[Babylon Bee] In a speech to inspire and encourage Americans facing record-high prices at the pump, Transportation Secretary Puttigieg encouraged people to ease some of that pain by simply getting a six-figure government job with free car service and unlimited parental leave.
"Look—for every American, the way out of this is simple," said Buttigieg. "All you have to do is run for president, drop out of the race, and then get appointed as Transportation Secretary! I never have to pay for my own gas! It worked for me, and I know it can work for you! Also, it helps if you're gay. Try to be gay as well. That usually works."
His comments were met with criticism by those who found them insensitive to people who aren't gay and don't have a high-paying government job and a free chauffeur.
Kamala Harris later clarified Buttigieg's comments, saying: "Gas prices very high. But all the people have low money. That make buy gas hard. So, basically, that's bad."
The Transportation Secretary assured Americans that he understands the pain that comes with high gas prices, and has promised to do something about it as soon as he's finished tearing down all the racist bridges.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/12/2022 11:33 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
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#1
How do you know Biden's lying? His lips are moving. Not Bee:
[New/Line] Andrei Kozyrev, Yeltsin’s first top diplomat, speaks about Putin’s ’disastrous’ war in Ukraine and why the revisionist history about NATO enlargement is all wrong
"I think what prompted Putin and his inner circle," Kozyrev tells me, "is that they see this is really a crucial moment, a tipping point for Europe and the world. Despite certain deviations in, say, Hungary and Turkey, there has been a general movement toward more democracy and openness. This terrifies Putin."
For Kozyrev, it is point-missing to talk about a "new" Cold War, because the old one, at least according to the siloviki (strongmen) in Moscow, never ended. "All of these guys, mostly from the KGB, never agreed that the Soviet Union lost the Cold War to the Russian people together with the democratic world outside. They don’t buy it. They want to stop it. And now they think this is their last decisive battle."
In his capacity as Russia’s top diplomat from 1990 to 1996, under Boris Yeltsin’s administration, Kozyrev watched as NATO began procedures to allow new member-states into its alliance, including former members of the defunct, Soviet-aligned Warsaw Pact. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Putin attempted to relitigate and revise this contentious period of history, going so far as to demand that the U.S.-led collective security architecture for Europe be rolled back to 1997 levels to avoid his pulling the trigger.
#2
It's all tied together. All the totalitarians here are effectively clients of Xi, and Putin is making his country more dependent on his ally Xi in the process of fighting the war.
They're even presenting all the stuff Daszak and Fauci and Co. helped the Chinese develop in Wuhan and saying it's stuff they found in Ukraine. (IMHO).
#3
Putin wouldn't have been able to pay for this war if the econazi left hadn't used the virus to steal the election and continue deindustrializing the United States.
[New/Lines] Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine is now entering its third week and the much-anticipated fall of Kyiv, estimated by various Western officials last month to be likely within the space of about 72 hours, has not yet occurred. Nor has Russia managed to sack any major population center. The one city it "holds," the provincial capital of Kherson, is restive: Ukrainians turn out daily to protest their armed occupiers, and now fresh reports are trickling in of mass arrests of civilians and anyone thought to have been associated with Ukrainian authorities.
One country in Europe has been bolder in making projections that this war will not end in Putin’s favor: Estonia, for which Russia has historically been the overriding national security and military preoccupation at all levels of government. On Feb. 28, Mikk Marran, the head of Välisluureamet, Estonia’s foreign intelligence service, told New Lines that he didn’t believe Putin could "keep up an intensive war for more than two months" and that ultimately "Russia will not win this war."
A senior Estonian analyst with years of experience tracking Russia’s military affairs concurs with that assessment but doesn’t even think it’ll take another two months to bear fruit — it already is doing so.
[RealClearDefense] On February 24, an emotional Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... announced the start of a "special military operation" to ’denazify’ Ukraine. After massing nearly 190,000 troops, Putin launched a short air campaign followed by a ground invasion to seize the capital, Kyiv. Many considered this Russian juggernaut invincible. One Russian media outlet even mistakenly posted its Russian victory op-ed just two days after the start of the campaign. Yet, questions about Russian performance have emerged as the Russian "operation" continues to struggle. If, as many pundits had assumed, Russian military superiority would lead to a quick Russian victory, why has the operation stalled?
While we certainly do not have a complete picture of Russian performance, we offer some initial considerations on the Russian military’s planning, integration of key enablers, maneuver, and tactical proficiency after one week to explain some key shortcomings.
Continued on Page 49
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] 1. Mariupol. Urban battles with the gradual advance of our forces deep into the city. The enemy stubbornly resists, taking advantage of the fact that our troops are trying to prevent the death of civilians, behind whom the Nazis are hiding. The ring is narrowing, calls for the deblockade of Mariupol are becoming more and more hysterical.
2. Volnovakha. Today the city was taken. Heavily destroyed. For the inhabitants there is a real humanitarian catastrophe. There are many trophies in the city, including a large number of tanks. The combing of quarters and catching those enemy groups that did not have time to retreat to Ugledar continues.
