Twitter trends has no interest in DeSantis. Golly this is bad, “Desaster” showed up at 48 on more than an hour ago, and nothing on Desanctass on list from minutes ago, but Paul Ryan, Levin and Tomi show up
Not even joke names, he’s disappeared, I hope the money and twitter space was worth it. I bet his supporters are embarrassed and dropping like flies
He’s a bit chubby for a short man that needs heels
Franklin Graham all demons have been unloosed from hell!
https://t.me/ninoscorner/12234
FBI Asst Director, “It just doesn’t add up” – that the FBI Doesn’t Know Who the J6 Pipe Bomber Is
May 24, 2023 | Sundance | 239
Within the letter from congress [pdf HERE] you might note this line, “One former FBI assistant director observed, “[i]t just doesn’t add up . . . [t]here’s just too much to work with to not know who this guy is.”
What they are talking about is the J6 “pipe bomber,” the person who planted the phony pipe bombs in Washington DC, presumably to enhance a domestic terrorism narrative.
The scenario is clearly one of the more transparent points highlighting how a political FBI doesn’t want to know things that run against the interests of the highly political FBI. The investigators previously tracked the bomber to a ‘MetroRail SmartTrip’ Card, and then to an identified vehicle via CCTV monitoring. However, for some curiously odd reason, the FBI still has not arrested the individual.
Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs are asking the FBI what’s going on? [LETTER LINK]
Darren Beattie has been saying this since Jan. 28, 2021
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/05/24/fbi-asst-director-it-just-doesnt-add-up-that-the-fbi-doesnt-know-who-the-j6-pipe-bomber-is/
Newt Gingrich Says DeSantis Failed To ‘Fill The Vacuum’ Left By Trump
Brianna LymanMay 23, 2023 12:17 PM ET
Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday on Fox News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis failed to “fill the vacuum” left by former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 race this week, while Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is considering a bid for the Republican nomination as well, according to Axios. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his own presidential campaign on Monday.
Fox’s Dana Perino asked Gingrich for his reaction.
“Can we get your thoughts about Tim Scott’s announcement, but also what Alexandria Hoff just reported on: not only do we have Ron DeSantis likely to get in the race this week but Glenn Youngkin says he might get in too?” Perino asked.
“It’s partly a function of DeSantis having failed to fill the vacuum, there was a large vacuum of non-Trump Republicans.Trump keeps gaining and strengthening, the latest poll today has him at 61% in the Republican primary, which is astonishing. But at the same time, DeSantis didn’t prove capable of reaching out to all the different elements of the party. So you now have more and more people who say, ‘Hey, I could be a competitor.’ And Tim Scott is a terrific person.”
Scott announced his presidential bid Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, criticizing President Joe Biden on the economy, national security and education.
Former Republican Florida Rep. David Jolly claimed Monday that Scott’s bid showed the “fundamental weakness” of DeSantis’ expected candidacy.
“The more candidates that get in, the stronger the hold that Donald Trump has,” Jolly said on MSNBC.
(This is why Newt is trending on twitter)
https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/23/newt-gingrich-ron-desantis-vacuum-trump-youngkin-fox/
Failure to Launch – Elon Musk’s Twitter Spaces Fails for Ron DeSantis(It’s called Karma)
May 24, 2023 | Sundance |
Despite previously having no issues with 3.3 million listeners for a Twitter Spaces event with BBC, it only took a few hundred thousand listeners for the collaboration between Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk to end in abjectThe goal was for DeSantis to use the edgy and cool Twitter Spaces tech to launch his campaign.The outcome was an embarrassing display of a billionaire funded national campaign trying too hard to launch a candidacy built on transparent fraud and political pretense. The memes coming from the disastrous event are hilarious, and very fitting.
Fox News – Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign announcement was mired by repeated technical glitches on Twitter Wednesday evening, in a black eye for the social media platform.
The highly-anticipated announcement, set to be made via a conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks on Twitter’s “Spaces” feature, was delayed as it appeared the platform was overwhelmed. Twitter’s mobile app repeatedly crashed and users complained that they were unable to hear the broadcast.
