Putin finally did it.

 US intelligence sources had been predicting the Russians would invade Ukraine.  Looks like they got that right. if a little late.  I haven't seen much video of the invasion yet.  

How much resistance will the Ukrainians put up?  So far, the video of traffic jams of people fleeing Kiev are not encouraging.  I am thinking of the British back in WWII where the Germans bombed them heavily.  The Brits had bomb shelters and used them.  There are period photos showing London subway stations (tube stations the Brits call them) turned in to dormitories.   No stories or photos of the Brits fleeing German bombing.  

   We could use some video of Ukraine troops (or anyone) using American Stinger missiles on Russian warplanes.  Years ago in Afghanistan the Stingers were good enough to drive the Russians out of the place. Stinger is a shoulder fired missile which means it can be anywhere, no need for fancy tracked launch vehicles.  Despite being light enough to be man carried, Stinger had enough punch to bring down anything the Russians were flying in Afghanistan.  

  We could also use some video of American Javelin anti tank missiles on Russian tanks.  Javelin is "man portable" although at 50 pounds, it ain't light.  It is said to have a tricky warhead than can defeat reactive armor on tanks.  And it can do a pop up maneuver in which it comes in low, shoots up high and dives on the tank striking the tank's roof where the armor is thinnest.  It has range of like 1000 meters, which means it can be fired at the enemy without risking your life.  

Both Stinger and Javelin are simple enough to handle that anyone can work them after the sketchiest of training. 

Biden blows another one

 TV is telling me that Biden gave Putin a list of cyber targets that he wasn't supposed to attack.  Dumb and dumber.  He just told Putin where to attack our cyber infrastructure.  You never tell adversaries where you are vulnerable. 

The Rhinelands vs nibbling on Ukraine

 In the early 1930's the Germans, who had been forbidden to militarize the Rhineland by the Versailles treaty, went ahead and militarized the Rhineland.  The other two great powers, the British and the French, stood by and let it happen.  Everyone had so many horrible memories of WWI that nobody dared risk any sort of military effort.  In actual fact, that year, the British and the French had plenty of military power, they could have intervened, deposed Hitler, and prevented WWII.

Putin just sent the Russian army into a couple of bits of Ukraine that had been on his side for years.  It's less than the MSM had be talking up, but it is still an invasion of Ukrainian soil.  It is not a straight drive of Russian tanks for Kiev, but it is certainly against international law.  Does Biden have the stones to oppose it?  Or who ever it is writing Biden's speeches and putting them on the Teleprompter.  We never have heard who is really running Biden, and what sort of backbone they might possess (if any).

What should K-12 schools teach?

 For openers, the three Rs, Reading ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic.  Once the kid can read he/she can learn anything that is worth learning by simply reading.  Plus, reading is fun.  Settling down with a good book is a good time, IF the kid is fairly good at reading.  Writing is highly prized.  Companies will hire people who can write instruction sheets that customers can understand, advertising copy that sells product, procedures for manufacturing that result in quality product, reports to stock holders or government regulators.  There is more to writing than the Great American Novel.

   Arithmetic is addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Even in this day of hand calculators I think kids need to understand what is going on before the numbers displayed by the calculators mean anything.  They need to know about borrow and carry and remainders.  They need to know about percents.   They need to know about fractions and decimals.  If they have any idea about dong a STEM major in college, they need algebra and trig in high school

   Then they ought to have at least one good course in US history.  It needs to be real US history such as is found in Morrison and Commager, not Critical Race Theory.  In my day civics was part of US history, but it would not hurt to have a separate civics course.  In addition to teaching the division of the federal government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, it ought to teach about the big state-small state compromises made back in 1789.  Such as the Electoral College, constitutional amendment procedures, and the bicameral legislature.

   A wood shop course.  I still remember stuff from middle school shop and I use it daily in my own shop.  Perhaps Drivers Ed in high school.

  When the kids get to high school we would be better off if we required one course in chemistry, one in physics, and one in biology of ALL students.  So much of modern life revolves around issues of science and technology that the country would be well served if the new citizens had a high school understanding of the sciences. 

  Things we should NOT be teaching in public schools.  Today’s political issues. Stick with historical political issues.  LGBQ and other issues related to sex and gender are not appropriate.  Perhaps a single Sex Ed course that explains about pregnancy, how to avoid it until after graduation, including contraception, and periods.  No more. 

Powers and Thrones, by Dan Jones, copyright 2021. 636 pages

 The middle ages run from 500 AD to 1500 AD in round numbers.  Historians will say medieval times start with the deposition of the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476.  And I might say they end with Columbus in 1492.  The 500 to 1500 is close and easier to remember. 

 The first section of the book discusses the Roman Empire with emphasis on things passed down to medieval times like Christianity.  Jones misses a few points.  He does mention that the Romans controlled all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea.  He fails to point out that control of all the shorelines allowed the Romans to eliminate piracy in the Mediterranean.  Pirates need ports in which to refill their water casks, restock their provisions, and sell their loot.  When every port has a Roman governor with legionnaires to back him up, pirates have a problem.  So big a problem as to put them out of business.  Removing the pirate threat boosts the Roman economy since in those days everything was shipped by water. 

  Another interesting fact.  There is a histogram of Mediterranean ship wrecks over time.  The number of shipwrecks is proportional to the amount of shipping.  The histogram shows shipwrecks at a low level until maybe 100 BC.  It grows rapidly to a peak right around the time of Augustus Caesar.  Then it starts down.  By Constantine’s time we only have a quarter of the shipwrecks we had in Augustus’ time, which means Constantine only had a quarter of the commerce to tax as Augustus had.  Jones makes no mention of this histogram.  Either he didn’t know of it, or he didn’t think it relevant. 

 

Russian Video of tanks pulling back from Ukraine Border.

I watched the video.  It shows a couple of unfamiliar diesel engines, Russian design and manufacture perhaps.  Followed by a lot of flat cars.  Each flat car has one tank loaded onto it.  The video view is at pretty long range for a side of the train shot.  The train goes thru a steel arch bridge.  The bridge steel is all pink, a very unusual color for a steel bridge.  No rivets showing.

   I thought the whole video clip looked like a model train layout.  

Things must be getting tight in the car business.

 I came out of Walmart the other day and found someone had left a note in my car, offering to buy it.  My car is a 2005, 17 years old, a couple of rust spots, and a front bumper trim piece held together with duct tape.  Not what I would call a really good looking car.  

Maybe that semiconductor shortage the newsies keep talking about is getting really bad and Detroit just isn't shipping many new cars 'cause the cars won't work without those semiconductors.  Makes you wonder about car companies that allow themselves to become dependent upon something that they don't make them selves, or at least have a US supplier for.