Groundhog Day

 

Thursday. In this morning's email, a WSJ headline asks, "What Does Ukraine Need To Win?" The fourth sentence fades off into a pay wall, so I'll not be reading it, but it starts out checking off tanks and moving on to aircraft and long-range missiles, i.e., about building up capabilities. Where outcome possibilities include Win, Lose, or Draw, and Lose is apparently unthinkable, the question is about Win, not Draw. What Does Ukraine Need To Win?

European history includes the notion of Triumph of the Will, and determination and will are essential, but a sane answer is about capabilities, not intentions. There can be a Draw if fighting is to such a stalemate that Russia withdraws, which at this point in national pride can only happen if Russia runs out of capability; which, compared to Ukraine's capability, cannot happen. 

Ukraine cannot Win without destroying Russia's ability to wage war against Ukraine, which cannot be done by either defensive or offensive battle within Ukraine, but only by carrying offensive destructive war deep into Russia. Which with good reason we are deathly afraid to do, allow, enable. We may send tanks, but we are not going to drive them as long as Ukraine is not in NATO; and conceivably we could and may yet send warplanes, but we are not going to fly them. As long as Ukraine's "allies" will not supply offensive weapons, training and support, Ukraine cannot Win, and the WSJ question is moot.

Meantime, the Russian Orthodox Church enlists our Christian God in support of Russia's war. Is God on a side, or simply for Peace? Read the Book of Joshua before you answer. 

++++++++++

Thursday. All this is distraction from binge-reading cardiac arrest articles and frantically checking news from Pensacola. Is no news good news? Coma: likely induced and maintained? Can breathe alone, unaided? Responds, to sound? touch? Brain activity? healing? Prospects and prognosis?

+++++++++++

Thursday, then: what happens? Thinking, revising, editing. With hours to go before we sleep, conjure up things to do, places to go, and people to see. Food to buy: mushroom soup, shrimp. Mullet? 

Thursday: dense fog advisory, chance of rain. Chance of sunshine, zero to none. But Life is Good,

RSF&PTLAnyway

T

image: we had sunshine yesterday afternoon right through sunset. today the groundhog won't see his shadow, but no mind, spring seems to be here already