Shock And Awe
27/02/22 07:08
That's what we'll do then. I'll order up some liver and onions for Mrs G before we pay her a visit next week. I was expecting to have a more difficult time of finding liver and onions on a take-out basis but I found at least two places that will do the trick. Mrs G will be tickled. You may recall that had she one wish for her facility, it would be that they serve liver and onions more often. Imagine her surprise when we walk through her door with a nice hot take-out meal of liver and onions. I wonder if we said nothing, how long would it take her to pick up the scent. This is no time for games, Johnny Boy.
I don't know what kind of world I'm waking up to this morning. It's a holiday (President's Day) so my usual talk show guy is off and his fill-in is not someone I care to listen to. I'd rather listen to some nice music if it's all the same to you. Does the fact that my radio guy isn't in say anything about what may or may not be going on in Ukraine? Surely, if the Ruskies invaded over night, the proverbial shit would have hit the fan by now and my guy would want to be front and center with all the fact for his faithful listeners.
Bumbles Biden, according to everything I was seeing on Twitter yesterday, was planing to go to his home in Delaware. There were some last minute changes and he abandoned those plans and decided not to go back to Delaware. What the hell is he going to Delaware on a Sunday anyway when the weekend is practically over and we have a full blown international crisis going on involving Ukraine and Russia on our hands? In my humble opinion, every minute that Biden is sitting in the White House, it's an existential crisis. It might as well be the Cuban missile crisis all over again. The world is sitting on pins and fucking needles wondering what demented Joey is going to fuck up next.
What the hell does he have to say anyway when it comes to the Ukraine and what may or may not happen if and when Russia invades? He's not the president of Ukraine. He's barely the president of our bloody country truth be told. He'd tell you that he's been the most transparent president since Abraham Lincoln when it comes to this Ukraine thing. I suppose he's referring to his daily trips to the podium to declare that either Putin hasn't made up his mind yet or, alternatively, the invasion is imminent. If I hear that the invasion is "imminent" one more time I think I'm going to puke. He's been saying that for weeks. Ever heard the story about the boy who cried wold, asshole?
You can tell that I'm in a mood this morning. Or, maybe you can't. Maybe this is what it looks like when I'm not getting my morning fix of news and opinion. Would Biden be staying in Washington because he's on the precipice of something and he doesn't want to be out of the mix if something breaks either good or bad? It should come as no surprise to anyone that a lot of people think that this whole Russian thing is a distraction created out of whole cloth by Biden and his minions. What better to distract from a failing and flailing presidency if not a world crisis? Don't think for a moment that it isn't one of many plans that Biden had on the drawing board if and when push came to shove.
He's got that dip shit Boris Johnson, the PM of the UK, playing right along. He was out there yesterday saying that this Russian thing could lead to an all-out war in Europe the likes of which they'd not seen since World War 2. Is that the role of a world leader? To be out there spreading doom and gloom to the masses? How about a little something uplifting and lot less perilous? That is not to say that my sympathies are not with the good people of Ukraine whose lives have been upended since this Russian thing began. What do you think they think of what Johnson is saying? Can their predicament be any more frightful?
Maybe Bumbles Biden staying behind in Washington means that there's a solution in the making and he didn't want to be getting a diaper change in Delaware when he could be standing at the teleprompter at the White House taking credit for the breakthrough. Wouldn't that be the fucking bees knees. The only question that I would have is, what did he give away or whose goose got cooked so Biden could stand tall in the breach like John Wayne at the Alamo? What did he agree to that he had no right to agree to? I know the sycophantic media here in the US was chomping at the bit to cover a war in a faraway land so they wanted this war not only to lift their dismal ratings but for those ratings of their dear leader, Bumbling Joey Biden. It's all very pathetic.
So much for high hopes. Putin has now effectively annexed a portion of Ukraine without firing a shot. He gave some speech to the Russian people that was dark if it was anything. Dark in the sense that it sounded a lot like a speech that someone gives when he's not done taking what he wants to take. He won't be satisfied nor will he stop with the two territories he's now agree to call part of Russia. I don't pretend to know what this represents in terms of land mass or population but the fact that he took it without firing a shot should tell us something about where the sympathies of those citizens lie. Would it help if I told you that many or most of them were Russian speaking?
