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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

This really is a full service blog.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The words do not have to be perfect.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

White supremacy is terrorism.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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Open Thread:  Hey Lurkers!  (Holiday Post)

Open Threads

You are here: Home / Archives for Open Threads

Kamala and Walz Rallies Open Thread

by WaterGirl|  October 2, 20249:40 am| 56 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Anybody going to Harris or Walz rallies?

RevRick sent me this photo from a rally a week or two ago.  Can anybody name the person on the left?

Kamala and Walz RalliesIf you’ve been to a rally recently, send me your best pic!

I’ll post the first 7.

Open thread.

Update: Name your favorite thing about Harris and about Walz.  Only one favorite thing for each.  Okay, two.  One personal thing and one bottom line position that matters most to you.

Kamala and Walz Rallies Open ThreadPost + Comments (56)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Grinding Through It

by Anne Laurie|  October 2, 20247:58 am| 189 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Kamala Harris for President, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

Perfect fall day in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Thanks to the folks at @Pond_Hill_Farm for having me. pic.twitter.com/sYAQAUrDBA

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 30, 2024

I’ve checked all the usual sources, and it looks like my best decision of the week to date might well have been taking a nap instead of watching the vice-presidential debate. Our guy did his best, their guy tap-danced for an audience of cultists, and no minds were changed. (Although there may, of course, be a backdraft yet to come.) To save time, here’s a report from the Washington Post — “Vance, Walz square off in what could be final meeting of presidential campaigns”: [gift link]

… In marked contrast to the September presidential clash between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — who hardly concealed their disgust with each other — the running mates often went out of their way to be gracious, while focusing more on policy differences than personal slights.

They offered praise, sympathized and acknowledged that they agreed on how to address some of the country’s most vexing and divisive issues. At the same time, neither man shied away from the dirty work they had to do for their campaigns.

Vance referred to “our Democratic friends” even as he suggested that Harris had “enabled the Mexican drug cartels to operate freely in this country” and set the stage for the global instability that has sparked a widening war in the Middle East…

Walz turned from the first question about the Middle East to argue that the nation doesn’t need “a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes” to solve the situation. He quoted Trump’s recent dismissal of the traumatic brain injuries sustained by U.S. troops during his presidency as “headaches.” And he chided Trump for conducting diplomacy on Twitter and for not paying federal taxes.

Walz followed up by criticizing Vance for repeating unsubstantiated claims that immigrants in the senator’s home state had been eating the pets of their neighbors, a claim that local officials say lacks evidence. He also said Trump had helped to scuttle a bill that would have solved the immigration problem, because he wanted to run on immigration reform…

In one of the sharpest exchanges of the debate, Walz directly asked Vance whether Trump had lost the 2020 election, a fact the former president has refused to admit.

“Tim, I am focused on the future,” Vance deflected.

“That is damning,” Walz said. “That is a damning non-answer.”…

One of the only other truly contentious moments in the debate came when one of the moderators, Margaret Brennan, pointed out that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, falsely accused of eating pets are there legally under a Biden administration program. Vance objected.

“The rules were you weren’t going to fact check,” Vance responded, before speaking out of turn to argue that the Biden administration’s policy was not proper. After repeated requests that the debaters stop speaking out of turn, the moderators cut the microphones of the candidates and changed topics…

 
More importantly, IMO, Vance’s boss is not doing well. Also from the Washington Post, “Trump mixes up words, swerves among subjects in off-topic speech”:

show full post on front page

MILWAUKEE — Republican nominee Donald Trump spoke for 33 minutes before his first mention of the ostensible focus of his remarks.

Signs reading SCHOOL CHOICE, EDUCATION FREEDOM NOW and LET PARENTS DECIDE decorated a small auditorium, and a panel of speakers preceding the former president focused on using public funds to let families choose between public and private, especially religious, schools. Trump read from a binder containing a prepared speech on the subject, and he switched abruptly between the text and a jumble of other topics…

He spoke of “a million Rambos.” “Turnarounds” and “gotaways” and “dead-head spending.” He mixed up Iran with North Korea and strained to pronounce United Arab Emirates. He marveled at Hurricane Helene coming so late in the storm season, which typically runs through November. He falsely claimed government agencies can’t name the U.S. population, and he compared the conflict between Israel and Iran to “two kids fighting in the schoolyard.”

Trump, 78, often speaks in a digressive, extemporaneous style that thrills his fans at large-scale rallies. But Tuesday’s event, in front of almost entirely reporters, was especially scattered and hard to follow. Polls show voters’ concerns about Trump’s age and fitness have increased since President Joe Biden, 81, withdrew and was replaced as the Democratic nominee by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump spoke slowly and appeared tired. It was his second stop of the day, and he has picked up the pace of campaigning in recent weeks.

“I think I’m booked every single day for 33 days,” he said at the end of the news conference, incorrectly citing the number of days until the election, which is 35 days. “I’ve worked for 17 or 18 days when you say in a row, and I’m working even when I’m not working.”…

Asked whether as president he should have retaliated more forcefully to Iran’s missile strikes on U.S. forces in Iraq in 2020, Trump responded as he did at the time, by denying the severity of the more than 100 injuries, including traumatic brain injury. “They had a headache,” he said…

Overall, Trump’s speech was a far cry from the preview from former governor Tommy Thompson (R-Wis.), who introduced him at the lectern.

