia. Mark Meadows and others have also been been indicted.
It’s a 40-count criminal indictment.
Trump and several others (Giuliani, Eastman, Meadows, and many more) have been criminally indicted.
RICO! 40-count indictment.
What Lynna said. :D
Violation of the Georgia RICO Act. And other crimes.
Correction, it is a 41-count indictment.
Hillary Clinton:
Lots of people charged. Those are state charges, so those people cannot be pardoned by Trump even if he wins the presidency.
Link
Here’s the list of those indicted:
Donald Trump
Rudy Giuliani
John Eastman
Mark Meadows
Kenneth Chesebro
Jeffrey Clark
Jenna Ellis
Ray Stallings Smith III
Robert David Cheeley
Michael Roman
David Shafer
Shawn Micah Thresher Still
Stephen Cliffgard Lee
Harrison William Prescott Floyd
Trevian Kutti
Sidney Powell
Cathleen Alston Latham
Scott Graham Hall
Misty Latham AKA Emily Misty Hayes
Trump faces 13 counts in that Georgia indictment.
Washington Post:
The NBC liveblog has the indictment.
More here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nSZxhb6_Iu7Wgkbz1kZ62upd1Y26M1Kg/view
From page 96:
Yep, Trump put that particular false statement in writing.
From page 88:
Trump’s name is mentioned in the indictment documents more than 190 times. Trump was personally involved. As Neal Katyal noted, Trump was “hands on” in the criminal activity.
Followup to comment 116.
I accidentally did not include this text:
Yep, as expected the Trump campaign has issued a statement with the subject line: “The Truth About Fans Willis.”
The statement is titled: “A Family Steeped in Hate.” One of the paragraphs begins: “Fani Willis is the The Daughter Of A Former Black Panther.” The statement also goes on to highlight the Swahili meaning of Fani (Prosperous) …. and so forth.
Neal Katyal:
Fani Willis is asking defendants to voluntarily turn themselves in by Friday noon, August 25th.
She wants a trial date within the next six months. All 19 defendants will be tried together.
In the weeks during which most of this happened, tens of thousands of people in the US were dying. The vaccine had just become available, and Trump was doing fuck-all to organize its distribution or encourage people to get it, while refusing to allow officials to work on the transition with the incoming administration. In addition to stealing national security documents, this is what Trump was occupied with during that time. He and his henchmen and henchwomen were haranguing the speakers of state legislatures by phone or setting up meetings with them pretty much every day of the week. This is what they were doing. Crime.
Andrew Weissmann says that Fani Willis saying all 19 will be tried together may mean that all may be arraigned, but is likely that only a few will be in the courtroom at one time. Some people may plead out. Arrangements will be made so that you don’t have all 19 defendants and their lawyers in the courtroom at one time.
Willis also said also that innocence or guilt will be decided by a jury.
SC @120, good point. The criminals were all really busy committing crimes. They were not busy properly governing the country.
Even Sean Hannity -almost- understands Republicans have gotten too extreme.
https://youtu.be/d0hwdxN1aCQ
China’s ancient water pipe networks show they were a communal effort with no evidence of a centralized state authority
Particularly interesting in relation to Graeber and Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything, which I’m currently reading (the book’s main argument is against technological determinism in relation to political systems).
From the article in @ 124, as near as I can tell for their justification for there being no evidence of a centralized state authority is that everyone had similar houses.
So, I’m guessing that if there isn’t a castle or mansion, there is no central government and the coordination was fully democratic and close coordination was accomplished by hand wave.
Sorry, loads of assumptions, minimal evidence in the story. If you’ve ever worked in construction, you’d know that when laying pipes, one must coordinate a great many things, ranging from trench lines through pipe sizes, depth, width of trench and more. So, one does have to have some central coordinating authority in place and interestingly, no special houses are needed, only coordinating managers are needed.
RICO Suave
Does that include witness intimidation? Additional charges could be added later.
A particular view:
Florida Man, associates, indicted for conspiracy to steal data, software
Spain 2 – 1 Sweden
Reginald Selkirk @ 129
This way, if Australia and England get beaten, at least I do not need to feel embarassed about it.
.
NB: Like finding the very first concentration camp.
People tend to forget the role Portugal played, or the supporting role of arab slavers when the business spread to the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic.
Where are the dragons when people really need to get burned alive?
“Origins of the plantation system revealed”
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-plantation-revealed.html
Trump would have to serve 5 years in prison before he can be pardoned in Georgia criminal case, expert says
(assuming he is convicted, of course)
Texas wants Planned Parenthood to repay millions of dollars
wzrd1@125,
Yeah, I’ll take the word of an opinionated pseudonymous blog-commenter over that of relevant experts, every time.
KG@133,
Sorry, wzrd1, that was uncalled-for. But the article says:
so it is not denying that building the system would have required “central planning”, but that such planning depended on the existence of social hierarchy. Indivduals or groups can be given leadership roles in certain activities, without having a general power to command others or extract surplus. Graebner and Wengrow give numerous examples from the anthropological literature, but within archeology, there has long been a belief that complex hydrological systems can only be produced by states – exemplified in Wittfogel’s Oriental Despotism.
What is “Rich Men North of Richmond” and why is it suddenly everywhere?
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
‘Flying Aliens’ Harassing Village in Peru Are Actually Illegal Miners With Jetpacks, Cops Say
Trump Announces Plans to Finally Go Ahead and Prove Election Was Rigged
Sure, Jan.
“…will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster,…”
The press should not show up. They will, but they shouldn’t.
I’m very interested in the numbers in the Georgia indictment. Several are clearly just vague, invented large round numbers or ranges: “anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000” GA ballots were “dropped mysteriously into the rolls”; “between 12,000 and 24,000” ballots were illegally counted by election workers at State Farm Arena in Fulton County; Ruby Freeman and her daughter awarded “at least 18,000” ballots to Biden; “hundreds of thousands” of ballots were “dumped” into Fulton and an adjacent county; Trump won in GA by 400,000 votes; etc.
More intriguing are the precise and generally consistently used figures. The number of GA mail-in ballots they claimed were counted with no record of having been returned to an elections office was
“at least 96,600” (12-3-20) and 96,600 (12-10-20). The number of felons they claimed had voted illegally in GA was 2,506 (12-3-20), 2,560 (12-30-20), and “as many as 2,506” (12-31-20). The number of underage people they claimed had illegally registered to vote in GA before their 17th birthday ahead of the 2020 election was 66,248 (12-3-20), and the number they later claimed had actually voted illegally was “at least 66,247” (12-31-20). The number of people in GA who they claimed voted but weren’t listed as registered to vote was 2,423 (12-3-20), “at least 2,423” (12-31-20), and 4,502 (1-2-21). The number of people they claimed voted in GA having illegally registered to vote using a PO box was 1,043 (12-3-20), “at least 1,043” (12-31-20), and 904 (1-2-21).
The most interesting is their claim about dead people having voted in GA: “10,315 or more” (12-3-20), 10,315 (12-30-20), “as many as 10,315 or more” (12-31-20), “close to 5,000” (1-2-21), “more than 10,300” (1-6-21).
Who first wrote down these numbers and where? Where did they come from? Were they taken from some data on deaths or registrations or some such and then just transferred into claims about illegal voting? The Representative from GA-12, Rick Allen (R), received 10,315 votes in Coffee County in 2020. Did they just grab the figure from there? (Incidentally, his opponent, Liz Johnson, received 4,243 votes there, which seems sort of like the 2,423 unregistered voters they claimed, but I may be getting carried away with this idea…) Or did they invent these specific numbers out of whole cloth? And again, who did it first and where? Is there a paper trail?
Guardian – “UK should finally acknowledge role in 1953 Iran coup, says David Owen”:
Guardian (last week) – “Files reveal Nixon role in plot to block Allende from Chilean presidency”:
I see that the film Agustin’s Newspaper can now be watched online. I’ve wanted to see it for a decade.
SC @ 140
To find answers, maybe we should consult the My Pillow guy. He has made two “docu-movies” about how Biden stole the election.
Eli, Heath and Noah have given them the full God Awful Movies treatment.
😂
GAM 287 Absolute Proof
https://youtu.be/E63v1vD1XWw
and GAM 297 Absolute Interference
https://youtu.be/N3VvkG_QgtA
Given the pardon Paul Manafort received from Donald Trump, he’s probably the wrong guy to comment on a “two-tiered justice system.”
New York magazine’s Jon Chait, “Maybe, just maybe, the reason Trump keeps getting indicted for crimes is not that the criminal justice system is in the grips of a vast liberal conspiracy but that he is, in fact, a criminal?”
The Maddow Blog’s Steve Benen, “The question isn’t why the former president has been indicted four times, it’s how he managed to go this long without having been indicted before.”
Harry Litman:
Which Trump Idiot’s Seething Rage Is Funniest Today
https://www.wonkette.com/p/which-trump-idiots-seething-rage
One question on some minds is which of the four judges overseeing Trump’s trials will actually clamp down on his unending stream of lies and insults. One possibility is the most recent, Scott McAfee, who is set to oversee the Georgia trial. Although only appointed judge six months ago, unlike the Florida newbie he actually has experience, being a state and federal prosecutor for 10 years. In June, McAfee fined pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood $5,000 in contempt of court for violating an order against insulting his former legal associates, with a threat of more serious penalties if he repeated it. So maybe there’s hope.
Utah man accused of selling silver product as COVID-19 miracle cure arrested
I doubt that anything will be done about his lies, unless the lies read as attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors. And, of course, Judge “Loose” Cannon won’t do anything no matter what he says unless it would get her automatically tossed off the case.
Special prosecutor will examine actions of Georgia’s lieutenant governor in Trump election meddling
How timely!
