I’d say the majority of Americans would agree with President Biden that Putin “cannot remain in power”. But if Biden was really trying to express “moral outrage” and didn’t really mean to say that Putin “cannot remain in power”, then what he should’ve said was that he “felt moral outrage”. Stating that you feel “moral outrage” and that Putin “cannot remain in power” are two totally different things.

If you feel that Putin “cannot remain in power”, many will be lead to believe that you intend to do something about him not remaining in power. It’s like Spider-Man saying of any of his nemeses “they must be stopped” but not doing anything about stopping them.

Biden went on to say: “I was expressing my outrage. He shouldn’t remain in power. Just like, you know, bad people shouldn’t continue to do bad things. But it doesn’t mean we have a fundamental policy to do anything to take Putin down in any way.”

Spidey would agree about the bad people, but at least he would do something about them, not just express his “moral outrage” and state that they “cannot remain in power”. I guess that’s where Zelensky and the Ukrainians or the citizens of Russia will come in.

With Dolly Parton’s recent humble rejection of her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, it occurred to me how many artists are part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but really wouldn’t be considered “rock and roll” artists. There are many.

After Parton announced her desire to be removed from the nomination list, the Hall responded by saying: “From its inception, rock and roll has had deep roots in rhythm & blues and country music. It is not defined by any one genre, rather a sound that moved youth culture. Dolly Parton’s music impacted a generation of young fans and influenced countless artists that followed. Her nomination to be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame followed the same process as all other artists who have been considered.”

With that being said, and although may be true in some part, I, as well as many others, believe it’s time to change the name of this museum to the Music Hall of Fame. Because if rock and roll is not defined by any one genre, then why do you have artists from many different genres under one roof and call it the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”?

If you have a museum that has the likes of Leonard Cohen and Nirvana or Rush and Public Enemy or even ELO and Hank Williams, then it’s not just “rock and roll”. It’s music of all different kinds. (note: both Cohen and Rush are Canadian acts and are already part of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (emphasis on “music”) ).

For the record, Dolly’s name is still listed on the ballot and as of this writing she is shown as being in fourth place as of today. I voted for her. Not just because of her music, which is not rock and roll in style, but because she is a class act human being. And if they based their inductions solely on that, Dolly would’ve been selected long ago.

There’s a lot that has been already said regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the main thing that should be said is that it should never have happened.

In less than a week hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have become refugees, fleeing for their lives from the only country they have ever known. All because of a very small man with a fragile ego.

At this writing the future of Kyiv is uncertain, as are the lives of Ukrainians that remain in the country. May their strength and pride continue to aid them in their fight against evil. Thoughts and unity with them always.

It appears that many in America are waving the white flag on the coronavirus.

Many have decided that they are just going to “deal with it” and go about their merry way, whether they get sick or not. Whether they are hospitalized or not. Whether they die or not.

Many have been vaccinated and boosted. Many have not. And it seems that it doesn’t really matter at this point if you have been vaccinated and boosted, as it appears that the vaccine doesn’t last much more than a year (nobody really knows) and now data has been released saying that four months after the booster shot, your protection decreases.

So that leaves the facemasks. They are the only tool that has really been consistent with protecting oneself from the coronavirus. Yet so many in the United States are giving up on them and doing away with mask mandates. They are just throwing caution to the wind and leaving it up to the individual as to whether to wear a mask or not. We have just given up. Which does not bode well from the remainder of 2022.

It can be argued that cases are dropping and that hospitalizations and deaths are down (that is not the case everywhere in the country), and that is why mask mandates should be lifted. The one thing the United States has to remember with the lifting of mask mandates is that the coronavirus is a world wide problem, not just a national problem. Until we reach zero cases, zero deaths and zero hospitalizations, not just in the United States, but across the world, we are always going to have the coronavirus to deal with at some level. As long as people travel internationally, there will be cases. And deaths. And hospitalizations. And as long as there are mutations, there will be cases. And deaths. And hospitalizations. And the longer time goes on, the less effective the vaccines will become, as nobody has given any guidance on whether the vaccines should be a yearly thing and nobody knows how long they really last. I’m sure right now people who were vaccinated at the end of 2020 are not even protected. Sure you can say you got the vaccine and you got the booster. But how protected are you really? It’s no surprise so many vaccinated people are becoming ill. And although right now many of their cases aren’t as significant as those of the unvaccinated, as time goes on, that is going to change. Then we have the children under five who still can’t be vaccinated. Not that it would probably matter much.

So put your masks away for now if you must. But I wouldn’t throw them away and I’d keep them close by. You’ll be needing them again sooner than later.