Yesterday I wrote that there hadn’t been any word this past week of new political arrests in Russia — no new hostages for our list. That was the good news.

And then I read about the addition of five names — four individuals and one media outlet — that have just been added to the growing register of “foreign agents” under Russia’s oppressive and intentionally misapplied foreign agents registration laws.

One of the four men has already left Russia. Renowned literary critic and professor Oleg Lekmanov chose self-imposed exile as a means of continuing to voice his opposition to his country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But even in absentia, one can become a target of Russia’s campaign against any sort of political dissent, and he has been declared a “foreign agent.”

Professor Lekmanov has joined the faculty at Princeton University as a research scholar in its Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. [humanities.princeton.edu, September 5, 2023.] He is one of the lucky ones.

Still in Russia, under the watchful eye of Putin’s enforcers, is Nikolai Kavkazsky, a member of the Yabloko opposition party and a human rights and LGBTQ activist. He has previously been arrested and held for six days for participating in an anti-war action, and is now officially a “foreign agent.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, October 26, 2024.]

Artyom Medvedev is “guilty” of advocating for the independence of the Russian autonomous region of Udmurtia — or the Udmurt Republic — some 835 miles from Moscow. He has taken part in events of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia, which has been classified as an “undesirable organization,” for which he was fined. [Id.]

Anton Hardin, a popular blogger with over 127,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel, is an outspoken opponent of the war in Ukraine, and has advocated against political repression in Russia. [Id.]

And last on this list is Astra, an independent Telegram channel that publishes news not carried by the official Russian media. [Id.] Some of its income must come from foreign sources, which is all it takes to be labeled a “foreign agent.”

*. *. *

The targeting of individuals and organizations deemed to be “foreign agents” or “undesirable” continues unabated in Russia despite international condemnation — and despite last week’s ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declaring the law as being in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and labeling it as “arbitrary” and used in an “overly broad and unpredictable way.” [Id.]

That case was brought before the Court by 107 plaintiffs, including the Russian human rights group Memorial, and major media outlets and human rights organizations. The Court ruled that the law imposed severe restrictions on the plaintiffs’ activities and that labeling them as foreign agents amounted to intimidation. [Id.]

That’s all well and good. But how can that ruling be enforced when Russia’s membership in the ECtHR ceased as of September 16, 2022? That Court has no real enforcement power.

And Vladimir Putin refuses in any event to pay attention to that which he does not care to see. He ignores — or finds means to circumvent — sanctions against himself and his country’s industries and financial institutions. When the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an enforceable warrant last year for his arrest on charges of war crimes, he simply stopped traveling to those countries that might have been obligated, as members of the ICC, to obey the warrant . . . and instead brought their leaders to him, as he did for last week’s BRICS summit.

So the “foreign agents” register continues to expand exponentially, and the good people of Russia who dare to express an unpopular opinion or criticize a government policy continue to live in fear . . . the very sort of fear that their older family members recall all too well from the Cold War and pre-War days.

The fear of Big Brother.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/28/24

Most often, you regret it.

And that is what happened to me today. Luckily, it wasn’t an earth-shaking, life-changing, disastrous event. But it shouldn’t have happened at all, because it could so easily have been avoided if I had followed my oft-repeated advice, namely:

“Don’t believe everything you read, especially on the internet and social media.”

I’m happy to say I did not fall so far as to take some so-called influencer’s word as gospel on any subject. But I did assume that the reportage in the legitimate press on the elections in Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state) would be accurate and objective.

Apparently, I was wrong.

What I should have done was check first with my own source — an unimpeachable source, with first-hand knowledge. But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to bother him. I had all the information I needed from the good men and women of the fourth estate — or so I thought.

I just overlooked one important fact: that journalism today isn’t what it used to be, which was — in the days of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow — the search for truth and the unbiased reporting of facts. Period. Not analysis and opinion based on personal viewpoints and prejudices. Those were reserved for the op.ed. pieces, and clearly presented as such.

And as a result, I am guilty of having formed a conclusion based on insufficient, or even incorrect, information in writing my earlier piece on the Georgia election. I am now attempting to re-educate myself, and until I have done so, my only further words on the subject will be:

Mea culpa.

Not just sayin‘ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24

What do you, the opposition party, do when your exit poll and the incumbent’s exit poll are miles apart, and the incumbent is already claiming victory?

And that incumbent has been leading his country in a pro-Russian, anti-Western direction, with promises (or threats) of more of the same to come?