Nearly 700,000 users logged in to hear the announcement roughly 20 minutes after it was launched. The event was then abruptly shut down without explanation. […] Twitter users pummeled Musk over the botched rollout, and Democrats were quick to capitalize. (read more)
WASHINGTON DC – […] The spectacle represented a major embarrassment for both DeSantis and Elon Musk, Twitter’s relatively new owner, one that could haunt the former as he embarks on a bid to win the GOP’s nomination and the latter as he tries to position himself as a political kingmaker in the new media landscape.
DeSantis was slated to do additional interviews on more traditional mediums Wednesday night, where he will likely face questions about his launch on Twitter.
Musk has used Twitter Spaces before as a way to directly reach his 140 million followers and avoid going through outside media. However, his Twitter Spaces — which have drawn tens of thousands of listeners in the past — have been known to shut down suddenly due to technical glitches. Ever since Musk bought Twitter last October, he’s laid off nearly two-thirds of the employees, including large swaths of engineering staff, leading to shutdowns and regular technical problems on the platform.
Wednesday’s Twitter Spaces marks the first time the audio-only feature on the platform has been used for a presidential launch. Spaces first publicly launched in May 2021 and mimicked the audio-only app ClubHouse that launched in April 2020, but has faced a shrinking user base in recent years.
Sacks called the event “the biggest room that’s probably ever been assembled online.” Thenumber of viewers fluctuated throughout the conversation, hitting at least 682,000 at one point, but holding mostly between 200,000 and 300,000 later on. (read more)
Well if the crashing polls weren’t a big enough sign, the crashing Twitter Space is erasing all doubt
It’s not the right time for DeSantis to run
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) May 24, 2023
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/05/24/failure-to-launch-elon-musks-twitter-spaces-fails-for-ron-desantis/
Funny, who knew their could Trump Supporters working as engineers at twitter. I bet Elon has a whole team trying to figure who did it. If he comes out and announces the launch was sabotaged you know the globalists have full control if him.
25 May, 2023 13:13
Kremlin responds to Ukrainian threat to kill Putin
The Russian services protecting the head of state know their job well, Dmitry Peskov says
Ukraine’s leadership has again proven its “terrorist” nature by threatening to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said, while giving assurances that the Russian leader is well protected.
“A terrorist regime talks about its terrorist aspirations,” Peskov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster on Thursday.
The spokesman was commenting on an acknowledgement by Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), who told the German outlet Die Welt on Wednesday that Putin was on his agency’s kill list.
Peskov saidsuch statements showthat the military operation, launched byRussia in Ukraine in February 2022, was “more than justified, more than necessary and that it must be completed.”
When asked if the Russian president’s security detail had been boosted after the threat from Kiev, Peskov replied:“Trust me, our security services know their job and know what they're doing.”
In his interview, Skibitsky claimed that Putin “notices that we’re getting ever closer to him.”Ukrainian operatives have so far been unable to get to him because the Russian leader “stays holed up,” he added. Theintelligence official said the GUR was also “trying to kill” the head of the Wagner private military company, Evgeny Prighozhin, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
In early May, two small drones were disabled by air defenses, while trying to strike Putin's Kremlin residence in Moscow. The Russian leader was not there at the time of the failed attack, and no one was hurt.
Despite the Ukrainian authorities denying any involvement, Moscow called the incident a “a pre-planned terrorist act” and an attempt on Putin’s life perpetrated by Kiev.
The Kremlin vowed thatRussia would retaliate to the raid “anywhere and anytime it deems necessary,” while senior lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin called for the use of “weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kiev terrorist regime.”
Russia has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s government of engaging in“terrorist tactics” since last fall, when it said Ukraine was targeting Russian infrastructure, including nuclear facilities and the strategic Crimean Bridge. The accusations were followed by the launch of a large-scale missile campaign across Ukraine, which delivered serious damage to the country’s energy system and depleted the capabilities of Ukrainian air defenses.
