space alien pods

So many science fiction movies have aliens growing in pods. 
 
My Glenda Gloss has some really nice flowers. 
 
I have something amazing to share. Take a picture of a plant with your iPhone. Go to the edit screen and click on the i. Does the i have a star next to it? Good. When you click on the i it has an option to "Look Up - Plant." Select that. It tries to identify the plant for you!!!! 
 
This is perfect timing because of course, deep inside, what I want to do is take a picture of every green thing in my yard and ask Kate, "what is this? What is this? What is this?"
 
The horrible news out of Ukraine spurred the West into finding new sanctions. The US and EU are going to ban all new investment in Russia. They are also going to sanction Russian officials and their families. 
 
Does the name Hydra ring a bell? Hydra is a fictional terrorist organization in Marvel Comics. In the real world, Hydra is apparently a dark-web site that let crimals launder cryptocurrency. It's Russian! German law enforcement (BKA), with the FBI, DEA, IRS, and Homeland Security, seized Hydra's Germany based servers and confiscated $25 million in bitcoins (what, on a computer disk? I so do not understand bitcoin.). Most of the transactions that took place on Hydra were illegal drugs or ransomware. It let people trade in crypto for rubles. Like anyone wants rubles anymore anyway.
 
The Czech Republic has sent tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, the first Nato country to do so. The T-72 tank is a good choice for Ukraine due to its widespread use and ease of maintenance. The simple design is highly supportable in the field without advanced training and Russia has already dumped many T-72s into Ukrainian hands. There are many more that have been damaged but are still a good spare parts source. Ukraine also has a lot of experience locally upgrading the type. The tanks will enable Ukraine to conduct long-range artillery strikes on Russian targets. The Czech tanks and other equipment were funded by the Czech government and private Czech donors who contributed to a government-backed crowdfund. 
 
An even bigger deal - both Czech and Slovakia are considering opening their military installations to repair and refit damaged Ukrainian military equipment. Ukraine has been capturing Russian equipment like mad but it needs to be repaired before use. Russia has been targeting Ukrainian military repair facilities  - fine, their automotive shops have learned how to work on really big vehicles - but Czech and Slovakia's help would help repair more. 
 

Most Ukrainian refugees are sheltering in private homes. A massive and informal network is providing food, transport, jobs, and housing, smoothing the welcome for refugees. In Poland, thousands signed up online to host Ukrainians. People showed up at train stations to offer pullout couches. Unused office space has been converted to dormlike housing. 

The Pentagon is going to send to Ukraine 10 of our newest, shiniest Switchblade drones. In addition to the previous 100 Switchblade drones we were going to send, these have tank-busting warheads. The earlier ones are 3.3 lbs. These are 50 lbs. The earlier ones can fly 6 miles and hover for 15 minutes. The new ones can fly 24 miles and for over 40 minutes. 
 
Epic Games said they were going to donate the money they made for their new game, Fortnite, to Ukraine. On day one they raised $36m. They raised $144m in two weeks. It almost makes you want to play video games or learn to fly a drone.