Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
I’ll just go ahead and post this early since there isn’t a new post up this morning. These are a few news items from the past week or so that might be of interest to you. Remember, these are just appetizers. It would be beneficial to read the linked reports in full. Anyway, feel free to share any items you think might interest other readers. Please make sure to include links.
Let’s go!
First news item
Russia’s military believes that limiting the war’s initial goals is a serious error. They now argue that Russia is not fighting Ukraine, but NATO. Senior officers have therefore concluded that the Western alliance is fighting all out (through the supply of increasingly sophisticated weaponry) while its own forces operate under peacetime constraints like a bar on airstrikes against some key areas of Ukraine’s infrastructure. In short, the military now demands all-out war, including mobilization.
The frustration is becoming so intense that it has spilled over into the public space. Alexander Arutyunov (aka, the blogger RAZVEDOS), a well-known veteran of Spetsnaz of the National Guard, made a video plea to Putin: “Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, please decide, are we fighting a war or are we masturbating?”
He demanded a massive escalation, with a choice of airstrikes on Ukrainian infrastructure or an end to the war. The video went viral, especially with pro-military groups on VK and those Telegram channels affiliated with the Russian army.
Ukrainians can’t afford for us to turn away from their plight:
Outside Ukraine, Zelensky told me, “People see this war on Instagram, on social media. When they get sick of it, they will scroll away.” It’s human nature. Horrors have a way of making us close our eyes. “It’s a lot of blood,” he explains. “It’s a lot of emotion.” Zelensky senses the world’s attention flagging, and it troubles him nearly as much as the Russian bombs. Most nights, when he scans his agenda, his list of tasks has less to do with the war itself than with the way it is perceived. His mission is to make the free world experience this war the way Ukraine does: as a matter of its own survival.
Second news item
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that his department is in talks to divert Veterans Affairs (VA) resources, doctors and nurses to help care for illegal immigrants Wednesday.
…House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, pressed Mayorkas to answer whether the resources would be diverted as part of the DHS plan to address an expected spike in migration.
“We’ve heard that the administration is considering removing health care providers from the VA, for example, doctors and nurses whose taxpayer dollars and their intent is to help care for our veterans.
So my question to you today is yes or no: Is the Department of Homeland Security planning to reallocate resources, doctors and nurses from our VA system intended to care for our veterans to help care for illegal immigrants at our southern border?”
After trying to avoid a direct yes or no answer, Mayorkas gave an inch:
“Congresswoman, the resources that the medical personnel from the Veterans Administration would allocate to this effort is under the judgment of the secretary of Veterans Affairs, who prioritizes the interests of veterans above all others for very noble and correct.”
Hinson then pressed him once again on whether he was aware of any conversations he or others at the DHS have had about reallocating VA resources.
“I have not personally. But of course, our teams, our personnel have. And I’d be very pleased to follow up with you,” he responded.
Limited and vital resources for our veterans should not be reallocated:
VA health officials have predicted a significant rise in appointment requests in coming months, as pandemic conditions across the country improve and more veterans resume deferred care.
That in turn has raised concerns about pressure on the VA health care system, and whether veterans could see a significant increase in the time it takes to schedule appointments.
Health officials have touted new pandemic telehealth options within the department as a way to help ease the burden on facilities facing increased requests. But lawmakers this week noted that in rural areas — locations with some of the longest wait times already — a lack of reliable internet access may limit the availability of those services.
Third news item
An excellent and fearless schooling of a Trump sycophant:
In response to my recent piece on howling moonbat Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lou Dobbs sneers: “Who reads NR?”
Well, Lou, since you raised the question, I’ll answer it: You do.
We both know this.
…
You are so terrified of your audience that you are willing to tell them anything they want to hear, follow them down any ridiculous rabbit hole, pretend to be something that you aren’t. You’re a guy who went to Harvard and lives on an equestrian estate in New Jersey, Lou. Let’s not kid ourselves. You’re a bit of a nut, but you aren’t stupid — certainly not as stupid as the character you used to play on television and now play on Twitter.
The irony is that your cowardice and your pandering did not save your career — they wrecked your career. That conspiracy-kook stuff is what got you fired by Fox, which is why you no longer have a television show. Do you know how embarrassing you have to get before Fox News — Fox Business, Lou! — is too ashamed to put you on the air?
It’s bad, Lou. Think on that.
I figure you probably have some heavy legal bills to pay at the moment, what with the voting-machine-conspiracy-kookery defamation lawsuit that you are probably going to lose. But you’re pushing 80, Lou. You’ve already thrown away your job, your reputation, and your self-respect — and there’s a good chance you’re going to end up financially ruined, too — but there is still time to see to the things that should be foremost in the mind of a man your age.
Read the whole thing.
Fourth news item
Now elderly and frail, Ukraine’s Holocaust survivors are escaping war once again, on an extraordinary journey that turns the world they knew upside down, looking for safety in Germany.
For Galina Ploschenko, 90, it was not a decision made without fear.
“They told me that Germany was my best option.
I told them, ‘I hope you’re right,’” he said.
Ploschenko is the beneficiary of a rescue mission organized by Jewish groups, which are trying to get Holocaust survivors out of the war sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Why Germany? According to the report, its easily reached by ambulance via Poland, has a good medical system, and there is a sizable population of Russian speakers and Jews who have emigrated from the former Soviet Union.
Fifth news item
Asking the necessary question, giving the necessary directive:
So why is hatred of Jews treated so gently—and in The New Yorker of all places? Something is rising, and it’s happening right in front of us, and somehow we are all sleeping through the part when there is still time to step in. Last year, David Baddiel, a Jewish comedian from Britain, wrote a book, Jews Don’t Count, arguing that “a sacred circle is drawn around those whom the progressive modern left are prepared to go into battle for, and it seems as if the Jews aren’t in it.” Why? “There are lots of answers. But the basic one, underpinning all others, is that Jews are the only objects of racism who are imagined—by the racists—as both low and high status … somehow both sub-human and humanity’s secret masters.”
…
Never let anyone—not David Icke, not Alice Walker, not the editors of The New Yorker, not anyone, ever—try to convince you that this hateful ideology is less serious than any other.
Sixth news item
Russian missles hit while UN Secty. General meets with Ukrainian officials:
Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday with at least two missiles while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was in the city meeting Ukrainian officials.
Why it matters: The strikes killed at least one person and injured several others, according to the UN. They came just days after Guterres met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed Russia is still seeking a “diplomatic outcome” in Ukraine and denied that his military has deliberately killed Ukrainian civilians.
Russia launched the attack on Kyiv shortly after Guterres held a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which the UN chief promised to increase aid to Ukraine.
At least one of the missiles struck a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi District of Kyiv, according to photographs of the aftermath.
…
Zelensky, who claimed Russia launched five missiles at Kyiv during the attack, said in an address Thursday night that it “says a lot about Russia’s true attitude to global institutions” and “the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the UN and everything that the organization represents.”
Reportedly, Russia has confirmed the “high-precision” missile strike in Kyiv during the UN Secretary’s visit, leaving one person dead and five or more wounded.
Seventh news item
Elon Musk told banks that agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) that he could crack down on executive and board pay at the social media company in a push to slash costs, and would develop new ways to monetize tweets, three people familiar with the matter said.
…
Musk has tweeted about eliminating the salaries of Twitter’s board directors, which he said could result in about $3 million in cost savings. Twitter’s stock-based compensation for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2021 was $630 million, a 33% increase from 2020, corporate filings show.
Eighth news item
The 8 lawmakers who voted against a bill urging the U.S. to seize the frozen assets of Russian oligarchs and use the proceeds to help Ukraine:
Cawthorn R-NC
Greene R-GA
Massie R-KY
Roy R-TX
Bush D-MO
Ocasio-Cortez D-NY
Omar D-MN
Tlaib D-MI— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) April 27, 2022
Ninth news item
Still asking questions and seeking answers about Covid-19:
Yet more than two years after SARS-CoV-2 appeared, as documented deaths in the U.S. near 1 million and estimated global deaths reach as high as 18 million, there are still many mysteries about the virus and the pandemic it caused. They range from the technical — what role do autoantibodies play in long Covid? Can a pan-coronavirus vaccine actually be developed? — to the philosophical, such as how can we rebuild trust in our institutions and each other? Debate still festers, too, over the virus’s origins, despite recent studies adding evidence that it spilled over from wildlife.
Read the whole thing.
MISCELLANEOUS
Who let the wolf pack out? Who, who, who, who, who?
[A]uthorities in Colorado have defanged rumors of a possible wolf pack sighting, captured on a phone camera from a distance earlier this week, saying that the so-called wild animals turned out to be five St. Bernards who had escaped from their home. The April 25 video captured “large, four-legged animals… running near an elk herd,” according to the Park County Sheriff’s Office, which had opened an investigation into the sighting alongside Colorado Parks and Wildlife. But the distance from which the footage was shot, along “the lighting and shadows,” the sheriff’s office said, had made it difficult to determine exactly what kind of creatures were being filmed. The escaped canines have “a documented history of escaping their enclosure” on their owner’s property, according to a department news release.
Have a great weekend!
–Dana
Good morning, happy Friday!
Dana (5395f9) — 4/29/2022 @ 9:27 amRe: Eighth item:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 9:52 amGood Lord, I may be on the side of the eight (including my old schoolmate, Thomas Massie). I would want to know about the particulars of the bill, but if it granted the Administration the power to unilaterally seize U.S. assets of Russian citizens without a formal judicial process and without even so much as a court (either here or internationally) declaring Russia to have committed war crimes then I am pretty worried about the precedent being set.
The assets are frozen, which I strongly support, but just seizing and redistributing them at this point is not something that a Constitutional Democracy ought to countenance. We are sending Ukraine plenty of money as it is, so when we do go through the proper legal avenues to seize this money it should probably go to the U.S. Treasury. That way, we get the best of both worlds: we sent the money to Ukraine on spec, and are now recovering our investment via the oligarchs. It’s not as if we aren’t going to be sending way more money to them than we get from Boris, Ivan, and Gregor anyway.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:05 amI get a kick out of Lou Dobbs in that “crusty and grouchy old man shaking his fist at the moon” sort of way, which I respect and admire, but woe be unto him who raises the ire of Kevin Williamson and earns a keyboard-lashing.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:09 amWhat I would love to see over the weekend is a discussion on what is the defence and protection of the Ukraine worth to the United States. Biden says 33 billion dollars but not a single American life. Our resident anti-Biden says it might be worth a War Bond drive but not much else. The rest of us go all different places. I have a difficult time reconciling the global precedent set by letting Putin just do whatever with an inclination towards figuring our time and treasure is best spen furthering a recognizable national interest, rather than the Bush-Obama era’s belief that protecting everybody everywhere is our national mission.
Glad I’m not Secretary of State. Or President.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:27 amJVW-
It was a symbolic bill without any real teeth. From the linked article:
The Administration is seeking explicit authority to allow the seizure of assets of oligarchs. In the meantime the Administration should seize and redistribute to Ukraine the Russian government assets in the US (estimated up to $100B) under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Fifth Amendment’s due process clause does not apply to foreign governments, only persons.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:29 amMaybe one of that unlikely new Gang of 8 was trying to tell us something with the recent revelation of lingerie pics:
https://www.news-star.com/2022/04/27/madison-horn-is-a-candidate-for-u-s-senate/
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:38 amRIP electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze (74).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 10:41 amThis is how it’s done:
Related:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:04 amIt was a symbolic bill without any real teeth.
Then it was a complete and utter waste of time, funded naturally by the taxpayer. I would have voted against it on that basis alone. What we need is a lot less grandstanding and virtue signaling from Congress, and more actual well-considered Constitutional legislation designed to hem in Putin and Russia. This sort of thing is contemptible.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:15 am@5. Putin Accepts Invitation to Attend G20 Summit, Setting Up Biden Showdown
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-accepts-invitation-attend-g20-summit-indonesia-biden-showdown-1702103
=mike-drop=
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:15 amWhat I would love to see over the weekend is a discussion on what is the defence and protection of the Ukraine worth to the United States.
The honest question is what is the cost/benefit analysis to EUROPE, not the United States. Ukraine is NOT an American problem.
So what is it ‘worth’ to the U.S.? Nothing. Ukraine, nearly as corrupt as Russia, is not a U.S. territory a la Puerto Rico; it is not habited by citizens who pay U.S. taxes nor carry the burdens of same and 30 years ago, when still part of the USSR, Ukrainians would be shooting at Americans and NATO allies. It’s Capone vs. Moran. Bet on Capone.
So what is the cost? $50 billion charged to Uncle Sam’s Credit Card into September, 2022, financed by China.
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:28 amCawthorn R-NC
Greene R-GA
Massie R-KY
Roy R-TX
Bush D-MO
Ocasio-Cortez D-NY
Omar D-MN
Tlaib D-MI
What do Massie and Roy bring to the lingerie party?
It was a symbolic bill without any real teeth.
Then it was a complete and utter waste of time, funded naturally by the taxpayer. I would have voted against it on that basis alone.
So was The Eights’ vote against it. A wolf whistle on the runway to their fringe constituencies. What would it have hurt them to go along with their colleagues and their leadership? With the majority of the nation? With Western civilization?
nk (4d03d8) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:32 am“giving Joe Biden unilateral authority to seize property in the United States without any due process sets a dangerous and disturbing precedent.”
When they’re right, they’re right. They passed RICO to fight organized crime, then turned it on political groups. They passed the Patriot Act to fight terrorists, then suddenly everything was terrorism.
Tell me, could they seize the assets of the Russian Orthodox Church under this bill?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:35 am<
What political groups have been charged under RICO?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:40 amSuppose Twitter wanted $10/year to have an account (and used that to authenticate users/discourage bots)? How many real users would bail?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:41 amWhat political groups have been charged under RICO?
Greenpeace, for one. The Pro-Life Action Network for another. Also, the Catholic Church and the LAPD, although they are not strictly speaking political groups but do represent a widened usage.
https://www.johntfloyd.com/surprising-organizations-and-people-that-have-faced-rico-charges/
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:46 am@16. Howling at the moon: 10% of the Twitters generate 90% of the tweets.
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:52 amThese were all civil RICO cases involving private parties, not criminal RICO charges against political groups by the government.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:56 amSo was The Eights’ vote against it. A wolf whistle on the runway to their fringe constituencies. What would it have hurt them to go along with their colleagues and their leadership? With the majority of the nation? With Western civilization?
Maybe you’re on to something, nk. Since Congress has abdicated so much power to the Executive Branch anyway, perhaps they should simply spend their vast resources promoting virute-signaling resolutions and unenforceable measures that help restore a sense of moral superiority in us. I mean, we’ve established for the last quarter century that the federal government can essentially operate on a permanent Continuing Resolution, so let’s send 535 people to Washington to rename post offices, express our solidarity with the brave people of Norway who are subject to wasp attacks, and to declare August as National Cotton Candy at the State Fair Month. It’s not quite as salacious as the orgies held in the last stages of the Roman Empire, but it suits the same purpose.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:57 amTell me, could they seize the assets of the Russian Orthodox Church under this bill?
Or from Alex Ovechkin and Maria Sharapova, for that matter?
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:59 amDCSCA:
Well, this being a US situated website and all of us (I think) being US situated people, we probably should limit the conversation to the US. What Portugal might think might differ from what Hungary might think or what Poland might think.
By the way, thanks for laying down your baseline. You may have stated it elsewhere, but I am not sure it was stated that clearly.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:01 pmBiden ‘disinfo’ czar Nina Jankowicz ripped over cringeworthy Mary Poppins TikTok
https://nypost.com/2022/04/29/biden-disinfo-czar-nina-jankowicz-ripped-over-tiktok/
O.M.G.
The adults are in charge.
___________
@22. Well, this being a US situated website and all of us (I think) being US situated people, we probably should limit the conversation to the US.
Then what’s to say– other than pay: $50 billion; it’s a problem for EUROPE, not the U.S.A. 😉
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:08 pmMaybe Allahpundit is right:
Related:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:15 pm@22. Context: where’s the weeping for most of these raging conflicts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present
Oh. Right… they weren’t beamed into you hand gadgets and TeeVees 24/7.
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:22 pm#25
Valid point. To be blunt, this situation energizes progressives who usually dislike war because it is Putin, who they have learned to despise. It energizes a lot of the rest of us because it is Europe (rather than Africa or Asia) and we feel that to be part of our culture.
Still, Ukraine is different in feel because:
Russia is out and out invading a neighboring sovreign country. We in the US don’t like that. (See also, Irag War #1)
The Russians are being brutal in a way not unusual in war, but unusual in the past few years in a region that has a lot of media
The Ukranians have fought back hard. We love ourselves some underdog in this country and may feel we have to reward that.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:31 pmTo be blunt, this situation energizes progressives who usually dislike war because it is Putin, who they have learned to despise.
They despise Putin?????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbkGkr0iceI
‘Vladimir Putin sang at a charity concert in St Petersburg that included Hollywood stars Sharon Stone and Kevin Kostner. As well as playing the piano, Mr Putin offered up a rendition of ‘Blueberry Hill”
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:39 pmYour you tube is from 2010. It took a few years of Trump to get the progressives to hate on Vlad. (I didn’t play it)
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:46 pmStone, perhaps though she’s more of a DiFi type and probably how the dreaded HRC at one time saw her Scrantonian self. Costner is more of a squish R, Hawn apolitical, and Russell a conservative. Certainly not in the squad or asset mold. But you are correct in a manner of speaking, but it is the alphabets who have the biggest problem with Putin.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:51 pm@28. So? You’re suggesting Vlad suckered them– and Europe? He’s never hidden who and what he is; ‘folks’ just chose not to listen- only to hear him singing ‘Blueberry Hill.’
DCSCA (1d9e65) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:55 pmI am, at this very moment, listening to the NRO podcast “The Editors.” They are discussing the whole Disney/Florida contretemps. Charlie Cooke has from the beginning argued that stripping Disney of its special district status is gratuitous. His point is that Florida has already won the argument — Disney execs have fallen silent and the company is apparently not lobbying against bills in other states designed to put an end to indoctrinating 9-year-olds into the LGBTQ view of sexuality despite promises to do so — and Disney is instead trying to quietly get back in the good graces of Republicans. Rich Lowry took the opposing view and argued that delivering a knockout punch to Disney sends a needed message to other corporations that meddling in trendy woke political matters will come at a price.
