A super PAC is smearing Lee as a threat to the Democratic Party as she campaigns to become the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress.
— Read on www.thenation.com/article/politics/pennsylvania-primary-summer-lee/
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FRIDAY 13 MAY 2022
UKRAINE UPDATE:
CNN
- There are wounded inside the steel plant in Mariupol. It is believed that all the civilians are all out.
- The Russians keep shelling the plant.
- Russian troops have withdrawn around Kharkiv and destroyed bridges.
- Destroying the bridges means that the Russians have given up attempts to occupy Kharkiv, according to the reporter on the scene.
- Kherson: controls the head of a canal that controls fresh water into Crimea.
- They are trying to carve Kherson off, the Russians to add this to the occupied territory.
- Convoys are leaving Kherson and have been attacked.
- The Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv has been very successful.
- The Ukrainians have forced Russian troops down in Izium back north to defend their supply lines.
- Ukrainians are trying to keep the russians out of Kramatorsk. Russians are trying to take Kramatorsk.
- Russians are pushing into Voevodivka towards Kramatorsk. They have secure supply lines into Voevodivka.
- Ukrainians have destroyed 13 ships of the Russians.
- Odesa is a key port. Grain products have to be shipped out through Odesa.
- Odesa is blockaded now. This is going to have an impact on world hunger.
UKRAINE WORLD
- Member of Russian government: “Poland should be the next in the line for denazification…”
- Residents of Mariupol are starving.
- Zelensky: “France’s President Macron offered to make concessions on Ukraine’s sovereignty in order to save the face of Putin.”
- Russian Foreign Ministry threatened that if Finland joined NATO, Russia would take “reciprocal steps, both military-technical and other.”
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow (controlled by Russia) stated that Russia invaded Ukraine because its former President Poroshenko established the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (independent of Moscow.)
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The Guardian published two sensitive reports by Kirchgaessner within the timeframe of the DoJ review into child separation covered by the leak inquiry. On 23 July 2020 she revealed that the DoJ’s former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had personally advised that migrant parents should be prosecuted, no matter how young the children accompanying them.
— Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/12/us-government-subpoena-guardian-reporter-phone-records -
Russian hackers were thought to be the strongest force in cyberspace, but the war in Ukraine showed that to be a myth
— Read on english.nv.ua/nation/russian-hackers-mocked-after-they-fail-in-cyberspace-war-against-ukraine-50240372.html -
SUNDAY 8 MAY 2022
UKRAINE UPDATE:
THE KYIV INDEPENDENT
- Canada to provide millions in aid to Ukraine and impose new sanctions on Russia.
- Canada will sanction 12 Russians with lose ties to the state, 19 individuals linked to Russia’s defense sector, and five entities providing direct or indirect support to the Russian military.
- More than 60 people feared dead after Russian bombed a school being used as a shelter.
- Zelensky awards medal to Ukrainian sapper dog.
- Ukraine’s military defeats 190 Russian troops, 15 tanks in eastern Ukraine on May 8.
- Evacuation from Luhansk stops as Russian troops fire on evacuation route.
- Zelensky: occupied Mariupol cannot be liberated by military means.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS: The Immortal Regiment
- Since 2013, members of the “Immortal Regiment” march on 9 May with portraits of their relatives who fought during WWII.
- By 2015, the movement had been hijacked by the Kremlin to carry out its operations.
- Propagandists use “mass events, theatrical performances, and symbols to manipulate and exploit the personal tragedies…”
- They “use brainwashing methods such as laundering history and flipping narratives, to claim Putin’s regime is the direct successor of all Russia’s glorious victories…”
- This year, relatives of those killed in Ukraine will join.
- They will carry portraits of those responsible for deaths in Bucha, Irpen and Mariupol.
- The Immortal Regiment marches will take place in the occupied territories of Ukraine as well.
- This is a way of reinforcing the myth of “denazification.”
- Russian talk show host Vladmir Soloviev said “We will take Washington next.”