MyPillow’s Mike Lindell returns to Springfield Wednesday for Election Crime Bureau Summit
Requiring ink to scan a document—yet another insult from the printer industry
Moment of schadenfreude, seeing Rudi Giuliani in a very deep hole:
Link
LOL
Link
https://www.wonkette.com/p/kayleigh-mcenany-so-mad-at-hillary
@142 birgerjohansson
I seem to remember one of those had a certain Mr. Pillow voice-modulate a fart to make it sound deep and impressive. Which one was it?
I’m tempted to watch the whole movie just to hear that.
Is it defamation to point out scientific research fraud?
FDA issues safety alert on pregnancy tests after bust on illegal medical lab
Mark Meadows seeks to move Fulton County election case to federal court
The US Army is rushing to rearm its electronic warriors after watching Russia and Ukraine jam each other’s drones
Suspected spies for Russia held in major UK security investigation
SC @ 140m Trump does indeed have paper to support his claim. Here’s the evidence he has.
https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/NpRj2u3Ou/1280×832/2018/10/Donald-Trump-Toilet-Paper-Shoe-03.jpg
Case (of toilet paper) closed.
Ukraine Update: Cluster munitions are proving deadly effective against Russia
More Ukraine updates coming soon.
Lynna, OM @ 146, I take exception to one remark, as I’ve met Trump and as I’ve committed no crimes, remain without indictment or accusation. ;)
Reginald Selkirk @ 160, the US Big Army always did have a major weakness, preparing to fight the next war – based upon the last war. Hence, being unprepared for Nazi Germany in WWII, unprepared for the Korean War, trying to fight the Korean War in Vietnam, the GWOT, being so disorganized as to be literally unclassifiable and now, finding suddenly it’s technologies are making it irrelevant with a basic jamming kit.
I’ll not go into specifics, but one could, were one still around, build a proper jamming kit with modern technology from parts scored from a local Radio Shack. Of course, there are other parts sources now, one of my personal favorites is DigiKey, individual parts at a moderate premium, get ’em by the roll on industrial cheap.
Can get parts cheaper from China, but those can get so sketchy I’d not trust them on a masturbation toy for a chipmunk. OK, a rat, as I happen to like chipmunks, rats, not so much after a brief problem with two.
Rats, unlike Trump, are too smart for their own good. Trump does the whole comic series villain thing, quite fully, complete with incriminating monologue.
Big Army doesn’t actually look ahead, usually, for once it is. Now, it’s catch-up time. Literally looking like the mess when the “carcinotron” was discovered (“cancer for RADAR”, actually properly named backward wave oscillators) by NATO allies a half century ago or so. Today, I can do that with variable capacitor diodes, tunneling diodes, etc. All, relying upon quantum mechanics, which knowledge haters loathe.
Well, right until the bald monkey finds out the rock he wants to hit the other bald monkey over the head with won’t work, then he goes and looks up the rejected outcase and embraces them.
If at the inception of humanity, knowledge and learning was equally rejected, we’d still not have fucking fire.
birgerjohansson @ #142, admittedly I’ve had a gummy, but that grew on me. The part about the numbers in the first one is really funny (especially when they point out that his spreadsheet has one line listing 615,000 votes but with no explanation of what allegedly makes them problematic or illegitimate). I was crying laughing in the second one when they talk about how he interrupted his movie with breaking news.
A commentary here.
Last week, CNN was rife with coverage of a faltering Ukraine attack. Doom was forecast, in uppercase and skeletons or something.
Given CNN’s coverage, based upon early D-day invasion numbers, CNN would’ve declared WWII lost, the Nazis won. They fixated upon one phase, fixed the time and snapshotted badly off target.
Now, I use a number of sources, many not US based, but diverse enough to typically not get factional diverted in specific viewpoints.
Most of the world doesn’t.
I do use NPR, glancingly, previously more, but after Trump’s sabotage attempts, not as much. Now, I’m trusting BBC to a fair extent, Al Jazeera and a few others (at least I do personally know some of the AJ correspondents personally, given we shared a villa compound in their nation and have been to their homes (many being former BBC correspondents)).
And given my former occupation, press is viewed with distrust, lest operational details go astray and a mission turns into a bloodbath, rather than as clean as possible, usually.
Details, no, but generalities, yes.
Although, with the GWOT, all conventions of warfare were out the window, non-signatory, non-participation, etc.
We did a little better than the other guys, that’s still an ongoing project to do even better and accomplish the mission. Hence, authorizing SF issue hollowpoints…
Yeah, I don’t drink enough.
SC @ 165, have you saw a doctor about that gummy growth? It could cause serious harm, as excessive laughter can cause death by exhaustion!
I’ll just get my ball sock on the way out the door…
Lidia Thorpe, left wing Indigenous Senator :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidia_Thorpe
is currently spaking at the National Press Club on TV – c2, ABC – right now. (SA timezone obvs.) Don’t agree with her on everything but she often has some interesting and good things to say.
Followup to comment 163.
More Ukraine updates:
Link. Scroll down to view updates.
Associated Press:
Sounds like Ron DeSantis in Florida paved the way for other Republican governors to hobble education.
NBC News:
MarketWatch:
Washington Post:
Mike Davis, who is a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley was interviewed on Fox News:
https://twitter.com/SIfill_/status/1691308508820434944
Video is available at the link.
Commentary from Talking Points Memo:
Followup to comment 173.
Link
Re: #174
“The only possibility of avoiding jail time if Trump is convicted in Georgia comes buried deep in Georgia Code Title 17…” [Which has to do with a work-release program]
This makes it sound as though there would be mandatory prison time if Trump is convicted, and I’ve read the same in other places, though not everywhere.The actual statute reads:
It’s true that if he is sentenced to prison the mandatory minimum time is 5 years, but the law allows prison or a fine (or both), the amount being described in the next subsection.
Re: My #175
While conviction on the RICO charge doesn’t ensure that Trump goes to jail, there is one charge that does. If they can convict him on charge #5, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, O.C.G.A. §16-4-7, the penalty reads:
This is the first charge of all four indictments that would require him to go to jail.
These people just don’t get irony, do they?
He seems to realize that election interference is a bad thing, but then complains when it is prosecuted.
Australia 1 – 3 England
The final is set: England vs. Spain
Sunday
Bank of Ireland IT Blunder Allows Customers To Withdraw More Money Than What’s Held In Their Accounts
New process extracts rare earth elements from waste
Fox News host suggests we should “get rid of all of the women”.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/media/greg-gutfeld-sexist-rant-fox-news/index.html
Suggested all women should go to Venus.
I suggest he should go to Venus, have a protracted stay in the upper atmosphere, where it’s 1 atmosphere in pressure and the clouds are sulfuric acid, then drop what’s left to the molten lead temperature surface.
Where, incidentally, the atmospheric pressure and density is supercritical.
Seriously, it is.
“Aiding a coup is not your job”: Experts rip Meadows bid to dodge Fulton DA under “official duties”
Russian General Surovikin ordered to keep silent and not leave residence
Reginald Selkirk @ 182, so now we see a defense of, “Your Honor, I was acting in my scope of duties in federal office by committing sedition”.
How well does a lead balloon float again?
DeSantis Thinks Disney Should Drop Lawsuit Against Him Because He’s Personally ‘Moved On’
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian (support them if you can!) Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Also in the Guardian:
Andriy Yermak and Margot Wallström – “Russia is committing grave acts of ecocide in Ukraine – and the results will harm the whole world”:
“Booing and walkouts after the Killers tell Georgia audience Russian is their ‘brother’”:
“Nato official suggests Ukraine could give up land in exchange for membership”:
JFC.
@184 it can be done
Mythbusters lead balloon
Newsweek – “Russian Army Commander Dismissed for Ukraine War Failures Dies in Moscow”:
Marjorie Taylor Greene floats a 2026 Senate run after rumored candidate Brian Kemp told Trump the 2020 presidential election in Georgia ‘was not stolen’
Oh please yes. Does she want to cast doubt on the election she won? Will she find out that the entire state is not as crazy as her own district?
Was there a window involved?
Followup to Reginald @189
JFC.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution link
Article is behind a pay wall.
George Santos has violated a federal ethics law — again — by failing to file his annual financial disclosure on time
Lawfare:
What the Heck Happened in Coffee County, Georgia?
A detailed look back at the computer intrusion that features prominently in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s election interference indictment
Anna Bower / August 15, 2023
Much more at the title link.
Trump campaign ad makes false claims against Atlanta DA (That’s a Washington Post link.)
Link
New GOP impeachment resolution targeting Biden joins long list
As a GOP lawmaker introduces an impeachment resolution targeting President Biden, it’s a good time to ask: How many of these measures are we up to now?
Josh Marshall:
Link
Since when is it a crime to buy rope, a knife, and a few garbage bags?
@198:
In a grand jury proceeding, a drug bust was under discussion. Police testified that when the alleged perp was arrested, he had a scale and a supply of small plastic bags in his car. One juror objected that possession of these items is not a crime. That is true, but it establishes intent to distribute, which makes a big difference in the charges and possible sentencing the accused might face.
Followup to comment 199.
Inflation Reduction Act, Growing Economy And Decreasing Emissions And Capping Grandma’s Insulin And
https://www.wonkette.com/p/stupid-inflation-reduction-act-growing
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trumps-busy-court-date-schedule-eating
X apparently added 5-second delay for links to sites Musk doesn’t like
Ohio GOP Senate candidate parts ways with top aide who tweeted criticism of Trump
@2,3,27,28
Search Warrant Withdrawn After Backlash Over Kansas Newspaper Raid
re Reginald Selkirk @205: I wonder how they plan to return the life of Eric Meyer’s mother?
