Status

Ukraine, 4-20-22

To start, Associated Press and Reuters stories, both linked to others related to the war. Then, five stories heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition” program. Next, some suggestions by Sarah Morris, head of instruction and engagement at the Emory University Libraries, whose focus is media literacy. More news and commentary to follow. — MCM

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Russia pressures Mariupol as it focuses on Ukraine’s east, by Adam Schreck | The Associated Press KYIV — Russian forces pressured a stubborn pocket of resistance in Mariupol amid renewed hopes today for an evacuation of thousands of civilians from the shattered port city that is a key battleground in Moscow’s new onslaught to take control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland. In addition to pounding the holdout in Mariupol, Russian forces have intensified . . . Click HERE for rest of report including photos.

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No surrender in Mariupol as Russian ultimatum expires; refugees from Ukraine top 5 million,by Natalia Zinets | Reuters * Russia told Ukrainians at Mariupol plant to lay down arms * U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany promise more help * U.S. plans new military aid package in next few days – sources | A Russian ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender or die expired this afternoon with no mass capitulation, but the commander of a unit believed to be holding out in the besieged city said his forces could survive just days or hours. The United Nations said on today the number of refugees . . . Click HERE for rest of report including photos.

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Ukrainian fighters are making their last stand in a steel mill in Mariupol. Reported by Leila Fadel and Tim Mak | National Public Radio A Ukrainian fighter calls on the world to save their lives and extract them and civilians out of the destroyed city of Mariupol. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, to read.

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Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are refusing to surrender to Russian forces. NPR’s Leila Fadel talks to retired Gen. Ben Hodges about how the Russian assault in eastern Ukraine will be different from Russian President Putin’s initial plan to take Kiev at the end of February. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, to read.

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To fight climate change, and now Russia, too, Zurich turns off natural gas. Reported by Dan Charles | NPR European officials are debating whether they can stop buying natural gas imports from Russia. Many say it can’t be done. But the biggest city in Switzerland – Zurich – is already taking ambitious steps to wean itself off gas. It’s shutting down the flow of gas to whole parts of the city. Zurich started down this path a decade ago in order to save money and fight climate change. The plan . . . Click HERE to read more and listen.

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It’s planting season in Ukraine, and that means problems for global food supply. Reported by Ayen Bior | NPR. The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Lebanon’s economy minister announced the country of 6.8 million people had enough wheat reserves to last just one month. Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of agriculture, which Lebanon depends on. Ukraine alone exported more than $27 billion in agricultural products to the world last year. About 80% of Lebanon’s wheat comes from Ukraine. So when the war started, so did worries of food shortages and price hikes. “You could say . . . Click HERE to listen and read today.

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Decades after the USSR collapsed, Eurasian countries struggle to maintain democracy. NPR’s Steve Inskeep talks to Michael Abramowitz of Freedom House about the state of democracy in 29 formerly communist nations of Central Europe and Central Asia following Russia’s war on Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, to read.

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Disinformation, Propaganda, and the War in Ukraine, by Sarah Morris | The Carter Center The war in Ukraine is a terrible situation that is keeping many of us glued to our devices, looking for updates and ways to help Ukraine. Unfortunately, large amounts of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda are swirling around, creating confusion and disruption. How can you spot and prevent the spread of dangerous mis/disinformation and propaganda and support high-quality, factual coverage and reporting on the war? The five tips below can help. [1] Be extra thorough with fact-checking. During periods of turmoil, it is crucial . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Ukraine, 4-19-22

Links to Associated Press and Reuters stories related to the war in Ukraine, both linked to others, are followed by links to several stories from NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” programs. Then, courtesy of Consortium News, the beginning of a pre-Easter reflection by Patrick Lawrence on what he sees as Americans’ active embrace of wars and other interventions for empire. — MCM