- Thousands of invitations are emailed out to the Russophone citizens of the Us, UK, EU and around the world.
- Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister now in charge of the negotiations with Ukraine has openly called the collaboration between Stalin and Hitler in 1939 a “great achievement of Soviet diplomacy.”
- In 2019, in the US, “about 8,000 people took part in the Immortal Regiment marches in twenty cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.
- Over 700 people some of them in Russian military uniform gathered in front of the White House and were greeted by the Russian Ambassador to the United States. (Note: Where the bleeding f..k was the press?)
- The Immortal Regiment is itself a part of the whole Russian war operation.
- In 40 countries around the world, Russian Immortal Regiment will march in favor of Putin and his war against Ukraine.
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Over 700 people, some of them in Russian military uniform, gathered in front of the White House and were greeted by the Russian Ambassador to the United States.
— Read on euromaidanpress.com/2022/05/08/immortal-regiment-is-a-tool-of-hybrid-war/ -
It’s true the Vatican has to walk a diplomatic tightrope, but in doing so it increasingly risks drawing moral equivalence between Russia and Ukraine.
— Read on www.commonwealmagazine.org/ukraine-vatican-and-vatican-ii -
While we tend our graves, vanquished Russian troops are heading through Belarus in a cloud of radioactivity after literally digging up the past, says novelist Andrey Kurkov
— Read on www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/06/vladimir-putin-ukraine-traditions-chernobyl-graves-russian-troops-belarus-radioactivity -
SATURDAY 7 MAY 2022 (@cjjohns1951)
UKRAINE UPDATE: Day 73
Podcast: Daily Telegraph Podcast “Ukraine the Latest”
This is probably the best daily update podcast. It is well worth subscribing to.
Yachts, Oligarchs and the view from Washington
- The Russian effort in the Donbas is stalled.
- The Russians are consuming a lot of military equipment. (Note: From another podcast, the Soviet Union strictly depended on military equipment that was made of parts made in the Soviet Union. With the fall of the Soviet Union, this changed. Russia depends on parts that come from the West for its military equipment. Because of sanctions these parts are becoming more and more scarce. The interviewee in this podcast speculated that Putin would not know details like this.)
- Regardless of the original aims, the devastation of the military makes it disadvantageous for him to continue the war.
- The grain and wheat produced in Ukraine is important to the world food supply. This will affect the Middle East and North Africa especially in terms of higher costs.
- Germany is sending self-propelled Howitzers to Ukraine. This is important because these great guns can be moved. With current military technology, firing from a gun like a Howitzer can be located by the enemy within three minutes. So, it become essential that the gun can fire and then move quickly.
- In the east, each side is trying to push back the other’s artillery.
- Reports that another large Russian ship, south of Odesa, is on fire and sinking. There are US drones in the area monitoring events and also other Russian ships which are perhaps part of a rescue effort.
- Sanctions as a political weapon. There is a big difference between freezing assets and actually seizing them and turning them into funds to use. Using the assets requires changes in sanctions law. (Note: At times, the frozen assets must be maintained by the freezing country and not allowed to decrease in value. This can result in a lot of money being spent maintaining the sanctioned property, like a yacht.)
- Elites often buy yachts as ostentatious displays of their wealth, but also as assets that can be easily moved. A lot of these yachts are held in the names of other people so they cannot easily be targeted. (Note: Yachts as opposed to bank accounts have to, in some instances, be maintained. Money can just be frozen.)
- Roman Abramovich have five mega-yachts, worth around $1 billion.
- The yachts are also often owned by shell companies. They are also often registered in countries where the financial records are not transparent.
- The bar to actual confiscation is very high and likely to result in a protracted legal struggle.
- Financial Times coverage of sanctions.
- Loans for “luxury toys” are made to these oligarchs to help buy high end purchases. The banks now (Credit Suisse) are not being paid for the loans on these frozen assets.
