It’s now 09:44 and my eyes are moist from laughter. The funniest thing I’ve read this morning is the article appearing in The Financial Times, titled “US has urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries,” in which unnamed American officials are quoted.
Team USA appears to be not on the same page with Z, according to the article. Higher gas prices might hurt Uncle Joe’s re-election campaign? Or — and this is more likely — FT jornos misheard or misunderstood what American officials were mumbling about.
The second most funny thing I read was about Emmanuel the virilist.
Photos of French President Emmanuel Macron hitting a boxing bag have caused amusement, bemusement and consternation in the country.
Posted to Instagram by his official photographer Soazig de la Moissonnière, the black and white images show Macron working out in a tight-fitting dark T-shirt and gloves.
One image shows the president gritting his teeth as his right hand connects with the bag, and in the other he wears a look of intense concentration between punches. - CNN
It’s now 9:05. The sun is bright. My eyes are very dry and feel like they will pop out of my head.
Missiles struck Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Station (DniproHES), the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnipro in Zaporizhia and a bunch of other stuff. Nothing landed in Kyiv.
Network connectivity has dropped off. There were hits in Kharkiv, now without electricity, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Khmelnytsky, Ivano Frankivsk and other regions, where residents are experiencing power outages.
Z’s message to the world (w/ attached video of firemen attempting to extinguish flames at DniproHES):
During last night, there were more than 60 Shahed drones and almost 90 missiles of various types. The world sees the targets of Russian terrorists as clearly as possible: power plants and energy supply lines, a hydroelectric dam, ordinary residential buildings, even a trolleybus. Russia is at war against ordinary people's lives. My condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed by this terror.
In all the cities affected by the attack, the necessary services are already working. Rescuers, power engineers, regional and local authorities, police and utility companies are helping people. No one will be left without help. Electricity supply is being restored. Kharkiv and its region, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipro, Odesa, Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, and Ivano Frankivsk - wherever it is needed, restoration work has been going on since last night.
Russian missiles do not have delays, as do aid packages to our country. Iranian drones have no indecision, like some politicians. It is important to understand the cost of delays and postponed decisions. Patriot systems are needed to protect Kharkiv and Zaporizhia, and we need air defense to protect people, infrastructure, homes and dams. Our partners know exactly what is needed. They can definitely support us. We need these solutions. Life must be protected from these non-humans from Moscow.
(Emphasis my own)
It appears Z is addressing Speaker Mike, who will be remembered by future generations of Ukrainians as the jackass American politician responsible for delaying assistance to their country for no good reason.
What a crappy legacy for a GOP leader who is fond of invoking Ronald Reagan.
Don’t get gaslit: every person pretending to be shocked and outraged at Russia carpet-bombing Ukraine with Iranian drones and North Korean ballistic missiles was, er, already a fascist.
As I’m writing this more than one dozen Russian strategic heavy bombers (Tu-95s) are disgorging themselves of cruise missiles over the Caspian Sea. More than six interceptor aircraft (Mig-31) have taken off are positioning themselves to launch Kizhnal (Dagger) missiles, while packs of Shahed drones, most of them launched from Korea, southern Russia and Russia-occupied areas in southern Ukraine, are buzzing along riverbeds and roads looking for something valuable to blow up.
And, of course, there are the land-based ballistic missiles and Russian tactical bombers dropping free-falling “guided” bombs packed with 500, 1,500 and 2,000-kilograms of TNT.
So, you get the picture.
If people rally behind bloodthirsty rotten leaders you or I find abhorrent (Putin, Lukashenko, Trump, et cetera), it must be because they have been manipulated into doing so — and can be manipulated out of it. But on this question I stand firmly in the or not camp, because many people will, under certain circumstances, support authoritarianism, militarism, even genocide with their eyes wide open, because they like these things.
It’s 05:25 on Friday. I’ll continue this post after the latest barrage of missiles hit, providing we still have electricity.
Well I bought a shirt with the Illinois orange and a dancing Snoopy. For March Madness.
u go, girl!