3. Ugledar - Great Novoselka. The RF Armed Forces from the southwest and the DPR army from the southeast are gradually approaching Vugledar. A threat has also been created to Velikaya Novoselka, occupying which it is possible to develop an offensive in the direction of Kurakhovo and Krasnoarmeysk. To the west, fighting continued in the Gulyai-Pole area.
4. Izyum. In the southern districts of the city and around it, there are serious battles. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to prevent the use of Izyum as a springboard for further advancement of the RF Armed Forces to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, as well as in the direction of the Donetsk-Pavlograd highway.
5. Kharkov. No big changes. At night, the building of the Kharkov Physical and Technical Institute was blown up in the city, which was listed as an integral part of the program to create a dirty nuclear bomb. Evidence is being cleared. To the east of Kharkov, the troops of the RF Armed Forces are gradually blocking Chuguev, the enemy was forced to blow up the bridge in the south-east of the city.
6. Kyiv. The battle continues both from the west and from the east of Kyiv. The movement of mechanized columns indicates the persistent attempts of the RF Armed Forces to completely block Kyiv. The enemy indicates a fairly stubborn resistance. Chernigov, as before, is blocked.
7. Severdonetsk - Lisichansk. Fighting in the agglomeration area, as well as on the outskirts of Rubizhne. The popasnaya has not been completely taken and there are still fights going on.
8. Nikolaev. The city, as before, is blocked from three sides, and the grouping of the RF Armed Forces is located south of Krivoy Rog and on the outskirts of Nikopol.
9. Odessa. No major changes. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is promoting the thesis about the imminent offensive of Russian troops from the PMR and is preparing the remaining bridges for the explosion.
10. Zaporozhye. The city is being prepared for defense, but the front is now between Vasilyevka and Kamenskoye without much movement. The RF Armed Forces have not yet made attempts to blockade Zaporozhye and are rather focused on advancing north to the Donetsk-Pavlograd highway.
In general, operations continue to develop despite negotiations and humanitarian corridors in some places. The most promising direction is the south. After the capture of Volnovakha, the DPR Armed Forces can increase pressure on Mariupol, as well as build up forces advancing on Vuhledar.
The RF Armed Forces in Zaporozhye have a number of offensive options, which also creates additional difficulties for the enemy. It is also worth noting that in the Donbass, the crisis of fuel and lubricants in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is becoming more and more acute. Its signs were clearly shown today in Volnovakha. Locals in Artemovsk report that the Armed Forces of Ukraine already have a decent amount of equipment there that has problems with refueling. In general, the crisis of the APU grouping in Donbass is growing.
CONCERNING THE TITLE CARD.
Foreign analysts have calculated how many troops Russia will need to control the liberated territory (west of the Dnieper River and north of Odessa) after completion special operation in Ukraine.
To do this, it will be necessary to complete at least four tasks:
1. Ensure the security of the new border, including land and sea (about 3,000 km, including Crimea) - 27,300 people.
2. Ensure the security of critical infrastructure in large cities - 25,900 people.
3. Ensure the safety of the main roads and railways - 20,300 people.
4. Ensure the security of the population, as well as the conduct of military-civilian and counterinsurgency operations - 94,900 people.
In general, the number of troops will be 168,400 people and the same number will be required for rotation, for a total of 336,800 people.
Volnovakha has fallen
[ColonelCassad] After stubborn fighting, the troops of the Donetsk People's Republic liberated Volnovakha from the Ukrainian Nazis. A number of settlements to the north of the city in the direction of Ugledar were also liberated. The information was confirmed this morning by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Volnovakha is memorable for those. that it was here that a large grouping was located for a long time, which was supposed to take Dokuchaevsk and advance south of Donetsk to the border of the Russian Federation. The first video from the liberated Volnovakha https://t.me/boris_rozhin/30747(in the photo, a hospital in the south of the city - almost 200 civilians were hiding in it, more than 40 of them were children - they were not allowed to be evacuated).
It is worth noting that the reports of the capture in Volnovakha do not cancel the problems associated with the possibility of the presence in the city area or in the city itself of the remaining enemy groups and single snipers who could not retreat in the direction of Ugledar. Plus mines and all.
Well, plus the humanitarian issue is extremely acute.
The capture of Volnovakha will free up additional forces for the development of offensive operations in the territories of the DPR occupied by the enemy.
In addition, the moment of complete taking control of the Mariupol-Donetsk highway is approaching. In Mariupol itself, the ring around the encircled enemy group is inexorably shrinking.
This is a comprehensive explication of Russia's war on Ukraine and the West, from the tactical to the grand strategic level.
