ballpoint

A Catholic, a Baptist, and a Mormon are bragging about the size of their families. "I have four boys and my wife is expecting another. One more son and I'll have a basketball team!" said the Catholic. "That's nothing!'' said the Baptist. ''I have ten boys now, and my wife is pregnant with another child. One more son and I'll have a football team!" "You both should be ashamed of yourselves!'' said the Mormon. ''I have seventeen wives. One more and I'll have a golf course!"

Jesus and Saint Paul are sitting in heaven, talking about the pollution on Earth and wondering what can be done about mankind's filthy ways. They decide to head down to see the situation for themselves. Arriving at a seaside town, Jesus asks what the huge metal pipe he can see is for. Paul tells him it's used to dump human waste in the sea, so Jesus decides to take action and strides across the waves. Walking alongside, Paul is soon knee-deep in filthy water, while Jesus scoots along on top. Ever hopeful of some help he slogs on, and Jesus keeps walking on water... but soon the water is up to Paul's chin. "Master," he calls, "I will follow you anywhere, but I'm up to my neck in sh*tty water and I think I'm going to drown." At this Jesus stops walking and looks at Paul. "What?," he says, "Why don't you just walk on the pipe like me, you silly pr*ck?"

One day a bachelor, who was a poor tipper, walked into his favorite restaurant and ordered lunch. A new waitress served his meal and received a three cent tip. When he came in the next day, she thanked him for his 'generosity' and she said she could tell the character of a diner by the way he tipped. "Yeah? What can you tell about me?" he asked. "You put three pennies in a neat row," said the waitress, "and that shows you are a very tidy person. The first penny tells me you are frugal and the second tells me that you are a bachelor." "That's true," he agreed. "But what does the third penny tell you?" "The third penny tells me your father was a bachelor too"

Oh, grand old Prigozhin, he had 25,000 men. He marched them up to Moscow, and he marched them back again. And when they were there, they were there, and when they were back they were back, and when they were only half way there, he did some sort of deal, or was given an ultimatum, or his family was threatened, so he cleared off to Belarus.

What else would you expect from a Wagnerian opera?

And, let's not forget the tactical nukes that were sent to Belarus. Has he been given control of them, so Putin can (try to) wash his hands of any involvement should they be used?

Meanwhile, the head of Chechna, Ramzan Kadyrov, had this to say about Prigozhin on Telegram, while seemingly being confused about the gender of Russia. Is it a motherland or a fatherland? I'd say he is half right, but in a reverse way. Prigozhin started his "coup" with the stated intention of righting wrongs, but in the end appears to have been bought out. Of course, he could just as easily be talking about Putin. Or himself. You can't change sides when the only side you're on is your own. “I thought some people could be trusted. That they sincerely love their Motherland as real patriots to the marrow of their bones. But it turned out that for the sake of personal ambitions, profit and because of arrogance, people can not give a damn about affection and love for the Fatherland, ”Kadyrov wrote. Kadyrov commented on the situation with Prigozhin | West Observer

From Twitter, and thus unconfirmed, but it looks to be valid. Russians who were happy to see Wagner aren't so pleased to see the police come back...

The "press service" of the President of Belarus (or "self proclaimed" President of Belarus, as the Ukrainians call him) made this statement: "Negotiations continued throughout the day. As a result, agreements were reached on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre in Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed men from the Wagner Group in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate the tension. At the moment, there is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option on the table for resolving the situation, with security guarantees for Wagner PMC fighters." Note the use of the words "absolutely profitable", maybe a translation slip, but I suspect it's absolutely true none the less. Perhaps Putin has given Belarus to Prigozhin? Or just maybe, Putin will launch one or more of the tactital nukes he sent there and blame Prigozhin for it? Lukashenko claims Head of Wagner PMC accepted his offer to ''de-escalate'' | Ukrainska Pravda

Looking at Prigozhin's videos, at no point have I seen him attacking Putin. Instead he is against the Russian military leadership, who he accuses of "deceiving the president", and putting "false reports on the president's desk". He goes so as far to say that there are "two agendas, one on the ground, the other on the president's desk". It's like he thinks that he is coming to Putin's rescue, to save him from his incompetent, agenda seeking, military leaders, maybe with the aim of himself taking over as supreme commander of all Russian armed forces. Putin isn't going along with this though, accusing Wagner of treason, which puts the kibosh on the whole operation, but I wonder what will happen if Prigozhin does get the support of the rank and file military (which, granted, may be a tough ask given Wagner used them as cannon fodder to probe the Ukrainian line in Bakhmut)? Would all be forgiven between them, and Putin carries on as a figurehead president? There would be very little trust between the two I guess - certainly, in their meetings, neither would take the window seat or drink the tea - so more likely, Putin flees and Prigozhin takes it all should that be the path things take. Many commentators are predicting the "coup" will be crushed though - especially with the Chechans declaring for Putin, and claiming to be headed to intercept Wagner's march to Moscow - likening it to the failed effort to depose Boris Yeltsin, but it will at least hopefully weaken the Russian military should that be the outcome. But then what? Putin goes back to business as usual in Ukraine, with his conscript army backed up by Chechan fighters instead of Wagner, or does Russia inexorably fall along the pathway to becoming another Afghanistan, with rival warlords fighting it out for control? (Maybe the EU and NATO should be putting feelers out to St Petersburg and surroundings to break away from the failed Federation, declare independence, and join their organisations?) A very interesting time to be alive.