Meanwhile, at the Chinese Communist Party Congress:

The Jan 6 Oath keepers trial

I've been following it on twitter. I guess it's about half way through the state's case. This guy is a good one to follow, very detailed about testimony:

https://twitter.com/rparloff/status/1583085677041754113

To be frank, I'm not sure the case is going all that great for the government or at least it's not unfolding the way I thought it might.
The OK doesn't seem to have any contact with people in TFG's office that I have heard. They went to DC in hopes trump would declare martial law, which he never did, and were upset that he didn't. The first and only cooperating witness so far (there will be others) said he was surprised to hear people entered the capital. There wasn't any evidence of a plan in advance to storm the capital. No evidence that the OK took the lead in the initial assault. A lot of evidence of communications but not too much about specific plans. That's my take anyway
Still we're only half way thru. More to come.

Ukraine is using M30A1 shells.

I mentioned this a week or two ago. It is a shell that explodes in the air maybe 20 or 30 feet above a target. It unleashes 200000 tungsten steel fragments that rain death on the fixed infantry positions the shell is aimed at.
I don't post violent videos usually but here's a drone video of the M30A1 in action. I guess I'm putting it up just because I've grown to hate Putin and his vile army.

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1583097916243070979

Yale Prof Timothy Snyder, Class 12 The Making of Modern Ukraine

Reports of heavy gunfights inside Kherson City

This guy is considered to be quite accurate.
Russians shooting each other? Partisan fighters? Something else? Now you know as much as I do.


https://twitter.com/NLwartracker/status/1582863900847968256

Russia is being prepared for the loss of Kherson

The video is from a goofball show that airs nightly on Russian TV. You can read the subtitles
The only questions are will rashist soldiers make a last stand and will Ukraine let them leave or they blow the barge bridge the orcs installed yesterday. Good piece in the Daily Kos I will add in a minute.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1582794925304729601


https://twitter.com/GrantSwanson88/status/1582824739478781952

NY Times: Russian Officials hint that their hold on Kherson is shaky!

Moscow Oct. 19, 10:17 a.m.

LIVE
Updated
Oct. 19, 2022, 3:13 a.m. ET4 minutes ago


Russian officials hint that their hold on Kherson is shaky.



The commander of the Russian invasion said on Tuesday that his army may face “hard decisions” about its tenuous hold over the strategically important region of Kherson, just minutes after a top Moscow-appointed official there announced an evacuation of civilians from four occupied districts.

Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the top Russian commander in Ukraine, acknowledged in a rare interview that the situation in the Kherson region has been “difficult” after the Ukrainian army damaged two key connections to other Russian occupied territory. For weeks, Ukrainian forces have been advancing slowly toward the regional capital, the city of Kherson, in a counteroffensive aimed at driving the Russians back across the Dnipro River.

In a video statement, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the regional occupation administration, said that residents would be evacuated from four districts on the west side of the Dnipro River. Mr. Saldo — who was appointed governor of the Kherson region by the Kremlin shortly after Russia formally annexed the territory at the end of September — cited the risk of shelling and the need for Russia to build defensive lines to repel an expected Ukrainian attack.

General Surovikin, in his first public remarks since he was appointed as head of the Russian military force in Ukraine on Oct. 8, said that the Russian Army would assist the evacuation and stressed the challenging conditions his forces face — with a tacit acknowledgment that a retreat from the city of Kherson might be necessary.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/19/world/russia-ukraine-war-news/russian-officials-hint-that-their-hold-on-kherson-is-shaky?smid=url-share


https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1582469084964220928

More and more it sounds like the Orcs will flee the right bank of the Dneiper. A barge bridge was just completed across the Dneiper at Kherson. Ukraine hasn't destroyed it yet. The Orcs are also saying the dam at Nova Kharkova (which has a bridge) could collapse. Time to get out of Dodge.

Ever since Omicron I've tried to keep my eye on Covid statistics in South Africa

south africa coronavirus stats https://g.co/kgs/i22tQj

It has for the most part disappeared. Interesting.
This has happened for over 7 months now.

Prof. Phillips Peyson O'Brien's Sunday update on Ukraine

Iran missiles to Russia?