I tend to agree more with Cooke in this matter. I am guessing that had Gov. DeSantis and Florida Republicans laid low and worked in back-channels with Disney, the CEO who had been so critical of the Parental Involvement bill would likely have quietly been shown the door and Disney would have been effectively neutered. I think that other corporations would have taken notice and perhaps recalibrated their own social justice yearnings accordingly, and the Florida GOP would have avoided looking petty and vindictive.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 12:59 pmPrices report:
Not everything went up and some things that went up went up some time ago during the last two years but didn’t go up again
Dozen eggs: $2.99 in Moisha’s up from $2.79 before Passover. This store sold eggs in the last year one time at 89 cents for a dozen. $1.39 was a more usual price last year. I think bird flu precautions reduced the number of chickens.
Challah rolls: $1 this week, up from 75 cents, and that was a raise since maybe two years ago. The store owner told me that the price he had to pay for a 50 pound bag of flour went up $10 since half a year ago. Actually that’s $11 or 44% from $25 to $35.99.
It is common that when under price pressure, they hold the price until Passover and raise prices afterwards – it’s the time to raise the price of bread in an area where many customers are Jewish.
Haddar grape juice 64 oz: Special price (which is perpetual) went up to $3.79 from $3.49
No change in the price of frozen cut corn – still at $1.99 for 16 oz but it went up in the past year
No change in the price of prepared cooked cut home style potatoes – but it went up $1 in the past year or two, but the price of bag of Idaho potatoes is sky high. No longer specials for $1.39 or standard $1.99 or even $2.49 $3.49 Some small stores with old stock may sell for less. Potaties were given away free before Passover. Not in stores.
Dole canned pineapple – at last the price per 20 oz can has risen from $1.99 (may still be at that price in Shoprite) to $2.39
Tabatchnik Tuscany lentil soup — selling at $2.49 a package – think this was the price in this store. Special in Shoprite can drop to $2 or $7 for 3
plastic bags: free. In most big stores paper bags with handles for 5 cents Fruit stores give you clear plastic bags without handles
Bananas 79 cents a pound in supermarket — can be gotten for 69 cents in fruit store Sometimes see for less.
Grapes usually expensive but a fruit store still has some — no longer at 99 cents a They were 99 cents a pound in many places a few weeks ago. Must have been a big shipment to New York.pound but $1.49 And the same fruit store that sells green grapes for $1.49 a pound sells others at $4.49 or id it $5.49?
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:10 pmDCSCA —
To spell it out — Progressives hate Putin because of his support for characters like LePen, Orban, and (especially) Trump during the 2010s. Until he did that, they either had residual CCCP love, or just like themselves some dictator.
I have no love for Hollywood Progressives. Their talent got them money which they then used to amplify mostly stupid limosine leftism.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:17 pmKevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 11:41 am
Somewhere between 30% and 70 Musk is thinking of offering premium versions I read.
Ability to collect and organize tweets? Longer tweets you can send yourself?
The real loss would be in new customers, unless there was a considerable free period – say 18 months or X number of tweets.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:17 pmRussian bloggers may say what Putin tells them ir allows them to say. It may be part of is scare mongering.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:24 pmOn a lighter note . . .
Advice columnist Carolyn Hax came up with this answer in yesterday’s column:
(Emphasis added.)
If you are not familiar with her work, but suspect that Hax almost always recommends counseling, you are right — but this answer is her best ever. And I have never seen her cite scientific evidence for her advice on counseling.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:36 pmMarine Le Pen’s Far-Right French Party to Pay Nearly $13 Million to Russian Military Contractor
The far-right party of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has begun paying a settlement of 12 million euros—equivalent to $12.94 million—to a Russian military contractor under U.S. sanctions, part of a debt restructuring that granted her party more time to repay a loan it took from a Russian bank, according to Russian and French government records.
Aviazapchast JSC—a Moscow-based company that supplies Russian military aircraft and parts across the Middle East, Africa and Asia—took over the €9.4 million loan in 2016 after the bank that originated it, Moscow-based First Czech-Russian Bank, went bankrupt, the records show. Holding loans is well outside of Aviazapchast’s normal line of business, according to the company’s corporate reports, which contain no mention of the transaction.
In June 2020, Ms. Le Pen’s party, National Rally, and Aviazapchast reached an agreement allowing the party to pay €12 million in principal and interest to Aviazapchast in quarterly installments through 2028, according to a copy of the agreement reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The settlement followed a complaint for nonpayment of the loan that Aviazapchast brought in Moscow Arbitration Court against Ms. Le Pen’s party.
Aviazapchast declined to comment. A spokesman for National Rally and Ms. Le Pen didn’t respond to requests for comment on the agreement.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:02 pm………
Ms. Le Pen has long been one of the Kremlin’s most vocal supporters in Europe. In 2014, she defended the annexation of Crimea and opposed European sanctions on Russia. Ms. Le Pen has condemned the February invasion and said she supports the current round of sanctions against Russia. She has also expressed skepticism about delivering weapons to Ukraine, saying they could draw France into direct conflict with Russia.
………
@31
I largely agree with Lowry.
And no, Florida didn’t win…yet. Far too often we go to that point that Cooke articulated, and then the opposition engages in lawfare to render whatever was done moot.
Now, there’s this “Sword of Damocles” event that instructs Disney and other corporations that engaging in this fight, isn’t such a zero cost fight anymore.
That. Is the point of this.
There’s still time for Disney to back-channel efforts to mitigate this and to recalibrate. But, the message has been sent and other corporations needs to take notice.
whembly (867f2f) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:07 pmFlorida will remove the ability of RCID to issue bonds or to operate as a governmental entity for any purpose unrelated to bond repayment.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:42 pm@ 20,21 -JVW
mg (8cbc69) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:42 pm🍻
The benefit to the United States in supporting Ukraine are the weakened economic and military capabilities of Russia (see post 9).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:47 pmAnd then there is Trevor Bauer, who is apparently out $70 million dollars due to MLB suspending him 2 seasons for unproven (and questionable) allegations. It’s quite possible that it was easier to suspend Bauer, who may be unable to sue them to recover, than it was to risk the disapproval of the Women’s Lobby and potential legal action from persons not under contract to them.
Should this hold up, Bauer’s major league career (previously valued at $35 million per season) is over and he will be seen as a rapist now and forever. He’s suing his accuser for fraud, extortion, defamation and whatever, but she has no money and will just default. He’s appealing this to MLB arbitration, which may have a different result, but even if the suspension is lifted, he’s probably done playing baseball.
Bauer needs an actual courtroom to defend himself. I would hope that, if so, and if he is in fact an extortion victim, that his people find some way to sue MLB for hundreds of millions in actual damages, plus punitive damages where the total could easily top one billion.
Depriving someone of their livlyhood, based on unproven allegations, is really something that should not happen in the US of A.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:54 pmThe benefit to the United States in supporting Ukraine are the weakened economic and military capabilities of Russia
That’s a fairly minimum benefit. A loss in Ukraine would end the Putin regime, also good, and would signal to others that nuclear threats can only go so far. We destroyed the USSR without a shot being fired, and we can do it again to the much lesser Russian kleptocracy.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:57 pmThese were all civil RICO cases involving private parties, not criminal RICO charges against political groups by the government.
That they allowed the expanded powers to be crowd-sourced does not improve your case. RICO was passed for reason X, it was used for Y and Z. This just shows that the law was even more broad than they let on.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:00 pmThe benefit to the United States in supporting Ukraine are the weakened economic and military capabilities of Russia
Pfft. That would be news to the United States Department of State:
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-russia/
DCSCA (03b381) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:01 pmRepublican who refuses to bend the knee to Trump surges in Ohio Senate race
……..
Days before the May 3 primary, (Ohio State Senator Matt) Dolan appears to be experiencing a late burst of momentum. While J.D. Vance — who received Trump’s endorsement last week — has surged into first place according to the most recent Fox News poll, Dolan was the only other top contender to gain ground in the poll since last month. A separate poll released Tuesday by Blueprint Polling actually placed Dolan in first place with 18 percent of the vote, followed by Vance at 17 percent.
Whatever momentum Dolan is riding, it was enough to prompt Trump to release a statement Tuesday suggesting that the state senator is “not fit” to serve in the Senate.
……….
Dolan likely has a low ceiling of support, given his dependence on Republican voters who are willing to move on from Trump — a minority of the party. But in a splintered field of candidates, that could be enough.
……..
……..[O]ther campaigns and outside interest groups (have) never targeted Dolan, who has spent heavily on television ads with his own positive message since January.
……..At a March 21 debate, Dolan was the only candidate to raise his hand when the moderator asked who believed it was time for Trump to stop talking about the 2020 election.
Yet Dolan has been careful to highlight that he considers himself a Trump supporter. Throughout the campaign, Dolan’s staff has been “dogged” about seeking corrections to any news reports that referred to Dolan as anti-Trump or a Never Trumper, according to a person working on the campaign. They would explain to reporters that Dolan had twice voted for Trump — unlike Vance — and that Dolan has said he would do so again if Trump were the nominee. Dolan has also said that he would not have voted to convict Trump in an impeachment trial.
Though Dolan’s campaign was once dismissed as a vanity project, Trump has long paid attention to a possible rise by the candidate. On Tuesday, he attacked Dolan not as an opponent of his America First agenda, but because the Major League Baseball team Dolan and his family own, the Cleveland Guardians, changed its name from the Indians after the 2021 season.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:03 pm………
Throughout the campaign, Dolan has said he was not part of the decision to change the name, but supports his family.
………
……… In addition to emerging unscathed after the other candidates spent months hurling insults at each other, Dolan fits the mold of pragmatic conservatives whom Ohio Republicans have traditionally chosen for Senate, including retiring Sen. Rob Portman, former Sen. and Gov. George Voinovich and current Gov. Mike DeWine.
……..
In perhaps the most shocking declaration about a nuclear holocaust delivered on Russian television in recent months, Simonyan concluded that the idea “that everything will end with a nuclear strike, to me, is more probable than the other outcome. This is to my horror, on one hand, but on the other hand, with the understanding that it is what it is.” Solovyov chimed in: “But we will go to heaven, while they will simply croak.” Simonyan comforted the audiences by adding: “We’re all going to die someday.”
I can’t imagine this is going over very well.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:03 pmThat was so last year.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:05 pm@50. As was the Afghan Debacle.
DCSCA (03b381) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:07 pm36141.html”>Russia says pumping Ukraine with weapons is threat to European security
Comedy Gold!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:11 pmMy favorite cartoon from this week’s Politico collection.
(Partly, I will admit, because of the junior senator’s hairdo.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:12 pm@JVW would’ve this happened had DeSantis/FL legislature hadn’t passed the RCID legislation?
whembly (7e0293) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:16 pmTell me, could they seize the assets of the Russian Orthodox Church under this bill?
They cannot seize anybody’s assets under this bill, but in America no church has immunity for illegal conduct. If a foreign establishment church is a state organ, which the Orthodox Church in Russia is, then it’s the same as the FSB, the GRU, and the Bolshoi Ballet. If an individual cleric is a Putin tool, then he is the same as an “oligarch”.
nk (4d03d8) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:37 pmClever cartoon, Jim Miller.
I don’t like being in disagreement with you, JVW, so I’m glad that at the end of the day, we’re really not:
Dana (5395f9) — 4/29/2022 @ 3:39 pm@37.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/9ad20475-8714-477a-9386-c9035564b14a
You tell’em, Chuck. =mike-drop=
DCSCA (e71de0) — 4/29/2022 @ 4:12 pmHead of RT Margarita Simonyan
In America FDR gave fireside chats, in Russia Stalin gave news tips to Pravda, and nothing has changed. Simonyan was giving the insane rant Putin wanted her to give.
Let’s just nuke the motherf***ing Tartars and get it over with.
nk (4d03d8) — 4/29/2022 @ 4:14 pmR.I.P. Neal Adams, one of the best comic book artists in the history of the world
Icy (1c6f5b) — 4/29/2022 @ 4:42 pmNow, there’s this “Sword of Damocles” event that instructs Disney and other corporations that engaging in this fight, isn’t such a zero cost fight anymore.
That. Is the point of this.
There’s still time for Disney to back-channel efforts to mitigate this and to recalibrate. But, the message has been sent and other corporations needs to take notice.
whembly (867f2f) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:07 pm
Cooke’s position is largely based on a 1990s-2000s paradigm of how corporations act. In that era, a global media megacorporation getting smacked with actual legislation for engaging in a cultural political fight would have caused them to pull back and reconsider future actions as a political advocacy group.
Modern corporations don’t operate like that anymore. Their public relations, HR departments, and corporate boards (and in Disney’s case, their entertainment division) are stuffed to the gills with people who see the promotion of far-left Wokism as a golden crusade, and any resistance to it as True and Honest Fascism. Their whole worldview sees disengagement as an affront to their historic determinism.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 4/29/2022 @ 5:14 pmAha! But do they have lasers?
nk (4917aa) — 4/29/2022 @ 5:33 pmNoted woke companies British Petroleum and the Pentagon.
Hmm yes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/business/geoff-morrell-disney-out.html
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:15 pmFall guy meets Peter Principle.
nk (4917aa) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:29 pm@JVW would’ve this happened had DeSantis/FL legislature hadn’t passed the RCID legislation?
Yes, I believe it would, as I ventured in my original comment:
Everything I have heard suggests that Disney shareholders are appalled at how badly the Disney brass has bungled this. I don’t think they needed to revoke the special district status in order to make this happen.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:31 pm. . . everything will end with a nuclear strike, to me, is more probable than the other outcome. This is to my horror, on one hand, but on the other hand, with the understanding that it is what it is.” Solovyov chimed in: “But we will go to heaven, while they will simply croak.” Simonyan comforted the audiences by adding: “We’re all going to die someday.”
What if this is a brilliant but diabolical bluff on the part of the Russians? Let high-strung Americans believe that they’ll initiate nuclear war if we don’t allow Ukraine to be starved, depleted, and subsumed. It certainly seems to be working: we’re fretting over whether delivering certain weapon systems to Ukraine will “escalate” the war, thus giving Putin effective veto power over our response. Hey, there’s a great argument that defending the Ukraine isn’t worth triggering nuclear war, but if we’re going to act that way then let’s simply understand that Putin will therefore do whatever he wants to do and we can do absolutely nothing to stop him, nor can we do a whole hell of a lot to slow him down.
Are there Russian military leaders sane and decent enough to refuse orders to launch a nuclear strike? Who knows, but the time is coming where either we watch Ukraine slowly starved, depleted, and subsumed, or we tell Russia that enough is enough. No good answers there.
But again, what if the Russians are just bolstering a very weak hand with some inspired play-acting?
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:39 pmI’ve had Disney+ since it came out. Which I stopped watching when I had memorized every Phineas & Ferb and Milo Murphy episode. (I was never a Simpsons fan.) Nobody needs to tell me that Disney is more LGBTQ than Greenwich Village in June. And what they’ve done to the Marvel and Star Wars franchises are crimes against nature in their own right.
nk (4917aa) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:42 pmR.I.P. Neal Adams, one of the best comic book artists in the history of the world
I remember his first work for DC, on The Spectre and Deadman. A lot of people didn’t like it because it was unconventional. Later, he did some of the best Batman stories, creating characters such as Ra’s al Ghul
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:01 pmClever cartoon, Jim Miller.
There was a miniseries called “World War III” (1982) where the final action was the USSR invading Alaska and the US President (Rock Hudson) pushing the button as the result.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:17 pmpeople who see the promotion of far-left Wokism as a golden crusade
There is only one way to fix that, since “shareholder voting” is mostly a joke.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:19 pm@#53 That cartoon reminds me that not that long ago there were American leaders who thought that the Soviet Union was an “evil empire” and many Americans believed that the nations seized by the Red Army like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, etc were not legitimately bound to Moscow. Senator Rand has a different opinion apparently. I’ve heard Lech Walesa speak, and he didn’t have the same opinion as the Senator.
Fred (cfb084) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:21 pmBut again, what if the Russians are just bolstering a very weak hand with some inspired play-acting?
I’m sure most Russians are telling themselves that. What worries me more is that this talk is incredibly destabilizing. One Early-Warning malfunction …
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:22 pmI’ve heard Lech Walesa speak, and he didn’t have the same opinion as the Senator.
Neither did Ronald Reagan. His best speech is on just this topic.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:26 pmGazpacho police tactics. The threat of the knock in the middle of the night deters 99% of the population even though the secret police have the resources to carry it out on only a few hundred people.
nk (c85dfa) — 4/29/2022 @ 7:32 pmGazpacho police tactics. The threat of the knock in the middle of the night deters 99% of the population even though the secret police have the resources to carry it out on only a few hundred people.
But when asked, everyone agrees that the State needs to hire more secret police.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 1:37 amItem 5 Please explain how the progressive modern left is not willing to go into battle for Bernard Sanders who is jewish or AOC who says she is part jewish? Why should they go into battle for bibi netanhayu or the numerous jewish neo-con war mongers?
asset (d45d9c) — 4/30/2022 @ 1:50 amThe Biden production company is attempting to raise another $33 billion for enhanced theater operations in the besieged European country. Pentagon chournalists are collecting canned goods, including soundbites, to support the war effort… and the Defense Dept is broadcasting the theme to Chariots of Fire across NATO signals.
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:45 amWhat a clusterfluck.
https://thefederalist.com/2022/04/29/u-s-special-forces-veterans-rescue-afghan-family-biden-abandoned-reunite-them-with-american-father/
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:52 amPATHETIC voting by 81 million.
In far lighter and hopefully inconsequential matters, maybe DCSCA’s beloved Nimrata still has a shot at VP: https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-called-susan-collins-challenger-sara-gideon-very-attractive-book-2022-4
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:35 amWhile everyone is focusing on the government seizing the funds of Russian born individuals, it’s destroying the wealth of the rest of us mere American citizens.
Hope that vote was worth it for the virtue signal.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:16 amNJRob (eb56c3) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:16 am
These signs should, for Christians, direct our attention to the eternal treasure, in Heaven, on which we should ponder, rather than the earthly treasure (necessary to alms-giving), that is ephemeral* – “for where your treasure is, there, also, is your heart.”
* Sure, “temporal” is the word that another might prefer, but for me, “ephemeral” captures the relative value that I would place on the material.
felipe (484255) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:39 amI’m glad to see that the Patterico battle station is fully armed and operational.
I’m pretty sure American alcohol consumption has gone up, at least in the pandemic era, but France has been getting more sober.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:41 amThese signs should, for Christians, direct our attention to the eternal treasure, in Heaven, on which we should ponder, rather than the earthly treasure (necessary to alms-giving), that is ephemeral*
Alms giving? For how long must poor people live off the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table? It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that every person is a billionaire with a secure stock portfolio that never goes down. Impeach Biden!
nk (b875de) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:50 amI read that Amazon stock went down and Jeff Bezos lost $21 billion. That’s tragic! But all people can talk about who is dropping bombs on whom someplace.
nk (b875de) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:55 amWell, almost fully armed and operational. I still have to type few letters of my name and email.
