Classic theories of international relations are built on the premise that rational actors are making the decisions at the highest levels of national governments. Whether their objectives are venal or virtuous, such leaders are assumed to be driven by the logic of self-interest and self-preservation.
Such theories break down, however, when deluded or irrational people are in charge. Adolf Hitler is the classic case study, but there are plenty of other lesser examples, such as North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and, arguably, America’s Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long seemed to be one of the most coldly rational actors on the world stage. His intentions might be bad and his actions provocative, but it appeared he was not inclined to do anything cataclysmic – not until now, that is.
Having made a serious miscalculation in his invasion of Ukraine, Putin now finds himself facing disastrous consequences. Russia’s army is in retreat, Russia’s economy is being decimated by international sanctions and Russian citizens, by the hundreds of thousands, are fleeing the country to avoid being drafted into a losing fight.
In response, Putin has adopted apocalyptic rhetoric, threatening the use of nuclear weapons and talking of a glorious afterlife for Russians if civilization is shattered by a nuclear holocaust. When a world leader starts to imply he prefers heaven to defeat in this world, there is reason to be alarmed.
Of course, Putin may merely be playing a dangerous game. Perhaps he is just trying to scare Western leaders into brokering a peace deal that will give him at least a partial victory. It is also possible, though, that he is so consumed by dark paranoia and bright visions of a restored Russian empire that his mind has slipped into an irrational state where losing power is a worse fate than a fiery Armageddon.
[continues]
disclosure: thread title not original as there are movies and games and such out there so named also
this definition from urban dictionary:
karmageddon
A portmanteau of “Karma” and “Armageddon.” References “shit hitting the fan” in an extreme way while acknowledging one’s contributions to that event.
Specifically, when all the (usually unpleasant) stuff you’ve done comes back to you at once.
The only way out is to take your licking, pull back, and deal with the stuff one by one.
Our real division isn’t between red and blue; it’s between the people on both sides who aren’t willing to mingle with Americans outside their political tribe.
As a birthday present to puttie someone lit the russian bridge from russia to Ukraine on fire. I am not putting links in yet because there is still a lot of unknowns to be turned into knowns. The important thing is puttie built a bridge and that bridge no longer is useful for transporting weapons of war into Ukraine. It was a big deal for him, and now it is broken.
According to a new book that documents how the Republican Party leadership worked behind the scenes with Donald Trump’s legal team during both of his impeachments, Politico’s Rachel Bade and the Washington Post’s Karoun Demirjian report that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned his GOP colleagues that there was no doubt by anyone in the Senate that the former president had engaged in at least one impeachable offense.
In the book, “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump,” Bade and Demirjian documents GOP squabbles behind the scenes over defense strategy with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) once storming out and exclaiming “We are F*CKED. We are F*CKED!”
[…]
According to the book, Cruz told his colleagues, “Out of one hundred senators, you have zero who believe you that there was no quid pro quo. None. There’s not a single one,” a confession, which Bobic, adds was contrary to what Republicans were saying in interviews at the time during the impeachment trial.
[continues]
KYIV, Ukraine — A giant explosion ripped across the Crimean Bridge, a strategic link between mainland Russia and Crimea, in what appeared to be a stunning blow early Saturday morning to a symbol of President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to control Ukraine.
The damage to the bridge, which provided a road and rail connection from Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014, marks another serious setback to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by disrupting a crucial supply route.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the government had no timeline for repairing the 12-mile bridge.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, a top law enforcement body, said a truck explosion had ignited fuel tankers as a freight train crossed the bridge. The cause of the truck blast was not immediately clear. After the explosion, thick plumes of smoke and flames could be seen from a distance.
Putin personally opened the $4 billion bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge because it spans the Kerch Strait between the Black and Azov seas, in 2018 — a move intended to symbolize Russia’s ownership of Crimea.
[continues]
People should never use those worrds again. They ought to know better and must cease using them. Yes, people need to find different words because these have no meaning for a party of cultists who only know “smash and take.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told police officers he didn’t understand why they didn’t open fire on rioting Donald Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, according to a new book.
