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ABCNEWS:"... I revere this office but I love my country more It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president but in the defense of democracy which is at stake I think is more important than any title... I made my choice I made my views known I would like to thank our great vice president K Harris she's experienced she's tough she's capable she's been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country now the choice is up to you the American people when you make that choice..."
CNN:" Countdown to the debate: Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in the final stretch of the 2024 campaign, with the two gearing up for their first presidential debate on Tuesday. Campaign activities: The former president is holding a rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, while Harris continues debate preparations in Pittsburgh, where she met voters briefly at a local store today. Her running mate Tim Walz will speak tonight at an event in Washington, DC."

"Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Rep. Liz Cheney, calling the prominent Republicans’ backing a rebuke of the “attempts to kind of divide us as Americans.” “I’m honored to have their endorsement,” she told reporters during a visit to a spice shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “They both as leaders who are well-respected are making an important statement that it’s OK and if not important to put country above party,” she added."
CNN:" Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, she said during remarks at Duke University, according to audio obtained by CNN. The former Wyoming congresswoman noted the importance of voting for Harris in states like North Carolina, where she appeared on Wednesday...."
REUTERS:"WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - More than 90 company executives, including the chief executives of Yelp and Chobani as well as the former CEOs of PepsiCo, Ford Motor Co and Yahoo!, endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency in a letter released on Friday. Separately, more than 100 current and retired law enforcement officials also backed Harris in her contest against Republican former President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. They cited her experience as a prosecutor and her commitment to curb gun violence."
CNN:"Former Vice President Dick Cheney said that he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris over fellow Republican Donald Trump in the November election, warning that the former president “can never be trusted with power again.”"
CNN:" The Apalachee High School shooting suspect appeared in court for a brief hearing this morning. His father will appear in court in person soon. Colt Gray, 14, faces four counts of felony murder, according to charging documents, and is expected to be tried as an adult following the Wednesday shooting that left four people dead in Winder, Georgia. His father, Colin Gray, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. The arrest warrant affidavit alleges he provided his son with a firearm “with knowledge he was a threat to himself and others.”..."
AP:"MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) — With just days to go before his first — and likely only — debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny. “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote, again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare. “Please beware,” he went on, “that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.” Trump’s message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term. There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election; in fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly..."COMMENT: TRUMP FALSELY DISPARAGES THE EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS OF OUR DEMOCRACY. HE IS A CONVICTED FRAUD WHO HAS INCITED VIOLENCE AND CONTINUES TO THREATEN VIOLENCE AGAINST THE REPUBLIC. "THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT SHIELD FRAUD". ILLINOIS EX REL MADICAN V TELEMARKETING ASSOCIATES 538 US 600,612 (2003). THE INCENDIARY VITRIOL OF BOTH TRUMP AND VANCE CONSTITUTE A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THE REPUBLIC. BRANDENBURG V OHIO 395 US 444(1969)
CNN:" Donald Trump lashed out at E. Jean Carroll and several other women who have accused him of sexual assault following a hearing in New York where the former president’s attorneys tried to convince a federal appeals court that he should get a new trial after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed the onetime columnist. .. Flanked by his attorneys and addressing reporters at Trump Tower, the former president attacked Carroll and again claimed he “never met her,” “never touched her,” and that her claim was “fabricated.” Trump also took aim at two women who were witnesses in the trial — Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of groping her on an airplane in the 1970s, and Natasha Stoynoff, who claimed she was physically attacked by Trump while on assignment for People Magazine at his Mar-a-Lago property in December 2005."
CNN:" Donald Trump is trying to crush Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ persona as a force of change and to destroy her personal credibility as a potential president as their still-fresh competition careens into the final nine weeks before Election Day. In recent days, the ex-president has unveiled a broad assault using the insult-driven politics with which he won power in 2016, even as his advisers have been pleading with him to focus his attention on top voter concerns including high prices and immigration. He is seizing on foreign tragedies to accuse the vice president of responsibility for the deaths of US troops in Afghanistan and claiming she’s complicit in killings of hostages in Gaza. .."
CNN:"...Trump’s lying is most exceptional in its relentlessness, a never-ending avalanche of wrongness that can bury even the most devoted fact-checkers. But it’s also notable for its repetitiveness. He has found his hits, and he’ll keep playing them no matter how many times they are debunked...As Trump enters the post-Labor Day sprint of his 2024 campaign for the presidency, his commentary is filled with many of the same false claims he made as president from 2017 to 2021. He’s even repeating some of the false claims he used during his 2016 presidential campaign..." "THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM" JOHN 8:44 NKJV
YOUTUBE/CNN:"Former President Donald Trump, in an interview aired Sunday, said he had “every right to” interfere with a presidential election, as he faces an updated indictment in the federal election interference case against him."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Are we in La La Land? If I didn’t know better, I might conclude that the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, was merely the act of exuberant “patriots” voicing their displeasure with Joe Biden’s victory — and that Donald Trump had nothing to do with it. What else to think, based on the media’s treatment of the twice-impeached former president and felon and his campaign to return to the White House? Trump is being covered by the press as if Jan. 6 were old news.Here we are, back to horse-race journalism and breathless pursuit of polls and other campaign nuggets designed to keep audiences glued to our websites, networks and newspapers — with little attention paid to the character, records of service and moral fitness of candidates who seek the highest offices in the land. To wit: Republicans Trump and JD Vance, and Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."
AP:" Inside Washington’s federal courthouse, there’s no denying the reality of Jan. 6, 2021. Day after day, judges and jurors silently absorb the chilling sights and sounds from television screens of rioters beating police, shattering windows and hunting for lawmakers as democracy lay under siege. But as he seeks to reclaim the White House, Donald Trump continues to portray the defendants as patriots worthy of admiration, an assertion that has been undercut by the adjudicated truth in hundreds of criminal cases where judges and juries have reached the opposite conclusion about what history will remember as one of America’s darkest days..."
USA-TODAY:"WASHINGTON — More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in an open letter Monday obtained exclusively by USA TODAY. The letter from alums of the three Republican presidential nominees prior to former President Donald Trump comes on the heels of a Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago that showcased Republican detractors of the GOP nominee. At least five former aides to former President George H.W. Bush also signed the letter, which has 238 signatures in all."
YAHOO/FINANCE:"A top business world critique of Kamala Harris since becoming the Democratic nominee is her endorsement of plans from the Biden administration that would reshape how the assets of America's richest citizens are taxed. But these plans — which include the taxation of unrealized capital gains on holdings not yet sold — would face an uphill fight on Capitol Hill even if Harris wins big. Many of the critiques also vastly overstate how far-reaching they would be."
CNN:
" Eight years of insults, incitement and affronts to the rule of law have proved that Donald Trump won’t be tamed. Yet some of his supporters are still pleading for the criminally convicted and twice-impeached ex-president to rein in his wildest impulses or risk losing the 2024 election...."
Stephanie Grisham used her remarks to condemn Trump’s behind closed doors statements, telling the audience that he mocks his supporters in private and has called them “basement dwellers. “He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth He used to tell me, it doesn't matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough and people will believe you." COMMENT: TRUMP'S STATEMENT TO HER IS A PART OF "THE BIG LIE", THE NAZI PROPAGANDA THAT LED TO THE HOLOCAUST: WIKIPEDIA: THE BIG LIE TRUMP'S ACCUSATIONS THAT DEMOCRATS ARE A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY (WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE WHAT SO EVER) AND SIMILAR FALSE STATEMENTS ARE A PART OF NAZI PROPAGANDA AS WELL WIKIPEDIA: ACCUSATION IN A MIRRORTHESE ARE TECHNIQUES THAT TRUMP, VANCE, AND THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN ARE CURRENTLY USING
NAT'L WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST-9-8-24
CNN:" A “worldwide catastrophe” is imperiling Pacific Islands and the world must respond to the unprecedented and devastating impacts of rising seas “before it is too late,” the United Nations chief has warned. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a global SOS – “Save Our Seas” – from the Pacific Island nation of Tonga on Tuesday with a plea to the world to “massively increase finance and support for vulnerable countries” in grave danger of the human-caused climate crisis."
FORBES:"...Scientists have repeatedly warned rising global temperatures could bring “catastrophic” consequences if no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting in 2022 that, by 2030, those emissions will rise over 10% above 2010 levels. Increased emissions could drastically reduce the chances of meeting a monumental goal laid out at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, scientists said. By 2033, U.N. scientists have warned the world could pass that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold, likely triggering more intense droughts, flooding and water security issues, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change..."
CNN:"Some Southern California residents were forced from their homes Saturday after an explosive wildfire grew by more than 3,000 acres in mere hours – and is burning so intensely that it is creating its own weather..."
CNN:" On some parts of an overheating Earth, the old complaint that “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” gets truer by the year. But in the hottest big city in the US, where sunbaked concrete sprawls across bone-dry desert, Phoenix is setting records in both high temperatures and body count — and learning the hard way that it’s not just the heat, it’s the vulnerability."COMMENT: AP: TRUMP WANTS TO "DRILL DRILL DRILL!"
WASHINGTONPOST:"After Donald Trump asked the oil industry to contribute $1 billion to his presidential campaign in April, oil baron Harold Hamm immediately started working the phones. Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets, according to people with knowledge of the outreach who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions..."
On July 3 2024 The State of Missouri sought leave to file a Bill of Complaint to stay New York's gag order and impending sentence against Trump "...during the 2024 Presidential election season so Missourians can participate in the election free from New York's exercise of coercive power limiting the ability of Trump to campaign"MISSOURI MOTION Florida, Iowa, Alaska and Montana filed an Amici Curiae Brief in support of Missouri's motion. New York filed its brief in opposition stating Missouri's putative suit does not present an actual dispute between sovereign states as required under 28 USC 1251(a), former President Trump is litigating the First Amendment issues in New York appellate courts and Missouri's complaint is barred by Younger v Harris 401 US 37 and the Anti-Injunction Act 28 USC 2283.New York brief in opposition The US Supreme Court stated "Missouri’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied, and its motion for preliminary relief or a stay is dismissed as moot. Justice Thomas and Justice Alito would grant the motion for leave to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief."
CNN:" A group of Republican state attorneys general are suing the Biden administration over a federal effort to expand access to voter registration. The lawsuit targets an executive order issued by President Joe Biden in March 2021 that directed the heads of all federal agencies to submit proposals for their respective agencies to promote voter registration and participation through various points of contact with the public. The president issued the order as GOP-led statehouses were pushing voter suppression legislation in the aftermath of the 2020 election..."
Judge Cannon dismissed the indictment against Donald Trump et al on July 15, 2024. Special Counsel for the United States, Jack Smith filed a timely notice of appeal on July 17, 2024 and filed his brief for the United States on August 26, 2024. The Introduction states "Congress has bestowed on the Attorney General, like the heads of many Executive Departments, broad authority to structure the agency he leads to carry out the responsibilities imposed on him by law. Two statutes provide the Attorney General the specific authority to appoint special counsels to carry out his law-enforcement missions. 28 U.S.C. §§ 515(b), 533(1). Two other statutes confer on the Attorney General the necessary overarching authority to staff, structure, and direct the operations of the Justice Department, which includes the power to appoint inferior officers and assign specific matters to attorneys such as the Special Counsel. 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510. Precedent and history confirm those authorities, as do the long tradition of special-counsel appointments by Attorneys General and Congress’s endorsement of that practice through appropriations and other legislation. The district court’s contrary view conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions, including by the Supreme Court, that the Attorney General has such authority, and it is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government. This Court should reverse."READ THE BRIEF
CNN: In response to an FBI threat assessment of possible retaliatory attacks against Democrats CNN interviewed Joe Moore a former Army sniper and undercover operative who infiltrated the KKK. Moore stated that nationally the KKK was decimated but many joined like minded alt right groups. They use the First Amendment to cover their real intent which is to take over the government by force.
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump said that he feels like he is “entitled” to make personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris. “I’m very angry at her that she’d weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her,” Trump said at a news conference in New Jersey on Thursday. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.”...COMMENT: THERE IS NO WEAPONIZATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. THIS IS THE JUSTICE SYSTEM DOING ITS JOB.
WASHINGTONPOST: "...On Wednesday, the Justice Department published an indictment targeting two employees of RT, the media entity controlled by the Russian government that was formerly known as Russia Today. With RT banned after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, those employees allegedly funneled $10 million to a U.S.-based media company to have a platform for content they wanted to share. The spending included contracts with well-known social media personalities who created videos for the company that expanded its general audience. Federal prosecutors also revealed on Thursday that they had seized a number of internet domains that were part of an effort to “covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections,” according to the Justice Department. That announcement documented several proposed prongs of an ongoing influence effort, including one focused on social media content. Unsurprisingly, both efforts aligned with America’s political right. The company appears to have been Tenet Media, which published videos from popular right-wing commentators... " COMMENT: RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE HAS NEVER BEEN A "HOAX"
NYTIMES:Trump, Vance and the Trump campaign continue to push the pernicious lies that Democrats are bringing in migrants to vote for Democrats (non-citizens cannot vote in national elections and there are criminal penalties for doing so) and the 2020 election was "rigged" (Trump lost fair and square and there is no evidence of fraud sufficient to overturn the 2020 election)."That hasn’t stopped Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance from emphasizing the claim in media appearances and campaign events, fueling a conspiracy theory that is central to Mr. Trump’s lie that the last election was stolen from him. They use it to pummel the Biden administration’s border policies and cast Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as a failed “border czar,” misconstruing the role she played. Mr. Vance has made the conspiracy claim a staple of his stump speech, and in interviews has gone so far as to suggest that Democrats believe they can altogether “replace” native-born Americans, language that has been used by perpetrators of several mass shootings..."COMMENT: "THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT SHIELD FRAUD". ILLINOIS EX REL MADICAN V TELEMARKETING ASSOCIATES 538 US 600,612 (2003). THE INCENDIARY VITRIOL OF BOTH TRUMP AND VANCE CONSTITUTE A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THE REPUBLIC. BRANDENBURG V OHIO 395 US 444(1969)
HUFFPOST:"On Tuesday, an official social media account of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign posted a racist meme implying that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency in November, nice suburban neighborhoods will be overrun with hordes of Black people and immigrants. “Import the third world. Become the third world,” read the post on X, the former Twitter..."MORE RACIST FASCIST FEAR MONGERING PROPAGANDA FROM THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
CNN: Russell Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025 and a former Trump cabinet member, was recorded on a hidden camera talking to what he believed to be relatives of a wealthy conservative donor about a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term."THESE ARE NOT CHRISTIANS. THEY ARE OUTRIGHT FASCISTS.MATTHEW 25:31-46
CNN:" Donald Trump showed up in battleground North Carolina for a big speech on the economy – and one of his unhinged rallies broke out. But amid the insults, trash talk, rage and lies, the former president blundered into the thing he’d been seeking for days: a strategy to take on Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president took the stage Wednesday with Republican commentators pining for signs that he’d stabilized after more than three weeks of fury and disorientation after President Joe Biden pulled out of the 2024 race."
CNN:" Kamala Harris is officially the Democratic presidential nominee, but Donald Trump is continuing to describe the vice president’s elevation to the top of her party’s ticket as “unconstitutional” and accusing her of taking part in a “coup.” No serious effort to challenge Harris’ status as the Democratic nominee is underway. But some of Trump’s critics warn that the former president could be laying the groundwork to question the outcome of the 2024 election if he loses a second time..."
CNN:"The MAGA misinformation-industrial complex has gathered steam since 2020. Here’s how-Analysis by Donie O'Sullivan, CNN...The conspiracy theories didn’t go away. They’ve proliferated thanks to a sophisticated, relentless campaign. A surge of alternative social media sites, so-called “free speech” platforms like Trump’s Truth Social and the video streaming platform Rumble have cropped up. There’s also been an explosion of online MAGA influencers and video streamers, some with millions of followers. All of them are pushing the same conspiracy theory: The 2020 election was stolen, and the only way Trump can lose in 2024 is if it is stolen again. This is false, of course. Not least since polls show Trump and Harris neck-and-neck. In the middle of this growing MAGA misinformation-industrial complex: an affable pillow salesman..."
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump keeps displaying a chart that includes a significant lie. And he keeps citing that deceptive chart to deliver his own lie about immigration trends in his last year in office..."WASHINGTON-POST: At a campaign stop at the border Trump pointed with praise to what he called the "Rolls Royce of Walls" claiming he built it when in truth, Barack Obama built it. The 450 miles of wall that Trump built was "one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in history" and is unfinished. Biden's strict asylum and immigration policies have curbed illegal immigration "to the lowest levels in almost four years."
REUTERS:"July 27 (Reuters) - Republican nominee Donald Trump has called her "crazy," "nuts" and "dumb as a rock." Republicans in Congress disparage her as a diversity hire. Right-wing activists and trolls have smeared her online with racist, sexist and sexualized barbs. The attacks on Kamala Harris, the first woman and first Black and South Asian person to serve as U.S. vice president, have intensified in the days since she consolidated support to become Democrats' likely presidential nominee. The demeaning racist and sexist attacks threaten to distract from the Republican Party's concerted effort to focus on Harris' policies. Trump allies, including some members of the "Black Americans for Trump" coalition, warn that disparaging Harris could hurt him in his outreach to Black voters, a crucial demographic in the Nov. 5 presidential election..."
FORBES:"Harris's profile as you know 1:43 the first 1:45 African-American woman who could be the 1:47 president that could make it appealing 1:49 to a lot of 1:50 Voters I always just said put the best 1:53 player in I mean we've got a Dei hire in 1:55 here and Biden said first off he said 1:58 he's going to hire a a black female for 2:01 vice president and that not he just 2:04 skipped over what about what about white 2:06 females what about any other group it 2:09 just when you go down that route you you 2:12 um you take mediocrity and that's what 2:14 they have right now as a vice president 2:16 so are you suggesting she's she was a 2:17 Dei hire 100% she was a Dei hire he said 2:21"COMMENT: TYPICAL RACIST WHITE SUPREMACIST SLUR
AP:"WASHINGTON (AP) — “Mass Deportation Now!” declared the signs at the Republican National Convention, giving a full embrace to Donald Trump’s pledge to expel millions of migrants in the largest deportation program in American history. Some Republicans aren’t quite ready for that. Lauren B. Peña, a Republican activist from Texas, said that hearing Trump’s calls for mass deportations, as well as terms like “illegals” and “invasion” thrown around at the convention, made her feel uncomfortable. Like some Republicans in Congress who have advanced balanced approaches to immigration, she hopes Trump is just blustering..."COMMENT: NOT VERY CHRISTIAN IS IT:"41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’"MATTHEW 25:41-43 NKJV
MSN/NEWSWEEK: "Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has announced that he is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency. Duncan, a lifelong Republican who had previously said he would be voting for President Joe Biden over Donald Trump in November, confirmed his support for the new presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee on social media and in an interview the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Politically Georgia podcast.The endorsement from the GOP figure will be seen as another boost for Harris' election hopes. Georgia is one of the key swing states where Harris will be hoping to defeat the former president in November. "I'm committed to beating Donald Trump. The only vehicle left for me to do that with is the Democratic Party. If that requires me to vote for, speak for, or endorse Kamala Harris then count me in," Duncan posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday...."
NYTIMES:"The Republican Party and its conservative allies are engaged in an unprecedented legal campaign targeting the American voting system. Their wide-ranging and methodical effort is laying the groundwork to contest an election that they argue, falsely, is already being rigged against former President Donald J. Trump...."
NYTIMES:" Timothy Mellon, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, donated $50 million to a super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump the day after the former president was convicted of 34 felonies, according to new federal filings, an enormous gift that is among the largest single disclosed contributions ever..."Billionaires are shaping the election for both parties, but the ultra wealthy give Trump the edge. See OPENSECRETS.ORG So much for the argument that Biden and the Democrats represent the elites.
MSNBC:"The cycle of lies that drove the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is again underway. Five months before the 2024 election, claims that only fraud could explain a future Donald Trump defeat are already commonplace in the right-wing media ecosystem. Fox News stars and Trumpist influencers are priming their audiences to listen if Trump once again claims an election was “rigged” against him — and to come to his aid. .."
