Category Archives: National

International News, National, Russia-Ukraine War

Elon Musk Baselessly Claims ‘Ukraine Area’ Responsible for Twitter Cyber Attack

[WBHG NEWS] – Twitter, also known as X, experienced a global outage for several hours today. The outage affected the Android and iOS apps and also caused numerous problems with the web client.

Speaking on Fox News, Elon Musk told Larry Kudlow, “We’re not sure what happened…there was a massive cyber attack to try and bring down the X system – ah – with ah – IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area.”

Most Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks involve hackers activating malware unknowingly installed on user computers and devices over a wide area. IP addresses are not a “smoking gun” for the origin of a cyber attack, and IP addresses are easily spoofed. The services likely used to carry out the attack target the “Internet of Things” (IoT) to turn them into zombies. IoT can include anything connected to the web that isn’t a PC, tablet, or smartphone, such as routers, security cameras, thermostats, streaming media boxes, and even home appliances. Given Musk’s experience with software and cyber security, he should know this.

When Musk spoke to Kudlow, the hacker group Dark Storm Team had already claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.

Dark Storm was founded in 2023 and primarily targets Israel and NATO Alliance countries, according to the Cyber Intelligence Bureau of Epidemiology Lab. Since its formation, the group has also targeted Egypt, India, Ukraine, Brazil, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates.

The pro-Palestinian cybercriminals are in a coalition with approximately five other hacker groups, including the Russia-based and Kremlin-backed Killnet and the Russia-based Bluenet Russia. They are self-financed and offer hacking services for hire. Its primary goal is to exploit political and religious differences in support of a Palestinian state and the Palestinian people.

Other members of the Dark Storm Team coalition include Anonymous Sudan, Ghosts of Palestine, and SN_BLACKMETA, which is based in Sudan. To conduct DDoS attacks, Darm Storm has used ZeusAPI, which was sold to Aleksandr Andreevich Panin in 2012. Panin, a Russian citizen and co-founder of SpyEye, was arrested and convicted of cybercrimes in 2016. Despite his arrest, ZeusAPI is still updated and used today.

Channel DDoS V2 and Krypton Networks are also DDoS “as a service” tools that anyone can buy. The home base for Krypton Networks (not to be confused with the gaming company based in the U.K. that uses the same name) is unknown, but they have dedicated Russian and Chinese-language Telegram pages. It is unclear where Channel DDoS V2 is based. According to cyber security experts, possibilities include Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.

According to Info Security Magazine, ZeusAPI, Channel DDoS V2, and Krypton Networks services were used for the majority of cyberattacks against the United States in the first half of 2024.

Is There Another Agenda

The attack and the thinly veiled implication that Ukraine was behind it come less than 24 hours before U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators are supposed to meet in Saudi Arabia. The meeting is meant to stabilize relations between Ukraine and its potential former ally, restore the minerals deal, and convince Washington to restart intelligence sharing and military aid.

Musk’s latest accusation follows a weekend of events meant to portray Ukraine and its allies in a negative light.

On Saturday, Vice President JD Vance exaggerated his interaction with pro-Ukrainian protesters in Cincinnati, Ohio, accusing them of chasing him and his 3-year-old daughter. Video of the impromptu discussion appears to show Vance approached the group, and his Secret Service detail did not see them as a threat. Most of the talking was between an older woman and the Vice President. There was no evidence that he was chased.

Responding to a different video recorded near Vance’s home that circulated on Saturday, William Martin, the Press Secretary of Vance, wrote, “Anyone that’s ever been here knows Jimmy [Rushton] is full of shit because the video of these Slava Ukraini scumbags harassing the Vice President’s daughter takes place on a completely different street nearby.”

Early on Sunday morning, after Musk, President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Musk appeared to threaten to turn off Starlink service to Ukraine. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski responded on Twitter, writing, “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for suppliers.”

Musk quickly responded, writing on Twitter, “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”

Secretary Rubio then defended Musk. “Just making things up. No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russia would be on the border of Poland right now.”

As a point of order, the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad already shares a border with Poland.

Appearing to go into damage control mode on Sunday evening, Musk then wrote, “To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.”

Early on Monday morning, the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, didn’t consider the spat over. “True leadership means respect for partners and allies, Tusk said, “Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.”

On Monday morning, Musk called Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) a “traitor” for traveling to Ukraine to meet with government officials. Kelly is a decorated war veteran and naval aviator with over 5,000 flight hours and hundreds of carrier landings. He conducted 39 combat sorties during Operation Desert Storm.

Kelly was also a NASA astronaut. He was on STS-108, the pilot for STS-121, and the commander for STS-124 and STS-134.

A member of the Democratic party, he was elected to the Senate in 2020.

Kelly responded to Musk on Twitter. “Traitor?” he wrote, “Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”

Jonathan Chait, a write with The Atlantic, called Musk’s accusation “rather odd,” adding, “unless one considered Ukraine an enemy of the United States. Where Musk is going, Trump is likely to follow.”

International News, National, Russia-Ukraine War

Wikileaks Reveals Ukraine Didn’t Want to Join NATO

The Kremlin and the Trump White House, along with their proxies, have repeatedly claimed that a key driver of the Russia-Ukraine War was Ukraine’s desire to join the NATO Alliance.

Tucked away among the over 10 million documents released by Julian Assange’s Wikileaks is a confidential cable dated 25 November 2009 between Kyiv-based U.S. State Department Political Counselor Colin Cleary and Washington, D.C. The cable was sent to the Commonwealth of Independent States, NATO—European Union Cooperative, and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

There are 13 paragraphs, including one about NATO Alliance membership, one about joining the European Union, and one about continuing military support for Georgia, which came under partial Russian occupation in August 2008.

Cleary’s cable is an outline of Viktor Yanukovych’s potential foreign policy if he won the 2010 presidential election in Ukraine and what Kyiv’s position would be on a number of geopolitical issues. Cleary met with Anatoliy Orel, a Senior Advisor to Yanukovych, in Kyiv, and on 10 February 2010, Yanukovych became Ukraine’s president.

The memo speaks for itself. Orel told Cleary that a Yanukovych administration would adopt a new foreign policy.

  • A reset in relations with Russia, generally deferring to Russia’s red lines
  • Extending the lease at the Port of Sevastopol in Crimea to the Russian Black Sea Fleet
  • Non-bloc status and an end to Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations
  • Relations with the European Union on “equal terms” but without membership
  • Cooling of relations between Ukraine and Georgia
  • A “pragmatic” relationship with the U.S.

On Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Relations

According to the confidential cable, Orel “condemned” the policies of then-president Viktor Yushchenko, who took a “black-and-white” approach to foreign policy: Russia, bad, and the West, good. He went on to stress that “Ukraine has to take the views of Russia very seriously. Hostile relations with Russia are not in Ukraine’s interest.”

During Yushchenko’s administration, then-Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk drew up a list of the “thorniest” issues between Moscow and Kyiv. The most critical issues were “border demarcation [with Russia – Ed.] and the Black Sea Fleet.” No progress was made, and Orel said as the foreign policy head, he would work on “getting the best deal he can for Ukraine. Further, he went on to say that Russia did not want to resolve border issues and was “concerned about the Kerch Strait/Azov Sea being open to NATO ships and thus wants to keep the border unresolved.”

On Joining NATO and Other Alliances

Cleary wrote that Orel “asserted” that “NATO membership ‘makes no sense’ for Ukraine,” adding that “The public is overwhelmingly against it.”

