Putin's 'Victory Day' Speech Long On Bullsh*t, Short On Victory
At least there was a Trump-style parade.
"Victory Day," the May 9 Russian national holiday marking Nazi Germany's surrender in World War II, is a far bigger deal in Russia than VE Day (May 8) is in the USA, and it's not only because it's celebrated on a different day due to the time difference. It's like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and an itty little bit of Independence Day wrapped up together, plus of course all the fascist nationalism that Vladimir Putin can spin on top of it, too. A lot of Western analysts were expecting Putin to use the holiday as an excuse to announce an expansion of his "special military operation" against Ukraine;. Some even predicted he might formally declare war against Ukraine, while others suggested he might declare victory in the eastern parts of Ukraine that he said were really Russian, even though Ukraine is still very much resisting.
Instead, Putin claimed the war (but don't call it that!) was absolutely necessary for Russia's survival, because he thinks Ukraine is full of "Nazis" (it is not) and the USA and NATO were planning to invade Russia through Ukraine maybe (they are also not), and now the US and NATO haven't done that, thanks to Putin's strategic brilliance, hooray, as CNBC explains:
Putin claimed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had been necessary because the West was “preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea,” according to comments translated by Reuters.
It’s unclear whether Putin was referring to Russia, or territory that Moscow considers to be Russian. This includes Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region, where Donetsk and Luhansk — two pro-Russian self-proclaimed “republics” — are located.
Putin then presumably held a banana to his ear and insisted it kept him safe from tiger attacks.
In his speech, Putin explicitly compared Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the fight against Germany 76 years ago, telling Russian troops that they're "fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War II.” Silly us, we thought the lesson of WW II was that the world should be wary of nationalist megalomaniacs bent on expanding their territory. That, and "loose lips sink ships."
And despite increased Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine, including the nearly total destruction of the port city Mariupol, Putin also didn't use the speech to brag about how wonderfully the "special military operation" is going. No "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him, like, not even in Russian.
A New York Timesanalysis of the speech noted that instead of doubling down or declaring victory, Putin
remains cautious about demanding too much from regular Russians. The only policy announcement Mr. Putin made in his speech, in fact, was aimed at assuaging the pain directly caused by the war — a decree to provide additional aid to the children of killed and wounded soldiers.
Not that he would say exactly how many such children would need the aid. Maybe people would think it was only 20 or 30.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said if anyone's acting like the Nazis, it would be Putin, who is "repeating the horrific crimes of Hitler’s regime today.”
“On the day of victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory,” Mr. Zelensky said as he was shown walking alone through the streets of Kyiv, past government buildings protected with barriers and barbed wire.
Here's video, with English subtitles:
President of #Ukraine @ZelenskyyUa: \u201cWe won then. We will win now, too! And Khreshchatyk will see the parade of victory \u2013 the victory of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine!\u201dpic.twitter.com/339L7s6Faz— MFA of Ukraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@MFA of Ukraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1652077845
Also too, as Rachel Maddow noted on her MSNBC show last night, Russians scrolling through the program schedule on smart TVs were greeted with a surprise: Hackers had altered the menus to display the message "You have the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of dead children on your hands. The TV and the authorities are lying. No to war." Reuters notes the messages appeared just before the Victory Day parade in Moscow.
In addition, the pro-Kremlin News site Lenta was defaced by two of its own employees, who filled the homepage with headlines like "Vladimir Putin has turned into a pitiful dictator and paranoiac,” “War makes it easier to cover up economic failures,” and (our favorite) “Zelensky turned out to be cooler than Putin.” Gizmodo reports that the two rogue journalists
reportedly told the Latvian-based independent news site Meduza they had re-located outside of Russia and worried they may need new jobs or even political asylum.
We have to wonder whether those former Lenta employees are any good at writing about sky dicks, weed-guarding alligators in bathrooms, or vegan baby buttholes. We'd like to help if we can.
