René Magritte The secret player 1927
Google bans ad
Google has banned this ad from Trump about illegal aliens.
The ad is too effective. Did the Biden campaign apply pressure to Google to remove it?
You know what to do. Share it.
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— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) May 4, 2024
Dick van Dyke
BREAKING: Dick Van Dyke slams cable networks for not reporting on Trump’s clear path back to the White House due to presidential immunity pic.twitter.com/4FcaGz7kzs
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 4, 2024
https://twitter.com/i/status/1786568352686547015
O’Keefe
Full conversation with CIA Program Manager Amjad Fseisi who said the CIA withheld information from President Trump pic.twitter.com/e1RI0S60h1
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) May 4, 2024
Woody RFK
The Bobby Kennedy video Meta doesn’t want you to see, narrated by Woody Harrelson. pic.twitter.com/oBieuglEYv
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 4, 2024
Politics are shaking all over Europe.
• Ruling Tories Suffer Crushing Electoral Defeat In England (RT)
The UK Conservative Party has suffered its worst defeat in decades, having lost nearly 500 council seats during this week’s local elections in England. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has admitted his party’s defeat, calling the results “disappointing.” Overall, the Tories lost 473 of the 985 seats they were defending and lost control of 12 councils in the vote held on Thursday. The Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats emerged as the main victors, with Labour gaining eight councils and 185 seats, according to a Sky News tally. This is the worst showing for Tories since the late 1990s. “It appears to be the worst local elections for the Conservatives since the final years of the era of Margaret Thatcher and John Major,” said Robert Hayward, a polling expert and a member of the House of Lords, as quoted by the New York Times.
Labour politician Chris Webb has won the Blackpool South by-election, beating Conservative David Jones. “This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today,” Labour leader Keir Starmer told reporters, adding that the win “shows that we are firmly back in the service of working people.” Another good news for Labour came from London, where Mayor Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a third term. “Londoners voted to give their city a fairer, safer, greener future,” Khan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).The campaigning was centered around inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, as well local issues, such as the state of housing and the work of the NHS in different areas. Sunak said on Friday that it is “disappointing to lose good hardworking Conservative councilors.” He added that he remains “focused completely on the job at hand – that’s delivering for people across the country.” Despite the upset, prime minister said he is hopeful that the voters “are going to stick with us” in the general election expected to take place in the second half of 2024.
“Just 4% of those aged 18 to 24-years-old expressed their intention of voting for Macron’s party next month..”
• France Seemingly Set to Part Ways With Macron, Come June Elections (Manley)
Two recent opinion articles have highlighted the lack of faith the French public has in their leader, Macron. The French president has been described as “trailing the hard right” as he tries to steer the EU into a direction that would mark it as a military power. According to new opinion polls, France’s Renaissance (RE) party is trailing the far-right National Rally (RN) by a far second place. A recent article published on Wednesday by The Guardian, says the blame for the RE’s poor polling rests with President Emmanuel Macron. The parties were tied in the last European election which took place five years ago. Elections for the European Parliament will take place between June 6 and June 9. The elections will be a clear sign for how the presidential election in France, in 2027, will unfold. Macron, 46, “has himself to blame for his political predicament”, the article suggests.
The French president is “barely two years into his second term in the Élysée Palace, yet lacking a parliamentary majority at home and with his government under the permanent threat of a no-confidence motion.” “[Macron] has so personalized his style of governance that voters blame him for everything from the cost of living to the rise of youth violence and the risk of terrorism during this summer’s Paris Olympic Games,” according to the news outlet. The RN is being led by Jordan Bardella, who became the president of the party in 2022. Bardella is just 28-years-old and does not carry the same legacy as his party’s former president, Marine Le Pen, though he reportedly said that he first joined the party due to Le Pen’s influence. But while Le Pen’s influence on the RN is still palpable, young voters are more drawn to Bardella. Macron was elected in 2017, becoming France’s youngest head of state apart from Napoleon Bonaparte. But now, Macron is seemingly flailing to keep up with the desires of the French public.
“I think it is less about ‘Frenchness’ in this election than as portraying the people don’t feel that they belong, the people who feel they have been humiliated, either economically – not making ends meet, not being recognized, not seeing themselves represented in parliament nor politics,” said Cécile Alduy, a Professor of French at Stanford University, explained to a German broadcaster. A separate survey published in March, shows that Macron’s party has fallen out of favorability among young French voters. Just 4% of those aged 18 to 24-years-old expressed their intention of voting for Macron’s party next month, compared to 29% among those over the age of 70. Alduy explains that the reason for this is because those who are younger have little to no historical memory regarding Nazism during World War II, as the RN has been criticized for failing to rid itself of its antisemitic heritage.
