Posted on 04/18/2024 10:57:44 PM PDT by ransomnote
copyright: Getty Images
Tonight I reviewed parts of some Russ/Ukraine war videos and heard about several rapid advances of Russia's military (control of villages and supply lines), and a reported capture of what may be an entire Ukrainian brigade, which has since surrendered. This has been the momentum (Russia taking over) for a few days on Alexander Mercouris' channel (I think his reportage seems detailed and balanced), but Mercouris doesn't know how accurate the 'brigade' (size of capture) comment is, although his videos have previously been reporting on the encirclement of a group of Ukrainian troops in that area:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLSI3EpTY1w
A NATO friendly Youtube Channel (German public broadcasting) says a Ukrainian general reports that Russia has significant asset advantages - a rare admission.
TITLE: Ukraine's military chief: Significant Russian advantages in forces and resources | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZFASabDMjo
Here's a quote from text under that video at the link:
"Ukraine's top general says his forces have suffered several setbacks on the battlefield in the war against Russia. In posts made on social media on Sunday, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said: "The situation on the front has worsened…The enemy has concentrated its main efforts on several areas, creating a significant advantage in forces and resources. The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and making tactical gains in some areas…"
So I assumed that there would be a 'response' from YOUTUBE Zeepers claiming the Ukraine has Russia on the run, and I was right.
Right on schedule I saw a Ukrainian YOUTUBE account posting about 'the tables have turned!
TITLE: 28 Apr: Tables Turned Fast! Ukrainians Gained Air Superiority & Destroyed Russian Convoys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33LL8vXRfEM
Another Pro Ukraine YOUTUBE channel, whom a FReeper exposed as monetized propaganda network hosted by a 'Ukrainian airline pilot' living in Sweden [Denys Davydov].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNDIhBcVdrE
In the comments below that video is an example of the usual 'twist' placed on news and equipment given to Ukraine. 81 jets sounds, good, amIright?
ALERT: ‘American Privacy Rights Act of 2024’ Sneaks In Quotas
In the name of preventing bias, APRA imposes quotas. And it imposes them everywhere.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/04/apra-is-a-quota-bill/
Excerpt:
When the Supreme Court struck down Harvard’s use of race in admissions, liberals denounced the decision. President Biden said he “strongly, strongly disagreed” with the decision. Conservatives predicted “massive resistance” to the ruling.
Those who expected an attack on the Supreme Court’s decision were right. Those who supported Harvard are a minority. But they have no doubt about their moral clarity or their right to make the rules. Remarkably, despite the unpopularity of identity-based allocation of scarce resources, they have decided that the best defense is a sweeping offense. Legislation now pending in Congress is poised to extend racial, gender, and religious quotas well beyond education — to housing, employment, healthcare, insurance, and credit decisions – and to make them more or less mandatory.
Proponents are making only one concession to the unpopularity of their cause. They are hiding it. In fact, they’ve hidden it so well that dozens of Republicans in Congress have already voted for it, thinking that it’s a welcome bipartisan resolution of a decades-long battle over federal privacy rights.
The bill, called the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (APRA), does have a lot to say about privacy. It’s the result of hard negotiation between companies who make money from personal data and their Congressional critics. But when it comes to quotas, there was no one negotiating for the proposition that Americans should be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Instead, the drafters seized on the fear of biased algorithms to adopt a provision essentially banning the use of an algorithm that causes harm. And harm is defined as “disparate impact” on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability,” (plus, weirdly, “political party registration status”). Those modest-sounding words are a magical incantation to summon quotas, because avoiding disparate impact means ensuring that benefits are divided up by identity — racial minorities and women must be more or less proportionally represented.
So, in the name of preventing bias, APRA imposes quotas. And it imposes them everywhere. The mandate applies whenever a human being uses a computer and personal data to help make a decision. It covers practically all businesses and nonprofits. So if Harvard wants to get its old quota system back, it just needs to enter applicants’ data in a computer, rank the applicants using GPA and SAT scores, then look to see if that algorithm has a “disparate impact” on some groups. The law says that’s a harm that must be mitigated – and it provides immunity from claims of race discrimination to any mitigation aimed at “diversifying” a pool of participants, such as Harvard’s freshman class.
And there you have it. Harvard’s old admissions policy is legal again – maybe even mandatory. And, not satisfied with that result, the drafters decided to apply identity politics to decisions that affect access to practically every scarce product or service in the country — “housing, education, employment, healthcare, insurance, or credit.”
This wasn’t a mistake. I’ve written about similar language in a similar bill in the last Congress, when Democratic and Republican members of the House commerce committee approved it by an overwhelming 53-2 vote. I can only conclude that the Democrats wanted the quota mandate and the Republicans didn’t think that their business constituents would care as long as they couldn’t be sued for obeying it.
Nobody was negotiating for the roughly three-quarters of Americans who think that it’s wrong to make decisions based on race or religion or gender.
Steven Spielberg’s latest project: Providing strategy for the Biden campaign
Rob Braxman phone
https://www.gooddog-usa.com/degoogle-program
BEST FREEDOM & PRIVACY PHONE OUT THERE, THE DEGOOGLED BRAX2ME
“As of late 2021, I have been using the De-Googled Brax2Me phone. The daily driver is a Linux Generic Android purchased in bulk in China and loaded with a custom/secure ROM here in the United States by Rob Braxman. Downloading new, secure applications are a snap with the Aurora Store (free app) – and their costs are essentially identical to the Google Playstore and Apple Store variants.
Everything stated on this page is my opinion. For more information see Rob Braxman’s website as well as the helpful links we have provided here.”
https://brax.me/prod/host.php?f=_store&h=rob&p=0&version=
The guy is consistently an ass.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
