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.”
And who isn’t, these days? Speaking of war, that is.
There is perhaps no more distinguished authority on the subject than the ancient Chinese military general and strategist, Sun Tzu, who wrote:
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive.”
– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
Sun Tzu (544 – 496 B.C.)
In light of my earlier article today concerning Vladimir Putin’s most recent threats against Ukraine’s European allies, I can only hope that he hasn’t also been reading Sun Tzu’s famous treatise . . . and that Volodymyr Zelensky has.
Already embroiled in his march across Europe since 1938, Adolph Hitler decided to launch Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, sending aircraft, tanks, and some 3.8 million troops eastward into the Soviet Union along a front stretching 1,800 miles from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. In so doing, he not only violated the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact of 1939; he also stretched his already limited resources to an unsustainably thin point. Ultimately, it cost him his dreamed-of victory.
Hitler had learned nothing from Napoleon’s disastrous 1812 attempt to conquer Russia. And it is possible that Vladimir Putin is now ignoring Hitler’s 1941 mistake as he threatens — while mired in the fifth year of his stalled war against Ukraine — to attack other European countries that dare to aid their Slavic ally.
And to make matters worse, Dmitry Medvedev had to add his two cents’ worth of vitriol to the mix.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It all started with Donald Trump’s loss of interest in Ukraine, when he decided instead to spend his time — and his country’s money — on a takeover of Venezuela, an obscene pass at Greenland, a stab at Cuba, and a little misadventure in Iran. This predictably, and rightly, catapulted Europe into crisis mode, where leaders who have always been able to rely on backing from the U.S. have stood up to the challenge, pulled together, increased their own defenses . . . and jumped in to pick up the slack in Ukraine.
Bravo, Europe!
Europe Stands With Ukraine
What apparently drove Putin over the edge was Germany’s recent announcement of a €4 billion military aid package for Ukraine focusing on air defense and drones, followed by an announcement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that they are exploring a joint drone production project.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine — in accordance with the old adage that “necessity is the mother of invention” — has developed state-of-the-art technology for inexpensive drones that are now sought after by other countries. In order to boost production, Ukraine has been seeking co-production agreements with some of its allies — an obvious threat to Russia’s pursuance of its offensive.
Ukrainian Drones
For once not referring to the conflict in Ukraine as a “special military operation,” the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement on Telegram on April 15th:
“We consider this decision to be a deliberate step leading to a sharp escalation of the military and political situation on the entire European continent and creeping transformation of these countries into a strategic rear for Ukraine. Instead of strengthening the security of European states, the moves of European leaders are increasingly dragging these countries into the war with Russia.” [Kjeld Neubert, Euractiv, April 16, 2026.]
Listing the names and addresses of 11 Ukrainian manufacturers and 10 European companies, the statement continued:
“The European public should not only clearly understand the underlying causes of the threats to their safety but also know the addresses, as well as the location of ‘Ukrainian’ and ‘joint’ companies producing UAVs.” [Id.]
And, just to be sure there was no misunderstanding, Dmitry Medvedev — the war-mongering Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council — added his bit in a separate social media post, saying that the Foreign Ministry’s statement should be taken “literally,” and that the list represents “potential targets for the Russian armed forces.” [Id.]
Dmitry Medvedev
That’s pretty clear, all right. Imagine going to work each day, knowing that there is a figurative target painted on the roof of your building and a Russian drone with your company’s name on it. Or that you’re the owner of that business, responsible for making a decision on which the lives of your employees might depend.
That, of course, is how Putin wants the targeted companies to think. But realistically, is he prepared — or even able — to prosecute a war on numerous fronts, when it has taken him four years to achieve only about 20 percent of his original goal in Ukraine . . . a goal that was supposed to have been reached in a matter of days or weeks?
Only Vladimir Putin knows for sure, of course. But — unlike Donald Trump and his erotic dreams of wiping out an entire civilization — Putin, while decidedly evil, is intelligent, surrounded by expert military advisers, and at least presumably sane.
On the other hand, like his American alter-ego, he does not react well to setbacks.
He also does nothing without a reason. The listing of the locations of those Ukrainian and European businesses is unusual and worrisome. It may be that what he has in mind is something more along the lines of the type of hybrid warfare in which he has already been engaged throughout Europe: perhaps some sort of lesser, deniable activity, such as sabotaging power plants, water systems, transportation hubs, or communications networks on which those industries rely.
