On 4/25/2026 at 8:11 PM, janea4old said:

I believe a man was arrested. I believe Wolf Blitzer heard several loud sounds he believed to be gunshots.

But beyond that, who knows what really happened.

hmmmm....

Edited yesterday at 05:45 AM1 day by janea4old

Everyone on this Earth should watch this... if you haven't. It's so chilling.

1 hour ago, Maxim said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzsaqC8n_U
Everyone on this Earth should watch this... if you haven't. It's so chilling.

I got a message saying "not available in your country"
(not available to USA viewers).

I did some digging and discovered that it was this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qwxp
Here in the USA, it does let me read the full description there on the BBC website;
but it still won't let me view the embedded 58-minute video.

description:

Our Man in Moscow

Russia has become one of the most hostile places in the world to be a journalist, where reporters face threats of intimidation, expulsion and imprisonment. Now, Panorama follows a year in the life of the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, as he tries to walk the tightrope during a time of geopolitical upheaval.

He is confronted by police, suspected spies pop up, and local TV crews doorstep him – all while doing his job as a reporter. Steve also reflects on how Russia has changed in the more than 30 years he has been living there. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he hosted the country’s Eurovision Song Contest, but now he is mocked on national television, with one pundit describing him as an enemy of the state.

--
*** update: found a copy viewable in USA (Link)

.

Edited yesterday at 12:23 PM1 day by janea4old

Okay I found the copy and linked it in above post. Don't have time to watch right now but I'll catch it later.

3 hours ago, janea4old said:

I got a message saying "not available in your country"
(not available to USA viewers).

I did some digging and discovered that it was this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qwxp
Here in the USA, it does let me read the full description there on the BBC website;
but it still won't let me view the embedded 58-minute video.

description:

Our Man in Moscow

Russia has become one of the most hostile places in the world to be a journalist, where reporters face threats of intimidation, expulsion and imprisonment. Now, Panorama follows a year in the life of the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, as he tries to walk the tightrope during a time of geopolitical upheaval.

He is confronted by police, suspected spies pop up, and local TV crews doorstep him – all while doing his job as a reporter. Steve also reflects on how Russia has changed in the more than 30 years he has been living there. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he hosted the country’s Eurovision Song Contest, but now he is mocked on national television, with one pundit describing him as an enemy of the state.

--
*** update: found a copy viewable in USA (Link)

.

Thank you so much for providing the viewable in USA link @janea4old !

US war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, says Pentagon comptroller

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-war-iran-has-cost-25-billion-so-far-says-pentagon-official-2026-04-29/

April 29 (Reuters) - The United States' war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the military's ‌price tag for the conflict. Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions.

Hurst did not detail what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing ⁠base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict.

But it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump's administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion.

25 billion dollars in two months.
Personally I imagine (without proof) that it's likely higher than that.

How many people could that feed? How many people could have received medical care?

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by janea4old

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-blocks-louisiana-voting-map-with-second-black-majority-district-2026-04-29/

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act - making it harder for minorities to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory under the landmark civil rights law - in a victory for Louisiana Republicans and President Donald Trump's administration.

The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative members, blocked an electoral map that had given Louisiana a second Black-majority U.S. congressional district. With November congressional elections looming, the decision could prompt Republican-led states to seek to redraw electoral maps in an effort to put at ‌risk seats considered safely Democratic.

Justice Elena Kagan, in a dissent joined by the two other liberal justices, said the ruling rendered the Voting Rights Act "all but a dead letter," and predicted "grave" consequences.

"Under the court's new view of Section 2, a state can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens' voting power," Kagan wrote. "Of course, the majority does not announce today's holding that way. Its opinion is understated, even antiseptic. The majority claims only to be 'updating' our Section 2 law, as though through a few technical tweaks."

"But in fact, those 'updates' eviscerate the law, so that it will not remedy even the classic example of vote dilution given above," Kagan added.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by janea4old

1 hour ago, janea4old said:

How many people could that feed? How many people could have received medical care?

@DRW50 says it best: they won't be satisfied 'til we're all dead.

I appreciate Aaron Rupar (atrupar) for posting clips on bsky and twitter of all the hearings, press conferences, speeches, etc etc etc.

I'm choosing to avoid, when possible, embedding things that have Tr*ump's face. Just my personal choice. I just don't want to see that face. So I'll just post the text of atrupar's posts and a link.

Aaron Rupar ‪@atrupar.com‬
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mknppxuqju2d

Q: In light of the SCOTUS ruling on the Voting Rights Act, do you want Republican states to look at redrawing congressional districts before the midterms?

TRUMP: When did it come out? I've been with contractors because we're trying to get the ballroom built ahead of schedule. Tell me what happened