Both Ukraine and Russia Break Ceasefire on Day 1, Putin's Deal-Breaking Demand for Peace, AOC More Popular Than Kamala and Obama, USSR Didn't Kill JFK (The Five for 03/19/25)
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Let’s dive into the news.
[one]
Well, the Russia/Ukraine War is kinda, sorta at a standstill.
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy infrastructure in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for.
The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” that it hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting. But there was no indication that Putin has backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv. And shortly after the call ended, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions in the city. Local officials urged people to seek shelter.
Putin during the call reiterated his demand for an end to foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Trump, though, denied that the subject came up during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.
“We didn’t talk about aid,” Trump said. “We didn’t talk about aid at all.”
Russia also wants Ukraine to pull back its troops from the four regions that Moscow has annexed but never fully captured, renounce any prospect of joining the NATO military alliance and sharply cut its army.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Ukraine is open to any proposals that lead to a sustainable and just peace, but stressed the need for full transparency in discussions.
I’m no foreign policy expert, so it’s tough for me to interject or speculate…but the biggest sticking point on this may be the demand for Ukraine to dismantle it’s military. That just sounds like a setup for another invasion.
UPDATE: Both sides broke the ceasefire with assaults last night.
[two]
And the most popular Democrat right now is…well, nobody.
Opinions are extremely fragmented at the moment within the party.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) narrowly leads in a poll of Democrats on which political leader “best reflects” the “core values” of the party.
In a CNN survey released Sunday, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents were asked to name one person when “thinking about Democratic leaders today” who “best reflects the core values of the Democratic Party.”
The open-ended question yielded a range of responses: 10 percent pointed to Ocasio-Cortez, 9 percent said former Vice President Kamala Harris, 8 percent said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and 6 percent said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.).
Former President Obama and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) each were named by 4 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent respondents, while Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) were named by 2 percent of respondents.
Ironically, a CNN poll found that the majority of Democrats think “leaders are taking the party in the wrong direction,” but those same voters are so split on who is in charge…it’s unclear on who they’re blaming, exactly.
[three]
Well, the JFK Files are out (download them from the National Archives) and it looks we can clear the USSR on the murder.
One document dated Nov. 20, 1991 appears to be a teletype of U.S. intelligence reporting on Lee Harvey Oswald, his time in the Soviet Union, his stormy relationship with his Soviet wife – and his apparently poor marksmanship.
The document says that a KGB official named Nikonov reviewed files from the feared Soviet security service, the KGB, to determine if Oswald “had been a KGB agent.”
Reuters reported that the document cited a report from an American professor named E.B. Smith who reported he had talked in Moscow about Oswald with KGB official “Slava” Nikonov, who said he had reviewed five thick files about the assassin to determine if he had been a KGB agent.
“Nikonov is now confident that Oswald was at no time an agent controlled by the KGB,” the document says.
From the description of Oswald in the files, Nikonov “doubted that anyone could control Oswald, but noted that the KBG (sic) watched him closely and constantly while he was in the USSR.”
Nikonov also commented that Oswald had “a stormy relationship with his Soviet wife, who rode him incessantly/”
The KGB files “also reflected that Oswald was a poor shot when he tried target firing in the USSR,” the document said.
Some conspiracy theorists have latched onto bits and pieces of the CIA’s files on Oswald, including those about his erratic behavior, as proof he either didn’t act alone – or didn’t actually have anything to do with Kennedy’s assassination.
Interesting that USA Today calls people “conspiracy theorists” who think that a guy who couldn’t shoot well could make a pretty difficult shot on a moving vehicle…
[four]
A suburban Chicago school has allegedly forced a junior high student to change clothes…with school administrators staring at her, in a bizarre series of events.
Fox News reports:
An Illinois mother has filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department after claiming that school administrators attempted to force her 13-year-old daughter to change in front of a transgender student in the girls locker room last month.
Nicole Georgas revealed the complaint during a Board of Education meeting for Deerfield Public School District 109 last week, claiming that the incident took place last month after her daughter refused to change into her uniform during physical education because a biological male student was present at the time.
"The girls want their locker rooms and bathrooms back. They want their privacy back. This is why I’m here tonight. My 13-year-old daughter’s well-being, mental health, and privacy are at stake," Georgas said during her speech at the board meeting on Thursday.
According to Georgas, her daughter was "frightened" and "extremely upset" when on Feb. 5 she was using the girls bathroom and noticed that a transgender student was also using the facilities at the same time.
"She was told by the administration that a student can use the bathroom as well as a female locker room because they now identify as female," Georgas said of the explanation administrators allegedly provided to her daughter.
Georgas then raised the issue to the school’s administration, noting to them that she believed it was a direct violation of President Donald Trump’s "Keeping Men out of Women's Sports" executive order. She said in her speech that the administration informed her that, under the direction of their legal counsel, the student was free to use both the girls bathroom and the girls locker room.
"That day, I filed a civil rights complaint, on behalf of my daughter, with the Department of Justice. It has now been referred to the Department of Education. A federal complaint has been filed with the district to protect the students."
Georgas said the situation worsened when, days later, her daughter and other classmates refused to change into her uniform during physical education because the transgender student was present.
She claimed that the following day, school administrators pulled the girls aside and later made them change into uniform.
"That day, [Assistant Superintendent for Student Services] Joanna Ford, [Assistant Principal] Cathy Van Treese, and multiple teachers all came into the girls locker room, making them change into uniform. This went on all week," she said, adding that her daughter still "refused to take part."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Deerfield Public Schools District 109 said that no student is required to change in front of others in the locker room and added that the school's policies align with state law.
According to Georgas’ comments at the school board meeting (linked above), there is a gender neutral option for changing…but Georgas’ daughter was allegedly forced to change with multiple adults staring at her…to prove some kind of point.
[five]
And finally, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer shot himself in the foot on live TV yesterday:
Schumer told the show: 'The Republican party are controlled by a small group of wealthy, greedy people.
'You know what their attitude is, "I made my money all by myself, how dare your government take my money from me. I don't want to pay taxes".'
He added: 'Or, "I built my company with my bare hands, how dare your government tell me how I should treat my customers, my land and water that I own or my employees".
'They hate government, government's a barrier to people, a barrier to stop them from doing things, they want to destroy it. We are not letting them do it, we are united.'
To call back to story #3 in this issue, there’s been rumors AOC will try to primary Schumer for Senate in New York. The odds of that happening…went up at least a little after this.
Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to that company that I, apparently incorrectly, think I built with my own two hands…if you want to supercharge your messaging, social media, emaill and/or PR, hit me up.
Until the next one,
-sth