Or it might all be bluff and bluster. Whatever the answer, Europe is on edge as it has not been for decades . . . not since the supposed end of the Cold War. And it is not a good feeling.
Well, hold onto your hats, folks, because there’s more good news on the health and nutrition front: Diet Coke kills cancer cells.
Or at least in Trumpmania, it does. And how does he know? Because it kills grass.
But somehow, miraculously, it doesn’t seem to harm your esophagus, your stomach, or any of those other internal organs that might be harboring the cancer cells.
What an incredible discovery! It’s right up there with his findings on COVID a few years ago. Surely, this will win him — if not the Peace Prize — at least the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
And by the way, Dr. Donald J. (for Jesus) Trump also tells us that Orange Fanta is good for us because it’s fresh-squeezed. He really should direct the manufacturer (Coca-Cola Deutschland) to print that on the cans from now on, because . . .
“I did not know that!”
If you’re having a hard time absorbing all of this good news, just ask Dr. Oz. Because he was the first to hear it from the horse’s mouth (or the horse’s ass . . . in this case, the same thing).
Actually, it was related to Dr. Oz by Donald Trump, Jr., on a podcast this week, when he inexplicably decided it was a good idea to publicly ridicule his father. But one horse’s backside is pretty much like every other horse’s backside, so there’s really no reason to doubt him, is there?
For whatever reason, Wednesday was a really bad day. Not because it was tax day — I filed and got my refund months ago — or because of the daily sh*t storm of world news. I didn’t receive word of a death or disaster among my circle of friends and acquaintances, the weather outside was lovely, and I managed to avoid any accidents by not doing much of anything.
But I felt lousy, like you do just before you get really, really sick. And everything hurt — literally everything, from my scalp, down past my left side where I think my pancreas resides but it felt more like just gas, all the way to the pinky toe on my right foot (probably not gas).
So I spent the day sitting. Well, most of it anyway; I did manage to do one load of laundry before curling up in my easy chair with a heating pad and taking a three-hour nap, thus practically guaranteeing that I won’t be able to fall asleep at a reasonable hour tonight. Not that I do anyway, most nights.
Luckily, the day’s news was more of the “Same-Sh*t-Different-Day” variety, so I was able to avoid getting wrapped up in that horror show for once. Instead, I went in search of a quotation that would sum up my day, and this is what I found:
“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.”
– Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes”
Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
I know how you feel, Calvin. But hang in there, kid; this too shall pass . . . along with that gas.
Three years ago, I shared my memory of the time I had to keep representatives from the Soviet Embassy and the Chinese Embassy from crossing paths in my office in Washington, D.C.(“Ch. 7 – Life With Walter,” February 2, 2023.)
That was in the early 1980s, when the two countries were bitter enemies, and we could not have them bumping into each other under our roof. I used to joke that I prevented World War III that day, which is probably a slight exaggeration; it actually took three people to pull off that little Keystone Kops maneuver. But we did it.
It is now 2026, and oh! how things have changed.
Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi – April 14, 2026
Aside from a shared political ideology (authoritarianism), modern-day Russia and China have found common ground in their efforts to structure a new world economic force to rival, or even replace, the dollar-based economy of the West.
And with Donald Trump working day and night to destroy what is left of the United States’ standing as the preeminent power of the free world, their drive toward world dominance is clearly well served by their close cooperation.
This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Beijing, meeting with his counterpart, Wang Yi. According to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry:
“A thorough exchange of views is expected on a number of ‘hot topics’ and regional issues, including the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in the Middle East” . . . as well as Chinese-Russian cooperation at multilateral bodies including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, BRICS, the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the United Nations (in which both countries are permanent members of the Security Council). [Reid Standish and Colin Hood, RFE/RL, April 14, 2026.]
In 1964, in the midst of the Vietnam War, Bob Dylan wrote and recorded what became an anthem for the anti-war movement of that decade: The Times They Are A-Changin’. He was right — things were indeed changing in ways no one had imagined. But that was nothing compared to this past decade.
What we are seeing now is the beginning of a new world order — and not the one Bob Dylan’s and my generation fought for. We probably won’t be around to see it come to full fruition . . . but I fear for the future of our children’s children.
And knowing that my country’s elected leadership enabled it is more than I can bear.
I know it’s difficult to accept at this point, but apparently there is such a thing within the Washington hierarchy as being too far around the bend to be ignored any longer. And it appears that a rubber room may be the next stop for the No. 3 man at FEMA, Gregg Phillips, who currently serves as head of the Office of Response and Recovery.
