Zelensky says Trump betrayed Ukraine with Russian diesel deal: ‘It’s painful’
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warned President Trump Wednesday that he had chosen “the wrong side” by agreeing to import diesel fuel from Russia.
https://nypost.com/2026/10/14/us-news/zelensky-says-trump-betrayed-ukraine-with-russian-diesel-deal/
Hegseth's depraved indifference to human life shown also by his ordered killings & public executions may cause considerable moral dilemmas for U.S. military service members, that might harm their readiness to execute their professional duties.
https://www.justsecurity.org/160292/moral-cost-killing-on-command/
The US midterms are 3 weeks away and election misinformation is already spreading. As of Oct. 13, NewsGuard has debunked 25 viral false claims about the midterms, appearing across 268 websites and accounts.
https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/2026-elections-misinformation-tracker/ Massive concentrated wealth is driving uneven spending in the midterms. Elon Musk owns and profits from X, where disinformation goes viral. He has ploughed $276 MILLION into the midterms since July
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/us/politics/elon-musk-midterms.html
I wonder whether Westminster and Whitehall will ever realise or at least be prepared to recognise) that they are being made to look like fools? (Or Fules c/o A. Molewsworth)
Beware of anti-woke campaigners’ attack playbook Typical moves include cherry-picking evidence, selectively targeting minorities and coordinating harassment, say Sander van der Linden and Alan Jagolinzer https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/beware-anti-woke-campaigners-attack-playbook
The Trump regime's fascistic targeting of Rep. Omar "was meant to make the president seem strong and appease the racist impulses of his base as his party faces down what is expected to be a trouncing in November’s midterm elections."
And, he's just a bad person.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/14/ilhan-omar-raid-dangerous-opinion
Just had a 5:30pm surprise CBC interview about leap seconds: https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/13/science/leap-second-elimination-time-standard
I didn't really have much of an opinion on leap seconds until I talked through it with the journalist. But wow, leap seconds are such a bad idea! What a silly way to get our timekeeping to work with the imperfect, constantly changing orbital system we live in.
RE: https://mastodon.social/@tusk81/117441871056195090
"If there’s a 'fraud' that Trump and his cronies see in Omar, it might not be a literal immigration violation, as they claim, but something more abstract and spiritual. The 'fraud' to them, is in Omar’s claim to the dignity of equal citizenship; in the idea that a woman, born in Somalia, might be as equally and powerfully American as they are."
"Maternity wards across the #UnitedStates are facing a wave of closures as cuts to federal #Medicaid funding take effect...
52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill [Trump's Big Beautiful Bill] was announced in July 2025, with a further eight having announced their upcoming closure.
The bill, which will fully come into effect in the new year, will result in ... less federal funding for states for Medicaid."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/medicaid-cuts-maternity-wards
Elon Musk has suggested that the US government may be behind restrictions on the speed at which some of Ukraine's weapons can travel and stay connected to SpaceX's Starlink internet network.
Starlink is a vital tool allowing Kyiv to guide drones to Russian targets and also protect its own skies,
but on Tuesday night Ukraine said unexpected new speed limits were disrupting its battlefield missions.
An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed the restrictions were not a coincidence
and were related to the latest strains between Kyiv and Washington.
Musk said that Starshield,
the military-grade sister service to Starlink,
is controlled by the US government, and
"any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately [the US president]".
Musk - writing on X - had been responding to pleas from Ukrainian officials to restore connectivity,
including from Zelensky
who told UK media:
"I hope that it's a mistake, maybe [a] huge technical problem. I don't know, but we are asking to... switch [it] on."
Starlink, which is owned by Musk's SpaceX, restricted speed limits on Tuesday night to 100mph (160km/h), meaning any weapons that travelled faster than that lost connectivity to the network.
It had been partially restored by Wednesday evening, Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
"Removing Starshield's speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine's defense," he wrote on X, thanking Elon Musk and asking for his "continued support".
About an hour later, Musk replied to that post, defending his company's involvement.
"Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," he wrote.
Musk added that Starlink is for "civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8wy9veedgygo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
People in County #Sligo got bored of the old downwards type of #waterfall.
So they made Sruth in Aghaidh An Aird, also known as the #DevilsChimney.
Video by Damien J. Kennedy photography.
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Trump has backed out of a scheduled deposition for his defamation case against the BBC, which is trying to compel Trump to sit for a court-ordered interview.
Our #GaslighterInChief insists "we now control the #StraitOfHormuz."
Meanwhile, in the real world, #Iran has been sinking cargo ships every day for nearly 3 weeks.
ANOTHER CO-AUTHOR PAPER ACCEPTED DANCE!!!
Damn, 2 in one week!
I said in my speech to conference, the @RNLI are the best of us.
For those lucky enough to have parents volunteering with RNLI, I hope they feel nothing but pride in their parents.
What's going on? Why did Charlie3's ceremonial guard of tossers in silly hats go to #DowningStreet?
Ah! Cos #AndyBurnham was doing the compulsory bromance with yer man #Zelensky, so Andy thought he would upstage the previous 4 previous Brit PMs who've hugged shorty, by turning himself into half-monarch.
Charlie''s mum would never have allowed it. "There is only one monarch, Mr #Burnham. And it's not you."
I took this picture of Summer early this morning.
She was sitting on her perch.
The highest point on our property.
My husband cleared a flat to build the house fifty years ago. He pushed the dirt towards the road and left the pile there because he liked the privacy it provided.
Later we added a fence to keep out our wandering, famous artist neighbor, who shamelessly helped himself to most of my flowers every day as he let his dogs poop on our grass. When asking him nicely to stop didn't work we built a fence.
Now Summer thinks she is the queen of all that she sees. I keep telling her that she doesn't rule the neighborhood to no avail. She still barks at the artist as he walks by.
When I looked at this photo and she looked like she was glowing I started to wonder if she's right and I'm wrong.
Happy Wednesday Mastodon friends.
#Summer #DogsOfMastodon
RT: @NathanJRobinson astonishingly, the UK under a Labour government actually has a worse free speech situation for Palestine activists than the US does under Trump
#BBCNews - Russell Brand was a 'sexual predator', prosecution alleges as rape trial begins
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3qjn45pepx1o
So has the Tangerine Tyrant asked Elon Musk to disrupt Ukraine's drone force reliance on (Musk's) Starlink?
To be frank it would not be surprise at all as Trump has been vocal about Volodymyr Zelenskyy (essentially) just not going what Trump wants him to do, by coming to an agreement with Russia.