A mob in Pakistan burned a church and Christian homes after blasphemy accusations
Update to #186, from the (now closed) Guardian liveblog:
Def Mon on Tafkat:
Translated post at the link. “The situation is assessed as ‘severe’.”
Dmitri on Tafkat:
VegNews – “Plant-Based Diet Can Fight Diabetes Says Leading EU Health Organization”:
A few semi-related links:
WITHpod – “The ‘Existential’ Climate Crisis with Bill McKibben”:
Our Hen House – “The Veganic Grower’s Handbook w/ Jimmy Videle”:
The Rising Anxieties segment introduced me to the “girl plate,” which I guess is also called a “girl dinner.” (Some shill is whining about how the Popeye’s, IIRC, girl plate doesn’t contain any chickens; I agree with Mariann Sullivan – a vegan version of the plate they describe sounds delicious.)
Here’s a piece about them from last month in Bon Appétit – “Chill, ‘Girl Dinner’ Is Literally Just a Snack Plate.” “Hell, it’s basically tapas, a style of eating the whole-ass country of Spain already got behind.” LOL.
NOAA – “NOAA forecasters increase Atlantic hurricane season prediction to ‘above normal’”:
Ukraine Update: New German gear will bolster Ukraine’s artillery advantage
Link
NBC News:
I predict even worse court rulings to come, and even worse Republican policies.
Texas Tribune:
Associated Press:
Followup to comment 197.
Doesn’t matter what Trump believes, or claims to believe.
Link
Followup to comment 213.
Ted Lieu:
An update to the update in comment 213: The “fringe website” posted the home addresses of the grand jurors.
Ohio effort to legalize recreational marijuana gets enough signatures for November ballot
Republicans attempt to damage the referendum system in Ohio seems to be an example of the Streisand Effect.
Peru allows abortion of 11-year-old rape victim after UN pressure
MSNBC (warning: the video autoplays) – “See Trump vet Roger Stone pushing elector plot on tape: Beat Exclusive”:
There is only one possible source for that grand juror list, within the courthouse itself. So, it’s a given that those who do have access to that information are having their activities examined quite closely, computer logs are being scrutinized, etc. Because, it really is a big deal when grand juries are tampered with – even after they’ve been discharged from their duties.
wzrd1 @ #222, the list was in the indictment itself. It’s part of Georgia law.
SC, Georgia law requires the list of grand jury empaneled and their home addresses on an indictment?!
How can a grand jury be secret, if such is an open public record?
I’ll admit, I’ve not read the Georgia indictment, read the NY and federal ones, not Georgia’s, as my eyes have been misbehaving for some reason (difficulty focusing on text, which is odd, given I wear reading glasses and I have intraocular lenses replacing my natural lenses, basically giving me fixed focus for distance). If those issues continue, I’ll be speaking to my ophthalmologist about them, as one suggests a circulatory issue in the retina and with preexisting lattice degeneration, yeah, I can swiftly run out of retinas. Can’t seem to find my spares.
Just re-watched the film “Ultrasound”, which reminded me of our current AI woes of confabulation.
Quite well constructed in the film was the confabulation possible, when memory is interfered with.
Do watch the film, released in 2022, considering confabulation vs hallucination, after actually looking up the difference in a medical dictionary.
Both are artifacts of the mind, but from different causes, even if somewhat similar, causing revealing malfunctions in recall.
The film gives a fairly brief, but scope filled suggestion under hypnosis, introduces a nonsensical ultrasound sequence signal to induce it, after learning the cruder trick from a hypnosis entertainer/conman.
The ultrasound is obviously bullshit, the rest is confabulation built upon a skeletal structure of introduced myth, while suggestible.
Re: #224
Georgia has arguably the most transparent judicial system in the country. Just about all trials are televised and Grand Jury names are included in indictments. The addresses were hunted down and published by Trump supporters.
A lot wandering along the wayside, but still one question in life of a sparse few to ask.
A recurring issue arose the other day, significant heat stress with dehydration gets met the following day with diarrhea.
I’ve noticed it, erm, repeatedly, when I’ve entirely failed to bring along water when it’s significantly hot outside and exerted myself.
I’ve postulated colonal rehydration, it is a water scavenging system, then suffering a rebound after return to base rehydration.
Supporting, urine concentrates, higher than normal exertion, RTB and rehydrate, non-entertainment ensues the following day.
And lower than normal response to Immodium, which typically takes a work week to get out of my system, there, only a day or two.
Something noted over a decade.
And lacking Immodium, a day to three shorter, urine color concentration gauged, due to lack of supplies.
So, medical types, think it’s a rebound effect?
I keep forgetting to ask my GI doc, largely due to far more significant issues.
Another odd issue, ancient as it is, remains unexplained.
Gallbladder gets removed, due to cholesterol stones. A few, quite significant in size.
Immediately after and for nine months, I became significantly lactose intolerant.
Just for those months.
Given the organs involved, it’s an insolvable problem for me.
Lactase is produced far south of the systems involved in surgery.
The condition existed.
HX: infantile lactose intolerance, life threatening. Some heavier milk fats have presented digestive issues.
After those months, I was able to tolerate milk, butter and cheese.
Just curious, as it does confound me.
Previously, my wife confounded me, requiring time and inquiry to ascertain the cause. She died, so, I’ve residual questions.
So, physicists, do fear… ;)
wzrd1, I’m no doctor, but evidently, best to avoid significant heat stress.
Even a conservative Judge in the USA :
Personally, I’d say Murdoch’s malignant media empire and the far reich conspiracy theorist media sphere generally deserves a big proprotion of blame here too – but yes – & later on there :
Source : https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/conservative-retired-judge-says-trump-corroded-and-corrupted-american-democracy
All clear already really but good to see him say it and say it it so plainly. Big question is will that happen? Make it so please Americans.
@ 226, hopefully, further discovery will find inner circle or Subject #1 compliant in the publication.
Perfect additional RICO violations and just turning him into a common mobster in the general public eye.
I spent some time terrorizing terrorists. What most don’t realize is, most terrorists are organized crime types, offending against the US abroad and at home.
Wasn’t allowed to do anything for at home, but abroad, well, that’s a different matter.
Terrorist defined as killing schools full of children, maternity centers full of delivering mothers, etc, just to force everyone to surrender.
So, we sent a bigger monster.
I approach as if the monster threatened my family, at a same level of savagery, specifically targeted.
Kill wives, your wife gets targeted, worse than you did. Most stopped cold, once they realized what they unleashed upon themselves and surrendered.
GITMO, well, it’s a mixed bag, some really did need to stay there forever, most didn’t.
Contrastingly, I’m a nice guy in person, face to face, I’m congenial, friendly and so cool you can keep a side of beef fresh next to me for a month.
But, harm children, it’s quite likely you’d either witness your own children’s remains eaten by pigs of join them.
Yeah, there’s the other side, the non-Santa side, the monster that hunts monsters.
There are times that I miss that.
Thankfully, those are rare times and I far prefer to play with babies, puppies, fawns and even kittens.
And I still remain the only monster that can successfully hand feed a dik-dik gazelle, with photographs to prove it.
Early “training”, poverty in new marriage, worked for some Organized Guys as personal security.
Knew what the Italian Mafia types scopes of acceptability were and remain, learned Russian Mafia scopes, Triads, etc. Went to military again.
Stupid version, I’ll happily shoot someone in the nuts to get a proper response that I’ll still not trust, knees first though.
Flame frightens more than even knives.
Explaining vivisection works.
Being thankful to only need to sharpen knife due to typical utility and meal preparation usage.
After all, ogres have layers. Stinky and make people cry.
Or something.
Why does Trump incessantly remind me of all that I’ve tried to suppress for a decade?
Oh yeah, my wife and I met him back around 2000. Guest of honor at a Chamber function. Literally, a 95% attrition rate the following year, courtesy of Trump.
Boor of the party speaker.
Honestly, I’m glad my parents are gone. Currently, I’m starting to wish that I joined them.
But then, there are some Royal Gems on offer, if support network fails for this old fart.
Personally, I’d prefer to roll with puppies, kittens and babies.
The other side, we’ll not discuss.
WaPo:
Texas woman charged with threatening to kill judge on Trump election case
By Kelly Kasulis Cho / August 17, 2023
This is brilliant!
“If Republicans said the quiet parts loud”
https://youtu.be/GxTzMG23-60
When this occured, did you intake a lot of water as soon as possible to compensate? If so, try including some electrolytes. Say 1 Gatorade to 2 straight water.
The legendary BBC talk show host Michael Patterson has died at 88. He was active as TV host 1971-2007.
Trump’s legal advisers urge him to cancel press conference: Sources
And we all know just how good Trump is at following legal advice.
This also shows that his attorneys still do not understand Trump. This has nothing to do with getting the case dismissed. This has nothing to do with the Georgia case at all. It has everything to do with Trump wanting the spotlight on Trump. It has everything to do with Trump wanting to be seen to win TODAY no matter the cost down the road. And it has everything to do with telling his loyal followers that Trump is their saviour and he will forgive their terrorist acts committed to save him.
Rudy Giuliani pocketed $300,000 from farmers investing in anti-Biden documentary that was never made, lawsuit claims
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also from there:
Lindsey Graham continues to be stupid.