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Russia ratchets up battle for control of eastern Ukraine, by Adam Schreck | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland today, assaulting cities and towns along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long in what both sides described as a new phase of the war. After a Russian push to overrun the capital failed, the Kremlin declared that its main goal was the capture of the mostly Russian-speaking eastern Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years. If successful, that offensive would give President Vladimir Putin a vital piece of Ukraine and a badly needed victory in the now 7-week-old war that he could . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian volunteers recount three weeks in Russian captivity, allege beatings, by Alessandra Prentice and Sergiy Karazyy | Reuters DYMER, Ukraine — Volodymyr Khropun and Yulia Ivannikova-Katsemon say they were helping people flee villages on the front line in northern Ukraine when they were detained by Russian soldiers over two days in March. Both said they were then held with around 40 other captives on the concrete floor of a nearby factory, their hands bound. Nearly a week later they were transferred in a military truck to Belarus, and on to detention centres in Russia, they said. Khropun, an electrical engineer, and Ivannikova-Katsemon, an emergency services dispatcher, were freed with 24 others in a prisoner exchange on April 9. Standing . . .READ MORE . . .

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What are the ripple effects of sanctioning Russia’s richest and most powerful? NPR’s Leila Fadel talks to Alex Finley, a former CIA officer and novelist who’s tracking super-yachts used by oligarchs, about what sanctions against Russia mean for the country’s super-rich. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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A Ukrainian family finds solace in America but cannot escape heartbreak. Reported by Olivia Hampton | NPR WASHINGTON — Two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Koliubaiev family joined a small caravan with friends and drove more than 500 miles to the Hungarian border. Steps from the checkpoint, Artem Koliubaiev said goodbye to his wife and children, not sure when or if the family would reunite. Eka Koliubaieva and their two daughters are in the U.S. now, where they have found . . . Click HERE to listen and read today.

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Ukraine crisis raises question: Does food aid go equally to ‘Black and white lives’? Reported by Nurith Aizeniman | NPR The head of the World Health Organization has a stark message for the world. On the one hand, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference last week, the focus on the victims of Russia’s war on Ukraine is entirely justified and necessary. But on the other hand, he added, the international community is failing to give even “a fraction” of that attention to people in countries far beyond Ukraine who are grappling with ripple effects of the war that are just as devastating. Specifically, millions . . . Click HERE to listen and read today.

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As Russia launches a new offensive, what did it learn from the first one? Reported by Greg Myre | NPR WASHINGTON — When Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, almost nothing went as planned. Ukrainian resistance was far tougher than expected. The ill-prepared Russian troops suffered heavy losses and ultimately had to retreat when. . . Click HERE to listen and read today.

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The Great Acquiescence — Glory to Ukraine. Commentary by Patrick Lawrence | Consortium News. The other day I ventured forth from my remote village to a lively market town called Great Barrington to shop for Easter lunch — spring lamb, a decent bottle of Bourgogne. Easter is much marked in my household, one of the few feasts we allow ourselves, and it is a reminder this year of a truth that could scarcely be more pertinent to our shared circumstances: After all our small and large crucifixions, there is new life to come. Great Barrington lies in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, a fashionable little burg dense — as you can tell simply by walking around in it — with righteous liberals. No place, you remind yourself, is perfect. And there along the streets and avenues . . . READ MORE. . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

 

Ukraine, 4-18-22

First, the beginnings of Reuters and Associated Press reports made available after 8 a.m. EDT, both linked to the news services’ other stories related to the war in Ukraine. — MCM

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Russia hits targets across Ukraine, fighters cling on in Mariupol, by Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * Russia says it hit targets with missiles, artillery * Authorities in Lviv say attack kills seven * Ukrainian fighters hold out in parts of Mariupol | LVIV/KYIV — Russia said today it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, while authorities in the western city of Lviv, which had escaped heavy bombardment, said a missile attack killed seven. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian military facilities in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions and in the port of Mykolayiv, in the south and east of the country. It added that the Russian air force had launched strikes against 108 areas where Ukrainian forces were concentrated and Russian artillery struck 315 Ukrainian military targets overnight. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian officials: Russian strikes kill at least 7 in Lviv, by Yuras Karmanau | The  Associated Press LVIV — Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv today, killing at least seven people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow’s troops stepped up strikes on infrastructure in preparation for an all-out assault on the east. Plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city after a series of explosions shattered windows and started fires. Lviv and the rest of western Ukraine have seen only sporadic strikes during almost two months of war and have become a relative safe haven for people from parts of the country where fighting has been more intense. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, meanwhile, vowed to “fight absolutely to the end” in strategically vital Mariupol, where the last known pocket of resistance in a seven-week siege . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Ukraine, 4-17-22