“You guys should have shot them all in the head,” key Trump ally Graham reportedly told a group of law enforcement officials who responded to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021 in a meeting four months after the attack.
“We gave you guys guns, and you should have used them. I don’t understand why that didn’t happen,” Graham reportedly added.
Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who was badly beaten by Trump supporters on the day, recalled the exchange in his new book “Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul.”
[continues]
Looks like Herschel’s downfall might be from tripping over his own dick. WaPo.
The mother of one of Herschel Walker’s children has said the Georgia Republican Senate candidate ended a relationship with her in 2011 after she refused to have an abortion as she had done two years earlier, according to an account in the New York Times. Instead, the woman gave birth to the child, according to the report.
[Continues. Bwahahahahahah]
Posting stuff like that. I should have known better, i ought to go back to bed but i need to work, for i must now, as indeed i always must, endeavor to persevere.
It should be noted that Lost in Space Walker also said he did not know the women, they were making it all up. But, when reminded that he lived with them for some period of time, leaving breathing hungry evidence, he agreed he might have. We might be watching a science experiment on what happens to someone with CTE under a lot of stress. A word that keeps popping up in descriptions of his actions and reactions is ‘anger’. Not a good thing.
One of the reasons the birthday bridge boom and glow has not been settled is the what did go boom. Speculation is the truck with a kamikaze driver, the car with a kamikaze driver, a boat, a drone, a lot of set charges (thermite on the joints), something else and something even more else. The GRU is not saying, the Kremlin is not saying, and most decidedly, Ukraine is not saying. Footage of the explosion is important, but due to the blast the exact thing or things that went kapowie cannot be seen. One speculation that might be close is there were combined actions, truck and boat or some other combination. We will have to wait a bit for someone to take credit.
In the back pages of a paywall website – Did you know that maga cult members held a “rally for to show support for SFB. Supposed to be a big deal, they even played recordings of the rants of a lunatic to drum up the crowd. Crowd count, not estimate, was twenty-five, which includes the two security guards. Organizers were quick to point out that Antifa (who or whatever) blocked the email notifications, doubtful, or scared the twinkle snowflakes away, or maybe they had some other nefarious actions. It is all hard to say exactly why a giant maga crowd of D.C. residents did not show up. One other thing noted was it was a very nice Friday afternoon in D.C., not exactly the weather and population to do a crazy group chant.
Putin’s other headline headaches ………… His mercenaries , and Chechens are at each other . His new draftees are sleeping on yoga mats, and doing a lot of drinking, and once they go into the line they are disappearing .
Everyone is talking about the coming cold winter in Europe.
The coldest group is going to be the Russian army.
To add to the news there appears to be some russian disinformation works. There has been a report of Moscow being closed, multiple military being arrested and much confusion. Now are pictures and reports showing Moscow Saturday night just normal. Guesses are that the FSB is trying to distract news away from the birthday candle bridge to driving noisy people against the war back into their basements.
My guess is that the kamakzi truck driver knew when the train carrying fuel would pass by and timed the explosion to take down the bridge. RIP. Ultimately, his death was Pootin’s fault, too.
My other guess is that it will not matter what Walker did, as far as Republicans are concerned. They will circle the wagons and vote for him.
“The #WomensWave is coming for EVERY anti-abortion politician, no matter where they live. Today we march,” the executive director of Women’s March, Rachel O’Leary Carmona tweeted.
“The “Women’s Wave” demonstration, organized by the Women’s March, takes place Saturday nationally and in D.C.’s Folger Park.”
“There are 450 marches planned on Saturday in all 50 states, according to Women’s March.”
Ben Hodges, former US commander of American forces in Europe, said Russian lines are collapsing.
“It’s an army that’s been defeated,” he told The Times of London.
Other experts warn that the oncoming winter may limit the advances the military can make in the war.