- “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World” book. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=book+kleptopia&adgrpid=1333708182580435&hvadid=83356999508486&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=74961&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83357131359266%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=964_1014981060&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_5ajun2kvdj_e
CNN
- Russia claims to be liberating areas and peoples in eastern Ukraine, but after months of shelling, even those who might have had sympathy with Russia no longer do.
- Zelensky warns Russia that they are ensuring that people will no longer want to speak Russian because it will be associated with this invasion.
- Putin’s girlfriend may soon be sanctioned by the EU. (Note: From Telegraph podcast, this sanctioning has a propaganda goal. A newspaper that covered the story about Putin’s girlfriend before the war, was closed down.)
- Another sanctioning target may be Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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FRIDAY 6 MAY 2022
UKRAINE UPDATE
Zelensky feared exactly what is happening, i.e., that the West, specifically the US, would tire of the conflict in Ukraine and turn attention away. The corporate news is once again filled with the Trump soap opera. Revelation follows revelation, and each revelation is talked about ad nauseum. NOTHING is done. We are going down a dark path and most people are oblivious. The others are whining, lamenting, calling for another report or investigation. I see no evidence of anyone in a leadership position willing to put themselves on the line to fight for what democracy is left in this country.
Oh, but coverage of Johnny Dep and his loathsome partner continues.
THE KYIV INDEPENDENT
- Zelensky has said he sees no indication that Russia is interested in ending the war.
- Andrey Turchak, Russian senator, says that Russia is in Kherson “forever.”
- Over 2,000 people have left occupied Kherson by foot or car.
- Russians tire at evacuation vehicle near Aovstal killing a Ukrainian soldier.
- Finland imported 70% less Russian oil from Russia since February.
- Russians attack Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
CNN
- (Note: For some reason, CNN thinks it is interesting, relevant to debate exactly what kind of intelligence was passed from the US to Ukraine to sink the Moscow ship. They are debating the words used by Kirby at the Pentagon. What relevance this has to anything I do not know.)
REUTERS
- Putin is predicted to send a “doomsday” warning to the West on May 9.
- Putin is expected to speak on Red Square in front of a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
NEWSWEEK
- Kremlin denies Putin’s apology to Israel.
ANDERS ASLUND
- Book: Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy, 2019
- Russian television is now maintaining that Nazism doesn’t have to be antisemitic but can be and is in this new iteration, anti-Slavic and anti-Russian.
DAILY MAIL: “Six Russian Businessmen die…”
- Six oligarchs with Kremlin ties have died in mysterious circumstances this year.
- Four worked for the state energy firm Gazprom, which has bankrolled the war in Ukraine.
- Mikhail Watford, Ukrainian gas and property tycoon who told friends he feared Putin’s hit list. He was found hanged in his mansion in Surrey last month. He told friends he was on Putin’s “hit list.” Boris Berezovsky was found hanged at his home in Ascot Berkshire in 2013. He was friends with Watford.
- Leo Shulman was found hanged at his home near St. Petersburg on January 30.
- Alexander Tyulakov was found hanged at the same St. Petersburg housing complex.
- Vasily Melnikov was found dead in what was presumed to be a “murder-suicide.”
- On April 18, Gazprombank vice-president Vladislav Avayev was found dead in their Moscow apartment. His family was also killed. Avayev was reported to have tortured his wife for hours before killing her.
- Avayev was found with an “FSB gun” after his death.
- Avayev was still at the bank and would have had access to the accounts of its most elite clients, including Putin’s circle and possibly Putin himself.
- The next day, Sergey Protosenya was found dead in Spain with his family. His wife and daughter were hacked to death with an axe.
- There were no fingerprints on the weapons, an axe and knife, and there were no bloodstains on his body.
ATLANTIC COUNCIL: New Fires
- The fires in Russia in numerous strategic facilities were not officially confirmed.
- They are suspected of being sabotage operations.
UKRAINE WORLD
- Ukraine has reclaimed six towns in Kharkiv’s suburbs.
- Russians are going to hold a parade of prisoners in Mariupol on May 9.
