With all of the hoopla about other world events today, let us — we Americans, at least — not forget that today is also Flag Day: the anniversary of the designation by the Continental Congress, in 1777, of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America.

And long may she wave . . . in peace, freedom, and honor.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/14/25

I can’t believe I nearly overlooked this headline in last week’s online news:

“Trump Wants Everyone To Know He’s Building A Big, Beautiful Ballroom“

At first I thought, “Well, so what? He must have ballrooms at Mar-a-Lago and other of his properties. What’s one more?”

And then I saw that this one isn’t personal; it’s going to be built in the White House. The White House in Washington that is owned — not by Donald or any member of the Trump family — but by the people of the United States of America . . . built, maintained and supported by taxpayer money.

That White House.

And I had to wonder — in this era of professed government “austerity” (i.e., the wholesale elimination of jobs and life-saving programs) — how this could be possible. But when I read his justification, it made complete sense. See if you agree:

“Just inspected the site of the new Ballroom that will be built, compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump, at the White House. For 150 years, Presidents, and many others, have wanted a beautiful Ballroom, but it never got built because nobody previously had any knowledge or experience in doing such things — But I do, like maybe nobody else.

“These are the ‘fun’ projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events.” [Lydia O’Connor, Huffpost, June 6, 2025.]

You get it now, don’t you? It’s all about the “fun” part of being President. Not greed, or an ego the size of Asia, or a neurotic need to believe he’s bigger and smarter and better than anyone else ever has been in the entire history of the world . . . or, in his own words, “like maybe nobody else.”

Of course, he’s entitled to a little fun: a $40 million parade that just happens to fall on his birthday . . . or spending nearly every weekend golfing at Mar-a-Lago or one of his other resorts . . . or sending out the Marines to inflame an already largely contained, relatively minor situation in Los Angeles.

Just as long as he continues “thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events,” he’ll be doing his job and we can all sleep soundly.

Though I do hope all that “thinking” doesn’t spoil his fun . . . don’t you?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/14/25

As of this month, an estimated 19,500 children have been identified by Ukrainian authorities as having been forcibly relocated to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied areas within Ukraine. Some have been placed with Russian families for adoption; others are in “reeducation” facilities; all are being brainwashed to become Russian citizens.

For three years, the U.S. State Department has funded Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, part of its School of Public Health, which has been the principal body tracking Russia’s alleged war crimes, including the abduction of Ukrainian children. But now, that funding has been terminated by Donald Trump’s DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency — in their mad frenzy to cut spending in areas they consider superfluous.

And apparently, the lives of those children have been deemed by the U.S. government to be expendable.

The Lab’s executive director, Nathaniel Raymond, has said that funding has all but run out:

“Right now, we are running on fumes, we have about two weeks of money left, mostly through individual donations from our website. As of July 1, we lay off all of our staff across Ukraine and other teams and our work tracking the kids officially ends. We are waiting for our Dunkirk moment, for someone to come rescue us so that we can go attempt to help rescue the kids.” [Kylie Atwood, CNN, June 11, 2025.]

And if there is no “Dunkirk moment” — no 11th-hour miracle — those children may well be lost forever in the morass of Russian bureaucracy, never to be returned to their homes and families.

The Lab’s database containing the identities and other information on the abducted children has been transferred for preservation to the Ukrainian government and the U.S. State Department. The work done thus far by Yale has provided invaluable support to the International Criminal Court, which has issued six indictments against Russia for war crimes against Ukraine — two of them related specifically to the abduction of children.

But without funding, continuation of the Lab’s work will be impossible. A bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives, including Democrat Lloyd Doggett, has written Secretary of State Marco Rubio in support of reinstating the funding, saying in part:

“Research must continue unabated to maintain the rigorous process of identifying every Ukrainian child abducted by Russia. The [Ukraine] Conflict Observatory has verified that at least 19,500 children have been forcibly deported from occupied areas of Ukraine, funneled into reeducation camps or adopted by Russian families, and their identities erased.” [Id.]

I can’t help thinking that the $40 million being spent on Donald Trump’s birthday parade today could instead have gone a long way toward helping those child victims of Putin’s war. Maybe I just have my priorities wrong . . . but somehow, I don’t believe I do.

