In The Mailbox: 10.05.22 (Morning Edition)

Posted on | October 5, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 10.05.22 (Morning Edition)

Silicon Valley delenda est.

This time it’s for real?

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Black Women Own Guns and The Media Notices
Director Blue: Fork In The Road
EBL: Loretta Lynn, RIP
Twitchy: Politifact Uses Truthful Statements From DeSantis & J.D. Vance As Evidence They’re Liars, also, Janet Yellen Says Administration Has Made Equity Job #1 For Their Economic Agenda
Louder With Crowder: Genius makes $21,000 selling 3D printed guns at gun buyback and New York’s Attorney General is PISSED, also, Anti-energy activist tries ever so hard to get her message out while being carried away by police
Vox Popoli: The Mandate of Hell, A Hitherto Unthinkable Restraint, The Nobel Committee Knows, and Red Chinese Warning

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Last Pipeline into Europe, also, The Italian election outcome
American Conservative: Trans Tyranny: The Dangerous New Phase
American Greatness: Donald Trump Files $475 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN, also, Voters Give Biden 45.5% Approval, Prefer GOP to Control Congress 46.5% to 44.4% in New Insider Advantage Poll
American Power: Demand for Cars Faces Test With Rising Rates
American Thinker: Where Artificial Intelligence Can Expose Leftist Vote Fraud
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Thin Veneer News
Babalu Blog: ‘A Tale of Tyranny in Three Acts’, With Cubans fleeing by the thousands, communist Cuba faces increased difficulties, and Communist Cuba’s ‘Rapid Response Brigades’ look awfully familiar
BattleSwarm: Important Lesson: Don’t Trust Alex Jones
Behind The Black: Spinlaunch completes 10th test launch, this time for outside customers, also, Chandra takes an X-ray look at early Webb infrared observations
Cafe Hayek: Does Industrial Policy Suffer the Knowledge Problem?
CDR Salamander: Want a Nuke Wargame? I’ve Got One for You
Chicago Boyz: Book Review: Rockets and People – Sputnik 65th Anniversary Rerun
Da Tech Guy: Novena to St. Matthew for the FBI Agents involved in the Mark Houck Arrest: Day 7 More Whistleblowing More Disgrace, Do I detect a tiny hint of Brady?, and Five Russia/Ukraine Thoughts Under the Fedora
Don Surber: Gotta spend $5 trillion to lose $10 trillion, also, Nike’s demand chain problems
First Street Journal: More ‘journolism’ from the Lexington Herald-Leader, also, Mayor Jim Kenney just can’t think things through
Gates Of Vienna: Giorgia on my Mind, The Caravan of Light Arrives in Austria, Giorgia Meloni Makes Herself Clear, and Wayward Imam Nabbed in Belgium
The Geller Report: NOT FLORIDA: Biden Goes to Puerto Rico to Assess Hurricane Damage, Announces $60 Million Relief Plan, also, Vermont Girls’ HS Volleyball Team BARRED From Their OWN Locker Room After Opposing Tranny
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, also, Hubble’s View of DART
Hollywood In Toto: Rockers Take Dramatically Different Approaches to Cancel Culture, What We Stand For … and What We Stand Against, Why Bros Failed: Bogus History, Cultural Resentment, and Why Private American Is a Modern Day Death Wish
The Lid: Berkeley’s Version Of “Ghetto Benches”
Legal Insurrection: North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Over Japan, Nurse of 39 Years Loses Job After Refusing to Participate in ‘Implicit Bias’ Training, and Conservative Candidates Working to Flip School Boards Across the Country
Michelle Malkin: The Great Parental Replacement
Nebraska Energy Observer: Cui Bono?, also, I got out
Outkick: Aaron Judge Hits Home Run No. 62, Breaks Roger Maris’ AL Record, Jennifer Lopez Proves She Still Has Her Fastball, Did Najee Harris Accidentally Say He Took Money At Alabama?, and SMU’s Football Team Hit With Bad News, Mustangs On The Brink Of Major Problems
Power Line: Mr. Melugin goes to Washington
Shark Tank: Demings Accused Of Supporting Drug Dealers’ Release In Venezuela
Shot In The Dark: Feeding Our Benefactors, also, In Cold, Alcohol-Thinned, Probably Mentally Ill Blood
The Political Hat: The San Francisco School-To-Clinic Transgender Pipeline
This Ain’t Hell: Last WWII Marine Ace Passes, J.R. Majewski still riding the phony pony, and Almost 15,000 pharmacies out of Tri-Care, pols want to know why
Transterrestrial Musings: Norm Augustine, Tannenberg Revisited, The Onion, and The Coal-Miner’s Daughter
Victory Girls: Fauci Awards EcoHealth Alliance $3 Million Grant To Study Bat Viruses
Volokh Conspiracy: Today in Supreme Court History: October 4, 1965
Watts Up With That: Berlin Antifa Group “Goes on Hunt” For High Energy Users… Heated Pools “Immediately Collectivized”, Claim: Bitcoin Worse For the Climate than Beef, and Hindawi and Wiley to Retract over 500 Papers Linked to Peer Review Rings
Weasel Zippers: Death On Wheels: Planned Parenthood Deploying 37-Foot Abortion RV Near Red State Borders, Stacey Abrams Absurdly Claims She “Never Denied The Outcome” Of 2018 Loss, Dem Rep. Cori Bush Doubles Down On “Defund The Police”: “We Can’t Get Caught Up In The Words”, and Biden Makes No Sense: “Sent Not Only A Congresswoman, The Most Congresswoman In The Congress”
The Federalist: Lawsuit: Biden’s Taxpayer-Funded Student Loan Bailout Is ‘Not How Lawmaking Works In America’, Heritage Action Super PAC Drops Seven-Figure Ad Buy In Arizona Senate Race As McConnell Abandons Blake Masters, With New Documents, The Biden Administration’s Targeting Of A Pro-Life Dad Just Got Crazier, and As NYT Identifies The Mysterious ‘Perla,’ All The Media’s Martha’s Vineyard Lies Unravel
Mark Steyn: Sorry State