Links to Associated Press and Reuters reports from Ukraine, both in turn linked to the news services’ other related stories, are followed by links to four analyses courtesy of Popular Resistance: (1) a look at politics in Ukraine and the United States in October 2019, (2) a long-time academic on dissent in the United States, (3) what one dissident sees as an absence of U.S. diplomacy, and (4) a former Marine runs for U.S. Senate as a Green (Ukraine is not mentioned). — MCM

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Ukrainians defy deadline to surrender in Mariupol or die, by Adam Schreck and Mstyslav Chernov | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — The battered port city of Mariupol appeared on the brink of falling to Russian forces today after seven weeks under siege, a development that what would give Moscow a crucial success in Ukraine following Russia’s failure to storm the capital and the loss of its Black Sea flagship. The Russian military estimated that about 2,500 Ukrainian fighters holding out at a hulking steel plant with a warren of underground passageways provided the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol. Russia gave a deadline for their surrender, saying those who put down their weapons were “guaranteed to keep their lives,” but the Ukrainians did not submit. “All those who will continue resistance will be destroyed,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, said. He said intercepted communications indicated . . . READ MORE . . .

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Mariupol defenders resist Russian ultimatum, pope laments ‘Easter of War’, by Alessandra Prentice and Natalia Zinets | Reuters * Russia orders fighters in Mariupol steelworks to lay down arms * Long-distance strikes continue elsewhere around Ukraine * Ukrainian President Zelenskiy says occupiers must pay * Pope decries ‘cruel and senseless’ conflict | KYIV — Ukrainian soldiers appeared to defy a Russian ultimatum to lay down their arms today in the pulverised port of Mariupol which Moscow said its forces had almost completely seized in what would be its biggest prize of the nearly two-month war. Several hours after a 0300 GMT deadline, there was no sign of surrender by Ukrainian fighters holed up in the Azovstal steelworks overlooking the Sea of Azov. Citing radio intercepts, Russia’s defence ministry said the encircled defenders, including 400 “foreign mercenaries”, had orders to shoot any among them who wanted to give up. There was no word on that from Ukraine’s government. . . . About four million Ukrainians have fled the country, cities have been . . . READ MORE . . .

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Siding with Ukraine’s far-right, U.S. sabotaged Zelensky’s peace mandate, by Aaron Maté | Educate!  In 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president on an overwhelming mandate to make peace with Russia. As the eminent Russia studies professor Stephen F. Cohen warned that year, the U.S. chose to side with Ukraine’s far-right and fuel war. On a warm October day in 2019, Cohen and I sat down in Manhattan for what would be our last in-person interview (Cohen passed away in September 2020 at the age of 81). The House was gearing up to impeach Donald Trump for freezing weapons shipments to Ukraine while pressuring its government to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The Beltway media was consumed with frenzy of a presidency in peril. But Professor Cohen was concerned with what the impeachment spectacle in Washington meant for the long-running war between the U.S.-backed Ukrainian government and Russian-backed rebels in the Donbas. At that point . . . READ MORE . . .

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American dissent on Ukraine is dying in darkness, by Robert Scheer | Scheer Post When it came to the Ukraine conflict, Professor Michael J. Brenner did what he’s done his whole life: question American foreign policy. This time the backlash was vitriolic. As the death toll in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continues to rise, there have only been a handful of Westerners publicly questioning NATO and the West’s role in the conflict. These voices are becoming fewer and further between as a wave of feverish backlash engulfs any dissent on the subject. One of these voices belongs to Professor Michael J. Brenner. . . . From the vantage point of decades of experience and studies the intellectual regularly shared his thoughts on topics of interest through a mailing list sent to thousands of readers—that is until the response to his Ukraine analysis made him question why he bothered in the first place. In an email with the subject line “Quittin’ Time,” Brenner recently declared that, aside from having already said his piece on Ukraine, one of the main reasons he sees for giving up on expressing his opinions on the subject is that “it is manifestly obvious that our society is not capable of conducting an honest, logical, reasonably informed discourse on matters of consequence. Instead, we experience fantasy, fabrication, fatuousness and fulmination.” He goes on to decry President Joe Biden’s . . . READ MORE . . .