Well, you do the only thing you can do: you protest the “stolen” election.

And that is what is happening in the Republic of Georgia today. The election, held yesterday, is nowhere near decided . . . nor is the future of Georgia itself.

I have a dear friend from that “other” Georgia, and I know he is far from happy today. From this distance (in the U.S. state of Georgia), all I can do is follow the news and hope for the best. Not really surprised, but so very sorry, my friend.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24

Happily, I haven’t seen any reports this week of further arrests or trials of Americans (or others) in Russia. Not so happily, our list of those already being held in penal colonies throughout Russia’s vast prison system hasn’t shrunk, either — they’re all still there.

But there has been word from one of the former hostages released in the historic swap of August 1st: former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Whelan spoke with NBC News last week about his five years in prison on charges of spying, and his disappointment each time he was passed over while other Americans were released in exchange for Russians being held in the U.S. — a situation that he called “devastating.” [Andrea Mitchell and Julie Cerullo, NBC News, October 21, 2024.]

It must indeed have been difficult when another former Marine, Trevor Reed, was swapped in 2022 for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted of drug smuggling in the U.S. Reed had been imprisoned in a Russian labor camp for three years.

And it was more than a little strange — and surely frustrating to Whelan — to learn of his country’s giving up the so-called “Merchant of Death,” notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been refused release numerous times, in exchange for American basketball star Brittney Griner, when she had spent just nine months in detention in Russia. But it appears that it was the Russians — not the Americans — who refused to release a “spy” (Whelan) in return for a mere “criminal” (Bout) — an obvious ruse to disguise the importance they really placed on Bout’s return. [Id.]

There was a great deal about Whelan that seemed strange from the very beginning. In fact, his entire history is pockmarked with apparent anomalies, exaggerations and falsehoods, as for example:

— Born in Canada in 1970 to parents of British and Irish heritage, he held passports from the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, in addition to Canada. He, his twin brother David, and two other siblings were partly raised in Michigan; and David Whelan has said he believes Paul’s collection of passports was inspired by his genetic background. [Wikipedia biography.]

— He claimed to hold a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and an MBA degree. In reality, while he had taken courses at Northern Michigan University from 1988 to 1990, he never earned a degree. [Id.]

— He said he had been a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff’s deputy in Washtenaw County, Michigan. However, the Chelsea Police Department said he had only worked there in lesser roles and as a part-time officer, and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office had no record of his employment there at all. [Id.]

— He worked in IT for Kelly Services on two occasions, from 2001-2003 and from 2008-2010. Taking leave from Kelly between 2003 and 2008, he did serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38, working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom. [Id.] However . . .

— In 2008, he was convicted at a court-martial proceeding on multiple counts “related to larceny,” sentenced to 60 days’ restriction, reduction in pay grade, and a bad conduct discharge. The charges against him included “attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another’s social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment.” [Id.]

— Beginning in 2006, he made several trips to Russia, and established a presence on the Russian-language social media website VKontakte (VK), where he had around 70 contacts. He is said to have studied Russian, but used Google Translate to communicate on VK. [Id.]

— And now Whelan claims that, while imprisoned in Russia, he befriended some fellow inmates who later accepted a deal to serve with the Wagner Group of mercenaries in Ukraine, and passed information to him from the front lines by means of “secret burner phones.” He then allegedly passed that information on to the governments of the U.S., Canada, Ireland and England through “the ambassadors and consular teams from the four countries . . . [who] visited him regularly, sometimes bringing him mail from home.” [Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, October 22, 2024.]

All right, about that last one . . . He further claims that guards in the prison camps “looked the other way. A Russian prison guard gets $300 to $400 a month. You give them a carton of cigarettes and you can do just about anything you want.” [Id.]

Who is this guy . . . Walter Mitty??!!! **

** The eponymous fictional character created by author James Thurber in 1939’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. 

From the descriptions of life in Russia’s penal colonies given by other returned prisoners, Whelan’s claims raise far too many questions, and in some cases, simply defy belief.

But whoever — and whatever — the real Paul Whelan may be, he is free at last. And that, of course, is a very good thing.

