[USASUPREME] Video sent from a witness who appears to be sitting in a nearby truck shows two men, who appear to be exchanging gunfire. One is inside a vehicle, and the other is outside the vehicle, running towards it. Multiple shots can be heard in the video.
A dump truck driver was shot as two drivers were engaged in a road rage incident on Duraleigh Road on Wednesday, police said.
Around 11 a.m., police said a dump truck ran a red light which led the driver of a dark-colored VW Passat to follow the truck.
At some point during the confrontation, the dump truck driver pulled out a gun and fired at the VW, police said.
The driver of the VW then shot back at the dump truck — striking the truck driver in the leg, police said.
A witness video showed the shootout at a construction site between the two gunnies.
One man is seen in the video getting into his car with the driver’s door ajar after walking away from a parked dump truck. Seconds later, as the man sits in his car, the driver’s window visibly cracks as shots are heard. A man appearing to step out of the dump truck is seen pointing a firearm and shooting at the car and driver. As the driver sitting in the Passat also draws a firearm, the two men exchange gunfire. Stokes falls over on the ground in the shootout.
The shooting occurred near the 4800 block of Duraleigh Road — which is just north of the intersection with Ebenezer Church Road.
The incident is under investigation.
Sylvester Stokes, 52, of Lucama was arrested and charged in the shooting, Raleigh police confirmed.
He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The victim had a legal weapon while the attacker had an illegal gun, the moral story of this incident is that you should never draw your weapon unless you are intending to use it!
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
$hit happens!
What good are the Gun Control Laws, if convicted Felons don't read and follow them? ☺
NYC Police Union President outraged with two year sentencing instead of life for lawyers who torched an NYPD van by at 2020 Black Lives Matter riots
Colinford Mattis, 35, a corporate attorney and Urooj Rahman, 33, a human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... lawyer, agree to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit arson
Under the deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend an 18- to 24-month sentence, but a judge could still impose the maximum sentence of five years
Patrick J. Lynch, president of New York City's Police Benevolent Association, appalled said 'the judge must reject this request'
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
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#1
Just Saying
Usually when such drastically reduced plea deals are accepted it because the person(s) are ratting out their fellow cohorts in crime and mayhem in exchange for wrist slaps.
I sure would hate to be in the lawyers shoes when the American Fascist Klan and BLoM Rioters figures this out and starts visiting their offices and homes.
#2
And they bitch about white juries in the south (pre-WWII to the 1970s) dealing with the acts of real white supremacists. Why don't sharks eat lawyers - professional courtesy.
*remember the DC miscreant who lied on the FISA application. The DC bar reinstated him.
#3
Equal Justice Under the Law, trifecta exemptions clauses, Melanin Exemption, Muslim immigrant Exemption, and of course, Marxist, feminist LAWYER exemption. So of course, nothing to see here rubes.
[NYPOST] A recently paroled high-risk sex offender was arrested Thursday in connection to the brutal, knifepoint rape of a woman in a Bronx elevator this week, cops said Thursday.
Level 3 offender Ramon Rotestan — who had been let out just six weeks ago after 16 years in jail — turned himself in around 8:30 p.m. at the 49th Precinct, police said.
The horrifying encounter happened around 10 p.m. Monday, when Rotestan followed the woman into the building at Bolton Street and Lydig Avenue in Pelham Parkway, authorities said.
The attacker trailed behind the victim as she entered the elevator, where he appeared to talk to her while displaying a knife, cops said.
Surveillance video taken from inside the elevator allegedly shows Rotestan interacting with his victim — before pulling out what appears to be a condom.
He then raped her and snatched $112 from her, police said.
She was taken to Jacobi Medical Center for treatment, cops said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
As seen elsewhere.
What if he claims to be Transgender Female and demands that he be placed in the Women's section?
Followed up with ...
How about Old School genitalia removal?
[FOX32 Chicago] CHICAGO - Wild videos posted to social media appear to show mobs of teens and young adults overtaking Chicago streets Wednesday night.
The videos showed large groups of teens running through the streets and even jumping on cars. It was happening in the northern part of the city's downtown area. At one point, a video of the chaos was taken just blocks from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's mansion, prompting police to stage snow plows to protect the area, according to CWB Chicago.
Chicago police said they responded to a crowd of "youths" which were dispersed from a popular beach. They said no arrests were made and no injures were reported.
#2
Make a team of 20-30 Army shooters (okay, make them Agents), .300 Blackout, suppressed.
Target the instigators.
Results: Instant un-mob. Rinse, repeat.
Make sure ANTIFA and BLM are the first to experience this.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/13/2022 9:11 Comments ||
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#3
I really like your solutions focused approach Mike.
#4
I was in DC and Baltimore during the riot years. The youth were far more aggressive when they saw the adults act up. To them it was their play time.
Yes, I live in San Diego County. Yes, I am ashamed to admit it. It didn't used to be like this. Watch out for this guy Nathan Fletcher. He's bucking to be the next Gavin Newsom. Last time I got to vote for a county supervisor it was for Jim Desmond who voted against this nonsense. We're not all crazy.
[Breitbart] The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has adopted a new definition of "woman" that would reportedly allow male-to-female transgender residents to demand inclusion as women in jails, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters.
The ordinance, passed by a 3-2 vote on April 26, and ratified on May 10 by the same margin, adopts the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty adopted in 1979.
The treaty was signed by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but it was never brought to the Senate for ratification.
But the ordinance goes further, expanding the definition of "woman" to include those who simply identify as women:
F. "Women and girls" shall mean those who identify as women and girls, including transgender women and gender non-conforming, and those assigned female at birth who include non-binary, transgender men and intersex communities.
G. "Gender" shall mean the characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys that are socially constructed. As a social construct, gender can vary among cultures and can change over time.
H. "Gender equity" shall mean the redress of discriminatory practices and ensuring equitable conditions that enable women and girls to achieve full, substantive equality with men, recognizing that needs of women and men may differ, resulting in fair and equitable outcomes for all. This includes the redress of discriminatory practices and ensuring equitable conditions for persons identifying as transgender, nonbinary, and/or gender non-conforming to achieve full equality and equity.
I. "Intersectional" shall mean the interconnected nature of social categorizations and individual characteristics that overlap as interdependent and compounded systems of discrimination. These categorizations and characteristics include, but are not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, education, language, and disability.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
What transphobes! Dont they recognize "transmen"?!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 8:18 Comments ||
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#3
San Diego used to be a great town for USN and USMC liberty weekends. (In the old days liberty meant passes to gt off base) Not sure about midnight trolling runs now-a-days for clubs with Ladies Night specials!
[USABIDRUGBY] Today, the World Rugby Council unanimously voted to officially select the United States as the host nation of the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Today, the World Rugby Council unanimously voted to officially select the United States as the host nation of the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
This moment marks a pivotal turning point for the sport of rugby in the United States and around the world. This will be the first time a Men’s Rugby World Cup has been held in North or South America, as a new hosting concept is put in place as the U.S. stages consecutive Men’s and Women’s events within the same organizational structure. The unparalleled growth made possible by bringing the world’s third-largest sports event and the fastest growing women’s event to the world’s largest sports market cannot be overstated.
Continued on Page 49
#4
Help me understand, just what is the difference between American football, soccer basketball, baseball and rugby among other 'sportsball' games, both women, men and trans?
As far as I can tell, they all involve people chasing after a oval or round ball, and there's a lot of running and crashing into each others involved.
Aside from minor changes in their respectful rules, what's the differences?
[YouTube] Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and top adviser to Zelensky, has claimed that General Valery Gerasimov - chief of staff of the Russian armed forces - has been suspended.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and top adviser to Zelensky, has claimed that General Valery Gerasimov - chief of staff of the Russian armed forces - has been suspended
He also claimed that Lieutenant General Sergei Kisel has been fired and arrested after retreat from Kharkiv
Two more Russian army generals and two naval commanders have either been sacked, arrested or investigated over battlefield losses, according to information from Ukraine's interior ministry
If confirmed, it would mark the largest purge of military upper ranks since Putin invaded Ukraine in February
#1
I hope someone is exploiting these very obvious contacts for PSYOPS (psychological operations) and intelligence agent recruitment venues. Select one of the following options from your keypad:
1. Emergency medical field triage and treatment
2. Chiêu Hồi (surrender) program contact info
3. Ukie-RU Wounded Warrior Program
4. University of Phoenix info
5. ROADWAY driver positions available
6. US Immigration pathway to citizenship contact info
7. Ukie intelligence recruitment venues
8. Ukie transition assistance
9. Safe Houses in your area
10. The inherent dangers of T-72 auto-loaders
#5
ANOTHER FAKE STORY:
The Russian troops in Ukraine are forbidden to carry cell phones
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree banning members of the armed forces from carrying smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets capable of recording and storing information while on duty.
A decree, was signed on May 6, mandating, military personnel may not possess cell phones or gadgets that can track locations and transmit audio and photo materials.
Only radio walkie-talkies are to be used by troops
“The violation of the regulation will be considered a gross disciplinary offense,” the document says.
Posted by: Aca Joe ||
05/13/2022 12:27 Comments ||
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#6
A decree, was signed on May 6,
1) When were the troops informed? How long thereafter until the decree was enforced?
2) We know, obviously, when the tweet was posted, but when was the data collected?
#14
Considering the thousands of intercepted conversations, video evidence of Russians using cell phones in Ukraine, generals tracked and targeted using said cell phones in Ukraine and phones found on dead Russian soldiers....
Yeah, fake news and Russians don't bring their phones.
#15
Oh,three months into the invasion someone makes a useless decree. I'm sure the troops -- who have no issued radios -- dropped their phones immediately when they got word.
Maybe basing your communications around the invaded country's infrastructure is, itself, the dumbest idea since the Germans built tanks that needed their turret pulled to work on the transmissions?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 15:45 Comments ||
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#16
Bes -- nah. Just play them the intro spiel from a sex line and have the phone dial whoever is in their contacts as "mom".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 15:46 Comments ||
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#17
Before I retired the plant had a Firm "No phones, no cameras outside breakroom -- OR ELSE!" It was also ignored by most everybody and one of the best excuses IO heard was "I need the calculator on my cellphone!"
#18
Look at the map closely and notice that the "line of contact" is mostly "1's". Look at the 'ant trail' west of Mariupol and see how it looks like one cellphone per truck going down a road.... So that's why I said it looks more like rear echelon types and logistics hubs -- maybe the guys at the front are more interested in staying alive than texting or sharing kitty videos.
[NY Post] Dramatic new videos show a column of Russian tanks being picked out and blown up — while another explodes in a massive ball of flames, with debris blown sky-high in front of watching motorists.
Ukraine’s 54th Mechanized Brigade, based in the Donbas region, shared footage Tuesday of a platoon getting destroyed — setting the clip to upbeat, patriotic music.
The clip shows the line of tanks driven by invading troops — whom the unit termed "tourists" — driven along an unidentified road as smoke from repeated airstrikes fills the sky.
Several of the military vehicles then suffer direct hits, bursting into balls of flame — including one where debris exploded high into the sky. How long can it be before the Turret Toss becomes an Olympic event?
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
The way the tanks are exploding one wonders if Moscow is using retired Ford Pinto engineers for design work.
[South China Morning Post] Images of wrecked and abandoned vehicles — casualties in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — are calling into question the quality and reliability of Russian-made military hardware.
A recent report by the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute found that the conflict has damaged the reputation of Russia’s defence equipment in Southeast Asia, once a source of considerable revenue for the country. "Buy our crap with Rubles!"
Russia has been the largest exporter of arms to Southeast Asia over the past two decades, but since 2014, the value of its defence sales to the region has plummeted.
The Ukraine war will make it difficult for its defence industry to revive sales, and is likely to lead to further declines in arms exports to Southeast Asia according to the report’s author, Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Reasons for the poor performance are manifold, and not all are related to production quality.
Storey pointed to "endemic corruption within the armed forces, resulting in modernisation funds being misappropriated."
Russian equipment has always had a reputation for being fairly cheap but pretty reliable. But now, Abuza said, that is "proving to be less true" as Moscow’s advanced anti-armour missiles and well-armed drones are matched against Ukraine’s "highly motivated and very capable force."
