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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

T R E 4 5 O N

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

The lights are all blinking red.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

In after Baud. Damn.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Come on, man.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

The revolution will be supervised.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

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Open Thread:  Hey Lurkers!  (Holiday Post)

Open Threads

You are here: Home / Archives for Open Threads

Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  October 22, 20232:57 pm| 111 Comments

This post is in: Birdwatching, Open Threads

I don’t think I’ve shared my crappy photo of Black Skimmers from my recent trip to the Florida Panhandle springs and beaches (aka, Flamingo Quest):

Sunday Afternoon Open Thread 24

Their upper mandible is much shorter than the lower one — perfect for scooping and a cool look too.

Also, this “seedy underbelly of the avian world” is funny:

Open thread!

Sunday Afternoon Open ThreadPost + Comments (111)

DeSantis 2024: When the Trolls Become the Trolled

by Betty Cracker|  October 22, 20238:53 am| 273 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

With the House GOP implosion, Jim Jordan’s serial humiliations, Trump’s legal woes and racketeering Trump flunkies copping plea deals lately, few pundits or reporters have spared a thought for Ron DeSantis. But a couple of New York Times reporters did — yesterday they published an article under the title “How Ron DeSantis Lost the Internet.” I enjoyed it very much, and you can too with this gift link.

It opens with a poolside shindig at a Tallahassee pollster’s house, where DeSantis campaign operatives gathered to woo wingnut influencers who’d expressed an affinity for DeSantis online. You might think such a group of influencers wouldn’t be the sharpest knives in the drawer, and you’d be right. But many now say they sensed then that Team DeSantis was clueless about the internet and social media.

Mr. DeSantis’s advisers were defensive when asked about campaign strategy, they said, and struggled to come up with talking points beyond the vague notion of “freedom.” Some of the guests at the meeting, which has not previously been reported, left doubtful that the DeSantis camp knew what it was in for.

Four months later, those worries seem more than justified. Mr. DeSantis’s hyper-online strategy, once viewed as a potential strength, quickly became a glaring weakness on the presidential trail, with a series of gaffes, unforced errors and blown opportunities, according to former staff members, influencers with ties to the campaign and right-wing commentators.

The “brains” behind the DeSantis digital strategy is Christina Pushaw, who served as the gov’s press secretary until she left that job to manage the “war room.” As press sec, Pushaw was known for marshalling screeching armies of flying monkeys online to attack her boss’s critics, once earning a temporary ban from pre-Musk Twitter for harassing an AP reporter. She also had to remove a tweet containing an antisemitic conspiracy theory involving the Rothschilds.

So, it’s no surprise that Pushaw’s digital strategy turned out to be a big fat disaster, complete with an in-house produced meme video that superimposed DeSantis’s face on a Nazi symbol, an embarrassingly homoerotic video attempting to assert DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ bona fides, etc.

It may have been surprising to unwary donors that a person like Pushaw was put in charge of digital communications in the first place. If one good thing comes out of the failing DeSantis campaign — aside from DeSantis failing to secure the nomination, of course — maybe it will be that no one in a serious job ever hires Pushaw to handle their communications, ever again. What a dope.

That said, it’s not all on Pushaw. The first campaign manager (since demoted) insisted the Musk-hosted campaign launch on Twitter was a triumph when anyone with the sentience typically allotted to single-cell organisms could see it was a catastrophe. And as failure piled atop failure, no amount of rebooting could overcome the superior trolling operation Team Trump brought down on the hapless DeSantisites’ heads:

The [pudding fingers] episode looks like little more than childish bullying, but such moments can affect how a candidate is perceived, said Joan Donovan, a researcher at Boston University who studies disinformation and wrote a book on the role of memes in politics.

The best — and perhaps only — way to counter that kind of thing is to lean into it with humor, Ms. Donovan said. “This is called meme magic: The irony is the more you try to stomp it out, the more it becomes a problem,” she said.

The DeSantis campaign’s muted response signaled open season: Since then, the campaign has failed to snuff out memes mocking the governor for supposedly wiping snot on constituents, having an off-putting laugh and wearing lifts in his cowboy boots.

It’s fun to watch the trolls become the trolled, but ultimately, the DeSantis campaign sucks because DeSantis himself sucks. The quality of the hires matters, but only on the margins if the center is a gaping hole. At this point, I don’t think it matters how much more money DeSantis’s dwindling roster of donors pour down his rathole of a campaign. You love to see it!

Open thread.

DeSantis 2024: When the Trolls Become the TrolledPost + Comments (273)

Open Thread: In Other News…

by Anne Laurie|  October 22, 20231:41 am| 89 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Venality

Random stuff, because we’ve all been consumed with overarching themes this week:

Douglass Mackey, the man “on trial for memes,” was sentenced to seven months in prison Wednesday for his efforts to trick Hillary Clinton voters into staying home on Election Day in 2016. @NikaSchoonover https://t.co/0u8YsjmGdG

— Courthouse News (@CourthouseNews) October 18, 2023


Could not happen to a more deserving ratf*cker:

… Mackey was convicted on a single count of conspiring with others to interfere in the 2016 presidential election after he shared from his far-right Twitter account phony advertisements that encouraged Clinton supporters to vote via text message.

