Having a wonderful time reminiscing about all my past travel (and other) adventures. Hope you’ll share them with me in my blog, “All Roads Led to Russia.”
Both Vladimir Putin — who is on the verge of losing his prolonged war against Ukraine — and Donald Trump — who lost his war in Iran before it even began — would have benefited if they had heeded the words of an expert on the subject:
“There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.”
– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
Sun Tzu (544 B.C. – 496 B.C.)
It is no less true today than it was more than two millennia ago, as proven by the countless wars and revolutions that have been fought around the world since Sun Tzu was a general in the Chinese army.
If only the people in charge would start paying attention to history . . .
Ordinarily, I would be out there in the 100-degree heat with the rest of the neighborhood, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the fireworks, scarfing down a hot dog and some ice cream, and happily celebrating my country’s landmark 250th birthday.
But this year the celebrations will go on without me, because I just can’t find a single spark of enthusiasm to cheer on a country whose government has sunk to such depths of corruption and depravity — and whose people have become so overwhelmed, so desensitized, and so convinced that there is no way to fight the unspeakable evil that surrounds them, that they accept it as inevitable, or hope that somehow, miraculously, someone else will solve the problems for them.
And I am constantly reminded of the Russian people’s acceptance when Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Party promised them an end to Tsarist tyranny and a future of “peace, land, and bread,” or the desperate German masses who swallowed Adolph Hitler’s guarantee of a return to greatness following their humiliating defeat in World War I and the after-effects of the disastrous Treaty of Versailles.
Lenin and Hitler: Two of a Kind
I love my country, as I always have. And I shall continue to speak out in support of all that is good and decent and honest in her, and against the forces that would destroy her. But this year I will say a quiet “happy birthday” on my own, and leave the fireworks and picnics to others.
With any luck, maybe next year I’ll find something to celebrate.
Having suffered an estimated 500,000 fatalities and lost nearly twice that many more to serious injuries since the start of the war against Ukraine, the Russian government has long since resorted to bribing people to volunteer, offering generous incentive payments, and even pardoning criminals in exchange for signing up.
But even that is no longer enough. With stories circulating of the fatalities, and of the brutal treatment of the troops in Ukraine by their own officers — not to mention the disillusionment among the general population resulting from Putin’s failure to deliver the quick victory he promised more than four years ago — no one seems particularly anxious to sign what is essentially their own death sentence for the sake of the rodina (motherland) these days.
So the authorities have taken “recruitment” to a new level: they are snatching men off the streets, driving them to recruitment centers, and forcing them to “volunteer.”
In the city of Penza, a regional capital southeast of Moscow, one woman said:
“Of course, all of this looks like illegal coercion. My father had no intention of going to war; we discussed this with him. I see no explanation for this, other than threats, violence, or pressure.” [RFE/RL, July 2, 2026.]
Another woman had filmed one such incident in Penza on June 17th. The video was published on the Russian social network VK, but was called “untrue” by authorities and was later taken down by VK — no doubt under pressure.
And a woman in the town of Kamenka said she had spent days trying without success to locate her son, who had been abducted off the street:
“This is outrageous. People are basically being kidnapped. Something needs to be done, but I don’t know what.” [Id.]
Those people who would speak with reporters did so on condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution.
Word has also spread of such “recruitments” being extended to include door-to-door searches for anyone deemed eligible. And there are growing rumors of a possible second mass mobilization being instituted in the next few months — despite the fact that the first one, started in September of 2022, resulted in a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of young men from the country.
*. *. *.
Vladimir Putin is already running out of fuel, thanks to Ukraine’s successful strikes on Russia’s refineries, creating chaos across the country in industry, agriculture, food distribution, and even in medical and emergency services. And now he’s running out of soldiers as well.
This is hardly how you win a war, or maintain your authority over your own people. And his desperation is clearly showing. Hopefully, it won’t be long before he has no choice but to accept defeat and call an end to the biggest miscalculation of his career.
Most people know that the term “SNAFU” means a mix-up of some sort. But not everyone realizes that it’s actually an acronym, whose literal meaning is “Situation Normal: All F*cked Up.”
Just when my move seemed to be going according to plan, I received a phone call from the movers at my destination this morning, advising me that the delivery of my worldly belongings to their location had been delayed — not just a day or two, but a full week.
I won’t go into all the details here — I’ll save those for a later rant — but I didn’t want my readers to think that this was actually going too smoothly. Or, as my grandmother would have said: “God forbid life should be too easy!”
My Life Right Now
There was a time — in prehistoric days, before the advent of the Internet — when I vividly recall picking up the phone, calling a moving company, telling them what I needed, and leaving the rest to them. One-stop shopping, one vendor to deal with, one price quote. Done. Theoretically, you can still do that . . . if you have an unlimited budget. Which I don’t.
Now everything is booked online, and although there are actual people associated with the companies, finding their customer service phone number can be challenging. And when you do finally reach someone, their tasks are so compartmentalized, you end up talking to at least three different people in three different locations before getting the answer you need . . . if you’re lucky.
But at least I wasn’t speaking with a Chatbot! Something to be thankful for, I guess.
Customer Service?
At any rate, I think I finally have things straightened out, and have even found a bright spot as to how I might use the lag time in delivery — although at this point I’m not assuming anything will actually proceed as planned.
In the meantime, I still have four days, including today, to get things wrapped up before D-Day, so I’d better get busy. But be assured that I meant what I said at the beginning of this screed:
I am never going through this again, until the day they have to carry me out.
And as for Welsh playwright Dylan Thomas’ plea to his father on that subject:
“Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
. . . well, I’ll have to think about it. After this move, I may be too tired to rage.
