;)
March 4, 2022
Late Morning Update:
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.
From CNN's live updates Friday, also linked below: "Russia has used cluster bombs, widely banned artillery in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. 'We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law,' Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Friday.... Cluster bombs -- which not only deliver an initial explosion on impact but also contain multiple smaller bombs that spread over a wide area -- are largely condemned by the international community due to the risk of civilian casualties when they're used in populated areas. US President Joe Biden's envoy to the United Nations [Linda Thomas Greenfield] has accused Russia of preparing to use banned weapons, including 'cluster munitions and vacuum bombs,' in Ukraine. And she issued a stark warning to invading Russian soldiers.... CNN teams in Ukraine have also spotted Russian thermobaric 'vacuum bombs' launchers this past week."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of helping carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's three liberal members in dissent. The bombings, near the finish line of the marathon, killed three people and injured 260, many of them grievously. Seventeen people lost limbs. A law enforcement officer was killed as the brothers fled a few days later. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar's older brother and accomplice, died after a shootout with the police. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, upheld Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's convictions in 2020 on 27 counts. But the appeals court ruled that his death sentence should be overturned because the trial judge had not questioned jurors closely enough about their exposure to pretrial publicity and had excluded evidence concerning Tamerlan Tsarnaev." CNN's report is here.
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Putin's War Gets Dirtier
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine entered a second week of war against ... Vladimir Putin's invading forces with parts of the country's largest nuclear plant on fire and its southern cities encircled by the Kremlin's troops, as the humanitarian catastrophe wrought by Russia's assault becomes increasingly apparent. Later in the morning, Ukraine's nuclear inspectorate said Russian forces had captured the plant, which is a key supplier of the country's electricity. A regional military leader said nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia site was 'ensured as of now,' while local authorities said the fire was extinguished as of 6:20 a.m. local time. Washington and Kyiv said there had been no increase in radiation levels. Ukrainian officials said the blaze broke out after Russian shelling, while President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of 'nuclear terror.'" ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here. A roundup of the top stories as of 1:00 pm Ukraine time is here. ~~~
~~~ The AP's live updates for Friday are here. CNN's live updates are here: "NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg denounced on Friday the 'brutal' Russian invasion of Ukraine, and condemned attacks on civilians and on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, southeastern Ukraine.... 'This just demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it and the importance of Russia withdrawing all its troops and engaging good faith in diplomatic efforts,' Stoltenberg [said]."
William Broad, et al., of the New York Times: "A fire broke out early Friday at a complex in southern Ukraine housing Europe's largest nuclear power plant after Russian troops fired on the area, the Ukrainian government said. Security camera footage verified by The New York Times showed a building ablaze inside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex near a line of military vehicles. The videos appeared to show people in the vehicles firing at buildings in the power plant. Ukraine's state emergency service later said the blaze went out after 6 a.m. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused the Russian military of deliberately attacking the complex and said an explosion there would have been 'the end for everybody, the end of Europe.'... The fire had not affected essential equipment at the plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Twitter, citing its communication with the Ukrainian government. It said that personnel at the plant were 'taking mitigatory actions.'... President Biden spoke with Mr. Zelensky about the fire.... Local reports later said that emergency crews had gained access." An AP story is here. MB: CNN reports that Ukrainian plant personnel are operating the plant "at gunpoint."
Loveday Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "A Russian siege and hours of shelling have battered rail links and bridges in a key Ukrainian port, its mayor said Thursday, cutting off water, power and food to the city. 'They impede the supply of food, create a blockade for us,' Vadym Boichenko, the mayor of Mariupol, wrote in a Telegram message. As workers waited for a respite from the barrage to begin restoring electricity, the city council said it would try to negotiate a cease-fire and a safe corridor to bring in supplies and evacuate civilians.... The city of more than 400,000, which lies on the Sea of Azov near the Russian border, remained under Ukrainian control but was encircled by Russian troops, Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said. Russia was slashing access to Ukrainian ports to extend control over the country's southern coastline."
