New Shoes in the Rain

I'm sure that you're now aware that Russian military assets, which have been amassing on various parts of the Russian and Belarussian borders of Ukraine for some weeks, have now begun their military operation in that country.  Russian President Vladimir Putin started this process by recognizing the independence of two areas of Ukraine that have for some time been known as controlled by Russian-sympathetic separatists earlier in the week, and the military action began sometime overnight in this country. It's somewhat difficult to know what's actually happening, as both Russian and Ukrainian media sources are portraying vastly different outcomes, each side indicating victory or achievement by their own side.  American journalists on the ground are reporting activity that appears to be Russian-initiated actions, which have included targeted strikes on military installations, airports and other key assets of the Ukrainian homeland. The most likely scenario that will come of...

Happy Thursday, friends.  For those of us who work conventional schedules, the work week is nearly over! And I have to say that I'm excited to see the Cincinnati Bengals, the NFL team from my hometown and the one closest to where I live, play the Los Angeles Rams, a childhood favorite, in Sunday's Super Bowl! I use Apple News as a news aggregator on my mobile devices, and sometimes I marvel at the headlines I'll see in a five minute or so period.  For instance: From Slate: "What happens to middle school kids when you teach them about slavery?  Here's a vivid example." From CNN Business: "Couple arrested for largest financial seizure by US government" From the Los Angeles Times: "Many Republicans think the NFL does too much for Black players and are losing interest in the league, poll shows" From NBC News: "Oregon man said he shot brother instead of bear, turns gun on himself" From Vulture: "Why your favorite film got snubbed ...

Good afternoon, friends....I write this knowing that those to the north of our home area are mostly getting slammed by heavy wet snow and lots of it, and those closer to the Great Lakes will get some lake effect snow on top of it.  Yikes. Here in Kentucky, we're bracing for the absolute worst winter weather we ever see--ice.  It's been raining since sometime last night, with a few breaks here and there, but it's going to keep raining and during the night tonight our temperatures will dip, and then we'll have that lovely sleet/freezing rain stuff that glazes over most every road surface and knocks us out of commission for a couple of days at least. My wife is out for a couple of errands and is going to pick up a few supplies, providing that the bread-and-milk panic shoppers have not wiped out the grocery shelves. If you keep track of such things, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning (how could he not, with all of those lights?), meaning that we're in for six...