Dmitri Alperovitch has a good thread on the current status on Putin’s war against Ukraine, spotlighting the economic impacts of the Russian blockade.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:56 amLike bombs are just supposed to lie there, in some arsenal, not doing anything for anybody.
nk (b875de) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:57 amPaul, that is staggering and far beyond being explained solely by Muslim and other non native replacement.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:58 am“it’s destroying the wealth of the rest of us mere American citizens….Hope that vote was worth it for the virtue signal.”
Did Joe Biden cause the world-wide inflation, rather than supply chain snarls as the world economy comes back from a pandemic? Is the FED raising interest rates because of Joe Biden or to choke off the inflation? Are the Covid-spiking cases in China…threatening to reduce its GDP output by over 1%… due to Joe Biden? Is Putin’s prolonged war in Ukraine due to Joe Biden keeping us in NATO, pushing for Russian sanctions, and standing with the Ukrainians by supplying military assistance?
Biden is a poor leader, but the majority of Americans thought Trump would be worse. Your takeaway should be to find a better GOP candidate…perhaps one that is smarter and more ethical…rather than whining about your turd not beating their turd. It’s unclear at all how Trump would have responded to any of this….he’s never appeared a detail-oriented guy who puts the nation above his own personal and financial interests. Some might say that unpredictability and shoot-from-the-hip reactionism are part of the appeal, but it’s also part of why a majority simply doesn’t trust him. I know that when Russia is involved, I don’t trust him….his instincts are to admire Putin’s authoritarianism and brutality….and mock NATO and the nascent democracies trying to pull away from authoritarianism. I find that troubling….why don’t you?
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:01 amHere’s a good thread on the prospects of Putin’s using nukes. The chances aren’t zero, but extremely unlikely because there’s no real use for tactical nukes in Ukraine, which means his nukes would be strategic and cause massive civilian casualties and which means massive political blowback against Putin.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:03 amAre there Russian military leaders sane and decent enough to refuse orders to launch a nuclear strike? Who knows, but the time is coming where either we watch Ukraine slowly starved, depleted, and subsumed, or we tell Russia that enough is enough. No good answers there.
But again, what if the Russians are just bolstering a very weak hand with some inspired play-acting?
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/29/2022 @ 6:39 pm
The old adage “Russia is never as strong as it appears, and Russia is never as weak as it appears.” couldn’t be more applicable than now.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:04 amnk (b875de) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:50 am
LOL!
Like bombs are just supposed to lie there, in some arsenal, not doing anything for anybody.
nk (b875de) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:57 am
[channeling our beloved scold DCSCA]
The only good bomb, is a dropped bomb! -mic drop- <–good mic!
felipe (484255) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:09 amIs it bizarre for this to remind me of Pharaoh’s (Y. Brenner) rhetorical questions addressed to Moses (C. Heston) about the Nile turning red, which end with “no, these things ordered themselves!”
I’d say “butterfly effect, meet Joe Biden.” Now that’s chaos.
felipe (484255) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:36 am“butterfly effect”
From Gavrilo Princip the assassin of Archduke Ferdinand to Vladimir Putin, 20th century Europe is a PSA for birth control.
nk (a6c29f) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:54 am@64
I disagree.
Disney brass has a history of singing the woke crowd’s tune, even to the detriment of shareholder’s value.
Something needed to happen to instruct corporations that engaging the hot topic political issues, especially issues that has zero to do with the company, isn’t going to be a zero cost endeavor. Successfully passing the bill isn’t enough when Disney publicly stated that they will campaign to elect officials to overturn this bill.
This is a classic “biting the hand that feeds you” dynamic.
I understand Cooke’s and your positions on this. That RCID shouldn’t be on the table, as it was one of those rare private-government relationship that absolutely has shown to be a win-win for all sides. But in the end, Disney obviously believed they could push back against a popular bill without facing any sort of reckoning.
This isn’t just a “retaliation” against corporation expressing their own views.
This *is* a reckoning that signals to corporations that any sweetheart deal that they currently enjoy, could be on the table. Nothing is stopping said corporation to take a principled stand, despite the possibility of losing said sweetheart deal.
Culture is really about what society promotes incentives and disincentives.
Politics is really downstream from culture.
And I say kudos for the FL GOPers and DeSantis for recognizing it.
whembly (3b98b6) — 4/30/2022 @ 8:04 amHere’s more on the sanctions against Putin, and he’s going to feel the bite even more.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 9:23 amSince you asked…
Did Joe Biden cause the world-wide inflation, rather than supply chain snarls as the world economy comes back from a pandemic? Is the FED raising interest rates because of Joe Biden or to choke off the inflation?
Yes and yes. Biden’s “stimulus” program, in the face of these supply-chain and other supply-side issues, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Are the Covid-spiking cases in China…threatening to reduce its GDP output by over 1% … due to Joe Biden?
No, but that’s not why we have inflation here. Nor is it why economic activity is stalling, here or there — we were always going to be on-shoring stuff that China had been making, due to COVID and the demonstrated problems with distant manufacturing starting with the line of ships outside LA Harbor.
Is Putin’s prolonged war in Ukraine due to Joe Biden keeping us in NATO, pushing for Russian sanctions, and standing with the Ukrainians by supplying military assistance?
Well, the prolongation is, of course. Not that it is the wrong thing to do. But that is not what is trashing our stock market. The market is declining because — at long last — interest rates are rising and there are investment options other than the stock market. In a time of inflation, net-zero treasuries look like a good deal and the declining stock market feeds into that. Is this a feedback effect? Yes. But it is also real.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 9:39 amIn a brand-convergence move, Elon Musk is going to rename Twitter “MySpaceX”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 9:51 amI blogged last week in praise of Germany’s leadership position in the EU. Nick Cohen who writes for The Guardian and thus is, I would presume, a lefty in good standing, disagrees with me:
There’s plenty more, and I don’t agree with the entirety of it, but it’s a compelling read.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/30/2022 @ 9:54 amPretty much my take when you wrote your piece, JVW. Scholz has been hedging and lying from the very beginning of this, making bold statements then burying them in fine print.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:03 amThe interesting legal part of Desantis v. Disney is the original deal between the state and the corporation and whether or not it requires the state to actually pay off Disney’s debt ($1B) before assuming control….and then having to provide all of the public services that currently Disney covers. Both sides are lobbing political barbs, but ultimately this is a contracts question and one side will have the better argument in the courtroom. If team Desantis has not thought this through in a rush to ratchet up the culture war, who pays? Disney is the state’s biggest employer at over 75,000 employees. Does it have a sweetheart deal? Sure. Does that eliminate the company’s right to weigh in on the Parental Rights in Education bill? Probably not. Could Disney pick up and leave? Haven’t heard that discussed and where would it go?
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:04 am@90. Like bombs are just supposed to lie there, in some arsenal, not doing anything for anybody.
More likely a warehouse in Hollywood; or a Walmart DVD bin everywhere:
-The Wolfman (2010) – Estimated Loss: $76,000,000–$80,000,000
-Windtalkers (2002) – Estimated Loss: $76,000,000–$81,000,000
-Tomorrowland (2015) – Estimated Loss: $76,000,000–$150,000,000
-Power Rangers (2017) – Estimated Loss: $76,000,000
-How Do You Know (2010) – Estimated Loss: $76,000,000–$105,000,000
-Sahara (2005) – Estimated Loss: $78,000,000–$100,000,000
-Gods of Egypt (2016) – Estimated Loss: $79,000,000–$90,000,000
-The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) – Estimated Loss: $80,000,000
-Fantastic Four (2015) – Estimated Loss: $80,000,000–$100,000,000
-Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Estimated Loss: $80,000,000
-Supernova (2000) – Estimated Loss: $83,000,000
-Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) – Estimated Loss: $84,000,000
-Town & Country (2001) – Estimated Loss: $85,000,000
-Treasure Planet (2002) – Estimated Loss: $85,000,000
-Seventh Son (2014) – Estimated Loss: $85,000,000
-Pan (2015) – Estimated Loss: $86,000,000–$150,000,000
-A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – Estimated Loss: $86,000,000–$186,000,000
-Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) – Estimated Loss: $86,000,000–$106,000,000
-Jupiter Ascending (2015) – Estimated Loss: $87,000,000–$120,000,000
-Rise of the Guardians (2012) – Estimated Loss: $93,000,000
-Evan Almighty (2007) – Estimated Loss: $88,000,000
-Cutthroat Island (1995) – Estimated Loss: $89,000,000
-R.I.P.D. (2013) – Estimated Loss: $91,000,000–$115,000,000
-The Promise (2016) – Estimated Loss: $94,000,000–$102,000,000
-The Alamo (2004) – Estimated Loss: $94,000,000
-Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) – Estimated Loss: $94,000,000
-The Lone Ranger (2013) – Estimated Loss: $95,000,000–$190,000,000
-The Mummy (2017) – Estimated Loss: $95,000,000
-The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) – Estimated Loss: $96,000,000
-Mars Needs Moms (2011) – Estimated Loss: $100,000,000–$144,000,000
-The Stepford Wives (2004) – Estimated Loss: $3,800,000
-Catwoman (2004) – Estimated Loss: $17,900,000
-Ali (2001) – Estimated Loss: $21,300,000
-Cats (2019) – Estimated Loss: $24,500,000
-Deepwater Horizon (2016) – Estimated Loss: $33,400,000
-Home on the Range (2004) – Estimated Loss: $33,500,000
-Stealth (2005) – Estimated Loss: $61,600,000
-Wild Wild West (1999) – Estimated Loss: $129,000,000
-Ghostbusters (2016) – Estimated Loss: $85,000,000
-Heaven’s Gate (1980) – Estimated Loss: $133,000,000
-Ishtar (1987) – Estimated Loss: $97,000,000
-Hudson Hawk (1991) – Estimated Loss: $95,000,000
-Speed Racer (2008) – Estimated Loss: $111,000,000
Bombs Away!!!!
https://www.ask.com/entertainment/biggest-box-office-bombs-hollywood-history
DCSCA (d25cef) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:10 amhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biggest_box-office_bombs
Both presidents share some responsibility for our current inflationary state, and no small amount was beyond their control.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:18 amBiden’s spending and reticence to expand oil/gas development played.
Trump also spent money like crazy. He also worked a deal with the Saudis to cut their production, thus raising oil prices, to help our domestic oil sector.
“Yes and yes. Biden’s “stimulus” program, in the face of these supply-chain and other supply-side issues, was the straw that broke the camel’s back”
Kevin I was going to go through your arguments point by point but they’re so cringe worthy that I’ll just pass and move on to more productive ventures. Step back and critically assess what you wrote. Do you really think there is a strong analytical basis for it, or was it a snap partisan reaction?
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:18 amAJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:01 am
Nice attempt at deflection and to excuse the leftist administration’s policies that have exacerbated our economy’s tailspin. The printing press hasn’t stopped since Biden came into office and his luddite energy policies are destroying our financial independence.
NJRob (50dec9) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:19 amOh my; Ukraine manufacturers their own armaments. France, Germany, Poland, among others imperiled by the latest land war in Europe.
Imagine that; 33 to 50 billion times over, taxpaying Yankee Doodle suckers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_armament_manufacturers#:~:text=List%20of%20modern%20armament%20manufacturers%20%20%20,%20%20Argentina%20%2048%20more%20rows%20
DCSCA (d25cef) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:22 amHere’s another positive move by Germany.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:24 am@102. Poor AJ… and you’re getting poorer, fella:
‘The annual inflation rate for the United States is 8.5% for the 12 months ended March 2022 — the highest since December 1981 and after rising 7.9% previously, according to U.S. Labor Department data published April 12. The next inflation update is scheduled for release on May 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET. It will offer the rate of inflation over the 12 months ended April 2022.’
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
Inflation’s a bast-rd, but Joey [or AJ] can’t blame this one on Trump or Hunter: it’s Biden’s Baby.
DCSCA (d25cef) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:43 amKevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/29/2022 @ 2:54 pm
Re: Trevor Baur:
I agree. The MLB, NFL, NBA, etc. should only concern themselves with what goes on inside the stadium. What goes on outside is not their business.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 10:56 amTrump blames deaths in Ukraine war on ‘rigged election’ in the US: ‘It’s a shame all those people are dead’
Former President Donald Trump has again touted baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen, this time blaming the “rigged election” for the number of war dead in Ukraine.
“It’s a shame all those people are dead, all because of a rigged election,” said Trump during an interview with British TV host Piers Morgan that aired on Monday. “Because if our election wasn’t rigged, you would’ve had nobody dead.”
He told Morgan that he thought the conflict was a “stupid war” and a “horrible waste.” “Far more people are dead than you think,” Trump noted.
The former president agreed with Morgan’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin is an “evil, genocidal monster.”
Trump also lamented that Ukraine was a “country that was working” despite having “lots of problems.” “And people were happy. I guess a lot of them were happy because they’re certainly fighting for it,” he said.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:24 am………..
This is why the Biden Administration is deep-benched incompetent; why the government is run by idiots, treat voters as dummies and why their actions fuels citizens ‘storming the castle’ and waters the tree of populism:
‘The Senate unanimously passed major legislation late Wednesday to revive a World War II-era program allowing President Joe Biden to more efficiently send weapons and other supplies to Ukraine amid Russia’s bloody invasion. Senators quickly rallied behind the proposal, known as Lend-Lease, as Ukraine’s military proved it could fend off Russian troops who have been shelling Ukrainian cities and towns since late February. The Lend-Lease program created during World War II was seen as a game-changer in the conflict, as it allowed the U.S. to quickly resupply the Allies without time-consuming procedural hurdles.’ – politico.com
Here’s the difference:
The Roosevelt Administration sold ‘Defense Bonds’ – later named ‘War Bonds’ to finance the aid… ‘this would permit increased spending while decreasing the risk of inflation…The intent was to unite the attractiveness of the baby bonds that had been implemented in the interwar period with the patriotic element of the Liberty Bonds from the First World War. The War Finance Committee was placed in charge of supervising the sale of all bonds, and the War Advertising Council promoted voluntary compliance with bond buying. Popular contemporary art was used to help promote the bonds such as Any Bonds Today?, a 1942 Warner Bros. theatrical Bugs Bunny cartoon. More than a quarter of a billion dollars’ worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. The government appealed to the public through popular culture. Norman Rockwell’s painting series, the Four Freedoms, toured in a war bond effort that raised $132 million. Bond rallies were held throughout the country with famous celebrities, usually Hollywood film stars, to enhance the bond advertising effectiveness… Over the course of the war 85 million Americans purchased bonds totaling approximately $185 billion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_bond
Keep in mind, the Biden Administration is expanding U.S. involvement in a the ‘proxy war’ that is Europe’s problem, not America’s. Ukraine is nearly as corrupt as Russia. It is not 1940 Britain battling Nazi Germany and Zelensky is certainly not Churchill dogfighting the Luftwaffe in the skies over London. This is Capone versus Moran- and Biden’s government wants to send them more tommy guns. Joe is handing Putin’s Russia a valid rationale to increase attacks on sources, transportation and distributions points of said weaponry, too– just as the Nazi Wolf Packs did in 1940/41 torpedoing convoys of Atlantic merchant vessels bound for Europe. This is simply NOT an American issue to be meddling in. The third land war in 110 years in modern, rebuilt Europe is Europe’s problem to manage.
“No matter how many tanks and planes and guns you pile up, no matter how many men you got, it doesn’t mean a thing unless the men get the stuff when they need it.” – Lt. Joe Rossi [Humphrey Bogart] ‘Action In The North Atlantic’ 1943
DCSCA (d25cef) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:34 amMacron’s Win Is Also a Blow to Viktor Orban’s Nationalist Crusade
There were sighs of relief throughout the European Union after President Emmanuel Macron beat back a serious challenge in France from the populist far-right champion Marine Le Pen.
Then another populist went down, in Slovenia, where the country’s three-time prime minister, Janez Jansa, lost to a loose coalition of centrist rivals in parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Those two defeats were widely seen as a reprieve for the European Union and its fundamental principles, including judicial independence, shared sovereignty and the supremacy of European law. That is because they dealt a blow to the ambitions and worldview of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, who avidly supported both Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Jansa in an effort to create a coalition of more nationalist, religious and anti-immigration politics that could undermine the authority of the European Union itself.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:34 am……..
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Orban, who has been close to both former President Donald J. Trump and Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president, is more isolated in Europe than in many years. He has been a model for the Polish government of the Law and Justice party, which has also challenged what it considers the liberal politics and the overbearing bureaucratic and judicial influence of Brussels. But Law and Justice is deeply anti-Putin, a mood sharpened by the war.
……..
Mr. Orban found support from Mr. Trump, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and from the Italian populist leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. But they are all gone, as Mr. Jansa is expected to be, and now Mr. Orban “has fewer friends in the world,” (said Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital, a Budapest-based research institution.)
……….
@110. Looking forward to Macron’s France flooding Ukraine with $33 billion worth of weapons and aid; Froggie taxpayers will cheer him for racing to the aid of an East European country – a near neighbor- as all Europeans should, and will gleefully carry the financial burden and sacrifice their month-long-August vacations and decimate their national healthcare systems to finance keeping Europe free from tyranany. Not.
DCSCA (d25cef) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:50 amMost Americans (including the press) thought Nazi Germany wasn’t our problem until they declared war on us.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:52 amhttps://nypost.com/2022/04/28/who-thought-a-clearly-partisan-hack-should-be-bidens-disinformation-czar/
The Ministry of Truth. Orwell was a prophet.
NJRob (50dec9) — 4/30/2022 @ 11:58 amWhich is Putin’s absolute right, as long as the targets are in Ukraine. If the Russians attack the airports or aircraft delivering or distributing weapons , he will get the wider involvement that his military can’t afford.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 12:11 pmMost Americans (including the press) thought Nazi Germany wasn’t our problem until they declared war on us.
Twenty years after we had involved ourselves in a European war that caused the deaths of over 100,000 U.S. servicemen and left another 200,000 of them wounded. Can you blame Americans of 1941 for not really wanting to play that game so soon again? It’s like suggesting that we send troops back into Afghanistan because the Taliban is not holding up their end of the cease fire agreement. Propose that and see how it goes over here at home.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/30/2022 @ 12:38 pmThat is because they dealt a blow to the ambitions and worldview of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, who avidly supported both Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Jansa in an effort to create a coalition of more nationalist, religious and anti-immigration politics that could undermine the authority of the European Union itself.