That last bullet point , I take issue with. The Russians will be poorly supplied , trained , led, with moral in the crapper. It’ll be a lot harder to hold line than these guys think. And there is no sliver bullet that’s gonna change that.
OM, there’s already a domestic terrorist group called that according to this wiki piece
Army of God is an American Christian terrorist organization, members of which have perpetrated anti-abortion violence. According to the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security’s joint Terrorism Knowledge Base, the Army of God is an active underground terrorist organization in the United States. In addition to numerous property crimes, kidnapping, attempted murder, and murder. The AOG was formed in 1982 and, while sharing a common ideology and tactics, the group’s members claim that they rarely communicate with each other; this is known more formally as leaderless resistance. The group forbids those who wish to “take action against babykilling abortionists” from discussing their plans with anyone in advance.
and nondomestic ones for islam and judaism according to this wiki piece
maybe he wanted GOPers to co-opt the Hezbollah moniker as “the party of god”
BB, what do you make of this report from the guardian:
1h ago13.10 EDT
An adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a message on Twitter saying the explosion which damaged Russia*s road-and-rail bridge to Crimea was just “the beginning”.
“Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything that is stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote.
He told Reuters he believed the blast had been arranged by Russia, although he did not say how he knew.
“This is a concrete manifestation of the conflict between the FSB (intelligence service) and (private military companies) on the one hand and the Ministry of Defence/General Staff of the Russian Federation on the other,” he said.
2h ago12.49 EDT
Trains can resume using a road-and-rail bridge between Russia and Crimea after it was damaged in an explosion earlier, Russia’s transport ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.
patd – one way to think of this event is that it has multiple effects. Immediate is to disrupt the major route for russia to supply troops in Ukraine. There is no way the cement structure of the railway is not compromised due to the fire, but it is entirely in russian thinking to go ahead and send trains over it.
With the major supply line damaged the troops will be in deeper doodoo because Ukraine has been effectively targeting supply depots and transport for months.
Next it should cause puttie to require more security on infrastructure, taking troops away from fighting. This adds the sense of suspense to those living anywhere in soviet occupied Ukraine because they now know they are in the fight, in spite of what they have been told in propaganda. This opens the battle up by forcing russians to fight the battle lines and the interior, like a donut. It spreads out the fighting a lot.
So far there is no confirmation of exactly what did the job. The various analysis work I have seen is all over the place, along with the addition of misinformation making it difficult to decide what is important and real. I tend to think charges were placed in the structure and set off using signals from a drone. That is because of how the road looks like it was lifted, not blown down.
It could be there is something missing in the pictures and it was an explosion on the road deck with the pressure wave knocking things about, but I tend to like that. AND, whatever it was it also affected the train railway. I think the attack was on the train with the idea that the fuel tanks would spread burning fuel on the lower deck which is where the vehicles are. Most likely a big boom and lots of fires, adding to the most likely being at least two sources, possibly more, doing the job.
Finally, the statement announces Ukraine is stepping up the fight. They have the troops and materiel along with more coming to the line. Winter is arriving soon, which is traditionally tough fighting in the country. They can take advantage of that and continue fighting when the russians are shivering in their short sleeves and flip-flops. There are many people willing to join in and fight with them against the enemy.
That reminds me of when I was in the military. Russia was not the enemy. We had to learn the Russian uniforms and we had to salute the officers. Thing is everywhere I went we were to never see a russian because it is off limits to them.
Talk about talking the Lord’s name in vain. ~Army of God~ pffft
Just know that these types will forgive Walker and vote for him…because he’s a man who controlled a woman’s body. If Walker were a woman who’d had an abortion, it would be a different story.
If those so-called, “Christian” soldiers want to see what a country looks like when a religious army takes over looks like, have a peek at Iran.
Separation of church and state! Take away tax-exempt status for political organizations masquerading as religious institutions!
Another intrusive and abrasive thought. Had they carried the day on Jan 6……Poot would have been president of the United States. Could be that’s what he’s holding out for.
