Friday, June 3, 2022

Tweets Of The Day

 

Trump insider Navarro indicted for contempt of Congress (he was arrested by the FBI at National Airport) --

 

 

On the eve of the January 6 congressional hearings --

 


Are we sure they know they're getting played?  --

 

 

"Brilliant take" of the day (and a prime example of "toxic masculinity") --

 

 

"Mmmm, raccoons... d'oh!" --

 


We're sure Charlotte, NC, would be more welcoming (and NC has a Democratic governor) --

 

 

Musk's self- immolating, randomly- braking car, and his take on the economy pwned --

 


TGIF rainbow for LGBTQ Pride Month --


 

 

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Weekend Music Coda

 

Tomorrow, 55 years ago, one of the greatest albums of all time -- if not the greatest (prove us wrong!) -- took it's place at the top of the album charts, to run for 15 weeks in the U.S. and 27 weeks in the U.K.  The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" needs no further introduction or validation, as it's become a piece of the musical, cultural and art history of the 20th century and beyond. Without further ado, here's the album's coda, the John Lennon (with the middle part by Paul McCartney) composition "A Day In The Life" (also regularly ranked at or near the top of the greatest songs of all time). 

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100 Day Milestone In Russia's War On Ukraine


It's been 100 days since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked, brutal assault on that neighboring country's sovereignty. Putin's forces have engaged in documented war crimes ranging from deliberately targeting civilian populations, to forcibly removing Ukrainians from their country to Russia for "filtering" (i.e. imprisonment and indoctrination). While Ukraine had met with battlefield success in the first two months by pushing Putin's invaders out of the areas surrounding Kiev and, to a lesser extent, around Kharkiv, the Russians have mounted a counteroffensive in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine capturing Mariupol and other cities. The Associated Press has a summary of where the conflict stands after 100 days of battle:

"...Moscow has released scant information about casualties among its forces and allies, and given no accounting of civilian deaths in areas under its control. In some places — such as the long-besieged city of Mariupol, potentially the war’s biggest killing field — Russian forces are accused of trying to cover up deaths and dumping bodies into mass graves, clouding the overall toll.

With all those caveats, “at least tens of thousands” of Ukrainian civilians have died so far, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday in comments to Luxembourg’s parliament. [snip]

Zelenskyy said this week that 60 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are dying in combat every day, with about 500 more wounded.

Russia’s last publicly released figures for its own forces came March 25, when a general told state media that 1,351 soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded.

Ukraine and Western observers say the real number is much higher: Zelenskyy said Thursday that more than 30,000 Russian servicemen have died — “more than the Soviet Union lost in 10 years of the war in Afghanistan”; in late April, the British government estimated Russian losses at 15,000."

The devastation of towns and cities has been well documented in the international media, with 38,000 residential buildings destroyed, according to Ukrainian officials. The destruction from Russian attacks goes further:

"Nearly 1,900 educational facilities from kindergartens to grade schools to universities have been damaged, including 180 completely ruined.

Other infrastructure losses include 300 car and 50 rail bridges, 500 factories and about 500 damaged hospitals, according to Ukrainian officials.

The World Health Organization has tallied 296 attacks on hospitals, ambulances and medical workers in Ukraine this year."

And these figures are after only 100 days, with the likelihood of Putin digging in growing more likely. We and our allies have to continue to support Ukraine with the defensive weapons it needs to push back on Putin's forces, and it will be well beyond another 100 days.

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Biden Proposes Gun Safety Measures




In a speech last night, President Biden laid out several proposals to Congress to curb the epidemic of gun violence in the country. The main element -- and the one unlikely for the Republican / Shooters Party to ever accept - was a call for a ban on assault rifles, and a limit on magazine capacity. Failing that, Biden said Congress should raise the legal limit to purchase them from 18 to 21.

