Ukraine war briefing: Trump says he ‘didn’t
make any progress’ with Putin after call
Posted By: earlybird, 7/4/2025 6:19:14 PM
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”(snip)Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv that injured 14 and sparked multiple fires. Witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight into Friday as air defence units battled drones over the capital. Damage was recorded in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
person likes this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
person likes this.
person likes this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "earlybird"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
earlybird"
The camp director and co-owner of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, died in the catastrophic flooding as he reportedly raced to save the lives of his young campers.Dick Eastland, who purchased the camp in 1974, died after the wall of water crashed through the Christian summer camp, which is located along the banks of the Guadalupe River, Texas Public Radio reported.
The report cited a Facebook post from Eastland’s nephew, though the post has since been taken down.
Counselors, former campers and politicians who knew Eastland praised him for his heroic actions and ultimate sacrifice to save his campers.
Janice Mollet doesn’t know how many people come through the restored Valentine Diner at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma. But her friend and fellow museum volunteer Sharon Brown pointed to a box of hundreds of push pins sitting on a shelf near wall maps of the U.S. and the world.
Mollet and Brown greet every summer visitor to this obligatory stop along Route 66, the Mother Road, and they invite each visitor to put in a pin — not necessarily to mark where they’re from, but to mark how far they’ve come in search of America.
Elon Musk, the richest man with visions of grandeur, has announced the creation of a new political party, “The America Party”.(Tweet)With President Donald Trump capturing the overwhelming majority of middle-America within the new MAGA movement; essentially taking over the Republican party apparatus, I would consider that Musk’s assembly will likely be a collection of never-trumpers, alligator emojis and disgruntled former Republicans.
The impact is undetermined, but the assembly itself was entirely predictable.
Watch Larry Ellison.
When an Intransigent Resistance Meets
an Immovable Object – EU Trade Team
Accepting Baseline Tariffs 8 replies
an Immovable Object – EU Trade Team
Accepting Baseline Tariffs 8 replies
The intransigent European Union is hitting a dead end with immovable Trump on the issue of tariffs. The resulting dynamic is what we would expect given 75 years of the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan) as part of the EU’s only point of reference.In order for the EU to maintain its socialistic form of government, it needs to continue the economic benefits from one-way tariffs that exploits the American consumer market. President Trump’s plan to force reciprocity is against its entire economic foundation. The EU simply cannot fathom life without the status quo.
Protests in Portland, Oregon, on Friday opposing President Donald Trump and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency erupted in chaos, according to multiple reports.
Several people involved in the protests reportedly organized a “caravan” that went from an ICE facility located in “South Portland to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington,” according to KOIN 6 News.
Earlier in the day demonstrators involved in the “protests outside the Portland ICE facility” reportedly “clashed with federal officers,” according to the outlet.
Per the outlet:
The city of Kerrville and Kerr County provided another update following the fatal flash flooding that moved through the area Friday.As of 8:55 a.m. Saturday, officials said 27 people have been found dead. Of those, 18 were adults and nine were children. Six adults remain unidentified, as well as one child.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. said a fund has been set up by the Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country.
“People need to know today will be a hard day…it will be a hard day,” Herring said.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”(snip)Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv that injured 14 and sparked multiple fires. Witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight into Friday as air defence units battled drones over the capital. Damage was recorded in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts
The father of a 5-year-old girl who fell overboard from a Disney cruise ship off the coast of Florida did not lift her up onto the railing before the accident, authorities have said.
The “little girl was not being held, as erroneously reported on some social media sites,” the Broward County Sheriff’s Office told CBS News Miami on Tuesday, referring to speculation that the child’s father had lifted her up for a photo before she fell backwards and smacked into the ocean.(snip)A fellow passenger also came to the dad’s defense amid the speculation, insisting that a crew member told her that the little girl scaled the protective barrier.
The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a case that will determine whether transgender female student athletes can be prevented from joining girls and women’s sports teams at public schools.
The justices are set to hear challenges to laws in Idaho and West Virginia after lower court rulings in sided with transgender students who sued when they were blocked from competing.
“I am optimistic that after hearing the case, the Supreme Court will restore sanity to athletics and allow West Virginia to enforce its commonsense law that prevents boys from competing in girl’s sports,” Mountain State Gov. Patrick Morrisey fired off in an X post.
The House of Representatives has voted to advance President Donald Trump’s $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” to its final phase in Congress. After a long night of debate and amendment votes, the House is set to deliver the final vote this morning.
After it appeared to be derailed late Wednesday by hard-right holdouts, Republicans advanced the bill around 3:30 a.m. and are set to vote on final passage. During the all-nighter, GOP leaders kept the procedural vote open for almost six hours as they worked to flip 12 votes. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) was the lone Republican to vote “no” at the end.
Two firefighters were killed by a sniper in Idaho on the 24th anniversary of a local Neo-Nazi compound being burned by the fire department for a training exercise.
The ambush killer, named as Wess Roley, was found dead near his gun on Canfield Mountain outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on Sunday evening.
Further information about Roley - including his age, hometown and a possible motive - have not yet been shared. (snip)locals are questioning whether the incident may have been a revenge attack for the June 28 and 29 2001 burning of the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, just seven miles from Coeur d'Alene.
“Elbows up” and knees bent. As expected given the nature of their dependency, the Canadian government has rescinded the digital services tax against U.S. tech companies.The June 30th collection is halted and the Canadian government led by Mark Carney will be bringing legislation to rescind the tax entirely.
