As the family and friends of Alexei Navalny continue to press the Russian government for the return of his body, and the Russian officials continue to stall (thus giving them time to cover any traces of their own guilt in connection with his sudden death), it is vitally important that we not overlook those other HOSTAGES being held in various prisons and penal colonies across Russia.

And the one who appears to be at the most imminent risk is Vladimir Kara-Murza, whose wife Evgenia temporarily lost track of him at the end of January when she was told that he had left the “strict regime” penal colony in Omsk, Siberia, where he had been held since last September. While ominously reminiscent of the earlier experience of Alexei Navalny, who had gone missing for three weeks before resurfacing in one of the worst of Russia’s Siberian prisons, it was soon learned that Kara-Murza was simply moved to another prison in the same region of Omsk.

In a letter from Kara-Murza to his attorneys, he said that this action was taken as “punishment for not standing up when told to ‘rise’ by a guard,” and that the guards had considered this a “malicious violation” of prison rules. He added, “Everything is okay with me – I’m clothed, shod, fed and warm, the people here are all fine.” Yet he also stated that he had been sent to an isolated cell, and had been told he might be moved back in four months. [Patrick Jackson, BBC News, Jan. 30, 2024.]

Keep in mind that — like the late Alexei Navalny — Vladimir Kara-Murza has serious health problems, some of which are the direct or indirect result of two earlier attempted poisonings. Conditions in a Siberian penal colony can only exacerbate those problems. I hate to think that this is a case of “deja vu all over again.”

So I urge you once more: Do not forget or forsake those men and women being held HOSTAGE by the Russian government, who have done no more than speak out against the dictatorial, fascist regime of Vladimir Putin. While they have been forced into silence, we have not.

Let us use our voices for them.

*. *. *

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
2/19/24

Here’s an interesting headline from Beatrice Nolan of Business Insider on February 14th:

“Elon Musk says the US should stop sending aid to Ukraine as there’s ‘no way in hell’ Putin will lose.”

Omigod! When will Musk learn to keep out of politics and keep his big yap shut? Stick to what you know, you lunatic, and leave the ruination of the world to the experts.

What’s he done this time? Oh, not much . . . only given Russia the nicest, biggest Valentine he could think of, saying that Ukraine can’t possibly win this war and they should just hand over chunks of their country to Russia. Don’t negotiate . . . capitulate. The very thing that Musk the billionaire businessman would never, ever do.

And since he feels a Russian victory is inevitable, we — the U.S., and presumably the rest of the Western allies — should save our money, thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by hastening the end of the conflict, leaving Ukraine dangling in the wind. On the plus side, he also points out that we would be saving a bunch of lives in the bargain.

Okay, saving lives is good; and saving money sounds good . . . depending on what you’re sacrificing in exchange, which in this case is not much: just the sovereignty of an entire nation, along with its freedoms, its amazing history, and its very identity. Not to mention the reputations and consciences of the allied countries that will have allowed it to die.

Now, Musk says that he is NOT an apologist for Putin; that such an accusation is absurd; and that “his companies have done more to undermine Russia than anyone.” [Business Insider, Feb. 14, 2024.] Oh, really? How? By lobbying for cessation of funding to Ukraine? By urging Ukraine to give in to Russia’s claims of sovereignty over large portions of historically Ukrainian territory? Or by worrying that “Putin risk[s] being ‘assassinated’ if he were to back off the fight in Ukraine”? [Id.]

He couldn’t be more of an apologist for Putin if he were a parrot perched on that evil little man’s shoulder.

Ironically, if the tables were turned — if Musk were a Russian citizen urging Russia to withdraw from Ukraine and accept defeat — he would find himself in a Siberian prison so fast his head would never stop spinning. Yet that is the side he chooses to defend . . . the side that he hopes will win this war of attrition that they started . . . the side that just murdered Alexei Navalny for expressing those very opinions.

Elon Musk may be the richest man in the United States and the second richest in the world; he may be a technological and entrepreneurial genius; he may be a gaming wiz without equal. But he apparently knows little or nothing of Russian history in general or Vladimir Putin in particular. And he seems to me to be treading dangerously close to the line of treason when he opens his mouth and spews the sort of garbage that could be construed by some as “adhering to [our] Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” [Article III, Section 3, Clause 1, Constitution of the United States.]

