Sunny day with cloudless sky. We still have some snow from the previous fall. Nothing much planned for the day. I baked a couple of frozen turnovers for breakfast and plan on fried rice for supper. I didn't do any needlework yesterday and won't pick it up today. My hands were hurting so it was time for a couple aspirin and a rest.
Found this by way of Naked Capitalism which isn't really surprising. I don't think anyone was prepared for a drawn out conflict in Ukraine. Everything about the conflict has violated expectations. First, we thought that Ukraine would fall in days; it didn't happen. Then people thought the Russians would come back and use their manpower and superior army to take over in a slightly longer time frame--weeks maybe; didn't happen. The we saw a Russian military that was a total s**tshow which would have to retire back to the Donbas if not exit Ukraine entirely; didn't happen. Over the last few months the lines have solidified as the Russians have found new suppliers and Ukraine finds that their allies are quickly facing difficulties, politically and industrially, producing and providing materiel. Many are returning to the positions they started in: Ukraine is at a serious disadvantage and probably won't win. The European willingness to keep the Ukrainians who fled the early stages of the war was borne out of the early enthusiasm for a plucky underdog who was over performing against the Russian juggernaught. They were not prepared for an open ended commitment. And they see our own disfunction and have to wonder if we will continue to provide the kind of aid Ukraine needs. We are squabbling over a $65billion package while they have already promised $54billion. Add to that the economic problems in Europe and the UK has slipped into recession.
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