MSNBC:"...During his appearance at an event put on by right-wing activist group Turning Point Action, Trump said that he has told the host group’s founder, Charlie Kirk, and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley that the No. 1 priority is to “guard the vote.”... No one has cast a single ballot in this year’s election, so the idea that Trump and his campaign “don’t need votes” — based in part on the number of yard signs he has seen or his baseless claim that HBCU presidents love him — illustrates that this is not some brilliant political tactician we’re talking about. This is a man grooming his followers to reject the election results if they don’t fall in his favor. And that just underscores how big a threat Trump poses to democracy as we know i t."(emphasis added)
COMMENT:A LONG RUNNING CONSPIRACY TO EFFECTUATE A COUP AND KILL DEMOCRACY
WASHINGTONPOST:"...Trump has stated plainly that the only way he can lose this fall is if Democrats cheat. His campaign and the Republican National Committee are spending historic sums building “election integrity” operations in key battleground states, preparing to challenge results in court, and recruiting large armies of grass-roots supporters to monitor voting locations and counting facilities and to serve as poll workers.Certification of local results is a key target in this effort, a once-mundane administrative step that has become a flash point in the debate over election security — and a potential opportunity to subvert the will of voters...."
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CNN/YOUTUBE:"Our panel is back. Stephen Collinson, you write. this morning, I, under the headline Trump Conviction heralds a somber and volatile moment in American history that the danger is acute because with his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, Trump has already shown he'll do what it takes to save himself, even if his actions catastrophically hurt democratic institutions..."
REUTERS:"May 31 - Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution. After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president's own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection...."
YAHOO/HUFFPOST:
"Thursday was a hard day for Donald Trump after a jury in New York City found him guilty of falsifying business documents to cover up an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. It was no surprise that Trump called the trial “rigged” after leaving the courtroom, and said that the “real verdict” will emerge this November, referencing Election Day. Meanwhile, it seems like the jury’s decision caused many prominent members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement to have a mega-meltdown, including the 2024 presidential candidate’s own son Donald Trump Jr., who wrote that Democrats “have succeeded in their years long attempt to turn America into a third-world shithole.”
COMMENT: THIS FROM THE SON OF THE SHIT SHOW MASTER WHO WITH HIS MINIONS CONSTANTLY SPEW LIES AND PROPAGANDA. THE MILLIONS WHO HAVE BEEN CONNED AND HAVE GIVEN MONEY AND ARE DOING TIME AS WELL SHOULD SUE TRUMP AND HIS MINIONS. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SLANDERED, DEFAMED. AND INJURED SHOULD ALSO SUE THESE SERIAL LIARS AND WHINING MALCONTENTS FOR EVERYTHING THEY HAVE. THEIR LIES AND PROPAGANDA ARE NOT PROTECTED SPEECH. US V ALVAREZ
NYTIMES:"This story is told in three parts. The first documents the unequal system of justice that grew around Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. The second shows how extremists targeted not only Palestinians but also Israeli officials trying to make peace. The third explores how this movement gained control of the state itself. Taken together, they tell the story of how a radical ideology moved from the fringes to the heart of Israeli political power...."
INSTAGRAM:"sjp.columbia 1d A message from the children of Gaza to the national student movement 🥺💗 Please remember what we are fighting for and remember that the resilient people of Gaza want us to keep protesting and keep disrupting."COMMENT: ISRAEL AND HAMAS AND OTHER MILITANT FACTIONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTINUING BLOOD LETTING AND IT HAS TO STOP. HAMAS STATED IT WOULD DISARM IF A PALESTINIAN STATE WAS ESTABLISHED. THE RACIST FASCIST JEWISH RIGHT WANT TO KICK THE PALESTINIANS OUT AND NEITHER ISRAELIS NOR PALESTINIANS TRUST EACH OTHER. THE CONTINUING VIOLENCE IS NOT HELPING ANYONE EXCEPT THOSE WHO FEED OFF IT
CNN:" A federal judge on Wednesday blasted a convicted January 6 rioter for downplaying the US Capitol attack and using the kind of revisionist rhetoric that former President Donald Trump often uses on the campaign trial. “This cannot become normal… We cannot condone the normalization of the January 6 US Capitol riot,” US District Judge Royce Lamberth said while sentencing Taylor James Johnatakis to more than seven years in prison.The judge warned of a “vicious cycle … that could imperil our institutions” if Americans, upset with future election results, resort to the “vigilantism, lawlessness and anarchy” that occurred on January 6, 2021...“There can be no room in our country for this sort of political violence,” Lamberth said. Johnatakis briefly spoke during the hearing, only to say “I repent for my sins,” and to ask several questions common among so-called Sovereign Citizen conspiracy theorists who don’t recognize the authority of the federal government. Lamberth, a senior judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, dismissed these inquiries as “gobbledygook...”
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If anyone remembers what happened on the day of this picture:
NPR..."The plaza between St. John's Church and Lafayette Park was full of people nonviolently protesting police brutality late Monday afternoon when U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops, with the use of tear gas, suddenly started pushing them away for no apparent reason.And then it became clear. ..."
Lest we forget, Donald J Trump serial liar and demagogue is responsible for interfering with the January 2020 election by conspiring to put forth fake electors, intimidating State officials and finally inciting the January 6 insurrection.
His constant lies constitute a continuing insurrection and coup to establish a dictatorship.
CNN:" Take them seriously as well as literally. There is no precedent for two dozen former White House officials coming out so strongly against the fundamental fitness of the man they served with on a day-to-day basis...... Republican voters should keep in mind the words of the one-time conservative hero (and liberal villain) former Vice President Dick Cheney: “There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”"
CNN:"With their faces concealed behind white cloths and sunglasses, dozens of protesters marched down the streets of downtown Nashville this weekend, chanting “Sieg Heil” and “Deportation saves the nation,” according to a statement from the Tennessee Democratic Party. “Reclaim America,” one banner at the front of the group read. Behind it, uniformed marchers in dark shirts and khaki-colored pants hoisted a plethora of Confederate and historic US flags, with some of the American flags turned upside down...."
CNN:"...After Tuesday’s hearing, Trump appeared to threaten more unrest if he loses. “It’ll be bedlam in the country,” he warned. And when a reporter asked him if he would tell his supporters to refrain from violence, he ignored the question, ambling out of the room and passing up an opportunity...And as the election draws nearer and his legal troubles loom ever larger, Trump is refusing to condemn political violence — part of an apparent strategy to return to the White House instead of landing in prison..."
ABCNEWS:"According to what sources said Scavino told Smith's team, Trump was "very angry" that day -- not angry at what his supporters were doing to a pillar of American democracy, but steaming that the election was allegedly stolen from him and his supporters, who were "angry on his behalf." Scavino described it all as "very unsettling," sources said. ....”
COMMENT: TRUMP INCITES THE INSURRECTION PRECEEDED BY A MULTI-STATE CONSPIRACY TO INTIMIDATE STATE OFFICIALS AND INSTALL FAKE ELECTORS. HE CONTINUES HIS INSURRECTION WITH LIES ATTACKING THE INTEGRITY OF OUR DEMOCRACY STOKING VIOLENCE WITH HIS VITRIOL
ABCNEWS:"...On Saturday, on the third anniversary Jan. 6, Trump is spending the day in Iowa, delivering his closing message before the Jan. 15 GOP caucuses, continuing to use the events of Jan. 6 as a rallying cry. ..On the campaign trail, Trump has downplayed the violence that ensued that day and has called those charged and convicted in attack "hostages." Trump's claims of widespread election fraud have been rejected in at least 60 court cases, according to PolitiFact... "COMMENT: TRUMP EVER THE SERIAL LYING DEMAGOGUE PANDERS TO THE WHINING GRIEVANCE CROWD AND ALSO THE WHITE SUPREMACIST NEO-NAZI ELEMENTS TO CONTINUE HIS PLAN TO RE-TAKE THE PRESIDENCY. ALL OF AMERICA IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY HIS SHIT SHOW NEO NAZI WHITE SUPREMACIST NARRATIVE
THE-HILL:"The home of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was swatted on Friday, making her the latest victim in a string of such incidents. Bellows said she’s become the victim of a series of threats in the wake of her decision to remove former President Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment on Friday...”COMMENT: WHEREVER TRUMP GOES VIOLENCE FOLLOWS
MSNBC:"Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold joins Ali Velshi to discuss her reaction to the the state’s Supreme Court deeming Trump ineligible to run for higher office after finding Trump engaged in insurrection and the death threats she and other judges have received in the aftermath of the ruling. “It’s one of the reasons Trump is so dangerous to this country. In this country, people win and lose court cases and elections [but] we have to agree the systems have the outcomes that are correct,” Griswold says. “The use of violence to try and intimidate us is unacceptable in a democracy.”.."COMMENT: TRUMP'S ENTIRE CAMPAIGN IS AN ONGOING INSURRECTION: HE CONSTANTLY ATTACKS THE INTEGRITY OF THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM WITH HIS LIES AND PROPAGANDA AND INCITES VIOLENCE EVERYWHERE HE GOES JUST LIKE HITLER DID IN NAZI GERMANY
MSN/CNN:"‘Frankly stunned’: Jake Tapper reacts to Trump invoking Putin at campaign rally Former President Donald Trump echoed comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a campaign rally attack on President Joe Biden..."PUTIN'S POODLE QUOTES HIS BOSS STALIN HITLER (SHITLER), THE POODLE'S AUTHORITY ON DEMOCRACY
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump on Saturday quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack President Joe Biden as a “threat to democracy” and doubled down on language condemned for its ties to White supremacist rhetoric, saying at a campaign event in New Hampshire that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”..." PUTIN'S POODLE IS A NEO-NAZI
MSNBC:"The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg joins Morning Joe to discuss the magazine's latest issue, which features 24 essays about the dangers of a second Trump term. "' A lot of writers who have covered Trump and Trumpism over the years and the consensus was that a second administration would be worse. Trump has told you in his various speeches to his followers what he is going to do. This is not partisan this is about Trump's predisposition to autocracy. He's stated he is going to terminate the Constitution, arrest political opponents, assassinate generals, that weren't loyal to him, controlling the FCC to say who could broadcast and who could not and trying the leaders of comcast for treason, and shutting them down. We have learned over the years to take Trump at his word and some of his followers will do what he says. He told some of his followers to go into deep blue states and watch the polls to protect the vote which sounds alot like voter intimidation.'
CNN:" Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a speech Sunday in Texas near the US-Mexico border as he escalates his anti-immigrant rhetoric and campaigns on hard-line immigration policy proposals... He has said that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” in comments that echoed White supremacist rhetoric and has compared migrants who come to the US to the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter..."WHAT NEXT? CONCENTRATION CAMPS? GAS CHAMBERS?
WASHINGTONPOST:"Former president Donald Trump denigrated his domestic opponents and critics during a Veterans Day speech Saturday, calling those on the other side of the aisle “vermin” and suggesting that they posed a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. That language is drawing rebuke from historians, who compared it to that of authoritarian leaders....”COMMENT: Putin's poodle fauns over communist marxist and fascist dictators. The evidence shows that he and his co-conspirators tried to overturn a valid legal election and he continues to lie that the election was stolen. He knew he lost the election but as Hitler said if you say a lie long enough people will believe it. Trump the wannabe dictator is using Hitler's playbook.
CNN:" In her new book “Enough,” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson paints the closing days of the Trump White House as even more chaotic and lawless than she previously disclosed in her shocking televised testimony last summer. Meadows emerges in the book as not only duplicitous but as a fall guy for folks who don’t want to admit that Trump had lost grip with reality...."
CNN:"Donald Trump is conjuring his most foreboding vision yet of a possible second term, telling supporters in language resonant of the run-up to the January 6 mob attack on the US Capitol that they need to “fight like hell” or they will lose their country.TRUMP INCITING VIOLENCE AND INSURRECTION AGAIN
CNN:"For about 50 years, the scientific community has been grappling with a substantial problem: There isn’t enough visible matter in the universe. All the matter we can see — stars, planets, cosmic dust and everything in between — can’t account for why the universe behaves as it does, and there must be five times as much of it around for researchers’ observations to make sense, according to NASA. Scientists call that dark matter, because it does not interact with light and is invisible..."
ABCNEWS:"One of nature's most awe-inspiring creatures, the rare and giant blue whale, was seen off the coast of Massachusetts in a rare back-to-back sighting. Cape Ann Whale Watch, a touring group based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, took to Facebook on Monday to share footage of one of two blue whale sightings that day. "We got to see this 'largest animal on our planet' on both of our trips today," the group wrote alongside footage of the blue whale spouting water and breaching to the surface..."
CNN:"For Māori conservationist Mere Takoko, “losing one whale is like losing an ancestor.” The animals “taught our people about navigation across the Pacific, particularly across the Milky Way… And this is information that was given to our ancestors.” The environmental activist from the small town of Rangitukia, on New Zealand’s east coast, is spearheading a movement of Indigenous groups in the Pacific pushing to protect the magnificent marine mammals, inking a groundbreaking treaty to make them legal persons with inherent rights."
CNN:"Rare footage shows deep-sea creature attacking camera Scientists from Australia and the UK captured unique footage of the rare deep-sea hooked squid, one of the largest deep-water squids in the world."
CNN:" A US Navy and Coast Guard operation on Tuesday rescued three mariners stranded on a tiny Pacific Ocean islet for more than a week after the trio spelled out “HELP” using palm fronds laid on a white-sand beach. The mission also unexpectedly turned into a family reunion. .."
WASHINGTONPOST:"When conservationists began efforts to save the Iberian lynx, a wild cat that had long been considered a symbol of the Iberian Peninsula, they felt the lynx would be extinct in roughly five years if their efforts failed...."
CNN:"Sea otters aren’t just cute to look at, they also play a critical role in preserving the environment. By hunting invertebrates like clams and sea urchins, sea otters help preserve kelp forests, which in turn sequester carbon, protect coastlines and provide food and shelter for other marine life. "
AP:"Taters the cat stars in NASA's first video sent by laser from deep space Associated Press 2.51M subscribers Subscribed 300 Share Download 32,184 views Dec 19, 2023 An orange tabby cat named Taters stars in the first video sent by laser from deep space, stealing the show as he chases a red laser light. Thumbnail source: NASA
CNN: YANKEES announcer called a foul that later hit him in the head. He received kudos for keeping it clean and like a Timex watch just kept ticking
CNN:"Arnold Schwarzenegger says going to the gym is all about 'survival' CNN's Chris Wallace joins actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a visit to Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California, Schwarzenegger's regular workout spot since he first moved to the United States in 1968."
POINT DEFIANCE ZOO & AQUARIUM:" Leaf it to Willow to redefine fall fun! 🍂 Watch as our adorable and spunky muskox calf joyfully dives headfirst into her very first pile of maple leaves and turns her leafy playground into a zoomie extravaganza. 🍁😍 .. "
NASA.GOV:"The latest image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain. .."
CNN:" The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is spinning rapidly and altering space-time around it, a new study has found. Space-time is the four-dimensional continuum that describes how we see space, fusing one-dimensional time and three-dimensional space together to represent the space fabric that curves in response to massive celestial bodies...."
NASA.GOV:"From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before in its first year of science operations..."
NYTIMES:"When NASA’s next-generation space observatory launches in a few years, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand the search for exoplanets as well as rogue planets, or worlds that travel through space without orbiting stars... ”"
CNN:" It feels as if America has emerged from a viral medical pandemic only to be consumed by a moral pandemic, fueled by hate that is poisoning our hearts and minds. It is making people hate and turn against one another, to fear and punish that which makes us different rather than embracing what makes us unique and our common humanity. ..."
"CNN:" The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the full truth of American history. The curriculum was approved at the board’s meeting Wednesday in Orlando......"
CNN:"Holocaust survivor Michael Bornstein reacts to comments made by Fox News host Greg Gutfeld about the work skills of concentration camp inmates during World War II... "
CNN:"Emails shared with CNN by the Texas Department of Public Safety detail a trooper-medic expressing concerns to a supervisor over the inhumane treatment of migrants along the border in Eagle Pass, Texas...”
WASHINGTONPOST:
"HARTWELL, Ga. — At night, the worn sign looks like a beacon in the darkness out front of the modest, red-brick Mt. Hebron Baptist Church. The tired, it reads. The poor. And huddled masses. Welcome home. In this small town in the rural northeast corner of Georgia, it’s the kind of message that assures Teri Massey she is loved for being who she is — a message 180 degrees from the one she heard in the Baptist church where she spent her teens into her 40s, where her grandfather, father and brother all held leadership positions."
CNN:" A Saudi court has sentenced a retired teacher to death over his comments online, say his brother and advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Muhammad al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired Saudi teacher, was sentenced “following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and human rights violations,” his brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi tweeted last week. ..."
CNN:" Hundreds of families gathered in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina on June 15, plotting their escape from what had become a hellscape of blown-out buildings scrawled with racist graffiti and streets strewn with corpses. The state governor had just been executed and mutilated by Arab militia groups, leaving civilians with no choice but to flee. What followed was a gruesome massacre, eyewitnesses said, believed to be one of the most violent incidents in the genocide-scarred Sudanese region’s history..."
CNN:"After being a Nazi leader for two and a half decades, he says he regrets his past beliefs Reality Check's John Avlon speaks with former NSM leader Jeff Schoep about the nationwide increase in extremism and what led him to change his neo-Nazi beliefs..."
CNN: "The US remains in a “heightened threat environment” for terrorism driven by a series of racially and ethnically motivated attacks or plots in recent months, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday in a public advisory. .. On online forums, “there does seem to be an increase in the calls for violence based on the neo-Nazi, White nationalist theme,” a second DHS official said during a briefing that the department held on the condition that officials not be quoted by name..."
CNN:"Survivors give horrific accounts of 'parade' of sexual abuse at Catholic high school Four survivors shared their stories more than 50 years after they were brutally physically and sexually assaulted by priests at an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore."
CNN:"“...Putin and his retinue and everyone who approves of this war – these people are murderers. Why are [you] bothering this country that has been fine for 30 years?” Osechkin said that the Ukrainian heritage and family ties of many Russian officials played a key role in their defection, prompting them to join a years-long exodus of journalists and human rights defenders from Russia...."
CBSNEWS:"Two decades ago, the 9/11 Commission found al Qaeda acted alone in the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, but victims' families say that isn't true. They point to a newly-released video filmed outside the U.S. Capitol two years before the attacks, and other evidence, as proof. The families are now suing Saudi Arabia, claiming its government provided crucial assistance to the hijackers and planners of the attacks. .."
CNN:"The latest United Nations report on the Taliban published Friday is a blistering indictment of the delusions that surrounded the US withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that was negotiated by Donald Trump’s administration in 2020..."
CNN:"When the US withdrew from Afghanistan years later, the presidential palace quickly overrun by the Taliban, all I could think was, “How could my husband die, and his death didn’t break me, yet the fall of the country he died in did? How could this be worse than the knock at the door?”.."
