Ukraine – Page 5 – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 30, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 302023

Yesterday, arguments about whether DiFi should resign came to an end with her passing. Governor Newsom has said he will make an interim appointment. Even Chuck Grassley said nice things about her. Since I was born and grew up in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, this feels like the end of an era to me. I have known of her, and of her achievements, for so long – it’s true that at my age when someone who has been a fixture of one’s life for so long, one doesn’t grieve just that person, but also one’s own lost youth. Also, The White House made available online a partial transcript of Joe Biden’s speech at the John McCain Library in Tempe, AZ. There’s also an opportunity at this link to sign up for pratial transcripts whenever anyone in the administration says something significant. Wow. The first plea deal in the Fulton COunty case was sealed. And last (and kind of least compared to the preceding) my Dark Brandon mug came. So I immediately made a cup of coffee. And it works as advertised (what with being carried in a postal vehicle in the sun all day and then stuffed into a hot mailbox, the eyes were actually red when I opened it. The directions advised putting it in the freezer for a few minutes – which worked like a charm.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Why Are Republicans Playing Politics With Ukraine?
Quote – Over the course of more than 30 interviews with members of Congress, The Daily Beast set out to trace exactly how and why providing aid to Ukraine became such a controversial endeavor among Republicans. To Democrats, the $24 billion package in front of Congress right now is the best money Washington could spend on national defense…. The issue, many Republicans in Congress agree, shouldn’t be partisan. But these Republicans are also keenly aware of the reality—that it is…. The story of how that happened is a case study in the workings of a congressional GOP loyal to Donald Trump, one in which the former president and a small handful of right-wing figures wield immense power to set the agenda of the party base, which in turn commands immense power to shape the actions of lawmakers eager to use uncompromising tactics to achieve their goals.
Click through for full article. One thing that leaps out – if the poll cited is accurate, and 55% of Americans nationally do not support aiding Ukreaine, we need to ne doing a better job of messaging. 62% Democratic support isn’t enough.

Colorado Public Radio – What the impending government shutdown means for Coloradans
Quote – Perhaps the biggest impacts will be felt by the state’s approximately 38,000 federal employees and 12,000 active duty military service members, who will not get a paycheck during a government shutdown. Their first missed payday will be October 13, if the shutdown drags on that long…. Gov. Jared Polis is ordering the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to use state money to keep the parks and other federal land in the state open, although any plan will need a federal sign off…. The governors of Arizona and Utah have also said they’ll use state funds to keep some of their parks open…. States that opened their parks in 2013 were never reimbursed…. When it comes to airport travel, a shutdown could fuel passenger exasperation and worsen staffing challenges at Denver International Airport….
Click through. As promised, here’s the shutdown article. Not every state is going to step in on National Parks (or anything else), and it’s not certain that Colorado is this time. But – like everything else – red states are going to suffer the most. And there’s more. CPR really looked at everything they could. It’s very thorough.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 23, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 232023

Yesterday, I received a Substack newsletter from Mary L. Trump about the Meet The Press interview with TFG. She watched it so you and I don’t have to. (Beau did the same thing, taking notes, but, since TFG can lie faster than Beau can write, his notes are incomplete.) And Mary’s article really also just hits low points. (There were appaently no high points.) Here’s the link if anyone wants it. Also, Andy Borowitz’s headline was “Zelensky Offers to Broker Peace Deal Between Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans.” Yahoo cut off the subject line after “between,” so I wasn’t expecting that – I was expecting something more like “red states and blue states.” So I did laugh out loud.