Economic sanctions imposed by the US, European and Asian countries will make it more difficult for Russian defence companies to conduct financial transactions, including receiving payments from foreign customers.
Equally vital export controls imposed on Russia will restrict its defence industrial sector’s access to advanced technologies critical to the manufacture of modern military hardware, and which Moscow itself does not produce and cannot easily purchase from other countries.
These include semiconductors, microelectronics, machine tools and software.
This will not only affect the production of military equipment for use by Russia’s armed forces and overseas buyers, but also the provision of spare parts, munitions and upgrade packages to existing customers.
"As a consequence, foreign buyers may decide to switch to more reliable sources of military hardware," Storey said.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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#3
"Before I sign this contract, show me again how the autoloader works...Aww man, sorry about your arm."
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 9:21 Comments ||
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#4
I don't know... they've been fairly effective at shooting down passenger planes over the years.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
05/13/2022 10:01 Comments ||
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#5
I suppose it depends on whether you are planning on fighting a near-peer war or just need some hardware to oppress the citizenry or slow down the local hardboys.
One virtue of Russian hardware is that, unlike high tech Western kit, it is designed to be maintained in the field by illiterate peasants with no Pep Boys around for a thousand kilometers.
[The Guardian] When the soldiers of an elite Russian army brigade were told in early April to prepare for a second deployment to Ukraine, fear broke out among the ranks.
The unit, stationed in Russia’s far east during peacetime, first entered Ukraine from Belarus when the war started at the end of February and saw bitter combat with Ukrainian forces.
"It soon became clear that not everyone was onboard with it. Many of us simply did not want to go back," said Dmitri, a member of the unit who asked not to be identified with his real name. "I want to return to my family — and not in a casket."
Along with eight others, Dmitri told his commanders that he refused to rejoin the invasion. "They were furious. But they eventually calmed down because there wasn’t much they could do," he said.
While the exact number of soldiers refusing to fight remains unclear, such stories illustrate what military experts and western governments say is one of Russia’s biggest obstacles in Ukraine: a severe shortage of infantry soldiers.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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#1
Curious how western press understands so much about Russian day to day problems. Extensive and detailed and so authoritarian. I suppose it is a diversion to viewing the rot in their backyard.
#8
P2K -- Normally I wouldn't use the Guardian to line a birdcage, but since there has been a lot of focus, for want of a better term, on Skid's posting of Daily Mail articles, today I undertook to post articles from a variety of different sources in different parts of the world. It was an interesting exercise. As always, salt to taste.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
#9
I understand wanting differing views (though the trolls have a hard time with the concept). It should offer the 'staff' a view of interesting IP addresses.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] 23:50 Arestovich reported the 19th strike on Chernobaevka.
23:39 After the strengthening of support for Ukraine by the West, it is likely that Russia may lose the war, but the Western media is still hard to believe that Putin will accept a humiliating defeat. For more details, see Humiliation or Nuclear War .
23:30 The White House responded to Russia's reaction to the possibility of Sweden and Finland joining NATO: the alliance is defensive in nature and does not threaten the Russian Federation.
23:28 Kuleba warned that assisting Russia in selling or buying from it grain stolen in Ukraine means complicity in a crime.
23:26 Zelensky: “The Russian strategic defeat is already obvious to everyone in the world. It’s just that Russia doesn’t have the courage to admit it yet. They are cowards. And they are trying to hide the truth behind missile, air and artillery strikes. Therefore, our task is to fight until we reach our goals in this war. To liberate our land, our people and reliably ensure our security."
23:05 The head of the Lugansk OVA, Serhiy Gaidai, said that on May 12, the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again destroyed the pontoon crossings of Russians across the Seversky Donets, liquidated the personnel and equipment of the enemy. In just a day, in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, the Ukrainian military repulsed 18 enemy attacks, destroyed 55 pieces of equipment, and shot down a helicopter and drones.
23:03 As a result of today's shelling of Dergachi, Kharkiv region, two people were killed, four were injured (including two doctors), the mayor of the city Vyacheslav Zadorenko said. According to him, the humanitarian headquarters, the premises of the registry office were seriously damaged, the food unit of the Dergachev hospital was destroyed, part of the clinic, along with the X-ray room, the building of the ambulance department was damaged.
The mayor also said that today under Russian occupation in the Dergachev community are Tokarovsky, Prokhodovsky, Kazachelopansky Starostinsky districts (in full), Tsupovka of the Prudyansky district and the village of Novoye of the Russko-Lozovsky district.
22:46 Podolyak on Moscow's new statements: "Classic hypocritical Russia. Yesterday the Kremlin was against Ukraine in NATO, but not in the EU, and now it is categorically against the EU. This once again proves that any words of Moscow are not worth not only paper, but also time to talk. The good news is that the world no longer cares about the opinions of barbarians and marauders."
22:38 The synod of the UOC-MP said that Poroshenko's activity in obtaining Tomos and creating a single Ukrainian local church was one of the reasons for Russia's invasion.
22:23 As a result of the invaders' air strike on Novgorod-Seversky, Chernihiv region, three people were killed, 19 were injured, Andriy Podorvan, adviser to the chairman of the Chernigov Regional Military District, said.
22:10 Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Serhiy Kyslitsa called on the Security Council and UN Secretary General António Guterres to make every effort to ensure the evacuation of the wounded from Azovstal.
22:07 Lithuania recalls its ambassador from Russia. Eitvydas Bayarunas will complete his mission in Moscow on June 1st. Also on June 7, the Lithuanian Consulate General in St. Petersburg will be liquidated.
22:03 Member of the US House of Representatives from Democrats Sarah Jacobs and the first Ukrainian in the US Congress, a native of Chernihiv region, Republican representative Victoria Spartz presented a joint bill to investigate Russian war crimes.
The document will allow the United States to provide the International Criminal Court with the necessary resources and funding to investigate Russian atrocities in Ukraine. "This means that the world is no longer just frightening with The Hague, but is preparing a tribunal for Russians for war crimes on the territory of Ukraine," Arakhamia said.
21:58 The Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office reports that this morning Russian troops launched a missile attack on the territory of the Kharkiv airport.
21:56 Satellites have recorded an increase in the size of mass graves in the villages around Mariupol, Schemes report, citing satellite images from Planet Labs. If we compare satellite images of the cemetery in Stary Krym from April 24 and May 8, then the total length of the trench increased from 200 meters in April to 340 meters in May. In addition, the number of trenches has increased in Stary Krym. In Vinogradnoye, the May 6 image shows a significant increase in the number of trenches compared to April 21.
21:52 Kuleba urged German companies to move regional offices from Russia to Ukraine: "At a time when Russia continues to commit terrible atrocities in Ukraine, the income of foreign companies that still do business in Russia is stained with Ukrainian blood. I urge German businesses to get out of Russia and move to Ukraine. This will be a sincere contribution to peace in Europe."
21:49 As a result of one of the rocket attacks on Odessa, the Vorontsov Palace was damaged - the windows and stucco elements were damaged by the blast, Mayor Gennady Trukhanov said: "I want to once again appeal to the UNESCO international organization about making Odessa a World Heritage Site. We must preserve our architecture for future generations - not only Odessa, but the whole world."
21:45 The Kremlin is trying to prepare the Russians for the annexation of the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, writes Meduza. So, in several regions of the Russian Federation there will be streets named after the militants of the so-called "DNR" - in particular, in Grozny, Yakutsk and Omsk, the streets will be named after the leader of the ORDO Alexander Zakharchenko, who was killed in 2018.
21:32 Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would take away the gas storage facility in Salzburg from Gazprom if the company does not fill it with raw materials, Kronen Zeitu reports.
21:21 Soldiers of the Azov regiment continue to drive the enemy out of the positions they have captured on the territory of Azovstal. The defenders of Mariupol showed how they storm enemy positions:
21:17 The bridge across the Irpin River in Stoyanka, Kiev region, destroyed at the beginning of the war, will be opened for traffic on May 29 after restoration, said Kirill Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Presidential Office.
21:00 Today's shelling of the Poltava region is perhaps the largest during the war: 12 Russian missiles hit the infrastructure of Kremenchug, most of them hit an oil refinery that was not working anyway. At the refinery, rescuers extinguish a fire, there were no casualties, said the head of the OVA, Dmitry Lunin.
20:53 In the Donetsk region on May 12, as a result of Russian shelling, four civilians were killed - two in Novoselovka, one in Avdiivka and one in Lyman. Another five were injured, said the head of the OVA, Pavel Kirilenko.
20:45 Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte spoke online in the Verkhovna Rada, quoting the anthem of Ukraine and promising that his country would do everything to stop the purchase of Russian oil. He assured that the Netherlands is ready to continue to supply weapons, ensure justice in the consideration of Russian crimes in Ukraine, shelter thousands of Ukrainian refugees, and together with allies "rebuild Ukraine so that it becomes even closer to the EU."
20:41 Finnish politicians have received warnings that in the event of steps to join NATO, Russia may stop gas supplies as early as Friday, May 13, writes Iltalehti.
20:40 Failure to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership will be the murder of the hopes of Ukrainians, Kuleba said during a visit to Berlin.
20:38 Russia's position on Kiev's desire to join the EU has changed, now it is similar to the position on Ukraine's accession to NATO , said Dmitry Polyansky, Deputy Representative to the UN.
He also said that as soon as Finland and Sweden become NATO members and the alliance units are there, these territories will become a possible target for the Russian military. "If you threaten a nuclear power, you must consider all options," Polyansky added.
20:32 Mustafa Dzhemilev said that Turkey offered Russia to take the Ukrainian military out of Mariupol and guaranteed that they would no longer fight until the end of the war. According to him, a video message from the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade, Sergei Volynsky, who is stationed at Azovstal, was translated to Erdogan. After that, Erdogan spoke twice with Putin, and his speaker - with Shoigu. It didn't give any results.
20:26 In the Lugansk region, an anti-aircraft gunner from the 81st separate airmobile brigade of the DShV discovered a group of four enemy helicopters and shot down the leader of the second pair from the Stinger MANPADS, the command of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
20:18 Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that he does not see diplomatic options for resolving the situation in Ukraine at the moment, given the position of Kiev.
19:47 The UN Human Rights Council voted to launch an investigation into the crimes of Russian troops in the liberated territories of Ukraine. "For" - 33 countries, "against" - China and Eritrea.
19:45 Great Britain has not got involved and will not directly get involved in the conflict with Russia, Defense Minister Ben Wallace said after a meeting with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin.
19:37 The representative of the Odesa OVA, Sergey Bratchuk, confirmed the information that the Russian logistics ship Vsevolod Bobrov caught fire in the area of \u200b\u200bSnake Island.
19:02 After decades of neutrality, Sweden and Finland are going to join NATO, anticipating Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Details about their decision are in the material Urgent operation .
18:59 The Zaporizhia OVA reported that a Russian rocket, which was fired at Zaporozhye this morning, hit the protected part of the island of Khortytsya, causing a fire. Infrastructure and people were not affected.
18:54 The number of Ukrainians who left the country due to the Russian invasion has exceeded 6 million people. This is the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the end of World War II, the UN said.
18:52 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not confirm the information about the capture of Voevodovka by the occupiers of the Luhansk region: "In the Severodonetsk direction, the enemy continues assault operations in the area of the village of Voevodovka, but has no success."
Earlier today, Alexander Stryuk, head of the Severodonetsk State Administration, said in a comment to Hromadsky that Russian troops had taken control of the village of Voevodovka, "now the situation there is very complicated."
18:48 U.S. urges Russia to end blockade of Ukrainian ports, which could lead to world famine, Blinken said: "Ukraine is a major source of agricultural products and a key link in the global food supply chain. The Russian blockade prevents the export of these goods and threatens millions people around the world with malnutrition and hunger.
18:42 The SBU has raised a suspicion of treason to the chairman of the Volchansky District Court of the Kharkiv region. She is suspected of collaborating with the Russian Federation: she tried to create "an organ of the occupying judiciary of the Russian Federation and persuaded other officials to cooperate with the occupiers."
