“children live here”... “people”... “people here”... “children”... “people and children”...

these are inscriptions on the walls and fence gates of Ukrainian houses. mostly destroyed ones.

오빤 강남스타일 oppan gangnamseutail

강남스타일 gangnamseutail

낮에는 따사로운 인간적인 여자 naj-eneun ttasaloun inganjeog-in yeoja

커피 한잔의 여유를 아는 품격 있는 여자 keopi hanjan-ui yeoyuleul aneun pumgyeog issneun yeoja

밤이 오면 심장이 뜨거워지는 여자 bam-i omyeon simjang-i tteugeowojineun yeoja

그런 반전 있는 여자 geuleon banjeon issneun yeoja

나는 사나이 naneun sanai

낮에는 너만큼 따사로운 그런 사나이 naj-eneun neomankeum ttasaloun geuleon sanai

커피 식기도 전에 원샷 때리는 사나이 keopi siggido jeon-e wonsyas ttaelineun sanai

밤이 오면 심장이 터져버리는 사나이 bam-i omyeon simjang-i teojyeobeolineun sanai

그런 사나이 geuleon sanai

아름다워, 사랑스러워 aleumdawo, salangseuleowo

그래, 너 (hey!) geulae, neo (hey!)

그래, 바로 너 (hey!) geulae, balo neo (hey!)

아름다워, 사랑스러워 aleumdawo, salangseuleowo

그래, 너 (hey!) geulae, neo (hey!)

그래, 바로 너 (hey!) geulae, balo neo (hey!)

지금부터 갈 때까지 가볼까-까-까-까 jigeumbuteo gal ttaekkaji gabolkka-kka-kka-kka

오빤 강남스타일 (uh) oppan gangnamseutail (uh)

강남스타일 gangnamseutail

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 (uh) o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail (uh)

강남스타일 gangnamseutail

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 o-o-o-o

Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh

정숙해 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 여자 jeongsughae boijiman nol ttaen noneun yeoja

이때다 싶으면 묶었던 머리 푸는 여자 ittaeda sip-eumyeon mukk-eossdeon meoli puneun yeoja

가렸지만 웬만한 노출보다 야한 여자 galyeossjiman wenmanhan nochulboda yahan yeoja

그런 감각적인 여자 geuleon gamgagjeog-in yeoja

나는 사나이 naneun sanai

점잖아 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 사나이 jeomjanh-a boijiman nol ttaen noneun sanai

때가 되면 완전 미쳐버리는 사나이 ttaega doemyeon wanjeon michyeobeolineun sanai

근육보다 사상이 울퉁불퉁한 사나이 geun-yugboda sasang-i ultungbultunghan sanai

그런 사나이 geuleon sanai

아름다워, 사랑스러워 aleumdawo, salangseuleowo

그래, 너 (hey!) geulae, neo (hey!)

그래, 바로 너 (hey!) geulae, balo neo (hey!)

아름다워, 사랑스러워 aleumdawo, salangseuleowo

그래, 너 (hey!) geulae, neo (hey!)

그래, 바로 너 (hey!) geulae, balo neo (hey!)

지금부터 갈 때까지 가볼까-까-까-까 jigeumbuteo gal ttaekkaji gabolkka-kka-kka-kka

오빤 강남스타일 (uh) oppan gangnamseutail (uh)

강남스타일 gangnamseutail

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 (uh) o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail (uh)

강남스타일 gangnamseutail

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 o-o-o-o

Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh

뛰는 놈, 그 위에 나는 놈 ttwineun nom, geu wie naneun nom

Baby, baby 나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈 Baby, baby naneun mwol jom aneun nom

뛰는 놈, 그 위에 나는 놈 ttwineun nom, geu wie naneun nom

Baby, baby 나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈 Baby, baby naneun mwol jom aneun nom

You know what I'm sayin'? You know what I'm sayin'?

