Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....II

[Canoe]

Cry for help from Russian Embassy in Ireland as it faces ‘fuel shortage’
Irish oil companies refuse to deliver supplies due to invasion of Ukraine - report

It is understood diplomats have complained that Irish oil companies are refusing to deliver supplies to their Dublin property due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The embassy has become the focal point for Irish anger over the war raged by the country’s president Vladimir Putin.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland ... -1.4845579

[Canoe]

Colorado Republicans’ hopes for winning in November could hinge on a clash this week between those in the party still focused on baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and those who want to focus on the future.

The GOP’s state assembly, where Republican primary candidates will be selected by party insiders, is set for Saturday. But in the days leading up to the marquee gathering there is a parade of high-profile events showcasing the Colorado conservatives who are focused on the past.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ally of former President Donald Trump who has helped fund the work of various 2020 election deniers, will headline an “Election Truth Rally” at noon Tuesday at the state Capitol. Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was indicted by a grand jury in March for a breach of her county’s election system and is running to be Colorado’s top election official, is also set to attend the event. Also featured: state Rep. Ron Hanks, a Fremont County Republican who is running for U.S. Senate and attended the rally for Trump in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Also on Tuesday, Hanks and other Republicans will be in federal court in Denver trying to persuade a judge to stop unaffiliated voters, who make up the state’s largest voting bloc, from participating in the June 28 primary. The state Republican party isn’t taking sides on the case, which is rooted in the unfounded belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/05/colo ... n-deniers/

[Simon of the Playa]

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the intelligence agency had intercepted radio messages from Russian military sources discussing the killing of civilians in Bucha.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ge ... 022-04-07/

[Canoe]

as above

The BND material also apparently provides evidence that members of the Russian mercenary unit called the Wagner Group played a leading role in the atrocities. The group is known to have perpetrated similar atrocities in Syria.

Eyewitnesses recently reported that the occupying force in Bucha was initially made up of "young soldiers." Once they were replaced by other units, the witnesses said, the attacks on civilians grew more frequent. Some eyewitnesses have said that Chechen units were in the town. The accounts raise the question as to whether this progression was part of the occupation plan.

The radio traffic intercepted by the BND makes it seem as though the atrocities perpetrated on civilians in Bucha were neither random acts nor the product of individual soldiers who got out of hand. Rather, say sources familiar with the audio, the material suggests that the troops spoke of the atrocities as though they were simply discussing their everyday lives. That, say sources familiar with the audio, indicates that the murder of civilians has become a standard element of Russian military activity, potentially even part of a broader strategy. The intention is that of spreading fear among the civilian population and thus reducing the will to resist.

https://www.spiegel.de/international/ge ... a772315b0d

German secret service BND has intercepts of #RussianArmy discussing #BuchaMassacre as it was happening. Including the killing of the man on bicycle.

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 3323436037

new to me

Video appears to show killing of captive Russian soldier

A video has emerged which purports to show Ukrainian forces shooting and killing a captive Russian soldier. It was filmed on a road to the west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where Russian forces have been retreating. The BBC has been analysing the footage - here is what we have found out so far.

Three are not moving but one appears still to be alive and wheezing. A soldier (whose face cannot be seen on the video) then shoots him several times until he stops moving. The video then pans round to show other soldiers reacting.

We have located the incident to the main road outside the town of Dmytrivka to the west of Kyiv. The road links Dmytrivka to Irpin and Bucha. Scenes shown in the video match the scenery on Google Street View of the area.

One of the soldiers standing over the bodies on the floor says: "Here they are, the defenders of the Russian army."

The audio ends with a man saying: "Do not [expletive] come to our land."

https://www.bbc.com/news/61025388

[Canoe]

After the horrors of Bucha, Ukrainians have changed the way we look at this war
The Russian military are now circling the Donbas. I’m terrified for people there who were loyal to Ukraine for the past eight years

It’s the second month since Russia used all possible ammunition to shell the Luhansk region. Now they are gathering equipment, mobilising conscripts … The battle here [will] be the fiercest,” the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, told me when we met recently in eastern Ukraine.

“Ninety per cent of Mariupol cannot be rebuilt. Up to 5,000 civilians might [have been] killed during the siege that started on 1 March. There are still up to 120,000 remaining there. Another town of Volnovakha, north of Mariupol, is basically swept away,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region. Kyrylenko is 35 years old and was born in Donetsk. He’s a former prosecutor, and is now on the death list in the occupied territory. He has ceased any contact with family members in the Donbas, and has not returned home for eight years.

the chief doctor of the biggest and now only hospital in Severodonetsk, ... Vodianyk’s office is full of medicine, but he needs surgeons and more insulin. ... Patients lay in hospital beds in the corridors, but not because the hospital was full. People were afraid to be near the windows.

