Things I Want (or Need) to Know

Why are some people comparing western powers’ response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine with Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia at the onset of World War II?  There’s one big difference.  Nuclear weapons! Russia and two nations which often align with Russia (China and North Korea) have them.  The US, Great Britain and France, three nations which might defend Ukraine, also have nukes. 

Still, would someone please explain to me why a significant number of the Republican far right seems to be coming down on Putin’s side?

Actor Michael Madsen was arrested at his Malibu CA home the other night for trespassing.  How do you get arrested for trespassing at your own home?  He has plenty to be grief-stricken about.  His son killed himself last month.  But I still don’t understand how you get arrested for trespassing at your own home.  Am I wrong to think the newspaper article should have explained?

Why have a filter on your website if the filter doesn’t work?  I’m looking into going to Tampa Florida for a while.  Thought I might get a more interesting rental car if I used Turo, a company that allows private owners to hire out their cars to people looking for car rentals.  I used the website filters to select for manual transmissions.  Why not?  I learned to drive on a tractor when I needed to stand up to depress the clutch.  Plus, if I got a stick, neither my wife nor my son could drive it.  I recognized right away that some of the cars which turned up aren’t available with manual transmissions.  But I checked 16 listings and all of them had automatics.

It’s almost March.  Where is the baseball?

It’s almost March.  Where are the Girl-Scout cookies?

Things I Know

I’ve been to the Olympic training center in Lake Placid, NY, so I know that Olympic ski jumpers get the hang of it by going down a jump into a swimming pool in the summertime.  But watching the 2022 Winter Olympics makes me wonder how Olympic snow-board, half-pipe athletes manage to do that without every one of them killing themselves the first time they try.

Analysis of the Prince Andrew mess.  Hey, Andy, you got all of the bad publicity, you avoided admitting guilt, but you look guilty in public opinion.  It still cost you antihistamine money (nothing to sneeze at).  Conclusion, you settled way too late.

As I understand the situation in and around Ukraine, Russia has somewhere around 150,000 troops at and near its border with Ukraine.  In response, President Biden has threatened sanctions and ordered three-thousand US troops to Poland.  Those are long odds.  Yes, Russia is causing this incident, but the United States government should have learned at least as far back as Viet Nam that we have no business risking the lives of American soldiers in conflicts we have no intention of winning.

At one time, major-league baseball Spring training began with pitchers and catchers reporting on February 15th.  In the last CBA, the reporting date was a little more flexible.  But the lockout continues.  We need baseball so badly they’re putting a lot of college baseball on TV this year.  Owners and players, get together and settle this now.