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.”
The story accompanying this photo talks about the worsening traffic conditions in the Washington, D.C. area, which now reportedly boasts the longest daily commutes in the United States.
Screen shot from BBC report – July 23, 2025
But, as my D.C. and Maryland friends will attest, Interstate 695, shown above, is actually Baltimore’s Beltway — not Washington’s, which is I-95 and I-495, as seen below.
(Please don’t ask why it has different designations for the western arc and the eastern arc, or why some stretches share both numbers; I’ve never seen the sense of it, and I lived most of my life there.)
The Real Washington Beltway, Probably on a Sunday
So, is the I-695 photo just a case of human error, or the result of another AI screw-up? It’s impossible to tell the difference these days; but either way, it’s a good example of why we shouldn’t take everything we see online as gospel.
In all fairness, though, the first picture was taken from a BBC report, so perhaps we should simply forgive our friends across the Pond for not being familiar with our highway system. After all, I wouldn’t have a clue as to the quickest route from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle.
This is not a hypothetical question: the Russian government is actually working on it. YouTube has become so popular in Russia, with millions of viewers across the country, that the government considers it a major threat unless it can control its content. They have tried to convince parent company Google to locate its servers inside Russia in order to make them accessible to Russian regulators, but without success. And so far, all they’ve managed to do is slow the service down to “unbearable” speeds. [Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, July 25, 2025.]
The sign on the left reads: “Creativity should be free”
According to market research from Mediascope, 95.9 million Russians — adults and teenagers — visited YouTube each month during the last half of 2024. As regulators began slowing the service, the numbers dropped somewhat in the first half of 2025.
At least five potential challengers have joined the Russian Internet (RuNet) in the hope of drawing viewers away from YouTube.The most viable competitor thus far is Russia’s equivalent to Facebook, known as VK Video (VK is short for VKontakte, or “In Contact”) — a service created by Pavel Durov, who fled Russia when the government began pressuring him to release confidential information on his customers, and later co-founded the highly successful Telegram messaging service.
According to Philipp Dietrich, an expert on Russia’s Internet at the German Council on Foreign Relations:
“I think the only real big alternative is VK Video. I think that’s the main player. They have the money. They’re government-backed. They’re going to go all-in here. They have the servers, the infrastructure, they have good software, they have good engineers, if money doesn’t get into corruption, if it actually goes where it’s supposed to go, VK is going to be a success.” [Id.]
VK Video Options
It’s no secret that Vladimir Putin has turned Russia back into an autocratic state . . . or that one of the first agenda items of an autocracy is control of the media. So none of this comes as a surprise.
But I’m unable to see how blocking YouTube would square with the government’s promotion of the Canadian Feenstra family, now living on their large farm in the Nizhny Novgorod region and broadcasting almost daily on YouTube to advertise the idyllic life to be found in Russia for other conservative families from Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere.
The Feenstras — Arend, Anneesa, and their eight children — have become the poster children for Putin’s attempts to counteract the disturbing decrease in the country’s population through his twin programs of welcoming large, conservative families from abroad, and encouraging young Russians to . . . well, to put it bluntly . . . procreate.
For the Russian families, there are financial incentives; and for emigre families, there is land, accessibility to farming and building materials and equipment, and the promise of protection from the “wokeness” of the West for their children.
And for the Feenstras, instant fame.
The Feenstra Family
They are an exceptional family — smart, hard-working, devoted to one another, and personable on-camera. As my readers know, I have been following their progress through their YouTube broadcasts since their arrival in Russia at the beginning of 2024. And I’m very worried that, if YouTube is blocked, I will lose them.
But more importantly, what will happen to them if they no longer have access to worldwide social media, and are limited to Russian services? Will they lose their propaganda value to the state, and some of their privileges as well? Or will the government find some work-around to allow them to keep broadcasting?
We’ll have to wait for the answers to those questions. In the meantime, of course, I’m sticking with the Feenstras and their daily adventures in beautiful, woke-free Nizhny Novgorod.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, yesterday’s meeting in Istanbul between the Russian delegation — led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky — and the Ukrainian team — headed by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov — concluded after barely an hour with an agreement to swap 1,200 prisoners of war and for Russia to return the bodies of 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
But no movement toward a ceasefire.
