OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

JohnInCarolina

Quite the oral history here:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/24/russia-ukraine-war-oral-history-00083757

lousubcap

Pack a lunch if you are going to read the above, but very interesting and insightful.  Thanks for the link.

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"The U.S. has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with 100 drones and other lethal weapons for use in the war in Ukraine. Chinese drone manufacturer Xi'an Bingo has reportedly agreed to manufacture and test 100 ZT-180 drones before delivering them to the Russian Defense Ministry by April 2023. Senior U.S. officials, however, have said there is currently no evidence that China has made any weapons shipments to Russia. Courtney Weaver reports for the Financial Times. 

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan yesterday warned that China would face “real costs” if it went forward with providing lethal aid to Russia. He added that in diplomatic conversations with China, the U.S. is “not just making direct threats. We’re just laying out both the stakes and the consequences, how things would unfold. And we are doing that clearly and specifically behind closed doors.” Jasmine Wright and Paul LeBlanc report for CNN. 

The U.S. is not currently considering sending F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, Sullivan said yesterday. Expanding on similar comments made by President Biden on Friday, Sullivan said that the U.S. was focused on providing Ukraine with what its needs “for the immediate phase of the war that we’re in.” This includes “tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, artillery, tactical air defense systems,” Sullivan said, adding that “F-16s are a question for a later time.” Kelly Garrity reports for POLITICO.

Belarusian anti-government organization B.Y.P.O.L. claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft at an airfield near the Belarus capital of Minsk, yesterday. The attack which was not confirmed by either Russia or Belarus was reported in Polish media and on the organization's Telegram channel. While Belarus has not formally taken part in the war in Ukraine, Russian troops are stationed in the territory and engage in joint training exercises. There have been several acts of sabotage by anti-government activists in Belarus, particularly targeting the rail network. Reuters reports. 

The Group of 20 (G20) finance meeting in India on Saturday ended in discord after Russia and China refused to endorse a statement condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rejecting the use of nuclear weapons. Instead, a summary and outcome document backed by delegates from 17 of the group’s 20 members was issued by India, which has the G20 presidency. The summary deplored Russia's war on Ukraine and demanded Russia’s “complete and unconditional” withdrawal from Ukrainian territory. Russia and China also refused to endorse this summary. Jonathan Wheatley reports for the Financial Times. 

Canada will deliver more military hardware, including four more Leopard 2 battle tanks, to Ukraine said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday.Canada is also imposing new sanctions relating to Russia. The new sanctions target 129 individuals and 63 entities, including the Russian deputy prime minister, and will prohibit the export of chemicals used in Russian electronics manufacturing. Other G7 members also unveiled similar measures. Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer report for Reuters. "

lousubcap

Some additional insights regarding Russia-Ukraine, US oil exports and some political maneuvering in Europe:

"The U.S. is enjoying a record boom in crude oil exports now that we're more than 12 months into Russia's Ukraine invasion. That includes a 38% rise in monthly seaborne cargo to Europe—with Spain alone buying 88% more from the U.S. than it did during the year prior, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler.
What's going on: "[T]he shale boom in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has made the U.S. a major producer again, tapping gushers of fossil fuels ready for delivery to destinations opened by the Ukraine conflict," the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. "America is back in the most predominant position it has been in world energy since the 1950s," one analyst said.
The leaders of Germany, France, and Britain want to lure Ukraine into peace talks with Russia, and they're planning to do so with "much broader access to advanced military equipment, weapons, and ammunition to defend itself once the war ends," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday from Berlin.
Behind the offer lie "deepening private doubts…that Ukraine will be able to expel the Russians from eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014," according to the Journal. The leaders of France and Germany reportedly pitched the plan to Ukraine's President Volodymir Zelenskyy during his visit to Paris about three weeks ago.
Kremlin officials had no comment on the one-year anniversary of their ongoing Ukraine invasion. And this is "likely because Russia has failed to achieve any of its stated objectives and has not made significant territorial gains since July 2022," analysts at the Institute for the Study of War wrote on Friday."

lousubcap

If your life revolves around instant news or related responses, then give this a look.  The referenced article is linked below, but pack a lunch.

"It's been argued that the five most endangered words of the internet era are: Let me think about that. Taking the time to think has been replaced by a dopamine-laced drive to react immediately. William Davies explains what it felt like to go cold turkey on instant reactions when he quit using Twitter: "I was left feeling bereft, as any addict is when their drug is taken away. How was I supposed to react to the news now? And if I had no way of reacting to the news, what did I want from the news? Am I even interested in the news, if I have no opportunity to react to it? Being in the digital public sphere without any means to react is a bit like being trapped in a shopping mall without any money." In the London Review of Books, Davies' provides a very interesting look at what he calls, The Reaction Economy, in which "each of us (celebrities included) becomes a junction box in a vast, complex network, receiving, processing and emitting information in a semi-automatic fashion, and in real time."