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 10.04.22

Posted on | October 5, 2022 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 10.04.22

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Guess who left his power cord in Tonopah and had to wait until tonight for Amazon to get me a replacement.
Speaking of Amazon, thanks to all the people who bought stuff through my links last month.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Never Attribute to Malice What Can Be Explained By Stupidity
Director Blue: My Seven-Step Plan To Destroy America
EBL: It’s the most wunderbar time of the year!, Ron DeSantis Responds To CNN about Hurricane Ian After The Fact, and Ukrainian Warrior Women
Twitchy: Special K Explains Why It’s Unfair To Blame Biden For Fuel Prices Because Nuance, also, Glenn Greenwald Buries NBC Reporter Freaking Out About Elon Musk’s’ Twitter Takeover Under A Mountain Of Receipts
Louder With Crowder: The real reason why Trevor Noah is leaving ‘The Daily Show’, also, ‘Attention Walmart Associates:’ Chaos erupts when employees discover they’re both shagging the same manager
Vox Popoli: A Legitimate Expression, The Gammas in the Manger, A Tremendous Opportunity, and God Withdraws His Hand

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: The Planned Destruction of Germany by the USA, God Hates Weak Priests, and Livestream with Giuseppe Filotto
American Conservative: Goodbye, Louisiana. I Tried, also, Drag Queen Conservatism Is the Real Threat to Religious Freedom
American Greatness: Leftist Political Terror Against Republicans Greenlighted by Biden and the Left, also, Pushing the Envelopes in Ukraine
American Power: The Tories’ Weird Incoherent Collapse, also, Economic Issues Outweigh Concerns About Rights in Midterm Vote
American Thinker: There’s a major reason why the world in 2022 is like the world in 1939, Air Force Academy Woes Highlight Collapse of Military Values Under Diversity Mania, and The Seth Rich Case: The FBI’s Other Laptop Scandal
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Lifestyles of the Rich and Communist: While Cubans suffer, Fidel Castro’s grandson parties on Instagram, Castro dictatorship fears another popular uprising as Cubans protest for a third day, and Reports from Cuba: The protest demands in Cuba: Electricity, water, and freedom
BattleSwarm: The Ukrainian Way of War, also, More Fraudsters Arrested For Stealing Taxpayer Money
Behind The Black: Firefly successfully completes first orbital launch of its Alpha rocket, NASA now aiming for SLS launch in November, Head of Commerce’s space office questions new FCC regulations on space junk, and Today’s blacklisted Americans: All normal girls banned from locker room because one cross-dressing boy demanded it
Cafe Hayek: Prosperity Is Not Rooted in Slavery, also, King and Vaughn Should Voluntarily Restrain Themselves from Writing About Trade
CDR Salamander: We Need to Talk About France
Chicago Boyz: Chicagoboyz Appreciate a Jazzy Set of Wheels
Da Tech Guy: Why LGBT voters benefit from less government and a market economy, Novena to St. Matthew for the FBI Agents involved in the Mark Houck Arrest: Day 6 All this and the Oct Indulgence Calendar too!, and If Pritzker is serious about flaws to the pro-criminal SAFE-T Act, he’ll call for a special General Assembly session to repeal it
Don Surber: Calling North Korea an ally is “deft diplomacy”, DeSantis passed the hurricane test, and WaPo admits Dems fear apocalypse
First Street Journal: Killadelphia: The politicians all want to “do something” but will never admit what the problem is, Now Our Betters want you to charge your Chevy Dolt at work, not at home, and It wasn’t a difficult prediction to make
Gates Of Vienna: Batik Witches Rule!, Strongman’s Laws, The Caravan of Light: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again, and The Day Women Burn Their Uniforms en Masse, Islam Collapses
