Month: June 2023

Mississippi New Laws

It is Friday I am hot, it is 107 outside and I am lazy….so this is my lazy post.

My state of Mississippi has ended its latest legislative session….and these are our new laws…..

Mississippi Laws That Take Effect July 1

Absentee ballots — Senate Bill 2358 prohibits handling large numbers of absentee ballots. A lawsuit filed by Disability Rights Mississippi and other plaintiffs seeks to block the law, arguing that it could disenfranchise voters who have disabilities by preventing them from receiving help from people they trust.

Postpartum Medicaid — Senate Bill 2212 ensures an entire year of Medicaid coverage for women after they give birth. Mississippi usually allowed two months of postpartum Medicaid coverage. The state allowed a full year of coverage after the COVID-19 public health emergency started in 2020, although many patients said the state did little to let them know coverage continued after two months. The longer coverage was approved after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal protections for abortion in a ruling on a Mississippi case last year. Conservative lawmakers across the country have pivoted on Medicaid expansion as part of an anti-abortion agenda.

State fruit — House Bill 1027 designates the blueberry as Mississippi’s official state fruit. Fourth graders from Madison County lobbied for law.

School Guardians — Senate Bill 2079 authorizes school employees to carry concealed guns on campus if they have a concealed-carry license, complete firearms training from a law enforcement agency and are trained in CPR and first aid. Identities of so-called “school guardians” are exempt from public disclosure.

Online porn — Senate Bill 2346 requires people to verify they are at least 18 before using websites or apps where at least one-third of the content consists of pornography. An adult entertainment group is suing over a similar law in Louisiana. House Bill 1315 says vendors providing online resources or databases to K-12 schools must block access to pornography.

Fentanyl testing — House Bill 722 specifies that fentanyl testing materials are no longer considered illegal drug paraphernalia.

Adoption — Senate Bill 2696 creates an income tax credit of up to $10,000 for adopting a child who lives in Mississippi and $5,000 for a adopting a child from outside the state.

Foster families — House Bill 510 is designed to increase transparency for foster parents and make employees from the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services more readily available to them.

Sexual assault evidence — House Bill 485 is intended to set faster timelines for law enforcement agencies to process evidence kits from sexual assault cases. One section of the bill becomes law July 1, and other sections become law Dec. 1.

Real estate — Senate Bill 2073 allows people to enter contracts to purchase real estate at age 18; the previous minimum age was 21, unless the minor was emancipated.

Pet insurance — Senate Bill 2228 authorizes the sale of pet insurance.

Pecan theft — Senate Bill 2523 increases the penalties for stealing pecans that are being grown as crops. Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson says thieves have taken loads of pecans from some farmers.

Laws That Took Effect Earlier

Gender-affirming care — House Bill 1125 bans gender-affirming health care for transgender people younger than 18. It became law when Reeves signed it Feb. 28.

Pregnancy centers — House Bill 1671 expands a tax credit from $3.5 million a year to $10 million a year statewide for people or businesses who donate to centers that provide diapers, clothing and other assistance for pregnant women. The law is retroactive to Jan. 1.

Baby drop-off — House Bill 1318 allows cities and counties to establish safe drop-off boxes for babies who are up to 45 days old. The bill became law when Reeves signed it April 19.

State gemstone — Senate Bill 2138 designates the Mississippi Opal as the state gemstone. It became law when Reeves signed it March 3.

Laws That Take Effect Jan. 1, 2024

Elections — House Bill 1310 authorizes the secretary of state to conduct audits of election results. It also speeds up the process for local election commissioners to remove the names of inactive voters from the voter rolls. Critics say the “use-it-or-lose-it” approach endangers the rights of people who want to vote in some but not all elections.

Campaign finance — House Bill 1306 bans candidates for running for office if they have failed to file all required campaign finance reports within the previous five years. It also says fraudulently requesting or submitting an application for an absentee ballot is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Read them and comment on the ones you think are odd or called for…..

Have a great weekend and holiday….be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Could Negotiations Be In The Wind?

The news of the mash-up between Wagner Group and Putin has brought about an interesting turn that could help the Ukraine-Russia thing.

I seriously doubt it.

The war in Ukraine has dragged on for over a year and there needs to be a stopping point….could this be a time for negotiations?

