Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Fuck the Fucking Washington Post, Too.

by WaterGirl| May 25, 20241:45 pm| 136 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Corruption

The aristocracy sucks. They buried this for fellow aristocrats Alito and his wife.

The Washington Post admits that it has known about the upside-down American flag at Alito’s house for THREE YEARS but decided not to publish the fact. WaPo claims it was unclear if the flag display was related to politics. Stunning. And lame. (Gift link) https://t.co/J1tZKRneuK pic.twitter.com/UxevZbtLlB

— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) May 25, 2024

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Washington Post (gift link)

The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told a Washington Post reporter in January 2021 that an upside-down American flag recently flown on their flagpole was “an international signal of distress” and indicated that it had been raised in response to a neighborhood dispute.

Martha-Ann Alito made the comments when the reporter went to the couple’s Fairfax County, Va., home to follow up on a tip about the flag, which was no longer flying when he arrived.The incident documented by reporter Robert Barnes, who covered the Supreme Court for The Post for 17 years and retired last year, offers fresh details about the raising of the flag and the first account of comments about it by the justice’s wife.

The Post decided not to report on the episode at the time because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha-Ann Alito, rather than the justice, and connected to a dispute with her neighbors, a Post spokeswoman said. It was not clear then that the argument was rooted in politics, the spokeswoman said.

The upside-down flag has long been a sign of distress for the military and protest by various political factions. In the fraught weeks before and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, it had also been adopted by supporters of the “Stop the Steal” movement, which embraced Donald Trump’s false claims that Joe Biden stole the election from him. Some of the rioters who participated in the attack had carried upside-down American flags with them.

h/t Steeplejack

I am beyond angry. I don’t read the comments on articles, but there are 3,500 of them. I hope the Washington Post is being destroyed in the comments. Or maybe that should just read: I hope the Washington Post is being destroyed. Period.

What is the point of the national news media if they bury the news?

Open thread.

Fuck the Fucking Washington Post, Too.Post + Comments (136)

George Floyd, Definitely Not Forgotten

by WaterGirl| May 25, 202412:20 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

George Floyd: Two Years Ago Today — MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 01: A memorial site where George Floyd died May 25 while in police custody, on June 1, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. George’s brother Terrence Floyd visited the site today and called for justice and the prosecution of all four officers involved in the incident. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Four years ago today. We all know what happened that day. I don’t know whether anything has really changed. Is it safer to be black in America? I’m gonna say ‘no’ to that. Did the protests make a difference? You tell me.

Trayvon Martin was murdered 12 years ago. I don’t think I was clueless before that, but what happened to him opened my eyes in a new way. Once you see that it’s open season, particularly on black and men and boys, you can’t unsee it. There’s no going back.

George Floyd was that, taken to infinity.

I am still not over the injustice and the horror of what was done to George Floyd that day. Damn, it’s hard to see what you’re typing when you are crying.

Let’s remember George Floyd today. And not in the gross “tributes to Sept 11” on the anniversary sort of way.

George Floyd, Definitely Not ForgottenPost + Comments (42)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Entertainment Notes

by Anne Laurie| May 25, 20247:58 am| 163 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Movies, Open Threads, Popular Culture

What will win the Palme d'Or? Cannes closes Saturday with awards and a tribute to George Lucas https://t.co/ZE9ETlOX8E

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 25, 2024

The world has indeed changed, because I can remember a Cannes Festival era when the phrase “a tribute to George Lucas” would’ve caused actual physical violence to break out amongst the judges…

The 77th Cannes Film Festival draws to a close Saturday with the presentation of its top award, the Palme d’Or, along with an honorary tribute for George Lucas.

The closing ceremony is set to begin at 6:45 p.m. local time, 12:45 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. It will be streamed live on Brut internationally and air on France 2 within France…

During the brief awards ceremony, Lucas will be given an honorary Palme d’Or. During the festival, Cannes gave the same tribute to Meryl Streep and the Japanese anime factory Studio Ghibli.

The real stars of Cannes may be the dogs https://t.co/s6jizpg1no

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 23, 2024

Me, I’d give an award to Xin, just on general principles…

… Swiss comedy “Dog on Trial” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section, directed by and starring Laetitia Dosch. Based on a real case, the French-language film tells the story of a defense lawyer who takes on Cosmos, an aggressive dog facing legal action, as a client.

The titular dog is played by Kodi, a griffon, who Dosch says is really the star of the movie. It was important to her that Kodi had his name on the credits and the film poster and would be by her side in Cannes. A comedy-drama with a feminist outlook, “Dog on Trial” is about exploitation, Dosch says — and she has an offbeat theory as to what women and dogs have in common.

“Dogs come from wolves and we have been sculpting dogs for 40,000 years to become our perfect friends full of love,” she explains in an interview. “We castrate them also, so they can be peaceful all of the time, so we manipulate them to fit and to be exactly what we need. So, if I replace the word ‘dog’ by ‘women’ and I say the same sentence, it also makes sense.”

Kodi, however, did not get the memo. He spent the interview humping Dosch’s leg and licking her face, sending her earring cascading through the slatted flooring and earning him an eviction from the interview. He was kept away from subsequent red carpet appearances…

Also competing in Un Certain Regard — which curates a lineup of original and daring films — is another dog-centered drama, “Gou Zhen” (“Black Dog”) from the Chinese director Guan Hu. In it, Taiwanese superstar Eddie Peng plays Lang, who’s charged with removing stray dogs from his hometown on government orders ahead of the Olympic Games. One particular dog has a profound impact on Lang — and, as it turns out, on the actor himself.