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n05/william-davies/the-reaction-economy?utm_ 

nolaegghead

Oh oh oh oh….I wanna respond!  I must respond!  I….awwww fück it.

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"The situation in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was "extremely tense" yesterday as Russian forces encircled the Ukrainian defenders. Forcing a Ukrainian withdrawal would give Russia its first major win in more than 6 months and open a route for controlling all urban centers in the Donetsk region. Leonardo Benassatto reports for Reuters. 

The Russian leadership gave a lukewarm response to a Chinese plan to end the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that while China’s voice should be heard, there remain issues with the peace plan  adding that a peace deal is a "very long and intense process." Reuters reports.

lousubcap

And this from Rupert Murdoch:

"Rupert Murdoch acknowledged under oath last month that several hosts for his networks promoted the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from former president Trump. Murdoch, who is chair of the conservative media empire that owns Fox News, also expressed regret that he didn’t denounce the claims of election fraud made by Fox hosts, court documents released yesterday show. Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson report for the New York Times."

HeavyG

He's only sorry that this ordeal might cost him a billion+ dollars.

lousubcap

From a news feed I read: And the below is just a small piece of CHEETO behaviour (nod). 

"For months, we've been hit with regular updates on the latest uncovered lies of George Santos. We get it, he lies about everything. Each individual lie is hardly breaking news at this point. What's more interesting is trying to understand why people like Santos—and there are a few I can think of in modern public life—lie so much. For that, let's turn to Maria Konnikova who spent years researching a book about con artists. The Atlantic: What Psychology Can Teach Us About George Santos. "True narcissism lets you rationalize all manner of sin; it's self-delusion taken to an extreme. Narcissism breeds, as well, a self-reinforcing cycle: The more you lie, the more entitled you feel—and the more qualified ... The result is a perverse dynamic. The more a person like George Santos misrepresents himself and cons others for his own gain, the more entitled he feels to keep going. Why should I resign when I'm the most qualified for the job? The con artist, at least to some degree, comes to believe his own lies. One recent series of studies found that people who were confronted with evidence of self-deception—believing themselves to have performed better than they actually did, and better than the average person, on a series of trivia questions—not only failed to acknowledge their self-delusion but began to see others as the ones prone to it."

lousubcap

Since I'm here:

Brain changes across the aging process article:

Worth a read-brain development over time-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/02/28/brain-aging-childhood-teens-adults/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.ey

BTW- I have no idea why the comment box is so friggin large.  I also don't know how to shrink it. WTFO?

Edit for a comment box solution-hit preview then post.

Botch

Not sure if this goes here, but its a real indicator about our own nation, and its not good.
The b-itch who hired a couple of thugs to beat up the dog walker, and dog-nap the pooches, of Lady Gaga; is now suing her because LG's $500K reward wasn't awarded to her.  
 
We're supposed to get wiser as we age, but I'm feeling more and more clueless.    

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukraine will become a member of NATO in the “long-term,” but needs to remain independent in the face of the Russian invasion, says NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for fast-track accession. It is unclear whether alliance members will consider full membership even after the war is over, despite pledges of support. Alexandra Fouché reports for the BBC. 

Finland has begun constructing a 124-mile security fence along its border with Russia: the longest E.U.- Russia border. Finland will also vote on a bill to speed up the country's bid to join NATO today. Only Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve Finnish and Swedish bids to join NATO. George Wright reports for the BBC.

Switzerland’s ban on exporting and re-exporting weapons to conflict zones is blocking European NATO members from sending Ukraine their stocks of Swiss-made weapons. Following pressure from NATO and its member states, the Swiss parliament is debating amendments to allow some countries to re-export its sought-after weapons and ammunition. Bojan Pancevski reports for the Wall Street Journal. 

China is spending billions on global pro-Russia disinformation campaigns, even outspending Russia, a U.S. special envoy has said. James Rubin, a coordinator at the Global Engagement Center tasked with exposing and countering foreign propaganda and disinformation, said yesterday that “in the communication space, the alignment between China and Russia is near complete.” Rubin has called for Western unity and said its response has, so far, been “slow.” Patrick Wintour reports for the Guardian. 