The Geller Report: MADMAN: Newsom Signs Bill to Allow Minors From Other States To Get Castration, Breast Removal Mutilation WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT, also, Bald, Golden Eagle Deaths Permitted Under New U.S. Wind Energy, Power Line Rules
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, L’etat c’est nous, and Tonight’s Sky: October, 2022
Hollywood In Toto: Rice’s Woking Dead Hammers Hollywood, Cowardly Comics, Bros Bombs at Box Office, and Lenny Bruce Impersonator Misses Whole Point of Lenny Bruce
The Lid: Kamala Shows She Doesn’t Understand Founding Docs. Makes Racist Statement About Hurricane Ian, Judge WRECKS Stacey Abrams Over Voter Rights Suit, and Flip-Flopping Liar: Beta O’Rourke
Legal Insurrection: Trump Sues CNN for Defamation, Seeks $475 Million in Damages, Michigan Gov. Whitmer Wants to Fix Child Foster Care System With Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Counselor, Molotov Cocktail Lawyer Seeks Reduced Sentence Claiming She Was Inebriated, and Student Group Who Walked Out to Protest Youngkin Trans Policy Says Many ‘Simply Just Wanted to Skip School’
Michelle Malkin:
Nebraska Energy Observer: Change is good, also, So what with pipeline explosions, rumors of war, hugely destructive hurricanes, and whatnot, it’s time for a break
Outkick: Rams Players Fight On The Sideline; Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers Continue To Dominate Regular-Season Rivalry, Seahawks Threaten Wife Of Veteran They Once Honored After Husband Wears Jersey In GOP Campaign Ad, Braves End NL East Race With A Bang In Miami Monday, and Hooters Releases Its 2023 Bikini Calendar
Power Line: The Harassment of Ginni Thomas, Thought for the Day: Dostoyevsky on Liberals, and How’s he doing?
Shark Tank: Mason-Dixon Polling Shows Rubio Up By Six Over Demings
Shot In The Dark: “Does This Empty Building Make My City Look Fat?”, A Dumb Bad Guy With A Gun, and Trivial, Promoted,& Ubiquitous
The Political Hat: Gaia Goes Corporate And Gets An Ambassador Too, also, American Judge Strikes Blow Against The Duo-Normative Diarchy
This Ain’t Hell: NG LTC chases bus filled with seniors because he thought it had South American migrants, Thank You for Your Heroic Service. You’re Fired., JB San Antonio reports Legionella in barracks, moves patients, and US Army misses recruiting goal
Transterrestrial Musings: Trans Treatments, The Ukrainian Way Of War, Future Space Settlers, and The Coming SCOTUS Term
Victory Girls: Paramedic Murdered In NYC, Politicians Say Don’t Call Police, DeSantis Warns Looters, Joy Reid Cries Racist, Thanks Biden! OPEC+ To Make Major Cut In Oil Production, Brazil Presidential Election Heads To Runoff, and Gavin Newsom Legalizes Child Trafficking
Volokh Conspiracy: Giving Yale Law School The Heave-Ho, Rest In Peace Judge Silberman, and Big Tech’s Chickens Coming Home to Roost
Watts Up With That: Bloomberg and NewsBusters Show ESG Is Neither Virtuous Nor Profitable, Renewables and the Great Texas Blackout: Baker Institute Study Tiptoes to Key Causality, and The Coming Green Electricity Nightmare
Weasel Zippers: Kamala Harris: I Love Venn Diagrams, You Know…The Three Circles?, Coast Guard Hero Thanked By Biden To Be Fired Soon For Not Getting Vaccinated, Dem Rep. Cori Bush Laments People Do Not Want To Teach Critical Race Theory In Elementary Schools, and Poll: Dems’ Lead Over GOP Among Hispanics Hits New Low
The Federalist: If Facebook, Twitter, And Google Hide Information For The World’s Rulers, Elections Are A Scam, Bombshell Texts Show Milwaukee Mayor Colluding With Democrats To Rig 2022 Election, Biden-Backing Billionaire Michael Bloomberg Tried To Meddle In Pennsylvania’s Election, and Judge Smacks Down Stacey Abrams’ Bogus Claims Of Voter Suppression In 2018 Election Loss
Mark Steyn: Something Rotten: Preston Sturges and The Great McGinty, Fascism on the March!, and Songs in the Keys of Florida