“It’s going to be a great day because Donald Trump is going to talk to you about his beliefs, his opportunities, his views and vision for education,” Thompson said.

Don’t you think he looks… tired?

And then there’s the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Given the spate of depressing stories, I’m going to focus on the closer for the Associated Press article on “How to help those affected by Hurricane Helene”:

… — Consider waiting. Rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Helene will take months, if not years, and the full picture of need is not available yet, experts say. They say that following disasters donations start out strong following the event and then slow down when it is no longer top of mind, even though that’s when the need made be growing when government benefits expire.

Wednesday Morning Open Thread:  Grinding Through It

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Grinding Through ItPost + Comments (189)

Late Night Open Thread: Light / Shadow

by Anne Laurie|  October 2, 20243:06 am| 50 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Sports

WTF?!?! Why are all the good people being taken????https://t.co/tOyf93qxm6

— 💛🐝THEE Side-Eye Pinkie Pie is KHive🐝💛 (@NYPoliticalMom) September 30, 2024

Two sports obituaries, two different legacies…

Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire — “Dikembe Mutombo, Who Died at 58, Was a Man of His Home and a Man of the World”:

… [W]hat marked Mutombo’s life was not his unsurpassed ability to block shots, nor was it the iconic finger wave that he gave to the unfortunate victims of his hijacks. It was that Dikembe Mutombo was a man of his place, and also a man of the world. His charitable efforts in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, and all over the continent, were as vast as his work in spreading the sport of basketball in Africa. Both he and Hakeem Olajuwon, born in Nigeria, opened the continent to the NBA and to the world. Now African stars are all over the Association, from Pascal Siakam to Joel Embiid.

I first encountered him during my last years of covering college basketball, when Mutombo was a mystery recruit at Georgetown whom John Thompson had paired with established star Alonzo Mourning. Thompson kept all of his players under wraps, but he was especially stringent with Mutombo. But even with the limitations on access to him, Mutombo’s intellect and humor shone through. This all blossomed as his career went along. This great tower of a man was obviously brilliant—he spoke nine languages, including five African ones—but he could be positively impish. There were very few NBA players who were both as respected and as liked as he was. He became the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.

Meanwhile, Mutombo’s efforts in his home country were legendary. He built a hospital in Kinshasa that has treated over half a million people since it opened. He worked constantly to improve education and health care in his embattled homeland. And, in a week in which the former president* went out of his way to scare people with his lie about Congolese convicts flooding into America, Mutombo’s pride in his country and his people stands out as hope for a better, more empathetic world. His life was a celebration of life and a celebration of hope. Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo died on Monday at 58 of brain cancer. May his memory be the blessing that his life was.

======

Tom Scocca, at Indignity — “Exit the hustler”:

show full post on front page

… PETE ROSE IS dead. He was, by most accounts, a creep—a showoff, a liar, a cheater, a compulsive gambler, a credibly accused sex offender—and his signature accomplishment was essentially a fraud, writing his own washed-up bat into the lineup day after day as a player-manager so that he could chase the record for the most hits, at the expense of his team’s success. His most famous play was a cheap shot in the All-Star Game that ruined catcher Ray Fosse’s career, lowering his head and smashing into Fosse on purpose as the catcher looked away to reach for an arriving throw from the outfield, then standing over the injured player to taunt him. At his peak, he was about 90 percent as good as the real best player on his own team.

He did grimly stalk down the hits record and wrest it away from Ty Cobb, using corked bats to get there. He finished 67 hits ahead of Cobb, in 2,787 more plate appearances, or about four extra years’ worth. Thanks to that falsely extended career, he could and did say that no one has ever accumulated more hits than Pete Rose—cheap, crappy hits, like Smaug on a hoard of grimy pennies. Elsewhere, in a part of the record book closer to where games were won or lost, five players still scored more runs than Rose, despite coming to the plate 2,000 fewer times (or 5,000 fewer, in the case of Babe Ruth)…

Late Night Open Thread: Light / ShadowPost + Comments (50)

VP Debate Second Thread

by @heymistermix.com|  October 1, 202410:00 pm| 311 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

I’m watching the debate and I have to say that the fucking kumbaya is absolutely not good for Harris/Walz.

Walz is doing a good job in general.  Vance is a slick lying piece of shit, and finding areas of agreement with a lying piece of shit makes common cause with a lying piece of shit.

For example, “Gov Walz and I think something needs to be done about gun violence.”  No you don’t.  You want to deflect and lie.

VP Debate Second ThreadPost + Comments (311)

War for Ukraine Day 951: Russia Commits More War Crimes in Kherson & Pokrovsk

by Adam L Silverman|  October 1, 20249:25 pm| 6 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

A painting by Ukrainian artis NEIVANMADE. The background is white. In the center, which is black with blood red bordering, is an hourglass. Inside the hourglass is a Ukrainian Azovstal POW painted in blood red. He is shirtless. His arms are upward along the outer edges of the upper half of the hourglass forming a saltire cross. He is chained with steel gray chains shackled to his wrists. Above his head, in grey, is written "Ruzzian Captivity." below his torso in the lower half of the hourglass, written in gray, is "Kills." To the left of the hourglass "He Saved Others" is painted in gray. To the right of the hourglass "But He Can't Save Himself" is painted in gray.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is doing great. Thank you for all the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Second, I know everyone wants to watch the debate or, at least, read other people liveblog or livetweet or liveskeet or whatever the debate, so I’m just going to run the basics tonight.

