October 21, 2023

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

5. Armenian President Ratifies Country's ICC Membership Despite Russian Warnings

President Vahagn Khachaturian has signed into law a decision by the Armenian parliament to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), putting the Caucasus nation in the jurisdiction of the Hague-based institution despite warnings from its longtime ally Russia.

snip

"On October 13, the President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturian signed a statement on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court signed on July 17, 1998 and on the adoption of a statement 'On the retroactive recognition of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court by the Republic of Armenia' based on Article 12, Part 3 of the Statute," the statement said.

On October 3, 60 Armenian lawmakers, mostly representing the ruling Civil Contract party, voted for the ratification of the treaty while 22 lawmakers voted against.

The Kremlin, which last month warned that Armenia’s move would worsen a growing rift with Moscow, called the parliament's ratification an “extremely hostile” move toward Russia and "an incorrect decision."

https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-international-criminal-court-president-signs-russia-khachaturian/32637368.html


4. Bulgaria Defends Decision To Impose Tax On Russian Gas Transit As Hungary, Serbia Vow To Respond

Bulgaria's government has defended its decision to impose a new tax on Russian gas transiting through the country as Hungary and Serbia -- which rely on supplies from Moscow -- vowed to respond to the move, which they called a “hostile” step.

Bulgaria imposed a tax on Russian gas transit in the amount of 20 leva ($10.80) per megawatt-hour last week, prompting reactions in Budapest and Belgrade, which receive Russian gas through Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on October 18 defended the move, saying that “there is a good chance that this [tax] would create real competition” on the gas market “from which the whole of Europe would benefit.”

“We protect Bulgarian interests. These are revenues that can enter the state budget,” Denkov added.

https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-defends-tax-russian-gas-hungary-serbia/32643100.html


3. Italy ordered to compensate 3 migrants for ‘inhumane and degrading treatment’

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Italy to compensate three Tunisian migrants for the “inhuman and degrading” treatment they were given when they stayed on the island of Lampedusa between 2017 and 2019.

The three arrived in Italy illegally and were then brought to a reception centre in Lampedusa. They stayed there for several weeks, during which the ECHR ruled they were “subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment”.

The ruling mentioned that there were only two toilets for 40 people, and some people were forced to sleep on mattresses outside because there was not enough space for everyone inside the centre.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/20/italy-ordered-to-compensate-3-migrants-for-inhumane-and-degrading-treatment


2. Chechnya Forms Male-Dominated Group To Advance Women's 'Interests.' Critics Say It's Just For Show.

The government of Kremlin-backed Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who has said women should "know their place," has set up an official council to advocate for women's concerns. The initial appointees were seven men and one woman: Kadyrov's daughter, Deputy Prime Minister Aishat Kadyrova.

Chechen human rights activists say it's not a step toward greater gender equality in the North Caucasus region, long accused of trampling on the rights of women and minorities including the LGBT community. Instead, they assert, it's only for show.

The council was formed on October 1 to implement Russia's 2023-2030 National Strategy of Actions in Women's Interest, which, according to the state news agency TASS, aims to bolster women's health and social welfare and expand their role in the country's "socioeconomic development" and public affairs.

With little or no publicity, how the Chechen council plans to go about meeting that mission is unclear.

https://www.rferl.org/a/chechnya-womens-rights-interests-show/32647885.html

1. New video shows Greek Coast Guard pushing back migrants in the Aegean Sea

A video shared by a Norwegian nonprofit shows new evidence of the Greek Coast Guard pushing migrants back in the Aegean Sea toward Turkish waters on the morning of 6 October.

According to the group, Aegean Boat Report (ABR), a boat carrying 47 Afghans was sailing outside the island of Lesvos when the Greek Coast Guard stopped.

“The people in the small rubber boat tried the best they could to avoid being stopped, but a rubber boat was no match for a Greek coastal patrol vessel, and the Lambro 57, ID marking ??-602, stationed on Lesvos, eventually stopped the boat,” the group wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

snip

The group then reports that all 47 migrants were taken aboard the Greek Coast Guard vessel and transported back close to Turkish waters, where they were “forced into two life rafts and left helplessly drifting, in direct violation of international laws and human rights.”

https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/16/new-video-shows-greek-coast-guard-pushing-back-migrants-in-the-aegean-sea

October 18, 2023

Would a BRICS Common Currency Work?

