Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Today's News: Ukraine headlines decline but Ukraine war does not


The Ukraine flag still flies.
As the war enters its second month, and neither Russia nor Ukraine appear to be able to hit decisive blows just now, the news headlines about this awful war seem to be declining. 
But the war itself is not. 
And the Ukraine flag still flies.
First there were reports today that Kyiv was under attack, then reports that the Russians had been pushed back. Then reports that other cities in northern and eastern Ukraine were being shelled, then more reports of push back.  
Not being a military person myself, nor knowledgeable about Ukraine geography or politics, I find it somewhat confusing. Which is why I search always for reporters who seem to have a better grip on what is going on. 
Like, not ones that would write a headline like this:
But these ones seem pretty good: And hey, media -- it's a war. 
Being fought entirely inside the territory of Ukraine. 
Against a vicious and implacable enemy. 
But already we're seeing a smattering of "contrary" news stories, like these ones in the Washington Post today: 
Maybe these are merely news stories, but it wouldn't surprise me if they also prove to be the thin edge of the wedge, as we all know about the media's almost irresistible impulse to "both sides" everything including this war. Here's an incredible story of an American journalist escaping from Moscow in March, with her dog. Here is her story's ending: 
In the two weeks between the start of the war and my departure from Russia, I had wept constantly. I cried when I walked my dog in the park across the street, where I knew every bush and tree and patch of grass; when I sat at my desk looking out at my beloved Moscow courtyard; when I bought bread at my local bakery; when I drove a familiar route along the Moscow River, past the Kremlin, and then homeward along one of Moscow’s central avenues. I couldn’t imagine that it might be the last time I’d see places that had been the backdrop of absolutely everything important that had happened to me in my adult life, where there were so many people and so much that I loved. 
But now work, the novelty of a new city, the daily battle with iPhones and computers, keep me in a continuous present tense. I don’t think about the future beyond next week; I don’t think about the past. Except to realize that even if I can go back to Russia, it won’t be the Russia I loved. Maybe that superstition is right: 
Once you shut the door, walk away and don’t look back. 
In other news, Canadian Indigenous representatives met with Pope Francis today, in the first of several days of meetings to seek healing and reconciliation about the terrible history of Catholic residential schools. Reuters reports: 
Survivors of Canada's residential schools on Monday asked Pope Francis to guarantee unfettered access to Church records on the institutions where indigenous children were abused and their culture denied.
Francis met for about an hour each with representatives of the Métis and Inuit nations, the first of four meetings this week with Canada's native peoples in what both sides have called a called a process of healing and reconciliation. ....
"It was a very comfortable meeting," Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council, told reporters afterwards, adding that the pope listened attentively as elderly survivors told their stories.
..."He repeated 'truth, justice and healing' (in English) and I take that as a personal commitment so he has personally committed to those three actions," she said. 
"I felt some sorrow in his reactions .... we shared a lot with him," Caron said.
There was a recent discussion I saw on twitter about how our federal government hasn't really done anything much -- which is, of course, not true at all. But I do think many of us get so used to being cynical about government that it becomes a knee-jerk response to denigrate everything governments do as "not good enough!" This thread brought up whether anything is being done about boil-water advisories, so I checked the government webpage -- in spite of the negativity, the Liberal government reports that its success in lifting boil-water advisories on reserves continues to be significant: Here is the most recent government webpage chart describing the progress that has been made on lifting drinking water advisories across the country:
 

The job isn't done yet, but when Trudeau took office in 2015, nothing had been done for years. So this is a remarkable story.
On a lighter note, here is something just sort of unbelievably cute: And if you've got nothing else to do for the next hour or two, follow the responses to this down the rabbit hole: And it reminded me of this hilarious thread:
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