Russia attacked Kherson’s central market today.

WARNING!! WARNING!! GRAPHIC CONTENT!! WARNING!! WARNING!!

Imagine your local market – where you buy fruit, chat with neighbors. In Kherson, that same kind of market is now littered with the bodies of innocent civilians, killed by russian shelling. These people were simply trying to live a normal life amid unimaginable circumstances. pic.twitter.com/6yUQ48O6qJ

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) October 1, 2024

A Russian strike on Kherson, right in the city center. As of now, six deaths have been confirmed. My deepest condolences to all the families and friends affected. Six people have been injured and are receiving the necessary assistance.

Daily Russian terror, daily attempts to… pic.twitter.com/NumZfeMrmy

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 1, 2024

A Russian strike on Kherson, right in the city center. As of now, six deaths have been confirmed. My deepest condolences to all the families and friends affected. Six people have been injured and are receiving the necessary assistance.

Daily Russian terror, daily attempts to destroy life—this can and can be stopped. We must achieve lasting peace for our state and our people. For this to happen, Ukrainian strength and the resolve of our partners must outweigh Putin’s desire to wreck terror.

Pressure on the aggressor and support for Ukraine must be constant and comprehensive. I thank all our partners who help us defend lives. I thank everyone who protects Ukraine.

The also massacred 16 Ukrainian POWs on the Pokrovsk front:

Russians at war systematically violate international humanitarian law concerning prisoners of war. In a recent case, Russian forces allegedly committed a heinous crime by shooting dead 16 Ukrainian POWs near #Pokrovsk as they were surrendering – the largest such report. pic.twitter.com/25CJYHGZLo

— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) October 1, 2024

The Russian military executed 16 (!!!) surrendered Ukrainian soldiers at sight.

This is the worst incident of POW execution known so far in this war.

It happened near Pokrovsk.

Look at what the Russians did – they lined the surrendered Ukrainians up, shot them all down, and… pic.twitter.com/U3ub7PKx3x

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 1, 2024

The Russian military executed 16 (!!!) surrendered Ukrainian soldiers at sight.

This is the worst incident of POW execution known so far in this war.

It happened near Pokrovsk.

Look at what the Russians did – they lined the surrendered Ukrainians up, shot them all down, and then finished off those dying on the ground.

When some sneaky character says ‘Ukrainians just need to surrender,” — this is the answer regarding what will happen if Ukraine “just surrenders” to Russia, which is absolutely out of its damn mind and sick with absolute sadism.

And they’ve apparently poisoned an entire Ukrainian river:

Putin’s ecocide in #Ukraine. “Everything is dead. Not a single organism survived. This is unprecedented. It’s Europe’s first completely dead river.” Russia is suspected of deliberately leaking chemical waste into the Desna river, with deadly consequences for wildlife.… pic.twitter.com/yjwVkD1I8y

— Glasnost Gone (@GlasnostGone) October 1, 2024

Putin’s ecocide in #Ukraine. “Everything is dead. Not a single organism survived. This is unprecedented. It’s Europe’s first completely dead river.” Russia is suspected of deliberately leaking chemical waste into the Desna river, with deadly consequences for wildlife. https://theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/01/ukraine-seim-river-poisoning-chernihiv-ecocide-

More on this after the jump.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

show full post on front page

We Are Working to Speed Up Our Partners’ Decision on the Funds from the Use of Russian Assets – Address by the President

1 October 2024 – 19:28

Dear Ukrainians!

Today revolved specifically around military and defense issues almost all day long.

The already second Forum of Defense Industries worked today in Kyiv. Representatives of more than 30 countries and nearly three hundred companies – Ukrainian and leading foreign ones. For Ukraine, it is a matter of absolute principle that not only partner countries but also defense companies from around the world are increasingly interested in cooperating with us – with our defense sector. Some of the agreements are already implemented. Both on investment in defense production in Ukraine and on localization. Much more is being prepared. Ukraine is already producing things that we did not have before, which are the 155 calibers, and our long-range drones, our naval drones. We are creating a new base for the use of Western armored vehicles – it is both repair and maintenance. Good things are also being done to develop our missile program. And now it is very important to accelerate all this. I am grateful to everyone who understands this.

Today, I held meetings with the military leadership. Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, Chief of the General Staff Barhylevychh. On our brigades’ needs, on the frontline situation. We discussed the things that our partners can really enhance in the near future. There was a separate report by the Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Budanov and Minister of Defense Umerov on how our intelligence assesses this year’s prospects, Russian intentions, the tasks the Kremlin is setting for their military. We clearly see the main guidelines for what exactly needs to be responded to and in what way.

Today there was also a report by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. The energy sector, of course. The situation in the energy system, the construction of protective structures, and electricity imports to Ukraine – namely, the relevant agreements with partners. The Prime Minister also reported on the financial situation for our state – things that should ensure stability this year. And we are working to speed up our partners’ decision on the funds from the use of Russian assets. Politically, the decision is made. The sense of justice – that Russian assets should work to defend against Russian aggression – is shared by all our partners. We need a common, effective mechanism. And this will not only contribute to Ukraine’s resilience, it will also bring the right sense to the whole situation. We need to ensure all elements of justice for Ukraine – for the country that Russia has criminally attacked. And this is important for everyone in the world – for everyone who values international law and the world order that ensures peace.