Peng built up such a bond with his canine co-star Xin, a Jack Russell-greyhound cross, that he adopted her after filming ended and credits her for changing his outlook on life.

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“They act truthfully,” Peng says of dogs, on a stroll around the Cannes harborfront with Xin, who accompanied him to France. “They don’t, you know, they don’t put on the mask. They don’t care about who you are or whether you’re famous or not, how much money you make.”

When he comes home, she jumps up like it’s the happiest moment of her entire life: “I think that’s something that we all need to learn from.”

She’s also changed the way he approaches acting, abandoning much backstory and preparation.

“Animals are just so present, you know. It will be so obvious somehow, if you are overacting,” he says.

The “jury of reporters”, however, preferred the scruffy leg-humper:

Palm Dog: Kodi, star of 'Dog on Trial,' is the top dog of Cannes https://t.co/IY9FSbQmjP

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 24, 2024

Elsewhere…

Get an exclusive first look at Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's 'Time Bandits' TV show starring Lisa Kudrow. https://t.co/t1V5KKFkro

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 20, 2024

As an OG Time Bandits fan, I have to admit to a mild case of Hairy Eyeball here:

… Waititi and Clement created the series with Iain Morris, and when it debuts July 24, it will follow an 11-year-old history geek named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) as he journeys through the centuries with a ragtag group of thieves.

Waititi and Clement tell EW that they’re both major fans of the original film, which starred Gilliam’s Monty Python costars John Cleese and Michael Palin, as well as Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and Ian Holm. The longtime friends and collaborators remember seeing the original Time Bandits as young kids and getting hooked on its chaotic and darkly comedic tone…

The new Time Bandits reimagines the classic story over 10 episodes, following Kevin as he falls in with a group of marauders led by Lisa Kudrow’s Penelope. Waititi specifically says he’s wanted to work with Kudrow for years, and he and Clement have long admired her work from afar, particularly in HBO’s The Comeback.

“I just love Lisa Kudrow and thought it’d be awesome to see her leading a band of idiots through time,” Waititi explains…

That bigger budget also means that the show gets to travel throughout space and time — with a story stretching literally thousands of years. “There’s some you’d expect and some you wouldn’t perhaps,” Clement teases. “We go from prehistoric dinosaur times to the ‘90s. There are some medieval places like medieval England and medieval Africa. And we go the Ice Age. That’s a fun one.”

Time Bandits will premiere Wednesday, July 24, on Apple TV+.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to think so?…

Two hours of Blanc calling AG Sulzberger stupid. Sign me up.

— The Ghost Of Wade Boggs Goes Back To College (@ThGrsshpprUnt) May 24, 2024

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Entertainment NotesPost + Comments (163)

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: CRASHING

by Anne Laurie| May 25, 20244:35 am| 107 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Tech News & Issues, Schadenfreude

finally saw one in the wild. a beautiful vehicle, photos don't do it justice pic.twitter.com/JQyQNEfuDe

— Rob DenBleyker (@RobDenBleyker) May 18, 2024

I finally saw my first Cybertruck today and it didn't disappoint. Looked like an enormous version of one of those old VHS-tape rewinders, both driver and passenger looked uncomfortable, stain on the door. It's not in the way he intended, but this is absolutely Elon: The Car. A masterpiece.

— David_j_roth (@davidjroth.bsky.social) May 19, 2024 at 11:07 PM

Have you seen a Cybertruck yet? https://t.co/frRfYzC3B2

— Defector (@DefectorMedia) May 21, 2024

… The experience was not any less startling or unsettling for how ready I considered myself to be for it. I had read about the Cybertruck for some time, and watched numerous videos of Cybertrucks doing rudimentary four-wheel-drive shit with the sort of dexterity and confidence generally associated with concepts like “George C. Scott’s first capoeira class” or “Robocop doing burpees.” I have also been following Elon Musk’s uncanny transformation into the single most unfortunate middle-aged outcome for the Butt-Head character from Beavis And Butt-Head. I knew that his pretty vile company had made him very rich, and I also knew that despite some duffed hagiography and thanks mostly to his world-historic dedication to showing his ass, Musk himself is now most famous as a wrecker and creep, and also that the cars he makes, the Cybertruck in particular, extremely do not work. I knew what he was like, and I knew that this dorky truck was his passion project. This would seem like pretty good preparation for seeing his latest vehicle, but I can tell you that it absolutely was not.

… The Cybertruck was made to not look like other cars and trucks, which is a statement that would scan as a compliment if you had not seen a Cybertruck. The Cybertruck is mostly but not entirely car-shaped. It is stiff and very gray and looks like home electronics looked when Bill Clinton was president; it is both too jankily long and too upright for its amusingly normal-sized tires, in a way that makes them look like small, cheap dress shoes. There is a lot of vertical space serving no evident purpose, and the vehicle is somehow imposing and goofy in exactly equal measure. It looks like if Hot Wheels made a VHS rewinder, or like what the cars would look like in a version of Freejack in which a circa-now Rob Schneider was the star. Imagine a neckroll-equipped NFL fullback from 1995 who gets himself onto a frankly risky steroid program and simultaneously stops working out and you are maybe some of the way there in terms of the proportion.