The Russian defense ministry reported downing 2 drones in southern Russia yesterday, in what was likely an attempt to target civilian energy infrastructure. While Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, it would be the closest attempted drone attack to Moscow since Russia's invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday instructed the security services to intensify their activity against an alleged increase in espionage and sabotage by Ukraine and the West. George Wright reports for the BBC."

lousubcap

More on Russia-Ukraine:

Russia may be running low on Iranian-made one-way attack drones, four of which were allegedly launched at and shot down over Ukraine this morning, which is day 371 of Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion. Ukraine's military said it downed 11 of those Shahed-136 drones on Tuesday, and the same for another 11 out of 14 such drones launched at Ukraine on Monday(none were reportedly used Sunday).  The strikes this week ended an 11-day dry spell for Moscow's lethal drone use, the British military said Wednesday on Twitter, and noted the temporary decline in "attack tempo likely indicates that Russia has run down its current stock" of the Iranian-made drones, and "will likely seek a resupply." In some good news for Ukraine, "There were no power outages across the country" on Tuesday, President Volodymir Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. "Thousands of people have been working every day to achieve this result," he said. "Of course, the threat still remains. Of course, we will fight and defend ourselves. We will definitely endure, no matter what the enemy does." Edit-sorry about the friggin white space here and below! The U.S. still sees no Russian efforts to negotiate any end to the invasion, State Secretary Antony Blinken told reporters Wednesday during a visit to Uzbekistan. "The war could end tomorrow—it could end today—if President Putin so decided," Blinken said. "He started it; he can stop it. It's, on one level, as simple as that. And we should never lose sight of that fact." "Just listen to President Putin's own words," Blinken said. "To cite just one example, he said recently, and publicly, that unless and until Ukraine recognizes what he called 'the new territorial realities,' there's nothing to even talk about." And that means "unless and until Ukraine accepts the fact that Russia has seized their territory and gets to keep it, they won't even talk," said Blinken, and stressed, "That's obviously a nonstarter and it should be a nonstarter not just for Ukraine or for us, but for countries around the world," including China, he said. However, despite last week releasing a 12-point "peace plan" for Ukraine, Chinese leaders and officials have "been doing the opposite in terms of its own efforts to advance Russian propaganda and misinformation about the war, blocking and tackling for Russia in international organizations," Blinken said. "And, as we've made clear recently, now contemplating the provision of lethal military assistance to Russia for its aggression against Ukraine." "So China can't have it both ways," said Blinken. "It can't be putting itself out as a force for peace in public while it, one way or another, continues to fuel the flames of this fire that Vladimir Putin started.

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko expressed “extreme interest” in a peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine after meeting in Beijing. Both leaders are key allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko said his country "fully supports" the Chinese peace plan. Tessa Wong & George Wright report for the BBC. 
 
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that there is “zero evidence” that Russia is prepared to engage in serious peace talks. His comments come ahead of an expected push for peace talks by China, Russia's strongest strategic partner. U.S. officials view China’s move as a smoke screen to allow Russia to cast itself as the reasonable party in its war with Ukraine. Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.
  
U.S. public support for Ukraine is wavering, according to polls. While the bipartisan coalition supporting Ukraine in Congress remained strong throughout the first year of fighting, signs of taxpayer fatigue are showing.Public support for aid to Ukraine has fallen from 60 percent in May 2022 to 48 percent now, according to surveys by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.26 percent of Americans now think the U.S. has given too much to Ukraine, up from 7 percent last year, according to the Pew Research Center. Peter Baker reports from the New York Times.

Russian forces are today battling a group of Ukrainian saboteurs that infiltrated the Bryansk border region and took several people hostage, the Russian FSB security service said in a statement to Russian news agencies today. British military intelligence yesterday said that Russia was launching drone attacks against Ukraine from the Bryansk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week tasked the FSB with stepping up its guard against terrorist threats emanating from Ukraine and the West. Reuters reports. 

The situation in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut remains "critical" today as Ukrainian forces struggle to repel the constant attack from Russian troops. Russia's control of the city would be the first major victory in more than six months and would open a way to control the rest of the strategic Donbas industrial region. Reuters reports. "

lousubcap

No surprises here: Trust in the news-

https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/americans-have-the-lowest-trust-in 

lousubcap

And some more on the Russia-Ukraine front:

"Winter may effectively be over in Ukraine. That's because the muddy conditions known as "bezdorizhzhia" have begun to set in, making transportation considerably more difficult, the British military said Thursday. You can see how wet conditions have permeated a trench in thisvideo, into which a Ukrainian soldier valiantly chose to dive to retrieve two submerged ammunition boxes. 

"It is almost certain that by late-March, [transportation conditions] will be at its worst following the final thaw," the Brits said on Twitter. "This will add further friction to ground operations and hamper the off-road movement of heavier armored vehicles, especially over churned-up ground in the Bakhmut sector."