... lessons learned over the past months, and what the Donbas was doing to prepare for new assaults. As supermarkets and warehouses have been targeted, more food will be delivered and stored in different facilities. Evacuation convoys will be split into smaller groups, after the first convoy of 50 evacuation buses sent to Mariupol was bombed (20 vehicles were demolished).

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ary-donbas

[Canoe]

A local official in Wisconsin who served as a fake 2020 presidential 'elector' for Trump was booted out of office

* A Wisconsin official who served as a fake Trump elector in 2020 lost reelection on Tuesday.
* Kelly Ruh was booted out of office as an alderperson in De Pere, Wisconsin, a Green Bay suburb.
* Ruh and 13 other fake Trump electors have been subpoenaed by the House January 6 Committee.

https://www.businessinsider.com/fake-wi ... man-2022-4

[Canoe]

Yet another Russian vessel was denied gas. Thank you, Spain!

Fucker Russian killing in Ukraine
____ in Ukrainine killing kids
Fuck you Russians
Fuck you Putin

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 4623910917

* I would have them created and confiscate them. like they stole the planes

This nurse describes how Russians came.
- To enter my home, you’ll have to kill me.
- Do you hide Nazis?
- Nazis? What do they look like?

https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status ... 7170041857

Svitlana Samarska wrote: You have already heard this story. A woman who died of starvation is buried here. This photo of the same grave of another photographer appeared yesterday.
He saw her six-year-old son bring juice and canned food to the grave.
This is unbearable.

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1511822567073591305

Mariupol City Council reports that Russians are burning the bodies of dead civilians in Mariupol. Following the widespread international outcry of Bucha atrocity, Russia's top leadership has ordered the destruction of any evidence of its army's crimes in Mariupol.
We try to check

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1511742690907545607

"Murderers covering their tracks. Russian mobile crematoriums have started working in Mariupol. After the wide international coverage of the genocide in Bucha, the top leadership of the Russian Federation ordered to eliminate any evidence of crimes of its army in Mariupol," the Mariupol City Council posted on Telegram.

As noted, a week ago, cautious estimates indicated the deaths of 5,000 civilians in Mariupol. But given the size of the city, catastrophic destruction, the duration of the blockade, and fierce resistance, tens of thousands Mariupol civilians could fall victim to the occupiers.

"That is why Russia is in no hurry to give the green light to the Turkish mission and other initiatives to save and fully evacuate Mariupol. In addition, they [Russians] are trying to identify all potential witnesses of the occupiers' atrocities through filtration camps and eliminate them,” the City Council stressed.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/34 ... iupol.html

[mobile crematorium]
https://twitter.com/DNADecay/status/1511813812311056387

[Canoe]

They're finding more bodies in Bucha, as they clear the streets and start on homes & yards.

also

New York Times published a video of Russian military shooting a cyclist in Bucha. As soon as he leaves the corner a Russian armored vehicle fires several shots at the roadway. The second armored vehicle fires two shots at the cyclist. Video was taken by Ukrainian military in Febr

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1511668440473419781

[Canoe]

Streisand Effect!!!
How to guarantee this reaches millions
This may turn into "I can't believe leopards ate my face"

Oh my sides!

George Galloway @georgegalloway Russia state-affiliated media [RT - Russia Today]

Dear @TwitterSupport I am not “Russian State Affiliated media”. I work for NO #Russian media. I have 400,000 followers. I’m the leader of a British political party and spent nearly 30 years in the British parliament. If you do not remove this designation I will take legal action.

https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/stat ... 9204103170

https://twitter.com/StewartMcDonald/sta ... 3826060298
* "I work for no Russian media" says the man who goes on Russia Today to not only defend Russia's invasion of Ukraine but to say it had "an obligation" to. https://twitter.com/johnwiththatcat/sta ... 1217637382
* You’ve just deleted it from your profile description, so for the benefit of everyone else, here’s what it looked like 60 seconds ago with your Russian state funded RT show listed:
* You’re literally on the Sputnik page
* Quiet….he is working for RT and has been for years.
* You literally have your Russian state funded TV show listed in your profile description...
* I do love the fact that he has pinned it to his profile, where he lists all the Russian affiliated places he appears on.
* now deleted
* You can delete sputnik from your bio, but this is sputnik inviting me onto your sputnik show a few weeks back
* Twitter have not banned him, they’ve not cancelled him, all they’ve done is put a little marker to say he’s affiliated with Russian state media. Which he is. (Or was until he deleted it from his bio) he’s still free to speak the same drivel he always has.
* Debating how a war is really a military operation or debating how Ukraine isn't really a country or debating how genocide isn't really genocide as Russia says so. Sounds like a great debate.
* And your lawyer then told you “deny everything”...
* @georgegalloway is "indefatigablely" such a useful idiot.
* Russia state-affiliated performing feline. Will meow for Putin upon request.

