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I saw and interesting report on Ukraine on public TV. One shot showed thousands of people in Odessa demonstrating in favor of being Ukranian. Comments that 8 years ago there was strong pro Russia sentiment, but that has changed and people are learning to speak Ukranian. Second item showed large numbers of people being bussed from their homes in Ukraine to a city a thousand miles away for “temporary” refuge?

Well, I certainly feel sheepish. I Could never have imagined that Putin would actually do what he did. It's not is MO, I thought. His MO is to wait his chance, bite off a nice chunk of one of his neighbors, wait for the reaction to blow over, and then do it all again when the time is right. Lather, rinse, repeat. I guess that was Putin's MO until - it wasn't.

I don't know what to say. Putin has changed from Mafia Boss operating (albeit often criminally) within an unchallenged international system into a War Lord who declared war on that system and now demands tribute.

And it's looking like it's good timing on his part. The non-response from the US and the rest of NATO is so pitiful that this is his moment.

I mean, we're still buying huge quantities of oil and gas from him while we're talking about shutting Russian banks out of the SWIFT system as a proportionate response to his imminent capture of Kiev.

Anyway, I called it wrong, wrong, wrong. So, here's me eating a little humble pie. We're really living through one of those inflection points in history. There will be the "before Ukraine" and "after Ukraine" now until Kingdom Come.