SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023

Morning News Notes:

MSNBC

Republican Inspired Violence

There is yet another mass shooting at a ballroom dance location in California.  The area is largely Asian.  There are 10 people dead. 

The Wagner Group

The U.S. has designated the Wagner Group as a “significant transnational criminal organization” and will impose further sanctions against enablers.  (Note: I am waiting for them to designate Trump, et. al. as a significant transnational criminal organization.)

The Wagner group is known for committing widespread human rights violations.   Ali Velshi, MSNBC, says they have a “reputation for being inhumane,” according to the UN.  It is interesting that Velshi chooses to include the word “reputation” rather than claiming that Wagner commits inhumane acts.  (Note: I don’t know if the “reputation” is from the UN or from Velshi).

Russia is estimated to have mobilized 200,000 – 250,000 troops for the war against Ukraine.  They are thought to have lost 100,000 of those troops.  The Wagner Group is estimated to currently have 50,000 troops.  (Note: I think this means 50,000 in Ukraine, but I am not sure.)  Only about a quarter of these troops are trained military, the rest are convicts recruited by Wagner.  (Note: In Russia or in other countries?)

The only significant military gains Russia has made in recent months have been made by Wagner troops.  The founder and head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has recently used the opportunity to publicly brag about this fact. 

Prigozhin’s outspoken bragging and also his praise for Zelensky and Ukrainian forces has led many to speculate just how powerful a “rival power center” Wagner has become in Russia.  There is evidently dissatisfaction with  him in the Kremlin.  Those criticizing Prigozhin include Vladimir Gerasimov, the new head of Russia’s war effort. 

Sources:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/wagner-chief-writes-letter-to-u-s-asking-what-crime-group-committed/ar-AA16Bh80

Misinformation

There are actually countries that educate their citizens against misinformation, countries that have made a conscious effort to train citizens to spot deception and lies in the media.  We, however, are a country that not only ignores misinformation, but in some cases (like Florida) actively prevents training citizens against it.

One of the Biden administration’s efforts to counter disinformation about Russia and migrant smugglers was met with Republican opposition, claiming Biden was trying to set up a “ministry of truth.”  The board was (within weeks) dissolved.  (Note: That tells you all you need to know.  Republicans view countering disinformation as an Orwellian “Truth Commission.”  Democrats fold at the slightest opposition.)

The five nations which have been most successful in promoting resilience against misinformation are: Finland (for the fifth year), Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Ireland.

Teachers in Finland are required to teach media literacy and critical thinking (MSNBC).  According to officials in Finland, the kindergarten teacher is the first line of defense.  (Note: Just think about this. The first line of defense.  Can you imagine the Republican outcry if anyone said that in this country.)

Classrooms in Finland are teaching elementary skills like  reading skills.  Students need to recognize the difference between opinion and fact, for example.  Students, according to Finish teachers, should think, why has this been published, what are the motivations of the people quoted? 

The Fins also use library programs to reach adults who will not be exposed to these classes in school. 

But, as Ali Velshi and the Finnish teachers point out, the entire program rests on a good educational system.  (Note: The Republicans and the evangelicals are trying to destroy the pubic school system.  They are not content with having a school system that is set up with vast inequality depending on the income of the parents living in the school district.)

Students in Finland put together video projects so they will learn the process of gathering and editing video.  After going through this process, it is easier to understand how decisions are made about what to include and what to leave out, what backgrounds surround a particular shot that can either be edited out or included.   They also learn about the number of takes involved in producing a particular scene.  They are taught to “read the picture.”  

(Note: The program, according to the head of a Finnish media organization, depends heavily on trusting the media and trusting the government.  This was a rather inconvenient statement, said in the context of promoting critical thinking.  It seems the point is not trusting anybody, or not trusting them completely.  Perhaps that is what he meant.)  (Note: I started to edit out the inconvenient statement.)

Sources:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/07/26/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/18/disinformation-board-dhs-nina-jankowicz/

Velshi, MSNBC

The first and presumably last Briton ever to lead European foreign policy gives us a glimpse of a collaborative approach now sadly lost
— Read on www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/22/and-then-what-by-catherine-ashton-review-colourful-insider-account-of-european-diplomacy

This book review was written by luke harding one of the best.

In Ashton’s memoir of her time as a diplomat, And Then What?, she captures the moment vividly. “In Kyiv I was aware of a particular atmosphere that I had experienced before in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. It was as if the wind had changed direction and you had to brace yourself against it as it whipped your breath away. A sense of excitement, mixed with fear and apprehension… Revolution, freedom, chaos – I could almost taste it.”