Graham on indictments: ‘If you claim you’re cheated as a Republican, they’re gonna try to put you in jail’
Mary Trump Flags ‘Interesting Shift’ In Her Uncle’s Social Media Antics
Story by Josephine Harvey
A few semi-related links:
Guardian – “How heat affects the body – inside and out”:
Guardian – “Sunscreen socialism: AOC divides the left with call for better skincare options”:
DeSmog – “How Shell Used a ‘Granfluencer’ to Promote its Brand”:
Israel gets US okay for $3.5 billion sale of Arrow 3 anti-missile system to Germany
Ukraine says it downed 2 Ka-52 attack helicopters, which Russia calls the world’s best, in a single morning
Video shows tourist climbing into Rome’s Trevi Fountain to fill up water bottle
Russia Expels Politico Reporter, Ex-Moscow Times Editor Eva Hartog
Judge who approved raid on Kansas newspaper has history of DUI arrests
Tropical Storm Hilary to threaten flooding rain in California, Nevada and Arizona
Indiana Blocked Abortion Provider Who Treated 10-Year-Old Rape Victim From Prestigious Award
BBC has a good story on India’s lunar mission here :
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66530022
A while to go still but looking forward to both these landing and bringing us new knowledge about places humans haven’t yet been.
Oh. My. God.
God Awful Movies have dug up another christian/patriotic film, and it is hilariously bad.
“GAM 417 To Die For ”
https://youtu.be/VhHJk335NMI
or possibly
https://youtu.be/VhHJk335NMl
Seen on fb today – spot on :
Sums it up concisely.
Britain plotting to assassinate pro-Russian leaders in Africa, says Moscow
Jan. 6 rioter who stole police shield and kept it as a souvenir is sentenced to prison
GA prosecutors try to ‘make challenging an election a crime’ just for Trump, SC’s Graham says
After his client was charged with armed bank robbery, defense attorney Lindsay Graham Cracker stated, “They’re trying to make withdrawing money from the bank illegal.”
wzrd1 @230, Please do not post stuff like this on this thread: “harm children, it’s quite likely you’d either witness your own children’s remains eaten by pigs of join them.”
Reginald Selkirk @ 251
Methinks they are projecting.
.
Today is a very important day for Swedish culinary traditions.
No, not lutefisk.
It is the first day of the North Swedish surströmming * season.
The cans were sold out in hours, but you can buy individual cans online at prices varying fron 10 to 100 $.
*fermented herring. Going back to the era before preservatives and refrigerators it is very much an aquired taste.
Trump Indicted. DeSantis Struggling. Is This Tim Scott’s Moment?
No. Next question.
SC @221, Roger Stone pushed that plot before the election was even called!
Spain’s Queen Letizia to attend World Cup final against England
Honestly, I didn’t know Spain had a queen.
Matt Gaetz gives away the game on the GOP’s push to impeach Biden
To hear Matt Gaetz tell it, the impeachment process won’t remove Joe Biden from office, but it will sully the president ahead of his re-election bid. [JFC]
Yeah, right.
Republicans miss the point of Trump scandal with ‘ballot box’ talk
Tom Cotton wants voters to decide Donald Trump’s fate. Has the senator not noticed that Trump doesn’t respect or accept election results he doesn’t like?
Followup to Reginald @256.
Link
Rather than say that Tim Scott is mischaracterizing reality, I would say that he is telling a lie … well, several lies. He is pushing disinformation like a common trumpian sycophant.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-maaaaaay-not-do-total-exoneration
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #258…
At Franco’s death, the Spanish monarchy was reinstated. King quite often marry…so queens are pretty common in monarchies.
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on the real co-conspirator
Satire written by Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
LK-99 isn’t a superconductor — how science sleuths solved the mystery
FIFY
@265
BTW I think Andy Borowitz does a terrific job of satire, which must be difficult when dealing with a reality that is so cartoonish.
Hee.
Lynna @ #257, I know! IIRC, he also started plotting the “Stop the Steal” manipulation campaign in like 2015. He’s been pulling this shit for 50 years.
It’s so infuriating. The Electoral College itself (like the Senate) is already blatantly anti-democratic and gives Republicans an unfair advantage – they can “win” the presidency even when they lose by millions of votes. But when they can’t even manage to get their full minority rule through that unfair advantage (alongside their voter suppression and disenfranchisement efforts), they’re happy to engage in further anti-democratic trickery to secure and retain power. They’re totally prepared to exploit aspects of the EC process, activating Republican elections boards, Republican governors and other state officials, gerrymandered state legislatures, the gerrymandered House, Republican Senators, the Vice President, Republican judges (Trump at the Ellipse on January 6th: “You know, look, I’m not happy with the Supreme Court…. I picked three people. I fought like hell for them. One in particular, I fought…. And you know what, they couldn’t give a damn. They couldn’t give a damn. Let him rule the right way.”), and violent mobs to reject the will of the voters.
In related news, Empty Wheel – “As Xitter’s Lawyer Stalled DOJ, Elon Musk Met with Jim Jordan (Twice!) and Kevin McCarthy.”
South Korean University Investigating Author of Those Viral Superconductor Claims
Interesting, but this deals with publication ethics, not the conduct of the research.
Hans Kundnani in the Guardian – “‘The Eurocentric fallacy’: the myths that underpin European identity”:
Meduza – “‘I can’t stand the goat, but I hate those who let it get the cabbage’ After receiving a 19-year prison sentence, Alexey Navalny lays into the liberal opposition and independent media for legitimizing the regime they should have resisted”:
Meduza – “‘At last, the Kremlin and opposition see history the same’ Journalists, analysts, and opposition figures respond to Alexey Navalny’s manifesto on the wicked 1990s and failure of Russia’s democrats”:
It’s so bizarre that there’s no mention of global capitalism in this discussion at all.
Related to #271 – Guardian – “At least 63 people feared dead after boat found off Cape Verde”:
I am finding claims that the Ukrainan counter-battery fire has been so effective that they are now beginning to outgun the Russian artillery.
I am holding off celebrating until there are more confirmations but remember- the Russian army is built around massive artillery superiority.
If they lose that, they will be in a situation för which the top brass has ko training and the conscript army infantry has not exactly prvoven itself to be skilled and flexible.
Canadian woman sentenced to nearly 22 years for 2020 ricin letter sent to Trump in White House
Court watchdog files complaint against a judge who ordered ‘religious-liberty training’ for lawyers
Georgia Republican lawmaker moves to impeach Trump prosecutor Fani Willis
He is certifying that he has an opinion? Pompous git.
Even more late Cretaceous dinosaur ichnofossils found in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. They had been found there b(1) (footprints) before, but this really is amazing.
(1) Yes, Chrome, ichnofossil is too a word.
Lee Kovarsky
Railroad workers are going on strike with a list of surprising demands: ‘[This strike] shows the potential power of workers’
Story by Erin Feiger
A major problem with trying to speed up the adoption of the Tier-4 locomotives is the actual life-span of locomotives. Whether steam locomotives, diesel-electric locomotives, electric locomotives, or even hydraulic-electric locomotives, for the past 120 years, they have had a main line life span of 18 to 22 year. Around 20 years of pulling heavy freight trains, or fast passenger trains, and, even with regular rebuilds, the price per mile skyrockets due to repair, maintenance, and fuel costs. The older locomotives are not thrown away. Instead, main line roads use them as helper engines — pushing trains up steep grades — of as switching locomotives in railroad yards. After five to fifteen years of that, they are still not put out to pasture. Instead, they are traded in for new locomotives — components are rebuilt and reused or recycled into rebuilding projects — or sell them (often after an update rebuild) to short line railroads which basically do the retail business of railroads — a couple of cars to this industry, a dozen to that one, etc. Shortline railroads keep the locomotives in service for decades. One of the local short lines near me is still using GE Century Class locomotives (C-425s and C-426s (which are renamed U-boats) from the mid-1960s. And they are still in service. A new locomotive is an expensive proposition. Discarding them, or downgrading them, or selling them before their time will not help the railroad’s bottom line. The only way this will happen is through government intervention. Otherwise, it will be another 50 years before the last of the old locomotives are too expensive to even run on short lines.
Belarus declares 19th Century nationalist poems ‘extremist’
The confirmed death toll from Hawaii’s wildfires now stands at 111. That number of deaths is still expected to rise.
NBC News:
That seems wise.
NBC News:
Cartoon: Is Trump ready to talk about his legal bills?
Lit Hub – “Vermont’s Lt. Gov. is doing a reading tour of banned books, moving him to the top of our Lt. Gov list.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-asks-judge-schedule-federal-election-interference-trial/story?id=102357373
Trump reacts to Georgia indictment for first time on camera: ‘I have four of them now’
Four of a kind. He should try for a full house.
Mike Lindell’s Wacky New Way to Fight Vote Fraud Might Get You Arrested
I think you can add the FCC to the list of government agencies that might have a problem with this.
Trump effort to attack Biden backfires as sinister DC military photo turns out to be from his own presidency
Florida man who attacked officers with flagpole at Capitol riot gets 4 years in prison
Trump cancels press conference to refute Georgia claims against him
Ukraine Update: Ukraine rushes to take advantage of Urozhaine’s liberation
” Unlike the federal system, when someone is indicted in Fulton County, the indictment includes the names of all the grand jurors who served on the 26-member panel that handed up the charges. However, the indictment, which is a public record that’s available on the court website, does not include their addresses or any other personally identifiable information.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday afternoon that it was “aware that personal information of members of the Fulton County Grand Jury is being shared on various platforms” and that investigators are trying to “track down the origin of threats” against the grand jurors.
Yay, even disinformation is to be found here.
Fuck it, nuke the entire planet with cobalt-60 devices, call it won and done.
wzrd1 @ #292, that’s exactly what tomh explained @ #226 (and, in fact, what was described in Lynna’s #213). I’m not sure what’s got you so confused about this, but reading more carefully seems a better option than calling to destroy the planet.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Naomi Klein and Kapuaʻala Sproat in the Guardian – “Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui?”:
Much more at the link.
A few links:
Tech Won’t Save Us – “Pondering the Orb w/ Molly White”:
Dexeen – “AI’s ‘eye-watering’ use of resources could be a hurdle to achieving climate goals, argue experts.”