“Avoid the line. Vote from home,” one meme says. “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925.”

U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly handed down the sentence, calling the conspiracy “nothing short of an assault on our democracy.”

Mackey was also a member of private direct-message groups on X, formerly Twitter, where he discussed and agreed with others on how to disseminate messages “intended variously to provoke, mislead, and, in some cases, deceive voters in the 2016 presidential election,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo…

In these plans, the group specifically agreed on a plan to distribute a series of images intended to look like official announcements from the Hillary Clinton campaign advising supporters they could cast a valid vote by including a particular hashtag on a social media post or sending an SMS text message to a number provided on the images.

Prosecutors also said Clinton’s campaign, after observing the fraudulent advertisements spread online, warned the company that owned the provided text code about the scheme.

“As a result, the company put in place an automatic response that would be sent to anyone attempting to cast a vote by text, advising the texter that the code was not in fact associated with the Clinton campaign,” prosecutors said…

He also received public support from powerful conservative figures including U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who called his prosecution a political move and First Amendment threat.

Mackey will also serve two years of supervised probation once he’s released from prison.

May this serve as a warning, as the 2024 campaign ramps up.

======
Good news for our judicial system:

The Senate just unanimously agreed to fill committee slots vacated by Dianne Feinstein. Perhaps most significant: @LaphonzaB fills the empty Judiciary Committee slot and Democrats regain their majority on a key panel. Biden’s judicial nominees can now move without GOP support. https://t.co/LP7iCHupDX

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 18, 2023

show full post on front page

Not that I’m complaining, this is what they should do. But lets not forget a lot of why Feinstein got wheeled around like she did was because they threatened not to replace her.

— Fleet (now on BlueSky) (@fleetadmiralj) October 18, 2023

BREAKING: The American soldier who fled to North Korea has been detained by the U.S. military and charged with desertion and possessing images of child sex abuse. https://t.co/6i8hMZb1Ic

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 20, 2023

======
Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but the CSAM charge makes it easier to understand why deserting to North Korea might’ve seemed like a good idea in a bad moment:

An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child.

The eight counts against Pvt. Travis King are detailed in a charging document seen by The Associated Press. The officials who confirmed King’s confinement spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the charges have not been publicly announced.

King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said in a statement that she loved her son “unconditionally” and was “extremely concerned about his mental health.”…

Desertion is a very serious charge and can result in imprisonment for as much as three years. King is also accused of kicking and punching other officers last year, unlawfully possessing alcohol, making a false statement and possessing a video of a child engaged in sexual activity. That allegation dates to July 10, the same day he was released from a South Korean prison where he had served nearly two months on assault charges.

One week later, King, 23, ran across the heavily fortified border from South Korea and became the first American detained in North Korea in nearly five years. He was set to be sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced potential additional disciplinary actions and discharge…

The charging document does not provide significant detail on any of the allegations, though it does accuse King of knowingly possessing a video of a child engaging in sexual conduct last July 10 and says that he solicited a user of Snapchat, a social media platform, to produce images of underage sexual activity.

Sean Timmons, an attorney who specializes in military law at the Tully Rinckey law firm and who reviewed the charging document, said all the transactions that occurred on Snapchat were not secure or private and were accessible by the government.

“He probably reasonably believed his illegal conduct would have no evidentiary trail, but Snapchat actually saves everything,” Timmons said.

Open Thread: <em>In Other News…</em>Post + Comments (89)

War for Ukraine Day 605: Another Day, Another Russian War Crime – This Time in Kherson & Kharkiv

by Adam L Silverman|  October 21, 202310:07 pm| 36 Comments

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

Art by NEIVANMADE of a Ukrainian painted black and outlined in blood red kneeling in grief with hands covering the face surrounded by the bodies of Ukrainians killed by Russians on a grey background. "Russia Is Committing Genocide Right Now" is across the top center of the image.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

A school in Molodizhne, Kherson region, after the overnight shelling.

Schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, cafes… these are the primary targets of Russian terrorists in Ukraine.
This evil must be stopped.#SupportUkraine

📹: Kherson City Military Administration pic.twitter.com/mAAzgs8r9z

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 21, 2023

At least 6 killed in Russian missile strike on Nova Poshta post terminal in Kharkiv. Russia previously attacked the same site in April 2022 pic.twitter.com/J3g12s6U58

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) October 21, 2023

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

show full post on front page

Our warriors have made this week very significant for Ukraine – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

21 October 2023 – 19:43

I wish good health to all Ukrainians, both men and women!