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Category: Linkagery

BREAKTHROUGH: Ukrainian Forces Smash Russian Lines East of Kherson

Posted on | October 3, 2022 | Comments Off on BREAKTHROUGH: Ukrainian Forces Smash Russian Lines East of Kherson

(Click to see full-size map.)

Wow — the Ukrainians are teaching the Russians a lesson in tactics, and every military leader in the world must be studying this lesson:

Ukrainian forces achieved their biggest breakthrough in the south of the country since the war began, bursting through the front and advancing rapidly along the Dnipro River on Monday, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops.
Kyiv gave no official confirmation of the gains, but Russian sources acknowledged that a Ukrainian tank offensive had advanced dozens of kilometers along the river’s west bank, recapturing a number of villages along the way.
The breakthrough mirrors recent Ukrainian successes in the east that have turned the tide in the war against Russia, even as Moscow has tried to raise the stakes by annexing territory, ordering mobilisation and threatening nuclear retaliation.
“The information is tense, let’s put it that way, because, yes there were indeed breakthroughs,” Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson province told Russian state television.
“There’s a settlement called Dudchany, right along the Dnipro River, and right there, in that region, there was a breakthrough. There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces,” he said.
Dudchany is around 30 km (20 miles) south of where the front stood before the breakthrough, indicating the fastest advance of the war so far in the south, where Russian forces had been dug into heavily reinforced positions along a mainly static front line since the early weeks of the invasion.
While Kyiv maintained almost complete silence, as it has in the past during major offensives, some officials did describe what they referred to as unconfirmed reports of big gains.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, posted a photo of Ukrainian soldiers posing with their flag draping a golden statue of an angel. He said it was the village of Mikhailivka, around 20 km beyond the previous front.
By Monday afternoon, Ukraine’s defence ministry had confirmed only the recapture of Myrolyubivka, a village close to the previous front line. Serhiy Khlan, a Kherson regional council member, also listed Osokorivka, Mykhailivka, Khreschenikvka and Zoloto Balka as villages recaptured or where Ukrainian troops had been photographed.
“It means that our armed forces are moving powerfully along the banks of the Dnipro nearer to Beryslav,” he said. “Officially, there is no such information yet, but the (Russian) social media pages which are panicking… absolutely confirm these photos.”