Gregg Phillips
I first mentioned Phillips last month (“3/21/26: Just When You Think It Cant Possibly Get Any Worse . . .”), as the ultra-right-wing conspiracy theorist who claimed to have been teleported 50 miles to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia, and another time some 40 miles in his car, landing in a ditch near a church. As he described it in a podcast:
“Teleporting is no fun. It’s no fun because you don’t really know what you’re doing. You don’t really understand it, it’s scary, but yet um —but so real. And you know it’s happening but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.” [Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck and Gabe Cohen, CNN, March 20 2026.]
At the time, a FEMA spokesperson said that it was “barely worth acknowledging,” “taken out of context,” “or represent[ing] personal, informal, jovial, and somewhat spiritual discussions.” [Id.] It seems that Phillips had been doing a good job at FEMA — at least, when he had both feet on the ground — and his idiosyncrasies could be overlooked in the interest of mitigating the Agency’s shortage of effective personnel.
But apparently Phillips’ podcasts have continued, and word is spreading of his claims, including:
That a dead girlfriend once lifted his car off the road to avoid a crash.
That Satan once spoke to him while he was walking across Spain.
That he once collapsed inside a Lowe’s store in Indianapolis, regaining consciousness across the street in a McDonald’s parking lot with “15,000 steps logged on his health app, a Big Mac in his lap, and little understanding of what had just happened.”
That he was once awakened in the middle of the night by God, who sat on his bed and told him his cancer had returned. As Phillips described it, “He sat me up in the bed and he sat cross-legged with me, I’ll never forget it. And he said, ‘Hey, your cancer’s back, but don’t worry, I’ve got this.’”
That he said in April 2025: “I’m actually dead. But I’m here doing God’s stuff. And so we laugh about that a little bit.” [Andrew Kaczynski and Gabe Cohen, CNN, April 14, 2026.]
As mind-boggling as all of that is, what really concerned me was yesterday’s report of a telephone interview between CNN and Donald Trump, in which Trump said:
“What does teleport mean? Was he kidding? . . . I don’t know anything about teleporting. . . . It just sounds a little strange, but I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I’ll find out about it right now.” [Id.]
To begin with, the very idea of Donald Trump admitting there is some subject on which he is not the world’s leading authority is big news in itself. You don’t suppose he’s losing his grip, do you?
But then he apparently did follow up on it, because a White House official later told CNN that they had contacted FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
If that sounds too good to be true, it sort of is . . . because there was more to the White House’s comment. According to the same official, they urged DHS “either to remove Phillips or keep him out of public view.” [Id.] [Bold emphasis is mine.]
(That might be what they ultimately have to do to Trump, who thinks he actually is God. And it’s not an original concept. Does anyone remember the 1993 Kevin Kline movie, “Dave”?)
Apparently, the contact at DHS who spoke with CNN was somewhat more familiar with teleporting than Trump, because — again according to the White House official:
“Everyone’s thoughts were, ‘What the hell is this? This guy has got to go.’” [Id.]
Well . . . duh!
As far as I know, Phillips is still employed at FEMA. But at last report, he had been significantly sidelined from parts of the Agency’s operations, left out of proceedings, and directed to stop posting about teleportation on Truth Social (Trump’s social media platform).
Sources have reported that Phillips is furious, and is convinced that officials at FEMA and DHS are out to get him. His co-workers say that he has grown increasingly agitated and suspicious.
As an appointee, and not an elected official, it should be easy to remove Phillips from FEMA. After all, who is better at firing people than Donald Trump? And if I were his boss, I would also be contacting his next of kin to urge that he be admitted to the nearest psychiatric facility, for his own and everyone else’s safety. Otherwise, who knows where his next “teleportation” might take him? He could wake up in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, lobbing spitballs at the West Wing.
But that is just what I would do if I were in charge, which (mercifully) I am not. In real life, we must keep in mind that Phillips’ ultimate boss is the acting Secretary of DHS (and the inimitable Kristi Noem’s interim replacement), Markwayne Mullin — not the most stable of geniuses himself. So we can only wait to see what transpires.
Donald J. Trump. If he were Hispanic, I suppose the “J” could stand for “Jesus.”