Biden also called on Congress to enact red flag laws, and to strengthen background checks and gun storage laws, three things that enjoy broad public support, but that Republicans have opposed in the past. In addition, Biden said Congress should repeal the law giving gun manufacturers immunity from being sued by the victims of gun violence, a privilege no other industry enjoys.

Biden ended his speech yesterday with an impassioned call for parents to rise up and take action for common sense gun safety:

"Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God's name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbies?

It's time to turn this pain into action.

For every parent, for every citizen in this country, we have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: It's time to act.

It's time—for those who obstruct or delay or block the commonsense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.

We can do so much more. We have to do more.

Our prayer tonight is for those parents, lying in bed and trying to figure out, 'Will I be able to sleep again? What do I say to my other children? What happens tomorrow?'"

If the extremist NRA-backed Republican / Shooters Party has their way, nothing will happen tomorrow or any other day. 

(photo: New York Times)

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Thursday, June 2, 2022

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(John Branch, Houston Chronicle)

(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)

(John Buss, @repeat1968)

(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)

(Chris Britt, gocomics.com)

(Matt Wuerker, Politico)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, London)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Mick Stevens, The New Yorker)




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Raffensberger Testifies In Trump's "Find Me Votes" Case

 

With intensifying legal action in New York State and live Congressional January 6 Committee hearings about to be broadcast drawing the most attention, it may be the Fulton County, GA special grand jury that may hook the Malignant Loser first for everything from election fraud to racketeering over his "find me 11,780 votes."  Georgia's re-elected Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger is testifying today under subpoena on the infamous phone call from the Malignant Loser after losing the 2020 vote in Georgia, and perhaps more leading up to the call.

Raffensberger and his staff refused the lawless Malignant Loser's demand that they falsify the election results, earning his enmity and vengeance, which played out unsuccessfully last month when Raffensberger won the Republican nomination for his job. Five other staff with direct knowledge of the Malignant Loser's efforts were also subpoenaed by the grand jury to answer questions in the investigation. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has the audio recording of the Malignant Loser's demand, and will be nailing down the criminal intent piece of it with the aid of the witnesses' testimony.

One signs that the Malignant Loser sees the Georgia case as a quickly looming threat is that he's been firing off attacks recently on Willis, a pattern he's followed throughout his brief life in public office. Of course, an innocent man would welcome an investigation, and even cooperate with one, knowing that his innocence would be proven. His "consciousness of guilt" is there for everyone to see, in Georgia and everywhere he's being pursued by the law.

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Tweets Of The Day

 

Truer words -- 



"Bless these killing tools, dear Jeebus, but keep them away from my church" -- 




The fear our children feel is absolutely devastating -- 



Russian crimes continue in Ukraine -- 



More of this *giant wink* NOW -- 



Addiction is the mother of invention (click image for full view) --  


 

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Family Photo

 

The Brits love a good pageant, and the 4-day celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's historic 70-year reign kicked off today with the trooping of the colors by the palace guards (Coldstream, Grenadiers, Welsh and Irish) and the customary appearance of royal family members (minus certain controversial ones) on the Buckingham Palace balcony overlooking thousands gathered on The Mall:


Above, pictured left to right, are the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William.  From the live coverage, the Queen, little Prince Louis and his mother the Duchess of Cambridge seemed to be the most excited in watching the British military flyover.

Americans tout our egalitarian roots and our hunger for change, but we can't look away from the royal pomp of the Brits celebrating their centuries-old monarchy, a time capsule from the past populated with figures from the present in their medal-bedecked uniforms and over-the-top hats, with their kids in tow like any others.


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Tulsa Gun Massacre As We Mourn Uvalde

 

They haven't finished burying the children in Uvalde, and every day the toll of victims of easily-accessible guns grows. Just yesterday:

"Four people were killed in a shooting at a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday. Police said a gunman carrying a rifle and a handgun opened fire on a hospital campus just before 5 p.m. local time, wounding several others before the shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Just before, the Los Angeles Police Department said shots were fired outside Grant High School in the Van Nuys neighborhood. Authorities said an unknown gunman fired three or four shots from a vehicle. A 10th grader was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital. The extent of injuries was unclear.