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And I knew all this, or thought I knew it. But I was not ready for how it would feel, how it would seem. I knew that this vehicle was a boondoggle—that Tesla can barely manage to manufacture it at all, let alone properly, and that it will power all the way down like a stressed-out C-3PO if run through a car wash and ages like brass if left out overnight in the rain. Through an episode of the What A Time To Be Alive podcast, I was caught up on the astonishingly grim Cybertruck Owners Club Forum, which is surely one of the best places on the internet to find adult men posting things like, “I just want to thank Mr. Musk for creating a car door that’s both heavy and sharp enough to sever my leg below the knee, which mine did, and which was both entirely my fault and an experience for which I am very grateful.” I have heard friends tell me about how stricken the Tech Alphas they’d seen driving one of the few Cybertrucks currently on the road—no less sympathetic a source than the Cybertruck Owners Club forum put that number under 4,000 last month—had seemed when they realized that the effect on observers was less Driving The Future and more Tentatively Doing Errands From Within A Super Nintendo. I can confirm all this, but I can also confirm that is insufficient.

What I can tell you is this: I saw my first Cybertruck stop at a red light near the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan on Sunday, and this car sucked in a way that had strangers on the sidewalk making Oh brother faces at each other. I could not have been better prepared to encounter this vehicle, and yet I was not prepared at all. It is one thing to have an image in your mind that roughly corresponds to “Albert Pyun‘s Homercar: 2049” and quite another to watch that actual vehicle turn, seemingly on drunken tiptoe, onto Columbus Avenue. It is an experience that everyone should have, I think. The stupid, tacky future that our culture’s reigning mediocrities are making every day can feel abstract and almost poignant when encountered through a screen—a thing that no one but them wants, and which does not work very well, trying and failing to seem like progress. It is much more useful, I think, to see how ridiculous—how gaudy and cheap and patently unwantable—that future looks trying to navigate the world in which everyone else is trying to live.

The Cybertruck is out there, workin' hard to prove it can carry a load of manure. https://t.co/cwkjaegsqe

— jill kent (@JillaneKent) May 20, 2024

When you peel off the decal https://t.co/yhoinuabh7 pic.twitter.com/rYPd8SEt86

— zeddy (@Zeddary) May 8, 2024

The second real carmakers get serious about EVs, combined with Elmo doubling down on the Apartheid Clyde persona, they might just be in trouble. https://t.co/wnLAbln0hK

— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) May 22, 2024

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: CRASHINGPost + Comments (107)

Giant Babies or Freaking Snowflakes? You Decide.

by WaterGirl| May 24, 202410:35 pm| 92 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

Righteous rant from Jared Moskowitz. Very fun! I love that this guy is in the House.

Moskowitz: All McGovern did was state the facts about the charges, and they were like, ‘Take his words down!’ Totally pathetic. These aren’t the tough people that they say are. Donald Trump’s the tough guy? Garbage. He’s a giant baby defended by giant babies. pic.twitter.com/3yyimANlPA

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 24, 2024

Open thread.

Giant Babies or Freaking Snowflakes? You Decide.Post + Comments (92)

War for Ukraine Day 821: The Russian Bombardments Continue as Putin Announces His Terms

by Adam L Silverman| May 24, 20249:10 pm| 40 Comments

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

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

A quick housekeeping note. First, Rosie is still doing well. Just minimal/mild systemic side effects from her chemo treatment last Monday. Second, the issue with embedding tweets appears to be that up through Thursday I could still use the twitter.com URLs. Now, they all resolve to x.com URLs. If I go back to Thursday’s post and copy and paste those twitter.com URLs, they’ll still embed. Cole has come up with a workaround, which is to use the embed code and text mode for drafting, so we’re going to go with that and see how well it works until WordPress catches up to the changes. Please note, I have never done a post using the text versus the visual editor, so if spacing is wrong, it’s wrong because of that.

This is part of the cost of Russia’s renewed bombardments!

Her name was Zlata. She was just four.
🇷🇺 missile killed her in Odesa. #RussialsATerroristState #StandWithUkraine https://t.co/9mmxrAtxTD

— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) May 24, 2024

“They want the world to see that each number in this war represents real faces, not statistics,” wrote the photographers who captured this image of a grieving family mourning Anzhelika, who, with her unborn child, died in a russian missile attack on Kharkiv. Increasingly,… pic.twitter.com/Y37gaB99yl

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 24, 2024

“They want the world to see that each number in this war represents real faces, not statistics,” wrote the photographers who captured this image of a grieving family mourning Anzhelika, who, with her unborn child, died in a russian missile attack on Kharkiv. Increasingly, however, it feels like the world is watching russia’s war in Ukraine as if it were a movie unfolding in real time, passively consuming the horror and allowing the violence to continue. A distinct vibe of the Black Mirror.

📷Libkos/IG

This is the diary of 🇺🇦writer Vakulenko. His body was found in a massive grave in Izym in 2022. This dairy was found by 🇺🇦writer Victoria Amelina. She died after the shelling of Kramatorsk in 2023.The Kharkiv factory that printed this book was destroyed by Russian shelling today pic.twitter.com/PGicMlZpqw

— Kristina Berdynskykh (@berdynskykh_k) May 23, 2024

The Russians were bombarding Kharkiv as recently as an hour ago:

Not “an explosion,” but explosions..

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 24, 2024

Sumy Oblast is also still under the gun:

Жителі Сумщини продовжують евакуюватися з прикордонних населених пунктів.
Зокрема сьогодні мешканці Білопілля скористалися допомогою рятувальників, аби евакуаційним транспортом дістатися до безпечнішого місця.
Людей підтримують психологи ДСНС.
Тримаймося! pic.twitter.com/P6dzMHsZIY

— DSNS.GOV.UA (@SESU_UA) May 24, 2024

Here’s the machine translation:

Residents of Sumy Oblast continue to evacuate from border settlements.
In particular, today the residents of Bilopil took the help of rescuers to get to a safer place by evacuation transport.
People are supported by psychologists of the State Emergency Service.
Let’s hold on!