Missy Ryan & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken will highlight Western unity in confronting Russia's invasion of Ukraine during a tour of Europe this week, as the Biden administration seeks to deter ... Vladimir Putin from widening his military assault. The top diplomat, in a visit [to Brussels] as well as Moldova, Poland, and the Baltic states, will also bring a message of American support to countries within closest reach of Russia's military...."
Hamed Aleaziz of BuzzFeed News: "The Biden administration will allow Ukrainians in the US to apply for temporary protected status, shielding them from deportation and allowing them to obtain work permits as Russia continues to invade and bombard their home country, officials announced Thursday."
Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Unshaven and wearing a military T-shirt, a haggard President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday hosted his first news conference since the war began, inviting journalists into his office building, now fortified with sandbags. In an animated briefing, Mr. Zelensky, whose defiance has made him a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion, laid out the state of negotiations with Russia, voiced pride in his people, pleaded for a no-fly zone and spoke frankly about fear of dying. Beyond the answers Mr. Zelensky provided to questions, pulling a chair close to attending journalists, the news conference seemed intended to signal that his battered government is at least still functioning a week into the war, despite increasingly dire conditions in Kyiv.... Mr. Zelensky's negotiator at the talks [with Russia], Mykhailo Podolyak, said later Thursday negotiations wrapped up with an agreement on cease-fire corridors for civilians to escape heavy combat, but no progress on a settlement."
Howard Altman of Military Times: "Ukraine armed forces have been striking that long line of Russian troops heading to Kyiv while the Russians have used thermobaric weapons against Ukrainian cities, the head of Ukraine's defense intelligence agency tells Military Times.... Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon on the condition of anonymity, a senior defense official said the Pentagon has indications Ukraine forces are targeting the convoy...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "... Vladimir Putin called French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, in what appeared to have been a markedly more tense exchange than previous conversations between the two leaders. The 90-minute call failed to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough, and a senior French official said it left Macron convinced that 'the worst is yet to come' and that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine. 'Your country will pay dearly because it will end up as an isolated country, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time,' Macron told Putin, according to a French official, who added that Macron 'called on Vladimir Putin to not lie to himself.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Anton Troianovski & Valeriya Safronova of the New York Times: "As ... Vladimir V. Putin wages war against Ukraine, he is fighting a parallel battle on the home front, dismantling the last vestiges of a Russian free press. On Thursday, the pillars of Russia's independent broadcast media collapsed under pressure from the state. Echo of Moscow, the freewheeling radio station founded by Soviet dissidents in 1990 and that symbolized Russia's new freedoms, was 'liquidated' by its board. TV Rain, the youthful independent television station ... said it would suspend operations indefinitely. And Dmitri A. Muratov, the journalist who shared the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said that his newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which survived the murders of six of its journalists, could be on the verge of shutting down as well. 'Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated,' Mr. Muratov said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: On CNN, a young Ukrainian woman said she had written on social media to some of her Russian friends about Russia's brutal war on Ukraine, and they didn't believe her. So it would appear that many Russian people, not just old folks in the steppes, are not getting the news.
Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "Some key countries in East Asia are joining with the West to take what is for them the exceptional step of imposing significant financial sanctions, officials and analysts say, brought together by outrage at Russia's invasion of Ukraine and concern over China's growing aggression in the region. 'We want to demonstrate what happens when a country invades another country,' said one Japanese official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Clifford Krauss of the New York Times: "Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil company, appeared to distance itself from ... Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday by calling for a 'fast resolution' to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The statement most likely reflects the company's desire to protect its extensive overseas operations, which include a network of more than 200 franchised gas stations in states like New York and New Jersey. Lukoil is one of the most recognizable Russian brands in the United States. Many lawmakers in Washington are pressing the Biden administration to ban the purchase of Russian oil by U.S. companies and to impose sanctions on Russian energy companies. Shares of Lukoil on the London Stock Exchange have fallen more than 40 percent since mid-February."
Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "As Russia is trying to cut off the flow of information in Ukraine by attacking its communications infrastructure, the British news outlet BBC is revisiting a broadcasting tactic popularized during World War II: shortwave radio. The BBC said this week that it would use radio frequencies that can travel for long distances and be accessible on portable radios to broadcast its World Service news in English for four hours a day in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and in parts of Russia.... Millions of Russians are also turning to the BBC, the broadcaster said. The audience for the BBC's Russian language news website reached a record 10.7 million in the past week, more than tripling its weekly average so far in 2022, the company said. Visitors to BBC's English language website from within Russia surged 252 percent to 423,000." ~~~
~~~ So Then. Sian Cain of the Guardian: "Access to BBC websites has been restricted in Russia, hours after the corporation brought back its shortwave radio service in Ukraine and Russia to ensure civilians in both countries can access news during the invasion.... According to Globalcheck, a service that tracks internet censorship..., the availability of the entire BBC website was at 17% of normal levels in Russia, which suggests some services have been blocked. BBC Russia also reported that Meta, formerly known as Facebook, also appeared to be blocked, as was Google Play."
Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "The production company behind RT America will close up shop and lay off employees, signaling a potential end for the Kremlin-funded media outlet aimed at U.S. audiences.... In the United States, RT America has lately covered Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine as a minor incursion intended for defensive purposes, drawing increasingly loud criticism.... On Tuesday, the cable television distributor DirecTV cut ties with the network.... YouTube, TikTok and Facebook parent company Meta have all blocked access to RT content on their platforms in Europe.... While RT America's audience in the United States is hard to quantify, and was probably modest, the network received significant distribution via the amplification of social media posts by conservative media companies." CNN's report is here.
Larry Neumeister of the AP: "A former CNBC and Fox News employee has been arrested in London for his work as a television producer for a Russian media baron tied to aggression in Ukraine over the past eight years, particularly in Crimea, U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday. Jack Hanick, 71, also known as 'John,' was arrested in London on Feb. 3 in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams described as the first-ever criminal indictment charging a violation of U.S. sanctions resulting from Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.... Williams said Hanick worked for years for Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev -- the founder of a Russian Orthodox news channel, Tsargrad TV -- even after U.S. sanctions banned U.S. citizens from working for or doing business with him."
Amy Wang & Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "President Biden signed into law Thursday a bill that ends forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment cases, allowing survivors to file lawsuits in court against perpetrators. In a White House ceremony with members of Congress, Vice President Harris and former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson in attendance, the president said the secrecy of arbitration benefits companies, not victims, and keeps many of those impacted in the blind about an issue that needs more illumination.... The new law will nullify agreements between employees and their employers in which the employees waive their rights to sue in the case of sexual assault or harassment and instead are required to settle their disputes by arbitration."
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Wednesday night that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is carrying out 'a cynical and dangerous campaign' by directing state officials to investigate families for child abuse if they allow their children to medically transition genders. 'This is government overreach at its worst,' Biden said in a statement. 'Like so many anti-transgender attacks proliferating in states across the country, the Governor's actions callously threaten to harm children and their families just to score political points. These actions are terrifying many families in Texas and beyond. And they must stop.' Biden said his administration is taking several steps to protect transgender children in Texas. Among them was an invitation Wednesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for families to contact the department's civil rights office if they were 'targeted by a child welfare investigation because of this discriminatory gubernatorial order.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Schmidt & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "A career National Security Council staff member under ... Donald J. Trump, who was pushed out of her position after she refused to go along with an effort to use the powers of the federal government to silence one of Mr. Trump's chief critics, has been rehired for the post by President Biden, two people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. The staff member, Ellen Knight, had told a federal judge in 2020 that senior White House lawyers had pressured her to falsely claim that a book by Mr. Trump's former national security adviser, John R. Bolton, contained classified information to keep its contents from becoming public." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jacob Bogage & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service plans to hire 10,000 employees in a push to cut into its backlog of tens of millions of tax returns by recruiting for jobs across the agency that have gone unfilled for years, according to four people familiar with the plan.... The agency plans to use money from its existing budget, a large share of it from coronavirus stimulus funding, to pay for the new hires, to be made over the next two years. The number of new jobs would represent a 14 percent increase in the IRS workforce.... The IRS entered the tax season this year with 24 million unprocessed paper returns and correspondence, almost all dating back to the 2020 filing season.... A government official said the IRS does not expect to resolve the backlog until the end of 2022."
Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had a terse reaction on Thursday to GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) heckling President Biden during his State of the Union address on Tuesday: 'I think they should just shut up.'... '"Let me just say this. I agree with what Sen. Lindsey Graham said: "Shut up."'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's report is here.
Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The House on Thursday passed a bill that would expand health-care eligibility for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill, which could provide health coverage for up to 3.5 million veterans, was passed on a vote of 256 to 174, with 34 Republicans joining all Democrats.... The U.S. military used burn pits throughout Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of waste, medical and hazardous materials, and jet fuel, exposing veterans to toxins that have caused long-lasting medical problems. Veterans who have been exposed often face difficult disability benefit claims processes with the Department of Veterans Affairs to get necessary health care.... 'Tax cuts for the rich, cancer for our veterans,' [Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Republicans' priorities.]"
Katie Benner & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department is facing mounting pressure to prosecute ... Donald J. Trump after the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack laid out its argument for a potential criminal case on Wednesday night, placing Attorney General Merrick B. Garland squarely in the middle of a politically charged debate over how to hold Mr. Trump accountable for efforts to overturn the election.... In publicly sharing its work, the committee has only escalated expectations that Mr. Trump will be prosecuted, regardless of whether its evidence meets the standard that a federal prosecutor must clear to secure a unanimous guilty verdict.... However, the filing was not necessarily a path to prosecution. The committee made its claim in the context of the court fight that prompted it -- a dispute over a subpoena for documents written by [right-wing lawyerJohn] Eastman. The standard it must meet to invoke crimes is much lower than it would be for prosecutors to win a criminal conviction, legal specialists said." A related Politico story is here.
Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A data expert for ... Donald Trump's campaign told him bluntly not long after polls closed in November 2020 that he was definitely going to lose his campaign for reelection. In the weeks that followed, multiple top officials at the Justice Department informed Trump that they had closely examined allegations of fraud ... -- and had found them simply untrue. And in the days leading up to the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, even Trump's loyal vice president, Mike Pence, repeatedly conveyed to Trump that he did not believe the Constitution gave him the power to overturn the election.... These and other new details were included in a legal brief filed late Wednesday by lawyers for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as they began to build a case that Trump was knowingly misleading his followers about the election and pressuring Pence to break the law in the weeks and hours before the assault. According to the panel and others, at least 11 aides and close confidants told Trump directly in the weeks after the election that there was no fraud and no legal way to overturn the result.... [Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said in an interview,] '... all of this evidence makes it certain that [Trump] had consciousness of guilt as he proceeded to try to overthrow the election result.'"
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday night, we got the first formal indication of [the House January 6 committee's] primary target: establishing that ... Donald Trump committed two federal crimes in his efforts to retain power despite losing the 2020 presidential election.... [In this post,] we'll walk through the case presented by the committee in the document produced on Wednesday. We'll also contextualize it with other recent legal activity that hints at more significant culpability for Trump allies and maintains a risk of civil repercussions for the former president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Uh, Barr Didn't Exactly Resign. ~~~
~~~ Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said ... Donald Trump became furious after Barr told him there was no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent. 'I told him that all this stuff was bulls[hit]... about election fraud. And, you know, it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was, Barr said in an interview with NBC News's Lester Holt...." Gregorian's account covers pretty much everything Barr said in the clip above. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) There is a longer excerpt of Holt's interview here, wherein Barr again lets us know what a swell guy he is. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-Calif.), appearing on MSNBC, pointed out that when Trump's own attorney general told Trump he had lost the election, and further laid out point by point how each conspiracy theories Trump was pushing was bullshit, Trump could no longer pretend his actions to overturn the elections were based on a belief the results were fraudulent. Therefore, Barr has provided even more proof of Trump's consciousness of guilt & criminal intent.