Cartoon – 23 0213

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals
Quote – Both Esper and Milley found new purpose in waiting out the President. They resisted him throughout the summer, as Trump repeatedly demanded that active-duty troops quash ongoing protests, threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, and tried to stop the military from renaming bases honoring Confederate generals. “They both expected, literally on a daily basis, to be fired,” Gates recalled. Milley “would call me and essentially say, ‘I may not last until tomorrow night.’ And he was comfortable with that. He felt like he knew he was going to support the Constitution, and there were no two ways about it.” Milley put away the resignation letter in his desk and drew up a plan, a guide for how to get through the next few months. He settled on four goals: First, make sure Trump did not start an unnecessary war overseas. Second, make sure the military was not used in the streets against the American people for the purpose of keeping Trump in power. Third, maintain the military’s integrity. And, fourth, maintain his own integrity. In the months to come, Milley would refer back to the plan more times than he could count.
Click through for complete story. This article is a bit over a year old, but Milley is in the news again because the Atlantic has just published a profile. I can’t get into the Atlantic, but Steve Schmidt referenced this New Yorker article – which broke the existence of a never-submitted letter of resignation – as back-story, and I can get in to the New Yorker. The Atlantic profile also influenced Beau amd MSN and probably others to discuss it, so you could find more in a lot of places. My take is that the military is commonly considered to lean to the right – but “right” does not necessarily mean “authoritarian.” I (and I think Pat would agree, but she’s off now and through the weekend having fun) would trust the Generals in a crisis – with the caveat that they can function better when their promotions are confirmed, and only 3 of over 300 have gotten past Tuberville and those 3 were already months late. (Lawrence O’Donnell had some words on that. His Aunt Mary was a senior officer’s wife, and they had 7 kids.)

PolitiZoom – Zelenskyy: Russia Has Weaponized Food (In Addition To Energy)
Quote – So there’s that, but let’s get to the substance of what President Zelenskyy dove in to because it’s an impressive laundry list. BBC News has a nice piece that if you scroll down starts with the pre-speech stuff but it does a nice job of emphasizing those main points. Zelenskyy starts out throwing a hard punch, noting that Ukraine gave up the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons once upon a time. (If you didn’t know this was a carefully negotiated treaty and Russia signed on – with a promise not to try and take over Ukraine I might add) He flat out said it was Russia, who is acting as a terrorist State that should have had to give up its nukes!
Click through for article. My first reaction was that with TFG “promising” that if reelected he’ll weaponize – fill in the blank – DOJ is probably at the top of the list-he’s sure to pick up this too. He won’t have to read PolitiZoom. He’ll get all the info he needs from Putin.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 7, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:56 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 072023

Yesterday, I ran across an article in the Colorado Public Radio newsletter about a fish in the Denver Zoo who was successfully treated for enteritis. I would put a story like this in the Video Thread, but there is no video. So I mention it here so that those who cherish the animal rescue videos will see it. We all should have access to health care that well thought out. Also, I did manage to get my trash and recycling carts out. Doing so raised my pulse from Tranquillo to Allegretto, but that was not as bad as taking the stuff to the carts the day before, which pushed me all the way up to Allegro.

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Short Takes –

CNN – ‘Let’s give it a try,’ recalls Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine in his military helicopter
Quote – The pilot, named by Ukrainian officials as Maxim Kuzminov, explained in the interview how he planned his defection and why he felt compelled to do so. “I contacted representatives of Ukrainian intelligence, explained my situation, to which they offered this option: ‘Come on, we guarantee your safety, guarantee new documents, guarantee monetary compensation, a reward,’” the pilot said, in a recording released Monday. The head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Kyrolo Budanov, revealed in August how Ukrainian officials had been able to help the pilot to defect.
Click through for story. As W. S. Gilbert pointed out in “Iolanthe, “Every boy and every gal/who’s born into this world alive/Is either a little Liberal/or else a little Conservative.” And that does not appear to be genetic – look at all the families divided over this breach. So, attractive as the idea is, getting all of one to live in one part of the world and all the other in another part, that would not last a generation. Somehow, we need to find ways to live together. But there will likely still be times when defection becomes inevitable

