It’s Easter and, despite the white snowy cover in my yard, there is hope for Spring.
It is a time of renewal. So pick up a phone and call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Ignore the haters who are intent on banning people they don’t understand.
Stand up for those who are ejected from their rightful places, in effect overriding the will of the people for their own selfish reasons.
Remember what America was meant to be.
Happy Easter!
29 comments:
Or maybe they are fake...the leaked documents, that is.
Sounds like Ukraine has a missile that can hit the eastern shore of Crimea. Word is that it came from the Odessa area.
"Or maybe they are fake...the leaked documents, that is."
What I've been reading is that the casualty numbers (Ukraine vs Russia) have been modified in Russia's favor, but otherwise they seem to be real American secret documents, not fakes. (And that is very bad news.)
"Ukraine has a missile that can hit the eastern shore of
Crimea."
I think they've deployed something along those lines before, into both Crimea and Russia. And they seem to be still working on the guidance system--it's been going down near but not at the probable target. (And the Ukrainians ain't been braggin' on it yet although they've fired it off three/four times now.)
they seem to be real American secret documents, not fakes. (And that is very bad news.)
Yes, they do. You would think they would have learned after Snowden. As I said, stupid.
But on thinking about it it would have been a beautiful con. Make the Russians start second guessing everyone in all of their agencies and they will start chasing themselves when all along we were gathering info from communications. After all we all know how leaky they are.
Just throw in a few real things that people already know, that we all spy on each other for instance. The real Russian casualty figures as near as we can figure.
And a little disinformation.
The Mossad is behind the demonstrations in Israel, which is kind ridiculous. But hey it sounds good.
Etc.
But we are just not sneaky enough.
I do hope they can find the leaker and lead him/her away in handcuffs. And fix the leak! It's getting embarrassing.
Sounds like there is just a lot of disinformation floating around out there around Ukraine even without leaked documents. Prigozhin is out there claiming the Ukrainians are massing 200K - 400K soldiers for the counter offensive. Probably looking for more equipment.
Ukraine is saying forget about leaks and give us more weapons. Personally I think we can do both. That is, investigate where those documents came from and supply Ukraine with weapons.
"That is, investigate where those documents came from
and supply Ukraine with weapons."
It is easy to see where, and why, the Ukrainians would fear that Americans' investigating them as a source of the leak could delay or otherwise interfere with weapons deliveries. Doesn't make it any less necessary to investigate whether the leak is Ukrainian, but given the scope of the paperwork leaked, I think we gotta center our thinking closer to home. The traitor is almost certainly one of our own people. (Almost ain't fer sure, but in this case, gotta be damn near.)
The traitor is almost certainly one of our own people.
I tend to agree. And judging by the scope of the leak it was done to damage the US or the Biden administration. This leak wasn't just about Ukraine.
I am still one of those who believe that Snowden should be tried, if he ever steps foot into the US again. But as far as I am concerned the Russians can keep him.
I think Snowden missed his best chance to get past that problem. There's a fairly good chance Trump would have pardoned him, but he was a fugitive during Trump's term rather than a convict.
Looks like the feds are closing in quickly on the source of the recent leak of secret documents. WaPo
He is an American, gun 'enthusiast', survivalist type. (Opening descriptions suggest he's probably a political right-winger, but that's not been confirmed by actual evidence of his political thinking.)
Looks like the feds are closing in quickly on the source of the recent leak of secret documents.
I'd say they have closed. The suspect is a 21 year old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman. If he is the one, my first question is how he got access to the documents? I wouldn't think he has National Security clearance. So does this mean someone else was sloppy enough to allow the docs to fall into his hands?
Really, really poor security on our part.
Huh, according to a friend, who was part of this online gaming group, this guy worked at a secure area of a military base where the documents were. Well, obviously, not secure enough. But he had been posting these things for months, originally hand transcribed and then when that became too tedious he took the photos. This gaming group included Russians, Ukrainians and other eastern European people.
Doesn't bode well if all of the younger generation are that stupid.
"Well, obviously, not secure enough."
