Post by mhbruin on May 27, 2022 9:05:27 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 585 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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In Search of Fresh Vegetable Puns. Lettuce Know.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
In Case You Have Forgotten How Evil the QOP Are, ...
We need to be screaming from the rooftops about what the Republicans in Congress are doing. They voted against the American Rescue Plan (then took credit for the checks that went to American households), mostly voted against infrastructure (then took credit for projects in their districts), mostly voted against capping the price of insulin, voted against stopping oil companies from price gouging, mostly voted against a bill that would include importing baby formula.
Why? Because they want to impose as much misery as possible on the American people so that voters blame Biden and vote Republican in November. It’s really cynical, dark stuff. And then when they win, they want to criminalize abortions and ensure that we never have free and fair elections again.
Remember When This Would Have Been A Massive News Story?
Hypocrisy Exhibit #2,387, 611
Hypocrisy Exhibit #2,387, 612
After the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre dug in his heels against gun reform, famously saying that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
The NRA Convention offers a perfect testing ground for that theory, but attendees aren’t allowed to bring guns onto the convention floor. Some can’t even take them into their hotel rooms.
QANON Ron Demonstrates What To Do In An Active Shooter Situation
Cancun Cruz Demonstrates What To Do In An Active Reporter Situation
QANON Ron Knows How to Make His Getaway
Why is a multimillionaire lawmaker using taxpayer money for flights from his job in Washington, D.C., to his fancy-ass vacation home in Florida? Because he’s an entitled Republican. That’s why.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson claims his trips were all approved by the Senate Rules Committee, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But Democrats say the trips were a waste, and that given that the two-term senator is loaded, there’s no way he should be asking to be reimbursed for the travel.
The Journal Sentinel reports that although it’s not possible to say exactly what the costs were, as they were sent in with other expenses, Senate records show that the trips cost somewhere between $5,418 and $18,781, and were repaid to him allegedly by using taxpayer money.
"Whether it’s helping pass legislation that enriched himself and his biggest donors or spending thousands in taxpayer dollars to fly to and from his family vacation home in Florida, Ron Johnson’s priority is his self-serving agenda, not Wisconsinites," Philip Shulman, a spokesman for the Democratic Party told the Journal Sentinel.
The QOP Has Their Fingers in Their Ears. "I Can't Hear You!"
New poll shows huge support for gun restrictions
Requiring background checks on all gun sales: Eighty-eight percent strongly or somewhat support; 8% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +80
Creating a national database with info about each gun sale: Seventy-five percent strongly or somewhat support; 18% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +57
Banning assault-style weapons: Sixty-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 25% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +42
Preventing sales of all firearms to people reported as dangerous to law enforcement by a mental health provider: Eighty-four percent strongly or somewhat support; 9% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +75
Making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks: Eighty-one percent strongly or somewhat support; 11% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +70
Requiring all gun owners to store their guns in a safe storage unit: Seventy-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 15% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +62
BUT, voters also support a proposal that’s been floated by many advocates of gun rights:
Equipping teachers and school staff with concealed firearms to respond in the event of a school shooting: Fifty-four percent strongly or somewhat support; 34% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +20
The QOP Knows What Causes Mass Shootings
Too Many Doors
A Transgender Woman
Liberal Teachers
Not Enough God
Not Enough Guns
Fatherlessness
ADHD Medication
Wokeness
Gun Control
Now We Know Why They Need Assault Rifles
What About a Bureau of Looking At Crazy People Running for Office?
Stephen Colbert looked at a lot of terrible ideas being pushed by Republicans instead of sensible gun control. But the weirdest one came from ex-football star-turned-politician Herschel Walker.
Walker, the Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia who is backed by former President Donald Trump, suggested “a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women, that’s looking at their social media ― what about doing that?”
“Yeah, what about doing that?” Colbert said on Thursday night. “It’s high time to create the Federal Bureau Of Looking At Young Men Who Are Looking At Women Who Are Looking At Social Media.”