18:37 Payment by EU countries of Russian gas in rubles is still regarded by Brussels as a violation of anti-Russian sanctions, said Tim McPhee, spokesman for the European Commission. He said that the EC had carefully studied Gazprom's letter to its European clients explaining Putin's new decree of May 4, which clarifies the procedure for paying for gas in rubles, and "taking into account the decree, our position, our orientations on the sanctions regime remain the same."
18:34 Germany will be able to survive the coming winter without Russian gas, Economics Minister Robert Habeck said: "If we have full storage at the turn of the year, if two of the four floating LNG tankers we rent are connected to the grid, and if we make significant energy savings , we will be able to get through the winter to a certain extent if Russian gas supplies are cut off." However, he noted that, most likely, Germany will "largely" depend on Russian gas until 2024.
18:22 Near Belogorovka, an entire BTG was smashed - previously from the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Of the 70 pieces of equipment, the enemy lost more than 50, said Viktor Andrusiv, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
18:08 The head of the Poltava OVA, Dmitry Lunin, specified that from 8 to 12 Russian missiles hit Kremenchug - at refineries and other infrastructure facilities.
Anton Gerashchenko said that seven missile strikes had been carried out on the territory of the oil refinery. In addition, another rocket hit near the railroad tracks. Information about casualties and destruction is being specified.
17:56 The occupiers once again fired at the village of Velyka Kostromka, Dnepropetrovsk region, with prohibited cluster munitions today. As a result of the shelling, an energy infrastructure facility was destroyed. According to preliminary data, one person died, there are wounded, the regional prosecutor's office said. In addition, the occupiers shelled the outskirts of the village of Ukrainka, Krivoy Rog region.
17:42 33% of the action plan developed by the McFaul-Yermak group to increase sanctions against Russia has already been implemented, the OP said.
17:38 Vereshchuk accused certain public politicians, journalists and public figures who misinform the public and harm the negotiation process regarding the release of Ukrainian defenders from Azovstal. According to her, now the Ukrainian side is negotiating only 38 seriously wounded fighters: "We will exchange 38 heavy ones, then we will move on. Now there are no negotiations on the exchange of 500 or 600 people, as reported by some media."
17:25 In the Poltava region, the enemy again fired at the Kremenchug Oil Refinery four times. Also, the sounds of explosions were heard in the Poltava region, the details will be later, the Poltava Regional Police Department reported and urged residents not to leave the shelter.
17:04 A set of measures has been developed to help Ukraine export agricultural products, the European Commission said. According to Transport Commissioner Adina Velyan, 20 million tons of grain should leave Ukraine in less than three months using EU infrastructure.
16:52 Russian troops have taken control of the village of Voevodovka in the Luhansk region, the head of the Severodonetsk State Administration Alexander Stryuk said in a comment to Gromadsky. According to him, "now the situation there is very difficult."
16:41 German Economy Minister Robert Habek said that Ukraine's proposal to join the EU should not be fake, "you can't make promises that can't be kept."
16:34 The Rada adopted bill No. 7194, which allows, by a court decision, to confiscate the property of those who support Russian aggression.
16:09 The Russian military is trying to strengthen its presence on the island of Serpents in the Odessa region in order to block the sea communications of Ukraine, said the speaker of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. Ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas continue to carry out tasks to isolate the area of combat operations. They also conduct reconnaissance and provide fire support in the coastal direction.
16:05 By all indications, the occupiers are striving for the direct integration of Mariupol into Russia - together with the "DPR", according to the adviser to the mayor of the city, Petr Andryushchenko. The first step, according to him, is the transition to the Russian code for mobile communications. Now Russian banks and institutions of higher education should enter the "DPR". There is also information about plans to hold a referendum in Mariupol - local media call the date May 15th.
16:01 The satellite filmed a Russian ship that transported grain stolen in southern Ukraine from Crimea to Syria. CNN journalists identified the ship as the bulk carrier Matros Pozynich. On April 27, it weighed anchor off the coast of Crimea and turned off the transponder. The next day, judging by the photographs and satellite images, the ship was in Sevastopol. Sailor Pozynich is one of three ships involved in the trade in stolen grain, the newspaper writes.
15:57 Energy companies in Europe, the United States, Australia and Singapore that fell under Russian retaliatory sanctions will no longer be able to participate in the supply of Russian gas, Peskov said. We are talking about the sanctions list of the Russian government, which included 31 companies associated with Gazprom.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck confirmed that Gazprom's German subsidiaries are no longer receiving gas from Russia and are replacing it with alternative supplies. The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine also continues to fall today.
15:51 The synod of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church convenes a council of bishops, priests, monks and laity to discuss the problems of the life of the church, including those related to the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine.
15:40 In the Chernihiv region, the Three Sisters monument, located on the border of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, is being liquidated. Currently, a package of necessary documents is being prepared, the IAA said.
15:33 Deputy commander of the Azov regiment Svyatoslav Palamar said that there are 600 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers at Azovstal.
15:32 Gazprom has been banned from delivering gas through the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline (sanctions have been imposed against the company that owns it, EuRoPol GAZ in Russia), Russian media report.
15:31 Ukraine's application for joining the European Union will be discussed at the level of heads of state and government in the European Council in June , the French Foreign Ministry said.
15:25 Mayor of Irpin Alexander Markushin showed what the city looks like after liberation from the occupiers. According to him, during the month of fierce fighting, 70% of the buildings were damaged. 8651 urban objects are superficially damaged, 2738 objects are partially destroyed, 885 objects are completely destroyed.
15:18 A postage stamp with a portrait of Zelensky was issued in Poland, it came out in a limited edition of 99 sheets of nine stamps each. The author, Lukasz Wantuch, a member of the Krakow council, put it up for sale at 500 zlotys per mark (about 3,300 hryvnias). The brand was sold out in a few hours. Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.
15:06 The Russian military deployed from near Kiev to the Kharkiv direction have records of atrocities in mobile phones, said Roman Dudin, head of the SBU in the Kharkiv region. "For this category of people, we have already established their data, where they live, what they breathe. Even those who are not yet in captivity ... witnesses of the atrocities that they committed against our citizens," he said.
14:52 The Ukrainian authorities are negotiating the evacuation of doctors and wounded soldiers from Azovstal, a total of 500 people, said Tatiana Lomakina, coordinator of humanitarian corridors from the OP. Also, according to her, the possibility of opening humanitarian corridors, which Mariupol residents need, is being discussed.
14:36 The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova said that information was received about new sailors from Russia held in Ukraine, there are 73 of them in total.
14:34 Stoltenberg said that Finland's membership will strengthen both NATO and the country itself: "If Finland decides to apply, it will be warmly received into NATO, and the entry process will go smoothly and quickly."
14:31 Vereshchuk on the evacuation of Ukrainian defenders from Azovstal: "Negotiations are ongoing. Russia has not agreed to the extraction procedure. They only offer surrender. As you know, our guys do not agree to lay down their arms. Today there is only one way - to go step by step. The special operation will be in several stages. The first stage is the evacuation of the seriously wounded."
14:29 In the Kiev region in recent weeks, about a thousand bodies of the dead have been discovered, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. According to her, violent acts committed after the invasion of the Russian Federation can be classified as war crimes. It is expected that today a decision will be made on the official investigation of the events that took place in Kiev and other regions of Ukraine in February-March.
14:24 In the summary of the General Staff for May 12, among the losses of the invaders, there is minus one boat or ship. Channel 24, citing intelligence sources, said Russia likely lost another ship in the Black Sea. So, on the night of May 12, the ship of project 23120 was heading towards Snake Island. For some unknown reason, a fire broke out on the ship, and an operation to rescue the crew began. At night, the charred ship tried to reach Sevastopol. According to preliminary information, the ship managed to moor in the port. Most likely, this is a project 23120 logistic support ship, there are two of them in Russia - Vsevolod Bobrov and Elbrus.
14:22 The Rada approved Zelensky's bill on the forced seizure of the assets of Prominvestbank and Sberbank in Ukraine.
14:13 Merkel's former adviser, ex-Brigadier General Erich Wad considers it impossible to liberate Donbass by military means. He admitted that at first he overestimated the Russian military and thought that the Russian army would enter Kyiv, but now he warns against underestimating the occupiers: "The chance for the Ukrainians is to prolong the conflict, inflate the price for the Russians and tire them out. In the end, this can lead to victory" .
14:10 Pushilin confirmed that Russian forces continue to try to seize Azovstal, and also ruled out the possibility of the extraction of Ukrainian servicemen from there.
13:58 Beijing seems to have decided on a policy towards Moscow: support in the form of negative statements against the West, but no other help. Economic policy for China, as expected, is a priority of foreign policy. Read more in the material China complies with sanctions against the Russian Federation .
13:51 The Russian Foreign Ministry said that "Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps of a military-technical and other nature to eliminate threats due to the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO."
13:39 The invaders completely destroyed the captured settlements of the Lugansk region, the shelling intensified along the entire line of the Luhansk front. Powerful fighting continues in Belogorovka, Kamyshevakh and on the outskirts of Severodonetsk, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Gaidai. According to him, the situation has deteriorated significantly.
Severodonetsk and the community, Lysychansk and the community, Gorne and the community, and part of Rubizhne remain under Ukrainian control. The occupiers do not change their tactics - they destroy cities and only then enter the scorched lands. Belogorivka is now holding back the Russian invasion, Ukrainian defenders have already destroyed pontoon crossings twice, and, apparently, "the third time will also happen."
Ukrainian activists are disappearing en masse in the occupied Popasna. The only road that now connects the Lugansk region with the "mainland" is under shelling, the trips are too risky. There is no electricity, water, gas or mobile communications in the entire region.
13:26 Podolyak on the need to impose an embargo on Russian oil: "If the leaders had acted decisively in 1938, Europe could have avoided World War II. But the politicians acted cowardly and flirted with the aggressor. The result is a million tragedies. History will not forgive us if we will make the same mistake again. Europe should immediately impose an embargo on Russian oil."
13:15 The Parliament of Latvia allowed the demolition of the monument to the Liberators of Riga, from under which, on May 10, municipal services removed the flowers laid on May 9 with a tractor. Later, residents of the city again began to bring flowers to the memorial, and on May 11, the police closed access to it. Last week, Latvian President Egil Levits called the monument "evidence of the occupation and suffering of the Latvian people" and called for its demolition.
13:07 All the crimes of the Russian invaders and their collaborators in the Kherson region are recorded, in the final there will be "devastating criminal consequences," Podolyak said.
12:55 The OPPL faction in the Verkhovna Rada has been disbanded, they said at today's parliament session.
12:38 Peskov announced the need for additional measures to strengthen the security of areas adjacent to Ukraine "in the light of shelling" allegedly from the Ukrainian side.
12:36 Peskov said that Finland's entry into NATO "certainly threatens the security of Russia, will entail the development of measures by Russia to ensure its security."
12:17 The National Security and Defense Council approved the withdrawal of the assets of Sberbank and VEB located in Ukraine. This is stated in the presidential bill No. 7371, to which the decision of the National Security and Defense Council is attached. We are talking about 99.7% of the shares of Prominvestbank, owned by VEB, and 100% of the shares of the International Reserve Bank (former Sberbank), owned by the Sberbank of the Russian Federation.
12:09 Bloomberg writes, citing sources, that 20 European companies have already opened accounts with Gazprombank to pay for gas in rubles, another 14 clients have requested the necessary documents for this.
12:02 Zelensky supported Finland's entry into NATO, Finnish President Sauli Niiniste said after a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart.
11:58 The United States will provide Ukraine with military and financial assistance, as well as increase sanctions against Russia until they force the Kremlin to end the war, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. According to him, Washington does not yet see any signs that the Russian Federation can end the war through diplomacy. Therefore, Washington will use tools that have already proven their effectiveness.
11:41 The Japanese government has frozen the assets of Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, reports Kyodo News. In addition, Tokyo will ban Japanese individuals and companies from making new investments in Russia that would give them a stake of 10% or more. Starting May 12, new investments can only be made with special permits. It is also prohibited to provide loans with a maturity of more than a year.
11:38 In the Kharkiv region, an enemy shell broke a high-pressure gas pipeline with a diameter of 500 mm. According to the OVA, 17.5 thousand households in nine settlements were left without gas supply. Recovery may take several days.