Another article by Financial Times explains Macron’s drop in popularity with an opinion poll from February which showed the main preoccupation of French voters is the cost of living. According to that poll, a drop in consumer confidence amongst the French shows a pessimism about their future. Another issue regarding France’s economy includes their high budget deficit which skyrocketed last year to 5.5% of the GDP, according to the newspaper. “Macron’s government has already had to announce emergency spending cuts, and more may be on their way in areas such as social benefits and local government budgets”, the newspaper suggests, adding that this could affect the results of the 2027 election. But the news outlet adds that while many French people use the EU elections as a way to cast protest votes against their presidents and governments, many may vote differently in a national election.
“Macron has still a couple of years in office as president of France, and he cannot be reelected after this term..”
• Macron is Afraid to Go Down in History as the Leader Who ‘Lost Africa’ (Sp.)
While French President Emmanuel Macron tries to maintain his façade as a tough guy in politics, his approval rating in France continues to sag. According to a recent Ipsos poll, Macron’s Renaissance party’s rating dropped to a measly 17%, compared to, for example, Marin Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) party’s 32% rating. Currently, Macron witnesses his position weakening, both “personally” as the incumbent president and “politically with his centrist-globalist party low performance,” argues Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels. “Macron does not care about public opinion, following the “power” tradition of France. He knows that he has no appeal for the public opinion in France and he acts as an absolute sovereign to save the state,” Raffone tells Sputnik. At the same time, the analyst notes, Macron is essentially a “narcissist” who “does not want to be remembered as the worst president of France”: namely, as the president who witnessed France losing its hold on Africa.
“Macron has still a couple of years in office as president of France, and he cannot be reelected after this term. In this context, Macron is trying to play all his remaining cards to reinvent a political role for France in Europe,” he said. In French and EU politics, Macron is attempting to sow division among the other right-wing parties, while abroad he seeks to recover his reputational losses over the African fiasco by “trying to play a role in the Caucasus – pro Armenia and anti-Turkiye and Azerbaijan” – and in the Ukrainian conflict. “It is again a gamble with two objectives: the first, is to replace Germany’s leadership in EU foreign policy, the second, pre-position France in the eyes of the US current and future administration attempting to balance the troubled UK’s Tory leadership that could be replaced by Labor at the end of 2024 (or earlier),” Raffone explains.
“..oppression envy..”
• Nostalgia for the Mud (Kunstler)
Wasn’t it cute how the youngsters who “occupied” Columbia U’s Hamilton Hall — and were busy smashing things up inside — demanded restaurant-grade meals sent in to avert “starvation and dehydration” amongst their dauntless ranks? You could imagine a colossal mommy breast with three hundred nipples descending from the sky over upper Manhattan to nourish them back to action. “Feed me. . . !”
It turns out, actually, that at least half the troops inside were not students at all, but rather semi-pro activists paid up to $7,000 each by George Soros’s Open Society Institute and other overtly insurrection-themed orgs, so you’d think that the troops could afford to load-up their ever-ready backpacks with Clif bars and bottles of Smart Water. The order-in food and beverage gambit suggests we should understand that this is not so much politics as the acting out of a game — which is exactly what you might expect of people who spend more time on video screens than in the real world — in which something like a half-time intermission for refreshments is de rigueur.
Alas, they were not obliged with DoorDash servings of Alitcha (“Ensemble of potatoes, carrots, collard greens, and cabbage baked in turmeric,” $22.30) from the nearby Massawa Ethiopian bistro, or Firecracker Chicken from Junzi Kitchen over on Broadway and 113th Street. And then, when the cops came to roust them out into the big buses now used as paddy-wagons for such events, the occupiers were heard to whine, “I have finals and I need to go home!” You’ve got to wonder how they’ll make out when “Joe Biden” drafts their ass to go fight the Russians out on the Ukrainian buzzard flats, about which the White House is just now sending out early signals.
It has been observed that a clear majority of the pro-Hamas activists are young women — which makes sense considering that they are the largest demographic evincing mental illness on America’s social landscape these days. Thus, they are marching in support of a sect that specializes in the rape, mutilation, and murder of young women like themselves, or at least treats them as chattels, hidden under black bag-like garments. The group psychology on display has more occult angles than any movie by the Wachowski sisters.