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/18/24

What a dreadful time this is! Yesterday brought news that Vladimir Putin’s No. 1 political hostage — Alexei Navalny — had died while imprisoned in Russian penal colony IK-3 in Siberia. And the world groaned, and wept, and cursed the man who put him there to die.

For make no mistake . . . that was the intention from the very beginning, when he was poisoned (but unexpectedly survived), then arrested and imprisoned again, then sent off to the frozen wasteland inside the Arctic Circle where no one from the outside could see how it really happened.

And now — while Putin smirks and disingenuously claims that he can’t keep track of every single prisoner across Russia — we wait to learn whether the United Nations’ request for an independent investigation will be honored, and when, or if, Alexei Navalny’s family will be allowed to receive his body for proper burial.

And while we wait, we also wonder: Is there anyone, inside or outside of Russia, willing and able to step into the shoes of this courageous and able man? For surely he was unique, and possibly irreplaceable. And Putin’s “win” will be, as always, Russia’s loss.

But in our grief, we must not forget the other brave men and women who languish in Russian prisons for allegedly having broken one of Putin’s tyrannical new laws by speaking against the regime, or simply calling a war a war. They must be brought home before even one more is lost. Their families need them, and the world needs them.

Their power resides in their words . . .

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
2/17/24

It was the worst possible way of waking up this morning. My first move every day is to reach for my phone to check the news headlines for anything momentous that may have occurred while I slept. And there it was — the thing that I, along with much of the rest of the world, have been dreading for so long: Alexei Navalny was dead.

I have written a great deal about him: his nearly miraculous survival of poisoning by Putin’s KGB; his imprisonment on specious charges of “corruption,” “embezzlement,” and “parole violation”; his disappearance from one prison, prompting an entire series titled “Where Is Alexei Navalny?” And then, his reappearance in a maximum-isolation penal colony 40 miles above the Arctic Circle, his few-and-far-between appearances there, his visibly failing health, and now . . . this.

This was a man who gave his all for a single, unselfish cause: the freedom of his country from tyranny and fascism. Intelligent, handsome, charismatic, serious, witty, focused, driven, courageous, and yes, even noble . . . he was unbeatable even under the harshest conditions. And so he has been beaten, finally, in the only way the Putin regime knows how to win: by killing. Perhaps there was no bullet in the back, or ice axe to his skull, or airplane dropping from the sky; but starvation, withdrawal of medical treatment, and isolation are just as effective, if only slower. And they don’t leave marks. Not externally, at any rate.

But will Vladimir Putin’s fixation on ridding himself of this “nuisance” prove to be a huge blunder after all? World reaction has been that of unanimous condemnation and horror. The United Nations has called for an independent investigation. Navalny’s body must be produced for examination and proper burial.

And after all of that . . . what? There are others — Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alsu Kurmasheva, Ksenia Fadeyeva, Lilia Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin, Sergei Udaltsov, to name a few — who have tried. All are in prison now. Boris Nadezhdin has made a symbolic attempt to run against Putin in next month’s election; he has been eliminated by the Election Commission and twice turned down on appeal to the Russian Supreme Court. What the future holds for him is questionable.

But Navalny’s people — his family in Russia, and his team, most now in exile across Europe — should never let the world forget. Never let Putin forget! Martyrdom is a powerful force, not to be used frivolously. But perhaps now is the right time . . . time to turn the murderer’s own weapon against him.

Do not let this noble man’s death be for naught. To his people, I say: Please, take the baton from him and continue carrying it in his name, for the sake of the good people of Russia and of the free world. Isn’t that what he would want?

Brendochka
2/16/24

They have finally killed him. The hearts of good people everywhere are shattered. Russia will not be free in our lifetimes.

We mourn with the Navalny family . . . Your unbearable loss is also ours.

Brendochka

2/16/24

There are all sorts of alphabet games, from “I spy with my little eye” to “A, my name is Alice” — games remembered from childhood when our amusements were simple . . . and free. No electronics needed.