[CNBC / Reuters / NBC News / NYT / Gizmodo / NBC News]
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When John D. Rockefeller Opened Fire On Miners, Set Fire To Women And Kids, In The Ludlow Massacre
About those 'Rockefeller Republicans' ...
On April 20, 1914, members of the Colorado National Guard, along with a strikebreaking militia employed by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company — a corporation owned by John D. Rockefeller Jr. — opened fire on a tent camp of strikers at Ludlow, in the coal country of southern Colorado, north of Trinidad. At least 19 people died in the tent camp that day, mostly wives and children of the strikers. The Ludlow Massacre became one of the most notorious incidents in the violent history of American employers crushing unions.
Colorado Fuel and Iron was the largest coal company in the American West. It was part of the Rockefeller empire. The wealthiest family in American history was ruthless in its control over workers. The state of Colorado had passed a significant number of laws concerning the regulation of coal mines but CF&I ensured that none of them were enforced. Workers were not paid for such things as traveling into the mines, shoring up the mine ceilings, or fixing tools; meanwhile they died by the hundreds in mine cave-ins and from disease. Workers lived in company towns; that area of southern Colorado is relatively densely populated for the American West, but there wasn’t anything in Ludlow except for the mines so living in non-company housing wasn’t possible. Moreover, those company houses meant that CF&I agents could enter your home at any time, you had to shop at the company store using company scrip, and company thugs ruled the camp with an iron fist, firing anyone associated with unionism.
The United Mine Workers of America had organized the workers in southern Colorado throughout the early 1910s, despite significant repression. The UMWA overcame significant challenges, including the polyglot workforce, which included large numbers of Greeks, Mexicans, and Italians. The Ludlow Massacre was the culmination of a long struggle among coal miners in southern Colorado for basic working and human rights, including an eight-hour day, the right to choose their own homes and doctors, a pay raise, and enforcement of mine safety laws. In 1913, the union presented these and other demands to CF&I. The company rejected it out of hand and the miners went on strike.
Immediately, the company kicked strikers out of company housing, but the union had anticipated this and leased land near the entrances of canyons for tent cities, the location being important so workers could try and stop scab labor from stealing their jobs. But CF&I did manage to replace some of their labor with scabs and hired the notorious Baldwin-Felts Agency to protect the mines and harass the strikers. We remember the Pinkertons as the union-busting private detective agency but it was only one of many, and none had a greater reputation for violence than Baldwin-Felts.
Tensions mounted quickly. The Baldwin-Felts agents set up snipers to shoot into the camps. They shone spotlights into the camps at night and created an armored car mounted with a machine gun to drive around the tent town and scare strikers. The governor of Colorado, Elias Ammons, came down on the side of CF&I, calling in the National Guard to “restore order” on October 28, 1913. For the rest of the winter, strikers faced major harassment from the state. Once again, the state would show no support for workers.
But by the spring, the state had run out of money to fund the National Guard presence so, leaving two Guard units in Ludlow as support, it pulled out but gave CF&I permission to fund its own security forces. As bad as the state was, a private army was sure to lead to disaster. Indeed, that’s what happened on April 20.
On that morning, the Monday after Easter, the private army lured strike leader Louis Tikas, a Greek immigrant, out of camp for a spurious reason. They then began to open fire on the camp, and a day-long battle raged. The well-armed miners (armed both to protect themselves against the strikebreakers and to protect their jobs from scabs) fought back bravely, but they could not match the machine guns of the CF&I forces. That evening, a train conductor stopped his train between the strikers and the private army, allowing most of the residents to escape into the nearby hills. However, Tikas was soon captured by the militia. One of the National Guard commanders, Karl Linderfelt, promptly broke a rifle butt on Tikas’s head; Tikas and two other strikers were later found shot dead. The militia set the camp on fire to destroy it.
