Today's Details

I told Hiromi today that I find it hard to know how to pray about the Ukraine-Russia conflict, except to pray that it would cease.  Every scenario that I can think of to bring a logical end to the fighting involves too many impossibilities or too much unthinkable collateral damage to one or more parties involved.  What is needed is a miracle.

If Ukraine wins, it will still likely come at a terrible cost.  If Russia wins, Ukraine will forever be under Russia's heel. Ordinary Russians have very little recourse if they're not enthusiastic about engaging in this war.  People are being imprisoned who dare to verbalize questions about the wisdom of this course of action.  

Putin is apparently becoming ensconced in an ever-constricting circle of loyalists, with no one having the courage to speak truth to the leader.  The butcher of Syria has recently been installed as the Russian leader of the military campaign in Ukraine.  This seems like an effort on Putin's part to reverse the fortunes of the Russian army.  

Today the flagship of the Russian naval forces sank, after having been struck by missiles fired from Ukraine.  This is a tremendous loss. Yet, columns of vehicles and troops keep moving toward Eastern Ukraine where major fighting is expected soon.  

The United States keeps ratcheting up the pressure on Russia's economy.  Supplying armaments to Ukraine is going on, with almost no one being sure how much this can be accelerated without Russia taking it as a provocation to view the US with the same disdain that is directed now toward Ukraine.  

I'm glad that God hears the cries of all who are praying for an end to the war in Ukraine.  I'm glad too that he can act even before a single person here has gotten things figured out.

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Here's an article proposing that the Trump faction is becoming increasingly narrow and isolated from other Republicans.  I wrote this introduction to the article on Facebook today:

It remains to be seen whether Stirewalt's observation here holds true, going forward. Right now increasing factionalism seems plausible to me.

Stirewalt was fired from Fox in 2021, presumably at least in part because he called Arizona for Biden on election day in 2020. He works now for The Dispatch, described accurately I believe as a center right outlet. I'm not positive that everyone can read this, but I think so.

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Early this afternoon there were several explosions and a huge fire at a gas plant near Haven.  I saw first smoke and then fire from US 50 SW of Hutchinson--ten? miles away.  I knew it must be a big fire because a fireball was visible high above the tree lines that marched across my view.  A two-mile radius around the area was evacuated. 

Thankfully only two people were injured and were taken to a hospital for treatment of 2nd degree burns.  The fire was brought under control and people were allowed back into their homes before dark.

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Miller Seed recorded an overnight low of 24 degrees.  Hiromi had already programmed the automatic sprinklers to come on early this morning, and we were treated to a sparkling backyard, with icicles dripping from every twig and branch within reach of the spray.  

Tomorrow is our average spring frost-free date.