The Ukrainian Counteroffensive Might Be Here

Plus: Will RFK Jr. prove to be a thorn in Joe Biden’s side?

By , , and
303

Happy Tuesday! Sure, the idea of spending $3,500 on a pair of ski goggles designed to pull you out of the real world seems a little silly.

But now that you tell us they’re made by Apple …

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • Russian defense officials claimed Monday that Ukrainian forces had launched a “large-scale offensive” in eastern Ukraine and suggested they had taken heavy losses—including several hundred casualties overnight. Ukraine acknowledged offensive efforts in the region but disputed both Russian claims about their magnitude and the assertion that they signaled the beginning of the long-awaited spring offensive.
  • Nearly 90 Afghan schoolgirls and their teachers fell ill over the weekend after suspected poisonings at an elementary school in northern Afghanistan. Local officials suggested the alleged attack—which sent victims to the hospital with respiratory and neurological symptoms—may have been motivated by a rivalry between villages. The episode mirrored recent reported poisonings in Iran—and a string of similar incidents in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012, which the World Health Organization concluded were likely caused by mass psychogenic illness. Under Taliban rule, women have been barred from receiving an education past the sixth grade, so most of the sickened girls were between 6 and 12 years old.
  • The U.S. Navy said Sunday an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard craft carrying armed troops “harassed” a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The destroyer USS McFaul and the U.K. Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster responded to a distress call from the unnamed ship after three “fast-attack” boats approached and followed the vessel. The Lancaster dispatched a helicopter to monitor the situation, which the Navy said resolved when the Iranian boats departed after an hour. 
  • Former Vice President Mike Pence officially filed to run for president yesterday ahead of a formal announcement expected in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, meanwhile, announced he would not run in 2024, arguing it’s more important to keep former President Donald Trump from clinching the GOP nomination. “The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote,” he wrote in the Washington Post. “I will help ensure this does not happen.”
  • GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chair of the House Oversight Committee, said Monday he will initiate hearings to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress. The FBI refused to turn over an unclassified document which Comer claimed—after viewing it with Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin during an FBI briefing Monday—details allegations that President Joe Biden was involved in a $5 million bribery scheme when he was vice president. Raskin dismissed the document’s significance, arguing it recycles “stale and debunked Burisma conspiracy theories long peddled by Rudy Giuliani and a Russian agent.” The committee will vote Thursday on whether to bring the measure against Wray to the full House.
  • The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance—the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange—alleging the company and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, misused U.S. investors’ funds and showed “blatant disregard” for federal securities law. The 136-page filing accused Binance of sending investors’ funds to a separate company controlled by Zhao, among other transgressions.
  • An Oklahoma school board voted 3-2 on Monday to approve the nation’s first religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which plans to offer online classes to children kindergarten through 12th grade. The school—which has the backing of Republican Oklahoma Gov. J. Kevin Stitt—will likely face legal challenges over its public funding. 

Is This It?

Ukrainian troops train on Leopard 2 tanks. (Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukrainian troops train on Leopard 2 tanks. (Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Ukraine’s modern update to “loose lips sink ships” is considerably shorter:

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Comments (303)
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  1. Avatar photo
    BillAZ

    "Mr. Kennedy, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign in April, is himself a leading vaccine skeptic, and has promoted other conspiracy theories. Yet he has consistently hovered around 20 percent in polling of the Democratic primary, which the party has otherwise ceded to Mr. Biden.

    He said he planned to travel to the Mexican border this week to “try to formulate policies that will seal the border permanently,” called for the federal government to consider the war in Ukraine from the perspective of Russians and said pharmaceutical drugs were responsible for the rise of mass shootings in America. "

    Most voters don't know how nuts he is. They just know the name. If the media does it's job instead of ignoring it in favor of standard horse-race crap he doesn't become a serious candidate.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Perry Clark

      I do hope you’re right, but given recent trends, I’m not sure.

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  2. Craig B.

    Can I just say how much I love TMD, even when I read it as more of a TAD (The Afternoon Dispatch)? Such awesome reporting. It's truly, er, fair and balanced. It's a great read every day.

    What shows how weak Biden is more than the fact that some conspiracy nut and some Dr. Oz-lite self-help charlatan are grabbing about 25% of the vote? I realize they will drop down to probably, like, 1% of the vote once Democratic primary voters realize they're a couple of goofs, but when thus far a large swath of the D primary voters are just clicking anyone but Biden that's a problem moving forward.

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  3. Avatar photo
    Dr. Livesey

    When I read the obituary of my high school U.S. History teacher, I found out that, as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer in his 20s, he had briefed both Eisenhower and Montgomery on the weather conditions expected for D-Day. A possible storm was on their minds at the time. In the briefing, he used a rubber model of the Normandy invasion beaches and later held onto it. (Either you could take something like that, legally, with U.S. government property back then or he just got away with it.) He donated it to the Library of Congress in 2003.

