The War Zone: After making significant gains in the east, Ukraine appears to have Russian forces on the run also in the south of the country.

  But Ukrainians are liberating empty ruins, towns and cities overrun and mauled first by the invaders, and then by the Ukraine defenders. The Russian defense ministry, oddly, has published daily maps of the territory it has lost.

  Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said his military has begun training more than 200,000 reservists called up two weeks ago. Some recruits have posted tales that they are being sent into action with no training, and little equipment.

Trumped Up: Lawyers for Donald Trump filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court, asking them to intervene in the case of the secret documents seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

  Trump asked the court to ensure that the 100 classified documents taken from his home are included in the  special master’s review. It’s a technical move intended to create further delay of a possible criminal case against Trump, also attempting to open the door to Trump’s claim of executive privilege over the documents, even though he’s no longer president. That’s the ground-breaking issue. If Trump establishes executive privilege for ex-presidents, it’s a whole new ball game of politics.  

The Aftermath: At least 109 people are confirmed dead after Hurricane Andrew as search and rescue continues in Florida. Sanibel island is without water and sewer while most of the houses were destroyed.

  As of last night, more than 400,000 Florida customers were without power. Authorities say it may be a month before all power is restored in Fort Myers, but many residents have nothing left to power up.

Running for Office: Despite repeated embarrassments and abject stupidity,

former NFL running back Herschel Walker in his first political outing is nearly tied in the polls against Georgia’s incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock.

  Walker is the man who once objected to an environmental bill asking, “Don’t we have enough trees around here?”  But he’s  part of Republican hopes to take majority control of the senate. 

  Walker doesn’t believe climate change is real and flatly says he is opposed to abortion. He’s so pro-life he fathered three children outside of his 19-year marriage.

 This week The Daily Beast reported a well-documented story about how he paid for an abortion for a former girlfriend. 

  Shortly after the Daily Beast published the story, Walker’s son Christian got on social media to renew the accusation that his father had nothing to do with raising any of his children and was a wife beater who forced him and his mother to move six times in six months to get away.  

  “I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” Christian Walker posted. Christian is angry that his father chose to expose the family’s dirty laundry by running for office. “I’m done,” he said in a video post.

  Little mentioned about Walker is that he has admitted having multiple personality disorder. He hasn’t said which of his personalities is running for the senate.

62: New York Yankee Aaron judge last night hit his 62^nd home run of the season against the Texas Rangers, breaking the American League record set by Roger Maris in 1961. It’s the first legitimate home run record set in Major League Baseball since the end of the steroid era in which chemically pumped hitters shattered records.

  “A big relief,” Judge said later. “Now everybody can probably sit down in their seats and watch the ballgame.”

  At 6-7, 282 pounds, Judge has played in an era when players are tested for performance enhancing drugs. He pursued the record set by Maris, who in turn had broken the record of 60 set by Babe Ruth in 1927. Judge is now #7 on the list of most home runs in a season, but it’s like he’s #1.

The Obit Page: Country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn, whose big hit was “Coal Miner’s Daughter,”  has died at age 90.

  Lynn grew up without indoor plumbing or electricity. She was the mother of four children before embarking on a writing and performance career that would make her the voice of country music. She sang about  sex and love, cheatin’ n’ drinkin’ husbands, divorce, and even birth control at a time when no one talked about it.

  The opening stanza to “Coal Miner’s Daughter” goes:

        Well, I was borned a coal miner’s daughter
         In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher Holler
         We were poor but we had love
         That’s the one thing that daddy made sure of
         He shoveled coal to make a poor man’s dollar

  Lynn once said, “I didn’t write for the men; I wrote for us women. And the men loved it, too.”

The Spin Rack: The national debt topped $31 trillion for the first time yesterday. Pretty soon, you’re talking real money. Rising interest rates are making the debt even more expensive. —  The defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell can move forward after the Supreme Court declined to consider Lindell’s plea to block the case. Dominion wants $1.3 billion in damages because Lindell and other allies of Donald Trump claimed that the company rigged its voting machines in favor of Joe Biden in the 2020 election. —  After months of trying to skinny out of his offer of $44 billion, Tesla founder Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for that original price.

Game Over: The NY Post reports according to “multiple sources” that Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are headed to the marital end zone. The paper reports that both have hired divorce lawyers. Brady’s decision to unretire and quarterback another season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seems to have been the last play for Bündchen. Brady would rather be tackled by a linebacker than Gisele.

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