Drift, but it was posted under Galloway's Streisand Effect

Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956

Communist Paul Robeson vs The House Un-American Activities Committee [As interpreted by James Earl Jones]

I'm here today, again from the State Department and from the record of the Court of Appeals, is that when I am abroad I speak out against injustices against the negro people in this land. That is why I'm here. I'm not being tried for what I am, a communist. I'm being tried for fighting for the rights of my people. We're still second-class citizens in this country, in this United States of America. ... I stand here struggling for the rights of my people to be full citizens in this country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhnCrHZkgNk

[Canoe]

... Russian envoy to UN cites a Ukrainian woman ... Russian soldiers provided humanitarian aid. Ukrainian envoy reads the remainder of the quote: “And then they threw a hand grenade into the cellar.”
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1511652838014861316

[Canoe]

The woman from Bucha told how Russian “liberators” with george’s ribbons burned her house and killed her unarmed husband.

“They took him out, put him on his knees and shot him in the head" - she said.
Video from Докази воєнних злочинів

https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1511354407782424588

That is how PTSD may manifest. They may feel numb, they may have verbal outbursts or be catatonic, they may seem too calm or oddly detached. You don’t know how much they suffered and for how long. So many expersts lately.

Bucha, 4 weeks ago, Russian volunteer Artyom Shirobokov (“Yesenin”) wrote a text I couldn’t confirm and did not publish because of possible «literary exaggerations». It was my mistake.

«How I escaped from the Orc [i.e. Russian] encirclement and what I have to tell» 1/

1. Civilians are shot. Just for fun. For pleasure. Age and gender notwithstanding.
2. I was led down a street at gunpoint to the “captives base”, it was littered with the corpses of old grandpas and grandmas. Whether they were checking up on their neighbors, going to get water, lacking food – who the fuck cares. They were lying there, every 10 meters.
3. The “Russian orc” who was talking to our group of evacuees (I had already dumped my camo and got me some civilian clothes), shot an older man on the spot just for making a step in the wrong direction (he was on his way to bring food to his bedridden mother).
4. On the way to where all the men in the town were being brought, the Russians started firing at the ones who were in the front of the column. The ones who weren’t hit scattered off to the backyards, away from the street. At this moment I was able to split, again.
5. They cut off the power, water, heat. People are freezing, dying of starvation and thirst. Only the Russians can access the supermarkets and pharmacies (I saw the bodies of people, who had tried to replenish their food supplies, at the entrance).
6. The population totally hates the Russians. My Russian accent provoked mad fury in people when I talked to them. Because the Russians had organized fucking genocide for them right now, in 2022.
7. Classically, all the military equipment has been stationed on the territory of private homes, next to residential buildings. And these animals take their breaks in people’s apartments – they kick people out. The owners are sent to stay in the freezing cellars. I saw self-propelled artillery vehicles on daycare center territory, which is where they were shelling from (they do this knowing that our artillery won’t hit them there). This is the answer to the question why they are not letting the locals evacuate: they have their human shield, made of living people. As opposed to them, Ukranian army stops when there’s a threat to civilians.
8. As I was getting closer to Ukrainian troops, I met a group of local men with shovels, they were burying, on a playground, a mother with her daughter, wrapped in a blanket (they died during shelling).

https://twitter.com/DmytroGurinMP/statu ... 8088829953

[Canoe]

Two men arrested after targeting Secret Service agents in influence operation

US officials have arrested two men who had spent thousands of dollars seeking to influence Secret Service agents.

An affidavit filed with a US district court accused Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36 of posing as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees. FBI officials said the men had used the guise to get closer to four agents - one of whom served on first lady Jill Biden's protection detail. The agents have been put on leave ahead of an investigation, officials said. In a statement issued to the BBC, a Secret Service spokesperson said the agents will be "restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment and systems" as the investigation progresses.

According to the affidavit filed on Wednesday by federal prosecutors, Mr Taherzadeh and Mr Ali spent thousands of dollars buying four Secret Service agents and one DHS official "rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 (£30.578) per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia". The pair also offered to buy one agent - who served as a protection officer for Mrs Biden - an assault rifle worth $2,000 (£1,528). Investigators said the men began to pose as federal agents around February 2020 in the closing months of the Trump administration, but declined to offer a motivation for the ruse and said the investigation is ongoing.

