Law, Power, and Justice

Monday 10 March 2025

NOTES ON LIFE AND THE NEWS BY AN ELDERLY CHILDLESS CAT LADY WORKING AWAY IN THE SUB-BASEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK

X is out all over the country.  I couldn’t be happier. 

MSNBC: 12:00 Noon

• Trump’s policies toward Ukraine are sending a very clear message to Putin. 

Too bad, X came back online.

In an interview on CNN, the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau former head detailed how data giants like Musk could amass so much personal data they could tag prices for products to the individual consumer and even what they were displaying about their mood online at the time they were buying.  For example, if there had been traffic about a particular person being a participant of Fantasy Baseball and there was a conference in Law Vegas, the person might be charged a higher price for a plane ticket to Las Vegas because the algorithm would know the person was likely to attend.  Prices set to desperation and desire.  What a world.

Later: 4:00 PM

MSNBC

• The stock market fell to almost -1000 today.  If Trump is not denying a recession, we are probably headed for a depression.
• There is a vet with stage 4 cancer on Nicolle Wallace.  He has been denied his experimental treatment because of Trump’s cuts.
• Amy McGrath: A lot of these people wanted to privatize the VA.  Privatization is the word underneath all of this.
• Veterans get universal life time health care.  Republicans hate that.
• They are willing to kill some 10,000 veterans who are in experimental treatment for cancer to make money.

BBC News America

• Zelensky is in Saudia Arabia.  (Why?  Why Saudia Arabia?)
• Rubio is calling it a “temporary pause” in military assistance to Ukraine.  (Note: Right.)
• Without any security guarantee?  There is still no security guarantee. 
• Zelensky is not formally meeting the Americans.  What? 
• Ukrainians want a limited truce in the sea and the air. 
• (Note: Why is this minerals deal so important to Trump?)
• “Economic guarantees” are not sufficient.  There have been American business interests in Ukraine before and it did not deter Russia.
• Ukraine is not ready for a permanent cessation of the territories to Russia. 

Guardian: Asset Seizure

• According to a US district judge, a former chief of the Russian state oil and gas company Rosneft does not have a plausible claim to own a $330m superyacht seized by US authorities in 2022.  The Justice Department (note: at the moment) is supporting prosecutors’ bid for the forfeiture of the yacht which could be sold at auction.  Last year, Congress passed a law authorizing the transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.  Eduard Khudainatov, who led Rosneft from 2010 to 2013, sought to block the forfeiture by claiming he owned the yacht.  Prosecutors claim that Khudiainatov is a “straw owner” for Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, who is under US sanctions. 
• Trump’s AG, Pam Bondi, disbanded Task Force KleptocCapture, whose many actions targeting Russian oligarchs included the yacht’s seizure. 
• Kerimov was sanctioned for actions in Ukraine and Syria.
• The US Government is paying about $600,000 a month to maintain the yacht.
• (Note: One of the big problems with the asset seizure of property such as this yacht is that the government must pay to maintain the property in case they lose the seizure case in court.)

Guardian: Ukraine

•  Russian forces are trying to eliminate the last Ukrainian position in the Russian Kursk region.  “the Russian efforts indicate that Moscow does not want to halt its counteroffensive at the national border…”
• “…one expert noted” Russia’s rate of success had “dramatically improved in the past few days.”  (Note: This corresponds with the US cutting off military aid and intelligence.)
• Russia has warned the Australian government that deploying troops to Ukraine as part of an international peace keeping operation would lead to “grave consequences.” The Russians stipulated that the communication was not a “threat,” but a “warning.” 
• Foreign minister of Australia responded:  “…end your illegal invasion of Ukraine.  We won’t be intimidated from working towards a just peace…”