US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan releases 1,800 pages of evidence in the election conspiracy case. Trump calls her ‘the most evil person’ for doing so and accuses her of election meddling

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Trump calls judge 'evil' for releasing case files before election. {BBC 18 October}

Donald Trump knows, as well as we do, that nothing has or will change anyone’s mind. His legions of supporters shall show up in sufficient numbers, even if he were to ‘shoot a man on Fifth Avenue’. No revelations, not even the long-rumoured ‘pee tape’ supposedly in Putin’s possession, are going to tear #Murica away from their beloved god-king. So why not just keep his mouth shut instead of spewing such foolish and self-harming words? (How wise is it to call a judge presiding over your case an ‘evil person’?) Impossible, I grant—shutting up would require the self-discipline he so utterly lacks. The endless wailing, whining, and casting of blame we have long witnessed have only bound him closer to that large swath of the American people comprising #Cult45, and emboldened his Christofascist allies and enablers. Thus, he shall not change his course—expect more name-calling and tantrums to follow.

Recent headlines: 

Trump, at 78 years old, is now cancelling interviews, citing exhaustion - So, when will the American people, the media, the GOP, and (especially) his own Democratic Party apologise to President Biden for throwing the most pathetic mass tantrum in US political history this past summer after the 81 year old President had a less than ideal debate performance? Yet Trump can be 'exhausted', and even many of his detractors are deluded into thinking he still has some vigour left. I know—no apology to President Biden will be coming from any of them. What absolute f**king hypocrites and liars polluting this country. {Politico 18 October}

President Biden arrives in Germany to meet with Scholz, Macron, and Sir Keir. {DW 17 October}

Homicides committed by minors soared by 65% between 2016 and 2022, even as overall juvenile crime declined - Is anyone (outside of #Cult45) shocked that this is happening against the backdrop of a Trump-poisoned country, where violence and ignorance are celebrated to a greater degree than at any point in US history? {USA Today 18 October}

The online reaction from fans to the apparent suicide of a former ‘boy band’ star—expressed through emojis and reaction gifs—reveals a younger generation that is ‘incapable of feeling anything other than snide detachment.’ {Ryan Coogan 17 October}

Rest in Peace, Mitzi Gaynor: the actress and dancer of ‘South Pacific’ fame departs at age 93. {The Guardian 17 October}

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Newton Minow, FCC chief during JFK’s administration, dies at age 97

AP

An advocate for quality television programming who famously called the medium ‘a vast wasteland’ in speech to broadcasters in 1961. The world could use a man like Newton Minow right about now. May he rest in peace. {AP 5/06}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.

One of only two remaining survivors of the USS Arizona battleship sunk during the Pearl Harbor attacks has died

Keystone/Getty Images

Ken Potts was 102 years-old. {AP 4/22}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.

Rest in Peace, Dr. Charles Stanley

Jeffrey B. Rogers

One of the only television preachers who was actually serious or had any legitimacy whatsoever. Saddened by this news. {FOX 5 Atlanta 4/18}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.

Another rotten week in #Murica and the world. Trump credits himself with Ukraine’s military success; President Biden gets things done, but to little to no credit; CBP officials now interrogating international travelers on whether they’ve had an abortion, more

Ukraine Emergency Service

Russian missiles strike the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, killing at least twenty-three and injuring many more - Deliberately targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure in an area with little-to-no militarily strategic value. The cruelty *is* the point, just as with our domestic Fascists in #Murica. It is vital that President Biden and other world leaders heed Zelenskyy’s call, and designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Слава Україні. (AP 7/14)

Nothing’s shocking anymore: Trump brags that Ukrainian forces are performing well because of weapons he falsely claims he authorized to be sold to Ukraine while he was president - Incredible nerve; he withheld congressionally-authorized military aid in an unsuccessful scheme to blackmail Zelenskyy for ‘dirt’ on Mr. Biden. For which, in January 2020, the GAO issued a report plainly stating that the then-president broke the law, and thus was the impetus for the first of two impeachment trials. Yet, people still believe Donald Trump’s horses**t. It is so insulting to our intelligence, but that is exactly what #Cult45 wants to do: Supporting this fool is their collective way of telling the other half of the country to go f**k ourselves, and it is very much an anti-intellectual, radically populist movement. Therefore, he must be stopped and the GOP cannot be allowed to control Congress and the presidency so long as they are domestic tyrants and international menaces. No Ukrainian-Americans or American supporters of Ukraine should involve themselves with the Republican Party right now; for it’d be akin to a Jew supporting the pro-Nazi ‘America First’ movements of the 1930s. (Political Tribune 7/13)