“Billboards have sprung up in Russia calling for new recruits to Wagner. Adorned with a phone number and picture of camouflage-clad fighters, their slogan – “Orchestra ‘W’ Awaits You” – alludes to Wagner’s past nickname as the “orchestra.”
“…Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin finally admitted his role as Wagner chief in late September, having spent years trying to distance himself from the mercenary group through repeated denials, and even taking Russian media outlets investigating him to court.”
“In September, video surfaced appearing to be Prigozhin recruiting prisoners from Russian jails for Wagner His offer: a promise of clemency for six months’ combat service in Ukraine, propping up Russia’s flailing invasion.”
“The reduction in Wagner recruitment requirements point to demoralization too, he said, and the number of “truly professional soldiers who are willing to volunteer to fight with Wagner” is also decreasing.”
“Ex-commander Gabidullin, who says he talks to his old comrades on an almost daily basis, explained that this demoralization was due to their dissatisfaction “with the overall organization of the fighting: [the Russian leadership’s] inability to make competent decisions, to organize battles.”
Maybe the bridge was an inside job; Wagner mercenaries who’ve had enough of Vlad’s BS leadership trying to end things in Ukraine. They have other places they’d like to be, finding less resistance and capability than in Ukraine.
“…Thursday, a fiery argument broke out between a judge and the lawyers representing Texas-based nonprofit True the Vote in a defamation and computer fraud case filed by a Michigan-based election software company.”
“…True the Vote has repeatedly claimed that it directed “analysts” to hack Konnech’s servers, which the group claims were in China and thus proof of the company’s work on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Now True the Vote is trying to maintain its conspiratorial claims about Konnech while also denying accusations that it illegally hacked data or misled the public about the company and its CEO.”
“Thursday’s hearing was overshadowed by this week’s unexpected arrest of Konnech CEO Eugene Yu by local police in Michigan, acting on behalf of the Los Angeles County district attorney. The county sought Yu’s extradition to California as “part of an investigation into the possible theft of personal identifying information” of poll workers, according to a press release by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.”
“The Los Angeles County attorney’s office has alleged that the poll worker data was being improperly stored on Chinese servers in violation of the county’s contract with the company…”
“In a statement posted on its website and social media channels, True the Vote claimed credit for Yu’s arrest hours after he was taken into custody.”
“But a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney told Votebeat Tuesday that the office had not received any information on the case from True the Vote.”
“In court, Pamphilis also pushed back against True the Vote’s taking credit for the arrest: “To the extent that they’re going to claim it is relevant, all it does is demonstrate the importance of the data we’re trying to protect and their culpability in having that data in the first place, which they had no right to have.”
So, True the Vote seems to have admitted that they illegally had access to info on poll workers.
Latest update on what caused serious illness to a bridge – there are a few more thoughts it was a rocket/missile of Ukraine group unknown, but with all stating it had to be American. That is still questionable due to the debris field. None of the pictures show debris from a rocket, cruise missile, artillery shell, or even sneaky truck. This is still open to more thoughts, but a boat and preplaced charges seem likely.
Had to chuckle at the vid of Vlad taking the inaugural piss on the bridge to mark his territory, bouncing around in the driver’s seat like Jed Clampett in his jalopy.
today’s thread toon from david horsey’s op ed
Putin’s dangerous mindset | The Seattle Times
disclosure: thread title not original as there are movies and games and such out there so named also
this definition from urban dictionary:
bill’s lecture to us for the week
Our real division isn’t between red and blue; it’s between the people on both sides who aren’t willing to mingle with Americans outside their political tribe.
As a birthday present to puttie someone lit the russian bridge from russia to Ukraine on fire. I am not putting links in yet because there is still a lot of unknowns to be turned into knowns. The important thing is puttie built a bridge and that bridge no longer is useful for transporting weapons of war into Ukraine. It was a big deal for him, and now it is broken.
