Moose & Squirrel v Boris & Natasha: what's the deal with the rooskies and trumpland?

[visionary]

 

[China]

On 1/27/2021 at 1:07 AM, China said:

 

PETER STRZOK SUBPOENAS TRUMP’S SOCCER BALL FROM PUTIN

 

On December 11, Peter Strzok served a subpoena on the Trump for President with a deadline of December 30. Trump blew it off. Yesterday, Strzok filed a motion to show cause, arguing that Trump should be held in contempt for blowing off the subpoena and asking for a preservation order.

 

None of that is surprising.

 

What I’m a bit more intrigued by is one paragraph of the subpoena.

 

The subpoena asks for some things closely related to Strzok’s lawsuit, which argues DOJ released his text messages to Lisa Page in violation of his First Amendment rights and the Privacy Act, which in turn led to his termination. For example, it asks for all communications about those texts. It asks for all communications pertaining to Trump’s wish to have Strzok fired. It even asks for all documents,

 

 

If that request is broadly interpreted (and, again, Trump blew off his opportunity to object to the scope of the request), it’ll cover Trump actions right through the last moments of his Administration, when Trump attempted to declassify sensitive documents pertaining to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

 

But the request I’m most interested in asks for all documents “concerning links” between Trump, Putin, Russian oligarchs or banks, as well as any fear that such links might be discovered.

 

 

While I was being somewhat facetious in this post’s headline about the subpoena including the soccer ball Putin gave Trump on July 16, 2018 — the soccer ball is not known to be a document, even as described broadly by the subpoena, though even Lindsey Graham suggested it might be more than a soccer ball — the request could be read to include a number of other things Trump has tried to suppress. Several examples include:

 

- Any documented discussion that ties Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns to Russian funding
- Any notes held by Trump Organization (as opposed to the Office of the President) recording discussions with Putin
- The two gifts Aras Agalarov sent during the campaign, a $100,000 triptych painting and a book, both of which purportedly arrived on the same day as stolen emails were released; the communications around these gifts emphasize Agalarov’s concern with the timing of their delivery and in the second case make policy proposals
- A January 2017 memo from Robert Foresman adapted from one an unnamed oligarch did, laying out Russia’s plans for better relations with Trump; Trump’s White House had tried to claim Executive Privilege over this document in document productions to SSCI
- Emails from Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Prikhodko, inviting Trump to the June 2016 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; there’s no formal record that Trump ever declined the invite and Foresman followed up on the invitation shortly thereafter

 

Strzok could make ample use of earlier documentation of Trump’s efforts to withhold documents from investigators to prove Trump for President is withholding responsive documents.

 

Click on the link for more

 

DOJ seeks to block subpoena for Trump deposition

 

The Justice Department is seeking to block, for now, a subpoena to depose former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by former FBI agent Peter Strzok.

 

The department argues in a court filling Friday that Strzok has not shown that Trump "possesses directly relevant information that cannot be obtained from other sources."

In summer 2017, former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election after an internal investigation first revealed texts with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok had an extramarital relationship, that could be read as exhibiting political bias. The FBI fired Strzok in 2018.

Trump had publicly called for Strzok's firing, and the Justice Department said in its court filing that its stance could change if Strzok can prove that the former President's communications had an effect on the decision to fire him.

The department said in the filing that it wasn't endorsing Trump's conduct.

"Neither the disposition of this motion nor the disposition of this case requires the Court to opine on the appropriateness of the former President's conduct," the department said.
"In similar fashion, this memorandum should not be construed as a defense of that conduct."

[China]

Defend Chernobyl During an Invasion? Why Bother, Some Ukrainians Ask.

 

Ukrainian soldiers, Kalashnikov rifles slung over their shoulders, patrolled through a silent, snowy forest, passing homes so long abandoned that vines twirl through the broken windows.

 

The fields are fallow, the cities deserted and the entire Chernobyl zone in northern Ukraine is still so radioactive it would seem the last place on Earth anybody would want to conquer.

