Distraction

I had a great conversation with the man I know from 30 years ago, the man working to fight climate change with sophistication and brilliance. We discussed the prospects of saving the world from climate change. We discussed the probability of nuclear war beginning in Ukraine. We discussed the evil that has been part of the US throughout history, rising and falling, and brought to light again by Trump, and whether there is any hope to redeem the people who support him and hate all the rest of us. We talked about the future of America.  

It was great, it distracted me from mice. 

I had been planning to go walking in the park I saw on my birthday, but I realized it would be too hot by even mid-morning, so I finished planting my Mitchella repens and watered everything. 

Then I found a text from my neighbor saying she saw a small rat or a large mouse on the retaining wall. Thursday I saw one in the garden. I spent the rest of morning spraying mint oil everywhere and noting all the wonderful potential living spaces behind the retaining wall. 

In this picture my dragon is chasing a mouse out of the garden, through the gate. You see the stone I bought and laid. That is not Irish moss. While many of the Irish moss plantings have survived and some have thrived, the Irish moss there didn't do well. It is real moss. I put it there recently, we'll see how it does. There are hostas, wild violets, Mitchell repens, and a vine from the climbing hydrangea reaching out. I see leaves from a white bleeding heart. The red mulch is pine bark. 

Russia has said that it has damaged 4 US provided HIMARS. The Pentagon says it hasn't.The HIMARS allow Ukraine to increase their reach into Russian-held territory with greater precision and less risk to themselves.

The US is considering supplying Ukraine with fighter jets. It would risk escalation but every atrocity Russia commits increases what the West is willing to do. It wouldn't be immediate - it would require training, maintenance, and spare parts. In the meantime, some Central Europan countries have provided parts of Soviet-legacy fighter jets. Ukraine has used its jets to shoot down some of the long-range cruise missiles and to oust Russian forces from Snake Ilsand. 

Richard Moore, head of Britain's secret intelligence service (MI6, boss o James Bond), said Russia's eastern offensive is about to run out of steam. "Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower, material over the next few weeks. They will have to pause in some way. And that will give the Ukrainians opportunities to strike back." 

On Thursday the EU implemented a seventh package of sanctions against Russia which included expanding the items that can't be exported to Russia. 

There was a story earlier that a Pakistani tycoon bought two fighter jets for Ukraine. It turns out it was a miscommunication. There is a couple who have been trying to be stars in the Ukraine, like Kardashians here? Faous for being rich and decadent? Ukraine's Lady Gaga? They wanted to raise the woman's, Kamaliya's, profile as a singer. This was an article, again, clearly written to make them look good and raise their profiles, but it was interesting. Zahoor, the man, heeded the warning about war and took their sons to London. She stayed because she didn't think there would really be a war, and one day woke up to the sound of bombs falling. She live-streamed, made phone calls, and told her fans and family what was happening. Her family didn't believe her and said it was propaganda. After a few days she decided to join her children. She took a friend with a baby and four other children and drove to the Polish border. While they were on line to get on a bridge it was blown up. Kamaliya began driving people to borders. They've brought 16 Ukrainian refugees home to their Hampstead home. It is a big home with lots of rooms and now people are sleeping on couches and their are snacks everywhere. Kamaliya stopped traveling to Russia to do concerts or TV when Russia took Crimea in 2014. She physically helped repair pavements. She stopped speaking Russian. Kamaliya did an interview and said that Pakistan gave two planes full of humanitarian aid. The media interpreted this as her husband gave two warplanes. Then it was in Russian media, Forbes, and the BBC. They do fundraise, including arranging for four humanitarian planeloads and a children's cardiac center in Kyiv. Kamaliya is very angry that some countries think Ukraine should give up, or give up any land, and she's furious at the pointless Russian cruelty to animals. Fine, they hate the Ukrainian people, but animals? She also thanks the UK. 

There are burnt out Russian military vehicles all over Ukraine, rusting away. People come and pose for pictures with them.