For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time, allow me to introduce myself. I am an American woman, retired, long since divorced, with two terrific middle-aged children, a grown grandson, two step-granddaughters, and even a step-great-granddaughter born just last month.

And I’m over 80. That’s years, not pounds . . . though I’m also well over 80 pounds, fortunately.

I had an excellent career in the legal field for most of my working life, and also branched out in later years into the international business arena, doing a couple of brief stints as an expatriate, first in Prague (1991) and then in Moscow (1993).

I’m fairly well educated, though I don’t have a string of initials after my name. I don’t need those; I have a sweatshirt that announces to the world: “That’s What I Do. I Read. And I Know Things.” And another that says: “I Am Silently Correcting Your Grammar.” I’m good with those.

I do have a couple of physical issues fairly typical of people in my age group. But, while I tend to take a few seconds longer to remember someone’s name or come up with the right . . . oh, what’s that word again? . . . yeah, despite whatever that is, my mental synapses are still firing pretty well for the most part.

So, what I’m saying is that I believe I’m quite capable of managing my own day-to-day activities. I must have been doing something right to have made it this far.

But, according to the internet, I’m f*cking stupid.

I keep running across these articles telling me that everything I’ve been doing for my entire life has been wrong. However, I beg to differ. You see, I really do read a lot. A whole lot. Not just books, but quite a few online news reports every day. And mixed in with the news is a boatload of other stuff — overblown ads, outright scams, and . . . my particular pet peeve . . . advice I never asked for, from people I don’t know, on subjects I was brought up to believe you shouldn’t discuss in polite company.

Yes, I know . . . times have changed. Things that were verboten a generation ago are perfectly acceptable now. But do I really need some self-appointed “expert” who is probably one-third my age telling me how many times a day I should go to the bathroom? Seriously — there are articles on how often I should pee, poop, bathe, brush my teeth, and wash my hair, and that I shouldn’t stick Q-Tips way into my inner ears. I think I’ve lived long enough to have figured that out by now. I’m not dehydrated, I’m not constipated, and I don’t smell bad. I’ve got this.

I saw an article yesterday — just the headline, actually, because I didn’t bother reading the whole thing — that professed to know how often I should change my bedsheets. Again, I’m over 80 and single; there’s nothing going on in there besides sleeping. I don’t perspire a lot. I don’t allow the dog or cat on my bed. I don’t eat in bed. I know when my sheets need to be changed: Not daily. Okay?

And do I really need some so-called “influencer” telling me what I should be wearing? I’ve lived with this body all my life. I know how tall or short I am, how slim or “curvy” I am, what my figure type is. I also know — after all of these decades of dressing myself — what looks good on me, what’s comfortable, and what suits my current lifestyle. I have a mirror; I can see myself, whereas you have never seen me. You have zero influence over me, so butt out.

And for God’s sake, don’t tell me how to arrange my closets, dresser drawers, or kitchen cabinets. Have you ever been to my house? Do you know how much space I have, or how much stuff has to be crammed into that space, or how high the shelves are? No, you don’t, because you and I have never met. And as for that woman — I forget her name now — who made a splash a few years ago by trying to sell people on the joys of decluttering and minimalism, I just want to say this: I like my stuff. I paid a lot of money for it. Much of it has sentimental value. My kids can get rid of it after I’m dead if they want to, but for now . . . hands off, lady.

By the way, to you health nuts out there . . . you diet diehards and exercise exponents . . . you can scratch me off your mailing lists too, please. I know there’s legitimate science behind some of your advice. But I didn’t get this old by living on fiber and probiotics. (Exactly what is a probiotic, by the way?) I grew up eating my grandmother’s and my mother’s old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes, swimming-in-gravy cooking. And I have an incurable sweet tooth. At this stage of my life, if I want to eat pot roast with gravy and potato latkes with sour cream, and cap that off with half a pint of Haagen-Dazs, I’m going to do it. If I want an extra glass of wine or a shot of vodka, I’m not going to research this week’s wisdom on whether or not it’s good for my heart; I’m just going to have it. And all of your well-intentioned preaching isn’t gonna stop me. So I’ll only live for 94 years instead of 95. Big deal.