Oh my goodness: imagine having the temerity and gall to question “the authority of the European Union itself”! I’ll bet the editorial team at the NYT was literally shaking with rage at the affront.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/30/2022 @ 12:40 pmIf Dr. Jill received another dr. degree, could we say dr. dr. give me the news?
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 12:48 pmHer book sales are through the floor.
RIP Naomi Judd (78).
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 1:19 pmCorrection, Naomi Judd was 76.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 1:23 pmPerdue’s opening to first Georgia debate with Kemp: The 2020 election was rigged and stolen
“Major takeaway from Kemp/Perdue brawl: It was [Stacey Abrams’s] best debate yet,” tweeted one reporter who covered last night’s event for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was apparently nasty all the way through, which is just what the doctor ordered if you’re a Democrat hoping for a divided Georgia GOP and lower Republican turnout this fall.
Perdue set the tone with his first words of the evening, which led to him and Kemp bickering over the 2020 election for — no joke — 23 minutes. “I’ve never seen such raw hatred in a debate on the state level,” one local GOP strategist said to the AJC. “It’s at the same level as those paternity test shows where the mom throws a chair at a man who swears he can’t be the father.”
But it makes sense that Perdue opened the way he did since there are no meaningful policy differences between him and his opponent…….Why wouldn’t he start the debate with his best, i.e. only, pitch?
……
What (Kemp) didn’t dare say was that part of the reason Perdue lost was because Trump’s rigged-election propaganda ended up convincing enough Georgia Republicans to boycott the runoff to make Ossoff’s victory possible. (Remember that Perdue got more votes than Ossoff did on Election Day 2020, narrowly missing a majority.) But he did get in one bruising shot that obviously applied to Trump even more so than to Perdue:
………Kemp touted the fact that the electric truck company Rivian opened a plant in Georgia on his watch. Perdue’s counter: One of Rivian’s investors is George Soros, which means it’s a “woke company.” Do Georgia Republicans want their taxpayer dollars going to a company like that?
Given that Rivian’s factory is going to create thousands of jobs, I’m guessing … yes, probably?
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:22 pm………..
Republicans are willing to indulge Trump almost anything but if they come away from the midterms believing that his vendettas ended up blowing winnable elections for the party then he may have more of a problem in 2024 than he thinks. If Kemp wins this primary — and he’s led in every single poll, with his lead growing over time — then Trump will face a dilemma. It’s unimaginable that he’d endorse Kemp in the general election after all of the acid he’s spewed at him, but if he doesn’t endorse him in the name of unifying the party against Abrams and Kemp ends up losing, that’ll be hard for Trump to spin. ……… It’s another thing for him to carry out his grudges and end up hurting those voters by saddling them with progressive governance for four years.
…………..
Georgia governor poll | Brian Kemp vs. David Perdue & Brian Kemp vs. Stacey Abrams results
Gov. Brian Kemp is on track for reelection as Georgia’s governor, according to a new 11Alive poll that places him comfortably ahead of David Perdue in the GOP primary and in front of Stacey Abrams for a potential general election race in November.
……….
This is the third major poll in the last two weeks to give the governor a 20+ point edge on Perdue. The RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted since January gives Kemp a 13.8-point lead.
………
(D)espite Trump’s endorsement of Perdue, those voters polled by 11Alive who voted for Trump in 2020 (87% of the likely GOP primary voting respondents) support Kemp 57-32%.
………..
11Alive’s poll suggests a second race between Kemp and Abrams would again go down as a close one.
With a margin of error of 3.4% from a polling sample of 1,278 likely general election voters, the result breaks down below:
………..
Among men, Kemp leads 54-42%, while Abrams maintains a slight edge among women, 48-46%.
Voters between 18-34 (51-43%) and 35-49 (51-46%) support Abrams, while voters between 50-64 (53-43%) and 65+ (57-36%) support Kemp.
The racial composition of voter turnout will undoubtedly be a major factor – Black voters support Abrams 84-12%, while white voters support Kemp 71-24%, with Hispanic voters slightly breaking for Kemp as well at 49-45%.
Further results suggest that six months out, the race is very much still taking shape in the center. Independents, who made up 17% of respondents to the poll, slightly favor Kemp 45-42%, but self-described “moderate” voters – 32% of respondents – strongly support Abrams 55-37%.
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:29 pm………….
@112/@115Most Americans (including the press) thought Nazi Germany wasn’t our problem until they declared war on us.
Hmmmm… golly, Rip, might wanna review the list of U.S. Merchant Marine ships torpedoed by Germany before they declared war on us’ in December, 1941 before suggesting there was no problem– a problem exacerbated by ‘lend-lease’ proxy war policies- a lesson from ‘ol Adolf not lost on today’s Russia:
http://www.usmm.org/sunk39-41.html
DCSCA (ef1ca5) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:31 pmSpeaking of Rivian … Amazon made plenty of money on it’s ongoing operations, but lost money on its Rivian investment. The market responded by trashing Amazon, even though their normal business is doing fine. Let it drop much further and it’s a really good spot to buy.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:46 pmIt’s like suggesting that we send troops back into Afghanistan because the Taliban is not holding up their end of the cease fire agreement. Propose that and see how it goes over here at home.
JVW, let’s send ’em back into Vietnam instead! This time. we’ll get it right. 😉
Then there’s Korea: ‘Officially, the Korean War never technically ended. Although the Korean Armistice Agreement brought an end to the hostilities that killed 2.5 million people on July 27, 1953, that ceasefire never gave way to a peace treaty. At the time, South Korea’s president refused to accept the division of Korea.
A peace treaty between North Korea and South Korea today would be anything but symbolic, however: It could usher in real change in both countries. But should serious peace talks ever occur, they might run into a major obstacle: prisoners of war. That might sound eerily familiar to anyone familiar with how the Korean War wound down. In 1953, prisoners of war became a thorny sticking point between both sides, threatening any chance of peace and contributing to an ongoing stalemate as millions died. Yet the end of the war hinged on successfully negotiating the fate of POWs on both sides.
Those negotiations resulted in two massive prisoner exchanges that marked the war’s end. The exchanges took place in two waves—Operation Little Switch, in which sick and wounded prisoners changed hands, and Operation Big Switch, the final push to exchange all remaining prisoners between sides. Fraught with controversy and risk, these prisoner of war exchanges were among the tensest moments of a war marked by catastrophe. And they still affect the chance of peace across the Korean peninsula.
A Messy Proxy War
The Korean War was a military and diplomatic disaster from its very beginning. The war was technically between North Korea and South Korea, but it played out against a backdrop of Cold War tensions. After North Korean forces invaded South Korea in June 1950, the United States led United Nations forces to defend South Korea. North Korea was advised, armed and trained by the USSR, and China came to its aid with over 2 million soldiers—the first time the Chinese military had fought on a large scale outside of China. As a result, the conflict was a proxy for the Cold War. [Hello, Ukraine!!!!!]
That chill marked the war from the start. Troops quickly became entrenched after a failed attempt to conclude the war deep inside North Korea. For two years, both sides fought around the 38th parallel, achieving a complete stalemate that was matched by a stalemate at the negotiating table between the parties, who could not agree on how to cease the war.
Meanwhile, casualties and deaths piled up. Nearly 37,000 Americans were killed during the war. At least 1 million South Korean civilians were killed, and 7,000 South Korean military members died. In North Korea, 406,000 soldiers died, and 600,000 civilians were killed. Another 600,000 Chinese military members died in the war, too.’ – https://www.history.com/news/korean-war-peace-treaty-pows
‘Course w/Vietnam, the brains at the beat that number- 58,000 Americans were killed there.
Cop to dripping w/sarcasm today…
_____
@114. He can’t afford????? Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to Vlad for the past 15 years; he wants Ukraine at any price. But hey, you’re prepared to spend other people’s money and other people’s lives pretty freely, aren’t you.
DCSCA (ef1ca5) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:46 pm^ typo: the brains at the Pentagon – you know, the two in glass jars. 😉
DCSCA (ef1ca5) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:48 pmKemp touted the fact that the electric truck company Rivian opened a plant in Georgia on his watch. Perdue’s counter: One of Rivian’s investors is George Soros, which means it’s a “woke company.” Do Georgia Republicans want their taxpayer dollars going to a company like that?
I think there’s a scene like this in Kornbluth’s “The Marching Morons.” Half of all adults have IQs under 100 and Trump has managed to weaponize them.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:50 pmBrian Kemp is prime Center Right Third party material, though it’s probably a good idea to use a different 3 set of words for the name lest it be confused with some wacko radical way of teaching American history.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:53 pmif he doesn’t endorse him in the name of unifying the party against Abrams and Kemp ends up losing, that’ll be hard for Trump to spin
Oh, it’s easy, so long as truth isn’t an issue: “Governor Kemp and the vote-stealing Georgia GOP have turned Real American voters off and given the state over to the Socialists! We need to purge the GOP in GA of all these collaborators before we can start to win back the South!”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:54 pmit’s probably a good idea to use a different 3 set of words for the name
The Federalism Party.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 2:57 pmKevin I was going to go through your arguments point by point but they’re so cringe worthy that I’ll just pass and move on to more productive ventures. Step back and critically assess what you wrote. Do you really think there is a strong analytical basis for it, or was it a snap partisan reaction?
I would double down.
The absolute worst thing you can do in a supply-side crunch is pump out a demand-side stimulus. I don’t see how this can even be debated. It will always lead to inflation as there is nothing more to buy.
No amount of money will get more new cars to market (and in fact the value of many used cars has TRIPLED in the last year. My 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid was valued at $2k in 2020, now it’s over $6K). New car dealers are tacking on 10-20% to the prices to maintain their infrastructure in the face of greatly reduced volume.
No amount of money will get more chips out of the fabs until you build more fabs (not quick).
Food supplies aren’t elastic, and the drought in CA and the Ukraine blockade are not helping.
So, a demand-side printing press can be expected to drive prices up, and the opposite effect will be both necessary and exacerbated to bring prices down, just as it was in 1981.
AJ, I really don’t see how you think you can just slough this off as “I’m right, you’re crazy” when you really don’t have a leg to stand on. At the very least you should take the same time I am to state whatever case you think you see.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:14 pmSimilarly China, which is about to experience a decade of western disinvestment, as everything possible gets on-shored or near-shored.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:15 pmIf you want me to make it a simple question, then this:
“Please explain how a demand-side stimulus, in a period of supply shortfall, is not inflationary?”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:17 pmhow many tragic kingdom groomers will get canned?
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:18 pmAnd the stimulus is not just in the form of “tax rebate” checks.
Many states are awash in federal funds and using them for everything from paying rents for “distressed” tenants, to medical bills, to expanded “safety net” benefits.
All of these drive up demand at a time when 1) no one built any new apartments for 2 years, the medical system is overwhelmed, and things like foodstamps directly add demand for food (and/or better food).
And yes, my state will be sending me checks because they have so much federal money they don’t know what else to do with it.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:22 pmTaxes are not used for the public good anymore, but merely to buy votes.
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:33 pmStudent Loan Buyout is b.s.
Nobody cares that this is a scofflaw government. It has been for so long that two generations think that this is the way the Constitution was intended to work. Student Forgiveness Loan – Pathetic.
mg (8cbc69) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:39 pmWhich is Putin’s absolute right, as long as the targets are in Ukraine.
The only legitimate military targets in Ukraine are the Russian invaders and their separatist allies. Putin has no rights in Ukraine territory.
nk (60628e) — 4/30/2022 @ 3:59 pmJapan has finally reached one of their economic goals. But they aren’t happy about their success:
(The entire article is worth reading, as it describes Japan’s long economic stagnation. In my opinion, that stagnation is partly a result of their demographic problems. Similar problems, of course, are found in all of the East Asian nations: China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:08 pmSpeaking of factories, guess which nation has decided to build an electric car factory in North Caorlina. (This surprised me.) Vietnam:
Vietnam, as everyone should know, has been strengthening ties with the US, as “Emperor” Xi has gotten more and more agressive toward hsi neighbors.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:17 pm@137. Be sure to pitch that line when Xi liberates Taiwan. 😉
DCSCA (7ab9b0) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:32 pm“Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!” — Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 Republican National Convention
nk (60628e) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:32 pmThe Washington Post reminds us, again, of Trump’s corruption, this time the way he abused the pardon power:
In contrast, Biden has used it, so far, appropriately: “By contrast, Mr. Biden pardoned three people who served time in federal custody and, after release, reshaped their lives around their families and communities.” Biden “also commuted the sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom would have received shorter sentences if they had been convicted now.”
(One detail about Bannon’s pardon: Two of his associates did not receive pardons and have pleaded guilty. Reminder: Following Trump can be dangerous to your wealth, your health, and even your freedom.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:35 pm@142. The house is on fire.
But just look at all that crabgrass in the backyard!
DCSCA (7ab9b0) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:41 pm“Governor Kemp and the vote-stealing Georgia GOP have turned Real American voters off and given the state over to the Socialists! We need to purge the GOP in GA of all these collaborators before we can start to win back the South!”
That would be an apt Trumpism: We have to lose the South so we can win it back.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:47 pmPresident Bill Clinton’s 11th-hour pardons of a Democratic donor looked like a quid pro quo. President Donald Trump was far worse.
That’s of course in the eye of the beholder, WaPo. Was anything really as bad as pardoning your coke-dealing brother instead of the thousands and thousands of other people with drug dealing convictions? Is anything Trump did as sleazy as commuting the sentence of 16 Puerto Rican terrorists responsible for actual murders, none of whom petitioned for clemency, just because your wife is in a tight Senate race in New York and you need support from the NY Puerto Rican community?
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/30/2022 @ 4:54 pmIt has been fun watching the “no to corporate welfare” Democrats go orgasmic over the Reedy Creek Improvement District
steveg (aa60a2) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:11 pmI skimmed over the first item but some guy named RAZVEDOS was masturbating and threatening a massive escalation?
steveg (aa60a2) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:14 pmI think we will be able to tell how many Generals the neo soviets have lost in Ukraine on May 9th by counting how many people Putin promotes to General on May 9th then divide by 2.
steveg (aa60a2) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:19 pmAt the current pace, he should be promoting somewhere between 20 and 24
Reedy Creek Improvement District
I like the pipe dreams with the bonds. (That’s b-o-n-d-s although bongs, b-o-n-g-s, may be involved as well.) At the simplest, the two counties which will take over RCID’s government can simply appoint their own board of five supervisors to do the job of the five appointed by Disney. Seamless. Same revenues, same payouts, same cooperation with the county organs.
nk (707f22) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:26 pm#145 JVW – It depends on how important you think preserving the integrity of the judicial process is. Clinton’s pardons were after the fact, and, as far as I know, did nothing to protect Clinton from prosecution.
I will concede that the Post should have said more about Clinton’s sins.
But I see Clinton’s sins as venial, while Trump’s include some sins that are mortal.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:40 pmDenise Rich did fill out a sweater nicely but not as nicely as AOC, which is understandable since she is not Latinx.
nk (707f22) — 4/30/2022 @ 5:53 pmBiden to headline renewed White House Correspondents’ Dinner
‘WASHINGTON — President Biden will crack jokes before more than 2,000 guests on Saturday at the revived White House Correspondents’ Dinner as DC’s biggest annual party returns after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.’
https://nypost.com/2022/04/30/biden-to-headline-renewed-white-house-correspondents-dinner/
Yeah. Should be good for laughs when he re-delivers the inaugural address– of John F. Kennedy’s.
Of creepy and rules-for-thee-but-not-for-me-note at this televised super-spreader event: the only ‘folks’ wearing face masks are the Hilton hired help serving food and bussing tables.
DCSCA (481e51) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:06 pmFashion note… Jen Psaki, dressed like an aluminum foil-wrapped baked potato one sticks in the BBQ grill… w/red hair-topped like a glowing charcoal briquette. Flavor w/sour cream, of course.
DCSCA (481e51) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:36 pmFinland brings on a nuclear power plant, with great timing:
Maybe the Finns can help the Germans. Or at least give them some good advice.
(Sadly, the reporter makes a common, and by now infuriating error, claiming that the problem of storing nuclear wastes was not solved, long ago. If you know someone who thinks that, you might refer them to Oklo, where there was a natural nuclear fission reactor “approximately 1.7 billion years ago”.
And the wastes from that reactor? They have stayed right where they were:
)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/30/2022 @ 6:50 pmDeSantis spokesperson flacks for white supremacist.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:00 pmBe sure to pitch that line when Xi liberates Taiwan.
If he tries, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry will be rubble. Either the Taiwanese will do it, or we will. It would be an economic and strategic disaster if the world’s best fabs ended up in Xi’s hands.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:15 pmJoe’s bow tie is on crooked.
Hunter knot!
DCSCA (8d50fd) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:16 pm@138: That stagnation is also related to their export-based economy. While there is significant domestic consumption, being dependent upon exports makes the economy very hard to control with fiscal measures that do not reach the customer base.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:18 pmTrump’s include some sins that are mortal.
If only.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:21 pmTo Joe: “Wow! That was pretty fantastic!” – Trevor Noah.
Actually, it was fairly pedestrian, Trevor… sorta like ‘The Daily Show’ since Jon Stewart left.
DCSCA (8d50fd) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:25 pmRIP actress Joanna Barnes (87).
Rip Murdock (bf8278) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:48 pmI find it hard to consider a pardon or a commutation much of a sin, regardless of the reasons for it. But what do I know?
nk (8639b4) — 4/30/2022 @ 7:56 pmNancy pelosi and other corporate democratic stooges in congress in their latest attempt to forestall being primaried visit ukraine in attention seeking stunt.
asset (be7bff) — 5/1/2022 @ 12:59 amThe stench of 1930’s Germany is in the air around the Whitehouse, corporate boardrooms, colleges & universities, McConnell and his ilk and the rest of Democrat Party controlled media, unions, and organizations.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:46 amBiden’s gubmint can control a woman’s desire to have children by creating a world that women do not want children to grow up in.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:51 amLooking at you 81 million.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/05/a_government_disinformation_board_you_dont_say.html
mg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 3:09 amWhen AOC is elected President in 2024, scientists will use recombinant DNA from AOC and Pete Buttigieg to genetically engineer a super race of Gay Latinx Progressive Managers to be in charge of all the corporations and institutions. Problem solved.
nk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:47 amAnother Russian general bites it.