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
[Who will watch the watchmen?]
Juvenal
"Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary
group, suggested in an online post that Moscow declare it had
met the goals of its “special military operation” and put an
end to the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin said that Russia had
succeeded in killing a large number of military-aged Ukrainian
men — and prompted others to flee the country.
***
"Having seized a “fat chunk” of Ukrainian territory, the
strategic option for Russia would be to lock down and defend
those gains, Prigozhin wrote in the lengthy post published
Friday. He also wrote that the Pentagon leaks may have been
coordinated to delay the start of Ukraine’s long-promised
counteroffensive."
WaPo
I have heard that Wagner has lost a lot of men and convicts. Maybe he has finally noticed that the bleeding isn't good for their long term health.
The Ukrainians have started mining buildings in Bakhmut, withdrawing and when the Russians take over that structure blowing them up with the Russians inside.
Russian shelling seems to be persistent if variable. Although the overall volume of fire has significantly decreased across Ukraine, they're continuing to pour it on in a few select target zones (Bakhmut being the most famous) Most places it hasn't seemed to help, Bakhmut being an exception.
It sounds like Ukraine has taken quite a few Russians captive yesterday in the fighting near Bakhmut. While the Russians gain a little territory they lose a lot of resources doing it.
April 16th and we have a snowstorm here. I was hoping I had seen the last of that white fluffy stuff for this winter. We had a few days of summer last week with highs close to 90F and now we are seeing 30Fs with snow. Almost a 60 degree difference in temps withing a few days.
I refuse to shovel anything.
"…they lose a lot of resources doing it."
The Ukrainians have let it be known that is why they're making the Russians fight for every block and then every building on every block. And it's not just human resources the Russians are spending. As I mentioned above--the Russians are curtailing shelling elsewhere so they can spend that ammo in Bakhmut.
The Russians are now claiming that they have developed the technology to equip old Soviet "dumb" bombs with modern guidance systems (the equivalent of the American JDAMS ammunition systems). link This is almost certainly BS of the first order. (They may wish they had this technology, but there's damn little likelihood they can actually produce it in combat any time in the foreseeable future.)
We got Prigozhin publicly, publicly writing that Russia ought to (in effect) declare victory and dig in right where they are and try to hold the ground they've already taken. And now we also got the Russian military PR system claiming to have war-making capabilities that they almost certainly neither have nor will have any time soon.
I'm beginning to wonder if they're gettin' desperate? Or….
Perhaps I'm just being overly optimistic. (Although, that's not generally considered one of my known character traits.)
I was listening to General Mark Hertling the other day. He was asked to assess the progress of the war. I rather like his calm, analytical style of speaking. He wasn't sure that the Ukrainians would regain a huge amount of territory this year, but perhaps in the next year. But he said that might not hold true if the Russian military collapsed. I found it interesting that he could consider that possibility.
"…if the Russian military collapsed."
I'm not sure of his definition for "collapsed". I had been thinking they might balk, refuse to fight. There's already been some of that goin' 'round. But, the Russians have resurrected a practice used by both the Germans and the Soviets during WWII. They've been using "barrier" troops to prevent the front line combat troops from retreating (or to shoot them from behind if they refuse to advance when ordered)
'm not sure of his definition for "collapsed".
Not really sure either. It could mean various things. Perhaps he was being deliberately ambiguous.
I have read that the Russians seem to be going backwards on equipment. That is, they are digging up old things to throw into the battle field.
David Ignatius, writing in the WashingtonPost tells us that in addition to the depletion of both soldiers and ammunition the battle of attrition in Bakhmut is having another deleterious effect on Russia. It is wearing away patience for Putin's Ukrainian obsession among the Russian 'elites'.
But Putin apparently remains especially obsessed with capturing Bakhmut in particular (which is why Prigozhin remains committed to the idea of eventually overrunning the Ukrainian resistance there). And those impatient 'elites' have no agreed upon alternative to Putin's rule, nor any system for coming to an agreement. So, their impatience is probably not particularly relevant nor threatening to Putin.