Maybe I've said this before but I'll say it again. I think Ukraine is, for all intents and purposes, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Biden Crime Family. The only context that I'm familiar with when it comes to Ukraine is how much they paid Hunter Biden for his expertise in the energy industry. He had none, of course, so therein lies the criminal part of the equation. Knowing that, it should come as no surprise to learn that any number of Washington democrats who are now sounding somewhat full throated about Ukraine and their so-called sovereignty, are now sounding more like a bunch of money launderers who see their golden goose getting cooked. In other words, it ain't just Hunter.
Oh, and then there was the video of Joey Biden back in the day when he was Vice President threatening to withhold funds from Ukraine if they didn't fire a prosecutor who was looking into the company that had hired Hunter. This is what thugs do. This is what criminals do when they feel that they are untouchable. He's gone on to become president of our country, if one is to overlook for a moment on just how he managed to pull that one off, so there must be something to my contention that some people are just above the law. It's sad that it's all come to this but this is where we are.
I have a very nice quiche baking in the oven and I think the missus is going to be very pleased when she gets up and about this morning. I have a short window of opportunity after looking at the morning headlines and before I sit down to put my thoughts on "paper." It was just enough time to sauté some mushrooms, steam up some broccoli, make a nice egg white and egg concoction, and throw it all together before putting it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. I don't use a crust so there's that. No one in this family needs the unnecessary carbohydrates on top of everything else in the quiche. Its quiche a quiche without a crust? I'll serve it up with a dollop of mustard, grapefruit chunks, and toast with strawberry jam. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. Or, is it?
Mrs G sent us an e-mail that she had received from that Ryan guy about why we should care about Ukraine. Maybe the e-mail that she received got her to thinking about Ukraine in a way that she had heretofore not given much consideration. Not that Mrs G has any vested interest in what happens to Ukraine because she does not. All I've heard is that Ukraine is responsible for a good share of the wheat production in the world. What does that mean for us if the Russians now control the world's wheat production? Mrs G's e-mail was more about minerals and such so that should give us pause? I'm not sure how to respond to Mrs G if at all. Maybe like so many other e-mails from this Ryan guy that she passes along, we'll just ignore it. Good idea.
We got us another snow storm coming down the pike. I put my neighbor on notice that I'll be over to make a pass or two or three at her place before all is said and done. It's hard to say just how much snow we're going to get but it looks like maybe a foot give or take. It's one of those storms whose paths is as yet uncertain so the accumulations have yet to be nailed down by the professionals who do such things. I have the added responsibility to dig out our mailboxes this time around because my other neighbors are on sabbatical somewhere out west. Not a big deal but it is down the street a way so I guess I'm hoping we don't get too much snow since that means multiple trips to do the job.
The Ev man will be coming for the duration of the storm as well. I think he really likes putting his car in the garage when we have these storms. It's possible that he prefers to have it here at the house rather than in the parking lot over at his place where they want the tenants to move their cars from one lot to another so they can clear the snow away one lot at a time. The drill is always the same when the Ev man comes to visit. We need to make sure that he has something to eat while he's here. We can't have him getting up in the middle of the night only to find that there's nothing for him to eat if that is what he is so inclined to do. I just wish the missus would pick up that ball and run with it more often than she does. I'm happy to do it but wouldn't mind a helping hand here and there. There, I said it.
I'm looking at the months of January and February here as we are on the twenty-third of February. Thus far, I'm on track to get in about 14 bike rides each of the past two months. It might be more by the end of February but that remains to be seen. That's not bad considering the obstacles one faces while riding during the winter months here in New England. I think having milder winters helps although I've had rides while the temps were in the twenties so cold has not been an issue. More often than not, I've waited for the recent snowfall to recede on the bike paths before riding. When I say bike path, I'm referring to the sliver of a path that runs parallel with the highway. The snow plows push it back a bit and the sun does the rest. That can take a day or two before I have enough of a path to ride on.