He cited The U.S. War on Terror and Operation Enduring Freedom, which Orel rightly predicted would “end in Vietnam-like failure for the Alliance.” Yanukovych’s team was also concerned that pursuing NATO membership would “needlessly complicate relations with Russia.”

At the time of the meeting with Cleary, Ukrainian troops were already deployed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The multinational military mission was active between 2001 and 2014. Ukrainian forces then transitioned to a non-combat role in Operation Resolute Support, which was responsible for training the National Army of Afghanistan. In June 2021, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy withdrew the last 21 Ukrainian soldiers from Afghanistan, ending a 14-year deployment.

Publicly, Yanukovych said he supported cooperation with the NATO Alliance but would not seek membership. Orel and MP Leonid Kozhara, who both worked during the Leonid Kuchma presidency from 1994 to 2005, said that Kuchma “had improved cooperation with NATO in far more practical ways that [sic] Yushchenko ever had.”

Yanukovych was true to his word, maintaining the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre at the Yavoriv Military Base, which opened in 2007 but never advanced NATO membership. The training facility was created under the Ukraine-NATO Partnership for Peace program, which Ukraine joined in February 1994.

In November 2015, Fearless Guardian II, a “combined training between Soldiers from the Joint Multinational Training Group (JMTG-U) – Ukraine, Ukrainian Land Forces, and Ukrainian Special Operations Forces,” started. The California National Guard, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 10th Special Forces Group, and training support personnel from U.S. Army Europe and the Joint Multinational Training Command led the exercise. In total, five battalions were trained.

Orel also told Cleary that under Yanukovych, Kyiv “should” walk away from a Polish-led initiative to join the Eastern Partnership. Warsaw wanted to create a regional agreement with Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Ukraine to “create a cordon around Russia” that Yushchenko believed was “irritating to Russia.” In July 2009, the two nations established a limited agreement to ease travel between the Polish-Ukrainian border for residents who lived within 30 kilometers of the boundary.

When it came to Georgia, both Orel and Kozhara told Cleary that Ukraine would “cool relations.” At the time, Russia occupied approximately 20% of Georgia after its unprovoked invasion in August 2008. When Russia first occupied the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, Yanukovych publicly supported the “recognition of the “independence” of the two republics.

During the November 2009 meeting, Orel and Kozhara assured Cleary that this would not happen because the “recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would send the wrong signal” and it would be “going too far to appease Russia.”

In fact, after Yanukovych became president in 2010, he did not stop arms sales to Georgia and never recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

European Union Membership

Two days before the meeting between Cleary and Orel, region economic chief Mykola Azarov told U.S. embassy staff that “economic reform in Ukraine should come from within and need not be driven by harmonization with the [European Union] (E.U.).” Orel believed that the E.U. would never allow Ukraine to become a full member because the nation’s agricultural and industrial resources would be the largest in the bloc, and it would “undercut prices in Europe.”

Azarov wanted to set a course that would establish bilateral trade with the E.U. and believed that having to comply with a long list of reforms with no assurance of membership was “demeaning.”

At the time of the meeting with Cleary, the E.U. and Ukraine were operating under a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and had already started broader negotiations to forge an Association Agreement (AA). The AA was approved in March 2012, putting Ukraine on a path to E.U. accession. Later that same year, E.U. Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule stated that the AA and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreements could be signed in November 2013 if Ukraine complied with additional reforms.

The Fallout

The cable published by Wikileaks aligns with almost all of the events from 2010 to 2014 and reveals that, under Yanukovych, Ukraine had no plans to seek NATO Alliance membership.

It was in 2012 when Russia started its active hybrid war against Ukraine, driving a political and social wedge between the industrial east and the cosmopolitan west. The State Department cable and history support that Moscow’s real issue was Kyiv’s desire to join the E.U. What remains unclear is what changed during the opening months of the Yanukovych administration, which led Kyiv to embrace a path towards a deeper economic relationship.

Russia expanded its coercion in August 2013, starting a trade war by restricting imports and dramatically increasing soft power influence within Ukraine. Three months later, Lithuanian diplomats said Yanukovych changed his mind on E.U. accession because of blackmail over imports and exports, natural gas, and jobs. On 21 November, Yanukovych suspended further efforts to join the E.U. and canceled the signing ceremony for the DCFTA, which was scheduled for the 28th in Vilnius.

Widespread protests erupted across Ukraine, with Yanukovych’s government getting increasingly violent, deploying the Berkut, a cross between riot police and a goon squad. In 2023, around the time of the failed Prigozhin Insurrection in Rostov-on-Don, multiple Russian milbloggers revealed that Russian soldiers were involved in cracking down on the protests, working in cooperation with the Berkut and Yanukovych’s government.

Kyiv passed oppressive anti-protest laws on 16 January 2014. Increasingly violent clashes continued, including the death of several protesters later in the week. Demonstrators occupied multiple government buildings across Ukraine. In an attempt to defuse the situation, the Rada repealed most of the anti-protest laws. Azarov, who was now the prime minister, resigned on 28 January.

By then, Moscow was controlling the anti-Maidan with support from Berkut, its own military operatives, and mercenary supporters. Yanukovych was also under the control of the Kremlin, which intended for him to be a puppet who would control Ukraine as a rump state. On 20 February, almost 100 protesters were killed in Kyiv after the Berkut and snipers opened fire. Thirteen police officers also died, and hundreds were wounded.

On the same day, Russian soldiers invaded the Crimean Peninsula, and a contingent of Russians, including FSB Colonel Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, traveled to Donetsk in the Donbas to meet with pro-Russian elements within the region. Girkin would go on to be the first Minister of Defense of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and lead the 1st Army Corps.

Prior to his arrest by Russia in the summer of 2023 for violating Moscow’s “don’t say war” laws, Girkin confessed that he was the instigator of the warfare in the Donbas. A claim backed up by the now-deceased leader of the former Private Military Company Wagner Group, Yevgen Prigozhin. Russian milblogger Seymon Pegov also revealed in September 2022 that he was fighting under the leadership of Girkin in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk and condemned Girkin for “abandoning him” during the collapse of the Russian offensive.

On 21 February 2014, Yanukovych signed an agreement forming an interim government and reinstating the 2004 Constitution. Hours later, the Berkut and police withdrew, and protesters took control. The next day, Yanukovych tried to flee to Russia through Kharkiv but was stopped by border guards. Two days later, he fled to Moscow on a Russian military flight out of occupied Crimea.

Ukraine did not seek NATO membership until April 2022, and the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Irpin were revealed to the world. At the end of the Biden administration in 2024, it was revealed that Washington never intended to permit Ukraine to join the NATO Alliance, along with Germany and Hungary. The White House was worried that even the offer of an invitation to NATO would provoke Russia into potentially attacking the NATO Alliance or using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Wikileaks exposes that almost 14 years of attempts to appease Moscow by Washington, Kyiv, and Brussels were all in vain. Moscow had already destabilized Belarus and Georgia, with the latter currently falling deeper under the control of the Georgia Dream regime.

You can read the 25 November 2009 State Department cable on Wikileaks.

Local, National

Local Grocery and Gasoline Prices Climb Despite Trump’s Pledge to Curb Inflation

[Kirkland, WA – WBHG News] – It’s been a month since President Donald Trump was inaugurated after campaigning on controlling inflation to lower grocery and fuel prices. A month later, has the situation improved?

