It's Wednesday morning, what do we know?

Hurricane Ian barrels towards Florida and the Nord Stream pipelines are sabotaged

What do we know?

• Hurricane Ian struck western Cuba on Tuesday, causing what the U.S. National Hurricane Center described as “significant wind and storm surge impacts.”  The storm slammed into Cuba with maximum sustained winds around 125 mph.  The storm is now trained on Florida’s west coast, where it is expected to make landfall later today as a major Category 3 or 4 storm.  Though the Tampa Bay area is expected to see the worst of Ian’s ferocity, the exact location where it makes landfall remains uncertain.  However, given the cyclone’s size and strength, its effects are expected to be felt throughout southern Florida

• Judge Amy Berman Jackson was all out of f___ks to give on Tuesday at the sentencing hearing for Kyle Young, who pleaded guilty to brutally assaulting D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone.  Judge Jackson sentenced Young to 86 months in prison for his part in the siege on The Capitol, which included giving a stun gun to another insurrectionist to assault Fanone.  In a video, Young can be seen handing the weapon to the other assailant and instructing him on how to use it as Fanone pleaded with them to stop.  Young, a real father of the year candidate, also had his 16 year-old son with him as he committed his crimes. The judge saved her most blistering criticism for Republican elected officials and the Spray Tanned Turd to whom they have pledged their servility, saying officials are so afraid of losing power or crossing their tangerine god-king that they refuse to tell the truth and continue to spread his lies

• The most high-profile January 6th criminal proceeding to date began on Tuesday as Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, and three others, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson, went on trial for seditious conspiracy, conspiring to obstruct and obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to prevent an officer from discharging duties.  The sedition and obstructing a proceeding charges each carry a maximum of 20 years

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he backs a bill to overhaul the Electoral Count Act of 1887, all but ensuring its passage in the Senate.  The Senate Rules Committee, which includes McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, advanced the bill out of committee, with a single ‘no’ vote being cast by chinless lizard-boy Ted Cruz.  The bill is expected to receive final passage in the lame duck session, following the November midterms

• The January 6th Committee, which was scheduled to hold what was expected to be its final public hearing today, has postponed, citing Hurricane Ian

What do we know in Ukraine?

• The Nord Stream pipelines either fell out a window or were poisoned with polonium, but either way, both have suddenly sprung leaks.  Though the actual cause remains unknown, European officials have said sabotage is the most likely cause.  The leaks of natural gas now present a danger to ships in the region but are only a localized threat to the environment, as the gas rises to the surface in a single plume.  Seismologists detected explosions in the vicinity of the pipelines but who and how remain a mystery. The pipelines provided much of Europe with Russian natural gas and have been at the center of the conflict over energy between Moscow and the EU

Natural gas bubbling to the surface of the Baltic Sea from a leak in the Nord Stream pipeline

• Preliminary results of Russia’s sham referendum in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were announced Tuesday.  According to Russian-backed Ukrainian officials, early vote totals showed more than 93% of voters backed annexation by Russia.  No doubt Putin was sitting at his computer all day refreshing his browser to get the latest totals in this totally legitimate nailbiter election.  Moscow is expected to use the results to declare the four provinces officially part of Russia and Russify the regions over the winter

• According to officials, almost 200,000 Russian men have fled the country into Kazakhstan, Georgia and Finland since Vladimir Putin announced his mobilization late last week. Kazakhstan and Georgia were offering visa-free entry to Russian citizens, making them the most popular exit points, with 98,000 Russians entering Kazakhstan and about 53,000 crossing into Georgia

Dmitri @wartranslated

A woman, who appears to be with long-term military experience, is giving instructions to mobiks on what to take with them. This includes everything that is not armour and uniform, that is, tourniquets, medicines, and women's pads.