Now, I do know people who are totally into healthy eating, regular exercise, and even letting a “life coach” teach them how to be happier and more fulfilled. And they tell me they do feel better for all of that. To them, I say “Bravo! Good for you. I am genuinely thrilled for you.” And I mean it sincerely.

But it doesn’t work for me. I’m going to eat when I’m hungry, sleep when I’m sleepy, and go to the bathroom when Mother Nature tells me it’s time. So you exercise your right to free speech and keep publishing your articles if you wish; just know that I’ll be exercising my right to ignore you.

And now, that Haagen-Dazs in the freezer is calling my name.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/23/24

If you were to ask me to name my favorite work of fiction, it wouldn’t be a classic such as Gone With the Wind, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or War and Peace . . . although I’ve loved each and every one of them, and many more. But at the top of my list is a spy thriller by American writer Nelson DeMille, titled The Charm School, in which the protagonist — a young American man who foolishly takes a solo road trip in the Russia of the 1980s — loses his way as night falls, and stumbles upon an escapee from a village that is actually a top-secret training ground for Soviet sleeper agents.

And one of my top three multi-season TV series — along with Downton Abbey and The West Wing — is The Americans . . . about two such Russian sleeper agents living as an average American couple who own a small travel agency business, and have two children who know nothing of their parents’ double lives. [Warning: Lots of violence, lots of sex . . . and lots of violent sex.]

And yes, both are pure fiction. But the premise on which each is based is pure fact. And it’s not just a distant memory from the Cold War of the last century. The truth is, HUMINT — human intelligence — is still very much a part of the spy business.

And a recent news report was a stark reminder of that truth.

*. *. *

The report involves a number of so-called “sleeper agents” or “illegals,” known in the Kremlin as Vladimir Putin’s “invisible front” — a cadre of agents with false names and passports, fluently speaking second languages, and living fake lives in numerous countries around the world. In this particular case, the countries in which the soon-to-be-outed spies had been operating were as diverse as Slovenia, Argentina, Norway, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, the U.K., Canada, and the United States. [Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson, “The Global Hunt for Putin’s ‘Sleeper Agents,’” Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2024.]

The Wall Street Journal’s investigative reporters interviewed more than 30 former and current officials on three continents to piece together a fascinating tale of the sort of espionage activity of which most of us remain blissfully unaware in the course of our daily lives. It is the stuff of which great movies are made, and well worth taking the time to read . . . because every word of it is real.

My particular interest in it derives from the well-publicized swap that took place on an airfield in Turkey on August 1st of this year, when sixteen political hostages of different nationalities were handed over by Russian authorities in exchange for eight of their citizens — hardened criminals and spies who had been arrested and imprisoned in various countries.

At the time, I had been following — and still do follow — the fates of a number of Americans and others being held hostage on specious charges in Russian prisons and penal colonies. And as I read the news of the historic trade taking place last summer, I was particularly drawn to the story of a couple being returned to Russia who had been living abroad for years, first in Argentina and later in Slovenia. When they received their orders from Moscow of reassignment to Slovenia in 2017, they told people they had decided to move in order to protect their children from the increasing crime rate in Argentina. They called themselves Maria (of Mexican heritage) and Ludwig (allegedly Argentinian), and their children knew no differently.

In fact, the husband and wife — who had indeed been married since 2004 — were Anna and Artyom Dultsev. It was a tiny slip-up in some immigration paperwork necessitated by their move to Slovenia that led to their ultimate discovery, the details of which are covered by the WSJ article.

But what isn’t covered — possibly because the information is being closely guarded in Russia — is how the two children, Sofia (11) and Daniel (8), are faring today. Just consider what they have been put through in the past two years:

In December of 2022, their parents are suddenly arrested at home in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while they — then just ages 9 and 6 — are sent to live with a foster family and are told only that there are immigration problems. They are allowed occasional visits to their parents, who they still believe are called Maria and Ludwig.

