Newsweek reports today that Ukraine strike last month against the Kerch Bridge

damaged the Railroad bridge as well as the road bridge:

snip
Asecond strike by Ukraine last month on the strategically vital Kerch Strait Bridge damaged its crucial railway, contrary to Russian claims that the attack affected only the roadway on spans of the structure, satellite photos obtained by Newsweek reveal.



Data and satellite images sent exclusively to Newsweek by Molfar, a global open-source intelligence community, dated on July 17 and 23, show damage to railroad parts of the bridge. They also show a group of cars concentrated near those damaged parts, which researchers believe to be transport repair workers and equipment.

The Kerch Strait Bridge is a key supply route for Russia's forces and is Russia's sole land link with Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014.

snip

https://www.newsweek.com/satellite-photos-railway-damage-kerch-bridge-crimea-strike-attack-explosion-1817590

Apparently Ukraine is trying to attack the bridge again tonight.

Ukraine war rumors tonight: Crimea

No real confirmation but something is happening around the Kerch bridge (again):

https://twitter.com/2catsanddog/status/1687607676560171008

https://twitter.com/TimInHonolulu/status/1687607352835616774

The latest from Ukraine: Ukraine sea drones have damaged a Russian navy ship (again).

I don't understand why tfg wouldn't be held pending trial.

He still hasn't accepted the election results and is fully capable of trying to subvert the next election.
Just my NSHO.

So Hunter Bidens business partner testified in a closed hearing today.

He was supposed to spill the beans on the President's corruption. Here is what he said:

https://twitter.com/jordainc/status/1686065077252734986

August 1st: Take the day off from the site formerly known as Twitter Day.

NY Times: Trump PAC in money crunch after paying $40 million in legal fees this year

"The political action committee that former President Donald J. Trump is using to pay his legal bills faced such staggering costs this year that it requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to another group supporting the Republican front-runner, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The decision signals a potential money crisis for Mr. Trump, who has so far refused to pay his own voluminous bills directly and has also avoided creating a legal-defense fund for himself and people who have become entangled in the various investigations related to him.

It comes as Mr. Trump runs a campaign while under indictment in two jurisdictions and, soon, potentially a third, while also paying the legal fees of a number of witnesses who are close to him or who work for him.

It is unclear how much money was refunded.

But the refund was sought as the political action committee, Save America, spent more than $40 million in legal fees incurred by Mr. Trump and witnesses in various legal cases related to him this year alone, according to another person familiar with the matter."

$60 Million Refund Request Shows Financial Pressure on Trump From Legal Fees https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/us/trump-pac-legal-fees.html?unlocked_article_code=0fwtBjPRnc19LNFvdBPf8TX1dT2rtEg9IhxQ4bfJMz5iabxcNTFaWZNrsKqFTqwvIjks38Ifzyf5B6EFYp5r8oqVWZL5fBNSWJ3dlDaIT0MHH5zm7IVpKa6EKAZv1r0DPQuV5uh2IxDOYtBufaGoVDOpv9utrjVoqhSGwlcDEOgu9o686VkOtmjJI3clUgLVGiUgm-Pud72QdfMNMVJJIfiw8BtXvRQ2VgeNxFnkHt8Am5tMAqD7UfVygrRWiZOG-5ZSjvqqbRo4LZQojSfgT0qr81n7vIX7qzOGmap5WsvOAUPMSSJZ_yDmIK0UdgOoTqiRukIAGgEo&smid=nytcore-android-share


And it's only July.

Republican Congressman attacks congressional pages! Bipartisan response.

From this mornings Politico Playbook:

"TURN THE PAGE — Freshman Rep. DERRICK VAN ORDEN (R-Wis.) came under fire yesterday after he reportedly cursed at a group of Senate pages who were laying in the rotunda late Wednesday night, admiring the frescoes, Punchbowl scooped. (It is not uncommon for members of Congress to do this with tour groups.) The high school-aged pages, who come to Washington for their junior years and work long hours in the Capitol while attending classes in the morning, were in their final week on the job.

What Van Orden said, per The Hill’s Al Weaver, citing “a transcript” written by one of the pages shortly after the incident: “Wake the f‑‑‑ up, you little s‑‑‑‑. … What the f‑‑‑ are you all doing? Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s‑‑‑]. … I don’t give a f‑‑‑ who you are, get out.”

Van Orden, in a statement, cited the “history of the United States Capitol Rotunda, that during the Civil War it was used as a field hospital and countless Union soldiers died on that floor, and they died because they were fighting the Civil War to end slavery. And I think that place should be treated with a tremendous amount of respect for the dead.”

On the Senate floor last night, Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER addressed Van Orden’s outburst and paid tribute to the pages: “I understand that late last night, a member of the House majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people, these teenagers in the Rotunda. I was shocked when I heard about it. And I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people.”

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell concurred: “I want to associate myself with the remarks of the majority leader. Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way.”

The latest from Ukraine: Ukraine has reached the main Russian Defense line south of Robotyne

This video is making the rounds on Twitter today. Experts believe it is an unmanned vehicle testing the ine. It has been geolocated south of the heavily defended village of Robotyne. Don't be concerned that the vehicle gets stuck in the tank trap ditch. Bulldozers will fix that. What is interesting is nothing is firing at it and there are no mine fields. No artillery fire. No antitank guns.
Pure speculation on my part: This area will be less heavily mined because Russia needed ways to supply their large groups of forces out in front of the line. The tank ditch will serve as a useful defillade to give some protection for advancing Ukrain troops. Have to wonder how many Russian troops are manning this line.
Ukraine will reach the line in another spot in a week or so. It will be an interesting August.

https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1684600564351451136?t=WDql3V53Tvf1qZVERDV-Og&s=19

https://twitter.com/pati_marins64/status/1684687027483066368?t=6pwZ4rfitqyX6k2qFqhTKQ&s=19

NY Times: US says main thrust of Ukraine's offensive has begun.

"The main thrust of Ukraine’s nearly two-month-old counteroffensive is now underway in the country’s southeast, two Pentagon officials said on Wednesday, with thousands of reinforcements pouring into the grinding battle, many of them trained and equipped by the West and, until now, held in reserve.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the campaign. Their comments dovetailed with reports from the battlefield on Wednesday, where artillery battles flared along the southern front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.

And Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry’s chief spokesman, reported a “massive” assault and fierce battles south of Orikhiv, a town that Ukraine holds about 60 miles north of the Sea of Azov. Vladimir Rogov, an official appointed by Moscow in southern Ukraine, said the assault involved Ukrainian troops who had been trained abroad and were equipped with about 100 armored vehicles, including German-made Leopards and American-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles."

"Their goal is to sever the so-called land bridge between Russian-occupied Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula, or at least advance far enough to put the strategically important peninsula within range of Ukrainian artillery. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and uses it as the base for its Black Sea fleet as well as to supply its forces in the south."

Prayers for Ukraine and her brave soldiers.