Fred R. Conrad/NYT

Trump’s first wife and the mother of his three-oldest demon spawn dies at 73 - Conspiracy theories suck and I do not like engaging in them, but it’s not hard to put two and two together here: She knew too much, and he is owned by the Russians. This is how Russians kill their sacrificial lambs. By ‘accident.’ Falling down stairs, out of windows, that sort of thing. Very basic, but very effective. (New York Times 7/14)

Susan Walsh/AP

Mexico agrees to contribute $1.5 billion for infrastructure improvement along the border with the U.S. - Interesting: Trump famously made a campaign promise that he would make Mexico pay for a border wall; of which only 450 miles of construction ever came to fruition, and that Mexico did not contribute to but was instead funded by raiding the Pentagon budget. President Biden and his counterpart, López Obrador, have actually just made a substantial investment that should do a lot more to strengthen national security than some stupid wall. Not that #Cult45 and its media organs - or even most of the general public - will acknowledge any of this. (ABC News 7/12)

Debbie Hill/pool/AFP

President Biden visits Israel, offers words of comfort to Holocaust survivors. (Times of Israel 7/13)

President Biden and interim Israeli PM Yair Lapid sign joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weapons - Another important achievement for this administration that will go completely unnoticed in #Murica. (Reuters 7/14)

Average U.S. gas prices fall for twenty-eight days in a row, though still well over $4.00 a gallon. (New York Times 7/13)

Australian woman trying to get to Canada via the U.S. is interrogated by CBP over minor visa violation, asked if she has had an abortion. (The Guardian 7/12)

HERE & THERE

Jury selection to begin Monday in the trial of Steve Bannon after judge rejects request to delay. (CBS News 7/14)

Trump invites Saudi-backed ‘LIV’ golf circuit to his New Jersey course, outraging 9/11 families. (New York Daily News 7/15)

Canada’s central bank raises interest rates by a full point to combat inflation. (AP 7/13)

New 988 mental health emergency hotline launches, and has great potential to revolutionize mental health treatment in America. And Lord knows we need it. (AP 7/15)

Rest in Peace, Kitten’s Joy: Legendary racehorse and leading sire dies at 21. (Bloodhorse 7/15)

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Guns now the leading cause of death for American children, and America is broken beyond repair, but at least we’re not Russia

Marco Bello/Reuters

CDC: Guns are now the leading cause of death for American children - Nothing will be done. The far-right makes up, approximately, 40% of the overall population, and upwards of 80% or more of the rural population. They are, by far, the largest percentage of gun owners, and their ranks include many police officers and military personnel. The Constitution is written in such a way that privileges small states and rural areas over cities. The Supreme Court is heavily biased in their favor. Most of the state legislatures are controlled by the GOP, and they are gerrymandering congressional maps anywhere and everywhere they can get away with doing so. They may not control academia, the entertainment industry, or pop culture in general (though they are working hard to change all of that), but politically and legally they have this country by the proverbial balls. January 6, 2021, was just a taste of what is to come, and the rank-and-file of #Cult45 are just waiting for the word to begin slaughtering the rest of us. I’ve been saying all along, dating back years, that America is a lost cause. Yet we still have to fight: After all, we will eventually have to give an account to God of whether we stood up to evil, or helped facilitate it. I am not anti-gun and would be opposed to just outlawing them altogether; but some basic measures to ensure to the greatest extent possible that only trained, qualified, and law-abiding individuals are allowed to possess them would not be an ‘infringement’ on the Second Amendment. No private citizen needs to own weapons of war, such as an AR-15. All rights come with responsibilities and limits, so do tell why gun ownership should be exempt? But, as I said, nothing is going to happen, except more bloodshed. America today is akin to places like Iran, much of the Middle East, Russia, etc., where ignorance and superstition is increasingly becoming enforced, and intellect and reason are gradually being suppressed. Go down fighting. (Axios 5/26)