The pair also spent thousands obtaining handguns, rifles and other material to pose as DHS employees, and Mr Taherzadeh often offered their targets the use of vehicles he said belonged to the government.
...
The pair had claimed they were "special police" officers involved in undercover gang-related investigations and probes related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Residents told the inspector that the men used several apartments in the building and alleged they had set up video surveillance throughout the complex.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61019127

[Canoe]

Russia has been suspended from the United Nations’s human rights council after its invasion of Ukraine provoked revulsion and outrage around the world.

At a meeting of the UN general assembly on Thursday, 93 members voted in favour of Russia’s suspension, while 24 were against and 58 abstained. This met the required threshold of a two-thirds majority of the assembly members that vote yes or no, with abstentions not counting in the calculation.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s UN ambassador, had introduced the US-initiated resolution before the 193 members of the general assembly vote. He said Russia has committed “horrific human rights violations and abuses that would be equated to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Kyslytsya added: “Russia’s actions are beyond the pale. Russia is not only committing human rights violations, it is shaking the underpinnings of international peace and security.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... il-ukraine

‘This is a crazy, unjust attack’: Pink Floyd re-form to support Ukraine

On his Instagram, Gilmour found a video of the singer in military fatigues, a rifle slung over his shoulder, standing outside Kyiv’s St Sofia Cathedral, belting out an unaccompanied version of Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow, a 1914 protest song written in honour of the Sich Riflemen who fought both in the first world war and the Ukrainian war of independence. “I thought: that is pretty magical and maybe I can do something with this,” says Gilmour. “I’ve got a big platform that [Pink Floyd] have worked on for all these years. It’s a really difficult and frustrating thing to see this extraordinarily crazy, unjust attack by a major power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation. The frustration of seeing that and thinking ‘what the fuck can I do?’ is sort of unbearable.”

The result is Hey Hey, Rise Up!, a new single by Pink Floyd that samples Khlyvnyuk’s performance, to be released at midnight on Friday with proceeds going to Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/ ... rt-ukraine

[Canoe]

"Murderers covering their tracks. Russian mobile crematoriums have started working in Mariupol. After the wide international coverage of the genocide in Bucha, the top leadership of the Russian Federation ordered to eliminate any evidence of crimes of its army in Mariupol," the Mariupol City Council posted on Telegram.

"That is why Russia is in no hurry to give the green light to the Turkish mission and other initiatives to save and fully evacuate Mariupol.

Russia carried an airstrike on the railway near Barvinkove station (Donetsk Oblast). Three evacuation trains remained blocked, their passengers were placed at the station. This is the only evacuation route controlled by Ukraine from Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Lyman

https://twitter.com/Hromadske/status/15 ... 1133938693

[Canoe]

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: G7 foreign ministers' statement, 7 April 2022

G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union issued a joint statement on Russia and Ukraine following a meeting at NATO today, 7 April.

• We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha and a number of other Ukrainian towns. Haunting images of civilian deaths, victims of torture, and apparent executions, as well as reports of sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure show the true face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people. The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities and severe violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, committed by the aggressor on Ukrainian soil.
• In the presence of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, we expressed today our heart-felt solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our deepest condolences to the victims of this war and their families. We underline our unwavering support for Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and express our readiness to assist further, including with military equipment and financial means, to allow Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s aggression and to rebuild Ukraine.
• We underscore that those responsible for these heinous acts and atrocities, including any attacks targeting civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure, will be held accountable and prosecuted. [...]
• Russia must immediately comply with the legally binding order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine. Further, we urge Russia to withdraw completely its military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. [not a Russian memo: we'll get right on that...]
• We warn against any threat or use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. We recall Russia’s obligations under international treaties of which it is a party, and which protect us all. Any use by Russia of such a weapon would be unacceptable and result in severe consequences. [...]
• We express our gravest concern with Russia forcefully seizing control of nuclear facilities, [...]
• We reiterate our demand that Russia upholds its obligations under international humanitarian law and desists from further blatant abuses. [...] [pretty sure there's not a Russian memo on upholding those obligations...]
• We commit to supporting the Government of Ukraine’s humanitarian coordination structure and to disburse humanitarian support quickly. [...] Russia’s ruthless war and actions are having massive consequences on global commodity and food prices. The resulting rise in food insecurity is being felt disproportionately by the most vulnerable.
• We stand in solidarity with our partners across the world who have to bear the rising price of President Putin’s unilateral choice to wage war in Europe. [...] We will actively counter Russia’s narrative that Western sanctions have caused the rise in global food prices and call it out for what it is: a blatant lie.
• In light of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, carried out with Belarus’ complicity, we have already adopted unprecedented and coordinated economic and financial sanctions against Russia that impose a significant cost on its economy. We stress the necessity of further increasing the economic pressure inflicted on Russia and the Lukashenka regime in Belarus. [...]
• We commend those neighbouring states to Ukraine that demonstrated great solidarity and humanity by welcoming Ukrainian refugees and third country nationals affected by the conflict. We confirm the need for increased international assistance and will continue to support these countries, [...]
• Ministers paid special attention to the Republic of Moldova, which hosts the largest group of refugees from Ukraine per capita. The Ministers agreed to further coordinate their assistance for Moldova’s humanitarian response ...

