;)
April 15, 2023
Afternoon Update:
Uh-oh. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "One of former president Donald Trump's top lawyers on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case is no longer working on the matter after he appeared before a federal grand jury last month, according to people familiar with the move. Evan Corcoran is still representing Trump in other cases, such as special counsel Jack Smith's probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.... Prosecutors investigating Trump's taking classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago Club after leaving office won a court fight that allowed them to question Corcoran when judges ruled that he could not use attorney-client privilege to avoid disclosing information about his communications with Trump.... Corcoran was forced to answer questions about Trump and his legal team's response to [a] subpoena [for documents] and regarding the communications he had with Trump about returning the documents, The Post has previously reported." CNN has a developing report here.
A Lie of Omission. Caroline Kitchener, et al., of the Washington Post: "As a lawyer for a conservative legal group, Matthew Kacsmaryk in early 2017 submitted an article to a Texas law review criticizing Obama-era protections for transgender people and those seeking abortions. The Obama administration, the draft article argued, had discounted religious physicians who 'cannot use their scalpels to make female what God created male' and 'cannot use their pens to prescribe or dispense abortifacient drugs designed to kill unborn children.' But a few months after the piece arrived, an editor at the law journal ... received an unusual email: Citing 'reasons I may discuss at a later date,' Kacsmaryk, who had originally been listed as the article's sole author, said he would be removing his name and replacing it with those of two colleagues at his legal group, First Liberty Institute.... What Kacsmaryk did not say in the email was that he had already been interviewed for a judgeship by his state's two senators and was awaiting an interview at the White House. As part of that process, he was required to list all of his published work on a questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.... [Kacsmaryk] did [not] list the article on the paperwork he submitted to the Senate in advance of confirmation hearings...." Read on. First Liberty claims Kacsmaryk was only a "placeholder" on the article, but there is strong evidence that is a lie. Experts the reporters consulted were not amused. The Raw Story summarizes the WashPo reporting.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times compares Shakespeare's King Lear to the U.S.'s geriatric leaders. MB: A fairly good Dowd column, IMO, though I suppose Shakespeare scholars might know otherwise.
New Mexico. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "New Mexico police officers were questioning whether they were at the right house shortly before they fatally shot an armed homeowner this month at what turned out to be the wrong address, according to body-camera video released Friday. The release of the video comes more than a week after Robert Dotson, 52, was killed by police in Farmington, N.M., on April 5, when officers showed up to the wrong house in response to a domestic violence call.... The fatal mix-up is being investigated by the New Mexico State Police. After the officers appeared to laugh at the notion that they mixed up the addresses, police backed away and shined a light on Dotson once he came to the door.... When Dotson opened the screen door and began to raise his firearm, police opened fire on the homeowner, who quickly fell to the ground, according to body-cam video."
New York. Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "New York City's storefront businesses ... are ... contending with what the police say is a dramatic increase in shoplifting. But statistics also reveal a startling reality: A relative handful of shoplifters are responsible for an outsize percentage of retail crime. Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people, the police said. Collectively, they were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said." MB: I've linked this story because it bears on a comment today by Forrest M. Apropos of Forrest's remarks, I'm betting a few of those 327 shoplifters are very, very strong, although -- oddly! -- Meko's story makes no mention of refrigerators.