Damon Winter/NYT

Michelle Goldberg: America may be broken beyond repair - Do ‘we simply stumble on, helpless as things keep getting worse?’ That has been the state of affairs for a couple of decades now, but simmering rage can only build up for so long before it explodes. It is very hard to see any scenario now where the country can heal these riffs and be held together. Therefore, the question becomes: Is this union worth persevering, or would it be for the best for the United States to be dissolved and a series of new, smaller states to emerge from its ashes? If it is the latter, there will be extreme disparities between the new states that emerge in terms of their economies, laws, standards of living, and so forth; and there will be bloody wars between some of these states from time-to-time. If one looks at the history of Europe over the centuries - and even within the last 100 years - borders are constantly changing, alliances come and go, and those processes always entail great conflict and bloodshed. So, just breaking America up does not guarantee there will no longer be strife between the peoples of this vast continent. But it would appear people in New England, or California, or in Chicago no longer want to be ruled over by people from the rural South and Midwest, and vice versa. Each side wants to impose their lifestyles and values (or lack thereof) upon the other, neither is in the least bit interested any longer in compromise and going along to get along. Something will have to give. (New York Times 5/27)

Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/WP

Russians face prospect of Soviet-style shortages as sanctions bite - Excerpt: ‘Stung by Western sanctions, Russia is starting to devolve into a secondhand economy dependent on poor substitutes, where shortages are stirring memories of the consumer wasteland that was the Soviet Union. While it may be able to find new purveyors for some Western-made goods and components in friendly countries such as China and India, Russia is increasingly determined to make its own — returning to policies of import substitution that yielded a vast, if globally uncompetitive, industrial complex before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Already, Moscow is facing serious challenges.’ (Washington Post 5/26)

Roger Dean

Fourteen warning signs that you are living in a society without a counterculture - Serious food for thought here. We are not living in a vibrant culture that rewards independent thought and creativity. I think that’s something we all should be ashamed of, and be working to fix. (Ted Gioia 5/28)

Rest in Peace, Alan White: Hall of Fame drummer of YES fame dies at 72 (AP 5/26)

This is beautiful. The Beach Boys serenade Alan White, sometime within the past few years. RIP to a great drummer and human being. 

Never really 'got' The Band, and I believe that holds true for most who came after that '60s generation. But, any musician who had a positive impact on peoples' lives as Ronnie Hawkins did deserves to be celebrated. (CBC News 5/29)

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Odds and ends: Russian soldier sentenced to life in prison in killing of unarmed Ukrainian civilian, Americans being replaced by zombie shells of their former selves, Early Voting wins the Preakness, and more

stock photo, via Crosswalk.com

Thought of the day: If only Americans weren't too busy engaging in culture wars and moral panics, and if this were still a serious nation instead of a glorified circus (#Murica), then Putin wouldn't feel so emboldened. Americans are completely failing the Ukrainian people. Exactly what kind of dystopian nightmare are we living in here? Not that there is a ‘good’ kind; all I know is, I want off. #StopPutin Слава Україні

Milwaukee Independent

Kevin McDermott: Yes, real America is being ‘replaced.’ By a radicalized political right - Quote: ‘How is it that people who have nothing but contempt for the principles that define the best of this country today have somehow managed to designate themselves as the arbiters of what it means to be American?’ (St. Louis Post-Dispatch 5/21)

Straight out of the 1930s: Trump speaks via satellite to CPAC conference in Hungary - Alongside #Cult45 stalwarts Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and a Hungarian journalist who smeared Jews as ‘stinking excrement,’ Roma peoples as ‘animals,’ and blacks with the infamous ‘n’ word. (Business Insider 5/22)

Mariupol on the verge of a health and sanitation ‘catastrophe’ - Seeing the destruction of Mariupol from afar has been among the more horrifying and disturbing events I can remember. I pray I never have to witness such horror in person. Please continue to pray for Ukraine. (Ukraine 24 5/22)

Young Russian soldier convicted of killing an unarmed citizen, sentenced to life in prison - The first of many such convictions to come, Lord willing. (Washington Post 5/23)

(VIDEO) An interesting look at the Russian city of Vorkuta, north of the Arctic Circle and, according to Wikipedia, ‘the easternmost town in Europe' - A longtime coal mining hub that has been losing population for decades. During the winter, they have two hours of daylight in a twenty-four hour period Yet, there is a surprising liveliness about the place, far removed from Moscow, or anywhere else on the planet.