A Photo Op, and Not Much More – July 23, 2025
And just hours later, the two countries once again exchanged drone strikes, killing two and injuring another eleven people in the Russian resort city of Sochi, with three killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and several injured in Cherkasy and Zaporizhzhia.
In addition, a Russian missile attack struck — not a military facility, as they consistently claim to be targeting — but Odesa’s 200-year-old Pryvoz Market: an historic landmark, and one of the two most popular markets in Odesa.
Pryvoz Market, Odesa, Ukraine – An Historic Landmark
Pryvoz Market, On a Normal Day
Pryvoz Market – July 24, 2025
Ahead of the meeting at Istanbul, Ukraine’s Umerov said that Kyiv’s priority was to organize a meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Putin before the end of August; while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that they did “. . . not expect a breakthrough. A breakthrough is hardly possible.” [Laura Gozzi, BBC News, July 24, 2025.]
Peskov said further:
“They [Ukraine] are trying to put the cart slightly ahead of the horse,” adding that there was a great deal of work yet to be done before such a meeting could take place. [Id.]
“Nope … not gonna happen”
Once again, Putin has made it quite clear that he has no intention of entering into peace negotiations in the foreseeable future. So I’ll say it one more time, in the hope that someone in Washington is listening:
It’s way past time to quit making empty threats, and put a stop to Russia’s war machine, once and for all. What in hell are we waiting for?
Why would the man who, for the past six years, has led Ukraine steadily toward membership in the EU and NATO; worked tirelessly to solidify his country’s relations with the West; and, for three and a half grueling years, inspired his people in their fight against Russia’s brutal invasion . . . why would he suddenly sign into law a bill granting control of the country’s two independent anti-corruption agencies to the Prosecutor General — an appointee of the President?
President Volodymyr Zelensky
That is the question on everyone’s mind this week, since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did exactly that on Tuesday, after the bill received the backing of 263 out of 324 members of Parliament.
And it took less than a day for the people in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv and Sumy — despite the constant threat of Russian drone and missile attacks — to take to the streets in protest.
“Corruption Loves Silence! Do Not Be Silent!”
One protester in Dnipro, a city not far from the southeastern front said:
“We had two relatively independent institutions that at least created the appearance — or even the reality — of checks and balances. If we dismantle them, we’ll slide into a fully controlled state. I wouldn’t want to live in a country like that.” [Steve Gutterman, RFE/RL, July 23, 2025.]
“This is not the future my brother died for”
And a war veteran attending the protest in Kyiv on July 22nd said:
“In essence, Ukraine is being dragged 10 years back in terms of the fight against corruption. By stripping NABU of its autonomy, they are gradually dismantling everything that’s been built up over the years. I’m in shock, my friends are in shock.”[Id.]
“Hands off of NABU and SAP”
*. *. *
In a nightly address on July 22nd, Zelensky had defended the draft legislation, saying that it would improve anti-graft efforts and remove “Russian influence.” But later on July 23rd, he said he would soon propose another bill, which would still guard against Russian interference but would also provide for “the independence of anti-corruption institutions.” [Steve Gutterman, RFE/RL, July 23, 2025.]
He did not specify at that time whether the new bill would supersede the one he had signed the day before.
Previous Ukrainian administrations had been known for rampant corruption, though there has been some improvement since the two agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) — were created in 2014 as a condition set by the EC and IMF in order to strengthen ties between Ukraine and the West.
Asked by the EC for “explanations,” Zelensky argued that steps had to be taken to remedy NABU’s and SAP’s record of allowing criminal proceedings to stagnate for years, and that they needed to be “cleansed from Russian influence.” [Laura Gozzi and Charlotte Gallagher, BBC, July 23, 2025.]
A spokesman for EC President Ursula Von der Leyen reiterated that respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption were “core elements” of EU membership, and that Ukraine — as a candidate country since 2022 — was expected to maintain those standards.
“There cannot be a compromise,” the spokesman added. [Id.]
EC President Ursula Von der Leyen, with President Zelensky
Aside from the obvious domestic implications, there is now an overwhelming concern as to the effect this action may have on Western support of Ukraine against Russia’s continuing onslaught.