CNN:" Two Indianapolis police officers had spent the day searching in vain for a missing baby in a stolen vehicle when they stopped to eat and gather their wits. A woman suspected of stealing the 2010 black Honda Accord had been taken into custody earlier that day...but the vehicle was still missing. More urgently, baby Kason Thomass... had yet to be found... “It was time for us to decompress because we were disappointed that we could not find him,”... “And then God opened up the heavens to us and almost took him and put him right in our hands.”... "
THE-DOJ-FBI "The FBI is engaged in a nationwide effort to build public awareness of hate crimes and encourage reporting to law enforcement. ...There’s simply no place in this country for hate and intolerance. We in the FBI stand ready to use all the tools at our disposal to reduce the threat of hate crimes and fulfill our mission to protect every American. ... The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” The FBI works to protect all victims of crimes, regardless of their country of national origin or immigration status....If you believe you are victim or a witness of a hate crime, we encourage you to report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI..."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians! Today, we have already started working to implement all the agreements we reached with our partners this week. The Ramstein meeting, meetings in Germany, meetings in Italy. Separately, Ukraine's Defense Minister and our military worked in France, the UK, and also in Germany. We are very much counting on results from the conversation with U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin. There were important negotiations with Chancellor Scholz and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Giorgia Meloni. We consistently work with representatives of both parties in the United States – on the sidelines of the Forum in Italy, I met with a delegation of the U.S. Congress. We talked, in particular, about the victory plan for Ukraine – about some of its details, and we will present all the steps to U.S. President Biden and both presidential candidates, Trump and Harris, in full. Our main focus now, at the beginning of the fall, is to strengthen the positions of Ukraine and Ukrainians as much as possible, protect our cities and villages from Russian terror, and, of course, provide more capabilities for our warriors on the frontlines. Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Kurakhove direction, and other areas of the highest concentration of Russian forces. I thank every brigade, every unit that holds their positions with true resilience. This week brought new agreements on ammunition for Ukraine, as well as funding for the production of weapons, drones, and missiles in Ukraine. Air defense remains an unwavering priority. And we continue to persuade our partners at all levels about long-range capabilities. Russia can avoid seeking peace only as much as the world avoids making strong decisions aimed at Russia’s defeat. Long-range capabilities are one of those key, strategic decisions. I thank everyone around the world who is helping us bring these absolutely necessary steps by our partners closer. Now – for the announced steps at Ramstein, for other assistance that was agreed upon this week – I want to recognize Germany, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Lithuania, and Latvia. Thank you all, friends! And one more thing. The beginning of this September, unfortunately, was marked by brutal Russian strikes. Just after the strike on the Poltava Institute of Communications, 220 wounded are still receiving inpatient treatment. Among them are people with severe and very severe injuries. I thank all the doctors and nurses who are doing everything they can to help and to save as many lives as possible. I also want to acknowledge the rescuers – the entire team of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Poltava region, as well as in all the other regions where Russia is directing its missiles and drones. The Dnipropetrovsk region – especially Nikopol, Pavlohrad, our other cities, our other communities, our Kharkiv region, Donetsk region, Mykolaiv region, Lviv and Lviv region, Sumy region, and everywhere in Ukraine, our people and all the necessary services are working to rescue, help, and restore. This week, I extend great gratitude to all the workers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Poltava region, especially Anatolii Vasylenko, Oleksandr Skakun, Oleksandr Yaremenko, Vladyslav Yurchenko, Mykola Pavlovskyi, Viktor Kuzmenko, Ihor Lytvyshko, Oleksandr Bidanets, Roman Bykhovyi, and Ihor Postavnyi. Thank you, guys! And also to the officers of the National Police of Ukraine in the Poltava region who assisted in the rescue operation – thank you all, and especially Yevhen Liabakh, Petro Skichko, Darya Kurylo and Mykhailo Lukoshyn. Thank you to everyone who works and fights for Ukraine, for our people and our interests, the interests of our state, the Ukrainian state. Every day, every week must make Ukraine stronger. Glory to Ukraine! .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the urgency of resolving Russia's war against Ukraine, stating that he and President Volodymyr Zelensky agree on the need to include Russia in future peace negotiations. As Russia's war stretches into its third year, Kyiv has said it aims to invite a Russian representative to the second conference to present a peace plan based on Zelensky's peace formula and international input. "There will certainly be a further peace conference, and the president and I agree that it must be one with Russia present," Scholz said during an interview with Germany's ZDF public television. Scholz also stressed the importance of accelerating efforts to end the war: "I believe that now is the moment when we must discuss how we get out of this war situation faster than the current impression is." This push for diplomatic engagement comes as Scholz faces growing political challenges at home, with recent state elections showing gains for populist parties that oppose military support for Ukraine, adding pressure on his coalition government..."
"MOSCOW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range U.S. missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday not to joke about Russia's "red lines". Lavrov said the U.S. was losing sight of the sense of mutual deterrence that had underpinned the balance of security between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, and that this was dangerous. He was commenting on a Reuters report that the U.S. is close to an agreement to supply Ukraine with long-range JASSM cruise missiles that could reach deep inside Russia It was the second time in just over a week that Lavrov has cautioned the U.S. that a third world war would not be confined to Europe...." COMMENT: THE PUTIN REGIME IS A CRIMINAL TERRORIST IMPERIALIST FASCIST ORGANIZATION THAT HAS CROSSED ALL LINES OF HUMAN DECENCY
CNN:" A Russian strike against a military educational facility in Poltava, central Ukraine, has killed 41 people and injured more than 180 others, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. The incident is one of the deadliest single attacks on Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelensky said that according to preliminary information, two ballistic missiles hit the facility and a nearby hospital on Tuesday morning. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the time between the air raid alarm and the strike was “so short” that it caught people as they were trying to get into the bomb shelter. Moscow has not commented on the attack, but a well-known Russian military blogger Vladimir Rogov reported earlier on Tuesday that Russia struck a military school in Poltava. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a statement that emergency services have already contained a fire on the scene and pulled more than 10 people out of the rubble. They are now clearing the debris, he added."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"At least seven civilians were killed and 47 were wounded in Lviv in the early hours of Sept. 4 amid Russia's attack against Ukraine, Lviv Oblast authorities reported. Children were among the casualties. Several explosions were heard in the city amid a nationwide air raid alert as Russia launched drones and missiles against the country. Multiple casualties were reported also in Kryvyi Rih. Explosions were heard in other cities overnight, including Kyiv, Sumy, Lutsk, and Rivne. The fatalities in Lviv included two girls aged 9 and 14, another child, a 50-year-old nurse at a local clinic, and a man, authorities said. There are seven children among the wounded, including a 10-year-old boy. Some 47 people have been hospitalized as a result of the attack, of whom seven are in critical condition, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported."
"KYIV, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Loud explosions rocked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early on Monday as Russia launched a barrage of missiles, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said. Residents across the city were awoken by a quick succession of bangs and the sound of air defence missiles blasting off skyward to intercept targets."
"WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Two U.S. researchers say they have identified the probable deployment site in Russia of the 9M370 Burevestnik, a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile touted by President Vladimir Putin as "invincible." Putin has said the weapon - dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO - has an almost unlimited range and can evade U.S. missile defenses. But some Western experts dispute his claims and the Burevestnik's strategic value, saying it will not add capabilities that Moscow does not already have and risks a radiation-spewing mishap."
"KYIV, Aug 29 (Reuters) - One of Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a major Russian attack on Monday, Kyiv's military said, the first such loss reported since the long-awaited arrival of the U.S.-made planes this month. The jet came down and its pilot died while it was approaching a Russian target, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday on Facebook. The F-16s had "demonstrated high efficiency" and downed four Russian cruise missiles, it added. Ukraine said Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones that day targeting the energy sector. "Connection with one of the aircraft was lost while it was approaching the next target. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, and the pilot died," the statement said.... "
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"The Kursk operation is Ukraine's right of self-defense, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Aug. 29. As Kyiv's incursion into Kursk Oblast entered its fourth week, Ukraine is in control of 1,294 square kilometers (around 500 square miles) and 100 settlements, including the town of Sudzha, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 27. The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims. According to Braze, Ukraine's right of self-defense is covered by Article 51 of the U.N. Charter the UN Charter includes Kyiv's right to strike at military targets on Russian soil. "And Ukrainians have been very, very careful and very, very diligent in not going after civilians (in Kursk Oblast), in not doing what Russians have been doing on the Ukrainian territory," the minister said. "This is the normal military counteractions, so this counteroffensive, in our view, is also covered by the right of self-defense."
"MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia said the West was playing with fire by considering allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western missiles and cautioned the United States on Tuesday that World War Three would not be confined to Europe. Ukraine attacked Russia's western Kursk region on Aug. 6 and has carved out a slice of territory in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two. President Vladimir Putin said there would be a worthy response from Russia to the attack. Sergei Lavrov, who has served as Putin's foreign minister for more than 20 years, said that the West was seeking to escalate the Ukraine war and was "asking for trouble" by considering Ukrainian requests to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much broader war involving the world's biggest nuclear powers, though he has said Russia does not want a conflict with the U.S.-led NATO alliance."We are now confirming once again that playing with fire - and they are like small children playing with matches - is a very dangerous thing for grown-up uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. "Americans unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that, God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively," Lavrov said..."COMMENT: THE PUTIN REGIME IS AN IMPERIALIST FASCIST TERRORIST GANGSTER ORGANIZATION WORKING WITH ITS ALLIES AND PROXIES TO SPREAD ITS MURDEROUS CANCER IN UKRAINE, EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AFRICA, AND LATIN AMERICA
"KYIV, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia launched several waves of missile and drone attacks targeting scores of Ukrainian regions and killing at least four people, Ukraine's military said early on Tuesday, a day after Moscow's biggest air attack of the war on its neighbour. Two people were killed when a hotel was "wiped out" in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. Two died in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia, east of Kryvyi Rih. Kyiv region's air defence systems were deployed several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the region's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters' witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kyiv. On Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven and damaging energy infrastructure in an attack condemned by U.S. President Joe Biden as "outrageous"
CNN:"...“The bombing was everywhere around us, all night. Our house is still intact, but it won’t be for long. Everything else has been damaged,” Halyna told CNN. “Our soldiers came and took us away,” she added. A nurse and a miner, the couple are among tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Pokrovsk and the surrounding towns as it becomes more and more likely that the city could become the next key battleground of the war in Ukraine. Russian forces have been inching toward the city for weeks, but the situation has become critical in recent days. Moscow has been pushing hard to capture Pokrovsk even as it struggles to contain the Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk border region.Pokrovsk is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Pokrovsk sits on a key supply road that connects it with other military hubs, and forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that is still under Kyiv’s control..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast has derailed Russia's plans to dictate a peace deal on its terms and strengthened Ukraine's hand in any future negotiations, Ukrainian officials and analysts say. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Ukrainian forces have "strengthened" their positions in Russia's Kursk Oblast as their operation in the Russian region continues, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported to President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 17. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Ukrainian special forces captured 102 Russian and Chechen soldiers in Kursk Oblast on Aug. 14, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 15. .."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Key developments on Aug. 13: Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadow as part of Kursk Oblast incursion, Telegraph reports Kursk incursion has not yet influenced situation near Toretsk, military says Ukraine's incursion brings Russia closer to new mobilization, Bloomberg says Latvia transfers another 500 drones to Ukraine The Ukrainian military currently controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 13."
CNN:"US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the region ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack against Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement Sunday evening. The USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with cruise missiles, was operating in the Mediterranean Sea in recent days, according to the Navy, having just completed training near Italy. ..."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Russia will receive hundreds of Fath-360 and other ballistic missiles from Iran in the near future following an agreement signed in December 2023 between Moscow and Tehran, intelligence sources revealed to Reuters on Aug. 9."
TIMES OF INDIA:"Russia has reportedly transferred advanced missile systems to Iran amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. This significant arms deal includes Iskander missiles and Murmansk-BN systems, capable of suppressing satellite communications over vast distances."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian sovereign territory is once again under attack after Ukrainian forces launched an ambitious operation across the state border in Kursk Oblast in large numbers on Aug. 6. This time, the attack is led not primarily by small units of pro-Ukraine Russian nationals and other assorted foreign formations, like in the numerous incursions conducted over 2023 and early 2024. As of the second day of the incursion, a mix of sources, including the Russian Defense Ministry itself have reported a larger offensive involving a Ukrainian force likely numbering hundreds of troops and dozens of vehicles strong. The attack comes at a tumultuous stage in the war, as, hundreds of kilometers to the south, Ukrainian forces continue a desperate defense against relentless Russian attacks on multiple sectors of the front line in Donetsk Oblast..."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"All eyes turned toward Vice President Kamala Harris as the likely person to lead the Democratic ticket this fall following U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would be leaving the 2024 presidential race.While it is likely that if elected Harris’s policies toward Ukraine would remain similar to Biden’s, her appearances at three consecutive Munich Security Conferences — the first being in 2022 just five days before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion — offer clues into the stance she would take on Ukraine. Representing the U.S. at each conference, Harris has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, using the platform to prove herself on the global stage and reiterate U.S. support for Kyiv... Speaking at the conference in 2023, Harris said: "As President (Joe) Biden often says, 'The United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.' We will not waver.”..."
CNN:" The US is sending a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East as the region braces for an Iranian retaliation to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week. It is perhaps the largest movement of US forces to the region since the early days of the Gaza war, when the Pentagon sent two carrier strike groups toward the Middle East in a very public warning to regional militant groups not to expand the fighting.“We’ve heard the Supreme Leader loud and clear that he intends to avenge this killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran, and that they want to conduct another attack on Israel,” John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, told CNN. ..."
WASHINGTON-POST:"When President Biden said he was dropping his reelection bid, the sudden upheaval in U.S. politics came as a blow for many in the Russian elite who closely track relations between Moscow and the West. Biden’s withdrawal in favor of Vice President Harris has upended a race that the Kremlin and its backers believed Donald Trump could win, creating “a window of opportunity” to settle the war in Ukraine on Russia’s aggressive, expansionist terms, according to analysts and current and former Russian officials."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT The Kyiv City Military Administration on July 31 reported the most extensive drone attack on Kyiv in 2024, with air defense forces destroying over 40 drones in the city's airspace and nearby areas. According to Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, the attack was one of the most significant since the full-scale invasion began and the largest one this year. The attack, which lasted over seven hours, saw drones approaching Kyiv in waves from almost all directions. Almost 11,500 people sought refuge in the city's underground ..."
WASHINGTON-POST:"POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russian forces have mounted an arc of attack in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, pushing through intense summer heat in a bid to extend Moscow’s steady territorial gains and capture the city of Pokrovsk, a key transit junction. The offensive is underway as Ukraine continues to suffer from a shortage of soldiers and as election turmoil in the United States has set off new speculation that Kyiv may soon be forced to negotiate a surrender of lands..."
"LONDON/WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - North Korean hackers have conducted a global cyber espionage campaign in efforts to steal classified military secrets to support Pyongyang's banned nuclear weapons programme, the United States, Britain and South Korea said in a joint advisory on Thursday."
"SEOUL, Aug 1 (Reuters) - North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters. The escape of Ri Il Gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016. In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump - who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term - won re-election in November, Ri said. "
"WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The United States will start deploying longer range missiles in Germany in 2026, the two countries announced at a meeting of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, a major step aimed at countering what the allies say is a growing threat Russia poses to Europe. The decision will send Germany the most potent U.S. weapons to be based on the European continent since the Cold War, in a clear warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A U.S.-German statement said the "episodic deployments" were in preparation for longer-term stationing in Europe of capabilities that would include SM-6, Tomahawk and developmental hypersonic weapons with greater range. The move would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union in 1987 but that collapsed in 2019. "We cannot discount the possibility of an attack against Allies’ sovereignty and territorial integrity," the allies said in a communique released on Wednesday..."
ABCNEWS:"UNITED NATIONS -- Russia’s foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West “at gunpoint” and impeding international cooperation, a claim the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denounced as “hypocrisy” by a country that invaded neighboring Ukraine...."
SWISSINFO.CH:"July 11, 2024 - 10:22 1 minute MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday denounced NATO’s summit promise to grant eventual membership to Ukraine and said Russia should work towards the “disappearance” of both Ukraine and the military alliance....”
"
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin, the president's press service said on July 25. The meeting was held the previous day. Russia has long been one of the consistent supporters of the Assad regime, intervening on its behalf in 2015 against multiple anti-government forces. Russia still has troops in Syria. Damascus has been supportive of the Kremlin during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine...."
"GENEVA, July 9 (Reuters) - A lethal strike on a children's hospital in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, the head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission said on Tuesday, citing its own analysis. The strike in broad daylight was part of a series of attacks that killed at least 41 people across Ukraine, including children. The Kremlin said it was Ukrainian anti-missile fire, not Russia, that struck the hospital."
CNN:" A court in Moscow has ordered Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of late Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, to be arrested in absentia, her spokesperson said Tuesday. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow accused Navalnaya of “participation in an extremist organization,” her spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a post on social media. She has also been added to an international wanted list, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Ukraine is grateful to Western partners for their support, but the pledged assistance is arriving too slowly, complicating the situation on the front lines, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Bloomberg published on July 4. "We have 14 brigades who do not have the necessary weapons that have already been approved and discussed," Zelensky said. Washington, Kyiv's leading military donor, approved in April a long-expected $61-billion aid package after months of delays. In spite of this, Russia has continued to pressure Ukraine along the front, launching a new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast and steadily pushing into a key town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast..."
MSN/NEWSWEEK:"Belarus on Sunday issued a nuclear threat amid rising tensions at its border with Ukraine. The country will be prepared to use nonstrategic nuclear weapons if its sovereignty and independence are threatened, said Pavel Muraveiko. He was appointed chief of the general staff of country's armed forces and first deputy minister in May."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian official heading the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, said on June 27 that it is time to burn everything Ukrainian down to the root" so that "there is no trace left."(Emphasis added) Rogozin's comments were the latest in a long series of genocidal comments directed at Ukraine made by Russian officials and propagandists, a trend that has only increased since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The genocidal intent of Russia's aggression toward Ukraine has manifested in war crimes and indiscriminate violence directed at Ukrainian civilians, but also in the denial and distortion of history, attempts to erase Ukrainian culture, and the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children."
THEGUARDIAN:"Trump handed plan to halt US military aid to Kyiv unless it talks peace with Moscow(Emphasis added) Two key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine - if he wins the presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more US weapons if it enters into peace talks. The United States would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased US support for Ukraine, retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, one of Trump’s national security advisers, said in an interview...However, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said only statements made by Trump or authorised members of his campaign should be deemed official, Reuters reported. The strategy outlined by Kellogg and Fleitz is the most detailed plan yet by associates of Trump, who has said he could quickly settle the war in Ukraine if he beats President Joe Biden in the November election, though he has not discussed specifics. The proposal would mark a big shift in the US position on the war and would face opposition from European allies and within Trump’s own Republican party..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 14 that Moscow would only cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine withdraws from the four Ukrainian regions claimed – but not fully controlled – by the Kremlin. Speaking on the eve of the global peace summit in Switzerland on June 15-16, Putin said his terms were "very simple," before saying Ukraine's troops must leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and Kyiv must abandon any ambition to join NATO. The demands also include the recognition of Crimea and Sevastopol as "subjects of the Russian Federation."
REUTERS:"SEOUL/MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday to deepen trade and security ties with North Korea and to support it against the United States, as he headed to the reclusive nuclear-armed country for the first time in 24 years. The U.S. and its Asian allies are trying to work out just how far Russia will go in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose country is the only one to have conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 21st century..."
KYIVINDEPENDENT:"...The Kyiv Independent spoke with Nad about Slovakia’s turn away from Ukraine, political processes inside the country, and the future of pro-Russian political advances across Europe...Jaroslav Nad: It is extremely difficult to fight against Russian involvement, which is illegal and non-democratic, using whatever tools it can. If you try to ban a Russian channel, or any propaganda with Russian connections on a European or national level, Russia will scream that it is against human rights and freedom of speech...which in reality means that they would like to see Russian propaganda spread across the country because that means support for their parties...The whole of Europe should be very careful; many of those parties have clear links to Russia. For example, Le Pen's party: in the past, it was proved that they were receiving millions and millions of euros from Russia, and other parties with similar links are also present in the election campaign. There were several examples of politicians from Western European countries and also from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and other countries, who were meeting with Russian officials. Some of them were receiving illegal campaign money from Russia, that's the reality we have to face. If we want to keep the European continent free from injustice and achieve peace, we need to fight Russian hybrid warfare as much as we can, using all the tools that we have..."
MSN/BUSINESS INSIDER:"Although they are members of NATO and the EU, the Baltics are in a precarious position. Bordering Russia or its ally Belarus, they are small and were part of the Soviet Union until its collapse. Furthermore, over 20% of the population of Estonia and Latvia and 5% of Lithuania are ethnically Russian. All of this has put them in Moscow's crosshairs.. .."
CNN:" US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise trip to Kyiv on Tuesday, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian forces make significant gains on the battlefield in Ukraine. Blinken’s visit was the first by a Biden administration official since the long-delayed passage of US supplemental funding to the war-torn country. “I have come to Ukraine with a message: You are not alone,” he said during a speech at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute....
CNN: "
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the US intends to make use of seized Russian assets to provide funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine. ...
  • During his visit to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the Biden administration's strong support of the beleaguered country amid Russia's recent advances in Kharkiv. Blinken focused much of his speech about building security and economic infrastructure in Ukraine to pave a path to NATO acceptance. ..
  • French President Emmanuel Macron told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call on Tuesday that France will send more military aid to Ukraine “in the coming days and weeks.” During the call, Macron condemned the “intensification of Russian strikes on Ukraine, notably on its energy infrastructure” and reiterated “France’s determination to provide all the support necessary” to Kyiv in concert with its international partners..."

AP: "ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory. Putin also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty. The recent actions by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems,” he said, taking questions from international journalists — something that has become extremely rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. “That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added."