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stat ... april-2022

[Canoe]

Despite the retreat of Russian troops from the Kyiv Oblast, Russian saboteurs continue to keep Kyiv and the region in suspense. In the last few days alone, 16 sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been identified in the Ukrainian capital

https://twitter.com/Hromadske/status/15 ... 2194062339

The World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing for possible “chemical assaults” in Ukraine, the body’s European head, Hans Kluge, said, Reuters reports.

Speaking during a briefing from Lviv, Ukraine, he said: Given the uncertainties of the current situation, there are no assurances that the war will not get worse. WHO is considering all scenarios and making contingencies for different situations that could afflict the people of Ukraine, from the continued treatment of mass casualties, to chemical assaults. Kluge declined to give further details about the WHO’s preparations. Asked about a possible Russian chemical attack on Ukraine, he responded: The short answer is that WHO is preparing for any eventuality within our mandate.

[Canoe]

Shocked. Shocked I am. (not...)

Turkey to send case [of 26 accused] against Khashoggi’s alleged killers to Saudi Arabia

Suspension of trial reflects President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s desire to strengthen trade and political links with Middle East

A Turkish court has confirmed a request from prosecutors to transfer the case against the alleged assassins of Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, shutting down a trial that had been a centrepiece of attempts to cast light on the plot and expose the hit squad’s ultimate leader. The move ends any meaningful hope of securing justice and paves the way for a political reset between the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler whose security aides were on trial in Istanbul and who is widely believed to have ordered the murder.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... udi-arabia

[Canoe]

The woman from Bucha told how Russian “liberators” with george’s ribbons burned her house and killed her unarmed husband.
“They took him out, put him on his knees and shot him in the head" - she said.
Video from Докази воєнних злочинів
https://twitter.com/avalaina/status/1511354407782424588
* That is how PTSD may manifest. They may feel numb, they may have verbal outbursts or be catatonic, they may seem too calm or oddly detached. You don’t know how much they suffered and for how long. So many expersts lately.

[More on same incident, others]

The soldiers took Oleg out beyond the gate on to the pavement, Volodymyr said, and threw a grenade in through the front door of the house that exploded with a deafening bang and set the house on fire.

Volodymyr grabbed a small fire extinguisher and tried in vain to extinguish the flames. "Where is Oleg? Oleg will help!" he shouted to his daughter.

But the reply came from one of the Russian soldiers, he said. "Oleg will not help you any more."

She screamed at them to shoot her, and one raised his gun, then lowered it, then raised it again, and lowered it, until Volodymyr dragged her back inside the gate.

"Those soldiers told us we had three minutes to leave and they forced us to run in our slippers," Volodymyr said. "Bucha was like an apocalypse - dead bodies everywhere, the streets full of smoke."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61003878

[Canoe]

Ketanji Brown Jackson: US Senate votes to confirm judge to top court

The US Supreme Court is to include a black female justice for the first time in its 233-year history after the Senate confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the nine-member bench.

Three Republicans crossed the aisle to seal her appointment by a vote of 53 to 47.

Justice Jackson's appointment fulfils President Joe Biden's campaign promise to put a black woman on the court. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, called it a "joyous day" for the US. The vote was overseen by Vice-President Kamala Harris, the first black woman to hold the office.

Ms Jackson, 51, will replace Justice Stephen Breyer, a fellow liberal judge for whom she once clerked, upon his retirement in June. The lifetime appointment will likely see Ms Jackson on the bench for decades, but will not shift the ideological balance of the current court, with its 6-3 conservative majority.

Ms Jackson has said she has a "methodology" to deciding cases but not an overarching philosophy. And she agreed with Republican senators about the importance of abiding by the text of the Constitution, as it was intended by the founders.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61026996

[Simon of the Playa]

"I want to say right away: Every normal person in the world understands who brought war and mass deaths to Ukrainian land. There is ample evidence that it is Russian troops who destroy peaceful cities, abduct, torture, kill civilians."

https://www.axios.com/zelensky-borodyan ... 8d77d.html

https://youtu.be/RnYykKt8pPk

[some seeing eye]

RAND finds that Republicans swallow fake news more than Democrats
The study puts some real science behind something many already knew: the problem of believing BS is not totally bipartisan.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90738201/ra ... -democrats

The White House is freaked out that Putin's next big win could be in Paris
If Russia apologist Marine LePen wins the French elections, Washington fears she could unravel the Western NATO alliance.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/0 ... s-00024054

[Canoe]

Pakistan Supreme Court rules against National Assembly dissolution and the dismissal of no-trust motion.

