The Brink of War: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was meeting today with Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov amid fading hopes of heading off a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US has described many Russian demands, including prohibiting Ukraine from joining NATO, as “non-starters.”

  Complicating matters is President Joe Biden’s comment Wednesday that a “limited incursion” by Russia into Ukraine could spark arguments among NATO members about what would be  an appropriate proportional response. Biden clarified yesterday that any Russian move into Ukraine would result in a  “a severe and coordinated economic response.”

  The problem there is that Biden spoke the truth Wednesday and Russia knows it. Anything less than a full invasion could create division among the western allies.

  The US is sending Ukraine $200 million military aid as well as allowing NATO allies to transfer Anti-tank and aircraft weapons. But the military situation is dire. Russia has positioned more than 100,000 troops on three sides of Ukraine. This could be like Hitler rolling over Poland.

The Trump Cards: The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has asked for cooperation from Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter who worked as a senior adviser and may have been one of the people who unsuccessfully demanded that her father call off the violence.

  Trump tried to pressure then Vice President Mike Pence into throwing the election by executive fiat. The committee letter to Ivanka says she was one of the people who heard the former president imploring and then insulting Pence over the telephone, saying something on the order of “You don’t have the courage to make a hard decision.”

  Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who was Pence’s national security adviser, testified to that and also that Trump said to Pence, “If you don’t do it, I picked the wrong man four years ago. You’re going to wimp out.”

  The committee letter suggests that they already know a lot about what was going on inside the Oval Office and connections to the violence. In particular, the letter says the Capitol crowd went wild when they saw Trump’s tweet denouncing Pence for failure to “protect our Country and our Constitution.” 

  In Atlanta, Georgia, the district attorney has asked for a special grand jury to investigate Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.

  The request by Fulton County DA Fani Willis comes after witnesses refused to voluntarily answer questions. A grand jury could compel them to talk and provide information. 

  Willis wrote in her letter to the local chief judge that “Georgia’s administration of elections in 2020, including the State’s election of the President of the United States, was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”

  The Georgia case is one of what’s believed to be only two active criminal investigations into Trump and associates.  The other is an investigation of Trump financial dealings by the DA in Manhattan.

The Spin Rack: The University of Michigan has agreed to pay $490 million to more than a thousand people who accused a university doctor who worked with athletes and other students of sexual abuse. A law firm hired by the university concluded that Robert E. Anderson, who died in 2008, had “engaged in sexual misconduct with patients on countless occasions.” In just one example, he performed a pelvic exam on a woman who came in complaining of a sore throat. — Shares in the Peloton exercise bike and treadmill company took a 24% dive yesterday on a report by CNBC that the company plans to pause production as demand slows. Peloton denies it’s going to stop making machines and said in a statement of pure business speak that, “We are still in the process of considering all options as part of our efforts to make our business more flexible.” — The median sales price for a home in the US was $346,900 in 2021, up 16.9% from 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors. — Amidst all the turmoil about voting rights and whether the Republican party is legislating minorities out of voting, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a reporter Wednesday that, “If you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.” 

The Obit Page: The rock singer Meat Loaf, whose whose 1977 album “Bat Out of Hell” was one of the best-selling albums of all time, has died at age 74. No cause was given, but he had been ill.

  Meat Loaf, who was born Marvin Lee Aday, had a career that lasted 60 years in which he sold more than 100 million albums around the world. He appeared in several movies, including “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Fight Club.”

  He had only one single  — “I’d Do Anything for Love (but I Won’t Do That)” — to reach the top of the Billboard 100 singles chart. 

                “And somedays I pray for silence
                “And somedays I pray for soul
                “Somedays I just pray to the God of Sex and Drums and Rock ‘N Roll.”

McYuck: McDonalds  announced plans to test a meatless McPlant burger in 600 locations around the Bay Area and Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s made from peas, rice, and potatoes. The company said of its veggie burger that, “It has the iconic taste of a McDonald’s burger, because it is one,” which is as bad a review as any food critic could give it.

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