Mon - How Many Dead Romans from Russia?

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Today's Worst Joke in the World

Turning vegan would be a big missed steak.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Nobody Seems Willing to Print What Was Actually Said

International backlash is growing against India after a ruling party official made Islamophobic comments during a televised debate, with Qatar and several other Muslim nations lodging official protests against New Delhi and demanding a “public apology”.

At least five Arab nations have lodged official protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly on Monday to the comments made by two members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Anger has poured out on social media, and calls for a boycott of Indian goods have surfaced in some Arab countries. Al Jazeera TV on Monday reported that Indian products were removed from shelves in some shops in Kuwait.

A Fake Aggie

Kyle Rittenhouse claimed he'll attend Texas A&M University on a podcast, but university officials tell a different story, saying he has not been admitted as a student.

During an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” a conservative podcast, Rittenhouse proudly put on a Texas A&M cap and said he’d be attending the university.

“I’m going to be going there. It’s going to be awesome,” the 19-year-old said during the episode, which aired Friday on YouTube. “Beautiful campus, amazing people, amazing food.”

However, a university official said he will not be attending the school.

“He has not been admitted as a student this summer or fall,” university spokesperson Kelly Brown told The Dallas Morning News. NBC News has reached out to the university for comment.

I Don't Think You Want Their Free Legal Advice

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a St. Louis couple potentially facing indefinite suspension of their law licenses after they waved guns at a racial justice protest outside their home in 2020.

Mark McCloskey, a personal injury attorney and Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, and his wife Patricia McCloskey drew national attention for walking onto their front yard with guns during a protest of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The protesters were walking to the home of the St. Louis mayor at the time.

Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. Missouri Gov. Michael Parson pardoned the McCloskeys in 2021 but the state office responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by lawyers sought to suspend their law licenses.

The Supreme Court of Missouri in February agreed to suspend the licenses indefinitely but stayed the suspensions and placed the two lawyers on probation for a year. Conditions of the probation included that the McCloskeys provided quarterly reports to a probation monitor – including whether they are charged with additional crimes – and provided 100 hours of free legal services.

In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the McCloskeys argue that the state court's ruling violated their Second Amendment rights and their rights to due process because they were "exercising lawful rights to bear arms in defense of their person, family, and home."

Mark McCloskey is among several Republican candidates running to fill the seat held by retiring Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican.

They Are Going to Agree to Pass a Bill That Does Nothing.

The bipartisan group of senators working on a gun control bill say their framework includes an expansion of criminal background checks — but the policy would be more modest than past proposals.

After the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, a bipartisan proposal by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) would have expanded background checks to cover gun sales through internet advertisements and at gun shows. As it stands now, only licensed gun dealers have to do background checks, and private sellers don’t.

But a comprehensive background check proposal like the one previously proposed by Manchin and Toomey is now off the table, according to the Democrat leading the current round of bipartisan gun negotiations.

“We’re not going to pass comprehensive background checks,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

We Could Have a Whole Category For Dumb QOP Statements













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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

Doing Something About Our Shortage of Solar Panels

President Joe Biden is using his executive powers Monday to boost the domestic production of solar panels and their parts and will issue a 24-month tariff exemption on imports of the products from several countries.

The White House said Biden will authorize the use of the Defense Production Act to accelerate manufacturing of solar panels in the United States as a way to strengthen the administration's efforts to shift the country toward clean energy.

The move will allow the Department of Energy to "rapidly expand" U.S. manufacturing of solar panel parts, power grid infrastructure such as transformers, heat pumps, building insulation and other equipment, the White House said in a news release.

Who Are You More Tired of Hearing About, the Royals or Elon Musk?



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Invasions Have Consequences

Day 103

Fighting

Ukraine has reversed a Russian advance in Severodonetsk and recaptured about 20 percent of the strategic eastern city, meaning Ukraine now controls half, the governor of Luhansk said.