The Russians have committed a basic strategic error, fighting what is in essence a two-front war, with Ukraine holding interior lines of communication between the northern and southern fronts. So the Ukrainians can strike in either direction and, if Russia tries to move troops from the Kherson front to bolster its position in the north, this creates opportunities for Ukraine to strike the weakened lines in the south. And vice-versa, obviously. If the Ukrainians have reached the Dnipro at Dudchany, this threatens all the Russian forces on the eastern side of the Kherson front. Well, what can the Russians do? Move troops there from the western side of the front, which would weaken that end of the line and make it vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks?

While the Russians are moving forces around the Kherson front to try to contain the Ukrainian breakthrough there, of course, this prevents Russia from taking more forces from the south to try to patch up their lines up north around Kupiansk and Lyman. Were I asked to wager on what comes next, I’d bet that within a week or so, Russia will pull back to the south bank of the Dnipro, and focus on defending Crimea.

Category: Military, Russia, Ukraine

Rule 5 Sunday: Oktoberfest

Posted on | October 3, 2022 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: Oktoberfest

— compiled by Wombat-socho

I never made it to the original Oktoberfest in Munich while I was stationed in Germany, and I gather I didn’t miss much, according to troops I knew who went. These days, I’m even less inclined to go since airfare to ~~West~~Germany isn’t cheap, beer disagrees with my pancreas, and I can find decent German food here in CONUSstan without trying too hard. Still, one nice thing about the event is that it gives women an excuse to doll themselves up in dirndls, which do wonders for the feminine form.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

NINETY MILES FROM TYRANNY: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1855, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule Five Inflation Reduction Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: MAGA Biden – Where’s Jackie?, Under The Banner Of Heaven, Amy Winehouse, Memory, Blonde, Pig, The Real Bling Ring, Dinah Washington, Tiffany Smiley, Giorgia Meloni, My Week With Marilyn, Louise Fletcher RIP, The Outfit, and Agnes Obel.

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Lizzeth Acosta, Fish Pic Friday – Ciara Gaydos, Biden Speaks to Dead People, Tanks Economy and Drains Oil Reserves , Tattoo Thursday , Wednesday Wetness , Tuesday Tanlines , The Monday Morning Stimulus , Biden Sundowns, BLM Bomber Begs for Mercy, and Palm Sunday.

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Shadows Of The Night

Posted on | October 2, 2022 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Shadows Of The Night

— compiled by Wombat-socho

The Senators traded starting pitcher Larry Dierker and newly acquired center fielder Pat Kelly to the Phillies for center fielder Willie Mays and starter Pat Dobson, mainly with an eye toward next season (1973) when Dierker is going to be chopped liver (along with Mays) but we’ll have two decent center fielders anyway and Jarvis will pitch a lot better in RFK than he did historically in the Launching Pad and Yankees Stadium. With the new additions we played .400 ball this week against the A’s and Red Sox, but all the games were close this time. Not a single blowout. Plus, the two games we won were in extra innings, which says nice things about our bullpen.

As for our musical theme this week, is there a red-blooded American male who didn’t have at least a short-term crush on Pat Benatar in the 80s?
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

First in war, first in peace, and (still) last in the American League.