I thank all the leaders who help! I thank everyone who defends Ukraine, our independence, our people! Once again, I congratulate all Ukrainian warriors, all our heroes, on the Feast of the Protection, on the Defender Day. And all of us in Ukraine must remember that our state’s independence and Ukraine’s real sovereignty, our unity with the global world, and Russia’s just responsibility for this war – are what can most fairly and for generations preserve the full weight of the feat of those of our people who defend Ukraine in this war, who fight for Ukraine, and all those who have given their lives for independence.

Glory to Ukraine!

#NEIVANMADE pic.twitter.com/h7Zq7iZzcK

— #NEIVANMADE (@neivanmade) October 1, 2024

951 день. Битви за державу. 951 день ви пишете історію на полі бою. Віддаєте себе, аби не віддати Україну. І ті, хто був народжений воїном, і ті, хто ним став.

Змінив власне життя, аби наша свобода була незмінною. Хто мав іншу професію, але не хотів жити під іншим прапором. Хто… pic.twitter.com/6u2SSIpCv2

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 1, 2024

951 days of the battle for the state. For 951 days, you have been writing history on the battlefield. You sacrifice yourselves so that Ukraine does not have to be sacrificed. Both those who were born a warrior and those who became one.

Those who changed their lives so that our freedom would remain unchanged. Those who had different professions but refused to live under another flag. Those who said to themselves: I have no other choice, for this is my homeland, this is my Ukraine, and I will defend it.

Defending Ukraine — two words that have united millions of people, our country, and our nation. On behalf of all of them, I want to say to you: Thank you. To each and every one of you. We are proud of you all.

Unbreakable Kharkiv. At 9:00, people in the streets paused for a moment of silence to honor the memory of the Heroes

Слава Україні! Героям Слава! pic.twitter.com/6O8Xr9mM0z

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) October 1, 2024

October 1, 9:00. A nationwide minute of silence.

We remember everyone. We know the price of freedom.
It’s our duty to honor all the defenders of Ukraine who gave their lives defending our independence.

📷: Yurii Stefanyak pic.twitter.com/QpUzCr8bxF

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 1, 2024

Today, we celebrate Ukrainian Defenders Day 🇺🇦

We know what we are fighting for: our home, our dear ones who dream of peaceful skies, our cities and villages waiting for liberation. For future generations who will live on their land without fear. And in honor of those who, over… pic.twitter.com/fnSiv8qvbR

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 1, 2024

Today, we celebrate Ukrainian Defenders Day 🇺🇦

We know what we are fighting for: our home, our dear ones who dream of peaceful skies, our cities and villages waiting for liberation. For future generations who will live on their land without fear. And in honor of those who, over the years, dedicated their lives for our freedom.

Eternal gratitude to the sons and daughters of Ukraine who gave their lives for our country. Our struggle will continue until we reach our shared goal of victory.

Thank you to every Ukrainian warrior for unity, courage, and resilience. Glory to Ukraine!

The cost:

pic.twitter.com/0ecEyimZVV

— Melaniya Podolyak (@MelaniePodolyak) October 1, 2024

в нас нема багато спільних фото, бо ми вдвох не любили фотографуватися. зате в житті всі завжди казали, що ми з тобою дуже схожі

два роки тому ти в це свято був вдома після поранення. ми проводили час разом, сміялись і обіймались

з твоїм днем, па
я за тобою дуже сумую pic.twitter.com/1rpPcN2fmZ

— тиха (@nbspeka) October 1, 2024

Here’s the machine translation of the tweet:

we don’t have many photos together, because we both didn’t like to be photographed. but in life, everyone always said that you and I are very similar

two years ago, you were at home on this holiday after being injured. we spent time together, laughed and hugged

happy day pa
I miss you very much

They laid down their lives for Ukraine & Europe!

RIP – Iryna Hordiievych, Ivan Hembus (43), Mykhailo Nesolionyi, Volodymyr Zamkovyi (40)

Rest, comrades, rest & sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.#LetUkraineStrikeBackNoLimits pic.twitter.com/uedGYyzZFZ

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 1, 2024

In the memory of our late friend @_juicefighter_

Zelensky has signed a decree posthumously declaring Ukraine’s Air Force Major Andriy “Juice” Pilschikov the Hero of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/xvqxQzVH4Q

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 1, 2024

The cost and the reason:

Instead of a thousand words.

Before the full-scale war, Ada worked in IT. Then, she volunteered a lot but felt it wasn’t enough, so she became a drone operator.

On September 6th, Ada drove over an anti-tank mine. She lost her left leg, and doctors are still fighting for her… pic.twitter.com/g5vkBuU8du

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 1, 2024

Instead of a thousand words.

Before the full-scale war, Ada worked in IT. Then, she volunteered a lot but felt it wasn’t enough, so she became a drone operator.

On September 6th, Ada drove over an anti-tank mine. She lost her left leg, and doctors are still fighting for her right heel.

Ada has decided to go back into the Army after she gets used to her prosthesis. She’s going into assault troops.

📷: libkos/Instagram

The reason:

Our loved ones, our native land, our independence—that’s what we are fighting for. And we will win!
Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦

📹: Ukrainian Air Assault Forces pic.twitter.com/3pYr45tWZA

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 1, 2024

The US:

On the day that we witnessed the Biden administration’s ability to deter failed completely, as well as Secretary Blinken taking a public victory lap, their strategic malpractice and incompetence continues to eat away at Ukrainian resilience.