오빤 강남스타일 oppan gangnamseutail

Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 오빤 강남스타일 o-o-o-o oppan gangnamseutail

Eh, sexy lady Eh, sexy lady

오-오-오-오 o-o-o-o

Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh Eh-eh-eh, eh-eh-eh

오빤 강남스타일 oppan gangnamseutail

Uh Uh

stop

hey guys i love you all and youre all so great but why are you talking about the destiel-putin vote please answer im scared

“It does not actually articulate or force the articulation of a strategy for how to end the conflict to begin with. So you basically have a blank check — or a near blank check — for a strategy that’s completely gone off the rails.”

Lee called out his Republican colleagues for sending aid to Ukraine at the expense of America’s own interests.

“By voting yes and passing this bill now, it empowers drug cartels, it dissolves our borders, it spends insane amounts of money that we don’t have on the priorities of foreign countries all at the same time,” he said.

Lee also slammed the bills’ proponents for defeating an effort led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to increase accountability and oversight of the aid to the notoriously corrupt Ukrainian government through appointment of an inspector general.

“These are not choir boys,” Lee said. “These are not Boy Scouts. These are not Girl Scouts. These are people who have really set world records for corruption. It’s an art form over there.”

Vance laid out the arguments from Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for rushing the aid through without further accountability measures.

“The basic argument is that we have to rush resources to Ukraine immediately, or they’re liable to fall to Russian aggression,” he said. “And it’s all basically an argument made under the gun that unless you approve this appropriation of resources and weapons, then you will allow Russia to win. So it’s a kind of moral blackmail.”

Supporters of yet more aid to Ukraine can not admit the reality that the war is not winnable for Ukraine, Vance continued. “They can’t admit that this isn’t going well because if they admitted that, it would cause too much psychological harm, and they’d have to cut bait.”

Johnson added that proponents argue that it is in politicians’ naked political interests to support the aid because “it’s helping build our industrial base, and so it’s creating jobs in your state. And I call that a depraved justification.”

Musk, who noted his contributions to Ukraine’s war efforts, echoed the assessment of the trio of senators that the war is ultimately not winnable and that a peace deal is in their best interests.

Ukraine is “losing people every day,” he said. “And if you’re going to spend lives, it must be for a purpose.”

Musk continued:

There is no way in hell that Putin is going to lose. If he would back off, he would be assassinated. And for those who want regime change in Russia, they should think about: Who is the person that could take out Putin? And is that person likely to be a peacenik? Probably not. They’re probably gonna be even harder, even more hardcore than Putin if they took him out.  Ramaswamy detailed additional “unacceptable” risks to American and global interests from continued “endless funding” of the fighting in Ukraine, arguing that Americans see “daily strengthening of the military alliance between Russia and China, which, when combined, is the single greatest increase for the risk of World War III that we’ve seen in the post-World War II era.”

If the foreign aid passes the Senate, as is expected, the House must still act. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would likely face a rebellion from members of the Republican conference if he brought the bill to the floor.

Monday night, after the conclusion of the X Space, Johnson seemed to throw cold water on the Senate’s package, echoing earlier statements that Congress must address American border security first.

“In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” a Johnson statement read. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”

The timing before Monday night’s vote is important, sending the message to any on-the-fence Republican senators that a vote on the unpopular aid package would imperil their political standing for legislation that will not become law.

Some Democrats have insisted they will use all the parliamentary tools at their disposal to bring the bill to the floor, although a path forward for the legislation in the House is unclear.

Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.

[mike luckovich]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

October 31, 2023 (Tuesday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 1, 2023

Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the need to fund military aid to both Ukraine and Israel, along with humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza and increased U.S. border security, rather than accept the new measure from extremist House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson wants to split off funding for Israel into its own bill and couple it with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service. Those cuts would dramatically decrease tax audits of those with the highest income and thus decrease revenue for the U.S. Treasury; they are popular with Republicans. 

Johnson and other extremist Republicans have made it clear they are not interested in continuing to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion. 

Blinken and Austin got strong support not only from Senate Democrats, but also from many Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who explained why it is important for the United States to “help Ukraine win the war” in a speech at the University of Louisville where he introduced Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova.

