You know who Dmitry Peskov is, don’t you? He’s the Kremlin press secretary, official mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin. The guy who spouts all the bullshit propaganda emanating from the top of the Moscow hierarchy.

And it’s getting more and more difficult to distinguish between his words and the ominous rumblings spewing forth daily from the Washington White House . . . especially as they pertain to Ukraine.

For the past week, the entire world has been scrambling to understand exactly what went wrong at the disastrous February 28th meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the U.S. tag-team of Brutus and Cassius — better known as Donald Trump and JD Vance.

And after a week of processing, the general consensus is that it was a set-up . . . an ambush . . . an evil plot to deliver the final death blow to Zelensky and his besieged country. He had arrived as an equal — the elected head of his nation — and left looking like a whipped puppy. And that is unforgivable.

Why did it happen? Clearly, not simply because he chose to wear his military garb rather than a suit and tie; but because of these two, who now will decide the fate of Ukraine — not to save what is left of the country that Putin has spent three years demolishing, but to give Russia the victory it demands.

And they don’t even try to disguise their intentions. Following the “Shootout at the D.C. Corral,” Trump posted on his so-called Truth Social website that “He [Zelensky] disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

He later added that Zelensky had “overplayed his hand” and was “looking to go on and fight, fight, fight. We’re not looking for somebody that’s going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened. We’re not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games. We want peace.” [Rebecca Shabad and Nnamdi Egwuonwu, NBC News, February 28, 2025.]

And on March 3rd, in the Kremlin’s first public statement on the subject, Zelensky was accused of having demonstrated “a total lack of diplomatic ability.” In the words of the inestimable Dmitry Peskov:

“What happened on Friday in the White House showed how difficult it will be to move towards a resolution in Ukraine.”

But not because of Trump’s and Vance’s behavior. Oh, no! According to Peskov — and thus, according to Putin — Ukrainian authorities and President Zelensky “do not want peace. They want the war to continue.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC, March 4, 2025.]

Two different languages . . . exactly the same meaning.

The Kremlin is now portraying the situation as an indication that the U.S. is in line with Moscow’s settlement demands; the American non-profit Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says no . . . this is Moscow taking advantage of the melee and spinning it to their advantage. [Kateryna Stepanenko, ISW Press, March 3, 2025.]

Either one may be correct; or the truth may lie somewhere in the middle. In any case, when the dust settles, Russia will have won . . . Ukraine will have lost . . . and Donald Trump will once again have been played for a fool by Vladimir Putin.

In the final analysis, it’s S.S.D.D. — Same Shit Different Day.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/7/25

Can you find Ecuador on the map of South America? It’s that very small country on the northwestern (Pacific) coast, sandwiched between Colombia and Peru — two of the region’s principal producers of cocaine.

Ecuador is plagued by a variety of problems: slow economic growth, rampant organized crime, disruptions in oil production, an energy crisis, climate-related events, and political uncertainty. [“The World Bank in Ecuador,” worldbank.org.]

As such, it has been at the mercy of its neighbors’ drug cartels, who use Ecuador’s transport and export system to ship bricks of cocaine hidden in boxes of bananas and other goods to the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. And where there is an active drug trade, there is inevitably violence.

Authorities have been doing their best to clean up the criminal gangs in areas such as Guayaquil, where the problem is especially acute. There are frequent raids on known gangs, but the situation is so ingrained in the local society that the people have simply become inured to the crime — though there has been an increase in migration from Ecuador of those who are able to leave. [David Culver, Barbara Arvanitidis, Abel Alvarado and Rachel Clarke, CNN, March 5, 2025.]

One undercover officer told CNN: “We could use the US’s help. We need resources: vehicles, armor, personnel.” [Id.]

And Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa — who is due to stand for reelection next month — has indicated that he wants foreign military assistance, which many believe would include U.S. troops. The U.S. has long been a major trade partner with Ecuador, as well as a leading investor. About 20% of the bananas imported into the U.S. come from Ecuador, along with shrimp, tuna, cacao and cut flowers. And we have a long history of supplying financial aid to their country.