GOP, the grand obfuscation party
Ted Cruz admitted to colleagues that all ‘one hundred senators’ knew Trump committed an impeachable offense: report – Raw Story
BB, from wapo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/08/crimea-kerch-bridge-attack-explosion-russia-ukraine/?itid=hp-top-table-main
pogo, here’s ms petri
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/07/onion-amicus-brief-supreme-court-satire-essential/?itid=hp_opinions
Vlad, Close your eyes and blow out the bridge. Ha! Here’s the wish: No more trips around the sun for you.
Useless words, phrases, 2022.
should, should have
ought to, ought to have
need to
must be
etc
Useless
People should never use those worrds again. They ought to know better and must cease using them. Yes, people need to find different words because these have no meaning for a party of cultists who only know “smash and take.”
Pat, thanks. I hadn’t seen that piece yet. I did read the Onion’s amicus brief, though. Brought back memories of Jerry Falwell and Larry Flint.
Sturg, we ought to have enough sense to know they shouldn’t use those words, and we should tell them so.
pogo, yeah, we need to so it must be done
lindsey, lindsey, lindsey …
huffpo:
Looks like Herschel’s downfall might be from tripping over his own dick. WaPo.
Moron.
but newt says we should cut him some slack cause he’s had a lot of concussions
Right, or as the noncoms used to be so fond of telling us: “You stepped on your crank, Lad.”
Posting stuff like that. I should have known better, i ought to go back to bed but i need to work, for i must now, as indeed i always must, endeavor to persevere.
How did “I’ll fix your wagon” and “I’ll clean your clock” acquire meanings so different from the words?
It should be noted that Lost in Space Walker also said he did not know the women, they were making it all up. But, when reminded that he lived with them for some period of time, leaving breathing hungry evidence, he agreed he might have. We might be watching a science experiment on what happens to someone with CTE under a lot of stress. A word that keeps popping up in descriptions of his actions and reactions is ‘anger’. Not a good thing.
One of the reasons the birthday bridge boom and glow has not been settled is the what did go boom. Speculation is the truck with a kamikaze driver, the car with a kamikaze driver, a boat, a drone, a lot of set charges (thermite on the joints), something else and something even more else. The GRU is not saying, the Kremlin is not saying, and most decidedly, Ukraine is not saying. Footage of the explosion is important, but due to the blast the exact thing or things that went kapowie cannot be seen. One speculation that might be close is there were combined actions, truck and boat or some other combination. We will have to wait a bit for someone to take credit.
And they say the bridge was Putin’s pride and joy. At the 2018 opening ceremony he drive the first truck over it.
They burnt that bridge when they came to it.
In the back pages of a paywall website – Did you know that maga cult members held a “rally for to show support for SFB. Supposed to be a big deal, they even played recordings of the rants of a lunatic to drum up the crowd. Crowd count, not estimate, was twenty-five, which includes the two security guards. Organizers were quick to point out that Antifa (who or whatever) blocked the email notifications, doubtful, or scared the twinkle snowflakes away, or maybe they had some other nefarious actions. It is all hard to say exactly why a giant maga crowd of D.C. residents did not show up. One other thing noted was it was a very nice Friday afternoon in D.C., not exactly the weather and population to do a crazy group chant.
Putin’s other headline headaches ………… His mercenaries , and Chechens are at each other . His new draftees are sleeping on yoga mats, and doing a lot of drinking, and once they go into the line they are disappearing .
Everyone is talking about the coming cold winter in Europe.
The coldest group is going to be the Russian army.
To add to the news there appears to be some russian disinformation works. There has been a report of Moscow being closed, multiple military being arrested and much confusion. Now are pictures and reports showing Moscow Saturday night just normal. Guesses are that the FSB is trying to distract news away from the birthday candle bridge to driving noisy people against the war back into their basements.
Yup, just another day in the war.
My guess is that the kamakzi truck driver knew when the train carrying fuel would pass by and timed the explosion to take down the bridge. RIP. Ultimately, his death was Pootin’s fault, too.