Not this time.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/14/25

I have often voiced a certain skepticism about coincidences in general. But when a confluence of events — particularly political events — seems too coincidental to be just that, my skepticism turns very quickly to disbelief.

Consider:

> The U.S., in the person of Donald Trump, warns Iran that there will be serious consequences if it does not sign onto a proposed nuclear agreement.

> Russia, in the person of Vladimir Putin, makes a deal with Iran to accept the transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium.

> Israel, in the person of Benjamin Netanyahu, shocks the world by blowing the daylights out of Iran’s nuclear complex and military leadership.

> The U.S. — Trump again — issues a stronger warning to Iran.

> Russia — Putin, of course — steps in as the one person in the world best positioned to mediate.

Coincidence? Really?

*. *. *

I wonder how many people alive today have heard of “Tinker to Evers to Chance” — the legendary infielders of the Chicago Cubs baseball team in the early 1900s, who perfected the double play: “short to second to first.” I don’t go back nearly that far, but they were so famous, that play was still talked about in my family of baseball fans when I was growing up.

And that’s what I am reminded of today, when I look at this situation in the Middle East, threatening another all-out war in a region that is already treacherously unstable. I see a convergence of actions by three world leaders, perfectly aligned to bring Iran to heel in the matter of nuclear containment.

Not that that would be a bad thing, if it is the sincere intent. But it brings to mind, once again, what strange bedfellows are brought together by politics.

And, rather incongruously, today’s news on this situation also brought with it my one good laugh of the day . . . and from the Russian leadership, no less.

In speaking out against Israel’s strike on Iran and the dangers of possible escalation, a lengthy statement was issued by the Foreign Ministry, stating in part:

“Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, peaceful sleeping cities, and nuclear energy infrastructure are categorically unacceptable.

”The international community cannot afford to remain indifferent to such atrocities that destroy peace and harm regional and international security.” [Nathan Hodge, RFE/RL, June 13, 2025.] [Bold emphasis is mine.]

I’m sorry . . . there certainly is nothing funny about the possibility of another war in the Middle East, or anywhere else, for that matter. But come on! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black?!! Russia criticizing another country for attacking “a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, peaceful sleeping cities . . . [and] destroy[ing] peace and harm[ing] regional and international security”??!!!

Honestly? Has Sergei Lavrov — Russia’s Foreign Minister — never heard of a place called Ukraine?

*. *. *

But back on the more serious side, Donald Trump — never to be outdone by Putin — posted on social media that he had recently spoken to the Russian leader and offered himself as broker of an agreement with Iran:

“I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement. President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.” [Id.]

So, might this ill wind actually bring with it something beneficial . . . to Messrs. Trump and Putin, at least? Could this be yet another step toward their goal of full rapprochement between our two countries?

And if so, what a lucky “coincidence” it would be, for them, that Netanyahu provided them with this opportunity.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/13/25

I thought it was a bit unusual when I saw on Wednesday that someone had just read one of my blog posts from last January 14th — titled “Compartments of a Life” — about my narrow escape some 30 years ago from a potential business involvement with a Russian oligarch who later found himself in very hot water, financially and legally. But I realize that sometimes people just stumble across articles while surfing the internet, so I put it out of my mind.

Until later in the evening, that is . . . when the name of the same oligarch, Vladimir Gusinsky, popped up in yet another news article. Of course, it may have been a coincidence in timing; or perhaps someone who had read the news story was searching for other articles on the same subject and just happened across mine. But I’m always a little skeptical about coincidences.

In any event, in the January article, Gusinsky’s name was tied to some other individuals — an American former FBI agent, another Russian oligarch, and a former Russian diplomat — who have been subjects of an FBI investigation and various charges. And it brought back a flood of memories about a job I nearly took that would have had me working closely with Gusinsky, but that I turned down for a wholly unrelated reason.

So I chose to write the January blog post about that 30-year-old incident, and how fortunate I was to have dodged a rather large bullet. And now, six months later, I find myself giving thanks again, as it seems that Gusinsky — who was not actually implicated in the original criminal case against the others — is in the news once more, having himself become of interest to the FBI. It is reported that they have questioned his now estranged wife, as well as employees of the couple’s home in Connecticut, about his ties to the others.