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

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Putin Not Only Wants to Disrupt the Peace Summit, but He Is Also Afraid of What the Summit Can Bring – Address by the President

24 May 2024 – 21:00

Dear Ukrainians!

It has been a long day. This morning, I was in Kharkiv. I visited the site of a Russian missile strike on one of the largest Ukrainian publishing complexes. It’s absolutely terrible – people were killed. My condolences to the families and friends. Many people were injured. Also, books were burnt by the strike, and equipment was destroyed. The destruction of this printing facility alone resulted in the loss of about a third of the annual book production in the country. Russian terror constantly proves that its goal is the complete destruction of Ukraine and all life here on our land, of everything that lets people be human. We will do everything to defend our state and to hold the Russian evil accountable for what it has done. Today, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the authorities of the Kharkiv region have received all the necessary instructions to help restore the work of the printing facility in Kharkiv. The industry also needs support at the state level. And please – if you have the opportunity – be sure to support our Ukrainian book publishers and Ukrainian authors. This is important. The terrorists will definitely get our response to this attack.

I held a security meeting in Kharkiv with reports from the military, heads of special services, regional and city authorities. Now our warriors have managed to take combat control of the border area, where the Russian occupiers have entered. And I am grateful to each unit that ensures the necessary results of destroying the occupier. Today we also discussed our next tasks, taking into account the information from the intelligence. Putin not only wants to disrupt the Peace Summit, and tries to do a lot for this purpose, but he is also afraid of what the Summit can bring. The world is capable of forcing Russia into peace and into compliance with international security norms. Russia has nothing to oppose the world majority: despite all of Putin’s lies, he depends on his environment – in the broad sense of this word. He also depends on the international environment. No one in the world is interested in this war, except the aggressor, and everyone is actually aware of this. The Peace Summit is a format that will not allow Putin to lie anymore. And without his lies, he is absolutely nothing. And I thank everyone in the world who is helping us organize the Summit and who is showing their leadership to bring real peace closer.

Today I spoke with the President of Côte d’Ivoire and invited him to the Peace Summit, and I am grateful for his willingness to participate. I also met today with the Marshal of the Senate of Poland – I thanked her for the support, told her about the situation in Ukraine and, of course, we discussed our preparations for the Summit. I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine and a real honest peace!

I thank everyone who fights and works for our country and people!

Glory to Ukraine!

Why are Russian “sources” suddenly telling the media that Putin is willing to halt the war at the current battle lines? It’s simple.

Putin is desperately trying to derail the Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15–16. He is scared of its success. His entourage sends these phony…

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 24, 2024

Why are Russian “sources” suddenly telling the media that Putin is willing to halt the war at the current battle lines? It’s simple.

Putin is desperately trying to derail the Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15–16. He is scared of its success. His entourage sends these phony signals of alleged readiness for a cease-fire despite the fact that Russian troops continue to brutally attack Ukraine while their missiles and drones rain down on Ukrainian cities and communities.

Putin currently has no desire to end his aggression against Ukraine. Only the principled and united voice of the global majority can force him to choose peace over war. This is what the Peace Summit is intended to achieve. This is why he is so afraid of it.

And this is why it is critical to have as many leaders as possible from all continents and parts of the world present. When the entire world speaks out in support of restoring the full force of the UN Charter and international law, Russia will be forced to choose peace.

Reuters has the details of what Putin is actually offering:

MOSCOW/LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond.

Three of the sources, familiar with discussions in Putin’s entourage, said the veteran Russian leader had expressed frustration to a small group of advisers about what he views as Western-backed attempts to stymie negotiations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to rule out talks.
“Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire – to freeze the war,” said another of the four, a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and has knowledge of top level conversations in the Kremlin.

He, like the others cited in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity given the matter’s sensitivity.
For this account, Reuters spoke to a total of five people who work with or have worked with Putin at a senior level in the political and business worlds. The fifth source did not comment on freezing the war at the current frontlines.

Asked about the Reuters report at a news conference in Belarus on Friday, Putin said peace talks should restart.

“Let them resume,” he said, adding that negotiations should be based on “the realities on the ground” and on a plan agreed during a previous attempt to reach a deal in the first weeks of the war. “Not on the basis of what one side wants,” he said.

More at the link.

This all part of the subversion line of effort of Putin and Russia’s genocidal re-invasion of Ukraine. Which is why Yanukovych is part of Putin’s entourage in Belarus.

Update:https://t.co/cSafDiwDF8

— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) May 24, 2024

And we have an update regarding Yanukovych and how Putin handled him in 2014:

Disturbing to find out, 10 years later, that the FSB were secretly informed about Yanukovych being on the verge of signing the EU agreement, and that “the Maidan will not dissipate that easily”, by none other than an actual Member of European Parliament. Shortly thereafter the… https://t.co/gNIDsbGs46 pic.twitter.com/bg1ZE7w2rH

— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) May 24, 2024

From The Insider:

Accused of working with the Russian security services, Latvian MEP Tatjana Ždanoka mockingly donned sunglasses at a press conference — as if in a spy movie. The accusations won’t be laughed off that easily: Re:Baltica has obtained almost 19,000 of Ždanoka’s e-mails detailing how she served the Kremlin.

By the end of January 2014, Kyiv was simmering with unrest in the wake of President Viktor Yanukovych’s about-face on a key issue that helped win him the election four years earlier. Bowing to Kremlin pressure, he’d decided against signing an association agreement with the European Union, a stepping stone for Ukraine’s greater integration with the West. Protestors swarmed and occupied the Maidan, Kyiv’s central square, demanding Yanukovych make good on his promise.