My other guess is that it will not matter what Walker did, as far as Republicans are concerned. They will circle the wagons and vote for him.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/womens-march-womens-wave-rallying-for-reproductive-rights-in-dc/3177353/
“The #WomensWave is coming for EVERY anti-abortion politician, no matter where they live. Today we march,” the executive director of Women’s March, Rachel O’Leary Carmona tweeted.
“The “Women’s Wave” demonstration, organized by the Women’s March, takes place Saturday nationally and in D.C.’s Folger Park.”
“There are 450 marches planned on Saturday in all 50 states, according to Women’s March.”
ROE-vember is coming!
https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-could-win-the-war-by-christmas-former-us-general-2022-10
That last bullet point , I take issue with. The Russians will be poorly supplied , trained , led, with moral in the crapper. It’ll be a lot harder to hold line than these guys think. And there is no sliver bullet that’s gonna change that.
So I’m sittin’ alone in this wreck I own broke down South of Donbas.
There is no face-saving “off ramp” for Pootin. He dug himself into a hole. Folks should start throwing dirt on him, if they can get near him.
Otherwise, his next move:
something nuke-y.
“Flying lawnmowers” –
Ukrainian soldiers tell how they deal with Iranian kamikaze drones used by Russia
https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-soldiers-tell-deal-iranian-142800996.html
Michael Flynn is recruiting an ‘Army of God’ in growing Christian nationalist movement
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/michael-flynn-is-recruiting-an-army-of-god-in-growing-christian-nationalist-movement
OM, there’s already a domestic terrorist group called that according to this wiki piece
and nondomestic ones for islam and judaism according to this wiki piece
maybe he wanted GOPers to co-opt the Hezbollah moniker as “the party of god”
fear of death is one helluva drug and them folks done overdosed
BB, what do you make of this report from the guardian:
With almost three months left in 2022, Sydney this week recorded its wettest year since records began in 1858.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-new-south-wales-braces-more-floods-with-64-warnings-2022-10-08/
patd – one way to think of this event is that it has multiple effects. Immediate is to disrupt the major route for russia to supply troops in Ukraine. There is no way the cement structure of the railway is not compromised due to the fire, but it is entirely in russian thinking to go ahead and send trains over it.
With the major supply line damaged the troops will be in deeper doodoo because Ukraine has been effectively targeting supply depots and transport for months.
Next it should cause puttie to require more security on infrastructure, taking troops away from fighting. This adds the sense of suspense to those living anywhere in soviet occupied Ukraine because they now know they are in the fight, in spite of what they have been told in propaganda. This opens the battle up by forcing russians to fight the battle lines and the interior, like a donut. It spreads out the fighting a lot.
So far there is no confirmation of exactly what did the job. The various analysis work I have seen is all over the place, along with the addition of misinformation making it difficult to decide what is important and real. I tend to think charges were placed in the structure and set off using signals from a drone. That is because of how the road looks like it was lifted, not blown down.
It could be there is something missing in the pictures and it was an explosion on the road deck with the pressure wave knocking things about, but I tend to like that. AND, whatever it was it also affected the train railway. I think the attack was on the train with the idea that the fuel tanks would spread burning fuel on the lower deck which is where the vehicles are. Most likely a big boom and lots of fires, adding to the most likely being at least two sources, possibly more, doing the job.
Finally, the statement announces Ukraine is stepping up the fight. They have the troops and materiel along with more coming to the line. Winter is arriving soon, which is traditionally tough fighting in the country. They can take advantage of that and continue fighting when the russians are shivering in their short sleeves and flip-flops. There are many people willing to join in and fight with them against the enemy.
That reminds me of when I was in the military. Russia was not the enemy. We had to learn the Russian uniforms and we had to salute the officers. Thing is everywhere I went we were to never see a russian because it is off limits to them.
Talk about talking the Lord’s name in vain. ~Army of God~ pffft
Just know that these types will forgive Walker and vote for him…because he’s a man who controlled a woman’s body. If Walker were a woman who’d had an abortion, it would be a different story.