Rule 5 Sunday: Seltin Sweet
Animal Magnetism
A Bad American
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL

Worst. President. Ever.
The DaleyGator
A Bad American
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

A Death in ‘Killadelphia’
First Street Journal
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Born in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1886
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: Joy In Mudville
A View From The Beach
EBL

Heartbreaker in Foxborough
Okrahead
EBL

In The Mailbox: 09.26.22
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

‘The Hard-Hitting Social Commentary We’re Trying to Get Across’
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 09.27.22
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 09.28.22
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Surviving the Hurricane, So Far
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 09.29.22
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 09.30.22
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending September 30:

EBL (13)
357 Magnum (9)
A View From The Beach (8)
Proof Positive (7)

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Category: FMJRA Award

The $250,000,000 Scandal That’s Wrecking Minnesota Democrats

Posted on | October 2, 2022 | Comments Off on The $250,000,000 Scandal That’s Wrecking Minnesota Democrats

There haven’t been many public polls in the Minnesota governor’s race, but Republican challenger Scott Jensen is within striking distance of Democrat incumbent Gov. Tim Walz, who is now dealing with fallout from what federal prosecutors call “the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date”:

The Department of Justice announced today federal criminal charges against 47 defendants for their alleged roles in a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally-funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. . . .
“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota. “These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they prioritized their own greed, stealing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds to purchase luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad. I commend the work of the skilled investigators and prosecutors who unraveled the lies, deception, and mountains of false documentation to bring this complex case to light.”
The 47 defendants are charged across six separate indictments and three criminal informations with charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery.
As outlined in the charging documents, the defendants devised and carried out a massive scheme to defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The defendants obtained, misappropriated, and laundered millions of dollars in program funds that were intended as reimbursements for the cost of serving meals to children. The defendants exploited changes in the program intended to ensure underserved children received adequate nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than feed children, the defendants enriched themselves by fraudulently misappropriating millions of dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.

The question is now being asked: What did Tim Walz know, and when did he know it? And his answers so far seem kind of shaky.

No one has claimed that Walz personally benefited from this fraudulent scheme, but rather that his administration failed to properly supervise the expenditure of federal funds through this “child nutrition” program run by the non-profit Feeding Our Future:

Aimee Bock’s organization was keeping a low profile as it handled millions in government money when the video appeared on Facebook in January.
It purportedly showed one of Bock’s employees receiving an astonishing wedding present: an ornamental cart, laden with so much gold that guests gathered around to see it up close.
Abdihakim Nur, a Somali activist and blogger who shot the video, said he heard the gold came from food vendors who were getting rich off the money they collected through Bock’s nonprofit, Feeding Our Future.
Nur was appalled, and his video created a stir in the Somali community.
“We cannot close our eyes to such corruption which will put our entire community’s name in the news as fraudsters and criminals when we only have a few bad apples,” Nur posted.
Five days later, the FBI raided Bock’s home and a sprawling government investigation went public.

Well done, Mr. Nur! Because, if you read the indictment, here are the names of the 47 people charged in this criminal scheme:

Aimee Marie Bock
Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh
Salim Ahmed Said
Abdulkadir Nur Salah
Ahmed Sharif Omar-Hashim
Abdi Nur Salah
Abdihakim Ali Ahmed
Ahmed Mohamed Artan
Abdikadir Ainanshe Mohamud
Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir
Asad Mohamed Abshir
Hamdi Hussein Omar
Ahmed Abdullahi Ghedi
Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah
Mohamed Jama Ismail
Mahad Ibrahim
Abdimajid Mohamed Nur
Said Shafii Farah
Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin
Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff
Hayat Mohamed Nur
Qamar Ahmed Hassan
Sahra Mohamed Nur
Abdiwahab Ahmed Mohamud
Filsan Mumin Hassan
Guhaad Hashi Said
Abdullahe Nur Jesow
Abdul Abubakar Ali
Yusuf Bashir Ali
Haji Osman Salad
Fahad Nur
Anab Artan Awad
Sharmarke Issa
Farhiya Mohamud
Liban Yasin Alishire
Ahmed Yasin Ali
Khadar Jigre Adan
Sharmake Jama
Ayan Jama
Asha Jama
Fartun Jama
Mustafa Jama
Zamzam Jama
Bekam Addissu Merdassa
Hadith Yusuf Ahmed
Hanna Marekegn

Probably not a lot of Trump voters on that list, if you get my drift.