New: A far-right group of Ukrainian fighters seems to have carried out sabotage operations inside Russia, reportedly "firing on civilians in local villages Thursday," according to the Associated Press, reporting from Kyiv. The culprits are known as the "Russian Volunteer Corps," and they're led by a well-known far-right figure named Denis Kapustin, investigative journalist Michael Colborne of Bellingcat reports. As AP notes, "the strategic purpose of such an attack" is far from clear, and officials in Kyiv have strongly denied any involvement. Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly canceled a trip to southern Russia Thursday in order to learn more about the attack in the western region of Bryansk.

Ukraine says Russia launched just two Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones Wednesday, and Kyiv's military claims to have shot both down before they hit their target. This would seem to support the British supposition that Russia is running low on those drones, and will likely seek a resupply from Tehran soon. 

Washington and Moscow's top diplomats spoke today for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine just over a year ago. However, there was no "breakthrough" in those talks, which took place on the sidelines of a G20 meeting Thursday in New Delhi. Reuters has more, here; the Associated Press has this. "

nolaegghead

lousubcap said:

No surprises here: Trust in the news-

https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/americans-have-the-lowest-trust-in 

Seems like that’s an all or nothing question.  “The News” is a foggy definition.  People can’t tell the difference between editorial content and news, and that’s pretty pathetic.  Journalism is a science.  If it is not practiced, it’s not news.

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap

Friday Russia-Ukraine update:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday told Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that Russia must end its “war of aggression” and rejoin the New START nuclear arms control treaty. The 10-minute meeting, a first between the top diplomats since the Russian war in Ukraine began, happened on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India. Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.

The U.S. will today announce a new military aid package for Ukraine worth roughly $400 million and comprised mainly of ammunition. The package, which will comprise mainly of ammunition, will be funded using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the President to transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks, bypassing Congress in an emergency. Steve Holland and Mike Stone report for Reuters.

All E.U. members except Denmark have backed a proposal to use €1 billion from the European Peace Facility to deliver ammunition to Ukraine. The plan, initially proposed by the E.U. diplomatic service, will boost European ammunition production capabilities. E.U. defense ministers will refine the plan before a summit of E.U. leaders on March 23-24. Andy Bounds and Henry Foy report for the Financial Times. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Ukrainian sabotage group entered Russia yesterday, killing two civilians in a “terrorist act.” While the alleged incident has not been independently verified, a video emerged on the social media platform Telegram claiming to show members of the Ukraine-based Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) inside Russia. Bellingcat Monitoring, the investigative journalism group, describes RVC as “a unit officially formed last year made up primarily of anti-Putin, anti-Kremlin Russian far-right figures active in Ukraine.” Laurence Peter reports for the BBC. "

lousubcap

JohnInCarolina said:

Some more related info:

The first three witnesses to testify privately before the new Republican-led House committee investigating the “weaponization” of the federal government offered little evidence of wrongdoing. The trio of aggrieved former FBI officials have also espoused right-wing conspiracy theories, including about the Jan. 6 attack, and received financial support from Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist and former high-ranking official in the former president’s administration. This is according to a 316-page report compiled by Democrats on the panel, which suggests that the panel’s chair Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) has so far relied on people who do not meet the definition of a whistle-blower and who have engaged in partisan conduct that calls into question their credibility. Luke Broadwater and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times.

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"The paramilitary organization, the Wagner group, pushed its forces toward central Bakhmut yesterday as remaining Ukrainian defenders retreated west of the Bakhmutka river. Ukrainian forces battled to retain control over the two remaining supply routes into Bakhmut, with heavy artillery exchanges ringing across the frontline. Wagner's seemingly disposable penal battalions have emerged as a unique threat to Ukrainian troops and have managed to make progress in the region where Russia's military has stalled. Yaroslav Trofimov reports for the Wall Street Journal.

The Wagner group may lose its ground in Bakhmut if Russia's military fails to resupply the organization with ammunition, the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has said. In a post yesterday, Prigozhin said an agreement was reached with the military on Feb. 22, with ammunition expected to be sent to Bakhmut the next day. The Russian military chiefs’ unfulfilled promise to resupply the organization with ammunition is the latest sign of rising tensions between the Kremlin and the Wagner group. The BBC reports.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the onus for ending the war in Ukraine remains on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The comments, aired in an interview yesterday, come as Scholz reiterates his support for Ukraine, “there will be no decisions without the Ukrainians.” He added that Putin had misjudged “the strength of Ukraine” and the “unity” of “all the friends of Ukraine.” David Cohen reports for POLITICO. "

lousubcap

More on Russia-Ukraine: (too late to edit the above post)

Ukrainian elements began withdrawing from the nearly-encircled eastern city of Bakhmut late last week, and they destroyed "several bridges" in the process, according to the British military and the UK's Telegraph, reporting Friday. One of those bridges spans the Bakhmutivka River in northeastern Bakhmut, and another is located just west of Bakhmut, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War wrote Friday evening. (See video of one of the bridges recently rendered unusable, here.) The idea behind dropping the bridges would seem to be "that even if Ukrainian troops begin to withdraw [from Bakhmut], Russian forces would not necessarily be able to rapidly take the entire city," ISW predicted. 

