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.”
Last week we were happily able to scratch three names from our list of hostage-prisoners who were included in the release of 14 people from Belarusian prisons: Ihar Karnei, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, and Vladislav Yesypenko.
Sadly, though, Ales Bialiatski and Ihar Losik remain imprisoned, along with too many others who were, for reasons that were not explained, denied release at this time.
Ales BialiatskiIhar Losik
So this week we congratulate those who were freed: Karnei, Tsikhanouski, Yesypenko, and eleven others whose names have not been made public. And we continue to support those who await their turns:
David Barnes Ales Bialiatski (in Belarus) Gordon Black Andrei Chapiuk (in Belarus) Antonina Favorskaya Konstantin Gabov Robert Gilman Stephen James Hubbard Sergey Karelin Ihar Karnei (in Belarus) Vadim Kobzev Darya Kozyreva Artyom Kriger Uladzimir Labkovich (in Belarus) Michael Travis Leake Aleksei Liptser Ihar Losik (in Belarus) Mikita Losik (in Belarus) Daniel Martindale Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan) Nika Novak Marfa Rabkova (in Belarus) Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler) Igor Sergunin Dmitry Shatresov Robert Shonov Eugene Spector Valiantsin Stafanovic (in Belarus) Siarhei Tsikhanouski (in Belarus) Laurent Vinatier Robert Romanov Woodland Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea, Ukraine) Yuras Zyankovich (in Belarus)
While advanced math is not my field of expertise, I do have a pretty firm grasp of basic arithmetic, which was actually taught to us in a logical manner back in the good old days of “reading and writing and ‘rithmetic.” I can even add and subtract numbers in my head, without having to consult that little calculator thing on my phone.
But today I find myself faced with a puzzle I am unable to solve, and I’m here to ask my readers’ help. The calculations seem simple enough, but the result keeps coming up all wrong.
To begin with, I dug up some current figures (thank you, Google) on various segments of the U.S. population. As of the present time, we have:
26 members of the Presidential Cabinet 535 members of Congress, divided as follows: — 100 Senators — 435 Representatives 9 Supreme Court Justices 1,761 other federal judges in 208 appellate, district and special courts 50 state governors 8,500 +/- ICE enforcement agents 2,000,000 +/- active duty members of the military 3,000,000 +/- civilian government employees in more than 400 agencies 347,000,000 +/- total U.S. population – and – 1 Donald Trump
My puzzle has nothing to do with total numbers, or percentages of government employees vs. civilians. What I really need to know is . . .
WHAT IN HELL ARE THEY ALL AFRAID OF??!!!
How can one person — one unattractive, unprepossessing, ineloquent, untruthful, unempathetic, narcissistic, sarcastic, insulting individual — wield so much power over so many?
Setting aside the millions of us ordinary taxpayers, both civilian and military, let’s just consider the so-called “power elite”: the 26 members of the Cabinet, the 535 members of Congress, the 9 Supreme Court justices, the other 1,761 federal judges, and the 50 state governors — a total of 2,381 highly-educated, supposedly intelligent people in positions of considerable authority. (Yes, I added that in my head.) Factor in an unknown number of heads of various governmental agencies, universities, media outlets, and the like, and we’re talking about well over 3,000 very impressive individuals . . . all knuckling under to one big bully.
For God’s sake . . . WHY?!!
Are they all so terrified of losing their jobs? Or might all 3,000+ people possibly have some deep, dark, personal secrets they’re afraid of having revealed? . . . every last one of them? Even if that were true, could Trump conceivably have knowledge of the skeletons in all of their closets?
And — let’s face it — could their dirty laundry possibly be any dirtier than his?
So what is it? How does one individual manage to gain that type of hypnotic control over masses of people. Vladimir Lenin did it in Russia; Adolph Hitler did it in Germany. And somehow — in some incomprehensible way — Donald Trump is doing it in the United States.
I can see only one link. Lenin and Hitler rose to power when their countries were in economic and social turmoil; they were in the right place at the right time, and they spoke to the outliers of society — the marginalized populace in search of a savior. And that is the lesson Trump has chosen to learn from centuries of the world’s history: the way to absolute authoritarianism.
We all know how things turned out for Russia, Germany, and much of Europe under Lenin and Hitler. Are we going to allow history to repeat itself again?