Our active international work doesn’t stop for a single day. Today, I spoke with President Erdoğan of Türkiye, and this marks the ninth international conversation this week. I have already talked to the President of Finland, the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of South Africa, the Prime Minister of Norway, as well as the President of France, the UN Secretary-General, the President of the United States, the Chancellor of Germany. The main goal in all these discussions is to protect lives and people, peaceful people, and prevent destabilization from spreading to other regions of the world, not let our work in consolidating the global majority for international law go to waste. I am grateful to all the leaders for their support and understanding that it’s time for maximum joint efforts.

With President Erdoğan, we discussed the situation in our Black Sea region, aggression against Ukraine, aggression against global security, and the situation in the Middle East. It is very important to protect peaceful people, it is very important to prevent the escalation of new large-scale humanitarian crises, and important to work together to quickly restore the full force of international law.

We are actively preparing for a new Peace Formula meeting, which is scheduled for next week and will take place in Malta. Significant world powers will be represented, and the list of participants is growing practically every day. We expect over 50 participants. Today, President Erdoğan confirmed that Türkiye will participate in the meeting. We are also getting ready for a new summit of our Crimea Platform, at the parliamentary level. The number of participants is substantial. The summit will be held in the Czech Republic. I am grateful to everyone around the world who has joined and is ready to work with us at the parliamentary diplomacy level for the sake of security and peace throughout Europe, without any exceptions for any parts of our continent.

A very significant step by President Biden this week – I am sincerely grateful for it. A new package of long-lasting and reliable support for Ukraine has been prepared – defense and economic – for our protection of people and freedom. I am thankful for this initiative by President Biden, and I believe that not only Ukrainians but all nations, all free nations in Europe, are expecting the preservation of American unity with our defense. American leadership is needed for the world, and I am grateful to both parties in Congress who understand this and support, in particular, our people’s struggle for independence.

And, of course, our warriors. Thank you to each and every one who is currently fighting, in combat positions, and at their posts! Avdiyivka direction, Maryinka. Bahmut direction. Kupiansk, Lyman directions. Our Zaporizhia. Our Kherson region. On the frontlines and deep within the occupied territory, our warriors have made this week very significant for Ukraine. Now, I want to express my gratitude to all our defense and security forces – absolutely all of you! Every unit, every warrior, every commander who has achieved the necessary combat results for our state during this week. Glory to you, warriors! Glory to our entire nation!

I thank everyone around the world who is helping!

Glory to Ukraine!

“I’m tired of burying my friends”, “Beekeper” said. He is now study English so he can begin training to fly an F-16. “In auto racing,there is Formula 1 and there is Formula 2. The F-16 plane is like Formula 1 car”(my article about Ukraine’s fight for F-16) https://t.co/7roc1MVQrV

— Kristina Berdynskykh (@berdynskykh_k) October 19, 2023

From Kristina Berdynskykh’s reporting at The Dial: (emphasis mine)

The grave of Andrii Pilshchykov, the 30-year-old Ukrainian pilot known by his call sign, “Juice,” is located on the Dnipro hills, in a park in the center of Kyiv. Beneath the wooden cross marked with his portrait there are wreaths, flowers, the flag of the Air Force of Ukraine, and a knit toy in the shape a small gray plane, with white yarn labeling it as an F-16. Juice had spent the last year of his life trying to secure a fleet of F-16s, fourth-generation American fighter jets, for Ukraine. He did not live to see his efforts bear fruit: He died on August 25, when two Ukrainian L-39 aircrafts crashed during a training exercise in the Zhytomyr region, killing Juice and two other pilots.

Juice’s mother, Lilia, cleans up the autumn leaves that fall over his grave almost every day. He was her only son. He once told her that his work to modernize the Ukrainian Air Force would also accelerate the army’s break with its Soviet past. He was fascinated by American aviation, his mother says, and styled his hair and clothing to imitate the look of American pilots. During training exercises held in Ukraine in 2018, Juice met American pilots from California, and a year later went to study aviation techniques at an airbase in the U.S. After the full-scale war began, he was in daily contact with American airmen. Every passing day made it painfully clear that Russia held an undeniable advantage in the air.

His death triggered an outpouring of condolences within Ukraine and far beyond its borders. Juice had become well-known as one of the faces of Ukraine’s campaign to pressure the U.S. and Europe to provide the country with modern air defense systems and fighter jets. Because of his knowledge of English and familiarity with American pilots, Juice was chosen, along with four other pilots, to speak to foreign journalists about why Ukraine needed advanced air weaponry and to underscore the urgency of the problem. The F-16, he told them, would allow Ukrainian forces to augment their air defense systems, to deploy more advanced missiles, and to minimize pilot casualties. For security reasons, the pilots only used their call signs in media interviews and hid their faces whenever they appeared on camera. In June 2022, Juice and a pilot who goes by “Moonfish” flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of the U.S. Congress. There, they met Senator Mark Kelly, himself a former pilot and astronaut, who immediately understood what they needed, Moonfish said. When Kelly visited in Kyiv in September, he bowed his head at Juice’s grave.