“If Russia prevails, there’s no question that Putin’s appetite for empire will extend to NATO [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization], raising the threat to the U.S. transatlantic alliance and the risk of war for America. Such an outcome would demand greater permanent deployment of our military force in Europe, a much greater cost than the support we have provided to Ukraine. And of course, Russian victory would embolden Putin’s growing alliance with fellow authoritarian regimes in Iran and China.”

“So this is not just a test for Ukraine,” McConnell said. “It’s a test for the United States and the free world.”

But at the Senate hearing, protesters from CodePink, the group that describes itself as “a feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism,” had a different agenda. They held up their hands, covered in red paint, with the word “GAZA” written on their forearms, repeatedly interrupting Blinken and calling for an end to funding for Israel, citing what the organization calls “Israel's genocide of Palestine.” 

Over the weekend, as Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into Israel and skirmish with Israeli troops, Israel began to push into northern Gaza in a ground operation U.S. officials said had been changed from the originally planned massive Israeli ground offensive to “surgical” strikes that would hit high-value Hamas targets but spare Palestinian civilians. 

That advance was accompanied by even fiercer airstrikes than previous ones, and today an attack on a Palestinian refugee camp appears to have caused significant civilian loss. The Israeli military said the attack “eliminated many terrorists and destroyed terror infrastructure,” with underground Hamas installations collapsing and taking adjacent buildings down with them.

From the time of Hamas’s initial strike against Israel on October 7, the Biden administration has been keen to stop the crisis from spreading. President Joe Biden was firm in his repeated declarations that the U.S would stand firmly behind Israel, warning “any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word: Don’t.  Don’t.” 

To deter militants backed by Iran, the U.S. moved two American aircraft carrier strike groups into the region. After repeated drone strikes against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, on Wednesday, October 25, Biden warned Iran that the U.S. would respond if Iran continued to move against U.S. troops. On October 27 the U.S. carried out airstrikes against munitions stockpiles stored at two facilities in eastern Syria linked to militants backed by Iran. Secretary of Defense Austin emphasized that the U.S. actions were “precision self-defense strikes” and were separate from the conflict in Gaza. 

Drone attacks on U.S. troops in the area have increased, and the Institute for the Study of War assessed today that Iranian-backed militants, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, “are creating the expectation in the information environment that Hezbollah will escalate against Israel on or around November 3.” The U.S. today announced it is sending 300 additional troops to U.S. Central Command, whose responsibility includes the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia, to protect U.S. troops from drone attacks by Iran-backed militant groups. Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters the troops are not going to Israel. 

In addition to trying to hold off Iran from expanding the conflict, the U.S. has been trying to support Israel’s right to respond while also demanding that Israel follow the rules of war. The U.S. has firmly condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians as “an act of sheer evil.” That evil included the taking of hostages—which is a war crime—including U.S. citizens.

But, all along, the administration has warned Israel that it must not violate international law in its retaliation for the attack. On October 18, in a remarkable admission, Biden advised Israelis not to be consumed by their rage. “After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. And while we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.” 

Responding to the October 7 massacre, he said, “requires being deliberate. It requires asking very hard questions. It requires clarity about the objectives and an honest assessment about whether the path you are on will achieve those objectives.” 

Despite the administration's warnings, while international eyes are on Gaza, according to the United Nations, settlers in the West Bank encouraged by the policies of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have killed at least 115 Palestinians, injured more than 2,000 more, and forcibly displaced almost 1,000. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are concerned that Israel’s pursuit of Hamas militants has led it to commit war crimes of its own, enacting collective punishment on the civilians of Gaza by denying them food, water, and electricity as well as instructing them to leave their homes, displacing well over a million people. 

While the U.S. says it does not trust the numbers of casualties asserted by Hamas, it believes from other sources that there have been “many thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza thus far in the conflict…. Way too many.” Today the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, reminded reporters: “We aren’t on the ground fighting in this war. There’s no intent to do that…. [T]hese are Israeli military operations. They get to decide what their aims and strategy are. They get to decide what their tactics are. They get to decide how they’re going to decide to go after Hamas.

“We’re doing everything we can to support them—including providing our perspectives, including asking them hard questions about their aims and their strategy and—the kind of questions we’d ask ourselves.”