But at least one person is happy today: Vladimir Putin, who would see this as a golden opportunity to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its allies, and to advance his demand that an immediate presidential election be held to “legitimize” or replace Zelensky.
After all that the people of Ukraine have been through, and all that the West has done to help them, we can only hope that President Zelensky is able to make this right.
Because anything less would be an unspeakable tragedy.
Walter Sterling Surrey (July 24, 1915 – January 30, 1989)
He would have been 110 years old today; and I can’t even begin to imagine how cantankerous he would have become by now. But I’d give anything to have him back here, fixing the things that have gone wrong with the world since he left it in 1989.
I didn’t know him in his earlier years, of course — the learning period at the University of Virginia and Yale University Law School; the years of his service in the OSS during World War II; his time in the State Department where he was the chief legal draftsman of both the Marshall Plan and the NATO Treaty; or when he worked with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger to reopen U.S. relations with China.
What I remember are those ten years of working with him — from 1979 to 1989 — when he was senior partner of the Washington-based international law firm of Surrey & Morse, advising his corporate clients on the fine art of doing business in numerous countries throughout the world.
I remember the calls from the State Department seeking his advice on a variety of delicate issues.
I remember his unsolicited advice to the Kremlin in 1983, via a contact in the Soviet Embassy in Washington, when Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down by Soviet fighter jets, with the newest member of our firm onboard.
I recall the meetings in our offices with Soviet officials, delegations from Beijing, and representatives of the widow of the last Shah of Iran.
And how could I ever forget our colossal fights when he was in one of his infrequent, but notorious, bad moods — usually because he wasn’t feeling well but refused to stay at home?
But most of all I remember his wicked sense of humor, his generosity, and his limitless capacity for drawing people to him and caring for them as though they were his own family . . . myself included.
For his sake, I’m glad he’s not around to see what has happened to our country — in fact, to the entire world — in his absence. But selfishly, how I wish he were here . . . running me ragged with his boundless energy and enthusiasm; sitting me down to talk things out when he sensed that I had a personal problem; and affectionately calling me “Bitch” on those rare occasions when I might verbally get the better of him.
And I remember, with renewed pain, the feeling that part of me had also died when I got the call from his wife that dreadful day in January of ‘89.
So, happy 110th, Walter. Thanks for giving me a decade of the most interesting, most frustrating, most educational, most exhausting, and most fun-filled years of my life.
The new rule of order in the U.S.. House of Representatives:
When there is reason to anticipate a vote against White House interests, call an early recess and send everyone home for a month.
House Speaker Mike Johnson
It may not be written in any rule book, but it is what House Speaker Mike Johnson did yesterday in order to forestall a vote on any measures related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, when it seemed that members of his own Republican party might cross party lines to vote for transparency in matters that could prove troublesome (or worse) to Donald Trump and/or other former friends of Epstein.
Now Trump has until September to work his “magic” (translation: “bullying”) on any members who might have dared do what they were elected to do, i.e., vote their consciences.
The Bully-in-Chief
And all the others who suspect they may be on Epstein’s notorious list — if such a list does indeed exist — now have an extra month to try to cover their tracks, just in case.
But this tactic is neither new nor surprising; it’s the way our so-called democratic government operates now. And it’s our own fault; we elected these self-serving, weak-kneed, sycophantic morons.
As Karl Marx said:
“The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
In the Soviet Union, they were called the Young Pioneers — an organization established by Vladimir Lenin in 1922 for the political indoctrination of children ages 9 to 14. And for the most vulnerable — the littlest Russians aged 9 and under — there was the Little Octobrist group.
Young Pioneers, with Leonid Brezhnev (3rd row, 5th from left)
Today, Vladimir Putin has once more politicized the school curriculum throughout Russia as he turns his country back to the authoritarian form of government he has so sorely missed since the breakup of the Soviet Union, which he called the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.
But he has also realized, since his invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago and his occupation of approximately 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, that he has an enormous new source of young minds to mold to his liking: the thousands of children living in the occupied areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian Children in Russian-Occupied Donetsk Orphanage
In nursery schools, the children are taught to salute the Russian flag; to honor the black-and-orange military banner signifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and to jump up and down while singing the contemporary song, “I am Russian.” [Vitaly Shevchenko, BBC Monitoring, July 20, 2025.]