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday declared the dismissal of the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan as unconstitutional. The court has ordered the restoration of the National Assembly and voting on the no-trust motion is scheduled to take place on April 9.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party files a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict setting aside the National Assembly deputy speaker's rejection of the no-trust motion against Imran Khan

The truth is out: @BBhuttoZardari explains that @ImranKhanPTI is attempting to incite a coup as he faces ouster from power. He wants to wrap up the democratic system.

Still tried ordering the Speaker to not hold the vote.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan ousted from office after 174 members voted against him in parliament. 0 votes against the motion.

Opposition parties secured 174 votes in the 342-member house in support of the no-confidence motion, presiding Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, making it a majority vote. There were just a few legislators of Khan's ruling party present

Imran Khan ousted as Pakistan’s Prime Minister in no-confidence vote.
The National Assembly of Pakistan voted to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday. Khan is the first prime minister in the country’s history to be ousted by a no-confidence motion.

[Canoe]

Streisand Effect!!!
How to guarantee this reaches millions
This may turn into "I can't believe leopards ate my face"

George Galloway @georgegalloway Russia state-affiliated media [RT - Russia Today]

Dear @TwitterSupport I am not “Russian State Affiliated media”. I work for NO #Russian media. I have 400,000 followers. I’m the leader of a British political party and spent nearly 30 years in the British parliament. If you do not remove this designation I will take legal action.

https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/stat ... 9204103170

* "I work for no Russian media" says the man who goes on Russia Today to not only defend Russia's invasion of Ukraine but to say it had "an obligation" to.
* You’ve just deleted it from your profile description, so for the benefit of everyone else, here’s what it looked like 60 seconds ago with your Russian state funded RT show listed:
* You’re literally on the Sputnik page
* Quiet….he is working for RT and has been for years.
* You literally have your Russian state funded TV show listed in your profile description...
* I do love the fact that he has pinned it to his profile, where he lists all the Russian affiliated places he appears on.
* now deleted
* You can delete sputnik from your bio, but this is sputnik inviting me onto your sputnik show a few weeks back
* Twitter have not banned him, they’ve not cancelled him, all they’ve done is put a little marker to say he’s affiliated with Russian state media. Which he is. (Or was until he deleted it from his bio) he’s still free to speak the same drivel he always has.

And he gets help pulling his Streisand Effect...

Law firm (law firm? PR firm?) characterizes:
* offensive and damaging designation [Russia state-affiliated media", while he works for Russia state-affiliated media, so the firm feels his work is offensive?]
* [thinks the destination] demonize him [but his working for them doesn't?]

https://twitter.com/KRWLaw/status/1512702850891137026

* After working for media for so long, being generally pro Russian and anti Ukraine in his Twitter output and never hiding his love for Russia, he now considers it to be "dreadfully harmful designation" "offensive and damaging Designation" "demonised" to be associated with them?
* Missing only 1 sputnik episode today doesn't prove you're now unaffiliated from RT.
* Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this a marketing image of your client for his appearances on Russia Today? You know, the Russian state-controlled media?https://twitter.com/GingeInTheNorth/sta ... 6973609990
* If you consider it libellous and you think it diminishes Galloway's reputation, that infers working for Russian state media is something bad. So do you claim RT, Sputnik are upstanding, independent broadcasters or George thinks working for them is good?
* And your client has always sided with Russia. So why would you feel that this is derogatory now?
* a quick look into who you represent says so very much about your agenda. and it's striking that Comrade Galloway would choose such a firm. very interesting indeed
* It's really remarkable how many contributors to Russian state-affiliated media absolutely hate receiving labels indicating that they are contributors to Russian state-affiliated media.

[Canoe]

7 buses with Russian soldiers suffering from Acute Radiation Syndrome have arrived to a hospital in Belarus from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine.
They allegedly dug trenches in the highly radioactive Red Forest - UNIAN News Agency
twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1509287796065845250

[Drone footage said to show trenches dug at Chernobyl by Russian soldiers].
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4sZRG0icJc

I was complaining to myself that I didn't have consecutive photos for stereoscopic examination.
But there's video: take two frames, spaced by some time, with the same angle & zoom.
Very low resolution and low detail (thanks high compression...), but it's obvious that the top soil was significantly disturbed by moving, and they did dig in. Those poor bastards.
Without shadows to measure angles and such, no way to tell how deep they went, but that's not really material to the issue. ...