But he isn’t; and it doesn’t. It stands for “John” . . . and not the biblical disciple. Yet we have all seen THE PICTURE: the AI-created image of Trump in flowing robes and a full head of blond hair, looking for all the world like a supernatural being, laying hands on a man to heal him.
I won’t comment on the blasphemous nature of the picture, or on his disgustingly disrespectful separate message to the Pope; we’ve seen and heard enough of that. But I absolutely must share the incredulity I felt when I read that, in finally yielding to the public backlash and deleting the original post, Trump tried to offer this lame explanation:
“I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross. It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better.”
Right. With haloes of light, and images of soldiers ascending into Heaven, we were supposed to think he was a medic. But where was his white coat, his stethoscope, or any glimpse of a Red Cross symbol?
And as for Trump ever having made people better . . . well, draw your own conclusions.
I am grateful, though, that at least he didn’t close with his usual “Thank you for your attention to this matter.” Because he lost my attention decades ago.
No, I am not suggesting that the world’s wealthiest person should be punished for his earthly sins by relegating him to driving a trash truck. I prefer to think his ultimate fate will be spending eternity in Dante’s Fourth Circle of Hell (“Greed”).
That’s what’s known as honest work, Elon.
But my mind works in circuitous ways that are often a mystery even to me, so please stay with me here as I explain.
It all started with trash bags — those small, four-gallon ones that are produced in rolls, which I, like many people, use to line the waste baskets in my bathroom and den. For years, I have been buying the Glad brand because they are less expensive than Hefty. I mean, they’re just for trash, so why pay extra . . . right?
Well, last week the store was out of the Glad variety, so I went ahead and grabbed the Hefty ones — the per-box price was about the same, but there were fewer bags in the box. Still, it wasn’t enough of a difference to break the budget, so no big deal.
But it turned out that there was a good reason for the additional cost: the Hefty bags are simply better. (Sorry, Glad.) They’re way more substantial, better designed and constructed . . . and you don’t have to tear each bag off of a continuous roll like the Glad bags, which sometimes rip in the process. Also, Hefty’s . . . you know . . . heft would make them less likely to leak or to be punctured by a corner of a discarded container as the cheaper ones often do.
Well, I was delighted with my find of a better product. But yesterday morning, as I was emptying the trash and putting new Hefty bags into the waste baskets, it occurred to me that my marvelous discovery — precisely because of their more substantial quality — might be gunking up our planet even more than it already is gunked up.
And that led me to thoughts of plastic in general, and how much of it we discard on a daily basis.
There is no question that the invention of the first fully synthetic plastic in 1907 was one of the most significant events of the modern industrial age. In one form or another, it is used in everything from toothpaste tubes to spaceship components. I’m sure the crew of Artemis II would agree that their trip around the moon would not have been possible without plastic.
But for daily use, so much of the plastic we use is disposable. Think about those toothpaste tubes — not to mention food containers, shower caps, soda bottles, bags from the grocery store, and the plastic utensils you’ll be buying for your 4th of July picnic. And it all has to end up somewhere. Most of it is not biodegradable, and while a good portion of it may be recyclable, how many of us — be honest now — how many of us are as diligent about that as we should be?
And this is where Elon Musk comes in. It was at that point in my musings that Artemis II popped back into my mind, which took me directly to the whole human obsession with space and . . . drumroll, please . . .
Elon Musk’s ambition to colonize Mars.
Now, I have made fun of this idea in the past, painting it as some sort of little kid’s Flash-Gordon/Star-Wars fantasy. And I still think it will be many generations — if ever — before humans actually residing on another planet might become a realistic concept.
But what if Musk really wanted to do something good for our own planet? And what if he could get us close enough to our nearest planetary neighbor to make a drop? Once we had the technology to reach and orbit Mars, we could just load up a fleet of his ships with trash, hover over the Red Planet, open the hatches, and bombs away! And Elon Musk — or by then, one of his many descendants — could take all the credit for cleaning up Earth instead of destroying it and having to start over elsewhere.
And he could earn another few billion dollars in the process.
Yes, it would be expensive; but so is declaring war on Iran. Where would you rather see our tax dollars go? We wouldn’t be hurting anyone, as there are no “anyones” there to hurt. And we would be saving our own atmosphere for our future generations.
It may sound crazy now. But the North Koreans are already pelting South Korea with trash-filled balloons. Why not take it to the next level?
North Korean Trash Balloons
By the way, if you think my waking ideas are outlandish, you should hear some of my nighttime dreams.