Today, only three of the five pilots who took part in the campaign to secure modern air weaponry for Ukraine are still alive.Over the past several months, Denmark and The Netherlands have promised to send F-16s to Ukraine, but the first planes are not likely to be delivered before spring 2024. In the meantime, the war continues: Ukraine is rushing to train its pilots to fly the fighter jets, to build domestic capacity to service them, and to increase its own weapons production capabilities. Russia is fortifying its defenses and recently announced plans to up defense spending by about 70 percent. In this context, the F-16 has taken on a symbolic meaning in Ukraine, where both civilians and soldiers hope that its arrival will speed up the military offensive and allow them to finally reclaim much of their occupied lands.

Ukraine has an urgent need for new planes: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia wasted no time producing new fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft, as well as new missiles, while Ukraine was left with a fleet of old combat aircraft in need of repair and modernization. Some of them were repaired, some were sold, and those that were unusable were disposed of, said Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the Air Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The newest aircraft currently in service in the Ukrainian Air Force is the Su-27 fighter jet, manufactured in 1991. Most Ukrainian Air Force planes were constructed in the 1970s, and they primarily rely upon the MIG-29 fighter, built in the 1980s. None of these aircraft were designed to shoot down the modern cruise missiles and Iranian drones currently pillorying Ukrainian cities.Nor does Ukraine have enough spare parts to adequately service aircraft repairs. Before the full-scale invasion began, the Ukrainian Air Force had already planned to replace all Soviet equipment with Western-manufactured equipment by 2035. Now, that process has been dramatically accelerated.

“Bdzholyar,” or Beekeeper, is the lieutenant colonel of Ukraine’s 40th tactical aviation brigade. He has been flying the Soviet MIG-29 for almost two decades, and has been fighting against Russian forces since 2014. On the very first day of the full-scale invasion, Bdzholyar flew on a combat mission in the skies around Kyiv. His commander and several colleagues were killed in action, their planes falling out of the clouds. The Russian Army claimed to have completely destroyed Ukraine’s air defenses. Bdzholyar said that the Russians were so sure of their victory that they sent helicopters, bombers and attack aircraft towards Kyiv without backup support from fighter aircraft, making the unprotected Russian planes easy targets for Ukrainians. The Ukrainian pilots who defended the capital from them began to be called Pryvydy Kyyeva, or the Ghosts of Kyiv, the protective forces shielding the capital and its residents. “The Russians said that we were completely destroyed, but we flew and shot them down, hence the legend of the Ghosts,” Bdzholyar said. He estimates that every Ukrainian aircraft went up against four to five Russian ones, and sometimes against as many as twelve.

Now, Bdzholyar is waiting for the arrival of F-16s, a fighter jet with a powerful radar system that allows pilots to detect and hit targets at long distances. The jet carries air-to-air missiles with an active homing warhead, which means that F-16 pilots do not need to enter what is called the “missile engagement zone” of mortal danger, which Ukrainians currently have to do when they fly MIG-29s. “All pilots in such cases are like kamikazes,” Bdzholyar said. He is now studying English so he can begin training to fly an F-16. “In auto racing, there is Formula 1 and there is Formula 2,” he told me. “The F-16 plane is like a Formula 1 car.”

Zelenskyy first publicly asked for western fighter jets during a visit to the UK on February 8, 2023, and later raised the issue of the F-16 at bilateral meetings with the leaders of the European countries who have the planes, as well as with U.S. leadership. “Of course, we wanted the decision on the aircraft to be made as early as possible,” said Andrii Sybiha, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. They were keenly aware that only a U.S. decision could ensure that the planes would arrive.

At the same time, civil society leaders confronted western diplomats about the issue whenever they could. Hanna Hopko, head of the National Interest Advocacy Network (ANTS), brought a suitcase of F-16 t-shirts to the Munich Security Conference in February, where they were distributed to attendees. “We were later told that we had overdone it a bit,” she said.

And at the Aspen Security Forum in July, the Nobel-Prize winning activist Oleksandra Matviichuk confronted Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s National Security Advisor, about when Ukrainians would begin training to fly the planes. She told Sullivan the story of 26-year-old Vladyslav Saveliev, the pilot of an old Soviet MiG-29 fighter jet who was killed in action on June 2 while on a combat mission in Donbas. “I told him that, for us, time is measured in deaths,” she said.

Much, much more at the link!

Avdiivka:

Repelling Russian attacks on Avdiivka. Video by the air reconnaissance unit “Aero Scythians”https://t.co/Ui2IuUDVpl pic.twitter.com/BSXKSTwLrd

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 21, 2023

Part 3
Repelling Russian attacks on Avdiivka. Video by the 110th brigade of Ukraine. https://t.co/wPWOSoT9PH https://t.co/v2m3n8l2TM pic.twitter.com/8S86s25cPt

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 21, 2023

"Texas", of the Presidential Brigade, 2nd Mech. Battalion, one of the defenders of Avdiivka, spoke about the first days of the offensive, and explained the human wave tactics that Russians deployed in an attempt to break through in the early days of the operation and beyond.… pic.twitter.com/HUz77Svkd9

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) October 21, 2023

“Texas”, of the Presidential Brigade, 2nd Mech. Battalion, one of the defenders of Avdiivka, spoke about the first days of the offensive, and explained the human wave tactics that Russians deployed in an attempt to break through in the early days of the operation and beyond.