~~~~~~~~~~
Local Boy Makes Good. Katie Rogers & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In front of St. Muredach's Cathedral on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina, the town where his ancestral Irish relatives came from, President Biden drew from his family story to share a message of hope and optimism with the people of Ireland and to the rest of the world -- a message that could fuel a final presidential campaign.... Connecting his political worldview with his family story, the president told the crowd -- and the world -- that it was 'a moment to recommit our hearts, our minds, our heart and souls to the march of progress. To lay the foundation, brick by brick by brick, for a better future for our kids and our grandkids.' As Mr. Biden was leaving Ballina, he told reporters that he'd already made his decision and that he planned to run again. 'We'll announce it relatively soon,' Mr. Biden said.... Few politicians in the United States get the kind of raw, unanimous shows of approval that Mr. Biden got in Ballina, with an address in front of an august cathedral, with rock-star lighting and an uninhibited roar from an adoring crowd.... When he arrived in Ballina, the president flew in Marine One low over the crowd of thousands, drawing huge cheers amid the roar of the helicopter." ~~~
~~~ Pat Leahy of the Irish Times reviews President Biden's visit to Ireland. ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden, who spent most of this week exploring his family lineage in Ireland, broke down in tears on Friday after an impromptu meeting with a person from his more recent past: the priest who had administered last rites to his son, Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015. Mr. Biden became emotional after seeing the priest, Friar Frank O'Grady, who was given a last-minute security approval for the meeting at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock, a sacred shrine for Roman Catholics, who have reported seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary and other holy figures there. A White House official who confirmed the meeting called it 'spontaneous,' in that Friar O'Grady's presence in Knock was not known to officials who spent weeks poring over the details of the trip.... Friar O'Grady, a former U.S. Army chaplain, and had been assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., when Beau Biden died at age 46.... Later, Mr. Biden visited a hospice center in Knock, where a plaque hangs in memory of his son." The Irish Times story is here.
Mariya Manzhos, and Devlin Barrett & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member suspected of leaking a trove of classified military intelligence, was charged by the federal government Friday with retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents. Teixeira, 21, appeared shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern before Magistrate Judge David Hennessy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston. The two criminal charges carry a maximum of 15 years in prison. Teixeira did not enter a plea and is detained pending a hearing on Wednesday. The government is seeking continued detention.... The complaint alleges that Teixeira even used his top secret clearance to try to figure out if the leak hunters were on to him." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The CBS News story is here. The story also includes a copy of the criminal complaint. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Or you can read a full-page version here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "It's still unclear how closely [Jack] Teixeira was monitored, if at all. But the timeline of his alleged activities, based on interviews with members of his Discord server group, as well as an FBI affidavit, shows that he was able to remove page after page of classified material, for months on end, with apparently no notice.... Every time a trusted employee has walked off the job with classified information, U.S. officials have reassured the public that lessons learned will lead to new guardrails that will make breaches less likely. They have consistently proved insufficient.... Texeira, in his tech support role, had a legitimate need for access to the systems that house classified information, said a ... former intelligence official.... Teixeria's case highlights what some longtime intelligence officials often refer to as the 'clerk problem.' Any organization that handles sensitive information will always need a significant number of junior employees to help manage and share it." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The "clerk problem" should be relatively easy to solve. Just as you can move around a cardboard carton without opening it, clerks should be able to distribute & file secret documents without having the ability to open them. It's true that even titles of memos can be revealing; e.g., "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US." But clerks do not necessarily need to know even the titles, since it should not be clerks who determine who should see particular classified documents.
Evan Hill, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of up to four additional Chinese spy balloons, and questions lingered about the true capabilities of the one that flew over the continental United States in January and February, according to previously unreported top-secret intelligence documents. The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States this year, called Killeen-23 by U.S. intelligence agencies, carried a raft of sensors and antennas the U.S. government still had not identified more than a week after shooting it down, according to a document allegedly leaked to a Discord chatroom by Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard."
Rose Horowitch of NBC News: "Former Rep. Liz Cheney said Thursday that GOP firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene should not have a security clearance after Greene defended the Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking a trove of classified documents. Cheney ... said Greene's comments made clear that she 'cannot be trusted' with national security information.... Greene [is] a member of the Homeland Security Committee...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ In fairness to Miss Margie, she may have been confused about the whole traitor thing because she has been very busy overseeing home improvements: ~~~
~~~ David McAfee of the Raw Story: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spent more than $65,000 on fencing for her home this year using campaign funds, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records.... The campaign expenditure is legal due to FEC rules allowing candidates greater ability to spend campaign cash on personal protection, but spending more than $65,000 on her home fence stands out in a district where $54,634 was the median household income for a whole year in 2020." MB: But it's a very nice fence.