They have a dystopian image of a Google data center, which was oddly enough “courtesy of Google.”
From the article:
From the links in the previous article – Dezeen – “Solar Protocol network explores the potential of a solar-powered internet”:
US approves sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and Netherlands
Judge dismisses Hunter Biden misdemeanor tax charges
Damn. I was looking forward to that. I would have been entertaining.(<<<That was humour. Don’t jump on me.) And I bet the prosecuting attorney in Georgia would have thought it more than entertaining.
Good. Those were bullshit charges. And it will be spun by organized crime (that’d be the GOP and their sycophants) as an impeachable offense. Against someone.
One Thing May Save Ukraine From Russia’s Mine Warfare Nightmare: Spider Boots
Spain Socialists win first parliamentary battle, securing speaker role
Visitors to sunflower fields urged to stop posing naked for photo shoots
Meduza – “Moscow court rules to liquidate Sakharov Center, one of Russia’s oldest human rights groups”:
Noel on Tafkat:
Video at the link.
Would Americans believe GOP talking points about the Trump indictments? Apparently not.
Link
Kyrsten Sinema wants Biden and the military to negotiate with a hostage-taker
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on ‘Operation Tommy Tuberville’
Teen’s Family ‘Extremely Fearful’ for Her Life After She Fled to Italy With Exorcist Priest
Abortion Clinic Near California-Arizona Border Burns Down, a Major Blow to Regional Access
Link
I certainly do. The current filibuster rule is nothing like the historical filibuster. The senator does not have to speak for long hours or exert any effort. It is more like a personal veto for each and every one of the 100 senators. Anyone respecting the filibuster rule for the sake of ‘tradition’ ought to want it to revert to the old form.
CBS – “Ukraine making progress in counteroffensive, U.S. officials say”:
Reginald @309, that’s some really toxic religious nonsense! Dangerous.
In other news: Biden administration extends temporary legal status for Ukrainians in US
Re: Lynna, OM @ #306…
Sinema gives herself away by referring to Tuberville as “Coach.” One wonders if she refers to Trump as “President”, too?
As noted, the “compromise” is for Tuberville to submit a bill to override the Pentagon policy and let it wend it’s way through the legislative process (it’d probably be laughed at in committee and dropped, which is–likely–why he isn’t going that route).
Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, I hope.
Russia recruited operatives online to target weapons crossing Poland
Russian spy agencies built a network of amateurs for operations including sabotage, assassination and arson — plots disrupted by Polish authorities
Washington Post link
SC@312,
I’m sceptical of the CBS report. ISW’s interactive map shows Ukrainian forces perhps 15 miles from Tokmak, with multiple defensive obstacles in the way!
One thing in @ 310 makes me curious. How is the alleged WMD device to monitor equipment and networks it isn’t linked to, given traffic is encrypted for wireless these days? The most he could accomplish is detecting a wireless signal and that wouldn’t be easily discerned from a voter’s or staffer’s cell phone WiFi and a standalone network and actual internet connectivity would not be detectable unless he was joined to the encrypted network.
Nothing he said makes a lick of sense, not that his audience would know.
KG @ #317, yes, that map makes me skeptical as well. Even if they mean that (allegedly) strongest line of defenses to the north, it would be surprising for them to have reached it since yesterday, and for CBS to be the only ones to be reporting it. And it seems highly unlikely they would have some lone salient extending that far south. But no one seems to be refuting the report of some progress in general, either. There’s almost no news today!
X accused of monetizing pro-Hitler account as two brands suspend advertising
wzrd1 @ # 318: The most he could accomplish is detecting a wireless signal …
That would only matter to a good-faith effort to detect tampering. For Lindell, false positives present no problem at all.
“See? Look! All those bluetooth and wifi signals came straight from Beijing!!1!”
Musk says X’s ‘block’ feature is going away
Probably Musk is upset that people block him.
wzrd1 @318, “Nothing he said makes a lick of sense, not that his audience would know.” Yep. I agree with your conclusion.
In other news: Judge rejects Trump’s attempt to delay E. Jean Carroll civil trial, calls appeal ‘frivolous’
Hurricane update:
NBC News link
Scientists Capture Close-Up Footage of a Deep-Sea Transparent Glass Squid
Trump being unintentionally hilarious … again:
Link
Link
Followup to comment 327.
Posted by readers of the article:
Link
@287, 318 Mike Lindell’s wacky “WMD” drones
It sounds like the drones are not recording traffic, they are just looking for devices advertising connections on Wi-fi, and it logs their MAC addresses.
Your phone can do this. All it would take is an app for a wi-fi enabled smartphone. The whole drone angle is completely unnecessary and absurd.
Noel on Tafkat:
Subtitled video at the link.
@ 330, my computers already have all the software needed for a war drive. Still doesn’t provide any worthwhile evidence beyond that a device is advertising its SSID. And a broadcast SSID isn’t evidence of internet connectivity, as one hasn’t joined that network.
Way beyond wacky, to say the least. Even money, whoever sold him those devices saw him coming from way off.
I suspect that the far right really does want to overthrow the government via civil war and undermining our government within the legislature, while undermining faith in our election systems are key elements trying to drive toward that goal.
Kyiv Independent – “This Week in Ukraine Ep. 21 – Counteroffensive progress: Expectations vs. reality”:
I recommend this. Honestly, I get emotional watching. These young people are so composed and professional in the face of the attack on their country. And I adore their little set and how calm and informative the discussion is. It’s a complete contrast to the ugliness and hysteria of Russian media.
CLICK!
…That is very Zen, thank you.
As regards a Lindell’s WiFi detector drones… He’s probably pushing the idea of using drones because these days, between various scare at airports and a ll the activity in Ukraine, drones are a hot topic.
As for specifics… I have an electronic name badge that advertises an SSID. It has no other connections. The purpose is so I can use another device to connect to it to change settings or shut it down cleanly. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a 3.5″ LCD panel. Even simpler (and cheaper), if someone wanted to do it would be a bare Pi0W with software to support for an open SSID. $15 for the Pi0W, $5 for the microSD card to boot from, $10 or so for a small powerbank, and $1 or so for a 6″ USB-A to microUSB-B cable to connect the battery to the Pi0W and it’ll run for 10 to 12 hours.
The eco-friendly glass that’s hard to crack
Update to a story I posted about a while back – Salt Lake Tribune – “Utah officers shut down animal rights activists. Now their county is paying the protesters thousands.”:
Is Lindell selling the drones? Selling people what they already have or don’t need is a grifter theme.
Fired founder of right-wing org Project Veritas is under investigation in New York
Edward Norton turns 54 today, having survived being stabbed by Hannibal Lecter.
California GOP may strip opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage from platform
Meanwhile, the Texas GOP platform will probably call for impeachment of Biden and secession. Voting for a Republican furthers the cause of the party as a whole, which has gone wholly insane.
Brony @338, yes, Lindell is selling those drones. It is a fundraising scheme that is pure grift.
In other news: Ukraine Update: US intelligence report paints grim picture of Ukraine advance … or does it?
I’ll repeat this for emphasis: “We actually don’t know what the report says.” True. However, from the details provided in the Washington post article, it sounds to me like Republican propaganda, or like Republicans spinning a report to make it say what they would like for it to say.
“Ukraine Summer Offensive Update for August 18: ‘Freeze the Front’”:
Followup to comment 342.
Posted by readers of the article:
New York Times:
NBC News:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Quick Explainer: Team Trump can review 11.5M pages of evidence in months, not years. Here’s how.
I should just shit in my hand and write freedom on it. Someone will buy it.
A case of locally acquired malaria has been confirmed in Maryland, the state Department of Health said Friday. The person was briefly hospitalized and is recovering at home.
The agency declined to give more details about the person except to say they live in the Washington, D.C., area. They did not have a history of recent travel outside the US or to other states where locally acquired malaria has been reported. Nine cases have been reported this summer in Florida and Texas, the first in the US in 20 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/health/malaria-maryland/index.html
Research suggests that getting one’s COVID-19 booster shots in the same arm as last received in boosts immune response.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/health/covid-vaccine-arm-wellness/index.html
Trump unveils endorsement seal to combat ‘scammers’
(I think he means ‘competition’)
‘Tanning Mom’ Patricia Krentcil Announces Run For Florida Senate Seat
South Florida to feel effects of tropical system after a fourth pops up in the Atlantic
National Hurricane Center
Elon Musk’s X follower count bloated by millions of new, inactive accounts
CompulsoryAccount7746, you have 4 or more numbers in your handle.
Black Conservatives Go After Florida Education Vendor Staffer Who Said Black People Have ‘Never Been Told No Before’ and Are ‘Coddled By Society’
John Morales, sometimes, I cigar is just a cigar.
Believed to form from direct collapse of massive gas clouds and with forty million solar masses each :
Source : https://www.space.com/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-heavy-black-hole-seeds-early-universe
Latest episode of Planet America with good good legal analysis of Trump’s latest indictment and more here – 50 mins long approx.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From their latest summary:
Also in the Guardian:
“Canada wildfires: British Columbia in state of emergency as 19,000 flee Yellowknife fire”:
“New Covid variant causing concern among scientists detected in London”:
Musk’s latest massively bad brainfart :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-19/elon-musk-looks-to-scrap-blocking-on-x-twitter/102751598
Revealed: WHO aspartame safety panel linked to alleged Coca-Cola front group
Blue-blocking glasses might not do much of anything, says new review
I cannot tell you how shocked I am.