The administration appears to be trying to defend Israel’s right to self-defense in the face of a massacre that took the lives of 1,400 Israelis, while also trying to recover the hostages, get humanitarian aid into Gaza, and prevent U.S. ally Israel from committing war crimes in retaliation for the attack. It is also insisting there must be a long-term plan for Israel and the Palestinians. To that end, it is throwing its weight behind the long-neglected two-state solution. 

On October 27, U.S. Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoed Biden’s statement that “there is no going back to the status quo as it stood on October 6th. We must not go back to the status quo where Hamas terrorizes Israel and uses Palestinian civilians as human shields,” she said. “And we must not go back to the status quo where extremist settlers can attack and terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank. The status quo is untenable and it is unacceptable.”

“[W]hen this crisis is over,” she said, “there has to be a vision of what comes next. In our view, that vision must be centered around a two-state solution. Getting there will require concerted efforts by all of us—Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, and global leaders—to put us on a path for peace. To integrate Israel with the region, while insisting that the aspirations of the Palestinian people be part of a more hopeful future.”

The current crisis might have made that two-state solution more possible than it has been for a generation. Neither Hamas nor Netanyahu’s government supports a two-state solution, but other leaders in the region, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, say they do.

Hamas has little support outside of Iran, and up to 80% of Israelis blame Prime Minister Netanyahu for the October 7 attack. His leadership of a right-wing coalition has shielded him from corruption charges even as his attempts to gain more control over Israeli society sparked the largest protests in Israeli history, and there is no doubt the attack and his response to it have weakened him dramatically. At a news conference yesterday, a reporter asked if he would resign.

The recent peace talks in Egypt excluded Hamas, Iran, and Israel. Instead, the organizers invited Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority that oversees the West Bank. President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have been meeting with officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. On Friday, Blinken will travel back to Israel to meet with officials there, after which he will make other stops in the region.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Brittney Griner’s Jail Conditions Speak to the Urgency of Bringing Her Home | The Nation

It is beyond sad that Griner has become another totem of the culture war as opposed to a wrongfully and unjustly imprisoned US citizen whose release should be broadly demanded. Instead, both the anti-drug law-and-order crowd and the right-wing “cult of Putin and Russian authoritarianism” crowd want to see her punished for no other discernible reason than her identity and politics. They point out that Griner protested during the national anthem and wore shirts in solidarity with Breonna Taylor, who was murdered by police in Louisville, Ky. Because Griner exercised this speech, she is somehow not really American and somehow worthy of this kind of punishment. Trump insulted Griner, which opens the door for his minions to do the same. As has been said by many, if this was Tom Brady or Derek Jeter in a prison camp for nine years, the outrage would become an unholy din. Or as Michael Eric Dyson pointed out, “This Black woman, had she been anybody else—even a straight Black woman would’ve received more support than a queer Black woman with a Black wife.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and one fellow Republican were the only House lawmakers on Monday to vote against a resolution that mourned the almost 50,000 people killed in this month’s earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

The resolution, which praised “the work of humanitarian aid and rescue workers on the ground” and condemned “efforts by the Assad regime of Syria to exploit the disaster to evade international pressure and accountability,” passed 412-2.

Greene (R-Ga.), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) opposed the measure.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who sponsored the earthquake resolution, said on the House floor that “to the brutal Assad regime and its backers — war criminal Putin, the authoritarian ayatollah in Iran — there will be a message: your diversion of humanitarian aid during an earthquake is despicable.”

“The U.S. Congress stands united. We will never normalize with you,” Wilson continued. “We will hold all those who attempt to normalize with you accountable, and we will not stop supporting the people of Syria to have a government they deserve based on democracy with rule of law, not authoritarians with rule of gun.”

Greene, the spotlight-seeking extremist, has called for America to stop funding Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion. In February, she tweeted she was “praying for Turkey and other countries suffering through deadly earthquakes.”

Massie last year voted against a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime.

Almost six months into the invasion, Russian losses keep going past significant milestones.