A really good presentation.
Why BRICs likely will not work at supplanting the US Dollar partially because of China's tight controls over its markets

October 18, 2023

The True Story of how The Art of the Deal was written

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October 18, 2023

This is the description of an actual novel: Justice for Mary Beth

Mary Beth Halloran, real estate developer and Trump volunteer, is on the verge of making her dreams come true: a meeting with President Trump and, crossed fingers, a career with the Trump organization. The meeting and the job are hers if she can just snag the last voter on her list and get him to answer four little questions. Alone in his mountain lair, Justice K. Journey has no patience for the trespassing female who pesters him about his land and his politics. He won't answer her questions and, most of all, Journey Hollow isn't for sale. His great-grandaddy, Justice, swung from a rope trying to defend the Journey land from interlopers. Justice won't give up his heritage, or the rights to the water that gushes from the spring above his house.

*********************

The whole premise doesn't make any sense.
If he answers her questions she could get a job with the Trump Organization? Why?
He won't answer her questions because he isn't for sale? Huh?

****************************

Description of author

Liberty Adams lives in the wide, open spaces west of the Rockies. She writes wholesome, lighthearted romance about patriots who love America, love our president, and, best of all, fall in love at the end of each story. Liberty is the pen name of an author who wears the hats of mom, wife, and community volunteer. She proudly owns and wears several assorted MAGA hats of her own.

October 14, 2023

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

5. The EU's Chief Rabble-Rouser, Viktor Orban, Is Now Georgia's Strongest Ally

As a critical decision on Georgia's EU candidacy looms, the country's No. 1 European ally visited Tbilisi in a show of last-minute support.

What's unclear is whether the support of that ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is going to help bolster Georgia's EU chances or sabotage them.

The Hungarian leader's two-day visit to Georgia on October 11 and 12 was the latest step in the rapidly developing partnership between the two countries, and in particular between Orban and his Georgian counterpart, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

The two have bonded as Garibashvili and the ruling Georgian Dream party have taken a sharp turn toward social conservatism in recent years, promoting an identity for Georgia that Orban had already championed for Hungary: a Europeanness that foregrounds not liberalism and democracy but Christianity and "traditional values."

https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-chief-rabblerouser-orban-georgia-ally/32636529.html


4. Lithuanian police respond to hundreds of 'co-ordinated' bomb threats against schools

Police in Lithuania say the country's schools have been inundated with bomb threats since Friday morning, following a pattern of similar incidents in neighbouring countries.

Lithuania’s police chief, Renatas Pozela, said “the coordinated mass attack” that began late on Thursday involved hundreds of emails that were sent from a server within the European Union. The majority of messages were in Russian and some had a political content, Pozela said.

In Estonia, a wave of threatening spam emails started late Wednesday. As a result, most schools in Tartu, the country’s second-largest city, were closed on Thursday.

https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/13/lithuanian-police-respond-to-hundreds-of-co-ordinated-bomb-threats-against-schools


3. Poland election race too close to call as voters prepare to go to polls

Poland is gearing up for a parliamentary election on Sunday, the result of which is likely to have a major impact on the country’s direction, and polls suggest the race is too close to call.

The incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) government is seeking a third consecutive term in office, fighting a challenge from the main opposition coalition led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk.

In a vicious and largely negative campaign, PiS has portrayed Tusk’s coalition as traitors to Poland, while Tusk has said the vote is the last chance to save democracy in Poland after eight years of PiS rolling back democratic freedoms.

