warzones

Ukraine is still fighting the Russian invasion. I saw the recent news that Russia was trying to rebuild its radar planes, but Ukraine used drones to attack one of their assembly factories. Good for them for continuing to survive.

Closer to home (less than a dozen blocks northwest of me), police said that 97 rounds went off and struck several houses in a recent incident. Many news outlets covered this story, notable not just for the sheer number of bullets, but also because they struck areas where children normally stand or sleep, but those children happened to be elsewhere at the time. Some children aren't so lucky.

This is why, when gunfire erupts very near my house, I climb the stairs to go sit in the bathtub to make my 911 call. Any upward-leaning bullet paths would more likely hit the bathtub, which is maybe the only object in my house that would actually stop a bullet. If I ever get a "next" house, I want it to have brick siding all around.

If you're ever curious, somebody is compiling this map of local gang territory here in the Twin Cities.

• Add the checkmark for "Minneapolis" to see shaded areas for the different gang territories.
• Add the checkmark for "Murders & Shootings", and you can see that north Minneapolis territory is deadlier than south Minneapolis, despite nearly the same number of gang turfs.
• Add the checkmark for "Alliances", and you can see the blue stars for the Highs and the Lows, on each side of the big grocery store where I shop. Broadway is the major street that separates them. I live about 2 blocks north of Broadway, which puts me in Highs territory.

In better news, one of the local Lows was sentenced to prison for possession of a machine gun. One less person out there ready to pull a trigger. It's better than no change at all.