(These Ukraine idiots erased all possibility of plausible denial! Further Putin has held back and has not responded with anger, but guaranteed Russia has a list and when this operation is settled, those on the list won’t be treated like captured soldiers!)
https://www.rt.com/russia/576902-threat-president-vladimir-putin/
25 May, 2023 12:00
West waging ‘undeclared war’ on Russia and Belarus – Moscow
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu says NATO’s military activity in Eastern Europe has taken a “most aggressive” direction
NATO is using the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to build up its forces in Eastern Europe and deploy weaponswhich are being aimed at Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed on Thursday during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin.
"Additional military contingents and military infrastructure are being deployed,combat training and reconnaissance activities are being activated near the borders of the Union State(of Russia and Belarus)," Shoigu said, adding that the US-led military blochas already launched the next stageof its expansion, and is now modernizing military infrastructure in Eastern and Central Europe.
Shoigu also noted that Western governments are intentionally “doing everything possible in order to stretch out and escalate the conflict in Ukraine” by continuing to provide military aid to Kiev’s armed forces.
“Today we are together resisting the collective West, which iswaging an essentially undeclared war against our countries," he said, noting that NATO’s military activity has acquired a “most aggressive direction.”
The minister also pointed out that another worrying aspect for Moscow is the “increasingly aggressive rhetoric and joint ‘nuclear missions’ of NATO countries in Eastern Europe” which aim to test the use of nuclear weapon delivery vehicles and improve the US global missile defense system.
Shoigu stressed that these missions, along with deliveries of depleted uranium to Ukraine, areforcing Russia and Belarus to take appropriate response measures. Those include the deployment of Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the delivery of Iskander-M missile systems, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and the re-equipping of Belarusian planes to be able to use nuclear munitions. Shoigu stated, however, that control over Russia’s nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus is still in Moscow’s hands.
The minister noted that given the new military-political realities, Russia and Belarus have been strengthening their collective defensive capabilities, and that Minsk remains a “faithful ally and reliable partner” to Moscow.
During their meeting, Shoigu and Khrenin signed official documents defining the procedure for keepingRussia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons in a special storage facility in Belarus. The move comes after President Vladimir Putin announced in late March that Russia would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in the republic following a request from Minsk. Construction of the storage facility is expected to be complete on July 1.
(If the West attacks, I’m pretty China will come to the aid of Russia and Belarus, because China knows they will be next. I wonder if Xi regrets placing his puppet in the WH?)
https://www.rt.com/russia/576898-west-undeclared-war-russia/
25 May, 2023 14:33
Ukrainian military intel boss lists his combat injuries
Kirill Budanov says he has been wounded multiple times during the conflict in Donbass
The head of the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Kirill Budanov, has claimed to have been wounded three times during armed hostilities in Donbass. The spy chief described the incidents in an interview on Thursday with Ukrainian media.
Budanov stated that the worst of his injuries was caused by an anti-personnel mine dispersing multiple fragments, one which one hit him near the heart. Aside from that, the spy chief claimed he received a gunshot wound to his elbow.
While the official did not elaborate on when or where the incidents occurred,he appeared to be referring to the years-long conflict between post-Maidan Ukraine and the Donbassrepublics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which preceded the ongoing hostilities between Kiev and Moscow, raging since February 2022.
In recent months, Budanov has built up a substantial media presence, giving frequent interviews to domestic and foreign media, and making increasingly belligerent statements.
Early this month, for instance, Budanov declared, "We’ve been killing Russians, and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine."
He doubled down on the threat last week, claiming responsibility for assassinating "many" Russian public figures. The spy boss, however, did not provide any names, stating only that "we have already gotten many, including public and media personalities."
https://www.rt.com/russia/576911-spy-boss-budanov-wounds/
25 May, 2023 15:11
Ukrainian officials send mixed signals on counteroffensive (but it’s happening soon!)KEK
Presidential adviser Igor Zhovkva insisted the operation is still being planned after a fellow Zelensky aide claimed it had already started
Ukrainian government officials have made contradictory claims on whether the much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces has begun. The leadership in Kiev has insisted for the past several months thatthe country is preparingto drive enemy forces from territories under Moscow’s control.