Finally, after more than a year and a half, they are suddenly put on a plane to Ankara, Turkey, where they are magically reunited with their parents. They next — along with a number of strangers — board an Aeroflot flight, where they are finally told by their parents that they are not Argentinian, but are in fact Russian; that they will now be living in Russia, where they must in effect begin their lives again; and that their parents are not even who they have always said they were.

In fact, Sofia and Daniel are being told that their entire lives have been one gigantic lie.

*. *. *

That’s more than just a minor disillusionment, or a burst balloon. That is the total destruction of two young lives — two bright, happy, trusting children who will never again know whom to trust, or what to believe. And who are too young to have had any say in the matter.

But such is the result of the decisions made years earlier by two adults who chose to “serve” their country as so-called sleeper spies. The kids are just collateral damage.

And on a secondary level, what of the couple’s betrayal of others: friends, neighbors, co-workers, who never suspected that Maria and Ludwig were anything other than the loving, hard-working parents of two well-behaved children? How has their perception of the world — and of their small section of the world — been altered?

The odds of anyone you know being a foreign spy are slight. But having spent my entire working life in Washington D.C., I quickly learned not to discuss confidential matters in restaurants, taxis, or anywhere that someone might be listening. Sadly, I also came to realize that many people — like those adorable Russian nesting dolls — have multiple layers to their personalities, some of which they may never reveal.

And my mantra became: “A little paranoia can be a healthy thing.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/22/24

For the second straight week, there have been no new Russian/Belarusian/Eastern European political arrests in the press. Perhaps they’ve just been knocked out of the headlines by the suspicious deaths of two high-ranking Russian military officers, and the continuing war in Ukraine. The better reason, of course, would be that there were none to report.

But I continue to honor the remaining political hostages in Vladimir Putin’s prisons and penal colonies, and will do so each week until not one remains locked up. And so, once again, here they are . . . at least, those whose names are known to me:

David Barnes
Gordon Black
Marc Fogle
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Andrey Kuznechyk (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)

And yet again, to the incoming Trump administration, I respectfully urge you to place the release of these hostages at the top of your immediate to-do list in January. The negotiations by the Biden administration and several of our allies that were so successful in August must be carried on.

No excuses, please.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/22/24

Not even at the eleventh hour, but shortly after midnight today, the U.S. Senate approved a budget bill passed only hours before by the House of Representatives, thereby narrowly averting a shutdown of the Government of the United States.

Don’t get too excited, though; it’s only another stopgap bill, funding the government into March of 2025, by which time a new president will have taken over occupancy of the Oval Office. So who knows what will happen then? But at least the Grinch will not have ruined this holiday season for those of us who live paycheck-to-paycheck.

I’ve already said my piece (yesterday) concerning the budget approval process, so I won’t belabor the point. Suffice it to say, I join in the collective sigh of relief to be heard across the nation this morning.

So Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza, and — in the words of someone from that Seinfeld show that I never watched but friends of mine loved — Happy Festivus to the rest of us.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/21/24

No, it’s not the Winter Solstice that has me excited. In fact, I’ll be glad when the daylight hours become noticeably longer. But there is more to this date than just the “honor” of being the shortest day of the year.

For example, it’s National Crossword Puzzle Day. I do enjoy exercising my brain with a puzzle or two — they say it helps to ward off dementia, and . . . at the risk of jinxing myself . . . so far, so good. But that’s not it either.

It’s also National Coquito Day — honoring a yummy-sounding drink sometimes referred to as a Puerto Rican eggnog, but with condensed milk, coconut milk and rum, among other ingredients. I could easily get into that . . . but it’s not the big day, either.

National French Fried Shrimp Day sounds tempting as well . . . especially if accompanied by one or two of those coquito concoctions.

But I’ll get to the point. (“At last,” I hear you sigh.)

It’s National Short Girl Appreciation Day.

Did someone just say “So what?”

“SO WHAT??!!!” I’ll tell you so what!