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How the U.S. does ‘dipomacy’, by Moon of Alabama | Educate! The U.S. doesn’t do diplomacy. Every country has its own interests. But the U.S. and its pricks in the State Department insist that its interests must have priority over all others. Any country that disagrees with that will be called out on this or that issue or will even get . . . READ MORE . . .

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The Green Marine: A different kind of ‘service candidate’ runs for Senate, by Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon | Resist! In recent years, both major parties in the U.S. have been recruiting former members of the military, the foreign service, or national security agencies to run for Congress. Almost all of these so-called “service candidates” are either conservative Republicans or corporate Democrats, who quickly become part of the bi-partisan majority on Capitol Hill which rubber-stamps ever larger Pentagon budgets and fails to get big money out of politics. Two years ago . . . READ MORE . . .

Ukraine, 4-16-22

To start, links to Associated Press and Reuters reports, each linked to others concerning the war in Ukraine. Then, from National Public Radio, links to a report from this morning’s “Weekend Edition” program and this afternoon’s “All Things Considered” program. — MCM

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Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, hits other cities,by Adam Schreck and Mstyslav Chernov | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond today in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow’s pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east. Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia’s military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated — and refuted by witnesses — throughout 52 days of war. The toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of . . .READ MORE . . . 

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Russia says its forces clear most of Mariupol, strike Kyiv suburb, by Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * Explosions hit Kyiv in north, Lviv in west * Ukraine says situation in Mariupol ‘very difficult’ * French, Italian embassies reopen in Kyiv | KYIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Russian missile strikes hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities on today, as Moscow said its troops had cleared the urban area of Mariupol and only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remained inside a steelworks in the besieged southern port. Russia’s claim to have all but taken control of Mariupol, scene of the war’s heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, could not be independently verified. It would be . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kyiv is hit by missiles — a day after sinking a Russian war ship. Reported by Eyder Peralta | National Public Radio Missiles hit the environs of Kyiv, as Russia prepares for a renewed assault on eastern and southeastern Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.

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The U.S. does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with John Bellinger III, a former legal adviser for the National Security Council, about the complicated relationship the U.S. has with the International Criminal Court. Audio will be available HERE later today.

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Seth, 4-15-22

Seth McVey Has an Update and a Request

Apple-cheeked structural engineer Seth McVey is the youngest member of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, and wants your help in taking advantage of a matching grant aimed at reaching more engineers. If you have a minute and a half, click HERE — today or tonight — to listen to and watch him.

Today is the final day to donate to AE911Truth’s effort to give DOZENS of presentations to THOUSANDS of engineers and, as Roland Angle puts it, “start an all-out rebellion in the engineering community.”

A generous donor who believes deeply in trying to galvanize engineering profession has stepped forward with a $10,000 matching gift that ends today.

A donation of $30 or more — which will be doubled to $60 — will pay for 20 postcards promoting the organization’s presentation to be sent to engineering groups across the country, and also help cover the cost of sending dedicated AE911Truth engineers far and wide to talk with them.

“Engineers everywhere will rise up and reject the official reports — if we can reach enough of them,” Angle says.

Please give today to make that happen.

— Mark Channing Miller

Ukraine, 4-15-22

To start, a plug for this morning’s two-hour Consortium News discussion on an “information war” by the U.S. government; with luck, CN can get it online soon for viewers (probably a majority) who couldn’t watch it live anyway. Then, Associated Press and Reuters reports, both linked to the news services’ other current stories related to the war. Then, links to three segments on today’s “Morning Edition” program on NPR. Finally, via CN, Ben Norton of multipolorista.com replies to an April 11 New York Times article terming a “conspiracy theory” his reporting that that former Ukraine President Victor Yanukovych’s leaving office in 2014 resulted from a violent coup d’etat sponsored by the United States. — MCM

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‘Crushing Dissent’ With George Galloway, Chris Hedges, Scott Ritter and Jill Stein. A Consortium News discussion today, which started at 10 a.m. EDT,  to “examine the information warfare being waged to enforce a single narrative about the war in Ukraine. . . . Today’s information war against individuals and media who do not adhere to the Western-government-enforced narrative on Ukraine is part of a long history in the U.S. of officially crushing dissent. With the advances of technology for both surveillance and censorship, we might be in the most chilling atmosphere yet for thought control. Will it too be brought down by its own excesses?” The event is co-hosted by Elizabeth Vos and Joe Lauria and produced by Cathy Vogan. Click HERE to tune in and read more about it.