That fire killed 15 more people. Fearing the snipers, many camp residents dug cellars underneath the tents to hide. Four women and 11 children, including two infants named Elvira Valdez and Frank Petrucci, went into the cellars during the day. The fire sucked all the oxygen out and they all suffocated to death. It was the death of these 15 innocents that led to the term “Ludlow Massacre.”
The well-armed strikers did not meekly return to work after the Ludlow Massacre. Outraged, they began their own campaign of violence against the militia and scabs. The UMWA openly armed its strikers and a 10-day guerrilla war ensued, with high casualties on both sides; somewhere between 69 and 199 people died. Miners destroyed mine building and tunnels, and even blew up the dam that provided drinking water for the Ludlow mines. Finally, Woodrow Wilson sent in the US Army to end the hostilities; unlike previous examples of federal intervention in strikes, Wilson ordered neutrality and in fact the Army arrested several militia members. By December, however, the UMWA had run out of funds and the strike ended in a total defeat.
Still, the Ludlow Massacre was a public relations disaster for CF&I and for Rockefeller. Rockefeller was vilified in the press for the killing of women and children. He responded to this negative publicity by launching his own “investigation,” flooding the country with pro-coal operator propaganda, etc. It didn’t work. The US Commission on Industrial Relations, empowered by Wilson to investigate the reality of American work and why it led to so much death and violence, savaged Rockefeller and the mine operators in their report, noting that the mine owners were hostile to all unionization and calling Rockefeller’s representative in Colorado, L.M. Bowers, “bitter and prejudiced in the extreme, with an adherence to the individualistic economic doctrines of a century ago that was almost grotesque in its intensity.”
Conditions in the mines did not improve rapidly. Strikes plagued the region through the late 1920s. Rockefeller created a company union that allowed for the presentation of grievances, but it was a sham. Eventually, conditions for miners improved, but all you can say about Ludlow is that it was one event that helped move public opinion to a point that the nation moved to allow working-class people to live decent lives. Unfortunately, we are tearing this down in the early 21st century.
Today, the United Mine Workers of America owns the site of the massacre and there’s a nice monument. I highly recommend going there. It’s just a mile or so off I-25. It should be a National Park site though. It would tell a key story in American labor and industrial history and would give a nice tourism boost to southern Colorado, which could use it. I would also note that it’s interesting to drive on the old mining roads up into the hills to see the old mine ruins and imagine the horrors of the guerrilla war of 1913-14.
FURTHER READING
Thomas Andrews, Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War
Zesse Pappanikolas, Buried Unsung: Louis Tikas and the Ludlow Massacre
Fawn-Amber Montoya, ed., Making an American Workforce: The Rockefellers and the Legacy of Ludlow
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Zooey Deschanel Shocked People Don't Recognize Her Without Bangs. Tabs, Friday April 15, 2022
Actual Buzzfeed clickbait on Twitter, that was.
Russia's Defense Ministry now says that its Black Sea flagship, the guided missile cruiser Moskva,sank all right, but insists it went down while being towed in stormy seas after a fire onboard blowed up its ammunition stores. Ukraine says it sank the ship using Ukrainian-built Neptune anti-ship missiles. CNN reports that two "sources familiar with US and Western intelligence" said that "Ukraine’s claim is believed to be credible, although US officials do not yet have definitive proof," although the US has not independently attributed the reason for the sinking. [CNN]
Russia appears to have retaliated by attacking Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with missiles. [Reuters]
And yes, there were memes. Because we love you, we will spare you the video with stock footage of Moskva and a really bad recorder rendition of "My Heart Will Go On."
Ukraine arrested Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Putin Ukrainian media oligarch who escaped from house arrest near the start of the war, and seized an assload of his assets, including "26 cars, 32 apartments, 23 houses, 30 plots of land, 17 parking spots and a yacht." It's the second yacht belonging to Medvedchuk that Ukraine has confiscated this year. [CNBC]
Here's Ukrainian news video of the bizarre fake railway station and luxury train car at one of his mansions, as featured on Maddow last night.