Felicia Sonmez & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob has issued a subpoena to Kimberly Guilfoyle, the partner of Donald Trump Jr. In a statement, the panel's chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), said the committee had subpoenaed Guilfoyle to testify because she had'backed out of her original commitment to provide a voluntary interview.'" The Guardian's story is here.
Guardian & Agencies: "Donald Trump has reached an agreement with the the New York attorney general's office that will temporarily spare him from having to answer questions under oath as part of an investigation into his business, as the former president's appeal process in the case continues."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Guy Wesley "Reffitt, 41, is the first defendant out of more than 700 to go on trial in connection with the Capitol attack, and in the past two days the prosecution has documented how he drove to Washington with a fellow member of a Texas militia and, armed with a pistol, led a pro-Trump mob in an advance on the police outside the building.... On Thursday, [his] son, Jackson Reffitt, faced his father from the witness stand in Federal District Court in Washington, testifying against him in a remarkable tableau that captured the painful rupture in one family -- and in some ways the nation -- caused by the events of Jan. 6, 2021. 'He said, "If you turn me in, you're a traitor,"' Jackson Reffitt told the jury.... '"And traitors get shot."'"
Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Members of the billionaire Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, have reached a deal with a group of states that had long resisted the company's bankruptcy plan -- a crucial step toward funneling billions of dollars from the family's fortune to addiction treatment programs nationwide, according to a court filing on Thursday. If Judge Robert Drain, who has presided over Purdue's bankruptcy proceedings in White Plains, N.Y., approves the agreement, the Sacklers would pay as much as $6 billion to help communities address the damage from the opioid crisis. In return, Sackler family members would get the prize they insisted upon for nearly three years: an end to all current and future civil claims against them over the company's prescription opioid business."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida, Where Women, Gays & Teachers Are Second-Class Citizens. Patricia Mazzei & Alexandra Glorioso of the New York Times: "Florida legislators voted to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, a move that would severely restrict access to the procedure in a state that for decades has been a refuge for women from across the South.The bill -- modeled after a similar abortion ban in Mississippi that the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to uphold -- now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of a sweeping push by Republicans to put the state at the forefront of the nation's culture wars. Other legislation on the verge of passage includes banning instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in some elementary school grades, and allowing parents to sue public school districts if students believe that their teacher sought to make them feel discomfort about a historical event because of their race, sex or national origin." The AP's report is here.
Idaho, Where Women Are Second-Class Citizens. Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "The Idaho Senate on Thursday approved a Republican bill to ban abortion after six weeks, positioning Idaho to become the first state to copy the restrictive Texas law that has prohibited most abortions in the state. The vote was 28 to 6.... If it passes the Republican-led House and is signed by Gov. Brad Little (R), Idaho's abortion ban could take effect as early as April, several months before the Supreme Court is expected to rule in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case that will determine the constitutionality of Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and determine the future of Roe." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Assuming the Supremes rubber-stamp the Mississippi abortion law, we will have "two Americas" under the law, one where women are valued and one where women & minorites are the pawns of white men. The Republican party is forcing the United States back into the dark ages that most Americans are too young to remember. I don't think they're going to like it.
Kentucky, Where It's Okay for Cops to Shoot up the Neighborhood. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The only officer to be charged for his actions during the fatal police raid on Breonna Taylor's apartment was found not guilty on Thursday of endangering three of Ms. Taylor's neighbors by firing bullets into their home during the botched operation. Jurors acquitted the former officer, Brett Hankison, whose bullets did not strike anyone, on all three counts of wanton endangerment after deliberating for about three hours."
Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A divided state Supreme Court approved election maps Thursday that were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers but will let Republicans keep the upper hand in races for the Legislature. Thursday's decision was 4-3, with Justice Brian Hagedorn breaking from conservatives and joining liberals to form a majority. The decision built off of a November ruling that said the justices would make as few changes as possible to the maps that have been in place since 2011. Those maps are heavily Republican, so the November ruling ensured whatever maps the justices chose also tilted that way. Sixty of the 99 Assembly seats will lean Republican and 22 of the 33 state Senate seats will lean Republican, according to a December analysis of the maps by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Those margins are similar to what Republicans enjoy now."
News Ledes
CNBC: "Job growth accelerated in February, posting the biggest monthly gain since July as the employment picture got closer to its pre-pandemic self. Nonfarm payrolls for the month grew by 678,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.8%, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That compared with estimates of 440,000 for payrolls and 3.9% for the jobless rate. In a sign that inflation could be cooling, wages barely rose for the month, up just 1 cent an hour, or 0.03%, compared with estimates for a 0.5% gain. The year-over-year increase was 5.13%, well below the 5.8% Dow Jones estimate as more lower-wage workers were hired and 12-month comparisons helped mute more recent gains."
Washington Post: "A massive explosion and fire leveled a Silver Spring-area apartment building Thursday morning, sending 10 people to the hospital and leaving others missing as authorities searched the smoldering rubble. Three people were rushed to the hospital in critical condition, while seven others suffered less serious injuries, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. Goldstein said several people remained unaccounted for and that K-9s had alerted people might trapped below the collapsed jumble of brick, steel, glass and concrete at the Friendly Garden Apartments. About 100 people were displaced by the explosion, including 35 in the building that was destroyed.... Two other apartment buildings were damaged in the six-building complex and are not safe to inhabit for the time being.... The cause of the blast was under investigation...."
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A new commercial aimed at a lot of jerks we've been reading about:
youtube.com/watch?v=XS9d6h8ZwPU
Are you a conservative who praised Putin and now wish you hadn't?
Then you need Tyranol, the drug that makes you forget you applauded
a tyrant who is now slaughtering civilians.
~~~ Marie: On CNN, a young Ukrainian woman said she had written on social media to some of her Russian friends about Russia's brutal war on Ukraine, and they didn't believe her. So it would appear that many Russian people, not just old folks in the steppes, are not getting the news.
How about this: on CNN, a young person from Minnesota (or Wisconsin) said she had written on social media to some of her Minnesota (or Wisconsin) friends about Republicans war on democratically elected candidates, and they didn't believe her. So it would appear that many Minnesota (or Wisconsin) people, not just the old folks are not getting the news. Sometimes the difference between us and them is slight.
Thoughts after morning tea…
Trump’s dictator pal is having some rough sledding trying to murder people and destroy a country that was no threat to him (what’s the world coming to when you can’t kill whomever you want for no good reason? I tells ya.) But the Ukrainians standing up to Putin and his army will pay for such insolence. Like all thugs, Putin hates being made to look weak. He expected to roll into Kyiv and for Kyiv to roll over. That hasn’t happened and it’s a lead pipe cinch he won’t put up with being made to look like anything less than Ivan the Terrible. He’ll be bombing orphanages soon. The really bad stuff is coming, and right soon.
As Marie points out, much of the Russian population knows very little about the atrocities being carried out in their name by an increasingly unhinged autocrat. His grip on news outlets has ensured that, unless you’re willing to go looking for it, news out of Ukraine will be limited to kindly Russian soldiers handing out free borscht to ungrateful Ukrainians. Putin has also banished clips from western journalists reporting on his murderous rampage. Oh, all except for his number one fan and supporter of democracy destruction, tyranny, and orphanage bombing, TuKKKer KKKarlson.
