Sunshine today

We had sunshine today. It was cold but not windy so, dressed properly, it was lovely. 

I now understand why people don’t want to put themselves out to make new friends. It is awkward. And then I tripped and fell. Sigh. So suave. 

This, my blip friends, is the last flower in Maryland. I don’t know that for a fact, but as we are in a post-truth society I’ll go ahead and say it.

My nephew was sick the other week and every emergency room had waits of hours. It is the combination of Covid, a vicious cold called RSV, and the flu. Now our county is recommending people mask in crowded and indoor spaces. 

Someone hacked into Russia’s biggest state broadcaster. It doesn’t really help us but it is interesting because it tells us things like they use Fox News host Tucker Carlson to back up their propaganda and try to convince Russians that the war is going well. 

There is an artist in Russia who is using his art to dissent. He paints murals. He used to paint sweet ones and was very popular, a tourist draw, but now he paints protests of the war. Vladimir Ovchinnikov is 84 and he believes this is why the authorities have been more gentle with him. He paints. When they find it they cover it. When they catch him they fine him. Supporters raise money and pay the fines. 

Canada had provided a waiver to sanctions so Canada could repair Nord Stream turbines and return them to Germany. Canada has now revoked the waiver. 

The US is sanctioning one of Russia’s wealthiest men, Vladimir Potanin plus 18 entities related to Russia’s financial services sector. 

Ukraine has exported more than 14 million metric tons of grain, easing global food prices. 

While there has been concern that Russia and Belarus were planning to invade Ukraine together, the UK Ministry of Defence has posted that their latest intel says a successful new assault is unlikely. 

In Paris this week 700 companies attended a conference on helping Ukraine recover. 

There was a French event that raised about 1 billion euros for Ukraine. A web platform will allow Ukraine to list its civilian aid needs and donors can choose what to supply. 

The UK has slapped sanctions against 12 senior Russian military commanders. They also are sanctioning four Iranians including the managing director of the company that makes the engines for the drones Russia is buying. 

The EU has sent 40 large generators to keep hospitals working. France sent 100 smaller ones. Slovakia sent 19. Germany sent 23. Lithuania sent 52 transformers. Poland sent four emergency power systems. 

The UN nuclear watchdog IAEA agreed to send permanent teams to Ukraine’s nuclear plants, including Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.