“Trump hails ‘giant win’ after Supreme Court curbs judges’ power to block his orders.” [BBC World News, June 27, 2025.]
Accompanying the article was this gloating image:
One of only three who dissented, Justice Sonia Sotomayor bravely spoke out, calling it an ‘open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
When the highest court in the land and the majority of both houses of the Congress are in the firm grip of a tyrant with no thought but his own satisfaction, the 250-year-old experiment known as American Democracy is within inches of failing.
What was once a shining beacon of hope . . . a symbol of freedom, equality and peace . . . is no longer the America I knew and loved.
The human brain is a strange and wonderfully labyrinthine organ. A single, random thought can lead you to places you didn’t realize existed . . . and sometimes wish you had never discovered.
Now, you know I’m going to give you an example . . . right?
In Russia, Vladimir Putin declared 2024 to be The Year of the Family. For 12 full months, he promoted and rewarded — with great fanfare and monetary incentives — couples who had happily produced multiple children and espoused conservative, family-first values. In and of themselves, large families are great . . . provided you have the desire, the temperament, and the resources to house, feed, clothe and educate all those children.
But Putin took the fun out of child-rearing by declaring it every couple’s obligation to the state, even going so far as to authorize time out on the job for a little afternoon delight, just to help things along. Russia’s population had been in serious decline for some time, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of young men to Putin’s war in Ukraine has only exacerbated the situation. So he declared that people must procreate.
And to further augment the numbers, he has been inviting conservative families with multiple children to emigrate from other countries to Russia, capitalizing on their naïveté by luring them with promises of an idyllic life on a piece of land of their own, and the opportunity to live free of the Western “evils” of liberalism. The Feenstra family of Saskatchewan, Canada, is a prime example.
The Feenstra Family
But Putin is not the only one who has jumped on the “family values” bandwagon. Here in the U.S., I have recently read (and written) about the burgeoning pronatalist movement, and the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC). The pronatalists, as the name suggests, are advocates of large families — the more, the merrier. And the CREC churches promote, not only large families, but an all-Christian, patriarchal society in which women would revert to being little more than baby-making machines and servants to their masters.
Elon Musk is one noted proponent of pronatalism, having already fathered at least 14 children with various women, and expressed his intention to keep going; JD Vance’s church is a member of CREC. Others have been known to speak in favor of “White Christian Nationalism,” including Donald Trump, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
And to be sure the increased population is comprised only of the most “desirable” individuals, certain steps have to be taken. So the current administration has plunged headfirst into a frenzy of deportations and entry visa restrictions, aimed primarily at Hispanics, Middle Easterners and Black Africans. But White South Africans have been made welcome, as well as Europeans with enough money to buy their way through the front door via Trump’s $5 million “gold” visa cards.
While Adolph Hitler went to the demonic extreme of slaughtering Germany’s “undesirable” citizens — Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and the mentally or physically disabled — Trump’s methods are far more subtle than those of a drug-crazed homicidal maniac. By simply eliminating programs fostering DEI and assistance to LGBTQ people, and withdrawing funding from universities and other institutions that promote DEI, he strives to make life untenable for a huge segment of the national population.
It appears to be a simple equation: While working to increase one sector of the population — the “desirables” — you begin simultaneously eliminating the so-called “undesirables” . . . thereby (hopefully) resulting in an eventual net gain.
And, with some careful planning and a little bit of luck, the remainder will be mostly comprised of White Christian nationalists.
At least, that’s the way it appears to me.
Now . . . would someone please prove me wrong? PLEASE??!!!
To the rest of the world, the subtleties of Russian humor can be difficult to appreciate. But sometimes, Russian officials can be truly hilarious when they are trying their hardest to remain serious.
Take, for example, the statement by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at yesterday’s annual Ministry press conference, in which she announced that the German ambassador to Moscow will soon be summoned in order to inform him of “retaliatory measures” in response to the alleged “harassment of Russian journalists based in Germany.” [Dmitry Antonov, Gleb Stolyarov and Mark Trevelyan, Reuters, June 26, 2025.]