Source: https://youtu.be/jQbNcwIaDaE

Here’s the full video:

Russians are digging tunnels in Avdiivka to get closer to the Ukrainian positions, says the spokesman of the 110th Brigade Anton Kotsukon':

"They are digging tunnels closer to our positions, firstly, for the purpose of camouflage, and, secondly, to emerge somewhere closer to…

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) October 21, 2023

Russians are digging tunnels in Avdiivka to get closer to the Ukrainian positions, says the spokesman of the 110th Brigade Anton Kotsukon’:

“They are digging tunnels closer to our positions, firstly, for the purpose of camouflage, and, secondly, to emerge somewhere closer to our positions unexpectedly”

He also noted that Ukrainians spotted the use of remote-controlled robotic transport vehicles by the Russians that can carry a decent load.

Kotsukon’ added that Russians are not abandoning hopes to take Avdiivka.

This material was published on Unian on 21 October: https://unian.ua/war/bilya-avdijivki-okupanti-zastosovuyut-taktiku-krotiv-chim-ce-nebezpechno-12431718.html

Here’s more details from Unian:

Near the Avdiivka constant battles continue, the enemy resorted to new tactics to surround the city.

About it reported spokesman for the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which reflects enemy attacks under Avdiivka Anton Kotsukon. He noted that the enemy’s resources under Avdiivka are sufficient and very fierce battles continue – every day they throw all new forces – armored vehicles, aviation, artillery and personnel at the city’s assaults.

“Every day they go on assaults in order to cut the routes to Avdiivka or at least take them under fire control, followed by the full surroundings of the city,” Kotsukon said.

According to him, there are intense attacks, there are very fierce battles.

“Our defenders are simply holding positions in inhumane conditions – without exaggeration they are titans who hold positions under the flurry of fire and inflict very significant losses on the enemy,” said a spokesman for the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade.

Kotsukon notes that it is very important for the Russians to surround and take Avdiivka, so they have concentrated enormous forces and means there – at least three personnel brigades, which are supported by Storm Z units”.

The spokesman said that in the Avdiiv direction the enemy uses a new tactic – digging tunnels.

“That is, they dig tunnels closer to our positions, firstly, for the purpose of disguise, and, secondly, to pull out somewhere closer to our positions unexpectedly,” Kotsukon said .

He also noted that Ukrainian spies recorded the use of robotic vehicles with remote control by Russians.

“These are pretty big cars that can take on normal weight,” he said.

The war in Ukraine is a situation near Avdiyivka
According to UNIAN, Russian troops have lost several thousand soldiers after the intensification of the offensive in the Avdiivka area on October 10. Ukrainian fighters successfully repulsed all attempts to storm the Russians.

Military columnist Denis Popovich noted that Russia needs a victory against the background of their false statements that the ZSU offensive in the south has failed. And for a slight expansion of the gray area in the area of Avdiivka, Russians pay an incomparable price, said the expert. At the same time he said that there were their tactical promotions in the area of Krasnovka, but it was paid to enemies a very high price – several thousand dead.

Some of you may be wondering why Avdiivka is so important. There are two different reasons. The first is that it is the gateway to Donetsk. So if Russia can take it from Ukraine and occupy it, then they will have extended their lines forward in a significant way. Especially as the Russians have been trying to do so since 2014. Which brings us to the second reason it is very important: the Ukrainians have been able to hold Avdiivka for nine years against every Russian attempt to take it. So it has strategic importance for Ukraine as a symbol of their resilience and effective resistance against Russia’s genocidal invasion and re-invasion.

Klishchiyivka:

This is Klishchiyivka, Donetsk region.
A plague known as “russian world” struck the area.
But there is a cure for this disease: arm Ukraine, and we will stop it from spreading.

📹: 80th Separate Assault Brigade pic.twitter.com/lxYgV32tps

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 21, 2023

Verbove:

Video of Ukrainian Bradleys attacking Russian treeline positions, somewhere near Verbove, timing unclear. (source: https://t.co/cveCxNMU4d) pic.twitter.com/7UHWtv2Qo8

— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) October 21, 2023

Luhansk:

/2. Location of the cameraman at the beginning of the video pic.twitter.com/bTiXI1srTE

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 21, 2023

And here’s some more on infantry fighting vehicles (IFV):

IFVs play an important role in modern warfare due to their high mobility and survivability in the war zone, also helping to save lives of soldiers.