The war between Russia and Ukraine has become more complex in the wake of the past weekend, which found Yevgeny Prigozhin marching his troops toward Moscow, and President Vladimir Putin finding a safe haven for Prigozhin in Belarus. The conventional wisdom among politicians and pundits is that this is an opportunity for Ukraine and its Western allies to increase the pressure on Russia. Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, for example, favors “better and more weapons and better and more sanctions as fast as possible,” believing that Putin is more likely to “negotiate an end to this war if he is losing on the battlefield.” The problem, however, is that the war remains unwinnable; neither side has the ability to achieve a decisive victory.

In view of President Putin’s failure to escalate against Prigozhin and his willingness to negotiate a solution that made him look weak at home, there is possibly a place for diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukraine as well. Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in the near term seem unlikely, but the possibility of a U.S. president making a difference should not be ignored. The fact that Putin refused to prosecute Prigozhin, and is willing to allow his mercenary forces to join the Russian army points to the Russian leader’s hopes to avoid additional internal conflict. It’s hard to know what Putin is thinking, but his willingness to compromise with Prigozhin as well as the fateful domestic challenge that he faces could make the Russian leader willing to entertain the possibility of negotiation. His dreams of restoring the Russian empire have been shattered.

If so, only the United States can address the national security problems of both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine will want protection from future Russian acts of aggression. Russia will want to lessen the threat of Western encirclement on its vulnerable borders. No matter how this war ends, Russia will find itself in an existential security situation on its entire western frontier that only the United States can ameliorate. In addition, only the United States can lead the international effort to rebuild Ukraine. The United States will be indispensable to this process.

Has the Putin-Prigozhin Confrontation Opened a Door for Negotiation?

I do not think that any movement toward peace will come from this mutiny thing.

Why?

Simple the US does not want it right now.

Why say that?

I am so glad you asked.

The hypocrisy gets starker by the day. The same western media that strains to warn of the dangers of disinformation – at least when it comes to rivals on social media – barely bothers to conceal its own role in purveying disinformation in the Ukraine war.

In fact, the propaganda peddled by the media grows more audacious by the day – as two stories last week from the frontlines illustrate only too clearly.

Dominating headlines has been the environmental catastrophe created by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam under Russian control. Flood waters from the Dnipro river have ruined vast swathes of land downriver fromthe dam and forced many tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Rightly, the wrecking of the dam is being called an act of “ecological terrorism” – the second major one associated with the war, following last September’s blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines supplying Russian gas to Europe.

Another Act of Terror. How the Media Do PR for Biden and Zelensky

“Ecological Terrorism”?

Really?  What would the use of depleted uranium be?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Coming To A State Near You

Just yesterday our governor here in Mississippi, Tater Twat Reeves, made the announcement that he was bringing broadband to the state…..actually that is BS he did nothing…the whole country will be getting money to expand across the nation.

They are the outliers in a modern age, and not by choice: More than 8 million homes and businesses in the US do not have broadband service that meets bare-minimum standards, reports Engadget. But a major push to remedy that was unveiled at the White House on Monday—a $42 billion initiative to bring high-speed internet to pretty much anyone who wants it, even if they live in far-flung rural locales deemed unprofitable by major providers. Some highlights:

  • Money: Every state will get at least $107 million, and 18 will get more than $1 billion, including Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia. Those getting the most are Texas ($3.3 billion) and California ($1.8 billion). CNN has the complete list. Territories also get money, starting with the Virgin Islands at $27 million.
  • Examples: The Washington Post has a graphic listing the number of people “unserved” by the internet in various states, starting with Texas at 779,000. Other examples include North Carolina (376,000), Michigan (368,000), Virginia (364,000), Missouri (337,000), and California (306,000).
  • Now what? States will start submitting their plans to deliver internet later this year and unlock 20% of their allotment, per Reuters. The full amount likely won’t be released until plans are finalized in 2025. The White House goal is to have everyone in the US connected by 2030 under what’s known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
  • The pitch: “It’s the biggest investment in high-speed internet ever,” said President Biden on Monday. “Because for today’s economy to work for everyone, internet access is just as important as electricity, or water, or other basic services.” The money is part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

Personally I like the idea….this world today one needs access to be successful in whatever they attempt….plus it would be good for education as long as the idiots keep their hands out of the pie.