Some (an unspecified number) of Russia’s reporters in Germany have apparently recently been expelled. Zakharova said that Germany was applying undue “pressure and harassment” against Russian journalists and their family members, and she had previously addressed the issue of passports being revoked and limitations being placed on the journalists’ freedom of movement. Germany says that the expulsions were due to violation of residence rules, and that Russian journalists are able to report freely. [Id.]
This seems to be just another of those diplomatic tit-for-tat situations that arise between countries from time to time . . . and ultimately prove to be much ado about nothing. But coming from the nation with arguably the world’s worst record of persecution of journalists and others who dare to criticize the government, it is nothing short of ludicrous.
How quickly the Russians forget the hundreds of political prisoners currently being held on trumped-up charges of treason and espionage. Do they think the world has forgotten American journalist Evan Gershkovich? Or their own outspoken critics, including Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, and Aleksei Navalny?
Evan Gershkovich
Germany sent the Russian journalists packing; they weren’t sentenced to years in a maximum-security penal colony for “spying” . . . or assassinated while walking home.
Vladimir Putin and his minions really need to learn when to hold back on the righteous indignation. Sometimes it just makes them look foolish.
But I do so enjoy a good laugh at Putin’s expense.
Sometimes I stumble across the most interesting news items quite by accident. This one was a tacked-on paragraph — almost a footnote — to a story about an ICE prisoner, Canadian citizen Johnny Noviello, who died in custody in Florida while awaiting deportation.
Johnny Noviello
A lawful permanent resident of the U.S. since 1991, he was convicted in 2023 of drug trafficking and racketeering in Florida and sentenced to 12 months in prison. Last month, he was arrested by ICE while at the Florida Department of Corrections Probation Office — assumedly complying with the terms of his release — and charged with “removability” because of his earlier conviction.
While in custody at the Miami Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center, Noviello, age 49, was found unresponsive, upon which — according to ICE — medical staff at the facility “responded immediately and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator shock and called 911.” He was pronounced dead within the hour; the cause of death remains under investigation. [William Vaillancourt, Daily Beast, June 26, 2025.]
I’m not yet sure, based on the limited information available, what to think of Noviello’s case. Yes, he was a convicted criminal. But he was in the country legally; he was not undocumented; he had served his sentence, even earning early release for good behavior; and he was properly reporting to the probation office when he was scooped up for deportation. So to my mind, the hypothetical “jury” is still out on this one.
But then the last three paragraphs of the article caught my eye. I quote:
“According to ICE records, at least seven other individuals have died in their custody since Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump was inaugurated.
“The Trump administration has also been detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. military base in Cuba, while sending others to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison.
“Additionally, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced this week that the administration will use funds from the gutted Federal Emergency Management Administration [FEMA] to spend on an ‘alligator Alcatraz’ detention center on a remote Everglades airfield.” [Id.] [Bold emphasis is mine.]
Guantanamo Bay Prison
*. *. *
The first two quoted paragraphs make me wonder what sort of conditions and treatment these prisoners are being subjected to, when seven have already died . . . and whether the causes of their deaths are being properly investigated and reported.
But equally important is that brief mention, highlighted above, of a projected “Alligator Alcatraz.” Just some of the questions incubating in my mind are:
— Is this facility intended to take the place of the previously-proposed restoration of the real Alcatraz off the coast of San Francisco? Has that one proven to be too expensive? Or are we to have a coast-to-coast archipelago of prison camps — our very own GULAG — like the one Vladimir Putin inherited from his predecessors and continues to utilize as housing for his political and other prisoners?
Russian Prison Camp
— Since the proposed renovation and expansion of the original Alcatraz (aptly nicknamed “the Rock” for its isolated island location) is estimated to take a couple of years to complete, is this new project being undertaken because it will be faster to implement? If so, what are we talking about: solid structures, or some sort of “tent city”?
— And why on a treeless airfield in the middle of steaming Florida Everglades swamp country? I don’t suppose anyone has factored in the cost of air-conditioning. What new kind of hell is envisioned for these people, most of whom have done nothing worse than come to America to build a new, better life for themselves and their families? Even the actual criminals among them deserve better than that.
Everglades Swamp Country
— And finally, is this what DOGE had in mind when they decimated FEMA, the government agency that for nearly half a century has saved countless lives and helped victims of disasters put their lives back together? So that Trump could have enough money to destroy thousands of additional lives?