—Darth Putin
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/1/2022 @ 6:47 amTrent Telenko is an expert on tanks and logistics, and he has a good compilation here. He earlier made some good observations about the convoy headed to Kyiv, about the state of their hardware. We may seeing more folks use the word “culmination” for south and eastern Ukraine.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/1/2022 @ 6:52 ammg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:51 am
Ouch! I felt that, and I voted for Trump.
felipe (484255) — 5/1/2022 @ 7:20 amAndrew Sullivan has a devastating piece on Karl Marx, noting how figures like Thomas Jefferson have been canceled for racism while giving Marx’s gross racism a pass. And that leaves aside Marx’s role as father to an ideology that killed 100 million last century.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/1/2022 @ 7:45 am#53 Not just Alaska: The Russian empire had an outpost in northern California.
In Europe, after the Napoleonic wars, Russia got Finland, and kept the substantial part of Poland they had had before. (Sweden, which had controlled Finland, joined the coalition against Napoleon in time, and was compensated with Norway. Denmark, which hadn’t been able to escape Napoleon, given its location, lost Norway.)
So far as I know there is not a substantial Polish or Finnish vote in Kentucky, so Rand Paul probably is safe, for the time being.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:38 amGood piece by Sullivan @171. I thought the line that resonated the most was tucked in the middle of the expose of why some historical figures are outed and others are not
This reveals the all to familiar agenda…power and control. I agree with Sullivan’s observation that liberalism requires us to retain the significant contributions of these historical figures and not impose our modern moral sensibilities to cancel them out. Of course we should learn from past times so we don’t repeat poor reasoning but accept history for all its warts and wonders.
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:50 amBiden is really pushing this illegal student loan debt cancellation as a freebee to his constituency: the freeloaders in garbage university degrees from “studies” programs.
That’ll certainly help drive inflation up ever higher and we are already in a stagflation environment. Cloward-Piven here we come.
Can’t wait to see how the mobys spin this to absolve their leftist government of blame or responsibility.
NJRob (1e381a) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:50 amWhich is why there’s a Russian River to this day. Maybe it’s due for a renaming. Ukrainian River? Zelensky River?
Radegunda (07bbcd) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:52 amfelipe – hurt my stomach as well
mg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:56 amfelipe – Our culture appears to be on the brink of something truly awful, are lukewarm Christians and Jews killing us softly?
mg (8cbc69) — 5/1/2022 @ 9:09 amNo rename necessary, Radegunda…If it’s a river in Northern California, I’m sure it gets plenty of “yellow dye” to complement its pristine blue.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 5/1/2022 @ 9:16 amMay Day riot today in Seattle?
It is something of a tradition, though riots didn’t occur every year, even before the pandemic. It begins with marches by leftist groups, and then a minority of the protesters start breaking things.
Since so many Americans are in a bad mood these days, I think a riot more likely than not.
(KOMO 4 versus King 5: Yesterday, two of the TV stations here had different stories on May Day. KOMO, which is owned by Sinclair, mentioned the possibility of riots, and said that some downtown stores plan to close early today. King, which is a “progressive” station, didn’t even mention the possibility of riots. This is another example of how most bias operates, more in what news organizations choose to say, and what stories they cover, than in actual falsehoods. (With exceptions, of course, like Tucker Carlson, but then even Fox doesn’t claim he tells the truth.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 9:27 amThe Biden administration so far:
https://youtu.be/oPDSoFgivPA
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:15 amReminder: Following Trump can be dangerous to your wealth, your health, and even your freedom.
Loyalty only flows one way for him. Everyone else is an NPC.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:18 amClinton’s pardons were after the fact, and, as far as I know, did nothing to protect Clinton from prosecution.
Pardons do not protect the boss from prosecution as the pardoned person can be forced to testify, since a pardon is absolute immunity.
They can, however, be monetized as Clinton’s often were.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:26 am@173. Gig outing: the parameters for selecting Kamala Harris are not wholly dissimilar to those used to choose Valentina Tereshkova.
DCSCA (8299b7) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:40 amThe Russian empire had an outpost in northern California.
Fort Ross, just north of San Francisco. I say we give SF, Marin and Sonoma counties back to Russia.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:46 amNancy Pelosi Leads U.S. Delegation to Ukraine in Show of Support
“Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine,” Mrs. Pelosi and the members of Congress who traveled with her said in a statement after their Saturday night meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. – WSJ.com
Lot more fun to travel to distract rather than travel to your district. Has she been to the inflation-flamed,-feces-strewn-and-drug-littered-‘streets-of-San-Francisco’ lately… or the U.S. southern border?? But what the heck, more fun to prattle with non-taxpayers in Rubbleland, eh, dear:
According to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, (a scale of least to most corrupt nations), Ukraine ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in 2021, the second most corrupt in Europe, with Russia the most at 136.
https://themoney.co/how-corrupt-is-ukraine/
Pelosi 101: ‘standing firm with corruption…’ Kiss your $33-$50 billion goodbye, Yankee Doodle kiddies.
… and Bugs Moran smiled.
DCSCA (8299b7) — 5/1/2022 @ 11:07 amThe Russians sent missiles/fireworks to Lviv to celebrate the UN visit, so we will see if they have the balls to scare Nancy into her third bottle of Chardonnay
steveg (096147) — 5/1/2022 @ 11:36 amThe Russian media personalities and those here in the USA share some of the same staging ideas
steveg (096147) — 5/1/2022 @ 11:37 amhttps://twitter.com/i/status/1520699488364548096
“According to the Ukrainian media the Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov is wounded near Izyum, Kharkiv region.
Awaiting the official confirmation”
This is the other Gen. Geramisov, not the one that was killed back in March.
Putin sent him down to get their s together
There are numerous reports of “sabotage” in Russia today, the reccuring incidents around Belgorod probably are sabotage, while some can be better explained by vodka, others seem very far removed from Ukraine and people are questioning the ability of Ukraine to reach out that far.
Ukrainians remind us that 2 Million Ukrainians were forcibly removed from Crimea and Donbas. Some were sent to the Pacific coast to work in the gas and oil facilities and were restricted from leaving.
There was a large a fire there yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGO8BJN-yqk
There are also claims(and photos of a convoy of civilian double trailer semi trucks with “Z” hastily painted) of wheat being taken across the border. Probably a Russian Generals side hustle at $395 a ton
My guess is the Russians are going to shoot some Ukrainians to send a message just in case
steveg (096147) — 5/1/2022 @ 12:06 pmJim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:38 am
an unabridged unfiltered and unedited version of Rand Paul’s exchange with Blinken is actually not hard to find. I’ve saved you the painstaking task here
Jim Miller and others, why are you lying about what Rand Paul said?
JF (caa5b8) — 5/1/2022 @ 12:16 pmCatholic Joe speaks at Mondale Memorial service (the Minnesota scumbag died, BTW, over A YEAR AGO) – and talks about… Catholic Joe.
‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” – to Henry II, King of England, 1170
DCSCA (9d6335) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:05 pmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mondale#/media/File:2015WalterMondaleJoeBiden.jpg
What a picture: Dead, brain-dead– and dead wrong.
‘Fritz Mondale was a good man.’ – Squinty McStumblebum, 5/1/22
DCSCA (9d6335) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:13 pm185. Item: Nancy Pelosi Leads U.S. Delegation to Ukraine in Show of Support
DCSCA (8299b7) — 5/1/2022 @ 11:07 am
This is probably co-irdinated by the White House.
British Prime Minister Bris Johnson went to Kiev. Biden wanted to, but the Secret Service told him not to , and Biden doesn’t realize he can overrule them He went to Poland but not even to Lviv.
The idea must be that the president of the United States is simply too important – they do more protection for him.
So Biden is sending multiple surrogates. First, both the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense (Zelensky said he didn’t want them to come empty handed, which doesn’t mean there should be weapons on the same train, but he wanted them to discuss – and promise – further military aid. And they complied.)
And now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Who says they are with them to the end. Some observers think they are with them because they showed they would not immediately lose.
Since the timing is not announced, each visit gives immunity for a period of a day or so, besides Putin’s need to keep Zelensky in charge because no one else can end or limit the sanctions. He doesn;t ant World War III. (he’s even careful with his hints about it)
Putin won’t drop bombs that in any way that, even remotely, risks hitting key American political figures. Biden could go himself. Although, this way, there is a longer period of immunity. (there wouldn;t be so many separate trips if he had gone)
But he doesn’t have as much respect (to use a word Donald Trump has used) for the United Nations – the Secretary General has no divisions or arms.
https://time.com/6172095/russia-kyiv-attack-guterres
But perhaps the difference is that the visit was not kept secret till after it was over.
Has she been to the inflation-flamed,-feces-st
According to Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, (a scale of least to most corrupt nations), Ukraine ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in 2021, the second most corrupt in Europe, with Russia the most at 136.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:15 pmUkraine is poor, probably artificially. Ukraine has got highly skilled people who work remotely, or sell specialized manufacturing, at low prices. Peace Corps volunteers went there.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/stories/how-peace-corps-helped-me-feel-more-american/
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:24 pmAbout the name “Ukraine”
If it’s to be a stand alone word (not the Ukraine as it has always been called) it really should be called, in English, Ukrainia. Not Ukraine.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:25 pmhttps://www.newser.com/story/319907/theres-a-problem-with-the-design-of-russias-tanks.html
The problem was discovered by the United States military in the irst Gulf War in 1991 – more modern Soviet tanks have the same problem.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:35 pmBritish say that Putin may declare war on Ukraine in conjunction with May 9.
That would be a good sign.
First, he is forced to admit it is a war.
Second once it is a war it is possible to agree to end it. The less lying about reality, the better
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:43 pmRaising interest rates cuts supply more than demand.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/1/2022 @ 1:44 pmFirst, he is forced to admit it is a war.
First and a halfth, he is forced to admit that Ukraine is a separate country.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:22 pmRaising interest rates cuts supply more than demand.
That depends on the item in question. If the supply is a resale item, like houses, or not interest-rate-sensitive to produce, like ebooks, then it cuts demand more than supply.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:26 pm#189 JF – My apologies for taking some time to reply, but I am not sure how to say this without being sarcastic. So, let me start with examples: Tammany Hall did not actually want to devour New Yorkers — even though our greatest political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, drew them as a tiger. Similarly, Donald Trump does not actually wear ties that droop to the ground, showing his insecurity about — well, I won’t go there — nor does he have the tiny hands they often draw. (Small, for a man his size, but not tiny.)
I looked through all the cartoons in that Politico collection and didn’t find any that could be taken literally.
Dave Whammond simply took what should be plain to everyone who follows the news, that Rand Paul is easier on Putin’s agressions than most Americans, exaggerated it as political cartoonists do, and drew a cartoon, which I (and others) found humorous. I can understand why supporters of the junior senator would object, just as I can understand why supporters of Tammany Hall didn’t like Nast’s cartoons, and Trump doesn’t like being called “short-fingered”.
Now, in return for this explanation, I think you owe us a joke about Rand Paul, a joke that you consider fair, and we will think is funny.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 3:31 pmJim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 3:31 pm
so your defense of the lie is that you didn’t really have any salient point to make
and I should’ve noticed your clown nose was on
and lies are okay if you use said clown nose as a talisman
as for a rand paul joke, since you think the hair he was born with is deserving of ridicule, I guess in a mitt delecto bully reflex sort of way, I really doubt I could appeal to your high brow sense of humor
JF (4d66c4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:16 pmThere are Saurons and there are Wormtongues. One opposes openly, the other gnaws insidiously in a gradual, subtle way. Paul Rand is a Wormtongue like every good little Fifth Columnist.
nk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:30 pmWhy do you, Jim and JF, assume that the cartoon Jim linked was based solely on the video JF linked and not on the totality of Rand Paul’s attitudes and conduct?
nk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:35 pmnk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:35 pm
you don’t have any supporting evidence to the contrary, otherwise you’d offer it rather than ask the question
JF (4d66c4) — 5/1/2022 @ 4:41 pmJF@204. Seriously? If isolationism is not the Paul, father and son, hallmark, nothing is. (Unless it’s so-called nativism, which is mostly okay with me,)
as for a rand paul joke, since you think the hair he was born with is deserving of ridicule,
Again, seriously? He’s 59 years old. That’s his baby hair? Sure the cartoonist is caricaturing it. But it’s Paul who cuts it, combs it, and takes it out in public.
nk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:00 pmnk (8639b4) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:00 pm
um, yeah, so?
you’ll have to explain why isolationism and bad hair legitimizes a lie that his reference was to russia and not the Soviet Union
why don’t you and Jim Miller take your clown noses off, listen to the testimony in full, and detail exactly what you disagree with pertaining to what Paul actually said
JF (4d66c4) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:08 pm#203 nk – I don’t make that assumption, and am not sure why you think I did. (I did scan over several articles describing Paul’s stances on NATO over the years.)
The last two nations to join NATO were North Macedonia (2020) and Montenegro (2017). Neither pose any threat to Russia. Before them, Albania and Croatia joined in 2009. And a number of small nations joined in 2004 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia). None of these pose any threat to Russia, either, except by their examples. And during recent years NATO nations have cut back on their armed forces, sharply.
The last nation to join that has any signficant military force was Poland, in 1999.
(The Balkan countries probably joined more out of fear of the Serbs, than the Russians.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:15 pmThere are Saurons and there are Wormtongues. One opposes openly, the other gnaws insidiously in a gradual, subtle way. Paul Rand is a Wormtongue like every good little Fifth Columnist.
There are also Nazgûl, like MTG. AOC, otoh, is a Balrog.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:28 pmIf isolationism is not the Paul, father and son, hallmark, nothing is.
What’s young Paul’s attitude towards the gold standard?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:30 pmThis Aaron Blake piece comes fairly close to my own views:
Blake goes on to give Paul credit for “nuance” (though some might say Paul is just being a weasel with that quick “correction”, assuming he knows that Putin thinks in terms of the Russian empire, not the Soviet Union) and says that fears about NATO expansion were mainstream, years ago.
True. But Blake also says this:
And, for me, it is relevant that Zelenskyy campaigned on a promise to open negotiations with Russia, in order to resolve their differences — in spite of the Russian attacks in the Donbas and the Russian seizure of the Crimea. But, and this may have been a trigger for Putin, he also wanted better relations with the European Union.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:34 pmWho is the Cave Troll?
steveg (096147) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:39 pmHere are the views of the leader of one of Russia’s neighbors, a nation that was part of both the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire:
(I suspect she would like that cartoon.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 5:40 pm@212 she would like the lie the carton offers, as you do, since nowhere did Paul reference a “provocation and a threat” so she’s adding her own lies to the mix
and to make a meal of Paul’s nanosecond self correction is the sort of intellectual dishonesty I should probably expect
if your clown nose is safely off, Jim Miller, do you think we should’ve added ukraine and georgia to nato six months ago as part of an “open door” as blinken calls it?
that’s a yes/no sort of question, which you might try answering directly
JF (364a93) — 5/1/2022 @ 6:49 pmPelosi says “America stands with Ukraine” after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she traveled to Kyiv on Saturday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and send “a clear message to the world that America stands with Ukraine.”
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-05-01-22/h_3e9d58aff3efc647308c5d65ba989cd7
Meanwhile…
Why China Isn’t Backing Away From Alignment With Russia
The question is not whether China will continue to hang on to its strategic partnership with Russia, but how it will manage it.
https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/why-china-isnt-backing-away-from-alignment-with-russia/
This is the same Pelosi who was stunned to learn the economy was days away from collapsing in 2008. Xi is loving this. Kiss that $33 billion goodbye… when handed over to one of the most corrupt countries in Europe– and don’t be surprised if buried in the legislative language is some convoluted provision to defer spending to ‘Build Back Better’ programs stalled by Manchin if circumstances are deemed changed by Congress to trigger use for domestic purposes.
DCSCA (ecd4c1) — 5/1/2022 @ 7:13 pmFrom #212
“Anything that touches to reinforce the security of its neighbors, it’s something that is a provocation and a threat for Russia”
From Darth Putin: How to Tankie 1.0
#5 “Russia is peaceful country surrounded by ceasefires.”
#8 “A secure international border has Russian troops on both sides of it.”
#15 “Threatening to defend yourself against Russia is aggressive so we must threaten to attack you in response.”
#17 “NATO, which borders 6% of Russia, is encircling Russia.”
#21 “In west you are free to shout “USA did evil”. In Russia you are also free to shout “USA/west did evil”. You are also free to shout Russia did evil but you will not be free afterwards.”
steveg (0828db) — 5/1/2022 @ 8:13 pmThis Aaron Blake piece comes fairly close to my own views:
Shorter: After their drunk father beats them, Mom says they should have been quieter and they wouldn’t have made him do that.
It’s called “walking on eggshells.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:42 pmWho is the Cave Troll
Trump, of course.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:43 pmWe ought to set June 1st as the date that Ukraine joins NATO.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:45 pm@218 yeah and on June 2nd, the US should deploy every keyboard commando to mariupol
JF (79ce5c) — 5/1/2022 @ 10:59 pm@218. “We” ought to insist American elected officials bone-up on some real world history regarding Ukraine and their deep relationship, ties and dealings with the Soviet Union and Russia for the past 100 years or so. They’d learn something, starting with this current conflict NOT being an American problem to be meddling in. The level of ignorance – purposely deceitful to distract from domestic disasters or simply blatant stupidity, particularly by ancient ‘elders’ like Joe, Nancy, Chuck and assorted short-bus thinkers passing themselves off as sage politicians is frightening. And costly to the Treasury who keep having to pay for their mistakes.
DCSCA (fe8775) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:36 amSergei Korolev, the father of Russia’s space program, inventor of the first ICBM; creator of the first satellite lofted in ’57– the Russian Sputnik; supervisor of the first human spaceflight which lofted Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in ’61, was from Ukraine. Brezhnev was a child of Ukraine; as was Khrushchev… and Trotsky. This is quite an impressive list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Ukraine
A list that should tell any U.S. politician that the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is NOT an American problem to be meddling in.
DCSCA (fe8775) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:00 amThe government offered money and the schools raised the prices – no one is more of a capitalist than a collegiate communist.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:51 amIs McConnell Bidens Lewinsky?
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:58 amhttps://babylonbee.com/news/hunter-biden-receives-50k-per-month-salary-for-seat-on-disinformation-governance-board
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:09 amThe “Ukraine is Russia” sh!t comes out of the same place that Putin’s poofter’s noses are stuck in.
nk (9338bd) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:35 amThe same place this little gem came from:
Freedom is slavery, comrades.
nk (9338bd) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:39 amAnd still https://news.yahoo.com/israel-lashes-russia-over-lavrovs-082530896.html probably won’t get with the program.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:39 amOnly with Illinois property taxes, nk
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:40 am37. Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/29/2022 @ 1:54 pm (QUOTING The Daily Beast
Putin’s Stooges: He May Nuke Us All but We Are Ready to Die by Julia Davis on Yahoo)
No, it’s the League of Nations – except that it works. Maybe like if Czechoslovakia had defended itself and been helped in 1938 – I don’t know.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:17 amDCSCA (ecd4c1) — 5/1/2022 @ 7:13 pm
Afghanistan, and to some extent \Iraq was corrupt in the military. The reason was that their enemies carefully targeted for attack and assassination anybody that was good, and therefore they shaped the Afghan military. This has not happened in Ukraine. Their competence and skill is obvious.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:24 amSF: Raising interest rates cuts supply more than demand.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:26 pm
People borrow money to pay for high tickrt items, and if they don’t, then it does not cut demand.