CANADA – […] Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, announced today that Canada would rescind the Digital Services Tax (DST) in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States. Consistent with this action, Prime Minister Carney and President Trump have agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Elon Musk, the richest man with visions of grandeur, has announced the creation of a new political party, “The America Party”.(Tweet)With President Donald Trump capturing the overwhelming majority of middle-America within the new MAGA movement; essentially taking over the Republican party apparatus, I would consider that Musk’s assembly will likely be a collection of never-trumpers, alligator emojis and disgruntled former Republicans.
The impact is undetermined, but the assembly itself was entirely predictable.
Watch Larry Ellison.
Carnage breaks out at Portland ICE detention
center as woke crowd tries to storm holding cells 27 replies
center as woke crowd tries to storm holding cells 27 replies
Chaos erupted at an ICE detention facility in Portland, Oregon after hundreds of protesters attempted to storm holding cells. Demonstrators were seen being tackled to the ground as officers deployed smoke bombs and tear gas to try and control the crowd yesterday.
Dramatic footage posted on X by independent journalist Katie Daviscourt shows flares lighting up the night sky, as protesters clash with officers in riot gear who appeared to fire rubber bullets into the crowd. The demonstration occurred on the 28th day that protesters have been occupying the ICE facility. The mayhem Friday broke out just hours after the President signed his so-called 'big, beautiful bill' into law
Tech CEO axes incredible progressive perk
after accusing his laziest employees of
abusing it 26 replies
after accusing his laziest employees of
abusing it 26 replies
A California tech CEO changed his company's paid time off (PTO) policy after he said his laziest employees were abusing it. Ryan Breslow, the founder of Bolt, announced on Tuesday that his San Francisco-based payment technology company would be axing unlimited PTO - a common perk in the industry.
But Breslow said the incentive wasn't working and that his top performers were more burnt out than ever, while his laziest were enjoying too much time on the beach. 'It sounds progressive, but it's totally broken,' he said of the policy in a LinkedIn post. 'This leads to A-performer burnout. B-performer luxuries. And feelings of unfairness across the board.
The tragic news out of Texas continues to get worse as the death toll from a flash flood has risen to 51, including at least 15 children. Over two dozen girls from a summer camp in the area remain unaccounted for, with the search-and-rescue effort continuing in the night. Sadly, the chances of finding more people alive diminish by the hour, and the situation is likely to become even more heartbreaking over the next few days.
Having younger children myself, I simply can't fathom what the impacted families are going through. My prayers are with them, and I can continue to hope
For failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, America is a pretty miserable place.
So on the Fourth of July, she offered the country her condolences, sort of:: This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.
But I love our country — and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation.
A local activist who handed out protective face shields to protesters last month during demonstrations against the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration raids was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday.
Alejandro Orellana, a 29-year-old member of the Boyle Heights-based community organization Centro CSO, faces charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting civil disorder, court records show.
According to the indictment, Orellana and at least two others drove around downtown L.A. in a pickup truck distributing Uvex Bionic face shields and other items to a crowd engaged in a protest near the federal building
A Big, Fat Liar
16 replies
Zohran Mamdani has admitted listing his race as “black” on a college admission form. He is not black—he is ethnically South Asian because, by his own admission, his ancestors all came from India. It is impossible to know what went through his head when Mamdani lied on his Columbia University admission form, but the most obvious reason for doing so would have been to give himself an advantage over other applicants. If that was the case, it was not just lying; it was cheating.
Lying on a college admission form is not a criminal offense, but most would say it is unethical.
Texas floods leave at least 51 dead, 27
girls missing as rescuers search devastated landscape 15 replies
girls missing as rescuers search devastated landscape 15 replies
Rescuers scoured a devastated central Texas landscape of mangled trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris Saturday in an increasingly bleak mission to locate survivors, including 27 girls who have not been seen since their camp was slammed with a wall of water in a historic flash flood.
The flooding in Kerr County killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight people died in nearby counties.
Authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond the children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.
A flight carrying eight men who had been held for weeks on a U.S. military base in Djibouti landed in South Sudan just before midnight Friday, officials said, bringing an end to a six-week legal battle that was resolved by an emergency intervention by the Supreme Court.
The U.S. military plane took off around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman. A picture shared by Homeland Security showed the men apparently aboard the airplane, handcuffed and shackled at their ankles, surrounded by uniformed personnel.
The Black Lives Matter hashtag and slogan was developed in 2013 in reaction to the (lawful self-defense) shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. The following year, 2014, the organization was formalized by self-avowed “trained Marxists” after the (lawful) police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
Those two shootings falsely were portrayed as racially motivated, while the facts (which we covered in exhaustive detail at the time) proved otherwise. Nonetheless the narrative was set and hating America and being American was necessary to be accepted into Democrat spaces. Even Bernie was not spared the wrath of BLM activists.
My first thought when reading about this was, what were these violent activists planning? Why were they wearing body armor and masks?
Here’s what happened: a police officer in Alvarado, Texas, responded to a report about a suspicious individual outside an ICE detention center in the late hours of the Fourth of July, according to authorities. When the officer tried to approach the suspect, an unknown number of assailants started shooting and the officer was struck in the neck.
Luckily, he was treated and released by a local hospital, but the incident is nonetheless disturbing:
The city of Kerrville and Kerr County provided another update following the fatal flash flooding that moved through the area Friday.As of 8:55 a.m. Saturday, officials said 27 people have been found dead. Of those, 18 were adults and nine were children. Six adults remain unidentified, as well as one child.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. said a fund has been set up by the Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country.
“People need to know today will be a hard day…it will be a hard day,” Herring said.