HIMARS

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From the BBC: West’s modern weapons halt Russia’s advance in Donbas

The US and Europe have sent a number of HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) to the Ukrainian army, and they are using the systems most effectively. Russia has very little in the way of defense against these very lethal, highly mobile truck-mounted rockets. Countries such as Poland and Estonia, also at risk of attack, have started ordering hundreds of these defensive weapons.

Let’s keep sending more, until Russia is finally driven back to its own country.

‘The Russians have nothing equivalent’: How HIMARS help Ukraine

The US-made system has struck Russia’s advance and is the weapon of choice on NATO’s eastern flank.

…“The agreement to unblock Odesa would have been impossible without HIMARS. It’s now very clear that the war will end earlier if we arm Ukraine faster,” Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on July 22, referring to Russia’s agreement to allow Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea.

“The Baltics will become a single theatre of war for Russia,” said Estonian defence minister Kusti Salm, explaining the regional coordination on defence procurements….

Balloon Juice has recovered their full archives, and Adam continues his daily series reporting on the war in Ukraine. His posts are a good way to keep up with the details of the war.

ETA, 8/2: Robert Farley at LGM blog also has another update on the war, with many good links to more info.

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Hobipalooza — Checking in with ARMY

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Continuing thoughts on the complexities of ARMY, only peripherally about j-hope.💜 Quite long.

I have looked again and again at the My White House Day With Army post. I don’t write romantic. I really never write romantic. And yet this is the most romantic thing I can imagine writing in my entire life. I’ve thought a dozen times that I should delete it, but I can’t. All I see is an honest account of exactly how I felt that day. It was a peak day in my life, and though I’m embarrassed, I can’t be sorry for it. We’re all just going to have to live with that.

Since then, I’ve continued to spend time with ARMY through many more BTS events. New albums, a lovely puzzle game, music videos, gorgeous photos, parties, and live streams. The 2022 Festa dinner brought a lot of change to us all, and there was of course a great deal of conversation around that. But there has been a constant stream of new content since the “break time” was announced. In these days after Festa, it seems to me most ARMY fans feel pretty content with what BTS and all the members are doing. I see the words “well fed” a lot as a description of this time.

Outside of ARMY though, some responses to BTS and their visit to the White House were disturbing. After professional whiner Tucker Carlson complained about BTS, people online (even some of my own friends) started repeating the conventional wisdom about ARMY as a marauding force. “Ooh, Tucker better watch out! ARMY will get him now.”

ARMY wasn’t actually paying attention to Tucker Carlson, not that I could see. We were all caught up in the upcoming Proof comeback, the early teasers and photos, and all the materials released for Festa. American politics is not something that gets much attention in this community, and heaven knows we are used to public figures tossing insults at BTS.

But somehow it’s always a game to try and set ARMY to fight someone ARMY barely notices. Certainly some of us were annoyed at once again being targeted in this public manner.

You should read @galaxytannies’ short thread there. It is a cry from the heart.

We know that members of ARMY, like members of any group, can be insulting and unpleasant online. Hell, I could spit out a lot of insults towards Tucker myself. Does that speak for ARMY? Of course not. Do insults coming from some ARMY fans mean ARMY is a rampaging monster? I don’t think so.

Continue reading →

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Still continuing

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Please don’t look away.

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High engagement

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We have to start planning for the 2022 midterm elections. So far, it seems Democratic engagement with the election is running high. How that will translate into voting turnout is hard to say, but let’s keep this sort of pressure on.

WinRed, of course, was created specifically as a counter to ActBlue, which has been so successful in raising small dollar donations for Democratic candidates. WinRed works for them, but has never been quite as successful as ActBlue has been.

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Nature is savage

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More states are arguing about anti-abortion legislation this week. Know what’s happening in your state, and tell your legislators to protect reproductive choices.

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About that agreement on the Ukrainian grain shipments

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It does seem that mistrusting Russia is still the smartest position to take.