If those so-called, “Christian” soldiers want to see what a country looks like when a religious army takes over looks like, have a peek at Iran.
Separation of church and state! Take away tax-exempt status for political organizations masquerading as religious institutions!
Another intrusive and abrasive thought. Had they carried the day on Jan 6……Poot would have been president of the United States. Could be that’s what he’s holding out for.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/europe/wagner-ukraine-struggles-marat-gabidullin-cmd-intl/index.html
“Billboards have sprung up in Russia calling for new recruits to Wagner. Adorned with a phone number and picture of camouflage-clad fighters, their slogan – “Orchestra ‘W’ Awaits You” – alludes to Wagner’s past nickname as the “orchestra.”
“…Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin finally admitted his role as Wagner chief in late September, having spent years trying to distance himself from the mercenary group through repeated denials, and even taking Russian media outlets investigating him to court.”
“In September, video surfaced appearing to be Prigozhin recruiting prisoners from Russian jails for Wagner His offer: a promise of clemency for six months’ combat service in Ukraine, propping up Russia’s flailing invasion.”
“The reduction in Wagner recruitment requirements point to demoralization too, he said, and the number of “truly professional soldiers who are willing to volunteer to fight with Wagner” is also decreasing.”
“Ex-commander Gabidullin, who says he talks to his old comrades on an almost daily basis, explained that this demoralization was due to their dissatisfaction “with the overall organization of the fighting: [the Russian leadership’s] inability to make competent decisions, to organize battles.”
Maybe the bridge was an inside job; Wagner mercenaries who’ve had enough of Vlad’s BS leadership trying to end things in Ukraine. They have other places they’d like to be, finding less resistance and capability than in Ukraine.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/07/true-the-vote-lawsuit-texas-konnech/
“…Thursday, a fiery argument broke out between a judge and the lawyers representing Texas-based nonprofit True the Vote in a defamation and computer fraud case filed by a Michigan-based election software company.”
“…True the Vote has repeatedly claimed that it directed “analysts” to hack Konnech’s servers, which the group claims were in China and thus proof of the company’s work on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Now True the Vote is trying to maintain its conspiratorial claims about Konnech while also denying accusations that it illegally hacked data or misled the public about the company and its CEO.”
“Thursday’s hearing was overshadowed by this week’s unexpected arrest of Konnech CEO Eugene Yu by local police in Michigan, acting on behalf of the Los Angeles County district attorney. The county sought Yu’s extradition to California as “part of an investigation into the possible theft of personal identifying information” of poll workers, according to a press release by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.”
“The Los Angeles County attorney’s office has alleged that the poll worker data was being improperly stored on Chinese servers in violation of the county’s contract with the company…”
“In a statement posted on its website and social media channels, True the Vote claimed credit for Yu’s arrest hours after he was taken into custody.”
“But a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney told Votebeat Tuesday that the office had not received any information on the case from True the Vote.”
“In court, Pamphilis also pushed back against True the Vote’s taking credit for the arrest: “To the extent that they’re going to claim it is relevant, all it does is demonstrate the importance of the data we’re trying to protect and their culpability in having that data in the first place, which they had no right to have.”
So, True the Vote seems to have admitted that they illegally had access to info on poll workers.
Latest update on what caused serious illness to a bridge – there are a few more thoughts it was a rocket/missile of Ukraine group unknown, but with all stating it had to be American. That is still questionable due to the debris field. None of the pictures show debris from a rocket, cruise missile, artillery shell, or even sneaky truck. This is still open to more thoughts, but a boat and preplaced charges seem likely.
Maybe the bridge fell out of a window.
Had to chuckle at the vid of Vlad taking the inaugural piss on the bridge to mark his territory, bouncing around in the driver’s seat like Jed Clampett in his jalopy.
Mrs DeSantis says, “Government is not here to solve problems.”
Also Mrs D: in charge of the Florida hurricane relief fund.
Mr and Mrs Creep. What a pair of jerkoffs.
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