I really need to pay closer attention to the tires on my bike. My rear tire is worn down to the thread but I can't quite see the thread just yet. It's smooth as a baby's bottom so that's an accident just waiting to happen. I think I like living on the edge just a bit in the sense that I know my tire poses a danger but I'm throwing caution to the wind and taking it day by day. Who doesn't like a good cliche'? Right? Is it possible that I can get a flat while riding on any particular day of the week? You betcha. Is it possible that I'll be all sweaty and drenched to the bone when that happens? You betcha. Will I run the risk of getting hypothermia if I'm far enough away from home such that I'll have to walk home? Damn straight.
Should any or all of these things play out the plan is always the same. I'll walk home with my bike in tow and I'll not accept a ride should one or more be offered. I don't care how cold it gets or how windy or inclement the weather is. I'll keep on keeping on as they say. I've made my own bed and I fully intend to sleep in it. I worry about that part of me that won't accept any help, or is maybe too proud to accept any help. I'm fully aware that it could lead to bad things. Fatal even. It's tantamount to self flagellation in a perverted sport of way. Just call me "mr tough guy." I'm not opposed to accepting lifelines but certainly not before paying the piper for making such bad decisions. A little personal comeuppance can be restorative. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm waking up this morning, or maybe I should say that I went to sleep last night, while bombs were falling on the good people of Ukraine. The annexation of those two territories apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the appetite of one Vlad Putin. It's hard to say where it's all going but it's got the world's news outlets in a bit of a tizzy this morning. You know they love this stuff. Counting body bags and echoing terse exchanges of world leaders is as good as it gets for a media that has probably tired a bit of following Biden around hoping to hear a complete sentence come out of his mouth. Speaking of which, whatever happened to that tough guy? You know, the guy who took on Corn Pop with a chain in one hand and a switchblade in the other?
I think it was the fool on the hill, Biden himself, who said something to the effect that Putin would meet his match were he to be elected president. Putin would rue the day when he dared to threaten the United States and Eastern Europe while Joey "switchblade" Biden was in office. Well, now Putin has called Biden's bluff and Biden is away in a corner somewhere cowering at the prospect of having to take to the podium to explain to the American people how things went so very wrong in Ukraine on his watch. Any and all red lines Biden put out there for Putin to cross, Putin crossed. Can you blame him after what he's seen of Biden's bumbling incompetence on the world stage in faraway places like Afghanistan?
It's unclear how much of Ukraine Putin plans to take into the Soviet orbit after all is said and done. He said something to the effect that he was looking to demilitarize Ukraine and that "denaziization" was also in the cards. Not sure what the Nazi reference is all about. The Ukrainians worked hand-in-hand with the Nazi's in World War 2 so there's that. Putin also warned the world at large that should anyone interfere with his actions in Ukraine that they would meet with unimaginable consequences. I suspect that was a veiled threat to unleash a nuclear war with any nation taking up arms against Russia in their bid to win over the "hearts and minds" of the Ukrainian people.
What is clear is that Joey Biden has now notched his belt with one more failure in a line of spectacular failures while only in his first year as president of the United States. With energy markets further roiled as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, you would think that Joey might reverse his policies when and where it comes to domestic energy production. As a nation, we were energy independent under Trump and Biden wasted no time when he entered office shutting down pipelines and closing down oil fields on federal lands. It's all about reducing our carbon footprint doncha know. So, he's starting up the pipelines again, right? Not on your fucking life.
My sympathies are certainly with the Ukrainian people this morning. They have to be living through a special kind of hell with bombs falling and Russian soldiers running through their backyards. Putin said something in his speech last night about the Ukrainian people laying down their arms and going home. My guess is that the Ukrainian people are not going to take this laying down. They do have an army albeit not one that compares to Russia's armed forces. Listen to me. Who made me the Supreme Allied Commander of Eastern Europe? Where do they come up with these titles, anyway? It sounds like something out of Marvel comics. I know, I know. Eisenhower was the first to hold that title. It just makes me laugh every time I hear it. It sounds so, well, stupid.
I'm a little surprised that the missus has the radio on this morning. She's tuned into Jeff Kuhner on WRKO. He's about as astute an observer as you'll find about these types of events especially when it comes to happenings in Eastern Europe and environs. The missus has a bit of a frail psyche so I would expect her to steer clear of conversations around war and the consequences of same. Maybe the fact that it's so far away makes it seem somehow less real. Kuhner spends most of his time taking Biden to task for his sheer incompetence so she may be enjoying that aspect of the on-air banter. I guess we're going day-to-day now until the smoke clears. Let's hope it stays between Russia and Ukraine.