________________________________
"I have read that the Russians seem to be going backwards on
equipment."
They're having that same problem with their personnel. Their top of the line troops have been widely decimated, whole brigades of airborne and spetsnaz and the like wiped out, many of the remainder now judged "combat ineffective" from their massive manpower losses. They're filling back in with convicts and conscripts with little training and who have to be backed up with 'barrier' troops to keep them at the front.
The question yet to be answered is whether the Ukrainians have enough left in reserve to mount an effective offensive of their own. Guess we'll find out soon 'nuff.
But Putin apparently remains especially obsessed with capturing Bakhmut in particular...
"Pride goeth before a fall." His obsession may be his undoing. Bakhmut is just the tip of the iceberg for Putin.
The question yet to be answered is whether the Ukrainians have enough left in reserve to mount an effective offensive of their own.
The million dollar question.
It seems that the Russians are bombing themselves:
From CNN's Website...
Russian plane drops munitions over Russian border city, causing large explosion, state media says
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Josh Pennington
A Russian fighter jet was forced to make "an emergency drop of aviation munition" over a Russian city Thursday, causing a large explosion in a central neighborhood, according to a state news agency and local officials.
A Russian Air Force Su-34 jet was flying over the border city of Belgorod, just north of Ukraine, when it was forced to drop the explosives for reasons that are still under investigation, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, which cited the Russian defense ministry.
Officials have not immediately reported any casualties, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram post.
The explosion rocked an intersection in the city's center and left a "huge impact crater" that was 20 meters (about 65 feet) wide, Gladkov said.
"Windows in a nearby apartment building were damaged, as well as several parked cars. Electricity poles were downed," he added.
An overturned car landed on the roof of a store near a residential high-rise building, according to RIA Novosti. Emergency teams are at the scene, the outlet said.
Belgorod is located about 40 kilometers (roughly 25 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
Ammunition, elite troops, now competent pilots… Russian war shortages abound.
(I s'pect that pilot had an ugly time of it at some point during his debriefing. Might have been a good idea for him to choose to defect instead of returning to base.)
________________________________
I noticed that Mike Lindell got tagged recently for promoting 2020 election lies. Not as hard as FoxNews, but then he's also not as rich as Rupert Murdock.
________________________________
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was able to give a video address to the Mexican lower "House" (named as the "Chamber of Deputies") yesterday. He received a standing ovation at the end. This is remarkable mostly because Mexico's President Obrador has been conspicuously disinterested in crossing Russia on the subject of Russia's attack on Ukraine and refused to attend the address by Zelenskyy. (NYT)
There is some word going around that the bomb dropped "accidentally" in Belgorod was modified to glide, but well, didn't. I don't now how far away those kind of bombs can be dropped.
I noticed that Mike Lindell got tagged recently for promoting 2020 election lies.
The recent case Lindell lost was pertaining to a $5 million bet he made that the data he was providing was not pertaining to the previous year's election showing that China interfered in the election.
Robert Zeidman claimed he had proven that the data wasn't anything to do with election fraud and that Lindell Management wouldn't pay up, so it went to arbitration. Zeidman was actually a Trump voter, both elections, but as a computer forensics expert was interested in Lindell's bet. Not to mention he wanted the money.
When Lindell wouldn't pay up he cried foul. Zeidman won the bet, and Lindell lost.
I don't think Dominion's case against Lindell has went to trial yet.
I hear that Dominion is calling for Fox to issue a complete retraction of its lies about them in addition to the monetary award.
Different Russian versions of the glide bombs have different ranges--anywhere from 30 to 60 miles.
________________________________
"Dominion is calling for Fox to issue a complete retraction…"
Unless they got that in writing in the settlement documents it ain't gonna happen. (And maybe won't happen even if they did get it writing.) I think Fox settled mostly to prevent their star attractions, Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham, and the rest, from getting called to the witness stand to admit under oath that they were intentionally bullshitting their own audiences. They're not looking to issue a statement to that effect if they don't gotta.
Post a Comment