A World At War

This is speculation on my part, but I believe that World War III has begun. To this point, it has been a proxy war waged in Ukraine, but the effects are widespread. Many countries have contributed arms, supplies, training, and intelligence. Refugees are spreading across the Continent. Russia’s actions in the energy sector have created scarcity and sent prices skyrocketing.

The Ukrainians have defended their land effectively, surprisingly so given their asymmetric disadvantages. The have pushed Russian forces out of some formerly occupied areas and inflicted heavy casualties on the battlefield.

But Russia is not likely to agree to a ceasefire despite their losses. Mr. Putin places no value on life or property. He has drafted another 300,000 conscripts to be sent to Ukraine, as Russian men of fighting age attempt to flee their country. The Kremlin increased penalties for desertion and voluntary surrender, because they realize that no one wants to die fighting for Putin’s objectives.

Expect the conflict to intensify. In addition to the increased personnel, Russia is deploying weapons systems that it has purchased from Iran. Russia has staged a sham referendum in Eastern Ukraine asking the people there whether they would like their territory to become part of Russia. This is significant, because Russia’s constitution allows the deployment of nuclear weapons only in cases where Russia is defending its own territory. When Putin can claim, even illegitimately under international law, that eastern Ukraine is part of his own country, he will have the green light to deploy tactical nuclear weapons.

Don’t think that he won’t use them. The Russian military and its mercenary counterparts have demonstrated that there is no line that they won’t cross, no norm that they won’t break, no war crime that they will not commit. They’ve bombed hospitals, leveled cities, shelled apartment buildings and nuclear power plants. They’ve killed civilians without remorse or justification, often torturing them and mutilating their bodies. They’ve shelled humanitarian corridors to prevent aid from reaching civilians and to prevent escape from heavily shelled population centers. They have kidnapped Ukrainian citizens and sent them to concentration camps in Russia before relocating them thousands of miles from home. They have waged a barbaric campaign of depopulation, just as they did years earlier in Aleppo in Syria. When battlefield commanders come back to Moscow, Putin doesn’t reprimand them for their brutality. He promotes them.

Given that track record, I don’t see any reason by Putin would stop short of deploying nuclear weapons if he thought that they would work to his advantage.

The Chapel At Windsor Castle

I have had the pleasure of touring Windsor Castle and the beautiful chapel where Queen Elizabeth’s committal service was held today. Harry and Meghan were married here as well. Seeing this lovely place on television brings back happy memories.

Time Warp

Carlos Alcaraz won the US Open tennis tournament on September 11, 2022. He wasn’t born on September 11, 2001. He’s nineteen years old.

From a nineteen-year-old’s perspective, the September 11 attacks were historical events, like Pearl Harbor or The Alamo.

King Charles’ Namesakes - A Brief History

The last King Charles (II) died in 1685, the year when Johann Sebastian Bach was born, and forty-seven years before the birth of George Washington.

King Charles I was executed in 1649 during a civil war that suspended the monarchy. Rebellion leader Oliver Cromwell signed his death warrant. Charles II was coronated following his father’s execution, but Cromwell’s troops defeated the royal forces, and Cromwell ruled England for nine years until his death from disease. Cromwell’s son did not have support in Parliament, so Charles II was restored to the throne.

The elder Cromwell’s body was exhumed, hung in chains, and beheaded in a “posthumous execution.” The head was mounted to a pole and displayed outside of the UK Parliament building for decades before being sold to a private collector.

Football Spelling Review

Football spelling review: The ball is loose! They’re going to lose! Is that your beer? No, it’s Lou’s.

Space Race

It’s hard to believe that I’m saying this, but I would rather go to space on an Amazon rocket or a Tesla rocket than a NASA rocket.

The Heckler

The heckler at Biden’s speech gave us a sobering look at the MAGA Republican mindset.

- No sense of service or community

- No helpful ideas

- No willingness to work toward a common goal

- No sense of decency or respect

Instead, it’s all about antics, bluster, disruption, and intimidation.

“Hey, look at me! I brought a megaphone so I can heckle a 79 year old man with a speech impediment! Aren’t I special? I deserve to be in charge of everything!”

Student Loan Forgiveness

Most industrialized countries provide free healthcare and free education up to a four year degree. The expense is offset by the benefit having a healthy, well-trained, well-educated work force. In the Information Age, education is more critical than ever.

The US provides neither of these benefits.

Manufacturing jobs have systematically been sent offshore. The better paying jobs require an education.

The price of an education has increased more rapidly than median wages or the cost of living. Many working families cannot afford to pay for their children’s education, especially given that they also need to pay for healthcare out of pocket.

People need an education to get ahead, so they take out loans.

At the behest of lenders, Congress has enacted laws that force the repayment of those loans regardless of financial hardship.

Student loans are immune to bankruptcy. You still have to pay back the loan, even if you get sick and lose your job and have huge medical expenses.

Complicating the situations is the rise of for-profit businesses that offer educational services. At the primary and secondary level, these businesses are called Charter Schools. Charter Schools are businesses with a CEO. Profit, not education, is their primary objective.

There are for-profit companies providing education at the university level as well. Some use the word University in their name.

For profit companies fulfill their mission by attracting students and collecting tuition. Providing an education to the students is a secondary objective.

These companies do a lot of marketing to attract students. Enrolling paying students is their number one objective.

Some of these institutions were exposed as scams and shut down. The value of the education that students received was negligible, but their loan debt remains very real. Students have to pay back the loans whether or not their “education” resulted in them getting them a job.

These are some of the reasons why student loan forgiveness is an important issue.

I don’t relish having my tax dollars go to paying off someone else’s loans, but it’s necessary for the country to make a course correction.

When former students are no longer burdened with debt, they have more disposable income to contribute to the economy.

I would like to see the US provide more education and healthcare opportunities for all students without forcing people to run up crippling amounts of debt simply to compete in the job market. It’s better to set up a working program than to bail out a broken system.

The Sewers

Consider the former president’s behavior, the demagoguery, the endless lying, the befriending of dictators, the public humiliation of generals, the reckless mishandling of classified information, the child separation policy, the retaliation against whistle blowers, downplaying a deadly virus because he feared that it would impact his chances for reelection, coercing a foreign ally to investigate a political rival, pardoning convicted felons because they were his associates, the refusal to honor subpoenas, the instigation of the January 6 attack, and so much more.

Then consider the political courage of Liz Cheney, a staunch conservative who, while her party remained faithful to their once and future leader, stood up and publicly said enough is enough, we can’t have a person like that running the country again, and here are the reasons why.

Finally, consider that a majority of registered GOP voters oppose Cheney and her dedication to the rule of law while throwing their full, enthusiastic support behind the former guy despite all of his moral, ethical, and legal transgressions. The contrast shows how deep into the sewers Donald Trump has dragged the Republican Party.

A Mob Awakened

I have no idea what a woke mob is. Is it the opposite of a sleeping mob? The barking dog woke the mob. The mob awoke, and now it’s been awakened. Note that the mob woke up, but it isn’t “woke”. That usage makes no sense.