Losing the war? Despicable. After 10 years of war UKR retains 80% of its territory and Russian Army is wrecked.

“The Biden administration is aware that its present strategy is not sustainable because “we are losing the war”, says Jeremy Shapiro, Washington office of the ECFR. https://t.co/kd8vz42pxL

— Ben Hodges (@general_ben) October 1, 2024

From The Financial Times:

In a command post near the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, soldiers of the Separate Presidential Brigade bemoan the dithering in Washington about whether Kyiv can use western missiles to strike targets inside Russia.

If only they were able to fight “with both hands instead of with one hand tied behind our back”, then Ukraine’s plucky troops might stand a chance against a more powerful Russian army, laments an attack drone operator.

Surrounded by video monitors showing the advancing enemy, the battalion’s commander says his objectives have begun to shift.

“Right now, I’m thinking more about how to save my people,” says Mykhailo Temper. “It’s quite hard to imagine we will be able to move the enemy back to the borders of 1991,” he adds, referring to his country’s aim of restoring its full territorial integrity.

Once buoyed by hopes of liberating their lands, even soldiers at the front now voice a desire for negotiations with Russia to end the war. Yuriy, another commander on the eastern front who gave only his first name, says he fears the prospect of a “forever war”.

“I am for negotiations now,” he adds, expressing his concern that his son — also a soldier — could spend much of his life fighting and that his grandson might one day inherit an endless conflict.

“If the US turns off the spigot, we’re finished,” says another officer, a member of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade, in nearby Kurakhove.

Ukraine is heading into what may be its darkest moment of the war so far. It is losing on the battlefield in the east of the country, with Russian forces advancing relentlessly — albeit at immense cost in men and equipment.

It is struggling to restore its depleted ranks with motivated and well-trained soldiers while an arbitrary military mobilisation system is causing real social tension. It is also facing a bleak winter of severe power and potentially heating outages.

“Society is exhausted,” says Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the foreign affairs committee of the Ukrainian parliament.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under growing pressure from western partners to find a path towards a negotiated settlement, even if there is scepticism about Russia’s willingness to enter talks any time soon and concern that Ukraine’s position is too weak to secure a fair deal right now.

“Most players want de-escalation here,” says a senior Ukrainian official in Kyiv.

The Biden administration is aware that its present strategy is not sustainable because “we are losing the war”, says Jeremy Shapiro, head of the Washington office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “They are thinking of how to move that war to a greater quiescence.”

Most threatening of all for Kyiv is the possibility that Donald Trump wins next month’s US presidential election and tries to impose an unfavourable peace deal on Ukraine by threatening to withhold further military and financial aid. Trump repeated his claim last week that he could rapidly bring an end to the war.

Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in Europe may wish to keep it in the fight but lack the weapons stockpiles to do so and have no plan for filling any void left by the US.

Kyiv confirmed it was laying the groundwork for future talks in spectacular fashion when its troops seized a swath of Russia’s Kursk region in a surprise cross-border incursion in August. Zelenskyy said the land would serve as a bargaining chip.

And last week, in an attempt to shape the thinking of his allies, Zelenskyy visited the US to market his so-called “victory plan”, a formula for bolstering Ukraine’s position before possible talks with Moscow. Zelenskyy described it as a “strategy of achieving peace through strength”.

Yet the Ukrainian leader left Washington empty-handed on two central issues: US permission to use western weapons for long-range strikes on Russian territory; and progress on Ukraine’s bid to join Nato. The Biden administration has resisted both, fearing it could encourage Moscow to escalate the conflict, potentially drawing in the US and other allies.

US officials were unimpressed by Zelenskyy’s “victory plan”, which includes requests for massive amounts of western weaponry.

An adviser who helped prepare the document says Zelenskyy had no choice but to restate his insistence on Nato membership because anything else would have been perceived as a retreat on the question of western security guarantees, which Ukrainians see as indispensable.

Despite Washington’s misgivings, the ability to strike Russian territory is also central to Zelenskyy’s victory plan, says the adviser. While US officials have argued that Russia has already moved strike aircraft beyond the range of western missiles, Ukrainian officials insist there are plenty of other targets such as command centres, weapons caches, fuel depots and logistics nodes.

Destroying them could disrupt Moscow’s ability to wage war, show Russian leader Vladimir Putin that his objectives of seizing at least four whole provinces of Ukraine are untenable and disprove his conviction that the west will lose interest in supporting Ukraine.

“Russia should not be overestimated,” says Andris Sprūds, Latvia’s defence minister. “It has its vulnerabilities.”

Although Zelenskyy’s victory plan restated old objectives, its real significance is that it shifts Ukraine’s war aims from total liberation to bending the war in Kyiv’s favour, says the senior Ukrainian official.

“It’s an attempt to change the trajectory of the war and bring Russia to the table. Zelenskyy really believes in it.”

Much more at the link.

This is simply the latest Western appeasement plan to postpone necessary action to stop Russian aggression and hope to push the even greater catastrophe to the next administration. All these “peacemakers” can then act shocked when Putin attacks again, as in 2008, 2014, and 2022.