Soulmates: Donald Trump and Kristi Noem
I ask you: What in the name of all that’s holy is wrong with these people??!!!
Just sayin’ . . .
Brendochka 6/27/25
UPDATE: Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has said that “Canadian consular officials are urgently seeking more information from US officials,” adding that further details will not be provided in order to respect the family’s privacy. [Emma Tucker, CNN, June 26, 2025.]
There’s always someone willing and able to make a small fortune out of someone else’s tragedy. In Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, it was the innkeeper / grave robber, M. Thenardier, who descended into the sewers below Paris to rob the dead of their jewels and gold fillings following the unsuccessful students’ uprising. After all, they were dead; they didn’t need their valuables any longer . . . or so he rationalized.
From Les Miserables
That was in 19th century France. In today’s Russia, it’s the funeral industry that is capitalizing on the government’s “special military operation” against Ukraine. While official Russian combat casualty statistics are kept secret, estimated deaths are in the hundreds of thousands. And as the bodies of the dead are returned home, the demand for caskets, burial sites and funeral services has skyrocketed.
And so has the cost of all of those necessities — by an estimated 12.7% in the first four months of 2025 over the same period last year, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. [RFE/RL, June 26, 2025.]
Allegedly, families of the war dead are reimbursed by the government for funeral expenses up to a limit of about $650 in most regions, and around $880 in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol (in Russian-occupied Crimea). The current average cost, nationwide, was $750 in 2024, and would obviously be higher now. Anything above the reimbursable amount would be the responsibility of the deceased’s family. [Id.]
Burial in a Russian Village
That is, if there were actually funds disbursed to the families. Some have complained that the government’s promises are being ignored. One woman, whose father was killed in combat near Pokrovsk, Ukraine, said on social media:
“I paid for everything myself. There was no burial service, no death benefits. No one came, not even a representative from the military commissariat or the brigade where he served.” [Id.]
Russia’s average income per capita in December of 2024 was about $8,100 [ceicdata.com], with inflation running rampant. Many of the soldiers fighting in Ukraine enlisted only because they were offered substantial bonuses — money that was desperately needed to support their families. Under the circumstances, $750 is an astronomical amount of money to most of the country’s average citizens.
But the funeral industry is thriving. Nearly 200 new funeral-related businesses have opened this year alone, with the greatest number reported in Tatarstan, the Moscow region, and St. Petersburg. [RFE/RL, op.cit.]
While the funeral parlors and casket-makers themselves have doubtless seen their costs rise, the increased demand brought about by the devastating war in Ukraine has also provided an opportunity for a sizable amount of profiteering by a bunch of “entrepreneurs” . . . at the expense of their grieving friends and neighbors.
It may be business as usual . . . but it also seems a bit Ebenezer Scrooge-ish to me. Or maybe I’m just too much of an idealist.
The two-day NATO summit at The Hague ended satisfactorily for nearly everyone. Donald Trump basked in the glow of a bit of obsequious flattery from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and succeeded in convincing the European members to work toward increasing their defense spending to five percent of GDP.
The heads of the European allied nations were happy to hear Trump pledge his loyalty to the bloc and to the terms of Article 5 — the mutual defense clause stating that an attack on any one of the 32 NATO members is an attack on all.
And strong language was included in the final summit declaration, identifying Russia as a “long-term threat” to Euro-Atlantic security.
Donald Trump with Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO
One person was not happy, however: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was present as an observer, and who had come to plead his case once more — not only for a path to NATO membership — but for continued support in the defense of his country against Russia’s unflagging onslaught.
But — unlike the tenor of the 2023 and 2024 summits — this one made no mention of potential membership for Ukraine . . . nor did the final declaration include language condemning Russia’s invasion. There was not even a NATO-Ukraine Council, and Zelensky was limited to attendance at side events and the main social event, the summit dinner with spouses.
There was, however, a brief passage stating that “allies reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours, and, to this end, will include direct contributions towards Ukraine’s defense and its defense industry when calculating Allies’ defense spending.” [Rikard Jozwiak, RFE/RL, June 25, 2025.]
Well . . . Whoop-de-do!
Except for a brief sideline chat with Trump, Zelensky might just as well have stayed home.