All of this geopolitical news is not helping the financial markets. I figured that the old axiom, sell the rumor and buy the news (or is it the other way around)?, would give us a clue as to how this might play out once the bombs started falling. Well, the US markets were down big time yesterday with the news that the invasion was finally under way. I think the S&P was down roughly 2.6% at the low of the day. By the close of the market, the NASDAQ was up some 3%. For those worried about seeing the bottom falling out of their portfolios, this had to be one hell of a feel good moment. It was overdue, truth be told. The other axiom that is true about financial markets is, nothing goes straight up and nothing goes straight down.
I received man e-mail from Mrs G yesterday. It was essentially an update from Schwab on the goings-on in the financial markets given the latest turmoil we've been seeing. It wasn't more than a paragraph or two but it was energy-centric and, in my humble opinion, short of the mark. This is the pablum that they send to their investors to do what? Shed a little light when the light at the end the tunnel looks more like a freight train coming down the pike than a ray of sunshine? I was shocked that there was not a word in the Schwab article about restarting our domestic energy production. Have they forgotten that we were energy dependent when Trump was President? Or, was Schwab one of many woke institutions who thought bumbling Joey Biden was the better of the two candidates running for the presidency in 2020?
Has it occurred to Schwab that we are now hard pressed to level sanctions or other retaliatory measures against bad actors on the world stage precisely because we need the energy (oil) that they produce? Have they any idea on how hobbled that makes us as a leader of the free world and a defender of democracy in shit holes around the globe? Is Schwab too proud or too woke to admit that supporting Joey Biden in as President was the biggest mistake we've made as a country in the last 100 years? No, what we're seeing, at least in the e-mail that Mrs G sent, is that they are doubling and tripling down on their stupidity. I replied to Mrs G as one might guess if you're keeping up with my thinking as laid out here. Sometimes you need to call a spade a spade.
I think we're now in day two of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and news reports state that the Russians are closing in on the capital, Kiev. Nobody seems to know how far the Russians are going to go. Will they be satisfied with maybe half of the country or do they want the whole enchilada? I get the impression that since the Ukrainians are not rolling over that the Russians are going whole hog here. That increases the likelihood that civilians are now on the menu and it's no longer sufficient to just take out military installations and the so-called hard assets. The Ukrainians will pay heavy price for their decision to resist at every turn. Maybe that all changes when they get their hands on the Ukrainian president and his family members. Or, maybe the Ukrainians have just begun to fight.
The snow is falling now, and has been since around 7am this morning, at the rate of about an inch an hour. I don't think we've ever had as much food in our refrigerator as we have now. I like to stock up when we get these storms so that the Ev man isn't caught flat footed when he goes to the refrigerator in the middle of the night to refuel. I'm embarrassed to say that we're getting maybe a foot of snow. Certainly not enough to warrant the amount of food that we have on hand. The good news is that the Ev man will take most of it with him when he leaves after the storm is over. That is how the latest storms have played out anyway. If past storms are any indication, you get my drift.
I'm waking up this morning only to hear that the Capital of Kiev is still in the hands of the Ukrainians. That is not what I or anyone else expected to hear after the Russians stepped up their offense over the last 24 hours. The president of Kiev has declined an offer by the US to evacuate before the capital falls into Russian hands. Leave it to the weak twat of a president like Joey Biden to run for the hills when the going gets tough. Well, if his advice to Zelensky is any indication, that is precisely what that cheap suit of a president, Biden, would do under similar circumstances. Zelensky has chosen to stay and fight for his country. That's what we call in the hood, a "stand-up" guy!
And what the hell am I hearing this morning about the French seizing a Russian cargo ship? It seems that this invasion for Vladimir isn't working out the way he'd planned. It's all hands on deck as far as the international community is concerned when it comes to aiding and assisting the Ukrainians without having boots on the ground in Ukraine. Russia, and Putin more specifically, is now personna non grata in the eyes of most democratic bastions across the globe. Even China is calling for a stop to the violence. Xi probably gave Putin 24 hours to achieve his goals in Ukraine and if he failed in his efforts, the Chinese would step in and join the chorus of voices calling for a stop to the violence. Viva Ukraine!