11:34 Russia cannot fully restore the combat capability of military units withdrawn from Ukraine. Having lost a significant part of their military-technical potential during the war in Ukraine, the Russians are forced to supply equipment and weapons manufactured in the 1950s and 60s to the units, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports.
From long-term storage warehouses, equipment, for the most part, cannot even be delivered to units, however, the military is forced to accept it and report to the command about the full staffing and provision of combat units.
11:29 The Czech Republic is negotiating with Germany on the supply of German Leopard tanks, which will replace the T-72 tanks that Prague can supply to Kiev, said Yana Chernokhova, head of the Czech Defense Ministry.
11:27 This morning, the occupiers fired heavy artillery at the village of Novye Vyrki, Sumy region, one person died, said the head of the OVA Dmitry Zhivitsky.
11:23 The Cabinet of Ministers agreed on the necessary regulations for the import of oil products from Azerbaijan, the countries of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, Shmyhal said.
11:21 The most difficult points on the front today are Mariupol and the Lugansk direction, Vadim Denisenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, said. According to him, the Russian Federation is transferring forces from the Kharkiv region to the Donbass, trying to concentrate on the Slavic and Izyum directions.
11:16 The city council of Novgorod-Seversky clarified that as a result of the airstrike, three people were killed, 14 were injured, one of them is in critical condition. Schools were the targets of the enemy, at the same time, nearby buildings were damaged - the premises of the RGA, the house of culture, the hospital, the dormitory of the medical college and others.
11:07 In Novgorod-Seversky, as a result of an air strike, three people were killed, 12 more were injured, the State Emergency Service reported.
11:05 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that two ammunition depots were destroyed by air-launched missiles near Novgorod-Seversky in the Chernihiv region.
11:02 Medvedev threatens NATO with nuclear war. According to him, "pumping up Ukraine with weapons", preparing its troops to use Western equipment, "sending mercenaries" and conducting NATO exercises near the Russian borders "increase the likelihood of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia - and such a conflict always has the risk of turning into a full-fledged nuclear war. ".
10:59 Russians launched a cruise missile at Zaporozhye. According to preliminary data, a private building is on fire, information about the victims is being specified, the Zaporizhia District Police Department reported.
10:55 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of May 12. The enemy suffered the greatest losses over the past day in the Kurakhovsky direction.
personnel - about 26,650 (+300) people liquidated,
tanks - 1195 (+8),
armored combat vehicles - 2873 (+17),
artillery systems - 534 (+6),
MLRS - 191 (+6),
air defense systems - 87 (+0),
aircraft - 199 (+0),
helicopters - 161 (+1),
UAV operational-tactical level - 398 (+8),
cruise missiles - 94 (+0),
ships/boats - 13 (+1),
automotive equipment and tankers - 2019 (+22),
special equipment - 41 (+0).
10:47 The President and Prime Minister of Finland announced that they support the country's membership in NATO. According to them, Finland should immediately apply to join the alliance: "We hope that the national steps that are still needed to make this decision will be quickly taken over the next few days."
Sweden, in turn, plans to apply for NATO membership on Monday, May 16, local publications write, citing the parliament's calendar.
10:35 The US military is preparing to renew its forces in Alaska and deploy a formation capable of operating in extreme cold, US Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said.
10:28 Roskosmos bypasses international sanctions through Gazprobmank, which was almost not affected by Western restrictions, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In order to reduce the impact of international sanctions, Roscosmos sent to subordinate structures a document On the organization of settlements under sanctions , which, in particular, provides for the transfer of settlements under concluded contracts into rubles; minimizing the amount of foreign currency on the accounts of banks subject to sanctions; opening accounts in subsidiaries of foreign banks or Russian institutions that are not subject to sanctions; development of instructions on the procedure for investing free funds of Roscosmos.
10:07 CNN published video evidence of Russian atrocities in the Kiev region: the invaders asked for cigarettes, and after that they shot two civilians in the back. One of the men died on the spot, the second got up after the shot and called for help, but died from blood loss.
09:48 Russia and Putin are the biggest threat to global stability today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her visit to Japan. In her opinion, the aggressor country has become "the most direct threat to the world order because of the barbaric war in Ukraine, its disturbing pact with China, and its call for new and very arbitrary international relations."
09:44 The House of Representatives of the US Congress has adopted several bills related to the situation in Ukraine. This, in particular, is about the immediate suspension of debt service payments by Ukraine and the provision of financial assistance to Kyiv on favorable terms.
09:39 Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petr Andryushchenko, said that yesterday the occupiers focused on blocking the exits from the seven underground passages from Azovstal, which the traitor showed them. Despite this, the Ukrainian defenders are making extremely risky attempts to counterattack.
09:37 At night, a rocket attack was launched on Karlovka east of Poltava. An infrastructure facility has been destroyed, said the mayor of Kremenchug, Vitaliy Maletsky.
09:22 Zelensky spoke at The Atlantic Council 's Outstanding Leadership Award ceremony , which was awarded to the Ukrainian people. The award was given to Ukrainians for their resilience and courage in resisting the Russian invasion. This is the first time The Atlantic Council is honoring an entire people or nation.
09:13 The "DPR" reported that more than 370 people, including 42 children, were "evacuated" from Mariupol in a day.
09:10 British intelligence reports that Ukrainian forces continue to counterattack north of Kharkov, recapturing several cities and villages in the direction of the Russian border. Analysts note that the transfer of Russian forces to the Donbass will make the units stationed in the Kharkiv region vulnerable to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Now the Russians are likely to deploy a barrier on the eastern bank of the Seversky Donets River to protect the western flank of the main Russian forces and the main supply routes for operations in the Izyum region. "The withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kharkiv region is a tacit admission of Russia's inability to capture key Ukrainian cities, where limited popular resistance was expected," British intelligence said.
08:59 The White House has created an internal guidance on the exchange of intelligence with Kiev, aimed at avoiding rising tensions between Washington and Moscow, writes The Washington Post. This document, in particular, prohibits representatives of American intelligence from transmitting to the Ukrainian side detailed information about the whereabouts of the most senior Russian military leaders and ministers, as well as data for strikes against targets outside Ukraine.
08:55 Russia has used at least six types of cluster munitions against Ukraine, Human Rights Watch has calculated. The exact number of attacks by cluster munitions is unknown, but the authors of the report say that we are talking about hundreds of cases.
08:36 The head of the Krivoy Rog VA, Alexander Vilkul, said that the Russians had been shelling all night along the entire line of contact, including with the use of prohibited phosphorus and cluster munitions. At about 07:00 in the morning, the city of Zelenodolsk was fired from the MLRS systems. The destruction is being specified, one civilian was killed, another was wounded.
08:29 In the Lugansk region, at least 24 houses were damaged by the Russians per day, seven of them in Severodonetsk, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. He also said that due to the aggravation of the situation, it became more difficult to deliver humanitarian supplies. So, yesterday a truck came under fire near Lisichansk, as a result of which it was damaged. It is extremely difficult to maintain public order: the police almost every day find themselves under fire on the streets of cities.
08:21 Former commander of US forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, said in an interview with CNN that the Ukrainians "will try to return Russia to the borders that it occupied until February 23 by the end of summer." In his opinion, the Russian Federation "does not have hundreds of thousands of new soldiers or new tanks ready to go into battle." The expert believes that Kyiv's counter-offensive could begin in "the coming weeks."
08:19 According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Russians may be preparing to resume the offensive in order to capture the entire Kherson region in the coming days. Russia, most likely, creates conditions for the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories, and not the creation of pseudo-republics.
08:02 On the territory of the Kherson region, mobile communications and the Internet have disappeared - this is how the military of the Russian Federation is blocking the ability to receive news and communicate with local residents. Currently, the SBU, together with mobile operators, is working to strengthen the signal in the region, said Sergei Khlan, deputy of the regional council.
07:43 Invaders launched a missile attack on Novgorod-Seversky in the Chernihiv region, there are dead and wounded. They hit critical infrastructure facilities, as well as a school, Governor Vyacheslav Chaus said.
07:39 In the Slavic direction, to resume the offensive on Barvenkovo and Slavyansk, the enemy moved a battalion tactical group, as well as about 300 pieces of weapons and military equipment. In the Donetsk direction, units of the Russian army are trying to advance in order to establish complete control over Rubizhne, as well as to capture Liman and Severodonetsk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in the morning report .
07:27 The commander of the 36th Marine Brigade, Sergei Volynsky, turned to Elon Musk with a request to help the Ukrainian defenders get out of Azovstal and move to a third country.
07:02 Russia uses chips from imported dishwashers and refrigerators in its military equipment. This was announced at a Senate hearing by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, referring to data from Ukraine, where samples of Russian computer-controlled weapons - drones, tanks and others - fell into the hands of the military.
05:10 The process of transferring the weapons promised by Germany to Ukraine is being delayed due to a misunderstanding between the governments of the countries, reports Die Welt. Kyiv expected that the supply of anti-aircraft self-propelled guns would come directly from the German government.
00:33 The defenders of Mariupol continue to hold their positions at the Azovstal plant. Being in a long environment, they flatly refuse to give up. At the same time, a political solution to the issue of the defenders of Mariupol is also not visible. About what options are possible to save the Ukrainian defenders - in the material Petition or breakthrough .
00:12 Great Britain buys defense equipment of Soviet and Russian production in order to transfer it to Ukraine, Defense Minister Ben Wallace said. The search is conducted by most of the British defense establishment and military attaches around the world. Similar steps, according to him, are being taken by the Russian side: "Sometimes we came across the fact that the Russians are looking, by the way, in some countries, they are also looking for some of their reserves, because ... the reserves are running out quickly."
00:01 Deputy commander of the Azov Regiment Svyatoslav Palamar told CNN that all the civilians who were on Azovstal along with the military had already been evacuated. At the same time, he stressed that we are talking about civilians "about whom we knew, about whom we cared." "But I can't tell you for sure, maybe there is someone else further in the territory," he added.
#1
He also said that as soon as Finland and Sweden become NATO members and the alliance units are there, these territories will become a possible target for the Russian military. "If you threaten a nuclear power, you must consider all options," Polyansky added.
This is why NATO has become so popular recently, you stupid Russian.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 8:26 Comments ||
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[France 24] Russian forces are being pushed back to the east and north but the front line remains fluid, with the fight shifting from village to village, day by day. FRANCE 24 reporters spoke to some of the civilians who remained in Dokuchaievske, Kharkiv Oblast, during the Russian occupation.
Russian troops have moved on from this village, but an unexploded cluster bomb remains as evidence of the battles fought here. It is a weapon widely banned around the world.
Although the fighting in Dokuchaievske was fierce, dozens of civilians from villages further south have taken refuge here.
Opposite Slava’s house there is now a shallow grave, where a soldier from Russia’s Siberia region was buried by Ukrainian locals and now lies in rest, some 4,000 kilometres from home.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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[Irish Times] Things have gone from bad to worse on Oleg’s farm in Kherson in southern Ukraine since Russia’s invasion 10 weeks ago.
Occupying forces took away some of his grain and stole all the machinery, including trucks, low-loaders and jeeps — which his staff have seen in local towns ferrying Russian army personnel and equipment. They commandeered his house and farm buildings.
Ukraine’s government has accused Russia of trying to destroy its agriculture sector by stealing valuable grain stocks and machinery, deliberately bombing farms and warehouses and blockading its Black Sea ports to deprive it of exports earnings and farmers of liquidity. The country’s grain exports have more than halved so far in May from the same period a year ago, according to the latest data from the agriculture ministy.
There are multiple examples around the country of grain elevators and warehouses being bombarded. Around Kyiv, Russian forces destroyed distribution centres and warehouses to try to disrupt the provision of food to the capital.
But it is the confiscation of grain in territories controlled by Moscow that is the most emotive issue. It has drawn parallels with the Soviet policy of crop confiscations coupled with the confinement of peasants to their villages in the 1930s. Some four million people died in the ensuing famine in Ukraine, known as the Holodomor, or death by starvation.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
Ukraine just shipped grain to Europe.I suppose they are doing the same thing as with personal bank accounts. They have a history of raiding that which the government considers its own. Trudeau PM of Canada just did the same thing to the protester truckers accounts. He had to back off because of the run on banks to withdraw monies. Trudeau the leader of his liberal party, of course a liberal action.
