Some unhinged Russian is threatening me with nuclear war on Twitter. At this point, the frequency of the usage of the expression “nuclear war” in Russia is extraordinary.

It started as a joke. The first time somebody said “Let’s just nuke those Americans” on TV, it was shocking and unexpected. And now it’s an everyday occurrence. The other day, Russians marched with enormous imitation nukes that had “This one is personally for Obama” written on them. There were ritual hangings of Obama effigies in several Russian regions.

I really hope that somebody is paying attention. The Russians are unraveling in a collective bout of extreme hysteria, and they are capable of many bad things right now. Let’s not be duped by the polls that tell us 86% of Russians support Putin. The other 14% are not opposed to Putin. They just think he’s not radical enough in his anti-Western policies. The probability of Russians rising against Putin that many brainless Western analysts are floating around is nil.

The sooner we all awaken to reality is better. People, you know me. I always look for the best even in the worst circumstances. But I’m telling you that this is going in a really bad direction. Russia is a huge country with an enormous military capacity. I don’t know what needs to happen for somebody to start paying attention.

Even if somebody in the West just started taking the Russians seriously, that would already help defuse the situation a bit.

The Guardian is a total tabloid, right? The following can’t be true:

Who would ever want to be dirty? Yet according to a recent survey carried out by a cosmetics company, this is just what “a shocking one in three” women have “admitted” to, with 33% leaving it as long as three days from wash to wash. Worse, “four out of five women don’t shower every day”. Ah yes of course: this is all about the daily shower or bath, that well-known upper-class indicator.

One more opportunity for many people to feel sorry for themselves. And the cost is small: either nor washing or fantasizing about not washing in a paroxysm of imaginary business.

Just heard people of Hispanic origin say on TV that they don’t learn Spanish because American schools teach “the Castilian version of Spanish.”

Of all the ridiculous excuses in existence, this is the silliest.

The most potent (in their opinion) argument that Putinoids advance to convince Ukrainians to stop resisting the Russian invasion is, “You think you’ll get handouts from Europe? No, you won’t! They won’t give you any money!”

The sheer desperation with which the Russians advance this argument shows that they really believe that handouts are the only thing worth fighting for. 

And while I’m on sharing links, here is a very sad update on James Robertson, the Detroiter who had to walk 21 miles to work every day because he had no car.

A short resume: charity doesn’t help address poverty. It often makes things worse because a poor person doesn’t live in a vacuum. There is a whole reality around him.

In an endless flow of pearl-clutchers who still can’t get over the existence of porn, here us a refreshingly good article about 50 Shades of Grey:

Most grownups know that fantasy doesn’t equal desire and that it doesn’t predict behavior. One of the ways we cope with the pressures and complicated decision-making of adulthood is fantasy.

Fantasy, and especially erotic fantasy, is the absolutely best way to recharge oneself with energy and, as the linked piece points out, to deal with the problems one encounters in daily life.

Good article, and the last paragraph is really strong. A good response to the puritanical paranoia that has so many people wriggling and foaming at the mouth.

“Why is the Ukrainian anthem so depressing?” the Russian asked. “It starts with ‘Ukraine isn’t dead yet.’ What’s that if not defeatist?”

“Defeatist? Depressing?” I vociferated scaring the restaurant’s patrons. “If you people would just fuck the fuck off already, we’d get a chance to come up with a more optimistic anthem! With you around, it’s already a huge achievement for Ukrainians not to be dead yet!”

Finally, the winter looks the way it should, if only for a few days.

And the lights in our backyard leave a really beautiful reflection in the snow:

Yes, they form a sign of the cross. Last month it was the Star of David. This is N’s way of warping the neighbors’ minds.

The most hilarious development of the day is a piece by some dude at The Nation, chiding the (actually talented, which is weird for Hollywood) actress Patricia Arquette for promoting equal pay. According to the dude, Arquette was not “intersectional” enough in her pro-equal pay remarks. See for yourselves.

If this is what we now have in lieu of a progressive news outlet, it’s no wonder why the cause of Liberalism is flailing and failing these days.

An enormous number of people tweeted the “Stay weird, stay different” quote from yesterday’s Oscars. Each one of this uniform crowd that did the exact same thing at the exact same time while watching the exact same show experienced the exact same fuzzy feeling of being appreciated for their weirdness and difference.

Do people even realize how incredibly boring this is?