Sun - Winners and Losers

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Today's Worst Joke in the World

I tried to grab the fog.  I mist.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Emmanuel Chamberlain Should Shut Up

Ukraine has denounced French President Emmanuel Macron after he suggested it is imperative that Russia is not humiliated in its war to keep the door open for good diplomatic relations between the West and Moscow whenever the conflict ends.

Macron’s comments raised the ire of Kyiv, which slammed the French president’s position. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said bluntly the comments “can only humiliate France”.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February, Macron has sought to keep an open communication channel with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His stance has been repeatedly criticised by some Eastern and Baltic partners in Europe, as they see it as undermining efforts to push Putin to the negotiating table.

The French president said his Russian counterpart made a “historic and fundamental” error in invading Ukraine, but it was essential “not [to] humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels”.

Macron said France’s role had to be that of “a mediating power“, stressing he put “time and energy” into ensuring the conflict did not escalate into a wider war.


Ferme ta gueule

As Much As I Never Want to See Either of them Again, I Will Watch the Hearings

The House select committee investigating last year’s insurrection is gearing up for its national debut of hearings that will include videotaped interviews with Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, The Washington Post reports.

On Thursday, select committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will launch the series of televised hearings featuring both live witnesses and taped interviews, including several White House figures. Both Trump and Kushner served as senior advisers in Donald Trump’s White House during the insurrection last year on Jan. 6.

Their interviews have been described to the Post as “gripping.”

You Should See the Other Guy Bat


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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

When There is No Limitations on the Ability to Commit Crimes... 

Since Donald Trump came down the escalator of Trump Tower to launch his run for president, we have found ourselves asking questions we never believed we would have to ask about our leaders. The loudest of those questions concern Trump’s criminal activity. While we know that Trump was perhaps the most blatantly criminal person ever to occupy the White House, it’s quite another matter to be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

That effort has been hindered by the longstanding Department of Justice (DOJ) policy against indicting sitting presidents for crimes committed while in office. That policy did not anticipate a situation where a president’s political allies were willing to look the other way when said president essentially ran the White House and the country as a crime syndicate.

In 2019, former FBI director Robert Mueller released the results of his special counsel investigation into Russia’s attempt to hack the 2016 election for Trump. While Mueller outlined at least ten potential instances in which Trump obstructed justice, he concluded that none were egregious enough to merit a criminal referral. By the time Trump left office, the already limited window to prosecute him for these potential crimes was even narrower, given that much of the time in the five-year statute of limitations had already elapsed. The ticking clock has only added to frustrations inside and outside this country about the prospect of Trump never facing justice for his actions.

Fortunately, two of Trump’s biggest gadflies in Congress—Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Adam Schiff of California—realize that even if we can’t make Trump stand trial for his crimes in office, we have to prevent the possibility of another criminal president avoiding accountability. They have introduced legislation that would all but eliminate the statute of limitations for presidents who commit crimes while in office.
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Invasions Have Consequences

Day 102

Fighting

Ukrainian forces have counterattacked in Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence said, as the regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Russian forces have lost ground and the city is now split in half between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Kyiv saw the worst missile attack in weeks as civilian and military infrastructure were targeted in a Russian attack. One person has been injured.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane carrying weapons and munitions near the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Diplomacy

Putin will discuss the war in an interview due to be broadcast on national television on Sunday. In a brief excerpt, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted him as saying Moscow was easily coping with US weapon systems sent to Ukraine and had destroyed dozens of them.

Ukraine rebuked France’s Emmanuel Macron for saying it was important not to “humiliate” Russia, a position Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said “can only humiliate France”.

Russia’s foreign minister said Western sanctions would have no effect on the country’s oil exports, predicting a big jump in profits from energy shipments this year.

Finland and Sweden joining NATO would put Russia in a difficult military position in the Baltic Sea, top US General Mark Milley said in Stockholm before a military exercise.



Kherson

The biggest news in the Kherson region on Saturday may be that multiple Ukrainian aircraft have taken part in the counteroffensive along the line northwest of Kherson. Advancing without air support is much more difficult, and in this area at least, Ukraine appears to have used multirole aircraft to clear the way for advancing armor. Ukrainian aircraft have reportedly hit multiple Russian locations in villages at the center of the line.

Kharkiv

On Thursday, Ukraine recaptured the town of Vesele and associated villages. That freed up travel along another of the main highway routes in the area and allowed Ukraine to continue pushing Russian forces back away from artillery range of Kharkiv.