Russia has now lost more than 6,000 armored vehicles. That’s 1,899 main battle tanks + 4,195 armored personnel carriers. The grand total is actually 6,094.

Russia has lost over 1,000 artillery units. Considering that this has become an artillery war to a large extent, we can see why the Russian attempts to advance in the east have stagnated. 

And Russian troop losses are through the roof. For the sake of comparison, the 44,700 dead is way over 36,516 American dead in the Korean War but still under the 58,220 US total for the Vietnam War.

In perspective, the 44,700 Russian dead exceeds the populations of ten US state capitals:

Montpelier VT •••• 8,074

Pierre SD •••• 14.091

Augusta ME •••• 18,899

Frankfort KY •••• 28,602

Helena MT •••• 32,091

Juneau AK •••• 32,255

Dover DE •••• 39,403

Annapolis MD •••• 40,812

Jefferson City, MO •••• 43,228

Concord, NH •••• 43,976

If losses at this rate continue to the first anniversary of the war, they may equal the population of Trenton, NJ (90,871).

Putin shut down what remained of Russia’s free press to stifle criticism of the war. You can even be jailed for calling it a “war”. Russians are force-fed media diets of outright lies about the war via state-run TV and censored internet. Only a small number of Russians with VPNs have a clear idea of the carnage.

Putin’s bizarre delusion of bringing back the boundaries and hegemony of the USSR is what’s driving this war. Somebody in Russia needs to overthrow Putin to put the country on the road to sanity.

News Roundup 6/26/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/26/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

On Thursday, a group of Republicans introduced a bill in the House and Senate that would reaffirm NATO’s Article 5 does not override congressional war powers. The effort was led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Warren Davidson (R-OH). AWC

Cuba

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Thursday told the House Armed Services Committee that he wants to give President Biden the authority to intervene militarily in Cuba to “take out” Chinese assets that are allegedly on the island. AWC

Russia

Russia’s Wagner Group has called off its march on Moscow and agreed to stand down after launching a two-day mutiny and seizing a military base in the city of Rostov-on-Don. AWC

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution to pressure President Biden to escalate US involvement in the Ukraine war by supplying Kyiv with longer-range missiles. AWC

President Biden warned Monday that the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is “real.” AWC

The Pentagon on Tuesday claimed that an “accounting error” has freed up an additional $6.2 billion to spend on military aid for Ukraine. AWC

Ukrainian officials are still pushing for a commitment on Kyiv’s potential NATO membership at the alliance’s upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. AWC

The US weapons maker Lockheed Martin says it is “standing by” to help Ukrainians fly and maintain F-16 fighter jets once NATO countries finalize their plans to provide Kyiv with the aircraft. AWC

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Tuesday that the Russian military has information that shows Ukraine is plotting to attack Crimea with US-provided HIMARS rocket systems and British-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles. AWC

A group of Belarusian exiles is receiving training in Poland to prepare for a day when they return to Belarus to take on the government of President Alexander Lukashenko, The Times reported on Sunday. AWC

The New York Times reported Monday that the US and its Western allies have shipped weapons to Ukraine that were broken and needed repair or were only useful for spare parts. AWC

A Pentagon official has told Congress that controversial cluster munitions Ukraine has been seeking from the US would be “useful” to Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. AWC

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to Denmark this weekend for a meeting organized by Ukraine that is expected to be attended by officials from several countries that have remained neutral on the war, including India, China, South Africa, and Brazil. AWC

Russian officials said Thursday that a bridge in northern Crimea that connects to Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast was damaged by a Ukrainian missile strike. AWC

Western officials told CNN that Ukraine’s bloody counteroffensive is “not meeting expectations on any front” as Ukrainian forces are struggling to break through Russia’s defenses. AWC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is going “slower than desired” as Ukrainian forces have made little progress and are taking heavy losses. AWC

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $1.3 billion in new economic aid for Kyiv at a meeting on Ukraine’s reconstruction held in London, known as the Ukraine Recovery Conference. AWC

Two US B-1B Lancer bombers arrived in Sweden this week as Stockholm is awaiting entry into NATO. According to the US military, it marks the first time US bombers landed in the Nordic nation. AWC