Putin, of course, had other ideas. He sent special forces to grab Crimea and kickstarted a bitter war in the east of the country. In February 2022, he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945. The west’s collective failure to confront Russia sooner, including during Ashton’s five-year tenure as EU foreign policy chief, was a strategic mistake – arguably the biggest in what is proving to be a tumultuous and darkly twisting century.

Ashton makes the case for what she calls “deep democracy”. In her visits to refugee camps and to failing states such as Haiti she discovers that luckless citizens “wanted what we have”. That is, an independent press, proper courts and free elections, as well as a flourishing civil society. It is a modest manifesto. And yet, in an age when Putin is seeking to turn the clock back with a blatant neo-imperial land-grab, it is a radical one as well.

Ashton acknowledges the EU – a motley club of 28 nations at the time – made mistakes. Most of her successes unravelled. Egypt reverted to military dictatorship; Libya descended into civil war; and Iran resumed its nuclear activities after President Donald Trump kiboshed Obama’s deal, co-guaranteed by China and Russia. Serbia and Kosovo are once more at loggerheads; the deep-seated issues Ashton tried to fix came back, like so much bad history. Ukraine is a rolling tragedy, the scene of Kremlin mass murder and rapacity.

it’s clear our politics would have turned out better if we had had more Cathy Ashtons and fewer Boris Johnsons, more constructive collaboration and less alpha male showboating

(Note: the world would have turned out better if we had less alpha male showboating.)

Wednesday Morning News Notes
New york times

A helicopter crash in the Kyiv suburbs on Wednesday morning left at least 18 people dead, including Ukraine’s minister for internal affairs and his deputy, according to the head of the country’s national police service.

Ukraine’s new push for arms like tanks and air defense missiles began in earnest on Tuesday, when General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, held his first face-to-face meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, in Poland, nearly 11 months after the Russian invasion.

On Wednesday and Thursday, NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels to take stock of assistance for Ukraine. On Friday, they will be joined at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany by officials from a broader group of nations that have coordinated aid to Ukraine. The U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, will lead those discussions, including the crucial question of whether to send Western tanks.

James Cleverly, Britain’s foreign secretary, defended his country’s decision to provide Ukraine with 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks, which would be the first Western tanks in Ukraine’s forces

The Pentagon is tapping into a vast but little-known stockpile of American ammunition in Israel to help meet Ukraine’s dire need for artillery shells in the war with Russia,

Israel has consistently refused to supply weapons to Ukraine out of fear of damaging relations with Moscow

The Russian military and the Wagner Group, a private mercenary group, contradicted each other publicly about who should get credit for capturing the eastern town. Ukraine’s military, meanwhile, has rejected Russia’s claim of victory, saying its troops are still fighting there.

Israel has imposed a near-total embargo on selling weapons to Ukraine, fearing that Russia might retaliate by using its forces in Syria to limit Israeli airstrikes aimed at Iranian and Hezbollah forces there.

And while other places understand that immigrants, who often work in the service sector and agriculture, two of Florida’s main industries, are vital to replenishing aging populations, Mr. DeSantis and the state G.O.P. are not exactly immigrant-friendly, enacting legislation to limit the ability of people with uncertain legal status to work in the state.

Guardian

Sixteen people including Ukraine’s interior minister and other senior officials were killed when a helicopter crashed outside Kyiv in the town of Brovary, the national police chief said.

Wagner group: Andrey Medvedev, 26, said that in Ukraine he had witnessed the summary killing of Wagner fighters accused by their own commanders of disobeying orders, sometimes in pairs.
After fleeing his unit, he crossed the border into Norway near the Pasvikdalen valley shortly before 2am local time last Friday, where he was arrested and detained by border guards.

The prisoners are used as cannon fodder, like meat. I was given a group of convicts. In my platoon, only three out of 30 men survived,” he said. “We were then given more prisoners, and many of those died too.”
Medvedev, who grew up in a Siberian orphanage and spent at least four years in prison for robbery, also claimed he knew of at least 10 killings of Wagner soldiers who had disobeyed, and had witnessed some personally.
“The commanders took them to a shooting field and they were shot in front of everyone. Sometimes one guy was shot, sometimes they would be shot in pairs,” he said.
Medvedev described how he grew disaffected with Wagner after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners who were brought to the front by Wagner.
“It shocked us to the core, it was so fucked-up.”
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Crime laws

David Coulson was imprisoned in California under draconian ‘tough on crime’ laws stemming from the 1990s. Now campaigners are calling for reform, reports Sam Levin
In California, if a person commits two felonies that are classed as ‘serious’ or ‘violent’, and then goes on to commit a further serious felony, they will be given a life sentence. It’s a law stemming from a tough crackdown on crime in the 1990s when a wave of crime in the state caused public outcry and was used by politicians determined to respond in kind.