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And this comes as no surprise

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Read the whole thing, then contact your Congresscritters and state officials. Demand that all Americans have their full rights respected. We can’t let these bigots determine how we live our lives.

Gift link, should get you past the paywall for a while.

After Roe, Republicans Sharpen Attacks on Gay and Transgender Rights

Since the Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade, anti-gay rhetoric and calls to roll back established L.G.B.T.Q. protections have grown bolder….many Republican officials and candidates across the country have made attacking gay and transgender rights a party norm this midterm season.

In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton said after the Roe reversal that he would be “willing and able” to defend at the Supreme Court any law criminalizing sodomy enacted by the Legislature. Before that, the Republican Party of Texas adopted a platform that calls homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice.”

In Utah, the Republican president of the State Senate, Stuart Adams, said he would support his state’s joining with others to press the Supreme Court to reverse the right of same-sex couples to wed. In Arizona, Kari Lake, a candidate for governor endorsed by Donald J. Trump, affirmed in a June 29 debate her support for a bill barring children from drag shows — the latest target of supercharged rhetoric on the right.

And in Michigan’s governor’s race, Mr. Soldano released an ad belittling the use of specific pronouns by those who do not conform to traditional gender roles (“My pronouns: Conservative/Patriot”) and accusing “the woke groomer mafia” of wanting to indoctrinate children….

In all, over 300 bills to restrict L.G.B.T.Q. rights have been introduced this year in 23 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy organization….

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I applaud this young man’s courage…

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And his willingness to confront gun-crazy Republicans of the House Judiciary Committee.

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The great disconnect

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The Globe and Mail of Canada presents a lot of polling data showing how the people of the United States have grown more progressive in nearly every area of public policy, and on most measures of cultural significance as well.

And, as we have noted, conservatives have worked hard for decades to impose conservative policies on the nation even as this liberal greening has continued. This is a recipe for disaster.

Americans are more liberal and tolerant than ever. Too bad about their institutions

…Those aren’t cherry-picked figures: It is hard to find any area of values or beliefs where Americans haven’t become sharply more liberal. The New York University sociologist Michael Hout recently examined 50 years of surveyed attitudes and beliefs around 283 issues, and found that on only 5 per cent of issues had Americans become more conservative. They became more liberal on the big ones: racial tolerance, the rights of homosexuals, women, religious minorities and atheists…

Here we see the problem Americans face: As a big majority of them have become more tolerant, their governing and legal institutions have been captured by a fringe minority who are very much not so. It’s as if the overall climate has improved, but today’s weather is terrible….

That’s led to the catastrophic recent decisions that have contradicted not only conventional readings of the Constitution but the beliefs of most Americans. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision to strike down New York’s restrictions on the outdoor carrying of firearms. The decision to allow required prayer in school settings, in spite of a Constitution that explicitly forbids a state role in religion…

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More about that boat

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Slate presents an interview with Amy Autry, who works with a nonprofit organization called PROWESS, which plans to provide surgical abortions in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a project mentioned in this longer post. She’s got an interesting story to tell, so go read the whole thing!

If You Can’t Get an Abortion on Land, Can You Get One on a Boat?

A doctor explains her long-brewing plan to set up a floating clinic in the Gulf of Mexico.

…Someday soon, they may not have to. To serve patients on the Gulf Coast who may be closer to the water than an abortion clinic, Amy Autry, an OB-GYN and professor at the University of California San Francisco, is spearheading a project that would provide abortion services on a boat in federal waters a few miles off the coastline. The nonprofit is called PRROWESS, an acronym that stands for Protecting Reproductive Rights Of Women Endangered by State Statutes.

Federal laws don’t currently prohibit abortion, so a floating clinic could legally operate without running afoul of state laws. Autry, who previously worked as an abortion provider in Wisconsin, hopes the clinic will be open to patients about three weeks out of every month. I spoke to Autry about her plans, the demand for a floating clinic, and the challenges she expects to face. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity….

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