On 21 January 2025, our team benchmarked grocery, fuel, and fast food prices in Kirkland to track over the next four years. This is our first update.

Based on actual retail prices, today’s grocery trip costs $8.32 more compared to last month. The price of diapers, Coca-Cola, and frozen pizza went up while the cost of coffee and bread went down. The total bill climbed from $235.33 to $243.65, up 3.5%. Most of that jump was caused by shrinkflation.

Two products, Barilla rotini pasta, and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, were marked with a tag showing a “new lower price,” despite no price change from last month.

A 12-gallon fill-up of regular gasoline increased by $4.56, a 10% increase from a month ago.

The only change to fast food prices was at McDonald’s, where a Big Mac meal is now 10 cents cheaper.

Here are the Products

We are tracking the prices of 27 popular items, regular unleaded gasoline, and meals from three popular fast food brands.

ItemWeight, Volume, QuantityJanuary 20, 2025, Non-sale PriceFebruary 20, 2025
Non-sale Price		Change
Dairy Products
Whole Milk – Kroger Brand128 fluid ounces$3.99$3.99
Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter4 count – total weight 16 ounces$6.99$6.99
Kraft Singles American processed cheese food product24 individual slices – 16 ounces by weight $6.29$6.29
Household Products
Tide 3-in-1 Pods laundry detergent112 count – 93 ounces$27.99$27.99
Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap38 fluid ounces$6.29$6.29
Bounty 6=12 doubles paper towels
6 2-ply rolls, 58 11 inches X 10.2 inches sheets per roll, 270 square feet
$14.99$14.99
Breakfast Foods
Cheerios toasted oat cereal18 ounces$5.99$5.99
Starbucks Pike Place Roast ground coffee – medium roast18 ounces$14.99$14.49Decrease, 50 cents
Meat
Kroger Brand “Simple Truth” prepackaged natural ground beef – 91/916 ounces individual vacuum pack$9.49$9.49
Oscar Mayer Beef Franks – Classic10 count – total weight 15 ounces$6.49$6.49
Infant/Baby
Pampers baby-dry stage 6 diapers64 count$28.99$37.11Count dropped from 64 to 50. Unit price increased from 45 cents per diaper to 58 cents.
Health and Beauty
Tampax Pearl Large Light Day tampons36 count$9.79$9.79
Charmin Ultra Strong 12=48 Mega roll toilet paper12 2-ply rolls, 220 3.92 inches x 4 inches sheets per roll, 287 square feet$16.99$16.99
Snack and Convenience Foods
Red Baron brick oven crust pepperoni pizza17.89 ounces$4.99$5.29Increase, 20 cents
Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza flavor8 count – total weight 36 ounces$10.99$10.99
Oreo cookies18.12 ounces$4.99$4.99
Doritos – Cool Ranch Flavor – party size14.5 ounces$6.99$6.99
Coca-Cola – canned, sweetened with corn syrup12 count – 12 fluid ounce cans$9.99$10.99Increase, $1.00
Soups and Broths
Swanson chicken broth32 fluid ounces$2.99$2.99
Quick Meals
Prego Traditional jarred prepared pasta sauce, tomato24 ounces by weight$2.79$2.79
Barilla rotini pasta16 ounces$1.99$1.99
Kraft mac & cheese dinner, original flavor7.25 ounces$1.29$1.29
Wonder Bread, white, sliced20 ounces$3.99$3.49Decrease, 50 cents
Staples
C&H premium pure can granulated sugar in bag64 ounces$4.99$4.99
Pillsbury Best All Purpose Flour, bleached and enriched80 ounces$5.69$5.69
Condiments
Hidden Valley Ranch ranch salad dressing16 fluid ounces$4.39$4.39
Heinz real tomato ketchup in the easy squeeze bottle20 ounces$3.99$3.99
Gasoline
Regular unleaded E-10 87-octane gasoline at the Totem Lake Fred Meyer location128 fluid ounces$3.71-9/10, which includes 18.4 cents federal motor fuel tax, 49.4 cents Washington state gasoline tax, and approximately 43.4 cents for Washington state cap and trade fees $4.09-9/10, which includes 18.4 cents federal motor fuel tax, 49.4 cents Washington state gasoline tax, and approximately 43.4 cents for Washington state cap and trade feesPrice for 12 gallons of gas increased $4.56.
Fast Food
McDonald’s Big Mac meal at the 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, locationBigMac with 2 2-ounce beef patties, medium French fry, and medium 21 fluid ounce Coca-Cola with regular ice$11.49 before tax$11.39 before taxDecrease, 10 cents
Taco Bell 3 Crunch Taco Combo at the 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, location3 hard shell tacos with ground beef filling, included toppings, and a large 30 fluid ounces Pepsi with regular ice$8.69 before tax$8.69 before tax
Domino’s large Ultimate Pepperoni pizza for store pickup at the 100th Ave NE, Kirkland location14″ pizza with hand-tossed crust, pepperoni (extra), shredded parmesan asiago and provolone cheeses, and tomato sauce$21.99 before tax$21.99 before tax
Breaking News, Local, National

Trump and Musk Slash 13.5% of Bonneville Power’s Jobs While Protecting the Tennessee Valley Authority

[WGBH NEWS] – The Trump administration’s 13.5% arbitrary job cuts at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) did not hit the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), despite both not relying on federal funds to pay their workers.

Last week, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) warned that cuts of between 450 to 600 workers “are literally the people who help keep the lights on.”

“Between employees who were fired, those whose job offers were rescinded, and those who took the ‘Fork in the Road offer,’ we estimate that BPA is losing between 450 and 600 skilled workers,” said Murray. “This includes everyone from electricians and engineers to dispatchers, lineworkers, cybersecurity experts, and so many other people who help keep the lights on in the Northwest.”

After last week’s job cuts, BPA is attempting to rehire approximately 30 probationary workers, those who had been in their jobs for less than two years, after being deemed critical staff.

The workers who left were paid by ratepayers—the BPA’s customers—and not by federal funds. “Staff reductions…will not create reductions in the federal deficit,” said Randy Hardy and Steve Wright, former BPA administrators who wrote an open letter about the job cuts.

On Monday, Scott Simms, the executive director of the Public Power Council, said “more than 400” of BPA’s employees had been let go. About 125 staffers took a deferred resignation option, the so-called “Fork in the Road” e-mail offered last month, another 105 accepted early retirement, and 90 recent job offers had been rescinded. According to Simms, another 125 to 200 probationary workers were terminated.

Many of the 230 workers who voluntarily left were in specialized jobs, including linemen, system engineers, power dispatchers, and substation operators. The Southeast Lineman Training Center tells students it takes up to 4 years and 8,000 hours of training to become a journeyman lineman with an associates degree.

The BPA is responsible for over 15,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and 261 electrical substations in nine states, including all of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Almost 90% of the 11,680 megawatts of power transmitted through BPA infrastructure comes from 31 hydroelectric plants under its management, including the Grand Coulee, Chief Joseph, John Day, The Dalles, and Bonneville Dams.

According to Hardy and Wright, the network “supplies one-third of Northwest electricity and owns/manages 75 percent of the region’s high voltage transmission system, which ensures reliable delivery of regional power to Northwest residents.”

Despite the small recall of 30 employees, Senator Murray condemned the expanding arbitrary federal job cuts, calling billionaire Elon Musk the “co-president.”