 

But while most of the attention around a potential invasion by Russia is focused on troop buildups and daily hostilities in the east, the shortest route from Russia to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, is from the north. And it passes through the isolated zone around the Chernobyl power plant, where the meltdown of a reactor in 1986 caused the worst nuclear disaster in history.

 

In one of the incongruities of war, that makes Chernobyl an area that Ukraine thinks it needs to defend, forcing its military to deploy security forces into the eerie and still radioactive forest, where they carry both weapons and equipment to detect radiation exposure.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TheGreatBuzz]

8 hours ago, visionary said:

 

YOU’RE BACK!!!   Missed you!

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

 

[Ball Security]

 

 

[Dan T.]

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Russia’s GDP is roughly equal to Ohio and Virginia’s combined GDP, and the second they cross the border that drops by 25%…at least.

 

Come get some scrubs.  NATO will proxy war your ass back to 1978.  There will be scurvy outbreaks in Moscow.

Edited January 24, 2022 by TryTheBeal!

[gbear]

How close are we to a shooting war? Will these proposed sanctions on Russia push them to the point they feel they have to attack? I am thinking of the excuses Germany used to justify WW II after the economic penalties they suffered from WW I.

Edited January 24, 2022 by gbear

[China]

US places up to 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe amid Russia tensions

 

s many as 8,500 US troops have been put on heightened alert for a possible deployment to Eastern Europe as Russian troops mass on Ukraine's border, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

 

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued the prepare to deploy orders at the direction of President Joe Biden, the latest step the US has taken to prepare for a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine that officials have warned could be imminent.

 

Kirby said that the "bulk of" US troops placed on heightened alert were intended to bolster NATO's quick response force, but added they would be "postured to be ready for any other contingencies as well."

 

As of Monday afternoon, no final decision to deploy the troops had been made, Kirby emphasized.

 

"The United States has taken steps to heighten the readiness of its forces at home and abroad, so they are prepared to respond to a range of contingencies, including support to the NATO response force if it is activated," Kirby said. He noted the NATO Response Force "comprises around 40,000 multinational troops."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Russia to conduct missile tests in Irish-patrolled waters 240km off south-west coast

 

RUSSIAN BOMBERS and naval ships are set to test missiles off the coast of Ireland.

 

The Journal has learned that the Irish Government has received a warning of a major exercise by the Russian navy and air force in the Atlantic off the South West coast. 

 

The missile test, or range practice as it is known in military terms, will take place in international waters off the coast of County Cork in the first week of February.

 

The missiles are expected to be launched by ships and from aircraft although exact details are not known. 

 

The Irish Aviation Authority has confirmed that it is to re-route commercial flights and issue a warning.

 

The area concerned is a relatively small area of water but sources have confirmed that it is within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone – which is patrolled by Irish Naval ships and Air Corps Casa aircraft. It is located approximately 240 kilometres off the Irish coast. 

 

The latest development comes as the Russian Government announced that it will carry out exercises with all its naval fleets across the world. 

 

The manoeuvres will take place off the coast of Russia and also in the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific.

 

International tensions between Russia and Western Bloc countries are at a peak as fears grow of a Russian invasion of Ukraine which is linked to the potential expansion of NATO.

 

“The concern from a military perspective is that an exercise is a very easy way to assemble large amounts of military assets into an area under false pretences and be a precursor to other activities. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[CousinsCowgirl84]

Putin reeks of desperation. Though I would submit that the announcement of tests in Irish waters means they probably won’t attack Ukraine until at least after they take place, because it would be a distraction.
 

Ukraine would loos of course, but it won’t be a cake walk and it Russia wants to take the capital it will take a lot of focus and resource, it’s not like bombing Syria.

 

So nothing happening till atleast the middle of feb, which doesn’t give them to much time if the stories about march mud is to be believed…

Edited January 24, 2022 by CousinsCowgirl84

[China]

“Death Star” response from US would lock Russia out of 5G, advanced chips

 

The US is considering restricting the flow of semiconductors into Russia to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. The move would prevent the Russian military and much of the nation’s economy from advancing technologically.