In addition, Noboa has taken steps to maintain a friendly relationship with Donald Trump. They both enjoy personal wealth; Noboa has mirrored Trump’s tariffs on imports from Mexico; he has announced his support of Trump’s intention to categorize drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; and he is in a position to accept more deportees from the U.S. as a result of Trump’s mass eviction of undocumented immigrants.

But . . .

And remember that, in politics, there is always a “but.”

. . . but is all of that enough to convince Donald Trump to offer help, when he is in the process of brutally slashing U.S. foreign aid, including to war-torn Ukraine? Does he care enough about bananas and shrimp, or the loss to U.S. businesses that currently import them? Does he really give a crap about the welfare of a country — along with Lesotho — that he probably believes no one has ever heard of?

If President Noboa is counting on years of friendly relations to sway Donald Trump, I fear he may be in for a rude awakening. Because to Trump, loyalty always has been, still is, and always will be a one-way street.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/6/25

To Arend, Anneesa, and the eight younger Feenstras: I don’t know whether you have time to read other people’s social media sites, with all that you have to do each day. Between tending the farm and the new animals, the ongoing construction work, cooking, cleaning, sewing, studying, developing new business enterprises, driving miles to do your essential shopping or visit a doctor . . . just thinking about it is exhausting.

And still you find time for your almost daily video presentations. You must be the most organized people in the world!

But, just in case word of this letter does reach you — perhaps through a friend who may have stumbled onto my site — I would like to share with you something that happened the day before yesterday that has me gobsmacked. And it has to do with you.

My blog, which I share on Facebook, has a very small readership. An average day might bring 10-15 views; a good day is 20-30; and a really good one can go as high as 40-50 views. And that’s fine. I write for pleasure, and just knowing that someone out there is interested in what I have to say is reward enough. I never expected my little blog to go viral.

But by 11:54 p.m. on Tuesday of this week, for some reason I cannot fathom, an amazing thing happened: I had topped off at 292 views — an incredible number for a site that is clearly of interest to a limited audience. And those 292 views were from 169 “visitors” in 13 countries: by far the most from the U.S., but others ranging from the U.K. to Kenya, and from New Zealand to Canada.

My blog site also provides data on the specific articles that were read each day, and . . . this is where it gets really interesting . . . out of 18 different articles going back as far as six months, 13 of them were about your family. And the total number of views of those articles was an astonishing 277.

In short, you — the Feenstra family of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia — are international stars!

But perhaps you already knew that. That is, after all, the purpose of your social media programming, isn’t it? To tout the alleged superiority of life in Russia over life in Canada (or anywhere else)? To promote Vladimir Putin’s drive to increase his country’s dwindling population by importing large, conservative families such as yours? And, in so doing, to secure your family’s comfortable future there?

I began writing about you when I first read of your arrival in Moscow. In the beginning, I thought you must have been incredibly stupid to have made such a move. But I have learned, over the past year, that that is not the case. I believe you — your whole family — are very decent, intelligent, certainly hard-working, but unfortunately gullible people who were so anxious for a better life that you swallowed Putin’s propaganda . . . hook, line and sinker.

I know you’ll never be able to admit that openly. And perhaps I’m wrong . . . perhaps you really do believe you’ve found nirvana. For your sakes — all ten of you — I hope so. I’m just not convinced.

In any event, I plan to keep following you, watching your beautiful children grow, and seeing your farm expand. If nothing else, you’ve given me something more pleasant to write about than the daily horror of the world’s news.

Всего доброго.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/6/25

It’s another one of those days — you know, when I just can’t face one more news item about dust storms in Texas, famine in Nigeria, or the death of democracy in America. (There seem to be a lot of those days recently.)

So it’s back in time I go, hopefully to find some cheery blast from the past that has had lasting effect . . . or, at the very least, even some horrific event that makes today’s news seem not so bad by comparison. And this is what I found for earlier March 5ths. (My source, as always, is the History Channel’s History.com, March 5, 2025.)