“Right now, President Trump, and his co-President Elon Musk are breaking American government. They are firing workers left and right—with no plan, no strategy, and no concern for who gets hurt,” said Murray.

Liz Krumpp, a former BPA employee with 15 years of experience, said the layoffs and hiring freeze “will make it increasingly harder for the remaining employees to do their jobs,” adding, “Customers are asking Bonneville to expand its transmission system, not shrink it.”

Did Musk and Trump Punish the Pacific Northwest – Tennessee Valley Authority Jobs Protected

Unlike the BPA, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was protected from job cuts by the White House and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Just as the BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to expand electrical service to rural areas during the Great Depression, the TVA was created in 1933. It is also federally owned and receives no taxpayer funding. Today, the TVA provides power to seven states, including all of Tennessee.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel quoted TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks, who wrote in an e-mail, “TVA and its employees did not receive this communication, and this deferred resignation offer does not apply to TVA employees.”

When asked about potential arbitrary job cuts, TVA CEO Jeff Lash said, “They won’t do that because why would they, right? The government does not fund TVA at all.”

TVA leaders touted budget and job cuts made in 2015 that contributed to their insulation from the so-called DOGE and Trump. Public records show that in 2018, BPA had 2,900 employees, which grew to 3,100 before the arbitrary job cuts. However, unlike the increasing need for electricity in the Pacific Northwest, a 2018 report from the TVA projected that electrical demand within its network would drop by 13% over the next decade.

In 2020, Trump blasted TVA CEO Lash for a plan to outsource IT jobs to overseas companies. Signing an executive order that prevented federal agencies from outsourcing labor, Trump told reporters, “Let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words: ‘You’re fired.'”

The TVA and the BPA did not respond to our requests for comment.

Jake Goldstein-Street contributed to this story.

Editorial, International News, National

The United States is Abandoning Europe and with it, Ukraine

Signals from Russian and U.S. officials after the first round of meetings to discuss a “peace deal” in the Russia-Ukraine War indicate that the Trump administration is setting conditions to lift some or all sanctions and end all aid to Kyiv.

Our team agrees with the assessment by four “Western intelligence officials and two “U.S. Congressional officials” that Russia is negotiating in bad faith and has no interest in ending its war of aggression against Ukraine.

Responding to an inquiry by U.S. news agency NBC News, Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said, “President Trump’s leadership has created the first opening for talks in years, and he did this after only four weeks in office. The Trump Administration will continue to pursue a deal that advances American interests and brings this conflict to a permanent resolution.”

Fact Check – The Truth Matters

That statement is, at best, a half-truth. In March 2022, there was the Istanbul Communique. In May 2022, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu (who has since been removed from his position), calling for a ceasefire.

In December 2022, then-Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a February 2023 peace summit mediated by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with the requirement that Russia answer to the International Criminal Court. The Kremlin rejected the offer, once again demanding sovereignty over the illegally annexed Ukrainian oblasts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

In June 2023, a multinational peace delegation from Africa visited Kyiv and Moscow, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and autocrat Vladimir Putin. During the 17 June visit to Moscow, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa told Putin the war must end. Moscow rejected the African delegation’s peace plan.

In November 2023, President Zelenskyy rejected negotiating with Russia, declaring Moscow was not interested in good-faith discussions. A month later, autocrat Putin rejected talks, saying, “There will only be peace in Ukraine when we achieve our aims…denazification, demilitarization, and its neutral status.”

Over 100 nations, territories, and organizations attended the Ukraine Peace Summit in June 2024. While Russia was not invited, Moscow declared that even if they were, they would not participate.

Russia Isn’t Negotiating in Good Faith

Moments after the first meeting ended, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov openly demonstrated that Moscow has no interest in good-faith negotiations. Speaking with reporters, he said, “The U.S. proposed a moratorium on attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during negotiations. We explained that it has never endangered civilian energy supply systems.”

On the same day Lavrov made the claim, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported, “Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups have damaged military airfield and energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine [emphasis – Ed.], storage and launch sites for unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as concentrations of enemy manpower and equipment in 144 areas.”

Despite the obvious deception, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that America needs to “take advantage of the incredible opportunity to partner with the Russians geopolitically, on issues of common interest and economically.” Rubio went further, declaring the West would “have to cancel sanctions” if a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could be established.

After both parties held their respective press conferences, President Donald Trump went on a tirade on his Truth Social social media network and a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. The president falsely claimed that Ukraine has received $350 billion in aid from the U.S. compared to $100 billion from Europe, suggesting Zelenskyy is an illegitimate president with only 4% support and that he is “a completely incompetent president, makes absurd statements, and his leadership has allowed the war to continue.”

Fact Check – The Truth Matters

Donald Trump started his first term as President in January 2017. Eight months later, the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner reported that fighting never stopped in Ukraine. “August 2017 bucked the trend of the past three years of the conflict in eastern Ukraine with a decrease in the number of civilian casualties, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office published today. The ‘harvest ceasefire,’ which began at the end of June, may have contributed to this. However, the ceasefire never fully took hold, with hostilities suddenly flaring and then easing.”

When Zelenskyy was elected president on 19 April 2019, fighting between Ukraine and Russian troops backed by the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic was happening every day along a 400-kilometer contact line. In 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Commission reported hundreds of casualties from 2018 to 2020. The lowest number of war casualties recorded in Ukraine since 2014 was in 2021, during the first year of the Biden Administration.

Further, on 25 November 2018, the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) fired on three Ukrianian Navy vessels transiting the Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov, capturing three ships and the crews in international waters. The first Trump administration went beyond acknowledging the incident, with the Treasury Department sanctioning the Russians involved in the incident on 19 March 2019.

“Five years after its invasion of Ukraine…Russia continues to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while failing to implement its obligations under the Minsk agreements. On November 25, 2018, Russian authorities opened fire on and rammed three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea, seizing the ships and capturing 24 Ukrainian crew members, who remain illegally detained in Russia.”

Even Russian Bankers See No Economic Upside from the Ongoing Talks

On Tuesday, Dmitry Pyanov, First Deputy Chairman of VTB Bank Management, told reporters, “All the statements that Visa, Mastercard, Bershka, Zara, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s – may return to the Russian market – are increasingly a reflection of what is missing from the speakers – those who publicly predict the imminent return of certain companies and brands – rather than reality. Now is the very beginning stage – only bilateral negotiations without the involvement of other parties. Months, if not quarters, will pass before the agreements crystallize.”

Additionally, Western companies have lost billions since February 2022, when Moscow seized their assets, increased taxes, and the courts issued ridiculously large fines. Many corporations will be reluctant to reinvest in the Russian economy immediately. Further, Moscow has hammered the message to the Russian people that trade with the West and the United States is not required, and many internal brands have been established.

Multiple reports indicated that Russia was pushing for the lifting of energy sanctions and was willing to open Arctic regions to oil exploration by U.S. companies. Just like in Trump’s first term, he still believes that oil at $45 a barrel is possible and sustainable.

Fact Check – The Truth Matters

The idea that we’re entering a new era of “drill, baby, drill” is false. Due to global overproduction, the world is facing an oil glut. In 2017, as part of his promise that his tax reform package would result in more revenue, not less, President Trump directed the Department of Interior to take bids for oil drilling leases in the North Slope region of Alaska. The last day for new leases was 6 January 2025, and not a single oil producer submitted a bid.