Marder 1A3 is one of the best IFVs in service with our defense forces. Look at the comparison of German-made Marder vs Soviet… pic.twitter.com/Ytyvoi3mxL

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 21, 2023

IFVs play an important role in modern warfare due to their high mobility and survivability in the war zone, also helping to save lives of soldiers.

Marder 1A3 is one of the best IFVs in service with our defense forces. Look at the comparison of German-made Marder vs Soviet BMP-2, mainly used by the russian army.

We thank our German partners for strengthening #UArmy.

📹: @United24media

And here’s something for Omnes and the Red Legs:

Source: https://t.co/WjePiy4p1u

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) October 21, 2023

Here’s the full video:

And its description:

Premiered Oct 20, 2023 #UkrainianWitness

“Ukrainian Witness” went to the Zaporizhzhya frontline to talk to the soldiers of the 47th Brigade – artillerymen, sappers, infantrymen and aerial reconnaissance men. Zaporizhzhia frontline is one of the most difficult in the counteroffensive. Our fighters not only told us why, but also showed us their own archives of assaults on Russian positions. – Why are the military annoyed by questions about the speed of the counteroffensive? – What is the difference between the battles in the Zaporizhzhia sector and in Donbas? – How long will it take to completely clear Zaporizhzhia region of mines? – How do they cope with losses? – What do the guys from the 47th Brigade think should be the end of this war?

🔔 Subscribe to the channel to see the whole story as it is:  / ukrainianwitness  

Supported by Nova Ukraine (https://novaukraine.org)

Concealed Ukrainian mortar position with a movable roof that allows for quick camouflage. pic.twitter.com/WI1rNR7wG2

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) October 21, 2023

I think that the Ukrainians can breathe a sigh of relief that Shaun King can’t find them on a map:

"The family of released mother and daughter clarified: 'Judith and Natalie have no idea who [Shaun King] is. They heard about him and the post for the first time only after they were released." https://t.co/4kcZeoocWc pic.twitter.com/JbHShO4veA

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 21, 2023

Here is the full, translated statement from the Raanan family in response to Shaun King’s bizarre claim that he played a part in getting Judith and Natalie Raanan released by Hamas:

"Today we came across bizarre posts on the Instagram page of one Shaun King, who turns out to…

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 21, 2023

Here is the full, translated statement from the Raanan family in response to Shaun King’s bizarre claim that he played a part in getting Judith and Natalie Raanan released by Hamas:

“Today we came across bizarre posts on the Instagram page of one Shaun King, who turns out to have millions of followers, who claims that our relative Natalie Raanan supports the anti-Israeli messages he uploads to his page.

First and foremost, we make it clear that he is lying! Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly. Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent.

Natalie told us that this morning it was the first time in her life that she came across Shaun King’s name and his posts, after she finally got a phone call after two horrific weeks in captivity in Gaza, and was looking for what was written about her while she was away.

Shaun King is trying to catch a ride on the great exposure that her kidnapping received all over the world and in the US in particular, and the most ridiculous thing is that Natalie and her mother Judith are very active in Rabbi Hecht’s Jewish community in Chicago and in the Chabad house, and if Shaun King knew them or their family he would know that.

We ask not to be quick on the keyboard and share things without checking them in depth. Mainly not to believe people who speak for others. The damage that the sharing of these lies does is so huge, and the effort of our family and all the families of the abductees should be focused on bringing them home, and not fighting the lies that are being spread like wildfire.

We’re not done, we’ve just started. We have 2 more murdered in the family and 8 more family members still kidnapped, and there are over 200 more families in our situation. Now we need the support of all the people of Israel and all the countries of the world to bring everyone home as soon as possible!”

*שון קינג ותאוריית הקונספירציה על החטופות* מיד אפרט את השתלשלות הדברים ומה אנחנו *כן* יודעים, אבל קודם חשוב להבהיר: המשפחה של נטלי ויהודית רענן מוסרת שאין להן מושג מי זה שון קינג וגילו לראשונה על קיומו אחרי שחרורן וקריאת הפוסטים. ועכשיו לפרטים:
מאז שחרור החטופות מתפשטת ברשת…