*. *. *

1770: The Boston Massacre. A crowd of American colonists had gathered outside the Boston Customs House to protest British “taxation without representation,” when one of the protesters threw a snowball or similar object that struck a British soldier guarding the building. The soldier responded by firing his rifle into the crowd, and — like lemmings to the sea — his comrades-in-arms followed suit. In the end, five colonists were dead or dying, and three more injured . . . an event considered by some to be the first fatalities of the American Revolutionary War.

In and of itself, it was obviously a tragedy . . . but one that ultimately led to the establishment of the United States as the world’s cradle of democracy. Well, for 249 years, anyway.

*. *. *

1946: Churchill delivers Iron Curtain speech. World War II was barely over when former ally, the Soviet Union, began exhibiting its expansionist policies. Churchill — no longer British Prime Minister — had been invited to speak at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where President Harry S Truman (a native Missourian) joined him on the platform. Praising the United States, Churchill spoke of an even closer “special relationship” between the two nations, and warned against the dangers of Joseph Stalin’s policies . . . for the first time speaking of the “iron curtain” that had descended across Eastern Europe, and the “communist fifth columns” operating in western and southern Europe.

Churchill was right, of course. The free world has continued to fight totalitarian governments in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation ever since, with only a brief period of attempted democratization during the Gorbachev and Yeltsin years. But that “iron curtain” — though now somewhat more transparent — has once more descended on Putin’s Russia, and is again threatening surrounding nations.

Once more, Shakespeare said it best:

“And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
[Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5.]

We never learn.

*. *. *

1953: Joseph Stalin dies. Bad news for Stalin, of course, though most of the rest of the world cheered. However, the celebrations were premature, as nothing really changed for the people trapped in the Soviet Union and the other Eastern Bloc nations. There followed the usual internecine power struggle in which Georgiy Malenkov claimed authority for a while; but Nikita Khrushchev ultimately prevailed, and life — such as it was — went on as always in the USSR, though without the brutal purges of Stalin’s reign.

*. *. *

1963. Hula Hoop patented. At last — a bit of fun.

Ushering in a boom in the field of orthopedic medicine, this rather odd toy had some 25 million Americans swiveling their hips as never before, with (I would presume) more than a few throwing their spines out of alignment. It had first been marketed some five years earlier by Wham-O, the same company that was responsible for the still-popular Frisbee.

There is no telling what will capture people’s imaginations . . . though in these days of electronic everything, we could probably use something new that would get us outdoors and moving. Any ideas?

*. *. *

There were a few other events of note for March 5th: the 1868 impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson; the 1917 resignation of Sweden’s prime minister over World War I policy; and a very stoned Jim Morrison (of The Doors) being charged with lewd behavior at a 1969 concert in Miami. But nothing as uplifting as the advent of the hula hoop . . . so maybe we should end on the higher note.

It seems that — no matter how far back I delve through the years and centuries — if it wasn’t bad, then it wasn’t news. Some things never change.

Maybe tomorrow.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/5/25

If you are an honest, hard-working individual hoping to find a better life for yourself and your family because you happen to have been born in an impoverished, famine-plagued country; or because your children are at risk from government-backed drug lords where you live; and if you possess a skill that would allow you to obtain gainful employment to support your family . . . well, I’m sorry, but you’re out of luck. Because you have, without cause or any sort of justification, been pre-judged to be a murderer, rapist, or pet-eater, and not a desirable addition to the U.S. population.

But if you have, say, $5 million to spare, regardless of your background or how you came into that amount of money . . . well, then, you are more than welcome. And here is your Gold Card Visa, compliments of Uncle Donald.

No, not that Uncle Donald! The one in the White House, who has usurped the place of the old Uncle Sam, because Sam welcomed everyone who wanted to become a legal, wage-earning, tax-paying, America-loving citizen. And that is no longer the case.