And the powerful, Kremlin-backed Yunarmia (Youth Army) organization, which operates across Russia and now has branches in occupied areas of Ukraine, accepts members as young as eight years old. The head of Yunarmia’s branch in the Zaporizhzhia region, Fidail Bikbulatov, explains:
“We’re providing children with some basic skills which they’ll find useful should they decide to join military service.” [Id.]
Right . . . as though they’ll have a choice.
Yunarmia Branch at Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
And there are the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken on “tours” of Russia, and never returned. They have been kidnapped, placed with foster families or in “reeducation camps.” Despite demands from Ukraine and from international human rights organizations, the children remain in Russian custody. (An estimated 19,500 children have been deported to Russia since the 2022 invasion, of whom only around 1,400 have been returned to Ukraine.) [Una Cilic, Maryana Sych and Kateryna Farbar, RFE/RL, July 21, 2025.]
“Reeducating” Ukraine’s Youth
Earlier this month, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Russia guilty of human rights violations including the forced deportation of children.
And a report by the global think tank Globsec talks of Moscow’s intention to “steal” Ukraine’s future:
“Russia’s weaponization of population displacement and the deportation of children represents one of the most deliberate and devastating assaults on a civilian population in modern European history. Far from being unintended consequences of war, these are core components of the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare strategy, designed to weaken Ukraine’s demographic resilience in what has become a protracted conflict.” [Id.]
*. *. *
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets represents his government in its efforts to bring back civilians and military personnel from Russia, and says that Russia has held back information regarding Ukrainian children:
“From our perspective, we clearly see the main goal of deporting Ukrainian children: to use them as the next generation of Russian soldiers. Their documents are changed, all of them, including birth certificates and education records. They are forced to speak only Russian and to identify themselves as Russian.” [Id.]
Lubinets added that Russian officials are reluctant to return the children “because they fully understand that every returned child is a potential witness. We must acknowledge that Russian propaganda works on them every single day.” [Id.]
Yet Vladimir Putin would have us believe that he wants to end the war in Ukraine; that Ukraine is the aggressor; and that he has no further designs on the rest of Ukraine . . . or any other Eastern European territory.
Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russian-Occupied Crimea
And if you buy that story, then let me tell you about the Tooth Fairy.
Answer: When it’s being conducted by the Witch (or Warlock) itself, of course.
Cartoon by Chris Riddell, Theguardian.com
We’re supposed to believe, and accept unquestioningly, that it’s perfectly all right — in fact, that it’s essential for the purpose of making America great again — for the person occupying the highest office in the land to spend his time and effort pursuing vendettas against . . . oh, just for example (and in no particular order) . . .
Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Rosie O’Donnell, Rupert Murdoch, Barack Obama, James Comey and his daughter Maurene, John Brennan, Zohran Mamdani, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle . . . and even the late John McCain.
Apparently, even death is no guarantee that he’ll leave you in peace once you’ve said or done something to piss him off.
Senator John McCain
But that’s okay. When he does it, it’s justified. Because he says it is. And if he says it, it must be true; ergo, it’s not a witch hunt.
*. *. *
But let anyone — such as legitimate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, or the New York Times, or Paramount’s 60 Minutes — dare to bring forth information the Warlock-in-Chief finds inconvenient, embarrassing, or threatening, and they’re on a witch hunt.
Let his former best friend and White House hanger-on Elon Musk criticize a portion of the most atrocious budget bill ever to be presented to Congress, and he’s on a witch hunt.
Let anyone — even members of his own Justice Department and some of his Republican friends in Congress — demand transparency concerning the notorious Jeffrey Epstein files, and they’re on a witch hunt.
The Trumps, Epstein and Maxwell, in Happier Days
And why? Is it just a symptom of his well-known narcissism? Or is it because he suddenly finds himself on the receiving end of his own favorite weapon: fear? And is it that fear — the fear of exposure, of loss, or of retribution — that makes him lash out in uncontrollable anger and malice?
When you’ve spent a lifetime destroying people for your own financial and political gain, it must be terrifying to suddenly realize that your life choices can eventually come back to bite you on the ass.