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Saturday that training for Ukrainian pilots on US-made F-16 fighter jets should begin next month. AWC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill last week banning the import of books produced in Russia or printed in the Russian language. The new law is Kiev’s latest escalation in its extensive effort to eliminate Russian culture in Ukraine. The Insitute

Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has been underway for over two weeks, and Kiev has little to show for the loss of life and military equipment expended the in the operations. The Institute

Several US media outlets have reported that US intelligence was aware Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning to take military action against Russia’s defense establishment before his short-lived uprising began on Friday. AWC

Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested on Sunday that the US was expecting more unrest in Russia following Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s two-day uprising. AWC

China

President Biden on Tuesday called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator” just one day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Chinese leader in Beijing. AWC

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Beijing and Havana are negotiating to establish a joint military training facility in Cuba, something the report acknowledged China would be exploring as a response to further US military entrenchment in Taiwan. AWC

 Taiwanese military experts will join US and Japanese analysts in conducting war game simulations for a potential conflict with China in the Taiwan Strait, The South China Morning Post reported Monday. AWC

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said that eight Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes came close to Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles off the island’s coast. AWC

The Chinese government summoned the US ambassador in Beijing to lodge a formal complaint over President Biden calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. AWC

The commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz said Chinese vessels and planes that he encountered during a seven-month deployment in the western Pacific were “very polite and very professional.” AWC

A US Coast Guard cutter made a rare solo transit through the Taiwan Strait on June 20, which came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his two-day visit to Beijing. AWC

Two US B-52 bombers arrived in Indonesia on Monday, marking the first time the nuclear-capable aircraft landed in the Southeast Asian nation as the US is looking to beef up its military presence in the region to prepare for a future war with China. AWC

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said that eight Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes came close to Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles off the island’s coast. AWC

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan docked in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Sunday for a six-day visit to the country amid rising tensions between the US and China in the region. AWC

Korea

The arrival of a large US nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea was a “dress rehearsal” for the docking of a nuclear-armed submarine, Nikkei Asia reported Monday. AWC

Saudi

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Saturday and signaled Riyadh is open to a naval alliance with Tehran, an idea recently put forward by Iran’s navy chief. AWC

Read More

Dnipropetrovsk region, near the city of mine, August 1st

A child's bed with a fragment from a “Grad” projectile - after the night visits of the “Russian World/Peace”.

I hate Putin if you're Putin kys

"House lawmakers in both parties joined forces Saturday to send a massive package of foreign aid to the Senate, ending a long and bitter stalemate over the fate of the legislation and all but ensuring the delivery of billions of dollars in new help to embattled allies across the globe.

The rare weekend votes were the culmination of months of fierce debate within the House GOP conference over how — or even if — Congress should step in with another round of military help for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan while providing humanitarian aid for civilian victims in Gaza and other war-torn regions around the globe.

The debate had split House Republicans into warring factions, pitting Reagan-minded traditionalists — who support strong interventions overseas to counter the imperial designs of Russia and China — against a newer brand of “America First” conservative who fought to limit the foreign spending and focus instead on domestic problems, particularly the migrant crisis at the southern border. 

In the end, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defied his conservative critics, pushing to the floor a series of four bills providing the overseas assistance but detaching those funds from a separate border security bill, which failed on the floor during Saturday’s votes. He framed the aid as a simple, but crucial, continuation of America’s responsibility to democratic allies under siege from despots. 

“I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important,” Johnson said this week. “I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten. I believe Xi and Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil.”

“To put it bluntly, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” he added. “My son is gonna begin in the Naval Academy this fall, this is a live-fire exercise for me as it is so many American families. This is not a game. It’s not a joke. We can’t play politics with this, we have to do the right thing.”

Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said Johnson had reached the decision to charge ahead by a method that’s become routine for the devoutly evangelical Speaker: he turned to prayer.

“I think he was torn between trying to save his job and doing the right thing,” said McCaul, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee who has pushed for months for more Ukraine aid. 

