Putin is Responsible for Murder

I try to keep informed of the news and use multiple sources. Today I saw a disturbing story and images of a 6-year-old Ukrainian girl killed by Russian shelling. She was one of the victims of Putin's war. Trump thinks Putin is a genius, but I think both men are criminals. The reasons for the invasion are more misinformation. The tactics are barbaric. The results are devastating. Children should not have to die for the egos and self-interest of rich and powerful men--who use deceitful methods to send armies into other people's homes. There are no excuses and no justification. My heart is sad, and I want the killing to stop. I want the tyrants tried in a court for murder. It's more justice than one little soul was given.

Cartoon Characters with Too Much Power

Good Leaders Required

A government for the people, by the people, with liberty and justice for all... We should be seeing how important this is. Bad leadership that ordinary people have no means of removing, is a threat to peace and democracy. Good leaders do not put their own self-interest first. As citizens, we need to do the same. Attacks on one, hurts us all. Most importantly, we must demand truth and good moral character from those making decisions that can help or harm the people, the Earth, and all life.

Grilled Steak & Shrimp

French Toast

Post the Ukraine Flag

Ukraine Invasion, Danger & Authoritarianism

How the Ukraine became independent, and the nuclear arsenal that was turned over to Russia in the process, all play into the danger of what is happening today. Even if nuclear weapons are not used, Ukraine has nuclear power plants and the risks are high. Most of the world realizes this, except for some countries in favor of authoritarian regimes, and some in the Republican Party of the USA, who still follow Trump. Donald Trump has gone on record as saying that Vladimir Putin is a genius for invading Ukraine. The history is out there if you care to find it. Why this matters to the rest of the world, should become obvious and the similarities to World War II are at best, frightening. This is a good testament, to the fact that while the everyday people may be good, a few mentally unstable, authoritarian leaders, are able to jeopardize world peace and security.

The problem isn't the police

A Very Nice Day

Baked Pork Ribs & Asparagus

Answer Annoying Calls

I tried the Star Trek thing this morning. My son gave me his phone because he didn't recognize the number. I answered and somebody started speaking in Spanish so I answered using the language in (green in) the picture. Whoever it was soon hung up.

When One Man Can Start a War

Spaghetti & Meat/Vegetable Sauce

Happy Valentine's Day!

Super Bowl LVI Recap

Super Bowl LVI did not disappoint (that was left to the halftime show)! It was a close game, decided late in the 4th quarter--like so many games this season.

Super Bowl Food

Super Bowl Halftime Show

MY MESSAGE TO MY COUSIN WHO ONLY WATCHES THE HALFTIME SHOW:

More often than not, the halftime show is not worth watching. Frequently, it is musicians who don't play instruments, sometimes they don't actually sing, but they jump around a lot in silly costumes with a lot of lights flashing off and on.

Super Bowl LVI

Why the Complacency Over Gun Violence?

If you look at a city like Minneapolis objectively, there are shootings daily. People are shot and shot to death at an alarming rate. That means law enforcement is reacting to these violent crimes daily. If you research the statistics, when it's not being obscured by the media, most of the victims are black lives. Most of the arrested shooters are as well. When you think of the hundreds of cases handled by the police, and the relatively few mistakes, it begins to show that the number of people killed by police, is a small number in comparison to the number being killed by gun violence every single day. Yet, the media, and certain groups have skillfully turned our attention to the few tragic deaths of individuals at the hands of police; and deflected the reality of daily killings by criminals, to back page news to be ignored because it doesn't bring the masses out to demonstrate their rage. In fact, if a child or innocent person is killed, few people mourn. It's only when out of hundreds of shootings and hundreds of encounters that someone being arrested suffers an unfortunate death or injury from police, that anyone notices. The bigger problem, is the criminals, who are killing people every single day. And the more frequently police are called on to react to this violence, the more statistical chance that the cops might harm someone in the process. Somehow, that has been forgotten. The sheer numbers of shootings should be enough to make people upset, yet they save the outrage for the handful of deadly police encounters. This kind of backward thinking has allowed criminals to be treated like victims, and victims to be ignored. And it is all reinforced by the amount of time and repetition selected, highly charged stories are given by the media outlets.

More Experimental Photography

Recent things I thought looked cool so I took a picture.

Focus on the Causes of Gun Violence

A lot of time and effort is going into reforming police. Today, a school bus driver was shot in the head in Minneapolis. Perhaps more time and effort should be spent on the reason police are out pursuing criminals--like why are people shooting each other and also killing and maiming innocent bystanders in the city and streets? Police reform is a byproduct... an effort to fix a symptom of the true problem. It's easy to yell and scream about police brutality, but that doesn't address the crime that necessitates the reason police are deployed in the first place. If you can fix the crime problem, the police won't even be needed.

It was a while ago, but when I grew up in Richfield, and bought my first house in Minneapolis (both have had shootings already this month), there wasn't continuous shootings like there is now. So ask yourself, what has changed? If we focus on the cause of the dysfunction rather than reacting to the results, perhaps real solutions are possible. Because so far, protesting the police hasn't stopped the gun violence.

100 Pack of Disposable Masks

These look like the kind the clinic gave me!

Chicken, Pork, Asparagus, Linguine & Alfredo

Masks or Not?

Today the clinic told me my cloth mask isn't good enough anymore, the school district is talking about no longer requiring masks, and I think the Federal government is planning to send us all N95 masks. I'm so glad everything has been thought through and all are on the "same page..."

United States Politics at it's Best!

United States Politics at it's Best!
UnAssociated Press
February 2, 2022

A new presidential candidate has emerged into U.S. politics today! Punxsutawney Phil is well liked and respected. He is the also the only Woodchuck in American politics. If this, new, higher class of candidate emerges into U.S. politics, who knows what good things might happen?!