Laura Clawson at Daily Kos – “New York Times’ take on six types of Republican voters is missing some stuff”:
Incredible:
“ProfRobert” in the comments:
Guardian – “Tokitae, the star of Miami Seaquarium, dies after half a century in captivity”: “The beloved orca, born into the L-pod of resident killer whales in the Pacific north-west, was awaiting release into her home waters…”
The robot stretcher drone saving lives on Ukraine’s battlefields
Sweden 2 – 0 Australia
If anyone cares about third place at the World Cup
@ 365, blue blocker sunglasses have been around for decades. They only fairly recently became a fad, with all manner of benefits proclaimed without any evidence whatsoever.
Indeed, back in the late 1970’s, they were uncommon and largely could only be found in sporting goods stores as “shooting glasses”. I’ll admit, they did help sharpen the view slightly, but never did increase accuracy all that much, as the human eye doesn’t focus the color blue very well at all. They were slightly more useful where one had an excess of blue light, such as on the water or flying and regular sunglasses did a far better job – especially polarized sunglasses.
I far more often use “smoke gray” polarized lenses or just clear protective lenses, although I do have one set of protective glasses that have the optional blue blocking tint to remain unused (they just came with a bunch of lenses to not use, they’re one set of the above mentioned clear lenses bearing glasses currently).
I do recall one militarily useful filtered lens, in military binoculars, a coating that filtered out specific wavelengths of green, causing foliage to nearly gray out, clearly allowing camouflaged vehicles stand out clearly. The coating also protected somewhat from certain bands of laser illuminators, lowering the risk of blindness if one were illuminated by a ranging laser.
Of course, if I found myself being illuminated by a ranging laser of eye injurious power, it’s fairly likely something conducive to ruining my weekend plans on a permanent basis is likely to be shortly along its way to visit.
StevoR @363, Musk just wants to make sure people can’t block him or any of his whacko/Nazi friends.
SC @366, I am truly tried of seeing the New York Times working to rehabilitate Trump and his cult followers.
The missing, with warrant issued for to be sentenced Proud Boys member now has the FBI on his trail.
A bit interesting, as usually fugitives are chased by the US Marshal Service, not the FBI.
Anyone have an idea why that’s so, do let me know. Things can get counterintuitive in federal land, I mean the US Marshal Service also provides policing for the US Antarctic Program.
And if any wants entertainment, figure out how a space alien could get an entry visit for your country, as they certainly couldn’t visit their local embassy. ;)
Sounds like the makings for a science fiction version of The Terminal.
Followup to SC @366.
Republicanism’s only policy is to support Donald Trump.
Link
Way too much work # 373. Easier and more efficient to have an AI trained in Trumpisms, guided by actual realism and it generate Trump speeches and Trump videos.
It’d be win-win, at least the world would have one Trump with intelligence.
Partial transcript:
Link
More at the link.
Posted by readers of the article:
Followup to comment 376:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/19/2188248/-Trump-Fall
Guardian liveblog quoting a full article by Andrew Roth:
Interesting article about the ineligibility of Donald Trump to hold any public office due to section 3 of the 14th amendment. There is also this video about it with the 2 authors.
I do hope that this will get more publicly discussed and become a real possibility as an outcome, as it should be. The additional advantage to the removal of TFG from the presidential race is that it also removes any deadline for holding him accountable for his many crimes.
Female spy ring working for Russia busted in Ukraine
Re: #379
This is being widely discussed, including this lengthy article in the Los Angeles Times just yesterday, which claims it may be the “dominant” issue of the primary season. Bear in mind, though, that the odds of it actually coming to fruition are extremely low. The outcome would rest on the courts defining “insurrection and rebellion” and whether those apply. And the Supreme Court, well…..they’re not the most courageous group we’ve ever seen.
Ukraine Update: Ukraine is about to reach the ‘downhill’ part of the Tokmak offensive—literally
Link
LOL. “On a related note, I am a fan of XKCD.”
CNN – “Russia’s lander experiences ‘emergency situation’ while approaching lunar surface”:
Everyone at West Virginia University Knew Something Was Up. I Hate That We Were Right.
It’s interesting that first the Indian probe, now the Russian probe are having problems reaching the south lunar pole. I’m wondering if the southernmost mascon is giving them issues, things can be a bit… lumpy approaching the pole, especially that one monster.
Of course, if it was easy, it wouldn’t be rocket science.
Re: wzrd1 @ #386…
My wife was doing temp work at Berkeley’s Space Sciences Lb and was asked one day how to do something in a word processing program. The person asking said, “I know it’s not rocket science. I’m a rocket scientist.”
whheydt @ 387, worked around the type. Fun enough to work with and socialize with.
Ironically, I’m rather lousy with office products, but can wrangle networks, network drives, the OS proper, etc, while still intelligently converse about rockets. But then, one of my hobbies was building model rockets. Haven’t had a failure of one since I was a pre-teen, even for home ginned up designs. Or a balance issue since that age.
And my original background was as a CET, so control circuits, analog or digital are pretty close to instinctive in response to a novel design.
Navigation inside of a gravity well, hell, I have trouble with that on the ground. ;)
Advanced spreadsheet work, beyond me. That’s what Google is for. Figuring out a problem with Oracle, that’ll take a bit longer than if I called in a specialist, but I’ve managed it and hated every second of it, due to the potential for making things worse or data loss.
And scripting, well, I literally have scripts that decide which scripts to write for a specific need. For some, the easiest way to define them for review as to provide the script and a Karnaugh map.
I’m also well known for walking on water, but it has to be very, very cold, for a fairly lengthy amount of time. :P
Suffice it to say, if it’s mass concentrations throwing off navigational curves due to gravitational attraction forces, landing would be even more challenging than even Armstrong could’ve wrangled.
Still, it could just be two misconfigurations or construction/implementation errors, small sample set and all. In an ideal world, I’d want to toss a few small crash landers with full telemetry and track them all the way to impact, just to be sure. Better than designing for pretty much everything remotely possible, due to mass constraints.
The minimum intervention for the maximal benefit, not just jump in with heroic effort and really turn everything into a flaming mess.
Re: wzrd1 @ #388…
I really don’t think the Russian lander problem is the mascon. it’s more likely either a hardware fault (functionally, a QC problem) or software.
My wife was an SF fan from way back, including writing Star Trek fanfic and compiling the first 2 years of the Star Trek Concordance (third year and onward being done by Bjo Trimble). Since she had a degree in Linguistics, she developed a grammar for the Vulcan language (as opposed to a selective word list) and coined one term that has actually worked its way–uncredited–in the canon: ni var. The Vulcan grammar she wrote is still the basis from currently extant conlangs of it. She went on from there to write SF and fantasy, including two published novels and 30+ short stories. She was very much not a computer person, though for all that she got along with them better most people who weren’t heavily into computers, especially for her generation (born in 1942). The first text editor she learned was vi and used to touch type vi while embedding nroff/troff commands on the fly. She also got to the point that she could use all the common pre-processors like tbl and eqn, so long as somebody else told what the results were supposed to look like.
Just re-watched one of my favorite “alien first contact films”, Arrival, a 2016 film.
Few plot omissions, few gaffes, human nature a bit unusual – save for extreme stress and secrecy, and overall concept being space-time has time not exceptionally relevant overall, in specific ways, yeah.
And plot line violations were well enough covered.
Alas, there can be no II, save if it’s 3000 years in the future, when humanity answers the distress call.
Not a biggie here, Hollywood
likely yearns for a cheap-o-matic pop-off.
Hollywood reminds me of Lincoln’s patent office. Shortly before the Civil War, the patent office clerk suggested to Lincoln abolishing the patent office, as all possible inventions were already invented. Lincoln declined.
Eventually, Hollywood will originate. Hopefully, before the sun goes out.
As for linguistics, yeah, totally fuck-all in accuracy. But, publicly reasonably understandable, I’d only add cultural sharing for mutual comprehension.
And I only curse in 6 languages fluently.
Basic understanding to find a bathroom, only 3. Barely.
But, get a gist of conversation. Random words get absorbed, learning as well. Depends upon the environment.
Feel ooofu today, my back hurts after walking to my usual supermarket. Mashallah, it didn’t kill me yet.
Talking about mama, that’s a larger vocabulary, as when momma got discussed, I know when a weapon is about to come out.
Written language, I’m dyslexic, are you fucking serious?!
Still, great film.
Another favorite was Clara.
wzrd1 @390, the movie doesn’t really do the story justice, takes the usual liberties.
http://web.archive.org/web/20131101142206/http://www.ime.usp.br/~jstern/miscellanea/General/Chiang98.pdf
Not found at link provided, John.
Want to try it again?
I’m used to movies failing to actually achieve their malfeasance.
My bad, deficient downllink throughput.
Could Trump face terrorism charges for Jan 6th and for inciting violenc eagainst the Judges and witnesses and prosecutors in his now many trials?
Trump & his conspiracy accomplices are, after all, stochastic terrorists. Admittedly the hardest type to convict and prove.
Spain 1 – 0 England
Congratulations to Spain; deserved champions.
Russian general who knew ‘secrets’ of Putin’s palace dies suddenly in prison
So, no windows were involved?
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry approves Ukrainian-made SkyKnight drones for military use
Link
Media Matters link
Media Matters link. More at the link.
YouTube link to “Dambala.”
Black Music Sunday. Much more at the link.
YouTube link to Rhiannon Giddens singing At the Purchaser’s Option.
YouTube link to Richie Havens singing Follow the Drinking Gourd.”
Youtube link to Cynthia Erivo singing Stand Up.
From the motion picture HARRIET, the Original Song “STAND UP” is written by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo.
Nina Simone singing “Mississippi Goddam“
Rob @404, nice addition to Black Music Sunday.
In other news, David Brooks is being clueless about his own privileged position is society (again), and he is being pompous while condescending to others (again).
Link
1 dead, emergency proclamation declared in Washington state wildfire
Link
Bigots Are Literally Killing People Over Pride Flags Now
https://www.wonkette.com/p/bigots-are-literally-killing-people
Shop owner Lauri Carleton was murdered by some creep upset that she displayed a pride flag.