But now I’ve found a new use for the alphabet game, during these days of misery following my dental surgery: killing time between doses of pain medication — especially that one I can’t take until 5:30 a.m., when I’ve been awake since 3:30. So it goes something like this:

“A” is for Agony: “De agony of de face.” That’s pretty self-explanatory.

“B” is for Bloody: Not any more, but it was pretty icky for a day there.

“C” is for Chew: Which is wish I could do, but not for a while yet.

“D” is for Dopey: From too much sleepus interruptus.

“E” is for Expensive: Which this whole thing has been. Very, very expensive. (See “I” for Insurance.)

“F” is for Fun: Which it most assuredly is NOT.

“G” is for Glad: That it’s going to be behind me one of these days. Soon, I hope.

“H” is for Heal: And for Hurry. Hurry up and Heal!

“I” is for Insurance: Don’t get me started. They approved the whole procedure at 80%, then at the last minute changed it to 50%. Crooks! Thieves! Charlatans! Bastards! Is that even legal? I’m looking into it.

“J” is for Judas: That would be the insurance company. Betrayers!

“K” is for Kill: What I’d like to do to the insurance company if it were even possible . . . and legal . . . and moral. Oh, well . . .

“L” is for Laugh: Because that’s what you do when the only alternative is to cry.

“M” is for Money: The insurance thing again. I really need to get past that.

“N” is for Novocaine: And thank God for it! What did people do back in the days before anesthesia, pain killers, and such? No wonder they died so young — it was preferable to some of the treatments they would have needed to keep them alive.

“O” is for Ouch: Post-surgical Ouch.

“P” is for Pretty: Which I most definitely am not at the moment. Will be again, I hope . . . one day. Maybe in my next life.

“Q” is for Question: Why did I start this in the first place?

“R” is for Roto-Rooter: Which is what dentists always remind me of.

“S” is for Sinus: Because that’s where the surgeon found an infection that had either gone from a tooth to the sinus cavity, or vice-versa; I don’t know which. And it really doesn’t matter. But that was an extra 15 minutes or so of additional groping around in my mouth, plus another week of antibiotics. Fun, fun, fun.

“T” is for T-bone steak: Just because I’m sick of liquids and yogurt and soup, oh my! I just want to chomp down on something (like the president of that *#$%&#* insurance company). Or a nice juicy steak, an ear of corn, or a Honey Crisp apple.

“U” is for “Up to here”: Which is the point to which I have had it.

“V” is for Vodka: There’s some in the freezer. Let me at it!

“W” is for Wodka: That’s Polish vodka.

“X” is for . . . uh . . . I’ll have to get back to you on that — they didn’t take any x-rays, and there’s no xylophone in this little melodrama. Maybe my X-rated message to the insurance company?

“Y” is for Yesterday: Which I am very thankful isn’t today.

. . . and, at long last . . .

“Z” is for Zzzzzzzz: Which is where I am headed now, hopefully to make it through the night without too much interruptus. Thanks for sticking with me to the bitter end, and be glad I didn’t use the Cyrillic alphabet, because it has 33 letters.

TTFN,
Brendochka
2/16/24

Dental surgery ain’t no fun.
I thought I’d be happy when it was done.

The doctor was great, causing minimal pain,
Thanks to liberal doses of novocaine.

But the aftermath was much, much worse;
I felt I’d been struck with an evil curse.

It wasn’t just my mouth that was sore;
The pain in my face was like few pains before.

But I’ve survived worse things in the past,
And pain killers helped me sleep at last.

No, it wasn’t the soreness, or even the bleeding,
That sent my heart rate off and speeding.

It was when I looked in the mirror that night,
And had myself a terrible fright,

For there, staring back from the glass on the wall
Was someone I didn’t know at all.

A swollen mess, all puffy and bruised,
I clearly had been most awfully misused.

Like something out of a horror flick,
Just seeing it made me feel quite sick.

Today I don’t recognize my own face;
Of the real me there is hardly a trace.

I know, as they say, that this too shall pass,
Like a nasty cold, or intestinal gas.

And in the meantime, I’ll stay in the house
And try to be as still as a mouse,

So no one outside has to look at this face,
Which really is such an awful disgrace.

And after a while, like an appendectomy,
I’ll be glad I let them make a wreck of me,

Because the result will be good in the end,
Once everything’s had enough time to mend.