Speaking to Bloomberg on Thursday, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, Igor Zhovkva, stated that Ukraine “will further be preparing the counteroffensive.”He explained that the operation will commence once Kiev has received all the necessary weapons from its backers, including long-range artillery, ammunition, and battle tanks. (If they hadn’t sold the weapons sent already through the black market, they would have all they needed)
Speaking the same day, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), Andrey Yusov, also used the future tense when talking about the planned counteroffensive.
“As for the specifics, we definitely shouldn’t be asking every day, ‘What’s new with the counteroffensive?’But, no doubt, there will be liberation,” the official insisted, adding that “everything will be alright.” (The Power of Positive Thinking strategy!)
The statements came shortly after another senior aide to President Zelensky, Mikhail Podoliak, told Italy’s Rai TV channel that the “counteroffensive has been going on for several days now, intense warfare is underway along the 1,500km-long border.”
He also stressed Ukraine’s commitment to not using Western-provided weapons to conduct strikes on Russian soil. At the same time, Podoliak noted that Kiev sees Crimea as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as legitimate targets. Ukraine and Russia both consider these territories to be their own.
Several hours later, Podoliak took to Twitter to clarify his remarks, arguing that thecounteroffensive is “not a ‘single event’that will begin at a specific hour of a specific day with a solemn cutting of the red ribbon.”
Instead, he said the Ukrainian military has been taking action in various locations for some time to weaken Russian forces, with special emphasis on the “destruction of enemy logistics.” (Hmm, where are the reports?)
Top Ukrainian officials, including President Zelensky, have on several occasions floated the idea that thecounteroffensive might be delayeddue to the slow delivery of Western weapons. Many observers expected it to have already started.
Publicly, the US and other Western backers profess to be ready to support Kiev for “as long as it takes” to ensure it recaptures all the territory it has lost to Russia.
However, earlier this month, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadim Pristaiko complained that the West has piled “too much pressure” on Kiev and has built up “too much expectation” about the counteroffensive. (Well it is a war! Wow)
The New York Times reported in April that Ukraine’s Western supporters would likely begin to exert pressure on Kiev to negotiate with Moscow, should the much-anticipated offensive fail to yield major success.
(It’s called unified messaging Ukraine Style!Meanwhile Ukraine has lost 5x the amount of soldiers than Russia, estimated 150,000+ dead and 150,000 injured!)
https://www.rt.com/russia/576907-ukraine-officials-counteroffensive-mixed-messages/
25 May, 2023 07:22
FSU
Ukrainian attacks on Russian nuclear plants foiled – FSB
The saboteurs tried to destroy power lines at two facilities, the security service says
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said it intercepted a Ukrainian saboteur group that was planning a terrorist operation on two nuclear power plants in the country ahead of May 9, when the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany is celebrated.
The suspects were aiming to destroymore than 30 pylons bearing high-voltage lineslinked to the nuclear power plants, the FSB announced in a statement on Thursday.
Before being detained, the Ukrainian agentswere able to blow up one transmission towerand mine four others on power lines leading to the Leningrad nuclear plant near St. Petersburg, according to the statement.
They also placedimprovised explosive devices at pylonsconnected to the Kalinin nuclear power plant in Tver Region, 350km northwest of Moscow, it added.
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, which according to the FSB was behind the plot, hoped that the sabotage “would cause the shutdown of nuclear reactors, disruption of routine operations of the nuclear power plants, and deliver serious economic and reputational damage to Russia,” the statement claimed.
The FSB said two Ukrainian citizens were arrested, while another, who is believed to be in Belgium, was placed on the wanted list.
Thethree men were allegedly recruited by Ukrainian intelligencein September last year and underwent training at camps in the Kiev and Nikolaev Regions of Ukraine. They illegally crossed into Russia in Pskov Region from Belarus, which they had entered from Poland, the agency said.