Julio Cortez/AP

Here come the conspiracy theories: Early Voting wins the 147th running of the Preakness Stakes (AP 5/21)

Rest in Peace, Vangelis. Greek composer dies at age 79 - 'Chariots of Fire' will always be a resplendent piece of music. (Prog Magazine 5/19)

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Capitulating to COVID and getting shot down in the streets and in the aisles of supermarkets: Just another weekend in #Murica

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

I reject the populist notion that ‘the people’ - in very general terms and never including disfavored groups - are sacrosanct and ‘good’ just by virtue of existing. So what if you’ve worked hard in life, if you’re a Fascist a**hole, or otherwise deluded into a belief system I do not follow, then I do not want you governing me. Period. Truth be told, most people are not good people, as we can see from the sordid headlines below. Hard truth about life, but the most necessary one.

CNN

Eric Topol: The COVID capitulation: As the virus accelerates its evolution, humans retrogress - Excerpt: ‘The United States is now in the midst of a new wave related to Omicron variants BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 with over 90,000 confirmed new cases a day and a 20% increase in hospitalizations in the past 2 weeks. That belies the real toll of the current wave, since most people with symptoms are testing at home or not testing at all; there is essentially no testing for asymptomatic cases. The real number of cases is likely at least 500,000 per day, far greater than any of the US prior waves except Omicron. The bunk that cases are not important is preposterous. They are infections that beget more cases, they beget Long Covid, they beget sickness, hospitalizations and deaths. They are also the underpinning of new variants.’ (Ground Truths 5/15)

Matt Rourke/AP

Buffalo supermarket shooter was inspired by the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory, live streamed the shooting to followers on Twitch - I do not even have the words today for how sick this is. My condolences to the families and friends of all victims. (Washington Post 5/15)

President Biden condemns the racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket (NBC News 5/15)

One day later, another mass shooting as gunman opens fire at California church, killing one and injuring four others  (New York Times 5/15)

Wait, there’s more: Two dead, three wounded in shooting at Houston flea market (Fox 26 Houston 5/15)

Mass shooting in Milwaukee following basketball game leaves many injured, mayor imposes two-night curfew (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 5/15)

Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe/Getty Images/Pats Pulpit

On and off the field, one of the great New England Patriots of all-time. Rest in Peace, Gino Cappelletti (New York Times 5/13)

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Russia about to experience its worst oil crash in three decades, while their soldiers are killing themselves; Shanghai about to implode over COVID lockdown, and a scary climate change projection

stock photo/The Statesman

Russia estimates its oil output could fall as much as 17% - Quote: ‘If the full-year 2022 estimates come true, that would mark the lowest volume of output since 2003, when Russia pumped 421 million tonnes. It would also mark the worst crash in more than 30 years.’ (Yahoo! Finance 4/27)

[VIDEO] Why do Russians kill themselves and blame Ukraine? Another in a long line of Russian fails - The Russian military and its leaders are inept and are self-destructing. Praise God for that. (UATV 4/27)

Jin Liwang/Xinhua/AP

Shanghai COVID lockdown may soon come to an end, pending testing, while Beijing braces for its own lockdown - All those in #Murica still screaming about how their civil liberties were violated during the first phases of the pandemic, should remember that we were still allowed to leave our homes for essential needs. In China, authorities are just locking everyone in, and not allowing them out for any reason. Nor providing them with basic needs. (AP 4/28)

Sky News

Thousands of new virus transmissions from bats projected due to climate change - Scary stuff. Quote: ‘Scientists expect 15,000 transmissions of viruses between different species by 2070, mostly driven by bats moving to new areas in a hotter world.’ (Sky News 4/28)