According to data published by the Energy Information Administration through November 2024, the U.S. is the largest oil-producing nation on the planet. In 2023, the most recent year data is available. The U.S. produced 22% of the world’s crude oil while consuming 20%. In the fall of 2018, the last time oil prices crashed because of market conditions versus the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of U.S. oil producers went bankrupt because, at $50 a barrel, fracking operations are unprofitable.

If U.S. producers are uninterested in signing leases in Alaska’s North Slope under the Trump and Biden administrations, it seems even more unlikely that they’ll rush back to Russia’s oil fields.

Sound and Fury with no Tangible Results

The only concrete outcome, beyond millions of social media views and clicks, was Lavrov’s claim that Russia and the U.S. agreed to “ensure the appointment of ambassadors of Russia to the United States and the United States to Russia as soon as possible.” The U.S. Ambassador to Russia is still Lynne Tracy, while autocrat Putin relieved the Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, in October 2024 without naming a successor.

As the world reacted to the fallout from Riyadh, Bloomberg reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted Zelenskyy to attend yesterday’s negotiations. However, the American and Russian delegations rejected the idea. An unnamed source in the Saudi government claimed that bin Salman would brief Zelenskyy on the discussions.

U.S. news agency Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich shared Ukraine’s assessment that Putin’s medium-term plan is to undermine Zelenskyy’s credibility inside and outside of Ukraine and force premature elections to install a puppet government. “Multiple foreign diplomatic sources provided this readout from the Ukrainian side: ‘Putin assesses the probability of electing a puppet president as quite high and is also convinced that any candidate other than the current President of Ukraine will be more flexible and ready for negotiations and concessions. In turn, D. Trump is ready to accept any election result, including the possibility of [the] election of a pro-Russian puppet…Trump and…Putin consider the chances of the current President of Ukraine being re-elected as low.’”

All of yesterday’s theatrics were probably moot, as the Kremlin declared again that it opposes “any peacekeeping force” from NATO Alliance countries in Ukraine. This has been, or way, a key condition in Trump’s “peace plan.”

The Rift Between the U.S. and Europe Becoming Irreparable

Then, it got worse. On Wednesday morning, Trump launched a series of attacks on his personal social media platform, Truth Social. He repeated the false claim that the U.S. has spent “$350 billion dollars to go into a war that couldn’t be won” and that the U.S. has “spent $200 billion dollars more than Europe.” He made a half-truth statement, claiming that “Zelenskyy admits that half of that money we sent him is ‘missing.’” He then called the Ukrianian a leader, a “dictator” while praising his own efforts to “end…the war with Russia.”

Fact Check – The Truth Matters

Speaking with U.S. news agency Newsmax on 6 February, Trump’s special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, Lieutenant General (retired) Keith Kellogg, said that the story that $174 billion in U.S. aid has been sent to Ukraine is “a myth.” Kellogg accurately stated that only $65.9 billion in military aid had been sent to Ukraine, of which $51.2 billion was spent by the U.S. defense industry to replenish America’s stockpiles. “We have a pretty good idea where the money is going,” Kellogg added, accurately stating that there are inspector generals on the ground in Ukraine “to track that money.”

A 15 November 2023 report by then Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee Co-chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Co-chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), and Co-chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) wrote that oversight of aid to Ukraine was a priority of Republican leadership and no malfeasance had been found.

“To date, the Inspectors General of DoD [Department of Defense], State, and USAID have not identified any significant diversion, theft, or misuse of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. There are 96 ongoing or planned audits and reports by the IGs [Inspector Generals] of more than 20 different agencies, as well as the Government Accountability Office (GAO), to monitor, audit, and evaluate activities related to the Ukraine response. Thirty-nine have been completed.”

The report also concluded that Europe was providing more in military and humanitarian aid while “purchasing U.S. systems to replace them, providing an opportunity for the U.S. defense industry and American workers.”

Since that report was published, Congress approved another $61 billion of aid to Ukraine in April 2024. Between $3 and $5 billion of USAID funds have been frozen, and $3.8 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority went unused. Congress has not approved any additional funds for Ukraine since the FY2024 budget was passed last year.

Additionally, while the Trump administration has focused on only European aid, as of December 2024, only 42.7% of all delivered aid, both military and humanitarian, has come from the United States.

Both claims that Zelenskyy is a dictator with 4% support are untrue. The Ukrainian Constitution, ratified in 1996, forbids holding elections during martial law. Additionally, if martial law was lifted, the constitution bars continued military mobilization.

The new demand by Vice President J.D. Vance that for continued support, Ukraine must hold elections goes against the nation’s constitution and plays into Russia’s hands. If Ukraine holds elections but not in the occupied territories, it becomes a defacto admission of Russian control of occupied Ukraine. If elections are held in the occupied territories, they won’t be free and fair. The most recent polls from Ukraine show that Zelenskyy has between 52% and 57% support, which aligns with wartime U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.

Assessment

Almost three years ago, we warned that Ukraine’s allies must provide support not for “as long as it takes” but as fast as possible to restore the 1991 borders. Our warning was stark and now appears prophetic. Russia can be defeated in Kyiv today or Berlin in five years. As long as sanctions against Russia are not lifted, we maintain that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are well equipped through the rest of 2025.

As far back as 2011, Autocrat Putin has made it clear that his maximalist goal is the restoration of the Russian Imperial Empire’s borders. The Kremlin needs Ukraine’s population, defense production, and resources to institute the second phase of its plan: the invasions of Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Given the current political climate in Europe, it is unclear whether the NATO Alliance will respond to an Article V request from the three Baltic nations.

And after all of the positioning and statements from Russian and U.S. leaders, the most coherent assessment came from Zelenskyy, 3,275 kilometers away in Ankara.

“It seems clear to me that neither side will win this war with weapons on the battlefield. Russia wanted that but couldn’t achieve it, and no one believed in Ukraine, but it has proved itself and defended its independence. It hasn’t been easy, and we have paid a high price in the lives of our people and our soldiers. This means that a transition to diplomacy must happen, but it must lead to a just peace.”

There is always the possibility that on Thursday, President Trump will wake up in the morning, be furious with Putin, and vow to provide nuclear weapons to Ukraine, to change his mind 48 hours later. The one constant with the American leader is his complete unpredictability.

International News, National

M23 Rebels Capture Second Regional Capital in the Democratic Republic of Congo

[WBHG NEWS] – After violating their self-declared 4 February ceasefire, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels secured the city of Bukavu, advancing over 90 kilometers in two weeks from occupied Goma.

“Rwanda-backed rebels have occupied a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo,” Congo’s government said Sunday. Militants occupied the governor’s office and pledged to sweep away the “old regime.”

The Congolese Army was in collapse and offered almost no resistance as the much smaller M23 rebel force and Rwandan army swept to the south coast of Lake Kivu and secured more of the mineral-rich region. On Saturday, Congolese soldiers retreated with thousands of panicked civilians as the geopolitical and humanitarian crisis worsened. Up to 15,000 refugees crossed into Burundi, Africa’s poorest country, amid the violence.

The capture of Bukavu essentially seals both major border crossings into Rwanda and enables the Rwandan Army and M23 rebels to use Lake Kivu for supplies and logistics.

On Tuesday, the U.N. reported that humanitarian aid warehouses were looted in the South Kivu province as social order broke down. The U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR) confirmed that M23 rebels executed three children in Bukavu.

