ozimoron

The IIF expects Russia's economy to shrink 15% this year, wiping out more than a decade of economic development. "Export controls, the 'brain drain' of talent out of the country; a European shift away from Russian energy dependence and an exceptionally unfriendly business climate will all weigh on Russia's growth in the years to come," Ribakova said. source: your link

Mine has been offline since Tuesday in the Pattaya Klang area. I called for the second time today and they said the issue was fixed externally but they had to reset my router remotely which hasn't happened yet.

How do the locals do it?

Rather than just a blame "game" is does look like there is actual blame to be laid. One thing this incident has done is exposed the lie that the solution is more guns. Even Republicans have been forced to break ranks and act. The gun law bill progressing in the U.S. Senate is exposing a wide rift in the Republican Caucus, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was the lead GOP negotiator and brought along Sen. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) along with Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Tillis (R-NC), and Todd Young (R-IN). Some of those Republicans were among the most outspoken Wednesday in publicly opposing the deal and warning of brewing conservative backlash that could wash the deal’s backers out of power." https://www.rawstory.com/gun-law-gop-senate/ Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police Chief Pete Arredondo has been placed on administrative leave amid criticism of the law enforcement response to the worst school shooting in Texas history. https://www.rawstory.com/arredondo/

The investigation into the phony electors scheme by Trump supporters attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election appeared to escalate on Wednesday. FBI agents served a search warrant Wednesday on Nevada’s top GOP official, sources told the 8 News Now I-Team’s George Knapp. Agents seized the cell phone of state Republican chairman Michael McDonald, reportedly as part of an investigation into the fake elector scheme initiated at the end of the 2020 presidential election," KLAS reported. https://www.rawstory.com/phony-electors/

The House select committee will pause its public hearings until next month after receiving significant new evidence related to Donald Trump's effort to overturn his election loss. The panel will hold another hearing Thursday focused on Trump's pressure campaign against the Department of Justice, but select committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told reporters on Wednesday the remaining hearings would be rescheduled for July. https://www.rawstory.com/jan-6-investigation-2657545470/

Nevertheless, I posted a link earlier which appeared to indicate that they would make recommendations if they thought appropriate.

The committee aren't stupid. They didn't just disqualify Jordan because they didn't like him. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-text/index.html

oh, like nobody knew, right? They knew what Jordan had done back in January.

McCarthy knew that Jordan was at least likely to be subpoenaed and had participated in the insurrection. He was clearly not acting in good faith bu nominating Jordan. The original intention was to have an independent committee. Pelosi was justified in refusing his nomination to avoid political theatre. Jordan is notorious for grandstanding as well as being probably guilty of seditious conspiracy.

Jordan is a subject under subpoena. He may possibly face criminal charges and has refused to give evidence. It would be improper, illogical and just plain nonsensical to have him on the committee.

Pelosi isn't on the committee. Nobody is judging anything. It may or may not make recommendations to the DoJ on completion.

It makes absolutely no difference that the coup attempt failed.

Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), one of five Republican members subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is asking the panel to turn over the bulk of the information it has collected on him as he weighs how to respond to the compulsory request for his testimony. The subpoena notes that Jordan was in contact with former President Trump on Jan. 6 and participated in several calls discussing strategy for the day. He was also revealed to be the sender of a text to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows promoting the theory that Vice President Mike Pence could reject the election results — something Jordan later said was a text forwarded by a constituent. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3502047-jordan-demands-docs-from-jan-6-panel-in-face-of-subpoena/

Jordan was subpoenaed to appear before the committee and the Republicans believe he should be on the committee? How ridiculous is that? Ms. Pelosi said she had decided to disqualify Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana because of widespread Democratic dismay about “statements made and actions taken by these members.” Her decision enraged Republican leaders, who announced that they would boycott the investigation altogether. But Democrats insisted that the pair’s support for the election lies that fueled the deadly attack and their subsequent statements downplaying the violence that occurred that day were disqualifying. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/us/politics/jim-banks-jim-jordan.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/nancy-pelosi-rejects-jim-jordan-and-jim-banks-for-house-select-committee-on-jan-6-capitol-invasion.html