In defending themselves against accusations of administrative negligence, Walz and the state department of education say they tried to cut off payment to Feeding Our Future, but that the non-profit responded with a lawsuit falsely claiming racial discrimination.

Wait a minute — Democrats admitting that false cries of “racism” are used to exploit the system? Wow, it’s a new day in America.

But look at that list of names again. Regardless of the details of how Walz’s administration handled this, do you think the average voter in rural Minnesota can’t add 2+2 and find that the sum is 4?

“Let’s give millions of dollars in taxpayer money to Somalis” — that’s what this “child nutrition” program was really about, and which party do you think this political payola was meant to benefit? The problem was that the corruption was just too blatant, what with the “luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property,” to say nothing of the “ornamental cart laden with gold,” and at some point somebody at Minnesota’s department of education got worried about it. Eventually, they tipped the feds to their concerns and tried to halt the payments to Aimee Bock’s organization, but when this was answered by a racial discrimination lawsuit, they restarted the payments, and the “child nutrition” bonanza continued right up until the feds raided Bock.

The gubernatorial race in Minnesota is very close, and this scandal works entirely to the advantage of Republicans. Furthermore, there’s a toss-up House race in Minnesota’s 2nd District, where GOP challenger Tyler Kistner — who barely lost in 2020 — is trying again to oust Democrat Rep. Angie Craig. Now we learn that Somalis have been looting the taxpayers to the tune of $250 million, and you’ve got to think that scandal doesn’t help the Democrat incumbent in this House campaign.

Category: Corruption, Crime, Minnesota

Russians Cut Off at Lyman UPDATE: Russia Announces ‘Withdrawal’

Posted on | October 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Russians Cut Off at Lyman UPDATE: Russia Announces ‘Withdrawal’

(Click to see full-size map.)

The headlines say the Ukrainians have the Russians “surrounded” or “encircled” at Lyman, although from what I gather, the fact is that the Russians are cut off — can’t retreat, can’t get supplies or reinforcements — because the Ukrainians have all the routes into the town within artillery range, which is almost the same thing in a tactical sense, but not what most people think of when they see the word “surrounded.”

Anyway, here’s the Bloomberg version of the story:

Russian troops are said to be surrounded by Ukrainian forces in the strategic eastern city of Lyman, a day after President Vladimir Putin claimed the area as part of Russia and held a ceremony and pop concert to mark the occasion.
Putin said Moscow was annexing four occupied Ukrainian regions “forever” and repeated warnings that he’d use all available means to defend the territories. The US and European Union members denounced the move. . . .
Igor Girkin, the former commander of separatist forces in the Donbas, said late Friday that Russian forces in Lyman, in the Donetsk region, are totally surrounded. He accused military commanders of “idiocy“ for allowing it to happen. . . .
Some 5,000 Russian troops are said to be surrounded around Lyman as Kyiv’s forces push to recapture the strategic rail hub in Ukraine’s east, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he’d annexed the region.
The Moscow-backed forces have no way of leaving the town beyond “trying to escape, die or surrender,” Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said on Facebook. If Lyman is liberated, Ukraine’s army may press east toward Kreminna, he said. Five nearby settlements were liberated on Saturday, a military spokesman said.
“Ukraine is about to capture Lyman and it shows its military prowess again by humiliating the Russian army,” Mick Ryan, a defense analyst and retired Australian general, said on Twitter.

I’ve long since given up trying to get useful tactical information from these media reports, but I keep being angered by nonsense like the description of Lyman as a “strategic rail hub.” It was “strategic” as a bridgehead which the Ukrainians held on the east bank of the Siverskyi Donets river until May and, predictably, once they lost Lyman, they lost Sievierodonetsk shortly thereafter. Whatever railroads go through Lyman, its “strategic” value is as a river crossing.