[BBC]When Leonid Pliats and his boss were shot in the back by Russian soldiers, the killing was captured on CCTV cameras in clear and terrible detail. The footage, which was obtained by the BBC, is now being investigated by Ukrainian prosecutors as a suspected war crime.
It was the height of the fighting around Kyiv and the main roads into the capital were a battlefield, including around the bicycle shop where Leonid worked as a security guard.
But this was no firefight: the video clearly shows heavily armed Russian soldiers shooting the two unarmed Ukrainians and then looting the business.
We have pieced together the full sequence of events, matching what was recorded on multiple CCTV cameras around the site with the testimony of people Leonid phoned that day, as well as the Ukrainian volunteer fighters who tried to rescue him.
The Russians arrive in a stolen van daubed with the V sign used by Russian forces and the words Tank Spetsnaz in black paint. They wear Russian military uniform and approach with their guns up, fingers on the triggers.
The Russians initially talk to him and his boss through the fence. There is no audio on the footage but the men seem calm, they even smoke. Then the Ukrainians turn away and the soldiers start to leave.
Suddenly they turn back, crouch then shoot the two men multiple times in their backs.
One is killed outright but somehow Leonid manages to stagger to his feet. He even ties his belt around his thigh to slow the blood, then stumbles to his cabin where he begins to call for help.
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05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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The following is a compilation of messages Putin sent via his Telegram account.
[RIA Novosti] Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at a meeting on economic issues.
The key statements of the head of state are in the material of RIA Novosti.
On countering sanctions
“Russia is confidently coping with external challenges thanks to both a responsible macroeconomic policy of recent years and systemic decisions to strengthen economic sovereignty, technological and food security. <…> Inflation is gradually slowing down: over the past month, its rates have decreased several times compared to March, weekly price growth has already dropped to 0.1 percent, which is already close to the weekly growth rate, in line with the inflation target of the Bank of Russia.”
On the Importance of Economic Power
"We recently celebrated our main holiday - Victory Day, and I want to remind you that it was achieved not only in battles on the fronts, but also due to the economic power of our country, which then opposed the industrial potential of not only Germany, but almost all of Europe, which fascists enslaved."
On the ambitions of the West
"These sanctions are largely provoking a global crisis. Their authors, guided by short-sighted inflated political ambitions, Russophobia, to a greater extent hit their own national interests, their own economies, the well-being of their citizens. We see this primarily in the sharp rise in inflation in Europe" .
On the consequences of sanctions for the global economy
“Obviously, due to objective economic laws, the continuation of the sanctions obsession, if I may say so, will inevitably lead to the most complex, difficult to reverse consequences for the European Union, for its citizens, as well as for the poorest states of the world, which are already facing the risks of hunger. I emphasize, guilt this lies entirely with the elites of the Western countries, who are ready to sacrifice the rest of the world in order to maintain their global dominance."
About the budget and the ruble
"The possibilities of the budget system are growing: in January-April, the consolidated budget surplus amounted to 2.7 trillion rubles, while budget expenditures also grew noticeably during this time thanks to the decisions made on advanced financing of development projects and advance purchases. Against the backdrop of a record positive balance of foreign trade, the and the exchange rate of the national currency - the ruble. This year it demonstrates, probably, the best dynamics among all the currencies of the world."
About grain harvest
A good harvest is expected this year. According to experts (of course, these are preliminary estimates, but still), the grain harvest may reach 130 million tons, including 87 million tons of wheat. If this happens, and we will rely on this, then this will become a record in the entire history of Russia. This will allow not only to meet domestic needs with a margin, but also to increase supplies to the global market for our partners, which is very important for world food markets.
About the income of Russians
"The most important indicator of the success of socio-economic policy is the income of Russian citizens. In order to ensure positive dynamics here, it is necessary to support consumer demand, increase the opportunities for business and the regions of the country. A number of decisions in this regard have already been made - we know about this with you, worked out them together "In March, we agreed to expand the program of payments to needy families with children. Since April, it has been extended to families with children up to and including 16 years of age. Such payments retroactively began on May 11."
Posted by: badanov ||
05/13/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
I want to remind you that it was achieved not only in battles on the fronts, but also due to the economic power of our country...
Heavily subsidized by US production and British shipping. Stalin repeatedly threatened to make peace with Hitler unless we kept sending him food and weapons. So much for "economic power".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 8:14 Comments ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFrontInfo] 22:10 Ukraine is preparing a new provocation. We have received information that the bodies of women and children who died from accidents and diseases in Dnepropetrovsk will soon be delivered to the Mechnikov hospital in Dnepropetrovsk.
Such an order went down to the chief doctors of regional medical institutions from the SBU. Ukraine plans to shoot a new movie about the “unfortunate dead” and blame the Russian army for this. The bodies will be delivered to one of the social facilities of the city, where an air raid allegedly by Russian aircraft will be simulated. 21:48 Today in the area of n.p. Lozovaya (Izyum region), Russian air defense shot down another plane of the Ukrainian Air Force. This time the MiG-29 was destroyed. What happened to the crew of the litak, I don't know. Basically, the crews of Ukrainian aircraft die when they are hit.
19:41 Russian air-launched missiles hit 38 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and equipment, four ammunition depots, more than 170 nationalists, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
19:40 One drone was shot down in the air over Zmeiny Island and three Tochka-U Ukrainian ballistic missiles were intercepted, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
19:34 In Melitopol on the streets of Profintern and Alexander Nevsky, municipal services are mowing the grass. Since the plots there are large, a tractor was involved in the work.
18:28 In the Chernihiv region, a blow according to the location of the Armed Forces.
18:21 The British defense secretary said that Britain did not provide Ukraine with helicopters or long-range weapons that allow strikes inside Russia.
17:30 New rocket arrivals in the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration and in Kremenchug. It is worth noting that yesterday there were reports that in recent days the RF Armed Forces have been actively delivering missiles for carriers and in the near future the intensity of missile strikes will increase.
15:02 EMERCOM of Russia delivered to Melitopol another batch of humanitarian aid. Now food and essentials are packaged. Assistance will be delivered to needy categories of the population targeted. To receive humanitarian assistance, you need to write an application and hand it over to the elder at home or quarterly.
13:45 The main statement from Dmitry Peskov:
Russia is ready to give a decisive answer to any side that tries to get involved in the operation in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said that Finland's entry into NATO is a threat to the Russian Federation.
Russia has done everything not to conduct an operation in Ukraine.
It is necessary to strengthen the security of the regions adjacent to Ukraine.
All sides want to avoid a direct clash between Russia and NATO, no one wants a nuclear war.
The United States is doing nothing to resume dialogue with Russia.
On May 16, President Putin will take part in the summit of the CSTO member states in Moscow.
13:42 Verkhovna Rada approved Zelensky's decree on the forced seizure of Russian property - MP Zheleznyak.
11:51 Ukrainian special services are preparing a provocation in the Dnieper to accuse the Russian military of killing civilians - RT .
11:50 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue a special military operation in Ukraine.
During the day, high-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit four command posts, 34 areas of concentration of manpower and Ukrainian military equipment, as well as two ammunition depots in the Novgorod-Seversky region of the Chernihiv region. As a result of the strikes, more than 320 nationalists were killed, 72 units of military equipment were disabled.
Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 120 areas of concentration of manpower and Ukrainian military equipment. In addition, the following were destroyed: in the Odessa region, a radar station for guiding the Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, in the Krasnopavlovka region of the Kharkov region, a missile and artillery weapons depot.
Rocket troops and artillery units hit 405 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, 12 command posts and 26 artillery units in firing positions. An S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed in the Korotych district of the Kharkiv region. Also, in the areas of the settlements of Razdolie, Kharkiv region and Slavyansk, Donetsk People's Republic, three launchers of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems and two ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed.
During the day, 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense means in the areas of the settlements of Velikiye Prokhody, Velyka Kamyshevakha of the Kharkiv region, Panteleymonovka, Avdievka and Dolya of the Donetsk People's Republic, Oknino and Fabrichnoye of the Lugansk People's Republic, Glubokoye of the Chernihiv region, Barvinok and Vladimirovka of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
One unmanned aerial vehicle "Bayraktar-TB2" was shot down in the area of Zmeiny Island.
A total of 14 Ukrainian Smerch multiple rocket launchers were intercepted in the air over the settlements of Zavody, Sukhaya Kamenka, Pimonovka, Izyum, Malaya Kamyshevakha of the Kharkiv region, as well as Goncharovka, Topolskoe and Donetsk.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 164 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 821 unmanned aerial vehicles, 303 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,013 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 364 multiple rocket launchers, 1471 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 2,824 units of special military vehicles.
11:35 The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decided to forcibly withdraw the assets of Sberbank of Russia and VEB.
11:21 Morning briefing by the Russian Defense Ministry. The main thing:
- Air-based missiles hit 40 objects, incl. two ammunition depots in the area of N. p. Novgorod-Seversky;
- Air strikes were carried out on 120 objects;
- Rocket troops and artillery hit 443 targets;
- In the Odessa region, the S-300 air defense radar was destroyed;
— In the area of N. p. Korotych destroyed the S-300 complex itself;
- Three launchers of the Smerch MLRS were hit;
- 13 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down, incl. "Bayraktar-TB2" in the area of Snake Island.
08:08 The main results of the SVO in Ukraine for May 11, 2022:
The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an artillery strike on the Russian village of Solokhi. There are reports of dead and wounded.
For the offensive in the direction of the Cossack Lopan in the Sumy and Kharkov regions, forced mobilization is underway. According to unconfirmed information, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reached the administrative borders of the Belgorod region in the direction of Nekhoteevka.
In Dolgenkiy, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to stage the use of chemical weapons by units of the RF Armed Forces.
Our troops cut the AFU grouping, taking Novoselovka.
Fighting resumed in Shandrigolovo. South of Yampol, the Armed Forces of Ukraine retreated due to losses. They report the collapse of the enemy defenses north of Popasnaya, part of the forces retreated in the direction of Loskutovka.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are strengthening near Gorsky, waiting for the breakthrough of the defensive lines near Orekhovo.
08:00 Explosions sounded in the Chernihiv region at night.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFrontInfo] 23:31 The military liberated from the nationalists the settlement of the South in the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), said the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov in hisTelegram-channel. 22:50 Information was received via the operational line of the DPR JCCC about damage as a result of shelling by the VFU at the following addresses:
Donetsk (Petrovsky district):
- st. Tomskaya, 30 - a private residential building;
- st. Irina Levchenko, 27, 29 - private residential buildings.
n.p. Gorlovka (Zaitsevo village):
- st. Rudneva, 20 - a fire in a private house.
Information about the consequences of shelling continues to arrive.
21:19 Voltage has been supplied to the first consumers in Mariupol.
It took several weeks to recover. Employees of subdivisions of energy enterprises from all over the Republic took part in the work: Donetsk, Makeevka, Gorlovka, Yenakiyevo, etc.
21:11 VFU shelled Vladimirovka, there are dead and wounded
As a result of the shelling of the VFU in Vladimirovka, on the street. Kashtanova, there was a hit of ammunition in housing construction. According to preliminary data, there are dead and wounded. Details are being specified.
Take care of yourself and your family, try not to leave the house unnecessarily. During the shelling, do not leave the shelter.
20:40 On the operational line of the DPR JCCC, information was received about damage as a result of shelling from the VFU at the following addresses:
settlement Rutchenkovo stations:
- st. Tokarev, 147 - a private residential building.
Information about the consequences of shelling continues to arrive.
20:10 Over Kherson, Russian air defense shot down two Ukrainian missiles that were flying from Nikolaev.
19:23 Phoenix base stations have been launched in all districts of Mariupol
About this in an interview with corr. DNR Minister of Communications Igor Khalepa said. According to him, now the stations are powered by generators. The process of establishing communication directly depends on the pace of restoration of power supply.
19:20 Thanks to the harmonious actions of the units of the NM of the LPR prevented an attempt by Ukrainian nationalist formations to break through to the area of the settlement. Frontier.
The industrial zone of the city of Rubizhnoye is exempt from VFU.
18:25 The Rubizhnoye-Severodonetsk bridge has been blown up again.
