They finally finished the bridge across the river a half mile north of our house.
The residents of Russanovsky Sad had been concerned that it would bring an overflow of traffic on our narrow main road. I was concerned that I did not see construction on the Metro line – just the road.
They came up with, for us, the best of all possible solutions. The city implemented a new bus line, the 111, running across the new bridge, though it remains closed to private vehicles. Bicycles also, though with snow on the ground that is moot. The bus runs through the parts of downtown that we most frequently visit: Podil, Khreshetik and Lva Tolstova (recently renamed the place of Ukrainian heroes).
We had a frightening introduction. Last night as I was taking the girls home from school and kindergarten there were two buses, the 111 right in front of the 117. I poked my nose into the 111 to ask where it went. Not where I wanted to go. I went back and got in the 117.
I looked for Marianna. She wasn't there! A quick couple of shouts and I realized that she was not on the bus with Zoriana and not at the bus stop. The 111 had just taken off. The 117 driver, thinking very quickly, closed the door, goosed our bus, flashed his lights and honked his horn. The 111 stopped just before it would've turned across the bridge. I ran to get Marianna, who had calmly gotten on the bus by herself in the instant I was talking to the driver.
It was a close call. When I told Oksana, the first thing out of her mouth was advice. Damn! That was the last thing I needed. What I wanted was a sigh of relief. Yes, of course, I should keep my eye on Marianna all the time. But you can't do that, and kids are quick.
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I, like most others, am paying less attention to the war. I watch Denys Davidov every other day, fast forwarding through and just looking at the maps of Adiivka, Robotne and the Dniepro.
Yesterday's news was interesting. Ukraine apparently blew up a train in the 9.5 mile Severomuysky tunnel in the middle of Russia, northeast of Lake Baikal. The news media barely reported it, but my recollection of Russian geography suggested that it was an essential link in the only rail connection between China and Russia. Yes, that appears to be the case. However, the damage was apparently not so vast that it can't be fixed fairly quickly. Too bad they did not blow up a train full of North Korean artillery shells.
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I did everything I could to make my recent book review of The Conscience of a Progressive amenable to comments, easy to comment. The progressives and liberals among you in my readership absolutely abhor what I have to say about evolution and intelligence. This was a perfect opportunity to tell your side of the story. Nobody did! Your silence is eloquent. You hate to admit I am right.
For what it's worth, I sent the link to former subscriber Phil Sturm, who never missed an opportunity to call me a racist. And things even worse when he can think of them. He will not answer. He will double down on his ad hominem slurs, but there are no facts to which he can appeal.
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I have finished reading Noble Savages and am ready to write a review. Napoleon Chagnon names a good many authors I have read and (bolded) posted Amazon reviews: Alexander Richard, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Stephen J. Gould, D.W. Hamilton, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Richard Lewontin, Jared Diamond, Stephen Pinker, John Tooby (not mentioned, wife Lea Cosmides), Robert Trivers, Nicholas Wade, E.O. Wilson and David Sloan Wilson
It is clear that my views, like Chagnon's, would not pass muster with the American Anthropological Association. He has a great deal to say about how power is exercised in the hitherto supposedly egalitarian Indian societies. It is all about reproduction. The system is good at producing baby Indians, but it is horrifyingly incorrect from a modern feminist point of view. You can look for my review soon.
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We have had real winter – freezing with snow on the ground – since the middle of November. A couple of years ago I had remarked that it was unusual to see snow for Thanksgiving. It does not look like global warming.
Everybody is over their coughs. One of the things I treasure most about Oksana is that she can do things like voluntarily tell me that the FitLine vitamins had not protected her health like she thought they would. I hugged her and told her that I love her.
This morning Zoriana and took the 111 to our ArtTalkers Toastmasters meeting. Coming back we caught it home. The isolation I have often written about has been significantly diminished.
That's the news from Lake WeBeGone. In this gloomy time of year I savor the fact that the days will start getting longer again in only three weeks.
I think the left, progressive types, believe that they are smarter than everyone else. They have the answers and we are all primitives at which they look down their noses. You can see that in Bill Gates (though he is not a progressive) but he has the same Messiah complex. He believes that he's the smartest man on the planet and thus his ideas should be implemented to improve the world and he will be recognized in history as the man who saved the world. He uses his money as power to influence politics and public policy.
I used to live in Progressive City, a place in California, where people believed in diversity (even though they had never been anywhere except perhaps Hawaii), Political Correctness (in which they attempt to control your thoughts through controlling your use of language), and anyone who did not share their values was the enemy. They used to picket small Asian shops which sold Playboy magazine because they opposed pornography. They wanted safe spaces for themselves, but not for you. If you opposed them, they would threaten you with violence or protests in front of your business. Many of them were trust fund babies who smoked weed and found meaning in attacking and abusing those who had differing views which were not allowed.
Of course, most of them had been on the planet for about five minutes in total and they already knew more than the rest of us who actually had an education and had been to China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, Germany, and other third world countries. That doesn't matter to those with an idealized vision of the world. They are angry that the world is not perfect and thus it must be torn down, and every person who does not agree with them is a cretin who must be educated in right thinking.
I met a gay guy recently. He's got a good job, does pretty much what he wants without any fear as a gay man in a tolerant city. He however would rather live in a rural setting which he says is not safe for someone like him. Therefore, he is angry. Why? Because the world is not perfect and it must be changed so that he gets exactly what he wants. We live in a grievance generation now where every young person has a gripe and all gripes must be heard. If not, then the world should be torn down and rebuilt by smarter people, i.e. the progressive types who will make the world perfect. They know best. We should just listen to them and everything will be fine.
All the idiots born before them have failed and the world must be set right. Not by us, but by them, because they know best. Just like Bill Gates, who by the way has failed in all his projects to make the world a better place. And what about St. Greta of Climate Change. She knows that we have destroyed her dreams with empty words. She wants Net Zero and she will be happy only when we are all freezing in the dark and own nothing. That's the goal of the progressives.
A father's worst nightmare. I used to have dreams about losing my daughter.