In terms of nuclear war watch, things do not look good. The US has raised the nuclear bar by sending depleted uranium rounds to the Ukraine, a move that Russia condemned, as such rounds contaminate vast areas of land. Biden has recently said that the threat of Putin unleashing nuclear missiles is real, and that the chances of a nuclear Armageddon are higher today than they were during the Cuban missile crisis. But, F-16s, with nuclear capacity are being sent to the Ukraine and Ukrainian attacks on Crimea using US-made weapons continues. Putin has said: “Direct intervention by NATO’s European armies will not change the outcome. But in this case, the fire of war will engulf the whole of Europe. It looks like the US is ready for that too.” Probably the phrase “fire of war,” is not a metaphor for mere war, but nuclear fire. One would have thought that this situation would have generated some degree of public angst, but even among Australian conservatives, this blog is one of the few sources expressing such concern. People go about their “thing,” their preoccupation, until, they can’t.