BBC: Inside Chernobyl: We stole Russian fuel to prevent catastrophe
The former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine was taken over by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. It's now back under Ukraine's control. The BBC's Yogita Limaye is among the first journalists to look inside it since the Russians left.

... The area behind the plant called the "Red Forest" is one of the most radioactive places on earth. Drone footage released by the Ukrainian military shows that Russian soldiers dug trenches and even stayed there. This was also confirmed to the BBC by officials at the station. ... Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power agency, has said Russian soldiers were exposed to "significant doses" of radiation. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61048256

BBC article includes an on-the-ground photo of where the Russians dug in...
"Dosimetrist measures the level of radiation" is in the photo (no radiation PPE), plus the photographer must be there. !!!
And a Chernobyl fox going by in the background?

I haven't heard anything more on the seven bus loads of Russian soldiers suffering from Acute Radiation Syndrome that were taken to a facility in Belarus. For fatalities, what's safe? Bury, cremate? What do you do with a contaminated body?

[Canoe]

Russia stepping up hostilities again...

The use of a corrected reactive 300-mm projectile descending on the stabilizing parachute for the Tornado-C "in Kharkov.

t.me/milinfolive/80810

There was a large explosion in Mikolaiv.

twitter.com/RALee85/status/1513261800032280577

* Reports from locals coming in that it was the Olvia Port that got hit, probably with an Iskander missile.
* Mykolaiv updates: It was not blast, Ukraine's air defence intercepted russian missile - official. via Vitaliy Kim

Video of Ukrainian soldiers from the 95th Air Assault Brigade firing a British Starstreak MANPADS reportedly at a Russian Inokhodets UCAV.

twitter.com/RALee85/status/1513072020963086342

Not a Starstreak, a Martlet. Same launcher but different tube, narrow at the back. Slower (mach 1.5 instead of 3) but with a unitary warhead that has a easier time against small drones than the triple dart of Starstreak. So, LMM Martlet is also already there.

[Chechens still performing their targetless terrorizing shooting for the cameras]
Chechen fighters firing wildly in Mariupol.

twitter.com/RALee85/status/1512966988410273795

What a story.
Ghanaian meme star @nanaotafrija donated $250 thousand to the best Ukrainian defence charity.
His "Coffin Dance" viral video was auctioned as an NFT token and he donated part of proceeds to the awesome folks from @BackAndAlive. Ghana, love from Ukraine!

twitter.com/vorobyov/status/1513072883203022849

[Canoe]

The wreckage of a Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone, shot down by a LMM Martlet, fired by the Ukrainian army.

twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1513097077647200257

Pro-Russian accounts and 'fake news' sites are trying to claim that satellite imagery from @Maxar, posted by @nytimes, showing bodies on the streets of Ukraine's Bucha are fake, but in this thread, you're going to see how silly pro-Russian disinformation attempts can be

twitter.com/BenDoBrown/status/1513085409403842564

TRIGGER WARNING

UPDATE: Russian soldier Aleksey Bychkov has been reportedly arrested in #Russia for his reported sex crimes against babies in #Ukraine:

twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/status/1512895305909424129

[More incidents reported here. It's not isolated incidents. No need to describe here.]
* https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/10/russian- ... -16439692/

Eastbound train in Rechitsa - Belarus.

Suspect this is part of the redeployment of Eastern MD units from Belarus to the Belgorod region, for commitment between Kharkiv - Izium - Sievierodonetsk.

twitter.com/The_Lookout_N/status/1513246115977736193

My piece on Finland’s rapid moves towards a NATO bid. Gov’t update on security policy due Apr 14th. Things could move fast after that. “I'm pretty confident we will be filing the membership agreement…in a few weeks’ time” as MP @elinavaltonen told me.

Sweden moving more slowly. But @carlbildt confident that just as Finland caught up with Sweden on EU in 1995, Sweden will do so now. “For me, it is inconceivable that we would end up in a situation where the two countries come to different conclusions.”

twitter.com/shashj/status/1512488459667382273

[Chernobyl] A couple weeks ago a Wagner source told me of a hastily out together new PMC, owned by a son-in-law of a GRU general, and set up to get a piece of the money pie available during the war. A unit numbering approx 200 was stationed in Pripyaty /1

They stationed them in old condemned apartment blocks, seemingly unaware of the risks. A couple days later a wounded merc ended up in a Belarus clinic, causing the Geiger counter to almost break. The rest of the mercs, hearing of this, deserted in panic. MoD were looking for them

When I shared this with a Ukrainian journalist, he joked "so we don't need night visors to find then, as they glow green naturally".

twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1512795850619170826

* Its pretty good scheme... you take 200 mercs and you promise them money ... a lot of money ... and you make them dig trenches in Red Forest.
* Mr. Frodo, are these wood elves? No, these are Russian soldiers coming from Chernobyl

[Canoe]

* 7 buses with Russian soldiers suffering from Acute Radiation Syndrome have arrived to a hospital in Belarus from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine.
* ... Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power agency, has said Russian soldiers were exposed to "significant doses" of radiation. ...
* www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61048256 BBC article includes an on-the-ground photo of where the Russians dug in...

