Today's Liberal News

Mark Sumner

Ukraine update: The most important vehicle on the battlefield isn’t a tank

In a sea of tanks, armored personal carriers (APC), infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), armored fighting vehicles (AFV), Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles, it can be easy to overlook the vehicles that are most often responsible for getting soldiers where they need to be on the battlefield—Infantry Mobility Vehicles. Also known as Jeeps.

Well, not actually Jeeps.

Ukraine update: Balancing desperate needs and uncomfortable reality

Over the course of the now more than two-month-long invasion of Ukraine, kos has written several times about the difficulty of integrating unfamiliar weapons systems into an army—especially when that army is already engaged in a life-or-death struggle. Every single one of these systems comes with its own training requirements, not just for the person whose finger is on the trigger, but for all the mechanics, electricians, and support crews needed to keep it operating in the field.

Ukraine update: Russia is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome

At Friday afternoon’s Pentagon briefing, Defense Department officials reported that Russia was:

Continuing to bring in additional forces to the Donbas region, including some of those who fought in the losing Battle of Kyiv.
Continuing the kind of probing attacks along the eastern defensive lines they’ve employed since the beginning of the invasion.

Ukraine update: All unquiet on the eastern front

Two days into what Ukrainian officials have officially labeled “the Battle of Donbas,” there are reports everywhere … though what they mean is difficult to interpret.

Good

Near Izyum, where Russian forces have been gathering over the last two weeks, and which was expected to be the northern end of a north-south pincer movement, Ukrainian forces have reportedly advanced from the west, retaking some of the small villages on the outskirts of the city.

Ukraine update: Goodbye to Moscow

No matter what “tankie” Twitter has to say, the U.S. Department of Defense has now confirmed that the Russian missile cruiser Moskva (“Moscow”) sank after being struck by Neptune missiles fired by Ukrainian coastal defense. Honestly, the U.S.

Ukraine update: Russian media claims the EU is about to splinter, with Russia regaining East Germany

News out of Mariupol suggests that many of the remaining Ukrainian fighters are restricted to the Azovstal metal refinery on the southeast of the city. That may make it seem that Russia has these Ukrainian forces backed into a single building, which they can simply level with the next round of artillery.

But that plant is actually an enormous expanse of connected refineries, factories, offices, and shipping facilities.

Ukraine update: Blowing up the bridge at Borova

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government circulated images of a destroyed bridge somewhere in the Donbas region—a bridge that had been taken down by Ukrainian special forces. Not only was the bridge itself destroyed, it was taken down as a Russian convoy was passing over, destroying four large trucks and a Tigr-M (sort of the Russian equivalent of a Humvee).

Ukraine update: U.S. sending another $800M package that includes heavy weapons

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden released a statement on his latest conversation with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. In the call, Biden not only revealed that he was sending an additional $800 million in “weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance” to Ukraine, he provided some exciting details of just what would be heading down the high-speed pipeline between the U.S. and Kyiv.

Ukraine update: Russia has issues with logistics and command, but there’s one more factor

We seem to be having Russian History Month. There has been the head of the Russian orthodox church reaching back 900 years to claim that neither Ukraine nor the Ukrainian church is “real.” Vladimir Putin has insisted that Ukraine is not a country because it “illegally left” the USSR. And on Tuesday, Russian diplomats insisted that Japan pay them back for gold supposedly stolen in 1920.

Ukraine update: Lies, damn lies, and … WTF is that?

When it comes to news out of Ukraine, what the West hears about the progress of the war and what they hear in Ukraine is pretty similar. Or at least it is in places not actively engaged in conflict—people there have more immediate concerns.

In the U.S., the subset of information that we get through most media outlets is shorn of a lot of the detail on troop movements, small actions, and the triumphs—or loss—of individual soldiers.

Ukraine update: Meanwhile, in Kherson …

Since Russia collected what was left of their forces in northern Ukraine and made a run for the Belarus border, almost all of the attention has focused on the Donbas region. Which isn’t surprising, since Russia already announced that it was going to redirect its attention there.

The absolutely best outcome for Russia at this point would seem to be capturing more territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and completing the capture of Mariupol.

Ukraine update: The U.S. military isn’t in Ukraine, but there’s U.S. in the Ukraine military

Shortly after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began, the Ukrainian military itself began to change. In part, that’s because Ukraine called up hundreds of thousands of people who were in the reserves or part of the territorial defense forces—something like our National Guard. Ukrainians also began to volunteer for service in large numbers, including Ukrainian women.

A tornado has struck New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward, leaving a path of devastation

A large wedge tornado, likely a class 4 or 5 storm, cut a path through New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward on Tuesday evening. It was part of a line of storms that cut across the South. The tornado in the Lower Ninth was just one of several tornadoes in the New Orleans area.

Details are still coming in.

@MargaretOrr here is a video of the tornado my husband matthew burke took in chalmette on chinchilla st. you all have permission to use it! pic.twitter.

Ukraine update: Where things stand on Sunday morning in Kyiv

As of Sunday morning in Ukraine, fighting continues in Mariupol as territorial defense forces struggle to prevent Russia from capturing more of the city. Meanwhile, additional sources have confirmed the story that Russian forces put local citizens on buses and took them out of the area, either to Donetsk or into Russia. For those not already kidnapped or engaged in a firefight, the situation remains dire.

Omicron is popping up everywhere, but the big problem in the U.S. remains the delta variant

Over the last few days, the COVID-19 news has been dominated by concern over the omicron variant. Scientists are worried by the number of changes to the virus, including changes to the critical spike protein. Health officials around the world are nervous because a majority of the planet is still surfing the delta wave, and the idea of something worse coming along at this moment is genuinely terrifying.

Rittenhouse judge has a history of jackassery that goes back over 30 years

Word that the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial ruled this week that those shot by the 17-year-old could not be called “victims” during the trial brought a swift reaction from Rittenhouse defenders who claimed there was nothing unusual about that order. That includes the part where Judge Bruce Schroeder informed the defense that in their closing arguments, they could call those shot by Rittenhouse “looters,“ “rioters,” and “arsonists.

The ‘Good Lord Bird’ is gone … and so are 22 others as Fish and Wildlife logs official extinctions

For a few heady weeks in 2004 and 2005, it seemed a miracle had occurred. The ivory-billed woodpecker—the “Good Lord Bird” known for its startling size, massive white bill, and a call described as being like a “toy trumpet”—had been found living in a national wildlife refuge along the Cache River in Arkansas. Multiple sightings were reported. The sounds of woodpeckers pounding on trees were recorded. A single grainy video was shot.

Inspiration4 is another space tourism venture, but it’s not like the ones we’ve seen before

In the last two months, we’ve watched two billionaires fly their personal rockets on suborbital flights that they celebrated with lots of self-aggrandizement. On Wednesday evening, another billionaire will launch, not on his personal rocket, but on one he’s renting from billionaire No. 4 for another tourist flight. Which, on the face of it, seems like more of the same.