Among the marching Columbia students who are not paid outside activists, a few are apparently Jewish, such as spokesperson Johannah King-Slutzky (actual name, hat-tip Alex Berenson, who ID’d her), the winsome creature who complained about the lack of order-in meals at Hamilton Hall. Another observer on “X” who styles himself @J9_ATX identified the syndrome in play as “oppression envy,” among women seeking compensatory validation for occupying such a privileged niche on Planet Earth as a cushy Ivy League college — featuring international cuisine stations in the dining halls — while their third world sisters trudge through the burning sands of Al-Kufra carrying water-jugs on their heads as they dodge the odious “wind scorpions” of the region.
Don’t forget Tulsi.
• Trump’s VP Short List Has a Residency Dilemma (Turley)
The Trump short list for vice presidential candidates is reportedly down to Ohio Senator, J.D. Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Rubio is a favorite for many due to his record in the Senate and his appeal to hispanic voters (where the GOP is hoping to make gains in the coming election). The problem is not Rubio or his record, but his residence. The Twelfth Amendment contains a habitation or “favorite sons” provision: “The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.” The risk is that Florida’s electoral votes could be challenged in any election since both Trump and Rubio reside in the state. That is a chunk of 30 votes in a close election. In addition other states which sought to block Trump from the ballot like Colorado could try this new tack to derail his campaign.
The most obvious option is for either Trump or Rubio to move. The easiest would be for Trump to move since Rubio represents Florida. That could include either New York or New Jersey ( where his Bedminster property is located). That option would be costly for Trump in terms of taxes. Moreover, Trump is desperately trying to get out of New York where he is effectively shackled to the defense table as his opponent, President Joe Biden, campaigns around the country. The funny thing is that Trump has been campaigning in New York and drawing some large crowds. It would be the height of irony if Trump ends up making New York competitive with a mix of the time forced to be in the state and a change of residency. Alt er natively, Rubio could resign from the Senate and focus on running with a residence in a different state. He could also attempt a more creative approach and just change residency for the election.
Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 3: No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. Rubio can argue that he was “an Inhabitant” of Florida “when elected.” Given the recent controversy over the appointment of Democratic Senator Laphonza Butler, it could be hard for some Democrats to object. Yet, there will be some who will no doubt try. In 2000, Dick Cheney was challenged by three Texas residents when he moved back to Wyoming. They failed. Ultimately, it could also be challenged in Congress under the Electoral Count Reform Act.
Despite declaring the challenge to the Biden election was an attack on democracy, Democratic members previously challenged Republican presidents in Congress, including Jan. 6th committee head Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) In other words, it could be done but it would likely draw challenges. Then again, why should this part of the election be any different from every other part?
Hard to believe.
• Prosecutors Admit Key Evidence In Trump Docs Case Has Been Tampered With (JTN)
In a stunning admission, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team is admitting that key evidence in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents criminal case was altered or manipulated since it was seized by the FBI, and that prosecutors misled the court about it for a period of time. Legal experts told Just the News the revelation could prove to be a serious problem for prosecutors and a violation of court rules to preserve evidence in the state it was seized. In a new filing Friday, Smith’s team said that the order of documents in some of the boxes of memos that were seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was altered or jumbled, leaving two different chronologies: one that was digitally scanned and another the physical order in the boxes. “Since the boxes were seized and stored, appropriate personnel have had access to the boxes for several reasons, including to comply with orders issued by this Court in the civil proceedings noted above, for investigative purposes, and to facilitate the defendants’ review of the boxes,” Smith’s team wrote in a new court filing to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
“There are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans,” the prosecutors wrote. Smith’s team in a footnote also conceded it had misled the court about the problem by previously declaring that the evidence had remained in the exact state it had been seized. “The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court,” the footnote said. [..] The organization of the documents in storage boxes at Mar-a-Lago is likely to be an important part of Trump‘s defense. His team is expected to argue the documents were stored in the White House in chronological order on the days that Trump received them, and that staff simply boxed them up and sent them to his home without him accessing them or knowing they contained classified information.
Smith’s team tried to downplay the problem and argued it’s not a reason for a delay in Trump’s case. But several legal experts told Just the News the court filing essentially is an admission of evidence tampering, and could be problematic. “Prosecutors and investigators should never tamper with or alter evidence in their possession, including the order of documents in a box because one never knows what may become relevant or crucial to a court or jury later in a case,” Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said. Prominent defense attorney Tim Parlatore, who worked on Trump’s team earlier in the classified documents case but no longer is involved, said ”this admission is stunning on multiple levels.”
