Who determines when we’re at war?
A child might think that the president is the only person who could make such a declaration, or a high schooler might say that only Congress is powerful enough to make this decision. But as the war wages on between Russia and Ukraine and as the US sends more and more advanced weaponry and financial support, eventually we should probably address the elephant in the room.
Germany is sending tanks to Ukraine, a pretty cognito way of saying they’re now also at war with Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (a cartoon villain name if I’ve ever heard one) agreed, after months of debate, to supply their coveted Leopard 2 tank to Ukraine, in conjunction with the US sending over its M1 Abrams tank. For inexplicable reasons, America sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine doesn’t actually equate to the US being at war with Russia, but that may be changing.
Tanks could potentially turn the tide of the conflict, allowing Ukrainians to attack Moscow’s forces and re-capture occupied land, rather than focusing primarily on defending against Russian attacks. I can’t imagine Big Daddy Vlad-Dawg will be too pleased with these developments, and it seems only a matter of time before there’s a conflict that somehow implicates direct American involvement. If that happens, I imagine tanks will be the least of our concerns.
Side Items
This was a really enjoyable and informative read featuring Samuel L. Jackson himself as he discusses his convictions and memory of MLK’s assassination. I was previously aware that Samuel L. was a pallbearer at MLK’s funeral, but I wasn’t aware that Samuel L. also apparently held Dr. King Sr. hostage in a college building, which resulted in his expulsion from university. His acting abilities are well known and respected, and maybe his activist youth should be as well
Fun fact, Sherpas, the ethnic group best known for their climbing and mountaineering prowess, migrated into the Khumbu region in Nepal from Tibet about 600 years ago. Their language is spoken, not written, so evidently there are no classic Sherpa memoirs or histories other than oral ones. They sometimes use Sherpa as a last name, and most Sherpa given names—regardless of gender—are days of the week: Dawa, Mingma, Lakpa, Phurba, Pasang, Pemba, Ngima. So a Sherpa phone book would be a near-useless endeavor as there are so many shared names
If you’ve purchased eggs recently, you’ve probably noticed that their prices have nearly doubled in the past year. What’s with the eggflation? (I’m not a proud man) Many of the explanations so far assume the mysterious invisible hand of the market or blame “acts of god” like an avian flu outbreak that took out 43 million birds last year. But in a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan, the advocacy group Farm Action points out that the numbers behind those explanations don’t actually add up. Instead, Farm Action’s legal counsel Basel Musharbash alleges “a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40 percent.” Unadvised Criminal Pro Tip: if you take the eggs out of the carton, they’re technically free