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Friday, September 23, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Ukraine War Comes Home to Russians


A day after President Vladimir V. Putin announced a call-up that could sweep 300,000 civilians into military service, thousands of Russians across the country received draft papers on Thursday and some were being marched to buses and planes for training — and perhaps soon a trip to the front lines in Ukraine.  Putin’s escalation of the war effort was reverberating across the country, according to interviews, Russian news reports and social media posts. As the day wore on, it became increasingly clear that Mr. Putin’s decision had torn open the cocoon shielding much of Russian society from their leader’s invasion of a neighbor.

The Ny Times reports mothers, wives and children were saying tearful goodbyes in remote regions as officials — in some cases, ordinary schoolteachers — delivered draft notices to houses and apartment blocks. In mountainous eastern Siberia, the Russian news media reported, school buses were being commandeered to move troops to training grounds.

➤TRAFFIC PILES UP AT RUSSIAN BORDERS: Social media videos from Russia’s borders with several other countries show long lines of traffic as draft-age men seek to flee the country to avoid President Vladimir Putin’s “partial mobilization” of 200,000 military reservists. Flights to countries that do not require Russians to have visas are selling out.

➤JUDGE BLOCKS NEW INDIANA ABORTION LAW: A judge has blocked enforcement of a new Indiana law that bans abortion with few exceptions. The law took effect on September 15th. The ruling allows Indiana abortion providers to proceed with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Daily Mail 9/23/22



➤ABRAMS CLAIMS EARLY FETAL HEARTBEATS ARE 'MANUFACTUREED SOUND': Stacey Abrams has sparked outrage across social media after she claimed that fetal heartbeats are a 'manufactured sound,' and Planned Parenthood are also under fire for changing language on their website to mirror Abrams' comments. Planned Parenthood were caught altering their website to back up Abrams' statement, changing the words that a fetus has 'a very basic beating heart' at six weeks to 'a part of the embryo starts to show cardiac activity.' Pro-life advocates took to Twitter to criticize the Georgia Democrat's comments as she claimed fetal heartbeats at six weeks are manufactured to allow men to 'take control of a woman's' body. 'Stacey Abrams is 2502.857 weeks old, and I still can't detect a heartbeat in her either,' wrote conservative commentator Lavern Spicer. Abrams appeared to be talking about the technical definition of the heartbeat, which is electrical activity caught on a vaginal ultrasound and then used to mimic a heartbeat.


➤HURRICANE FIONA COULD BE WORST EVER FOR CANADA: Hurricane Fiona may turn out to be the strongest storm ever to hit Nova Scotia and the Canadian coast. Now a Category 3 storm, Fiona shows no sign of weakening on its way to Canada. It is due to strike there on Saturday.  Along the eastern coast of the U.S., high surf advisories have been posted from Georgia to Massachusetts.

➤SPECIAL MASTER TELLS TRUMP TO PROVE FBI PLANTED EVIDENCE: Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that FBI agents might have planted any top-secret material they found at his Mar-a-Lago home during their search. Now, the special master in charge of reviewing the documents wants to see some proof of that. Judge Raymond Dearie, who was chosen by Trump’s lawyers, gave them until next Friday to produce evidence to back the claim.


➤TRUMP DELIVERED ESSAGE TO TALIBAN: Former President Trump blasted President Biden's handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal in a sit-down interview with Fox News this week as he told told Sean Hannity a story of why the Taliban feared him too much to take over the nation. 'Under my conversations with Abdul, who's the leader of the Taliban, for 18 months, we didn't lose one soldier,' Trump said, referring to Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder and senior member of the Taliban. Trump then told Hannity he threatened to 'obliterate' Abdul if he did not follow his orders. 'Didn't you at one point tell him, "I know exactly where you are," and give him the exact coordinates where he was?" Hannity asked. 'No,' Trump replied. 'I sent him a picture of his house.'


➤CAPITOL RIOTER GETS 4 YEARS IN PRISON: A former Army reservist with white supremacist views has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the January 6th, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli failed to convince a jury that he did not know that Congress met at the Capitol when he joined the assault.

⛄WHY YOUR HEATING BILL MAY GO UP THIS WINTER: A big jump in the price of natural gas will cause home heating bills to increase an average 17.2 percent this winter. That’s the largest increase in 10 years, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Natural gas prices soared this summer in part because the extreme heat caused people to crank up their air conditioners. At the same time, production was lower due to a slow comeback from COVID plant shutdowns.

💰HOW MISSISSIPPI BLEW MONEY MEANT FOR THE POOR: The executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services under former Governor Phil Bryant pleaded guilty to federal and state charges of embezzling federal welfare funds yesterday. John Davis was at the center of a scheme to misuse millions of dollars meant to help the state’s poor families. The money instead went to fictitious services, no-show jobs, first-class travel, and a stay in a Malibu rehab center for the son of retired wrestler Ted DiBiase. Most famously, retired Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre was paid $1.1 million for speeches he never gave. A lawsuit has been filed against 38 individuals and organizations seeking repayment of more than $24 million. Six others have been charged with misusing public funds so far.

🪐IMAGES OF JUPITER WOW EARTHLINGS: The planet Jupiter is putting on a spectacular show for professional and amateur astronomers. The planet is making its closest approach to Earth at the same time as it is moving in opposition to the sun, meaning that Jupiter and the sun are on opposite sides of Earth. That last happened in 1963. The phenomenal closeup of the planet will reach its peak next Monday night but is already visible through a telescope or binoculars.


🏀CELTICS COACH IME UDOKA SUSPENDED FOR SEASON: The Boston Celtics last night announced it had suspended second-year head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-2023 NBA season for violations of the team’s code of conduct. A day before, The Athletic website reported that Udoka had “an improper intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team staff.” Assistant coach Joe Mazzulla was named interim head coach of the Celtics, ESPN reported. Udoka’s long-term future with the team has not been determined.

🎾FEDERER AND NADAL, TOGETHER AT THE FINALE: Roger Federer will pair up with his tennis archrival Rafael Nadal today (Friday) in what is expected to be the last match of Federer’s career, the Laver Cup in London. Federer and Nadal will be Team Europe against American players Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock, representing Team World. The Federer-Nadal rivalry is friendly. At a press conference, Nadal said: “One of the most important players, if not the most important player in my tennis career is leaving. This moment is going to be difficult.”

🏀BOGDANOVICH IS MOVING TO DETROIT: The Utah Jazz are trading Bojan Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee, NBC Sports Boston reports. Bogdanovic was Utah’s second-best scorer last season at 18.1 points per game.

🏈RAVENS SIGN JEAN-PIERRE PAUL: The Baltimore Ravens have signed veteran player Jason Pierre-Paul for one year at $5.5 million, according to NFL Network. Pierre-Paul has been in the NFL for 12 season and went to the Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2012.

🏈KAWHI LEONARD CLEARED FOR RAVENS TRAINING: Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers has been cleared to fully participate in training camp starting next week. He has hopefully made a complete recovery from his 2021 knee injury. He was unable to play all last season. He had averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game before being injured in the second round of the playoffs in 2021.

⚾BRENDAN DONOVAN HITS A GRAND SLAM: Brendan Donovan hit a grand slam in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres. For the St. Louis Cardinals, it meant a 5-4 victory against the Padres. For Donovan, it’s a little closer to the 700 career homers club. His tally is now 698 career homers.


🏈NFL SCORE – THURSDAY NIGHT: Cleveland Browns 29, Pittsburgh Steelers 17


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