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Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase, by Adam Schreck | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Defense Ministry promised today to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow’s stinging symbolic loss of its navy’s flagship in the Black Sea. The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.“The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainians hang on at Mariupol steel plant, by Natalia Zinets | Reuters — Explosions rumbled and smoke rose this week from a steel making district in besieged Mariupol where dwindling Ukrainian forces are holed up as Russia tries to take full control of its biggest city yet. The Azovstal iron and steel works, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants, has become an aptly apocalyptic redoubt for Ukrainian forces who are outgunned, outnumbered and surrounded seven weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. . . . [T]he plant . . . covers more than 11 square kilometres (4.25 square miles), containing myriad buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks. “The Azovstal factory is an enormous space with so many buildings that the Russians … simply can’t find [the Ukrainian forces],” said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv. READ MORE . . .

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Russian President Vladimir Putin asserts that sanctions have failed. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Charles Maynes | National Public Radio. More than a month into sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, we look at whether and how Russians are feeling the impact. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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The Pentagon can’t confirm yet how the Russian ship Moskva was destroyed. NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks to retired Adm. James Foggo about the impact on Russian dominance in the Black Sea and the war in Ukraine after Russia’s lead warship in the Black Sea sank. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Many countries are seeing the worst inflation in decades.NPR’s Steve Inskeep speaks with correspondents Scott Horsley, Carrie Kahn and Lauren Frayer. Inflation isn’t just an American problem — it’s happening in places around the world and stretching some countries to the point of political unrest. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, to read. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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NYT Smears Journalist, Calls 2014 Ukraine Coup ‘Conspiracy Theory,’ by Ben Norton | multipolorista.com The New York Times published a ridiculous article smearing me with misleading claims, and even used an image of my face menacingly crossed out by a red line. The newspaper dismissed my factual statement that the United States sponsored a violent coup d’etatto overthrow Ukraine’s democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, calling this objective truth a “conspiracy theory,” while deceptively erasing the overwhelming evidence that I presented. The Times’ hatchet job violates . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Status

Lionel, 4-14-22

Lionel and I are not friends, have never met, and until he took part in a conference Bruce Henry and I attended in New York City on Sept. 11, 2016, a couple of years before our walk across Massachusetts, I had never hear of him. But occasionally he sends me an email. The one below arrived this afternoon. (It’s online HERE.) He seems to be on to something. — MCM

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Greetings, Mark:

If this present world doesn’t scare you to a level unrealized in recent times, you’re simply not paying attention. So much to assimilate and digest. Provided infra are myriad observations and takes, displayed and posted at various times and occasions with deliberate citation and referencing when necessary. They provide thought graffiti for your edification, perusal and review.