Far more useful information from the ISW:

Ukrainian forces will likely capture or encircle Lyman within the next 72 hours. Russian forces continued to withdraw from positions around Lyman on September 30 as Ukrainian forces continued to envelop Russian troops in the area.[8] The Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) officials and Russian war correspondents stated that Russian forces still control Lyman but have withdrawn from their positions in Drobysheve (around 6km northwest of Lyman) and Yampil (about 13km southeast of Lyman). Russian sources claimed that Russian forces still control one road from Lyman to Torske, while Ukrainian forces have cut off the Drobysheve-Torske road in the Stavky area. Russian sources also noted the increasing activity of Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage groups on the Svatove-Torske highway northeast of Lyman after reportedly crossing the Zherebets River. Geolocated footage also showed Ukrainian artillery striking withdrawing Russian forces near Torske. Some Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Siverskyi Donets River in Dronivka and are now operating in the forests south of Kreminna. Russian sources uniformly noted that Ukrainian artillery continues to interdict Russian forces’ single remaining egress route on the Kreminna-Torske road.

Finding all these places on a map takes more time than most people are willing to expend, but I’ll simplify it by saying that (a) by taking Drobysheve and striking east toward Stavky, the Ukrainians have made it impossible for the Russians at Lyman to retreat northward, (b) by taking Yampil, the Ukrainians have made it impossible for the Russians to retreat to the southeast, which leaves (c) the road to Kreminna via Zarichne and Torske, which (d) is jeopardized by Ukrainian advances from Yampil and/or Dronivka. All things considered, it appears futile for the Russians to keep fighting at Lyman, and the only real question is how many of them can escape to Kreminna in any organized condition.

The likely answer is, not many. Incidentally, one of the Russian units now trapped in Lyman is the 752nd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment:

It’s a regiment with a tragic tradition of getting cut off, surrounded and all but destroyed. The 752nd GMRR was one of two regiment-size units that, on New Year’s Eve in 1994, got enveloped in Grozny during the first of Russia’s two bloody wars in Chechnya.
The 752nd GMRR barely survived the First Chechen War. Its chances in Ukraine aren’t much better. . . .
There reportedly were as many as 5,000 Russians in [Lyman before the Ukrainian advance across the Oskil River]. Some lightly-armed reservists from two Russian battalions. Two regiments from the separatist Luhansk People’s Republic. And the 752nd GMRR, arguably the best of the units in the Lyman garrison.
The 752nd on paper is a powerful formation, although it like much of the Russian army has suffered steep losses as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds into its eighth month. Before the war, the 752nd GMRR possessed 41 T-72 tanks, 120 BMP-2 fighting vehicles, 36 2S3 howitzers and scores of other vehicles. It’s unclear how many vehicles remain. . . .
By Friday there was no road out of Lyman that the Ukrainians couldn’t bring under intensive fire. Whether the 752nd GMRR and other units in Lyman surrender, attempt a breakout or fight to the last man will determine how many casualties the Ukrainians inflict as they inevitably liberate Lyman in the coming days.

There are some reports that Russia is sending reinforcements to the area, but I don’t put much stock in those reports. If Russia had reserves available, why would they have waited until now to deploy them?

The most likely scenario is that most of the Russians at Lyman will surrender, although some may yet be able to escape to Kreminna. Once that happens, we can expect a lull in the fighting while Ukraine consolidates its position before resuming their inevitable eastward advance, toward the supply lines of the Russian forces now at Sievierodonetsk. That could take weeks, however, which means winter will arrive before much more can be done on the Donbas front.

UPDATE: No sooner had I published this than Russia announced it was “withdrawing” from Lyman. It’s nighttime in Ukraine, so I assume this “withdrawal” means the Russians are making a run for it before sunrise, probably leaving behind most of their motor vehicles and heavy equipment. It’s a complete humiliation for Putin.