Across the country, police said a 20-year-old woman was shot at a nail salon in Pittston Township, Pennsylvania, in what police said was an 'attempted homicide.' The woman was taken to an area hospital, and the extent of her injuries was unknown. A suspect was in custody later Wednesday evening."

These numbers aren't remarkable; since the beginning of the year, there have been 233 mass shootings (4 or more people killed) in the U.S., and have resulted in the deaths of 152 children ages infant to 11 years old. Every nation has people with violent tendencies and mental issues, or substance abuse problems. Violent video games are accessible internationally over the internet.  But no other nation comes anywhere near those obscene numbers because of the availability of guns, primarily assault style rifles. 

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Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Michael de Adder, Washington Post)

(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)

(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Stuart Carlson, gocomics.com)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Walt Handelsman, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)

(Nath Paresh, The Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE)

(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)

(Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby, @PiaGuerra)


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Texas' Effort Protecting Hate Speech Blocked

 

The State of Texas has temporarily lost it's attempt to stop private social media companies from blocking hate speech like neo-Nazi screeds, anti-Semitic conspiracies, and so forth, Politico reports. Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a stay of a right-wing Texas law -- HB 20 -- that would have allowed the state and individuals to sue those companies if they were blocked or banned for posting hate speech, i.e. conservative opinions according to the Texas attorney general, the corrupt Ken Paxton:

"The stay is a blow in particular for Paxton, who has vocally argued that companies like Twitter and Facebook censor conservatives online.

While far-right politicians — including former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — claim their viewpoints are being unfairly repressed online, many liberals say the companies are not doing enough to remove hate speech and other extremist content."

It's telling that the types of far-right extremist, racist and pro-insurrection speech that those companies frequently block or ban are considered "conservative" opinions by Paxton.

The Supreme Court's action is also a blow to the right-wing 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had earlier  lifted an injunction against the state imposed by a District Court in Texas, which will now examine and rule on the law's merits and Constitutionality.

 

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Tweets Of The Day

 

Who wants to drive outcomes in elections?  Republican Christofascists (see full thread and article) --

 

 

 

 Who drives outcomes in American politics?  Not "the people" --


 

Just a normal day in America --

 

 

 

"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter" --

 


Dynamite --

 

 

 

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Mid-Week Song

 

One half of the battling Gallagher brothers of Oasis fame, Liam Gallagher, has a new album out, "C'mon You Know." He released the lyric video of a track from that album a few days ago. Here's his "World's In Need."


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QOTD -- The Mythical AR-15

 

Washington Post writer Greg Sargent interviews former firearms executive Ryan Busse on the intersection between the AR-15 and right- wing conspiracists: 

Busse: Nothing conveys dominance and intimidation like a loaded AR-15. It was designed to be offensive in war. It was designed to take people’s lives.

Sargent: You’re positioning the cultural mania around the AR-15 as an aberration or a malignancy, relative to what surely are millions upon millions of gun owners who have a much healthier attitude toward their hobby.

Busse: It’s how people are using the rifle. It’s what the rifle has become.

I think the authoritarian forces in this country view the AR-15 as a central organizing symbol.

Sargent: You often see advocacy for the AR-15 from the same right wing influencers — Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump Jr., Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), etc. — who regularly traffic in versions of the “great replacement theory” or relentlessly fearmonger about leftist terrorism driving the country into civil collapse.

Why is it that those who traffic in apocalyptic fantasies about demographic doom also tend to treat the AR-15 as something with almost mythical symbolic importance?

Busse: The idea of civil war/race war with heavily-armed citizen-patriots as your warriors is hardly under the surface anymore.