Will this make a difference?

Do you have an opinion?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Prevent Conflict And Promote Stability”

For as long as I can remember the US State Department has had the same, almost comical, slogan …..their goal is to “prevent conflict and promote stability’.

Recently the Biden White House has added to this delusion.

Every country, including our own, experiences risks and challenges related to stability and conflict. The international community grapples with issues that cut across borders, societies, ways of life, and economies. As the world has witnessed too often, the effects of conflict and instability are not constrained by borders or technologies. Cooperation and long-term investments in conflict prevention and stabilization are needed now more than ever to build peace across divided communities and boundaries. We must collectively bolster societal resilience to prevent and reduce the heavy human and financial costs of conflicts that undermine global peace, security and sustainable development.

On April 1, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the implementation of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability with partner countries across the globe.  The Strategy outlines a ten-year, evidence-based, whole-of-government effort to foster peace and long-term stability through integrated U.S. diplomacy, development, and security-sector engagement with dual goals of strengthening national and regional peace, resilience and stability and enhancing the way our government operates in a variety of contexts.

(whitehouse.gov)

And how has that worked out for the US since 1990?

In Kosovo….and Somalia….Libya….Iraq….Afghanistan….and now Ukraine…..how is all this helping promote stability?

This is my favorite paragraph of the strategy from Biden…..

This Strategy lays out a whole-of-government approach to advancing America’s national interests on the world stage. This means tapping into the expansive expertise and resources that reside across our Government, sharpening and updating those tools where needed, humbly applying the costly and painful lessons from the past, and transforming the way we work with each other. Our diplomats, officers, and experts in the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, and others across Government, as well as members of the Foreign Service and Armed Forces, will work in close cooperation with multilateral organizations and a wide variety of local partners in each nation where these efforts will be pursued — including civil society organizations, community leaders, businesses, and government officials. Those who are closest and most  vulnerable to these challenges know best where the opportunities for peace and stability lie — they represent the strongest source of promise and immunity from destabilizing forces, and we must support their strength and resilience. From strengthening social institutions and state-society relations, to mitigating the spread of extremist ideologies, to confronting the corrosive impact of gender inequality, to cultivating greater trust between security forces and citizens, to guarding against the destabilizing threat of climate change — we will help foster locally led, locally owned solutions grounded in mutual trust and long-term accountability.

All this should be the opening act down at the ‘Chuckle Shack’

All this humor is wonderful rhetoric and great slogans but the actions show a different side to this comedy.

SecState has made my case for me….

The US will focus its efforts on arming Ukraine and not attempting to bring the war to a negotiated settlement, America’s top diplomat said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out a plan to massively expand Kiev’s military before talks begin.

In a speech delivered in Finland on Friday, Blinken stated, “The United States – together with our allies and partners – is firmly committed to supporting Ukraine’s defense today, tomorrow, for as long as it takes.” He continued, “We believe the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger Ukraine, capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression.”

Blinken dismissed the idea of even a temporary pause in the fighting. “Some countries will call for a ceasefire. And on the surface, that sounds sensible – attractive, even. After all, who doesn’t want warring parties to lay down their arms? Who doesn’t want the killing to stop?” He said. “But a ceasefire that simply freezes current lines in place and enables Putin to consolidate control over the territory he’s seized…It would legitimize Russia’s land grab. It would reward the aggressor and punish the victim.”

Blinken Dismisses Calls for a Ceasefire, Says US Must Build Up Ukraine’s Military

None of his words will ‘prevent conflict and promote stability’

And yet the American believe the BS…..so damn typical.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How Intelligent Is AI?

The newest trend here the blogosphere is ChatGPT….it is being employed by many as a tool for posts and comments and that raises the question how intelligent is AI?

Data is the answer and it takes lots of work to make it so…..