KGET.com – What was inside the illegal medical lab found in California? Photos show blood vials, disease samples
Quote – According to court documents, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested what they could and determined that at least 20 potentially infectious viral, bacterial, and parasitic agents were present, including E. coli, malaria, and the virus that causes COVID-19. For the first half of 2023, the process of cleaning the Reedley location was stuck in court. Electrical issues were highlighted, including adding outlets for running refrigerators and freezers. There were also unmarked, highly-flammable chemicals being stored there. Officials were worried about the risk of a possible explosion, which prompted Reedley Fire Chief Jerry Isaak to send a letter to Zieba.
Click through for details, such as they are. This would be Devin Nunes’s former district. I can certainly understand not wanting something like this in one’s backyard.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 17, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 172023

Yesterday, I learned that over the weekend, the chyron atop a news outlet’s building in Surgut, a Russian city far from Moscow, read (in Russian) “Putin is huylo and a thief.” “Huylo” is NSFW and one translator says, “Think of the worst, most obscene possible expression for a very bad person—and that’s the word you need.” Over recent years Russia has put a lot of money and effort into training hackers. I’m sure Putin never expected his face to be eaten. Also, just so y’all know, I am not going to try to keep up with the Trump** trials here. If there is an earth-shaking annoucement midday I may address it in a comment. But the first video in the cideo thread will always be from a legal expert, which means it likely will be about Trump**. Depending on what’s happening, it may not be the only one.

Cartoon – 17 0817Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Fight Breaks Out Among Russian Forces That Leaves 20 Dead, 40 Injured
Quote – Around 8:00 p.m. [on Saturday, August 12], in the Central Park area of the village [of Mykhailivka], a verbal altercation took place between Kadyrivians and Dagestanis from another division of the Russian Armed Forces. During the quarrel, one of the occupants opened fire in the air from a small automatic weapon. In the course of the fight, one of the occupiers was inflicted with numerous stab wounds, incompatible with life. This led to an open confrontation between units using underbarrel grenade launchers GP-25 “Koster”, hand grenades and small automatic weapons.
Click through for story. “Friendly fire.” I often go to the original when a story is from a single source, but I thought I would take their word for this information from the Ukrainian government site. I trust Ukraine … but it’s also under attack – and as my intro noted, Russia has hackers.

The 19th – After hottest summer on record, heat-related illnesses are now being tracked nationwide
Quote – “Each year heat kills more people than any other type of extreme weather event, and the heat is getting worse,” said John Balbus, acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. Balbus’ department, in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is responsible for developing and maintaining the dashboard. Balbus told The 19th that the dashboard has been in development for about a year and was initially inspired by a similar dashboard that tracks opioid overdoses.
Click through for details. I’m glad someone is taking climate change seriously. It’s sad that this is necessary – but it is. The highest temperature at which a human can survive is probably lower than you think it is.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 8/14/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Aug 142023

Glenn Kirschner – Federal judge tells Trump she WILL NOT ALLOW his political campaign to interfere w/orderly justice

The Lincoln Project – Inside Dark Brandon

Thom Hartmann – Welcome to the DeSantis Nazi Fantasy Camp Indoctrination Centers…aka Florida Public Schools?!

Brent Terhune – Montgomery Boat Brawl

Coyote Waits Patiently For Guy To Free Him From Fence

Beau – Let’s talk about Senator Tuberville’s Ukraine analogy….

Video Thread 8/11/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Aug 112023

[I agree we have the right. But insisting on one’s rights is not always the smartest thing. In this case, it would play into what Trump** wants. I’d say film it and show it after it’s over.]
Glenn Kirschner – The American voters, victims of Trump’s crimes, have a legal right to have cameras in the courtroom

The Lincoln Project – He Should Probably Stop

MSNBC – Only something a Trump lawyer could make up’: 1/6 coup plot architect fights against disbarment

[Sorry that it’s Mrs Greenspan – but she’s who covered it, and she has an expert guest at least – and it’s short.]
MSNBC – Woman arrested in alleged Russian plot to assassinate Zelenskyy ‘was hiding in plain sight’