Re: the earlier discussion about the Russian Luna 25 mission. It’s on the surface of the Moon now. Got there the hard way. It crashed.
Yes. I suspected the Russians would have a hard time to get it to work- the last time they did a soft landing on the Moon was in the 1970s.
Luna 15 was very close to getting a lunar sample for a return journey alternatively landing a remote-cobtrolled lunar rover before Apollo 11 landed, but it crashed when Apollo 11 was en route.
According to The Guardian, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife “are in the final chapter”.
British researchers at Hemel Hempstead have been working on a safe substitute for alcohol that reduces shyness but does not cause hangover.
It attaches to only two of the GABA receptors. You can not die from a huge dose.
Ukraine Update: Ukraine gets its F-16s, but big challenges lie ahead
This article is accompanied by a nice selfie of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Mark Rutte announcing Netherland’s transfer of all its F-16s to Ukraine.
North Korean hackers target U.S.-South Korea military drills, police say
Tu-22 Backfire Destroyed In Drone Strike Deep Inside Russia
Nude ‘Tour de France’ banned for public indecency on several of its stages
Christians must not fear AI because it ‘cannot talk to God’
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at this week’s fake news
Shooter in Fayetteville road-rage killing says gun fired because Band-Aid snagged trigger
Oh, that’s gonna go over well in court. For that to happen, he would already have drawn his gun, had it in his hand, pointed it at his adversary with his finger on the trigger.
Obviously, it’s because of a high capacity band-aid, holding back a veritable flood of bullshit.
JFC, that’s about as lame as “my dog ate my homework”, for the very reasons Reginald Selkirk mentioned. Drawn, loaded firearm, aimed and booger picker on the trigger. I can’t think of a traffic interaction where I’ve considered using a firearm during.
Just weapons grade bullshit.
@ 418, I consider it an absolute indictment of what a shambles our education system is, as anyone who has even the coarsest comprehension of civics 101 would know that our military is prohibited from making arrests within the US when there isn’t martial law declarations due to a severe emergency in place. That whole Posse Comitatus Act thing and all.
Hell, the last time I heard of any violation of that act, a USAF officer’s career came to a spectacular and immediate end.
It’s almost as if some yearn for armed military patrolling streets and arresting random people!
Re: wzrd1 @ #421…
Some probably do yearn for that, but they assume that they (or people who think like them) aren’t going to be the ones randomly arrested (or shot).
3 dead, 6 wounded in shooting at a hookah lounge in south Seattle; no word on suspects
Watching a 2021 film, “Nobody”, found while looking for “My Name is Nobody”, a 1974 film.
Both, quite well liked.
The 2021, quite dissimilar to the Ford starring film, retired wet work cleaner is doing the mundane, things happen, he goes off in frustration to a fairly petty crime and contrived escalation ensues involving Russian Mafia antics, he goes off the handle properly. Good guy gets the girl, rides into the sunset.
But, it reminded me of a Billy Joel song, brought to mind when my wife saw me go off in a more threatening situation.
She looked at me differently after that, a dangerous creature that she was the only keyholder to its cage.
Called her my failsafe.
Now, only age is the failsafe and that’s decidedly unsafe.
Still, a good movie and the motivation for his violence initially is fairly accurate.
As in, been similar in situation, done similar, but thankfully, didn’t piss off Russian Mafia, only injured a few would-be rapists badly.
And I’d do it again, although, due to aging, probably worse for them. Let one go, it’s as bad as letting the lot go, so all needed to be neutralized, testified against and punished by the penal system, the problematic business shuttered due to damages.
Someone wants to be an asshole, that’s fine, rolls down my back, trying harm, that does push my “push to start” button and despite needing a cane to walk, I still move faster than most and with adrenaline, my strength shocks an adversary. I just love peace and quiet.
Oh, “Arrival” pdf version of what I assume is the source for the film, for once, I actually prefer the film version.
It was slightly more cogent, if missing more theory present in the text. Emotional content was the winner.
Parental angst, yeah, well recognized in text and as usual, not recognized in the film.
Pity that the twain could not meet, due to running length and iron Hollywood rules on running time.
The storm Hilary has hit Mexico, the intense rain has already caused damage. It is moving on towards California.
Before anyone else makes a joke, I would mention the animated TV series “The Super ”
When the protagonist hears on the radio an approaching hurricane is named “El Negro” he exclaims “finally they have named something after us Black folks”.
The radio continues: “El Negro is predicted to be the most destructive hurricane of the season”.
Protagonist: “Goddammit!”.
The Harvard professor Frank Hu states that anyone who follows five simple rules can add ten years to their life span, after the largest lifestyle/health study ever
(lacking a subscription, I did not get to the interesting bit).
The Saudis are utter bastards.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/aug/21/fired-on-like-rain-saudi-border-guards-accused-of-mass-killings-of-ethiopians
The imagination bogles! Seems to me the almost unbelievably reverend gentlemen is taking a lot on himself: if the omnipotent creator wishes to have a chat with ChatGPT, it is surely within its powers to do so, granting the AI life and intelligence if it so wishes!
Rumour has it that the moon shot it down, fearing it was the start of a Russian invasion!
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian Ukraine liveblog. From there:
Magnitude-5.1 earthquake in Ventura County shakes parts of Southern California
Simultaneous earthquakes and hurricanes, oh my!
Rudy Giuliani Says He Has ‘Scientific’ Proof Of Election Fraud To Exonerate Him
WTF has he been waiting for?
Philomena Cunk on American history
https://youtu.be/g16IFj6CpDE
or
https://youtu.be/g16lFj6CpDE
@425. birgerjohansson : They should name hurricanes and heatwaves etc .. fater Fossil Fool companies eg Hurricane Exxon, the BP drought, Santos heatwave, etc..
Some very disturbing Climate info here regarding methane levels :
Source : https://theconversation.com/rising-methane-could-be-a-sign-that-earths-climate-is-part-way-through-a-termination-level-transition-211211
Apparently according to ABC news Trumphas confirmed he’s skipping the Repug debate. Its a TV ticker note but no online news article yet.
Mernahwile another grimly informative, data and graphs packed Climate news article here :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-21/ocean-tempertature-records-2023/102701172
For the first time in more than 2 months, Phoenix fails to reach a high of 100 degrees
Also in today’s Guardian:
“‘Orphaned by decree’: Italy’s same-sex parents react to losing their rights”:
“New York is building the world’s tallest jail in Chinatown. Can anyone stop it?”:
Looks Like the Website for Trump’s Patriot Legal Defense Fund Just Got Hacked
A Swizz weather balloon recently had to climb to a record 5300 m (17,400 ft) before the temperature fell to 0°C.
This underlines the extreme heat over Europe this summer.
Normally you expect the snow line on some equatorial mountain like Kilimanjaro to be that high.
A few links from Tafkat:
Noel:
Tendar:
Dmitri:
Videos, etc., at the links.
Ecuador election heads to run-off vote, with González to face surprise second-place Noboa
‘Welcome, buddy!’ — Contact established between Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and Chandrayaan-3 lander module
This is going to be interesting with the failure of the Russian moonshot.
Australia to buy Tomahawk missiles from US to boost defense
Trump voters trust him more than their families, religious leaders: poll
New podcast episodes:
Our Hen House – “The EATS Act is a ‘Race to the Bottom’ w/ Chris Green”:
NBN – “Bobby J. Smith II, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement“:
Reginald @444, yep. It’s a cult.
Nebraska Is Now Moving to Put Abortion to a Statewide Vote in 2024
DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has had great success in combatting misinformation. So why is Team Trump so eager to gut it?
Associated Press:
Commentary:
Link
NU cuts stadium concerts request
Our society has serious but overlooked problem. The person that shot and killed the store owner in Arrowhead Calif. over a pride flag obviously had a fatal infection of intolerant, violent hatred. I checked around and main stream news has provided almost no information about the killer. If we don’t know the cause of his hatred; what implanted that infection of violence and hatred in his mind, we will not be able to neutralize the source of that infection. It is important that society not hide, ignore or rationalize these sources of hatred, violence and intolerance or it will continue to grow and infect others’ minds; resulting in our society rotting from the inside outward.
Link
Link
Link
This is an increase in tensions that I think we could see coming when Wagner forces moved into Belarus.
Too many media outlets are latching on to a misleading verbal framework when they discuss the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Link
Tucker In Eastern Europe Spreading Russian Propaganda, Just Like Good Old Days When He Had A Job
https://www.wonkette.com/p/tucker-in-eastern-europe-spreading
Update regarding Hurricane Hillary:
Washington Post link
Hurricane Hillary update from the New York Times:
https://twitter.com/neal_katyal/status/1693608228876059056
Neal Katyal is right.
Followup to comment 459.
Mediate link
A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country
Much more at the link.
I don’t like the “evil” framing of the issue. Too religious.
Followup to comment 460.
Posted by readers of the article:
NBC News:
Commentary:
Link
On Fox News, this is what passes for news about Hurricane Hillary:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-brags-about-how-much-putin
Satire written by Andy Borowitz:
New Yorker link
Re: Lynna, OM @ #454…
If Lukashenko leaves the world stage, his title as “last dictator in Europe” will probably devolve on to Victor Orban.
Trump bail set at $200,000 in Georgia election case
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump’s bond set for $200,000 in Fulton County
By Tamar Hallerman / 1 hour ago
[The Consent Bond Order is here. It includes…]
Vivek Ramaswamy wants to know how many ‘federal agents’ were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers: ‘I want the truth about 9/11’
Followup to Reginald @469.
