egbaka.bsky.social

2025 was a year where personally I went through loss of a beloved family member and I got to welcome in a new family member. In April our beloved Eddie passed away from heart failure. I grieved him every day. But in September we were able to welcome Yeon-ja in our family and home. She is so blessed.

Average US gasoline prices under Trump have surpassed the Biden-era average, adding pressure on Republicans ahead of the midterms.

NEW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his willingness for a complete or partial ceasefire, including moratoriums on strikes against energy infrastructure or the Black Sea, but the Kremlin continues to reject a ceasefire. Read more: https://isw.pub/UkrWar102626

4/ The Kremlin is likely actively seeking economic cooperation with the United States as Russia faces significant financial strain.

3/ Russian forces are not winning on the battlefield, however, particularly as Ukrainian forces have stymied the planned Russian offensive to seize Donetsk Oblast.

2/ The Kremlin is fundamentally only interested in buying time to resolve the war on the battlefield while Russia simultaneously reaps the benefits of economic cooperation with the United States.

NEW: The Kremlin's seeming interest in negotiations aims not to end the war in Ukraine but rather to secure economic concessions from the United States such that Russia can continue funding its war. 🧵(1/8) Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar102226

My government has shown time and again how inept and incompetent they are. They were obviously that stupid to believe that going easy on the aggressor would incentivize them to get serious on negotiations. The whole White House and administration are seriously way in over their heads.

🇺🇸 Democrats are preparing to investigate Elon Musk if they win control of the House in November, - POLITICO Potential probes would focus on his DOGE leadership, federal job cuts, alleged data breaches, government contracts, and Starlink’s role in 🇺🇦Ukraine.

"There must be additional pressure on Russia so that Russia stops this war," Denys Sienik says. "Any message that Putin will receive that sanctions may be lifted or restrictions may be lifted or there will be less pressure on Russia. That will incentivize his attacks" https://to.pbs.org/4zIl6qW

The reason is because they know this is an awful deal that prolongs the war, hurts American interests and badly damages our credibility and reliability as a partner of democratic countries.

1. Not clear how much is being supplied under PURL anyway. 2. This threat is a great way to ruin US defence sales prospects in Europe.

Trump is so shitty at dealmaking. He does what he only knows best: deflect the blame and responsibility on his own screw ups onto someone else.

4/ Negotiations to secure the durable and lasting peace that US President Donald Trump has said he aims for cannot be based on Russian lies. They can only be based on the actual realities of the battlefield and the real trajectory of the war, which does not favor Russia.

3/ The pervasive culture of lying within the Russian armed forces paradoxically both damages Russian forces’ ability to fight effectively and supports exaggerated Kremlin claims that Putin weaponizes to enhance Russia’s negotiation position.

2/ The Ukrainian military demonstrated, and a Kremlin-affiliated milblogger acknowledged, the falsity of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s more outrageous claims of fictitious Russian gains in Donetsk Oblast.

NEW: Negotiations to secure the durable and lasting peace that US President Donald Trump has said he aims for cannot be based on Russian lies. They can only be based on the actual realities of the battlefield and the real trajectory of the war. (1/6) Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar090726

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, 090226: Putin continues to exaggerate Russian forces’ battlefield performance to assert that Russian military victory in Ukraine is inevitable. These claims continue to be divorced from the battlefield reality. Read the report: isw.pub/UkrWar090226 (1/7)

And what do we get? Morons Are Governing America

Russians have almost daily been targeting civilians for the last four and a half years. They have not pressured their leadership from these strikes. Ukrainian’s hatred towards their enemy has only intensified with each and every attack on their civilian populations.

McConnell, in my opinion was solely responsible for Trump's political comeback. Had he decided to convict Trump in 2021, other Republicans would have followed, possibly getting 67 votes. Then the DoJ under Biden would've had more will to go after him, and Trump's career would be finished.

Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York. @apnews.com apnews.com/article/iran...

Doesn't surprise me at all. Both are war criminals. Both are murderers. Both just want to hold onto power at all costs, even at the expense of their own citizens. Both of them are one in the same.

2 US troops killed, 1 missing after Iranian missile, drone attack in Jordan www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/... Had we not gone to war, this tragedy never would've happened.

What separates a democracy from a monarchy and dictatorship is the fundamental right to vote. Lose that, and you lose everything. Donald Trump is telling us right now that he'll do anything to hold onto power.

Just a delusional old man speaking shit, because there's no difference between his ass and his mouth. Nothing but shit comes out on both ends.

The worst thing Zelenskyy and his team have done in the Fedorov resignation saga is give the public a reason to turn against Klymenko, who oversees the National Guard and whose forces are fighting effectively. This is how the government’s political games end up hurting the military.

❗️“It is impossible to resolve the issue of mobilization without a new social contract and without real changes in the military,” — Minister of Defense of Ukraine Fedorov.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Neither al-Shabab nor the ISIS affiliate in Somalia has demonstrated the reach needed to pose a significant danger to the US, the Defense Priorities think tank said. www.stripes.com/theaters/afr...

Quite shocked by Zelensky’s decision. Fedorov’s removal feels like Ukraine just threw away one of the few reforms that was visibly working. He expanded drones, tightened procurement, challenged corruption, and pushed deep strikes. Replacing him now, with no clear public case, is a terrible look.

I would like to publicly state that I think it is a terrible decision by President Zelensky to fire Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The reforms implemented by Fedorov have been revolutionary in this war. His dismissal and the halting of his reforms will only weaken the Ukrainian military.

I thought the same thing. I thought that thanks to Trump, this was going to be the new normal in our politics.

Most of America missed this. And most of the media did too. www.stripes.com/branches/nav... Every war has a human cost. And the cost of Trump’s war has taken the life of another brave American.

lol

Eric, not trying to ding on you or anyone else in the media or Democratic circles, but I'm old enough to recall how much everyone was talking about the "disaster" that was Joe Biden's debate performance. This debacle with Graham Platner is much, much better than what happened to Biden two years ago.

Congratulations on your win. You had my vote in the primary and again for the general election.

That’s gonna require repealing the 14th amendment, which will require supermajorities in both Houses of Congress and 3/4 of states to sign on. Good luck with that.

Oh

Heckuva job, @colorado.gov

“.. Even if the conflict were to be resolved today,” he said, effects would hit the food system “well into late summer and the fall,” or even 2027 .. @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Western media reported on May 28 that US and Iranian negotiators have reached a 60-day memorandum of understanding (MoU), but the US and Iranian leaders who must approve the agreement have not approved the “agreement” at this time More:isw.pub/IranUpdate05... Other Key Takeaways:

If this reporting by Al Jazeera is correct, it will be the near total surrender of the United States in the Persian theater Trump killed some old men, blew up a school, and gave Iran total control over the Strait of Hormuz, while also welding together Oman and Iran's financial interests in the Gulf

NEW: The Colorado Democratic Party has formally condemned and censured Governor Jared Polis for granting clemency to Tina Peters. Polis is hereby banned from speaking or being honored at party events. 90% of CDP central committee members voted to reprimand Polis.

I served on the Mason. I pray for the safety of our sailors.

President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials.

ICYMI: Two U.S. Navy destroyers reportedly repelled a barrage of coordinated Iranian air and surface attacks this week to safely cross the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. From Stars and Stripes' Alison Bath: