www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war.html

The latest manifestation of those tensions came from Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group, who used what he said were the newly bloody corpses of his fighters as the backdrop for another expletive-laced rant against the top military command.

the Russian occupation authorities on Friday ordered civilians living near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, in southern Ukraine, to leave their homes and businesses.

Mr. Prigozhin said that he had been expected to take Bakhmut by then, but had been foiled by “military bureaucrats” who cut off the supply of artillery shells days ago.

a previous outburst by Mr. Prigozhin did win him some of the ammunition and recruits that he wanted, although the numbers remain murky.

www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/opinion/dianne-feinstein-senate.html

www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/us/supreme-court-richard-glossip-execution.html

Leonard Leo — who assisted former President Donald Trump in selecting judicial nominees — received a groundbreaking $1.6 billion dollar gift for his network through the Federalist Society; an organization with a tax status that condemns political activism.A new report published by Politico explains …
— Read on www.alternet.org/largest-political-donation-ever/

Texas survivors question why help didn’t arrive earlier in the attack in San Jacinto County that killed five people.
— Read on www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-shooting-survivors-question-help-didnt-arrive-sooner-rcna82314

Putin is a great leader for his country and the people love him.” And that is as far as he is willing to go. He’s gone far enough already.
— Read on www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/01/oliver-stone-documentary-nuclear-power-putin-biden

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/01/india-putin-influence-growing/

We are awaiting further anti-voting laws in Georgia, Texas, Montana and elsewhere. The names of the states change, but the results are the same: voting for minorities and young voters becomes harder and elections become less free and fair.
— Read on www.democracydocket.com/opinion/we-cannot-out-organize-voter-suppression/

We are awaiting further anti-voting laws in Georgia, Texas, Montana and elsewhere. The names of the states change, but the results are the same: voting for minorities and young voters becomes harder and elections become less free and fair.

The terrible truth is that these new voter suppression laws are working. Despite the positive political outcome, turnout among minority and young voters in 2022 was down from previous years. 

The myth that citizens can out-organize voter suppression is not just wrong, it is dangerous.

Persuading voters to support a candidate is vital, but it won’t make hourslong voting lines shorter. Registering voters is foundational, but it alone cannot overcome voter purges and voter challenges that kick hundreds of thousands off the rolls or burdensome strict registration requirements that hinder voters from getting started in the first place. Voter education is critical, but it won’t stop mail in ballots from being rejected based on manufactured technicalities or human error. In short, on-the-ground organizing and campaigning are essential, but we cannot expect to simply out-organize systematic voter suppression.

Florida’s surgeon general edited an analysis of the mRNA vaccines to emphasize the risks of cardiac-related deaths and illness. This is how misinformation begins.
— Read on www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/29/florida-vaccine-study-surgeon-general/

Saturday 29 April 2023

Jim Clyburn says people are “on fire” for the Biden/Harris ticket.  On fire?  Seriously?  Consider the source.  The man who did the deal that helped put Joe Biden, one of the least popular candidates in the 2020 field, in office.  Establishment Democrats like Clyburn would have done anything, including creating an entirely anti-democratic process, to beat Bernie Sanders. 

Had Sanders won, the establishment would not have had:

• Resumption of drilling in the Artic
• Immigration policy that has barely changed since Trump.
• A refusal to prosecute the first coup in the history of the country.
• More money for the police
• Etc.

Republicans are threatening to force a default on the debt.  Lifting the debt limit, however, does not “authorize any new spending and in fact simply allows the U.S. to finance existing obligations.” (NYT) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/us/politics/us-debt-ceiling.html

Defaulting would mean:

• Indefinite delay in social security checks for nearly 50 million older people.
• Monthly child tax credits for millions of families would be indefinitely delayed.
• Paychecks for troops would also be indefinitely delayed.
• Disrupting school lunch programs, Medicaid, and disaster relief.
• Unemployment would rise
• Millions of jobs could be lost
• Interest rates would spike increasing inflation
• Recession
• https://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-how-it-would-impact-average-americans-2021-9

But, Republicans would like nothing better than to push the country over into economic disaster.  They think they will be the ones to pick up the pieces. 

Republicans could precipitate a “global financial catastrophie” by holding the debt ceiling hostage according to Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/18/gop-debt-ceiling-plan-financial-crisis-recession/”

She points out the absurdity of the Republicans arguing that they are holding the debt limit hostage in an act of fiscal restraint.

“Refusing to raise the debt limit is like going to a restaurant, ordering the lobster and a $500 bottle of wine, and then declaring yourself financially responsible because you skipped out on the check.”

The continues: “they might accidentally blow up every other financial market on Earth, too.”

“If we default on our debt obligations — or even come close to default — that raises the question of the riskiness of everything else investors buy and can send shockwaves of panic through every other market.”

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/28/alan-winde-arrest-vladimir-putin-visit-south-africa/

Vladimir Putin has been threatened with arrest in South Africa ahead of a controversial visit expected later this year

The premier of the Democratic Alliance-governed Western Cape province, which includes Cape Town, said he would order local police to seize the Russian leader.

Alan Winde attacked the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government for pushing ahead to welcome the Russian leader despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordering his arrest for the deportation of Ukrainian children.