Link
Republicans who are members of the House Freedom Caucus are bloviating all over the place, and at an accelerated rate:
Link
@390: You liked the science fiction film Arrival (2016), but have you ever seen the science fiction film The Arrival (1996, starring Charlie Sheen)? I recommend it. Now showing on tubitv.com (free with ads)
Shouldn’t those be “Ron DeSantis Sucks” pride t-shirts?
You know, fully bury the hatchet, full head deep. ;)
Reginald Selkirk @ 472, actually watched that again two nights ago.
Felt too much like reality, only with full governmental cooperation and support of the aliens goals to cook the planet…
Although, their black hole bombs were unrealistic in the extreme, as no emitting accretion disc formed.
As for TV series, re-watching Last Resort.
Suffice it to say, I concur with the Captain’s reservations that premised an entirely Trumplike decision. Something inconsiderable at the time of the series airing and cancellation.
Ukraine Update: Russia makes reported advance near Kupyansk as north continues to be a concern
Followup to comment 476.
Posted by readers of the article:
NBC News:
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden viewed the damage on Maui today.
Some Ukraine-related links:
From the Guardian liveblog before it closed:
Guardian – “Russian women fear return of murderers freed to fight for Wagner”:
Kyiv Independent – “Media: Ukraine strikes at least five aircraft in Russia over past days”:
Meduza – “‘The Russian world cannot be contained by state borders’ A required college course will teach Russia’s students that their country is a civilization unto itself”:
(Compare the staging of the event for students pictured here with the set of the Kyiv Independent’s podcast @ #333.)
Saw one news report on Maui that suggested over 1000 dead, not quite renting it at all, let alone buying it.
Typical figures, I’m anticipating around 300, kid hugging dog is a heart tugger, but well, reality.
That is based upon usual escalation of reported numbers in a disaster area. Shit gets blurry in a major disaster event, massively blurry, miscommunications, errors in reported numbers, etc and well, worse.
If the count of dead halted immediately, due to a lack of deaths, I’d be the happiest person on the entire planet, not expecting that, as a lot of area needs to be excavated and explored for remains.
Re: wzrd1 @ #480…
I saw one report stating that there are still some 850 people missing on Maui.
That number is as good as a Russian number, given the level of disaster. It’s a clusterfuck from hell.
Long and short, it’ll be much higher at the end of the counting.
And some water rationing bullshit will figure strongly at the end.
It could’ve been worse, but it could’ve been much lower.
But, the GOP ruled, as usual.
Their results, as usual rule the news, published as anyone else’s fault, during their rule.
Honestly, I don’t drink enough.
My successes in the military wasn’t due to being nice, compliant or well, being a nice guy. It was due to figuring out how the other bastard thought and countering it.
My wife was the one that kept me, erm, more sane.
For the record, I’ve now gone a week with dreams of my wife and I conversing, to suddenly awaken realizing she’s been deceased for over a year.
Imagine awakening to realize, as you look over a shoulder, knowing she isn’t there, after over 41 years.
I really don’t drink enough!
Especially as we approach year two.
Oh, comfort side, I’ve everything for split pea soup preparation. Annoyingly, only still 1/3 od ingredients for proper red lentil soup.
Given the perishable nature of ingredients, it’ll be split pea.
Annoyance, a shop that was local, behaving as if business was a hobby and abandoning ship just when I wanted three ingredients.
Masala garam, fenugreek and curry leaves.
Mortar and pestled the lot many times.
Anyone wanting to shoot the lot along, feel free.
Consider it pica, as there is a specific nutrient lack that I’m craving.
Easier with zinc, mussels works in my pasta sauce, steamed as the sauce defrosts.
Confirmed by blood testing.
Wall Street Journal:
Oh, split pea soup?
Fry garlic and onions copiously (to me, there’s no such thing as excess in either, save for sweetness, then onion predominates). Add a shit ton of water to split peas. grate some carrots, boil and stir a lot.
Thicken as the bread rises, enjoy the two.
Never have a fixed recipe, it depends upon ingredients freshness and freshness of bread.
Pasta sauce is equally simple. Tomato ingredients, preferably fresh to be blanched and peeled, if not, canned tomatoes and especially crushed tomatoes. Add an onion of garlic for a two liter pot or greater, add whole coarsely diced onions, generous basil leaves, some kind of fattyish meat to neutralize acids, cook the lot together until the meat falls off of the bones and fats switch from foam to puddles on top of the sauce.
Bones needed to thicken the sauce.
Usually, my preference is for fresh pork hocks, but due to locality, I’ve been using neckbones.
Grandma used just pig’s feet, although back then, significant parts of the hocks were included. She was also known to enjoy chicken’s feet, which I’ve never considered trying.
Those would be for soup, like I use for duck feet.
Never disrespect the life you took, personally or offhand, for your meal, use every part or you’ve disrespected that lost life.
Plant or animal.
And by definition, leftovers are good, they’re ingredients for tomorrow’s meal.
Oh, all recipes are according to “to taste”, I don’t have your tongue, but my average score is nearly 100% loving my general recipes, under that loose guidance.
Someday, I’ll try haggis, just for giggles, as I missed one opportunity and did try blood pudding and some other far reaching regional dishes.
As in, a kimchi omelette is wonderful. With a properly fatty cheese.
The more fish into the kimchi, the more wonderful the breakfast for me.
I’ve also enjoyed an Iranian appetizer of raw onion and garlic, shocking all present by enjoying the same for the first time and enjoying it since.
All Americans don’t have a flat palate. :)
Re: wrzd1 @ #483…
My profound condolences. In a week, it will be 14 months since my wife of 51 years died.
Lynna, OM @ 485, want some fun?
Look up how many licensed firearms distributors.
This is literally pissing onto an erupting volcano.
Limiting distributorship isn’t the problem, limiting maniacs and idiots is the issue and well, we consider mental health even outside of lifestyle, hence, until criminal occurs, who gives a shit.
Because, paying for prisons is cheaper than paying for mental health care.
So, get gunz, they’re kool!*
*I’m a multiple firearms owner, hunter and precision marksman for cash prize. Yeah, despite that, we’re on the same team.
Regulated is a thing, speech is indeed regulated, that whole conspiracy and sedition thing says that.
Regulated means, when, where and how expressed.
I express firearm usage hunting (thus far, unsuccessfully), self-defense and magically defending against artillery with a rifle or pistol or something. No clue on the latter, know about game being smarter than me, found their marked calendars and something about deer flights to the Bahamas or something.
Marksmanship contests, won plenty of turkeys and hams.
Killing people? I’d prefer not to, my firearms are secured, so anyone invading would most likely be met by a retired SF type with a knife.
Not my preferred thing to remember or dream about at all. But, did it, when duty called.
Guns are like hammers in a way, they’re tools. How one uses a tool matters.
Argue, I’ll stand above you with a 10 pound sled hammer to suggest you find a superior viewpoint – briefly.
I prefer 10 pounders, as 8 pounders tend to bounce off of concrete.
I prefer my gun usage to greasing a car, should I ever find a damned grease point again.
Or winning a turkey or ham.
I’ve killed enough people, back when I was in the Army.
And morons, wanna think you can take the US DoD on? OK, just antique MLRS, tell me legends on your proficiency against something killing you fro 30 miles away.
Firearms have their rare usages, daily life shouldn’t ever be a part of such, not for the public, not for the police and not even for our military.
Qualification doesn’t require usage.
Put away the toys, children!**
**Full disclosure, the only man to outshoot me was one of our battalion’s snipers, who outscored me by one point, meaning one round superior on killing target point.
He was also an off duty cop, who espoused yearning to rape a woman in a combat situation, right until I objected.
Granted, we were both drunk in the NCO club, but well, drunks do reveal themselves.
Thank goodness for Geneva and Hague Conventions and their enforcement!
Now, would there was a tournament for a ham right now. Ham bones with meat aren’t cheap right now and I really want a few soups.
BTW, maybe a recipe exchange would be welcome here? Any volunteers?
Indiana’s near-total abortion ban set to take effect as state Supreme Court denies rehearing
Associated Press / August 21, 2023
Courthouse News Service
[personal]
wzrd1, whheydt, I salute you. I don’t know I’d have your strength.
Me, I eloped with my wife (9 years before we were married) when she was 16 (I was 18). In my 63rd year now.
I think… um, around 7 weeks total apart from each other in all that time.
(You are good examples, but I still want to go first)
Grim and horrifying news – this is far more than just a tree :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-22/sacred-buangor-birthing-tree-poisoned-arborist-confirms/102758914
One case where I’d be happy to see blasphemy laws applied – as well as environmental and hate crimes ones. More the latter I guess really but still.
Political polarization toned down through anonymous online chats
I do not like the “both sides” framing.
They are the ones more in need of correction.
Re: John Morales @ #491…
I wouldn’t claim that I am in any way happy that my wife died first. One could easily debate–and we did–the relative merits of who lasted longer. Statistically, we were likely to die around the same time as she was 7 years older than me, but statistics don’t really apply to individual cases.
Statistically, statistics apply the way they always apply – counterintuitively, as few get to sit top dead center at the top of the bell curve.
StevoR, were I king, I’d simply cancel that road entirely and inform the community that they have the tree attacker to thank for the canceled road and halfway constructed mess. And recommend they thank that individual daily and unpleasantly.
Less effort expended than investigating fruitlessly, someone likely does know and well, inconvenienced communities do find their own kind of justice.
Fortunately, I’m not a king.
After seeing record traffic, Bluesky adds rate limits to improve network stability
I think this is due to the announcement that X(Twitter) will disable blocking.
-Grifters and loons profiting from the mentally ill and encouraging them to quit their medication.
“GAM 418 Crazy Wise”
(it starts 40 seconds in)
https://youtu.be/eCxNNFsGvdY