The full story has all the makings of a John Le Carre novel, and can be found in Mike Eckel’s article, “The Diplomat, The Oligarch, The FBI Agent: Russian-American Faces Trial in Deripaska Sanctions Case,” at rferl.org, June 12, 2025.

*. *. *

In the early ‘90s, when so many Americans and other Westerners were rushing headlong into the new business and professional opportunities in Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union, there was no way of knowing what lay ahead: how many Russian billionaires would rise from the ashes of the newly privatized Soviet industries, or the extent of the corruption that would inevitably follow.

But the fallout of those wild years is still being felt three decades later. And while I thoroughly enjoyed being a small part of that initial excitement, and will always be happy to have had the experience, I am now — in a much quieter, saner stage of my life — quite content to sit back and watch the events from the bleachers.

Still, when each year brings a little less to look forward to, it’s nice to have something interesting to look back on.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/13/25

On this date in 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood on the western side of the Berlin Wall before a crowd of German citizens and spoke to the leader of the USSR, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev:

“There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace — if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe — if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

That speech was President Reagan’s reminder that the U.S. was ready to renew negotiations on nuclear arms reductions, and to take whatever steps were appropriate to reduce Cold War tensions. [“This Day In History,” History.com, June 12, 2025.]

But it was much more than that. It was the precursor of momentous events to come. On December 8th of that year, the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; and just two years later, on November 9, 1989, the people of Berlin breached that very wall, and it was — after 28 years of dividing the people of the free West from the communist East — finally torn down. A reunified Germany was ready to begin building a new future.

Another two years after that — on December 26, 1991 — the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist. Its 15 republics became 15 independent nations, and remain so to this day . . . though some less independently than others. (But that is a whole separate story.)

June 12, 1987, remains a day to be celebrated, and one for which Ronald Reagan will always be remembered: a legacy to be proud of, indeed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/12/25

On February 2, 1933, three days after becoming chancellor of Germany, Adolph Hitler told the members of the Reichsrat — a federal body of state representatives charged with monitoring the relationship between the German Reich and the state governments — that the states were the “historic building blocks of the German nation,” and that he would not intrude on the sovereignty of the states, but would assert Reich control only “where absolutely necessary.” [Timothy W. Ryback, The Atlantic, June 10, 2025.]

Three weeks later, on February 27th, the Reichstag building was burned, allegedly by a sole arsonist caught in the act as an attempt to start a Bolshevik revolution. That was all Hitler needed as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and suppress the voting rights of the German Communist Party, and for his supporters in the Reichstag to pass legislation granting him full authoritarian power.

Citing an “eternal battle” between the German states and the central government, he pledged to solve it by dismantling the federated system and creating a “unified will” for the nation. He told the press that imposition of a central authority was not the “raping” of state sovereignty, but an “alignment” of state policies with those of the central government. [Id.]

Hitler convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue an emergency decree known as “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State,” which, among other things, suspended civil liberties. Hitler was thus able to suppress any and all political opposition ahead of the elections scheduled for March 5th. [Id.]

The decree also stated: “If any state fails to take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, the Reich government may temporarily take over the powers of the highest state authority.” [Id.]

Beginning to sound familiar?

*. *. *

Joseph Stalin — in a frenzy of paranoia — began his Great Purge (also known as the Great Terror) with the assassination in 1934 of Sergei Kirov, head of the Bolshevik party in Leningrad and once a personal friend of Stalin, who had become too popular and was thus deemed a threat to Stalin’s autocratic rule. That murder was then used as Stalin’s excuse to begin a series of show trials to rid himself of all suspected dissenters from the Bolshevik and Communist parties.

Between 1937 and 1938, he carried out a purge of his own military, ordering the arrest and execution of a large number of high-ranking officers . . . thus seriously weakening his country’s forces.

And then, in an anti-Semitic rage, he went after the nation’s doctors — a substantial number of whom had the misfortune of being Jewish — by fabricating a “doctors’ plot,” for which they were rounded up and shot.