He said the revelation “reinforces the incompetence” of prosecutors “in conducting basic criminal investigations and prosecutions that I observed when I was on the team. “But at a deeper level, the loss of specific document locations is a destruction of exculpatory evidence,” he added. “I went through all of the boxes at NARA and the document order was important because it was clear to us that the boxes had been untouched since leaving the White House. “For prosecutors who are trying to prove that the defendants knowingly possessed these documents to then destroy the evidence that would undermine that claim is a very serious violation,” he added. Smith’s team tried to downplay the problem, offering several explanations for how the documents and their order could’ve been scrambled since the government took possession of the boxes.
“There are several possible explanations, including the above-described instances in which the boxes were accessed, as well as the size and shape of certain items in the boxes possibly leading to movement of items,” the prosecutors wrote. “For example, the boxes contain items smaller than standard paper such as index cards, books, and stationary, which shift easily when the boxes are carried, especially because many of the boxes are not full.” The alteration of evidence has been an issue in earlier political scandals and prosecutions in Washington. Erasure of an 18 1/2 minute segment of Richard Nixon’s White House tapes became a very important aspect of the Watergate scandal. The Iran-Con tra scandal exploded during the Reagan years with the revelation that documents were shredded before they could be obtained by investigators. The Hillary Clinton classified email scandal became more complicated in 2015 with the revelation that her team used a “Bleach Bit” program to erase emails on her secret computer server, and had email devices destroyed.
“If I cut the supply of arms to Ukraine, Ukraine cannot resist – they will have to surrender and the war will finish,” Borrell said..”
• ‘Peace Formula’ On Ukraine To Succeed If West Halts Arms Supplies – Zakharova (TASS)
A “peace formula” on Ukraine boils down to cutting off Western weapons supplies to the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. The diplomat noted remarks by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell who asserted that without Western arms supplies Ukraine would capitulate in two weeks. “An amazing confession! Here’s the entire ‘peace formula’ for you – the end of Western arms supplies to the Kiev regime,” she wrote on her Telegram channel. Earlier, Borrell said that the conflict in Ukraine could end as quickly as in “a couple of weeks” without Western military aid to Kiev.
“I know how to finish the war in Ukraine. I can finish the war in Ukraine in a couple of weeks just by cutting the supply. If I cut the supply of arms to Ukraine, Ukraine cannot resist – they will have to surrender and the war will finish,” Borrell said. Earlier, Swiss President Viola Amherd said her country would host a conference on the so-called Ukrainian “peace formula” at the Burgenstock resort near Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland this June. The Russian embassy confirmed that “the Swiss authorities have not sent Russia an invitation to the conference in Burgenstock.” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that any talks on Ukraine without Russia are pointless, and are, in fact, “a negotiation process with no purpose.”.
To keep the industry happy?
• Trump Will Force NATO Members To Hike Military Spending By 50% – Telegraph (RT)
Donald Trump is eyeing plans to push the NATO members to ramp up defense spending from 2% to 3% of GDP if he is re-elected in November, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing sources close to the former US President. Trump has reportedly been considering an increase for some time but was further persuaded by the arguments of Polish President Andrzej Duda, a source close to the ex-president told the media. The two met for talks in New York last month. Duda has repeatedly called for a boost in defense spending across the alliance, arguing that 3% is needed to defend against “growing threats,” including from Russia. Trump’s is “evolving towards 3%, especially after speaking to Duda” and that’s “not including money for Ukraine,” the anonymous source said.
Trump’s encounter with Duda also reportedly played a role in convincing him to lift his opposition to a long-delayed aid package which included $60 billion for Kiev. In February, Trump came under fire from the White House and top Western officials for suggesting he would not defend NATO allies who had failed to spend enough on defense and would even encourage Russia to attack them. In March, US intelligence agencies warned that America was facing a “fragile world order” amid Russian and Chinese threats. NATO’s 32 members have agreed on a target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense. Last year’s NATO estimates have shown that only 11 are spending that much, including its largest contributor, the US, as well as the UK, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Hungary, Finland, Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark.
Belgium and Spain spent 1.2%, while Luxembourg, which has the smallest budget for defense compared to its GDP, spent just 1%. Only Poland, the US and Greece spent more than 3%. On Tuesday, Timo Pesonen, the EU’s top defense official, said “while the NATO allies are increasing their budget to at least 1% of GDP,” some member states “speak about 3% already.” His remarks came days after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said allies “must go further” than 2%. A source close to Trump, quoted by The Telegraph, said he also has a detailed plan for how to end the war peacefully which won’t be made public before the election. Republican presidential nominee previously said he will be able to negotiate peace because he knows the leaders of both countries, but hasn’t elaborated. “There is a plan, but he’s not going to debate it with cable news networks because then you lose all leverage,” the source said.