“We’ve told him what’s at stake here, and you want to be on the right side of history. And he’s a man of faith. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, but he, obviously, the night before he made a decision, reached out for guidance, and the next day he made the call.”

Passage of the foreign aid bills marked a moral victory for the inexperienced Speaker, who took the gavel less than six months ago. The package — passed with four separate votes — includes roughly $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific, and a package of additional national security measures that features a potential ban on the uber-popular TikTok app.

But it’s come with political risks, provoking conservatives who were already furious with his penchant for reaching across the aisle to seal deals with President Biden on major legislation opposed by the Speaker’s right flank, including bills to fund the federal government and extend the spying powers of Washington’s intelligence agencies.

Those mounting frustrations have spurred a pale — but not powerless — effort to remove Johnson from the top job, which has gained steam in recent days as the Speaker made steps toward sending aid overseas. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to vacate late last month, which Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) endorsed this week.

Greene has not yet said when she plans to force a vote on her ouster resolution, and her path forward was muddied last week after former President Trump endorsed Johnson’s leadership — dealing a blow to the Georgia Republican, who considers Trump a close ally.

Still, even some of Johnson’s allies are bracing for the possibility that Greene might pull the trigger."

God’s Whistleblower

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3 (ESV)

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. James 3:9 (NIV) 

A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue. Proverbs 17:4 (NIV) 

May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence. Psalm 140:11 (BSB)

Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls. Job 18:12 (NIV)

As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 1 Corinthians 1:19 (NLT)

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.“ Jeremiah 17:5 (NIV)  

The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them. Proverbs 21:12 (NLT)

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 2, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUN 3, 2023

Three years ago today, on June 2, 2020, days after then–Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, Martha Raddatz of ABC snapped the famous and chilling photograph of law enforcement officers in camouflage, their names and units hidden, standing in rows on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Mr. Floyd’s murder sparked protests across the country, and Trump used those protests as a pretext to crack down on his opponents. Just the day before, after a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump told state governors on a phone call: “You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time.... You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again.” Then he used a massive police presence wielding tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang explosives to clear peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters from Lafayette Square across from the White House. Tonight, President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office to emphasize that democracy depends on bipartisanship.” [W]hen I ran for President,” he began, “I was told the days of bipartisanship were over and that Democrats and Republicans could no longer work together. But I refused to believe that, because America can never give in to that way of thinking…. [T]he only way American democracy can function is through compromise and consensus, and that’s what I worked to do as your President…to forge a bipartisan agreement where it’s possible and where it’s needed.” While he noted that he has signed more than 350 bipartisan laws in his time in office, his major focus today was on the bipartisan budget agreement passed by the House and Senate after months of wrangling to get House Republicans to agree to lift the debt ceiling. Biden will sign it tomorrow, averting the nation’s first-ever default. Biden characterized those threatening to force the U.S. into default as “extreme voices,” who were willing to cause a catastrophe. The economy, which continues to add jobs at a cracking pace—another 339,000 in May, according to the numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor—would have been thrown into recession. As many as 8 million Americans would have lost their jobs, retirement savings would have been decimated, borrowing for everything from mortgages to government funding would have become much more expensive, and “America’s standing as the most trusted, reliable financial partner in the world would have been shattered.” “It would have taken years to climb out of that hole,” he said. But the extremists were sidelined, and the House Republicans and the White House reached an agreement. Biden went out of his way to praise House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his team, saying that the two negotiating teams “were able to get along and get things done. We were straightforward with one another, completely honest with one another, and respectful with one another. Both sides operated in good faith. Both sides kept their word.” This was not entirely true—McCarthy constantly attacked Biden in the media—but Biden was hammering on the image of bipartisanship. Yesterday, Jonathan Lemire, Adam Cancryn, and Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico reported that Biden and his team plan to make the case for reelection on their ability to negotiate deals that get things done for the American people, acting as the “adults in the room” in contrast to Republican extremists. The budget deal that led to the suspension of the debt ceiling is a major illustration of that position. Biden also praised House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), claiming that “[t]hey acted responsibly and put the good of the country ahead of politics.” The solution to the debt ceiling crisis is a major victory for Biden’s team not only because it happened, but also because it leaves Biden’s key priorities intact, not least because they are popular and Republicans did not want to go into 2024 having demanded unpopular cuts. Biden noted that the measure will cut spending as Republicans wanted (although not necessarily through the measures they insisted on adding), but reiterated that it is the Republican Party that has been on a spending spree. “We’re all on a much more fiscally responsible course than the one I inherited when I took office,” Biden said. “When I came to office, the deficit had increased every year the previous four years. And nearly $8 trillion was added to the national debt in the last administration,” while the deficit fell by $1.7 trillion in his first two years in office. Biden laid out that the deal protects his reworking of the U.S. economy to support ordinary Americans. It protects Social Security and Medicare, as well as healthcare and veterans’ services. It protects the investments in the economy that have enabled the country to add more than 13 million new jobs, including 800,000 jobs in manufacturing. It protects investments in addressing climate change. Finally, Biden vowed to make the wealthy—those who earn more than $400,000 a year—pay their fair share in taxes. “I know bipartisanship is hard and unity is hard,” he concluded, “but we can never stop trying, because in moments like this one—the ones we just faced, where the American economy and the world economy is at risk of collapsing—there is no other way. “No matter how tough our politics gets, we need to see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. Treat each other with dignity and respect. To join forces as Americans to stop shouting, lower the temperature, and work together to pursue progress, secure prosperity, and keep the promise of America for everybody.” What a difference three years can make.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Eighteen Republican lawmakers voted against the US allowing Finland and Sweden to join NATO. 