Finally, from 1936 to 1938, under NKVD head Nikolai Yezhov, hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens were accused of espionage, sabotage, wrecking, anti-Soviet agitation, conspiracies to start uprisings and coups, and the like. While the entire population of Russia was affected, certain ethnic minorities were specifically targeted, including those of Polish or German origin.

*. *. *

I hardly need to remind the reader what Russia’s current president, Vladimir Putin, has proven himself capable of. Over the years, he has targeted ethnic groups, such as the people of Chechnya and the Central Asian regions; political adversaries, including Aleksei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and countless others; and the entire nation of Ukraine . . . creating conditions to be used as excuses to eliminate them.

There were the four 1999 apartment building bombings in three cities, triggering the second Chechen war; the Dubrovka Theater hostage situation in Moscow in 2002; the Crocus City Hall terror attack in 2024; the Beslan school terror attack of 2004 . . . all fomented as excuses for Putin’s consolidation of power.

And of course, his most recent accusations of the alleged mistreatment of Ukraine’s Russian-speakers by the country’s “nazi” government, leading him to launch his “special military operation” in February of 2022 . . . the excuse he himself created in order to seize control of a sovereign nation that he considers the rightful possession of Russia.

*. *. *

We all know what happened to nazi Germany, to the Soviet Union, and to 21st century Russia. In each case, there were warning signs: sudden crises, used as excuses to consolidate power in the hands of a single dictator and deprive the citizenry of its rights. And each time, the warning signs were overlooked, or ignored until it was too late.

How many times will we allow it to happen before we cry out . . .

“Enough!”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/12/25

Was it really much ado about nothing . . . just a hissy fit between two mismatched people spending too much time in each other’s company? Is that what we’ve been wasting our days worrying about?

The thing is, when an average couple — married or otherwise — engage in a name-calling contest, or an outright brawl, it’s usually a private matter. Unless one kills the other, it doesn’t generally make the headlines.

But this was no ordinary couple. This was the richest man on Earth hurling insults and accusations at the supposed leader of the free world, who of course reciprocated with threats and a few snarky comments of his own. And it was all very public indeed.

Then, just as we wondered whether it meant the end of SpaceX, and Tesla, and that amorphous organization known as DOGE . . . well, suddenly it all began to cool down.

First, Donald Trump told that bastion of truthful reporting, the New York Post, that — while he was a “little disappointed” about their fallout, he held “no hard feelings” toward his former best buddy, Elon Musk. [Danai Nesta Kupemba, BBC News, June 11, 2025.]

And Musk took the hint, writing on X that he regrets some of the things he may have said about Trump . . . that “they went too far.” He even deleted many of his posts, including one that had called for Trump’s impeachment. [Id.]

Well, that sounds like a mutual apology to me, albeit without actually hearing the word “sorry.”

So should we now expect to see Musk’s face back at Mar-a-Lago? Are we to assume we’re meant to forget the whole thing happened and find some new scandal with which to amuse ourselves? How disappointing. And how dull life will once again become without “The Donnie and Elon Show” to entertain us.

But wasn’t it fun while it lasted! And it did distract us, just for a while, from more serious matters, like the situations in Ukraine and Gaza, the deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles, the transfer of enriched uranium from Iran to Russia, the cost of the upcoming birthday bash in D.C. on Saturday, and the decimation of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) at the very start of hurricane season.

Hey, wait a minute! You don’t suppose that was the whole idea . . . ?

Nah! Not possible.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/11/25

You would think they’d be thanking their protector and benefactor for saving their skins . . . but I suppose that would be asking too much from the lowest of the low.

I’m talking about five leaders of the far-right group known as the “Proud Boys” — the gang of thugs who tried to overthrow the U.S. government by storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and were subsequently convicted of seditious conspiracy and similar charges, receiving prison sentences of varying lengths, the longest being 22 years.

Their names are Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. They were pardoned by Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration — January 20, 2025 — along with approximately 1,500 people involved in the riot that threatened the lives of our nation’s lawmakers and law enforcement officers.

And now they are free to roam the streets once more, potentially plotting other violent and destructive crimes, because Donald Trump said, on the day he signed their pardons:

“These people have been destroyed. What they’ve done to these people is outrageous. There’s rarely been anything like it in the history of our country.” [Nadine Yousif, BBC News, June 6, 2025.]