~~~ We Have Seen the Enemy and He is Joe Biden. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On his show Thursday night, [Tucker] Carlson -- who does not appear to have done any reporting of his own -- ... suggested that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lied to Congress when he said that Russia was losing the war, an assertion that Carlson claimed (falsely) was disproved by the documents ... from [Jack] Teixeira's chatroom.... 'Instead, the only man who has been taken into custody or likely ever will be is a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who leaked the slides that showed that Lloyd Austin was lying,' Carlson said. 'He revealed the crimes, therefore he's the criminal.'... [Carlson] accused the government of illegally surveilling Teixeira (without explaining this claim) and declared that The Post and the Times were its 'accomplices' for reporting on Teixeira's alleged actions." Bump wraps Marjorie Taylor Greene's support for Teixeira's crimes with Carlson's rationale for supporting the young (alleged!) traitor: like them, Teixeira heroically acted to undermine the Biden administration.
Lindsay Whitehurst & Christopher Sherman of the AP: "The Justice Department on Friday charged 28 members of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel, including sons of notorious drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, in a sprawling fentanyl-trafficking investigation. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges alongside Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram and other top federal prosecutors. The charges were filed against cartel leaders, as well alleged chemical suppliers, lab managers, fentanyl traffickers, security leaders, financiers and weapons traffickers.... The indictments also charge Chinese and Guatemalan citizens accused of supplying precursor chemicals required to make fentanyl.... In outlining the charges Friday, Garland described the violence of the Sinaloa cartel and how its members have tortured perceived enemies, including Mexican law enforcement officials. In some cases, cartel members have also fed victims, some some still alive, to tigers owned by Guzman's sons, Garland said. Eight of those charged in Friday's case have been arrested and remain in the custody of law enforcement officials outside the U.S. The U.S. government is offering rewards for several others charged in the case." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A rioter who pinned a D.C. officer to a doorway in a mob attack on police trying to defend a tunnel entrance during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on Friday, after a judge called him 'a poster child of all that was dangerous and appalling about that day's violence. Patrick McCaughey, of Ridgefield, Conn., committed the 'most egregious' attacks on police out of three men found guilty at a bench trial in September of assaulting and impeding police at the Capitol's Lower West Terrace on the day Congress met to confirm Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden said. After pushing through bike racks and taunting and chasing officers up steps, McCaughey used a stolen riot shield to pin D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges to a metal door frame in a tunnel that was a chokepoint for rioters trying to enter the building. McCaughey used his weight and the weight of the mob behind him to crush Hodges, while another man beat him with a baton." ~~~
~~~ In a victim impact statement, Officer Hodges effectively called Donald Trump "a would-be dictator" who "decided[d] to try his luck against the United States." The NBC News story, by Ryan Reilly, is here.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a temporary stay on Friday ensuring that a common abortion pill would remain widely available while the Supreme Court decides whether to grant a formal stay. The interim stay will expire at midnight on Wednesday. Such a stay is meant to preserve the status quo while the justices study the briefs and lower court rulings, and it did not forecast how the justices would ultimately rule. Justice Alito, the member of the court responsible for overseeing the appeals court whose ruling is at issue, ordered the groups challenging the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the pill to file their brief by Tuesday at noon." MB: It isn't clear to me what the "status quo" is. I'll try to find out. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Robert Barnes & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post make it more clear: "The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily restored full access to a key abortion medication, putting on hold a lower court's decision suspending government approval of the pill used in more than half of all abortions in the United States." (Also linked yesterday.)
Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after ProPublica revealed Thursday that he had failed to report real estate deals made with Harlan Crow, a Dallas business executive and influential Republican donor to causes related to the law and judiciary.... Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) called on the Judicial Conference, the federal court system's policymaking body, to refer Thomas to the U.S. attorney general for potential ethics violations. In addition to the justice's unreported gifts and real estate deals, the lawmakers noted that Thomas admitted in 2011 he had failed to report $680,000 of his wife's income from a conservative think tank.... Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) called on Thomas to resign, after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said last week that the House should impeach the justice. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said Thomas 'must resign or be impeached.' Other lawmakers vented their frustration at a lack of accountability.... On Friday, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a civil and criminal complaint against Thomas...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "In reading ... defenses of [Harlan] Crow..., I was struck by how each defender takes the billionaire's rationalization as his own. Each one seems to accept, without question, that an enemy of tyranny would keep mementos of the tyrants to remind himself of his hatred.... When we want to memorialize an atrocity or a crime -- when we want to remember the consequences and costs of evil -- we focus on the victims.... Even in the privacy of your own home, it does not make sense to honor victims of tyranny with statues of the tyrants or knickknacks from their regimes." (Also linked yesterday.)