Or a Bureau of Looking At Crazy People Already in Office. When Boebert Opens Her Mouth We Don't Ban Speaking, Either
You Don't Get Credit for Doing This After You Are Exposed.
In response to an explosive investigation, top Southern Baptists have released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse.
The 205-page database was made public late Thursday. It includes more than 700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019.
Its existence became widely known Sunday when the independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, included it in its bombshell report detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous survivors and prioritized protecting the SBC from liability.
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
I Hope He Enjoys a One-Way Ticket to the Gulag.
A Russian official who demanded that President Vladimir Putin end the war against Ukraine was branded a traitor, escorted out of a high-level meeting and denied the right to vote, according to local media reports.
During a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of Russia's Primorsky Krai in the far east of the country, a member of Russia's Communist Party faction, Leonid Vasyukevich, appealed to Putin to stop the months-long war in Ukraine and to withdraw his troops from the country.
Speaking on behalf of four party members in a rare critique of what Putin describes a "special military operation," Vasyukevich said he and his colleagues had signed an appeal to the president.
"We understand that if our country does not stop the military operation, there will be even more orphans in our country," said Vasyukevich. "During the military operation, young people who could bring great benefit to our country die and become disabled."
He added, "We demand the immediate withdrawal of the troops of the Russian Federation."
--------------
Invasions Have Consequences
Day 93
Fighting
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of carrying out a “genocide” in the eastern region of Donbas.
Russia’s offensive in the Donbas could leave the eastern region “uninhabited” and Moscow’s forces want to turn cities such as Popasna, Lysychansk and Severodonetsk to ashes, Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country will not be able to counter Russia’s offensive without more heavy weapons.
The head of a Russia-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine said there may be more Ukrainian fighters hiding at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol.
The United States is considering supplying Kyiv with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which can have a range of hundreds of kilometres, US officials said.
Russia’s shortage of combat-ready equipment is showing in the battle for Severodonetsk as its ground forces continue their attempt to surround it, the UK’s defence ministry said.
A pro-Russian separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said more than 5,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Russian forces have made gains in the Luhansk region in past week, but their offensive operations remain slow, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
Investigators in the Kharkiv region have started criminal proceedings into Russia’s shelling of Kharkiv city.
Zelenskyy pleaded with the West to send multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine as soon as possible to give it a chance against the Russian offensive in the Donbas.
Two Russian soldiers – accused of war crimes after firing rockets on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine – appeared at a second trial hearing in the northeastern town of Kotelva. Both pleaded guilty.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he was forming a southern military command and sending a battalion-strength tactical group to an area that borders Ukraine.
Casualties
At least 1,500 people have been killed, 13,000 remain trapped and about 60 percent of residential buildings were destroyed in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, the mayor said.
Shelling in Kharkiv killed nine people, including a five-month-old child, and wounded 19 others, Zelenskyy said.
Investigators have started criminal proceedings into Russia’s shelling of a busy area of Kharkiv city.
Four people were killed in Severodonetsk on Thursday, the governor of the Luhansk region said.
In Russia, one woman died from wounds and a man was in critical condition after shelling by Ukraine forces of a village in the border region of Belgorod, the governor said.
Diplomacy
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not win the war in Ukraine and he “already failed in all his strategic aims”, adding NATO will not become an active party in the conflict.
Putin said trying to isolate Russia is “impossible, utterly unrealistic in the modern world” and “those who try to do it primarily hurt themselves”.
Zelenskyy urged the West “to stop playing around” with Russia and impose tougher sanctions on Moscow to end its “senseless war” in Ukraine.
No more additional US forces will be required for Sweden and Finland after they join NATO, American General Christopher Cavoli said.
Zelenskyy complained about division inside the European Union over more sanctions against Russia and asked why some nations are being allowed to block the plan, hinting at Hungary’s opposition.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin visited Ukraine, and Zelenskyy thanked her for Finland’s weapons deliveries and support for sanctions against Russia.