The most interesting news on Saturday is reports out of the Ukrainian MOD indicating that Ukraine has taken positions at Hlyboke, a good 5 km into what had been considered Russian occupied territory. It’s been clear for some time that Russia’s position at Lyptsi is actually on the west side of that town. Ukraine seems to have taken advantage of that to move up the highway, bypassing Lyptsi, hitting the next village north. This opens the possibility of Ukraine proceeding to the north, or attacking Lyptsi from a new direction.

Izyum

This week, Russia captured Lyman, moved into Severodonetsk, and seemed on the verge of closing the “pocket” that had extended up to Oskil. But at the moment, Ukraine is continuing to press back in Severodonetsk, Studenok is still untaken, and there are still several uncaptured villages north of the river. Over on the east side of the area, Russia is still bouncing off of Komyshuvakha, north of Popasna, which Ukrainian forces recaptured last week and have held onto against multiple assaults. Russian forces reported that it had been captured on Friday, but that does not seem to be true.

Things That Make Them Go Boom



There's More Than War in Ukraine


Making the Case for Severodonetsk

Ukraine has been tenaciously holding onto the point of its Donbas salient whose tip is currently Severodonetsk. People have questioned why Ukraine has felt it is so important to keep this salient going instead of retreating back to say Bakhmut. The answer is logistics, and specifically the railroad.

Railroads play an outsized role in Russian logistics. Part of the Russian’s early failure in the north was related to their inability to seize railroad hubs such as Kharkiv. The Russians did not properly prepare to transport so much of their supplies on trucks stressing this limited commodity for them beyond their ability to supply their troops. When Russia has fought within easy reach of a railhead, they have performed far better, particularly with regard to supplying their heavy artillery.




Currently, Russia has two rail lines bringing supplies in from the North to the Donbas region, and then a major line coming in from the East. Belgorod is a major military hub for them so a significant amount of supplies will be getting routed through it, and the most direct route from Belgorod to Luhansk goes straight through the rail line found in between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk (in the circle on the map above). The railroad actually follows the river in this area and so the main line does not go into either city proper. If the Russians were to capture both Severodonetsk and Lysychansk they would add a third N/S rail line, and it would be the most direct possible route from Belgorod to Luhansk.

Now, the railroad does run on the western bank here meaning its not sufficient for Russia to take just Severodonetsk. The Russians would need to cross the river and take at least part of Lysychansk in order to complete the connection. So this establishes why Ukraine is not interested in retreating all the way back to Bakhmut. But why Severodonetsk?

As we found out earlier today, it appears Severodonetsk has been prepared as a trap. There is talk of underground complexes in the vein of Mariupol. If true, this would allow the Ukrainians to appear to retreat from the oncoming Russians, go through the tunnels, and come up into positions behind the Russian lines potentially trapping Russian forces. Cities are already deadly kill zones and the Russians have not trained for them, nor show innate talent in fighting in them. If you are flanked in a city, you may quickly find yourself with no cover at all and I’m guessing that is what happened today. It is very possible this type of trap was only possible in Severodonetsk which is more circular in shape than in Lysychansk which is more long and narrow. In addition, Lysychansk may not have the old Soviet tunnel system that Severodonetsk possibly does.

Finally, Severodonetsk is on the East bank of the river. As Ukraine has not yet demonstrated prodigious river crossing ability (though I expect they’re keeping what they can do as hidden as possible as hinted at further north), keeping a fortress on the East bank can significantly help their prospects when they counter attack. Should Ukraine have the resources to go on a significant offense, they could use this position to either drive north to the critical rail hub of Kupyansk thereby cutting off the Russian salient in Izyum. Or they could drive East to Novoaider and cut a N/S railroad to Luhansk. Which direction they go would highly depend upon Russian force disposition and Ukraine’s ability to greatly extend and defend this salient. However, cutting those rail lines would be truly significant in further reducing Russia’s capability to supply its troops in these areas and why it is so important to keep Severodonetsk if they can.

Because We Don't Have Enough Maps



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Let Them Drink Dirt

Water has long been considered a property right in California, meaning property owners can pump as much water as they like. That has become a problem in a changing climate. During droughts, water was pumped faster from the basin than it could be replenished.

The state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, passed in 2014, was intended to address excessive pumping – particularly from agriculture – and to balance out depleted aquifers. Nevertheless, well-drilling permits have proliferated “with little oversight,” Hinton said.