APNEWS:"Russian warships conducted drills in the Atlantic, the military said Tuesday, as they were heading to visit Cuba, part of Moscow’s efforts to project power amid the tensions with the West over Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Kazan nuclear-powered submarine conducted the exercise that was intended to simulate a missile strike on a group of enemy ships. The ministry said the drills involved computer simulation of an attack on sea targets more than 600 kilometers (over 320 nautical miles) away. The Admiral Gorshkov is armed with new Zircon hypersonic missiles. The weapon has been designed to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and could be used against both enemy ships and ground targets. Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles)...."
CNN:"The USS Helena, a fast-attack nuclear submarine, surfaced in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a day after Russian naval forces arrived in Havana to conduct drills with the island nation, a Russian ally. In a statement posted on X, US Southern Command said, “The fast-attack submarine USS Helena is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as part of a routine port visit as it transits the U.S. Southern Command geographic area of responsibility while conducting its global maritime security and national defense mission.” The specific movements of Navy submarines are highly classified and are rarely disclosed publicly..."
NYTIMES:"A senior Biden administration official warned on Friday that “absent a change” in nuclear strategy by China and Russia, the United States may be forced to expand its nuclear arsenal, after decades of cutting back through now largely abandoned arms control agreements. The comments on Friday from Pranay Vaddi, a senior director of the National Security Council, were the most explicit public warning yet that the United States was prepared to shift from simply modernizing its arsenal to expanding it. They were also a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia about the likely U.S. reaction if the last major nuclear arms control agreement, called New START, expires in February 2026 with no replacement..."
WASHINGTONPOST:Russia’s Foreign Ministry has been drawing up plans to try to weaken its Western adversaries, including the United States, and leverage the Ukraine war to forge a global order free from what it sees as American dominance, according to a secret Foreign Ministry document. Russia is seeking to subvert Western support for Ukraine and disrupt the domestic politics of the United States and European countries, through propaganda campaigns supporting isolationist and extremist policies, according to Kremlin documents previously reported on by The Post. It is also seeking to refashion geopolitics, drawing closer to China, Iran and North Korea in an attempt to shift the current balance of power..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Sunday that it was “absolutely true” that some Republican members of Congress were repeating Russian propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine instigated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.Turner did not specify which members he was referring to, but he said he agreed with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), who said in an interview with Puck News last week that Russian propaganda had “infected a good chunk of my party’s base” and suggested that conservative media was to blame..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Former president Donald Trump has privately said he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, according to people familiar with the plan. Some foreign policy experts said Trump’s idea would reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and condone the violation of internationally recognized borders by force."
" KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"French President Emmanuel Macron was left on his lonesome by his fellow European allies after saying that the possibility of sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine should not be “ruled out” in the future. Macron made the remarks on Feb. 26 at a gathering of 20 European heads of state and other Western officials at an allied conference in Paris to reaffirm support for Ukraine as Russia’s war against the country enters its third year. ...

CNN:"It’s a scenario that’s playing out up and down the front lines in Ukraine. As the United States Congress stalls on US President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $60 billion in security assistance for Kyiv, Ukrainian commanders are facing tough choices on how to use the dwindling stockpiles of ammunition. ..."
KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Almost immediately following the end of the EuroMaidan Revolution in Ukraine in February 2014, Russia swiftly moved to annex and occupy the Crimean Peninsula. Within a couple of months, unrest erupted in eastern Ukraine followed by Russian-backed militias taking over administrative buildings. The events mark the start of Russia's 10-year invasion and occupation of Ukraine that continues to this day. .."
NEWSWEEK:"The head of Polish military counterintelligence has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is already prepared for a small operation against NATO frontier states in northeastern Europe, as the alliance seeks to deter aggression from Moscow while bolstering Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion. "Putin is certainly already prepared for some mini-operation against one of the Baltic countries," Jarosław Stróżyk, who was appointed to lead the Polish military counterintelligence service in March—told the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna publication..."
BLOOMBERG:"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned of the dangers of a Russian victory if Ukraine’s allies don’t increase military support and financial aid, ahead of a meeting with US President Joe Biden. “Make no mistake: A Russian victory in Ukraine would not only be the end of Ukraine as a free, democratic and independent state, it would also dramatically change the face of Europe,” Scholz wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. "COMMENT:SEND NATO FORCES IN AND PUSH THE RUSSIANS OUT
CNN:"President Joe Biden on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump after the former president said he would encourage Russia to invade countries that don’t meet their NATO obligations, saying such comments amount to bowing down to Vladimir Putin."

WASHINGTONPOST:"...Capturing Avdiivka would mark Moscow’s most significant battlefield victory since the failure of a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year — and would be the clearest sign yet that Russian forces are regaining the initiative as Kyiv runs short of soldiers, weapons, ammunition, morale and money..."COMMENT: THIS IS ON TRUMP AND HIS MINIONS
BBC:"The UN's top court has said it has jurisdiction to hear a case brought against Russia by Ukraine. Kyiv brought the case at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022..."
THE-GUARDIAN:" Rishi Sunak pledges £2.5bn in military aid to Ukraine during Kyiv visit UK prime minister also signs multi-year security treaty with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling it ‘a strong signal to Putin’ "
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"As sanctions bite, Russia eyes Ukraine’s mineral resources to fund its invasion. Russia's 2024 federal budget brought little in the way of surprises, the country is gearing up for a long war...."
MSN/NEWSWEEK:"A top Ukrainian military official has issued a desperate plea for resources as Russia gains momentum in its war against Ukraine...."
BUSINESS-INSIDER:"The Kremlin has been painting a rosy picture of the country's economy even amid a swathe of Western sanctions — but "the real situation is bad," Igor Lipsits, a prominent Russian economist, told Reuters. ..."
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Along with war crimes, such as torture, rape, and executions, Russia has also taken civilian hostages in the areas it has occupied, at times transferring them to prisons both in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia for reasons unknown. The hostages include people taken off the streets, psychiatric patients, and inmates of Ukrainian prisons now under Russian-occupied territories..."
THE-KYIV-INDEPENDENT:"Russia launched a record number of drones into Ukraine over the course of six hours on Holodomor Memorial Day on Nov. 25. According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, "this was the largest drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.".."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"...Ladies and gentlemen! Next Monday will mark the six hundredth day of our resistance to Russia's full-scale aggression against our people, against Ukraine. And today, no one can say for sure how many more days we will have to defend our independence and identity. But we can already say several things, which are important. First: Putin will not achieve Ukraine. Second: Russia cannot afford a new arms race. And third: democracy can win this battle. It is necessary not only for our country, but for every nation, for the whole world...."

CNN:"All 27 EU member states have dispatched officials to a key meeting in Kyiv on Monday, a European Union official told CNN. .. The bloc convened in the Ukrainian capital to reaffirm their support for Kyiv amid Russia's invasion...."

"Sept 7 (Reuters)
...Rudenko, a former Russian military psychologist, was arrested for a sixth time on July 21 - this time for allegedly justifying terrorism on the internet, a more serious crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to court records, which give no further details about his alleged offence pending a trial......"
CNN:"Russia's conditions to revive the Black Sea grain deal amount to "blackmail," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told national news agency Ukrinform on Monday. The deal "must be restored," but not "at the expense of blackmail and fulfilling Russia’s whims," he said. "
NYTIMES:"Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, plans to travel to Russia this month to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin to discuss the possibility of supplying Russia with more weaponry for its war in Ukraine and other military cooperation, according to American and allied officials. "
CNN:"“What is going on now is simply the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Both Ukrainian and Russian. The motivation for my action was to not contribute to these crimes. Ukraine will unequivocally win this war simply because the people are very united. Before they were not like this, but now they are very unified. The whole world is helping them, because first and foremost, human life should be valued." The pilot also urged other Russians in the military to defect to Ukraine." The pilot, Maksim Kuzmov was found shot dead in Spain "...Ukrainska Pravda and other outlets reported on Feb.19..."
CNN:" Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians. The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
CNN:"...Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put it bluntly on Monday, when he thanked Denmark for pledging to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which the Netherlands also agreed to give Ukraine. “All of Russia’s neighbors are under threat,” he said, “if Ukraine does not prevail.” He will find few who disagree among those neighbors....”
..."
CNN:"NATO allies on Tuesday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s push for membership of the alliance, according to a final declaration issued by the 31-member group at a summit in Lithuania. “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” it said. .."
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"In the Republic of Lithuania, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in an event organized as part of the "Raising the Flag for Ukraine in NATO" campaign...”
CNN:"US President Joe Biden and his British counterpart, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, touted their "unwavering support" for Ukraine and shared condemnation of Moscow's "brutal aggression" as they met in Washington, DC, Thursday..."
NEWSWEEK:"British officials are now a "legitimate military target" for Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday, responding to remarks from the U.K.'s foreign secretary that Ukraine has the right to strike military targets inside Russian territory..."
CNN:"The Russian Foreign Ministry called on senior US diplomats on Friday to express "strong protest" over US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan's remarks about Ukrainian strikes on Crimea, after he said the US has not placed limitations on Kyiv to hit its territory. The ministry called Sullivan's remarks in an interview with CNN on Sunday "unacceptable."
CNN:"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Biden Sunday for the “powerful” financial assistance provided by the US, which totals $37 billion, and for the new military assistance package, according to a readout from the president’s office. "
CNN:"British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has underscored his country’s support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, saying “Ukraine’s security is our security.” .."
CNN:"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the United Kingdom to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 10 Downing Street said in a statement Monday.. .."
CNN:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with his French counterpart in Paris on Sunday, the latest stop on his tour of European capitals providing Kyiv with weapons.
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Russia is seeking to destroy values of freedom in Ukraine because it is afraid of the country’s path to the European Union. "We Europeans cherish our liberty, our democracy, our freedom of thought and speech," von der Leyen said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Kyiv to mark Europe Day.
CNN:"Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said NATO countries must prepare for a long war in Ukraine, calling on allies to increase defense spending. “Russia has prepared for a long confrontation and so must we,” Kallas tweeted on Wednesday.... "
PRESIDENT.GOV.UA:"The leaders condemned in the strongest possible terms the illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked aggression by Russia against Ukraine..."
Meanwhile,"[a] day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a harsher crackdown on internal “enemies,” authorities raided the homes of activists from the Russian human rights organization Memorial, which was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year."
ICC:"Today, 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.... "
WASHINGTONPOST:"Poland plans to give Ukraine Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO country to provide long-sought warplanes since the Russian invasion began last year, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a news conference Thursday.
The first four are set to arrive in the coming days. Western governments had thus far declined to send fighter jets out of concern over escalating tensions between NATO and Russia."

CNN:"US President Joe Biden made an unannounced trip to Kyiv early Monday for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago..."
EUROPEAN-PARLIAMENT:
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed MEPs in a formal sitting in Brussels on 9th of February 2023. In his speech, President Zelenskyy stressed how Russia is trying to annihilate not only sovereign Ukraine, but also the European “way of life”. ..."

CNN:"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has voted unanimously to demand the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders “for the crime of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a statement published Thursday. PACE, composed of members appointed by the national parliaments of the Council's 46 member states, proposes a tribunal in The Hague “to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders who planned, prepared, initiated or executed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska that the alliance's support for her nation is "unwavering," as world leaders and policymakers gathered at the World Economic Forum Tuesday..."
"KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine accused the Kremlin on Saturday of reviving the "genocidal" tactics of Josef Stalin as Kyiv commemorated a Soviet-era famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 1932-33."
CNN:"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into an era of insecurity, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the world faces the ”the most dangerous decade” since the end of World War II. .."
CNN:"Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told CNN Tuesday that “terror is the only thing left” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, “like for any miserable terrorist in the world.” CNN:"Nina Khrushcheva, great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, discusses Russian President Vladimir Putin's propaganda speech and "'crazy rhetoric against the West.'.. After 22 years under Putin there is absolute hopelessness for the future of the country. Things are turning into a dystopian novel divorced from reality.
anti-war-protests-across-russia ALJAZEERA:"A police monitoring group says more than 1,300 people have been arrested at demonstrations across Russia against President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilisation of civilians to fight in Ukraine."
CNN:"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg that "Europe's solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable,".. "
russia-plundering-sudan-gold CNN:"Russia is plundering gold in Sudan to boost Putin's war effort in Ukraine-...Multiple interviews with high-level Sudanese and US officials and troves of documents reviewed by CNN paint a picture of an elaborate Russian scheme to plunder Sudan's riches.."
RUSSIAN CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN UKRAINE CNN:"A new report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe documents the discovery of torture chambers at a summer camp in Bucha, Ukraine. This report — OSCE's second one — covered the period between April 1 to June 25... "
CNN:"Russia's actions in Ukraine provide enough evidence to conclude that Moscow is inciting genocide and committing atrocities intended to destroy the Ukrainian people, according to the first independent report into allegations of genocide in that country. "
BBC:"Kira Glodan, a three-month-old baby, is one of the latest victims in the war in Ukraine. She was killed along with her mother and grandmother in a Russian missile strike in Odesa..”
BBC:"Russian forces executed civilians in various locations in the Kyiv region, according to new testimony published by Amnesty International... Russian forces have committed extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, which must be investigated as likely war crimes," says Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard..."
"REUTERS:A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Borodyanka the Kyiv region Ukraine, April 5, 2022 REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra. .."
USATODAY:"WASHINGTON – When Congress returns from its summer break on Monday, lawmakers will have three short weeks to figure out how to keep the government's doors open before funding expires on Sept. 30, staving off a looming shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has a plan: Extend current funding through next March, avoiding a Christmas-time standoff or a messy spending fight ahead of a contentious election. But to get to that, Johnson is also proposing Congress pass a bill that would require people to prove they're citizens in order to register to vote. It's a proposal that President Joe Biden has vowed to veto, arguing it's already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections and that the proposal would make it harder for Americans to register. ”.." .."
WSJ"U.S. job growth rebounded in August from levels that were softer than initially reported this summer, leaving the Federal Reserve on track to begin a series of rate cuts when officials meet later this month. The economy added 142,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department, an uptick from July data that sparked slowdown fears and jarred global financial markets. The unemployment rate in August ticked lower to 4.2%."
BLOOMBERG:" Stocks, bonds and the dollar wavered after the latest jobs report left traders wondering whether or not the Federal Reserve will deploy a super-sized rate cut in September.While Wall Street boosted bets on a half point Fed reduction in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s labor-market data, many market observers said that’s not necessarily what the Fed will do. All around trading desks, the prevailing view is that the labor market is indeed softening — but it’s not weak enough to warrant an aggressive move from officials at this point. “A softer-than-expected jobs report may support those in favor of a 50 basis-point rate cut in September, but the jury is likely still out,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “For now, a 25 basis-point cut remains the baseline case for a cautious Fed. In the meantime, markets are likely to be sensitive to any other data that suggests the economy is cooling off too much.” Nonfarm payrolls rose by 142,000 following downward revisions to the prior two months, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.2%, the first decline in five months, reflecting a reversal in temporary layoffs. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4%. Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said it is now appropriate for the central bank to reduce interest rates, given progress on lowering inflation and a cooling in the labor market. Williams said there had been “significant progress” toward the Fed’s dual goals of maintaining stable prices and maximum employment and that the risks to achieving both have moved into “equipoise,” or a state of equilibrium. The S&P 500 was little changed. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. Treasury 10-year yields rose two basis points to 3.75%. The dollar fluctuated. ...Stocks The S&P 500 was little changed as of 9:48 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index rose 0.1% Currencies The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1067 The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3156 The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 143.85 per dollar Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin was little changed at $56,086.71 Ether rose 0.2% to $2,372.25 Bonds The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.75% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.22% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.93% Commodities West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $70.03 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.3% to $2,508.83 an ounce..."
AP:"PARIS (AP) — A gallery of highlights from the first week of the Paralympics captured by AP photographers at the Paris Games."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The standout moment in Kamala Harris’s first interview as Democratic presidential nominee consisted of a mere seven words: “Same old tired playbook. Next question, please.” That was her answer when CNN’s Dana Bash brought up Donald Trump’s recent outrageous suggestion that the vice president, who is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican parents, “happened to turn Black” as a matter of political expediency.Let’s hope Harris continues to shrug off Trump’s racist and misogynist attacks. It’s clearly driving him crazy. Recent days have seen Trump spiraling. In a single 24-hour period, he used his social media platform to spread a crass joke about Harris performing a sex act; suggested without evidence that she and President Joe Biden were partially responsible for the assassination attempt upon him; promoted a QAnon slogan; and sent out fake images of Harris and a host of other leading Democratic figures in orange prison uniforms. Harris’s team has, wisely, declined to comment on his antics. As one campaign official put it to me: “Why would we step in this man’s way?” Trump’s volatility is also the reason Harris’s team is arguing to open the microphones for both candidates during the entirety of next month’s debate..."
YOUTUBE/ABC:"Kerry Kennedy, sister to RFK Jr., discusses the 2024 race"
WASHINGTONPOST:"Donald Trump amplified a vulgar joke about Vice President Kamala Harris performing a sex act. He falsely accused her of a staging a coup to secure the Democratic nomination and faulted her without evidence for a security lapse that enabled a rogue gunman to try to assassinate him. He shared a manipulated online image of Bill Gates in an orange jumpsuit and a call for Barack Obama to face a “military tribunal.” He promoted explicit tributes to the QAnon conspiracy theory. He hawked digital trading cards in an online infomercial along with pieces of his debate night suit. (“People are calling it the knockout suit.”) His campaign feuded publicly with Arlington National Cemetery over their visit. And that was just in the span of 24 hours."
AP:"Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff......"
WOKEPREACHERTV: Billy Graham's grand daughter spoke about why she became involved in politics. It started in 2016 when a man bragged about assaulting women. Various leaders propped up this man as a poster boy for Godly manhood and leadership. She watched pastors overlook his actions and continued supporting him. These same pastors looked the other way concerning the assaults, the name calling and January 6. The reason why she got involved in politics is to go against faith leaders who support a man who destroys everything that Jesus stands for: Justice Mercy and Humility citing Micah 6:8.
CNN:"A former president of the United States who wants to be the next president is now directly spreading the slogans of the conspiracy cult QAnon, as well as posting a crude, sexist and misogynistic slur online, reposting. To be precise. Which means he didn't come up with it himself, but liked it so much that he wanted the rest of the world to see it, which is both a gentle introduction and a warning. One posting of several uses two QAnon catchphrases nothing can stop what is coming, which refers to the so-called mass arrests of so-called deep state members, which in the world of QAnon is basically anyone who has irked Donald Trump...."
CNN:" At a Fox News town hall on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump previewed some of the themes that we will likely hear more from him on the campaign trail and during his September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Discussing the US southern border, Trump asserted that “more terrorists have come into the United States in the last three years. And I think probably 50 years.” As we approach the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, this seems like an odd claim to make when 19 Arab hijackers, none of whom had crossed the southern border into the US, killed almost 3,000 people, the vast majority of them in Trump’s hometown of New York City. And if it were really the case that jihadist terrorists were pouring across America’s southern border during the past three years as Trump claimed, wouldn’t there have been, you know, some terrorist attacks in the US as a result? Or, at the very least, a lot more terrorists being arrested in the US during that same time frame? In fact, there have been no reported terrorist attacks in the US during the past three years carried out by jihadist terrorists crossing the southern border. Indeed, the most recent lethal terrorist attack by a jihadist terrorist happened when Trump himself was in office in 2019 when a Saudi military officer killed three American sailors at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, and he had arrived legally in the US as part of a Pentagon training program. Meanwhile, during the past three years, 22 people have been murdered in the United States by far-right domestic terrorists in places such as Buffalo, New York, and Allen, Texas, according to data collected by New America, a research institution (where I am a vice president.)..."
CNN:" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July effectively spiked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal by introducing a raft of new, 11th-hour demands, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth citing a document it obtained. The report lends credence to charges often leveled at the prime minister – most notably by hostage families – of purposefully prolonging the war and torpedoing deals for his political benefit. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have pledged to bring down the government should he end the war. Several news outlets, including CNN, have reported on the late July demands made by Netanyahu, but this is the first time the Israeli document has been obtained in full. According to the newspaper, at least three of six hostages found dead in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces over the weekend were due for release as part of the May draft agreement – Carmel Gat, Aden Yerushalmi, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin."