If there is no constraint on supply, increased demand does not lead to an increase in rices.
People are conflating different kinds of inflation.
1. Supply limitation. This is often localized, AND INEVITABLY TEMPORARY, except that it may take 2 to 4 years for the supply curve to overtake the demand curve,
The remedy is just to leave thins alone, It will take care of itself, as long as new supply is not
blocked, as what happened by default in the late 1940s. Milton Friedman in 1960 was reduced to asserting that very low interest rates was | tight money.
2. Confidence in currency inflation . In this there is something else that people regard as real money, like foreign currencies. This can spiral into hyperinflation. It is sometimes fed by the ability of at least some people to borrow foreign currency.
Gold is supposed to be a remedy, but these days, gold (or silver) is not money.
Money is whatever people prefer to hold and do not have a fear of being stuck with.
3. Cost push inflation. In this prices are not in alignment with each other.
.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:41 amKevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/1/2022 @ 2:22 pm
First and a halfth, he is forced to admit that Ukraine is a separate country. \\No, Putin would, in this scenario, declare he is at war with NATO.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:43 amI think Xi is mostly stuck on trying to declare China a Covid-free zone, so that there will be no restrictions (except on his end) from travel abroad by people in China, but it could be he simply does not believe that his underlings, the local despots, have been diligent in stopping and containing Covid.
He may not realize that Omicron is different and what worked before will not work now.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:47 am32. Dole canned pineapple – at last the price per 20 oz can has risen from $1.99 (may still be at that price in Shoprite) to $2.39
It’s $2.29 in Shoprite.
This is one of those things where new supply is coming in at a higher price – but here is alarge inventory in wholesalers and so on.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:51 am@226. Freedom is slavery, comrades.
It certainly is in Ukraine, comrade:
Ukrainian males aged 18-60 are banned from leaving the country, Zelensky says in new declaration
Ukraine has banned all-male citizens 18-60 years old from leaving the country, according to the State Border Guard Service.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/h_4309a4916d57670f85519210a07fb2c9
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:24 amRand Paul also claimed that NATO expansion provoked Putin, which is a crock as well as Putin-friendly propaganda. Ukraine has had zero chance of becoming a NATO member since 2014 because Putin has been occupying a couple of regions of Ukraine for that last eight years and won’t become a member until he stops his occupation (or has it stopped for him).
Paul’s comment that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union is also Putin-friendly propaganda. It implies that Putin has some sort of right to be there, and he doesn’t. His Russian Federation signed a memorandum and treaty that guaranteed Ukrainian sovereignty. Also, Ukraine was not a part of the USSR willingly; Stalin murdered over 3 million in his Holodomor to keep them in line.
This isn’t the first time this so-called libertarian has gone to bat for the authoritarian butcher.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:28 am@225. Sorta like Global Warming isn’t caused by human activity, smoking cigarettes won’t cause cancer… and baseball is still the national pastime.
https://www.history.com/news/study-suggests-adolf-hitler-had-jewish-and-african-ancestors
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9667453/adolf-hitlers-own-grandfather-was-jewish-but-nazis-scrubbed-ancestry-records-historian-claims-as-he-investigates-decades-old-rumours/
Sorta… 😉
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:38 am@236, That’s what the defenders of Rand Paul are missing…..why exactly did Paul bring up that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union…which it obviously was? The implication is that Russia has some unresolved claim….that we should be hesitant to interfere with. Why else state the obvious? Ukrainians did not choose to be dominated by Russia, left the Soviet Union as soon as they could, and are reaching out to both the EU and NATO to permanently detach themselves. They want democratization and some form of capitalism. They are rejecting authoritarianism and being a vassal state to Russia. The U.S. has an interest in opposing the expansion of authoritarianism, especially by a regime with hostile intent looking to revive its totalitarian regional influence. Who cares if Khrushchev is from Ukraine? It doesn’t legitimize the slaughter of civilians or the unjustified occupation. Some here are playing the role of useful idiot…they should be made to explain why they are so pro-Russia
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:56 am@236. [Rand] Paul’s comment that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union is also Putin-friendly propaganda.
It is a matter of FACT:
‘A chaotic period of warfare ensued after the Russian Revolutions of 1917. The partially-recognized Ukrainian People’s Republic emerged from its own civil war of 1917–1921. The Soviet–Ukrainian War (1917–1921) followed, in which the Bolshevik Red Army established control in late 1919. The Ukrainian Bolsheviks, who had defeated the national government in Kiev, established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which on 30 December 1922 became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union.‘
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ukraine
Regardless, it is NOT a matter meriting $50 billion worth of meddling, charged to Uncle Sam’s credit card, financed by borrowed $ from China, by buttinski Americans. The third land war in 110 years on the European continent is Europe’s problem manage, not the United States.
“Facts are stubborn things.” – Ronald Reagan
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:58 amhttps://legalinsurrection.com/2022/04/massive-earthquake-swarm-in-antarctica-suggest-sleeping-volcano-awakening/
Wonder how the global warmists will blame this on human activity.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:08 am@238. …why exactly did [Rand] Paul bring up that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union…
Because it was one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. Remember when 13 states succeeded from another Union and a regional conflict ensued??? The victors labeled that the Civil War, and frowned on buttinski Britain and France, who backed the losers. But guess who backed the winner…
U.S. Civil War: The US-Russian Alliance that Saved the Union
In 1865, the United States was friendly to Russia and Prussia, and resentful and suspicious in regard to Britain and France, whose governments had sympathized with and supported the Confederacy.
https://www.voltairenet.org/article169488.html
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:13 amThe U.S. has an interest in opposing the expansion of authoritarianism, especially by a regime with hostile intent looking to revive its totalitarian regional influence.
You mean China, of course, AJ. Never bite the hand that feeds your credit line.
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:19 amRight, DC, Stalin murdered three to five million Ukrainians for no reason. The lengths you Putinistas will go to defend his war crimes and illegal unjustified acts, it continues to gobsmack.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:20 am@243. You mean U.S. WW2 ALLY Stalin?????????????????? ROFLMAOPIP. OMG. The lengths you meddling Americans go to rationalize sticking your self-righteous noses into other people’s business when your own house is in such fiscal and social disorder continues to gobsmack. The Russian-Ukraine conflict IS NOT an American problem; a third land war in 110 years on the modern European continent is Europe’s problem to manage.
DCSCA (fc3b7e) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:28 amSome here are playing the role of useful idiot…they should be made to explain why they are so pro-Russia
Coproencephaly.
nk (cbd295) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:30 amI think DCSCA (and Rand Paul) suffers from “any argument at hand” disease. This seems to afflict a lot of folks who have an isolationist slant. The crux of the DCSCA argument is that the Ukraine isn’t our fight — it’s Europe’s fight. End stop.
I don’t think DCSCA believes Putin is a swell guy. He’s far more dismissive of Ukraine as a nation than he should be and there is probably no point in arguing that with him. His stance probably would not change, even if Ukraine were #1 on an international association’s governmental transparency list. He’s just a good old fashioned isolationist who believes we sould stay out of Eurpoe’s wars, in the same way that we stay out of Africa’s wars.
There is something to the DCSCA argument — and just saying “oh ick, he’s pro-Putin” doesn’t dispose of it. I just kind of wish that the American interest argument did not so often become an argument that the nation needing help is somehow unworthy or deficient or deserves to be oppressed. I wish that Sen Paul and DCSCA had the courage to own the implications of their arguments rather than admit that we should not save every worthy person that needs saving.
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:52 amHitler made the same mistake when he declared war on the United States.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:05 amBig majority of Americans back sanctions on Russia, aid to Ukraine, poll finds
……..
In all, 73 percent say the United States is doing either the right amount or too little to support Ukraine.
At the same time, 72 percent oppose the U.S. taking direct military action against Russian forces, while 21 percent support the idea. Even among those who say the United States is doing too little to support Ukraine, 57 percent oppose direct military action, something President Biden has said is off the table, repeatedly warning that such a move could lead to “World War III.”
The findings suggest that Biden’s policies largely reflect Americans’ preferences when it comes to the Russian invasion. Biden has steadily ramped up military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv — he asked Congress on Thursday for another $33 billion in such funding — while regularly tightening sanctions on Moscow. But he has also been quick to stress that he will not send Americans to Ukraine or take other actions, such as implementing a no-fly zone, that could lead to a direct military clash with Russia.
………
Americans are widely worried about the conflict escalating, with 81 percent saying they fear that the war will expand into other European countries, 80 percent concerned about U.S. forces getting involved in the fighting and 80 percent concerned about Russia using nuclear weapons. Fifty percent say they are “very concerned” about nuclear weapons.
……… More than 8 in 10 Democrats and Republicans are concerned about the war expanding beyond Ukraine and the U.S. becoming involved in the fighting. Large majorities of both groups are also concerned about Russia using nuclear weapons, though Democrats are somewhat more worried about this (86 percent) than Republicans (72 percent).
……..
……..(Forty-two percent) of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, up from 33 percent when Russia launched its invasion just over two months ago. Now, 47 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the crisis, the same percent that disapproved in February, while fewer people say they have no opinion.
The approval for Biden’s handling of the war is largely partisan, with 73 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of independents approving. Only 14 percent of Republicans approved of Biden’s handling of the war, with 76 percent disapproving.
……..Biden’s support of his handling of Ukraine and Russia has improved markedly with independents since February, when 30 percent approved.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:18 am……..
Of those who voted for Biden, 64 percent support more military aid for Ukraine, as do 52 percent of those who voted for President Donald Trump. And 83 percent of Americans who voted for Biden support more humanitarian aid for Ukraine, as do 67 percent of Americans who voted for Trump.
……..
Cupre-encephaly might win the Ohio Senate primary tomorrow.
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:24 amCopperhead?
nk (fa654d) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:27 amTrump fumbles JD Vance’s name at rally
…….
Trump spoke at Greenwood, Neb., in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster. When he mentioned the candidates he’s endorsed, Trump confused Vance with Josh Mandel, another candidate in Ohio’s Senate Republican primary.
“We’ve endorsed J.P. — right? J.D. Mandel, and he’s doing great. They’re all doing good,” the former president told thousands of rallygoers. “And let’s see what happens.”
………
(Investment banker and Senate candidate Mike Gibbons) released an email shortly after the rally, calling Trump’s mistake an indication the former president does not hold Vance in high esteem.
“Even after his endorsement, JD Vance is clearly irrelevant to President Trump, so much so he botched Vance’s name at his rally today in Nebraska. Quite the ringing endorsement, eh?” Gibbons asked.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:28 am………
No RIP for Kathy Boudin (78).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:31 amAs Ed McMahon would say, “you are correct, sir”
urbanleftbehind (666267) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:34 am“We” ought to insist American elected officials bone-up on some real world history regarding Ukraine and their deep relationship, ties and dealings with the Soviet Union and Russia for the past 100 years or so.
You are aware that Stalin shot, imprisoned or starved millions of Ukrainians because they didn’t want to collectivize their family farms? It’s called the Holodomor. Maybe some boning up is needed on your part.
Your post has all the moral fiber of one saying that “the Jews had a deep relationship with Germany.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:54 amPutin would, in this scenario, declare he is at war with NATO.
That would be actually stupider that Hitler declaring war on the USA.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:55 amIf there is no constraint on supply, increased demand does not lead to an increase in prices.
Hunh? WTF does cost mean wrt price?
Price is a function of “what people will pay” not some percentage over cost (except to Marxists who use terms like “excess profits”). Certain the sale price will exceed cost, if at all possible, but if demand is high, prices often go up.
Even if the incremental cost is zero, if 100 people buy something for $5, but 90 will buy it for $6, you make more money selling 90. And “making more money” is the raison d’etre of modern capitalism.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:03 am@246.Rubbish. Having lived in Europe, been through it and to Russia myself, the ‘isolationist slant’ is just a bogus swing-and-a-miss by drive-by-posters and armchair ideologues. This is about responsibility- and knowing which roads to choose, which battles to fight, which neighborhoods to avoid, and recognizing that the United States is NOT the world’s policeman and in the 21st century, cannot afford to meddle and manage other people’s affairs simply because the lazy-minded see the same images beamed into the homes daily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present#:~:text=List%20of%20wars%3A%202003%E2%80%93present%20%20%20%20Start,Republic%20Luhansk%20…%20%2013%20more%20rows%20
The carnage in every one of these conflicts is no less horrific— just not viewed on your hand gadgets 24/7.
NATO commitments aside, it is the responsibility of modern wealthy Europe to manage this- particularly as they’re the most connected to the situation- literally, by geography and pipelines. Several EU nations- France an Germany for instance- produce some of the finest military equipment in the world, too.
Ukraine is not a U.S. territory; Ukraine is not inhabited by American taxpayers. Ukraine is corrupt. So LET THE CITIZENS OF EUROPE BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE FISCAL BURDEN of facing down the threat to their energy sources. See how long Macron’s Froggies will give up their month-long August holidays and Europeans decimate their healthcare systems to do battle for one of the most corrupt country in Eastern Europe. See how they like it.
The current Russo-Ukraine conflict is NOT an American problem to meddle in- certainly not one meriting the United States piping $50 billion worth of goodies financed by borrowed money from by China to be handed over to a government nearly as corrupt as Russia itself- a government that has banned their own male citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving. That’s certainly not “freedom.” When the quality of life in Dusseldorf is better than it is in Detroit, it is time for armchair ideologues to wake up and reassess where $50 billion is put to better use. Hint- it ain’t Ukraine.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:23 am#255
I guess responding to DCSCA’s existential denial of the Ukraine’s nationhood is pretty easy. But it’s a deflection of the crux of the issue. How is saving Ukraine in the US interest?
That question can be answered. But the problem that never is answered is — who do we have to save and who do we let rot? If the interest is to see Putin diminished (which our State Department has now said), why is that an American interst as opposed to a global interest?
These question can be addressed, but the “why of course it is in our interest” response is mostly just assumed.
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:26 amOK, DCSCA…if Ukraine were not “corrupt”, would you still make the same argument?
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:30 amSad!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:33 am@258. Irrelevant. The conflict is a European problem to manage, it is NOT AN AMERICAN problem to meddle in.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:34 amIsrael outrage at Sergei Lavrov’s claim that Hitler was part Jewish
……..
When asked how Russia can claim that it is fighting to “de-Nazify” Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelensky is himself Jewish, Mr Lavrov said: “I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelensky is Jewish] means absolutely nothing. Wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”
The minister’s statement was met with outrage across Israel’s political spectrum.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: “Such lies are meant to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history and thus free the oppressors of the Jews from their responsibility.
“No war today is the Holocaust or is like the Holocaust.”
Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid reacted angrily, calling Mr Lavrov’s words “unforgivable”.
………
Mr Lavrov was also condemned by the head of Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, Dani Dayan.
“Most of his remarks are absurd, delusional, dangerous and deserving of any condemnation,” he tweeted. “Lavrov deals with the reversal of the Holocaust: turning the victims into criminals, based on the promotion of a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent.”
The BBC’s Jon Donnison in Jerusalem says the strength of the reaction reflects just how deeply offensive and unconscionable Mr Lavrov’s comments will be to Jews, both in Israel and around the world. Over recent months, Israel, which has a large Russian population, has tried at times to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:37 am………
Ukraine’s foreign minister rebuked Mr Lavrov, saying his remarks were evidence of Russia’s own “deep-rooted anti-Semitism”.
……….
@259. Yes. UKRAINE IS A PROBLEM FOR MODERN, WEALTHY EUROPE TO MANAGE. IT IS NOT AN AMERICAN PROBLEM.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:37 am#263
I’d suggest you drop the Ukraine is not worthy line of argument then. It sounds like the latest Tucker Carlson, ignores a lot of documented history which involves Russian trying to starve the Ukraine into submission AND BADLY HURTS YOUR ARGUMENT.
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:44 amKinzinger introduces AUMF to defend Ukraine if Russia uses chemical, biological, nuclear weapons
………
(Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)) announced the joint resolution during an interview with moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Asked if he thought it was too soon to be discussing potential use of force in Ukraine, Kinzinger said, “No, I don’t.”
“I don’t think we need to be using force in Ukraine right now. I just introduced an AUMF, an authorization for the use of military force, giving the president basically congressional leverage for permission to use it if WMDs [weapons of mass destruction], nuclear, biological or chemical are used in Ukraine,” Kinzinger said.
………
“Doesn’t compel the president to do it. It just says, if it is used, he has that leverage. It gives him, you know, a better flexibility, but also it is a deterrent to Vladimir Putin,” Kinzinger said.
“If Vladimir Putin wants to escalate with the West, he will. It’s easy for him to do it. And I think right now what we’re doing with supplying, with lend-lease, with the financing is right,” he added.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:49 am……..
The text of Kinzinger’s resolution says that in the event that nuclear, biological or chemical weapons are used, the president can authorize the use of armed forces if he believes such a move is necessary to “protect the national security interests of the United States with respect to Ukraine” and “assist in defending and restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
………
@254. Pfft. And America had the sin of slavery. Stalin was an ALLY in WW2, Kevin. A major beneficiary of FDR’s ‘lend-lease,’ Kevin. Financed by victory bonds, Kevin. Guess that bit of Stalin ‘history’ was overlooked, wasn’t it, Kevin. Hey, let’s reinvade socialist Vietnam and do it right this time; then reinvade Afghanistan… let’s take on North Korea, too- we don’t like how that’s run– then let’s go after big bad Red China, too.
Self-determination is part of the American ethic; so why you insist on meddling into other nation’s affairs – just six months after abandoning billions in equipment after 20 years of financing the Afghan war on borrowed $- and now wanting to use borrowed Chinese money given the debt and deficit loads on the U.S. in 2022- is mind-boggling– and inevitably and incredibly costly in terms of blood and treasure to the U.S. As ol’Kirk muttered on a classic Star Trek to McCoy: “Stop thinking with your glands.” Use your brain: you wanna finance corrupt Ukraine a la corrupt Stalin circa 1940… sell war bonds.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 10:59 am@264. Nice try. Irrelevant. Straw posting. That’s not even the issue. IT IS EUROPE’S PROBLEM TO MANAGE, NOT FOR THE UNITED STATES TO MEDDLE IN.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:01 amThat comment reminds of this, along with all the other xenophobic responses to Putin’s war crimes and attempts at cultural genocide.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:03 am#267
If Ukraine’s corruption or lack thereof is irrelevant to your arguments, why do you harp on it? Because you do.