“..at least 1.6 million applications were still pending as of October 2023..”
• Biden Parole Program Has Flown Illegals To More Than 45 US Cities (ZH)
In a recent development, a House Committee subpoena has forced the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reveal details of its parole program designed to allow entry for thousands of individuals from several nations. The program, established in October 2022, was initially tailored to facilitate entry for Venezuelans who had American sponsors and passed a vetting process. However, the scope of the program rapidly expanded, encompassing individuals from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua as well – eventually flying illegal aliens to more than 45 cities across the United States. According to the DHS documents, between January and August 2023, the parole program allowed over 200,000 individuals to enter the United States. While the program did not cover the cost of flights for these individuals, it permitted them to enter the country and make travel arrangements independently.
Among the program’s participants, Florida emerged as a leading destination, with around 80% of the 200,000 choosing to settle in cities such as Miami, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale. Other prominent destinations included New York, California, Texas, Nevada, and Georgia. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the program, stating that it provided “a safe and orderly way to reach the United States” and asserting, though without presenting specific evidence, that the program “resulted in a reduction in numbers of those nationalities.” Mayorkas also highlighted its global relevance, noting its role in addressing “the unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere” and suggesting that other countries might see it as a model to manage irregular migration.
That said, the documents revealed that at least 1.6 million applications were still pending as of October 2023. The program currently admits approximately 30,000 individuals per month, granting them work permits and authorizing them to live in the country for two years. Congressman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, expressed strong criticism of the program, stating, “These documents expose the egregious lengths Secretary Mayorkas will go to ensure inadmissible aliens reach every corner of the country, from Orlando and Atlanta to Las Vegas and San Francisco.” Green labeled the parole program “an unlawful sleight of hand” aimed at concealing the worsening border crisis from the American public.
In response to perceived poor handling of the border crisis, Mayorkas faced impeachment by the House of Representatives in February. This marked the second impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in U.S. history, and the first in nearly 150 years. However, the Senate’s Democratic majority ultimately voted to end the trial without proceeding to a vote on conviction or acquittal, following repeated delays. The disclosure of the DHS parole program documents has reignited debate over U.S. immigration policy and the handling of migration at the southern border, reflecting persistent tensions on these issues at both the national and international levels.
‘If this is a war between Iran and Israel, why did Hezbollah involve itself in it?’
• ‘True Promise’: An Insider Account Of Iran’s Strikes On Israel (Cradle)
Two hours after the attack on the consulate in Damascus, the Iranian National Security Council convened and affirmed the inevitability of a response and gave a 10-day deadline to take the necessary diplomatic measures and for the armed forces to prepare their plan to respond. Diplomatically, the first step was to go to the Security Council, even though we knew that this would be futile. But it was necessary to file a complaint about the attack on our land, assert our natural right to self-defense, and request a Security Council session. Because we are not members of the Council, we had to talk to member states to request that the session be held. China, Russia, and Algeria agreed. Russia submitted the request, and the session was held, but the US, Germany, Britain, and France did not allow a statement to be issued condemning Israel. The heads of our missions abroad were also active in informing the concerned countries that we would respond to the Zionist entity.
Due to these pressures, Israel denied it had attacked a diplomatic building and that those who were targeted were not diplomats. The consulate building, four of its five floors, were purchased 45 years ago and were designated for diplomatic work. It was indeed a diplomatic building. After we assured the international community of our right to respond, some countries, such as the US, Germany, England, France, Canada, and Egypt, tried to convince us not to do so, and they confirmed their readiness to meet Iran’s requests. For example, some of these countries that were not previously willing to grant entry visas to our diplomats or officials suddenly decided to do so immediately.
When the US realized that we were serious, it sent a threat that if the response was launched from Iranian territory, it might attack Iran. Our response was that the US is not among our targets, but if it decides to involve itself in defense of Israel, we will respond by targeting it as well, and as you know, there are many American bases around us. Despite this, the US, Britain, France, and Germany insisted on the same message, yet our answer was that Israel crossed a red line. Then, they said, if we must respond, let it be from outside Iranian territory. Why did they insist that the strike not be from inside Iran? Because for a long time, they have been assassinating our nuclear scientists and carrying out sabotage operations at the Natanz nuclear reactor.