Of all the stories about artificial intelligence that have emerged of late, a new one from Josh Dzieza in a collaboration for New York and the Verge is equal parts compelling and surprising. He explores a simple-sounding premise: In order for AI models to work, they need to be fed data—lots of data, almost unimaginable amounts of data. Enter the “annotators.” Meaning, millions of people around the world working for generally low pay toiling away at monotonous tasks such as labeling photos of clothes, all so the AI models get ever smarter. Behind “even the most impressive AI system are people—huge numbers of people labeling data to train it and clarifying data when it gets confused,” writes Dzieza.
In what he calls a rising “global industry,” they work for companies that sell this data to big players for a steep price, all of which fosters a culture of secrecy.

Annotators, in fact, are usually forbidden from talking about their work, though they typically are kept in the dark about the big picture anyway. (One big player is Scale AI, a data vendor in Silicon Valley.) “The result is that, with few exceptions, little is known about the information shaping these systems’ behavior, and even less is known about the people doing the shaping.” Dzieza interviewed two dozen annotators around the world, and he even worked as one himself to get the full picture. At one point in describing the entire human-machine feedback loop, he offers this mind-bending gem: “ChatGPT seems so human because it was trained by an AI that was mimicking humans who were rating an AI that was mimicking humans who were pretending to be a better version of an AI that was trained on human writing.”

The full story is well worth a read.

So again….just how intelligent is AI?

A good question that could have many answers and this is one of them.

If one looks, for example, at a rather common concept of what intelligence is – the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to perceive or infer information – AI doesn’t seem to do all that well.

Worse, for AI, intelligence can also be seen as the ability to retain newly learned information – not misinformation and disinformation and not made up stuff generated by ChatGPT.

Intelligence is knowledge applied towards adaptive behaviors within an environment or context. From the standpoint of what intelligence actually is, AI seems to be miles away from actually being intelligent.

Given our understanding of intelligence, the allegedly so intelligent AI even failed to find a simple picture of me and to create a reasonably close approximation of me. Worse, the much famed ChatGPT – in another self-test – got four facts wrong about me. Rather than being intelligent, AI seems to just make stuff up.

Yet, despite this, the apostles of AI – including media capitalism – have a very serious incentive to diminish AI’s – known! – limitations. Hyped up by the media, AI has become big business in recent months.

Even thorough corporate media – and this is quite apart from ChatGPT failing the Turing-test and from other rather incapable AI image creation websites, AI is set to become increasingly dominant in our global online, and not so online, culture. To arrive where it is today, AI had to travel a long way.

While the term “artificial intelligence” may had been first used in 1894, the term “artificial intelligence” was turbo-charged in 1956. Today, AI continues to be popularized and most recently sensationalized. In reality, AI has no human-like intelligence. Its limited machine intelligence is radically different from what we know intelligence to be.

The prevailing myth of AI tells us that AI can – or will in the future – do almost everything. Yet, AI’s incredible success rests on narrow applications like board games It can also predict the next set of sleepwear purchased on Amazon. However, all this gets us not one step closer to general intelligence – an AI system that can do more than play games and sell things.

How Intelligent is Artificial Intelligence?

I have been told to embrace this technology for it is the way of the future….to that I say bunk.

That was the same crap I was told about the George Forman grill that I should use it instead of my charcoal grill….I will use what works for me.

And now your thoughts.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Abolish The Pentagon?

I write a lot about the abuses of the Pentagon and some to think that I would like nothing better than to see an end to the Pentagon.

That is not at all what I am calling for in my writings.

Yes the US has a duty to protect US shores….but for me they do not have a duty to fund and supply endless wars across the globe.

The Congress and the president’s admin is ass deep in the pockets of the arms industry….it is all about the cash in their wallets and  not what best and moral.

The Biden administration requested $886 billion for national defense for Fiscal Year 2024, a sum far higher in real terms than the peaks of the Korean or Vietnam wars or at the height of the Cold War.

That figure could go even higher under the terms of the debt ceiling deal reached by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as hawks in Congress push for an emergency package that could not only provide aid needed to defend Ukraine but also tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the Pentagon’s regular budget.

This is a terrible idea. There is no reason to add funds to the Pentagon budget, as documented in a report released today by the Quincy Institute.

The enormous sums lavished on the Pentagon are being marshaled in support of a flawed National Defense Strategy that attempts to go everywhere and do everything, from winning a war with Russia or China, to intervening in Iran or North Korea, to continuing to fight a global war on terror that includes military activities in at least 85 countries. 