So this: If you had topped off at 5 ft. 2-1/2 in. around age 18; if you had developed arthritis in your neck from always having to look up at people in order to speak to them; if you had always been stuck sitting in the front row in school, right where the teacher could keep an eye on you; if you always had to buy theater tickets in the first row of the first balcony so you didn’t get stuck behind a tall person in the orchestra seats; if you had spent your entire life apologizing to strangers because you had to ask for help reaching items on the top shelf at the super market; if you had to climb onto a step stool to put away the dishes anywhere above the first shelf in your kitchen cupboards; and if you had watched yourself for the past 20 years becoming even shorter as your intervertebral spaces shrank naturally with age . . .

. . . well, then, you might not be smirking now. Because being described as “petite” or “cute” just isn’t enough. Short women aren’t taken as seriously as our taller sisters. It’s hard to project an air of confidence or authority when everyone else is looking down at you, or when yo/u’re barely visible in a crowd.

And it’s a pain in the ass to have to take every item of clothing to a tailor to be shortened. Seriously . . . when did a 28-inch inseam classify as “petite”? I’ll tell you when: never! Not when your legs only measure 25 inches.

There are a few exceptions, of course. Like my idol, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who never made it past 5’1”. But she was unique — a force truly to be reckoned with, by reason of her intellect, her personality, and her determination. There aren’t many like her in this world, unfortunately.

So I will celebrate my day today, and wish a very happy National Short Girl Appreciation Day to all of my fellow “shorties.” We’ll take all the appreciation we can get. Right, ladies?

*. *. *

Oh, and before I forget: For all of you vertically-challenged guys out there, don’t fret. Tomorrow is National Short Person Day.

Welcome to the club.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/21/24

Kyiv — the capital of Ukraine, and the historic center of ancient Kievan Rus’ — was set afire early this morning by Russian ballistic missiles and drones.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had launched the attack at Ukrainian military targets, writing on Telegram:

“In response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, this morning a group strike with long-range precision weapons was launched against the SBU [Ukrainian Security Services] command post, the Kyiv Luch design bureau, which designs and manufactures Neptune missile systems, Olkha ground-based cruise missiles, and the positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. The strike targets were achieved. All objects were hit.” [Maria Kostenko and Sophie Tano, CNN, December 20, 2024.]

Reality check:

— “In response to the actions of the Kyiv regime . . .”?!! Vladimir Putin just can’t seem to get it through his thick skull that he started this . . . not Ukraine. Someone really needs to impress upon him the fact that Ukraine’s strikes against Russia are responsive, not offensive. But the only people in Russia with the courage to speak the truth are dead or in prison.

— The “strike targets” were not achieved, and “all objects” were not hit. What were hit — and not by the missiles and drones directly, which in fact were shot down, causing damage from the falling debris — were several foreign embassies, an office building, gas pipes, an historic church, and a building under construction, among other civilian structures. One fatality and numerous injuries were reported. [Id.]

The whole of Ukraine was under general air-raid alert for several hours. Included in the attacks on Kyiv, Kherson, and several other regions around the country were hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and Iskander/KN-23 ballistic missiles.

Hours later, Ukraine responded with a missile attack on the Kursk region of Russia, where at least five people have been reportedly killed and 26 others injured. [Id.]

* *. *

All of this comes just one day after Putin held his annual, tightly-controlled press conference, at which he suggested a “high-tech duel” over Kyiv, “to prove that Russia’s new hypersonic ballistic missile, dubbed Oreshnik, cannot be shot down by Western-supplied air defenses.” [as reported by RFE/RL, December 20, 2024.]

“It would be interesting for us . . . Let’s conduct this experiment, this technological duel, and see the results. I think it would be useful for both us and the Americans,” Putin said. [Id.]

To which Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky responded that, if Putin thinks Ukraine will negotiate with him under the current circumstances, he is “an old pipe dreamer,” living “in a different world,” “in his own bubble.”

“People are dying,” Zelensky continued, “and he thinks it’s ‘interesting’ … Dumbass.” [Id.]

*. *. *

Well, that about sums it up for me.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/20/24

. . . and Chanukah, which actually begins its eight-day stretch at sundown on Christmas day this year and takes us right up to 2025.