The New York Times reports that the European Union is preparing to vote on phasing in a complete embargo of Russian oil imports, following an earlier ban on importing Russian coal (although that's being phased in over four months, to "wind down ongoing orders"). The earliest it could come up for a vote would be sometime after the third round of France's elections, which will be held on April 24, the Times says, to "ensure that the impact on prices at the pump doesn’t fuel the populist candidate Marine Le Pen and hurt president Emmanuel Macron’s chances of re-election," according to EU officials. [NYT]
Separately, the Times also reports that Marine Le Pen vowed in a press conference that if she's elected, France would pull out of NATO's integrated military command and stop being so mean to Russia. She also ranted about "globalists" and downplayed the significance of climate change. Le Pen has not yet been offered a prime time show on Fox News. [NYT]
We had no idea that Kim Carnes's 1981 hit "Bette Davis Eyes" was a cover of a 1974 version by Jackie DeShannon. The original is ... very different from the cover, oh golly. Somehow, this is not a parody. [Twitter]
A number of anonymous congressional sources, most of them Democrats, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Sen. Dianne Feinstein suffers episodes of memory loss; some days, the sources said, she's as acute as ever, but "some close to her said that on her most difficult days, she does not seem to fully recognize even longtime colleagues." The sources worry that Feinstein isn't fully able to do her job, and those who spoke to the paper said that raising concerns about Feinstein's age and mental acuity "was painful because of their respect for the senator and her groundbreaking career."
Multiple other Democrats, in on-the record comments, defended Feinstein and said such concerns were misplaced. After the story ran, Feinstein herself told the Chronicle's editorial board that no one had raised such concerns directly with her, and that she has no intention of resigning. She also said that she has had some moments of forgetfulness recently, which she said were due to stress resulting from the death of her husband in February. We have a feeling this story may be with us for a while. Please try not to be monstrous in the comments. [SF Chronicle]
A jury convicted January 6 insurrectionist Dustin Thompson on six federal charges Thursday, including felony obstruction of Congress. The jury was not persuaded by Thompson's attorney's claim that Donald Trump had led the poor lad into a crime he would otherwise never have committed. [Politico]
A very stupid Republican bill that would have combined elements of "Don't Say Gay" with a ban on "Critical Race Theory" was quickly put out of its misery Monday in a Rhode Island House committee. Among the weirder elements of the bill was a line insisting that "History shall be taught using the standards, customs, and traditions in use at the time of the historical event." We're assuming the intent was to prevent teachers from saying slavery or the genocide of Native Americans was bad? In any case, real historians had a fine time making snarky fun of that idiocy on Twitter. Had it been paſsed, the leſsons on Colonial American hiſtory would ſurely have cauſed hyſterical confuſion for ſubſitute teachers. [Patch / Rhode Island H 7539]
Janelle Shane trained an image-generating AI to design Easter eggs in various artistic styles; some runs went quite nicely, like "Easter eggs, acrylic on canvas":
Janelle Shane, AI Weirdness
Since the algorithm included a wide variety of photos from the internet, it sometimes went with fried eggs instead of the boiled kind in a colored shell. In this set, the AI took the cue of "matte painting" and situated monumental eggs in backgrounds for epic movies.
Janelle Shane, AI Weirdness
I kind of love the flying yolks in the upper-right corner here; I may have found a new screensaver. Wonder if I can get a giant sized copy... [AI Weirdness]
Finally, here's a pretty amazing image from storm chaser Chris Riske, who has definitely already heard all your "Riske Business" jokes. It's a video still showing the moment lightning hit his friend's Prius. It fried the car's everything, but the friend is fine. [Twitter]
MY FRIEND'S CAR WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND I CAUGHT ITpic.twitter.com/qfCLjJXtdk— Chris Riske (@Chris Riske) 1649885606
In the video, you can see a puff of smoke as the car is hit. Poor car stops moving immediately.