  • Crematorium Mythology. A viral tweet that remains to this day unchecked by “fact checkers” claims to show a Russian-operated “mobile crematorium” in Mariupol, but there’s a problem. The image is taken from an 8-year-old YouTube video. If this story doesn’t blow your mind, you’re brain-dead. Here’s another quote from another source. Read this carefully. And a quote from the article. “Shocking footage – originally shared in 2013 – disturbingly shows a circular chamber fitted into the back of the lorry.” What?! 2013? What about now? As in current. And as they say on QVC, but wait, there’s more. This from an MSDNC piece. So help me, this is the quote. “NBC’s Richard Engel says reports that Russians brought mobile cremation machines into Ukraine are ‘credible,’ but there has been no evidence that they have been used.” Again, what?! If there’s no evidence they’ve been used, then what’s the point? (Unless waste disposal equipment delivers the point.)
  • Americans have either forgotten about or know nothing of #AgendaID2020. And we are a society of amnesiacs who didn’t know anything in the first place to remember. Welcome to slavery. Please, refresh your recollection.
  • “The question is: Why are the Western powers pressing for the expansion of NATO? Why is NATO being renewed and extended when the ‘Soviet threat’ has disappeared?” This is from a speech from 1996 and the question is even more valid today. Please, have a read.
  • All of the lies misinformation misrepresentation obfuscation redirection confusion, all of that doesn’t matter so long as we have a population that is asleep and unconscious and unable to apply critical thinking to the obvious. It’s that simple.
  • Disney’s Karey Berk is writing the script for a GOP midterm sweep and 2024 election of colossal proportion. She is representative of the epicenter of a specific and targeted approach to destroy traditional American families by targeting children.
  • Fundamental and critical children’s human development and psychological/emotional wherewithal have been dramatically and permanently impaired and disrupted by virtue of obedience face diapers and a complete and total untethering from medical reality. Happy? See for yourself.
  • Understand something. The American population is easily duped. Easily persuaded. Easily fooled. And when it comes to war and death point out the bad guy and they’ll believe everything you tell them. No questions asked. It’s always been like that. And always will be. Sadly.
  • Pelosi understands on her way out the door with a copy of the home game that the radleft component of the Demons will be its ruination. This is one of the most incredibly important stories that the pusillanimous sockpuppets are too afraid to cover.
  • Tell me again why NATO is still necessary in the 21st Century after the demise of the Warsaw Pact.
  • The single biggest component—out of four—in determining the price of gas in America is the price of crude oil on international markets. In February 2022, the price of crude made up as much as 61% of the price Americans paid for a gallon of regular gas. [SOURCE]
  • Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors has spoken against a report that reveals her organization’s purchase of a $5.8 million mansion in southern California, calling the story a “racist and sexist” attack on the movement. Right.
  • I’m sure glad that America knew when to pull out of Vietnam. Like Reagan did in Lebanon. The question that none of the media generals address is why in the name of God doesn’t Zelenskyy and NATO formalize their complete and total abnegation of future coordination.
  • SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras posted this on Twitter: “The speech of members of the neo-Nazi Order Azov in the Greek Parliament is a provocation. The absolute responsibility lies with the Prime Minister. He talked about a historic day but it is a historical shame. Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is given. But the Nazis can not have a say in Parliament.” I could walk into any sockpuppet news media station and no one would understand what this story was even about.
  • The problem rational Americans have is that it’s virtually impossible to lecture countries about invading sovereign nations when we’ve done it repeatedly ourselves with justifications that border on imaginary. How can we lecture any country on invasion? With a straight face.
  • Marine Le Pen is presaging what will happen during the midterms in seven months. Political ideology and waves of change happen globally and geopolitically. This is not about the US anymore. In fact, we’ve been marginalized during the great reset. Focus.
  • If you need a textbook example of how to conduct misinformation wars regarding civilian casualties look no further than Syria and Douma. What’s critical to focus on is how no one questions anything ever. It’s like our skepticism was nerve gassed.
  • Recremental dross is seen every night on local TV news.
  • Sockpuppet media execs still insist upon grinding out the same animatronic mannequins and vapid empty shells. Instead of righting the course of certain collapse they keep recasting the same idiots, ensuring their ultimate demise and irrelevance. Keep it up. Obsolescence awaits.
  • Pay close attention, citizens. You’re going to see firsthand how profoundly useless the corporate statist moribund otiose SG sockpuppet media are today. Watch how they mince about and traverse the minefield of obviousness and actually doing their job. Pay very close attention.
  • Sockpuppet media must have a list of clichés that must be enunciated every hour because all you have to do is listen to 10 minutes of any subway terror coverage and you will hear the same nonsensical circular drivel repeated in rote mindless fashion.
  • NBC News reported that the US intelligence community is knowingly feeding information it does not believe accurate to the US mainstream media for the American audience to consume.
  • The WHO has contracted German-based Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems to develop a global vaccine passport system with plans to link every person on the planet to a QR code digital ID. #MarkOfTheBeast
  • Not only is Biden’s approval dropping but his cognition and mental wherewithal. You are watching the systematic collapse of the first neurological Manchurian candidate. We have no president. He is cognitively AWOL. But, nothing to see here. Move along.
  • Justice Clarence Thomas must not budge an inch, remain steadfast and those of you who claim to love justice and the American way better wake up and see what’s happening now. SCOTUS must never be intimidated by the mob.
  • Watch any American cable news program and see the greatest propaganda distortion imaginable. And how it is accomplished is by creating a noninformation series of white noise nothing. Graphics and puker blowdried morons reading saccharine prompter tripe. And it’s all by design.
  • Here’s the problem with these vaccine mandate rallies. Nothing will come of them. The GOP is nonexistent. It’s for all practical purposes DOA. Covid is a religion. The vaccine its sacrament. The mask its vestments. Fauci its Pope and the CDC its Vatican.
  • Everything we can possibly say about China COVID crackdowns is an understatement. And while putatively brave news correspondents warn American citizens about the dangers of medical tyranny that will certainly befall us, our torpid US population sits back, belches and couldn’t care less.
  • Governments since the beginning of time have been trying to contrive new ways to lock its citizens up and imprison them. The struggle and challenge have been to dupe contingents of citizens to believe that it is for their own good. Voilà!
  • If the DOJ doesn’t immediately recognize the fraudulent organization of BLM as a criminal racketeering enterprise that there is no justice, there is no equality and there was no reason for anyone to follow anyone else ever again. Capeesh?
  • I have no problem with Biden bringing illegals to the border. It’s crossing the border that I have a big problem with.
  • Dr. Oz is a tool of Oprah. Now, any questions?
  • It seems the new overused word for those who have just found themselves aware of child predation and human trafficking is grooming.
  • “The warmongers are taking an enormous risk, even for them. Putin is not the maniac they portray him to be but rather a cautious statesman pursuing Russia’s legitimate security interests.” This ideation is inconsistent with the accepted narrative.
  • In an attempt to crack down on online criminals, federal investigators are utilizing the so-called keyword warrants to order Google to provide personal information on anyone who searches a specific keyword in their browser — completely breaching privacy.
  • A biological male inmate in prison for life for strangling a cellmate to death in 2004 and previously identified as a transgender woman is now demanding to be treated like a baby by prison staff and wants to be given diapers and baby food. (We shit you not.)
  • “Our special military operation is meant to put an end to the unabashed expansion [of NATO] and the unabashed drive towards full domination by the US and its Western subjects on the world stage.” Who said that?
  • During the Vietnam war we only had three networks, a daily newspaper and maybe a bulletin here and there. Yet we knew more about what was happening then we do today with the library at Alexandria in our pocket. Amazing if you think about it.
  • It’s really something isn’t it? Hungary and France have elections and nothing seems to go wrong. No obvious criminality, no weird inexplicable disasters, no plywood hastily nailed to obscure vision. Amazing.

