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.”
I’ve been reminded lately of that 1963 movie, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” The film was a comedy; but the title still resonates today, though sadly for different reasons.
I’m sure that we would all be better off if we could just tune out the news for a while and find something to laugh about each day. And apparently, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Frost — who coincidentally passed away in the same year that movie was made — agreed with me, saying:
“If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”
– Robert Frost
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
So, before we all go completely, irrevocably, batshit crazy, why don’t we try to find something to elicit a chuckle, a snicker, or an all-out guffaw now and then. Do something silly: dance fully clothed in the rain, roll on the floor with your kids or the dog, pull out the old Twister game, or watch a rerun of your favorite TV sitcom — whatever works for you.
I watched a couple of episodes of “Would I Lie To You?” on BritBox last night, and laughed so hard my stomach still hurts. And I really do feel better.
On New Year’s Eve Eve, December 30, 2024, I made a single New Year’s resolution — something I hadn’t done in many years — and put it out there to the world. I should have known better.
“Oh, no! Not a New Year’s resolution!”
I committed that act of foolishness in the wake of what had been a very bad year for the world, and on the heels of a U.S. presidential election that clearly wasn’t going to make matters any better. I pledged to seek out, at least once a week, a happy event to serve as the subject of one of my blog posts. Just to lighten things up a bit.
But, as we all know, s*it happens. And in the roughly 19 months since that day, it has happened with increasing regularity . . . to the extent that I completely forgot about that resolution in the chaos of trying to stay sane and balance my budget. (One of those two challenges has been an abject failure; I’ll let you guess which one.)
Anyway, I came across that old article yesterday, and thought I might give it another try — not as a firm resolution this time, but as a goal, or perhaps a survival mechanism. And since the supply of good news is still so unreliable, I’ve decided to reach for inspiration into the past, to a time when my life was rich with fascinating work, good friends, travel, and daily laughter.
They were the Walter years: the ten years, from 1979 to 1989, when I worked with a man the Reader’s Digest would call “my most unforgettable character.” His name was Walter Sterling Surrey, and I’ve written a bit about him before. But I have barely scraped the surface of the endless number of rollicking (or at least amusing) stories about those memorable years. So I will try to recreate the atmosphere of an era when young people still held high hopes for the future, my Honda Accord cost around $12,000, and America was where everyone else wished they lived.
So look for the first chapter of “Life With Walter,” coming soon. I’m hoping it will be a pleasant break from the daily diet of wars, corruption, and natural disasters.
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the shipwrecked character Trinculo muses that “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”
The same might be said of politics, as evidenced by a joint defense agreement entered into among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye on August 7th.
(L-R) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Mecca – August 7, 2026
In the midst of growing tensions in the Middle East and Europe, recent alliances have begun forming that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. But this one, known as the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, is particularly notable for the inclusion of NATO member Türkiye, which has managed to plant itself firmly on the fence between East and West for some time.
And what was especially interesting was one stipulation — eerily reminiscent of the language of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty — stating that:
“ . . . any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”
So you’ve finally landed that plum job you’ve been angling for. By all means, go out and celebrate tonight. But don’t be too quick to delete the curriculum vitae from your documents file. Because you never know what the future might bring.
And that’s especially true when it’s a government job — a high-ranking one — in the Trump administration. Because those positions are as shaky as . . . dare I say it? . . .
. . . a Fiddler on the Roof
(I hope I haven’t violated any copyright laws here, but I just couldn’t find a better analogy.)
Of course, I’m thinking specifically of Todd Blanche today, who — through the good graces of a couple of spineless Republican Senators — has now been promoted from Acting Attorney General to actual Attorney General. I hesitate to call him the “permanent” AG, because . . . well, you remember . . .
Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi
Right. He only has the job because his hapless predecessor displeased the big guy in the Oval Office and got her ass kicked to the curb. Just like former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (remember her?). And a CDC director, an IRS commissioner, and dozens of others who didn’t genuflect quickly or deeply enough in the presence of the Lord High Executioner.
And if Blanche thinks his former incarnation as Trump’s personal attorney in certain criminal matters confers any special protection, he need only think about . . . let’s see now . . . there’s Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, and others too numerous to name here, dating all the way back to Trump’s one-time BFF Roy Cohn, whom he disowned when it became publicly known that he (Cohn) was (1) gay, and (2) suffering from AIDS.
So if Todd Blanche has the slightest inclination toward . . . just for the sake of argument here, let’s say, actually doing the job of enforcing the laws and the Constitution of the United States . . . well, he might not want to burn his bridges with any friends he may have in the private sector. Because I hear the job market is looking pretty grim these days, if you’re actually hoping for a livable wage.
Though I understand Amazon can always use a few good drivers.