Among the dissenters in the Monday vote were some of the party's furthest-right members, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

The vote was a symbolic one to express support from the House for the applications — the formal process by which the US can ratify new NATO members takes place in the Senate.

The House bill passed easily with 394 votes, leaving the 18 Republicans in a small minority even among their own party.

Here is the full list:

• Andy Biggs (AZ)

• Dan Bishop (NC)

• Lauren Boebert (CO)

• Madison Cawthorn (NC)

• Ben Cline (VA)

• Michael Cloud (TX)

• Warren Davidson (OH)

• Matt Gaetz (FL)

• Bob Good (VA)

• Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)

• H. Morgan Griffith (VA)

• Thomas Massie (KY)

• Tom McClintock (CA)

• Mary E. Miller (IL)

• Ralph Norman (SC)

• Matthew M. Rosendale Sr. (MT)

• Chip Roy (TX)

• Jefferson Van Drew (NJ)

Nineteen US lawmakers — 17 Republicans and two Democrats — didn't vote. 

Finland and Sweden applied in mid-May, turning away from decades of neutrality in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Both countries have an uneasy proximity to Russia.

Each of the 30 NATO member states must approve the addition of any members. The US portion of that is driven the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has yet to decide formally but had been urged strongly by the White House to give quick approval.

Finland has a long land border with Russia and repelled a brutal Soviet invasion in a 1940s conflict known as the Winter War.

NATO formally invited the countries to join at the end of June, saying it would fast-track the process. Once a country is in NATO, all other members of the alliance are obliged to go to war if it is invaded.

The move has proved infuriating to President Vladimir Putin, who had cited his opposition to NATO expansion as one reason for invading Ukraine in the first place.

(Ukraine was also seeking NATO membership, but it didn't have access to the faster process given to Sweden and Finland.)

The 18 no votes are another sign of the ongoing pro-Russia shift in the right of the party ignited by Donald Trump. 

Gaetz, Greene, and Boebert are among GOP members who repeatedly voted against US military and humanitarian support to Ukraine.

They also are among the 63 Republicans who, in April, voted against a resolution expressing support for NATO and its "founding democratic principles."

Greene, Gaetz, and Kentucky's Thomas Massie were the only three representatives who opposed moves in April to restrict trade with Russia.

Cameron Kasky on Twitter.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is a putz. He uses his pseudo-libertarian views to grandstand.

In this case, he’s doing the work of Vladimir Putin in the US Senate.

Rand Paul objection delays $40 billion Ukraine aid package