Economy
Putin said Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to averting a looming food crisis if the West lifts sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine.
Russia is solely to blame for the global food emergency because of its blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukraine’s foreign minister Kuleba said.
An official said Hungary needs four years to shift away from Russian crude and make investments to adjust its economy before it can back the EU’s proposed oil embargo.
The US won the latest round of a legal battle to seize a $325m Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji, with the case now appearing headed for the Pacific nation’s top court.
Ukraine has enough stored grain to meet domestic and global demand until at least the end of 2022, maybe into 2023, an economic adviser to Zelenskyy said.
The White House said it expects minimal effects on the US and global economy from a potential Russian debt default after Washington decided to not extend a waiver that enabled Russia to pay US bondholders.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland proposed to allow Russian oligarchs to buy their way out of sanctions and use the money to rebuild Ukraine.
Is That a Rocket in Your Pocket, Or Are You Happy to See Me?
The Biden administration is preparing to step up the kind of weaponry it is offering Ukraine by sending advanced, long-range rocket systems that are now the top request from Ukrainian officials, multiple officials say.
The administration is leaning toward sending the systems as part of a larger package of military and security assistance to Ukraine, which could be announced as soon as next week.
Senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have pleaded in recent weeks for the US and its allies to provide the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS. The US-made weapon systems can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of kilometers — much farther than any of the systems Ukraine already has — which the Ukrainians argue could be a gamechanger in their war against Russia.
Another system Ukraine has asked for is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same types of ammunition as MLRS.
Russia has in recent weeks pummeled Ukraine in the east, where Ukraine is outmanned and outgunned, Ukrainian officials have said.
Thermite in Action
--------------
What Can We Do About Guns?
These Gun Reforms Could Save 15,000 Lives. We Can Achieve Them.
So what’s a way forward? This will be painful for many of my fellow liberals, but I suggest that we work harder to engage centrists, talk about “gun safety” rather than “gun control,” and jump into the weeds. Social scientists suggest “complexifying” an issue to reduce polarization, and, sure enough, I find that I can (sometimes) have productive conversations with gun enthusiasts if we focus on technocratic details.
For example, consider the minimum age to buy or possess a gun. The suspects in both the Texas and the Buffalo shootings were only 18, and that’s not a surprise. Americans ages 18 to 20 account for 4 percent of the population but 17 percent of those known to have committed a murder.
In Wyoming, one of the most pro-gun states in America, the minimum age to buy a handgun is 21. Overall, one-third of states limit purchase of a handgun to those 21 or older, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
If we say that teenagers can’t buy a beer, isn’t it worth having a conversation about whether they should be able to buy Glock 19 handguns and AR-15-style rifles?
The Texas 18-Year-Old Could Not Buy a Hand Gun, But He Could Buy Two Assault Rifles.
--------------
No Sign of Relief From Inflated Egos, But ...
US inflation gauge slowed to 6.3 percent in April over past year
That’s below the four-decade high set in March and the first slowdown since November 2020.
An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve rose 6.3 percent in April from a year earlier, just below a four-decade high set in March and the first slowdown since November 2020.
Friday’s report from the Department of Commerce added to other recent signs showing that while high inflation continues to cause hardships for millions of households, it may finally be moderating, at least for now.
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I Predict There Will Be Discussions That Will Break Down, and the QOP Will Blame the Democrats.
A bipartisan group of senators met during lunch Thursday to talk about a path forward on gun safety legislation, according to two sources, two days after a gunman shot and killed 21 people in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday.
Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy, Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, Martin Heinrich and Richard Blumenthal attended the lunch with Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Pat Toomey, Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, who joined by phone.
This was their second gathering, one of the sources said, and while it's still very early in their discussions, a few of the senators suggested that there might be the most consensus around red-flag and yellow-flag laws.
Red-flag laws have been implemented in 19 states, several since the Parkland shooting; they allow the courts to temporarily confiscate firearms belonging to people deemed to be a risk to others or themselves. These extreme risk protection orders (ERPO) allow family members and law enforcement to ask a state court judge to issue an order that takes the guns of an individual who they believe poses a threat to their safety. Petitioners must present evidence to the court on why individuals pose a threat.
