Putin has said he wanted to take back Kharkiv and Sumy in northeast Ukraine. They already took some territory in that region. So it should come as no surprise. Also, I think they may be close to taking back Robotyne in southern Ukraine. So now Russia has the initiative because of how long it took to get aid there.

regularly infests not only our public airwaves but the meeting halls of our government, where Republican senators and representatives daily recite Putin's mission statement accusing Biden of treason and incompetence to enhance the profits of a corrupt media machine. It's true, we stand on the verge of a critical breakdown of social standards, perhaps even real violence on city streets. Worse, that is the new normal and it is an election year. Casual conversations with acquaintances are typically curbed and couched to avert conflict which may portend lethal violence. It is an era where the heavily armed are common and expected. Parties who don't see eye-to-eye don't discuss current events.

Another Thursday trapped in a threat of pre-perdition from which the only respite is denial and a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the harried stranger in the mirror who stares back in disbelief is oneself from a previous decade, a reminder that all is not too well.

Many countries, like India, much of Africa, some countries in Central and South America are all eating up Russian propaganda like it is a candy buffet. But the thing is, it's a much more dangerous world out there. I would not be surprised if humanity doesn't do something to itself by 2100. Hopefully I will be gone by then.

Call it gratuitous leave to ignore good sense and indulge themselves in fantasy as a perverse revenge for society's disrespected them for too long. The struggling world doesn't understand the tantrums of the privileged. They've never had the chance to say no. When the various conspirators finally meet they'll hate each other almost immediately. " Stand back and stand down" will be pretty good advice for us bystanders when they do.

over the movie "300" in 2006, the tale of a resolute leader rallying his people, standing up to a powerful empire and its vain tyrant-king. Fighting no matter what the odds.

Then when it happened in real life, they supported Xerxes over Leonidas.