One outstanding question is whether the select committee after the hearings will recommend criminal charges against Mr Trump for his role in the events leading up to the riot. While the committee itself cannot charge the former president with any crimes, the US Justice Department has been watching the testimony closely. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-22/capitol-riot-january-six-committee-hearings-trump-calls-revealed/101172434

Lawyers representing MAGA rioter Philip Weisbecker are pleading for leniency for their client on the grounds that he "stood no chance at truly grasping reality" when he stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6th, 2021. In a court filing flagged by CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, Weisbecker's attorneys placed blame on Trump campaign officials who knew that the election had not been stolen from the twice-impeached former president, but nonetheless remained silent as he continued to spread false claims. "When these people failed to correct the narrative, it left a huge informational void that was filled with the likes of conspiracy theorists, online extremists and Trump loyalists willing to manipulate public opinion for their own purposes," the attorneys write. https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-sentence-2657538673/

3 hours, tick, tick, tick. Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they may subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence and are waiting to hear from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her role in the illegal plot to overturn the 2020 election. Lawmakers indicated they will release more evidence about Donald Trump’s alleged effort to defraud supporters by fundraising off false claims of a stolen presidential election. They also pledged to provide pertinent material to the Justice Department by the end of the month for its criminal investigation. https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-us-supreme-court-donald-trump-clarence-thomas-subpoenas-9b2409c95f569ef21acea63b9a3daeb4

This looks a lot like Russia intends to start a major war as Lithuania is a NATO member. Putin must not have much longer to live.

I suspect that the US might intervene unilaterally to break Russia's blockade on Ukrainian ports on the basis that it's a war crime and to prevent millions of people from starving.

The question is whether the Trumpians will just happily jump ship and forget about Trump or will they feel disappointment and betrayal? If DeSantis challenges Trump for the nomination there will be a lot of dirty laundry aired. I suspect that DeSantis will wait to see if Trump implodes before making a move either way. Well, here comes Gov. Ron DeSantis’ close-up. In the last two years, the Florida Republican has seen his profile rise meteorically with the GOP due to his moves on the Covid-19 pandemic and battles over critical race theory, LGBTQ issues, immigration and other conservative flashpoints. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2022/06/21/desantis-national-spotlight-grows-brighter-00040895

When asked by Keilar whether Greitens would pay a political price for such an inflammatory ad, Walsh replied that just the opposite would occur. "This will help him, Brianna, like that Republican candidate up in Michigan who was arrested for participating in January 6th," he said. "Look, America needs to wrap her arms around the fact that the base, the voting base, of one of our two major political parties... is fully radicalized." https://www.rawstory.com/eric-greitens-2657537871/

Agreed. When I had a mango farm my favourite pruning tool was a long handled curved saw with big teeth and a hook at the tip. Make sure the handle is light, preferably aluminium. You could employ local labourers more cheaply than purchasing and maintaining an electric saw.

There's been plenty of posts here about how the Republicans under McCarthy refused to participate after Jordan was excluded as being an accused co-conspirator. There's also been posts here about how Trump himself said that the non-participation was a huge mistake. The committee bears no resemblance to a trial, no jury selection and no presumption of innocence as it's not a trial, just a fact finding committee which is now reporting the facts. This continued rubbish about it being illegitimate because it doesn't contain more Republicans is nothing more than a right wing talking point. Furthermore, as also has been pointed out on numerous occasions, ALL the witnesses have been Republican appointees. The problem for Trump is that the committee is framing its presentation of evidence with a view to prompting the DoJ to lay charges based on that evidence. If it does then things become really interesting.

Your point about not being able to prove Trump knew what he was doing was illegal was clearly premised on there being a trial. We all know that the committee hearings are not a trial and so that point is irrelevant. You are trying to have it both ways here. Juries can also be directed by a Judge to accept or reject certain evidence based on the law. It's not simply a matter of one or more recalcitrant jurists deciding to let Trump off the hook because of their political biases. In the jury selection, any such biases will be uncovered as well and the person disqualified from being seated on the jury.