Russian operatives discovered caches prepared by the suspects, containing36.5kg of C-4 plastic explosives, 61 foreign-made electric detonators, 38 electronic timers and two Makarov pistolswith ammunition, the statement read.
Two Russian citizenswere also detained on suspicion of providing means of communication and vehicles with fake license plates to the Ukrainian saboteurs, the FSB added.
FBS officers detaining a suspected Ukrainian saboteur. © Russia’s Federal Security Service
https://www.rt.com/russia/576880-ukraine-nuclear-terrorist-fsb/
25 May, 2023 03:41
Russian military repels another drone attack on Crimea – authorities
At least two drones were shot down by the Black Sea Fleet forces, Sevastopol’s governor has said
Multiple Ukrainian droneswere deployed in attempt to strike Sevastopol on Thursday morning, according to the governor of the Crimean port city that hosts Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The attack was reportedly fended off with no damage caused by the UAVs.
“Early in the morning, our military repelled another drone attack on Sevastopol,” Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote in a Telegram message.
At least two UAVs were shot downwith small arms by the Black Sea Fleet forces, while “several more” were neutralizedand downed using electronic warfare, the official claimed. The military has yet to issue a statement.
“No facilities in the city were damaged,”Razvozhaev said, adding that all security services “continue to monitor the situation.”
Crimea, which hosts major Russian naval facilities, has repeatedly come under Ukrainian attack since the start of the conflict. Kiev insists on re-capturing all of its former territories from Russia, including the peninsula, which voted in a referendum to rejoin Russia in 2014 in the aftermath of the Western-backed Maidan coup.
Over the course of the conflict, Ukraine has also repeatedly used sea drones to target Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. On Wednesday, the Russian Navy reconnaissance ship ‘Ivan Churs’ fended off an attack by three unmanned speed boats, according to the Defense Ministry.
Several previous attempts to strike warships stationed at the port of Sevastopol have also been unsuccessful, with the unmanned speedboats detected and destroyed on their approach, or becoming caught in the harbor's protective netting.
https://www.rt.com/russia/576866-sevastopol-drone-attack-repelled/
24 May, 2023 17:49
Neo-Nazi fugitive spotted among Ukrainian saboteurs
The ‘Hitler Hammer’ band founder took part in a deadly incursion allegedly using western-supplied equipment
Alexey Levkin, a notorious Russian far-right militant, has been spottedamong a Ukrainian saboteur groupthat launched a raid on Russia’s Belgorod Region earlier this week.
The attack was carried out by the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a collaborationist unit fighting for Kiev thatis said to be composed solely of Russian nationals. The group appears to have multiple far-right fighters within its ranks, including Levkin, who took part in the raid and shared footage of the attack on social media.
Born in 1984, Levkin is best known as the founder and frontman of the M8L8TH, a national-socialist black metal band formed in Russia in the early 2000s. The cryptic name of the band is commonly interpreted as “Hitler Hammer,” with the88 code commonly used by neo-Nazis to refer to the German dictator. The band, which itself describes its music genre as ‘militant black metal’ remains active and iscurrently based in Ukraine.
Apart from playing neo-Nazi black metal, Levkin also openly engaged in far-right extremism and was arrested by Russian law enforcement in the mid-2000s. The activist was accused of being a part of a far-right gang thatdesecrated ethnic minorities’ cemeteries, attacked ‘foreigners’, and even committed several murders. Levkin himself, however, avoided jail time as he wasdeemed to be mentally unstable, and was institutionalized instead.
He was released from an institution in 2011 and created anew neo-Nazi group, ‘WotanJugend’.Levkin actively supported the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine, launching fundraisers online to get weaponry, medicine, and other equipment for the pro-Maidan side.
