Promises of freedom and riches are made to convicts in cramped jail cells.

Frantic phone calls ensue between relatives and inmates weighing the offer.

Then prisoners vanish, leaving their loved ones to sift through reports of the wounded arriving in hospitals.

This scene is playing out in the convict communities across Russia.

With a regular army stretched thin after nearly six months of a disastrously executed and bloody invasion of Ukraine, there’s increasing evidence that the Kremlin is making ugly choices in its ugly war and recruiting Russia’s prisoners to fight. (CNN)

It looks like Russia got more than it bargained for.

The regular army has reportedly lost 80,000 soldiers killed in Ukraine.

So, they have to find someone to put in harm’s way.

I guess the lesson is: Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

The pitcher for the Texas East Little League team hung his head, clearly upset after his last pitch hit the 12-year-old Oklahoma batter in the head, knocking off his helmet and leaving him lying in the dirt at home plate.

But Isaiah Jarvis, who at first had gripped his head, soon recovered. He was OK, and the crowd at the Little League Southwest Region championship in Waco, Texas, applauded as he stood up and took first base.

Back on the mound, though, Kaiden Shelton was still shaken.

That’s when something amazing happened: Isaiah stepped off the bag, walked to the mound and wrapped his arms around the pitcher, letting him know he was all right.

“I wanted to go over there and spread God’s love and make sure that he’s OK, and make sure that he knows that I’m OK and that I’ll be OK,” Isaiah told CNN.

Forgiveness must become more commonplace if we are going to have a more civil society.

Lake Vygozero is a freshwater lake in Russia’s northwest region.

This lake is a perfect spot for animals like bears to swim and enjoy themselves during the summer. It’s a true haven for them.

However, it’s a different story during the winter.

That’s when the water turns into an icy wasteland, which can be dangerous for bears.

The mother bear was unable to get her cubs safely to shore.

Luckily, a fishing boat spotted the stranded cubs and devised a way to get them onboard.

This story is a reminder that humans and animals are co-habitants of the earth.

They were able to return the cubs to their mother.

Australian airline Qantas has asked its senior executives to help out as airport baggage handlers as it struggles to manage a staff shortage.

The airline has called on at least 100 senior staff to join its outsourced ground handling teams at Sydney and Melbourne airports for three months.

“The high levels of winter flu and a Covid spike across the community, coupled with the ongoing tight labor market, make resourcing a challenge across our industry,” Colin Hughes, Qantas’ chief operating officer, said in a note sent to staff and shared with CNN Business on Monday.

Staff who accept the temporary arrangement will be expected to sort and scan bags, load them into aircraft and drive them around the airport, among other responsibilities. They will not be expected to carry out their ground handler role on top of their full-time positions, Hughes said in the note. (CNN)

Would you do it or quit?

Don’t become the victim of a pride that is out of control!

If not today, when?

The Colorado-Nebraska border

Residents on this state line have built their industry, economy and lives around the South Platte River.

But as an intense and widespread drought digs into the High Plains, flows have decreased.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts in April signed legislation that, within the terms of the compact, would allow Nebraska to build a canal in Colorado to siphon water off the South Platte River.

In response, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis described the plan as a “costly and misguided political stunt.”

But it’s a conflict climatologists say could play out more often as drought expands in the West and Central US, draining water supplies and exacerbating strains between urban growth and agriculture.

“We are in for a wave of water rights battles through the West. This is the driest it has been in 1,200 years.” (CNN)

This fight between these two states is only a sign of things to come!

It doesn’t have to be something big.

Opening a door for someone is a good start.

Paying a compliment to someone you don’t know.

I have just published a book entitled: “Forgotten Flowers.”

The subtitle is: “Loving those you know and you don’t know.”

It is available on Amazon for $9.99.

It’s time for all of us to stop complaining how messed up the world is.

You can make this world better today and every day.

And you can do it with a simple act of kindness!

If not today, when?

— National parks have been called “America’s best idea,” and on Thursday, they could end up being America’s best bargain.

August 4 marks another free entry day to all National Park Service sites that usually charge an entrance fee.

This free day is in celebration of The Great American Outdoors Act.

It passed in 2020 and “improves infrastructure and expanding recreation opportunities in national parks and other public lands,” according to the National Park Service.

All entrance fees. That includes not only those marquee national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, but all other types of sites the NPS manages. (CNN)

In these times, there is no refresher greater than visiting a National Park.

We visited Yellowstone a few weeks ago.

It was so breathtaking that it took our minds off everything else going on in our lives.

Visit a National Park and become renewed!

If not today, when?

Johnny Unitas is one of them.

Yet, there are many famous former NFL players on the list.

Johnny played semi-pro football before the Baltimore Colts signed him into the pro league.

The rest is history. Unitas would go on to throw 290 touchdowns with 40,239 yards in 18 seasons.

Yet, success on the field does not equate to success off of it.

Unitas would go on to start a bowling alley chain, a Florida-based real estate company, freight company, and purchase National Circuits, an electronics companyfor $5.3 million in loans.

With personally guaranteed loans, Unitas dug himself into a hole when National Circuits went under.

By 1991, Unitas declared bankruptcy.

It is a story that should be a lesson to each of us.

When you’re ahead, don’t make dumb decisions that put you behind!

If not today, when?

If I’m being honest, I take my freedom for granted.

I think the reason is that I have always been free to live my life as I choose.

In these uncertain times, however, we should be sure to appreciate every day we are a free people.

And despite the fact that we remain a free country, some of our fellow citizens aren’t free to live their lives as they would choose.

This is because many don’t have the formal education required to move into good-paying careers.

Millions will live in poverty their entire lives.

Oh yes, America has many opportunities, but you need the credentials to compete for them.

So, if you have the education required to have a rewarding career, be grateful.

But, please remember to reach out to the less fortunate when you see someone who needs you help.

If not today, when?

Switzerland has unveiled its latest renewable energy innovation: a giant water battery.

Beginning operations last month, the water battery, called Nant de Drance, is a pumped storage hydropower plant that provides the same energy storage capacity as 400,000 electric car batteries.

Located high in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais, the plant is equipped with agile, reversible turbines that offer new levels of flexibility, says Robert Gleitz, a delegate of the board of directors of Nant de Drance: with the flick of a switch, the plant can go from storing energy to providing electricity.

The massive project took 14 years to complete. Around 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) of subterranean tunnels were excavated through the Alps while the six turbines are stored 600 meters (1970 feet) below ground, in a giant cavern the length of two football fields. (CNN)

This story exemplifies the creativity of the human race and our ability to encounter new challenges to its survival.

I hope we continue to use innovation to create tools of peace, not war!

If not today, when?