Now he’d like you to buy your way in. He thinks that enough of these so-called “golden visas” issued to wealthy emigres would substantially pay down the national debt.

I guess it never occurred to him that he could accomplish the same thing by requiring his fellow billionaires (and himself) to pay their fair share of taxes every year.

*. *. *

Fortunately, our immigration laws don’t allow him to unilaterally create a new visa category. The autocracy he has built thus far is already tearing this country apart. Imagine what a bunch of imported gazillionaires would do to us.

And, judging from the initial worldwide reaction to the announcement of this latest mad scheme from Uncle Donald, there doesn’t seem to be any rush on the part of the world’s wealthiest to claim U.S. residency status. It appears as though we’re just not that desirable anymore.

Imagine that.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/5/25

On a mild August day in 1988, my travel buddy and I were strolling with our American tour group along the Old Arbat, an historic street in Moscow, USSR, when I happened to look up at the intricate architecture of a corner building and noticed an anomaly: an ugly, boxy-looking camera, aimed downward at the street. We weren’t surprised — we were, after all, in the Soviet Union, where we assumed that even our hotel rooms were probably bugged. But it was nevertheless disturbing to realize that, no matter where we went or what we did, we were under constant surveillance.

Now — some 37 years later — it’s everywhere. In the United Kingdom, CCTV has been in use since 1960, and is so widespread today that you can only find moments of privacy in your own home. The same is true in most of the modern world, including the U.S., and we have — like the citizens of George Orwell’s imaginary Oceania of 1984 — come to accept it as a fact of life in the cyberworld of the 21st century.

There is no question that security cameras are of immense help in solving crimes, identifying fugitives from justice, preventing acts of terrorism, and nabbing traffic violators. And to that extent, I support their use for legitimate law enforcement purposes. But as a private citizen of the non-criminal variety, I have to say that it has become altogether too pervasive — and invasive — for comfort. I feel as though there is always someone looking over my shoulder, and that they’re going to know if I have to scratch an itch, or adjust a wedgie in my underwear.

And this omnipresent feeling of unease was not helped by a description I read this week of the security measures in place for the annual Bacchanalian event in New Orleans, Louisiana, known as Mardi Gras.

That has to be a massive undertaking. And a local, private security company known as NOLA is making its network of 10,000 security cameras available to New Orleans law enforcement this week to help keep the largely intoxicated masses of revelers safe from harm . . . as well as to prevent any manmade disasters. These cameras are mostly affixed to private homes and businesses, and will be of enormous help in supplementing the existing citywide security systems.

But . . .

Here is where it gets creepy. These cameras — ordered, along with NOLA’s monitoring service, by private citizens to protect their own property — are, or can be, “outfitted with facial recognition, license plate reading and clothing recognition software.” [Chris Boyette, CNN, March 2, 2025.]

In other words, the individuals who contracted for NOLA’s services to protect themselves and their loved ones from home invasion and vandalism no longer have the right to an expectation of privacy in their own homes. Do you really want to broadcast what time you leave for work in the morning and come home in the evening, or who was invited to your party last Saturday? Do you want to be seen tiptoeing out in your skivvies to pick up the mail? Or sneaking a smoke outside the house when you promised your family you’d quit?

None of those things are illegal, and they are no one’s business — certainly not law enforcement’s. But there it will be, forever on file in their data bank, alongside the pictures of the postman delivering the mail, the UPS guy petting your dog, and your teenaged daughter sharing a goodnight kiss with her boyfriend.

Nobody’s business.

*. *. *

So, where do we draw the line? Where does the benefit to national and local security intersect with a citizen’s right to privacy? And when the lines cross, who has the right of way?

Or do we simply learn to live with it?

It’s a sticky question.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/5/25

And there he is: the man who is charged with looking after your health and well-being for the next four years.

His father, his mother, and every one of his uncles and aunts would be scrambling over each other to be the first to disown him . . . and possibly to beat the living shit out of him. Their generation of Kennedys — while as imperfect as any of us — were loyal Americans who loved and served their country. And they were sane.