"The fall of Bakhmut won't necessarily mean that the Russians have changed the tide of this fight," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Monday during a visit to Jordan. "I think it is more of a symbolic value than it is strategic and operational value," he said, and added, "If the Ukrainians decide to reposition in some of that terrain that's west of Bakhmut, I would not view that as an operational or strategic setback," according to Reuters and the Financial Times. 

Russian forces "have been suffering high casualties in these advances" toward Bakhmut,and Ukrainian commanders will have to weigh "the likelihood that they can force Russian attacks to culminate near or behind their current positions" against "the risk of losing access to essential withdrawal routes," ISW said over the weekend. Should Russian forces take the city, "they could then attempt renewed pushes towards one or both of Kostyantynivka or Slovyansk but would struggle with endemic personnel and equipment constraints," according to ISW, writing Sunday evening. Read more about the probable urban fight ahead throughout the city's ruins, here. 

One key to Russia's recent successes approaching Bakhmut: "wave after wave of near-suicidal assaults" from the Wagner group's "disposable penal battalions," the Wall Street Journal's Yaroslav Trofimov reported from the nearby city of Chasiv Yar on Sunday. However, Ukrainian artillery and small unit tactics pushed some of the encroaching Russians back from select routes into Bakhmut, Carlotta Gall of the New York Times reported Monday from Chasiv Yar. "