18:23 Armored troops of the NM LPR lead fierce fighting in the industrial zone of the city of Rubizhnoye.
18:07 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Majorsk - n.p. Gorlovka (settlement of the mine named after Izotov): 10 mines were fired with a caliber of 120mm.
18:00 As a result of the shelling of the Petrovsky district, the wire of the high-voltage line 6 kV was broken. Without electricity, 500 houses of the private sector in the village. mine No. 12 (streets: Anosova, Baikalskaya, Belozerskaya, Kaliningradskaya, Serafimovicha, Leninopolskaya, Lastochkina, Cheremukhovaya, Lyubovicha, V.Hyugo, Zvenigorodskaya, Roborovsky, Lutugin, Chugaev lane).
17:45 According to the operational line of the JCCC DPR, information was received about the wounding of a married couple - a man born in 1946. and women born in 1950 as a result of the shelling of the VFU n.p. Yasinovataya on the street. Of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. As a result of the shelling of the VFU n.p. Verkhnetoretskoye, a married couple suffered: a man born in 1948. - died, woman born in 1952 - was severely injured. Also, information was received about damage to a private residential building as a result of the shelling of the VFU of the village "Severny" in Donetsk at the address: st. Romanian, 14.
17:42 According to updated information, as a result of today's shelling of the VFU of the Gorlovka village of Komarov, numerous damage was recorded to 8 multi-storey buildings at the addresses: Shashurina, 3, Shashurina, 7, Shashurina, 17, Shashurina, 19, Shashurina, 21, Shashurina, 25, Shashurina, 27 , Shashurina, 33. In addition, the destruction of a private house in the village. Kurgan at the address: st. Vlasenko, 53.
17:40 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Majorsk - n.p. Gorlovka (settlement of the mine named after Izotov): 10 mines were fired with a caliber of 82mm.
17:33 About 96 percent of buildings and structures are damaged in the LPR-controlled city of Popasnaya - Pasechnik.
17:24 Consequences of the shelling of the VFU in the city of Yasinovataya: 17 houses of the private sector were destroyed. There are wounded and dead.
17:01 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Novomikhailovka - Donetsk (Petrovsky district): three shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
16:18 According to the operational line of the JCCC DPR, information was received about the wounding of a married couple - a man born in 1946. and women born in 1950 as a result of the shelling of the VFU n.p. Yasinovataya on the street. Of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.
As a result of the shelling of the VFU n.p. Verkhnetoretskoye, a married couple suffered: a man born in 1948. - died, woman born in 1952 - was severely injured.
Also, information was received about damage to a private residential building as a result of the shelling of the VFU of the village "Severny" in Donetsk at the address: st. Romanian, 14.
15:47 Denis Pushilin said that all the destroyed settlements of the DPR will be restored.
15:41 They are writing about the beginning of clashes in the city of Severodonetsk, and also about a hard artillery strike on Pesky.
15:10 As a result of the shelling of VFU Yasinovataya, a woman and a man were injured.
15:09 As a result of hostilities in the territory of the Kuibyshev region, damage to residential buildings in the private sector was recorded:
- st. Stepnaya, 6: a direct hit on the house;
- st. Stepnaya, 48: damaged gas pipe;
- st. Romanian, 14: damaged households. the buildings.
15:07 The Moscow region takes patronage over two districts of the DPR - Novoazovsky and Telmanovsky, - Governor of the Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov. These areas will be helped to restore roads and put infrastructure in order.
15:00 VFU shelled the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk, the gas pipeline was broken. As a result of the shelling on the street. Stepnoy suffered housing construction and interrupted the gas pipeline. Details are being specified.
14:54 AFU shelled Yasinovataya, wounded two people. As a result of the shelling on the street. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya 2 people were injured.
14:41 For the first five days, water in Mariupol can only be used for technical needs - Ministry of Construction.
At the moment, various technological processes are carried out in the system and it is undesirable to use water for food.
14:40 According to the operational line of the DPR JCCC, information was received about damage as a result of shelling of the Ukrainian military units of the following settlements:
n.p. Gorlovka:
- st. Ruduchanskaya, 60, 62 - private residential buildings;
- st. Velikan, 5, 7 - apartment buildings;
- st. Shashurina, 7, 17 - apartment buildings;
- st. Vlasenko 30 - a private residential building;
- st. Vlasenko, Autocooperative "Sputnik" - garages No. 8-11, 111-112, 220-221, 222, 246 were damaged.
Donetsk (settlement "Administrative"):
- st. Stepnaya, 6 - a direct hit in a private residential building;
- st. Stepnaya, 48 - a private residential building.
14:07 Shelling from the side of the VFU was recorded in the following directions:
n.p. Novoluganskoye - n.p. Golmovsky: fired six mines in 120mm caliber;
n.p. Vodyane - Donetsk (Kuibyshevsky district): three shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
13:55 The Soledar-Lysichansk highway is under fire from the RF Armed Forces. The battles for Belogorovka continue.
13:52 There is no threat of collapse of the TV tower in the Petrovsky district that came under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the Ministry of Communications of the DPR.
13:50 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Kudryumovka - n.p. Golmovsky: Eight shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
13:33 The VFU once again came under attack from the Sputnik car cooperative in the Gorlovka village of Kurganka. Destroyed eight garages. Reports of damage to Gorlovka's infrastructure continue to come in.
12:24 Water from the Starokrymsky reservoir will be released towards Mariupol on May 12-13. Given the destroyed infrastructure, it will not be possible to immediately provide the entire city with water, but communications will be laid anew and it will be possible to cope with the water shortage - Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin.
11:46 Avdieivka boiler-lid slammed shut. Now the whole group will be boiled out. Only in their power to decide whether to stay alive or give up.
11:42 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Wide Beam: fired six shells of 122mm caliber.
11:40 Full-scale restoration will affect every city of the Republic, not only the liberated ones - Denis Pushilin.
11:38 Denis Pushilin: water from the Starokrymsky reservoir will be released towards Mariupol on May 12-13. Communications will be laid anew and it will be possible to cope with the water shortage.
11:36 Investors who are ready to work on the territory of the Republic are already applying from different regions of Russia - Denis Pushilin on Soloviev-Live.
11:31 As a result of the shelling of the VFU, 40 transformer substations were de-energized, without power supply to 3,091 household subscribers of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk and the Yasinovatsky district of the Republic - Ministry of Coal and Energy of the DPR.
11:22 The assault on Severodonetsk began: the first units of the allies entered the city from Rubizhne, occupying 12 houses.
11:17 Shelling from the side of the VFU was recorded in the following directions:
n.p. Sands - Donetsk (Kirov district): 10 mines fired with a caliber of 120mm;
n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Ozeryanovka: eight shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
09:15 Over the past day, 372 people, including 42 children, have been evacuated from Mariupol to Bezymennoe, Novoazovsky district.
09:13 Putin, in his congratulations to the head of the LPR, expressed confidence that by joint efforts it will be possible to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic.
09:00 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Novomikhailovka - Donetsk (Petrovsky district): four shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
08:34 Morning is already familiar with starts from air defense. The nationalists do not give up their attempts to strike deep into the Republic. Their task is mass casualties among the civilian population.
08:10 Shelling was recorded from the side of the VFU in the direction: n.p. Avdieivka - n.p. Yasinovataya: fired five shells of 122mm caliber.
07:42 Shelling from the side of the VFU was recorded in the following directions:
n.p. Avdiivka - n.p. Yasinovataya: five missiles fired from the BM-21 Grad.
n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Panteleymonovka: six shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
n.p. Novgorodskoye - n.p. Mikhailovka: eight shells of 122mm caliber were fired.
[China Daily] Though the yuan may face continued pressure from a strong US dollar in the coming weeks, the Chinese currency may gain a firmer footing later this year with a more stable COVID-19 situation and slower US monetary tightening, experts said on Thursday.
The offshore yuan exchange rate against the dollar dropped below 6.80 on Thursday afternoon, a level not seen since September 2020, making the year-to-date depreciation about 7 percent.
The onshore yuan, meanwhile, came in at around 6.79 on Thursday afternoon, weakening by about 600 basis points from Wednesday's close.
Wang Youxin, a senior researcher at Bank of China, said the yuan's slump on Thursday can be attributed to expectations of further US monetary tightening triggered by a weaker-than-anticipated slowdown in US inflation.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 07:53 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[Dawn] North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... fires missiles after Covid lockdown
AFP
SEOUL: North Korea confirmed its first-ever Covid-19 cases on Thursday and declared a "serious emergency", with leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... appearing in a mask on television for the first time to order nationwide lockdowns.
Hours after the shock announcement — the first time the nuclear-armed country has admitted to having Covid cases — Seoul’s military said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles fired from near Pyongyang.
The launch, one of more than a dozen sanctions-busting weapons tests so far this year, comes shortly after Washington warned that Kim’s regime could test a nuke any day, with satellite images indicating fresh activity at nuclear sites.
Earlier on Thursday, North Korea said it had moved into a "maximum emergency epidemic prevention system" after patients with fevers in Pyongyang tested positive for the "Omicron BA.2 variant" of Covid.
Kim, wearing a mask on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
for the first time, oversaw an emergency politburo meeting to discuss the outbreak and "called on all the cities and counties of the whole country to thoroughly lock down their areas".
Kim told the meeting that the goal was to "quickly cure the infections in order to eradicate the source of the virus spread," official news agency KCNA said, without specifying how many cases had been detected.
With its 25 million people not vaccinated against Covid, North Korea’s crumbling health infrastructure would struggle to deal with a major outbreak, experts say.
#1
We all know how this will go. USA, China, North Korea are like peas in a pod these days. Severe lock downs. Containment, Masks, shots and deaths similar to plaque times of the past and the space of time between each eerily similar. Black death, Spanish flu and now covid. Favorite
#1
Blue State population declines must be met with illegal migrant backfills. School unions and Congressional districts will suffer severe financial and phony- baloney job losses if healthy, young replacement people and infants are not found.
Stop yer bitc*ing & moaning. Hazlo por las niñas (Do it for the children).
#4
As I read on another blog.
When a Nation has to import basic supplies it is at the mercy of those nations supplying them.
-------------------------------------------------
My additional take on why soon many US suppliers have decided to relocate many basic supply product manufacturing to other countries?
Over regulation,
Politically protected Union absurdity & wages.
City, County, State and a dozen State and Federal other taxes and mandated benefits.
Constantly changing political control of the economy and businesses operations.
Too many lawyers living off the stupidity of idiots
#5
Case study about the long term consequences of all those factors:
"The portion of our Nation's international trade carried on U.S.-flag ships, however, has declined from a high of 92.5 percent in 1826 to 57.6 percent 1947 to a low of less than 2 percent today. In fact, today there are no U.S.-flag carriers listed among the top 20 global carriers."
#6
US flagged merchant ships/whalers abruptly dropped starting in 1862 when they registered as British and started flying the Union Jack due to Southern commerce raiders. The old rules of 'prize' still applied back then.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/13/2022 17:01 Comments ||
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#10
For average babies, the production of a life-sustaining DIY formula substituting for breast milk is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. One might think institutions like the FDA and CDC might think it useful to publicize recipes. Naturally they have a different agenda, one that excludes public service.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 ||
05/13/2022 20:54 Comments ||
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[GoogleFinance] Congrats, Russia. May your ability to buy more for each ruble be more profitable than the losses that come from increasing the prices of the things you sell. For quite some time America has deliberately tried to decrease the value of the dollar so as to increase sales, but each country must have its own goals.
#1
The ruble is rising. It's backed by gold and the world's greatest concentration of valuable commodities.
The dollar is falling. It's backed by airy-fairy confidence in things that no longer exist in the US: rule of law, fiscal sanity, good government.
Shit for Brains Biden and his Freaky Deaky team think it wise to steal other nations' bank holdings and berate allies like the Saudis. Care to guess what effect that's having on the willingness of other nations to hold dollars and make themselves vulnerable to US blackmail?
But wait - there's more! Congress just rewarded failure by reappointing that architect of hyperinflation, Jerome "Temporary" Powell. Crank up the printing presses, boys!
Gooodbye, reserve currency status. Nice knowin' ya.