Bobby Jr. is unworthy — not just of his new job as head of Health and Human Services — but of the Kennedy name. He is a loose cannon, a disgrace, and a danger to the health and wellbeing of all Americans.

He is a Trump appointee, approved by Congress only because both houses are controlled by Trump’s Republican advocates. Even after a prolonged, contentious hearing process, during which his lack of qualifications and his harebrained beliefs were laid bare for the world to see, not a single Republican had the guts to swing the vote the way it should have gone. (To his credit, Mitch McConnell did, but it wasn’t enough by itself.)

Kennedy has no medical training; he is a rabid anti-vaxxer; he is a well-known conspiracy theorist. Yet he is charged with overseeing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — all of the agencies that have protected the health of this country’s citizens and advanced medical research for decades.

In November of 2024 — three months before his confirmation as HHS Secretary — Kennedy announced that he planned to shift NIH’s research focus away from infectious diseases such as COVID-19, toward chronic diseases like obesity, telling an anti-vaccine group:

“I’m gonna say to NIH scientists, ‘God bless you all. Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.’” [Ryan Quinn and Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed, November 15, 2024.]

In one chillingly Dickensian moment, Kennedy has summed up the current administration’s prevailing attitude toward the people of the United States: that it is, in their opinion, time to “decrease the surplus population.” [Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843.]

*. *. *

The “new level of stupid” of which I speak applies, not just to Bobby Kennedy, Jr., but to the entire Trump administration: the White House contingent, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court majority. It is the first two who have selected and approved the disastrous Cabinet and other appointments to this administration; and it is the Supreme Court that permits their unconstitutional decimation of our government agencies to continue unabated.

Even Charles Dickens knew, almost 200 years ago, who the bad guys were, and he dealt with them in his stories. But this is the real world. Where is the Ghost of Christmas-yet-to-come now, in 2025, when we really need him?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/4/25

Never heard of it? Don’t feel foolish; there are probably few people outside of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics who have. And, while I recall learning about it in a long-ago class on Russian History, I had frankly forgotten the details until today, when I read that this is the 107th anniversary of its signing, and I was reminded of its significance to the present-day conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Because — irrespective of anything Vladimir Putin may claim — Ukraine does not belong to Russia.

Over the course of centuries, wars have been fought and treaties entered into that have altered the borders between nations, and often the hegemony of one country over another. And — as with an individual’s last will and testament — the most recent treaty has always been the operative one.

With the advent of the Russian Revolution of February 1917, the Russian Empire under Tsarist rule ceased to exist. A provisional government was formed by then Minister of War Aleksandr Kerensky, which was subsequently overthrown by Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik party in November of the same year. One of Lenin’s first acts was to withdraw Russia from participation in World War I, with a formal cease-fire being declared by Russia on December 15th.

But terms of the peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany and its allies) were complex, and the final agreement was not reached until March 3, 1918, at Brest-Litovsk, in what was then part of Poland.

“Under the terms of that treaty, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine, Georgia and Finland; gave up Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Germany and Austria-Hungary . . .”; and ceded other regions to Turkey. [“This Day In History,” History.com, March 3, 2025.]

Lenin was humiliated by what he called “that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement and humiliation” [id.], and always hoped “that the spread of world revolution — his greatest dream — would eventually right the wrongs done at Brest-Litovsk.” [Id.]

Without going into excruciating detail, there followed several years of conflict among the Soviet Union (“Russia” having ceased to exist as a political entity), Poland and Ukraine, culminating in Ukraine becoming — not by its own consent, but by force — the UkSSR: the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Until 1991, that is, when the Soviet Union finally splintered into 15 independent nations, not the least of which is Ukraine.

Thus — while it was forcibly under the rule of the Soviet Union for some 69 years — it was never again, after 1918, part of Russia. And it still isn’t . . . nor should it be.