Yellow-flag laws allow law enforcement — and only law enforcement — to petition the courts to temporarily take guns away from those considered to be a threat to others or themselves. Republican Sen. Susan Collins pointed to her home state, which has such a law on the books.
Or A Bill That Does Nothing.
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Do We Have to Teach This in Our Schools Now?
Eleven-year-old Miah Cerillo survived by smearing her friend's blood on herself and playing dead, her aunt, Blanca Rivera, told NBC News. She was hospitalized with bullet fragments in her back but has since been released, Rivera said.
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New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | New Hospitalizations 7-Day Average | |
| May 26 | 109,643 | 315 | |
| May 25 | 109,564 | 305 | 3,609 |
| May 24 | 104,399 | 288 | 3,614 |
| May 23 | 104,480 | 279 | 3,604 |
| May 22 | 102,940 | 281 | 3,531 |
| May 21 | 105,198 | 283 | 3,226 |
| May 20 | 105,713 | 284 | 3,369 |
| May 19 | 101,029 | 279 | 3,379 |
| May 18 | 101,130 | 280 | 3,332 |
| May 17 | 99,347 | 273 | 3,250 |
| May 16 | 94,199 | 274 | 3,136 |
| May 15 | 90,337 | 263 | 3,013 |
| May 14 | 88,187 | 265 | 2,698 |
| May 13 | 87,831 | 266 | 2,798 |
| May 12 | 87,382 | 272 | 2,731 |
| May 11 | 84,778 | 272 | 2,652 |
| May 10 | 78,236 | 326 | 2,629 |
| May 9 | 74,712 | 323 | 2,597 |
| May 8 | 66,564 | 323 | 2,510 |
| May 7 | 67,561 | 335 | 2,310 |
| May 6 | 68,807 | 340 | 2,396 |
| May 5 | 67,263 | 341 | 2.363 |
| May 4 | 64,780 | 334 | 2,267 |
| May 3 | 61,712 | 325 | 2,219 |
| May 2 | 60,410 | 318 | 2.214 |
| May 1 | 57,020 | 307 | 2,072 |
| Apr 30 | 56,581 | 310 | 1,882 |
| Apr 29 | 56,166 | 308 | 1,946 |
| Apr 28 | 54,696 | 311 | 1,955 |
| Apr 27 | 53,133 | 334 | 1,941 |
| Apr 26 | 48,692 | 299 | 1,889 |
| Apr 25 | 47,407 | 330 | 1,840 |
| Apr 24 | 44,416 | 314 | 1,779 |
| Apr 23 | 45,413 | 315 | 1,629 |
| Apr 22 | 44,308 | 311 | 1,642 |
| Apr 21 | 40,744 | 346 | 1,647 |
| Apr 20 | 42,604 | 375 | 1,609 |
| Apr 19 | 40,985 | 385 | 1,582 |
| Apr 18 | 37,132 | 380 | 1,564 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 77.7% | 66.3% | 45.9% |
| % of Population 5+ | 82.6% | 70.4% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 87.4% | 74.7% | 47.7% |
| % of Population 18+ | 89.1% | 76.2% | 49.5% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 90.4% | 68.8% |
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In Search of Fresh Vegetable Puns. Lettuce Know.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
In Case You Have Forgotten How Evil the QOP Are, ...
We need to be screaming from the rooftops about what the Republicans in Congress are doing. They voted against the American Rescue Plan (then took credit for the checks that went to American households), mostly voted against infrastructure (then took credit for projects in their districts), mostly voted against capping the price of insulin, voted against stopping oil companies from price gouging, mostly voted against a bill that would include importing baby formula.
Why? Because they want to impose as much misery as possible on the American people so that voters blame Biden and vote Republican in November. It’s really cynical, dark stuff. And then when they win, they want to criminalize abortions and ensure that we never have free and fair elections again.