AP: "The digital media conglomerate Starboard said Friday it purchased the conservative social media site Parler and will temporarily take down the app as it undergoes a 'strategic assessment.' 'No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more,' Starboard said in a news release Friday announcing the acquisition.... [Parlar] was briefly booted off some platforms in 2021 due to its connections to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and its user base remains small."
Presidential Race 2024. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "... as the most prominent current and potential Republican presidential candidates spoke before the annual gathering of the National Rifle Association, most virulently rejected the idea that more gun restrictions could curb bloodshed, even as two American cities are still mourning the latest massacres in the nation's gun violence epidemic. 'This is not a gun problem,' insisted ... Donald J. Trump in a dark and meandering speech on Friday afternoon.... Mike Pence..., who faced boos as he took the stage, also toed the line. 'Stop trampling on the God-given rights of the American people every time tragedy happens,' Mr. Pence said, directing his comments at 'gun control extremists.' And to warm applause, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota signed an executive order onstage 'to protect the God-given right to keep and bear arms from being infringed upon by financial institutions.' In many ways, the gathering was part of a pattern -- a devastating mass shooting, followed by Republican displays of fealty to a group that rejects even many modest efforts to curb gun violence -- that underscores a central and deepening tension in the broader American culture wars"
Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Mike Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration as director of the C.I.A. and then as secretary of state, said on Friday that he would not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024.... He said he had not made his decision based on ... Donald J. Trump's lead in early polls of the Republican race. He also declined to endorse Mr. Trump and obliquely criticized him, saying, 'I think Americans are thirsting for people making arguments, not just tweets.'" An NBC News story is here. MB: Aw, I'm sure this saddens us all.
Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump provided the first look at his post-presidency business dealings on Friday with a new personal financial disclosure. Though light on specifics, the documents filed with the Federal Election Commission revealed lower-than-expected values on his social media company, two additional hefty bank loans and a new income stream for former first lady Melania Trump. The former president filed his disclosure after requesting multiple extensions. He had been warned that he would face fines if he failed to file within 30 days of a March 16 deadline.... Here are six takeaways from the 101-page filing."
Beyond the Beltway
Arkansas. Sarah, You're the Greatest! Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "The office of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) is blaming a controversial state job application form demanding prospective hires write a short essay on what they admire about her most on a 'design error,' reported the Arkansas Times on Friday. [Austin Bailey, who reported the story for the Arkansas Times, asked] 'Who among us hasn't accidentally required job applicants to write 500-word essays on how great we are?'... According to Sanders spokesperson Alexa Henning, that question was intended only for people applying for summer internships, not official positions on state boards.... '... we'll grant that requiring a loyalty oath from interns is slightly less cringe than requiring it of, say, an Arkansas Catfish Promotion Board member,' [Bailey wrote]." MB: The state has revised the questionnaire for board applications, presumable with the requirement to fawn over Gov. Huckleberry eliminated.
