Day: February 15, 2024

Another Day, Another Shooting

An all too familiar meme in the American news factory….gun violence with casualties….this time around it was at a parade for the Kansas Chiefs Super Bowl win.

Another whacked out d/bag with a gun…..

In a grim update on the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration in downtown Kanas City on Wednesday, police said nine children were among at least 21 people wounded by gunfire. Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said three people had been taken into custody, including one who may have been detained by fans, the AP reports. One person was killed, authorities say. The Kansas City Star reports that Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two who was at the parade with her family, died during surgery for a gunshot wound.

“She was the most wonderful, beautiful person,” says longtime friend Lisa Lopez (no relation), a Star employee. “She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life.” Another friend, Rosa Izurieta, tells the AP that Lopez-Galvan’s adult son was also wounded. Victims were taken to three hospitals, KMBC reports. According to the Kansas City Fire Department, eight victims had “immediate life-threatening injuries,” and another seven had life-threatening injuries. The Star reports that the injured children range in age from six to 15. Graves said no motive has been identified. She asked anybody with information or video of the shooting to contact police.

“I’m angry at what happened today,” the chief said. “The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment.” Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the Super Bowl victory and the scene became chaotic after shots were fired and people ran for cover, the New York Times reports. Some witnesses said they were nearly trampled. The Kansas City Chiefs confirmed that all players, employees, and their families were safe, NBC News reports. “We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all of Kansas City.” This story has been updated with new details.

I am sure somewhere there will be an idiot that will offer ‘thoughts and prayer’….that has done nothing to stop this insanity so if you are thinking that just shut-up.

I could go off on a rant but why?

Nothing will get done and it will continue to happen as longer as their are spineless slugs in Congress and Americans are too busy to care.

I did hear one idiot say that cars kill more people than guns (an old Repub talking point)….this was bullshit then and is bullshit now.

Unlike firearms, cars aren’t explicitly designed to kill or wound living beings (humans, animals, etc). They’re designed to move you from one place to another. Yet unlike firearms, cars and drivers are heavily regulated by the government, from emissions standards to annual inspections to safety features, and so forth. You can’t legally drive a car that doesn’t feature seatbelts, or a car that spews too much exhaust into the air. You have to take both a written and a behind-the-wheel test to get a license to operate a car. You often have to renew that license at regular intervals and, if you’re older, you have to prove that you’re physically capable of driving a car. You can’t drive a car while drinking alcohol or impaired by other chemicals. There are thousands of police officers patrolling our roads and, as most of us have experienced at one time or another, they will penalize or arrest you for improper handling of a car — with literally hundreds of laws to abide, and considerable penalties, ranging from fines to imprisonment to the government stripping you of your right to drive a car at all. So if the NRA and its supporters are going to keep using this car analogy, then let’s talk about regulating guns and gun owners the same way we regulate cars and drivers.

(huffpost.com

This has been a long standing Repub standard lie….they just trot it out whenever people start talking about reasonable gun laws.

The next attack is just waiting it’s turn for the headlines.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What If Russia Wins?

The news is pathetic these days….so how about a ‘what if’ thingy?

Russia has once again return to the airways thanks in part to Carlson and his silly interview with Putin.

The Senate just approved more cash for Ukraine, as if we have not given enough, but here is an idea….what if after all the aid money Russia still wins the conflict with Ukraine….what then?

Recently a secret German document was leaked which sets out the scenario….

A confidential document drawn up by the German Ministry of Defense (MoD) envisions how a possible escalation of the war in Ukraine could potentially develop. The hypothetical development involves Russia and NATO each gradually increasing troop build-up in eastern Europe until hundreds of thousands of troops face off against each other at the Suwałki Gap in June 2025—and leaves the outcome of the confrontation open.

Berlin’s exercise scenario, according to the German daily Bild, heavily relies on a set of assumptions that would all need to occur before further escalation, but each component of the chain of events is presented as the next logical step.

The scenario, titled “Alliance Defense 2025,” starts with Russia beginning a new wave of mobilizations by calling up an additional 200,000 recruits in February 2024, who then manage to weaken the Ukrainian positions along the line of contact in the next spring offensive.

In July 2024, Russia would then begin covert cyber-attacks and other forms of hybrid warfare on the West and East Central Europe in particular, while inciting Russian-speaking minorities in Baltic countries. The political crisis in the Baltics would eventually be used to justify a massive military exercise (similar to the one in 2021), called ‘Zapad 2024’ in September, involving at least 50,000 Russian troops in Belarus and western Russia.

Leaked German Defense Document Sketches out Russian War Scenario

After the German document was leaked Estonia had to make a case for more cash…..

“Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation,” the head of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned Tuesday. Kaupo Rosin said Russia plans to double the number of troops it has stationed near its borders with NATO members in northern Europe, and the “Kremlin is probably anticipating a possible conflict with NATO within the next decade or so,” reports Reuters. The intelligence service predicted that Russia will double the 19,000 troops it has stationed near its border with Estonia and expand the number of troops on its 830-mile border with Finland, NATO’s newest member, USA Today reports

“We will see an increase in armed personnel carriers, tanks, artillery systems over the coming years,” said Rosin, who called for a counter-buildup of NATO forces. Estonia and the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, boosted their defense spending to more than 2% of GDP, in line with NATO guidelines, after Russia annexed Crimea almost a decade ago, Reuters notes. Asked about Donald Trump’s remark that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to alliance members that don’t spend enough on defense, Rosin said, “Such statements are never helpful.”

Estonia’s prime minister has been placed on a wanted list by Russia’s Interior Ministry, becoming the first leader on a list that includes dozens of officials from the Baltic states and Poland, the AP reports. Russian officials said Kaja Kallas was added to the list because of efforts to remove Soviet-era WWII monuments in Estonia. She slammed the move as a “scare tactic. ” Russia may believe that issuing a fictitious arrest warrant will silence Estonia,” Kallas said. “I refuse to be silenced–I will continue to vocally support Ukraine and advocate for the strengthening of European defenses.”

Let’s say Putin does do the silly and move on Western Europe….

a win for Russia against Ukraine would ‘undoubtedly’ result in the fall of NATO, ‘economic carnage’ for the West as well as the rise of foes including China, Iran and North Korea, retired US General Ben Hodges tells MailOnline.

At the crux of this is the fact that Russia and the Global South would see a Ukrainian defeat as a military loss for the West – it would show the world that NATO, led by the US, is capable of sacrificing a European nation in order to avoid a nuclear conflict.

And once autocrats realise that the US and the West are beatable, a nuclear war would be ‘inevitable’ and the world would be consumed in bloodshed, Danylyuk says in a terrifying prediction. 

Indeed, Danylyuk says the world will have been watching as Ukraine, which gave up the world’s third-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in 1993, was defeated by Russia’s military amid daily threats of Moscow incinerating the country with nukes. 

And that would send a strong message: The only way for non-nuclear states to protect themselves against an attack by countries with nukes – like China and Russia – would be to have weapons of mass destruction of their own.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12992481/What-happens-Putin-WINS-Ukraine-Catastrophic-change-world-order-lead-fall-NATO-economic-carnage-inevitable-nuclear-war-autocrats-West-beatable.html

I think Russia may have a cyber capability but I do not think his army is so capable…..then there is the nuke thing….I really do not think Putin would use them for prevailing winds would put the fall-out in his backyard.

But what do I know, right?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”