A Russian state media journalist reported Moscow’s Major General Roman Kutuzov was killed in eastern Ukraine, adding to the string of high-ranking military casualties sustained by Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited front-line troops in the Zaporizhia region, as well as the towns of Soledar in the Donetsk region and Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, as Russia continues its attack on the Donbas.

The website of Russia’s Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities appeared to have been hacked, with an internet search for the site leading to a “Glory to Ukraine” sign in Ukrainian, the Reuters news agency reported.

Russia fired missiles at Western military supplies for Ukraine in Kyiv on Sunday; Ukraine claimed destroyed tanks were donated from abroad.

The United Kingdom’s defence ministry said Ukrainian counterattacks in Severodonetsk were “likely blunting the operational momentum Russian forces previously gained through concentrating combat units and firepower”.

Russia moved several air defence systems to Snake Island in the Black Sea, an activity which contributes to Moscow’s blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders grain exports, the UK’s defence ministry said.

Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power operator Energoatom said a Russian cruise missile flew “critically low” on Sunday morning over a major nuclear power plant.

Casualties

Russian missile attacks killed three people and injured another two in the Donetsk region on Sunday, the governor said.

Ukraine’s military said the Russian army has lost 31,250 personnel since the beginning of its invasion on February 24.

Russian forces continued to shell Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Sunday, wounding six people, the governor said.

Evacuations resumed from the Ukrainian-held part of Luhansk province on Sunday, and 98 people had managed to escape the town of Lysychansk, underscoring that “evacuation from Severodonetsk is currently impossible”, the regional governor said.

Russian shelling in Luhansk wounded one woman and damaged more than 27 houses, the regional governor said.

Diplomacy

The UK said it will supply Ukraine with M270 multiple-launch rocket systems that can attack targets up to 80km (50 miles) away in a move coordinated with the United States.

Vladimir Putin stressed long-range missile supplies sent to Ukraine mean “we will … strike targets we haven’t hit before”.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Belgrade has been cancelled after North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro closed their airspace to Lavrov’s plane, Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti reported on Sunday.

Economy

Russia has been seeking buyers among African countries for the grain stolen in Ukraine, with up to 500,000 tonnes of wheat worth $100m stolen since Moscow invaded in February, the New York Times reported.

Russian aluminium producer Rusal filed a lawsuit against global miner Rio Tinto, seeking to win back access to its 20 percent share of the alumina produced at a jointly owned refiner in Queensland, Australia.

Russia’s sanctions against Gazprom Germania and its subsidiaries could cost German taxpayers and gas users an extra 5 billion euros ($5.36 billion) a year to pay for replacement gas, the Welt am Sonntag weekly reported, citing industry representatives.

Lavrov said on Saturday that Western sanctions would not affect the country’s oil exports, predicting a big jump in profit from energy shipments this year.

Football

Ukraine lost 1-0 to Wales in their World Cup qualifier match, ending Ukraine’s mission to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar while under invasion by Russia.

Severodonetsk

At some points in the war, it’s been not only possible, but sensible, to doubt reports from either side, especially when they have sounded too rosy. Russia has repeatedly made claims or even shown videos that were absolutely at odds with the reports of those on the ground—that includes happy-happy-joy-joy videos showing smiling people in the areas occupied by Russia going about their day in cities unscarred by weeks of pounding artillery. There’s absolutely no doubt that Ukraine has also applied spin to the public information it releases, in part to protect troops in the field, and in part to move the news needle in ways that make it more likely to receive the support required to survive the invasion.

But when it comes to what’s happening in Severodonetsk, there’s not much doubt about what’s happening. That’s because from the town of Lysychansk, just across the river, it’s possible to look down into the streets of Severeodonetsk. That means not just that Ukrainian soldiers in those streets are able to guide artillery to very precise locations, it also means that observers have a ringside view to what — according to some of those gathered — has been Russia’s worst loss since the war began.