I don't know what kind of world I'm waking up to this morning. It's a holiday (President's Day) so my usual talk show guy is off and his fill-in is not someone I care to listen to. I'd rather listen to some nice music if it's all the same to you. Does the fact that my radio guy isn't in say anything about what may or may not be going on in Ukraine? Surely, if the Ruskies invaded over night, the proverbial shit would have hit the fan by now and my guy would want to be front and center with all the fact for his faithful listeners.
Bumbles Biden, according to everything I was seeing on Twitter yesterday, was planing to go to his home in Delaware. There were some last minute changes and he abandoned those plans and decided not to go back to Delaware. What the hell is he going to Delaware on a Sunday anyway when the weekend is practically over and we have a full blown international crisis going on involving Ukraine and Russia on our hands? In my humble opinion, every minute that Biden is sitting in the White House, it's an existential crisis. It might as well be the Cuban missile crisis all over again. The world is sitting on pins and fucking needles wondering what demented Joey is going to fuck up next.
What the hell does he have to say anyway when it comes to the Ukraine and what may or may not happen if and when Russia invades? He's not the president of Ukraine. He's barely the president of our bloody country truth be told. He'd tell you that he's been the most transparent president since Abraham Lincoln when it comes to this Ukraine thing. I suppose he's referring to his daily trips to the podium to declare that either Putin hasn't made up his mind yet or, alternatively, the invasion is imminent. If I hear that the invasion is "imminent" one more time I think I'm going to puke. He's been saying that for weeks. Ever heard the story about the boy who cried wold, asshole?
You can tell that I'm in a mood this morning. Or, maybe you can't. Maybe this is what it looks like when I'm not getting my morning fix of news and opinion. Would Biden be staying in Washington because he's on the precipice of something and he doesn't want to be out of the mix if something breaks either good or bad? It should come as no surprise to anyone that a lot of people think that this whole Russian thing is a distraction created out of whole cloth by Biden and his minions. What better to distract from a failing and flailing presidency if not a world crisis? Don't think for a moment that it isn't one of many plans that Biden had on the drawing board if and when push came to shove.
He's got that dip shit Boris Johnson, the PM of the UK, playing right along. He was out there yesterday saying that this Russian thing could lead to an all-out war in Europe the likes of which they'd not seen since World War 2. Is that the role of a world leader? To be out there spreading doom and gloom to the masses? How about a little something uplifting and lot less perilous? That is not to say that my sympathies are not with the good people of Ukraine whose lives have been upended since this Russian thing began. What do you think they think of what Johnson is saying? Can their predicament be any more frightful?
Maybe Bumbles Biden staying behind in Washington means that there's a solution in the making and he didn't want to be getting a diaper change in Delaware when he could be standing at the teleprompter at the White House taking credit for the breakthrough. Wouldn't that be the fucking bees knees. The only question that I would have is, what did he give away or whose goose got cooked so Biden could stand tall in the breach like John Wayne at the Alamo? What did he agree to that he had no right to agree to? I know the sycophantic media here in the US was chomping at the bit to cover a war in a faraway land so they wanted this war not only to lift their dismal ratings but for those ratings of their dear leader, Bumbling Joey Biden. It's all very pathetic.
So much for high hopes. Putin has now effectively annexed a portion of Ukraine without firing a shot. He gave some speech to the Russian people that was dark if it was anything. Dark in the sense that it sounded a lot like a speech that someone gives when he's not done taking what he wants to take. He won't be satisfied nor will he stop with the two territories he's now agree to call part of Russia. I don't pretend to know what this represents in terms of land mass or population but the fact that he took it without firing a shot should tell us something about where the sympathies of those citizens lie. Would it help if I told you that many or most of them were Russian speaking?