*. *. *

And if you’re one of those who appreciate ancient history and its continuing relevance to modern times, then I suggest you read up on Kievan Rus — the true ancestor of today’s Ukraine, and the cradle of both Ukrainian and Russian history. If you can get through all of the names of the principals — the Vsevelods, the Sviatopolks, and the Yaroslavs — you’ll be in for a fascinating read.

And in the meantime . . . Slava Ukraine!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/3/25

As of 12:01 a.m. on this Monday, March 3rd (U.S. Eastern Standard Time), I find that I am empty . . . blank . . . hollow . . . a complete thesaurus of synonyms for blah.

Oh, there’s plenty in the news to write about . . . too much, in fact. And that’s just the problem. I reached the point on Sunday where I couldn’t face another article about Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Russia, China, Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, or the self-aggrandizement of the Academy Awards.

For relaxation, I binge-watched an entire season of Shetland on BritBox — a wonderful series about murder and mayhem on the rocky, wind-swept islands off the coast of Scotland. I love that show; but it’s not exactly designed to catapult a person into a cheery mood.

But I didn’t have the energy for anything else — just sat around in my pajamas, nibbling junk food, thinking I should pick up my iPad and try to direct my mind elsewhere. But nothing happened. Even the historic events of this date in years past that I usually find so interesting didn’t move me.

The well is currently dry. And I blame Donald Trump. Because I need someone to blame, and his name is at the top of my list of people to hold responsible for just about everything these days, from the price of toilet paper to the increased speed with which my fingernails have been growing.

So I’m going to hit the sack now, because I’m beginning to ramble. Hoping for a better day after I get some sleep.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/3/25

Language is a beautiful thing. It is incorporated in your genetic makeup, almost as though it were a part of your DNA. It defines who your parents and grandparents were, where you were born and raised, and how you view the world.

Most countries — all but a handful — have an official language. But not the United States, likely because of our multi-ethnic makeup. Around 75-80% of Americans speak only English at home; the other 20-25% speak their native language amongst people of their own original nationality.

And we’ve gotten by just fine for the past 250 years. ESL classes — English as a Second Language — are taught in public schools and community colleges throughout the country to make it easier for recent arrivals to acclimate to their new home.

There needs to be a prevalent language in any country in order for people to be able to communicate. And — with Americans coming from countries where as many as 350 different languages are spoken — it is essential that there be one common language to bring us together. That language is English. And I am frankly surprised to learn that it has never been designated as “official” — though it really hasn’t been an issue in the past.

Yesterday, Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing that very subject, and designating — for the first time ever — English as the official language of the United States. The order reads:

“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States.” [Gabe Gutierrez and Rebecca Shabad, NBC News, March 1, 2025.]

Okay, fine. There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with that. Except for the timing.

Why — with all of the major issues and imminent crises currently facing our country and the entire world — would it even have occurred to a sitting president of the United States to worry about the fact that, for a quarter of a millennium, we have gotten by without an “official” language designation?

Quite simply, because it is another piece of his obsessively nationalistic, ethnocentric, xenophobic outlook — a moral defect that has led to his recent, outrageously excessive attacks on immigrants. It is ethnic profiling under the clever guise of patriotism.

In Nazi Germany, if you were not of Hitler’s imaginary “Arian” race, you were inferior, not quite human, and therefore disposable. He managed to dispose of more than six million so-called sub-humans. But how would that work here in the U.S., where everyone who isn’t 100% descended from Native American tribes would fail Hitler’s “Arian” test?

We Americans are all, to a greater or lesser degree, of some “foreign” ethnicity. If our ancestors hadn’t come here on a ship from somewhere else, there wouldn’t be a United States of America. We “foreigners” — or our forebears — built this country.

Donald Trump’s father was the son of German immigrants from Bavaria. His mother was a Scottish immigrant. If we allow him to eliminate the birther right that was granted to their children, perhaps he would also have to “go back where he came from” . . . to Germany or Scotland . . . if they’d even have him.

I wonder: Has he ever thought of that?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/2/25