As the evidence piles up against that other would be destroyer of democracy, the Fat Fascist, I’m afraid there’s less and less chance that Merrick Garland will put him in the dock. Unfortunately, prosecutors tend to be disinclined to go after crooks they don’t feel they can successfully lock up. My knowledge of such recondite legal matters comes from long years of experience watching cop show like “Law and Order”. But in truth, should Fatty be convicted of the crimes he has surely committed, his appeal will likely be heard by one of the many unqualified Nazi judges with which he has salted the federal judiciary, and if that ain’t enough, the court of last resort, which is pickled in stinking Trumpy brine, will hand him a get out of jail free card.
Finally, cowardice, aka Republicans’ most obvious quality (after treason, that is). MTG and that other creep Gosar, go to a white supremacy convention, get wild applause from the Klan members there and then, when criticized, whine that they had no idea about any of that. “Why yes, we saw the 80 ft. tall picture if Hitler and saw all the swastika arm bands on the arms of all the guys giving the heil Hitler salutes, but we had no idea they were Nazis! Unfair to say that! Waaaahhhh!” Puh-leese. At least have the balls to say what you really stand for. The same with all the right-wing vermin who say repulsive stuff then claim they were taken out of context. Cowards.
More tea, m’dears?
MTG and Gosar were obviously only talking to the many fine people in that group. Many were wearing khakis, so how bad could they be.
Fareed Zakaria and Ezra Klein discuss the case for thinking strategically, not ideologically, about great power conflict. This is an extremely long (taken from a podcast) read but it is the best piece I've come across recently. Give it a shot but fortify yourself with lots of Ak's tea cuz it be lots to digest.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-fareed-zakaria.html
Descent into the Maelstrom
This morning, while walking the dog and marveling at the riot of jonquils popping up all over, I listened to a Fresh Air podcast featuring an interview with Michael Kimmage, a historian of foreign policy and the Cold War, and a former state department official specializing in Ukraine and Russia. What struck me most was the breadth of knowledge and the depth of historical perspective that informed his take on Putin’s war. No “gut feeling” or being influenced by the idiotic opinions of know-nothing Fox douchebags and traitors.
Years ago I opined to another film buff friend of mine that John Wayne, in his later films, often had surrogate (or estranged) sons, but these “sons” diminished in smarts and ability as the years progressed, from movies like “Red River” and “The Searchers”, where the “sons” were committed, experienced, and competent, to subsequent “sons” who were callow and little more than comic relief. The similarity to the Republican Party is striking.
Back under Nixon and Reagan, we had administration officials who were war criminals and crooks, but it would be hard to paint many of them as stupid and incompetent. As time went on it got worse. Yes, both Bushes relied on help from James Baker, whom no one could label incompetent, but under the Decider things went downhill quickly. By the time Trump comes along, we have astonishing ignoramuses who couldn’t find Ukraine on a labeled map and whose knowledge of history was confined to whatever lies they heard on Fox an hour previous.
The right has labeled smart people traitors and elitists. They’d rather a nation run by ideological clowns.
It’s a descent into the muck and swirl of ignorance, greed, and cowardice.
Just the kind of world Putin hopes for. A world without competence. Or jonquils.
It’s very likely that Putin will succeed (an extremely relative term—“Congrats, pal, you won a one way trip to Jupiter. By the way, you’re on the hook for the gas money.”) in his war crimes and end up occupying Ukraine, but we all know that it’s way easier to Shock and Awe your way to control (more relativity) of a country militarily than it is to handle the after part (did he sleep through Afghanistan/Russian version, Iraq, and Afghanistan/American version?). If recent past wars offer any guide to what the future holds for Uncle Vlad, he’s gonna be in Ukraine a loooong time.
And what will he take over? A destroyed and economically devastated nation? And how will he pay for this occupation after his autocrat ass has been sanctioned into the Siberian permafrost (getting less perma by the year)?
It’s not like he’s gonna be voted out of office so he can retire to his dacha, count his billions, paint pictures of his piggy toes, and let someone else clean up his mess.
Like it says in the Springsteen song, “you break that thing, you bought it”.
The name of the song is “You can look but you better not touch”. Words to live by.