Levkin fled Russia in 2015, moving to Kiev and continuing his far-right activities there unhindered, even joining thenotorious neo-Nazi Azov Battalion. In 2018, he was arrested in absentia by a Moscow court, standing accused of creating an “extremist group” and “inciting hatred” based on nationality. The far-right activist himself claimed the “extremist group” was the WotanJugend, which he insisted was nothing more than a public group on the VK social media platform, created by like-minded individuals who were not even acquainted in person.
https://www.rt.com/russia/576844-hitler-hammer-belgorod-raid/
25 May, 2023 02:53
US frustrated over Ukrainian attack in Russia
The White House has been “pretty darn clear” with Kiev about the use of US-supplied weapons, John Kirby has said
Washington has again dismissed visual proof of US-supplied equipmentused in this week’s attack by Ukrainian militants in Russia’s Belgorod Region as unconfirmed “reports” but admitted the images require further investigation. President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has apparently acknowledged concern thatKiev might have broken its alleged pledge not to use American weaponry outside its own territory.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke of “frustration”over the attack during a press briefing on Wednesday, US media outlet Politico reported. He noted that the administration is “looking into” the footage indicating that US-supplied equipment “could have been involved” in a deadly raid in the Belgorod district of Grayvoron.
“We’ve been pretty darn clear that we don’t support the use of US-made equipment for attacks inside Russia,” Kirby told reporters. “We’ve been clear about that with the Ukrainians. I won’t get into private discussions that we’re having with them, but I think we’ve been nothing but consistent about our concerns in that regard.”
Kirby’s comments came one day after US State Department and Pentagon officials tried to cast doubt on photos and video footage clearly showing that the militants used American gear, including Humvees and MaxxPro MRAP armored fighting vehicles. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the evidence “fuzzy pictures” and told reporters the US administration is “skeptical of their veracity.”
Thehigh-quality images, including footagereleased by the Russian Defense Ministry, showed multiple damaged and abandoned US vehicles. The military saiddozens of saboteurs were killed in a counterterrorism operation, while some were pushed back into the territory of Ukraine.
Kiev has attempted to disavow the raid by claiming it was carried out by the so-called ‘Freedom of Russia Legion’ and ‘Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)’ neo-Nazi units. The Kremlin responded that it was a distinction without a difference, as the militants fought in the Ukrainian military using equipment provided by the West. The Pentagon also said theUS hadn’t approved any transfers of equipment to paramilitary organizationsoutside the Ukrainian armed forces.
US President Joe Biden has tried to lead an international sanctions campaign against Russia and provide billions of dollars’ worth of military aid to Ukraine without triggering a direct war with Russia. Publicly, US officials always claimed that the ground rules prohibiting the use of US-made equipment outside Ukrainian territory are part of that effort, seeking to distance Washington from any incursions on Russian soil.
During a press briefing on Saturday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan saidWashington is “going to proceed in a way that avoids World War III– that precept has remained intact.”
However, Russian officials consider the US to be a direct party to the Ukraine conflict as it provides increasingly advanced weaponry to Kiev. Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman DmitryPeskov accused Washington of facilitating Kiev’s terrorist attacks in Russia, including a Moscow drone strike alleged to be a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Buckwheat the bush looks on without understanding what was said. Ukraine responsible for Bidan admin losing support WW. A break up with Ukraine is coming.)
https://www.rt.com/news/576865-ukraine-us-weapons-darn-clear/
25 May, 2023 15:54
Ukraine sent untrained conscripts into Donbass ‘meat grinder’ – WSJ
“Bakhmut will teach you,” a commander reportedly told a soldier who complained he had never held a gun before
Kiev used untrained and poorly equipped troops in the lost battle for the strategic Donbass city of Artyomovsk, which the Ukrainians call Bakhmut,in order to save better units for its planned counteroffensive, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
In an article on Thursday, the US outlet told a story of a group of 16 Ukrainian conscripts, who were crushed by the Russian forces during the fighting in Artyomovsk, in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic in February.
The troops in questionwere “mostly poor men,” many of whom were unemployed. They had been recruited by the Ukrainian military from villages in the northeastern Kharkov Region, the report said. Some had completed mandatory military service years or decades ago, but almost none had ever seen actual combat, it added.
According to the WSJ, themen spent only two nights at a base, where they were handed Soviet-era rifles and uniforms. After that, they were told that they were being deployed to Artyomovsk – the scene of a months-long standoff between Russian and Ukrainian forces that has been described as a “meat grinder” and the biggest battle of the 21st century so far.