*. *. *

As for the hostages remaining in Putin’s prisons, we continue to remember them and to fight for their return. They are:

David Barnes
Staff Sergeant Gordon Black
Marc Fogel
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Michael Travis Leake
Eugene Spector
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland

And all of the others whose identities are not known to me. They are not merely prisoners; they are HOSTAGES, who must be brought home as quickly as possible.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24

And there he is: a very non-isolated Vladimir Putin, looking quite dapper after three days of hosting what is now called the BRICS-Plus summit, and obviously in a jovial mood as he shares a laugh with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

How best to categorize the accomplishments of the anti-Western bloc over the 72 hours of this year’s gathering? Perhaps it’s simplest just to repeat Putin’s own summary: that “a new multipolar world order is taking shape before our eyes.” [Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, October 24, 2024.]

Russia believes BRICS, in the short term, is its way out of the economic and political difficulties created by Western sanctions imposed since its invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. And in the long term, Putin’s goal is to quash and replace Western — and specifically U.S. — dominance. In other words, to become the sort of authoritarian world leader that he already is in Russia.

But it seems that a majority of the BRICS members, as well as the leaders of the rest of the 36 countries who attended the summit, would not go so far as to join in Putin’s condemnation of the West or his efforts toward creating an alternative global system, despite wide-spread dissatisfaction with the current U.S.-led system.

BRICS currently has nine members (or ten, depending on whether Saudi Arabia is actually a full member as yet, which seems to be debatable). The nine members of the bloc issued a lengthy, 134-point statement titled the Kazan Declaration, which spells out demands for the reform of such global institutions as the U.N. Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the Group of 20.

It also — and here is where many of the attendees had serious concerns — denounces the “disruptive effects . . . [of] illegal sanctions” on the world economy, and sets forth the beginnings of an alternative finance and trade system that would circumvent the use of the U.S. dollar. [Id.]

And Dmitry Suslov, an international relations expert at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, had this to offer:

“What is driving the growth of the BRICS Plus is, first, the dissatisfaction of many countries with the U.S.-dominated world order. People are tired of the weaponization of the U.S. dollar, and there is a general sense that the U.S. order is rigged to benefit mainly Western interests.” [Id.]

BRICS, Suslov added, is intended to enable change toward a system offering “multipolarity without hegemony.” [Id.]

“Without hegemony”?!! Are we supposed to believe this is what Vladimir Putin has in mind?

*. *. *

In any event, it would appear that Putin’s brave new world is still a future dream . . . though one that he is determined to pursue. Even Alexander Ignatov of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration acknowledges that BRICS is essentially a “discussion club” where major issues are concerned, such as the creation of an alternative global currency. [Id.]

But in the meantime, one of Putin’s goals this week has been reached: that of demonstrating to the world that, despite all of the sanctions, and the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, he is still very much alive and in charge.

In addition, during the course of the three-day meeting, China’s President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi finalized — with a handshake — a deal to normalize relations along their disputed border.

And there was cause to hope for progress toward another peace treaty when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held a sideline meeting.

*. *. *

But still hanging over Putin’s head is his “special military operation” — his war — in Ukraine. Language was included in the Kazan Declaration providing that this must be resolved by diplomatic means, and in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.

Dmitry Suslov of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics had this to say on the subject:

“All the BRICS Plus countries feel that the war should be ended as soon as possible. But while they don’t want to see Russia suffer a strategic defeat, they are not necessarily in favor of Russian victory. The point they all agree on is that the fundamental reasons for the war should be addressed, including issues like NATO enlargement.” [Id.]

Well, that’s just lovely. What wasn’t said was precisely how such an ideal conclusion could be reached.

But at least the door was left open.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/26/24

That’s the other Georgia this time — the beautifully wild, ancient country in the Caucasus Mountains that is holding its crucial presidential election today.

At stake is the political future of Georgia’s people. Will the currently-ruling party — the authoritarian Georgian Dream Party — retain its power; or will a coalition of Western-leaning parties win the day, bringing the country closer to EU membership?

I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results later today, so stay tuned. Hopefully there won’t be any delays with the new electronic ballot system. Good luck, Georgia!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka

10/26/24

They came from Ukraine, very shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. They worked hard, learned to speak English, built a family and a successful business, and became proud, law-abiding U.S. citizens.

And if I’m not mistaken, Mr. Trump, your paternal grandparents were German immigrants, and your mother came from Scotland.

But we’re all garbage . . . right?

WRONG!

Our forebears — yours, mine, and those of every other person in this country who is not full-blooded Native American — all came from somewhere else. And they built this country, creating the diverse wonder that is the United States of America.

