Russian Joke: (Remember, no more Polish jokes). Vladimir says to Ivan, “Go take a look at the front of our car, I don’t think the turn signals are working”. Ivan gets out of the car, goes to the front of the car, stares at the signal lights, and responds, “They work, they don’t work, they work, they don’t work”.
I have been asked by a regular reader to keep telling jokes at least from time to time so those with no sense of humor or those easily offended, I apologize in advance”.
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Israel has refused a Ukrainian request for weapons and other military equipment such as helmets and protective vests. Israel fears that choosing sides too openly against Russia could prompt Russian forces in Syria to respond by interfering with its long-running air campaign against Iranian-backed militias there.
How do you all feel about that? I do not know enough about the situation to express a meaningful opinion. However, just common sense tells me that if Israel will not help a friend in need, then Israel will have trouble complaining when a friend refuses their request for help when they are in need. Instinctively, I am disappointed.
We have good friends who are Israeli and live in Jerusalem. I have written Amnon to get his take on this, and also his Wife’s, who is a college professor.
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Here is the $64 billion question: we have 100,000 troops in Eastern Europe. The President says we will help Ukraine all we can, but we will not stand and fight with them on the battlefields. If you voted on this issue, do our troops fight or not? I will not be drafted; at my age, my concern is more for my children and grandchildren, and I am not sure what we should do. If I knew for a reasonable certainty that our fighting would not lead to a nuclear war, I would say “fight”, but neither I nor anyone knows what Putin, the madman, will do. That is why Biden gets the little bucks.
Thinking out loud with all of you, Ukraine needs our military help, but we do not want to engage directly with Russia for fear we could start a nuclear war. Instead of fighting Russia on the battlefield, we are arming Ukraine, and through sanctions, crippling the Russian economy. How can we be sure that doing what we are doing will not provoke an unhinged Putin from starting a nuclear war? Putin is already using cluster bombs prohibited by the Geneva Convention.
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I am exhausted fighting this war between Russia and Ukraine. I hardly watched the Olympics although a huge sports fan, but I am mesmerized by what is going on. If other countries are not going to actually fight, the only chance I see for a happy ending is a total economic collapse of Russia. If I understand correctly, China has 140 billion dollars of Russia’s money, but what I do not know is what will happen when the Russian stock market opens. It has been closed for four days, but eventually doesn’t it have to open?
I also do not know how long it will take for all the sanctions in place to really kick in. They are already working but they need to work faster.
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Very sad news in the musical world. Michael Tilson Thomas, the famed conductor, has an aggressive form of brain cancer. I really like him for many reasons.
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See you tomorrow.
I have now put on my website Chapter 2 of “A Primer Eating Out in Florence”. Www.Jamesfoxmiller.com I am trying to figure out why it is not appearing on my Facebook page because Chapter 1 appeared. My guru Carol may figure it out. She did. Yeah Carol!
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