In the last six months alone, they have assassinated 18 members of our armed forces, and we have always responded through our allies [in the Axis of Resistance], but if we did that this time, we would lose face. If Lebanese Hezbollah had responded to Israel, it could have bombed Beirut, and western powers would have seized upon this to say, ‘If this is a war between Iran and Israel, why did Hezbollah involve itself in it?’ They would also hold it responsible for the subsequent unrest in Lebanon. Therefore, the insistence that the Iranian response should be through Iran’s allies was meant to distort Hezbollah’s reputation and unleash Israel to target it and other resistance forces in the region and to portray them as mercenaries of Iran. We read these western intentions well, and accordingly, the decision was taken to respond from within Iranian territory.
“There are reports that Ukraine has had to pull back it US-supplied M1 Abrams tanks precisely because they make for such an attractive target..”
• Russia Belatedly Adds Zelensky to Criminal ‘Wanted’ List (ZH)
Days ago, for the first time Russian forces mounted a major air attack on the Ukrainian command’s southern headquarters in the port city of Odessa. This suggests Moscow is increasingly targeting Ukraine’s top command and control centers. There’s been another key development late in the week suggesting Russia is escalating in response to more and more weapons and billions pouring into Kiev from the West: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just been added to a Russian government most-wanted list of criminals. It was revealed Saturday that Zelensky’s name is now on the Russian Interior Ministry’s “wanted” list, which is an important online database. The database lists Zelensky as wanted “under an article of the criminal code” but provides no other specifics or details. This designation comes after well over two years of war, so the question is: why now?
It seems the Kremlin is signaling a new escalation which could focus on ‘decapitation strikes’ targeting Ukraine’s top leadership. Or else, is Russia establishing a legal ground for arresting him in some future scenario? While command and intelligence HQ’s have been hit by Russian airpower in the past, strikes have yet to directly target top-ranking civilian and military leadership. But it seems this is about to change. President Putin has for years demonstrated that he is very law-oriented and ‘by the book’ – that is, he must have a legal basis or rationale for acting. So Zelensky now personally being designated as ‘wanted’ perhaps provides the ‘rationale’ in a sense, from the Kremlin’s perspective. The anti-Kremlin independent news outlet Moscow Times suggests this sets the stage for new plots to try and assassinate Zelensky: The Ukrainian President said last year he was aware that at least “five or six” assassination attempts against him had been foiled.
The day after sending troops into Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an address to the nation in which he called on the Ukrainian army to overthrow Zelensky. Russia has placed several foreign politicians and public figures on its wanted list, which has tens of thousands of entries. As for Russia’s unrelenting and recently stepped-up aerial campaign, it has continued to pummel and degrade Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. This appears a tit-for-tat retaliation for Ukraine’s own devastating cross-border attacks on Russian oil depots and refineries. A fresh Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) statement has outlined that “In the past 7 days, the Russian Armed Forces carried out 25 group strikes via precision weapons and drones, hitting Ukrainian energy and transportation infrastructure facilities and Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises.”
“Between April 28 and May 4, in response to the Kiev regime’s attempts to inflict damage to Russian energy and industrial facilities, the Russian Armed Forces carried out 25 group strikes via precision weapons and drones, hitting Ukrainian energy and transportation infrastructure facilities, military-industrial complex enterprises, missile and ammunition storage areas, as well as unmanned speedboats and drone manufacturing workshops,” the ministry said. The MoD has also warned that any “mercenary” positions and also foreign military equipment will be specifically targeted. There are reports that Ukraine has had to pull back it US-supplied M1 Abrams tanks precisely because they make for such an attractive target.
Trump Nancy
HAHAHAHA: Trump and Son: The Nancy Episodes. WATCH pic.twitter.com/XdA9abmgk9
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 4, 2024
Bond
https://twitter.com/i/status/1786614227584901508
CO2
— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) May 4, 2024
Coyote
Coyote found a squeaky toy someone accidentally left outside. Turns out coyote love squeaky toys too. pic.twitter.com/WaR7Iz4D1T
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) May 3, 2024
Beluga
Beluga whales love to play, scare, joke and generally interact with humans. This compilation is a good example.
[📹 aquariumadvicesa]pic.twitter.com/1WS9teMEoT
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 4, 2024
Share
Dogs are the best friends! ❤️pic.twitter.com/lY1NUQfl92
— Figen (@TheFigen_) May 4, 2024
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