Last Commented News Blogs (3,095)

The shortlist had people like Elon Musk, Xi Jinping, The Supreme Court, Liz Cheney, Volodymyr Zelensky, MacKenzie Scott, Protesters in Iran , Ron DeSantis , and Janet Yellen.

Glad Liz Cheney wasn't selected as Time's 2022 person of the year!

Viktor Bout, one of the world's most infamous arms dealers, has been released from US custody as part of a prisoner exchange with US basketball star Brittney Griner.

Griner had been in custody since February after Moscow airport officials found cannabis oil in her luggage while she was returning to the US after playing in Russia.

Rumours had circulated in US media for months that senior state department officials had sought to secure Griner's release in exchange for the arms dealer's freedom.

So notorious are the exploits of the former Soviet air force officer that they inspired a Hollywood film, and garnered him an impressively fearsome nickname.

But who is the man known as the Merchant of Death?

Bout was extradited from Thailand to the US in 2010, after a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) two years earlier.

Agents from the DEA posed as potential buyers from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as Farc. That group - which has since disbanded - was classified as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

Bout claimed he was simply an entrepreneur with a legitimate international transport business, wrongly accused of trying to arm South American rebels - the victims of US political machinations.

But a jury in New York didn't believe his story.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2012 after being found guilty of conspiracy to kill Americans and US officials, delivering anti-aircraft missiles and aiding a terrorist organization.

His three-week trial heard that Bout had been told the weapons would be used to kill US pilots working with Colombian officials. Prosecutors said he replied: "We have the same enemy."

Bout - a Russian national born in Soviet-ruled Tajikistan - began his career in air transport in the early 1990s, after the fall of the USSR.

According to a 2007 book - Merchant of Death, by security experts Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun - Bout built up his business using military planes left on the airfields of the collapsing Soviet empire in the early 1990s.

I'm glad that Brittney is free, but the swap was terribly one sided.

It's still hurricane season in Trump world. He appears in the news several times a day. The Mar-a-Lago government documents saga isn't going well for him and it appears the Department of Justice will prevail.
The tax fraud issue isn't going well. He knew about every facet of the Trump Organization and signed all the checks. His attorneys aren't able to prove otherwise.

What else?
Claiming freedom of speech on the TRUTH social media platform has it's limits that he isn't aware of. Trump used his site to attack the woman who accused him of rape in a Manhattan department store. She files a defamation suit, he denounced her claim.
Trump's lawyers tried to argue what he said as president was protected from legal action. He's a private citizen now and has no such privilege.
George Conway Tweeted about this as the defense he's been pushing for years is no longer there.

What else?
Calling for the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution and his continued efforts to throw out the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Your weekly dose of Donald... Post Black Friday Edition!

As you know, years ago, Trump had issues with social media having been banned from Twitter and Facebook. He couldn't comply with their terms of use and complained when his posts were deleted. To him (and others that followed him) it was censorship.
It was then I blogged and stated, if he cannot comply with their rules, he should form his own social media group.
After months of preparation, programming delays and other legal matters that had to be completed, he released a new social media platform called TRUTH. Millions flocked to it on it's initial release... only if you had an iPhone as it didn't support other operating systems. What the user got was a Twitter clone direct to the mouth of Trump. Not a good start. Like any new venture, it had issues with financing and programming glitches where it was reportedly on the verge of collapse. What could go wrong?
Well... Elon Muck decided to buy Twitter and that was a roller coaster ride long before the start. Many of the profiles were bots and not real members. That was one issue of many. His talk about reinstating Trump's account had conservatives in 'happy mode' like the good old days. It appeared his firing greater than half of his staff, losing his advertisers had already put a knife to his neck and a gun aimed at his feet. I'm thinking financial suicide. How could someone with so much business savvy make so many mistakes?
Now, there's talk that Twitter is reinstating Trump's profile. Elon did a poll asking members if they wanted Trump back and more than 50% said yes. Not overwhelming... probably because many who would have voted no had already abandoned Twitter.

Can 'one' serve two masters?
If Trumps account with Twitter gets restored, there's a really good chance he would abandon TRUTH giving it a 'kiss of death' and that would be the truth about TRUTH.

CHRISTINE MCVIE DEAD AT 79.

A statement from Christine's family released reads, "She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning, Wednesday, November 30th 2022, following a short illness. She was in the company of her family. We kindly ask that you respect the family’s privacy at this extremely painful time, and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally."

FASCINATING VIDEO ON FINLAND'S STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL ROLE IN UKRAINE'S WAR.

A baker in the English town of Guisborough, pop. 17k or thereabouts, is reviving an ancient tradition to help his neighbors endure high energy costs.

Thousands of years ago, societies built one oven in town where everyone went to bake their bread, and now Ed Hamilton-Trewhitt from Brickyard Bakery is offering to bake Christmas cakes for anyone worried about the energy costs of turning on the oven for several hours.

“At this time of year, there can be no greater expression of love than baking the family Christmas cake, but that is being lost because of the prohibitive energy costs in running an oven for a few hours,” said Baker Ed. “At Brickyard, we want to help by reviving a tradition lost to our community for centuries, the community oven.” Anyone who has already prepared a cake can bring it to Brickyard Bakery on a Friday, and retrieve it baked and decorated the following Monday.

This is not Hamilton-Trewhitt’s first foray into good-deeding, as earlier in September, he realized the excess heat from his ovens could be used to create a community “warm lounge” for people without the means to heat their home continuously throughout the day.

This small act of kindness brought the village baker international acclaim, as he reported on his Facebook. He has also been offering pay-what-you-want cooking classes, which he described as “a tremendous success with lots of folk enjoying learning how to cook some cost effective tasty meals,” and some free hot tea or coffee to boot.

Local Sharon Bulmer remembered the tradition which Ed is trying to revive, commenting: “After the Baker had made his bread he allowed locals to bring their dishes to be cooked in the oven. Probably why we have so many casseroles etc.” “What an amazing thing to do, it used to be a way of live for families struggling when the cotton Mills and factories and coal mines were at their height. What an amazing thing to do, to give back to your customers and community. May your kindness be rewarded.”


Yummy-looking cake, Heartwarming story!

Nov 28, 2022
At this time, lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities. Winds may carry volcanic gas and possibly fine ash.

Reported this morning, Academy Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter and producer, Irene Cara passed away in her Florida home. Her cause of death is currently unknown...

She was 63 years old.