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "The city of Minneapolis agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle lawsuits filed by two people who accused former police officer Derek Chauvin of pressing his knee into their necks during arrests years before he used the same maneuver on George Floyd and killed him. The civil lawsuits, filed last year, stemmed from two separate incidents in 2017.... They allege Chauvin, who is White, used excessive and unnecessary force against two Black people including a 14-year-old boy who was left bloody and unconscious when Chauvin hit him with a flashlight and choked and pinned him while responding to a domestic violence call. The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to pay $7.5 million to John Pope, who is now 20, to settle claims related to that September 2017 incident. The council also approved a $1.4 million settlement to Zoya Code, who was handcuffed, face down and not resisting when Chauvin slammed her head into the ground and pinned his knee into her neck during a separate domestic violence investigation in June 2017, according to body-camera footage." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "The mayor of Minneapolis said George Floyd would still be alive if the city's police department had 'done the right thing' and fired officer Derek Chauvin in 2017 after complaints he knelt on the necks of two people he arrested. Jacob Frey was speaking at a press conference on Thursday announcing the city had reached a $8.9m settlement in two excessive force lawsuits.... 'He should have been fired in 2017. He should have been held accountable in 2017,' Frey said, apologizing to the victims and blaming the officer's supervisors for failing to act. '[If they] had done the right thing, George Floyd would not have been murdered.'... Brian O'Hara, the Minneapolis police chief..., also cited 'systemic failure' within the department." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Say, Mayor and Chief, are those so-called supervisors still on the job?
Montana. David McCabe of the New York Times: "The Montana House of Representatives on Friday approved a total ban on TikTok inside the state, setting up the state's Republican governor to sign the first-of-its-kind prohibition into law. The legislation, which would also bar app stores from carrying TikTok, the wildly popular viral video app, was approved 54 to 43 in the last of two votes in the State House. The State Senate passed it in March. Gov. Greg Gianforte [R] must decide whether to sign the bill into law, veto it or do nothing for 10 days after receiving the bill and let it become law without his signature. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gianforte, Brooke Metrione, said he would 'carefully consider any bill the Legislature sends to his desk.' A TikTok spokeswoman, Brooke Oberwetter, said in a statement that supporters of the bill had admitted they didn't have a feasible plan for carrying out the ban.... A trade group funded by Apple and Google has said the companies cannot stop app downloads in a single state. Critics of the legislation say that TikTok users could disguise their location to maintain access to the app, and that the ban may be hard to enforce in border towns.... The ban will probably be challenged in court if it becomes law [on First Amendment grounds]." The Daily Montanan story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Glad to read Gov. Greg is going to carefully consider the bill, because he doesn't carefully consider much.
New York. Golden Words. Nicholas Fandos & Jay Root of the New York Times: "Although she has no shortage of in-house communicators, policy analysts and budget experts at her disposal, [New York Gov. Kathy] Hochul, a Democrat, has spent nearly $2 million on additional help, mostly on the giant consulting firms Deloitte Consulting and the Boston Consulting Group, in shaping her vision for the state delivered each January.... This year, Ms. Hochul's office spent $871,000 on three outside firms to prepare for the [state-of-the-state] speech, the records show. By far the largest amount went to the Boston Consulting Group, which got $838,000 for what is listed as 'SOS support.' But the executive chamber also authorized $8,000 to copy-edit [a] book that Gotham Ghostwriters helped assemble. The figures were even higher in 2022, when the governor's office paid an outside writer, an editor and a speech-writing firm, Fenway Strategies, a total of about $60,000. Deloitte received $1,017,221 that year for 'project management' for its work on a book and speech that set the tone for Ms. Hochul's first full year as governor and her re-election campaign."
It's been a bad week for 21-year-old Air National Guardsmen: ~~~
~~~ Tennessee. Michael Roppolo of CBS News: "A 21-year-old Air National Guardsman in Tennessee is facing federal charges after sending his resume to a nefariously-named site -- all because he said he needed money to support his family, court documents said. The FBI alleges Josiah Ernesto Garcia used a site called 'Rent-a-Hitman' to apply for a job as an assassin. Garcia was arrested at a park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on Wednesday by an undercover agent, according to a news release. It's the latest in a string of reported arrests linked to the website, originally created in 2005 to advertise a cyber security startup company that never took off. Instead, it became a parody site -- complete with false testimonials, a request form, and a job application for aspiring hitmen."
Texas. Kelsey Ables of the Washington Post: "Daniel Perry, the man who killed a Black Lives Matter protester at a rally in Austin in July 2020, regularly shared racist memes and content in private messages and social media posts, including descriptions of killing protesters and minorities, newly unsealed court documents reveal.... The documents, which were shared online by the Houston Chronicle on Thursday, have become public just days after Perry, a 37-year-old Army sergeant and ride-sharing driver, was convicted of murdering 28-year-old Garrett Foster. Shortly after Perry's conviction, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said he was seeking an expedited pardon for Perry, citing the state's 'stand your ground' self-defense laws. Travis County District Attorney José Garza called it 'deeply troubling.' Perry has not been sentenced yet." The article cites some of the content from Perry's racist posts, which encourage violence against protesters.
Way Beyond
France. Claire Parker of the Washington Post: "A top French court on Friday approved controversial legislation to raise the retirement age, clearing the way for the change to become law and giving a victory to French President Emmanuel Macron, even as opponents vowed to continue protests that have rocked the country for months. In its much-anticipated decision, the Constitutional Council, France's highest constitutional authority, validated a measure to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 -- a proposed change that has sparked the most significant unrest France has seen in years.... Opposition to the reform shows no signs of abating, with protests already underway across France on Friday...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Japan. Motoko Rich, et al., of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan was safely evacuated on Saturday from a site where an explosion had been heard just before he was scheduled to give a speech, the country's national broadcaster said.... Video footage posted by the broadcaster showed billowing white smoke rising from a site close to a fishing port where supporters had gathered to wait for the prime minister to arrive.... A spokesman for the police department in Wakayama said on Saturday that a suspect had been arrested in the case and was in custody."
Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, suggested in an online post that Moscow declare it had met the goals of its 'special military operation' and put an end to the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin said that Russia had succeeded in killing a large number of military-aged Ukrainian men -- and prompted others to flee the country.... Having seized a 'fat chunk' of Ukrainian territory, the strategic option for Russia would be to lock down and defend those gains, Prigozhin wrote in the lengthy post published Friday. He also wrote that the Pentagon leaks may have been coordinated to delay the start of Ukraine's long-promised counteroffensive...."
"Fierce battles are continuing in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Maryinka, the Ukrainian military said early Saturday. Russian forces appear to have made gains in northwest and southwestern Bakhmut, according to the Institute for the Study of War..., which cited geolocated footage. Russia carried out multiple air and missile strikes against Ukrainian civilian and military targets, the Ukrainian military said Saturday. In the city of Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, eight people were killed and 21 wounded, according to the Ukrainian regional head.... Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping's proposal to end the fighting in Ukraine when the two met in Beijing on Friday. China's plan does not call for the withdrawal of Russian troops. Lula has also positioned himself as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine, declining to join the Biden administration in condemning Russia's invasion." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here.
Share Article
Reader Comments (11)
After the report on trump's speech at the NRA event in Indianapolis,
I've decided that I need to start going to the local gym, because I
need a new refrigerator.
Also a new fur coat, or non-fur, because the forecast is for snow on
Monday.
"We need to arm store owners with AR-15s because of rampant
violence in this country. People are running into appliance and
department stores and carrying out refrigerators and air conditioners
on their backs. And grabbing fur coats, and non-fur coats (I guess
because of the air conditioners) and running out the doors".
Can he get any more delusional? Probably so.
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-puts-refigerator-theft-blast-
041958928.html.?tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_01
@Forrest Morris: I'd love to meet a fella who can run while carrying a refrigerator on his back, place the appliance carefully in the rear of his pick-em-up truck and drive away before a store clerk can call 911. Does the guy (or gal!) come back for a window air-conditioner while the clerk is fumbling with the phone?
It's a crime wave, for sure. This is serious, and I look forward to Trump's showing us CCTV footage.
Our God of the day has gotten much credit for upholding gun rights in this country–--it appears. "Mike Pence..., who faced boos as he took the stage, also toed the line. 'Stop trampling on the God-given rights of the American people every time tragedy happens, also that slinky sister Kristi Noem said the same thing about guns being God given rights. Now I wonder, cuz I don't recall God ever giving permission for folks to carry guns of any sort since in His day there weren't no guns. Perhaps someone like Pence who we know talks to God on a daily basis has inside knowledge about this matter. Poor ole God–-He must be exhausted having his name being taken in vain once again.
