Random thoughts on a November day

Written on 04 November 2025.

Hunting the dead 

The Ukrainian funeral sector has not been spared by corruption. This phenomenon, which predates the war but was largely ignored, has accelerated over the past three years. The families of the deceased are the first victims.
What matters is being the first to arrive. Ivan's boss, who works for a funeral home in Ukraine, constantly reminds his teams that when someone dies, they must be on the scene before the competition. “We hunt for bodies,” explains the 39-year-old Ukrainian bluntly.
When a bombing occurs, he immediately rushes to the scene to offer his services to the bereaved families. Sometimes, agents from different funeral companies arrive at the scene at the same time and come to blows.

Le Monde

 

 

Trump Admin Pushes to Weaken Ukraine Resolution on Russian Occupation at UN

 

In a surprise reversal that has alarmed Ukraine and its allies in the UN, the Trump administration is pushing to strip language from a resolution that affirms the country’s territorial integrity and condemns Russia’s occupation of Crimea and other regions, according to two people familiar with internal UN discussions. The text explicitly recognized Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and detailed the worsening human-rights situation in occupied territories.Now, Washington wants those references removed. Two diplomatic sources told Kyiv Post that the US side is pressing for the resolution to be recast under the broader label of the “war in Ukraine,” without references to “territorial integrity” or “aggression.”

Kyiv Post

Deporting a Native American...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — the agency supposedly tasked with deporting undocumented immigrants — just tried to deport an Indigenous woman whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years.Leticia Jacobo, a 24-year-old member of Arizona’s Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, was born in Phoenix — but that didn’t stop ICE from trying to ship her “back” to a country she doesn’t even belong to.

Here’s how this jaw-dropping injustice unfolded: Jacobo was sitting in a Polk County, Iowa jail after being booked for allegedly driving with a suspended license — nothing violent, nothing serious.

Her mother, Ericka Burns, was preparing to pick her up and bring her home when jail staff dropped a bombshell: “She’s not being released. ICE is coming to deport her.”Her mom was stunned. “How can you deport her?” she asked. “She’s Native American!”

But the jail staff shrugged it off. They said they were “just holding her” for ICE.

 

Daily Kos

 

 

 

40% of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change

Half of Australians were very or extremely concerned about climate change and two in five believed the climate would be “much hotter” in 2050. 

Commissioned by Clive Hamilton, a professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, and carried out by Roy Morgan Research, the survey also found that more than a third of Coalition voters believed the climate would not change at all.

Among non-parents, 40.4% of women said they were moderately or very hesitant about having children because of the changing climate, but only 17% of men (one in six) reported the same. Rising levels of climate concern could result in a decline in Australia’s birth rate, Hamilton added.

The Guardian

 

Premature Aging

 

It starts remarkably young these days. Ten-year-olds are saving their allowances for $70 moisturizers and $90 serums, mimicking influencer routines meant for adults. Girls as young as eight have suffered chemical burns and rashes from overusing anti-aging products whose pastel packaging and “glow” marketing make them irresistible on TikTok. Even before adolescence, the youth themselves are performing refinement—an early initiation into the aesthetics of conspicuous consumption.

FORTUNE

 

 

The Battle of Pokrovsk II

Russia has amassed 170,000 troops in the battle for a single city, Pokrovsk, almost the equivalent of the entire German Bundeswehr forces. Russia is now attempting to take a single city with an army comparable in size to the one originally intended to seize all of Right-Bank Ukraine.

Russia Sends 170,000 Troops—More Than Most European Armies—to Capture One Ukrainian City

Pokrovsk is the Kremlin’s top military objective through the end of the year. Nearly a third of all Russian forces stationed in Ukraine have been redeployed to this front.

To put this into perspective: the Russian force outside Pokrovsk is larger than the combined standing armies of 10 European countries, excluding reservists.

Ukrainian commanders state plainly: Russia is sending waves of soldiers to certain death in such numbers that even FPV drones can’t be launched quickly enough to eliminate them. Meanwhile, Russian field officers reportedly shoot their soldiers for refusing going on "suicide" assaults.