Remember When This Would Have Been A Massive News Story?
Hypocrisy Exhibit #2,387, 611
Hypocrisy Exhibit #2,387, 612
After the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre dug in his heels against gun reform, famously saying that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
The NRA Convention offers a perfect testing ground for that theory, but attendees aren’t allowed to bring guns onto the convention floor. Some can’t even take them into their hotel rooms.
QANON Ron Demonstrates What To Do In An Active Shooter Situation
Cancun Cruz Demonstrates What To Do In An Active Reporter Situation
QANON Ron Knows How to Make His Getaway
Why is a multimillionaire lawmaker using taxpayer money for flights from his job in Washington, D.C., to his fancy-ass vacation home in Florida? Because he’s an entitled Republican. That’s why.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson claims his trips were all approved by the Senate Rules Committee, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But Democrats say the trips were a waste, and that given that the two-term senator is loaded, there’s no way he should be asking to be reimbursed for the travel.
The Journal Sentinel reports that although it’s not possible to say exactly what the costs were, as they were sent in with other expenses, Senate records show that the trips cost somewhere between $5,418 and $18,781, and were repaid to him allegedly by using taxpayer money.
"Whether it’s helping pass legislation that enriched himself and his biggest donors or spending thousands in taxpayer dollars to fly to and from his family vacation home in Florida, Ron Johnson’s priority is his self-serving agenda, not Wisconsinites," Philip Shulman, a spokesman for the Democratic Party told the Journal Sentinel.
The QOP Has Their Fingers in Their Ears. "I Can't Hear You!"
New poll shows huge support for gun restrictions
Requiring background checks on all gun sales: Eighty-eight percent strongly or somewhat support; 8% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +80
Creating a national database with info about each gun sale: Seventy-five percent strongly or somewhat support; 18% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +57
Banning assault-style weapons: Sixty-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 25% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +42
Preventing sales of all firearms to people reported as dangerous to law enforcement by a mental health provider: Eighty-four percent strongly or somewhat support; 9% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +75
Making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks: Eighty-one percent strongly or somewhat support; 11% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +70
Requiring all gun owners to store their guns in a safe storage unit: Seventy-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 15% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +62
BUT, voters also support a proposal that’s been floated by many advocates of gun rights:
Equipping teachers and school staff with concealed firearms to respond in the event of a school shooting: Fifty-four percent strongly or somewhat support; 34% strongly or somewhat oppose. Net approval: +20
The QOP Knows What Causes Mass Shootings
Too Many Doors
A Transgender Woman
Liberal Teachers
Not Enough God
Not Enough Guns
Fatherlessness
ADHD Medication
Wokeness
Gun Control
Now We Know Why They Need Assault Rifles
What About a Bureau of Looking At Crazy People Running for Office?
Stephen Colbert looked at a lot of terrible ideas being pushed by Republicans instead of sensible gun control. But the weirdest one came from ex-football star-turned-politician Herschel Walker.
Walker, the Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia who is backed by former President Donald Trump, suggested “a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women, that’s looking at their social media ― what about doing that?”
“Yeah, what about doing that?” Colbert said on Thursday night. “It’s high time to create the Federal Bureau Of Looking At Young Men Who Are Looking At Women Who Are Looking At Social Media.”
Or a Bureau of Looking At Crazy People Already in Office. When Boebert Opens Her Mouth We Don't Ban Speaking, Either
You Don't Get Credit for Doing This After You Are Exposed.
In response to an explosive investigation, top Southern Baptists have released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse.
The 205-page database was made public late Thursday. It includes more than 700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019.
Its existence became widely known Sunday when the independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, included it in its bombshell report detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous survivors and prioritized protecting the SBC from liability.
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
I Hope He Enjoys a One-Way Ticket to the Gulag.
A Russian official who demanded that President Vladimir Putin end the war against Ukraine was branded a traitor, escorted out of a high-level meeting and denied the right to vote, according to local media reports.