Greenland and Denmark certainly haven’t. They continue to refuse even to discuss his “offers” to buy (or otherwise acquire) the strategically-located, mineral-rich island for the United States, and have gone so far as to ramp up their military defenses in the event of a worst-case-scenario attempt at a forcible takeover.
But Trump never takes “no” for an answer.
“HELLO, GREENLAND!”
Now it appears that he has been quietly plotting a secret way into the country via a prospective business deal — the only language he seems to understand. And to no one’s surprise, this one involves oil . . . potentially $1 trillion worth of crude believed to be resting peacefully underground in the Jameson Land region.
The problem is that Greenland’s government hasn’t approved what Trump seems to consider a done deal, i.e., the drilling of one or two exploratory wells in the environmentally protected region, saying in a statement:
“All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority — before they are carried out.” [Tom Burgis, The Guardian, August 8, 2026.]
In fact, Greenland stopped issuing new oil licenses in 2021 on environmental grounds, even though a UK company called 80 Mile had secured exploration rights in Jameson Land.
Jameson Land Basin
Despite the absence of a contract, or even a verbal agreement, an American oil company named Greenland Energy was incorporated in Texas last year for the specific purpose of undertaking oil exploration in Greenland. The company claims to have entered into an agreement with 80 Mile to acquire a majority holding in the project in exchange for funding the exploration — again without government permission. They also say they have “contacted Haliburton [sic], one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies, to provide project management and support for logistics planning and secure other necessary services and logistics for the project.” [Id.]
But Greenland Energy’s website gives no information about itself, its principals, its history, or its financials. It only offers its plans for the future, including this statement — presumably as some sort of assurance of its expertise, but in essence indicating only that it has researched another company’s past work:
“Greenland Energy Company has a comprehensive body of work conducted by US Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) between 1970 and 1990 where more than US$275m was invested (in 2025 US dollars) in detailed exploration and evaluation activities. ARCO’s work identified multiple, very large oil and gas hydrocarbon targets.” [Greenlandenergyco.com]
There is no information as to what, if any, benefit ARCO received for its $275 million expenditure.
And here comes the best part. The chairman of Greenland Energy — and a major shareholder — is one Larry Swets, who is said to enjoy access to Trump’s inner circle, and who offers assurances that the project is “not related to American annexation [of the island].” [The Guardian, op.cit.]
And the company has retained none other than Trump ally Phil McGraw — perhaps more recognizable by his TV moniker of Dr. Phil — and his media company to make a documentary series that will “capture the mission of these modern-day wildcatters.” [Id.]
“Dr. Phil”
I’m surprised they didn’t get Jeff Bezos and Amazon to finance it, after his roaring success with the “Melania” film. But that’s a whole other story . . .
*. *. *
In June, a Greenland Energy representative falsely claimed at a Jameson Land community meeting that the company had received permission to bring drilling equipment there. However, Swets later conceded:
“Our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion.” [Id.]
Confusion? Were they still confused in July when a tug was seen pulling a barge to shore at Jameson, where a dozen shipping containers were unloaded?
The Danish investigative outlet Danwatch quoted the head of the shipping company as confirming that the delivery was indeed made on behalf of Greenland Energy. And a statement by the Greenland government said:
“The goal was to get the equipment onshore at Nunap Qegga [Jameson Land] in connection with planned oil exploration drilling.” [Id.]
This past Thursday, Greenland Energy sent its shareholders a letter, optimistically informing them:
“Recent high-level meetings between project leadership and Greenlandic regulatory and oversight authorities have been constructive, and we continue to be encouraged by the progress being made toward the remaining approvals required for drilling.” [Id.]
Larry Swets, Greenland Energy Chairman
That sounds suspiciously like Trump himself, reporting on yet another “constructive” negotiation with Russia, or Iran, or China. Is there just one person, sitting in a little room somewhere, writing this stuff for everyone?
*. *. *
Seriously, though, where does this leave Greenland? Should they grant permission for the drilling, even though the wells would fall within a conservation area protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands?* Or should they refuse, opening themselves up to the possibility of a hostile move by Trump?
* An international treaty adopted in 1971 for the conservation and sustainable use of all wetlands.
The government’s statement said it “would not be proportionate” to demand removal of the equipment, as an application for permission is currently being processed.
In the meantime, Greenland Energy has said that a vessel carrying 300 shipping containers of drilling equipment is due to sail for Greenland from Canada on September 12th, with drilling to begin in October.
And — despite Larry Swets’ gratuitous assurance that the project is “not related to American annexation” — Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who also happens to serve as Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, has said that Greenland Energy could be pumping oil by next year. [Id.]