United24Media

 

 

WWII Veteran Breaks Down Over State Of Home Country

The state of things over in England, and Europe at large, is fairly dire at the moment.

The country has been flooded by immigrants from African nations and the Islamic world for the better part of two decades now, causing many native Britons to push back, calling for immigration reform to "protect British interests."

It's gotten to the point where many are questioning the identity of their home country and whether there will be an England left for their future generations at this point.

One man who has seen it all and even fought for the country he loves so dearly is 100-year-old World War II veteran, Alec Penstone.

When asked what Remembrance Sunday means to him, Penstone, as he fought back tears, questioned whether the sacrifices were all worth it. 

Imagine being in this man's shoes.

80 years ago, you fought against tyrannical forces to preserve the freedom of the country you were born in, raised in, and, God willing, will die in.

As you aged, you saw the demographics of your nation start to slowly shift, until one day you looked around, and the England you knew ceased to exist a long time ago.

It's hard not to get emotional hearing Penstone lament all the lives lost during World War II, looking over "rows and rows of white stones… of [friends] who gave their lives."

OutKick

'Heroes like Alec fought so that we could hand Britain over to this mob'                

GBNews.com

 

 

U.S. military seeking aid from food banks in Germany?

The website for a U.S. Army base in Germany provided a list of available German food aid services, highlighting the fallout experienced by many as the GOP’s government shutdown rages on. 

After the listing was first reported—raising questions about why military members and their families would need these resources—the information was scrubbed from the website. The Army claimed that the list was intended for “German employees” on the base.

But it should be noted that, undercurrent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense has often misled the public on matters both trivial and consequential. It has also embraced partisanship and censorship of Pentagon reporters. Thanks to the GOP shutdown, there has been a spike in military families seeking aid from food banks. Cori Kauk, executive director of Bremerton Foodline in Washington, told Stars and Stripes that families had a “fear of scarcity” and “worries about being on the edge financially.”

The website for a U.S. Army base in Germany provided a list of available German food aid services, highlighting the fallout experienced by many as the GOP’s government shutdown rages on.

After the listing was first reported—raising questions about why military members and their families would need these resources—the information was scrubbed from the website. The Army claimed that the list was intended for “German employees” on the base. 

  The shutdown has also increased concerns about military pay.

Oliver Willis -- Daily Kos

 

The Battle of Pokrovsk

Events on the Pokrovsky Line continue to be very fluid. Denys Davydov, the Ukrainian vlogger, who has of late been quite down cast in his reportage of Pokrovsk was very HaPpY hippy happy today based on what he has been seeing within the city itself and the continued Ukrainian stalwart defense of nearby Myrnohrad and Rodynske.  

The videos are out there but I will not link to them.  Denys Davidov also didn’t show them because of the absolutely horrendous and catastrophic loss of Russian lives in the last couple of days. Dozens and dozens strewn about the agricultural landscape along with their burning tanks and APCs. 

He queued up his day-to-day map and saw no advancement by the Russian forces. Further that within Pokrovsk itself the Russian infils and SRGs earlier spotted in various parts of the city which became the source of so much alarm appear to have been eliminated (?).  As well that Ukrainian forces have now been geo-located in places previously credited as Russian controlled. 

Who is rich/poor in Europe?

Ranking of countries by purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP per capita in USDollars, 2024

(file:///C:/Users/Besitzer/Downloads/World%20Economic%20Outlook%20(October%202025)%20-%20Real%20GDP%20growth.html)