During a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of Russia's Primorsky Krai in the far east of the country, a member of Russia's Communist Party faction, Leonid Vasyukevich, appealed to Putin to stop the months-long war in Ukraine and to withdraw his troops from the country.
Speaking on behalf of four party members in a rare critique of what Putin describes a "special military operation," Vasyukevich said he and his colleagues had signed an appeal to the president.
"We understand that if our country does not stop the military operation, there will be even more orphans in our country," said Vasyukevich. "During the military operation, young people who could bring great benefit to our country die and become disabled."
He added, "We demand the immediate withdrawal of the troops of the Russian Federation."
--------------
Invasions Have Consequences
Day 93
Fighting
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of carrying out a “genocide” in the eastern region of Donbas.
Russia’s offensive in the Donbas could leave the eastern region “uninhabited” and Moscow’s forces want to turn cities such as Popasna, Lysychansk and Severodonetsk to ashes, Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country will not be able to counter Russia’s offensive without more heavy weapons.
The head of a Russia-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine said there may be more Ukrainian fighters hiding at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol.
The United States is considering supplying Kyiv with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which can have a range of hundreds of kilometres, US officials said.
Russia’s shortage of combat-ready equipment is showing in the battle for Severodonetsk as its ground forces continue their attempt to surround it, the UK’s defence ministry said.
A pro-Russian separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said more than 5,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Russian forces have made gains in the Luhansk region in past week, but their offensive operations remain slow, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
Investigators in the Kharkiv region have started criminal proceedings into Russia’s shelling of Kharkiv city.
Zelenskyy pleaded with the West to send multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine as soon as possible to give it a chance against the Russian offensive in the Donbas.
Two Russian soldiers – accused of war crimes after firing rockets on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine – appeared at a second trial hearing in the northeastern town of Kotelva. Both pleaded guilty.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he was forming a southern military command and sending a battalion-strength tactical group to an area that borders Ukraine.
Casualties
At least 1,500 people have been killed, 13,000 remain trapped and about 60 percent of residential buildings were destroyed in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, the mayor said.
Shelling in Kharkiv killed nine people, including a five-month-old child, and wounded 19 others, Zelenskyy said.
Investigators have started criminal proceedings into Russia’s shelling of a busy area of Kharkiv city.
Four people were killed in Severodonetsk on Thursday, the governor of the Luhansk region said.
In Russia, one woman died from wounds and a man was in critical condition after shelling by Ukraine forces of a village in the border region of Belgorod, the governor said.
Diplomacy
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not win the war in Ukraine and he “already failed in all his strategic aims”, adding NATO will not become an active party in the conflict.
Putin said trying to isolate Russia is “impossible, utterly unrealistic in the modern world” and “those who try to do it primarily hurt themselves”.
Zelenskyy urged the West “to stop playing around” with Russia and impose tougher sanctions on Moscow to end its “senseless war” in Ukraine.
No more additional US forces will be required for Sweden and Finland after they join NATO, American General Christopher Cavoli said.
Zelenskyy complained about division inside the European Union over more sanctions against Russia and asked why some nations are being allowed to block the plan, hinting at Hungary’s opposition.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin visited Ukraine, and Zelenskyy thanked her for Finland’s weapons deliveries and support for sanctions against Russia.
Economy
Putin said Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to averting a looming food crisis if the West lifts sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine.
Russia is solely to blame for the global food emergency because of its blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukraine’s foreign minister Kuleba said.
An official said Hungary needs four years to shift away from Russian crude and make investments to adjust its economy before it can back the EU’s proposed oil embargo.
The US won the latest round of a legal battle to seize a $325m Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji, with the case now appearing headed for the Pacific nation’s top court.
Ukraine has enough stored grain to meet domestic and global demand until at least the end of 2022, maybe into 2023, an economic adviser to Zelenskyy said.
The White House said it expects minimal effects on the US and global economy from a potential Russian debt default after Washington decided to not extend a waiver that enabled Russia to pay US bondholders.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland proposed to allow Russian oligarchs to buy their way out of sanctions and use the money to rebuild Ukraine.