Maybe that’s why he’s been doing so much praying lately.
On Sunday evening, July 20th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for peace talks and another prisoner exchange with Russian authorities, to be held sometime during the coming week.
That night, Russia attacked Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine with 426 Shahed-type drones, five Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, and 19 cruise missiles.
The President and the Dictator
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov — apparently referring to an exchange of written demands presented at an earlier meeting in Istanbul — said only:
“There is our draft memorandum — there is a draft memorandum that has been handed over by the Ukrainian side. There is to be an exchange of views and talks on these two drafts, which are diametrically opposed so far.” [RFE/RL, July 22, 2025.]
Dmitry Peskov
Also on Monday, President Zelensky told the public: “Today, I discussed with [Ukrainian Security Council chief] Rustem Umerov the preparations for a prisoner exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side. Umerov reported that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.” [Stuart Lau, BBC News, July 22, 2025.]
Overnight on Monday-Tuesday, Moscow responded with further assaults on the Ukrainian regions of Sumy in the northeast, Odesa in the south, and Kramatorsk in the east, leaving a ten-year-old child dead and at least two dozen people injured. [RFE/RL, July 22, 2025.]
Remains of an Apartment in Kramatorsk – July 22, 2025
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he hoped the talks would be held this week, but still did not confirm an exact date. Indicating that Moscow did not expect a “miraculous breakthrough” from the meeting, he had this to offer:
“We intend to pursue our interests, we intend to ensure our interests and fulfil [sic] the tasks that we set for ourselves from the very beginning.” [Stuart Lau, BBC News, July 22, 2025.]
*. *. *
If you’re thinking you’ve heard all of this before, it’s not your imagination. Moscow’s position has not shifted an inch, and — depending on the Kremlin’s unknown agenda — the most we can hope for out of another meeting is a possible prisoner exchange. While that is always an outcome to celebrate, it falls far short of any sort of peace terms . . . or even a temporary cease-fire. And it affords Putin another opportunity to solidify his stance, while Zelensky comes to the table as the supplicant.
Other than demonstrating Ukraine’s sincere desire to end the war, and Russia’s determination to keep it going to the bitter end, we should not — as Dmitry Peskov said — expect a “miraculous breakthrough.”
Her name is Chenyue Mao; she is a U.S. citizen who has worked for Wells Fargo Bank for 13 years, and is currently managing director of one of the bank’s branches in China. According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ms. Mao has been blocked from leaving the country on allegations of her being “involved in a criminal case currently being handled by Chinese law enforcement authorities and . . . subject to exit restrictions in accordance with the law.” [Gavin Butler, BBC News, July 21, 2025.]
Chenyue Mao
In China, such ambiguous charges could relate to anything from murder or espionage to jaywalking or reading an unapproved publication.
Typically, no further details were forthcoming from the Chinese government, and it isn’t clear whether Ms. Mao is incarcerated, under house arrest, or has merely had her passport confiscated. Wells Fargo has said only that it is “working through the appropriate channels” to secure her return, but similarly did not offer any additional information — if indeed they had any. In light of the present circumstances, Wells Fargo has suspended all travel to China by its personnel.
The U.S. Embassy in Shanghai has told BBC News:
“We track these cases closely, and have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact these arbitrary exit bans have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted US citizens to return home. The Chinese government has, for many years, imposed exit bans on US citizens and other foreign nationals in China, often without a clear and transparent judicial process for resolution.” [Id.]
The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun — addressing a press briefing in Beijing on Monday — stated that “. . . everyone in China, whether they are Chinese or foreigners, must abide by Chinese laws . . . [and that Ms. Mao] has the obligation to cooperate with the investigation.”[Id.]
And then, presumably turning on the charm, he added:
“China will, as always, welcome people from all countries to visit China for tourism and business.” [Id.]
*. *. *
How nice of them. But — as much as I’ve always wanted to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Army at Xi’an, and a panda sanctuary — I think I’ll pass on that invitation for now.
Inside the Forbidden City
And until Ms. Mao’s predicament is resolved and she is allowed to return home, I will add a new section to our hostage list for those detained in China, leading off with a single name.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 