— יוּנה לייבזון Yuna Leibzon (@YunaLeibzon) October 21, 2023

*שון קינג ותאוריית הקונספירציה על החטופות* מיד אפרט את השתלשלות הדברים ומה אנחנו *כן* יודעים, אבל קודם חשוב להבהיר: המשפחה של נטלי ויהודית רענן מוסרת שאין להן מושג מי זה שון קינג וגילו לראשונה על קיומו אחרי שחרורן וקריאת הפוסטים. ועכשיו לפרטים:
מאז שחרור החטופות מתפשטת ברשת תאוריית קונספירציה לגביי זהותן של החטופות, משהו שחשוב להפריך כבר עכשיו.
האקטיביסט והכותב שון קינג, שיש לו מליוני עוקבים ומזוהה מאוד עם התמיכה בפלסטינים וכל הזמן מעלה פוסטים אנטי ישראלים מובהקים, העלה פוסט בעשרה באוקטובר, ממש כמה ימים אחרי פרוץ המלחמה עם תמונה של נטלי רענן. הוא כותב שם שמקורביה ביקשו שהוא יבקש לשחררה, שהיא אזרחית אמריקנית ואף תומכת שלו – שוב, זה רק הוא טוען כן? שהיא הפגינה נגד המשטרה ודיברה נגד אי צדק בישראל. אנשים שיתפו את הפוסט הזה, האמינו לו ככה כמו שהוא (אפילו שהוא אנטי ישראלי מובהק, אבל פה כן בוחרים להאמין לו) כהוכחה לזה שיש כאן איזשהי יד מכוונת שדווקא הן שוחררו. נחזור שוב: המשפחה אומרת באופן ברור שאין להן מושג מי זה והן שמעו עליו ועל הפוסט לראשונה אחרי ששוחררו. אבל זה לא משנה: אושיות רשת ממשיכות לשתף את זה ללא כל ביסוס, מעלות ״תהיות״ עד כדי שאנשים כבר קבעו שהן תומכות חמאס(!!!)
למה אנשים מאמינים למי שהוא שונא ישראל מובהק? אנחנו נלחמים ברשתות נגד האנשים האלה ואז מאמינים לכל מילה שהם אומרים?
ברור שזה מקרה הזוי ומעורר שאלות אבל קחו בחשבון שהמקרה של נטלי ויהודית רענן סוקר בהרחבה בארה״ב. אזרחיות אמריקניות שמתגוררות בשיקגו ונחטפו בביקור בארץ זה דבר שיש לו תפוצה רחבה באמריקה, ודווקא הקריאה לשחררן יכולה לצייר את מי שיוצא נגד ישראל כ״אנושי״. זה פשוט הזוי שנשים ששוחררו מהשבי צריכות להתמודד עם מתקפה כזו. אנשים איבדו את זה. הדיסאינפורמציה הזו וזריעת הספקות והחששות זה חלק מהדרך שבה האויבים שלנו נלחמים בנו. בדיוק את זה הם רוצים! אל תתנו לזה יד

*Sean King and the conspiracy theory about the kidnappings* I will immediately detail the sequence of events and what we *do* know, but first it is important to clarify: the family of Natalie and Yehudit Ra’anan says they have no idea who Sean King is and they first found out about his existence after their release and reading the posts. And now for the details:
Since the release of the abductions, a conspiracy theory about the identity of the abductions has been spreading online, something that is important to refute right now.
The activist and writer Shaun King, who has millions of followers and is strongly identified with the support for the Palestinians and constantly puts up clear anti-Israel posts, put up a post on October 10th, just a few days after the outbreak of the war, with a picture of Natalie Ra’anan. He writes there that her relatives asked him to ask for her release, that she is an American citizen and even a supporter of his – again, that’s just him claiming yes? that she demonstrated against the police and spoke against injustice in Israel. People shared this post, believing it as it is (even though it is distinctly anti-Israel, but here they do choose to believe it) as proof that there is some kind of intentional hand here that they were actually released. Let’s go back again: the family clearly says they have no idea who this is and they heard about him and the post for the first time after they were released. But it doesn’t matter: network stations continue to share this without any substantiation, raising “doubts” to the point that people have already determined that they support Hamas (!!!)
Why do people believe someone who is a clear hater of Israel? We fight the networks against these people and then believe every word they say?
Obviously, this is a bizarre case and raises questions, but keep in mind that the case of Nathalie and Yehudit Ra’anan is widely reviewed in the US. American citizens who live in Chicago and were kidnapped while visiting Israel is something that has a wide distribution in America, and precisely the call for their release can paint those who go against Israel as “humane”. It is simply ridiculous that women who have been released from captivity have to face such an attack. People have lost it. This disinformation and the sowing of doubts and fears is part of the way our enemies fight us. That’s exactly what they want! Don’t give it a hand

ABL is a very smart woman:

https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1715804718495375869

You here that lads? He’s also working on a ceasefire!

https://twitter.com/myronjclifton/status/1715513778954236290

 

I’m honestly not a huge fan of the Israeli government and its policies and actions under Bibi, but the Israelis and the Palestinians have done nothing to deserve this! He’s is like all ten plagues rolled into one with PayPal and GoFundMe accounts. You want to really punish Bibi, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, the other extremists in the Israeli cabinet and the Hamas leadership? Lock them all in a room with King and let him negotiate a ceasefire with them. I know what you’re going to say, that violates at least three Geneva Conventions dealing with crimes against humanity, well life is not fair.

That’s enough ridicule of the grifter formerly known as Jeffrey.

Your daily Patron.

There is a new slideshow at Patron’s official TikTok. Those don’t embed here, so click through if you want to see it.

Open thread!

ETA at 12:21 AM: I have removed the material that commenter Trucmat seems to think is problematic.