Maybe I've said this before but I'll say it again. I think Ukraine is, for all intents and purposes, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Biden Crime Family. The only context that I'm familiar with when it comes to Ukraine is how much they paid Hunter Biden for his expertise in the energy industry. He had none, of course, so therein lies the criminal part of the equation. Knowing that, it should come as no surprise to learn that any number of Washington democrats who are now sounding somewhat full throated about Ukraine and their so-called sovereignty, are now sounding more like a bunch of money launderers who see their golden goose getting cooked. In other words, it ain't just Hunter.
Oh, and then there was the video of Joey Biden back in the day when he was Vice President threatening to withhold funds from Ukraine if they didn't fire a prosecutor who was looking into the company that had hired Hunter. This is what thugs do. This is what criminals do when they feel that they are untouchable. He's gone on to become president of our country, if one is to overlook for a moment on just how he managed to pull that one off, so there must be something to my contention that some people are just above the law. It's sad that it's all come to this but this is where we are.
I have a very nice quiche baking in the oven and I think the missus is going to be very pleased when she gets up and about this morning. I have a short window of opportunity after looking at the morning headlines and before I sit down to put my thoughts on "paper." It was just enough time to sauté some mushrooms, steam up some broccoli, make a nice egg white and egg concoction, and throw it all together before putting it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. I don't use a crust so there's that. No one in this family needs the unnecessary carbohydrates on top of everything else in the quiche. Its quiche a quiche without a crust? I'll serve it up with a dollop of mustard, grapefruit chunks, and toast with strawberry jam. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. Or, is it?
Mrs G sent us an e-mail that she had received from that Ryan guy about why we should care about Ukraine. Maybe the e-mail that she received got her to thinking about Ukraine in a way that she had heretofore not given much consideration. Not that Mrs G has any vested interest in what happens to Ukraine because she does not. All I've heard is that Ukraine is responsible for a good share of the wheat production in the world. What does that mean for us if the Russians now control the world's wheat production? Mrs G's e-mail was more about minerals and such so that should give us pause? I'm not sure how to respond to Mrs G if at all. Maybe like so many other e-mails from this Ryan guy that she passes along, we'll just ignore it. Good idea.
We got us another snow storm coming down the pike. I put my neighbor on notice that I'll be over to make a pass or two or three at her place before all is said and done. It's hard to say just how much snow we're going to get but it looks like maybe a foot give or take. It's one of those storms whose paths is as yet uncertain so the accumulations have yet to be nailed down by the professionals who do such things. I have the added responsibility to dig out our mailboxes this time around because my other neighbors are on sabbatical somewhere out west. Not a big deal but it is down the street a way so I guess I'm hoping we don't get too much snow since that means multiple trips to do the job.
The Ev man will be coming for the duration of the storm as well. I think he really likes putting his car in the garage when we have these storms. It's possible that he prefers to have it here at the house rather than in the parking lot over at his place where they want the tenants to move their cars from one lot to another so they can clear the snow away one lot at a time. The drill is always the same when the Ev man comes to visit. We need to make sure that he has something to eat while he's here. We can't have him getting up in the middle of the night only to find that there's nothing for him to eat if that is what he is so inclined to do. I just wish the missus would pick up that ball and run with it more often than she does. I'm happy to do it but wouldn't mind a helping hand here and there. There, I said it.
I'm looking at the months of January and February here as we are on the twenty-third of February. Thus far, I'm on track to get in about 14 bike rides each of the past two months. It might be more by the end of February but that remains to be seen. That's not bad considering the obstacles one faces while riding during the winter months here in New England. I think having milder winters helps although I've had rides while the temps were in the twenties so cold has not been an issue. More often than not, I've waited for the recent snowfall to recede on the bike paths before riding. When I say bike path, I'm referring to the sliver of a path that runs parallel with the highway. The snow plows push it back a bit and the sun does the rest. That can take a day or two before I have enough of a path to ride on.
I really need to pay closer attention to the tires on my bike. My rear tire is worn down to the thread but I can't quite see the thread just yet. It's smooth as a baby's bottom so that's an accident just waiting to happen. I think I like living on the edge just a bit in the sense that I know my tire poses a danger but I'm throwing caution to the wind and taking it day by day. Who doesn't like a good cliche'? Right? Is it possible that I can get a flat while riding on any particular day of the week? You betcha. Is it possible that I'll be all sweaty and drenched to the bone when that happens? You betcha. Will I run the risk of getting hypothermia if I'm far enough away from home such that I'll have to walk home? Damn straight.