This tic gives some of your advesaries on this blog a lot of ammunition that you are mostly interested in repeating Russian propaganda. (I’d ask Rand Paul the same question)
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:11 amThese question can be addressed, but the “why of course it is in our interest” response is mostly just assumed.
Sure. We have a commitment to NATO. We have other commitments, such as Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. We have a general commitment to the world to protect commerce and stability and to oppose wars of conquest. And we have the military and economic power to accomplish these things. That power is tolerated by the world because we (mostly) do not use it to impose our will, or for conquest, but only in circumstances where the commerce, peace and/or stability of the world order is at risk.
Should this be our job? That is a decent question, but for now it is. Would anyone prefer it was China? They seem to have an affinity for the world’s worst governments.
In this instance, Russia is attempting to destabilize NATO (which it asserts is a hostile encircling power) through attacking non-member states on its edge. It is attempting to intimidate other nations from joining NATO and placing limits on NATO expansion. All of these Russian goals affect our security interests in Europe. Our European allies agree, and are providing most of the front-line assistance and a great deal of the political will, particularly those that were so recently Soviet thralls.
Who do we save, who do we let rot? We have vastly more interest in Europe, the Middle East and east Asia than we do in Africa and central Asia. India is becoming a trading partner and is replacing China in some things. Pakistan and Afghanistan we will probably let rot, not so much that we want to but because they want to rot.
I know DCSCA will claim that this makes us the World Police. Maybe it does. Maybe we can share some of this burden with the EU, but I don’t want to see a vacuum that China fills with its Middle Kingdom mentality. Or Russia (not that it can) with little more than faded glory and resentment.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:12 am@268. Pfffft. You want ‘war crimes?’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present#:~:text=List%20of%20wars%3A%202003%E2%80%93present%20%20%20%20Start,Republic%20Luhansk%20
Oh. Wait. You haven’t seen most of them on your TeeVee or hand gadget, have you. And lest you conveniently forget, FDR’s ‘lend-lease’ was financed with the sale of victory bonds.
While you’re whining, might wanna review the list of U.S. Merchant Marine ships torpedoed by Germany before they ‘declared war on us’ in December, 1941 before babbling about “war crimes” – a problem exacerbated by ‘lend-lease’ proxy war policies- a lesson from ‘ol Adolf not lost on today’s Russia:
http://www.usmm.org/sunk39-41.html
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:14 amThe conflict is a European problem to manage, it is NOT AN AMERICAN problem to meddle in.
What part of “assertion is no argument” did you not understand?
Please explain then, why the Nazi invasion of the rest of Europe was not our problem. Do you argue that we only got involved because Hitler declared war on us (even though we were providing arms and equipment to England and Russia in 1940)? Because if he hadn’t we would just have claimed he had.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:18 amI doubt that Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Jim McGovern, Gregory Meeks, Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee, Bill Keating and Jason Crow are in any danger of losing in a primary let alone a general election. Some of them (like Crow) are running unopposed in their primaries.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:19 am@263: Ooooohhhhh! BOLD CAPS. That should prove your point!
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:19 am@270. In this instance, Russia is attempting to destabilize NATO…
No. That’s a secondary; his objective has been made clear for 15-20 years. He believes Ukraine is by history a part of the Russian Empire. He has made no secret of it- and from the Russian perspective, you can see what his rationale is. He will never attack a NATO member.
Your homework assignment: learn why SEATO failed.
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:21 amAmerica had the sin of slavery
The last refuge of the Putinista.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:22 am@274. History proves it. Boldly. 😉
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:23 amStalin was an ALLY in WW2, Kevin
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. WW2 was an existential war. We took what help we could get, but we had few illusions about Stalin’s nature, and those we did have were dispelled by 1946.
I wonder when your illusions about Putin will be dispelled. They makes you into a laughing stock.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:25 am@276. You’re kidding, right? IOW no argument. BTW, boldly:
“Facts are stubborn things.” – Ronald Reagan
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:26 am@278. B-b-but Stalin was a ‘war criminal’ Kevin! Yes, you can rationalize anything. 😉
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:27 amHe will never attack a NATO member.
Well, he will, a day after we react to his use of nukes in violation of the NNPT. Given the promises we made to Ukraine to get them to give up their nukes, we would be duty-bound to intervene should that happen. Of course “honor” is just a scrap of paper to some.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:30 am@278. ROFLMAOPIP. Reality check: I wonder when your illusions about Trump will be dispelled, Kevin. They make you into a laughing stock. Especially if he runs again– and wins. 😉
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:31 amOnce again, I am done with this effing fool.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:31 am@281. Nyet. Won’t happen. But won’t be surprised if, per Lavlov’s intimation, Russian missiles are installed into Russian allied nations in Central and South America- or Cuba, aimed at the USA. But hey, then Joe can thank Putin for protecting America’s southern border for he and Kamala. 😉
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:34 am@283. Put away the mirror, Kev. You still haven’t figured out how Chinese components got into U.S. weapons systems. 😉
DCSCA (772b07) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:36 amBased on the data at your link, the vast majority (126 of 150 ships) of the Merchant Marine between September 1939 and December 8, 1941 were detained by the British or French (which seized their cargo):
Detained/Stopped by British: 104 (69%)
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:48 amDetained/Stopped by French: 12 (8%)
Stopped/Threatened by U-boats: 6 (4%)
Torpedoed/Shelled/Bombed/Mine/Captured (by the Germans or Japanese): 25 (17%) (10 of which were torpedoed by the Germans)
Other (Collison/Unkn): 3 (2%)
Correction: 116 out of 150 ships were detained by British or French.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 11:51 am@286/287. Translation: ‘lend-lease’ widened the conflict into a ‘proxy war’–and lest you forget, financed by the sale of victory bonds.
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:04 pmThis is a joke — but it did make me wonder why the crows in my neighborhood always have something to say when I step outside.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:09 pmBreaking news- WH announces Bubba and Squinty are having lunch to discuss, “a broad range of things.”
The broad likely being Hillary.
“Here’s the deal”, eh Joey: dump Kamala for 2024, take Hillary as the replacem,ent, as folks vote for the top of the ticket- win over Trump– then resign due to failing health and she becomes POTUS w/o having to ever go through primaries or fund raise or be humiliated in anotherr failed POTUS run. If you lose, it’s on you.
Ice cream for dessert, right Joe?!
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:10 pm#282 If you look around, you should be able to find coupons that will cut your costs for adult diapers.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:16 pm@286. It’s all there from when ‘Lend-Lease’ kicked in. And France by mid-1940 was occupied by Germany. “Neutral” USA’s ‘Lend-Lease’ policy expanded the war by proxy– but it was financed by the sale of victory bonds. No such financal effort today.
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:16 pm@290. Translation- no argument.
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:17 pmA bit of history: A few days before the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese ambassador to Germany visited Hitler and asked if their treaty was still valid. Would Germany come in on the Japanese side should Japan and the United States become involved in a war? Hitler assured him that Germany would, and, shortly after Pearl Harbor, declared war on the United States.
(In Hitler’s view, the purpose of Japan was to keep the United States from intervening in Europe, either as a “force in being” or, as happened, by a direct attack. He did not grasp what the US could and would do, when provoked. In that, he was similar in many ways to Putin. We actually put more of our effort into winning the war in Europe, even while we were defeating Japan, with our allies the Australians and, to some extent, the Chinese.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:29 pm@286. It’s all here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Atlantic
From June until October 1940, over 270 Allied ships were sunk: this period was referred to by U-boat crews as “the Happy Time” (“Die Glückliche Zeit”). Churchill would later write: “…the only thing that ever frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril”. At the end of the year 1940, the British Admiralty viewed the number of ships sunk with growing alarm. Damaged ships might survive but could be out of commission for long periods. Two million gross tons of merchant shipping—13 % percent of the fleet available to the British—were under repair and unavailable, which had the same effect in slowing down cross-Atlantic supplies. By 1941, the United States was taking an increasing part in the war, despite its nominal neutrality. In April 1941 President Roosevelt extended the Pan-American Security Zone east almost as far as Iceland. British forces occupied Iceland when Denmark fell to the Germans in 1940; the US was persuaded to provide forces to relieve British troops on the island. American warships began escorting Allied convoys in the western Atlantic as far as Iceland, and had several hostile encounters with U-boats.
In June 1941, the US realized the tropical Atlantic had become dangerous for unescorted American as well as British ships. On May 21, SS Robin Moor, an American vessel carrying no military supplies, was stopped by U-69 750 nautical miles (1,390 km) west of Freetown, Sierra Leone. After its passengers and crew were allowed thirty minutes to board lifeboats, U-69 torpedoed, shelled, and sank the ship. The survivors then drifted without rescue or detection for up to eighteen days. When news of the sinking reached the US, few shipping companies felt truly safe anywhere. As Time magazine noted in June 1941, “if such sinkings continue, U.S. ships bound for other places remote from fighting fronts, will be in danger. Henceforth the U.S. would either have to recall its ships from the ocean or enforce its right to the free use of the seas.” So when a non-U.S. flagged merchant carrying lend-lease materials to Europe get sunk- it counts. But then, the lost or confiscated stuff was paid for w/victory bonds.
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:31 pmRip. You are correct.
Very few US ships were sunk by Germans before the official declaration of war.
Few is a term of comparison because the Canadians had already suffered quite a few losses on the Murmansk Run, many so called neutral ships world wide had been sunk.
American shipping losses were highest in 1942 before the U Boat Hunter Killer task forces hit the Atlantic.
After the war my Dad met the Captain (Admiral by then) of the Guadalcanal who captured U505.
steveg (ac74a6) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:32 pmMy Dad was thrilled
@296. See 295. 270 ships sunk ain’t ‘very few.’
A merchant flagged ‘Norwegian’ or such carrying U.S. lend-lease munitions from the USA counts.
DCSCA (812631) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:35 pmAfter the war my Dad met the Captain (Admiral by then) of the Guadalcanal who captured U505.
My Dad was thrilled
I’ll bet. I visited U505 before it moved to its current location. Couldn’t believe how short the bunks were.
One of my favorite films is Das Boot.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:37 pmExcellent editorial about how a liberal found himself right-of-center:
But read the whole thing (WSJ paywall disabled)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-tweeted-my-cartoon-woke-progressive-left-wing-media-right-viral-twitter-politics-culture-liberal-center-11651504379?st=du1dmk7atdqzcqe&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:56 pmThere is something perverse about a defender of Putin and his predecessors in the Soviet Union criticizing the United States for slavery, since the Soviet Union operated the Gulag from 1918 to 1960, while the US ended its slavery in 1965 and has fought it in many other places since.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn himself compared the system to American slavery.
(As far as I know, almost no officials were punished for their parts in this evil system, even after it formally ended.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:56 pmhe slavery was done by the government, and ostensibly not for profit, so it doesn’t seem the same thing.
It was worse.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:10 pmRussia held over a third of the population as serfs, bound to the estate where they were born, and owning of goods and services to the estate owner. This was ended in 1861, roughly the same time as American slavery. So Russia has very little cause to point fingers. Again, someone needs to bone up on his history.
Then again there is the matter of slavery itself, which was pretty much endemic to every culture in world until maybe the 16th century when it, and serfdom, began to lose favor. It is hardly an American invention, and it endured in most cultures about as long as it did in America. Again, the finger-pointing is disingenuous, convincing only to the ignorant and weak-minded.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:12 pm*OWING of goods and services …
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:12 pmEmails like this still keep coming in…
]Name and phone number deleted – phone is a +44 number with 4 digsts after it and then 6 digits. This is a United Kindom number.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:13 pmCorrection:
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:16 pm19651865, obviously. (Though slavery did continue among some Indian tribes after then. And it pops up occasionally even today, usually when an immigrant family brings in a slave from their home country.)Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:12 pm
The connection to race, or skin color, occurred in the Western hemisphere I think.
Previously it had been most commonly connected to the slaves being a different religion. But the Christians wanted to convert people.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:16 pmSad!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:18 pm296. steveg (ac74a6) — 5/2/2022 @ 12:32 pm
Actually, that’s the cover story.
They broke the improved code.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/20/enigma-code-u-boat-u559-hms-petard-sebag-montefiori
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:24 pmDCSCA @271.
That’s still deficit spending. It’s not taxes, it’s borrowing.
A debt by any other name is still the same.
We don’t need to do that any more. But if you like small loans to the federal government, there’s still savings bonds and Treasury Direct
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/
Maybe was done that way for political reasons.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:32 pm“Excellent editorial about how a liberal found himself right-of-center:”
The basic premise of the cartoon (that the right has remained static and only the left has moved) is absurd on its face.
Here’s a list of right viewpoints he agrees with:
1. Anti-Transgenderism
2. The barest superficial understanding of what MLK stood for
3. Cancel culture as a uniquely left wing phenomenon
I agree with him that a lot of the cancel stuff is problematic, but his primary focus appears to be on transgenderism.
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:34 pmI suppose DCSCA would say bonds sold to individuals oes not involve printing or creating money.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:35 pmKevin – Thanks for the link to that WSJ piece. For years I have been wondering what evolutionary biologists thought about those issues — and assumed they were mostly being quiet out of self preservation.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:40 pmMind you that this is just a guess, but from Dave’s reaction it seems as though he did not read Kevin’s link.
BuDuh (340919) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:51 pmhttps://spectator.org/the-tyranny-of-the-atheistic-minority/
NJRob (004689) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:54 pmThat’s still deficit spending. It’s not taxes, it’s borrowing.
Uncle Sam raised $185 billion over the course of WW2, drew $ out of the economy to tamp down inflation [a great idea for today BTW] and paid modest interest after maturity over the decades- and citizens could demonstrate support for the policy- literally ‘buying into it’ w/loose change for stamps to eventually get a bond too, Sammy. It was wise policy– and a bargain. Today, there’s nothing … but charging it to Uncle Sam because Ol’Joe and Nancy say so. It’s nuts– and America can’t afford to keep borrowing from China for these foolish forays.
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 1:54 pm“Mind you that this is just a guess, but from Dave’s reaction it seems as though he did not read Kevin’s link.”
Your guess would be wrong. I always read articles that I comment on. Perhaps you could explain what I missed.
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:01 pmMost importantly you missed(misrepresented) the premise of the cartoon. The author went to great lengths to make sure the reader understood.
Good luck.
BuDuh (340919) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:04 pm@300. There is something perverse about: SPENDING $50 BILLION YOU DO NOT HAVE ON A EUROPEAN CONFLICT THAT IS EUROPE’S BUSINESS TO MANAGE AND RFESOURCE, NOT AMERICA’S; IN A LAND NOT INHABITED BY U.S. TAXPAYERS, NOT A U.S. TERRITORY, NEARLY AS CORRUPT AS RUSSIA and BORROWING SAID FUNDS FROM ANOTHER DISCIPLINED ADVERSARY WHO WANTS TO HOLD YOU TIGHTER AND TIGHTER BY THE SHORT AND CURLIES.
Where are your buttinski YankeE-Doodle-tears for these conflicts- the carnage is no less horrid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present#:~:text=List%20of%20wars%3A%202003%E2%80%93present%20%20%20%20Start,Republic%20Luhansk%20
Oh. Right. You don’t see them on your TeeVee and on your hand-gadget 24/7.
You wanna help them, Jim? Buy Ukrainian Freedom Fighter War Bonds the instant Joe puts them on sale. Don’t hold your breath for that… cry me a river, instead…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCGNYJOrebA
“Cry Me A River” – Julie London
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:13 pmPreviously it had been most commonly connected to the slaves being a different religion
Slavery began with the losing side in war, often as a form of quarter, but also extending to captured civilians. The idea that decendents were also slaves varied greatly from culture to culture.
What happened in the New World was that slavery became institutionalized. There were Irish slaves/indentured servants in the early colonies as well, but they kept disappearing and blending in. The racial thing proved convenient.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:21 pm“Most importantly you missed(misrepresented) the premise of the cartoon. The author went to great lengths to make sure the reader understood.”
I saw that. It’s ass covering because the cartoon exists outside of his commentary. I also question the author’s position on the 2008 timeline. What left positions did he hold at that point? He decries women’s rights turning into pro-transgenderism, but he apparently has no interest in women’s rights outside of those he believes are impacted by transgenderism. I think he only cares about cancel culture insofar as it has impacted him, rather than some sort of principled free speech stance.
It’s a profoundly self absorbed editorial.
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:21 pm‘thulhu,
And I mean this most civilly: Denial of biological facts is not a virtue.
There may be males who act and identify as women, and that may make them “women” but it does not make them “female.” Asserting that it does puts ideology before reality. That does not mean I would be so rude as to dispel their self-image to their face, but if I were a doctor, I would not treat them for pregnancy, or even prescribe birth control pills.
If that makes me a bigot, well reality is a *itch.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:26 pmPush to arm Ukraine putting strain on US weapons stockpile
WASHINGTON (AP) — The planes take off almost daily from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware — hulking C-17s loaded up with Javelins, Stingers, howitzers and other material being hustled to Eastern Europe to resupply Ukraine’s military in its fight against Russia. The game-changing impact of those arms is exactly what President Joe Biden hopes to spotlight as he visits a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama on Tuesday that builds the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine. But Biden’s visit is also drawing attention to a growing concern as the war drags on: Can the U.S. sustain the cadence of shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining the healthy stockpile it may need if a new conflict erupts with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere? – AP.com
ROFLMAOPIP. What. A. Surprise. Golly, if only they’d ‘spent a penny’ -as the Brits say- and efforted to move all the billions of dollars worth of material they abandoned in Afghanistan to last years’ bad guys, the Taliban, then they wouldn’t have to buy more stuff.
… and the MIC smiled.
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:27 pmKevin has the better argument.
The U.S. has a strategic interest in opposing Russian expansion and the instability it inflicts in terms of the markets, refugees, and alliances (see the Domino theory). NATO relies on U.S. leadership and this invasion matters to our allies and thus matters to us. We should not leave our strategic interests to the squishy sentiments of the French.
Russia’s invasion is not an example of some sort of joyful reunification. The Ukrainians don’t want to be Russians and will die fighting annexation. This war is because another Soviet satellite rightly sees its future with democracy and capitalism instead of communism or a Russian kleptocracy. This scares Putin who doesn’t have to worry about physical invasion, but an invasion of ideas. The U.S. has strategic interest in promoting open markets, democracy, and rule of law….because they are all stabilizing institutions. Putin wants to diminish our influence. We need to counter that.
