A Bob's Life: Monday Musings

Monday, January 2, 2023

Monday Musings - January 2, 2023

1. Welcome to the first Monday of 2023. It is also New Year's Day Observed, so do not expect mail delivery.

2. Family NFL Report. It was a mixed week for the family teams which went 2-2. The Commanders were eliminated from playoff contention while the Steelers remain alive for the post season. The Cowboys and Ravens have secured a post-season playoff spot.

Cowboys (12-4) defeat Titans (7-9), 27-13

Commanders (7-8-1) lost to Browns (7-9), 10-24

Ravens (10-6) lost to Steelers (8-8), 13-16

Luke with Lego Model
Tequesta, FL
January 1, 2023

3. We say goodbye to our youngest grandson today. He has been enjoying the South Florida warmth and beaches for the past few days. He has also enjoyed walking over to the ice cream store after dinner for a cone and lounging on the beach. While he was here he constructed a Lego model he received for Christmas.

4. Happy New Year 2023.

5. Relax, there are 51 Mondays remaining in the year in which to complete your New Year's resolutions!

6. Today in History. On January 2, 1980, in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asks the Senate to postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalls the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These actions sent a message that the age of detente and the friendlier diplomatic and economic relations that were established between the United States and Soviet Union during President Richard Nixon’s administration (1969-74) had ended.

Carter feared that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in which an estimated 30,000 combat troops entered that nation and established a puppet government, would threaten the stability of strategic neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan and could lead to the USSR gaining control over much of the world’s oil supplies. The Soviet actions were labeled “a serious threat to peace” by the White House. Carter asked the Senate to shelve ratification talks on SALT II, the nuclear arms treaty that he and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev had already signed, and the president called U.S. ambassador to Moscow Thomas J. Watson back to Washington for “consultation,” in an effort to let the Kremlin know that military intervention in Afghanistan was unacceptable.