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Mystery shrouds the deaths of six Kremlin-connected Russian oligarchs and leading executives. The son of billionaire Sergey Protosenya said he ‘could never’ have killed himself.
— Read on www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10770211/Six-Russian-billionaires-executives-oil-giant-Gazprom-died-suicide-three-months.html -
THURSDAY 5 MAY 2022
UKRAINE UPDATE:
CNN
- Besieged Ukrainians inside the steel plant in Mariupol refuse to surrender. NATO has refused to help. These brave fighters have occupied Russian military force and kept it from being moved to other parts of the country.
- Missile strike in Kramatorsk, no one killed.
- The Russians are having a hard time breaking through the front lines in the east so they are going back to bombing civilian targets.
- Former Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst: The US has been “slow and late” with assistance. Israel has been criticized for staying on the sidelines about the war. The Israelis have a reason to publicly say that Putin apologized.
- Putin apologized to the Israelis for the comments of Lavrov about Jewish people.
- Reports that Ukrainians have used US intelligence to kill generals. John Kirby is saying that the US has not given targeting information to the Ukraine, that the Ukrainians have information of their own.
MSNBC
- Whoever is talking to the NYT about US intelligence and targeting generals should stop talking about it. It makes the Ukrainians look like they can’t run their own war, according to Michael McFaul. (Note: I also think it looks like the US is bragging.)
NEW YORK TIMES: “Anti-Putin Russians are leaving…”
- Russia is designating some as “foreign agents” and thereby making living in Russia untenable.
- More than 400 people or organizations have been designated foreign agents since 2020. New names are announced virtually every Friday.
- There is no prior warning, nor any explanation.
- The designation means opposition figures outside the country will not return.
- The designation extends not only to political figures but to “technology specialists, entrepreneurs, designers, actors and financiers.”
- Six people associated with a rare private university have been charged with embezzling public funds.
- Leaflets were hung in the neighborhood of one of the targets featuring her face and saying; “She Supports Ukrainian Nazis.”
- This woman stated: “…the public sphere in Russia will be largely cleaned, purged of its liberal, humanistic elements.”
- Putin has publicly stated that those who identified with Western values are “scum and traitors.” Peskov has stated that “cleansing” would happen naturally.
- “The most recent additions to the list…have been…journalists and gay rights activists.”
- “Those designated must put the label prominently on all their work…and file frequent, and onerous, financial disclosure forms.”
KYIV INDEPENDENT
- EU seeks to sanction Putin’s rumored mistress. Alina Kabaeva is a former gymnast.
- Japan is increasing the reliance on nuclear power to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
- Ukraine is asking for the extradition of pro-Kremlin blogger Anatoly Shariy from Spain. Shariy was arrested on treason charges and then a Spanish court released him with travel restrictions.
- Ukrainian authorities sat Shariy has been spreading disinformation to harm Ukraine’s national security, while being paid by Russia.
- Shariy has lived in exile in EU since 2012. He founded a political party that was banned in February.
- A 15-year-old was killed while trying to help evacuate animals from the Feldman Ecopark. The owner is Oleksandr Feldman.
- Russians shell Russian Orthodox monastery in Donetsk.
- Fierce battles still continue near Popasna, Kreminna and Torske in Luhansk.
- Chornobaivka mayor hospitalized. His deputy was kidnapped by Russians.
- The Mayor of the village Ihor Dudar was hospitalized after encounter with Russian troops. (Note: It appears that troops are targeting local officials when they take over an area.)
- Ukraine’s biggest thermal power plant has stopped due to coal shortage.
- Canadian embassy to return to Ukraine.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
- Ukraine has begun to counterattack in Kharkiv and Izium. Russia’s main focus is now in the Luhansk direction: Popasna, Kreminna, Torske.
- Russian forces stormed the Azovstal Plant and managed to break inside the facility.
RANDOM NOTES
- OpenSecrets.org is reporting that lobbyists disclosed an unprecedented $1 billion haul in 2022’s first quarter. (Note: This is absurd.)