On Thursday, Russia had taken 80% of Severodonetsk. Pro-Russian sources were bragging that the city had already fallen, and Chechen baddie Kadyrov’s forces put out their second video in which they pretended to be walking around in a peacefully captured Severodonetsk, surrounded by adoring fans. Then on Friday, Ukraine began a counterattack that seemed to quickly retake about 20% of the city. Even then, Russian media outlets insisted that Ukraine was simply wasting the effort. Ukraine was, it said, “sending in foreign mercenaries because it had no other troops to send,” and even those mercenaries were “suffering 90% losses” as Russia took what remained of the town.

Except by Saturday, Ukraine again controlled at least 50% of Severodonetsk. And at the end of the day on Sunday, that number appears to be more like 70%.

One Dead Roman or Two?

Yesterday, Ukrainian artillery killed the 10th (est.) Russian General in so far this year: Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov. He was reviewing front line troops when he was targeted by Ukrainian guns.

This is in Donetsk, where the Russian forces who were said to be encircling Ukrainian forces appear to have become. . . Encircled.

Reports are also circulating that Lieutenant General Roman Bednikov has also been killed in Donetsk in the last few days. Some are claiming confusion because both are named “Roman.” I have seen more reports about Kutuzov, but can also reconcile two dead Roman Generals.

Dovhen’ke Diary - A Day in the Life of Russian Infantry

As Russia and Ukraine remain in a bloody fight over Severodonetsk, a town with a pre-war population of around 100,000 and roughly zero strategic value, another far more important battle is being waged 80 kilometers (50 miles) directly to the west at Dovhen’ke, pre-war population 850.



Dovhen’ke is just south of Izyum, on the main M03 highway running southeast toward Slovyansk—a key strategic goal in Russia’s effort to conquer the entire Donbas region. As such, this otherwise insignificant hamlet, straddling an important road, has been the scene of near-relentless Russian assaults since early April, when Russia took control of Izyum.

One of the first Russian volunteers in the approach to Dovhen’ke wrote a diary about his experience ( translated part I and II), using the Russian name for the town, “Dolgen’koye.” This guy Viktor never actually made an assault on the town. His unit got lost during one attempt, and he said screw it and refused to participate in subsequent attacks. Instead, he chronicled the stories of other soldiers attempting to take the town as he dug ditches at HQ.

[T]hose who later came back from the assault were telling us - it was 7 kilometers of walking through the fields between Suligovka and Dolgen'koye. They left at 10AM and only by 4PM managed to reach 600 meters from the village. They were exhausted. All this time they marched under heavy mortar and artillery shelling. Dead and wounded started appearing. When we reported to our battalion commander Major Vasyura about dead and wounded, he cussed: 'leave them and keep advancing!!!'.

They said that reconnaissance squad commander who was moving together with our incomplete companies got wounded. He himself told his scouts to keep going forward and support the attack, and to pick him up later. He appointed another senior to them. After all, they picked him up. When they almost reached Dolgen'koye the mortar shelling became very intense. A Ukrainian tank started firing. This resulted in even more dead and wounded. The officers (who were alive and not wounded) did not know what to do. Then, one of the volunteers (he told me that in person; he was 40 years old and for 12 years prior he served on a contract, including in GRU; a combat veteran) said: 'Guys, we need to fall back, otherwise we will be smashed with mortars and those who stay alive will be finished off'. So they retreated. Everyone was exhausted. It was very difficult carrying the wounded. We came back at 11PM. One of the volunteers, Andrey from Kursk who came together with me said that many simply ran off while retreating. He yelled at them to help pull out the wounded, but they didn't help. He said he wanted to grab an assault rifle and start shooting in their backs... Thus, the grenade launcher platoon commander, Captain Nikolaev who was dragged for 4 hours, died from blood loss... I didn't know him personally, but everyone said he was a very good person... So that was an attack on Dolgen'koye on 20 April...

By all indications, this “attack” was nothing more than some bedraggled infantry marching for hours, no armor, not even the common courtesy of a truck to transport them to the front. They reached the outskirts of town exhausted and got smashed by Ukrainian artillery and mortar fire. Since that approach didn’t work … they decided to try it again, and again, and again.

Many had a feeling that we were just deliberately being destroyed. Looking ahead, I’ll say that based on the fact that different units tried to take Dolgen'koye, I think that our command simply had the task of taking Dolgen'koye and simply sent in everyone they could. It got to a point where in early May they started sending only 7 people to attack!! As I understood, other units went to assault Dolgen'koye one or two times before stopping.

The volunteer’s diary has multiple examples of ill-fated Russian advances on the town. There was the airborne VDV unit that got hit around the town and refused to advance, while soldiers wondered if they were meant to be sent to expend Ukrainian ammo, hoping they’d eventually run out (which was a very WWII Russian tactic). One day, they almost got lucky:

At the end of April they brought to us around 18 people who advanced as a large group of 120. They said that apart from them some other unit attacked Dolgen'koye from another direction. Perhaps that is why they reached Dolgen'koye without any mortar shelling. They had 300-400 meters to go when they came under crossfire from two machine guns... Even closer to them were positions of Ukrainian assault riflemen. They started combat. Our guys also had machine guns and RPGs. As I understood they killed at least 6 assault riflemen but had to retreat due to Ukrainian machine guns which they couldn't suppress. Most likely the machine guns were located in well-fortified positions. The guys said that if they had a little help, if the machine guns were suppressed with helicopters or tanks, then they would have entered Dolgen'koye...
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How Goofy Was This?

A marriage proposal at Disneyland Paris had no fairytale ending after an employee stormed the intimate moment and snatched the ring. 



The now-viral video, which surfaced on Reddit, shows a man getting down on a knee and displaying the ring as he pops the question in front of the Sleeping Beauty castle, Fox 29 reported.

But a staffer grabs the ring box from his hands and motions the couple off the platform to a spot below.

The shocked groom-to-be appears to tell the worker that “she said yes.”

“That’s great, but over here will be even better,” the park attendant replies.

Earlier, the boyfriend was given permission by another employee to pop the question on the platform, according to the Reddit user who posted the clip, Newsweek noted.

A relative of the employee told the French tabloid Le Parisien that the platform is off-limits because it is used for fireworks displays. The worker warned the couple beforehand, the relative said.

“We regret how this was handled,” a Disney spokesperson told Newsweek . “We have apologized to the couple involved and offered to make it right.”
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It's the D-Day Anniversary.  Back Then the US and USSR Were Allies.

When D-Day veterans set foot on the Normandy beaches and other World War II sites, they express a mix of joy and sadness. Joy at seeing the gratitude and friendliness of the French toward those who landed June 6, 1944. Sadness as they think of their fallen comrades and of another battle now being waged in Europe: the war in Ukraine.
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The United States and its allies will keep providing “significant” support to Ukraine out of respect for the legacy of D-Day soldiers, whose victory over the Nazis helped lead to a new world order and a “better peace,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.

In an interview with The Associated Press overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, Milley said Russia’s war on Ukraine undermines the rules established by Allied countries after the end of World War II. He spoke on the 78th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Allied troops onto the beaches of France, which led to the overthrow of Nazi Germany's occupation.

One fundamental rule of the“global rules-based order” is that “countries cannot attack other countries with their military forces in acts of aggression unless it’s an act of pure self-defense,” he stressed. “But that’s not what’s happened here in Ukraine. What’s happened here is an open, unambiguous act of aggression.”
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Just Sayin'

During the last month or two, I have heard of more people I know testing positive for COVID than at any other time during the pandemic.  They are mostly fairly mild cases, but I still worry about long COVID.

There seems to be a hell of a lot of COVID around.   

Often I am the only person in a store with a mask.  I can handle that.
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