    The LOC published an article about the donation. Here's a bit of what it said:

    "The invasion had to take place just before dawn at low tide so that the landing craft could see the hedgehogs and other obstacles in the water, Burwell said. Paratroopers needed the light of a full moon so that they could find their way once they were dropped from the airplanes. Only three days in June–5, 6 and 7–met both of these conditions. He worked with meteorologists, most of them British, ("I was one of the older ones," he noted) to decide which day the invasion should go. The planned day was June 5, but the weather was dreadful, Burwell said, so it had to be postponed.

    "He described the briefing on June 4 for Eisenhower, Montgomery and other officers: "[They had] to decide whether to go ahead and sail that night for a landing June 5, or postpone the operation one day until June 6, and whether it would be practicable to postpone it still another day (which it would not be) should the bad weather persist," he said.

    "'Here I was in the school auditorium in Plymouth, this stupid, callow youth, scared to death, having to come out on that stage to say what would happen if you postponed [the invasion] one day, two days.'"

    https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0304/rubber-map.html

    He became my history teacher after I moved into town during the spring, and the class had already covered WWII, so if his personal witness to (and participation) in history ever came up, I missed it. I later took a civics class with him and another class. He was a great teacher.

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    1. Pohl

      Interesting. I see Charles Lee Burwell of Millwood, Va., died at 98 on 02/26/16. RIP

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      1. Avatar photo
        Dr. Livesey

        His son, Carter, has written most of the music for Coen brothers movies.

        As I've thought about it over the years, I've noticed that there were a few specific ways that he stood out. He really cared about individual students, and when they were curious about something, he encouraged them. He was a warm, personable guy. When my effort was flagging in a project, he was very direct in telling me I needed to get back on track — the way I imagine a coach would — and that saved my project and my grade. In a class discussion, I once took one position, then changed it when I spoke a little later. He noticed that and asked me about it, and when I told him I'd simply changed my mind because I was convinced by the opposing arguments, he praised that action in front of the whole class. I never forgot that, and ever since, I've never been afraid to change my mind — it's part of being open-minded and basing opinions on where facts and logic and principles lead to. It's one of the most important things I think I've ever learned in a school. He also was so opinionated about the Vietnam war (he hated the very mention of it) that he brought in a different teacher to teach a class on it.

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        1. Pohl

          Great teachers are unforgettable.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Ms. SSM

    My understanding is the goggles just put your computer screen in front of your face. A computer that fits on my face that I can control with my eyes and voice. That’s not really VR so much as an immersive screen. And I’d like that. Might help my neck out. If apple got the price tag down to less than 2k I think these will fly off the shelves. The current 27in iMac I own was around $2500. I like big screens. The old iMac Pro was $5k. The new one is 7k. Tech prices fall. Apple customers are very loyal. ….
    I went and watched the release video. I totally want this now. This Xmas I am asking for apple gift cards!

    As for society - tech just depends on how it’s used. It’s not good or bad.

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  5. Avatar photo
    JohnF

    The LUK question isn't quite accurate. Apple Vision Pro doesn't appear to be intended to replace VR devices like Oculus. Instead, a better way of thinking about it is as a replacement for your current computing and electronic entertainment environment. As I sit here typing at my desk on a physical keyboard connected to three large monitors, this could all ultimately be replaced by a pair of goggles. Similarly, instead of fitting out my home with multiple high-definition large-screen TVs, I could achieve the same functionality with a portable pair of goggles (note: I'm saying "could" here, I don't know if the technology is near to this point just yet).

    The use case that exists is to replace any computing environment that requires a large investment in physical technology. The less-likely use-case is any situation that involves the wearer moving around living their regular lives. For one thing, there are privacy concerns - particularly associated with the camera functionality (one of the things that killed Google Glass was the aversion that most people had towards someone walking around wearing a device that could be snapping pictures of them without their knowledge or consent).

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    1. Avatar photo
      Bill Nelson

      The problem is with the goggles, as any one who wears glasses will attest. Comfort is an issue. And conformity will also play a part.

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  6. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    LUK: "Would you be interested in trying Apple’s new virtual reality goggles?"

    Apple is a convicted international price fixer and scofflaw and I'll never buy anything from them — not because I expect my refusal to moderate their conduct, but because I don't want to dirty myself by association. I will wait for the cheaper, equally-or-better but less proprietary and more open-sourced version from Apple's competitors, as I have done with all of my computer and smartphone purchases.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Jason C

    On Apple Glass: Remember when ear buds first came out, and you thought random strangers were inexplicably talking to you? Now those crazies will be gesticulating too!