A prominent Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist known as a vocal critic of the military and Islamist militants has been shot dead at a court in the north-western city of Peshawar. Guardian.

Abdul Latif Afridi, a renowned human rights and political activist, has been a vocal critic of the powerful military’s alleged interference in Pakistani politics and of Islamist militancy.

Russians are increasing the pace of deportation of Ukrainians.
The National Resistance Center informs that funds for accommodation of people are stolen, and deportees are placed in unsanitary conditions. Abandoned sanatoriums and dormitories are allocated for people. human Right Protection Group

nyt

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that its troops had captured the town, but Ukraine’s military rejected the assertion, saying that fighting was ongoing.


In recent months Mr. Prigozhin has emerged as the leader of a group of Kremlin outsiders challenging established Russian elites. He has positioned Wagner troops as the most capable forces fighting in Ukraine and sought to portray himself as the mastermind behind the campaign in Soledar.

guardian

Germany should take “decisive actions” and send “all sorts of weapons” to Ukraine to help its troops defend themselves against Russia’s invasion, Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said.

Russia and Belarus have begun joint air force drills this morning, triggering fears in Kyiv and the west that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine

Battle tanks from German industrial reserves wanted by Ukraine will not be ready to be delivered until 2024, the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has warned, increasing pressure on Nato allies to support Ukraine with armoured vehicles in active service instead, ahead of a key meeting this week.

Lllll

Facing an increased union threat, a purportedly pro-union White House, and growing support for unions in Congress, corporations are turning to the Supreme Court
— Read on www.levernews.com/corporations-are-pushing-the-supreme-court-to-crush-unions/

Alexander was quickly deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine after he joined a Russian unit for volunteer soldiers in October because he wanted to “defend his motherland.”  One month later, he was badly injured by artillery fire near the Ukrainian village of Makiivka amid intense fighting in the east of the country.  He told The Moscow Times from his hospital bed that 72 of the 98 soldiers in his unit were killed in the incident.  All the dead were what are referred to in Russia as “volunteers” — an umbrella term for the tens of thousands of men who have chosen to join the military specifically to take part in combat operations in Ukraine.   “We are true patriots,” said Alexander, 31, who declined to provide his surname.  Many of these men apparently believe the Kremlin’s messaging that Moscow is battling “Nazis” who control Kyiv and are waging a “genocidal” campaign against Russian-speakers. “Our grandfathers fought against the Nazis in World War II and now we are fighting against Nazis in Ukraine,” said Vladislav Malov, 47, a volunteer who recently returned to his hometown of Nizhnekamsk in the Russian republic of Tatarstan.  While ideology likely is one motivation for these soldiers, incentives such as high salaries, bonuses and opportunities for promotion and medals — as well as pressure from families — are also believed to play a major role.
— Read on www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/15/glory-hunters-or-gold-diggers-the-shadowy-world-of-russias-volunteers-fighting-in-ukraine-a79766

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/15/wagner-mercenary-dodges-rifle-fire-tracker-dogs-high-stakes/

New Equipment: The Western allies’ provision to Ukraine of infantry fighting vehicles signals their support for new offensives in coming months.



Mmmm

NYT

Russia has replaced the general in charge of its trouble-plagued war against Ukraine, amid signs of dissension among President Vladimir V. Putin’s top allies — a shake-up that critics said would not address what ails the Russian military.

Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, whose appointment the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday, is a longtime Kremlin ally, chief of the military general staff since 2012, and an executor of the failed plan for the initial invasion in February. It was the second time in just three months that the ministry replaced the chief of the war effort.

Outside analysts and hawkish Russian war bloggers said the change was a far cry from the radical overhaul the Russian armed forces need to become more effective.

On Tuesday, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force, said that his troops had seized control of Soledar, posted online a photo of himself with some of the soldiers in what he said was the town’s famous salt mine, and made a point of claiming that only Wagner fighters had been battling there on behalf of Russia.



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Mmm

Benton, the husband of Rand Paul’s niece and a veteran GOP staffer, faces up to 20 years in prison, but plans to appeal.
— Read on www.axios.com/2022/11/18/trump-campaign-jesse-benton-russia

Evgeny Prigozhin, the terrifying muscle behind Putin’s most notorious mercenary group, is an increasingly vocal threat to Putin, himself.
— Read on puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/12/meet-general-who-vladimir-putin-expects-secure-russian-victory/

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/13/ukraine-russia-war-live-soledar-moscow-kyiv-wagner/

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/13/inside-russian-prison-where-not-seems/

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/13/vladimir-putin-should-beware-constantly-changing-generals/