Enough about the U.S. presidential election. Enough — for a while, at least — about Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and how Melania Trump plans to get through the next four years. (Although, admittedly, I am curious about that last one.)

Nope . . . I said enough already.

There really is more to life than the election. As the walrus said: “The time has come . . . to talk of many things, Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, Of cabbages and kings, And why the sea is boiling hot, And whether pigs have wings.” *

[* Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass: The Walrus and the Carpenter.]

Let’s get back to some good, old-fashioned, though no-less-depressing world news. And today we have three items of interest to those of us who haven’t quite given up on the world. Yet.

We’ll start with the kings . . .

Iran. Oh, that can’t be good. At least, it seems as though there hasn’t been good news from there since the last Shah married Farah Diba. This past week, there were charges of a foiled plot by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to assassinate Donald Trump prior to the election.

So how did the very serious folks in Iran take this accusation? Actually, surprisingly well, and with a touch of humor . . . more or less. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, of course denied that there was a plot, and said:

“A new scenario is fabricated. . . . As a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy.” [Reuters, November 9, 2024.]

I find that almost witty. Anyone else?

Then Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif carried the ball a few yards farther, urging U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to adopt new policies and to reassess his first-term policy of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic Republic. Speaking to reporters, Zarif said:

“Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past.” [AFP, November 9, 2024.]

Right. We’ll take that under advisement.

*. *. *

And next we have . . .

Russia. Well, what did you think — that I’d forgotten about them?

How is that even possible, with Putin’s name and picture popping up in the news at least once a day? On Thursday, it was more of the same-old-same-old where Ukraine is concerned, when — speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia — he said once again that Ukraine must remain neutral in order for there to be any possibility of peace. [Vladimir Soldatkin and Dmitry Antonov, Reuters, November 7, 2024.]

We know he’s determined to keep Ukraine out of NATO and the EU. But now, when asked about Ukraine’s future borders, he added:

“The borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the sovereign decisions of people who live in certain territories and which we call our historical territories.” [Id.]

The “people” to whom he refers are separatist groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine who have been controlled by puppet governments established and armed by Moscow since its earlier invasion of 2014. In addition, since the start of the current war in 2022, Moscow has claimed hegemony over the regions of Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolayiv, and Zaporizhzhya.

And note his phrasing: “ . . . which we call our historical territories.” I suppose if he laid claim to Dallas, Texas, that would make it his, too.

Well, whadda ya say, “Big D”? Y’all want your oil wells taken over by that dude in Moscow?

Nah . . . didn’t think so. But now you know how Ukraine must feel.

*. *. *

And finally, there is . . .

Burkina Faso. Never heard of it? Well, it used to be called the Republic of Upper Volta, until its name was changed in 1984, for whatever reason. It’s a landlocked West African nation of about 23 or 24 million people, wedged in by Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin and Ghana. Historically, it had maintained close ties with France. But since a 2022 military coup, and a more recent Islamist insurgency, it has broken with Paris and turned to Moscow for support — which has been forthcoming in the form of Russian military instructors. No surprise there.

Burkina-Faso’s Foreign Minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore, attended a Russia-Africa summit in the Russian resort city of Sochi, where he said that Russia was “a partner with whom we can make progress,” and that there was “no fear” of becoming militarily dependent on Moscow. [AFP, November 9, 2024.]

“No fear”?!! Well, that’s not good either, on so many levels.

The Burkina-Faso government certainly isn’t about to ask my advice; but if they were, I would tell them: “Au contraire, mes amis. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Because Moscow doesn’t do favors like that without expecting something in return.

*. *. *

And thus we close with the cabbages.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/10/24