July 26, 2022

Disney-owned Hulu not running Democrats' ads on abortion, guns, climate change

Democratic campaign groups are slamming the Disney-owned streaming service Hulu for what they say is its refusal to run ads on the crucial midterm election issues of abortion and gun safety.

The streaming service did not run ads submitted last week by the Democratic campaign groups and has failed to give the groups a clear reason, according to a national Democratic Party official.

In a joint statement, the executive directors of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) said Hulu’s “censorship of truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country.”

“Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans’ agenda on issues like abortion – and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed,” they said.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3573352-hulu-wont-run-democrats-ads-on-abortion-guns/

July 25, 2022

The US donated over 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Ukraine today, announced the US State depart.

today, the United States donated nearly 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ukraine. We are proud to support the people of Ukraine in their fight against COVID-19.

https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/1551609643163684865

July 21, 2022

Pelosi to Blinken: Label Russia as terrorist state, or else Congress will

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/20/pelosi-to-blinken-label-russia-as-terrorist-state-or-else-congress-will-00047076

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had a message for Secretary of State Antony Blinken: Designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism — otherwise, Congress will.

The warning, made on a call between the two earlier this week, was described to POLITICO by two sources familiar with the conversation. Spokespersons for the State Department and Pelosi’s office declined to comment.

Congress gave the power to label another country as a state sponsor of terrorism to the secretary of state. Some in Congress, though, say lawmakers could pass a law to make the designation without the State Department, thus pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin on their own.

“There’s no legal reason Congress could not pass legislation to effectively designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism,” a Democratic aide said. “Congress passing legislation is obviously a more complicated route than the secretary making the designation, but it would give the administration the political cover it needs to escalate economic pressure and rhetoric against Putin.”

July 18, 2022

US Rep. Hice subpoenaed in Georgia election investigations

Source: WNYT

The subpoena, which Hice received on June 29, orders him to appear before the special grand jury in Atlanta on Tuesday, his lawyer said in a court filing. That filing seeks to have the matter heard in federal court rather than before the Fulton County Superior Court judge who’s overseeing the special grand jury.

“Since Congressman Hice is a member of the United States House of Representatives and is being asked to testify pursuant to a state-issued subpoena, the federal officer removal statute should apply, and this action should therefore be removed” to federal court, attorney Loree Anne Paradise wrote in the filing Friday.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened an investigation early last year into whether Trump and his allies committed any crimes as they sought to overturn his narrow election loss in the state. A special grand jury with subpoena power was seated in May at her request.

A number of high-ranking Republican state officials — including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr — have already testified before the special grand jury. Gov. Brian Kemp is set to give a sworn recorded statement on July 25.

Read more: https://wnyt.com/politics-election/us-rep-hice-subpoenaed-in-georgia-election-investigation/

July 17, 2022

1,346 civilians have been found dead in the Kyiv oblast after the retreat of Russian forces,

according to the region’s police chief. In a new Kyiv Independent report, Andriy Nebytov is cited saying that about 300 individuals are still missing, adding that 700 of those killed were shot with small arms such as a handgun.

Reported by Guardian live feed.

Russia needs to be officially recognized as a terrorist state NOW!!!

July 16, 2022

Ukraine could sue top US and EU banks over oil and gas trade with Russia

The Ukrainian government has told US and European bank bosses, including JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and HSBC’s Noel Quinn, to stop financing companies that trade Russian oil.

Oleg Ustenko, economic adviser to president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused the lenders of “war crimes”. He wrote to them this week asking them to cut ties with groups that trade Russian oil and sell shares in the state-backed oil and gas groups Gazprom and Rosneft.

In the letters, also sent to Citigroup and Crédit Agricole, banks were accused of “prolonging” the war by providing credit to companies that ship Russian oil, and were told they would be blocked from participating in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine.

Ustenko said Ukraine’s ministry for justice intends to sue the banks at the International Criminal Court once the war ends, and that Ukraine’s security services were collecting information on financial institutions supporting Russian fossil fuels.

https://www.ft.com/content/ba60a1da-ff70-4099-ba47-81c1e5de2050

July 15, 2022

What does tRump have more of than all of us together?

Lie-Ability

Got is from Doug on the Hartmann show.

July 13, 2022

Hungary has declared a "state of danger" on Wednesday due to the energy crisis caused by Russia

“The situation is very difficult everywhere in Europe because of the war and the sanctions taken in response,” Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff of Prime Minister Viktor Orban added that the new plan will come into effect in August.

The government will step up domestic natural gas production from 1.5 to 2.0 billion cubic metres, while seeking other sources of gas, impose an export ban on energy sources such as firewood and increase domestic production of lignite coal. In addition, the government will reopen a power station at Matra and extend the operation of the Paks nuclear power plant near Budapest.

People who consume more than average amounts of energy will have to pay for it at the market price rather than the heavily subsidised state rates. That could affect up to a quarter of the population, said Gulyas.

Hungary currently imports 65 percent of its oil and 80 percent of its gas from Russia.


Guardian Live feed


t seems that the republican fascist fave vacation spot is having some energy concerns

July 12, 2022

Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drone aircraft, including armed drones

Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drone aircraft, including some capable of carrying weaponry, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday.

Sullivan said US intelligence “indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline.” He didn’t detail the intelligence or its sources.

“Our information further indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July,” Sullivan told reporters during a press briefing.

Russia has relied heavily on drones in its invasion of Ukraine, and the government in Kyiv claims to have downed more than 600 of the aircraft, according to the Kyiv Independent, a news organization in the country.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-11/iran-preparing-to-send-russia-weapons-capable-drones-us-says

July 10, 2022

It sucks when you depend on a fascist country to survive & another reason to break our ties

with fascist countries:

Canada to return seized Russian gas turbine to Germany
Canada is risking Ukraine’s ire by returning to Germany a repaired giant turbine that will speed the flow of Russian gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Reuters reports.

Kyiv urged the Canadian government not to return it to Germany, stating that such a decision would breach the integrity of sanctions against Russia. But Germany, which is facing severe gas shortages, is being threatened with a further squeeze on Russian gas by Moscow if the turbine isn’t returned, and pleaded with Canada to send it back.

Its return will support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas,” Canada’s energy ministry said in a statement.

In an apparent attempt at appeasement of Ukraine, Canada announced new sanctions against Russia’s energy sector. The sanctions “will apply to land and pipeline transport and the manufacturing of metals and of transport, computer, electronic and electrical equipment, as well as of machinery,” the statement said.