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “there will be a strong reaction” to the deaths of the six hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza this weekend, and plans “to hurt Hamas in a way Israel hasn’t done before,” according to an Israeli official. “The intention of the PM now is to hurt Hamas in a way Israel hasn’t done before,” the official told CNN. The official also spoke about the Israeli cabinet’s decision on Thursday to demand that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remain in the Philadelphi corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) strip that runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt, in the initial phase of a proposed hostage and ceasefire deal. The Philadelphi corridor is currently controlled by the IDF. The continued deployment of Israeli troops along the strip during the first phase of a ceasefire agreement has been a major point of contention between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas saying Israeli troops must withdraw from the border zone."
CNN:" With its announcement that militants guarding Israeli hostages in the buildings and tunnels of Gaza had “new instructions” to kill them If Israeli troops closed in, Hamas signalled the opening of a chilling new chapter in an already brutal war...."
CNN:"Israel’s military said it launched “preemptive strikes” against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after identifying that the militant group was preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory. Shortly after that attack began, Hezbollah said it launched strikes toward Israel in retaliation for the killing of a top military commander last month. The Iran-backed group claimed the “first phase” of its response to Israel has ended with “complete success.” About 200 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards Israel, the Israeli military said."
"DOHA/BEIRUT, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Disagreements over Israel's future military presence in Gaza and over Palestinian prisoner releases are obstructing a ceasefire and hostage deal, according to ten sources familiar with the round of U.S.-mediated talks that concluded last week. The sources, who include two Hamas officials and three Western diplomats, told Reuters the disagreements stemmed from demands Israel has introduced since Hamas accepted a version of a ceasefire proposal unveiled by U.S. President Joe Biden in May...."
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta Platforms said Friday...."
"CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday, as the military said troops continued to target militants and seize weapons and ammunition. As last-ditch diplomatic efforts continued to halt the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.... The conflict churned on as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the Middle East with no clear sign over whether a deal to end the fighting is in sight."COMMENT: NETANYAHU WANTS TO STAY IN POWER WITH CONTINUAL WAR AS DOES HAMAS HEZBOLLAH ISLAMIC JIHAD BACKED BY IRAN AND RUSSIA. THE ONLY SOLUTION AT THIS POINT IS A UN PEACE KEEPING FORCE TO FORCE THE PARTIES TO DEMILITARIZE AND WORK OUT A PERMANENT CEASE FIRE
SKYNEWS:" A British citizen, who was freed in the biggest prisoner exchange with Russia since the Cold War, has told Sky News he thought he was being led to his death. Speaking in Bonn, Germany, Vladimir Kara-Murza, said on the day he was taken from his prison cell in Siberia to be transferred to the Russian capital, he had no idea he was part of the prisoner swap. "The night I was taken from my cell in Siberia, as I now know to be taken in preparation for this, I was almost certain I was being led out to be executed," he told Sky News on Friday, a day after he was freed..."
AP:"BERLIN (AP) — A human rights activist since the 1980s, Oleg Orlov thought Russia had turned a corner when the Soviet Union collapsed and a democratically elected president became leader. But then Vladimir Putin rose to power, crushing dissent and launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finally, the 71-year-old Orlov was himself thrown in prison for opposing the war. Freed last week in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War, he was forced into exile — just like the Soviet dissidents of his youth. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday in Berlin, Orlov decried the scale and severity of repressions under Putin, with people imprisoned for merely criticizing the authorities, something unseen since the days of dictator Josef Stalin..."
NYTIMES:" For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denied that he is trying to block a cease-fire deal in Gaza by hardening Israel’s negotiating position. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently placed all blame for the deadlocked negotiations on Hamas, even as senior members of the Israeli security establishment accused him of slowing the process himself.... "
CNN:"Iran claims Hamas leader killed by ‘short-range projectile,’ contradicting reports it was hidden bomb"REUTERS: " For many of the Druze community in the Golan Heights mourning 12 youngsters killed in a missile strike at the weekend, the carnage came as a shock despite the months of daily rocket fire and air strikes between Israel and southern Lebanon." THENATIONAL:"After the attack, right-wing members of Israel’s security cabinet showed up in Majdal Shams to mourn, despite a request from Yasser Gadban, a local Druze community leader, for them to stay away. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met by chants of "murderer" during his visit, while far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has repeatedly called for war against Lebanon, was surrounded by angry locals when he arrived in the area."COMMENT: THE WAR MONGERS WANT THE CARNAGE TO CONTINUE UNTIL WE ARE ALL DEAD. THE WHOLE WORLD IS SICK AND TIRED OF THIS CONSTANT STRIFE. WE MUST HAVE PEACE AND A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION WITHOUT VIOLENCE AND WAR. OR ARE THE WARRING PARTIES TOO STUPID TO REALIZE VIOLENCE RESULTS IN MORE VIOLENCE AND DEATH. IT IS ALL VERY SUSPICIOUS HOW THE ASSASSINATION OF HANIYEH WAS REPORTED AND HOW THE ALLEGED BOMBING OF THE DRUZE OCCURRED.
CNN:"Former President Donald Trump, during a question-and-answer panel at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago Wednesday, called a question about his history of making offensive comments about his Black opponents a “very nasty question” and a “rude introduction.” Responding to a question from ABC’s Rachel Scott about why Black voters should trust him given his past racist comments about members of Congress and political rivals like Nikki Haley and Barack Obama, and his past flirtation with racist elements of his MAGA movement, Trump responded: “Well, first of all I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so, in such a horrible manner. The first question.”..."
"BRASILIA/CARACAS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's top foreign policy adviser on Tuesday slammed the arrest warrant issued by Caracas for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez ... Other countries around the Americas, including the United States, Argentina and Peru, also condemned the move. .."
NYTIMES:"The opposition candidate in Venezuela’s disputed July presidential election left the country on Saturday, the authorities said, as a standoff deepened at the Argentine diplomatic residence in Caracas where six Venezuelan opposition leaders have been sheltering since March. President Nicolás Maduro has faced widespread domestic and international condemnation for proclaiming that he won that election, as well as for a violent crackdown on demonstrators protesting that declaration. The United States has said that the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, won. On Saturday, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said on social media that Mr. González had left for Spain after voluntarily seeking refuge at the Spanish embassy in Caracas. Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said that Mr. González was traveling on a Spanish Air Force plane at his own request.
NYTIMES:"Venezuela appears to have sent two foreign members of Ukraine’s military this week to face trial in Moscow, a significant escalation of Kremlin’s campaign to punish its enemies abroad. The arrest of Colombian fighters in Moscow followed their arrival and subsequent disappearance last month in Venezuela, a neighbor of Colombia and a Russia ally. Their apparent extradition could damage relations between the governments of Venezuela and Colombia, which share close economic and historical ties, experts said, underlining how the war in Ukraine is creating geopolitical ripples far from the battlefield."
CNN:" Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the United States’ and Germany’s decision to deploy US long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 is “reminiscent of the events of the Cold War” and could see Russia station similar missiles in response. “If the United States of America implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium and shorter-range strike weapons, including increasing the capabilities of the coastal forces of our Navy,” said Putin, speaking at Russia’s annual Navy Day in St. Petersburg. Putin added that the development of Russian medium and shorter-range strike weapons was “in the final stages,” and Russia would take “reciprocal measures to deploy them.”...COMMENT: YOU HAVE BEEN THREATENING THE WORLD WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS SINCE THE INVASION OF UKRAINE. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ASSHOLE.
AP:"FILE - A man walks by Stars of David tagged on a wall in Paris, on Oct. 31, 2023. France says it has been the target of a Russian online destabilization campaign that used bots to whip up controversy and confusion about spray-painted Stars of David that appeared on Paris streets. French government officials accused Russia of operating a long-running online manipulation campaign against Ukraine’s Western backers. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)"
MSN:"Fareed’s take: Why I ‘remain an optimist’ in fearful times CNN’s Fareed Zakaria explains why Americans should have more confidence in their country, despite all the current dangers to the Western-led world order...."
REUTERS:"MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, could reduce the decision-making time stipulated in official policy for the use of nuclear weapons if Moscow believes that threats are increasing, parliament's defence committee chairman said. The war in Ukraine has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with President Vladimir Putin last month saying that Russia might change its official nuclear doctrine setting out the conditions under which such weapons could be used. On Sunday Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house of parliament's defence committee, was quoted by state news agency RIA as saying that if threats increased then the decision-making time for using such weapons could be changed...."BOTH THE KREMLIN AND NORTH KOREA HAVE BEEN THREATENING THE WEST WITH NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON FOR YEARS.
WASHINGTONPOST:"Donors channeled tens of millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee in the days immediately following his May 30 conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, all but erasing the massive fundraising advantage that President Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee once held."
CNN:" A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that white supremacist and nationalist groups will have to pay a more than $2 million in punitive damages to people who suffered physical or emotional injuries from the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2021, a jury ruled white nationalist leaders and organizations had to pay more than $26 million in damages to those who suffered injuries from the rally. The “Unite the Right” rally was a two-day event to protest the city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. "
NYTIMES:"...In January 2016, I warned what were then my fellow Republicans that if they nominated Mr. Trump, he would constitute a grave threat to the nation. But I added that there was an additional reason to oppose him: Mr. Trump’s nomination would pose a profound danger to the Republican Party, in ways that Hillary Clinton never could. “For while Mrs. Clinton could inflict a defeat on the Republican Party, she could not redefine it,” I wrote. “But Mr. Trump, if he were the Republican nominee, would.” And so he has. Few figures in American history have overhauled a political party as quickly and as fundamentally as Mr. Trump has..."
MSNBC:"Following Donald Trump's conviction in a Manhattan courthouse last week on 34 felony counts, some Republican leaders are advocating to fight fire with fire......"COMMENT: GO AHEAD AND SUBJECT YOURSELVES TO SANCTIONS FOR BAD FAITH AND VEXATIOUS LITIGATION Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. 501 U.S. 32 (1991) WASHINGTONPOST:"...At this point, Republicans are more given to sound and fury than specifics. We’ve also seen Republicans scratch and claw in their elusive efforts to target political opponents based on thin conspiracy theories, which don’t stick. .."
CNN: Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and the MAGA mob are calling for revenge and retribution Andrew McCabe and James Comey were legally harassed by Trump for years but nothing came of it. In the interview with Anderson, McCabe stated that people in the Justice Department and Intelligence are worried that they and their families will be subjected to extra-judicial unconstitutional detentions or worse. "This level of absolutely anti-democratic rhetoric and behavior and ideation he says stands in direct contrast to the nation we think we are, the nation we have always been..."(emphasis added) "
WASHINGTONPOST:"The Justice Department on Wednesday charged two Russian media executives in an alleged scheme that authorities say illegally funneled millions of dollars to a Tennessee-based company to create and publish propaganda videos that racked up millions of views on U.S. social media.The 32-page federal indictment accuses Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, employees of RT, a Russian-state news site formerly known as Russia Today, of conducting a money-laundering operation that spent nearly $10 million on efforts to covertly influence public opinion and sow social divisions, including placing blame on Ukraine regarding the war with Russia. Authorities said the U.S. company, which was not identified by name in the indictment, allegedly created and posted hundreds of English-language videos on social media sites, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X, that echoed Russian state propaganda and garnered 16 million views on YouTube alone. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, Russian citizens who remain at large, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which is punishable by up to 20 years, authorities said..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The United Nations Security Council approved, 14-0, a U.S.-sponsored resolution to support the American-backed cease-fire plan for Gaza. Russia abstained. The vote was a rare diplomatic victory for the Biden administration in the international body, where criticism has grown over what is seen by many as U.S. support for the war and Israeli intransigence..."
CNN:"The United Nations' top court has ordered Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court, which sits in The Hague, the Netherlands, made the ruling on Friday as part of the ongoing genocide case brought by South Africa. .."
CNN:" Israel has sparked condemnation after the finance minister announced plans to legally recognize five unauthorized Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. As CNN has reported, the Israeli government has been looking to “strengthen” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after several countries unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state. The spokesperson for Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, told CNN that the Israeli government had agreed in a late-night cabinet to recognize five Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that were built illegally and that Smotrich will release tax funds to the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf."
CNN:
" Americans in more than half of the states will face voting restrictions this year that weren’t in place four years ago during the last presidential election, a new analysis finds...."
COMMENT: SOUNDS LIKE A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO INTERFERE WITH AN ELECTION IN THE MAKING
BLOOMBERG:" Sundar Pichai, Google, and the AI Boom Ahead of Google's developer conference I/O, Google & Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai sits down exclusively with Bloomberg Originals Host & Executive Producer Emily Chang to discuss the future of search, accelerating work on Google's AI models and how his upbringing prepared him for this moment. (Source: Bloomberg) ..”
WSJ:"CUPERTINO, Calif.—If I had a dollar for every time an executive said “Apple Intelligence” at its developer’s conference on Monday, I’d have a steak dinner with all the trimmings. (So, yes, about 60 times.) After nearly two years of sitting out the generative-artificial-intelligence frenzy, Apple finally jumped in the deep end. The company is injecting AI tools throughout coming versions of its biggest platforms: iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia. There’s a new and improved Siri you can even text with. There’s a new partnership with OpenAI that will bring ChatGPT into Apple apps. There are ways to generate new images and emojis on the fly...."
WSJ:"As the U.S. and some Arab nations try to persuade Israel to work toward resolving its conflicts with Palestinians for good, young Palestinians increasingly say they don’t see an independent state as viable given Israel’s deep footprint in the West Bank and Gaza. Their pessimism, coupled with a flatlining peace process, makes it less likely a two-state solution will be achieved. It could also force Palestinian, Israeli and international leaders to return to the drawing board. Palestinians under 25 are less optimistic about the future than their elders, according to polling from the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. They are also more supportive of using violence to fight for democratic rights than their parents and grandparents, a symptom of the past’s failed diplomacy, said Khalil Shikaki, the center’s director...."
THEGUARDIAN:"The provocative Jerusalem Day parade by thousands of Jewish nationalists celebrates Israel’s capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites in the 1967 war, a move that is not internationally recognised. It has often featured violent clashes between marchers and Palestinian residents of the Old City, as well as anti-Arab hate speech and vandalism of Palestinian property, although last year’s march passed relatively peacefully......"
HAARETZ:"On December 4 , 1948, the New York Times published a letter by a group of Jewish dignitaries, including Albert Einstein and political theorist Hannah Arendt, protesting a visit to the United States “a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties.”"(EMPHASIS ADDED)
PRINCETON ALUMNI WEEKLY:"Referring to the massacre of Arabs by Jews in the village of Deir Yassin, the letter said “the [Jewish] terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicized it widely. … The Deir Yassin incident exemplifies the character and actions of the Freedom Party.” Further describing the Freedom Party, the letter stated it includes “an admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority” and that it bore the “unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a ‘Leader State’ is the goal.” The letter ended by saying that America should turn its back on Begin and not support “this latest manifestation of fascism.” "EMPHASIS ADDED
WIKIPEDIA:"The Nakba (Arabic: النَّكْبَة an-Nakba, lit. 'the catastrophe') was the ethnic cleansing[1] of Palestinians in Mandatory Palestine during the 1948 Palestine war through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their society, and the suppression of their culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations.[2] The term is also used to describe the ongoing persecution and displacement of Palestinians by Israel.[3] As a whole, it covers the fracturing of Palestinian society and the long-running rejection of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.[4][5]"
CNN:" Almost exactly six months ago, Israelis awoke to a nightmare. Civilians in the southern part of the country, areas near the border with Gaza, were under a brutal, ongoing attack. It would become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and a prelude to unspeakable suffering on both sides of the border.Six months after Hamas launched that deadly rampage, knowing that Israel’s response would be ferocious, there are only losers in this terrible war...."
CNN:"To Donald Trump, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán is “fantastic,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “brilliant,” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is “an OK guy,” and, most alarmingly, he allegedly said Adolf Hitler “did some good things,” a worldview that would reverse decades-old US foreign policy in a second term should he win November’s presidential election, multiple former senior advisers told CNN. ..”An undercurrent of implied violence has always been an essential ingredient of Donald Trump’s strongman persona. As the ex-president’s first trial and the general election approach, he is turning up the heat, creating a tense political atmosphere.... In some ways, this is classic behavior from Trump and follows multiple previous social media threats to judges, political opponents and anyone who angers him. But the context of looming trials and the election is important. No other presumptive Republican nominee or former president has acted in anything like this fashion...."
REUTERS:"DEARBORN, Michigan, Feb 27 - The depth of Democratic Party anger over President Joe Biden’s handling of the Gaza war has caught his campaign off guard and could depress support in November’s election, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen senior party and campaign officials and five dozen voters and activists.... "
CNN:"Steven Spielberg had words of caution and hope on Monday while accepting an honor from the University of Southern California. '... The rise in extremist views has created a dangerous environment and radical intolerance (that) leads to a society that no longer celebrates differences, but to instead conspire to demonize those who are different to the point of creating the other.... Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...'..."
NYTIMES:"...They have preserved this way of life for hundreds of years through isolation — some villages can take a week to reach. But since September, the Marubo have had high-speed internet thanks to Elon Musk...."
WASHINGTONPOST:
"When Pedro Guerrero Mortero was growing up in California’s Central Valley, where one-quarter of the nation’s food is produced, he saw daily how undocumented agricultural workers such as his parents lived in a country that didn’t recognize them or the benefits it was reaping from their countless hours of toil in the blistering sun. But it wasn’t until the terrifying days of the covid-19 pandemic that an irony of their situation came home to him. .."
CNN:"... JPMorgan Chase now fights off about 45 billion attempts a day by hackers to infiltrate its systems. That’s double what it was last year, highlighting the escalating cybersecurity challenges the bank and other Wall Street titans are facing..."
WASHINGTONPOST:"The major cloud computing provider spun out of Hewlett-Packard said late Wednesday that it had been hacked by a suspected Russian intelligence team, the second such hack of a major U.S. internet company reported this month...."
CNN:"...In 2006, I opened the office of OneVoice Gaza in Gaza City to galvanize Palestinians behind the goal of a two-state solution reached through negotiation with Israel and our neighbors..."COMMENT: VIOLENCE IS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. IT ONLY LEADS TO MORE VIOLENCE HATRED AND DEATH. ONE CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WE HAVEN'T LEARNED THIS BY NOW
CNN:" Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi paid tribute to the Iranian people’s determination to “dismantle” the “despotism and obstruction” of the Islamic Republic’s regime in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture delivered by her children, Kiana and Ali, on Sunday. Her teenage twins, who have not seen their mother in years, accepted the award on her behalf at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital, Oslo..."
NYTIMES:" How the Russian Government Silences Wartime Dissent By Anton Troianovski, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Oleg Matsnev, Alina Lobzina, Valerie Hopkins and Aaron Krolik Dec. 29, 2023 Just days after invading Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a censorship law that made it illegal to “discredit” the army. The legislation was so sweeping that even his spokesman acknowledged it was easy to cross the line into prohibited speech. In the first 18 months of the war, the law scooped up a vast array of ordinary Russians — schoolteachers, pensioners, groundskeepers, a carwash owner — for punishment..."
"LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas' massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United States, not Hamas. "I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolise the settlement process," Putin told Iraq's prime minister."COMMENT: HAMAS stated Oct 7 was for 30 years of oppression and immediately called for shitler to act as mediator. Iran feigned surprise. Anyone with half a brain could see that the current war was precipitated by fascist imperialist Russia and its proxies. HAMAS attacked on Putin's birthday. The IDF was aware of the plan a year before but thought it was just "aspirational" NYTIMESThe current catastrophe was calculated and precipitated by Hamas, Iran and Russia. Netanyahu was aware of the plan and has used it to galvanize the right and conduct genocidal tactics creating more hate towards Israel. At this point Israel Hamas Iran and Russia are responsible for every drop of blood spilled.
CNN:" Arab and Muslim leaders decried Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza at a summit in Riyadh where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a first public meeting...."COMMENT:THE JEWS ARE INDIGENIOUS TO ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST. IRAN IS A FASCIST PROXY OF AN IMPERIALIST TERRORIST RUSSIA AS IS EVERY FASCIST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. IT IS HAMAS' STRATEGY TO USE CIVILIANS AS SHIELDS. ISLAMIC FASCIST THINKING VIEWS ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AS SLAVES.(REUTERS:Arab militias scorn ethnic Africans as 'slaves'; hundreds of thousands flee Sudan) .HAMAS IRAN AND RUSSIA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CATASTROPHE. SPARE US YOUR BULLSHIT PROPAGANDA
CNN:"Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas' founder who later became one of Israel's top informants, speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper about Israel's war on the terror group and the situation in Gaza" Yousef states that Hamas wants the total annihilation of Israel and Jews and wants to establish a global Islamic state. Yousef states that Israel is fighting for the Palestians to be free from Hamas.COMMENT: RUSSIA AND IRAN back Hamas and other terror organiations.CHINA also provides them weapons
CNN:"Tapper: Key members of Netanyahu’s cabinet ‘throwing fire on the flames’ CNN’s Jake Tapper breaks down the comments made by several members of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet that he says are increasing tensions amid Israel’s war with Hamas. #CNN #news "
" CNN:" The North Shore attracts more than 3 million visitors each year. Surfers are drawn to test their abilities in taming “perfectly glassy waves,” as Cannon described them. Pacific waters roaring against the shores of Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay can reach staggering heights north of 30 feet."