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 1, 2024

The Desna River, Chernihiv Oblast:

From The Guardian:

Serhiy Kraskov picked up a twig and poked at a small fish floating in the Desna River. “It’s a roach. It died recently. You can tell because its eyes are clear and not blurry,” he said. Hundreds of other fish had washed up nearby on the river’s green willow-fringed banks. A large pike lay in the mud. Nearby, in a patch of yellow lilies, was a motionless carp. “Everything is dead, starting from the tiniest minnow to the biggest catfish,” Kraskov added mournfully.

Kraskov is the mayor of the village of Slabyn, in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region. The rustic settlement – population 520 – escaped the worst of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. But the war arrived last week in a new and horrible form. Ukrainian officials say the Russians deliberately poisoned the Seym River, which flows into the Desna. The Desna connects with a reservoir in the Kyiv region and a water supply used by millions.

A toxic slick was detected on 17 August coming from the Russian border village of Tyotkino. According to Kyiv, chemical waste from a sugar factory had been dumped in vast quantities into the Seym. It included ammonia, magnesium and other poisonous nitrates. At the time, fierce fighting was going on in the surrounding area. Ukraine’s armed forces had launched a surprise incursion into Russia and had seized territory in Kursk oblast.

The pollution crossed the international border just over a mile away and made its way into Ukraine’s Sumy region. The Seym’s natural ecosystem crashed. Fish, molluscs and crayfish were asphyxiated as oxygen levels fell to near zero. Settlements along the river reported mass die-offs. Kraskov got a call from the authorities warning him a disaster was coming his way. He spotted the first dead fish on 11 September. “There were a few of them in the middle of the river,” he said.

He returned the following weekend to find the Desna’s banks clogged with rotting fish, stretching out from the shore for three metres into the water. Volunteers wearing rubber boots, masks and protective gloves shovelled the fish into sacks. They found a metre-long catfish. “The stench was terrible. You could scarcely breathe. The river was quiet. Nothing moved apart from a few frogs,” Kraskov said. A tractor took the sacks to an abattoir that used to belong to the village’s Soviet-era collective farm. They were buried in a pit.

Serhiy Zhuk, the head of Chernihiv’s ecology inspectorate, described what had happened as an act of Russian ecocide. “The Desna was one of our cleanest rivers. It’s a very big catastrophe,” he said. Zhuk traced the slick’s route on a map pinned to his office wall: a looping multi-week journey along the Seym and Desna. “More than 650km is polluted. Not a single organism survived. This is unprecedented. It’s Europe’s first completely dead river,” he said.

In his view, the Kremlin was waging total war of a kind not seen since the last century. Vladimir Putin’s desire to eradicate Ukraine extended to the natural world, he suggested. “They are sending rockets through the air, burning our forests and threatening to blow us up with nuclear bombs. You can rebuild a bridge or a school. It takes longer, unfortunately, for wildlife to recover.”

As the contamination approached, Zhuk ordered the closure of Zolotyi Bank, the central beach in Chernihiv. A ban was imposed on fishing, swimming, and on using the river to water cattle or gardens. Scientists took samples, testing every 15-20km and bringing glass vials back to a laboratory. The results were hair-raising. In the city of Baturyn, a one-time Cossack capital on the Seym, oxygen content dipped to zero on 29 August. The next day it was 0.1 mg/dm³. At least 4 mg/dm³ is needed for fish to breathe.

Zhuk said it would take years for the river to recover. There was little prospect of this happening while fighting in Russia’s Kursk oblast continued, he said. Ukraine’s armed forces have blown up bridges over the Seym, adding fuel and debris to an already noxious mix. Around Chernihiv, local helpers – some in boats – collected about 44 tonnes of dead fish. “That’s what we recovered. There’s a lot more inside the river and on the bottom,” Zhuk said.

Emergency teams have used compressors to pump oxygen into the Desna, to give the remaining fish a better chance of survival. Recent rains dispersed some toxins. Zhuk was optimistic these measures would be enough to save Kyiv from the worst of the pollution. But he admitted the situation was grim. “There is a difference between a natural and man-made disaster. This was a diversionary act. Russia’s ecological genocide won’t stop until the war stops,” he said.

At the central beach, Olha Rudenko and her boyfriend Roman Svichkar strolled along the golden sands. A sign in red letters warned “Do not bathe”. “This is a huge eco-tragedy. The river smells weird,” Olha remarked. She noted that last year Russian troops blew up the Khakovka reservoir in Ukraine’s southern Kherson province, flooding villages and killing people and fish. “This is Russia again, 100%,” she said. “We used to drink water from the tap and buy fish from the market. Now we can’t.”

Svitlana Hrynchuk, Ukraine’s minister for environmental protection, said water consumption in Kyiv remained safe. Various special measures had been taken to get rid of the nitrates, she said, with 120 tonnes of cleaning agents imported and nets strung across the Desna to catch dead fish. In the Kyiv region, none had turned up. Additionally, water was routinely purified before it was extracted for household use, she said, adding: “We don’t have a fish plague.”

Hrynchuk said this latest episode was part of a dismal pattern. Russian troops had destroyed national parks in occupied areas, killed animals and mined thousands of hectares of forest. Explosions had caused wildfires, a problem exacerbated by recent hot weather. “Ukraine is fighting for its future. That future has to include nature. We need clean water, clean air, woods, everything,” she said. “We have a beautiful country. We have to save and protect it.”

