The Books of Bokonon

It is difficult to believe that four years have passed since the last Leap Day. That particular day in 2020 was a strange day. By that point in late winter 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was well-underway. I probably was not the only one doom-scrolling the developments in China, the EU, and NYC by that point. Although I lived and still live in a somewhat more isolated portion of the US, we do sit at a crossroads when it comes to the Interstate and US highway systems, and we do have our own airport which at the time had flights to and from Atlanta (if you flew Delta) and Dallas (if you flew American Airlines). There was certainly some business tourism into my city at the time, even as the proverbial storm clouds drew near. I was still a couple weeks away from passing by a fraught meeting administrators would be holding, and was already getting a lot of advice from my parents (more directly from my mom) about what to stock up on.  Although there was already plenty of reason to want to a...

 Here's Wire performing one of their late 1980s songs: Cheers!

Two years after the full-scale invasion, The Guardian published a series of editorials entitled War in Ukraine, two years in . Each of the four editorials offers a unique take on the war that has gone one for about a decade (starting with Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea), and has been full-scale since this time two years ago. One of the perspectives is Russian, which is interesting in its own right. Each column makes it clear that there is so much nuance that often gets missed or simply ignored altogether. Yes, Europe needs to beef up its military regardless of the war's outcome. Yes, Ukrainians are very united in vanquishing the invaders, but have considerable differences of opinion on how to live as the war rages on. Maybe hanging on to a semblance of normality is an act of defiance. Ukrainians are increasingly frustrated figuring out how to perform to satisfy Westerners who do not grasp their lived reality. And it's true that conditions for independent journalism i...

Two years ago, I was watching in horror as Putin's regime began its full scale invasion of Ukraine. In the weeks leading up to the war, I began subscribing to any relevant sub-Reddit, Telegram channel, and YouTube channel that seemed helpful to understanding what was unfolding. At the time, Twitter was fairly useful, and there were plenty of good lists on Twitter that could cut through the bullshit. When the war started, the Russian hype was that Kyiv would be captured in three days, and within weeks Ukraine would cease to exist. Famous last words, indeed. The Russian military has certainly exacted a toll on the people of Ukraine, but the full-scale invasion failed to achieve its objectives. Not only did the Russian troops have to retreat very early on in the war, but they would lose much of the territory they gained by late summer and early fall of 2022. Since then, the front lines have not changed much, although the situation should be considered dynamic.  We've learned that ...