A Key Question

 How many Ukrainians will have to die to keep Putin in power?

Easy Covid Shot

If you want a quick and easy covid inoculation and you live nearby, the place to get one is the Roseland Community Center. Roseland is in the SW section of Santa Rosa, California.

On Friday Susan and I set off to get our second boosters. The community center in Rosalind offered all three main kinds of shots, and they took walk-ins. No appointment needed. You filled out a form and ten minutes later the shot was in your arm. (This fast program ends in June, I think.)

But on the way we got into a disagreement about the address of the community center. Susan claimed it was at 779 Sebastopol Road, while I maintained it was at 779 Sebastopol Avenue. We did agree that the Roseland Community Center would likely be found in Roseland, which has as its central street, Sebastopol Avenue, according to Siri. 

By the time we found the community center, I was ready to move on, but Susan asked the first person we saw inside the building what street we were on. Somewhat startled, the woman said we were on Sebastopol Road, but she looked and sounded uncertain. 

About 20 minutes later we were leaving, and I hit on the idea of looking at the street signs. The first one we came to read "Sebastopol Road." The second read "Sebastopol Avenue." 

The Putin Apologist

I said to de Selby, When it comes to war, I am against the man who fires the first shot. That's why I protested when Bush attacked Iraq. And when Putin attacked Ukraine.

"Putin has his reasons," de Selby replied. He was a man of the broadest understandings and seldom rushed to judgment. 

Everyone has reasons, I said, but someone has to shoot first. Have you ever been to Pearl Harbor?

"Of course," he said. "Japan had its reasons."

Later I had a thought. What sort of man wanted to become the dictator of Russia? Who would make that his goal? Why is de Selby afraid of police officers but not of male nurses?  

Will Smith

Today everyone has been talking about how Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for disrespecting his wife. This is a complicated matter involving a bad joke, violence, spousal loyalty, etc. What if, for example, the actor telling the disrespectful joke had been a white man? Would Will Smith have slapped him? I'm thinking Peter Dinklage. 

Doonesbury

At best I read "Doonesbury" once every two years, but on Sunday I did look at it and learned something new. Garry Trudeau pointed out that tRump claims he has been elected president twice.

Therefore, he's ineligible to run again. 

Appreasing Putin

The generation that defeated fascism is gone, which means that it's our turn. But Russia is a nuclear power. 

For the last 700 years, Russia has nearly always been an authoritarian  state. That is their normal. Putin, the current dictator, now talks about rebuilding the Czarist Russian Empire, an unfortunate ambition in the 21st century. And he's killing Ukrainian civilians by the thousands. About 250,000 Russians have fled their country, sickened by the brutality. 

Putin has made it clear that he loathes Europe and America. 

On television one deep thinker says that our best choice is to appease Putin. But doesn't history tell us that appeasing fascists makes them more ambitious?

Stephen Gale

When my wife was serving a term on a troubled Democratic County Central Committee, Stephen Gale chaired the meetings and coped with the discord. Later he became my Facebook friend. Everyone liked him. He died this week--he will be missed by many people.

Gentile Jokes

Probably the only people who tell Gentile jokes are Jews, and they do it to make fun of themselves. Non-Jews often don't get what is funny. For example:

A shoe salesman walks into a bar and sits down on a stool. The bartender says, "Lester, how's business these days?" And Lester says, "Fine."

The Chinese Ambassador

The Chinese ambassador was interviewed, kind of, on FACE THE NATION today by Margaret Brennan. She would ask a question, and after the ambassador had managed about half a sentence, she would interrupt him with a sharper question. He would try to formulate a better answer in English, but she usually would stop him before the end of his sentence. She peppered him good; I guess that must help in her ratings.

I wanted to hear what the ambassador had to say, but no luck. I erased the recording and took FACE THE NATION off the list of shows I record.