RIP Jimmy Hill. War gore. Covid will not die. A win for the Y chromosome.
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Faraway places with strange sounding names have an attraction for a certain type of character. The farther away, the more different, the more unusual the type of soldier of fortune one finds. Saigon had its share, and so does Ukraine.
Many trade on the single skill with which they were born – the ability to speak native English. Jimmy Hill was one of those. He didn't treat teaching as a profession – simply a way to put food on the table from day to day. His greatest interest seemed to be forming English language clubs which would be dominated by his personality. I received a couple of dozen invitations to meet him, but always had something else that more urgently demanded my attention. Such as take care of a family.
According to this article, Jimmy was gunned down wantonly by the Golden horde as he stood in a breadline in Chernigov. Rest in peace, restless soul.
Several of you readers, especially Gary in London, send me links to footage of the war. I am more of a text than video guy, and more big picture than micro. However, these videos underscore the point I've been making, that the Ukrainians are having quite a bit of success in this war.
Gary in London sent this link of a destroyed column outside Kharkiv. Narrated by a couple of women in Russian, the language of that area.
Gary sent this link of a command post being wiped out outside of Kyiv
Today he sends this one captured by a Russian soldier's helmet camera of a Ukrainian ambush.
In typical YouTube style, if you click on one you will be treated to a whole stream of similar videos until you are full up with war gore. I usually avoid making that first click.
Thank God for a free press. When it works, which is increasingly less often you are treated to all sorts of opinions. There is a large segment of the American right that appears to be rooting for Russia in this set-to, so strongly do they despise Biden and the horse donkey he rode in on. For what it's worth, here is a video by a Col. McGregor that contradicts just about everything I see and pass on. In my opinion Bob Homans and I provide enough substantiation for what we write that McGregor should be able to figure it out for himself.
Upton Sinclair wrote "It Is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." McGregor has a pretty good gig. I'm sure he would like to prolong it.
Speaking of gigs, this Covid gig has been extremely lucrative. The powers that be want to prolong the story forever. It is the story that just won't die, though Alex Berenson finds a new knife to stick in it every day. Here is a graphic from yesterday of Covid deaths in Israel before and after the vaccinations started on December 19, 2020.
Do you see any difference? Yup, despite the fact that Israel efficiently got most of the population jabbed in the first few months, deaths continued to rise. Of course what they are calling Covid deaths are in large part adverse effects from the vaccines. No matter. The spike in deaths last month is among the triple and quadruple jabbed. There almost isn't anybody else left. Except for the skeptical Israeli Palestinians – who make a very interesting comparison. Look it up.
On the subject of Covid, the indefatigable Edward Slavsquat blogs again from Moscow on Vladimir Putin's campaign against the Russian nation. Those whom he is not sending to the killing fields of Ukraine he is relentlessly jabbing with the clot shot.
I note with perverse satisfaction that the Covid rate is skyrocketing in China, of all places. This was my ivermectin morning. When I finally catch Covid, I will be sure to mention it so you can all giggle. I will also mention if there are any adverse effects. In the meantime the laugh is on the jabbed.
You might ask about the war. What war? It has been quiet for three days. We still have electricity. The biggest catastrophe in our household is that we are out of fresh fruit. I am going to venture out on my bicycle this morning to remedy it. Whoops, just as I write that, I hear distant booms. Oh, well.
I fight superstitions one at a time. Oksana got upset at her mother yesterday because Grandma got into a swivet because the girls got all wet playing with the water in the bathtub we keep full in case of emergency. Oksana told me fear of their getting wet was irrational.
I replied, undiplomatically, that it is indeed irrational. Just like the irrationality of both of these women telling me to bundle up like an Eskimo when I take the garbage out to the compost heap, or not to make a sound so as not to wake the baby who has the demonstrable ability to sleep through a bomb attack.
We men so seldomly win one that it is worth relating when we do. Marianna and I were the first ones up this morning. I cooked oatmeal with (shock!) salt in it and let her climb on my lap where I fed it to her from the same (germy!!) spoon I was using to feed myself. She loved it. I put the spoon down when I heard Grandma coming down the stairs. She came over and took the baby from my arms. I am sure she saw the oatmeal dribbled down Marianna's chest, but she didn't say anything. Progress!
That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the strong man is grateful for the opportunity to work out on the exercise bicycle without distraction, the good-looking woman just came down to say good morning and to hug me, and the above average children are sleeping until a later than average 8 o'clock in the morning.
12:15 pm. A quick addendum.
Eddie and I went into the center of the Voskresenka neighborhood to go shopping. The sidewalks are crowded – we were forced to bike on the street. City buses are running, although fewer than normal. The jitney buses have yet to reappear.
The two neighborhood butcher shops were open, though they had only chicken and pork. Our neighborhood's small representative of a supermarket chain was open. They had pork and milk, but not beef and not Kefir. Tomatoes, but no oranges. Candy bars but no flour. The bakery was open.
The pet store was open. We can put the neighborhood cats back on full rations. We feel a sense of relief on everybody's face.
Thanks for your missives. On the scene beats commentary from afar. Don't mind rooting for the home team knowing why somebody is doing it. Those germs are good things, as is playing in the mud. Builds the immune system when it is best prepared to receive a strong response.