lousubcap

Tom Nichols from The Atlantic- worth the CHEETO issues we as a country face-

Tom Nichols STAFF WRITER

A Test of Character Supporters celebrate as they listen to Donald Trump's address to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. (Alex Wong / Getty) View in browser Donald Trump went to CPAC and gave a speech that was, even by his delusional standards, dark and violent. Much of it was hallucinatory. Amusing as it is to listen to President von Munchausen and his many “sir” stories, Trump is the former commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces and the current front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024. He is as  dangerous as ever to our democracy and to our national security. But I also want to turn attention from Trump’s evident emotional issues to consider a more unsettling question: How, in 2023, after all we know about this man and his attacks on our government and our Constitution, do we engage the people who heard that speech and support Donald Trump’s candidacy? How do we turn the discussion away from partisanship and toward good citizenship—and to the protection of our constitutional order? In the past, reporters have approached such questions gingerly, poking their head into coffee shops, asking for comments at rallies, and claiming to overhear conversations at gas stations, all in the service of trying to understand Trump voters. (Only The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper has ever managed to get anywhere in such interviews, and the answers he elicits are often terrifyingly dumb.) These respectful conversations with Trump voters have produced almost nothing useful beyond failed theories about “economic anxiety” and other rationalizations that capture little about why Trump voters continue to support a posse of authoritarian goons. In 2016, Trump supporters could lean on a slew of hopeful arguments: Trump is just acting; he’ll hire professional staff; the “good” Republicans will keep him in line; the job will sober him up. All of these would be disproved over time. (It didn’t help that the alternative at the time was Hillary Clinton, for whom I voted but whose campaign was a tough sell to many people.) But by 2020, Trump, along with his enablers at Fox and other right-wing outlets, had created a kind of impermeable anti-reality field around the GOP base. This shell of pure denial defeated almost any argument about anything. Media, flummoxed by having a sociopathic narcissist in the Oval Office, treated Trump like a normal political leader, and soon we all—even me—became accustomed to the fact that the president of the United States routinely sounded like the guy at the end of the bar who makes you decide to take your drink over to a table or a booth. When Joe Biden won, I hoped that this strange fever gripping so many Americans would finally pass. But the fever did not break, not even after January 6, 2021, and the many hearings that showed Trump’s responsibility for the events of that black day. And now Trump has kicked off his attempt to regain office with a litany of lunacy. His speech at CPAC has been recounted by my Atlantic colleagues; John Hendrickson notes Trump’s return to the classics of grievance, and McKay Coppins describes how Trump has managed to become part of the typically boring CPAC kitsch. But we shouldn’t mistake Trump’s gibbering for harmless political glossolalia. As Charlie Sykes said this morning, CPAC is “a serious threat masquerading as a cultic circus cum clown car,” and revealed “what a Trump 2.0 would look like.” This is a former president whose pitch included “I am your retribution.” Retribution for what, exactly, was left unsaid, but revenge for being turned out of office is likely high on the list. The Trumpian millennium turned into a tawdry four years of grubby incompetence and an ignominious loss. If Trump wins again, there will be a flurry of pardons, the same cast of miscreants will return to Pennsylvania Avenue, and, this time, they won’t even pretend to care about the Constitution or the rule of law. Imagine an administration where we’ll all be nostalgic for the high-mindedness of Bill Barr. Trump also reminded us that he is an existential menace to our national security. He reveled in a story he first told last spring—almost certainly a fiction—about how he informed a meeting of NATO leaders that he would let the Russians roll over them if they weren’t paid up. (Trump still thinks NATO is a protection racket.) He then fantasized about how easily a Russian attack could destroy NATO’s headquarters. We’ve all cataloged this kind of Trumpian weirdness many times, and I still feel pity for the fact-checkers who try to keep up with him. But I wonder if there is any point. By now it should be clear that the people listening to Trump don’t care about facts, or even about policy or politics. They enjoy the show, and they want it back on TV for another four years. And this is a problem not with Trump but with the voters. It is long past time to admit that support for Trump, after all that we now know, is a moral failing. As I wrote in a recent book, there is such a thing as being a bad citizen in a democracy, and we should cease the pretend arguments about policy—remember, the 2020 GOP convention didn’t even bother with a platform. Instead, anyone who cares about the health of American democracy, of any party or political belief, should say clearly that to applaud Trump’s fantasies and threats at CPAC is to show an utter lack of civic character. (I might say that it is no better than applauding David Duke, but why invoke the former KKK leader when Trump has already had dinner with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who he seems to think is a swell guy?) The man who bellowed and sweated his way through almost two hours of authoritarian madness is still the same man who instigated an attack on our Capitol (and on his own vice president), the man who would hand our allies to Russia if they’re behind on the vig, the man who thinks a free press is his enemy, the man who tried to wave away a pandemic as thousands and thousands of Americans died. Stigma and judgment have a place in politics. There was a time when we forced people out of public life for offenses far less than Donald Trump’s violent and seditious corruption. We were a better country for it, and returning to that better time starts with media outlets holding elected Republicans to account for Trump’s statements—but also with each of us refusing to accept rationalizations and equivocation from even our friends and family. I said in 2016 that the Trump campaign was a test of character, and that millions of us were failing it. The stakes are even clearer and steeper now; we cannot fail this test again." Do not let that F'tard near any public office or position again. CHEETO makes Nixon look like a saint.

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukraine has broadened a request for controversial cluster bombs from the U.S. to include a weapon the Ukrainian military would adapt for drones, according to two U.S. lawmakers. It is not clear whether the White House will approve the request. Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. A 2009 law prohibits exports of U.S. cluster munitions with a failure rate higher than 1 percent, covering virtually all U.S. military stockpiles. However, President Biden can waive the prohibition. Jonathan Landay reports for Reuters. 

A Ukrainian retreat from the eastern city of Bakhmut would not be a “setback,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday. “If the Ukrainians decide to reposition [to the west of Bakhmut], I would not view that as an operational or strategic setback,” Austin said, adding that preparations for a counter-offensive were advancing well, with the U.S. training Ukrainian troops for the push. Felicia Schwartz and Roman Olearchyk report for the Financial Times. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered reinforcements into Bakhmut yesterday, saying that no part of Ukraine can be abandoned. Vasco Cotovio and Yulia Kesaieva report for CNN. "

Gulfcoastguy

The French have a relatively new cluster bomb artillery shell that goes by the name OGR. Each bomblet has a backup time fuse as well as an impact fuse. Israel has a similar 120mm mortar shell. Russia has been using similar shells with a far higher percentage of duds as well as thermobaric rockets. Seems reasonable on a tit for tat basis.

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests a pro-Ukrainian group unaffiliated with the government attacked the Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia to Western Europe last year. Officials said there were still enormous gaps in what U.S. spy agencies and their European partners knew about the diplomatically sensitive incident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attacked the credibility of the intelligence as the “spread of disinformation.” Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes, and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times. 

Ukraine denies involvement in sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines, which targeted Russia’s gas deliveries to Europe. A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, denied Ukraine’s involvement on Twitter yesterday, “[Ukraine] has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap.” Kostan Nechyporenko, Simone McCarthy, and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.