#2
^ Boy, are you gonna feel silly when the asteroid gold starts raining down. [kehinde_wiley_stacey_abrams_double_eagle.jpg]
Posted by: Oscar Snore6922 ||
05/13/2022 1:33 Comments ||
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#3
Can you buy dollars or euros in Moscow?
No? Oh!
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/13/2022 7:42 Comments ||
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#4
The periwinkle commenter doesn't understand how reserve currencies work. By definition, the reserve currency cannot and must not be manipulated for short term balance of payments improvements or trade advantages.
When (not if) the dollar loses its reserve currency status, US interests will, of necessity, soar. Borrowing costs for American firms and consumers will climb to nosebleed rates as they did during Paul Volcker's infamous root-canal economics procedure in the late 1970s-early 1980s.
What saved us then was the brutal recession of Reagan's first term and the collapse in oil prices of the mid-1980s. But oil prices are not collapsing now, and are not going to collapse, because of Shit for Brains Biden's mad determination to try to starve the world of everything Russia produces -- including but not limited to oil.
Biden and his sadsack economic team of incompetents are doing everything needed to trash this country and ensure our rapid decline.
Hyperinflation, thanks to Biden's foolish money printing and $5 trillion in welfare-for-all Santa Claus payments.
Permanent inflation, thanks to sanctions on all the stuff the world desperately needs and that Russia produces.
Denial of above throughout 2021 and 1Q2022 by their lying incompetent Fed Chairman and Economic Advisor, leading to too-little, too-late interest rate rises now that are destroying all the US stock market gains of the last two years. (Best hope you didn't buy Cathie Woods' and other NASDAQ and Bitcoin shit!).
And the ultimate stupidity, destroying the world's confidence in US rule of law by simply stealing another country's hundreds in billions stored in US banks.
No civilized nation in modern history has ever done this. Britain, whose sterling became viewed by the world as "good as gold," never even contemplated the wholesale theft that the Biden Freak Show has just perpetrated. Even during the American Tevolution, Ben Franklin and John Adams safely entrusted their wealth to Bank of England accounts in London, and King George honored those accounts.
There is no other conclusion: Team Biden and its foolish war are a deliberate plan to trash our economy and reduce our power, wealth and influence in the world.
No one could possibly be so stupid as to think that we will gain anything by perpetrating this foolish war, with their mad self-destructive sanctions and their unprecedented asset-grab heists... unless of course Biden actually wants to build up the big winner of the war: his crackhead son's employer, China Inc.
#5
/\ The steps taken by Trump to make us energy independent and prosperous cannot have already been forgotten. As stated at #4, energy independence and prosperity are clearly not the goals of the Biden administration or the Deep State.
#7
* When the dollar loses its reserve currency status, US interest rates will, of necessity, soar.
This is because the economic reality is that the dollar is only backed up by confidence - in the US-led international order, which presumes US commitment to rule of law and property rights.
That confidence has been shattered by this administration's obsession with trying to scapegoat Russia for all of the damage wrought by Team Biden's colossal incompetence. The Saudis, the Indians, good G-d, even the ISRAELI central bank -- all of them are horrified at what this Freakshow team has done to Russia. They are all seeking to reduce their exposure to Biden Blackmail. The Israelis dropped their US dollar holdings by 10 percent (and their Euro holdings by one-third). The Saudis are shifting to yuan. The Indians are making preparations to trade in rubles.
We are living through historic times. There has truly never been a series of blunders by any American administration that can compare with the foolishness of this administration.
Our ruling class's bizarre and unbelievably reckless obsession with a foreign leader -- and a war that doesn't touch on American vital interests in the least -- is nothing short of insanity.
#8
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The future is Russian. Hell, the Force is Russian.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/13/2022 8:04 Comments ||
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#9
Our ruling class's bizarre and unbelievably reckless obsession with a foreign leader -- and a war that doesn't touch on American vital interests in the least -- is nothing short of insanity.
As you may have noticed, the "Unbelievable reckless obsession"... is not limited to "foreign leaders."
#10
^ Anotger Team Biden moron speaks. See my comments above about the bizarre obsession with one country and its leader.
No one outside Washington gives a fuck about what is essentially yet another intra-European conflict, an 8-year long civil war that has nothing whatsoever to do with United States vital interests.
People who don't even grasp basic economics should go back to reading their Daily Mail bullshit and leave discussion of the reserve currency, interest rates, monetary policies and stagflation to the grownups.
#11
Strong relative to other fiat currencies. And meanwhile the vaunted crypto is circling the bowl of mystical monetary myths and dreams.
Food
Fuel
Ammo
Medications
Surgical goods
Field grade clothing
Drinkable water
Shelter
Viable plan for when that shelter must be abandoned.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/13/2022 8:20 Comments ||
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#12
"Another Team Biden moron" was directed not at # 9 Besoeker but at the manic-obsessive #8 poster.
The Russo-Ukrainian spat is not our concern. Has nothing whatsoever to do with our security or freedom or prosperity.
The reduction ad absurdam is Team Biden and our corrupt idiot Congresscritters' latest howler -- that they're somehow supporting "freedom and democracy"!
Freedom and democracy, right: in a fourth-world dictatorship dominated by the puppet of a fascist-supporting billionaire.
Supporting nonexistent "freedom" abroad, by deliberately escalating a pointless, brutal war that does more and more damage to Americans and American interests every day Team Biden prolongs it.
#20
And Russia will be less relevant to America's future too when they are done squandering their treasure and international standing.
Just don't tell the Russia! Russia! Russia! crowd inside the beltway.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/13/2022 9:06 Comments ||
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#21
Russia will be less relevant to America's future too when they are done squandering their treasure and international standing.
Ukraine has zero relevance to us but Russia is and will always be relevant to us because of China. A rational US administration would be doing everything in its power to persuade Russia to side with us in helping to contain China.
These fucking lunatics have done the exact opposite. They're building up China and bringing down both us and the Russians. Hunter Biden's Pop is truly the Manchuruan Candidate
#25
Or are you elliptically implying that The Manchurian Candidate's whoremastering son has syphilis? I didn't see that in the latest Inquirer bombshell.
#28
They do have a Time Machine. They're the second coming of the Carter Administration.
But this time they're deliberately stoking inflation with their retarded sanctions and energy policies. Carter at least promoted the research that led to fracking (as did Jerry Ford before him).
Carter was essentially a moderate who scaled back government (see his / A. Kahn's deregulation of the airlines for instance). The Biden Freakshow is uniformly made of left-wingers and total incompetents. They're ten times worse than the Carter administration.
#29
No one outside Washington gives a fuck about what is essentially yet another intra-European conflict, an 8-year long civil war that has nothing whatsoever to do with United States vital interests.
Didn't you just put three posts up why it involves everyone worldwide?
Ukraine has zero relevance to us but Russia is and will always be relevant to us because of China
I used to have these same type of discussions with the libertarian isolationists, especially when being courted. Too much doublethink. I do not disagree that DC is pounding canine and posting smile pics, but the conclusions in the process are wrong to the point you argue against yourself.
#30
Didn't you just put three posts up why it involves everyone worldwide?
No. It's the US sanctions + our incredibly foolish escalation of the war that are pouring gasoline on the inflation bonfire fire that Biden and Jerome Powell ignited.
The best thing for the world economy would be for us to push aside our Ukrainian puppet and work out a solution with Russia to end the conflict for good. Biden is doing the exact opposite. It's unbelievable.
libertarian isolationists
Nothing of the sort. We need to engage intelligently in the world and understand REAL threats.
The peer competitor to us is CHINA. Russia doesn't threaten us in the slightest. Nixon played the China card against the USSR. Nixon's 21c idiot successors are allowing China to play the Russia card against us.
Unbelievable incompetence. It's truly mind-boggling how foolish these Clinton-W-Obama-Biden China buttsuckers have been.
Label them whatever you want, but their critics -- basically, every leading Realist IR scholar and every diplomat (except the idiot McFaul) outside the DC Swamp for the last 30 years -- that is, everyone not in China's pocket can see that we should be enlisting Russia in the attempt to encircle and contain China. Fuck Ukraine. It is of zero importance to us.
#31
The wise course is NOT isolationism. It's foreign-policy realism.
Any realistic assessment of US national interest in this entity pits us against China and with Russia and India.
Instead, our corrupt and demented D.C. elites are siding with China, insulting India, and literally making war on Russia. Totally bizarre. None dare call it treason, but that's what this completely upside-down and self-destructive policy amounts to.
#35
Putin is to the Biden Freakshow and their camp followers as Saddam was to Cheney and their Neo-Con cranks.
That is to say, an unhealthy obsession that distorts one's judgment and leads to foolish and self-destructive, catastrophic foreign-policy interventions.
The Ukraine intervention is the Biden Freakshow's Iraq War. Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan combined... a colossally foolish mistake.
#36
I can conceive of no circumstance in which today’s Russia would side with America against China, no matter how rational that choice might be — even including a zombie apocalypse.
#37
Perhaps you can't but every one of our best scholars and diplomats and spymasters can. It merely requires our foolish policymakers to get some common sense, and do what all those scholars, diplomats and CIA chiefs have pleaded with them, in vain, for 25 years to do: give their insane fever dream of extending NATO to Russia's doorstep. That's the obstacle.
#39
No. It's the US sanctions + our incredibly foolish escalation of the war that are pouring gasoline on the inflation bonfire fire that Biden and Jerome Powell ignited.That is to say, an unhealthy obsession that distorts one's judgment and leads to foolish and self-destructive, catastrophic foreign-policy interventions.
The Ukraine intervention is the Biden Freakshow's Iraq War. Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan combined... a colossally foolish mistake.
Intentional or not, these are all arguments of the isolationist libertarians. "Next chance, we can do it better. If we could turn back time, if we could find a way, we'd take back all the words that had hurt you." and it always leads to a ridiculous conclusion as it did back in the late 90s and 2000s when the movement joined the anti-W. team.
Any realistic assessment of US national interest in this entity pits us against China and with Russia and India.
Yeah, well, whatever that was died on the table 2020. Last best chance was 2016-2017, and that rogue's den of opponents to such a thing is well known by the authors and then the subscribers.
#40
If this were a rant, especially six years ago, I'd be nodding along. But what you are, with the calling of names, is having what the left calls a discussion, otherwise known as a persuasive monologue.
#42
the calling of names, is having what the left calls
🤡 So says the man (?) who can't even get his own name-calling straight. First you foolishly characterized hard nosed realists as "isolationist libertarians." Now you're trying to label them "leftists." You're so incoherent you don't even know which direction you're spraying in.
#43
The only way remaining to put the genie back in the bottle and salvage what's left of US leadership and US interests is to push hard with everything at our disposal for a negotiated settlement. Ukraine is now an American puppet state. We need to send our best and smartest diplomats to meet with Lavrov and negotiate a cease fire as the basis of a lasts MG agreement, one that, at minimum, forswears amy further NATO expansion and lifts the stupid, utterly self-destructive and pointless US sanctions.
#47
Didn't label. They willingly joined the leftists in opposing W. in the early 2000s. There were against Clinton in the late 90s for his Africa Adventurism, but not really because legal pot was on the table.
Same reason they cooled when Obama took office.
Its just so weird they always come down on the same side, eh?
As for our current best, that was Blinken, Milley, and Austin, and they opted for selfies with Elenskyy.
#48
In the land of cartoon villainy, this is known as "monologing". It is the scene where the super-villain explains *everything*, just before it all comes crashing down.
#49
Putin wagged the dog to push back against Democracy which is creeping closer to his borders and could influence his own people against his domain. However, the advanced weapons of Democracy are 'unexpextedly per his original calculations' destroying his archaic weapons of tyranny.
#50
We just need to watch the Ruzzians bleed until they can't hold down their Donbas proxies or their other puppets like Abkhazia and South Ossetia. And the Belarussians really don't like Lukaschenko either. Bankruptcy: Slowly, then all at once.
#54
Our longest threads are with some narcissist "look at me" who will tolerate no dissent or questioning. Herb? Dat You?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2022 18:56 Comments ||
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#55
^ In fairness to Herb, I don't think he ever claimed to be omniscient.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/13/2022 19:40 Comments ||
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#56
It has been a while since I've come across a practicing, evangelical libertarian and I am curious what the current take is concerning Luttwaks contribution and/or dissuasion was to African Liberation Theory.