“Our Office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week. We are also aware that children were in possession of weapons. We call on Rwanda and M23 to ensure that human rights and international humanitarian law are respected,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

There were additional credible reports of more extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, and threats made to journalists, human rights workers, judges, lawyers, and other civil service employees. French news agency AFP confirmed that two people were “lynched” by a mob who accused them of looting.

So far, Diplomatic Efforts have Failed

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be preserved. “The fighting that is raging in South Kivu – as a result of the continuation of the M23 offensive – threatens to push the entire region over the precipice,” Guterres warned the African Union during an emergency summit.

African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Bankole Adeoye said regional leaders are increasingly worried that the ongoing conflict in the eastern part of the DRC will escalate into “an open regional war” over resources. During the summit, Rwanda was accused of providing supplies and logistics provided by China to the M23 rebels. Kigali has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Guterres, said that MONUSCO was protecting 1,400 civilians and NGO workers at the peacekeeping base in Goma. Fighting between M-23 and their Rwandan army backers and the Congolese Army has left 80 schools and 27 healthcare centers severely damaged.

South African and Malawian peacekeepers from the Southern African Development Community Mission in DRC (SAMIDRC) and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Cong (MONUSCO) remain trapped at Goma Airport and the nearby town of Saké. South Africa’s Minister of Defense, Angie Motshekga, said the top priority was evacuating 14 dead South African soldiers and the wounded. She insisted that the SAMIDRC mission would continue despite the violence and growing tension between Congolese, Rwandan, and South African leaders.

On Monday, Uganda’s military commander, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, threatened to launch an offensive on the DRC city of Bunia, claiming, without evidence, that ethnic Bahima were being killed.

A Country of Contradictions and Bloodshed

Decades of war, instability, and corruption have killed an estimated 6 million people in the DRC since 1996. M23, or March 23, was formed in 2012 and is composed primarily of ethnic Congolese Tutsis backed by the Rwanda government. Both claim that M23 is a required force to prevent ethnic Hutus from carrying out another genocide like the one in Rwanda in 1994. The international community has repeatedly rejected these claims.

The DRC is the 10th largest country on the planet and the 5th wealthiest in terms of natural resources. Despite abundant water, high-quality copper ore, and vast amounts of rare earth elements, the Congolese are the ninth poorest in Africa in terms of GDP per capita and ranked 181st in the world.

IPC Acute Food Insecurity Map for the Democratic Republic of Congo, September 2024

Over 3.4 million people are “facing critical levels of food insecurity,” according to the latest report by the IPC. Another 22.4 million people, 19% of the population, are facing “crisis levels” of food insecurity. The September 2024 report was released prior to the dramatic increase in fighting and the suspension of humanitarian aid by the U.S.

Today, 80% of all coltan ore comes from the DRC, and 80% of the mining operations are controlled or financed by China. Coltan is refined into cobalt, which is used in a wide range of applications, including dyes, semiconductors, and rechargeable batteries.

Coltan also produces tantalum, which is used to manufacture capacitors found in almost all smartphones, computers, and electronics. In April 2024, M23 took over one of the most productive coltan mines and has been illegally exporting raw ore to Rwanda ever since.

According to a 7 January report by the U.N., M23 is earning at least $800,000 a month through the illegal mining operation just at the Rubaya Mine. Satellite images, documents, and public import/export records show how coltan ore is removed from the facility to Rwanda and then mixed with lower-quality domestically sourced ore. In 2023, the most recent year records are available, Rwanda recorded a staggering 50% increase in coltan ore exports compared to 2022. The total tonnage exceeded domestic production.

China’s interest in the DRC appears to go beyond extracting mineral wealth. While Beijing has never been formally accused of arming the M23 rebels, pictures and videos show the group is well-equipped with Chinese kit and weapons.

The Congolese Army is considered weak, poorly trained, and corrupt. Since M23 expanded its offensive in late, the army has suffered repeated humiliating defeats, with thousands of soldiers deserting. Last month in Goma, over 400 Romanian mercenaries, allegedly providing “training” and operating artillery, crossed the border into Rwanda and surrendered, abandoning their infantry mobility vehicles and weapons.

The other powers with influence on the continent, the United States, Russia, and France, have limited economic and military exposure in the DRC and Rwanda.

Türkiye was the first country to sell military equipment to the DRC three months after an international ban was lifted in late 2022. In 2024, Turkish armored vehicle manufacturer Katmerciler completed a multi-million dollar contract for 185 mine-resistant infantry mobility vehicles. Türkiye has also sold arms to Rwanda but on a much smaller scale.

In late 2024, Russia deployed a very small group of troops with the Rosgvardiya Afrika Corps, formerly known as Private Military Company Wagner Group, to the DRC. The Russian soldiers are not in the eastern part of the country, and their role remains unclear.

USAID Employees Flee as Russia Moves In

Last week, several employees with USAID and the State Department filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, claiming that they and their families were abandoned in the DRC capital of Kinshasa. On 28 January, rioters attacked the U.S. embassy and nine others, lighting fires, breaching fences, and looting the buildings. Widespread unrest spread across the city, with protesters targeting groups and countries they viewed responsible for the fighting on the Rwandan border.

On the same day, the U.S. closed its embassy “to the public until further notice” due to
”an increase in violence.” Embassy officials advised citizens to “shelter-in-place and then safely depart while commercial options are available.”

The lawsuit revealed the security situation in Kinshasa, over 1,500 kilometers west of the fighting, is far worse than initially reported. Court records show that one USAID employee and their family had to be extracted from their home by the U.S. Marine contingent assigned to the embassy after protesters breached the outer wall and set their home on fire.

Some U.S. government employees said the State Department abandoned them when they received notices on 4 February that they were being placed on leave despite being trapped.

Others opted to evacuate in January. Then-acting USAID administrator Jason Gray initially balked at issuing a “waiver request” to provide funds to evacuate USAID employees and their families. By the time one was issued on 29 January, many had already fled.

In public court records, one USAID worker declared, “USAID staff and their families participated in the evacuation from Kinshasa and boarded small boats alongside friends and colleagues from other foreign affairs agencies to cross the Congo River to Brazzaville. Each individual was able to take only what would fit in their lap…Staff remained at a hotel in Brazzaville for about two days before flying…to Dulles International Airport.”

According to the U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through 23 January 2025, USAID had provided $3 billion in humanitarian aid and $6 billion in total assistance over the last ten years.

Just days after the November U.S. federal elections, Russian state media agency Sputnik reported that the Russian humanitarian cooperation agency Rossotrudnuchestvo, Moscow’s equivalent to USAID, was working on starting operations in the DRC.

Breaking News, International News, National

Delta Airlines Flight 4819 Crashes in Toronto, Canada During Landing

[WBHG NEWS] – Delta Airlines Flight DL4819 crashed during a landing attempt in Toronto, Canada.

The fuselage remained intact, with the wings, stabilizer, and rudder torn off, and the plane turned over on its back. Canadian officials reported that everyone was expected to survive.

The American Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 departed Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 11:34 AM after a 64-minute delay, and was supposed to land in Toronto at 2:11 PM.

This is the third commercial airline crash involving a U.S. airline in less than a month. On January 29, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter conducting an annual pilot check flight. All three crewmembers on the Blackhawk and the 64 crewmembers and passengers on the Bombardier CRJ700 flying from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., were killed. A Cessna 208 Caravan operated by Bering Air crashed near Nome, Alaska, on February 6, killing all nine passengers and the pilot.