He didn’t.

On 16 January, the president signed a group of laws limiting people’s freedoms to hold protest rallies, thus prompting outpourings of anger that led to the first Ukrainian casualties in clashes with the security police.

On 28 January, the European Parliament (EP) dispatched an emergency fact-finding delegation. Several members of the body met with Yanukovych, Ukrainian opposition groups, and church leaders. Upon their return 48 hours later, on January 30, the delegation briefed their colleagues in Strasbourg, who adopted a resolution calling on the government to stop street repressions and release detained protestors and political prisoners.

Tatjana Ždanoka, an MEP from Latvia, was one of the delegates sent to Kyiv. But she did not report her findings to other legislators from the European Parliament. Instead, she sent a confidential report to her FSB handler Sergey Beltyukov, stating her view that anti-Yanukovych demonstrators, already two months in, were unlikely to disband in the near future. Three days before the trip to Kyiv, Ždanoka traveled to St. Petersburg and met Beltyukov, who had waited for her at the airport.

“My impressions are contradictory,” Ždanoka wrote to Beltyukov at his burner email account on February 6. “Yanukovych is too cunning to be unraveled in the course of a 1.5-hour conversation. But the feeling is that he is ready for a forceful scenario… On the other hand, some observers are inclined to believe that Yanukovych will sign a treaty with the EU very soon, getting maximum bonuses from all sides. He looked quite cheerful, calm and confident in his meeting with us on Monday. I thought he should have been more confused… [A]s far as the Maidan is concerned — where we walked on Sunday late in the evening, my feelings are mixed: some mixture of farce, drama, horror and comedy (with a preponderance of the third component in this list). It’s not going to all dissipate that easily.”

The same day, Beltyukov replied succinctly: “Thank you!!!”

It is not clear what Beltyukov, an officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), did with this private intelligence report from a member of the European Parliament (MEP), nor what role it may have played in shaping the Kremlin’s measures in the following days. However, two weeks later the FSB dispatched its own delegation to Kyiv, led by Sergey Beseda, the head of the organization’s Fifth Service, its foreign intelligence arm. Their mission was to pressure Yanukovych not to entertain an accommodation with the protesters, but rather to crack down harder on them. The following evening would see the bloodiest hours of Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution, with at least 21 protesters killed by snipers. By the end of February 2014, the embattled Ukrainian president would defect to Russia, and Russia would mount a stealth invasion and seizure of Crimea, kick-starting a war that, through periods of intensification and lulls, continues to the present day.

In January, The Insider, along with its investigative partner Re:Baltica, reported that Ždanoka, whose pro-Russian sentiments were hardly secret to begin with, had been an agent of the FSB for the better part of a decade. Those findings were based on a small tranche of emails of her correspondence with Beltyukov and another FSB handler. In response to our story, the European Parliament opened an inquiry that ultimately led to “sanctions” in the amount of €1,750 to be placed on Ždanoka. Her activities as an MEP were also limited. A Latvian State Security Service (VDD) investigation is ongoing.

The Insider and Re:Baltica can now reveal more of Ždanoka’s connivance with Russian intelligence, based on an even larger tranche of her correspondence with Putin’s spies. Specifically, Ždanoka corresponded with Beltyukov from 2013 until 2017, according to the almost 19,000 emails The Insider and Re:Baltica have examined. She also communicated with another FSB case officer, Dmitry Gladey, her longtime contact and first handler from the Fifth Service.

Much, much, much more at the link!

Here’s Illia Ponomarenko’s take:

I am absolutely convinced that Putin indeed wants a ceasefire to just stop at where he is in Ukraine and freeze the war — because he’s doing just fine, Kharkiv is about to fall, Odesa and Kyiv is next, Ukraine is doomed, he and Russia are as strong as never before, and Western…

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 24, 2024

I am absolutely convinced that Putin indeed wants a ceasefire to just stop at where he is in Ukraine and freeze the war — because he’s doing just fine, Kharkiv is about to fall, Odesa and Kyiv is next, Ukraine is doomed, he and Russia are as strong as never before, and Western aid makes no difference here.

It’s definitely not because he needs a comfortable pause in hostilities to regroup and give its military production to recoup the gigantic losses he sustains in Ukraine — and then attack again in a much better shape to crush and occupy the whole of Ukraine finally.

It’s not that Putin’s military is still spending months to seize several desolated towns in Ukraine’s east, despite the gargantuan resources allocated for a total war that lasts more than two years.

Putin is surely sending us a complex message of peace and goodwill that we just don’t fully understand yet.

I mean, he’s a man of his word, so this is definitely a genuine chance to de-escalate if we keep our minds open for a different view, as well as for Vladimir Putin’s legitimate security concerns we should be respectful towards.

Speaking of Putin’s subversion campaign.

Sweden:

Sure sounds more like an op than burglars.

— Aki Heikkinen (@akihheikkinen) May 24, 2024

Germany:

Germany has delivered another IRIS-T air defense system to Ukraine, which arrived today.

Modern air defense systems are crucial in saving the lives of the Ukrainian people from russian terror.

We express our deep gratitude to our German partners for their unwavering support!… https://t.co/5GGm6uzpcV

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 24, 2024

Germany has delivered another IRIS-T air defense system to Ukraine, which arrived today.

Modern air defense systems are crucial in saving the lives of the Ukrainian people from russian terror.