Should any or all of these things play out the plan is always the same. I'll walk home with my bike in tow and I'll not accept a ride should one or more be offered. I don't care how cold it gets or how windy or inclement the weather is. I'll keep on keeping on as they say. I've made my own bed and I fully intend to sleep in it. I worry about that part of me that won't accept any help, or is maybe too proud to accept any help. I'm fully aware that it could lead to bad things. Fatal even. It's tantamount to self flagellation in a perverted sport of way. Just call me "mr tough guy." I'm not opposed to accepting lifelines but certainly not before paying the piper for making such bad decisions. A little personal comeuppance can be restorative. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm waking up this morning, or maybe I should say that I went to sleep last night, while bombs were falling on the good people of Ukraine. The annexation of those two territories apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the appetite of one Vlad Putin. It's hard to say where it's all going but it's got the world's news outlets in a bit of a tizzy this morning. You know they love this stuff. Counting body bags and echoing terse exchanges of world leaders is as good as it gets for a media that has probably tired a bit of following Biden around hoping to hear a complete sentence come out of his mouth. Speaking of which, whatever happened to that tough guy? You know, the guy who took on Corn Pop with a chain in one hand and a switchblade in the other?
I think it was the fool on the hill, Biden himself, who said something to the effect that Putin would meet his match were he to be elected president. Putin would rue the day when he dared to threaten the United States and Eastern Europe while Joey "switchblade" Biden was in office. Well, now Putin has called Biden's bluff and Biden is away in a corner somewhere cowering at the prospect of having to take to the podium to explain to the American people how things went so very wrong in Ukraine on his watch. Any and all red lines Biden put out there for Putin to cross, Putin crossed. Can you blame him after what he's seen of Biden's bumbling incompetence on the world stage in faraway places like Afghanistan?
It's unclear how much of Ukraine Putin plans to take into the Soviet orbit after all is said and done. He said something to the effect that he was looking to demilitarize Ukraine and that "denaziization" was also in the cards. Not sure what the Nazi reference is all about. The Ukrainians worked hand-in-hand with the Nazi's in World War 2 so there's that. Putin also warned the world at large that should anyone interfere with his actions in Ukraine that they would meet with unimaginable consequences. I suspect that was a veiled threat to unleash a nuclear war with any nation taking up arms against Russia in their bid to win over the "hearts and minds" of the Ukrainian people.
What is clear is that Joey Biden has now notched his belt with one more failure in a line of spectacular failures while only in his first year as president of the United States. With energy markets further roiled as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, you would think that Joey might reverse his policies when and where it comes to domestic energy production. As a nation, we were energy independent under Trump and Biden wasted no time when he entered office shutting down pipelines and closing down oil fields on federal lands. It's all about reducing our carbon footprint doncha know. So, he's starting up the pipelines again, right? Not on your fucking life.
My sympathies are certainly with the Ukrainian people this morning. They have to be living through a special kind of hell with bombs falling and Russian soldiers running through their backyards. Putin said something in his speech last night about the Ukrainian people laying down their arms and going home. My guess is that the Ukrainian people are not going to take this laying down. They do have an army albeit not one that compares to Russia's armed forces. Listen to me. Who made me the Supreme Allied Commander of Eastern Europe? Where do they come up with these titles, anyway? It sounds like something out of Marvel comics. I know, I know. Eisenhower was the first to hold that title. It just makes me laugh every time I hear it. It sounds so, well, stupid.
I'm a little surprised that the missus has the radio on this morning. She's tuned into Jeff Kuhner on WRKO. He's about as astute an observer as you'll find about these types of events especially when it comes to happenings in Eastern Europe and environs. The missus has a bit of a frail psyche so I would expect her to steer clear of conversations around war and the consequences of same. Maybe the fact that it's so far away makes it seem somehow less real. Kuhner spends most of his time taking Biden to task for his sheer incompetence so she may be enjoying that aspect of the on-air banter. I guess we're going day-to-day now until the smoke clears. Let's hope it stays between Russia and Ukraine.