This is breaking news.

Breaking News, International News, National

Hundreds of Nuclear Experts Fired with no Regard to National Security

[WBHG NEWS] – On Friday, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired approximately 400 employees from the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), which is part of the Department of Energy (DOE).

The layoffs included almost 30% of the staff at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility in Texas, security and maintenance experts, and foreign-based monitors meant to prevent nuclear proliferation. Included in the terminations were Ukrainian monitors meant to ensure the war-torn country doesn’t restart a nuclear weapons program in compliance with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Also fired was most of the team responsible for producing and protecting replacement plutonium cores for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. This action was taken despite a mandate by the first Trump administration to expand the production of cores, also known as pits, by 2030, which is part of an ongoing U.S. nuclear weapons modernization program.

Less than 24 hours later, the damage to national security had become clear, and the DOE was scrambling to rehire more than 300 employees.

It is a misconception that the DOE focuses on conservation, green energy, car electrification, and LED light bulbs. Since its creation, the main function of the DOE has been to regulate, protect, produce, and maintain the U.S. nuclear energy and weapons programs. Conservation and alternative energy research and development programs were expanded in the 1970s. The charter was further expanded by the George W. Bush Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the DOE were mandated to increase pit production from 30 per year to 80 by the end of the decade. In 2018, the NNSA submitted a plan to produce 30 pits at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and 50 more at the Savannah River Lab in South Carolina. Congress received an update in 2020, which concluded that the $350 billion project was at least two years behind schedule. Congressional reports in 2021, 2023, and 2024 show that little progress has been made to speed up production.

During the Cold War, the U.S. was capable of producing up to 1,000 pits per year, ending large-scale production in 1989. The almost complete stop occurred during an era of detente with the Soviet Union and ongoing nuclear disarmament. The same GAO report about expanding modern production noted that only a limited number of pits have been produced since 1989, and the last war reserve pits were built in 2012.

The U.S. uses Plutonium-239 to make nuclear cores, which have a half-life of 24,110 years. Despite the millennia-long decay rate, it is estimated that after 30 to 35 years, there is enough decay to impact explosive yield. It is not suggested that the U.S. nuclear arsenal would not work, just that the explosive power could be different from what is expected. In 2023, the NNSA asked Congress for $1 billion to conduct additional research on the decay rate to determine exactly when the pits need to be replaced.

Nations that started their nuclear weapons program prior to 1980 have similar challenges. The United Kingdom, France, Russia, and India also have aging nuclear arsenals, with Pakistan not far behind. While China tested its first nuclear bomb in 1964, it recently started expanding its arsenal, with a goal of having 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. That would make China a near-peer of Russia and the United States with the most modern warheads on the planet.

In 2021, the U.S. allocated $64 billion to maintain its existing nuclear stockpile, equivalent to the entire published military budget of the Russian Federation. While the NNSA’s annual report to Congress on pit production is publicly available, Moscow keeps its production data classified. Most experts believe that Russian nuclear readiness is in worse condition than the U.S., France, and the U.K.

Over the weekend, government officials said they were having a hard time tracking down the terminated employees, lacking active e-mail addresses and phone numbers in their records. Some of the fired workers didn’t find out they were released until they tried to show up to work or access secured online systems.

The DOE can trace its roots to the Atomic Energy Commission, which was formed in 1946 after the success of the Manhattan Project and the end of World War II. In 1977, the Carter Administration combined several government commissions and agencies, as well as the U.S. nuclear research labs, into the DOE. The agency also received the added charter of formulating policies for energy security and conservation, partially in response to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Despite the expanding role of U.S. energy policy, the core function of the DOE remains nuclear-focused.

BIPOC, Local, National

Auburn Police Officer Jeff Nelson Sentenced Finally Bringing ‘Justice for Jesse’

[Kent, WA – WBHG News] – A King County Judge sentenced former Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson to almost 17 years in prison for the 2019 murder of Jesse Sarey.

Nelson was convicted in June 2024 for the in-the-line-of-duty shooting of Sarey and became the first police officer convicted under I-940. The 2018 law removed the “malice of heart” standard to charge police officers with negligent shootings.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Nicole Phelps asked Nelson if he wanted to make a statement on his own behalf, which he declined. The judge handed down a 200 month sentence for second-degree murder and 123 months for first-degree assault, with the sentences to run concurrently – or 16 years and 8 months. The sentence aligned with the prosecutor’s recommendation.

In their sentencing recommendation, King County Special Prosecutor Patty Eakes wrote, “Doing so will reflect Nelson’s long history of violence towards the less powerful, the egregious nature of his conduct, his dishonesty, and the great damage he has caused in our community.”

Nelson’s defense attorney, Kristen Murray, argued that “Officer Nelson chose a career in law enforcement because he was driven by his sense of duty to others” and requested a sentence of 6.5 years.

During the hearing, Judge Phelps had to stop the proceedings and clear the courtroom after people watching on Zoom started holding up pornographic pictures. Nelson’s sentence had already been rendered when the online protest started.

Sarey was murdered on May 31, 2019, after Nelson responded to a disturbance call at an Auburn Walgreens and had a brief interaction with him. Sarey then crossed the street and was outside Sunshine Grocery in the middle of a mental health episode. A manager of a nearby Starbucks called 911, claiming that Sarey was “attempting to access cars” in the parking lot. That claim was never substantiated.

Nelson arrived at Sunshine Grocery and, according to his official statement about the incident, had “the intent to arrest Sarey for disorderly conduct.” The entire interaction lasted 67 seconds. Nelson tried to handcuff Sarey, but he resisted. Multiple videos show that Nelson punched Sarey seven times and tried to throw him to the ground. He then pushed him up against the wall of the store and shot him in the chest. Sarey fell to the ground and, according to the autopsy, was already mortally wounded from the bullet that shredded his liver.

Nelson tried to fire a second time, but the gun jammed. Surveillance videos show he cleared the round, looked briefly, and fired for a third time, shooting Sarey in the forehead. The time from the first to the third shot was under four seconds.

Because of where Nelson parked his police cruiser, the dashboard camera did not record the details of the incident, and Auburn police did not wear body cameras. The barking of his K9 dog drowned out most of the audio from Nelson’s microphone.

In the official police report from the Auburn Police Department, released on August 16, 2019, Nelson claimed that Sarey had tried to take his service weapon from him during the struggle, which is why he shot him. The surveillance videos in the area did not show a struggle for the gun.

Nelson was charged with murder and assault in August 2020 and, due to the COVID pandemic and legal procedures, repeatedly delayed his trial until June 2024. During that time, he continued to collect his salary and benefits from Auburn, almost $100,000 a year.

After his 2024 conviction, Nelson was supposed to be sentenced on July 16. His lawyers appealed and, by the end of the year, had exhausted all legal avenues.

In an 8-1/2 year span, Nelson killed three people in the line of duty, including Sarey. Law enforcement experts said that it is highly unusual for an officer to be involved in three on-duty shootings during an entire police career and that most officers will never draw their service weapon.

In 2011, he fatally shot Brain Scaman after pulling him over for a burnt-out headlight. Scaman, a Vietnam War veteran with a known mental health history, exited the car with a knife, refused to drop it, was was shot in the head. An inquest determined Nelson’s actions were justified.