And if you think that the U.S. today is “like a garbage can for the world” [Kate Sullivan and Kaanita Iyer, CNN, October 24, 2024], then perhaps you are the one who should leave. Because the rest of us aren’t going anywhere.

*. *. *

Yes, those were Donald Trump’s words this week at a campaign rally in Arizona. And more:

“We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened. Every time I come up and talk about what they’ve done to our country I get angry and angrier. First time I’ve ever said garbage can. But you know what? It’s a very accurate description.” [Id.]

Of course, he’ll tell you he’s talking about today’s immigrants — not those from the last three centuries. He hollers about murderers, rapists, people from insane asylums, and Haitians who supposedly eat their neighbors’ dogs and cats. And he wants to deport them all — tens of millions of them — because they all have “bad genes.”

He seems to forget those early settlers from England who included convicts sent to work as indentured servants in the Colonies. There were even a number of criminals among our so-called elite ancestors on the Mayflower. What a wonderfully selective memory he has.

So I say again, Mr. Trump: That exit door is wide open. You are free to leave any time you decide that this country — you know, the one that made your fortune for you and voted you into the White House eight years ago — isn’t to your liking any longer. Perhaps Russia or China would suit you better.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/26/24

No, it’s not another Woodward-and-Bernstein, Watergate-style bombshell. But it’s almost as rare an event.

The Washington Post, for the first time in decades, has refused to endorse a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.

Absolutely! And that’s not all. They said they’re not going to do it again . . . not ever.

What am I going to do now? How will I know who to vote for?!!

But seriously . . .

I happen to think they’re doing exactly what a news outlet should be doing: reporting the news, not trying to create it. So, kudos to you, Washington Post. You’ve followed the campaigns, reported on the good, the bad and the weird as it has occurred, and offered analyses and editorial opinions. And now it’s time for us, the public, to make our own decisions. We don’t need investigative reporters, political analysts, editorial boards, or Jeff Bezos himself standing over our shoulders and telling us how to vote.

But what does this say about the state of our country — or, specifically our politicians — when the only way you can vote is by trying to choose between the lesser of two evils?

And it’s not just Donald Trump and Kamala Harris who have been judged and found wanting. It’s the sad fact that we couldn’t come up with anyone — in either party — better qualified.

Well, yes, him . . . but he’s dead.

Which appears to be precisely the reason the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, made the decision that he did, despite opposition from many of the paper’s staff members.

The Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, issued the following announcement:

“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.” [Hadas Gold and Brian Stelter, CNN, October 25, 2024.]

Lewis continued: “We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.” [Id.]

The paper’s staffers had been alerted by editorial page editor David Shipley that a “significant” announcement was forthcoming, and that there were likely to be “strong reactions” to it. And indeed there were.

Editor-at-large Robert Kagan said he has resigned over Bezos’ decision.

And former executive editor Marty Baron, who led the paper’s coverage of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, had this to say:

“This is cowardice, with democracy as its casualty. Donald Trump will see this as an invitation to further intimidate owner Bezos (and others). Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.” [Id.]

Looking at it from the point of view of editors whose job it is to . . . well . . . editorialize, I can see their point. But I disagree. Because I have felt for many years that the news media in general — print, broadcast and online — have stepped too far outside the acceptable parameters of news reporting, and have become too involved in influencing public opinion.

It’s a fine line, I know, and there are valid arguments on both sides. But that’s how I feel.

So, again . . . Bravo, Jeff Bezos. Let Donald Trump twist it any way he chooses. In standing up to him — in this citizen’s opinion, at least — you have once more shown that courage for which the Washington Post has indeed become famed.

And now I look forward to hearing what Woodward and Bernstein think.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/25/24

In politics, that would be pretty low. But this diatribe, delivered by one of the two candidates for the U.S. presidency, reached new depths of degradation on Wednesday at a rally in Duluth, Georgia:

“Immediately upon taking the oath of office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.

”I will rescue every town, and every town is petrified, even if they don’t have them (undocumented migrants), because they know they’re coming. They’re heading for the towns. They’re heading for the towns. Who could do this to our country? Who could do this? Who could do this to our country?

”They’re taking over Times Square in New York, and they have weapons that our military doesn’t even have. You’d say, where the hell are they getting the weapons? But we have guys that want to confront them, and they’re going to be allowed to confront them, and we’re going to get them the hell out of here.” [Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose, CNN Meanwhile In America, October 25, 2024.]