Till it be morrow, good citizen.

Ukraine, 4-14-22

To start, the beginning of an Associated Press report on damage to the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, with links to others related to the Ukraine war. Second, the beginning of a Reuters report on Elon Musk’s move to take over the social media platform Twitter, which some users accuse of censorship, including two HERE and HERE. Next, the beginning of a Reuters report on the Moskva missile cruiser reportedly hit by a Ukrainian strike. Then, links to several reports from today’s “Morning Edition” program on National Public Radio. — MCM

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Fate of Russia warship unclear after Ukrainians claim strike,  by Adam Schreck | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials said that their forces hit the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet with missiles overnight, with one saying today it sank. Russia said the Moskva was badly damaged by a fire that forced the warship’s evacuation but that it was still afloat. The loss of the warship named for the Russian capital would be a major military and symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from much of the north, including the capital. Russia did not acknowledge any attack but said a fire aboard the warship, which would typically have 500 sailors .   .   . READ MORE . . .

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Elon Musk targets Twitter with $41 billion cash takeover offer, by Uday Sampath Kumar and Chavi Mehta | Reuters Elon Musk took aim at Twitter (TWTR.N) with a $41 billion cash offer today, with the Tesla CEO and billionaire entrepreneur saying the social media giant needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” Musk, who is already the company’s second-largest shareholder, said in a letter to Twitter’s board on Wednesday. The offer was made public in a regulatory filing today. READ MORE . . .