In March, Newsom issued an executive order that strictly prohibits local agencies from granting well-drilling permits for agriculture and industry, consistent with the 2014 bill, unless they perform a comprehensive review of how the drilling would impact households around them. But Hinton says the order includes temporary measures that will only last until the drought ends. Water advocates are banking on a bill to pass through the state legislature that would permanently strengthen oversight of the permitting process.

As cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco struggle to cut their water use – water that overwhelmingly comes from the state’s reservoirs – rural Californians that rely on groundwater are already tapped out. They live with the daily worry that they won’t have enough water to bathe with or drink.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with urban residents and businesses to reduce their water consumption by 15%, but water usage in March was up by 19% in cities compared to March 2020, the year the current drought began. With the state running out of water, unprecedented water cuts went into effect this week for city dwellers – in parts of southern California, residents have been asked to cut consumption by 35% to avoid a full ban on watering later in the summer.

Scorching summer heat is also approaching. Water evaporates from the soil on hot days, which worsens the drought – a key reason never-before-seen groundwater shortages are cropping up. Not only has there not been enough rain to fill reservoirs, the air is leeching water from what’s left on the ground.

Then there’s contamination from industry.

As California’s big cities fail to rein in their water use, rural communities are already tapped out
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Sleepless in Seattle and Everywhere Else

A study released last week by a team of climatologists found that by the end of this century, sleeplessness related to global warming will be so pervasive that our descendants will likely lose roughly two and a half days of sleep per year compared to the levels that typical adults enjoy today.

The findings, published in a peer-reviewed study in the journal One Earth, used data from more than 10 billion sleep-duration measurements from tracking wristbands across 68 different countries and combined that with local weather and climate data.[...]

“And I think importantly, we found that this hidden human cost of heat is not distributed equally in the population,” Minor said, noting that he and his colleagues found that sleep loss per degree of warming occurs approximately twice as much among the elderly as compared to younger or middle aged adults. That rate was approximately three times higher for lower income versus high income countries.

Minor said that nighttime temperatures are warming faster than daytime temperatures for two reasons: anthropogenic – or human-induced – climate change and urbanization.
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Can He Hang 8?


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Who Won the Week?

Canada, for showing us how gun control is done: ban on sale/imports of handguns, assault weapon buy-backs, magazine limits, 'red flag' laws, and bigger penalties for gun smuggling

The European Union, for agreeing to a near-total ban on Russian oil by year's end

Admiral Linda Fagan, who was sworn in as commandant of the Coast Guard---the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. armed forces

President Biden: comforts victims' families in Uvalde; 66th judge confirmed; unveils new military aid for Ukraine; 400K jobs added in May

Hillary Clinton, as Trump-appointed prosecutor John Durham's pathetic witch hunt of her campaign lawyer Michael Sussman goes up in flames with a jury's lighting-fast acquittal

Vice President Kamala Harris, whose 2013 investigation as Calif. AG into the sleazy marketing practices of Corinthian Colleges results in $5.8 billion debt forgiveness for 560k students

14-year-old Harini Logan of San Antonio, for besting 234 contestants to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Queen Elizabeth II, whose scheme to deny her son the throne continues working perrrrfectly for a 70th year

Bill Gates, for finally solving a centuries-old mystery by figuring out how to grow cheeseburgers in peach tree dishes
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Who Lost the Week?

A man (pretending to be a woman in a wheelchair), arrested after he threw cake at the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, shouting about environmental doom (fortunately, the painting wasn’t harmed)

Special counsel John Durham, named by William Barr to satisfy 45’s claim that the FBI’s 2016 Trump-Russia investigation was a “witch hunt”: losing his first case as Hillary Clinton’s lawyer Michael Sussman was acquitted

Two GOP representatives (Pat Fallon, TX and John Rutherford, FL) as the Office of Congressional Ethics indicated they violated the STOCK Act by failing to properly report their stock trades

The Texas legislature, as the US Supreme Court blocked its law that would stop social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express (claiming it was done to restrict conservative speech)

Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, arrested on two criminal charges for refusing to hand over documents and testify about the January 6 attack … while providing the FBI evidence on television interviews

The CEO of DWS (Germany’s largest fund manager, owned by Deutsche Bank) forced to resign after police raided its offices looking for evidence of greenwashing (lying about how environmentally friendly their investments are)

The Proud Boys and QAnon conspiracy theorists, some of the most loyal Trump supporters, upset at now being banned from wearing T-shirts and carrying signs supporting their causes into Trump rallies

Joshua Pruitt, a Proud Boy member who stormed the Capitol on January 6th – which almost resulted in a confrontation with Sen. Chuck Schumer – pleading guilty to throwing a chair at police and facing five years in prison