I will leave it to you to figure out which racist, hate-filled, fear-mongering candidate came up with that steaming pile of

But I’ll give you one little hint: It wasn’t Kamala Harris.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/25/24

Looking back through time is endlessly fascinating, and invariably leaves me wishing either that I could have been around to witness an event, or thanking my lucky stars I wasn’t. For example, who wouldn’t be happy to see the end of three decades of war, as in . . .

1648 – Thirty Years’ War ends. Actually a series of wars, fought by various European countries for a variety of reasons — many of them having to do with religion, as usual. I’ve never been able to sort out the details, but as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia ending the 30 years of grief and bloodshed, “the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, Sweden gained control of the Baltic and France was acknowledged as the preeminent Western power. The power of the Holy Roman Emperor was broken and the German states were again able to determine the religion of their lands.” [History.com, October 24, 2024.]

It sounds as though at least some good came out of that war (or series of wars) — unlike a few more recent ones I could name.

*. *. *

1861 – Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph line. And the mania for instant communication still hasn’t been satisfied. What do you suppose those folks from Civil War days would think about the internet?

*. *. *

1901 – First barrel ride down Niagara Falls. Okay, this was some crazy lady — a 63-year-old schoolteacher — whose husband had died in the Civil War, and who needed money. She thought the publicity of her insane stunt would make her rich, so she padded a pickle barrel with cushions, climbed in, had herself towed by a small boat into the middle of the Niagara River, and took the plunge. Her fame was short-lived, and the fortune she had anticipated never materialized. But the fact that she survived her 20 minutes of complete terror remains a testament to the biblical adage that “The Lord preserves the simple . . .” [Psalms 116:6.]

*. *. *

1931 – George Washington Bridge is dedicated. This one is personal, recalling the most terrifying road trip of my life. It took place in the late 1960s or early ‘70s, when I agreed to drive my mother from Washington, D.C., to visit her sister in Rhode Island. I had never made that particular trip before, and carefully mapped out the shortest, most direct route. This, of course, was before the advent of GPS, so when I say “mapped,” I mean it literally.

Well, we packed my two small children and a whole lot of stuff into the car and took off on our family vacation. All was going smoothly until we were in New Jersey, approaching that marvel of engineering, the G.W. Bridge, and I saw dozens of signs directing drivers to . . . Oh! My! God! . . . not one, but two levels — one with eight lanes and the other with six! I had no clue where I was supposed to be, and all of the lanes were filled with cars speeding at what felt like 100 miles an hour.

I think I must have blacked out at some point, because all I remember is my mother — who was trying her best to read the signs and navigate — shouting, “No! Not that exit! That goes to the Bronx Zoo!”

And the next thing I knew, we were in some scary New York neighborhood, where the traffic was bumper-to-bumper, dead-stopped, and I swore that at the very least we were going to have our hubcaps stolen while we sat helplessly watching.

I made many trips to New England in the years that followed — all of them by way of the Garden State Parkway and the New York State Thruway. It adds a bit of time and mileage to the trip, but the Tappan Zee Bridge offers a lovely view . . . and it’s nowhere near the Bronx Zoo.

*. *. *

1945. The United Nations is born. Though the United Nations Charter had been adopted and signed on June 26th, it did not take effect until October 24th of that year. Some 79 years later, I’m happy to say it’s still going strong. Let’s hope, for the sake of humanity, that it stays that way for at least another 79.

*. *. *

1951 – President Truman declares war with Germany is officially over. Wow! I thought that ended in 1945. Actually, the fighting did end then, but the treaty with Germany wasn’t signed for another six years because of some squabbling with — anyone care to guess? — Russia, over the divvying up of Berlin. Some things never change.

*. *. *

And to end on a less impressive note:

1997 – Marv Albert faces sentencing in sexual assault case. Albert, a popular sportscaster, had been charged with sexual assault by one Vanessa Perhach. She claimed he had invited her to his hotel room, suggested she participate in three-way sex, and then bit her on the back when she refused. Kind of funny, actually — but not to Ms. Perhach, nor to Albert, who resigned from his job at Madison Square Garden and was fired from NBC after pleading guilty to assault and battery.

I recall that this was a huge scandal and an unending topic of cocktail-party conversation at the time. By today’s standards, though — when everybody is suddenly “recalling” having been groped (or worse) by one celebrity or another — it all seems rather ordinary.

That’s too bad, really.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/25/24