METERORED:"These wonderful scenes were filmed at a depth of over 650 metres at the Winslow reef complex on Tokelau Ridge."
ABCNEWS:"Tennessee otter enjoys playing in the snow"
Cat Saves Dog Being Attacked by Coyotes KCAU-TV Sioux City 17.1K subscribers 218,688 views Jan 2, 2024 Cat Saves Dog Being Attacked by Coyotes
CNN:" A 2-year-old girl who walked barefoot more than three miles with her family’s two dogs was found sleeping off a wooded Michigan trail using the smaller dog as a pillow, authorities said. Troopers were called to a house in rural Faithorn, Michigan, around 8 p.m. on Wednesday after the toddler, Thea Chase, had wandered away from the home, Michigan State Police Lt. Mark Giannunzio told CNN on Friday. Faithorn is a small town about a mile east of Wisconsin’s border in northern Michigan."
CNN:" An image of a napping polar bear curled up on an iceberg has captured the hearts of voters to become the winner of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani called it an honor to win the award for the dreamy scene “Ice Bed,” captured off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, saying that the image “stirred strong emotions,” such as hope, in those who saw it."
CNN:" It’s the body of water that instils fear and inspires sailors in equal measure. Six hundred miles of open sea, and some of the roughest conditions on the planet ...It is, of course, the Drake Passage..."
CNN:"World's largest species of fish spotted in rare appearance Researchers from the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology Shark Research Lab say they spotted the whale shark a mile off the Kāneʻohe Bay."
PHYS.ORG:"Fleeting blasts of energy from space, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), are a cosmic enigma. A Canadian-led international team of researchers has published new findings suggesting that supernovae are the predominant contributors to forming sources that eventually produce FRBs..."
CNBC:"CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and Dario Gil, IBM director of research, join 'Power Lunch' to discuss the new AI alliance between META and IBM. .."IBM, META, AMD, ORACLE, INTEL and about 50 other companies are forming the AI alliance to build vetted interoperable AI tools. They will develop and deploy benchmarks and evaluation standards, tools and other responsible development of AI systems at global scale. They're also talking about addressing social issues witb AI as well as educating policy makers.The IBM Director of Research Dario Gil stated that Open Source has become the modern way develop interoperable standards...
CNN:" Scientists in California shooting nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder holding a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn have taken another step in the quest for fusion energy, which, if mastered, could provide the world with a near-limitless source of clean power. .”.."
CNNBUSINESS:
"...Silicon Valley startup
ClimateAi is developing an artificial intelligence platform to evaluate how vulnerable crops are to warming temperatures over the next two decades. The tool uses data on the climate, water and soil of a particular location to measure how viable the landscape will be for growing in the coming years. Maharashtra, India, was one of its first case studies in 2021. ..."
THE-EUROPEAN-SPACE-AGENCY:"Euclid, our dark Universe detective, has a difficult task: to investigate how dark matter and dark energy have made our Universe look like it does today. 95% of our cosmos appears to be made of these mysterious ‘dark’ entities. But we don’t understand what they are because their presence causes only very subtle changes in the appearance and motions of the things we can see... "
CNN:"A glowing supernova remnant, a nebula shaped like a cat’s paw and the iconic “Pillars of Creation” are just a few of the celestial objects that shine in 25 never-before-seen images captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to mark the telescope’s 25th anniversary. Chandra, named in honor of the late Indian American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, launched to space aboard the space shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. The crew, including STS-93 Commander Eileen Collins, deployed the telescope into its oval-shaped orbit, which takes Chandra on a path around Earth that is nearly one-third of the distance to the moon..."
CNN:"...Astronomers thought barred spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way didn’t appear until the universe reached at least half of its current age because it was believed that it took several billion years of galactic evolution before the massive collections of stars within galaxies could form central bars...
WASHINGTONPOST:"A group of U.S. scientists say they have repeated their landmark energy feat — a nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than is put into it. But this time, they say the experiment produced an even higher energy yield than one in December that got international attention for making a major step forward toward the long elusive goal of producing energy through fusion..."
"WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The peculiar wobble of a subatomic particle called a muon in a U.S. laboratory experiment is making scientists increasingly suspect they are missing something in their understanding of physics - perhaps some unknown particle or force...."
CNN:THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER: HOW TO UNSCREW A PLANET. Solving the pressing climate issues requires science and everyone's cooperation On https://play.max.com
REUTERS:"Heavy rain from Typhoon Gaemi has flooded the Philippine capital Manila and nearby cities, forcing authorities to shut schools, offices and cancel flights on Wednesday and declare a state of calamity in a region that is home to 13 million people.""TAIPEI/BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - Typhoon Gaemi swept through northern Taiwan on Thursday, killing three people, triggering flooding and sinking a freighter before barrelling west across the Taiwan Strait towards China where it is expected to dump more torrential rain."
WSJ:" An international team of astrophysicists has discovered hundreds of mysterious structures in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. These one-dimensional cosmic threads are hundreds of horizontal or radial filaments — slender, elongated bodies of luminous gas that potentially originated a few million years ago when outflow from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, interacted with surrounding materials, according to a study published Friday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. .."
CNN:" The James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories witnessed a massive explosion in space that created rare chemical elements, some of which are necessary for life. The explosion, which occurred on March 7, was the second brightest gamma-ray burst ever witnessed by telescopes in more than 50 years of observations, over one million times brighter than the entire Milky Way Galaxy combined. ..
CNN:"What would be the ultimate solution to the energy problems of an advanced civilization? Renowned British American physicist Freeman Dyson theorized it would be a shell made up of mirrors or solar panels that completely surrounds a star — harnessing all the energy it produces. “One should expect that, within a few thousand years of its entering the stage of industrial development, any intelligent species should be found occupying an artificial biosphere which completely surrounds its parent star,” wrote Dyson in a 1960 paper in which he first explained the concept..."
NYTIMES:"Susan Wojcicki, who helped turn Google from a start-up in her garage into an internet juggernaut, and who became one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent female executives with her leadership of YouTube, died on Friday. She was 56... Ms. Wojcicki’s more than two decades with Google began in 1998 in her house in Menlo Park, Calif., part of which she rented to her friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company’s founders. For $1,700 a month, the two used the garage as their office to build the search engine.Ms. Wojcicki, who had been working at Intel, soon joined Google as one of its earliest employees and was its first marketing manager. Over the years, she reached its executive ranks, becoming Google’s most senior woman employee. She eventually led YouTube, which Google acquired in 2006, and which became one of the world’s largest social media companies. “She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said in a statement."
WASHINGTONPOST:"Robert MacNeil, a Canadian-born broadcast journalist who built what is now “PBS NewsHour” and served for two decades as its urbane, evenhanded co-anchor, died April 12 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 93...."
CNN:" Physicist Peter Higgs, whose theory of an undetected particle in the universe changed science and was vindicated by a Nobel prize-winning discovery half a century later, has died aged 94, the University of Edinburgh said on Tuesday. The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 at the CERN research centre near Geneva was widely hailed as the biggest advance in knowledge about the cosmos for over 30 years, and pointed physics towards ideas that were once science fiction...."
CNN:"Extrajudicial executions, rape, forced abortions, jail without trial, torture, starvation rations that leave prisoners so hungry some turn to eating insects. These are just some of the abuses commonplace in North Korean prisons and other detention facilities, according to former detainees whose testimony forms the basis of a new report released by a human rights watchdog this week. .."
CNN:"Meet the women fighting for compensation for cancers they say were caused by France’s nuclear testing...In 2013, Hinamoeura Cross, a 25 year-old Tahitian lawyer and mother, received a phone call that would change her life forever.  After a routine blood test, the medical laboratory called and asked if she had been stung by a bee.  Confused, Cross said no. The technician explained that her test results showed an abnormally high white blood cell count, and recommended she see a doctor immediately. Soon after, Cross was diagnosed with leukemia..."
SURGE-IN-EXTREME-POVERTY "LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world's poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of 159 developing countries showed that the surge in key commodity prices this year was already slamming parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, Asia and elsewhere."
George-F-Will CNN:"Anderson asks George Will if is he worried about democracy: Hear his reply. Contrary to the myth today Americans are quite willing to confront their mistakes. On balance our progress is stunning. The discord today is unsightly awful and childish but we've seen worse. I don't think our democracy is in danger of death but I do think it is in danger of being attenuated and weakened. Democracy depends upon above all else on a culture of persuasion of conversation .."
putos-wars CNN:"Look back at Russia's armed conflicts since Putin took office Anderson Cooper 360 CNN's Matthew Chance takes a look at the career of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the parallels of a number of wars Russia has been involved in the past and the war in Ukraine today.Source: CNN”
NPR: Russian mercenaries are also active in Libya, Sudan, Mali and the CAR.
The Seal of the CISA CISA:" This joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA)—authored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA)—is part of our continuing cybersecurity mission to warn organizations of cyber threats and help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats. This CSA provides an overview of Russian state-sponsored cyber operations; commonly observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs); detection actions; incident response guidance; and mitigations.This overview is intended to help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats. Additionally, CISA, the FBI, and NSA strongly urge network defenders to implement the recommendations listed below and detailed in the Mitigations section. These mitigations will help organizations improve their functional resilience by reducing the risk of compromise or severe business degradation. Be prepared. Confirm reporting processes and minimize personnel gaps in IT/OT security coverage. Create, maintain, and exercise a cyber incident response plan , resilience plan, and continuity of operations plan so that critical functions and operations can be kept running..."
HEY-HEY-RISE-UP BBC:"Legendary British rock band Pink Floyd has released a song in support of Ukraine. The track is called "Hey Hey Rise Up". It features the vocals of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from Ukrainian band Boombox. Pink Floyd band member David Gilmour said he was inspired by a video on Instagram by Khlyvnyuk, who is currently serving in Kyiv's defence, in which he sings in an empty Sofia Square in the Ukrainian capital. Gilmour wrote the music for the song, and then spoke by phone to Khlyvnyuk in hospital, where he is recovering from injuries. "I played a little on the phone and he gave me his blessing We both hope to do something together in person in the future,"said the British musician. This is Pink Floyd's first song since 1994, and all proceeds from the sale will go to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.. .”
refugee-children "DHAKA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar Rohingya Muslims protested across refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh on Thursday, the fifth anniversary of clashes between Rohingya insurgents and Myanmar security forces that drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes. More than a million Rohingya are living in squalid camps in southern Bangladesh comprising the world's largest refugee settlement, with little prospect of returning to Myanmar, where they are mostly denied citizenship and other rights. ..."
CNN:"Measuring the expansion rate of the universe was one of the Hubble Space Telescope's main goals when it was launched in 1990. Over the past 30 years, the space observatory has helped scientists discover and refine that accelerating rate -- as well as uncover a mysterious wrinkle that only brand-new physics may solve. .. "
CNN:"The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a unique perspective of the universe, including never-before-seen galaxies that glitter like diamonds in the cosmos. The new image, shared on Wednesday as part of a study published in the Astronomical Journal, was taken as part of the Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science observing program, called PEARLS. It’s one of the first medium-deep-wide-field images of the universe..."
"
lavrov "LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Russia has lost any illusions about ever relying on the West and Moscow will never accept a world order dominated by the United States, which is acting like a sheriff seeking to call all the shots in a saloon bar, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said..." The Kremlin is acting like a school yard bully that needs to get his ass kicked until he learns how to play nice. Why have so many former soviet states asked to join NATO? Because they have no illusions about putler's desire to re-establish the USSR.
Bridging the Global Wealth Gap Bloomberg New Economy Forum: Bridging the Global Wealth Gap: "IBM Executive Chair Ginni Rometty, McDonald's Corp. CEO Chris Kempxzinski, Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratmnam and Blackstone Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman discuss the task of rebuilding the economy and the best path to prosperity for low-income workers. The destruction of covid-19 comes on top of a slow burn that affects the middle class a long period stagnation of incomes diminishing jobs in the middle and polarization of the job market. Then you have the problem lower down, where there are low skill service jobs, and loss of the sense of being able to move up to a middle class life... "
Grand Ayatollah Ali-Al-Sistani and Pope Francis ALJAZEERA:" Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority. The historic meeting on Saturday in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.After the meeting, al-Sistani office released a statement that said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians and that the Shia leader “affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights”. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani and the Shia people for having “raised his voice in defence of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history. "
afghan-militia NBCNEWS:"The Taliban’s swift conquest is attributable to many factors. But one that crosses multiple administrations yet is getting very little attention right now is corruption. Specifically, the kind of corruption the U.S. aided and abetted over many years, glad-handing crooked officials and stalling anti-corruption investigations, as ordinary Afghans struggled and watched officials grow wealthier and wealthier. While corruption can hardly be described as the sole reason for the Afghan government’s disintegration, it is a consistent through-line of multiple American administrations — and an element that the U.S. has consistently overlooked.It’s not like the U.S. was unaware of the kind of corruption that exploded during the American occupation, or of the role that Washington played in fueling the kleptocratic graft. ..."
CNN:"The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis this month quietly proposed extending Florida’s controversial prohibition on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity to all grades. The Florida Department of Education approved the proposed rule on March 9 and it was published in the Florida Administrative Register for review on March 16. The State Board of Education is scheduled to take it up on April 19. DeSantis last year signed into law a measure that banned such instruction through fourth grade, arguing at the time that young children should not be exposed to concepts like gender identity. The fight over the legislation attracted opposition from across the country, including the White House and Walt Disney Company. In response to Disney’s objections, DeSantis moved to strip the company of its special governing tax district. .."
national-memorial-to-lives-lost-to-covidAP:"As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.” Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality and responsibility, the pandemic’s U.S. death toll has eclipsed 400,000. And the loss of lives is accelerating.

myanmar-general ALJAZERRA:"The leader of Myanmar’s ruling generals will travel to Russia next week for economic talks as both governments face diplomatic isolation over militaristic moves. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will attend the Eastern Economic Forum in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Saturday. .."Moreover, the source of much of the misinformation about vaccines comes from an unobvious source: the Russian government’s propaganda apparatus, which cultivates and exploits foreign anti-vaccine “useful idiots,” causing palpable harm to Americans and citizens of other Western countries." In addition, the..."anti-mask movement in many ways, shares similarities with that of the anti-vaccine movement..."
kenosha-county-jail NBCNEWS:"Years of housing segregation and redlining have contributed to Wisconsin imprisoning its Black residents at a rate higher than any other state in the country, criminal justice experts say. One in every 36 Black people are currently in prison in the state, according to a report from The Sentencing Project, a group that advocates for reduced incarceration. Black people represent 42 percent of the state’s total prison population despite accounting for only 6 percent of the total population. The report, which uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also found that Black Wisconsinites are also nearly 12 times as likely as their white counterparts to be imprisoned, well above the national average and behind only New Jersey in the rate of racial disparity between Black people and white people..."
CNN:"...For two decades in the 1980s and 1990s, as a video journalist for CNN in Central America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, I saw people on the run from conflict and unrest, carrying children and whatever belongings they could, sometimes on foot, sometimes packed into the back of overflowing trucks. I saw them fleeing across borders, into the woods, up mountains – in panic and looking for sanctuary. It is not only a daunting assignment to be the world’s witness. It is a privilege. It is an honor. It is a prayer – sending images out as a “first-alert” system to the rest of the world...To this day, it’s hard for me to utter the word “refugee” without a crack in my voice.As breaking news journalists, my colleagues and I scrambled from one story to the next. There seemed to be no end to the world’s tumult. There were civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. The Soviet Union dissolved. Yugoslavia broke apart. There was famine and anarchy in Somalia, war in Sudan and Northern Iraq. Abstract political ideas translated into images and stories of countless individuals uprooted from their homes. I rarely had time to follow each person I encountered to a conclusion. My camera always caught them in the middle of chaos, at a precipice in their lives. Did the woman in Grozny, Chechnya ever find her missing son? Did the baby hit by shrapnel survive his wounds? Did the family in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina make it through the war? Each personal chronicle of tragedy I captured was like one frame in a long movie, and each frame had to stand in for thousands, streaming past. It never felt like I was doing enough... "
pro-trump-nuts MSN/SALON:"... At least 57 state and local officials from 27 different states traveled to the "Stop the Steal" rally on the morning of Jan. 6, HuffPost reported in February. The list included at least 20 Republican state legislators, a state attorney general, six county commissioners, seven city council members, two mayors, three school board members and two state Republican chairs. Four of the GOP officials have been charged with participating in the riot. Two organizers of the Jan. 6 rally also vowed to provide information about White House officials and House Republicans who participated in rally planning meetings. One organizer told Rolling Stone last month that "Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically," along with "close to a dozen other members," were involved in the planning. Other lawmakers named by the organizers included Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mo Brooks, R-Ala., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas. Gosar, one of the organizers said, even floated "blanket pardons" in a separate investigation to urge them to organize the rallies. The organizers also said that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows played a "major role" in the discussions..."
AUSCHWITZ CNN:" In January 2020, I led a delegation of more than 60 prominent Arab Muslims, including 25 religious leaders, on what our Jewish hosts called a “groundbreaking” visit to the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camps.Ours was the most senior Islamic delegation to visit the site during its sorrowful history. Passing through the infamous gates was a visceral, emotionally-arresting experience that managed to both transport me back in time and sharpen my mind on the future. For it was here that 1.1 million people, the vast majority of them Jews, were murdered during the Holocaust. And it was here that I reaffirmed my commitment to fight intolerance and hate in all its forms.This visit was our moral obligation and an overdue sign of solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, with whom we must tackle the many injustices and enmities there are in the world. Indeed, all the world’s major faiths — Christian, Judaic, Hindu, Buddhist and Hindu — have at their core a commitment to peace and justice that starts with recognition of the struggles of our fellow travelers... we must ask ourselves: does the truth of the Holocaust continue to set hearts and minds, once blinded by ignorance, fear and prejudice, free? The honest answer is that while Muslim understanding of the Holocaust is important to bringing lasting peace to the Holy Lands, Holocaust ignorance and denial remains a worrisome trend that only worsens with the passage of time. .."
Col(Ret)-Ed-Shames-101st-Airborne "(CNN)Col. Edward Shames, the last surviving officer of the historic World War II parachute infantry regiment of the US Army known as Easy Company, died Friday at the age of 99. Shames "passed away peacefully at home," said the obituary posted by the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory. During World War II, Shames "was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division now known globally as the 'Band of Brothers,'" according to the obituary. The story of Easy Company was later immortalized in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," based on The New York Times bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose. (CNN and HBO are part of WarnerMedia.) Shames "was involved in some of the most important battles of the war. He made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord," according to the obituary. Shames "gained a reputation as a stubborn and very outspoken soldier who demanded the highest of standards..."
" Dec 13 (Reuters) - For the energy industry, 2022 will be remembered as the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated a global energy crisis. The invasion, and subsequent Western sanctions, heaped new pressures on oil and gas supplies already strained from the rapid economic rebound from the pandemic. The world's top energy companies beat a hasty retreat from Russia and wrote off tens of billions of dollars in assets. European nations scrambled to make sure they could keep the lights on and their residents from freezing to death... Climate change targets went on the back burner."
CNN:" Japan on Friday unveiled a new national security plan that signals the country’s biggest military buildup since World War II, doubling defense spending and veering from its pacifist constitution in the face of growing threats from regional rivals..."