I won’t go so far as to say they actually want people to die in a race war. It’s a political tool for them. They think they can use it to motivate — and make people angry and fearful and hateful.

"Motiviate" and intimidate, we'd say.  The entire interview is well worth a read.

 

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The Fight For Ukraine -- Firepower And Food

 


 

Let the weapons flow, dammit!

The U.S. --

The White House National Security Council said Tuesday that the “more advanced rocket systems” were longer-range Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or MLRS. They are capable of reaching Russia, officials said, but are not intended to fire rockets into Russia or be used outside Ukraine.

A senior administration official said Ukraine has agreed not to use them to launch rockets into Russia.

The senior official said that the package would be for $700 million and that it would also include more systems and weapons that the U.S. has already provided Ukraine, including more Javelin missiles.

Sending Ukraine the long-range weapons systems had been under discussion in the Biden administration, as officials debated whether Russia would view the U.S.’s granting Ukraine’s request for them as escalatory because of their range. Officials said earlier Tuesday that Biden had reached a decision, and NBC News reported that an announcement could come within the next day.  [snip]

A defense official said Tuesday that the Defense Department believes it can get the training for Ukrainian troops down to a week or two for basic operations and that there will be longer training courses for maintenance of the system. The official said that training will all occur outside Ukraine.

BBC analyst Paul Adams thinks this could be a game- changer in the fighting in the Donbas:

As they face overwhelming Russian firepower in a grinding, attritional battle for the Donbas, Ukrainian forces complain that they lack firepower.

The HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] could change that.

Its GPS-guided rockets are much more accurate than the equivalent Russian systems. It's also much quicker to reload and, as the name suggests, the launch vehicles can move quickly from one location to another.

US and Ukrainian officials will already be having detailed conversations about how and where to use the HIMARS when they arrive.

Ukraine will be looking to hit targets well beyond its current reach - command and control centres, logistics hubs, and the Russian batteries that have Ukrainian troops pinned down in Donbas.

Germany --

Germany will supply Ukraine with the IRIS-T air defence system, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, following pleas from Kyiv and German opposition parties to step up heavy weapons deliveries.

Scholz said Germany had been "delivering continuously since the beginning of the war", pointing to more than 15 million rounds of ammunition, 100,000 grenades and over 5,000 anti-tank mines sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.

"Most recently, the government has decided that we will deliver the most modern air defence system that Germany has in the form of the IRIS-T," Scholz told lawmakers in the Bundestag.

Denmark --

Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on May 28.

"The coastal defense of our country will not only be strengthened by Harpoon missiles -- they will be used by trained Ukrainian teams," Reznikov wrote on his Facebook page.

He said Harpoon shore-to-ship missiles would be operated alongside Ukrainian Neptune missiles to defend Ukraine's Black Sea, including the southern port of Odesa.

The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile that uses active radar homing and flies just above the water to evade defenses. It can be launched from ships, submarines, aircraft, or coastal batteries.

Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports, hampering vital grain exports, and used its Black Sea fleet to launch missile attacks against Ukrainian cities.

Let the grain flow, too, dammit! 

Poland --

Poland’s prime minister says his country will serve as an “economic hub” for neighbouring Ukraine, helping it export grain and other products while Russia blocks Ukraine’s export routes, chiefly its ports.

Speaking on Wednesday in the Ukrainian town of Borodyanka, near the capital, Kyiv, Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland is working on expanding its infrastructure and capacity to facilitate the export of millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain and other agriculture products.

He added that Warsaw was receiving European Union funds for the purpose and warned that North African countries which rely heavily on Ukrainian grain could face problems feeding their populations without the foodstuff.

The next weeks and months are critical to the effort to contain and ultimately defeat Russian thug and war criminal Putin and his dreams of a restored Soviet Union.  These are important, hopeful steps, but the effort must be sustained not only by the U.S., but by its NATO allies.

(Photo:  Medium range American HIMARS/ Getty Images)


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