But for the moment, I have to say . . .
There are much better ways of spending a day!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/15/24

A brief item in CNN’s “5 Things” column on Sunday caught my eye, because it actually sounded like good news. It’s brief, so let me quote it in full:

“Following last year’s mass shooting at Michigan State University and the Oxford High School shooting that occurred in 2021, new gun safety laws will go into effect in Michigan on Tuesday — including a law that says all firearms in homes with minors must be securely stored with a gun lock or in a safe.”

Well, that’s good, right? Yes, but . . .

My next thought was to question how that might be enforced. Unfortunately, the answer was, “After the fact.” Because this is the United States, and without just cause to suspect that a crime is being or is about to be committed, or without a legal search warrant, our authorities can’t just randomly go charging into people’s homes to check out their weapons storage. So the effect of the new law would seem to be holding the gun owner(s) responsible if and when one of their weapons is used by their offspring or other minor in the commission of a crime . . . say, for example, when Junior goes bonkers and shoots up his school because the girl he likes turned down his invitation to the prom. (In my day, he would simply have spray-painted something nasty on her school locker . . . but times have changed.)

Naturally, I followed the link to the new Michigan law itself, where I found both good and bad news. Good news first: The owner of an improperly stored gun is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of not more than 93 days and/or a fine of not more than $500 if a minor obtains the firearm and possesses or exhibits it in a public place or in the presence of another person in a careless, reckless or threatening manner. Appropriately, the charge becomes a felony if the minor uses the weapon to wound or kill another person or persons, with proportionally increasing penalties (imprisonment and/or fine) for the gun’s owner(s).

Okay, that is good: Parents, and other adults, will now be held responsible if they’re careless with their weapons and kids get hold of them. But . . .

Incredibly, the law goes on to state:

“Penalties will not be imposed under Michigan’s safe storage law in the following circumstances:

If the minor:

(1) Obtains a firearm with the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian,

(2) Uses or possesses the firearm while under the supervision of the minor’s parent, guardian, or any individual who is 18 years of age or older and who is authorized by the minor’s parent or guardian, and

(3) Uses or possesses the firearm during (a) the minor’s employment, (b) ranching or farming, or (c) target practice or instruction in the safe use of a firearm.

If the minor obtains a firearm with the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian, and uses the firearm for the purposes of hunting and the minor is in compliance with all applicable hunting laws.

If the minor obtains a firearm through the minor’s unlawful entry of any premises or a motor vehicle where the firearm has been stored.

If the minor obtains a firearm while lawfully acting in self-defense or defense of another.”

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!

Am I reading this correctly? Really?? Because what I’m seeing is that you’re responsible if you don’t lock up your gun and your kid takes it when you’re not looking. But it’s perfectly all right for you to just hand it over and trust this scrawny, immature bundle of nerves and hormones — whose frontal lobe is still a decade away from being fully developed — to do the right thing. And if you live on a farm or a ranch . . . well, apparently, anything goes.

So now I understand why people aren’t really joking when they call the folks from Michigan Meshuggeners.* Because this law, as written, is apparently the work of a group of well-meaning simpletons (at best) or madmen (at worst).

* “Meshuggeners”: Yiddish word meaning anything from “foolish” to “out-and-out insane.”

*. *. *

While I applaud the Michigan state legislature for making the attempt to reduce the likelihood of mass shootings occurring in their schools and elsewhere, I’m not seeing this particular piece of legislation as being much of a solution. Unfortunately, I can’t offer anything better . . . short of locking up all pre-pubescent kids until they’re 25 or 30, when hopefully those frontal lobes will guide them to make better decisions.

Although, looking at some of today’s adults, I’m not so sure about that either.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/13/24

On January 29th, the world heard from Vladimir Kara-Murza’s wife Evgenia that her husband had left the “strict regime” penal colony where he had been held since last September, and that there was no word as to where he was being taken. In circumstances eerily similar to the case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, there has been no further news as to his whereabouts. But — noticeably and disturbingly unlike Navalny’s disappearance — Kara-Murza’s case does not seem to have drawn the public outrage I would have hoped to see, most likely because he is not as widely well-known as Navalny.

Under the circumstances, my report of February 5th on this upsetting development bears repeating:

“One of the few outspoken dissidents who have opted to remain in Russia despite the harsh punishments being meted out by the increasingly repressive Putin regime, Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years for treason and ‘spreading false information’ about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His only real crime? Speaking the truth. And now — as they did to Navalny — the authorities have removed Kara-Murza to . . . where? No one knows, because they are not required to inform the prisoner’s family or legal counsel. It took three weeks for Navalny to resurface, and when he did, he was in one of the harshest prison camps — IK-3, also referred to as ‘Polar Wolf’ — some 40 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

“During the period of Navalny’s ‘unavailability,’ I posted articles titled ‘Where Is Alexei Navalny?’ Do I now have to start a series for Vladimir Kara-Murza? I hope not; but if it becomes necessary, I assure you, I will.”

*. *. *

Vladimir Kara-Murza holds British citizenship, and presumably could be an asset to the Russians in the event of future discussions of a prisoner swap. But he is also still a Russian citizen, which the Kremlin could also use to its own advantage. He suffers from serious health problems, and desperately needs the world’s help to effectuate his release.

And so begins my weekly reminder that Vladimir Kara-Murza is still missing . . . an innocent man, a political pawn held HOSTAGE by the Putin regime.

Do not forget him, or any of the others like him. They are vital to the future of Russia.

Their power resides in their words . . .

Please . . . bring them home!

Brendochka
2/12/24

On this day of traditional, old-fashioned love and romance, I wish everyone a time of joy in the company of those you most care for.

*. *. *

But after the exchanges of hugs and kisses and flowers and chocolates, and the romantic dinner, and whatever else you have planned, life goes on . . . and so, apparently, does World War II.

“WHAT?? Has she finally lost the last of her diminishing supply of marbles?” — you ask. Actually, no . . . I have not. Because technically, Russia and Japan have never signed a peace treaty. The war in the Pacific — for those two, at least — is not yet officially over.

Well, isn’t that exactly what you needed to hear? The world isn’t screwed up enough? Russia needs more countries to invade? Okay, calm down now. Russia has not invaded Japan, and as far as I know, they’re not planning to. (Of course, they swore they weren’t going to invade Ukraine either . . . until they did. But that’s a whole different ball of wax.) As for Japan, I have no idea what they might be thinking, because they really want their islands back.

“Their” islands? Maybe. We are, of course, talking about the Kuril Islands: a volcanic archipelago of 56 tiny patches of land stretching about 800 miles from Hokkaido, Japan, to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and serving as a divider of sorts between the Sea of Okhotsk and the northern Pacific Ocean. Together, they cover an area of about 6,000 square miles, and boast a population of around 20,000. And both Japan and Russia lay claim to them.

The history of the islands is long and complex — they’ve changed hands back and forth more times than a tennis ball at Wimbledon. But Russia currently occupies and maintains tight control over them, and Japan wants them back . . . or more particularly, the four southernmost islands, the ones closest to Hokkaido, which include two of the largest of the chain. And Russia’s not about to budge. They took those four — and a good bit more — at the end of the war with Japan in 1945, but Japan continues to claim that they’re part of their country “as they have always been visible with the naked eye from the Japanese island of Hokkaido and appear on centuries-old maps of Japan as being part of Japan.” [Russian Analytical Digest, July 2020.]

(Why am I having a sudden flashback to a certain former Governor of Alaska claiming that she could see Russia from her front porch? It’s weird. But I digress . . . )

Going back a few hundred years, the islands were first settled by the Russians in the 17th and 18th Centuries, and were later seized by Japan in 1875. After World War II, Japan ceded them back to the Soviet Union, the Japanese occupants were repatriated, and the islands have since — together with the larger Sakhalin Island — formed a strategically-located administrative region of the Soviet Union / Russian Federation. [Russian Analytical Digest, July 2020.]

But Japan still claims right of ownership of the four southernmost bits of floating real estate, and so the back-and-forth continues . . . and, officially, so does World War II.

With two fiercely stubborn world powers holding the opposite ends of this very long rope, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this will play out. Personally, I don’t see why they can’t just split the difference — two for you, and two for me — and put at least one war to rest.

And now you know why I never went into politics.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/14/24