I’m watching the first games of NBA playoffs. What stands out isn’t just the athleticism of the players, but also the skill level that is over the top. The latter is a product of sweated labor – or, said differently, constant repetition – by these young men practicing and improving their craft.

What also goes unappreciated because of the dazzle of their offensive theatrics is their defensive tenacity. This too is a skill that requires a relentless commitment to this dimension of the game and intelligence, borne out of experience.

I was watching Book Talk: “Power Concedes Nothing” with Linda Burnham and Deepak Pateriya. It was very instructive for anyone who’s turning their attention to the coming elections and what it will take to win in November. https://youtu.be/FcAacJv3erEWatching.

In her introductory comments, Burnham mentioned that the book’s title comes from a speech of Frederick Douglass: “West India Emancipation,” delivered at Canandaigua, New York, on August 3, 1857. She went on to recommened reading the speech in its entirety, noting the combination of tactics, including parlieamentary struggle, that resulted in freedom and emancipation and mentioning their contemporary relevance. I followed Burham’s advice and was richly rewarded.

Great tribute to Jackie Robinson across major league baseball yesterday. 75 years ago Jackie broke baseball’s color line. A moment to celebrate for sure, but also to take stock of where we are as a country in our journey down freedom road.

The peace and anti-imperialist movement will never get much of a hearing from the American people, as long as it spends more time critiquing Biden and NATO than unambiguously condemning Putin and the immoral, illegal, and indefensible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It seems like Putin’s order to invade Russia rested on some flawed assumptions of his and his underlings. The first – and the biggest – was an underestimation of the fighting morale and capacity of the Ukrainian people. Another was the depth and spread of a distinct Ukrainian nationality since 2014. Still another the reaction of the countries, comprising NATO. Instead of setting them once against another, as Putin anticipated, the invasion drew them together in common purpose to oppose Russian invasion. A fourth assumption was a misreading of how negatively the world would react to Russia’s invasion and war crimes. Finally, the level of resistence in Russia to the invasion, despite state organized repression of protesters and tight control of the media, was greater than anticipated.