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/29/yevgeny-prigozhin-wagner-group-soon-cease-exist/

Founder of mercenary unit Yevgeny Prigozhin accuses Russian military of hampering his supply of ammunition and manpower

Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday said his Wagner Group of mercenaries could soon cease to exist, as he hit out at the Russian military over ammunition supplies.

Western analysts believe Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, is trying to stifle Mr Prigozhin’s growing political influence.

Over the course of the conflict in Ukraine the Wagner Group has gone from being a shady Kremlin asset allegedly deployed to do Putin’s dirty work in Syria and Africa – where it has military and mining contracts – to a mainstream militia playing a crucial role in the Ukraine war.

Mr Prigozhin has publicly complained of attempts to minimise Wagner’s roleand belittle its achievements, though the Kremlin has denied a rift.

Earlier this week MPs renewed calls for the group to be classified as a terrorist organisation after a new report found it had played a role in destabilising Sudan.

The cross-party All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sudan accused the Russian company of training troops in Sudan, supplying weapons to the warring factions, and promoting misinformation during the recent pro-democracy protests.

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/29/fire-sevastopol-fuel-depot-drone-strike-ukraine-crimea/

A huge fire broke out at a fuel depot in Sevastopol, the main port in Moscow-annexed Crimea, on Saturday, which Russian authorities blamed on a drone attack.

Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has come under repeated air attacks since Russia invaded the country as a whole in February 2022.

In southern Ukraine, Russian occupational authorities said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had cut off electricity to the city of Novaya Kakhovka with “intense artillery fire”.

As Kyiv announced on Friday that it was almost ready to launch a large-scale assault to retake occupied land, Russia launched missiles at cities across Ukraine, killing at least 25 civilians as they slept in the first large-scale air strikes in nearly two months.

Friday 28 April 2023

Blog Notes:

Galloping Imposition of Authoritarianism in Florida

• Death Penalty.  Florida had to be forced by a 2016 Supreme Court decision and another decision by the Florida Supreme Court to implement a requirement for unanimous agreement on the death penalty by jurors in a capital felony case.  De Santis has now signed a law allowing juries to recommend a death sentence with only an 8-4 vote.  This would make Florida the most extreme death penalty state.  https://www.flcourier.com/commentaries/florida-law-eliminating-unanimity-for-death-penalty-problematic-in-many-ways/article_4048df76-e5dd-11ed-ad77-1f260d577b09.html
• DeSantis entered office at the same time as three liberal justices on the Florida Supreme court were forced to retire due to age.  DeSantis appointed three new justices, two of whom were then appointed to a federal appellate court by Trump.  De Santis appointed two more.  The Tampa Bay Times has called it “the most conservative state Supreme Court in America.”  The Florida legislature has begun passing laws it feels certain will be upheld by this court.  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/florida-supreme-court-desantis-republicans-precedent.html
• The Florida legislature has passed a school voucher law which would divert taxpayer money from public to private schools.  This is similar to another bill found unconstitutional by the previous Florida Supreme court.

Right-Wing Take-Over of the Supreme Court

• An article in the Guardian, documents what we all knew, i.e., that the “investigation” undertaken by the FBI of Brett Kavanaugh was a fake, a transparent effort to provide cover for the votes to put the accused rapist on the highest court in the land.  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/28/brett-kavanaugh-investigation-omissions-senate-sexual-assault-claims
• It should be remembered that Democrat Chris Coons was the architect of this fake FBI investigation which included a narrative created by a Federalist Society member to give the impression that Kavanaugh was the victim (right) of “mistaken identity.”  It should also be remembered that frequent Morning Joe contributor Elise Jordan was one of the establishment hacks who promoted this “mistaken identity” narrative.
• The FBI “investigation” did not even interview Ford.
• On Joy Reid, there was a discussion of Kavanaugh.
• Mentioned were, Kavanaugh’s $700,000 paid off credit card debts, Robert’s wife’s commissions, Gorsuch selling and buying properties.
• Shouldn’t they be investigated for misconduct not just trying to get them to have a code of ethics? 
• Elie Mystal (cheers).  “ethical catastrophie.”  Mystal criticizes the wimpy comments of Senator Mazie Hirono.  Hirono’s comments point out a problem with the Democrats’ reaction to this “ethical Catastrophe” on the Supreme Court.  The Democrats are asking, begging the Supreme Court to implement their own ethical standards.  “Why are we leaving it up to them?”  Says Mystal.  Other comments by Eli
• “What more does the Supreme Court have to do to prove that it is incapable of policing itself?”
• “If you saw the mouse you have ten more in the wall.”  “It’s time to send in the cats.”
• There must be “independent ethics oversight” so that the Court does not have any choice.
• Congress controls Supreme Court funding.   They could probably live without their publicly funded salaries, but they would not like to do without their perks and privileges. 
• Reid: “The conduct of Clarence Thomas is potentially criminal.” But there is not a peep from the Justice Department. 
• Elie: “I do not know what Chris Wray has to not do to get fired.”  What other level of incompetence do we need.  He is the one who covered up the inadequate Kavanaugh investigation.  He was the one who believed the “mistaken identify” nonsense.  “Why does he still have a job.”  “They need to do something, and they won’t.”  “Yes they (Supreme court) are operating above the law because nobody in law enforcement tries to stop them.”  “We should at last try to stop them.”
• “The FBI did a pretend investigation of him (Kavanaugh).”  Joy Reid