Proof of Russian atrocities - genocide - continue to proliferate, strongman Orban is reelected in Hungary, thoughts on new CDC data on the societal impact of COVID lockdowns, and more

EPA/Atef Safadi

This Twitter thread by ABC News reporter James Longman on the war crimes in Bucha is a hard read, but a painfully necessary one. The Russian soldiers are psychopathic brutes, and they are conditioned that way purposefully. They have been this way for centuries, and they are going to keep raping, pillaging, and killing until they are stopped.

‘The skill and bravery of Ukrainian gunners is obvious. But those dramatic videos also hint at Ukraine’s integration and deployment of two key technologies—laser-guided artillery shells and laser-equipped drones’ (Forbes 4/05)

The Kremlin

Putin hails populist authoritarian Viktor Orban’s re-election in Hungary - Viktor Orban has yet to become a serious menace, just a minor one; he has allowed Ukrainian refugees to cross into Hungary, he did join in on certain sanctions against Russia, and he has not attempted to invade any of his neighbors. He is an insufferable religious zealot and overbearingly paternalistic in everything he does. Let us consider that Vladimir Putin himself spent years cultivating a certain, grudging kind of respectability about him before he put the knife in Ukraine’s back. Orban is following the same playbook, and in time he will become dangerous, as opposed to merely a thorn in everyone’s side. (BBC News 4/04)

Direct TV drops One America News network - When is my cable provider (Verizon Fios) going to follow suit? Russian propaganda and lies do not have any place in our society. (Bloomberg 4/04)

The FBI is spending millions on social media tracking software - Of course, free speech absolutists like the ACLU are whining, as are nationalist populists like Rep. Jim Jordan, who zealously guard their free speech but seek to silence everyone else. Social media is full of disinformation - the vast majority of it emanating from Russia - and millions not only willingly parroting said disinfo, but actually believing it. The FBI’s plan doesn’t go nearly far enough in cleaning up this cesspool. (Washington Post 4/05)

Thinkstock

CDC data highlights COVID-19's toll on student mental health; 55% of kids claim to have experienced abuse from parents and guardians - Covidiots hate the CDC, but they are also eagerly pointing to this CDC study saying that COVID protocol had an adverse effect on kids. Obviously, and anyone half a brain knew going in that was going to be the case. Pretty certain yours truly said that would happen. So eager to say ‘told you so’ are they, but guess what? These are kids we are speaking of, and they’ll get over whatever ‘trauma’ they were put through because they couldn’t go to a school for awhile, and they had to wear masks, and eventually get vaccinated. Nearly one million Americans are dead now, but I shudder to think how much worse it could have been if these measures had not been undertaken. I seem to vaguely recall somebody somewhere estimating that upwards of five million would have died if measures were not enacted to stop the spread. You want to know where children actually are being abused? In Ukraine, where they are being raped, abducted, and killed by Russian soldiers. So excuse me if I don’t feel much sympathy for little American boys and girls acting out because those mean grown-ups made them wear a mask in public, and their stressed-out mothers and fathers might snap on them from time-to-time. A degree - and only to an acceptable degree, of course - of emotional and even physical pain is an inevitable and unavoidable part of growing up. The trauma I was put through as a kid, primarily by my peers, forever shaped my worldview and rather low opinion of people in general. What is being done to the kids of Ukraine is unforgivable, real abuse of the highest order. Spoiled American kids having to follow, along with everybody else, basic protocol in the midst of the deadly pandemic in over a century pales in comparison. This ought to provide some perspective for those who have spent the last two years shouting their mouths off to anyone who would listen about what a supposed grave violation of human rights these health and safety measures were. But it won’t, for the nationalist populists are only becoming more unhinged in their words and actions. No sympathy here for the spoiled little brats, or the far-right individuals and factions using them as a political talking point. (K-12 Dive 4/01)

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