All of this geopolitical news is not helping the financial markets. I figured that the old axiom, sell the rumor and buy the news (or is it the other way around)?, would give us a clue as to how this might play out once the bombs started falling. Well, the US markets were down big time yesterday with the news that the invasion was finally under way. I think the S&P was down roughly 2.6% at the low of the day. By the close of the market, the NASDAQ was up some 3%. For those worried about seeing the bottom falling out of their portfolios, this had to be one hell of a feel good moment. It was overdue, truth be told. The other axiom that is true about financial markets is, nothing goes straight up and nothing goes straight down.
I received man e-mail from Mrs G yesterday. It was essentially an update from Schwab on the goings-on in the financial markets given the latest turmoil we've been seeing. It wasn't more than a paragraph or two but it was energy-centric and, in my humble opinion, short of the mark. This is the pablum that they send to their investors to do what? Shed a little light when the light at the end the tunnel looks more like a freight train coming down the pike than a ray of sunshine? I was shocked that there was not a word in the Schwab article about restarting our domestic energy production. Have they forgotten that we were energy dependent when Trump was President? Or, was Schwab one of many woke institutions who thought bumbling Joey Biden was the better of the two candidates running for the presidency in 2020?
Has it occurred to Schwab that we are now hard pressed to level sanctions or other retaliatory measures against bad actors on the world stage precisely because we need the energy (oil) that they produce? Have they any idea on how hobbled that makes us as a leader of the free world and a defender of democracy in shit holes around the globe? Is Schwab too proud or too woke to admit that supporting Joey Biden in as President was the biggest mistake we've made as a country in the last 100 years? No, what we're seeing, at least in the e-mail that Mrs G sent, is that they are doubling and tripling down on their stupidity. I replied to Mrs G as one might guess if you're keeping up with my thinking as laid out here. Sometimes you need to call a spade a spade.
I think we're now in day two of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and news reports state that the Russians are closing in on the capital, Kiev. Nobody seems to know how far the Russians are going to go. Will they be satisfied with maybe half of the country or do they want the whole enchilada? I get the impression that since the Ukrainians are not rolling over that the Russians are going whole hog here. That increases the likelihood that civilians are now on the menu and it's no longer sufficient to just take out military installations and the so-called hard assets. The Ukrainians will pay heavy price for their decision to resist at every turn. Maybe that all changes when they get their hands on the Ukrainian president and his family members. Or, maybe the Ukrainians have just begun to fight.
The snow is falling now, and has been since around 7am this morning, at the rate of about an inch an hour. I don't think we've ever had as much food in our refrigerator as we have now. I like to stock up when we get these storms so that the Ev man isn't caught flat footed when he goes to the refrigerator in the middle of the night to refuel. I'm embarrassed to say that we're getting maybe a foot of snow. Certainly not enough to warrant the amount of food that we have on hand. The good news is that the Ev man will take most of it with him when he leaves after the storm is over. That is how the latest storms have played out anyway. If past storms are any indication, you get my drift.
I'm waking up this morning only to hear that the Capital of Kiev is still in the hands of the Ukrainians. That is not what I or anyone else expected to hear after the Russians stepped up their offense over the last 24 hours. The president of Kiev has declined an offer by the US to evacuate before the capital falls into Russian hands. Leave it to the weak twat of a president like Joey Biden to run for the hills when the going gets tough. Well, if his advice to Zelensky is any indication, that is precisely what that cheap suit of a president, Biden, would do under similar circumstances. Zelensky has chosen to stay and fight for his country. That's what we call in the hood, a "stand-up" guy!
And what the hell am I hearing this morning about the French seizing a Russian cargo ship? It seems that this invasion for Vladimir isn't working out the way he'd planned. It's all hands on deck as far as the international community is concerned when it comes to aiding and assisting the Ukrainians without having boots on the ground in Ukraine. Russia, and Putin more specifically, is now personna non grata in the eyes of most democratic bastions across the globe. Even China is calling for a stop to the violence. Xi probably gave Putin 24 hours to achieve his goals in Ukraine and if he failed in his efforts, the Chinese would step in and join the chorus of voices calling for a stop to the violence. Viva Ukraine!