JOEY WILL SPEAK…

Our 46th president will speak to us this morning about the situation in Ukraine.

Preliminary word is that Joey intends to bring up seeking new powers to more easily liquidate assets seized from the big $$$ guys in Russia.

The thought being to then send the proceeds to help Ukraine.

Biden’s administration will be/is sending a proposal to Congress, which it said was meant to “enhance” the US government’s ability to “hold the Russian government and Russian oligarchs accountable” for Vlad’s invasion.

Start the drumroll…

Joey intends to also update the American public on the state of the war, as Western nations funnel heavy weapons to Ukraine and fears grow that the conflict could widen in unpredictable ways.

This coming on the heels yesterday of Putin warning humanity that Russia had “all the tools” needed to respond if threatened – implicitly referring to Moscow’s ballistic missiles and nuclear arsenal.

When’s the last time you read Cormac McCarthy‘s The Road??! 

JACK SPARROW CLARIFIES REALITY

Putting ALL the tragedies, and explicit side shows, of America’s favorite couple to one side…

If any of you are under the weather, and have taken to talking to the Canadian geese on your patio, allow me to offer each of you an alternative…Jack Sparrow in the flesh…

I have to admit the Pirates of the Caribbean was my favorite ride.

WIDENING REVERBERATIONS

The West’s escalating arms shipments and economic penalties has prompted Russia to cut off gas supplies to two European nations.

This news, after a series of high-level summit meetings, since the start of this week, indicates the war in Ukraine has, and is, widening.

Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas company, announced that it was suspending shipments of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria, a move that the European Union (EU)’s top official denounced as “blackmail.”

Though the immediate economic impact was likely to be limited, it was the Kremlin’s toughest retaliation yet against a US-led alliance that it has accused of backing Ukraine in a proxy war aimed at weakening Russia.

This action by the pleasant folks in the Kremlin comes as a stark warning that further, more serious cutoffs of fuel from Russia could be in the offing as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

The gas stoppage for Europe comes at a good time, if there is such a thing; with the spring weather turning warmer, gas consumption, which surges in the winter, is in decline, easing some of the pressure that has kept prices elevated for months.

Unlike some other European nations, Poland has been working for at least a decade to avoid being held to ransom by Moscow over energy. 

Poland has also been putting gas into storage facilities that are now more than 75% full, more than double the European average.

Russia’s war on Ukraine is ALREADY rippling through Europe [as well as here in America – the market this week has been a complete disaster!!!], lashing energy prices and hurting manufacturers just as the bloc was recovering from a pandemic-induced recession.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week cut its ’22 forecast for the countries that use the euro to 2.8%, from a 3.9% estimate in January, with Germany, the largest economy, taking a big hit.

LOVIN’ the SMART GUY!!!

Allow me to just admit it: The old Lobsterman loves Marcus Smart!!!

The pride of Flower Mound, Texas was the perfect remedy for one seriously “under the weather.”

The last couple of months have NOT been the best of times for hauling traps for this fisher of lobsters.

My wife, the jewel that she is, made certain that I got my skinny backside in front of the flat screen last night; saying, “you aren’t going to miss the use of the broom” – translation: SWEEPING THE BROOKLYN NETS in the first round of NBA playoffs.

Smart, aka Cobra at Oklahoma State, was/is someone that I am very, very familiar with – seeing him play numerous times in college.

The best way to describe Smart is to point out that he would have fit in perfectly with any of the great Celtics teams of the past.

Smart ensured the Celtics would pull off the improbable sweep of this series with a handful of stellar plays last night, with plays outnumbering the ones out of exuberance or frustration or high-risk gambles.

Especially, in the fourth quarter, after indispensable star Jayson Tatum fouled out, on an unbelievable ‘bad call.’

“Cobra” is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, simply because of his fearlessness, desire to take chances and a complete lack of a short-term memory that allows him to strive to make those brilliant defensive plays.

Smart sank three crucial free throws in the final 7.1 seconds to polish off the Celtics’ most impressive stretch of basketball over the span of the last ten years.

Unfazed by the word PRESSURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

A gladiator for the 21st century.

THE UNTENABLE WORSENS…

It was to be expected.

Warsaw, Poland.

In ALL, Poland has taken in nearly three million !!! Ukrainians, winning the country widespread praise abroad and helping the central government shake off it reputation as callous and hostile to foreigners.

The city has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees decking itself out with Ukrainian flags and banners of support for Poland’s war-ravaged eastern neighbor.

As if that wasn’t enough, city officials are now saying that they expect as many as another 20% increase, over the coming weeks, as a result of Russia’s military pushing to achieve what Putin last week vowed would be the “full completion” of his war in Ukraine.

ALREADY the city’s infrastructure is showing several indications of collapse, from healthcare facilities to schools, to law enforcement, to public housing, to public transportation, and, the most basic of ALL – food and water.

The figure of incoming refugees is now creeping up again, with two or three thousand coming to the capital each day, mostly from the eastern Donbas region.

This is yet another perilous consequence of W-A-R!

THE SUMMIT

The Pentagon announced yesterday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host a summit in Germany next week to build support for Ukraine’s defense and security needs.

The “Ukraine Defense Consultative Group,” which will meet at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday.

Its ambitions are broad, and that the group will focus NOT just on Ukraine’s short-term military assistance needs and the latest battlefield assessments, but also take a longer view of Ukraine’s defense needs, going forward beyond the war.

