John takes two topics on during his third hour. He first talks about MLB and MLBPA finally coming to an agreement on a CBA, allowing the MLB season to start. He also discusses a controversial Florida bill that would heavily restrict CRT teaching in schools.

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John takes the first two hours of the program to talk about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Putin's talks with Ukraine are going nowhere, and Russian soldiers continue to use forceful action against it's citizens. So what do we do now? Rothmann gives his thoughts, as well as the listeners throughout the show.

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The wooden ship Endurance has been located remarkably intact about 10,000 feet underwater in the Weddell Sea.

"This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern,"  said Mensun Bound, a maritime archaeologist and the director of exploration on the expedition, called Endurance22.

As World War I was beginning in 1914, the British explorer Shackleton set out to traverse Antarctica. The plan was for Shackleton to take 27 men on two ships, the Endurance and the Aurora, that would arrive at different locations on the continent to explore two routes by which to sledge across the ice. But in January 1915, the Endurance became trapped in ice off the coast of Antarctica.

The men lived on the ship for months, but pressure from the ice began to slowly crush it. On Oct. 27, 1915, Shackleton gave the order to abandon the Endurance.

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President Joe Biden announced an import ban on oil from Russia on Tuesday in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and in addition to other severe sanctions imposed on the country by the U.S. and its allies.

"Russia's aggression is costing us all and it's no time for profiteering or price gouging," President Biden says directly to oil and gas companies. 

Petroleum experts said it’s hard to predict if and when gas prices will start to go down, but they anticipated the record-high prices would likely linger in the coming weeks as Russia continues its assault on Ukraine.

“As long as this war continues — and any further actions taken against Russia or Russia retaliating against the United States and its allies — it will have a big impact on gas prices,” said Aldo Vazquez, a spokesperson for AAA.

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Our guests:

Megan Bourne de Young Chief of Staff & Secretary to the Board of Trustees

Richard M. Skaff is the Founder and Executive Director of Designing Accessible Communities – a 501C3 Non-profit Organization. He is the former Deputy Director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office on Disability. Prior to that, Richard served in many other roles, including Program Manager/Chief Building Inspector (ADA and Disability Access Coordinator) for San Francisco Department of Public Works and Executive Director of the Fisherman’s Wharf Port Tenants Association. He is a longtime advocate for persons with disabilities.

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A Texas man accused of allegedly bringing a semiautomatic pistol to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, interfering with police, and then telling his children that "traitors get shot" when they wanted to turn him into authorities, was found guilty Tuesday on all charges. The jury took less than four hours to deliberate in the first January 6 case to go to trial. 

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a longtime leader of the Proud Boys far-right group, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he conspired with followers who attacked Congress last year — a high-profile indictment unsealed the same day Jan. 6 prosecutors won their first trial conviction from a D.C. jury.

A federal judge said late Monday that the Justice Department cannot charge Jan. 6 defendants with obstructing Congress’s certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory unless the defendants tampered with official documents or records in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the British Parliament on Tuesday via video, receiving a standing ovation. He recounted events from each of the last 13 days since Russia invaded and repeated calls for tougher sanctioning of Russia and for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost,” Zelensky said. “We will fight in the forests, on the shores, in the streets.”

The refrain echoed a line from a stirring speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.

“The question for us now is to be or not to be,” Zelensky said, evoking Shakespeare. “I can give you a definitive answer: It’s definitely to be.”

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A convoy of truckers and other supporters circled the capital on the Beltway for a second day on Monday, protesting Covid-19 mandates and hoping to attract attention from lawmakers.

Brian Brase, a convoy organizer, told participants gathered at a staging area in Hagerstown, Md., that the convoy would again avoid entering Washington, D.C. He stressed that the protesters did not want to spur a violent event like the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which he said would discredit the group.

And he said the group did not intend to tie up traffic.

“We don’t want to shut down the Beltway,” Mr. Brase said. “We want them to hear us roar.”

The protests come at a time when many pandemic-related mandates and restrictions -- imposed by state and local governments rather than lawmakers in Washington -- have already begun being lifted in much of the country.

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Ukraine should have the right to freely choose its economic and political associations, including with Europe.

Ukraine should not join NATO, a position I took seven years ago, when it last came up.

Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country. Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids institutional hostility toward Russia.

It is incompatible with the rules of the existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea. But it should be possible to put Crimea’s relationship to Ukraine on a less fraught basis. To that end, Russia would recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Ukraine should reinforce Crimea’s autonomy in elections held in the presence of international observers. The process would include removing any ambiguities about the status of the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol.

These are principles, not prescriptions. People familiar with the region will know that not all of them will be palatable to all parties. The test is not absolute satisfaction but balanced dissatisfaction. If some solution based on these or comparable elements is not achieved, the drift toward confrontation will accelerate. The time for that will come soon enough.

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Mutually assured destruction depends heavily on the premise that rational leaders will step away from the brink of the nuclear abyss in the interests of their countries and the survival of the world. The flaw in this questionable theory was the possibility that control of nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an insane leader.

Now the Ukraine crisis has raised the fear that Putin has become unstable and therefore more dangerous. Perhaps. But the distinction between a madman and a putatively rational leader who sees his interests in serious jeopardy is irrelevant. Truman, who ordered the attack on Hiroshima, was one of our most rational presidents. A nuclear war is as likely to be sparked by a desperate, cornered leader as by a madman. We cannot depend on Putin’s mental health to keep us safe from a nuclear exchange.

The war in Ukraine is a showdown between autocracy and a liberal free world. The outcome is much more likely to be determined by force than by diplomacy and sanctions. It would be wonderful if nuclear weapons could be removed from the calculus of force that will stop Putin. Unfortunately, history suggests otherwise.

By John M. Crisp

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