Tusk has promised to relax strict anti-abortion laws and improve rights for LGBTQ+ people, and has also promised to restore relations with Brussels, which have been damaged over concerns that the PiS government has undermined the rule of law in Poland.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/14/poland-election-race-too-close-to-call-as-voters-prepare-to-go-to-polls


2. Hungary Must Reform Judiciary, Protect Rights To Unblock European Funding, Senior EU Official Says

The European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, Vera Jourova, says Hungary must meet conditions on reforming its judiciary and ensuring the protection of fundamental rights to unblock EU funding.

Speaking to RFE/RL at its headquarters in Prague on October 13, Jourova said that the government in Budapest is now working on the reforms and taking measures to convince the European Commission “that they corrected things which we wanted them to correct.”

In December 2022, the commission said it would hold back 22 billion euros ($23 billion) of EU funds earmarked for Hungary for the period 2021-2027 until Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government meets conditions related to judicial independence, academic freedoms, LGBTQI rights and the asylum system.

The money was frozen under a recently adopted conditionality mechanism that permits the bloc to take measures to protect its budget.

https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-reform-judiciary-rights-jourova-eu-funding/32636188.html


1. Amid Talk Of Ukraine Fatigue, Zelenskiy Seemingly Snubbed By Romanian Parliament

snip

So, while his launch of a "strategic partnership" alongside Romanian President Klaus Iohannis this week was good news for Kyiv, it might have been overshadowed by what didn't happen in Bucharest.

Faced with threats from nationalist, pro-Russian lawmakers of something "bad" happening if they "caught" Zelenskiy in the Romanian Parliament, official plans were abandoned for the Ukrainian head of state to give a speech to lawmakers.

Iohannis and other Romanian officials were tight-lipped about the climbdown, except to cite time constraints and a "busy" schedule.

At a press conference at the presidential residence, Zelenskiy -- a popular TV comic before becoming a wartime president -- joked diplomatically that while "you understand that I don't have a problem with speeches, in any country…I haven't prepared any speech, with all due respect."

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fatigue-zelenskiy-snubbed-by-romania-/32634822.html

October 4, 2023

Definition of Irony?

An example of irony?

Trump ran for the presidency (not expecting to win) to enhance his "Brand" and become richer and more powerful
Now he is looking at multiple charges, his crooked finances in New York have been exposed
He could find himself nearly broke, and in jail (though as a former president jail seems unlikely)

October 4, 2023

It was an especially bad day for former Trump Solicitor General Noel Francisco at Scotus

Francisco is representing a group of payday loan companies subjected to CFPB regulation and challenging its existence, who argued the agency's structure is illegal and must be struck down.

The day went so badly for him, that he frustrated Barrett, Kavanaugh, and Thomas.
Thomas apparently was so frustrated with Francisco that he finally asked Francisco to complete a sentence for him: “Funding of the CFPB violates the Appropriations Clause because ...”
And he couldn't answer it.

Not surprisingly Alito seemed to be in the payday loans corner
Wouldn't surprise me if Gorsuch shares Alito's position

September 16, 2023

Some things you may or may not have known about the 1st episode of SNL

1 Th first episode was Oct. 11, 1975 (I was 11)

2. George Carlin was the star

3. The show was titled "NBC's Saturday Night" not "Saturday Night Live"

4. Janis Ian and Billy Preston both played music (neither was called a musical guest)

5. The Muppets were on the show

6. There were 9 Not Yet Ready for Prime Time Players and they were not mentioned individually by name with pic. Their names were just shown all together in the opening credits (Michael O' Donoghue and George Coe were in the cast)

7. Valri Bromfield (who toured with Dan Ackroyd) and Andy Kaufman appeared. Bromfield got screwed over by Lorne Michaels. Right as she was about to go out he told her she had 2 mins instead of 6. Her performance was not good

8. George Carlin entered from the upstairs balcony and his first routine was "Football vs Baseball"

9. First song, Billy Preston singing "Nothing from Nothing"

10. Andy Kaufman did his Mighty Mouse routine

11. Janis Ian performed performed "Seventeen"

12. There was one REALLY cringey skit about aoc


** I have Peacock Network and they're showing SNL episodes

September 16, 2023

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

5. Armenia Kicks Off Joint Military Exercises With U.S. Despite Russian Opposition

Armenia and the United States have begun joint military exercises that have angered Moscow and come as tensions rise between Yerevan and neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement the Eagle Partner 2023 exercises began on September 11 with the purpose of preparing Armenian forces to take part in international peacekeeping missions.