Geolocate was done. Someone found a radiation map of the area. The site they flattened and dug in on, was immediately north of an intersection. Using 2016 levels, it shows 1,000 Cs-137 kBq/sq.m. If they'd crossed the road to the SW corner they'd have been on 1,000 to 3,000, and if to the SE, half on 1,000 to 3,000, the other half on 3,000 to 10,000. The highest range on the map is 30,000.

twitter.com/Guardian_Mario/status/1511836349401288708

Wonderful. Not...

Dirty bomb ingredients go missing from Chornobyl monitoring lab
Insecure radioactive materials are the latest worry as Russia continues occupation of infamous nuclear

In the chaos of the Russian advance, he told Science, looters raided a radiation monitoring lab in Chornobyl village—apparently making off with radioactive isotopes used to calibrate instruments and pieces of radioactive waste that could be mixed with conventional explosives to form a “dirty bomb” that would spread contamination over a wide area.

https://www.science.org/content/article ... toring-lab

[Canoe]

UK MOD update- “Further evidence of alleged Russian war crimes continues to emerge following Russian withdrawal from northern Ukraine. This includes the reported discovery of a makeshift grave containing deceased Ukrainian civilians near Burzova”

["Allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by Russian military personnel persist."]

twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1513272800957640710

[Canoe]

A sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system was delivered to Russian ally Serbia in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans during the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

twitter.com/AP/status/1513155493132443650

“Russia to Fast-Track Adoption of Deported Ukraine Orphans: Kyiv Officials”

Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:
E) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1512798107276296196

[A lot of this being seen]
Ukrainian EOD teams continue to remove munitions in the Kyiv area

twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1512769516241051655

"European defense officials told The Post that their thinking about the number and types of weapons they are willing to send has evolved, as Ukrainian forces have shown the ability to fight."

twitter.com/DanLamothe/status/1512854863515897857

“The invasion of Ukraine represents the Sovereign Internet’s biggest challenge. Instead of sporadic blocking and delays, the Kremlin now demands a total information monopoly.”

From Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine's Ombudswoman. Testimonies
1. In Makariv, Kyiv region, Russians cut off hands of an 80-year-old man in front of his daughter. He died of his wounds. 2. In Irpin', a 20-year-old pregnant woman was raped by two Russian soldiers. She lost her child

twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1513251716229210112

Bucha did not happen in one day. For many years, Russian political elites and propaganda have been inciting hatred, dehumanizing Ukrainians, nurturing Russian superiority, and laying ground for these atrocities. I encourage scholars around the globe to research what led to Bucha.

twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1513080148672880643

Why do so many Russian-speakers support Putin and this war? Still. Even in Ukraine (though their number is declining). And in other former satellites, or even Canada and the US. Why? How? WHY?

It’s not just the Kremlin propaganda. Let me tell you a deeply personal story.
...
Tanya is not a monster (at least not fulltime)—she is a highly educated woman that plays the piano and casually quotes Russian literature in everyday conversations. But if you ask her about the Bucha massacre, she’ll tell you it didn’t happen.

There are millions like her in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia itself, and even in Western countries like Germany, Canada and the US. We call them the "deceived generation," the last victims of Soviet propaganda.
...
These people still hope that Russia will come to save them from the “inferior” national majorities AND give them their coveted Russian pension. These people are still waiting for Russia to give back the money they lost (na knijke) when the Soviet Union broke up. These people did not cause the Russian invasion—contrary to what they think, protecting them is the last thing on Putin’s mind (he doesn’t actually want to pay them pensions). But these people are complicit in the crimes being committed against Ukrainians.

Deep down, they know that the Bucha massacre did happen—they just don’t care, because the victims are “inferior.” Just ask them about Russian crimes in Chechnya.

twitter.com/olga_chyzh/status/1512911246957420555

[Canoe]

In one village russians mined potatoes, which they deliberately displayed for hungry people. This seems like a nightmare, but it is Ukraine's reality

twitter.com/OlenaHalushka/status/1512527771511181313

I really don’t understand this. Russians mined a washing machine in one of the houses. Probably they were angry that they failed to kill hosts of this house and wanted to make them died after their returning home

twitter.com/avalaina/status/1512554478393831431