Atrocities in Bucha, Ukraine, appear 'premeditated,' 'deliberate': senior US defense official

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bucha-ukraine-atrocities-appear-premeditated-deliberate-us-defense-official

Russia prompted global outcry this week after the bodies of hundreds of civilians were found on the streets and in mass graves in Bucha.

More than 400 civilians are believed to have been killed by Russian troops in what the U.S., Ukraine and NATO have deemed evidence of war crimes.

Russia said last week that as part of the negotiating process it would withdraw troops from the capital city of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to "increase mutual trust."

Ukraine activists say they ID’d ‘Butcher of Bucha’ commander leading ‘genocide’

 https://nypost.com/2022/04/05/ukraine-activists-say-they-idd-azatbek-omurbekov-as-butcher-of-bucha/

“This is what the SS troops used to do in the past,” he said. “This evil simply cannot go unpunished. Our intelligence is consistently identifying all invaders and killers. All of them! And each killer will at his own time get what he deserves.”

Despite mounting evidence, Russia continued on Tuesday to deny the massacre, accusing Ukraine of staging the scenes as propaganda to escalate opposition to invading forces.

The Kremlin initially claimed it could not have been Russian forces because they had left Bucha at the end of last month.

However, satellite images released Tuesday showed bodies clearly strewn in the streets as early as March 18, when Russian forces were still there — and meaning some have been there for weeks.

Many of the dead still remain in black bags in 45-foot-long trenches dug as mass graves.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's ugly accusation points to a dangerous trend in the GOP

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/05/opinions/marjorie-taylor-greene-smear-kbj-filipovic/index.html

Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene is no stranger to outlandish, offensive and frankly bizarre behavior. And on Monday, she did it again, tweeting, "Murkowski, Collins, and Romney are pro-pedophile" because "they just voted for #KBJ" -- a reference to Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal judge set to become the next Supreme Court justice, and three moderate Republican senators who say they will vote to confirm her.

Of course, this is nonsense. Jackson is not soft on pedophiles, and her record is not out of line with the rest of the federal judiciary -- a point reinforced by a group of retired federal judges, two of whom were Republican appointees. The accusations that Jackson is somehow soft on pedophiles are so spurious that even a writer in the conservative National Review condemned them as a meritless smear.

‘Poorly trained actors’: how Russia’s state media twists revelations of atrocities

 https://www.ft.com/content/9d58d7b1-ceb3-429d-b952-3e7da76aace3

Its top TV hosts told Russian viewers there was “no evidence of victims” in Bucha. They accused Ukraine of colluding with western media to stage “provocations” by hiring “poorly trained actors” to play victims or “cynically collecting bodies” to dump in the street for the cameras.

Sarah Lawrence College sex cult leader Lawrence Ray found guilty on all counts

 https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-jury-finds-lawrence-ray-guilty-sarah-lawrence-sex-cult-trial-20220406-4ieb5doxpvgmpnddayb66cqsv4-story.html

It took the panel roughly a half-day to convict Ray, 62, of racketeering conspiracy for his 10-year reign atop “The Ray Family,” preying on the vulnerable young friends of his daughter Talia at the bucolic Bronxville college. Testimony and evidence, including videos filmed by Ray himself, showed he systematically broke down down his victims until he controlled every aspect of their lives.

GOP laying early plans for its own Hunter Biden probes

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/06/gop-early-plans-hunter-biden-probes-00023230

“Hunter Biden has never been in office and isn’t seeking office. Donald Trump led a failed coup against his government,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees. “The Republicans are obsessed with investigating Hunter Biden and have no interest in guarding against another Trump coup.”

Study: Fourth vaccine dose improves protection by a factor of about 3

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/325294

A new study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined the effectiveness of the fourth dose based on data of over one million people aged 60 or older who were eligible for the vaccine, in the period between January 10 and March 2.

The study found that the rate of severe disease among people who received the fourth dose was lower by a factor of about three compared to people who only received three vaccine doses, and that this protection did not wane throughout the study period.

The rate of confirmed infection in those receiving the fourth dose was lower by a factor of about two compared to people who only received three doses, but this protection waned throughout the eight-week study period.

Adam Kinzinger Slams GOP for Focusing on Disney Amid 'Genocide' in Ukraine

 https://www.newsweek.com/adam-kinzinger-slams-gop-focusing-disney-ukraine-genocide-1695275

Representative Adam Kinzinger slammed the Republican Party for focusing on the recent Disney controversies rather than addressing their members who have "shown Putin sympathy" amid the war in Ukraine, accusing the GOP of distracting voters by riling them up for the midterm elections.

"The world order is being challenged for the first time since World War II and [the Republican Party is] sitting around today thinking about how we can win our next election, what the newest outrage is, what's the next thing we can do to get people angry and upset and get their money from them for our re-election," Kinzinger said in a video shared to social media on Tuesday.

Top US general: Potential for 'significant international conflict' is increasing

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/05/politics/mark-milley-ukraine-reaction-international-conflict/index.html

"Candidly, short of the commitment of US military forces into Ukraine proper, I'm not sure he was deterrable. This has been a long-term objective of his that goes back years," Milley said. "I think the idea of deterring Putin from invading Ukraine, deterring him by the United States, would have required the commitment of US military forces, and I think that would have risked armed conflict with Russia, which I certainly wouldn't have advised."

Ex-Russian oligarch says Putin only responds to force

Neville Chamberlain

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain

Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July 1940, which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the thirty-year rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in 1938 would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared. Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British prime ministers.[1]

Joe Biden Is Calling for Regime Change in Russia and This Time It Isn't A Gaffe

 https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-calling-regime-change-russia-this-time-it-isnt-gaffe-1694867

When President Joe Biden told the world from Warsaw on March 26 that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," the White House quickly sought to downplay the U.S. leader's remarks, noting that Biden's remarks were not a call for "regime change" in Moscow.

But Biden then told reporters he was "not walking back anything," and that his words were an expression of his "moral outrage" at the atrocities he believed a man he's branded a "war criminal" has been responsible for throughout the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The president doubled down on these accusations on Monday, after images emerged purporting to show massacres committed by withdrawing Russian troops in the Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Trostyanets. Russia has denied committing atrocities.

"You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal," Biden told reporters on the White House lawn. "You saw what happened in Bucha...he is a war criminal."

Trump 'Loved to Gossip' With Ginni Thomas About Who Was Disloyal: Grisham

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-loved-gossip-ginni-thomas-about-who-was-disloyal-grisham-1694487

Many commentators and analysts have described Trump's "Make America Great Again" or "MAGA" movement as "a cult."

"Sadly, the people who helped deprogram Ginni were also apparently involved in right-wing causes. As is the case with SO many former members, she was overly susceptible and went from one cult to another (The Cult of Trump)," Hassan assessed in his Twitter thread.

What we know about what happened in Ukraine’s Bucha

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-we-know-about-what-happened-in-ukraines-bucha/

The images from Bucha have led to a global outcry.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the sight of multiple civilian bodies in Bucha was a “punch to the gut”.

The UK said the “appalling acts” must be investigated as war crimes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the images were “unbearable” and that Russian authorities “must answer for these crimes.”

Germany has said the civilian deaths in Bucha are a “terrible war crime” that “cannot go unanswered” and called for fresh sanctions on Moscow.