The Stan R. Mitchell report for 3/18/22.
Happy Friday, everyone! Hope everyone has had a great week.
Almost nothing has changed in Ukraine.
Russia pulverizes Ukrainian cities. Ukraine obliterates Russian columns. The stalemate grinds on.
Ukraine will never surrender.
Their courage, their fighting spirit, their unshakeable resolve make them modern-day Spartans in my mind.
Two images to prove my point.
On the video above, these people gathered and stood alongside the road in the middle of a war, all in the midst of MASSIVE uncertainty.
Had I been there, I’d have probably been too worried about money, food, or weapons to have stopped on the road for this. Yet, these incredible people made time to honor a sacrifice and probably steeled themselves to make additional ones, including their own.
A super quick summary follows of a few big things that have happened since the Tuesday newsletter.
First, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to a joint session of Congress. (Zelensky's address to Congress, annotated - CNN)
Second, America upped its supply of weapons it’s sending, including these awesome little puppies.
(From the story: “The Switchblade is a small, light drone that can loiter in the air for up to 30 minutes before being directed to its target by an operator on the ground, dozens of miles away. The drone is launched from a tube, like a mortar shell. Its real-time GPS guidance allows a service member in the field to fly it until the moment it crashes and explodes into whatever the target might be.”)
Finally, Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered an impassioned pleas to the Russian people themselves. (And he even shared it on Telegram, as well, which is a channel that more Russians can access.)
From a high-level perspective, the Russian losses are staggering, and they’re now starting to even exceed World War II-level losses. (And certainly our own losses recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.)
My opinion firms up with every passing day. Defeat at this point is almost certain for Russia. It’s just how and when.
In tech news, I thought I’d shared a couple of things.
First, there’s this.
Who would have thought you’d remove guns for missiles? (But, of course, those missiles travel up to 60 miles, so maybe it’s a fair trade.)
Second, this is from my hometown of Knoxville, Tenn. Robot food delivery, now already happening and in place. Pretty crazy stuff, for sure.
Before we end with some motivation and wisdom, let me say thank you to my new subscribers this week! Please continue to share the word. And now, here are some positive thoughts to end the week with.
That’s it for this edition. As a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.
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Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a leadership/biography book, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
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