Note to Congress: there is no emergency that would require more military funding

The Defense Department must be re-named to  to what it was once called….its true calling….the War Department.

Do not worry…the Biden posse will use every opportunity to get more money for Ukraine (are they working that hard for you or your family?)

The recent ‘mutiny’ in Russia will help get all that lovely cash for Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s brief rebellion against the Russian government has given hawks in Congress more ammunition to argue for additional spending on the Ukraine war, POLITICO reported Tuesday.

…

The crisis in Russia came after House and Senate panels approved their versions of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA is capped at $886 billion under the debt ceiling deal reached between the White House and House Republicans, but the limit does not apply to emergency supplemental funds, which is how spending on the Ukraine war has been authorized.

Three arms industry lobbyists told POLITICO that they believe the Prigozhin uprising will help hawks argue for a supplemental spending package for the Pentagon and Ukraine.

The White House is expected to ask Congress to authorize more spending on Ukraine via supplemental funds, but it’s not clear when that will happen. The Pentagon claimed last week that an “accounting error” has freed up an additional $6.2 billion that can be spent on military aid for Ukraine, giving the administration more time before it needs to make the request. So far, Congress has authorized $113 billion to spend on the war.

(antiwar.com)

But not to concern yourself….we have a deal on spending, right?

Congress spared military-related programs any cuts while freezing all other categories of discretionary spending at the fiscal year 2023 level (except support for veterans). Indeed, lawmakers set the budget for the Pentagon and for other national security programs like nuclear-related work developing nuclear warheads at the Department of Energy at the level requested in the administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal — a 3.3% increase in military spending to a whopping total of $886 billion. Consider that preferential treatment of the first order and, mind you, for the only government agency that’s failed to pass a single financial audit!

Even so, that $886 billion hike in Pentagon and related spending is likely to prove just a floor, not a ceiling, on what will be allocated for “national defense” next year. An analysis of the deal by the Wall Street Journal found that spending on the Pentagon and veterans’ care — neither of which is frozen in the agreement — is likely to pass $1 trillion next year.

Compare that to the $637 billion left for the rest of the government’s discretionary budget. In other words, public health, environmental protection, housing, transportation, and almost everything else the government undertakes will have to make do with not even 45% of the federal government’s discretionary budget, less than what would be needed to keep up with inflation. (Forget addressing unmet needs in this country.)

How a New Budget Loophole Could Send Pentagon Spending Soaring Even Higher

SO do not abolish the War Department….just rein in the spending of two bit leaders that are only in it for the ‘cash’.

This country needs rescuing from the arms of the fat cats that just want profit….could care less about you or your family.

Stop being an idiot!

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Should Pay?

By now the world knows of the disaster with the sub on it’s way to the Titanic wreck…..but did you know that the 19 year old went along so he could go viral upon his return?

Christine and Alina Dawood, the wife and daughter of Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, who died on the Titan submersible along with his 19-year-old son, Suleman, weren’t far from their loved ones when they perished last week in the vessel’s “catastrophic implosion.” The grieving mom tells the BBC that she and her daughter boarded the Polar Prince support ship with the two doomed men, and that the family hugged and joked before the Titan made its descent to the bottom of the ocean. “I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time,” she says.

Dawood notes that her son even brought a Rubik’s Cube with him into the submersible, in the hopes of making his way into the Guinness World Records. “He said, ‘I’m going to solve the Rubik’s Cube 3,700 meters below [the] sea at the Titanic,'” she recalls him saying, noting that her husband had brought along a camera so he could record the event. Dawood says she’d originally been the one who was supposed to go see the Titanic wreck with her husband, but that trip was nixed because of the pandemic. When it came time to reschedule, she decided to give up her seat to Suleman, “because he really wanted to go.”

All the news about what has happened but there has been few asking the question…..who should pay for this foolhardy endeavor?

When millionaire Steve Fossett’s plane went missing over the Nevada range in 2007, the swashbuckling adventurer had already been the subject of two prior emergency rescue operations thousands of miles apart.

And that prompted a prickly question: After a sweeping search for the wealthy risktaker ended, who should foot the bill?

In recent days, the massive hunt for a submersible vehicle lost during a north Atlantic descent to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has refocused attention on that conundrum. And with rescuers and the public fixated first on saving and then on mourning those aboard, it has again made for uneasy conversation.

