Say it ain’t so! Oh look: Three Ukrainians who aided the Donald Trump campaign’s efforts to discredit the Biden family have been charged with treason. The 2019 drive was led by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was Mr Trump’s personal lawyer at the time. It centred on unproven allegations that Joe Biden had corrupt dealings with Ukraine as vice-president. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said the three men charged were paid by Russian military intelligence (GRU). It added that they had used a “tense political situation” to harm Ukraine’s reputation abroad. The three men charged are understood to be current MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, former lawmaker Andriy Derkach and ex-prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk. Mr Dubinsky has denied the charges. All three are said to be members of an agent network led by Russian Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of the GRU. The charges allege they pursued “information subversive activities” related to the 2020 US election and were paid $10m (£8m). The men are accused of helping to spread the falsehood that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the recent US elections.
Uncategorized
Will they be able to overcome their differences to keep the government open? The Republicans have managed to pass some of the appropriations bills from the floor (although most of them are going to meet heavy resistance in the conference) so they aren’t starting from scratch after the first of the year. But there are a few that they just can’t seem to come to terms on. Here are some of the reasons: Agriculture House GOP leadership has struggled for months to pass the party’s annual agriculture and rural development funding bill amid divides over spending and measures aimed at restricting abortion access. The bill was one of the first the party sought to bring to the floor in the summer.
Let’s hope people listen … and that the Democrats put some serious money and effort into counteracting what these greed heads are doing. Do they not realize that Trump thinks they all come from shithole countries?
“White” Rhino baby! The Virginia Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of a female southern white rhinoceros on November 9, 2023 at 5:40 a.m., bringing their crash up to five. The calf is the second rhinoceros ever born at the Virginia Zoo and the second offspring to 17-year-old father Sibindi and 10-year-old mother Zina, who birthed the Zoo’s first rhino calf, Mosi, in 2021. Zina and Sibindi are a recommended breeding pair by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) White Rhino Species Survival Plan® (SSP), which helps to ensure genetic diversity and the continued growth of the southern white rhino population in AZA accredited facilities. The new calf, who will be named by her keepers at a later date, and Mosi’s genetics are considered especially valuable due to their parents’ origin. Zina was born at the Singapore Zoo in 2013 and Sibindi was born in South Africa in 2006. The birth of these offspring marks the first time their genetics have been represented in an American zoo.
We asked some of our Beatlefan staff members and regular contributors to share their thoughts on The Beatles’ “Now and Then.” In 1996, nearly a year after the rollout of “The Beatles Anthology” project, which included the release of the … Continue reading
“I would much rather be us than them” One red state I track from cycle to cycle showed half its Democratic county committees leaderless or unorganized this time in 2022. When I checked the state party’s website again this week, Every Single One had a county chair listed with email contacts (all but one). I was elated. It won’t change anything electoral-count-wise in 2024, but it’s remarkable organizing progress in two years. It could mean a less-red state legislature in the near future, and a more hospitable environment for residents, especially women. It’s something to be thankful for today. Something else (Daily Kos): In a historic victory, Democrats have gained their first majority on the Board of Commissioners in Dauphin County since at least 1919—and possibly ever—after Republican Chad Saylor conceded to Democrat Justin Douglas following this month’s elections.
From your once and future (God help us) president Well, at least he didn’t call anybody vermin. Update: The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial and his law clerk have received hundreds of harassing messages that court security has deemed “serious and credible” since the former president began publicly criticizing court staff. Since October 3, when Trump posted on social media a baseless allegation about Judge Arthur Engoron’s law clerk, threats against the judge “increased exponentially” and were also directed to his clerk, according to Charles Hollon, a court officer-captain in New York assigned to the Judicial Threats Assessment unit of the Department of Public Safety, who signed a sworn statement. Hollon said the threats against the judge and his clerk are “considered to be serious and credible and not hypothetical or speculative.” Trump’s social media posting prompted the judge to impose a gag order prohibiting the former president from making statements about court staff.
Moms For Liberty paying off their friends It’s all one big grift: A Pennsylvania school board that banned books, Pride flags and transgender athletes slipped a last-minute item into their final meeting before leaving office, hastily awarding a $700,000 exit package to the superintendent who supported their agenda. But the Democratic majority that swept the conservative Moms For Liberty slate out of office hopes to block the unusual — they say illegal — payout and bring calm to the Central Bucks School District, whose affluent suburbs and bucolic farms near Philadelphia have been roiled by infighting since the 2020 pandemic. “People are really sick of the embarrassing meetings, the vitriol, they’re tired of our district being in the news for all the wrong reasons. And … the students are aware of what’s been going on, particularly our LGBTQ students and their friends and allies,” said Karen Smith, a Democrat who won a third term on the board.
Thanksgiving menu at the Plaza Hotel 1899, courtesy of Michael Beschloss: I would have loved to watch that kitchen in action.
On Monday one shot 4 people in Ohio The mass shooting on Monday garnered hardly a mention in the news because the shooter only managed to wound four people before he killed himself. No biggie in America’s shooting gallery. But it is worth noting that it appears he had an ideological motive: The man suspected of shooting four people at an Ohio Walmart earlier this week was inspired by racially motivated violent extremist ideology, according to authorities. Benjamin Charles Jones, 20, of Dayton, Ohio, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart after he shot two Black females, a white female and a white male Monday, the FBI stated. One victim remained in critical condition, while three others suffered from non-life-threatening injuries.