Wikipedia

German composer, electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze dies at 74 - His 1976 album Moondawn is highly recommended. May Klaus Schulze rest in peace. (The Guardian 4/27)

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Macron wins French presidential election in an apparent landslide

Christophe Ena/AP

Emmanuel Macron easily reelected in France, turning back far-right populist Marine Le Pen - Approximately 58%. That is a decisive win, far larger than anyone seemed to expect. If forced to choose between these two, #Murica would probably have elected the Fascist bitch. Vive le France, at least somewhere in the world sanity still prevails. (AP 4/24)

Former Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch dies at 88 - The man was a fairly visible figure during his many years on Capitol Hill. The longest-serving Republican ever in the upper chamber. He had quirks, but was not a total nutjob like the sorry bunch up there now. Remember, it was Orrin Hatch’s retirement that led to Mitt Romney winning the seat. Thus becoming a major thorn in Trump’s side. (AP 4/24)

Getty Images

Rest in Peace, Guy Lafleur - Montreal Canadiens great dies at age 70. (TSN 4/22)

Miguel Cabrera makes history, becoming only the 33rd player in all of Major League Baseball history to reach 3,000 career hits, and only the seventh to reach that milestone with more than 500 home runs (ESPN 4/23)

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Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, the first Western leader to do so since Putin began the war of aggression against Ukraine. Also, nationalism runs amok and Anglophones are an endangered species in Quebec, and a young NFL player dies a strange death

AP

The ‘courage of a lion.’ Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, meets with President Zelenskyy and pledges ‘120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems’ to Ukraine - Tons of credit to British PM Johnson for stepping right into the middle of a war zone and sending a clear message to Putin. A great orator, and a friend to Ukraine. If only most of our ‘conservative’ party in the U.S. would show the same class and dignity, and not cast their lot with the enemy. (BBC News 4/09)

‘President Biden said on Friday that the United States would place a Patriot missile defense system in Slovakia after that country provided a Russian-made S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.’ (NPR 4/08)

Graham Hughes/Canadian Press

Nationalism runs amok in predominantly Francophone Quebec, Anglophone residents ‘angry like never before’ - Another reminder that, even in the most peaceful of lands, ethnically based populism and bigotry will always lead to oppression. Scapegoating unpopular minority groups and individuals is the exact point of nationalist populism, the quiet part (sometimes not so quiet) that its adherents inherently understand and are eager to carry out. Whether it is in Quebec, where Anglophones are being increasingly burdened with laws and regulations restricting their language and lifestyle; or among the majority of Russians who are propping up the world’s most evil tyrant as he slaughters their cousins in Ukraine; or with the vast hordes of nationalist populists in #Murica, particularly in the southern states that for centuries have been a bastion of hate, poverty, and despair (in spite of the best efforts of its best people to change this); or in any given tinpot dictatorship at any given time in history. Racial and ethnic populism will always lead to bloodshed, and it will come to that in Quebec if the Francophone political establishment continues to make life as hard as possible for the Anglophone minority. Indeed, these Francophones live in a mostly English-speaking country, and are bordered to the south by an English-speaking country. If anybody should have to ‘adapt,’ it is the Francophones, but the best solution for all parties, of course, has always been bilingualism. People, wherever they are in the world, should make efforts to learn a second or third language. (I am trying myself with German and, to a lesser extent, French, but I am also 44 and do not retain new information well. In my school days, I studied Spanish but simply did not take it seriously at that time.)  No matter, Quebec’s Francophones appear determined to eliminate any trace of the English language in their little enclave, and Quebec will be poorer for it. (André Pratte, National Post 4/09)

I care nothing about any left-wing organizations calling themselves 'Antifa,' but I am 100% and more against Fascism. Fascism is death. Cease and desist in this march toward eternal darkness, Republican Party and every single one of your supporters.