 

The details of the sanctions are still being decided, but they would rely on similar restrictions that kneecapped Huawei, the Chinese tech company. Though most semiconductors are made overseas, US companies control huge swaths of the larger market, from chip design and manufacturing equipment to process and quality control. By restricting access to those companies' products and services, the US can effectively limit Russian access to the latest chips, even if they’re made in other countries.

 

“It’s one of the tools that the US has come to prefer because it’s painful, but it doesn’t involve the use of force,” James Andrew Lewis, senior vice president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Ars. “It sort of freezes Russia at a technological moment.”

 

Though most of the restrictions will likely focus on companies that supply Russia’s military, either directly or indirectly, one place where consumers could feel the pinch is mobile phone service. If implemented, the restrictions would “box the Russians out of the 5G market,” Lewis said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[China]

Ukrainian leaders: Stay calm, Russian invasion not imminent

 

[China]

 

[LadySkinsFan]

4 hours ago, China said:

 

 

Russia isn't the only supplier of natural gas. 

[gbear]

It isn't the only supplier.  It is simply the cheapest, closest supplier for much of Europe.  When we talk about energy/gas, we need to remember all of these are traded commodities. The question I have is are we willing to pay more to stop Russia?  I am, but I question whether most of America is given the perception of Russia amongst one of our two parties.  Now imagine if the financial pain was multiplied by a factor of 10 as it may be in Europe despite our efforts to get them enough natural gas.  Then there is Germany that actually has a pipeline to Russia (even easier supply for them) that they would have to turn off all with a brand new leader.  I am unsure the political will exists to do what NATO was made to do.

[RansomthePasserby]

On 1/24/2022 at 5:19 PM, gbear said:

How close are we to a shooting war? Will these proposed sanctions on Russia push them to the point they feel they have to attack? I am thinking of the excuses Germany used to justify WW II after the economic penalties they suffered from WW I.

Totally different situations. Germany’s war reparation payments were in progress and there was no way out, the way out for Germany was to stop paying and a start a war.  Russia’s penalties happen if they attack, the way out for Russia is to not attack. 

Edited January 26, 2022 by RansomthePasserby

[CousinsCowgirl84]

3 hours ago, RansomthePasserby said:

Totally different situations. Germany’s war reparation payments were in progress and there was no way out, the way out for Germany was to stop paying and a start a war.  Russia’s penalties happen if they attack, the way out for Russia is to not attack. 

I think he is talking about once the penalties are enacted. Like after ww1.

[Dan T.]

I'm hoping for maximum penalties against Russia and also against calculating snake Vladimir Putin personally at the slightest incursion into Ukraine.  I suspect Putin figures the timing is right because his assessment is that his previous meddling and misinformation has so divided the U.S. that Biden won't have the support for a strong response. (Just look at recent broadcasts by fascist traitor Tucker Carlson. I'm sure they put a rosy glow on Putin's weaselly face.)  Putin is overdue for a foot on the neck.  He's been ****ing with us long enough.  Make him feel some real pain.  **** him.

[Dan T.]

This quote is encouraging:

 

In a background call with reporters on Tuesday, senior White House officials vowed that, should Russia advance into Ukraine, “the gradualism of the past is out, and this time we’ll start at the top of the escalation ladder and stay there.”  Indeed, the prospect of severe sanctions has already been felt in the “deepening sell-off in Russian markets, its borrowing costs, the value of its currency [and the] market-implied default risk.”

 

Good.

 

Opinion | The West may not be able to deter Putin. But at least he knows the consequences will be devastating. - The Washington Post

Edited January 26, 2022 by Dan T.

[Larry]

You're assuming that he gives a crap what happens to his country.  

[Dan T.]

28 minutes ago, Larry said:

You're assuming that he gives a crap what happens to his country.  

 

I'm assuming that the additional sanctions targeted toward him personally will have an effect. 

 

And I do think that Putin deeply resents the breakup of the Soviet Union, sees it as a humiliation, and that his incursions are steps toward rectifying the stolen glory of the Motherland.

[RansomthePasserby]

4 hours ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

I think he is talking about once the penalties are enacted. Like after ww1.

But at that point Russia has already attacked and it’s a shooting war. So asking if the sanctions will push them to attack when they’re already attacking doesn’t make sense.