“Five people have just lost their lives and to start talking about insurance, all the rescue efforts and the cost can seem pretty heartless — but the thing is, at the end of the day, there are costs,” said Arun Upneja, dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration and a researcher on tourism.

“There are many people who are going to say, ‘Why should the society spend money on the rescue effort if (these people) are wealthy enough to be able to … engage in these risky activities?’”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/25/submersible-titanic-wealthy-adventurers-rescue-costs-00103555

Personally I think they family/estate should pay for the massive search efforts….the people make the decision to attempt something dangerous then the family should be prepared to foot the rescue/recovery operation.

I have no time for the attitude….do it because it is there.

Let your thoughts be known.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ukraine’s Long Promised Counteroffensive

++++Sorry for the delay on this post but things spiraled and it was a small thing compared.++++

The counteroffensive Ukraine’s Eastern most regions has finally begun…..from all reports it is a bloody ordeal for both sides.

After all the equipment and a year’s worth of training and the Ukrainians are not as successful as they brag they would be…..

Western officials told CNN that Ukraine’s bloody counteroffensive is “not meeting expectations on any front” as Ukrainian forces are struggling to break through Russia’s defenses.

The report said that according to Western assessments, Russia’s lines of defense have been well fortified, and Russian forces have been able to bog down Ukrainian armored vehicles with missile strikes and minefields.

One official said Ukraine’s forces were “vulnerable” to Russia’s minefields and described the Russian defenses as “competent.” The officials stressed that the counteroffensive was still in its early stages and said they remained “optimistic” that Ukraine could eventually regain some territory.

Bloomberg reported that Ukrainian officials reported progress in the counteroffensive has halted. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the assault “is not an easy walk — this is not a Hollywood movie,” echoing comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky a day earlier.

Zelensky acknowledged on Wednesday that the counteroffensive is going “slower than desired” but vowed Ukrainian forces would fight on. “No matter how far we advance in our counteroffensive, we will not agree to a frozen conflict because that is war, that is a prospectless development for Ukraine,” he said.

According to the Discord leaks and media reports, the US did not believe Ukraine could regain much territory, but the Biden administration pushed for the violent counteroffensive anyway and has rejected the idea of a ceasefire or peace talks.

If the US did not believe that Ukraine could be successful why would they push for a massive offensive?

Even Zelensky with all his censorship measures in place has admitted things are not going so well.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is going “slower than desired” as Ukrainian forces have made little progress and are taking heavy losses.

“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” Zelensky told BBC in an interview published Wednesday. “What’s at stake is people’s lives.”

So far, Ukraine has claimed it captured eight small villages in the southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast and in the eastern Donetsk Oblast since the counteroffensive began earlier this month, minimal gains that have come at a high cost.

Zelensky said his forces were having difficulty because Russia had mined a lot of areas. “Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” he said.

(antiwar.com)

Even officials in the Ukrainian defense forces have started admitting they will take less than they had originally anticipated.

Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has been underway for over two weeks, and Kiev has little to show for the loss of life and military equipment expended the in the operations. On Monday, a Ukrainian military official attempted to lower expectations for the mission, as US lawmakers say future support for Kiev depends on whether it can reclaim territory from Russian forces. 

In an interview with the Czech Current Time TV station Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov downplayed how much territory Kiev will retake in the counteroffensive. “The Russians had the opportunity to prepare. There is an incredible density of minefields,” he said. “Our officers, our commanders are maneuvering, look for opportunities, move carefully. I suggest not pushing them, not pushing them, they are doing their job. And they will do it.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/kiev-aims-to-lower-expectations-for-counteroffensive/

There will be more from IST as the counteroffensive drags on and on….watch for it.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump Gains Strength

In case you missed it our ex-president has been indicted a few times for his antics after he left the Oval Office….under normal circumstances this alone would be the kiss of death for political campaign….but not these day….if anything he adds fuel to the re-election drama…..