Vovchansk:

Росіяне знову повернулися до своєї старої тактики “випаленої землі” та знищують місто вщент
На відео удар по житлових кварталах міста Вовчанськ(Харківщина)із застосуванням авіабомби з універсальним модулем планерування і корекції(імовірно об’ємно детонуючої авіабомби ОДАБ-1500) pic.twitter.com/hb9N3slQUk

— Мисливець за зорями (@small10space) October 1, 2024

Here’s the machine translation of the tweet.

The Russians have returned to their old “scorched earth” tactics and are razing the city to the ground
On the video, an attack on residential quarters of the city of Vovchansk (Kharkiv region) using an aerial bomb with a universal planning and correction module (presumably a volume detonating aerial bomb ODAB-1500)

Today Russian forces launched a major attack on the Kharkiv front, in the town of Vovchansk:

From the Russian side 17 MT-LB, 3 tanks and more than 100 infantry were involved in the assault operations in the Vovchan direction.

16 MT-LBs were destroyed, 1 tank was knocked out,… pic.twitter.com/XOdOUZm3FT

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) September 30, 2024

Today Russian forces launched a major attack on the Kharkiv front, in the town of Vovchansk:

From the Russian side 17 MT-LB, 3 tanks and more than 100 infantry were involved in the assault operations in the Vovchan direction.

16 MT-LBs were destroyed, 1 tank was knocked out, which was able to retreat together with survivors.

As said by Ukrainian soldier: “The boys confidently met Russian armor in the Vovchansk front, as I said, the units were ready for this, so they worked confidently.

In addition to the destroyed iron, there are a lot of corpses lying around them, since almost all the boxes were with infantry.”

https://t.me/BaluHub777/14990

Vuhledar:

Vuhledar… over 900 days of extraordinary heroism in defense of the ruins of a pretty small town, formerly home to many coal miners of Donbas.

It comes down in history as one of the most horrific graveyards of several Russian brigades and hundreds of Russian armored vehicles… pic.twitter.com/mTYqlm6WtS

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 1, 2024

Vuhledar… over 900 days of extraordinary heroism in defense of the ruins of a pretty small town, formerly home to many coal miners of Donbas.

It comes down in history as one of the most horrific graveyards of several Russian brigades and hundreds of Russian armored vehicles and one of the greatest Ukrainian fortresses of this war, the place of true valor of the outnumbered and outgunned — one of so many.

“The Russian “Yug (South)” Operational Grouping has almost encircled Vuhledar. The loss of Vuhledar may force the Ukrainian “Tavriya” OSG to retreat 10-15 km westward, with its southern flank anchored on Velyka Novosilka and its northern flank on Kurakhove, unless the enemy… https://t.co/Xo1SREFG2i

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 1, 2024

“The Russian “Yug (South)” Operational Grouping has almost encircled Vuhledar. The loss of Vuhledar may force the Ukrainian “Tavriya” OSG to retreat 10-15 km westward, with its southern flank anchored on Velyka Novosilka and its northern flank on Kurakhove, unless the enemy seizes it first.” —
@defence_centre

Russian forces have entered the longtime stronghold of Vuhledar from the west and south, reports @Deepstate_UA. Russian sources have published videos showing the shelling of the central part of the city where the Ukrainian forces are holding out, and the movement of their… https://t.co/275H5HrjBJ

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 1, 2024

Russian forces have entered the longtime stronghold of Vuhledar from the west and south, reports
@Deepstate_UA. Russian sources have published videos showing the shelling of the central part of the city where the Ukrainian forces are holding out, and the movement of their infantry in the city and in high-rise buildings. The Russians have staked their tricolor over the western part of the city.

Here’s the machine translation of the quoted tweet:

😕 Today the bastards publish not only the shelling of the central part of the city, where the Defense Forces continue to resist, but also the movement of their infantry in the city and in the middle of high-rise buildings. In the western part of the city, katsaps hung their rags.

More from Kherson:

WARNING!! WARNING!! GRAPHIC CONTENT!! WARNING!! WARNING!!

Meanwhile, Russians shelled a grocery market in downtown Kherson this morning.

It was done in the busiest hours when so many people came over to buy food for their families… and then Russian artillery fired.

At least 7 confirmed dead as of now. pic.twitter.com/sSaqvdlQ6Y

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 1, 2024

ALL CLEAR!!

Zaporizhzhia:

Russians launched an airstrike with guided bombs on residential building in Zaporizhzhia. pic.twitter.com/kmkSUYG0NV

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 1, 2024

Zaporizhzhia today 💔 so many injured including small kids. why russians are so unhinged in their evilness? pic.twitter.com/46aa7atTmM

— вареничок.eristavi 🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈 (@maksymeristavi) October 1, 2024

With the US still denying Ukraine the capability to strike Russian jets that are raining glide bombs on Ukrainian cities, Russians utilize this carte-blanche to further punish the country’s civilian population.

Russian aerial bomb targets residential Zaporizhzhia. pic.twitter.com/d9ooeNV1j1

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) October 1, 2024

Kharkiv:

Last month, Russia carried out 53 attacks on Kharkiv, meaning the city was attacked twice almost every day.

The air raid alerts totaled 12 days.

We are still not allowed to strike back. pic.twitter.com/fswy5yZAxi

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) October 1, 2024

Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast:

Russians shelled Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, targeting residential areas.

Multiple private homes and apartment buildings were damaged and are on fire.