So, with just five days to go, let’s see where we are on our holiday checklist:

Shopping. Done, and all orders received in plenty of time. Thank you, UPS and Amazon. – Check.

Wrapping. Um . . . no, not so much. Hope to finish today or tomorrow. But since I discovered those wonderful drawstring gift bags a few years ago, it’s much quicker — and easier on my back! – Check.

The tree. It’s in the living room and beautiful as always. – Check.

The menorah. On the buffet in the dining room, ready for the first lighting on Christmas night. And our “Chanukah bush” — in reality, a beautiful Norfolk pine bedecked with blue and white lights — standing at attention. – Check.

Baking. Cookies are scheduled for tomorrow, though not by me. That honor now goes to the next generation down the line. But I’m very good at sampling. – Check.

Imbibing. Eggnog and hot apple cider, coming up! Take it with or without the hard stuff: your choice. – Check.

And so it goes, each year a little different, but somehow the same as we hope for the world to take a breather from all the hostilities and enjoy a season of this:

And look forward to a better year to come.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/20/24

Seriously. That’s your Christmas gift from Congress, if the U.S. Government actually does shut down today.

But why do we have to go through this every single year, sometimes several times during the year, as Congress placates us with yet another stopgap bill?

Why can’t the budget be kept separate from other, unrelated, special-interest issues?

Why can’t Congress be required to stay in Washington, in session, until a budget is passed by both Houses and signed by the President before the close of each fiscal year?

And why can’t we have a Constitutional amendment withholding their salaries until the job is done?

These are the people we voted into office. So why don’t we vote them back out in the next election? Quite simply, if they’re not representing our interests, they don’t deserve to keep their jobs.

In this country, we don’t need a revolution; we’ve already had one, and it has served us well for nearly 250 years. We just need to use our constitutional right — and responsibility — to elect people who will do the job they promised during their campaigns. And to hold them answerable to us if they don’t.

We need to use our brains.

It’s not rocket science.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/20/24

Once upon a time, there was an army general . . .

Unfortunately, this is not a fairy tale; there is no handsome prince or beautiful princess, no magical frog, and no “happily ever after” ending. Instead, there is a middle-aged man who headed the radiological, biological and chemical forces of Russia, and had been charged in Ukraine, in absentia, with having used chemical weapons on that country’s military as part of Russia’s continuing war of attrition.

And the day after he was convicted of those charges in Ukraine, he was dead . . . killed by a remote-controlled bomb planted in a motor scooter that had been parked outside his apartment building in an upscale neighborhood in Moscow, awaiting his exit. The bomb also took the life of Kirillov’s aide, Ilya Polikarpov.

Shockingly, Ukraine immediately claimed “credit” for the killing of the man they call a “legitimate military target.”

Or is it really so shocking that a country that has been invaded without justification; seen its civilian population, its cities and infrastructure decimated by bombs, missiles and drones for nearly three years; and lost tens of thousands of its fighting forces, would seek to fight back in its own defense?

Russia, of course, immediately jumped into action with the usual outraged recriminations and threats of retribution:

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council: “Law enforcement agencies must find the killers in Russia and everything must be done to destroy the perpetrators who are in Kyiv.” [Maria Kostenko, Victoria Butenko, Nectar Gan, Christian Edwards and Darya Tarasova, CNN, December 17, 2024.]

Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Federation Council’s Foreign Relations Committee, was “shocked” by the “irreparable loss” of Kirillov: “The murderers will be punished. Without a doubt and without mercy.” [Id.]

Andrey Kartapolov, member of the State Duma: “[Those involved] will be found and punished.”

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry: “[Kirillov had been] systematically exposing the crimes [of the West for many years, including] the deadly activities of American biolabs in Ukraine.” [Id.] She added that: “All those who welcome terrorist attacks or deliberately keep their silence are accomplices … the silence of the UN Secretariat is an obvious sign of corruption.” [Id.] And: “The terrorist attack in Moscow was a continuation and development of the spiral of approval by the West of the war crimes of the militants of the Kyiv regime.” [RFE/RL, December 17, 2024.]

