Tracker

U.K. Sending Depleted Uranium Shells to Ukraine Despite Russian Warning -Toby Melville/Reuters The U.K. is planning to send armor-piercing tank rounds “which contain depleted uranium” to Ukraine, a British defense official said, despite strong-worded warnings from Russia that such an act would be treated as tantamount to using a nuclear dirty bomb. Responding to a written question on Monday, the U.K.’s minister of state at the Ministry of Defense, Baroness Goldie, said the depleted uranium rounds would be given to Kyiv alongside a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks. “Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles,” Goldie added. Though exposure of the outside of the body to depleted uranium is not considered a serious risk, its particles can cause a “serious health hazard” if inhaled or ingested, according to the EPA. In January, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation in Vienna on arms control, said the Kremlin would consider such ammunition being sent to Ukraine “as the use of dirty nuclear bombs against Russia with all the ensuing consequences,” according to the BBC. https://www.politicususa.com

"Jaw-dropping": Experts stunned after report reveals new tape of Trump pressuring Georgia official A Fulton County grand jury heard a previously unreported recording of former President Donald Trump pressuring a top Georgia Republican to help overturn his election loss in the state, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The special grand jury investigated Trump's efforts to overturn his election in the state after District Attorney Fani Willis launched a probe into the former president's infamous phone call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to reverse his loss. But five grand jurors who spoke with AJC revealed that investigators also have an audio recording of Trump pressuring then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to push for a special session to reverse President Joe Biden's win. Ralston proved to be an "amazing politician" on the call, a juror told AJC. The speaker "basically cut the president off. He said, 'I will do everything in my power that I think is appropriate.' … He just basically took the wind out of the sails," the juror said. "'Well, thank you,' you know, is all the president could say." Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti called the report "jaw-dropping." The call "sounds incendiary," tweeted former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman. "How big does Willis want to go in her charges?" The special grand jury wrapped up its work and its foreperson publicly revealed that the panel recommended indictments for more than a dozen people in the case, though it's unclear if Trump was one of them. The ultimate decision on whether to bring charges will fall on Willis. https://www.salon.com/2023/03/16/jaw-dropping-experts-stunned-after-report-reveals-new-tape-of-pressuring-georgia-official/

Trump is both a bully and a coward, and going to jail would be anathema to him. I foresee a possibility that he would bolt the country claiming to be a political victim. his money would but him any one of several safe havens and with internet, he can both carry on his business and wails of self-pity anywhere in the world.

And within the next few days, we will see how broken it is.

Right-wing broadcaster calls for Barack Obama and others to be executed if Trump is arrested Right-wing broadcaster Pete Santilli recently argued that the U.S. military should execute former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice if former President Donald Trump is arrested. In a video clip obtained by Right Wing Watch, Santilli pleaded with members of the military to take action. "Get the military, whatever few are left that are gonna side with the people," he said. "That you military personnel and you people with guns and badges and law enforcement will succumb to the will of the people. And ultimately, we demand, we absolutely demand that the criminals, the criminals in this country, if you want them held accountable, the criminals are Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Susan Rice, This entire criminal cabal that came about as a result of the murder of John F. Kennedy, the people that perpetrated the murder of John F. Kennedy, rise up to that." "Military, join us and put all of them up against a concrete wall... and do what we must do to save not just our country, the entire world," he implored. https://www.alternet.org/obama-trump/

Poland's ambassador to France says that his country will intervene in the War if it sees that Ukraine is losing !

Fox Host Desperately Tries to Connect the Dots Between Biden and Trump Investigations -Mike Segar/Reuters Rep. James Comer (R-KY) seems eager to believe a potential decision by the Manhattan District Attorney to indict Donald Trump has something to do with his quest to unearth documents tangentially related to Joe Biden’s family. Comer appeared on Maria Baritromo’s Sunday Morning Futures, where Bartiromo led her one-person crusade on tying a House GOP memo detailing a payment made to Beau Biden’s widow Hallie to a potential indictment of Trump next week. She initially tried to play it straight, asking if Comer had a comment on a Trump indictment, before Comer helped launch right into it. “It’s very odd that this would come out just the very next day after I revealed bank records which showed that the Biden family, the president in particular, hasn’t been truthful with respect to his family receiving payments directly from the Chinese communist party,” Comer said. “So it almost looks like it’s an effort to detract.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/maria-bartiromo-desperately-tries-to-connect-the-dots-between-biden-investigation-and-trump-indictment?ref=home

A riveting and scary article about the US QAnon movement from a reporter who has been following it for decades: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/will-sommer-trust-the-plan-qanon-interview_n_641098b7e4b00c3e607036ca

I hope Trump is forced to surrender his passport(s). He has money stashed all over the world, including Russia and China, so he would definitely be a flight risk.

The whole point of Trump's farce is to rally his thralls on the anniversary date of the tragedy in Waco where (allegedly) overzealous federal agents were supposed to have caused the deaths of (allegedly) innocent people. He is trying to conflate the two events in a desperate attempt to have his followers somehow prevent his looming and well deserved and long overdue arrest.

If Trump were to be walked out in handcuffs, it would make my day year decade.