Say what you will about Herb; he had a pretty good handle on Chinese Food.
[Townhall] "They were never a part of the kit, it was inaccurate reporting." Those were White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's words earlier this year when she was asked about reporting that a new "harm reduction" grant program from the federal government allowed taxpayer dollars to end up putting free crack pipes in the hands of addicts.
Townhall, at the time, covered the insane federal program — first reported by our friends at The Washington Free Beacon. Biden's goons in the mainstream media and supposedly independent fact-checking organizations were quick to try and hide the truth after the Biden administration got caught with their hands in the...crack pipe jar.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra released a statement at the time saying "no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits."
Former Vox "journalist" Aaron Rupar pounced on behalf of Democrats and tweeted furiously that the claim was a "lie," "false," nothing more than "Fox News-fueled hysteria," and "total BS!" then used his tweets to hawk subscriptions to his Substack.
The Daily Beast laid blame for the narrative with a "false" report in The Washington Free Beacon. The Washington Post fact-checked the claim and concluded that "no," the Biden program wouldn't see crack pipes given to addicts.
The self-appointed arbiters of truth at Snopes rated the claims made by The Beacon, Townhall, Fox News, and concerned lawmakers "mostly false" before subsequently changing their rating to "outdated." USA Today debunked the claim. So did CNN and Politifact.
On Thursday, WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler updated his initial story that disputed The Free Beacon's first report on the free crack pipes to include their now plain-as-day proof, but did so without so much as an "oops" or "sorry" from the outlet that claims "Democracy Dies in Darkness."
#1
Yesterday Jen Psaki claimed this is a conspiracy theory even when confronted with the facts from more than one source. I trust her as far as I can throw my thumb.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/13/2022 8:26 Comments ||
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#4
small bowls - you could use them for hash but few do
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2022 12:28 Comments ||
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#5
I think they use “crack pipe” as a catch all term for any of the dope that gets smoked via melting and vaporization. Something more substantial than rolling papers. These days it’s more likely a meth pipe, but I’m sure crack is still out there too. Those little glass tubes with the tiny paper roses in them sold in gas stations are for smoking dope by the way. Cheap and disposable unlike the glass pipes and bongs sold in head shops. Telescoping car antennas are mostly gone now, but they used to break those off of cars to use as pipes.
[Breitbart] Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, running against Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), says the nation’s ruling class is interested in preserving its "managed decline" of the United States by weakening former President Trump’s tariffs on China.
"I use this phrase a lot on the campaign trail, managed decline," Vance said. "It feels sometimes like our leaders are just slowly allowing the country to slip into decline and sometimes it’s hard to see and I think right now it’s very obvious."
"This highlights one of the reasons why we need an America First trade policy, an America First supply chain policy," Vance continued. "We’re finding out the hard way with China — they make way too much of our stuff — when they shut down their entire economy, when they shut down the country as they’re doing right now, we become affected by that."
"This is the problem with allowing other people, people who don’t really like you that much, to make all your stuff is they actually have you by the you-know-what when they decide to shut down their economy," he said. "... this highlights why we have to make our own stuff in this country."
Vance also called out President Joe Biden for suggesting that he may cut U.S. tariffs on China as well as the Republicans who have lobbied the president to do so.
"Biden and a lot of Republicans have talked about weakening the tariffs on China which is one of the reasons why you started to see under President Trump some of those companies, some of that manufacturing, some of that supplies, moving back closer to home," Vance said.
"This to me is the economic question for the next 30 years of our country: Are we going to commit to being self-sufficient and making our own things or are we going to continue to allow our entire prosperity to be held hostage by countries like China?" he continued.
"That is the issue and unfortunately far too many Republicans and of course the entire Democrat party that’s gotten rich off the way we do business with China, this is one of the things ... you know managed decline is bad for normal Americans but it’s actually pretty good if you’re one of the people who’ve profited from the decline," Vance said.
As Breitbart News reported this week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called on the Biden administration to cut U.S. tariffs on China and return to the decades-long GOP-Democrat consensus on free trade that persisted before Trump took office.
Already, Biden has eliminated U.S. tariffs on more than 350 China-made products.
In particular, Vance said, Republicans "have to wake up" on the trade issue.
"We’re being led by people, many of whom have gotten rich by doing business with our biggest geopolitical foe, and they’re ... not as worried about the lack of baby formula, they’re not worried about the fact that things are getting more and more expensive, of course, because they’ve profited greatly from what’s gone on," Vance said. "We’ve got to reverse course."
From 2001 to 2018, U.S. free trade with China has eliminated 3.7 million American jobs from the economy — 2.8 million of which were lost in American manufacturing. During that same period, at least 50,000 American manufacturing plants closed down.
In Ohio, alone, at least 136,700 American jobs have been eliminated from 2001 to 2018 as a result of U.S. free trade with China. Nearly 10,000 of those jobs were outsourced in Ryan’s district.
Vance has been endorsed by Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, among others.
#1
It almost looks like a fake that exposed:
(1) the way they tamped down conservative numbers and elevated liberal ones (2) the vast number of bots that made most of the platform a joke (3) that the company was run by pro-censorship lefties.
Could this review result in proof that Twitter staff manipulated commentary, Free Speech and violated customer civil rights on a massive scale, in order to push a deviant and politically subversive agenda?
#4
This might be a masterpiece of business manipulation. Expose Twitter for the sham, propaganda network it was, force out the Marxists at the leadership levels, expose the financial boodoggle it always was, and then pull out of the deal. Brilliant and far cheaper than actually buying a now decimated organ of leftist influence.
#6
Sounds like BS from Musk. Everyone knows that Twitter from Day One has been bot-central. Most of the early estimates were that 25% of Twitter traffic was bots. It must be significantly higher today.
Musk is likely trying to weasel out of the deal. Probably worried about the value of his Tesla shares.
#9
Everyone knows that Twitter from Day One has been bot-central.
Likely, the price depends on the number of actual users. That takes it from a vague "everyone knows" to a factual matter for the SEC or whoever is riding herd on this.
#10
Musk has said before this that he would end the bots. Exposing the fraud Twitter did and force the SEC's hand to investigate them like Enron will accomplish that for a cool billion if he doesn't buy it.
#11
The purchase price was connected to the value of the stock, and padding the value of a stock in a publicly traded company is a big no-no.
For fun, if the FEC wants to call it a monopoly, and some 25%+ of traffic is fraudulent, which is a crime in this sense, then there would need to be a full investigation and disclosure of said public company as to who and how many were involved in said financial fraud.
Furthermore, advertisers may be a bit upset that they were billed for 25% or more traffic than they actually received.
Purchase price gets halved, the poison pills get exposed or even charged, and the FEC has to back off or start rolling heads. Could even start throwing hatchets for Brand Libel. Looks like Musk went Super Saiyan.
If I went to buy a building, and it said in the contract the seller stated the electrical system had been replaced 5 years ago up to code, and my team goes in and finds not only is that not the case, but some still has that horsehair insulation creating a clear and present fire danger, I'd have their balls and a mount and my lawyers throwing darts for the rest of the negotiations.
#13
Programmatic advertisers and their trading desk partners have long known that social media sites like Yelp, Twitter, YouTube etc are full of bots. Comes with the territory. In any case they have a long standing remedy -- they negotiate clawbacks all the time.
Musk is either being naive (very unlikely) or raising a known, obvious, easily-remedied issue as a smokescreen to torch the deal.
#15
the price depends on the number of actual users
That's true of pre-revenue startups. Not true for mature publicly traded giant companies, whose investors apply standard financial valuation multiples
#16
Musk wants subscriptions, say $1/mo to drive profitability. Users would, I think, then have the option of blocking any non subscription comment from their feed.
Unless the bots can steal credit cards, they are not going to be subscribers. That is one important reason why it is vital to find out how many bots are on twitter.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/13/2022 13:10 Comments ||
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#17
To be clear the user base is one input into the revenue forecast, which is one input into the DCF calculation. Musk is advised by Goldman Sachs. They publish a report in February that valued Twitter at $30 a share. Musk has of course seen Goldman's pro formas and knows in great detail how many real, daily active users there are. He's blowing smoke as he so often does.
#18
twitter had an account verification system b 2009 but it was flawed and they did a re boot of this in 2021 with additional measures
they did not, as near as I can determine, announce the results of this reboot but nevertheless, still say that there are 200M+ real live tweeters
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/13/2022 13:21 Comments ||
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#19
Twitter addressed the issue to their advertisers' and their investors' satisfaction three years ago. They've been reporting "Monetizable" DAUs [daily active users] to Wall Street every quarter since Q1 2019.
This is an 11th-hour bullshit issue, Musk's stunt, that no one in finance or advertising takes seriously.
#20
He's obviously trying to renegotiate the price. NASDAQ's in free fall. His own bankers said in February that a realistic price was $30 a share. $54 a share is a bad joke. Musk is trying to avoid overpaying by 2x.
#21
Pretty sure I'd want an 11th hour potential escape clause based on my own audit rather than an internal investigation in an industry, as you point out, riddled with fraud. Especially one which carries a lot of water and has got the wink wink nod over the last three years especially.
#24
I should say he's trying but failing: he's negotiating in bad faith. He didn't raise the issue -- which is not a real issue to begin with since the company flattened it years ago -- when he made his bid; in fact he waived due diligence.
He's clumsily welshing on the deal because his investors are upset that he's taking his eye off the ball at his real company, whose shares are tanking now.
#27
I don't have the guy. I don't love the guy. Not even sure I have anything more than respect for a successful businessman in a strong anti-business, especially independent business environment.
Just pointing out in your discussion, as the left like to put it, about what others should think, you keep eating your pickle.
#28
He stupidly refuses due diligence.
He unwisely ignored his own bankers.
He recklessly made an absurdly inflated offer in a market that's falling like a knife -- an offer that required him to sell Tesla shares, alarming his institutional investors.
Now he's putting forth a transparently ridiculous story about a bogus, non-issue. And once again landing himself in hot water with the SEC.
I don't have anything against him and am no fan of the SEC, but he's made a fool of himself. And Twitter will emerge unscathed, free of adult supervision, and remain the cesspool of the internet.
Because Musk completely botched the acquisition. No, I'm not happy about this.
#31
It's standard due diligence to verify the metrics that underpin a valuation. One of the reasons, beyond FTC reviews, that M&As don't close quickly. For online services, which Twatter is, those include things like real user count, revenue per user, engagement numbers, user churn, etc., etc. Having two execs whose purview would include such numbers depart at the same time as Musk throws an exception is suggestive that not all the numbers verified. Now they get to do an audit on the data supporting those numbers. Could bust the deal, but hasn't yet.
#32
It was MUSK who refused due diligence in his amended 13-D filing on April 20!
The filing states: “the Proposal was also subject to the completion of financing and business due diligence, but it is no longer subject to financing as a result of the Reporting Person’s receipt of the financing commitments described below and is no longer subject to business due diligence.”
Musk himself refused to do ordinary research ie due diligence into a $44 billion acquisition!
He's behaved incredibly foolishly. He's let down millions of people who wanted to see the Twitter stables cleaned out. And now he's going to reward those little assholes with a $1billion breakup fee. This really sucks. Musk is to blame for all of this mess.
Clawbacks would be when TVcompany says 200million are going to watch this Olympics advertising slot, yet only 2million show up, which an advertiser could call for a re-appraisal.
Bots would be promising those 200million views, and when only 2million show up, 198million fake viewers are created out of whole cloth to make that viewership 200million. Advertiser pays for the 200million price scheduling, even though there were only 2million actual views.
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.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of military intelligence and top adviser to Zelensky, has claimed that General Valery Gerasimov - chief of staff of the Russian armed forces - has been suspended.
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
[Townhall] "They were never a part of the kit, it was inaccurate reporting." Those were White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's words earlier this year when she was asked about reporting that a new "harm reduction" grant program from the federal government allowed taxpayer dollars to end up putting free crack pipes in the hands of addicts. 
[Breitbart] Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, running against Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), says the nation’s ruling class is interested in preserving its "managed decline" of the United States by weakening former President Trump’s tariffs on China.
