Ukraine

Initial Post, Friday, 11 February 2022, about 1:00 p.m.

Multiple sources including NBC reporting that Ukraine invasion is imminent. Multiple WH sources "confirming." Interestingly, with the Lester Holt interview, Biden said as much. If in hindsight that's accurate, Lester Holt had a huge breaking story / a huge "scoop" which he may have failed to pursue or may have missed. 

It's one thing for a WH press secretary or an unnamed source suggesting Americans should leave Ukraine, but it jumps to a entirely new level when the President of the United States tells Americans they need to get out of Ukraine now.

Or it may simply be rumors as President Biden continues to work like a devil to get the price of gasoline down.

1:48 p.m. CT:

• President Biden is reportedly getting ready to phone Vlad.
• WTI: 4.02%: $93.51
• Dow, NASDAQ: each down triple digits; S&P down 90+ points.
  

4:55 p.m. CT: I was gone the rest of the afternoon with Sophia at her school "run club." 

I did not pay attention to anything after I departed about 2:00 p.m. except for one update. Upon reading the update, it sure sounded like the White House is simply in "spectator mode" watching this all play out. As with the high price of crude oil, I assume the press secretary's "go-to" phrase is "we're monitoring the situation."

Saturday, February 12, 2022

10:00 a.m.: Biden to call Putin this morning. Most likely the last phone call between the two for awhile. Considering how dangerous the whole thing seems to be, it is eerily quiet. "Better red than dead?" Over at FlightRadar24 the #1 a/c being tracked by gamers like me was the USAF Global Hawk (or possibly NATO's Phoenix) flying multiple tracks over Ukraine. At 10:11 a.m. CT, the drone appears to be departing Ukraine. If it follows its ingress route, it will depart over Romania, across Bulgaria, and end somewhere in southern Greece or another Mediterranean location.

13:30 CT: the telephone call.