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Russia to tow crippled warship back to port after what Ukraine says was a missile hit, by Pavel Polityuk and Oleksandr Kozhukhar | Reuters  * Moskva missile cruiser damaged after ammunition blew up * Russia says all crew evacuated, fire under investigation * Ukraine military says vessel hit by missile * Zelenskiy warns of new Russian offensives ‘to avenge defeats’ * Ukraine deputy PM says agreement to open humanitarian corridors |KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine — Russia said the crew of its Black Sea fleet flagship were evacuated on Thursday and measures were being taken to tow the stricken ship back to port, after an explosion of ammunition on board that Ukraine said was caused by a missile strike. Russia’s defence ministry said the fire on the Soviet-era missile cruiser Moskva had been contained but left the ship badly damaged. It did not acknowledge . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s probe into Russian war crimes will get help from the U.S. and others. Reported by Leila Fadel and Ryan Lucas | National Public Radio. The U.S. and European allies have accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. The Biden administration says it’s helping Ukraine investigate. The Justice Department and State Department are assisting. Click HERE to listen or, tomorrow, read.

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We meet One of the first Ukrainian families to arrive in the U.S. Reported by A Martinez | NPR A few hundred Ukrainian refugees have made it to the U.S. A family in Arlington, Va., has been hosting a Ukrainian refugee and her two children since March 8. Click HERE to listen or, tomorrow, read.

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Russian warship is damaged, but Ukraine and Russia offer different explanations. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Brian Mann | NPR Ukraine says a Russian warship in the Black Sea has been “seriously damaged” by a Ukrainian missile attack. Russia’s Ministry of Defense tells a different story. Click HERE to listen or, tomorrow, read

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TO BE CONTINUED

 

 

 

 

Ukraine, 4-13-22

To start, beginnings of Associated Press and Reuters reports from mid-morning EDT, both linked to others related to the war. Next, the beginning of an account by Scott Ritter, via Consortium News, chronicling Twitter’s apparent efforts to muzzle Ritter’s writings on the social media platform. — MCM

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Biden: Russia war a ‘genocide,’ trying to ‘wipe out’ Ukraine, by Will Weissert and Zeke Miller | The Associated Press  DES MOINES, Iowa — President Joe Biden has now said Russia’s war in Ukraine amounts to “genocide,” accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.”“Yes, I called it genocide,” he told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington. “It’s become clearer and clearer . . . French President Emmanuel Macron declined to take his rhetoric that far in comments today. “I am prudent with terms today,” Macron said. “Genocide has a meaning. The Ukrainian people and Russian people are brotherly people. It’s madness what’s happening today. It’s unbelievable brutality and a return to war in Europe. But at the same time I look at the facts, and I want to continue to try the utmost to be able to stop the war and restore peace. I’m not sure if the escalation of words serves . . . READ MORE . . .

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Some 1,000 Ukraine marines surrender in Mariupol, says Russia, by Oleksandr Kozhukhar | Reuters * Mariupol surrounded and bombarded for weeks * Fall of industrial district would give Russians control of port * Thousands believed killed under near-seven week siege * Kremlin denounces Biden accusation of genocide * Leaders of Poland, Baltic states, in Kyiv for talks | LVIV, Ukraine — More than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the port of Mariupol, Russia’s defence ministry said today of its main strategic target in the eastern Donbas region, which has been reduced to ruins but is not yet under Russian control. If the Russians take the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed up, they would be in full control of Mariupol, Ukraine’s main Sea of Azov port, allowing Russia to reinforce a land corridor . . . READ MORE . . .

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Twitter Wars—A Personal Experience in Twitter’s Ongoing Assault on Free Speech, by Scott Ritter | Special to Consortium News | Monday, April 4, 2022: It was, from my point of view, just another day in the life of @RealScottRitter—my Twitter “handle.” I had a phone call scheduled with the editor of a publication I write for where we would discuss topics for a weekly column I was responsible for. I was also under deadline for another article I was writing for a second outlet that published my work, and was preparing a pitch to a third platform for another article. Such is the lot of a freelance writer—it is literally publish or perish. Part of my routine is . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED