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Post by mhbruin on Jun 8, 2023 8:44:14 GMT -8
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 8, 2023 8:47:53 GMT -8
Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink
.Prior to the war (the original start date, 2014), the North Crimean Canal provided 85% of Crimea’s water. After Russia’s invasion of the peninsula, Ukraine dammed the canal, forcing Russia to truck water in over the Kerch bridge, attempt expensive desalination, and unsuccessfully try to drill for groundwater. Russia even sued Ukraine at the European Court of Human Rights, where the effort went nowhere (there wasn’t any international conflict since the vast majority of countries still recognized Crimea as Ukraine).
During the early days of the February 2022 invasion, Russia prioritized restoring that water supply. Doing so is among Russia’s very short list of successes.
The problem is, the North Crimean Canal uses gravity to move the water from the canal’s mouth at Tavriisk to Dzhankoi around 200 kilometers away, where pumps there help keep things moving.
The need for gravity means that the canal’s water intake isn’t being pumped from the bottom of the reservoir, but skimmed off the top. The disappearance of the Kakhovka reservoir is the end of the canal.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 8, 2023 8:50:12 GMT -8
Harlan Crow and Coal Joe
Billionaire Texas real-estate mogul Harlan Crow has reluctantly emerged into the national spotlight after ProPublica revealed the largess he has bestowed on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Crow’s lawyers have rejected a request from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin to provide a list of Crow’s gifts to Thomas. ProPublica, however, revealed that these extravagant gifts included private jet trips, megayacht excursions, lavish vacations, a $19,000 Bible that once belonged to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and several properties for Thomas, including the house where the justice’s mother still lives.
Crow and his wife, Kathy, have for decades been GOP megadonors, contributing millions of dollars to Republican candidates and campaign committees over the past three decades, according to OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan, independent group that tracks money in politics. But Federal Election Commission records reveal that the Crows have also donated several hundred thousand dollars to a select group of congressional Democrats during this same period, OpenSecrets reported.
These Democrats are known for blocking their party’s more progressive initiatives, including President Joe Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better economic agenda in 2021-2022. They include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who last December switched her affiliation to independent, as well as a group of moderate to conservative House Democrats, including Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
Crow is also a megadonor to No Labels, the supposedly nonpartisan centrist group that wants to launch a third-party unity presidential campaign in 2024 with one Republican and one Democrat on the ticket. Democrats fear that these efforts will siphon enough votes to help Donald Trump or another Republican candidate defeat Biden in a close election.
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