What is a PBGV?  One of 210 dog breeds, Petit Basset Graffon Vendéen,  competing at the  Westminster Kennel Club dog show  this week.  Named after Buddy Holly, the designer below prevailed over 2500 dogs. PBGVs are bred to chase, not kill, rabbits, and are so extroverted, friendly and happy, that they make superb therapy dogs.  A newcomer to Westminister, but popular in Europe, for Soletrader Peek A Boo (or  Jilly ) beat more than 20,000 dogs in the Crufts 2013 held in Birmingham, England, the largest annual competition.  Costs $100 to enter Westminister and only around $25 for Crufts. From  Yahoo : What You Can Buy for the Cost of Owning a Show Dog? If you think bankrolling a show dog isn’t the best use of a quarter million dollars, there are a lot of other things you could buy. For the same cost of owning a show dog, you could buy: A three-bedroom home in Birmingham, Ala., Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Minn., or many other places across the country. Four years of college. The cost t

About the Ukraine matter, here is another explanation, by  VOX , of why Putin invaded.  In short: Putin believes that Ukraine is an illegitimate country that exists on land that’s historically and rightfully Russian. Zelensky’s willingness to move away from Moscow and toward the West is, in Putin’s mind, an attempt to legitimize the “false” regime in Kyiv. The existence of an anti-Russian regime in what he views as rightfully Russian territory populated by rightfully Russian people is unacceptable to him — so unacceptable that he is willing to wage a costly and bloody war over it . I haven't been paying much attention to chess for quite a while, so with nothing better to do this sparkling (the view of Honolulu from where I sit is fabulous) Saturday morning, I will attempt to crystallize the essence of the field.  Click on  this  to see the world ranking: #1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway is only 31 and has already been World Chess Champ for five years.  His peak rating of 2882 is the hig