Experts: Trump is encouraging violence with Waco campaign rally on 30th anniversary of deadly siege Early Friday evening Donald Trump announced he will hold a campaign rally in Waco on March 25, which falls during the 30th anniversary of the 51-day deadly siege in that Texas community. Barely more than 12 hours later the one-term ex-president under at least four criminal investigations posted a statement that some, including legal experts, warn is encouraging or inciting violence, or is “a call for violence,” after claiming he will be arrested on Tuesday. For those who would like a refresher, in 1993 agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) raided the headquarters of religious cult leader David Koresh and his Branch Davidians. Armed with warrants, federal agents targeted the compound searching for stockpiled firearms. By the end of the standoff, four ATF agents and 82 Branch Davidians had been killed. https://www.alternet.org/smartnews/trump-waco/

Musk's ditchweed consumption has had its predictable effect.

Kari Lake finds Arizona rancher’s arrest 'appalling' after he murdered 'unarmed' Mexican migrant Former Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate and election denier, Kari Lake, recently shared her outrage over an Arizona rancher's arrest after he killed an unarmed Mexican migrant near the U.S.-Mexico border. Per Associated Press, 73-year-old George Alan Kelly opened fire "that day on a group of about eight unarmed migrants who entered the U.S. illegally," according to the prosecutor in the case. Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy attorney, Kimberly Hunley, wrote in the filing, "Kelly shot an unarmed man in the back as he was fleeing, in addition to shooting at other individuals, without warning or provocation." AP reports the prosecutor is fighting "against a reduction in Kelly's $1 million cash bond." PatriotTakes shared a clip from Lake's interview with Real America's Voice during the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) via Twitter, writing, "Kari Lake said 'it's outrageous' and 'appalling' that an Arizona man is being prosecuted after killing an unarmed Mexican national in the back with his AK-47 rifle." The host interviewing the former candidate said, "A rancher arrested when he shot a Mexican national on his property illegally. What is wrong with that picture?"

Judge Orders More Trump Lawyer Testimony In Mar-a-Lago Probe Federal prosecutors investigating the potential mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate will be able to again question a Trump lawyer before a grand jury, a judge ruled Friday in a sealed order. The order will require M. Evan Corcoran to answer additional questions as prosecutors pursue their investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago as well as potential efforts to obstruct that probe. The order was described by a person familiar with it, who was not authorized to discuss a sealed proceeding and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The precise scope of the order, which is expected to be appealed, was not immediately clear. Neither Corcoran nor his lawyer returned messages seeking comment, and a spokesman for special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation, also did not respond to an email about the order. A Trump spokesman said the Trump team would “fight the Department of Justice on this front and all others that jeopardize fundamental American rights and values.” Corcoran had already appeared weeks ago before the federal grand jury in Washington investigating the Mar-a-Lago matter, but he had invoked attorney-client privilege in declining to answer certain questions. That privilege protects lawyers from being forced to share with prosecutors details of the conversations they have with clients. Prosecutors can get around that privilege if they can convince a judge that the communications they seek answers about involved furtherance of a crime — a principle known as the crime-fraud exception. The Justice Department invoked that exception in this case, arguing to Beryl Howell, the outgoing chief judge of the federal court in Washington, D.C., that more testimony was needed. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-investigations-lawyer-testimony_n_6414f908e4b0a3902d30c060

He was in the "Surface" TV show and in the John Wick movies. The International will need a new manager.

Its been awhile since I worked in a hospital, but some 20 years ago, the statistics were that, in back surgery, a third were better, a third were no better and a third were worse. No doubt surgical techniques and procedures have gotten better since then, but how much better, who knows?

He just might be right. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good is for good people to remain silent.

Bruce Willis is lost in dementia. He is body may continue to function for years, but his persona is dormant.

https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/axoWxAW_460svav1.mp4

In a legal response to the defamation lawsuit brought by the computer shop owner, Hunter Biden’s legal team sets the stage for a big case against the GOP. Politico reported: In the 42-page legal filing Friday morning, attorneys for Biden assert six counterclaims, alleging that computer repairman John Paul Mac Isaac had no legal right to obtain and distribute data from Biden’s laptop, an issue that became central in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election. Images, emails, and text messages that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden later became public. “The object of invading Mr. Biden’s privacy and disseminating his data was not for any legitimate purpose but to cause harm and embarrassment to Mr. Biden,” the filing reads. Recent polling has shown that the Republican obsession and investigation with Hunter Biden’s laptop is hurting them politically with everyone who isn’t a Republican. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has basically admitted that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop is a sham. Republicans thought that Hunter Biden would sit back and allow himself and his family to be smeared to get Trump back into the White House, but they were wrong. Biden seems to be putting together a counteroffensive, and if the judge rules that the laptop repair shop owner did have the right to copy and share the data, the door will be open for legal action against everyone in Trump world who has been involved in acquiring, manipulating, and disseminating the data. Hunter Biden is not a government official. He is not running for office, nor has he worked for the government. There is no legitimate purpose for Republicans in Congress to be investigating him, just as the only reason why his supposed data was leaked was to hurt his father.

Raccoon Dogs Likely Started COVID-19 Pandemic, New Genetic Analysis Shows A new analysis of samples collected from a Wuhan seafood market has suggested for the first time a concrete link between some of the wild animals being illegally sold there and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlantic reported on Thursday. The evidence points to raccoon dogs as the likely culprit, according to the analysis, which found that the animals may have been carrying and shedding the virus near the end of 2019. The research was conducted by an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary biologists, according to The Atlantic—and though it’s not 100 percent definitive proof, it’s “a really strong indication that animals at the market were infected,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist involved in the investigation. “There’s really no other explanation that makes any sense.” The magazine’s report comes just days after an Economist/YouGov poll showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans favor the lab leak theory over natural occurrence. It was reported last month that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded—albeit with “low confidence”—that the virus likely emerged from a lab. Intelligence agencies and experts elsewhere remain divided.