South Korea’s government approved export licenses for Poland last year to provide Ukraine with Krab howitzers, which require South Korean components, a defense acquisition official in Seoul told Reuters yesterday. While this decision indicated an acquiescence to provide weapons to Ukraine indirectly, Kim Hyoung-Cheol, director of the Europe-Asia division of the International Cooperation Bureau, stressed that the government’s stance is not to transfer weapons systems to Ukraine. Josh Smith and Joyce Lee report for Reuters. 

Russia’s paramilitary organization, the Wagner group, is having its “last stand” in Bakhmut as it runs low on fighters recruited from prisons, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces Serhiy Cherevaty said yesterday.This statement may indicate that Ukraine sees an opportunity to exhaust Wagner’s nearly suicidal prisoner assaults, which Ukraine’s commanders regard as one of Russia’s most effective tactics. By draining Wagner’s penal forces, Ukraine may be able to draw in and tie down more experienced Russian forces in Bakhmut. Andrew E. Kramer and Anatoly Kurmanaev report for the New York Times. "

Edit to add the following link:

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/russian-military-shovels-combat-ukraine/?utm_

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Russian forces are too depleted to undertake a large offensive, U.S. director of national intelligence Avril Haines said yesterday. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Haines said Russia lacks troops, ammunition, and the morale to sustain the current level of offensive operations, which may become “grinding” and “attritional.” She also warned that military failures could “hurt Russian President Vladimir Putin’s domestic standing and thereby trigger additional escalatory actions by Russia in an effort to win back public support.” Julian E. Barnes, Anatoly Kurmanaev, and Richard Pérez-Peña report for the New York Times.

The Pentagon is blocking the Biden administration from sharing U.S. intelligence with the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) about Russian atrocities in Ukraine, according to officials briefed on the matter. The Department of Defence opposes helping the I.C.C. investigate Russians because it fears setting a precedent that might pave the way for the court to prosecute Americans. The rest of the administration, including intelligence agencies, favors sharing the evidence. Congress modified longstanding legal restrictions in December, allowing the U.S. to assist the I.C.C. in relation to the war in Ukraine. Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.

Russia launched at least 81 missiles at targets across Ukraine today. The strikes killed at least nine people, and Europe’s largest nuclear plant lost power following the attack. Ukraine’s military claimed it successfully shot down 34 cruise missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones. Emily McGarvey and Marita Moloney report for BBC News. 

E.U. defense ministers gathered in Sweden yesterday to consider using the bloc’s budget to purchase up to one million shells for Ukraine, costing about $4.2 billion. To match Ukraine’s demand, European weapons manufacturers will need large orders with guaranteed money to incentivize building factories, which could take three years to come online. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen likened this potential advance order to the one used by Europe to secure vaccines early in the Covid-19 pandemic, pooling resources to offer more money upfront to encourage manufacturers “to invest in new production lines now.” Steven Erlanger reports for the New York Times."

lousubcap

A solid read from Tom Nichols of The Atlantic-worth the time for the perspective.

Tom Nichols STAFF WRITER

Fox News will likely never face any real consequences for the biggest scandal in the history of American media. But will Republican voters finally understand who really looks down on them?