WASHINGTONPOST:" Reckoning of American Indian boarding schools grows The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition identified 115 more schools than the 408 federally funded schools previously recognized, bringing the known number of schools that forced Native American children to assimilate to White culture to 523 across the U.S. The coalition scoured thousands of records scattered across the National Archives, universities, tribal offices and local historical societies to identify and map the schools as part of an effort to raise awareness about an often forgotten part of U.S. history. “Regardless of who was complicit in running these schools, whether it was done by the federal government or a church or religious group, they both thought it was acceptable to create these schools to remove Native children from their land, strip them of their language and reprogram them under a Manifest Destiny model,” said Samuel Torres, deputy chief executive of the coalition. Tens of thousands of American Indian children attended these schools, although no one knows the exact number. Thousands are believed to have died, the coalition said.There are increasingly few Native elders alive to give firsthand accounts of their time at the schools. Many are now in their 70s and 80s and attended the schools in the late 1940s and ’50s. Some were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Their experiences left them deeply scarred. ‘12 years of hell’: Indian boarding school survivors share their stories The coalition’s work comes amid a growing effort to expose the harmful legacy of the boarding school era on American Indian families and tribes as part of the federal government’s broader, centuries-long policies to try to eradicate Native Americans and seize their land. The reckoning has been spurred in large part, many Native leaders said, by the discovery in 2021 of roughly 200 unmarked graves of children who died at a residential school in Canada."
CNN:"Winter in drought-stricken California is off to a fast start with a series of storms bringing a generous amount of rain and snow across Western states. And it’s already starting to make a dent in California’s drought conditions, according to the latest US Drought Monitor released Thursday morning. The barrage of rain and snow brought a tiny glimpse of hope for drought-weary residents, who in the past three years have been facing back-to-back historically dry years that triggered unprecedented water shortages and landscape-altering wildfires."
CNN:"A year after his Tennessee home was burned down and a racial slur was spray-painted on his property, Alan Mays says he’s still pleading with authorities for answers to what he’s calling a hate crime. Authorities are actively investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed the family’s seven-bedroom home in Ripley last November, but Mays says he’s growing disillusioned as his family is now facing homelessness. “We were never given any kind of closure,” the Iraq War veteran told CNN. Mays, who is Black, claims that authorities are treating the fire as an accident despite a documented pattern of harassment against his multiracial family. From repeated break-ins to security camera footage of people shouting racial slurs around their house, Mays says his family has been targeted for years."
wishma " Tokyo (CNN)As a child, Wishma Rathnayake was fascinated with "Oshin," a popular 1980s' television drama about a young girl who rises from poverty to head a Japanese supermarket chain. Urged by her father to emulate her hero, Rathnayake started learning Japanese with a dream of one day moving to Japan from the small Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of Colombo. When her father died, the university graduate convinced her mother she could earn enough money working abroad as an English teacher to fund her retirement. The family remortgaged their home, and in 2017, Rathnayake moved to Narita, on the outskirts of Tokyo, on a student visa. Within three years, she was dead. .."
CNN: Two FSB defectors say there are many Russians in the FSB who want to escape from Russia. "Every second FSB officer wants to run away". "There are a lot of people who now work in the Putin system but want to find- a way to work together with the West, with Ukraine, with Europe, with the United States, and to stop Putin." Because there have been FSB agents who pretended to seek asylum but in reality continued to work for Putin, many countries have made it more difficult for many Russians to get visas to enter their countries
CNN:"I care about dismantling Christian nationalism both because I’m a practicing Christian and because I’m a patriotic American – and no, those identities are not the same. As Christians, we can’t allow Greene, Boebert or Trump to distort our faith without a fight. We must speak loudly when our faith is used as a political tool, we must uproot it from our own churches and communities and we must form alliances with religious minorities and the nonreligious – who suffer the impact of Christian nationalism the most. Religion, and Christianity in particular, has flourished in America not because of government aid or favoritism, but for the opposite reason: religion’s freedom from government control. Government involvement in religious affairs doesn’t aid the free exercise of religion. And as Christians, we are called to love our neighbors rather than make them feel unwelcome in their own country. As historian Jemar Tisby has written, “[to] follow Christ is to reject the Christian Nationalist ideology. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her allies can follow Jesus’s teachings or the teachings of Christian Nationalism, but they cannot do both.”"
"WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, on Sunday pressed Democratic President Joe Biden to take action to manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at America's southern border when COVID-era restrictions are set to end this week. U.S. border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a U.S. judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries. The policy, known as Title 42, is due to end on Dec. 21, and thousands of asylum seekers have been lining up at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the easing of restrictions. On Saturday, the west Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency, citing hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day. "It's a very dire situation," U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, a Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation"."
"WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's new push to investigate reports of UFOs has so far not yielded any evidence to suggest that aliens have visited Earth or crash-landed here, senior military leaders said on Friday. However, the Pentagon's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects -- whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater -- led to hundreds of new reports that are now being investigated, they say." But so far they have seen nothing that indicates intelligent alien life. "I have not seen anything in those holdings to date that would suggest that there has been an alien visitation, an alien crash or anything like that," said Ronald Moultrie, under secretary of defense for intelligence and security. Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon's newly formed All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial life and said he was taking a scientific approach to the research.
REUTERS:"A smoky haze hangs over India's northern plains and its capital, New Delhi, every year as winter sets in, raising fears for the health of many millions of people as authorities order fixes that do little to clear the air. In recent days, the Air Quality Index in the capital of 20 million people, where few use air purifiers or wear masks to protect themselves, has risen above 350 on a scale of 500, near "very poor" levels, according to the SAFAR monitoring agency. Anything above 60 is considered unhealthy."
Albert-Einstein " (CNN)The ripples created by massive cosmic collisions have reached Earth after traveling across the universe for billions of years. Scientists have detected the largest number of these gravitational waves since the cosmic events were first discovered in 2015, according to new research. Astronomers made 35 new detections of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, between November 2019 and March 2020. The cosmic waves were largely created by pairs of merging black holes, but several were born of rare collisions between dense neutron stars and black holes. It's a giant leap from when just three gravitational waves were detected between 2015 and 2016. This brings the known number of detected gravitational waves to 90 from 2015 to 2020. They were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, in the US, and the Virgo gravitational-wave observatory in Italy. The results of the latest observation campaign were published Monday. Star life and death Gravitational waves can help scientists better understand the violent life cycle of stars and why they turn into black holes or neutron stars when they die. These ripples in space-time were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 as part of his theory of general relativity. This latest discovery is "a tsunami" and a "major leap forward in our quest to unlock the secrets of the Universe's evolution," said study coauthor Susan Scott, a distinguished professor at the Australian National University Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics, in a statement. .."
Gen-Charles-McGee " Jan 16 (Reuters) - Retired Brigadier General Charles McGee, part of the pioneering all-Black Tuskegee Airmen during World War Two and one of its most decorated pilots, died on Sunday at the age of 102, his family said in a statement. McGee, who flew 409 combat missions spanning World War Two, Korea and Vietnam, died in his sleep Sunday morning, a family spokesperson said. "He had his right hand over his heart and was smiling serenely," his youngest daughter Yvonne McGee said in a statement released by the spokesperson."Today, we lost an America hero," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Twitter. "While I am saddened by his loss, I'm also incredibly grateful for his sacrifice, his legacy and his character. Rest in Peace, General." McGee was born Dec. 7, 1919 in Cleveland, Ohio. His plane was hit twice in combat, once during the Korean conflict and again years later near Laos, both times on his right wing. McGee battled racism and segregation during his military career. He was called to service in 1942 at age 23 and became one of the first Black military aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen."Being brought up, they say African-American or Black, but we're American and our country was at war," McGee told Reuters in 2016."We were just as interested in supporting that effort as anybody else at that time and so we turned our back on the fact that there was segregation .."
Humanitarian-Catastrophe "GENEVA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The worst drought in the Horn of Africa in more than 40 years looks almost certain to persist after the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday that forecasts for October-December show a high chance of drier-than-average conditions. The latest outlook confirms the fears of aid agencies which have been warning for months about the worsening consequences of the drought for Ethiopia, Somalia and parts of Kenya, including a risk of another famine in Somalia following one there a decade ago that killed hundreds of thousands of people."
CNN:"You know the story: a young, undersized, aspiring artist from New York’s Lower East Side who loves his country and hates bullies uses a superhero persona to take on the Nazis and becomes a war hero. It’s the origin of Captain America. It’s also the origin of Jack Kirby, his co-creator.Captain America debuted 82 years ago this month, in 1941’s “Captain America Comics” no. 1, the brainchild of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. .."
CNN:"Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is not quite a household name -- yet. The 18th century Afro-Caribbean historical figure is best known as a composer, sometimes called "The Black Mozart" for his bright, virtuosic works and peerless talent on the violin. He was also the son of an enslaved woman, a champion fencer, a notorious ladies' man, a boundary-breaking conductor and a close confidante of Marie Antoinette. With a life like that, the drama practically writes itself. Now, more than 200 years after his death, Bologne's remarkable story is finally reaching mainstream audiences through "Chevalier," a film based on his life. Moreover, his works are being dusted off and championed by some of classical music's most influential figures."
casitas-de-esperanza NBCNEWS:"...Even with the minimum wage, if you’re working a full-time job, and you’re making $15 an hour, but the house you’re living in is $2,400,” she said. “There is no way to bridge that gap. So one of the things that we’ve seen with homelessness in our community is that we have a lot of people who are working who are homeless.” .."
Journalist-Lourdes-Maldonado-Lopez-killed "Mexico City (CNN)Journalist Lourdes Maldonado López was killed on Sunday in northern Mexico's border city of Tijuana, marking the third killing of a journalist in the country in two weeks. López was shot to death inside a car in Tijuana's Santa Fe neighborhood, according to a Sunday statement from the Baja California Attorney General Office. Local law enforcement first received a report on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time and found López dead upon arrival, it said. An investigation is underway. López covered corruption and politics, and had been the victim of previous attacks for her work, according to the human rights organization, Article 19, of which López was a member. .. "
thousands-protest-in-India "Delhi, India (CNN)At a conference in India last month, a Hindu extremist dressed head-to-toe in the religion's holy color, saffron, called on her supporters to kill Muslims and "protect" the country. "If 100 of us become soldiers and are prepared to kill 2 million (Muslims), then we will win ... protect India, and make it a Hindu nation," said Pooja Shakun Pandey, a senior member of the right-wing Hindu Mahasabha political party, according to a video of the event. Her words -- and calls for violence from other religious leaders -- were met with a roar of applause from the large audience, video from the three-day conference in the northern Indian city of Haridwar shows. But across India, people were outraged. Nearly a month on, many are still furious at the lack of government response or arrests over the comments, which they say highlights a worsening climate for the country's Muslims... "
Al Jezeera reporter killed WASHINGTONPOST:
"JERUSALEM — The funeral of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh began in chaos Friday, as Israeli police set off stun grenades and beat mourners with batons, after a group of them tried to carry her coffin on their shoulders rather than let it be loaded in a hearse.By day’s end, the crowds had swelled into the largest Palestinian gathering in Jerusalem in recent memory. Mourners called it a stunning display of national unity, prompted by the death of a journalist being hailed as an icon, with a face familiar across the Arab world, who was the latest victim, they said, of Israel’s decades-long occupation. Abu Akleh, a correspondent for the Al Jazeera news channel, was shot dead Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. The network and Palestinian authorities said she was shot by Israeli troops. Israel has said she was caught in crossfire. After saying Palestinian gunmen were most likely responsible, the military said Thursday that it was examining the possibility that one of its soldiers fired the shot..."
digital-representation-of-murdered-child BBC:"Bodies found at the bottom of a medieval well were Ashkenazi Jews and victims of 12th Century anti-Semitic violence, DNA evidence has suggested. They were discovered in 2004 during an excavation of a site in the centre of Norwich. The well contained the remains of at least 17 people, mostly children, six of whom have had their DNA analysed...The findings, published in the Current Biology journal, indicate that four of the probable victims were relatives, including three young sisters, aged five to 10 years old, 10 to 15 years old and a young adult...According to the study, the findings were consistent with them being victims of a historically-recorded anti-Semitic massacre by local crusaders and their supporters in Norwich on 6 February 1190 AD. It was recorded by the chronicler Ralph de Diceto in his Imagines Historiarum II where he wrote: "Accordingly on 6th February [in 1190 AD] all the Jews who were found in their own houses at Norwich were butchered; some had taken refuge in the castle". Dr Brace, a lead author on the paper, said: "Twelve years after we first started analysing the remains of these individuals, technology has caught up and helped us to understand this historical cold case of who these people were and why we think they were murdered." "
goes-beyond-conservatismCNN:"Armed Idaho locals show up to library board meetings to push ban of over 400 books CNN's Nick Watt is in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where locals are pushing back against activists trying to get more than 400 books banned from the library — books that the library doesn't even have.Source: CNN Trustees of the local library are under seige by "American Redoubt" and are facing a recall. Locals are resisting. A coalition of conservatives and liberals are attmpting to fight back but the book ban crowd has been running and winning elections. .."COMMENT:The book ban crowd are nothing more than fascist nazis. The scary part is that they are winning. They say they are Christian? Utter nonsense. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love"1 John 4:7-11 NKJV
David-Flink "New York (CNN)Growing up, David Flink struggled in school -- despite his smarts. He had a hard time focusing in class, and he didn't understand why he couldn't learn the way other students did. "There was a calculation made," he said. "I could either be the dumb kid or I could be the bad kid. So, I started acting out." Flink was often asked to leave the classroom because of the disruptions he caused. "At one point, my desk was literally moved to the hallway," he said. "But then I had this message sent to me that I didn't belong in a classroom." One in five children in the United States has a learning disability. At the time, Flink didn't realize he was among them, and his struggles left him feeling alone and isolated.It was in a hallway where Flink met his first mentor, the school's janitor. "He got to know me, and eventually we started playing chess," Flink said. "There was nothing that said he had to take an interest in my life, and he did anyhow. And that saved me." .."
CNN:" South Korea has a problem: thousands of people, many middle aged and isolated, are dying alone each year, often going undiscovered for days or weeks. This is “godoksa,” or “lonely deaths,” a widespread phenomenon the government has been trying to combat for years as its population rapidly ages. Under South Korean law, a “lonely death” is when someone who lives alone, cut off from family or relatives, dies ..."
secret-meeting-of-fake-electors CNN:"'A secret meeting place': Fake GOP elector reveals how phony ballots were cast for Trump Erin Burnett Out Front A fake elector from Wisconsin reveals how he and other Republicans met secretly to produce phony documents and subvert democracy. CNN's Kyung Lah reports..."
Sri-Lanka CNN:"...For weeks, Sri Lanka has been battling its worst economic crisis since the island nation gained independence in 1948, leaving food, fuel, gas and medicine in short supply, and sending the cost of basic goods skyrocketing.Though the situation is now particularly acute, it's been years in the making... "30% is misfortune. 70% is mismanagement," said Murtaza Jafferjee, chair of Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute. For the past decade, he said, the Sri Lankan government had borrowed vast sums of money from foreign lenders and expanded public services. As the government's borrowings grew, the economy took hits from major monsoons that hurt agricultural output in 2016 and 2017, followed by a constitutional crisis in 2018, and the deadly Easter bombings in 2019. ..Sri Lanka is now looking for outside help to ease the economic turmoil -- the IMF, India and China..."
CNN:"Former US Army corporal and Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura has died, according to a news release from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. He was 97 years old. Miyamura was born on October 6, 1925, in Gallup, New Mexico. He joined the Army in January 1945 as part of a mostly-Japanese American infantry regiment, according to the statement. “He was discharged from the Army shortly after Japan surrendered but later enlisted in the US Army Reserve” and returned to active duty after the Korean War began." President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Miyamura with the Medal of Honor on White House grounds in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27, 1953, for his actions near Taejon-Ni, Korea, during the Korean War. On April 24, 1951, then-Cpl. Miyamura was a machine-gun squad leader with Company H occupying a defensive position when the enemy threatened to overrun the position. Aware of the imminent danger to his men, he engaged in close hand-to-hand combat, killing approximately 10 of the enemy before returning to administer first aid to the wounded and directed their evacuation. When another assault hit the line, he manned his machine gun until his ammunition was expended and ordered the squad to withdraw while he stayed behind bayoneting his way through infiltrated enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement and assisted in its operation. He ordered his men to fall back while covering their movement and killed more than 50 of the enemy before his ammunition was depleted and he was severely wounded but was still seen continuing to fight an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers before being captured by the enemy."
ike-schab "(CNN)A Pearl Harbor survivor will be in attendance at the 80th remembrance ceremony this week, thanks to the help of his daughter and dozens of strangers who wanted to make sure he could be there. Ike Schab, 101, told CNN he was on a docked ship when the attack occurred in 1941. "I don't remember seeing the Arizona get hit, but I remember being at the bow of our ship and a big high tower of flame and debris came off of her," Schab said. "It's getting harder to remember these things, but I remember trying not to get killed during the war. Like most people." His daughter, Kimberlee Heinrichs, told CNN she knew her dad needed to attend the event on December 7, after his social life was severely limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But after a tough year of layoffs and financial struggle, getting him there with the care he needed didn't seem possible...To raise the money to get a second caregiver Heinrichs turned to GoFundMe. After about a week she exceeded the $5,000 goal and then some."The idea that complete strangers donated money... made me cry. People did something kind when that seems in short supply," she said."Both said they are grateful for the generosity of others, and the opportunity to have Schab there in person." On Sunday, he's going to be conducting the PACFLEET band at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Schab has attended the ceremony a few times in his life and said every time he does, it brings him a sense of wonder. “I like that when I go there are reminders of people and things from a long time ago. People I miss. ..
Lake-Shasta "(CNN)Against the backdrop of the water crisis in the Colorado River Basin, where the country's largest reservoirs are plunging at an alarming rate, California's two largest reservoirs — Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville — are facing a similar struggle. Years of low rainfall and snowpack and more intense heat waves have fed directly to the state's multiyear, unrelenting drought conditions, rapidly draining statewide reservoirs. And according to this week's report from the US Drought Monitor, the two major reservoirs are at "critically low levels" at the point of the year when they should be the highest."
CNN:" I honour my God. I serve my Queen. I salute the flag.” Those words began each school day for me. It was late 1960’s Australia. White Australia.Whiteness was Australian policy. The first Act passed by the Australian parliament when it was formed in 1901, was immigration control legislation that would become known as the White Australia Policy.So-called coloured peoples would be excluded. The policy was not formally abolished until the 1970’s. Australia for most of its history was defiantly, proudly White. In 1947, Immigration Minister Arthur Calwell captured the nation’s institutional racism when he disparagingly referred to Chinese people saying, “two Wongs don’t make a white.” Whiteness is built into Australia. In 1770 a British sailor, Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook – at the height of the “age of discovery” – claimed this continent for the Crown. The rights of my people were extinguished. We were rendered British subjects. It continues today. That’s what the coronation of King Charles III will mean for so many First Nations people: a reminder of a history of conquest. My people – First Nations people – had been invaded, our land stolen.Wars were fought in this land now called Australia where Aboriginal people were massacred. Martial law was declared on my people, the Wiradjuri nation, during the 1820’s in what was referred to as an “exterminating war.” The survivors were locked away on segregated missions and reserves. Every movement was monitored, curfews imposed, civil liberties denied..." "
a-mother-and-her-son NYTIMES:"GONE Nearly 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico. Their families now search for clues among the dead.They lie in clandestine graves strewn across the desert, mingled in communal pits, or hacked to pieces and scattered on desiccated hillsides. Buried without a name, often all that’s left once their bodies are gone are the empty casings of a person: a bloodied sweatshirt, a frilly top, a tattered dress.All over Mexico, mothers wander under the scorching sun, poking at the earth and sniffing for the tell-tale scent of decomposing flesh, hoping for a scrap that points toward their missing son or daughter. For most, the answers never come.A New York Times photographer documented their search, and in Chihuahua state, he photographed the clothing that was found with unidentified bodies and preserved by investigators. ..."
pro democracy activists remanded Reuters:"Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was remanded into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorized assembly near the police headquarters during last year's anti-government protests..."
Woman and child in Tigray BBC:"Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: PM gives Tigray forces 72 hours to surrender. Ethiopia's prime minister has given forces in the northern region of Tigray 72 hours to surrender as government troops advance on the capital, Mekelle. Abuy Ahmed told Tigrayan leaders they were 'at a point of no return'.."
The Wonders of Star Gazing CNN: "The two largest planets in our solar system are coming closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages, and it's happenng just in time for Christmas. So there are some things to look forward to in the final month of 2020.On the night of December 21, the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so closely aligned n our sky that they will look like a double planet. This close approach is called a conjunction.' Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare...'..."