Is That a Rocket in Your Pocket, Or Are You Happy to See Me?
The Biden administration is preparing to step up the kind of weaponry it is offering Ukraine by sending advanced, long-range rocket systems that are now the top request from Ukrainian officials, multiple officials say.
The administration is leaning toward sending the systems as part of a larger package of military and security assistance to Ukraine, which could be announced as soon as next week.
Senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have pleaded in recent weeks for the US and its allies to provide the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS. The US-made weapon systems can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of kilometers — much farther than any of the systems Ukraine already has — which the Ukrainians argue could be a gamechanger in their war against Russia.
Another system Ukraine has asked for is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same types of ammunition as MLRS.
Russia has in recent weeks pummeled Ukraine in the east, where Ukraine is outmanned and outgunned, Ukrainian officials have said.
Thermite in Action
--------------
What Can We Do About Guns?
These Gun Reforms Could Save 15,000 Lives. We Can Achieve Them.
So what’s a way forward? This will be painful for many of my fellow liberals, but I suggest that we work harder to engage centrists, talk about “gun safety” rather than “gun control,” and jump into the weeds. Social scientists suggest “complexifying” an issue to reduce polarization, and, sure enough, I find that I can (sometimes) have productive conversations with gun enthusiasts if we focus on technocratic details.
For example, consider the minimum age to buy or possess a gun. The suspects in both the Texas and the Buffalo shootings were only 18, and that’s not a surprise. Americans ages 18 to 20 account for 4 percent of the population but 17 percent of those known to have committed a murder.
In Wyoming, one of the most pro-gun states in America, the minimum age to buy a handgun is 21. Overall, one-third of states limit purchase of a handgun to those 21 or older, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
If we say that teenagers can’t buy a beer, isn’t it worth having a conversation about whether they should be able to buy Glock 19 handguns and AR-15-style rifles?
The Texas 18-Year-Old Could Not Buy a Hand Gun, But He Could Buy Two Assault Rifles.
--------------
No Sign of Relief From Inflated Egos, But ...
US inflation gauge slowed to 6.3 percent in April over past year
That’s below the four-decade high set in March and the first slowdown since November 2020.
An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve rose 6.3 percent in April from a year earlier, just below a four-decade high set in March and the first slowdown since November 2020.
Friday’s report from the Department of Commerce added to other recent signs showing that while high inflation continues to cause hardships for millions of households, it may finally be moderating, at least for now.
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I Predict There Will Be Discussions That Will Break Down, and the QOP Will Blame the Democrats.
A bipartisan group of senators met during lunch Thursday to talk about a path forward on gun safety legislation, according to two sources, two days after a gunman shot and killed 21 people in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday.
Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy, Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, Martin Heinrich and Richard Blumenthal attended the lunch with Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Pat Toomey, Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, who joined by phone.
This was their second gathering, one of the sources said, and while it's still very early in their discussions, a few of the senators suggested that there might be the most consensus around red-flag and yellow-flag laws.
Red-flag laws have been implemented in 19 states, several since the Parkland shooting; they allow the courts to temporarily confiscate firearms belonging to people deemed to be a risk to others or themselves. These extreme risk protection orders (ERPO) allow family members and law enforcement to ask a state court judge to issue an order that takes the guns of an individual who they believe poses a threat to their safety. Petitioners must present evidence to the court on why individuals pose a threat.
Yellow-flag laws allow law enforcement — and only law enforcement — to petition the courts to temporarily take guns away from those considered to be a threat to others or themselves. Republican Sen. Susan Collins pointed to her home state, which has such a law on the books.
Or A Bill That Does Nothing.
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Do We Have to Teach This in Our Schools Now?
Eleven-year-old Miah Cerillo survived by smearing her friend's blood on herself and playing dead, her aunt, Blanca Rivera, told NBC News. She was hospitalized with bullet fragments in her back but has since been released, Rivera said.
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