Multiple indictments, pending investigations, and being found liable of sex abuse and defamation in a civil suit apparently can’t keep him down: Donald Trump is even more in the lead in a new NBC News poll of 2024 presidential candidates. Per the Hill, Trump was the No. 1 pick of 51% of Republican primary voters. In second place was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 22%—that’s nine points down from his April position, while Trump is five points up. Next up were Mike Pence (7%) and Chris Christie (5%); all other GOP candidates got 4% or less. Matched up with President Biden in a hypothetical election, the poll found Trump got 45% support to Biden’s 49%, Fox News reports.

When asked whether Trump should continue leading the Republican party, 49% of GOP voters said yes. Another 29% said the party needs a new leader “with better personal behavior and a different approach,” while 21% said Trump was a good president but should now pass the torch. Notably, however, while a CNN poll released last week still found Trump at the head of the pack, it found he’d dropped from 53% in a May poll to 47%. That poll found DeSantis in second place with 26% and Pence in third with 9%. It also found Trump’s favorability rating among Republicans had dropped from 77% in May to 67%

It is early in the possible match-ups….a lot can change between now and the heat of campaigns….but I do not see Trump having much problem beating the clowns that will challenge him in the primaries.

Biden is not so lucky….his numbers do not bode well….but again something could change all that.

How does it look from armchair?

This is it for the day for I will celebrate my birthday with Sue over a good meal.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What The Hell Happened In Russia?

I am guessing that most people have heard the news of the mercs and Putin mash-up….but all in all just what the Hell happened?

Let me catch you up….

If you blinked and missed the headlines on Saturday, the news out of the Russia-Ukraine war will cause a double-take on Sunday. Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Group declared an open rebellion against Vladimir Putin, brought his tanks about 120 miles from Moscow, then abruptly called off the coup and said he was leaving for Belarus after the Kremlin promised not to prosecute him. The head-spinning developments have analysts all over the world scrambling to assess. Examples follow, but perhaps the big one to keep in mind comes from Alexander Vershbow, a former US ambassador to Moscow and a current deputy secretary general of NATO. “We can speculate all we want, but the fact is we have little idea of what happens next,” he tells the Washington Post.

  • Weaker Putin: “Whatever the outcome of this weekend’s astonishing drama, Putin looks weaker than at any time since he became president in 2000,” writes Luke Harding at the Guardian. “His decision to invade Ukraine has proven a major strategic blunder—the biggest of his career and one that may, sooner or later, force him from power.” In terms of the war itself, the weekend developments “dramatically” raised the chances of a Ukrainian military breakthrough, he adds.
  • Weaker Putin, II: The above sentiment is widespread. “Putin has shown he can no longer maintain order among his warlords,” per an analysis at the Economist. “He has been greatly weakened by the challenge—and in his world weakness tends to lead to further instability.” John Simpson, world affairs editor at the BBC, similarly sees this as evidence of “real, real weakness in Putin’s rule.”
  • The aftermath: Peter Baker of the New York Times agrees that the near-coup suggests “Putin’s hold on power is more tenuous than at any time since he took office more than two decades ago.” But those rooting for his downfall should be wary. “Weakness begets riskier behavior on Putin’s part,” says Jon Huntsman Jr., a former ambassador to Russia under former President Trump. “There’s a new ripple in Putin’s ‘invincibility,’ which will be exploited from every angle.”
  • No winners? A Wall Street Journal assessment by Yaroslav Trofimov suggests both Putin and Prigozhin emerge weaker. The rebellion did fall short, after all. “The entire system has lost yesterday, including Prigozhin, who is also part of the system,” says Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. “It turned out that the czar is not a real czar because he couldn’t control a man from his own system who’s supposed to be under his full control.”
  • The timeline: A timeline by the New York Times shows how the near-rebellion unfolded in real time. It includes a map showing the progression of Prigozhin’s tanks.
  • At root: Prigozhin, whose group has fought some of the deadliest battles on behalf of Russia in Ukraine, has lately become a scathing critic of Russia’s military strategy and of its justification for the war. He has demanded the ouster of Russian defense chief Sergei Shoigu, per the AP. As of Sunday, Shoigu was still in his post. Prigozhin has accused the Russian military of deliberately targeting Wagner camps with rockets and artillery.

How safe will this dude be in Belarus considering they are an ally of Russia?

Will he fall out a window?  Or maybe some mysterious sickness?

This ain’t over until it’s over.

You are now caught up on the Russian thing…..

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