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    1. Avatar photo
      C C Writer

      Making the job of a floor salesperson in a retail store even more interesting.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) — who'd won 486 electoral votes and 61% of the national popular vote in November 1964, and was eligible for a second term because he'd only served slightly more than one year of his predecessor JFK's term — shocked the nation and, especially, his co-partisan Democrats, by announcing that he wouldn't run for a second term in his own right.

    It was the specter of his predecessor's impulsive, idealistic, and frankly not-very-bright little brother jumping into a primary race against him that, by most accounts, drove LBJ to the decision. Robert F. Kennedy promptly became a candidate and was himself assassinated on June 6, 1968 — leaving the Democratic nomination to LBJ's VPOTUS, Hubert H. Humphrey, who lost to Richard Nixon in a squeaker.

    It didn't take very much hindsight for anyone, including LBJ himself, to confirm that LBJ's decision NOT to run was in fact the best thing he could do for his country, even at the expense of his party's control of the WH for another four years. The Dems still had an overwhelming majority in the House and comfortable control (albeit not filibuster-proof control) of the Senate, and most of Nixon's attacks on LBJ's "Great Society" were oblique rather than direct. But LBJ's expansion and then spectacular mismanagement of the Vietnam war had, by 1968, left Americans at each others' throats, to the point that had LBJ run and won, it still might have destroyed the Democratic Party.

    Comes now the newer, imitatively hip son of said younger brother, to again threaten the electoral prospects of a POTUS in many ways still in the shadow of the more popular POTUS whom HE had served as VPOTUS. The best thing that Joe Biden could do for his country, including and maybe especially his own party, would be to follow Lyndon Johnson's example and announce that he's NOT running. In the ensuing free-for-all, someone OTHER than RFK Jr. OR VPOTUS Kamila Harris would likely win the Democratic nomination, and if Trump is the GOP nominee again, probably the WH.

    As a sane conservative, I'd of course rather see a sane conservative in the White House. But I still wish Slow Joe Biden had the foresight and the love of country to do what's obviously best for both it and his own party. Alas, I don't think Biden has more than a tiny sliver of a fraction of a hint of a fragrance of LBJ's political acumen. And RFK Jr.'s too flakey a competitor to give Biden or his advisors much if any pause in their headlong stumble toward November 2024. And Kamila Harris bids fair to become the luckiest politician in American history.

    So we all watch, aghast and disbelieving, as the specter of a Biden v. Trump rematch looms.

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    1. Avatar photo
      DougAz

      I remember Nixon-JFK, LBJs I won't run, watching CA primary coverage of Robert Kennedy and then live the assassination and chaos. MLK. It was insane times.

      LBJ was horrific in Vietnam. As was Nixon. Daniel Ellsberg was the Medal of Honor winner in my opinion. The CIA, State and Defense liars should have gone to jail with the Nixon mob.

      I'd prefer a Democrat governor by far over Harris. Gretchen Whitmer and several others.

      But Biden I give very very high praise towards based on these facts:

      A. Ukraine support. Fantastic.
      B. Rebuilt out NATO and Asian allies
      C. Hardliner with action vs Xi and Putin
      D Murder rate is down and trending down - a reflection on lower societal stressors
      E. Jobs and unemployment are good trending good
      F. Manufacturing construction is skyrocketing. A fabulous sign for national security and the middle class

      Of course there are still problems and issues. As there have been since woman stood upright.

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      1. Pohl

        Egad. “Woman stood upright?” I assume you went out of your way not to say man. Cringe.

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        1. Avatar photo
          DougAz

          Exactly!! So easy!

          Cheers!

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    2. Avatar photo
      Brian L.

      Great, big-picture observations about LBJ and then-vs.-now dems.

      > “And Kamila Harris bids fair to become the luckiest politician in American history.”

      Scary, but so true.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

        True, and so scary!

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  9. Avatar photo
    Bel

    I wouldn’t be interested if the VR goggles were $350 or $35. Going deeper into the virtual world seems like going in the wrong direction for me and maybe for everyone. If there a productive application it’s not obvious and we don’t need more entertaining distractions that separate us from other humans

    Also, on the topic of things that can’t be replicated online, Virtual Catholic School sounds like an oxymoron.

    Finally, I don’t think it’s bad for Joe Biden that the wing nuts are enamored with Kennedy. Great way to remind people that Biden is normie when it comes to vaccines and Russian invasions, unlike many of his competitors in both parties.

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  10. Avatar photo
    John A Johnson

    "Russian defense officials claimed Monday that Ukrainian forces had launched a “large-scale offensive” in eastern Ukraine and suggested they had taken heavy losses" -- which "they" are reported to have suffered the heavy losses?

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    1. Avatar photo
      CynthiaW

      Russian defense officials. It was a real shock.

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