In fact, for what they accomplished, they could all have stayed home and set up a Zoom call.
But then they would have missed a lovely dinner with the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
Currently, 72 percent of Mexico’s total natural gas requirement comes from imports . . . almost all of it from the United States, and mostly via pipelines. The country relies on the fuel primarily to generate electricity and for industrial purposes.
But in January, Mexican sources revealed that they were accelerating plans to double the country’s strategic gas storage due to concerns that Donald Trump might use their dependence on U.S. gas as leverage. [Natalia Siniawski, Reuters, June 21, 2025.]
And that must have been music to Vladimir Putin’s ears.
Because on Saturday, June 21st, the Russian Embassy in Mexico posted on X that Russia is ready to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Mexico and to share oil extraction and processing technologies.This would no doubt include financial and technical assistance to Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, in its efforts to reactivate many of its wells that have been closed due to lack of funding and an aging infrastructure. [Id.]
Ignoring, for the moment, the economic ramifications of such a deal, I would find it more than a little discomfiting — particularly as someone who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 — to find the Putin government setting up camp on the territory of an adjacent neighbor that obviously is losing (or has already lost) faith in the United States as a long-time friend and trade partner.
I have these friends — friends of my late sister, actually — lovely people with whom I keep in touch through the wonders of Facebook. They’re a close-knit family who love life — the widowed mother (about my age), a son and daughter-in-law, a daughter and son-in-law, and teenage grandchildren — and who never miss an opportunity to celebrate together and with their large circle of friends.
There’s always a reason to party: a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or some sort of holiday. There is a consistency to their festivities: they invariably involve good food, and plenty of it, in the time-honored tradition of breaking bread and sharing it.
And decorations. These folks know how to decorate, and definitely subscribe to the philosophy that says you can’t overdo a good thing. They festoon their respective homes, inside and out, with the joy of every season and every holiday, and — like their food — they share their happiness with the world.
Needless to say, Christmas is the big event. There is so much Christmas to be displayed, they have to start decorating early, way before Thanksgiving. I honestly don’t know where they store everything throughout the year, but they are obviously the most well-organized group of people you’re ever likely to run across.
But today they — or rather, the son — outdid himself by posting on FB a reminder that Christmas is exactly six months from today, and included a picture of an amazing (and amazingly large) new decoration that he had finally found after searching for it for ages.
In June. In 115-degree weather. And he’s out there “doing” Christmas.
And I’m in here, in the air-conditioned comfort of my undecorated home, thinking:
“Enough, already!”
No, I am not the Grinch. I love the spirit of Christmas, and all of the kitsch that goes with it. But I love it in December, when it’s cold (or at least cool) outdoors. Some of my fondest memories are of heading out on the day after Thanksgiving to begin the rounds of the newly-decorated stores, making lists (and checking them twice), baking cookies, decorating, partying, addressing cards, wrapping, hiding the gifts from prying eyes . . . all of it crammed into one spirited, fun-filled, exhausting month.
And I remember being sad when it was over for another year, but having something to look forward to for the next eleven months.
But then some fool came up with the idea of “Christmas in July,” and ruined the whole thing.
I want cookouts in July and August . . . not Christmas. I love a fall festival and trick-or-treat in September and October . . . not Christmas. And November should be about Thanksgiving . . . not some afterthought in the midst of Christmas preparations. I don’t want to be sick of Christmas before it even arrives.
But the merchandisers say otherwise. They’re not stupid . . . just greedy. They know that we’ll see the wisdom of getting a jump on our shopping and spreading the cash outflow over a period of several months. They also know that, by holding back the very best of their goods until November, we’ll buy even more. It’s diabolical!
But Santa and his elves need a break, for heaven’s sake! They need time to make all the toys and other goodies. And we recipients of their gifts need time throughout the year to celebrate other things, and to regain the wonder of that feeling of anticipation as summer eases into autumn, the nights grow chilly, and the holiday season begins in earnest.
So I say, screw Christmas in July. Grab some hot dogs and burgers, an ice cold lemonade (or a brewski, if you prefer), and head outdoors to enjoy a band concert or the fireworks on a sultry 4th of July evening. Stop wishing your life away, and celebrate the moment, the now.
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