War for Ukraine Day 605: Another Day, Another Russian War Crime – This Time in Kherson & KharkivPost + Comments (36)

Postcard Writing & Music Thread

by WaterGirl|  October 21, 20238:00 pm| 92 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads, Political Action

It’s postcards and music time!

All the details on options for writing for Ohio Issue 1 and for Virginia – and images of postcards – are always available in the sidebar.  To make it extra easy to find, I have copied it just below the postcard image.

Chime in if you know about others good post-card writing options for OH or VA.

Also, send me a photo of your postcards and I’ll post it in the thread.

Postcard image by H.E. Wolf!

 

Auto Draft 86

 

Political Action

Postcard Writing Information

Music!

No playlist from brendancalling tonight, but soon we’ll have a metal playlist we talked about, maybe next Saturday.  So add your musical links in the comments!

Also, big thanks to all our Balloon Juice Angels and everyone who donated!  We raised $12,500 for each of our two young, progressive, African-American candidates!  Well done, everyone!

Open thread.

Postcard Writing & Music ThreadPost + Comments (92)

David Rothkopf’s Most Excellent Position Statement

by WaterGirl|  October 21, 20231:50 pm| 202 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

I so admire people who are having the same jumble of thoughts and feelings that many of us are, yet are able to somehow articulate exactly what I am thinking and feeling.  Betty Cracker often does that in her posts, and I am in awe.

In this case, David Rothkopf speaks for me on the Israel-Palestine situation.

I’m furious that I am currently vulnerable to being accused of being an anti-Semite because I am not a Zionist. I am a Jew. I am the son of a Holocaust survivor who came a from a family largely exterminated by the Nazis. I love my Jewish heritage. I love that my children and now…

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 21, 2023

This is simply the best articulation of my thoughts and feelings on this matter (except for the part about having a Jewish heritage).  (Paragraph breaks added by because I simply cannot read a wall of text with no white space.)

I’m furious that I am currently vulnerable to being accused of being an anti-Semite because I am not a Zionist. I am a Jew. I am the son of a Holocaust survivor who came a from a family largely exterminated by the Nazis. I love my Jewish heritage. I love that my children and now that their children are Jewish.

I deeply believe in the right of all people to self-determination and to live in security. But I am also an American and believe in our founding principles. I believe in the separation of church and state. I believe that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. I believe that governments therefore have no right to deny any population within their borders full rights and that when they do they lose their legitimacy. I believe in democracy.

I am skeptical of claims to legitimacy that are based on selective interpretations of ancient history. That does not mean I oppose the existence of the State of Israel. I do not. Israel exists and all should acknowledge that existence. If it were truly a democracy and, better yet, were grounded in the core moral values that I celebrate in Judaism, I would actively celebrate its existence daily. Indeed, I hope to do so in the future.

But I will question the policies of its government and that government’s moral authority until it treats all those within the borders it controls equally. While I understand the complexities of political history in the Middle East, I don’t believe those justify systematically undermining the rights and carving away at the lands of others who have a legitimate claim to the region–even as I understand why some of those claims are doubted.

Because whatever history may be, the obligation of governments is to treat fairly those within their borders in the present and to ensure a future for generations to come that both respects and guarantees their individual rights. As I said, to me it would be wonderful if the ideal of a democratic Jewish state or something approaching it existed. But it does not.

And therefore my Jewish values and my concern for the future of the Jewish people compel me to oppose the actions of the Israeli government and the laws of the country that have made apartheid the harsh reality for the Palestinian people. Which, I would note, I do precisely because I think it is the only path to the evolution of a truly democratic, truly secure Israel.

None of this means, however, and I would have thought obviously, that I support Hamas or terrorists or others who threaten the innocent people of Israel or the peace of the region. It just means that I do not feel that Israel has a right to operate on any terms whatsoever purely because it is a state with the worthy goal of providing a home for the Jews.

Indeed, I’ll be honest with you, I feel like promoting the rights of Israelis and Palestinians alike, the ideas of equity and democracy is the most pro-Semitic, the most Jewish choice possible. It is also in my view, the right choice and that is why I will stick to it regardless of the names I may be called by those promoting flawed approaches or absolutist and thereby intolerant interpretations of what acceptable public discourse may consist of.

Open thread.

David Rothkopf’s Most Excellent Position StatementPost + Comments (202)

South Bay Meetup: Proof of Life!

by WaterGirl|  October 20, 20239:16 pm| 22 Comments

This post is in: Balloon Juice, Meetups, Open Threads

We have an update from HinTN!

South Bay Meetup: Proof of Life!

Proof of Life in the South Bay.

Mr Bemused Senior, HinTN, and The Other Hank had a grand time at La Costenada in Half Moon Bay. We raised a toast to you, WaterGirl, for coordinating this event.

Others who had planned to come but were unable to be there signaled their desire to try it again. We three are certainly agreeable to that notion.

That looks so lovely!  That looks like open air, yes?  Not windows?  So jealous.  Looking good, everybody!

Open thread.

 

South Bay Meetup: Proof of Life!Post + Comments (22)

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