Yesterday, a long-time autocratic leader was defeated by a landslide in Hungary’s election. And while Viktor Orban is not quite in the same league as Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Putin . . . or even Donald Trump . . . his long-overdue political downfall reminded me of others of his ilk throughout history, and gave me a glimmer of hope for the ultimate departure from power of others still living.
But how, I wondered (for about the millionth time), do such aberrations of humankind manage to come to power in the first place? We look at the historical facts, of course, such as being in the right place at the right time under the right circumstances — as Hitler was when Germany was suffering from the aftermath of World War I and the crippling effects of the Versailles Treaty, and the German people desperately needed a “savior” to resurrect their nation.
But there is also a psychological factor — a sort of mass hysteria or hypnosis, if you will — that comes into play at that specific moment in time. And the late U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright understood it completely when she wrote the following:
“My students remarked that the Fascist chiefs we remember best were charismatic. Through one method or another, each established an emotional link to the crowd and, like the central figure in a cult, brought deep and often ugly feelings to the surface. This is how the tentacles of Fascism spread inside a democracy. Unlike a monarchy or a military dictatorship imposed on society from above, Fascism draws energy from men and women who are upset because of a lost war, a lost job, a memory of humiliation, or a sense that their country is in steep decline. The more painful the grounds for resentment, the easier it is for a Fascist leader to gain followers by dangling the prospect of renewal or by vowing to take back what has been stolen.”
– Madeleine K. Albright, “Fascism: A Warning”
Madeleine Albright (1937 – 2022)
Understanding it is, of course, only half the battle. The other half requires us to do something about it.
That “something” is what just happened in Hungary.
It’s almost as though Vlad is whispering into Donnie’s ear: “This is how it’s done.”
The major similarities are obvious: the obsession with war-mongering and expansionism, the greed and corruption, the paranoia and narcissism, the flagrant disregard for international laws and human rights.
But there are the smaller, creeping signs as well.
Yesterday I posted about the arrest in Russia of a freelance journalist, Aleksandr Andreyev, who has been charged with treason because of his anti-war views, making him — in Putin’s world — a “foreign agent” under onerous new laws passed since the start of the “special military operation” against Ukraine.
Bemoaning Russia’s return under Putin to a dictatorial state, I wrote:
“Since . . . independent news media have been designated as ‘foreign agents’ under newly-augmented Russian law, it has become a convenient excuse for the prosecution of journalists and broadcasters who speak out against the Putin regime, and especially against the war in Ukraine.
“If convicted of treason, Andreyev would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.”
A Russian Penal Colony Cell: Free Room and Board for Life
And later that evening I read that Donald Trump — the man who claims to be making America great again — had ranted against “Fox News Sunday” TV host Shannon Bream for failing to push back on Democratic Representative Jake Auchincloss who had, in Trump’s words, spread “Democrat propaganda and lies” on her show. [Kimberley Richards, Huffpost, April 12, 2026.]
Next he took on a second female, Fox’s token Democrat Jessica Tarlov, a visiting host on Fox’s “The Five.” Writing on his ironically-named Truth Social site, he said:
“For Fox executives only, take Jessica Tarlov off the air. She is, from her voice, to her lies, and everything else about her, one of the worst ‘personalities’ on television, a real loser!” [Id.]
(Ed. Note: One might be forgiven for wondering whether Trump is more frightened of Tarlov’s self-confidence and refusal to give in to his attempts at intimidation, or her store of knowledge and her credentials, which include degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Just a thought.)
Jessica Tarlov
Yes, he was telling an independent network to remove a panelist who had committed, in his mind, the unspeakable offense of reporting and commenting on accurate polling results showing that his numbers are in the dumpster.
Now, for those who may be thinking that this is small potatoes compared to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, or the price of gas, you may have a point. But it is one more building block on a growing tower of crimes and Constitutional violations being committed daily by this administration. And eventually, a block will be added to the tower that will cause its inevitable fall.
What will that final block be? Who’s to say it won’t be the enactment of a U.S. law duplicative of Putin’s “foreign agent” act, mandating lengthy prison sentences for individuals convicted of speaking or writing against “national security interests”?
We already have an administration that unilaterally dictates the standards for everything from the definition of citizenship, to what constitutes good taste in art and architecture, to what God thinks about war.
Interfering with the First Amendment rights of citizens — and specifically of the press — is no small matter. Don’t let it get buried with the Epstein Files in the trash heap of America’s history.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 