Today is Titanic Remembrance Day according to a sign in our local
library. Lots of books available on the sinking, I think it was 100
years ago.
I can think of some nut-jobs whose grandparents should have been
on that ship. The daily news would probably be a lot more uplifting
at this point in time.
Quick! Call the cops, men in skirts parading around.
Today is the annual NYC Tartan Day Parade on 6th Ave. from
2:00 to 4:00 P.M.
I'll bet this wouldn't be allowed in certain parts of the country, like
Florida, Texas, etc. even though we have millions of Scots heritage
citizen in the U.S.
My tartan is dark green and black, Clan McKay.
Forrest, of the Clan McKay,
Those weasels best be careful.
You know why they call it a kilt?
That’s what they did to last guy who made fun of them.
Hoot mon!
"Austin Bailey, who reported the story for the Arkansas Times, asked] 'Who among us hasn’t accidentally required job applicants to write 500-word essays on how great we are?'"
Admit the thought occurred to me but upon further thought I rejected it. Instead, after new hires' probationary period, I made the requirement a part of their review...and since I didn't want to set them an impossible task I gave them 1000 words to play with. Didn't want to unduly cramp them.
Dear Dr. Winkes:
The best thing I like about you is that you gave me 1,000 words to tell you how great you are. Please don't hold it against me if I go over the word-limit. As you must know, many people cannot contain themselves when they get to talking about what a wonderful leader you are. Count me among them. But enough about me.
How do I admire you? Let me count the ways....
(Rest of essay deleted by Reality Chex fact-checker Mrs. Bea McCrabbie. [Yeah, she still works here.])
Mister Winkes, will that be on the test?
Dear Queen Liarbee,
I’m applying for the job of Arkansas Confederate Hypocrisy and Bullshit Inspector. Surely you have such a position given the tsunami of hypocritical bear scat that follows in your wake.
Okay, great. So, then. Why are you so amazingly superiorly wondermentoful? Let count the ways…
I love how you refer to people who don’t go along with your theocratic, fascist fiats as “crazy”. I’m sure no one in the country with mental health issues or their friends and family members can have a problem with that well lobbed slur. If they do, well, they’re just kray-kray! Right? Haha! Crazy Losers!
And I adored how you called Biden “unfit” to run the country with only 40 years of experience when you yourself weaseled your way into the governor’s mansion with not a single day’s experience. Oh, except for a few months serving as Lie Secretary for the Fat Fascist. And pay no attention to those soreheads who complain that you didn’t even do your job, refusing to address questions from the press for months at a time, all the while banking a nice fat check from taxpayers as if you actually DID your job. Veeeerry clever!
Then, oh, be still my heart! You announced that you would protect Arkansas residents from Biden socialism and how you would stop the interfering arm of Washington soshulism at the Mississippi River! OMG that’s a great quote.
But THEN!! (Brilliant move!) you faked out those DC-Biden commies after your state was hit by tornadoes. The federal guv’mint agreed to cover 75% of the clean up. BUT, cleverly…you demanded that that unfit commie, Biden, whose largesse you promised to halt at the Mississippi, pay for 100% of everything!! Mississippi? What Mississippi?
Anyone who sez that’s snaky, slithering hypocrisy just doesn’t understand Party of Traitor cleverness. Amirite?
Hey, and since you were so smart, being a member of the Protect the Children party, to make sure that lazy children couldn’t hide behind child labor laws, maybe you can get those indolent little brats to help clean up the debris from the next disaster created by climate change (which you say doesn’t exist!).
As you can see, I’m a big fan.
Of unqualified, narcissistic, hypocritical, fascist assholes.
So how ‘bout that job? I think $200K would be a good starting salary.
Let me know.
AK—you’re hired…but take a gun cuz stand your ground happens a lot…
Everyone featured today except Biden is a blithering fool…
So sad that the former so-called SOS is passing on running for Prez. I will miss his lying jowls…