Pittsburgh Steelers, former Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins is killed by a dump truck while attempting to walk alongside a Florida highway - Condolences to the man’s family, friends, and fans. But what the hell was he doing walking on a highway? (ESPN 4/09)

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President Biden places fresh sanctions on Putin and associates, Zelenskyy challenges the UN to practice what they preach, COVID-19 rages on in one of the world’s very largest cities, and more

Felipe Dana/AP

Russian media campaign dismisses Bucha deaths as fakes - Stunning cruelty. To commit genocidal actions toward an entire population, and afterward to insist they were not at fault and the Ukrainians are staging the scenes of horror. More cruel still that so many around the world are so eager to buy Russia’s lies, to blame the victims, and to convince themselves that somehow Putin is on a crusade from on high. (AP 4/06)

AFP fact check: No, the discovery of bodies in Ukraine’s Bucha was not ‘staged’ with actors

Following the atrocities committed in Bucha and across Ukraine, President Biden announces new sanctions on Russian interests - Including against banks, Putin’s daughters, and even Sergei Lavrov’s family. (AP 4/06)

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Zelenskyy calls for the UN Security Commission to remove Russia, or else it should dissolve - Absurd that predators like Russia and China are making decisions about war and peace on the global stage. The whole arrangement has never made sense, and especially not now. President Zelenskyy, in his address to the Security Commission, demonstrated clearly that he is not only determined to win the war, but also to win the peace. (NPR 4/05)

Alexei Navalny thread concerning the Russian media’s complicity in the assault on Ukraine

Aly Song/Reuters

COVID lockdown extended indefinitely in Shanghai, a city of 26 million people - Basic services are not being met, food is running low, and panic is in the air. The world is going to be stuck in this vicious cycle with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future. (Reuters 4/06)

Rest in Peace, Bobby Rydell - Singer who achieved fame as a teenager in the 1950s and early 1960s dies at 79. (New York Times 4/05)

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After seeing his forces get their asses thoroughly kicked by Ukrainian fighters, Putin is now pivoting to a strategy of ‘liberating’ the Donbas region in the far east of Ukraine

Reuters

Make no mistake, this is a great victory for Ukraine, but Putin can never be taken on his word. By no means do I think he is done inflicting terror upon all of Ukraine and its people. He is buying time, knowing he has been seriously embarrassed on the world stage. Exposed as a ‘paper tiger.’ More to the point, however, the horrific damage has been done, and Putin is a war criminal who must be brought to justice. Entire generations of Ukrainians - those who are not dead - are scarred for life. An entire generation of Ukrainian children will never know innocence again. There is no going back for Vladimir Putin, and there is no forgiveness: He is defined forever as a murderer and a monster. Via the BBC -

Is the Russian military having to change its plans? Perhaps even reduce the scale of Moscow's ambitions in Ukraine?

It's probably too early to tell, but there's definitely a shift in emphasis.

A top Russian general - Sergey Rudskoy - says the "first stage" of what President Vladimir Putin calls Russia's "special military operation" has been mostly accomplished and that Russian forces will now concentrate on "the complete liberation of the Donbas".

This is likely to mean a more concerted effort to push beyond the "line of contact" that separates Ukrainian government-held territory in the east of the country from the Russian-backed separatist "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The pace of Russia's advance in other areas of Ukraine remains glacial. Its forces have been pushed back from positions around the capital, Kyiv, and are said to have started digging defensive positions to avoid losing more or prepare for some kind of pause.

It's probably way too early to conclude that Russia has given up on capturing Kyiv, but Western officials say that Russia continues to experience setback after setback.

On Friday, they said Russia had lost another general - the seventh - and that morale was at rock bottom in some units. (Read more)

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

As he visits Poland and meets with Ukrainian refugees, I am going to submit that - along with President Ronald Reagan - Joe Biden is showing us right now that he is one of our two greatest post-WWII leaders. Those who oppose him will never give ground or admit error – even if their very lives depended upon it - but no matter. The fate of the world is in the balance, and thus far humanity is surviving, and even thriving, against Mr. Putin’s aggression. As to you Republicans, your hero would have just handed Ukraine over to Putin on a silver platter. Would any of you Trump fans *really* feel good about that, knowing it means the destruction of the entire free world? Yes, that will mean all of us, don’t be a fool. Check yourselves! President Biden is delivering, nobody could possibly do more, so give him credit. (CBS News 3/26)

Putin cites author J.K. Rowling as an example of Western ‘cancel culture.’ - Harry Potter is the least of your worries right now, motherf**ker. Let there be no doubt where most of these nationalist populist talking points in America are coming from. (Sky News 3/25)