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (and Friend)
*. *. *
Trump took Venezuela in a bloody, one-day coup; he helped Israel’s Netanyahu decimate Gaza, where Trump’s son and namesake envisions building a new playground for the rich and famous; he’s been threatening (on and off) to bomb Iran into submission; and he’s hoping to convince the people of Cuba that they’d be happier trading one autocratic ruler for another.
With Greenland, he’s using a different tactic: Making the coup look like a straight-up business transaction. Once he gets a foot in the door . . .
Well, where he would go from there is anybody’s guess.
At the end of yet another week with no news of additional arrests or trials, I return with my weekly homage to the political prisoners, both known and unknown, still awaiting release from Vladimir Putin’s archipelago of prisons and penal colonies.
Siberian Penal Colony
Here again are the names that I have:
*. *. *
Prisoners of War:
The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children The People of Ukraine
Immigrant Detainees in Russia:
Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Endangered Exiles:
Pavel “Pasha” Talankin Mikita Losik Yulia Navalnaya Oleg Orlov Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents
Political Prisoners:
In Afghanistan:
Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American) Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)
Andrei Chapiuk Uladzimir Labkovich Andrzej Poczobut Marfa Rabkova Valiantsin Stafanovic Yuras Zyankovich
In Georgia:
Mzia Amaglobeli
In Russia:
The “Crimea 8”: – Oleg Antipov – Artyom Azatyan – Georgy Azatyan – Aleksandr Bylin – Roman Solomko – Artur Terchanyan – Dmitry Tyazhelykh – Vladimir Zloba
James Scott Rhys Anderson (British) Aleksandr Andreyev David Barnes (American) Yevgenia Berkovich Gordon Black (American) Hayden Davies (British) Yury Dmitriyev Anastasia Dyudyaeva Antonina Favorskaya Konstantin Gabov Robert Gilman (American) Stephen James Hubbard (American) Sergey Karelin Timur Kishukov Vadim Kobzev Darya Kozyreva Artyom Kriger Michael Travis Leake (American) Aleksei Liptser Mikhail Loshchinin Grigory Melkonyants Boris Nadezhdin Nika NovakSvetlana Petriichuk Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea) Ilya Remeslo Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler) Lev Schlossberg Sofiane Sehili (French) Igor Sergunin Dmitry Shatresov Robert Shonov Grigory Skvortsov Eugene Spector (American) Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)Karina Tsurkan Laurent Vinatier Robert Romanov Woodland (American)
You have not been, and will not be, forgotten. Stay strong.
While we’re all focused on Iran, and “Melania” (the miniseries), and the gilding (or gelding) of Washington, this was life — and death — in Kyiv overnight. Two grandparents and their three-year-old grandchild, incinerated in their beds.
Not military targets, not industrial facilities . . . innocent civilians, being eliminated like so many pesky mosquitoes.
Going on five years now, heading into another brutal winter, all because of a regime that won’t say “enough.”
Some 20 years ago, then 84-year-old Kurt Vonnegut wrote a letter to a group of high school students who had invited him — as part of a writing assignment — to speak to their class. Unable to accept the invitation, he nevertheless offered them this advice:
“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.”
– Kurt Vonnegut, 2006
Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007)
I have been writing this blog for nearly four years now, and in that time I have racked up a loyal following of maybe a couple of dozen readers — hardly what one would call going viral. I also have a 300-page draft of a non-fiction book in search of a publisher . . . and no earthly idea of whether it’s even worth the effort to submit it. Sometimes I feel frustrated at what I view as my lack of success, and I ask myself why I keep doing it.
But reading Vonnegut’s words to those students today, I believe I have found the answer to my own question: It’s the sense of satisfaction I invariably feel when I proofread an article for the final time before hitting “Post” and “Share.”
Because, no matter what anyone else may think, I have confirmed to myself for yet another day that, even at my age, I am still sufficiently compos mentis to string words and sentences together in some comprehensible form, and to reach a handful of people as far away as Europe, New Zealand, China, and occasionally — when their internet works — even in Russia.
And when I look back at some of my earlier writings, I am reminded of the things that matter to me, that are meaningful enough to have spent time writing about them. And, as Vonnegut predicted, I do find out something about what’s inside me.
Yes, it would be nice to be able to earn a living as a writer. But there are other forms of compensation besides money . . . and in those, it seems, I am rich indeed.
There’s an old adage that says, “Great minds think alike.” I wonder whether that also applies to sick, twisted, evil minds.
Separated at birth?
Several months after Vladimir Putin’s armies invaded Ukraine in 2022, hundreds of thousands of Russians fled Russia upon learning that Putin had ordered a massive military mobilization. Thousands of them are still living in exile, mostly in various European and Central Asian countries, afraid to return home under threat of being sent to Ukraine to fight an unjust war . . . and meet an almost certain death.