Sure . . . blame the West, as always. Never mind that it was Russia that began the war on February 24, 2022, when its armed forces crossed the border into Ukraine, without provocation. Or that Kirillov specifically was accused of having used chemical weapons — an estimated 5,000 times — against the Ukrainian military. [Id.]

*. *. *

My first thought upon reading of Kirillov’s death was to question whether picking off individuals assassination-style is a legitimate tactic in modern warfare. This is, after all, the fourth killing of prominent military figures on Russian terrritory in the past two months.

And then I read about the Russian drones that have been tracking down — hunting, if you will — individual civilians, in Ukraine. There are verified videos of drones aiming at specific vehicles, a man standing by the window inside his apartment, and a woman walking along the street who was followed by a drone that finally caught up with her and blew her foot apart. [RFE/RL, December 17, 2024.]

So, yeah . . . if Ukraine’s civilian citizens are being hunted down like so many helpless animals, then I suppose you could justify taking out a member of the opposing military.

“All’s fair . . .”

*. *. *

But Vladimir Putin can’t just sit back and appear to accept this act as one of the spoils of war. Aside from blaming the West, he needs a victory of his own. He needs to apprehend a perpetrator.

And in record time — just one day after the death of General Kirillov — a 29-year-old man named Akhmad Kurbanov from Uzbekistan was arrested and charged with the crime. Russia’s Investigative Committee said he had been recruited by Ukraine’s SBU security service and had acted on its instructions. In return, he had allegedly been offered a reward of $100,000 in cash and a new life in a European country.

The Committee said that he had “received a homemade explosive device and placed it on an electric scooter which he parked at the entrance to the residential building where Igor Kirillov lived.” They claimed he had rented a car and fitted it with a surveillance camera that was monitored by his Ukrainian bosses in Dnipro, who remotely detonated the bomb when they saw Kirillov and his aide leave the building. [Anna Chernova, Christian Edwards and Edward Szekeres, CNN, December 18, 2024.]

But who is this mysterious Uzbek man? Where are the details and the pictures of his arrest? Is he a scapegoat? Is he even real?

Knowing of Russia’s well-developed skill at playing the blame game, anything is possible. I can imagine several credible scenarios; but they would amount to nothing more than speculation at this point, so I’ll keep my imaginings to myself for the time being.

But Russia’s Uzbek and other Central Asian populations are understandably nervous right now, recalling Chechnya and fearing a possible coming purge of their own ethnic groups.

And who can blame them?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/19/24

I had my regular flu shot, as always, back in September or October. But I was debating whether to get another Covid booster this year . . . until I heard from a neighborhood friend that she had been diagnosed with it and was laid up at home.

And off I went to my local pharmacy for my injection today, which took less time than filling out the required form and wasn’t nearly as annoying. (I hate filling out forms — just a personal thing.) As with the previous Covid shots, I haven’t felt the least bit sick . . . just tired. So I took a nap, and all is well.

Am I a “pro-vaxxer”? Yes, I am. My mother made sure my sister and I got all of our shots when we were little, though there weren’t as many then: Smallpox (which has been virtually wiped out, thanks to the vaccine), and a three-in-one DPT — diphtheria, pertussis (a.k.a. whooping cough), and tetanus, as I recall. And a little later, the miraculous Salk polio vaccine . . . another hideous disease now pretty much a thing of the past.

And so I passed her wisdom along to my children when they were small; and I have continued to look after my own health as well. Now that I’m older . . . lots older . . . yes, I have a few health issues. But they’re due to the passage of time, not to any preventable illnesses.

Obviously, I’m not proposing that everyone run right out and get themselves and/or their children injected with every serum known to mankind. It’s a personal choice, of course.

I’m not on a crusade. I would just hope that most people are able to keep an open mind, do their research (pro and con), and talk to their doctors before making an informed decision . . . “informed” being the operative word.

Okay . . . not necessarily that informed. But you get my point.

And now, since I’m still feeling a little dragged out, it’s off to bed, where I will sleep better for having said my piece, even though no one asked for it. But that’s what free speech is all about, right?

Stay well, everyone. And happy holidays!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/19/24