As for the Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson - I truly don't care about this nonsense. She appears to be qualified enough, the only job of the Senate is to confirm her. The GOP is going to undergo a reckoning sooner or later, they can't afford to fall on their swords over this. It is only the job for a Justice to interpret the law, not to validate anyone's ideology or work on the behalf of a political party. Vladimir Putin is seeking to kill us all, get serious, GOP. (New York Times 3/25)

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at 50 - Shocking. Not really much of a fan of this group, but no matter. The guy was well-loved and respected, may he rest in peace. (AP 3/26)

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The Fifth Column of America: Sedition gone more absurd than ever before, as nationalist populist media celebrities and GOP lawmakers come out in favor of Putin’s war of aggression on Ukraine

Dot Records/Matthew Ruffin/Getty Images via Loudwire

Oh, isn’t this cute? The former lead singer of a dreadful ‘nu metal’ band from twenty-some years back who has now gone ‘country’ (he’s from Massachusetts) says Vladimir Putin is fighting ‘for freedom’ from the ‘deep state.’ It’s the rest of us – anyone who doesn’t share their far-right, neo-Fascist worldview - who are the oppressors. Is this really the route the American far-right wants to go, claiming that Putin is a freedom fighter, as many Americans in the 1930s lined up behind Hitler? Well, yes, it is: They’re in a cult (#Cult45) and they’re gradually being brainwashed into wanting to kill anyone and everyone in ‘Murica who isn’t in favor of their nationalist populist, grievance-based, conspiracy-laden agenda. I read ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm’ way back in my teenage years, so I always knew Fascism could take hold anywhere, including America. I just never knew it would be quite this absurd. The lead singer of Staind, for crying out loud, to say nothing of Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Scott Baio, Kristie Alley, James Woods, Kanye West, and the gaggle of celebrity idiots goes on. And now we have members of Congress who fancy themselves entertainers of sort, such as Marjorie Traitor Greene. When this is all over, the rest of us are not going to forget who stood with the free world, and who the coalition of zealots, fools, and psychopaths were that stood for murder, oppression, and lies. Via Rolling Stone -

Vladimir Putin is ramping up his brutal assault on Ukraine, shelling civilians from Odessa to Kharkiv, and leveling the port city of Mariupol — leading President Joe Biden to denounce the Russian dictator as a “war criminal.” But if the initial days of the war were marked by some conservatives muting their admiration for the Russian state, a spate of notorious right-wing figures are now dropping the mask to defend Putin, and even claim his fight as their own.

Over the weekend, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, MAGA media maven Cassandra MacDonald (née Fairbanks), and former Staind rocker Aaron Lewis all spoke out to praise Putin, denounce Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky — or both. This week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the parade, blaming Ukraine for getting itself invaded, while insisting that the war is a lost cause and that Putin is “being very successful” in Ukraine. Then Lara Logan, the former “60 Minutes” correspondent who has her own show on the streaming service Fox Nation, trumped them all, touting Putin as a heroic global actor, declaring: “He’s the man who is standing between us and this New World Order.” (Read more)

Getty Images via BBC

One of the finest diplomats America has had over the past 50 years or so. Rest in Peace, Madeleine Albright (Reuters 3/23)

Visibly furious’ Russian TV pundit rages at actor and former California Gov. Schwarzenegger for speaking out against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The ad hominem-laden line of attack these Russian propagandists are using against Arnold Schwarzenegger is identical in style to how hosts on Fox News, Newsmax, and so forth go after their targets. Big shock, I know (The Wrap 3/22)

Twenty days in Mariupol, documented by the last two journalists to escape the city. An account that is unsettling to read, accompanied by very disturbing imagery. But a story that must be told and never forgotten

(AP 3/22)

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Rest in Peace, Medina Spirit

AP

New York Times – Medina Spirit, an embattled Kentucky Derby winner, dies during a workout 

Am deeply disturbed by this, to the point I can’t even find the words. The sport of horse racing is in a lot of trouble, that’s literally all I can say. 