One ambulance driver was injured, and the emergency vehicle was damaged during the shelling. pic.twitter.com/c1aLEHfs1M

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) October 1, 2024

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets or videos, so here’s the next episode of Patron’s cartoon series.

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 951: Russia Commits More War Crimes in Kherson & PokrovskPost + Comments (6)

Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won’t Apologize for Racist Remarks (and more)

by WaterGirl|  October 1, 20243:20 pm| 99 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

There is a time machine after all!  We are back to the equivalent of “It’s just locker room talk!”.  More on that below.

Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won't Apologize for Racist Remarks 1
Bret Healy, left, a consultant for Four Directions Native Vote, Inc., speaks about voting opportunities on Native American reservations in Montana with attorney Cher Old Elk (center) during a press conference at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, Sept. 26, 2024, in Billings, Mont. Credit: AP/Matthew Brown

In the meantime, this happened yesterday.

Native Americans in Montana ask court for voting sites on reservation (Newsday)

BILLINGS, Mont. — Native Americans living on a remote Montana reservation filed a lawsuit against state and county officials Monday saying they don’t have enough places to vote in person — the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle by tribes in the United States over equal voting opportunities.

The six members of the Fort Peck Reservation want satellite voting offices in their communities for late registration and to vote before Election Day without making long drives to a county courthouse.

The legal challenge, filed in state court, comes five weeks before the presidential election in a state with a a pivotal U.S. Senate race where the Republican candidate has made derogatory comments about Native Americans.

Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship a century ago. Advocates say the right still doesn’t always bring equal access to the ballot.

Many tribal members in rural western states live in far-flung communities with limited resources and transportation. That can make it hard to reach election offices, which in some cases are located off-reservation.

The plaintiffs in the Montana lawsuit reside in two small communities near the Canada border on the Fort Peck Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. Plaintiffs’ attorney Cher Old Elk grew up in one of those communities, Frazer, Montana, where more than a third of people live below the poverty line and the per capita income is about $12,000, according to census data.

It’s a 60-mile round trip from Frazer to the election office at the courthouse in Glasgow. Old Elk says that can force prospective voters into difficult choices.

“It’s not just the gas money; it’s actually having a vehicle that runs,” she said. “Is it food on my table, or is it the gas money to find a vehicle, to find a ride, to go to Glasgow to vote?”

The lawsuit asks a state judge for an order forcing Valley and Roosevelt counties and Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to create satellite election offices in Frazer and Poplar, Montana. The offices would be open during the same hours and on the same days as the county courthouses.

The plaintiffs requested satellite election offices from the counties earlier this year, the lawsuit says. Roosevelt County officials allegedly refused, while Valley County officials said budget constraints limited them to opening a satellite voting center for just one day.

Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen said there were only two full-time employees in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office that oversees elections, so staffing a satellite office would be problematic.

A 2012 federal lawsuit in Montana sought to establish satellite election offices on the Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap reservations. It was rejected by a judge, but the ruling was later set aside by an appeals court. In 2014, tribal members in the case reached a settlement with officials in several counties.

Monday’s lawsuit said inequities continue on the Fort Peck Reservation, and that tribal members have never fully achieved equal voting since Montana was first organized as a territory in 1864 and Native Americans were excluded from its elections. Native voters in subsequent years continued to face barriers to registering and were sometimes stricken from voter rolls.

“Equal means equal,” said Bret Healy, an expert witness for the plaintiffs who was also involved in the 2012 Montana case. “It is substantively, mathematically and logically not equal if there’s not a satellite office on the Indian Reservation.”

Tester on The Last Word about 3 months ago.  Take a minute to listen.  He would have my vote!

A few clips of them sparring in last night’s debate. Is it wrong that I want to wipe that snug look off of Sheehy’s face?

Angel matches, as of this afternoon:

We have a match for the first $1,000 of matching donations for Four Directions Montana / Jon Tester.

We have a NEW $1,000 Angel match to keep us going on Field Operations for the Osborn Nebraska senate race.

We have $1,250 left on the Angel match for AZ Candidates.

For all of these, matching up to $100 per person when you tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to WaterGirl.

AZ Supreme Court fundraising is complete!

All of today’s angels are anonymous!  Donations up to $100 per person for each thermometer with an angel match.  To be matched tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to WaterGirl.

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Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won’t Apologize for Racist Remarks (and more)Post + Comments (99)

Same As It Ever Was Open Thread

by Rose Judson|  October 1, 20242:07 pm| 105 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Our local Dems Abroad chair asked the group chat if any of us would be staying up to watch the VP debate tonight. I’d rather eat scabs than voluntarily listen to JD Vance, frankly.

I run a lot (I’m very slow, but it makes me feel great, mentally). There’s a terrific, well-maintained canal network around here which has good, broad running or cycling paths. Along with the usual ducks and geese, I get to see lots of herons, swans, moorhens, and once, this summer, I even saw a kingfisher. I also enjoy the local canalboats:

and you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large water mobile

[image or embed]

— Rose Judson (@rosejudson.bsky.social) September 30, 2024 at 6:11 PM

I applied for a mortgage today (the first in my own name! adulting!), so I am fried. I owe y’all an update on US vs. Google Ads now that testimony has wrapped. Probably Thursday. It’s not going great for Google, based on what I’ve read so far. I love that for them.

Whatcha got? Any good boat names? Open thread.

Same As It Ever Was Open ThreadPost + Comments (105)

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