Philip Nordo, a veteran Philadelphia homicide detective, convicted of sexually assaulting or exploiting three male witnesses in a case that has led prosecutors to review dozens of homicide convictions he helped obtain

Vyvianna Quinonez, sentenced to 15 months for punching a Southwest Airlines flight attendant (causing three chipped teeth and facial bruises) after being asked to wear a mask and fasten her seatbelt on a flight from Sacramento

Naason Joaquin Garcia, head of a Mexican megachurch, pleading guilty to sexually abusing children in the United States on Friday, just days before he was scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles

Gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor (R-GA), losing badly by coming in third place with only 3.4% of the vote … yet claiming (as a true Trumpian) that she will not concede, as the election was "rigged" against her

Outgoing Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), trying to reclaim the crown of dumbest GOP member by lamenting, “If you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you” … which is a felony
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Could This Lead to More Losers?

A drug recently approved to treat type 2 diabetes is also extremely effective at reducing obesity, according to a new study.

The drug, called tirzepatide, works on two naturally-occurring hormones that help control blood sugar and are involved in sending fullness signals from the gut to the brain.

Researchers noticed that people who took the drug for their diabetes also lost weight. The new trial focused on people who have obesity without diabetes and found even more weight loss.

Those taking the highest of three studied doses lost as much as 21% of their body weight – as many as 50-60 pounds in some cases.

Nothing has provided that kind of weight loss except surgery, said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association. The full study was presented Saturday at the ADA's annual convention in New Orleans and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Another obesity treatment approved last year called semaglutide, from Novo Nordisk, provides an average of up to about 15% weight loss. Previous generations of diet drugs cut only about 5% of weight and many carried prohibitive side effects.

"We've not had tools like this," Gabbay said. "I think it's really exciting."

For most of the trial participants, side effects from tirzepatide were not serious, said Jeff Emmick, vice president of product development for the diabetes division of drug giant Lilly, which makes the drug.

About 15% of participants who received the active drug dropped out of the 72-week trial, about a third because of gastrointestinal side effects. Meanwhile, 26% of trial volunteers who received a placebo dropped out. Emmick said he thinks they may have been frustrated by their lack of weight loss.

On May 13, the Food and Drug Administration approved tirzepatide, under the trade name Mounjaro, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Tirzepatide is not yet available for weight loss, but Lilly hopes to have an updated timeline from the FDA later this year, Emmick said. Before approving the drug for weight loss, the regulatory agency may first want Lilly to complete other studies underway examining tirzepatide in people with obesity and diabetes and the addition of lifestyle changes to the drug regimen.

Weight loss of 15% to more than 20% also has the potential to change the way doctors treat diabetes, Gabbay said, from focusing on reducing blood sugar to aiming for total remission.

An previous study of tirzepatide in diabetes showed that half the participants who were early in the course of their diabetes went into remission while taking the drug.

"That is a potential game-changer in how we think about therapy for people with type 2 diabetes," he said.

What's not known yet, Gabbay said, is whether remission achieved this way will reduce the typical complications of diabetes, which can include cardiovascular disease, nerve and kidney damage and limb amputations.

It's also unclear yet whether tirzepatide will provide the cardiovascular benefits that semaglutide does, said Dr. David Rind, a primary care physician and chief medical officer for the Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.

Diabetes drug helps patients lose never-before-seen amounts of weight, new study shows
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Another Example of the Failure of Our Education System to Teach Basic Financial Literacy

If it weren't for compounding interest, Cheryl — who requested her last name be withheld for privacy concerns — thinks President Joe Biden's plans to forgive $10,000 in student debt for federal borrowers might have made a difference for her.

But with $303,000 in federal student debt — and an additional $20,000 in private student loans — the president's plan just isn't enough.

"It is not even a drop in the bucket," Cheryl, 53, told Insider. "If you wanted to make a real difference, you could do away with half the interest we've accrued, but for now I'll never be able to cover the payments."

As a teacher in Massachusetts, Cheryl had to take out student loans for her bachelor's degree in English and her master's degree in education. While she said she has no problem paying back the debt she borrowed, the problem is the interest that accrued while she was in school and her loans were in forbearance. That's making it nearly impossible for her to touch her principal balance at her current income level.

For Cheryl, the issue is simple — she wants to pay back what she borrowed, and nothing more.

"I don't mind paying back the money I borrowed," Cheryl said. "But I do mind the government making their money off my back."
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