opening chicory

this is chicory before it is fully opened

I finished the pesto! I know pesto is supposed to be easy and quick but it took so long that by the time I was done I had no interest in playing with enchiladas. I did, however, make two wonderful tortilla pizzas with the pesto, the first with broccoli and mozzarella and some hot pepper flakes, the second with sun-dried tomatoes and hot pepper flakes, both divine. 

Also great - my neighbor explained my damper to me. I live in a townhouse. It has three stories. Part of why I want better insulation in the attic is that we have the ground floor freezing to keep the top floor from sweltering. I am literally wearing a sweater in a heat wave. (Oh the quote we got for insulation - yeah - wow - going to wait until the labor shortage and supply chain issues are done.) Her AC just died and the guy replacing it asked if she was using her damper. She didn't know she had a damper. Now she is telling every woman she knows. 

I sort of knew I had a damper but I couldn't have told you what it was. I knew that I was supposed to move this thing one way in summer and the other way in winter but I didn't know which way and it was labeled "open" and "close" not "summer" and "winter." She came over and showed me the SECOND damper - which I did not even know I had - and explained that it directs cold air to the ground floor and the other one - which was positioned in a place where it is nearly impossible to reach - directs cold air to the top floor. (To get to that one you have to stand on a ladder and reach deep into a dark space five inches high and then move a lever. What kind of yahoo designed this?) Now our ground floor is cooler than our middle floor instead of far hotter. (Unfortunately, the ground floor is still cold. Oh well.) 

Amnesty International released a report that said Ukraine was putting civilians in danger. The Ukrainian office did not sign off on this. The Ukrainian office did not agree with this. The Ukrainian office was not consulted in this. The Ukrainian office condemned the report, the Russian embassy is eagerly reproducing it. The head of the Ukrainian office has now quit over this. There is a difference between deliberately shelling civilians, their homes, their hospitals, their schools (Russia) and going to those same places to protect them because they are being attacked (Ukraine). Russia did the same in Chechnya and Syria.

"Marc Garlasco, a United Nations war crimes investigator specializing in civilian harm mitigation, wrote on Twitter that Amnesty International “got the law wrong.” “Ukraine can place forces in areas they are defending — especially in urban warfare,” he wrote. “There is no requirement to stand shoulder to shoulder in a field — this isn’t the 19th century. Ukraine still has an OBLIGATION to protect civilians — but they are taking steps to do so, like helping civilians relocate.”" - NYT


Dan Rice, a U.S. combat veteran and a special adviser to the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzzhnyi, had some things to say about the leadership style in Ukraine and Russia's military. "Every month Ukraine gets much stronger, with a larger, battle-hardened army that is getting better and more equipment daily.  Ukraine has pushed down authority and decision-making to the lowest levels. Ukrainian officers give their “intent” and inform the soldiers “why” they want something done. This allows the soldiers to figure out and be creative with “how” to achieve it.   This allows innovation on the battlefield.  We have seen how that innovation allows Ukraine to fight and beat a less innovative, rigid Russia invader."


"Russian leaders are usually using the old Soviet model of top-down “command and control” leadership. Tell soldiers “what and how” to do something, but not “why”.  Only the leaders can make decisions, not the soldiers or non-commissioned officers. This makes their army very rigid and not able to make changes quickly on the battlefield....Russian troops are often illiterate and uneducated; they are more susceptible to Russian propaganda.  The troops are often undisciplined and immoral, resulting in atrocities to the Ukrainian military and civilian population, looting and all of the other horrible symptoms. The leaders are immoral, amoral, and have no regard for innocent Ukrainian civilians. They tolerate and seem to encourage war crimes against the civilian population to use as a terror weapon. They are poorly led by rigid leaders that run top-down organizations.  This weakness is being exploited by Ukraine by targeting and killing Russian leadership."


BTW, three more Russian generals have been fired. 


Russian soldiers are being sent to the front line with little to no training. Increasingly unqualified soldiers are being promoted to leadership positions because Russian losses are so intense. Note the high number of Russian generals being killed. Some soldiers are faking illnesses to get out of serving. 


North Macedonia is supplying tanks and planes to Ukraine. 


Early in the war one of my colleagues asked our general counsel for any warnings about what we could say or do regarding the war. We can't help buy weapons for a foreign government. At the time it sounded a little laughable. How would we even do that? Ukrainian Canadians are raising money to help the Ukrainian military buy a drone. Andriy Tkach and his friends started UHelpUkraine, a non-profit that has shipped 20,000 kg of humanitarian aid. They've noticed a slowdown in recent weeks in donations and media coverage and thus have begun a fundraising drive to buy <drumroll> a Turkish Bayraktar drone. They are aiming for $7 million. 


Natalia Popova is a 50 year old Ukrainian woman who had a horse business before the war. Popova, in cooperation with the animal protection group UA Animals, has already saved more than 300 animals from the war; 200 of them went abroad and 100 found new homes in western Ukraine. Her shelter now houses 133 animals including 13 lions, a leopard, a tiger, three deer, wolves, foxes, raccoons, and roe deer, as well as domesticated animals like horses, donkeys, goats, rabbits, dogs, cats, and birds. With costs of mre than $14,000 a month she has gone deeply into debt. She gets some money from UA Animals and from donations. 
Popova sends her animals to the Poznań Zoo in Poland, which helps her evacuate them and find them new homes. Some animals have already been transported to Spain, France, and South Africa. This week she is sending 12 lions to Poland.