Colonel Martin O'Donnell, spokesman for the U.S. command, said the exercises are "a vital opportunity for our soldiers from our two nations to build new relationships at the tactical level and to increase interoperability for peacekeeping operations."

The drills are being held at the Zar and Armavir Training Areas near Yerevan and will end on September 20. The U.S military said 85 U.S. soldiers and 175 Armenians would take part. The Americans -- including members of the Kansas National Guard, which has a 20-year-old training partnership with Armenia -- will not be using heavy weaponry, it added.

https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-military-exercises-us-russian-opposition/32587572.html


4. Belarus's Tsikhanouskaya To Meet With U.S., Other Officials In New York During UN General Assembly

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has said she will be in New York this week for high-level meetings with officials from the United States and other countries as delegations converge for the UN General Assembly. Her chief adviser, Franak Viachorka, was later quoted as saying Tsikhanouskaya would be in the United States September 17-23. She will reportedly also meet with members of the Belarusian diaspora. Tsikhanouskaya, who was driven abroad by the brutal crackdown after Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed a sixth presidential term after a flawed election in 2020, warned last month that Belarusian independence is under its "greatest threat" ever because of Lukashenka.

https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-tsikhanouskaya-us-new-york-united-nations/32595563.html


3. Murdoch executives ‘told Sunak not to resign after Partygate fine’

Rishi Sunak was persuaded not to quit as chancellor over his fine for breaking lockdown laws after an intervention by executives working for media mogul Rupert Murdoch, it has been claimed.

The claim is detailed in a book by the Telegraph’s political editor, Ben Riley-Smith, and published by the newspaper’s website on Friday.

It is the latest report to suggest that Sunak was on the verge of resigning after he and Boris Johnson were fined in April 2022 for attending the then prime minister’s birthday celebration in Downing Street in June 2020.

According to the paper, Sunak shared a draft resignation statement with allies, including some who worked for Murdoch such as former Tory leader and Times columnist Lord Hague.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/15/murdoch-executives-told-sunak-not-to-resign-after-partygate-fine

2. The high-speed railway that’s uncoupling the Baltic states from Russia and their Soviet past

Rail Baltica is connecting the Baltics to Europe’s rail network, another sign of how the Baltics have swung away from Russia to the West.

The largest infrastructure project in the Baltic region for a hundred years is under way. The 870 km Rail Baltica project, which is due for completion in 2030, will connect the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with Warsaw and the rest of Europe, allowing trains from the continent to run uninterrupted.

snip

For the EU, it’s a statement about the Baltic states’ return to Europe and their decoupling from their Soviet past.

snip

The railway will begin in Tallinn before passing through Pärnu, Rīga, Panevėžys, and Kaunas before reaching the Lithuanian-Polish border; there will also be a connection to Vilnius from Kaunas.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/09/16/the-high-speed-railway-thats-uncoupling-the-baltic-states-from-russia-and-their-soviet-pas


1. EU lifts bans on Ukrainian grain but Poland and Hungary move to impose unilateral restrictions

The European Commission has lifted the temporary bans on Ukrainian grain after Kyiv agreed to tighten control over its agricultural exports.

But the measure failed to satisfy Poland and Hungary, which swiftly announced they would impose their own nationwide prohibitions on a unilateral basis, the very chaotic scenario that Brussels wanted to avoid at all costs.

"We will extend this ban despite their disagreement, despite the European Commission's disagreement," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a rally on Friday. "We will do it because it is in the interest of the Polish farmer."

Shortly after, Waldemar Buda, Poland's minister of economic development, said he had signed a new "national regulation" to keep the trade embargo in place.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/09/15/brussels-lifts-bans-on-ukrainian-grain-as-kyiv-agrees-to-impose-effective-measures-to-avoi

September 12, 2023

For MTG and her states should secede