We express our deep gratitude to our German partners for their unwavering support!
🇺🇦🤝🇩🇪

According to SPIEGEL, Germany handed over the fourth IRIS-T SLM air defence system to #Ukraine today. The air defence system was originally announced for April, while the delivery was later postponed to May. Eight more have been announced for the future.

Additional aid from… pic.twitter.com/3cw6hJ5B4A

— German Aid to Ukraine 🇩🇪🤝🇺🇦 (@deaidua) May 24, 2024

We are grateful to our German friends for another military aid package for Ukraine, which includes:
◾️10 Leopard 1A5 tanks
◾️20 MG3 for Leopard 2, Marder and Dachs
◾️8,500 rounds 155mm ammunition
◾️20 Vector reconnaissance drones
◾️34 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance drones
◾️1… pic.twitter.com/1fPdSPRNgq

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 24, 2024

We are grateful to our German friends for another military aid package for Ukraine, which includes:
◾️10 Leopard 1A5 tanks
◾️20 MG3 for Leopard 2, Marder and Dachs
◾️8,500 rounds 155mm ammunition
◾️20 Vector reconnaissance drones
◾️34 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance drones
◾️1 Beaver bridge-laying tank
◾️1 Dachs armored engineer vehicle
◾️1 Bergepanzer 2 armored recovery vehicle
◾️4 Wisent 1 mine clearing tanks
◾️2 mine ploughs
◾️400 LED lamps
◾️16 Zetros tankers
◾️540 MK 556 assault rifles
◾️80 HLR 338 precision rifles with 60,000 rounds ammunition
◾️111 CR 308 rifles
◾️1.8 million rounds of ammunition for fire arms

Vielen Dank!
Together, we are stronger!
🇺🇦🤝🇩🇪
@BMVg_Bundeswehr

The US:

Today, @DeptofDefense announced a new security assistance package valued at $275 million to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs.

The capabilities in this announcement include:
* Ammunition for HIMARS;
* 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
* 60mm mortar rounds;
*… pic.twitter.com/DFLAao7RA4

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 24, 2024

Today,
@DeptofDefense
announced a new security assistance package valued at $275 million to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs.

The capabilities in this announcement include:
* Ammunition for HIMARS;
* 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
* 60mm mortar rounds;
* Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
* Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
* Precision aerial munitions;
* Small arms and additional rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades;
* Demolitions munitions;
* Anti-armor mines;
* Tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
* Helmets, body armor, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear protective equipment; and
* Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.

We are grateful to our 🇺🇸 partners for their unwavering support!
Together, we will win.

Hungary:

Orbán holds up Ukraine arms funding from frozen Russian assets, crippling efforts to rush the cash to Kyiv

“For the time being they are blocking everything connected to the military support to Ukraine”

https://t.co/5VcTTXZcjK @ft @paolatamma @AndyBounds @senoj_erialc

— Henry Foy (@HenryJFoy) May 24, 2024

Moscow:

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree outlining the procedure for Russia to seize US assets if the US moves forward with giving proceeds from Russia’s state assets to Ukraine.

There aren’t many US state assets Russia can get hold of, so it’s likely investors are the ones at risk. pic.twitter.com/JV5CMEsns8

— max seddon (@maxseddon) May 23, 2024

Kharkiv:

Kharkiv.

The sound you hear from inside the black bag is an incoming call that will never be answered because additional Patriots were not delivered to Ukraine on time.

Deliver them now. I urge everyone who can influence leaders of their countries to make their calls today. pic.twitter.com/mj1J8HqgCW

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 23, 2024

Overnight, russian troops hit a railroad facility in Kharkiv with a glide bomb, Ukrzaliznytsia reported, publishing photos of the aftermath. pic.twitter.com/XP1WZGc94X

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 24, 2024

Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Most epic video of ATACMS destroying Russian S-400 in occupied Donetsk region. Imagine how different the situation would be if Ukraine were allowed to do the same in Belgorod. pic.twitter.com/9Q2L1BbkPT

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 24, 2024

The Avdiivka front:

Full video including destruction of the first Bradley. pic.twitter.com/kRADaEj94V

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) May 24, 2024

Tatarigami has a new battlefield assessment of operations in the Donbas. From the Thread Reader App:

Donbas Area Situation Report: May 21-22

The frontline remains dynamic despite appearing static. Ukrainian forces reinforced Kharkiv to halt the Russian advance. The situation is still risky considering the thinned defenses. 🧵Thread

Before proceeding, please like and share
Image
2/ Chasiv Yar

Russia identified weak points in the Kanal quarter, deploying infantry deep but failed to establish a foothold, and assaulting forces were eliminated by Ukrainian forces. Another attempt can be more successful, as Russians have additional forces available.
Image
3/ Russian troops made minor tactical gains in the northern axis towards Chasiv Yar, from the Kalynivka area. Progress on the northern flank is still slow, despite initial efforts to reach the area quickly with a land bridge over the canal.
4/ South of Bakhmut

Russia periodically claims control of Klishchiivka, but it lies in ruins with no intact structures. It has been a grey zone for a while, which Russian tactical groups occasionally try to control but are eliminated by Ukrainian defenders on higher ground
Image
5/ The situation is marked by daily Russian assaults yielding small results. The frequent rotation of Russian forces may eventually lead to outcomes favoring them. While the area isn’t immediately threatened with capture, the situation is gradually tilting in Russia’s favor
6/ Ocheretyne

Ocheretyne has received little mention recently, our team deems it one of the most dangerous fronts presently. Russian forces have amassed troops in the area, indicating intentions for further advancement either north of Ocheretyne or northwest toward Vozdvyzhenka
Image
7/ The Solovyove area south of Ocheretyne is unstable, with Russians advancing tactically. Analysis shows that where Ukrainian artillery is scarce, Russian gains increase, indicated by reduced shelling or concentrated forces in staging areas.
8/ Krasnohorivka – Kurakhove area

