Ukraine

So Manly, Macho Ukraine President Fighting Wars And Befriending Americans Is NOT The Future Wingnuts Want?

It's all terribly confusing.

I don't know about you kids, but I started tearing up just a few minutes into Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy's speech to a joint session of Congress last night, as he said his thank yous to everyone gathered in the House chamber. When he addressed the "representatives of [the Ukrainian] diaspora" on hand for the speech, and I thought of the millions of refugees who have fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Yeah, I cry at nearly everything. But I was also impressed to see members of the House and Senate give a standing ovation to the 30 or so Ukrainians gathered in the gallery. Solidarity is pretty good. We should try it more often, huh?

Zelenskyy was in Washington yesterday on his first trip since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. That's a measure of how important the visit was: It simply hasn't been safe for Zelenskyy to be outside his own country, where he was targeted for assassination in the first week of the invasion. Yep, that's the guy Tucker Carlson and other MAGA Chuds have been griping about, because they are whiners who hate America and democracy.

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The Ukrainian president came to meet with President Biden and to address Congress, to remind us that his country is still fighting for survival against the Russian invasion forces — and to point out that his country is "skill alive and kicking," contrary to all predictions. To have any hope of expelling the Russian invaders, Ukraine needs advanced US weapons systems, and yesterday Biden announced that the US will provide Ukraine for the first time with Patriot missiles, which can take down Russian missiles aimed at Ukraine.

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Environment

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Votes With The Fishes

Some really good ocean stuff going into the defense bill!

Yr Editrix assigned me to look into this press release from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island Not Maine, Dok, jeez), touting "Major ocean policy wins in the NDAA," and by golly, it definitely sounds like there are indeed some very good policy items for the watery part of the world in there. OK, there's your Melville reference, nerds!

The annual National Defense Authorization Act is one of those must-pass bills that Congress is trying to get finished before Republicans take over the House, so it's a good place to toss in a lot of legislation that gets stuff done as long as you can credibly say it's related to defense and national security. That certainly applies to Whitehouse's offerings, which are aimed at doing a bunch of needed science stuff in the oceans, including beefing up ocean mapping and monitoring by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which may not sound terribly sexy but is vital for gathering data on climate change, among other science facts.

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police

San Francisco Hits Pause Button On Killer Robots ... FOR NOW

Click on this story. You have 30 seconds to comply.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to reverse its week-old policy that would have allowed police to use robots for deadly force, following widespread protest and mockery of the idea both locally and nationwide. The supervisors voted unanimously to instead ban the deadly use of robots, but also sent the matter to a committee to study it further and make recommendations. So at some point in the not-too-distant future (next Sunday AD), it's possible that killer robots may yet see limited use, like in special circumstances where police really wanna.

The Associated Press notes that when the Board voted last week to allow lethal use of robots in "extreme circumstances," the city's police department made clear the robots would not be armed with guns, so look at our main image up there just lying to you. Instead, in situations where lives are at risk, cops wanted to have the ability to have robots use explosives to "contact, incapacitate or disorient dangerous or armed suspects."

Read Morre, Hu-Mon ! Dallas Probably Doesn't Signal Rise Of Police Death Robots. At Least Not Yet. Probably.

That's how the first known deadly use of a police robot occurred back in 2016, as we covered in Wonkette at the time: Dallas police used a bomb squad robot to detonate an explosive charge near a sniper who had already shot and killed five officers. In an earlier, non-lethal case, a police bot in New Mexico was used to deliver chemical irritants that helped flush out an armed suspect barricaded in a hotel room.

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Class War

House Passes Veterans Food Security Act, No Thanks To Some Troops-Hating Republicans​

49 Republicans actually voted against a bill meant to ensure veterans can eat.

According to a study conducted by the USDA, veterans in the United States have a 7.4 percent greater chance of experiencing food insecurity than do non-veterans. If they are disabled, this number triples to 22.5 percent.

That seems like it should not be a thing. Then again, some might say that nearly 40,000 unhoused veterans should not be a thing either. (Or hungry, unhoused people in general, regardless of their veteran status)

New Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, fresh off of beating one Sarah Palin in a special election, also thought it was kind of messed up that veterans were going hungry and decided to do something about it, by making the first bill she introduced the Food Security for All Veterans Act. The act will establish an an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs that would be responsible for developing initiatives meant to address food insecurity among veterans, as well as providing information and assistance in enrolling in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federal programs designed to address hunger.

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