Loathing and Indifference A political display is posted on the outside of the Fox News headquarters in New York in July 2020. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP) It’s time to talk about elitism. Last month, I wrote that the revelations about Fox News in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit showed that Fox personalities, for all their populist bloviation, are actually titanic elitists. This is not the elitism of those who think they are smarter or more capable than others—I’ll get to that in a moment—but a new and gruesome elitism of the American right, a kind of hatred and disgust on the part of right-wing media and political leaders for the people they claim to love and defend. Greed and cynicism and moral poverty can explain only so much of what we’ve learned about Fox; what the Dominion filings show is a staggering, dehumanizing version of elitism among people who have made a living by presenting themselves as the only truth-tellers who can be trusted by ordinary Americans. I am, to say the least, no stranger to the charge of elitism. When I wrote a book in 2018 titled The Death of Expertise, a study of how people have become so narcissistic and so addled by cable and the internet that they believe themselves to be smarter than doctors and diplomats, I was regularly tagged as an “elitist.” And the truth is: I am an elitist, insofar as I believe that some people are better at things than others. But even beyond talent and ability, I do in fact firmly believe that some opinions, political views, personal actions, and life choices are better than others. As I wrote in my book at the time: Americans now believe that having equal rights in a political system also means that each person’s opinion about anything must be accepted as equal to anyone else’s. This is the credo of a fair number of people despite being obvious nonsense. It is a flat assertion of actual equality that is always illogical, sometimes funny, and often dangerous. If that makes me an elitist, so be it. In this, elitism is the opposite of populism, whose adherents believe that virtue and competence reside in the common wisdom of a nebulous coalition called “the people.” This pernicious and romantic myth is often a danger to liberal democracies and constitutional orders that are founded, first and foremost, on the inherent rights of individuals rather than whatever raw majorities think is right at any given time. The American right, however, now uses elitist to mean “people who think they’re better than me because they live and work and play differently than I do.” They rage that people—myself included—look down upon them. And again, truth be told, I do look down on Trump voters, not because I am an elitist but because I am an American citizen and I believe that they, as my fellow citizens, have made political choices that have inflicted the greatest harm on our system of government since the Civil War. I refuse to treat their views as just part of the normal left-right axis of American politics. (As an aside, note that the insecure whining about being “looked down upon” is wildly asymmetrical: Trump voters have no trouble looking down on their opponents as traitors, perverts, and, as Donald Trump himself once put it, “human scum.” But they react to criticism with a kind of deep hurt, as if others must accommodate their emotional well-being. Many of these same people gleefully adopted “**** your feelings” as a rallying cry but never expected that it was a slogan that worked both ways.) In 2016, I believed that good people were making a mistake. In 2023, I cannot dismiss their choices as mere mistakes. Instead, I accept and respect the human agency that has led Trump supporters to their current choices. Indeed, I insist on recognizing that agency: I have never agreed with the people who dismiss Trump voters as robotic simpletons who were mesmerized by Russian memes. I believe that today’s Trump supporters are people who are making a conscious, knowing, and morally flawed choice to continue supporting a sociopath and a party chock-full of seditionists. I have argued with some of these people. Sometimes, I have mocked them. Mostly, I have refused to engage them. But whatever my feelings are about the abominable choices of Trump supporters, here is the one thing I have never done that Fox’s hosts did for years: I have never patronized any of the people I disagree with. Unlike people such as Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham, I have never told anyone—including you, readers of The Atlantic—anything I don’t believe. What we’re seeing at Fox, however, is lying on a grand scale, done with a snide loathing for the audience and a cool indifference to the damage being done to the nation. Fox, and the Republican Party it serves, for years has relentlessly patronized its audience, cooing to viewers about how right they are not to trust anyone else, banging the desk about the corruption of American institutions, and shouting into the camera about how the liars and betrayers must pay. Fox’s stars did all of this while privately communicating with one another and rolling their eyes with contempt, admitting without a shred of shame that they were lying through their teeth. From Rupert Murdoch on down, top Fox personalities have admitted that they fed the rubes all of this red, rotting meat to keep them out of the way of the Fox limos headed to Long Island and Connecticut. You can see this same kind of contemptuous elitism in Republicans such as Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Elise Stefanik. They couldn’t care less about the voters—those hoopleheads back home who have to be placated with idiotic speeches against trans people and “critical race theory.” These politicians were bred to be leaders, you see, and having to gouge some votes out of the hayseeds back home requires a bit of performance art now and then, a small price to pay so that the sons and daughters of Harvard and Yale, Princeton and Stanford, can live in the imperial capital and rule as is their due and their right. Some years ago, I was at a meeting of one of the committees of the National Academy of Sciences. The conferees asked me how scientists—there were Nobel Laureates in the room—could defend the cause of knowledge. Stand your ground, I told them. Never hesitate to tell people they’re wrong. One panel member shook his head: “Tom, people don’t like to be condescended to.” I said, “I agree, but what they hate even more is to be patronized.” I believed it then, but we’re now testing that hypothesis on a national scale. I hope I wasn’t wrong."

lousubcap

Fruday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Ukrainian forces have repelled over 100 Russian attacks in the past 24 hours. Russia’s first missile blitz on Ukrainian cities in weeks was met with defiance and disgust over the targeting of civilians. Russia has confirmed using hypersonic missiles, which can evade air defenses. Reuters reports. 

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed astonishment yesterday about international complacency over safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the U.N. agency, urged immediate action to restore security at the plant where power was again cut after Russian missile strikes. “Each time, we are rolling a dice,” Grossi warned, “and if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.” Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Marc Santora report for the New York Times. 

Russia launched a huge wave of missile attacks across Ukraine, killing at least six civilians, three of them in the southern city of Kherson, and cutting power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The Zaporizhzhia plant was now reconnected to Ukraine’s energy grid, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Ukraine said its air defences had shot down many drones and missiles during the pre-dawn attack.

Ukraine’s air force says Russia fired 81 missiles, including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles – Russian for “dagger” – as well as eight drones

Ukraine’s military says its forces have pushed back intense Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut, despite Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claiming it has taken full control of the town’s eastern part."