Some of theconscripts wanted to sign an official refusal to follow the order, saying they didn’t have proper training for the task. One recalled how he complained that he had never held a gun before and was afraid, but the Ukrainian sergeant major simply told him that “Bakhmut will teach you.”
The 16 draftees, who were enlisted into the 5th company of Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade,spent only 36 hours in Artyomovsk, during which 11 of them were killed or captured, the WSJ said, citing surviving soldiers and relatives of slain recruits.
One of the troops told the outlet that he fired a rocket-propelled grenade for the first time in his life in Artyomovsk, while the other described the Russian assault as “hell on Earth.”
The Wall Street Journal suggested that Kiev used to send “mobilized soldiers and territorial defense units, sometimes with patchy training and equipment” to fight in Artyomovsk “in an effort to preserve brigades trained and equipped by the West for a widely anticipated offensive,” which had been expected to begin in spring.
Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner private military company, which spearheaded the Russian effort in the Artyomovsk, said his menhad “destroyed 50,000 troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” and wounded another 50,000 to 70,000. Moscow announced the full capture of the key Ukrainian stronghold and logistics hub last Saturday, but Kiev has so far refrained from confirming the loss of the city.
(This proves Ukraine had no intention of winning this battle and literarily sent innocent citizens in to die, for Zelensky’s pride. He refused to listen to US generals and his own military leaders to let it go.)
https://www.rt.com/news/576903-ukraine-artyomovsk-untrained-troops/
23 May, 2023 20:47
Microsoft (1984) launches AI moderation tool
Azure AI Content Safety claims to be able to detect “inappropriate” images and text and assign severity scores
Microsoft launched a content moderation tool powered by artificial intelligence on Tuesday that is supposedly capable of flagging “inappropriate” images and text across eight languages and ranking their severity.
Called Azure AI Content Safety, the service is “designed to foster safer online environments and communities,” according to Microsoft.It is also meant to neutralize “biased, sexist, racist, hateful, violent, and self-harm content,” the software giant told TechCrunch via email. While it is built into Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service AI dashboard,it can also be deployed in non-AI systems like social media platforms and multiplayer games.
To avoid some of the more common pitfalls of AI content moderation, Microsoft allows the user to “fine-tune” Azure AI’s filters for context, and the severity rankings are supposed to allow for quick auditing by human moderators. A spokesperson explained that“a team of linguistic and fairness experts”had devised the guidelines for its program, “taking into account cultural [sic], language and context.”
A Microsoft spokesperson told TechCrunch the new model was “able to understand content and cultural context so much better” than previous models, which often failed to pick up on context clues, unnecessarily flagging benign material. However, they acknowledged no AI was perfect and “recommend[ed] using a human-in-the-loop to verify results.”
The tech that powers Azure AI is the same code that keeps Microsoft’s AI chatbot Bing from going rogue – a fact that might alarm early users of the ChatGPT competitor. When it was introduced in February, Bing memorably tried to convince reporters to leave their spouses, denied obvious facts like the date and year, threatened to destroy humanity, and rewrote history. After significant negative media attention, Microsoft limited Bing chats to five questions per session and 50 questions per day.
Like all AI content moderation programs, Azure AI relies on human annotators to label the data it is trained on, meaning it is only as unbiased as its programmers. This has historically led to PR headaches – nearly a decade after Google’s AI image analysis software labeled photos of black people as gorillas, the company still disables the option to visually search for not just gorillas but all primates, lest its algorithm accidentally flag a human.
Microsoft fired its AI ethics and safety team in Marcheven as the hype over large language models like ChatGPT was reaching fever pitch and the company itself was investing billions more dollars into its partnership with the chatbot’s developer OpenAI. The company recently devoted more personnel to pursuing artificial general intelligence (AGI), in which a software system becomes capable of devising ideas that were not programmed into it.
https://www.rt.com/news/576797-microsoft-ai-content-moderation-bing/