Thanks to Facebook's Max Velocity for the link
[Cartographer] As of Saturday, 7 March 2022, it has been 12 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. After a yearlong period of building up its forces along Ukraine’s borders, Russia has commenced on a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Within the first 12 days of the war Russian forces have advanced rapidly, but neither military nor political victory is within sight. The war has followed a largely predictable course with few major surprises, yet nevertheless the Russian war effort is unusual for a number of reasons. I would like give a recap of the war thus far with analysis, and offer predictions of how the war will play out going forward.
BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT
This war is the culmination of nearly a decade of Russian-Ukrainian tensions that began following the 2014 Maidan Revolution. The revolution brought to power a pro-Western, anti-Russian government in Kiev. The revolution caused grave fears in Russia that Ukraine would join NATO, and become a base for American military forces and their activities aimed against Russia. Russia’s immediate response was to seize the Crimean Peninsula and sponsor a war in the Donbass region between the Ukrainian government and Russian separatists. The 2015 Minsk II Agreement attempted to end the conflict with reforms to the Ukrainian constitution, but these reforms did not materialize. Ukraine continued and deepened its security relationship with the United States and NATO, while Russia became increasingly impatient and fearful of American influence over its neighbor. The Kremlin eventually ran out of patience it seems. Believing a diplomatic solution to be less and less likely, it began a massing of military forces along the Ukrainian border in the spring of 2021. In the winter of 2021 saw a further massing of forces near Ukraine, along with Russia issuing an ultimatum to NATO. Many of the demands were non-starters, for example, Russia demanded NATO to withdrawal its forces back to where they were stationed in 1997.
January and February 2022 saw a continuing buildup of forces, including Russian military deployments to Belarus, to the north of Ukraine. By the middle of February, up to 200,000 Russian soldiers were assembled across the Ukrainian border. Following a weekend of a marked increase in fighting between Ukrainian and separatist forces in the Donbass, Russia announced the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on February 21st. Finally, in the early hours of the morning of February 24th Ukrainian border posts came under attack, followed by Russian missile strikes across Ukraine. Shortly afterwards Russian forces poured forth into Ukraine. Much more at the link.
#2
BL[not]UF my "plan A and plan B" hypothesis: The Russian forces in the first wave were expected to achieve one of two things. Either
-accept the surrender of Ukrainian forces and occupy territory unopposed, or
- if meeting Ukrainian resistance, they would serve to probe Ukrainian forces to see where their weak and strong points are.
^ nb. this analysis comports with what objective, Realist observers noticed from Day One of the invasion
Posted by: No Fortunate Son ||
03/12/2022 12:21 Comments ||
Top||
[ET] The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaged in a whole-of-society effort to undermine the rules-based international order and to promote its own brand of authoritarianism, according to U.S. military and political leaders.
"The People’s Republic of China is the most consequential strategic competitor that the United States has faced," said Admiral John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
"They are executing a dedicated campaign that utilizes all forms of national power in an attempt to uproot the rules-based international order to the benefit of themselves and at the expense of all others."
Aquilino delivered the testimony to the House Armed Services Committee during a March 9 hearing on national security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Committee Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) affirmed Aquilino’s sentiments and said that the CCP was the greatest threat to the United States’ continued global leadership.
[Yahoo/Finance] Economists and industry experts widely believe supply chain disruptions will continue to affect the U.S. economy as Russia's invasion against Ukraine sent oil prices surging and suggested an unpredictable course for markets in the short term.
"To run everything on the supply chain — unfortunately, so much of it relies on oil," Kona Haque, ED&F Man head of research, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "It's the reason why every time you see oil prices go up by 50%, a U.S. recession typically follows. It's that impactful. It's that entrenched in the economy. And obviously the U.S. clearly is very, very energy dependent ... It will have a reverberating impact across the supply chain."
Gas prices skyrocketed over the past month as Western sanctions against Russia bite: The U.S. national average, as of March 11, is $4.33 a gallon. California became the first state to see average gas price tick up to more than $5/gallon with states like Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon not far behind, according to the latest data from AAA.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Babylon Bee] In a speech to inspire and encourage Americans facing record-high prices at the pump, Transportation Secretary Puttigieg encouraged people to ease some of that pain by simply getting a six-figure government job with free car service and unlimited parental leave.
[New/Line] Andrei Kozyrev, Yeltsin’s first top diplomat, speaks about Putin’s ’disastrous’ war in Ukraine and why the revisionist history about NATO enlargement is all wrong
[New/Lines] Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine is now entering its third week and the much-anticipated fall of Kyiv, estimated by various Western officials last month to be likely within the space of about 72 hours, has not yet occurred. Nor has Russia managed to sack any major population center. The one city it "holds," the provincial capital of Kherson, is restive: Ukrainians turn out daily to protest their armed occupiers, and now fresh reports are trickling in of mass arrests of civilians and anyone thought to have been associated with Ukrainian authorities.
[Yahoo/Finance] Economists and industry experts widely believe supply chain disruptions will continue to affect the U.S. economy as Russia's invasion against Ukraine sent oil prices surging and suggested an unpredictable course for markets in the short term.