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds CNN:"There are nearly 2 billion stars in our galaxy. At least that's what the most current map shows. Astronomers have mapped the most extensive atlas of our Milky Way galaxy yet, including the positions of each and every one of those stars. The European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory also tracked the movement, colorsand brightness of these stars as well as the first visible measurement of the acceleration of our solar system..."
Origin of the planets capsule lands in Australia Reuters:"Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets and water, the Asian nation's space agency said on Sunday. The mission of the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, spotlights Asia's growing role in space exploration, with a Chinese robotic vehicle collecting lunar samples last week for the first time since the 1970s. ...."
Danny-Stewart-Pete-Mercurio-and-their-son "(CNN)A New York family who came together by chance 21 years ago has now shared their remarkable story in a children's book. Pete Mercurio was walking out the door to meet his then-partner (now husband) Danny Stewart for dinner in August 2000 when his phone rang. It was Stewart, calling to tell him he'd be late. He'd found an abandoned baby in the subway and had called 911 from a payphone. Stewart, a social worker, had spotted a little bundle wrapped in a sweatshirt while walking through an eerily empty station. At first, he thought it was a doll, perhaps left behind by a child, until he saw a tiny leg move. He quickly discovered it was a newborn baby, the umbilical cord still attached. Mercurio, who authored a book about this chance encounter, spoke to CNN about that night, and about how he and Stewart ended up raising the baby as their own..."He had actually tried to get on an express train and couldn't get on one," Mercurio recalls of Stewart's path that fateful day. "The fact that he even got on a local was kind of miraculous because who knows if he had gotten on an express if he'd even had found the baby." Mercurio says something made Stewart glance back at the bundle and see the newborn's small motion..."
public-education-in-crisis WASHINGTONPOST:"Test scores are down, and violence is up. Parents are screaming at school boards, and children are crying on the couches of social workers. Anger is rising. Patience is falling. For public schools, the numbers are all going in the wrong direction. Enrollment is down. Absenteeism is up. There aren’t enough teachers, substitutes or bus drivers. Each phase of the pandemic brings new logistics to manage, and Republicans are planning political campaigns this year aimed squarely at failings of public schools. Public education is facing a crisis unlike anything in decades, and it reaches into almost everything that educators do: from teaching math, to counseling anxious children, to managing the building. ..."
Embla-Ademi "(CNN)The President of North Macedonia walked an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome to school after he heard she was being bullied. President Stevo Pendarovski held Embla Ademi's hand as he walked her to her elementary school in the city of Gostivar on Monday. Embla has experienced bullying at school due as a result of having Down syndrome -- a genetic condition that causes learning disabilities, health problems and distinctive facial characteristics -- a spokesperson for the President's office told CNN.Pendarovski "talked to Embla's parents about the challenges she and her family face on a daily basis," and discussed solutions, his office said in a press release. "The President said that the behavior of those who endanger children's rights is unacceptable, especially when it comes to children with atypical development," the statement said. "They should not only enjoy the rights they deserve, but also feel equal and welcome in the school desks and schoolyard. It is our obligation, as a state, but also as individuals, and the key element in this common mission is empathy."..."
Russia China joint patrols in the Pacific ABCNews:"Russian and Chinese bombers flew a joint patrol mission over the Western Pacific Tuesday in a show of increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing. The Russian military said that a pair of its Tu-95 strategic bombers and four Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the joint mission was intended to 'develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partnership further increase the level of cooperation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strengthen strategic stability'..."
Annual Threat Assessment ATA ODNI Unclassified Report:"In the coming year, the United States and its allies will face a diverse array of threats that are playing out amidst the global disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and against the backdrop of great power competition, the disruptive effects of ecological degradation and a changing climate, an increasing number of empowered non-state actors, and rapidly evolving technology. The complexity of the threats,their intersections, and the potential for cascading events in an increasingly interconnected and mobile world create new challenges for the IC. Ecological and climate changes, for example, are connected to public health risks, humanitarian concerns, social and political instability, and geopolitical rivalry. The 2021 Annual Threat Assessment highlights some of those connections as it provides the IC’s baseline assessments of the most pressing threats to US national interests, while emphasizing the United States’ key adversaries and competitors.It is not an exhaustive assessment of all global challenges and notably excludes assessments of US adversaries’ vulnerabilities. It accounts for functional concerns, such as weapons of mass destruction and technology, primarily in the sections on threat actors, such as China and Russia..."
Global Wealth Inequality Bloomberg: "Tax cuts for rich people breed inequality without providing much of a boon to anyone else, according to a study of the advanced world that could add to the case for the wealthy to bear more of the cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, found that such measures over the last 50 years only really benefited the individuals who were directly affected, and did little to promote jobs or growth. 'Policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich to fund the financial cost of the pandemic will harm their economies,' Hope said in an interview..."
French Government to return Klimt to rightful Jewish heirs ABCNews:"The French government announced Monday that it will return a Nazi-looted Gustav Klimt landscape painting to its rightful owners more than 80 years after it was stolen from a Jewish family in Austria in 1938. The colorful 1905 oil work by the Austrian symbolist painter titled “Rosebushes under the Trees” has been hanging in Paris’ Musee d’Orsay museum for decades.French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin told a Paris news conference that “the decision to return a major work from the public collections illustrates our commitment to the duty of justice and reparation vis-à-vis plundered families.”"
Afghanistan one of the worlds most dangerous countries for children BBC:"An average of five children have been killed or wounded every day for the past 14 years in war-torn Afghanistan, a charity has found. Data from the UN showed at least 26,025 children were killed or maimed from 2005 to 2019, said Save the Children. The charity has urged donor nations to protect the future of children ahead of a key meeting in Geneva on Monday..."
Milton Friedman Bloomberg:"George Serafeim wants to revolutionize the way businesses calculate their success. Profit and loss aren't enough says the Harvard Business School professor. Serafeim aims to do what no one has done before: Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies' bottom lines. Intel Corp. provides an example of both. Serafeim and his five-person team credited $6.9 billion to the chipmaker in 2018 for paying its employees well and for boosting local economies where it has offices..."
CNN:
"...Harold George Belafonte Jr. was born March 1, 1927 in New York city to poor Caribbean immigrants. His father worked as a cook on merchant ships and abandoned the family when Belafonte was young. Belafonte also spent some of his boyhood in Jamaica, the former British colony and his mother’s native country, where he witnessed White English authorities mistreating Black Jamaicans. He returned to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood by 1940 to live with his mother, Melvine, who struggled to hold her family together amid grinding poverty...“She was the one who taught him that you shouldn’t let the sun go down without fighting against injustice,” Judith E. Smith, author of “Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical,” says about Belafonte’s mother."..."“I’ve often responded to queries that ask, ‘When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?’ ” he once said. “My response to the question is that I was an activist long before I became an artist. They both service each other, but the activism is first.” The scope of Belafonte’s activism was astonishing. He saw the civil rights movement as a global struggle. He led a campaign against apartheid in South Africa, and befriended Nelson Mandela. He mobilized support for the fight against HIV/AIDS and became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He also came up with the idea for recording the 1985 hit song, “We Are the World,” which assembled a constellation of pop and rock stars, including Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen, to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Belafonte didn’t mellow as his wealth and fame grew. He drew criticism after calling President George W. Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world” for leading an invasion of Iraq, and assailed Black celebrities such as Jay Z and Beyonce for not taking bolder stands on social justice. He criticized Barack Obama so much during the then Senator’s first presidential run in 2008 that Obama asked him, “When are you going to cut me some slack?” “What makes you think that’s not what I’ve been doing?” Belafonte responded."...
slave-ship NEWYORKTIMES:"The historian Marcus Rediker opens “The Slave Ship: A Human History” with a harrowing reconstruction of the journey, for a captive, from shore to ship: The ship grew larger and more terrifying with every vigorous stroke of the paddles. The smells grew stronger and the sounds louder — crying and wailing from one quarter and low, plaintive singing from another; the anarchic noise of children given an underbeat by hands drumming on wood; the odd comprehensible word or two wafting through: someone asking for menney, water, another laying a curse, appealing to myabecca, spirits. An estimated 12.5 million people endured some version of this journey, captured and shipped mainly from the western coast of Africa to the Western Hemisphere during the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Of that number, about 10.7 million survived to reach the shores of the so-called New World.It is thanks to decades of painstaking, difficult work that we know a great deal about the scale of human trafficking across the Atlantic Ocean and about the people aboard each ship. Much of that research is available to the public in the form of the SlaveVoyages database. A detailed repository of information on individual ships, individual voyages and even individual people, it is a groundbreaking tool for scholars of slavery, the slave trade and the Atlantic world. .."
Bob-Bryntwick-and-picture WASHINGTONPOST-MAGAZINE:"We’re moving” was a phrase Bob Bryntwick heard once or twice a year during his childhood in the 1950s. There were many times when he’d come home from school to find the contents of his family’s Montreal home scattered across the front lawn. His single mother, Anne, didn’t make rent again.He’d shrug, gather his things and mentally prepare to start over in a different neighborhood, going to a new school and making new friends. With each move, Anne took pride in their dwellings.” .."
marcos-jr-supporters "MANILA, May 9 (Reuters) - Ferdinand Marcos Jr clinched a stunning runaway victory in the Philippines' presidential election on Monday in the first win by a majority since a 1986 revolution that toppled his late father's two-decade dictatorship. An unofficial tally showed Marcos, popularly known as "Bongbong", had surpassed the 27.5 million votes needed for a majority, setting the stage for a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its humiliating retreat into exile during a "people power" uprising."I hope you won't get tired of trusting us," Marcos told supporters in remarks streamed on Facebook, a platform at the core of his political strategy. "We have plenty of things to do," he said, adding "an endeavour as large as this does not involve one person." Marcos Jr had 29.9 million votes, double that of Leni Robredo, the vice president, with 93.8% of the eligible ballots counted, according to the unofficial Commission on Elections (COMELEC) tally. Turnout was about 80% ..."
PRC Flag outside the old city Xingjiang CNN:"The Chinese government's alleged actions in Xinjiang have violated every single provision in the United Nations' Genocide Convention, according to an independent report by more than 50 global experts in human rights, war crimes and international law. .. It is the first time a non-governmental organization has undertaken an independent legal analysis of the accusations of genocide in Xinjiang, including what responsibility Beijing may bear for the alleged crimes. An advance copy of the report was seen exclusively by CNN. ..."
Auschwitz Reuters:"Marian Turski, a 94-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, marked the 76th anniversary of its liberation by Soviet troops on Wednesday only virtually, aware that he might never return as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.Survivors and museum officials told Reuters they fear the pandemic could end the era where Auschwitz’s former prisoners can tell their own stories to visitors on site. Most Auschwitz survivors are in their eighties and nineties. “Even if there was no pandemic, there would be fewer survivors at every anniversary,” Turski told Reuters in a Zoom interview from his Warsaw home."
ABCNEWS: "Smaller, grassroots efforts in communities across the country are trying alternative strategies to curb violence, recognizing the fallout from decades of “tough on crime” policies that criminalized a generation, leaving them with fewer resources and opportunities than ever. That includes violence interrupter programs such as Gideon’s Army or Cure Violence Global, which started in Chicago and has branched out to other cites. Other groups, including the West Nashville Dream Center, primarily attack structural issues such as poverty and educational inequality. The groups differ in philosophy but share a common goal of improving life in their communities. Minorities are heavily affected by community violence, said Paul Carrillo, the community violence initiative director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, but it’s not unusual to see pushback surface at the grassroots level.“Anywhere there’s a significant level of crime there are also homegrown peacemakers," he said...."
500-years NBCNEWS:"MEXICO CITY — There are two ways of remembering the Spanish siege of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital now known as Mexico City: as the painful birth of modern Mexico, or the start of centuries of virtual enslavement. The world-changing battle started on May 22, 1521, and lasted for months until the city finally fell to the conquistadores on Aug. 13. It was one of the few times an organized Indigenous army under local command fought European colonizers to a standstill for months, and the final defeat helped set the template for much of the conquest and colonization that came afterward. ..."
People sift through debris NBCNews:"A new report by a federal agency that regulates the nation's commodities markets warns that climate change 'poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system' and is already affecting, or is projected to affect, nearly every part of the American economy. Coming at the midpoint of what has already been an intense hurricane season and as extreme wildfires rage across a huge part of the west Coast, the report offers one of the most strongly worded warnings about the financial risks of climate change yet seen from a federal financial regulator..."
Pro Democracy Activist arrested in security crackdown Reuters:"Over 50 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the city's national security law, local media reported, in the biggest crackdown yet against the opposition camp under the contentious new legislation. Police also arrived at the offices of pr-democracy online media outlet Stand News, according to live footage on its website. A Stand News reporter said police had asked the editor-in-chief to sign documents related to a national security investigation..."
Lost Library BBC:"Centuries ago, a prestigious Islamic library brought Arabic numerals to the world. Though the library long since disappeared, its mathematical revolution changed our world. The House of Wisdom sounds a bit like make belive: no trace remains of this ancient library, destroyed in the 13th Century, so we cannot be sure exactly where it was located or what it looked like. But this prestigious academy was in fact a major intellectual powerhouse..."
Li-Jingwei CNN:"Hong Kong (CNN)A man who was abducted as a child in China more than 30 years ago has been reunited with his parents -- thanks to social media, online sleuths and a crude map drawn from memory. Li Jingwei was only 4 years old when he was kidnapped by a man he knew from his family's village in southwestern Yunnan province in 1988. He was taken to live with another family in central Henan province, where he grew up, according to state-run news outlet The Paper. Even as a young child, Li realized he had been taken far from home -- but he had no way of returning even as he grew older, he told The Paper. He didn't remember his birth name, his parents' names or the name of his village. But he did remember what his home village looked like: where trees grew, cows grazed, roads turned and rivers flowed. He remembered the rice paddies and ponds near his house, and where bamboo shoots grew in the nearby mountain. .."
csu-bans-caste-discrimination "(CNN)On paper, the change was subtle -- the word "caste" appearing in parentheses after the term "race and ethnicity." But for many advocates and student leaders, the tweak to California State University's anti-discrimination policy that quietly went into effect on January 1 was a civil rights victory: An acknowledgment from the nation's largest, four-year public university system that the insidious form of oppression that has long haunted some on campus is, in fact, real. Caste-oppressed students, who mostly hail from South Asian immigrant and diaspora backgrounds, say that casteism tends to manifest in US colleges and universities through slurs, microaggressions and social exclusion...."
The-Patel-Family NBCNEWS:"In the small village of Dingucha, in the state of Gujarat in western India, flyers are plastered on lampposts and buildings, hard to miss even on a short walk down the road. They advertise to the residents, most of whom live in poverty, a better life abroad. “Study in UK, Canada, Free Application, Offer Letter In 3 Days.” The promise might sound too good to be true, but those who live there say many of their dreams revolve around it. “If there is money, they will go,” Ganpatbhai Patel, a resident of Dingucha, told NBC News in a translated interview. Last month, a family took up that offer, as many had before. Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Patel, 37, and their children, Vihangi, 11, and Dharmik, 3, left their home in Dingucha and set out for Canada. About a week later, their bodies were found 13 yards from the border, where they had froze to death trying to cross into the U.S. on foot..."
CNN:" On a dark autumn evening almost four years ago, Janie Yoshida was driving her daughter home from high school play rehearsal when she noticed a teenager walking by himself next to a busy road. Tre Burrows, it turned out, was also in the play at Somerset Academy Canyons High School in Boynton Beach, Florida. “I pulled over to the side of the sidewalk and rolled the window down and said, ‘Hey, where do you live? I’ll take you home,’” Janie recalled. The 17-year-old kept insisting he was fine, until Janie put on “my mom’s voice” and demanded: ‘“Get in the car.” The polite young man with the gregarious smile complied. But, Janie soon learned, he led a life more challenging than she imagined – one in which she’d soon play a far bigger role. “He wanted me to drop him off at a main intersection. And I said, ‘Of course not. Just show me where you live.’ And he goes, ‘No, I can walk the rest of the way,’” Janie recalled. Reluctantly, Tre directed Janie to where he and his family were living. A motel...."
NASA:"NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape – the iconic Pillars of Creation – where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light. Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years..."
" CNN:"Multiple space and ground-based telescopes witnessed one of the brightest explosions in space when it reached Earth on October 9. The burst may be one of the most powerful ever recorded by telescopes. Gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs, are the most powerful class of explosions in the universe, according to NASA. Scientists have dubbed this one GRB 221009A, and telescopes around the world continue to observe its aftermath.“The exceptionally long GRB 221009A is the brightest GRB ever recorded and its afterglow is smashing all records at all wavelengths,” said Brendan O’Connor, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland and George Washington University in Washington, DC, in a statement. “Because this burst is so bright and also nearby, we think this is a once-in-a-century opportunity to address some of the most fundamental questions regarding these explosions, from the formation of black holes to tests of dark matter models.” Scientists believe the creation of the long, bright pulse occurred when a massive star in the Sagitta constellation — about 2.4 billion light-years away — collapsed into a supernova explosion and became a black hole.
CNN:" At first glance, it looks like another of those viral photos that we can barely watch anymore. It shows a White state trooper and a Black man during a traffic stop on a bright, sunny day. The trooper is leaning his thick arms through the open passenger window to clutch the Black man’s right hand. The man’s back is pinned against the passenger seat, and his eyes are squeezed shut. He appears to be wincing in pain. But this photo is being widely shared for another reason. The trooper is reaching into the car to help, not to harm. And the encounter has been described by those who witnessed it not as tragic, but inspired. “It was a really beautiful moment for me to see this take place between my dad and the officer,” said Ashlye V. Wilkerson, the 39-year-old driver of the car who surreptitiously took the photo. The state trooper still has trouble digesting what happened that afternoon. “It’s just one of those things I can’t explain,” said Trooper Jaret Doty of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol..."
Sagittarius-A "(CNN)For the first time, astronomers have captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. It's the first direct observation confirming the presence of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, as the beating heart of the Milky Way. Black holes don't emit light, but the image shows the shadow of the black hole surrounded by a bright ring, which is light bent by the gravity of the black hole. Astronomers said the black hole is 4 million times more massive than our sun. "For decades, astronomers have wondered what lies at the heart of our galaxy, pulling stars into tight orbits through its immense gravity," Michael Johnson, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, said in a statement."With the (Event Horizon Telescope or EHT) image, we have zoomed in a thousand times closer than these orbits, where the gravity grows a million times stronger. At this close range, the black hole accelerates matter"
CNN:"When Pardeep Kaleka first contacted Arno Michaelis, he was looking for answers. It was 2012, just a few weeks after a White supremacist entered the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and gunned down Kaleka’s father and five other members of his community. As Kaleka wrestled with feelings of anger, guilt and cynicism, he wanted to understand what would drive someone to target his place of worship. More than that, he wanted someone to take accountability. After carrying out the massacre, the Oak Creek shooter had turned the gun on himself. So Kaleka turned to a substitute: Michaelis, a former White supremacist who had helped found the neo-Nazi skinhead organization to which his father’s killer belonged. The two exchanged some messages and agreed to meet at a Thai restaurant in Milwaukee a few days later..."
DFO-MM-RESPONSE TIMES-COLONIST:
"On Friday, the federal Marine Mammal Rescue team learned of a humpback whale entangled in the ropes of a large yellow buoy used for prawn fishing.In video footage taken by DFO, rescuers manage to release the gear, which appeared to be attached to the whale’s mouth. “Debris is a real problem for marine wildlife,” said an email from Lara Sloane, DFO communications advisor.Sloane said the public can help prevent entanglements by cutting packing material, banding, rope and other looped material before disposing of it, and by not dumping those materials in the marine environment. The DFO said the rescue was a community effort that included the RCMP, commercial tug operators, B.C. Ferries captains, Nanaimo fishery officers, whale-watch companies and others who worked with DFO on the water and provided updates on the entangled whale’s location."
Humpbacks-v-Orcas LIVESCIENCE:"Whale watchers near the U.S.-Canada border recently witnessed a brutal mass brawl between more than a dozen aggressive orcas and a pair of defensive humpback whales. The intense confrontation, which lasted for several hours, included breaching, tail-slapping, biting flippers and loud vocalizations that could be heard from above the surface, according to reports. But it is unclear which species swam away victorious. The cetacean showdown took place Sept. 29 in the Juan de Fuca Strait in the Salish Sea..."
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