It is NOT yet clear exactly which nations have been invited to take part in the discussion or have accepted the invitation.

ALL the Pentagon would indicate was the developing list of invitees includes BOTH NATO allies and other countries outside NATO.

PUMP UP THE VOLUME!!!

Brothers and sisters!
Pump up the volume
You’re gonna get yours!

“Moscow Mitch” McConnell and Kevin “The Snail” McCarthy: BOTH are such profiles in cowardice; the needs of the Party preempt the needs of the nation!!!

In an audio recording of a conversation obtained by the New York Times, days after the 1/6 Insurrection on the Capitol building, the two top Republicans in Congress, Representative McCarthy and Senator McConnell, told associates they believed the Orange Despot was responsible for inciting the deadly riot and vowed to drive him from politics.

McCarthy went so far as to say he would push Trump to resign immediately: “I’ve had it with this guy,” he told a group of Re’Trump’lican leaders.

As we ALL know, within weeks BOTH men [pansies!!!] backed off an ALL-out brawl with Boy Orange because they feared retribution from him and his political movement.

Growing a set to act faded at Mach speed as it became clear it would mean difficult votes that would put them at odds with most of their colleagues.

A sad portrait of these two elected lawmakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The leaders’ swift retreat in January 2021 represented a capitulation at a moment of extraordinary political weakness for Trump – perhaps the last and best chance for mainstream Republicans to reclaim control of their party from a leader who had stoked an insurrection against American democracy itself!!!!!!

McConnell’s office declined to comment.

In a statement on Twitter early yesterday, McCarthy called the reporting “totally false and wrong.”

The accounts of the discussions among Re’Trump’lican leaders in the days after the 1/6 Insurrection is adapted from a new book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future,” which draws on hundreds of interviews with lawmakers and officials, and recordings of private conversations.

The above book is authored by NYT‘s reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns and has a release of May 3rd.

Giddy up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIARS and COWARDS.

h/t: MARRS.

HOUR-by-HOUR…

Earlier today, local time, Vlad took to national television with comments concerning the siege of Mariupol, seeking to claim victory in the strategic southeastern city while avoiding a direct attack that could add to mounting Russian casualties.

Putin ordered Russian forces to blockage the steel plant where Ukrainian troops are holding out, along with hundreds of local citizens.

Putin’s comments amount to a declaration of control in a city that Russia has struggled to subdue despite two months of bombardment that Ukrainian officials say has killed tens of thousands of civilians.

Many international analysts, this morning, also feel it allows Putin to present himself as a leader mindful of the lives of his own forces at a time when a growing number of Russian families are clamoring for information about the expanding count of missing servicemen and women.

Putin, repeatedly, has commanded his troops to ensure that “not even a fly” could pass through the blockade of the site; insisting that NO one at the plant would escape without surrendering [we know how that works, don’t we??!].

COMMUNICATE EARLY…and OFTEN!!!

It boggles the mind!

Washington, DC.

A US Army plane with a parachute team preparing to jump into Nationals Park as part of a pregame ceremony last night triggered a threat alert and prompted authorities to briefly evacuate the Capitol complex, according to the DC police.

If any of you thinks for a second that communications between federal agencies and the ‘on-the-ground’ police have improved since 1/6, THINK AGAIN!!!

It hasn’t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by any stretch of one’s imagination.

An “all-clear” was quickly given, and six members of the Army’s Golden Knights landed safely on the outfield grass before the Washington Nationals took on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The mix-up created an off-the-field scramble to determine how authorities apparently miscommunicated about the flight on Military Appreciation Night at the baseball game.

There was NOTHING ‘apparently” about this F-up!!!

One ALREADY has witnessed what ‘miscommunications’ does, and did, within the neighborhood of the Capitol complex…along with the misguided responsibilities of our own federal authorities and local law enforcement.

Lessons learned from 1/6: Z-E-R-O.

Does the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stand for anything; function professionally; let alone vet their personnel any more?!!?!!?!!

Billion and billions of taxpayers $$$ spent for national security services and we STILL can NOT get one flyover of a ballpark right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has NOT return any of my calls…

A CRATERING for the AGES

Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter – its first decline in paid users in more than a decade – and warned of deepening trouble ahead.

Holy Liam Neeson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s where it gets sticky, Netflix previously told shareholders it expected to add 2.5 million net subscribers during the first quarter; analysts had predicted that number would be closer to 2.7 million; and a year ago – during the same period – Netflix added 3.98 million paid users.

Full Disclosure: The old Lobsterman’s household are paid users…even facing the neighborhood leaving in droves!

Netflix is forecasting a global paid subscriber loss of 2 million for the second quarter…ouch!!!

The last time Netflix lost subscribers was October 2011.

Netflix attributed its subscriber loss to a number of factors, including a slowdown in the adoption of broadband and smart TVs; password sharing among households [‘blood thicker than water,’ etc., etc.]; and increased competition from BOTH traditional cable and broadcast TV and other emerging streaming services.

One thing you can make book on, every major studio in Hollywood this morning, between moments of vomiting and crying, is discussing how now to adopt a streaming strategy to better compete with Netflix’s bingeable, NO-advertising revolution. 

A complete fumigation of the City of Angels will be necessary by the end of the week!!!