And in so doing, he gave them — the five named above — the ammunition they needed to file a $100 million lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming their rights were violated during their prosecution by “FBI agents and prosecutors . . . [allegedly] motivated by personal biases [in order] to punish and oppress political allies [of Trump]. [Id.]

The suit, which names the U.S. Department of Justice as defendant, alleges that the five plaintiffs were subject to “egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system,” and accuses prosecutors of “evidence tampering” and “witness intimidation.” The suit further calls the prosecution “corrupt and politically motivated.” [Id.]

With an entire nation watching in real time, and unmistakable photographic evidence of their criminal actions, their guilt is undeniable. Under the laws of the nation they had been trying to destroy, they were afforded due process, found guilty, and properly sentenced. In the “wild west” days of this country, they most likely would have been hanged on the spot. But now they’re crying “foul” — and suing the government that has just set them free after serving minimal time.

These are the sort of people that Donald Trump sees fit to set loose on society — while rounding up thousands of immigrants who, for the most part, have done nothing wrong.

These are people he does not see as a danger to our civilization, while he deports or bans bright, honest, hard-working foreign students from our finest universities.

These are the people he defends, because they support him. Never mind that they are the dregs of humanity.

*. *. *

I can’t imagine any honest judge giving credence to their lawsuit. But in a way, I would almost like to see them win their $100 million. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate payback to Trump for his “good deed”?

Or will that be the day they decide to treat the country to a repeat performance?

It’s a world gone mad.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/11/25

I don’t do well on four hours of sleep.

So I was not amused when I was awakened by an unusually noisy thunderstorm early this morning — well, early for me, since I hadn’t gotten to sleep until around 3:00 a.m. Once awake, naturally I had to answer nature’s call before trying to go back to sleep; but when I opened my bedroom door, I found Dixie — the canine member of our family — lying in wait, seeking human comfort from the barrage of lightning flashes and thunderous crashes.

(When I’m feeling groggy and stupid, I sometimes lapse into bad poetry.)

I have a thing about dogs: I love them, but not their hair in my bed, which means that is the one place in the house where she is not welcome. So instead of returning there to finish my morning’s sleep, I headed for my den . . . with Dixie in hot pursuit, of course. And once I had spent a half hour comforting her (she really knows how to milk the attention), I realized I was hungry.

Once again, my return to bed was put off, this time in favor of a bit of breakfast, during which I switched on the TV and lost myself in another episode of my most recent binge-watch: “Downton Abbey.”

No, this was definitely not my first, or even second, involvement with the Crawley family of Downton. But every couple of years, I am compelled to watch it yet again, even though I know perfectly well what each episode will bring. It’s just one of those masterpieces of well-written, well-researched, and beautifully-acted fiction that drags you into it, leaving you wishing you were actually part of it.

There are only a few like that, for me. Another was “The West Wing“ — recommended viewing for those who would like to imagine what the perfect U.S. presidential administration would be like, if there were any such thing. In fact, I saw a segment of that show being filmed years ago near my office in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which was great fun.

And while traveling on that train of thought today, I happened to recall a series I had seen many years ago, called “Reilly, Ace of Spies,” starring Sam Neill. Those who know me won’t be surprised to learn that it is based on the life of one Sidney George Reilly (1873-1925), a secret agent with Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and later for the British Secret Service (now the SIS) who spied on various governments, including the Bolsheviks at the time of the Russian Revolution. Fascinating stuff for all you history buffs. (And there I go again, rhyming merrily along.)

It didn’t take long for me to find that that series is available on BritBox, to which I have a subscription. So you can guess what my next binge will be, right after I finish Downton Abbey.

*. *. *

And that, dear readers, is what I’ve done with a rainy, sleepy day: ignored the news headlines, neglected my books and my writing, and opted instead to waste the day with some good British TV.

But is it really wasted if I’ve enjoyed it? I don’t think so. As a matter of fact, I’ve found it to be quite therapeutic.

And now, I believe I have time for one more episode of Downton Abbey before dinner . . .

‘Til tomorrow . . .

Brendochka
6/10/25