DL Open Thread: Sunday, October 2, 2022

Russia, Or Rather, Putin, Is Losing:

Lyman, a key supply hub in eastern Ukraine, has been “fully cleared” of Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, as Western countries cast troops’ withdrawal as a strategic victory that could undermine Russia’s effort to control the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed it annexed after staged referendums, in violation of international law and despite widespread global criticism.

One concern, though…:

President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of the annexation of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine signals the onset of a new and highly dangerous phase in the seven-month old war, one that Western officials and analysts fear could escalate to the use of nuclear weapons for the first time in 77 years.

Putin has previously threatened to resort to nuclear weapons if Russia’s goals in Ukraine continue to be thwarted. The annexation brings the use of a nuclear weapon a step closer by giving Putin a potential justification on the grounds that “the territorial integrity of our country is threatened,” as he put it in his speech last week.

Somebody needs to take him out.

Facebook, aka Meta, In Death Spiral?:

Facebook’s business was built on network effects — users brought their friends and family members, who told their colleagues, who invited their buddies. Suddenly everyone was convening in one place. Advertisers followed, and the company’s ensuing profits — and they were plentiful — provided the capital to recruit the best and brightest engineers to keep the cycle going.

But in 2022, the cycle has reversed. Users are jumping ship and advertisers are reducing their spending, leaving Meta poised to report its second straight drop in quarterly revenue. Businesses are removing Facebook’s once-ubiquitous social login button from their websites. Recruiting is an emerging challenge, especially as founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg spends much of his time proselytizing the metaverse, which may be the company’s future but accounts for virtually none of its near-term revenue and is costing billions of dollars a year to build.

Of course, a new, even more evil, megaforce will inevitably emerge to threaten us all.  Still, one shouldn’t submerge a certain soupcon (I’d like to dedicate this word to Al) of satisfaction at Zuckerberg’s fate.  This is a real good, and detailed, article.  And it costs nothing to read.  So, read it.

Why Did The Navy Go After Ryan Mays For Setting Fire To A Ship He Didn’t Set Fire To?:

On July 12, 2020, the Bonhomme Richard was moored at a San Diego Navy base and undergoing a major overhaul. That morning, an area of the ship known as the “lower V” caught fire, and the blaze quickly spread throughout the vessel. The warship was lost and had to be decommissioned.

A ProPublica investigation into Mays’ case found there was little to connect him to the fire. There was no physical evidence that Mays — or anyone — purposefully set the fire. The Navy had one witness who placed Mays at the scene shortly before the fire but whose story changed over time.

The criminal investigation into Mays also stood at odds with another Navy inquiry into the fire, which found that 34 people, including five admirals, either directly led to the loss of the ship or contributed to it. That investigation uncovered a litany of failures that put the ship at risk for a catastrophic fire, including poor training, insufficient oversight and dangerous storage of hazardous materials. Additionally, 87% of the ship’s fire stations were out of order.

A cynic might suggest that the Navy was looking for a scapegoat and that they weren’t about to court-martial five admirals.  Of course, not being a cynic, I’d have no way of knowing if this was what a cynic might suggest.

Those Two Texas Bullet-Heads Who Used Migrants For Target Practice? Gov. Abbott Blames–Biden:

In a statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott’s office called the shooting a “terrible tragedy” and said “violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Texas,” but also tied the shooting to the president’s border policies.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety immediately deployed troopers to lead the manhunt and assist the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and local law enforcement in bringing these criminals to justice,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said.

Eze also described the shooting as “just another example of how President Biden’s open border policies continue endangering lives.”

“It’s time for President Biden to do his job and stop this humanitarian crisis by securing our southern border,” she said.

That’ll send a message to like-minded Texas bullet-heads.

Missing a sense of foreboding this morning?  Here,  let me post a preview of the upcoming Supreme Court term. 

Amazon Closing Warehouses. Claims Delaware Won’t Be Impacted.  Right. As long as taxpayers continue to dole out extortion money to arguably the Worst Employer In The United States:

By email, the company said it has no current plans to alter its “operational footprint” in Delaware which includes fulfillment centers in Wilmington, New Castle, and Middletown, a Prime Now fulfillment center in New Castle, and delivery stations in Seaford and Wilmington.

Amazon declined to comment on a new warehouse facility near Delaware City near Bear-Corbitt Road (Route 7) other than to say it’s not operational. (Oh, really?) The company wouldn’t give an approximate opening date or an estimate for how many employees would work there.

Sometimes, I ponder a headline.  Like this one from WDEL: ‘Delaware Flu Season Officially Begins Sunday’.  Is this when the Governor officially notifies The Flu that it’s OK to infect Delawareans? Were any cases of the flu that people got before Sunday not officially the flu?  I mean, when did The Flu suddenly acquire the status of, say, the Delaware State Fair? ‘Steve, Steve, it’s time to step back from the keyboard.’

Ho-kay.  I’ve been flagged.

What do you want to talk about?