Again, nobody hurt but the car, which is probably totaled. Now it's a Toyota Postus. [Chris Riske on YouTube]
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Air Force To Help Families With Gay And Trans Kids Fly Away From States Run By A-Holes
We'll just assume the GOP Asshole Caucus will ground the entire Air Force.
The US Air Force (and also the Space Force, too) announced last month, to little notice, that it will be offering help to servicemembers and their families if they're affected by the various anti-LGBTQ laws being passed by Republican-led states. Mind you, the Air Force hasn't mentioned anything openly partisan, because that's just not done. But the service did let its members know that the USAF is there to help with medical or legal assistance if they or their kids need it because of the new laws.
The press release puts it as apolitically as humanly possible, which may be why the offer of assistance hasn't gotten much press:
Various laws and legislation are being proposed and passed in states across America that may affect LGBTQ Airmen, Guardians, and/or their LGBTQ dependents in different ways.
The Department of the Air Force has assignment, medical, legal and other resources available to support Airmen, Guardians and their families.
Probably a good idea to not name any states or specific laws, or even to say the laws are discriminatory; there's little chance, though, that servicemembers worried about the laws' effects on their families aren't plenty aware of what's going on in states where they're stationed.
HuffPo notes that the Air Force is the only military service — so far — to offer such help. Undersecretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones makes clear in the announcement that it's a matter of making sure Air Force members get all the benefits of military service, regardless of what state they're assigned to:
The health, care and resilience of our DAF personnel and their families is not just our top priority – it’s essential to our ability to accomplish the mission. We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our Airmen, Guardians and their families. Medical, legal resources, and various assistance are available for those who need them.
The announcement tells servicemembers to go to Air Force medical facilities if they "need help with screening, treatment, or mental health support for medical concerns." It diplomatically doesn't mention specific terrible policies like Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's order that families be investigated for "child abuse" if they seek gender-affirming care for their minor children. (That policy has been put on hold by a judge's order for now.)
The memo also reminds servicemembers that on-base legal offices are a "free source of information for personnel who need assistance navigating new and existing local laws," although it also points out that the offices can't directly represent servicemembers or their kids in legal disputes. Still, they can "provide vital advice and council."
Also too, the Air Force lets its members know that if it comes to it, the service can help them get assigned to a different location through the "Exceptional Family Member Program." Again, the statement doesn't explicitly say that's what members should do if they're stationed in one of the 15 states that have banned or are considering bans on gender-affirming care. But again, Undersecretary Jones made it very easy to read between the lines:
As is the case with all of our family members, if the support a family member needs becomes unavailable, commanders can work to get the service member to an assignment where their loved ones can receive the care they need.
This is all remarkably smart and thoughtful of the Air Force, and a pleasant change from the days when the USAF — and the Air Force Academy in particular — seemed to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fundagelical Jesus Inc.
The LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign is glad to see it. Spokesperson Delphine Luneau told HuffPo,
"Like any good employer, the Air Force is taking steps to support their service members and their families.”
Luneau added, “We hope service members and their family members who are being affected by the wave of discriminatory legislation in many state legislatures will take advantage of the supportive services that the Air Force is offering, and HRC will continue working toward the repeal of these terrible laws.”
A USAF spokesperson told HuffPo that the service hadn't yet fielded any requests for legal help, and added that if there's been any uptick in Air Force members or their families using counseling or mental health services, that can't be measured because the Air Force doesn't track it — which seems to us like probably a good privacy thing?
As of yet, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz hasn't yet attempted to defund the Air Force for treating its LGBTQ+ members like human beings, but we have little doubt he or one of the other rightwing jerks who say the hell with the troops will insist the Air Force stop being so woke, or on autoeroticpilot, or some damn thing.
[HuffPo / US Air Force / Photo: Dean Morley, Creative Commons License 2.0 (cropped)]
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