The entire world is aware of the fuel shortages being experienced throughout Russia as a result of Ukraine’s targeted strikes on Russian oil refineries and other strategic facilities.
The Russian people themselves are certainly cognizant of the facts that they must sit in hours-long queues for just a few liters of gas for their vehicles; that deliveries of food are being delayed and often spoiled; that in some areas trash cannot be picked up, or emergency vehicles dispatched because they have no fuel; and that prices have skyrocketed as a result.
Line at a Lukoil Station in Moscow
Russian farmers are aware that they are running out of fuel to operate their tractors, milking machines, and other equipment, or the vehicles in which they deliver their products to market.
But the Feenstras’ social media broadcasts remain silent on the subject, filled instead with lengthy descriptions of the most mundane aspects of life on the farm: maximizing the egg production of their chickens, grinding the feed for the larger animals, and continuing the never-ending construction projects.
There is nary a word about their recent trip to war-torn, fuel-deprived Crimea, nor a mention of any difficulties or concerns regarding Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” — which is completely understandable, in light of the penalties being imposed for speaking against the administration in general or the war in particular.
Instead, they collect their award as “family of the year”; accept their free trips to Georgia, Crimea, and that extended stay in Canada and the U.S. over the winter; and pretend — like good little comrades — that everything is rosy.
In truth, they really have no choice.
But I have noticed that the last few videos have been missing Arend Feenstra’s normal cheery “Good morning!” greeting, and his usual comment on what a beautiful day it is. He looks like a man with a weight on his shoulders, unable to share it or put it down.
A Tired-Looking Arend Feenstra
Sadly, if my observations are correct, he is far from alone. I do hope the Feenstras’ faith and the closeness of their family carry them safely through these difficult times. But I can’t help wishing they had stayed in Canada when they had the chance.
Those are the first words of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States — the document that has been the bedrock of our nation since 1787.
Today, as we are engaged in a fight for the very survival of our democracy and the preservation of the rights guaranteed by that Constitution, the words of Abraham Lincoln are more significant than ever before in our history:
“The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts, not to over-throw the Constitution, but to over-throw the men who pervert that Constitution.”
“The people of these United States.” That is where our authority lies — with us, and not with one individual, or a cabal of those who would seize power.
We the people.
Tomorrow marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation. Could there be a better time to begin putting a lawful end to the perversion?
I spent time with a friend yesterday for one last chat before I leave the area. We had a lovely lunch at her home, and a long talk in air-conditioned comfort while her husband worked in the yard and their dog vied for our attention.
We’re both transplants from the north, of similar political viewpoints, and so the conversation naturally turned at some point to current events. And my friend shocked me by saying that she no longer leaves her house without her U.S. passport and her birth certificate . . . just in case.
You see, she is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents. And, although her parents were U.S. citizens, as are all Puerto Ricans, and she herself was born in New York, her ethnicity makes her a possible target for some sharp-eyed but dim-witted ICE agent who might see her light brown skin as a threat or a temptation.
And that makes me want to vomit.
My friend is as American as I am. She holds a master’s degree, and had a long professional career in public service before retiring several years ago. She is happily married, has adult children and young grandchildren, pays her taxes, and does volunteer work in the community.
But for the first time in her life, she is afraid. And I am afraid for her.
Like most people, I read about the daily roundups and deportations of immigrants — most of them law-abiding, and many of them already naturaized — and the mistaken detentions of American-born citizens who just happen to look as though they might be from somewhere else. And I want to rage at the injustice, illegality, and downright indecency of it all.
And now that it affects someone I know and care about, I am better able to understand the feeling of helplessness that so many others are experiencing. It is intolerable, and it must be stopped.
This is not Russia, where people can be snatched off the street on any sort of excuse and made to disappear. This is America.
But it’s getting more and more difficult to tell the difference.
There is so much ranting and raving these days from the political right about the alleged evils of liberalism — many even equating it with full-blown socialism. But, like so much of the misinformation and disinformation being bandied about, that’s just bullshit.
Because the word “liberal” is derived from the Latin adjective “liberalis,” meaning “befitting a free person,” or “noble.” But far be it from the uneducated MAGA masses to check their facts before shooting off their big mouths.
Eleanor Roosevelt, on the other hand, was a woman who always did her homework. And this is what she had to say about it, at a time when Donald Trump was still an obnoxious teenager bluffing his way through high school, and well before many of his current followers were born:
“Long ago, there was a noble word, ‘liberal,’ which derives from the word ‘free.’
“Now a strange thing happened to that word. A man named Hitler made it a term of abuse, a matter of suspicion, because those who were not with him were against him, and liberals had no use for Hitler.
“And then another man named McCarthy cast the same opprobrium on the word.
“Indeed, there was a time — a short but dismaying time — when many Americans began to distrust the word which derived from ‘free.’
“One thing we must all do. We must cherish and honor the word ‘free’ or it will cease to apply to us.
“And that would be an inconceivable situation.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt, “Tomorrow Is Now” (1963)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)
Adolph Hitler and Senator Joseph McCarthy: These are the role models being emulated by today’s opponents of “liberalism.”
And if that doesn’t scare you out of your senses, nothing will.
I swear, the Bard knew more about the mind and the soul of man than all the later psychologists and philosophers — all the Freuds, the Jungs, and the Schopenhauers — combined.
Writing the words for his character Ariel, he summed up the cause of all of our troubles thus:
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
– William Shakespeare, “The Tempest,” Act I, Scene 2
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
They have different faces, live in various parts of the world, and speak a multitude of languages; but they’re here, all right. And I don’t need to name them.
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