Albania                   3.4

Algeria                    3.4

Angola                    2.1

Argentina                4.5

Armenia                  4.8

Australia                 1.8

Austria                     0.3

Azerbaijan               3

Bahrain                    2.9

Bangladesh             3.8

Belarus                    2.1

Belgium                   1.1

Benin                       7

Bhutan                    6.8

Bolivia                    0.6

Bosnia and Herzeg 2.4

Botswana              -0.9

Brazil                      2.4

Bulgaria                    3

Burkina Faso            4

Burundi                   4.4

Cabo Verde            5.2

Cambodia               4.8

Cameroon               3.8

Canada                   1.2

Central African R     3

Chad                       3.3

Chile                       2.5

China, People's  R. 4.8

Colombia                2.5

Congo, Dem. Rep.  5.3

Congo, Republic of 2.7

Costa Rica              3.6

Côte d'Ivoire            6.4

Croatia                    3.1

Cuba                  no data

Cyprus                     2.9

Czech Republic       2.3

Denmark                 1.8

Dominica                 4.2

Dominican Republic 3

Ecuador                   3.2

Egypt                       4.3

El Salvador              2.5

Equatorial Guinea  -1.6

Eritrea              no data

Estonia                   0.5

Ethiopia                  7.2

Fiji                          3.2

Finland                   0.5

France                    0.7

Gabon                    1.9

Georgia                  7.2

Germany                0.2

Ghana                     4

Greece                    2

Grenada                 3.3

Guatemala              3.8

Guinea                    7.2

Guinea-Bissau        5.1

Guyana                 10.3

Haiti                        -3.1

Honduras                 3.8

Hong Kong SAR      2.4

Hungary                   0.6

Iceland                    1.4

India                        6.6

Indonesia                4.9

Iran                          0.6

Iraq                          0.5

Ireland                     9.1

Israel                       2.5

Italy                         0.5

Jamaica                  2.1

Japan                      1.1

Jordan                     2.7

Kazakhstan             5.9

Kenya                      4.8

Korea, Republic of   0.9

Kosovo                    3.9

Kuwait                     2.6

Kyrgyz Republic       8

Lao P.D.R.              3.5

Latvia                       1

Lebanon            no data

Lesotho                    1.4

Liberia                      4.6

Libya                       15.6

Liechtenstein             1

Lithuania                   2.7

Luxembourg             1.2

Macao SAR              2.6

Madagascar             3.8

Malawi                      2.4

Malaysia                   4.5

Maldives                   4.8

Mali                            5

Malta                          3.9

Mauritania                  4

Mauritius                    3.2

Mexico                       1

Moldova                    1.7

Mongolia                    5.5

Montenegro               3.2

Morocco                     4.4

Mozambique              2.5

Myanmar                   -2.7

Namibia                      3.6

Nepal                          4.3

Netherlands                1.4

New Zealand              0.8

Nicaragua                    3

Niger                           6.6

Nigeria                        3.9

North Macedonia        3.4

Norway                       1.2

Oman                          2.9

Pakistan                      2.7

Panama                       4

Papua New Guinea     4.7

Paraguay                    4.4

Peru                            2.9

Philippines                  5.4

Poland                         3.2

Portugal                      1.9

Qatar                           2.9

Romania                        1

Russian Federation     0.6

Rwanda                       7.1

Samoa                         2.7

Saudi Arabia                  4

Senegal                         6

Serbia                           2.4

Seychelles                    3.9

Sierra Leone                 4.4

Singapore                     2.2

Slovak Republic            0.9

Slovenia                        1.1

Somalia                            3

South Africa                  1.1

South Sudan, Republic 24.3

Spain                             2.9

Sri Lanka                 no data

Sudan                            3.2

Sweden                          0.7

Switzerland                    0.9

Syria                         no data

Taiwan                         3.7

Tajikistan                      7.5

Tanzania                       6

Thailand                        2

Timor-Leste                   3.9

Togo                              5.2

Tonga                            2.7

Trinidad and Tobago      1

Tunisia                           2.5

Türkiye, Republic of       3.5

Turkmenistan                 2.3

Uganda                          6.4

Ukraine                          2

United Arab Emirates     4.8

United Kingdom              1.3

United States                   2

Uruguay                          2.5

Uzbekistan                      6.8

Vanuatu                          1.7

Venezuela                       0.5

Vietnam                           6.5

Yemen                           -1.5

Zambia                            5.8

Zimbabwe                        6

Print Email