In 2017, Nelson shot Isiah Obet in the torso and then the head after releasing his service dog on the suspect. Nelson claimed that Obet was acting erratically and was armed with a knife. While the Auburn Police Department claimed there was no wrongdoing, the city reached a civil settlement of $1.25 million with Obet’s family.

Since Nelson’s 2020 arraignment, the City of Auburn settled a $4 million civil rights claim with Sarey’s family and has paid out almost $2 million additional to settle other civil claims against Nelson and other officers.

Local, National

Can Trump Keep his Promise to Lower Grocery Prices

[Kirkland, WA – WBHG News] – During the 2024 United States elections, inflation and grocery prices took center stage, with the blame for post-COVID inflation placed on politicians from both parties, corporations, and private equity firms. President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise to lower grocery prices, while his opponents and some economists argued that the White House doesn’t have much direct control over the price of Kraft mac and cheese or a gallon of gasoline.

Inflation at the grocery store has been a very real problem for Americans since 2020, caused by COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. The reasons why prices have continued to increase, and inflation has remained stubborn are complex and go beyond national politics. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) peaked in 2022 at 8.0% and has since dropped to 3.2% in 2024. Economists prefer to see an inflation rate between 2% and 3%, so the U.S. economy remains slightly overheated. Additionally, CPI doesn’t account for shrinkflation, when companies make a product smaller without changing the price.

During Trump’s inauguration, our team benchmarked grocery, fuel, and fast food prices in Kirkland to track over the next four years. Will grocery prices drop now that the Republicans have control of the House, Senate, the White House, and confirmed a majority of the sitting Supreme Court justices?

Methodology

Our team established the following rules for identifying what items to track and how to keep the methodology as fair as possible.

  • We benchmarked prices using national brands, which are less impacted by local market fluctuations, with two exceptions. We benchmarked milk based on the Kroger store brand and ground beef using Kroger’s Simple Truth organic brand. Dairies in the United States are regional, which impacts local prices and supply. Four corporations control most of the meat product distribution and pricing in the United States, and the house Kroger brand provides a fixed product with a known weight.
  • We decided not to track the price of eggs or poultry due to the bird flu epidemic, which is decimating egg and poultry production across the United States. The current outbreak is outside of the control of the previous and current administration. Further, the egg cases in the local stores were practically empty and missing most of their price tags.
  • We did not benchmark the price of fresh produce because Washington is one of the largest producers of some items in the country, such as apples. This increases our supply and variety, which lowers our regional prices. In contrast, fresh corn and lettuce are more expensive in the winter months compared to the southern United States due to the need to import these items over very long distances. Additionally, prices are impacted by acts of God and weather, creating another layer of complexity.
  • The size of each product was carefully recorded, including the unit count and the weight or volume of each unit within the package. This will enable our team to track shrinkflation, which could hide a price increase.
  • We will recheck the prices once a month on the 20th. In the event that one of the stores we benchmarked is closed on the 20th, we will check prices on the closest opening day after the 20th. If a location permanently closes, we will record prices as the next closest location, preferably within Kirkland.
  • Prices from McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Domino’s were logged using their respective apps and are determined without using any coupons, incentives, or benefits from customer loyalty programs.

We Couldn’t Benchmark Every Item on our List

During our audit, we noted that almost all items were on sale or had new price reductions in the Kroger-branded stores in the Kirkland area. Some of the sale tags showed the normal retail price, while others didn’t. We were unable to benchmark shampoo, toothpaste, razors, canned and frozen vegetables, and other popular items.

In other cases, there were problems with the posted price tags. For example, we wanted to benchmark Cascade automatic dishwashing pods, which is the most popular national brand. However, the item on the shell was 62 count, while the price tag reflected a 57 count product. We could not determine if the 57 count price was an error or misplaced under the slightly larger product being sold or if Cascade is rolling out a smaller package.

We photographed each product with its published price tag, documenting the count, weight, and volume.

Here are the Products

We will track the prices of 27 popular items, regular unleaded gasoline, and three popular fast food brands. We will publish our next update on February 21.

ItemWeight, Volume, QuantityJanuary 20, 2025, Non-sale PriceMost Recent PriceChange
Dairy Products
Whole Milk – Kroger Brand128 fluid ounces$3.99
Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter4 count – total weight 16 ounces$6.99
Kraft Singles American processed cheese food product24 individual slices – 16 ounces by weight $6.29
Household Products
Tide 3-in-1 Pods laundry detergent112 count – 93 ounces$27.99
Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap38 fluid ounces$6.29
Bounty 6=12 doubles paper towels
6 2-ply rolls, 58 11 inches X 10.2 inches sheets per roll, 270 square feet
$14.99
Breakfast Foods
Cheerios toasted oat cereal18 ounces$5.99
Starbucks Pike Place Roast ground coffee – medium roast18 ounces$14.99
Meat
Kroger Brand “Simple Truth” prepackaged natural ground beef – 91/916 ounces individual vacuum pack$9.49
Oscar Mayer Beef Franks – Classic10 count – total weight 15 ounces$6.49
Infant/Baby
Pampers baby-dry stage 6 diapers64 count$28.99
Health and Beauty
Tampax Pearl Large Light Day tampons36 count$9.79
Charmin Ultra Strong 12=48 Mega roll toilet paper12 2-ply rolls, 220 3.92 inches x 4 inches sheets per roll, 287 square feet$16.99
Snack and Convenience Foods
Red Baron brick oven crust pepperoni pizza17.89 ounces$4.99
Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza flavor8 count – total weight 36 ounces$10.99
Oreo cookies18.12 ounces$4.99
Doritos – Cool Ranch Flavor – party size14.5 ounces$6.99
Coca-Cola – canned, sweetened with corn syrup12 count – 12 fluid ounce cans$9.99
Soups and Broths
Swanson chicken broth32 fluid ounces$2.99
Quick Meals
Prego Traditional jarred prepared pasta sauce, tomato24 ounces by weight$2.79
Barilla rotini pasta16 ounces$1.99
Kraft mac & cheese dinner, original flavor7.25 ounces$1.29
Wonder Bread, white, sliced20 ounces$3.99
Staples
C&H premium pure can granulated sugar in bag64 ounces$4.99
Pillsbury Best All Purpose Flour, bleached and enriched80 ounces$5.69
Condiments
Hidden Valley Ranch ranch salad dressing16 fluid ounces$4.39
Heinz real tomato ketchup in the easy squeeze bottle20 ounces$3.99
Gasoline
Regular unleaded E-10 87-octane gasoline at the Totem Lake Fred Meyer location128 fluid ounces$3.71-9/10, which includes 18.4 cents federal motor fuel tax, 49.4 cents Washington state gasoline tax, and approximately 43.4 cents for Washington state cap and trade fees
Fast Food
McDonald’s Big Mac meal at the 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, locationBigMac with 2 2-ounce beef patties, medium French fry, and medium 21 fluid ounce Coca-Cola with regular ice$11.49 before tax
Taco Bell 3 Crunch Taco Combo at the 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, location3 hard shell tacos with ground beef filling, included toppings, and a large 30 fluid ounces Pepsi with regular ice$8.69 before tax
Domino’s large Ultimate Pepperoni pizza for store pickup at the 100th Ave NE, Kirkland location14″ pizza with hand-tossed crust, pepperoni (extra), shredded parmesan asiago and provolone cheeses, and tomato sauce$21.99 before tax