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Pentecostal TV network founder Marcus Lamb – a staunch anti-vaxxer – dies from COVID-19 complications

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Sad, and sick, that these people have allowed dogma and ideology to overwhelm their common sense. - 

Marcus Lamb, the co-founder of the leading Christian TV network Daystar who railed against Covid-19 vaccines, has died of Covid-19. He was 64 years old. 

Lamb, who was the chief executive of the conservative network that reaches an estimated 2 billion viewers worldwide, died on Tuesday, weeks after contracting the coronavirus. 

“It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president and founder of Daystar Television Network, went home to be with the Lord this morning,” the network announced in a tweet on Tuesday. “The family asks that their privacy be respected as they grieve this difficult loss. Please continue to lift them up in prayer.” 

Under his leadership, Daystar aired repeated baseless anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and claims that vaccines were being used to take freedoms away from Christians. In July 2020, the network spent an hour of air time complaining about “censorship” around the pandemic and also gave an hour’s slot to Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has spread misinformation about the Covid vaccine. 

Covid vaccines have been repeatedly found to be safe and effective at preventing severe illness from the virus. Evangelical Christians have been getting the vaccines at lower rates than the general US population, however, and several prominent Christian broadcasters have died of the virus in recent months. (Read more)

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An American military icon: Colin Powell dies at age 84

AP

Rest in Peace, General Powell -  

Colin L. Powell, who in four decades of public life served as the nation’s top soldier, diplomat and national security adviser, and whose speech at the United Nations in 2003 helped pave the way for the United States to go to war in Iraq, died on Monday. He was 84. 

The cause was complications of Covid-19, his family said in a statement, adding that he had been vaccinated and was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., when he died there. 

A spokeswoman said his immune system had been compromised by multiple myeloma, for which he had been undergoing treatment. He had been due to receive a booster shot for his vaccine last week, she said, but had to postpone it when he fell ill. He had also been treated for early stages of Parkinson’s disease, she said. 

Mr. Powell was a pathbreaker, serving as the country’s first Black national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state. Beginning with his 35 years in the Army, Mr. Powell was emblematic of the ability of minorities to use the military as a ladder of opportunity. 

His was a classic American success story. Born in Harlem of Jamaican parents, he grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from City College of New York, joining the Army through the R.O.T.C. Starting as a young second lieutenant commissioned in the dawn of a newly desegregated Army, Mr. Powell served two decorated combat tours in Vietnam. He was later national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan at the end of the Cold War, helping to negotiate arms treaties and an era of cooperation with the Soviet president, Mikhail S. Gorbachev. 

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mr. Powell was the architect of the invasion of Panama in 1989 and of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, which ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait but left him in power in Iraq. Along with Dick Cheney, the defense secretary at the time, Mr. Powell reshaped the American Cold War military that had stood ready at the Iron Curtain for half a century. In doing so he stamped the Powell Doctrine on military operations: Identify clear political objectives, gain public support and use decisive and overwhelming force to defeat enemy forces. (Read more)

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A third nationalist populist talk radio host dies of COVID-19 in just one month, all three having been rabid anti-vaxxers

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/TNS

No need for debate, we are unarguably in the stupidest timeline. Naturally, this story comes from Florida. - 

A conservative Florida radio host who was dead-set against taking a coronavirus vaccine is now dead. 

Marc Bernier died Saturday of COVID-19 after a three-week battle, his bereft radio station announced. 

He was 65. 

“It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years,” WNDB radio’s News Daytona Beach announced Saturday. “We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief.” 

Bernier had been afflicted three weeks earlier after hosting radio talk shows in Daytona Beach for 30 years, and after dubbing himself “Mr. Anti-Vax.” He also said the U.S. government was “acting like Nazis” for insisting people get the shot. (Read more)

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Charlie Watts, 1941 - 2021

Hayoung Jeon/EPA, via Shutterstock

It’s a sad day. One of the world’s most iconic drummers has left us. Rest in peace, Charlie Watts. Have never thought to do so before, but perhaps I need to make a list of best Charlie Watts performances. ‘Honky Tonk Woman,’ ‘Mother’s Little Helper,’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ immediately come to mind. Without Charlie Watts and his backbeat – to say nothing of his quiet and reserved presence - the Rolling Stones may have become something, but not the all-time great icons they are. He will be missed.

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