Russian forces intensified assaults in Krasnohorivka with mechanized units, but gains were mostly limited. Since the Kurakhove area is well fortified, quick Russian advances are not expected. Yet, the threat of losing Krasnohorivka is high
Image
9/ Summary

Zooming out, it’s clear that Russians haven’t achieved significant operational results in this offensive yet. Despite multiple tactical successes, there is no frontline collapse. Our team observes the movements of Russian reserves, suggesting their availability
10/ With Russia having reserves and vehicles for offensive operations, we shouldn’t expect a reduction in their offensive pressure despite losses soon. Russian forces maintaining a presence in areas like near Sumy Oblast suggests the offensive hasn’t peaked yet
11/ For more comprehensive details, the full report is freely available on our website. Simply visit the site for further information:

Donbas Situation Report – May 21st
Operational and Tactical Analysis of the Situation
https://frontelligence.substack.com/p/donbas-situation-report-may-21st
12/ Thank you for taking the time to read my thread! If you enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate it if you could consider liking and sharing the first message of the thread to help boost its visibility. You can also support us via tips:

The Marinka front:

/2. Same T-90M as in the post above.

«The grenade fell not on the engine compartment, but directly on the turret, tearing open the anti drone cage and setting fire to everything on top and a little inside, which made the crew abandon the vehicle.»https://t.co/C4078RNOKC pic.twitter.com/QkpY0pDZsC

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 24, 2024

Armanvir, Krasnodar Krai, Russia:

RU early warning long range radar Voronezh-DM near Armavir (~44.925, 40.9834) was damaged in an apparently UA attack (reported today).

Based on three sources the radar does cover southern Ukraine and could allow detecting some UA ballistic missiles.https://t.co/eM7bx6tNBf pic.twitter.com/ypSkmzoaoV

— D. mojavensis 🇺🇲 🇺🇦 (@Dmojavensis) May 24, 2024

Not sure where in Ukraine this is:

FPV drone strike on a house with Russian infantrymen and, as it turned out, with an explosives storage. pic.twitter.com/fT0s1dogLC

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 24, 2024

I’ve included it because I want to use it to make an important point. Whether it’s in Ukraine or Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else, when a strike goes bad it usually goes bad for one of two reasons. The first is that the identification of the target is incorrect. As in, the person and/or facility that is identified as the target is incorrect. The other reason is that the right person and right facility have been targeted, the weaponeering has been done correctly, but as in the video above stuff that really likes to go kaboom has been stored in the facility and there’s no way for those doing the targeting to know that. In the video, it’s not that big a deal. The Ukrainians had a legitimate target in the Russian soldiers, the weapon/drone is not designed to create massive damage, so the weaponeering is right, and the house is somewhat isolated on the property, which ensures a minimization of collateral damage. So when whatever munitions the Russians were storing in that house cooked off as a result of the strike we get a really impressive video, but there’s not much collateral damage because there’s not much else around the house. If you want to know more about mitigating civilian harm, you can read the SecDef’s memo, the Action Plan, and the DOD Instruction. They’re page turners!

Armavir, Krasnodar Krai, Russia:

RU early warning long range radar Voronezh-DM near Armavir (~44.925, 40.9834) was damaged in an apparently UA attack (reported today).

Based on three sources the radar does cover southern Ukraine and could allow detecting some UA ballistic missiles.https://t.co/eM7bx6tNBf pic.twitter.com/ypSkmzoaoV

— D. mojavensis 🇺🇲 🇺🇦 (@Dmojavensis) May 24, 2024

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

First, some footage from Ukraine’s tactical goose corps. Clearly trained by the Canadians! Also, I don’t know why Ponomarenko misspelled Kyiv. Probably text to talk.

Meanwhile, the Kiev regime army unwittingly confirms the combat use of genetically modified geese bred en masse in secret American biolabs as part of an unprovoked global war of aggression against Russia. pic.twitter.com/lkKWmkR6Ru

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 24, 2024

I wear it every day pic.twitter.com/TwucUhymop

— Patron (@PatronDsns) May 23, 2024

Here’s the full text of the first tweet:

Today, I went to my merchandising office and told them I developed Herrro ammunition for dogs because dogs are heroes to their people worldwide. I asked them to arrange international shipping. It seems to be working, so if you have a dog, know that its gear can help deminers: all profits will go to my foundation.
Link: https://patronshop.com.ua/en/product/1716366771/1716366841

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 821: The Russian Bombardments Continue as Putin Announces His TermsPost + Comments (40)

Friday Evening Open Thread: Trump’s “Lead Balloon” Outreach to Arab-Americans

by Anne Laurie| May 24, 20245:47 pm| 166 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Open Threads, Trumpery

SCOOP: Some Arab Americans have given up on Biden, want to vote for Trump and even met with one of his former ambassadors. They left dissatisfied, however.

My midnight offering for @NOTUSreports 😊https://t.co/DEdzUuNBgW

— Tinashe Chingarande (@TChingarande) May 22, 2024

Tire rims and anthrax, anybody? Per Notus, “‘Like a Lead Balloon’: Trump’s ‘Shadow Secretary of State’ Meets With Arab American Leaders”:

As Arab Americans hold back their support from President Joe Biden until he changes course on the Israel-Gaza war, Donald Trump’s “shadow secretary of state” — Ric Grenell — met with Arab American leaders Tuesday night to try to convince them that the former president is a viable option for their community come November…

The meeting — which took place at chain Italian restaurant Maggiano’s in Troy, Michigan — featured about 40 Arab American leaders, Grenell, Trump’s son-in-law Michael Boulos, and Boulos’ father, Massad Boulos. According to two sources in attendance for the private dinner, Grenell came off as unsympathetic to the plight of Palestinians while actually angering some participants by reiterating a comment from Trump’s other son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who said in March that Israel should remove Palestinians from the valuable “waterfront property” in Gaza.

