April 14

 Half past April already and almost one third through this year. So far my thoughts last December about what 2022 would bring are pretty much on target. Covid seems to be moving from pandemic to endemic for most of us though the inhabitants of Shanghai might dispute that since they are still in a city wide lockdown. But most of the world, at least our part of the world, is trying to figure out how to live with Covid and its variants. The news this morning said that the Federal government has delayed, again, ending the mask mandate for air travel with the usual inclusion of the voices against that. We wore masks before we got our vaccinations and boosters when we were in places where we might encounter crowds which wasn't often or in the early days when most businesses required it per CDC requirements. Since the pandemic started, and for some time before, we noticed that some items in stores were in short supply. The pandemic and the "supply chain" issues didn't really surprise us. It wasn't too many years ago that the news carried stories about the shortages in parts affecting the auto industry during the floods in Thailand. We thought then that the off-shoring of our industrial capacities for the last several decades was short sighted but, as with so much else in this world, there was nothing we could do about it except observe.

The real surprise this year, and not a pleasant one, has been Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the strength of the Ukrainian resistance coupled with the total incompetence of the Russian military. I don't know where it will end. I hope it ends with Russia back inside its own borders in agony from a solid kick in their collective balls. Our media and political commentators never cease to amaze me. One recently remarked that Putin is violating all of the customary rules of war in its prosecution of its "military operation." They obviously haven't read much history. If they had they would know that Putin's behavior is not an aberration.

Speaking of supply chains this little piece of idiocy crossed my screen this morning. And the idiocy I am referring to is Governor Abbott's new "inspection" order not the truckers' response. But then Abbott has repeatedly proven that he isn't the brightest bulb out there, or the sharpest knife in the drawer, or is several sandwiches short of a picnic (or what ever euphemism you like for "dumb as a box of rocks"). This is another example.

Found this on The Bulwark. A couple of weeks ago a Russian warship demanded the surrender of a Ukrainian garrison on a small island and got this response:

Ukrainian 1: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

A new commemorative stamp released by the Ukrainian postal service Ukrposhta on Facebook.

I wonder if we can get a souvenir copy. By the way the ship in question was the "Moskva" the flag ship of the Russian Black Sea fleet which is being towed back to port disabled by what the Ukrainians claim was an anti-ship missile while the Russians say the ship was damaged by a fire of unknown origin which ignited ammo.