I’m not as optimistic as the author of this piece, but I hope I’m wrong.

We’ll just have to hope that he’s scared of German Shepherds

Does Putin know what he’s getting into?

I’ll add my own comment: despite my pessimism about Ukraine’s chances, I’m heartened by the report of the soldier who blew up himself and the bridge he was standing on the delay the Russian advance, and the Ukrainian president’s own response to Biden’s offer to send a helicopter to bring him to safety: “I need ammunition, not a ride”. Which Biden won’t supply, of course, but it does show that these are tough, brave people. Our European allies, by the way, yesterday at the insistence of Italy declined to extend sanctions against the sale of Gucci’s to Putin and his pals. These are not serious people, and Ukraine’s on its own here.

N.B. Regular readers of FWIW will recognize the identity of this author from Taos who has restarted his own blog, but he’d prefer that his name not appear on the Internet. That’s a sad commentary on the state of free speech and discussion these days, but, while of course discussions of his opinion are welcome here, it’d be appreciated if you’d leave his name out of them. Too late for me to worry about trolls of course — fuck ‘em anyway — but then, I’ve never been the shy, quiet one in our family (nor is Gideon, for that matter, but every family has its exception, and some would prefer to live in quiet contemplation.)