“He repeated Jared Kushner’s statement about beachfront property, which I think floated like a lead balloon in the room,” one of the meeting’s participants said of Grenell, who was Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence.

Another participant in the meeting stressed that Grenell kept saying how “brilliant” Trump was with his handling of the Abraham Accords, which were agreements Israel signed with certain Arab countries in 2020. But this person also mentioned that Kushner’s comments about turning Gaza’s waterfront property into world-class beaches fell flat…

show full post on front page

Both attendees who spoke to NOTUS said Arab American leaders told Grenell they had three conditions for supporting Trump in November: his support for an immediate cease-fire, funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — which has been the primary provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza — and a commitment to enact the so-called Leahy Laws in Gaza. (The Leahy Laws, written by former Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont, prohibit the United States from funding foreign militaries that violate human rights.)

The sources agreed that the purpose of the meeting was for Grenell to lay out the case why Arab Americans should vote for Trump. However, both agreed that most participants left unsatisfied…

The sources said Arab American leaders didn’t leave entirely empty-handed, however. Grenell “promised” leaders that Trump wouldn’t enact a “Muslim ban,” as he called for in 2016, according to these sources.

And one thing everybody knows about TFG — his word is his bond!

I feel like everyone who says they won't vote for Biden over Gaza should be required to have a mandatory meeting with Ric Grenell. Or at least view a video of one. Because this is who you get if it's not Joe Biden, and I wouldn't want anyone to be unclear on what that means. https://t.co/rGrn9LRAAH

— That Well-Adjusted Biden Guy (@What46HasDone) May 23, 2024

Trump allies face skepticism as they try appealing to disaffected Arab Americans in Michigan https://t.co/pIAaEJp0Sl

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 23, 2024

Offering not a silk purse, but a sow’s ear, which is haram — “Trump allies face skepticism as they try appealing to disaffected Arab Americans in Michigan”:

… Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, repeatedly pointed to Trump’s governing record and said that other countries’ fear of him decreased global conflict. But two people in the room said Grenell didn’t provide the specific policy changes they were hoping to hear, which left at least one leader dissatisfied and unswayed.

The nearly two-hour meeting marked the beginning of increased outreach by Trump allies in swing state Michigan, where key parts of Biden’s coalition are angry with him over Israel’s offensive following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. But any apparent political opportunity for Trump may be limited by criticism from many Arab Americans about the former president’s ban on immigration from several majority Muslim countries and remarks they felt were insulting.

“We appreciate the outreach,” said Khaled Saffuri, an Arab American political activist who was in attendance Tuesday night. “But it won’t be easy to convince the community to switch from Biden to Trump, because even though we are angry with Biden, many still have a bad taste in their mouth from the four years of Trump.”…

The nearly 40 Arab American activists in attendance came from across the country. Some already support Trump while others were attending to hear directly from his surrogates, according to Yahya Basha, a Michigan doctor in attendance.

“I think most people were there to hear what specific policy changes Trump would have. It was a lot of back and forth with questions,” said Basha, who left the meeting still uncommitted to any candidate in November…

Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, said he gave a speech sharing his experiences as an immigrant and how they shaped his conservative values. He also highlighted a more personal side of Trump, emphasizing his “love and admiration for the Middle East in general,” according to Boulos.

“And then we discussed the need to organize ourselves and get ready for November and to mobilize our respective communities,” Boulos said in an interview…

(Tiffany finally got Daddy’s attention, by marrying a real billionaire’s kid.)

Tiffany Trump’s husband Michael Boulos is stepping up his campaign role and helping court Arab-Americans for Donald Trump. He was at a meeting last night with them in Michigan with more to come https://t.co/zLoUQzxqRU

— Emily Goodin (@Emilylgoodin) May 22, 2024

Rick Grennell is a fascist. Benjy thinks it's funny that Trump made him an ambassador.

Funny. He thinks it's funny.

That's our democracy-preserving press, guys. https://t.co/H2DkGlh79K

— LadyGrey ???????????? (@TWLadyGrey) May 24, 2024

Captain Obvious is… not wrong:

Nobody likes to be told "the other guy is worse" but it's definitely true that if your main voting issue is the welfare of Palestinians that the other guy is worse. https://t.co/UQEe6aojrt

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) May 22, 2024

Friday Evening Open Thread: Trump’s “Lead Balloon” Outreach to Arab-AmericansPost + Comments (166)

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

American history and black history cannot be separated.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

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

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

“Alexa, change the president.”

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

People are weird.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Fuck the Fucking Washington Post, Too.

The aristocracy sucks. They buried this for fellow aristocrats Alito and his wife.

George Floyd, Definitely Not Forgotten

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Entertainment Notes

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: CRASHING

Giant Babies or Freaking Snowflakes? You Decide.

War for Ukraine Day 821: The Russian Bombardments Continue as Putin Announces His Terms

Putin Not Only Wants to Disrupt the Peace Summit, but He Is Also Afraid of What the Summit Can Bring – Address by the President

Friday Evening Open Thread: Trump’s “Lead Balloon” Outreach to Arab-Americans