In the interim, numerous onerous laws have been passed by the Russian Parliament, designating as “foreign agents” anyone even suspected of having anti-Putin or anti-war connections or sentiments. Putin’s prisons are filled with dissidents, journalists, and even foreigners guilty of nothing more than speaking the truth, or having contributed to an “undesirable” organization.
And the situation of the expatriates became even more dire on August 4th of this year, when Putin signed a new law that essentially places them in a sort of purgatory, depriving them of certain basic legal rights while technically maintaining their Russian citizenship.
By fleeing the country and speaking out against the war, many of the expatriates already stand convicted of a variety of crimes, including cooperating with “undesirable” organizations, or dishonoring the Russian military. Now the new law deprives them of rights commonly available to all Russian citizens, including renewing their passports, or having a document notarized in support of an application for a marriage license.
The expats are calling it “civil death.” According to Tanya Lokshina, a Russian researcher for the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch:
“Russian citizens technically will not lose their citizenship. They will remain Russian nationals, but without access [to] legal services. It is de-facto statelessness.” [Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, August 6, 2026.]
And, as described by Gleb Bogush, a Russian lawyer now living in Germany:
“[The goal] is to send a message and impose a chilling effect on society, on both those who left and those who remain in the country.” [Id.]
*. *. *
My instinctive reaction as an American — and likely that of most people around the world — is one of sorrow and disgust. My second reaction, as a long-time student of Russian history, is that I’m not really surprised. It’s simply Putinism as we have come to know it over the last quarter century.
And then I read about National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” dated September 25, 2025.
But no . . . this is not another edict by Vladimir Putin. This is a Presidential Memorandum signed nearly a year ago, with little or no fanfare, by Donald J. Trump, as President of the United States:
NSPM-7
It begins with a litany of “Heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence in the United States” — specifically naming the killing of far-right political activist Charlie Kirk, and the alleged attempts on Trump’s own life — and goes on to state:
“There are common recurrent motivations and indicia uniting this pattern of violent and terroristic activities under the umbrella of self-described ‘anti-fascism.’ . . . This ‘anti-fascist’ lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties. Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.” [NSPM-7, September 25, 2025.]
And so on, and so on, as he lays the foundation for this:
“The United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts. Through this comprehensive strategy, law enforcement will disband and uproot networks, entities, and organizations that promote organized violence, violent intimidation, conspiracies against rights, and other efforts to disrupt the functioning of a democratic society.” [Id.]
The entire memorandum, covering some three or four pages, might well have been written by Vladimir Putin himself. It completely echoes the harangues we are accustomed to hearing from the Kremlin against those who dare disagree with official government policy, accusing the dissidents of the very “crimes” of which the administration itself is guilty.
And, while NSPM-7 is not an enforceable law, and does not represent an act of Congress or a ruling of a federal court, just ask yourself when Donald Trump has ever let legality get in the way of anything he wants to do. Think of what events have already taken place in the name of “national security” in the past year and a half.
ICE Victims Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Then, if this “Memorandum” — in reality, a template for the creation of a fascist state — still doesn’t scare you to death, nothing will.
On January 30th, Amazon blew $75 million on a film that nearly everyone knew would be a disaster . . . and it was. “Melania,” starring you-know-who’s wife, grossed all of $16 million, and earned an aggregated film critic score of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes — hardly a surprise, given the popularity of both the subject and her husband.
Much Ado About Nothing
Yet now, inexplicably, the producer of that abomination, Marc Beckman, has announced that a new documentary series on the life of the same Melania Trump is slated to debut this fall, providing “a completely different look at her world.” [Marco Margaritoff, Huffpost, August 5, 2026.]
Beckman optimistically said in a statement:
“You might remember, if you saw the film, we only captured 20 days of the first lady’s life. We open the window a little bit into her private life, her marriage, her family. We open a little deeper into her career, as well as her philanthropy.” [Id.]
[Ed.Note: “Career”? “Philanthropy”? Are we even talking about the same person?]
Anyway, Beckman added that this would be “a full new experience for the viewers,” offering a look at “what happens right at the beginning of the new 47th presidential administration.” [Id.]
The Second Inauguration
But why — I hear you ask, quite logically — would they risk another pile of money on top of an already embarrassing flop? Well, apparently these people are suffering from the same sort of narcissistic delusions that run in the Trump family. Because in June, Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, had this to say:
“It [the movie] did really well. We’ll have another bite at the apple when we release the companion docuseries later this year.” [Id.]
Well . . . okay, then. If they have all the money in the world to spend on crap, and if Melania is sufficiently thick-skinned to subject herself to even more ridicule, I guess they’re entitled to have their fun.
As long as they remember that we’re entitled not to spend our last few dollars to suffer through it.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 