Undoubtedly we will hear shortly about profligate spending, hypocrisy, and of course war bonds. Fortunately I will be well on my way to the gym. One always has to question unwise foreign entanglements but here the potential price of inaction is even higher. Others can tuck their heads in the sand and lead from way behind….or abrogate leadership all together. This is what led to the original Soviet expansion and an extremely costly Cold War. Some will say don’t worry…trust their measure of Russian interests and military competence. Sorry but it smells of naivety. Russia respects strength and laughs at crouching cowards. It’s time for strength.
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 5/2/2022 @ 2:31 pm@323. Rubbish. It’s a EUROPEAN PROBLEM to manage. The EU is tapped directly into Russian energy resources– and by castrating Russian oil sales into the international market, where product becomes ubiquitous, only serves to hurt the global marketplace. Russian ‘expansion’ into a disputed region- once part of the USSR 30 years ago is a REGIONAL conflict and not in the greater interests of the United States to mess with; a U.S. now deeply in debt and burden w/deficits. More worrisome is ‘Chinese expansion’ globally via purchasing resources worldwide and access to same which will hurt the U.S. long term. Ukraine is a distraction that lights up your hand gadgets. Ukraine is NOT an American problem to meddle with. It is for wealthy, modern Europe- which is directly affected by it- to manage the third land war in Europe in 110 years. France and Germany manufacture some fine and expensive military equipment. Let the French and German taxpayers carry the financial burden and stressess on their social structure- if they so choose to do so. See how fast they give up their month-long-August vacations, decimate their national healthcare systems to rid Europe of tyranny. This ain’t an American problem, AJ.
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:01 pm“There may be males who act and identify as women, and that may make them “women” but it does not make them “female.” Asserting that it does puts ideology before reality.”
This is the whole sex vs gender argument that’s been going on for decades. It’s not new, and I don’t believe that it’s the argument being made by the cartoon author.
“That does not mean I would be so rude as to dispel their self-image to their face, but if I were a doctor, I would not treat them for pregnancy, or even prescribe birth control pills.”
This (and other similar stuff) is pretty new, but I also believe that it’s miniscule and over-reported as outrage bait.
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:05 pmIt’s time for strength.
Pfft. FRANCE has the most powerful military in Europe, AJ. =mike-drop=
https://www.edudwar.com/strongest-militaries-in-the-world/#:~:text=With%20the%20biggest%20defence%20budget%20on%20the%20planet%2C,5%20th%20generation%20fighter%20planes%20in%20the%20world.
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:08 pmWere I in Ohio, I would be inclined to vote for Matt Dolan.
Given the large field, Dolan doesn’t need a lot of votes to win — and this “endorsement” may actually help him: “Whatever momentum Dolan is riding, it was enough to prompt Trump to release a statement Tuesday suggesting that the state senator is “not fit” to serve in the Senate.”
It is possible, perhaps even likely, that, if he wins the nomination, that “endorsement” will help him in the general election this November.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:18 pm#326 DCCCP – If you are human, rather than a bot, would you stop spitting, please. It’s rude.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:20 pm@328. Jimbo:
Definition of ‘Pfft;
Pfft- used to represent a brief sound such as that made by the passage of a bullet or that of a small, muffled explosion:
“Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Bullets ricocheted around the room”
-used to convey the suddenness of a malfunction, disappearance, ending, etc.:
“then pffft, that was the last we heard of them”
-used to express a contemptuous or dismissive attitude:
“pfft, I don’t know what all the fuss is about”
Stop fussing, Jim.
DCSCA (8ada81) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:28 pmI have always interpreted “pfft” as DCSCA springing a leak.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:31 pmhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/FY_2022_Emergency_Supplemental_Assistance-to-Ukraine_4.28.2022.pdf
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:38 pmAnother rip off of the American Taxpayer.
Funny, I don’t see a “J.D. Mandel” as receiving any support.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:39 pmSome of you will like today’s Dilbert, which currently has 75 “likes” at the Washington Post, the highest number I’ve seen, and about twice the average.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:41 pmHere’s today’s Dilbert.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/2/2022 @ 3:43 pmSammy
Thank you
I know they broke the code, but the Hunter Killer escorts needed to be nearby in order to hunt them down
steveg (a93fe9) — 5/2/2022 @ 4:42 pmNothing succeeds like success. The more Russian dupa the Ukrainians kick, the more help they will get from the West.
And the more they will prove that they are not Russians. That was Putin’s fundamental error. KGB tactics only work on Russians.
nk (b25e53) — 5/2/2022 @ 4:56 pmRIP novelist and screenwriter (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) Harold Livingston (97).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:05 pmDesigned?
As I recall, it was Putin who designed his war on Ukraine, in order to absorb it into Russia.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:26 pmI suspect that we’ll be seeing this Tucker segment a lot on Russian TV.
Tucker Carlson is for non-binary gender-fluids.
nk (b25e53) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:41 pmTucker Carlson is the (current) world-champion troll. I refuse to listen to him, or even think about him. If possible, I would refuse to believe in him, so that, like Tinkerbell, he disappeared.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/2/2022 @ 5:49 pm@338/339/340. O.M.G. Tucka is a frigging talk-show host.
DCSCA (2d5bdd) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:01 pmA political earthquake was just reported, epicenter in the vicinity of the Supreme Court.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:27 pmThe fact that a draft opinion was *leaked* is utterly shocking. That’s a *massive* violation of protocol, and hasn’t otherwise happened in the modern age. If it wasn’t deliberately leaked to prepare the ground for the opinion, I expect a witch hunt to find out who the leaker was and fire them.
aphrael (4c4719) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:31 pmIt is more likely, far more likely, that it is a fake than that it was leaked.
nk (b25e53) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:35 pmShiny objects are often used as bait to lure and distract.
DCSCA (2d5bdd) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:39 pmDavid French…
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:40 pmNK — scotusblog thinks it’s legit.
aphrael (4c4719) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:45 pmThen I wholeheartedly agree with draconian penalties for whomever leaked it.
nk (b25e53) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:47 pmIf the leak is valid, yet another branch of the U.S. Federal government is corrupted on Joey’s watch.
… and Putin smiled.
While Xi merely grinned.
DCSCA (2d5bdd) — 5/2/2022 @ 6:51 pmThe leaker did his duty. Dred scott II fort sumpter next! Establishment democrat whinners will be replaced by the left.
asset (ab9f0c) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:39 pmRoe v Wade should be overruled. It has no constitutional basis. I thought everyone admitted as much.
NJRob (df46be) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:39 pm“Roe v Wade should be overruled. It has no constitutional basis. I thought everyone admitted as much.”
lol
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 7:43 pmI wonder if the leak might not make the Court rethink the Pentagon Papers case. You know, “hoist on their own petard”?
nk (1d9030) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:11 pmreferendum on abortion/2024
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:41 pmlol, nothing will happen to a democrat serving the senile old fool, joey.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:43 pmdems get away with pizzling rooskie hookers and more
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:45 pmNot even a manbortion? Cis-gendered male birthing persons deserve the right to choose, too!
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:53 pmThulu,
I get it’s a sacrament of the left, but it’s still unconstitutional. Or does that not matter to you?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/2/2022 @ 8:57 pmAnother observation. This is not the first Supreme Court opinion leaked beyond the court. Unless the Obama Administration just happened to find, purchase, set up and display a rainbow floodlight show to cover the White House within a few hours of Obergefell issuing. lol.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:06 pmThis ought to bring you 81 million back to cheat in 2024, eh?
mg (8cbc69) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:15 pmCourting disaster
[ ] Vietnam War
[ ] Afghan War
[ ] Ukraine War
[ ] President Harris
[ ] SCOTUS leak
[ ] Cher Tour, 2022
Choose.
DCSCA (925b15) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:30 pm“I get it’s a sacrament of the left”
Abortion is a sacrament of the left is a sacrament of the right.
“but it’s still unconstitutional. Or does that not matter to you?”
I don’t think you understand what “constitutional” means.
Davethulhu (da3c71) — 5/2/2022 @ 9:47 pmAs the dred scott decision proved over 150 years ago the court of last resort is not the supreme court but the street. Plessy vs ferguson was settled at the edmund pettis bridge and watts california. The stone wall riots cry out of the closet and into the street. The time is right for fighting in the streets. Street fighting man :rolling stones. Pelosi, biden and the other wimp corporate establishment democrats are sweating out being put the question to them what are you going to do besides whine? AOC and the left: stalin had the right idea no man no problem.
asset (d5529a) — 5/3/2022 @ 12:35 amhasn’t otherwise happened in the modern age.
It came out during the aborted hearings for his elevation to CJ that Abe Fortas routinely briefed his patron, Lyndon Johnson, on the court conference discussions.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 1:48 amhttps://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/cautionary-tale-abe-fortas
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 1:49 amIf a clerk did it, fire and disbar him or her. If it’s a justice, impeach.
A justice would be first asked to resign, giving them a chance to avoid scandal. I doubt that a justice who leaked this hot potato could be convicted, if impeached. Any number of Democrats would have their back here (assuming it was a leftist justice).
A clerk probably would not get that chance.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 1:53 amThe leaker did his duty. Dred scott II fort sumpter next!
Our resident Maoist has no use for the Rule of Law, it seems. Of course he also wants the justices to be “replaced” so that’s no big surprise.
Note aside: ‘thulhu, my best argument about how far the left has gone is “asset.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 1:57 amAsset,you keep talking about Dredd Scott, but I think you have no idea what it said. Nor did it lead to the South seceding — the South LIKED Dredd Scott. Nor did it cause the North to take up arms against slavery.
Slavery was not settled “on the street.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 2:23 amI’m shocked that the prematurely revealed Dobbs will likely over-turn Roe/Casey. I expected a likely narrowing, with more deference going to states but not the wholesale detonation of a scorched-earth WMD. Not because the reasoning of Roe/Casey was rock solid…it was not….but because of the undeniable impending tidal wave of political implications.
One can argue, well, that’s federalism….love it or leave it. But this is a super-charged lightning rod that will likely shock and transform our local politics…and probably, by implication, national politics. Certainly not much changes in Utah, Alabama, Massachusetts, and California where political sentiments are well entrenched. But what of the purple states where majorities are more fluid and abortion rights tend to have well-rooted…if not begrudging….polling support (where people concede that they may personally believe abortion is wrong but still think that a woman should be allowed to choose)? Will these toss-up states get pulled Democrat and will this pull our national politics decidely leftward as an aftershock?
This potential political-realignment is obviously not at all a conventional constitutional consideration….but courts do take into account stability and legitimacy all of the time. This gives Democrats…possibly at their lowest point in terms of electoral leverage in some time….the mother of all issues. This will be made a litmus test on every election, from dog catcher to governor. And the quality of political discourse will surely suffer because this is an exceedingly personal and emotional topic that will draw out strong and raw feelings….in a social media era that doesn’t encourage nuance or moderation.
Will it compel the GOP to moderate to keep women in the tent? Women tend to be more pro-choice than men….and they trend to vote in higher numbers. Will this tear apart the GOP nationally as they try to find a voice that offers nuance on an issue that doesn’t naturally afford it? Will this accelerate us toward plans for court packing and even greater political toxicity? I’m reminded of the cautionary warning, be careful what you ask for….
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/3/2022 @ 2:25 amDCCCP: “Ukraine is NOT an American problem to meddle with.”
Was Jewish extermination a problem that would have justified American intervention in WW2 or was that too something that should have been left to wealthy Europeans to solve? This isn’t an internal civil war in South America or Africa that has little global implication or an ambiguous aggressor. This is a nuclear super power with naked territorial aspirations on the doorstep of NATO. This is wholesale butchering of a people who are courageously rejecting authoritarianism. We have a moral obligation to stand with Europe and pick a side. You can continue to make excuses for Putin all you want, but history is watching right now and recording which men were willing to do nothing. Is this the legacy that you want?
AJ_Liberty (a36eed) — 5/3/2022 @ 2:48 amThey don’t want to lose their cash flow from Planned Parenthood. If they gave a hoot about abortion they would have shut PP down on the numerous chances they have had to do so. The GOP loves abortion just as much as the DNC.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:17 amAt least progressive cities like Chicago still allow for abortion up to the 250th term. Just for Democrats though.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:31 amDred Scott, my dear Tia Juana! The Latinx will now be dropping anchor babies like there’s no mañana and AOC will be elected President with a 60% majority in 2040.
nk (1d9030) — 5/3/2022 @ 5:14 amStupid Republicans! How are they going to make up for all the new babies on top of the influx of illegal aliens, eh? I’ll tell you how! With death panels for old white people and the diversion of their Social Security, Medicare, pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs, savings, and investments to EBT and Medicaid, that’s how!
And from there to Soylent Green!
nk (1d9030) — 5/3/2022 @ 5:37 amYou won’t see this bit of history in the news stories today:
Or this:
That “moderation” made him more acceptable to much of the Democratic Party, but it did not alter the fact that a disproportionate number of abortions were (and, I believe, still are) performed on black women.
Jim Miller (406a93) — 5/3/2022 @ 7:05 amThere is a post up about the leaked Dobbs decision. Please take commentary on that topic to that post.
Patterico (2faab6) — 5/3/2022 @ 8:33 amHillary’s defense is exploding quicker than her seams on her pant-dress.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/3/2022 @ 8:57 amThe GOP loves abortion just as much as the DNC.
Perhaps, but they will just find another issue to fundraise over.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 5/3/2022 @ 9:50 amWe have a moral obligation to stand with Europe and pick a side.
Rubbish, AJ. You ooze Whataboutism. No NATO nation border has been breached, AJ. The defensive alliance is intact.
Poli Sci 101, kid: Nations don’t have friends- they have interests. “We” have an obligation to the citizens and taxpayers of the United States, NOT wealthy, modern Europe. The responsibilities of managing this conflict are Europe’s to manage. But nobody is stopping you from quitting you job, leaving your family and the safety of your ideological armchair and dashing over to Kyiv to join the regional conflict there.
Again, review this list of conflicts raging since the turn of the century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present#:~:text=List%20of%20wars%3A%202003%E2%80%93present%20%20%20%20Start,Republic%20Luhansk%20
The carnage is no less horrific- except it has not been beamed into your hand gadgets and TV sets 24/7. Where are your tears for these?? Why aren’t co demanding U.S. intervention everywhere? The United States IS NOT THE WORLD’S POLICEMAN.
And again, in case you didn’t read it: FRANCE has the most powerful military in Europe, AJ:
https://www.edudwar.com/strongest-militaries-in-the-world/#:~:text=With%20the%20biggest%20defence%20budget%20on%20the%20planet%2C,5%20th%20generation%20fighter%20planes%20in%20the%20world.
Let Macron’s France carry the moral standard you whine about; have the froggie taxpayers carry the financial burden of managing the third European land war in 110 years. And it is a regional conflict over long disputed territory as is. See how long the French gleefully carry the social and financial load, give up their month-long August vacations, decimate their national healthcare systems and welcome Ukrainian refugees. This conflict directly concerns the EU; it is the responsibility of wealthy, modern Europe to manage, AJ. NOT the United States. When the quality of life is better in Cologne, Germany than it is in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s time for armchair ideologues reassess priorities and recognize who pays– hint, it ain’t Ukraine.
DCSCA (2727e8) — 5/3/2022 @ 12:36 pm@296. Steve, quite by coincidence, have been reviewing/reading volumes of ‘LIFE’ magazine from 1940 and 1941 and the pub had quite extensive and detail coverage- a weekly section no less- in print and w/photos of the ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ -and from both the Axis and Allied perspective, as the U.S., was still ‘neutral’ at the time. A large number of British and non-U.S. flagged merchant vessels carrying munitions and supplies from North America to the UK and USSR were sunk or damaged; the routes across the North and South Atlantic were quite costly in terms of tonnage lost — and more interestingly, the advantages changed sides back and forth almost weekly– but the most fascinating element was the number of damaged vessels that still managed to get through. But once in port, repairing them took them out of service for months, and given the number of ships lost each week, knocking the survivors out of service for so long was almost as bad as sinking them.
DCSCA (2727e8) — 5/3/2022 @ 1:53 pmasset (d5529a) — 5/3/2022 @ 12:35 am
As law, it was overruled in 1954. The Pettis bridge shamed the segregationists.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:46 pmUkrainian males aged 18-60 are banned from leaving the country, Zelensky says in new declaration
A bad decision, influenced maybe by too strong nationalists.
Nobody is actually being drafted. Volunteers are being rejected when they have no skills.
This was maybe to discourage desertion.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:49 pm335. steveg (a93fe9) — 5/2/2022 @ 4:42 pm
Weren;t they there earlier,too? Or were they only sent out when they knew there was ahigh oprobability of them sinking the targets? Still, you are right.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:51 pmThere’s astory out there that Putin has cancer, and has finally agreed to doctors’ recommendations that he get an operation, and that he did turn over power for three days — to ahardliner who supposedly convinced him to invade because Ukraine was full of Nazis.
I think this is Russian disinformation – to discourage assassination attempts. As if Putin really believed Ukraine was run by Nazis or cared about Nazis.
It has two elements:
1. Leader is sick and will soon be gone. This goes back to Brezhnev – and was also said of Osama bin Laden
2. The person now in charge is only the second worst man.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/3/2022 @ 3:54 pmRIP David Birney (83). Turns out Bridget was a lesbian.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/3/2022 @ 4:07 pmhttps://www.newser.com/story/320014/lavrovs-remarks-on-zelensky-hitler-draw-outrage-from-israel.html
This was something said in the 1930s.It was supposedtpexplain why the Nuremberg laws did not cover anyone who had less than 1/4Jewish ancestry. Htler supposedly was the product of an illlgimate relationship that wouldhave made him1/8 Jewish..
But this is not the explanation for why the Nuremberg lawsonly went back to a grandparent and the claimabout Hitler has no support
Then Lavrvwent further into fantasy.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/5/2022 @ 3:24 pmBiden’s speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LRi-v8lTW4
Trevor Noah’s topical comedy routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fpxCuorKjA
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/5/2022 @ 4:11 pmEven if you consider this a wise strategic move for our country (it is not) the notion that it’s being done under the auspice of an illegitimate doddering dunderhead as our ‘commander-in-chief’ (or any democrat for that matter), should scare the hell out of you.
mg (8cbc69) — 5/5/2022 @ 6:08 pmThe national security gene disappeared from democrat DNA during the Vietnam era and has absolutely zero chance of regenerating.
Anti-Trump takes its place.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 5/6/2022 @ 2:05 pm