This one is too good to pass up. Taylor Swift — a very smart lady, by all indications — finally decided this week to go public with her presidential candidate preference in the upcoming election (Kamala Harris, in case you hadn’t heard), and set forth her very well-thought-out reasons. No problem.

But she made one mistake: she signed off as a “childless cat lady,” sardonically referencing the Republican vice-presidential nominee’s — what’s his name again? — slam at Vice President Harris.

And who should pick up on that but . . . no, not JD Vance himself (oh, yeah, right — that’s his name!) . . . but none other than the ever-weird Elon Musk, who seemingly must do or say something every single day in order to keep his name in the news.

Now, as he is a die-hard supporter of the Trumpster, and by extension Trump’s running mate Vance as well, it’s not surprising that Musk would step in with a comment. But holy shit! Did he have to . . . how could he even . . . I mean, what the hell??!!! Has his brain completely ceased functioning?!!

As you no doubt have heard by now, he responded by saying:

“Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

Eeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!!!!

Of course, it was meant as a joke (at least, I hope and pray it was). But the inappropriateness of it — the downright creepiness — is doubly deranged coming from an avowed natalist who just spawns babies left and right with multiple women, names the poor children something strange and unpronounceable, and then abandons them to be raised by their mothers.

Sorry, Elon (or Leon, or whatever Donald Trump is calling you this week) . . . but your genes just aren’t that desirable. The world does not need a baker’s dozen of mini-Musks.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/12/24

Shortly before turning in last night, I took my usual stroll through the late headlines and was jolted awake by the following:

“Russian Jails Recommend Foreigners Apply For Transfers Home After Hostage-Taking Incidents.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, September 10, 2024.]

Thinking I might have drifted off to sleep and dreamt it, I took a drink of something non-alcoholic, rubbed my eyes, and read it again. And no, I had not been dreaming; that is indeed what the headline said, accompanied by the above picture.

Citing an article of the same date by IStories — an online publication with which I was not familiar — the RFE/RL article stated:

“Foreign nationals serving terms in Russian prisons have been asked to write requests to serve the remainder of their terms in their homeland following two recent hostage-taking crises at Russian penitentiaries, IStories said on September 10.” [Id.]

IStories cited sources “close to” a correctional colony, as well as rights defender Ivan Astashin and lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov, who had stated the reason for this action was to prevent further hostage-taking situations such as the ones that had recently occurred in prisons in Rostov-on-Don and in the Volgograd penal colony No. 19.

According to IStories’ sources, one Belarusian, three Kyrgyz, one Polish, and two U.S. citizens (unnamed in the article) are currently awaiting transfers to their home countries.

And my reaction to this startling news was . . .

Out of the blue, the Russian government is now supposedly letting foreigners — who for years have been held as hostages of the Kremlin for future trade — go home in order to prevent further internal problems in the Russian prison system. Just like that, no strings attached. And we’re supposed to believe it?

I’m sorry, but I cannot.

I have too many questions. First, who are these “sources” cited by IStories? How reliable are they? What are the conditions of the prisoners’ releases? And exactly who are these supposed Belarusian, Kyrgyz, Polish and U.S. citizens? What did they have to do, other than fill out a request form, in order to be granted reprieve? And exactly what do the forms say?

Further, if they are actually sent home to “serve the remainder of their terms in their homeland,” what guarantee is there that they would be required to do so upon returning home? Since they’re most likely political prisoners, and not actual criminals, odds are they would be welcomed home as heroes.

No . . . the whole thing smells fishy — perhaps some sort of public relations stunt.

I did do a little checking into the background of IStories (“Important Stories,” as translated from the Russian), which evolved from the independent Russian Novaya Gazeta in 2020 as the result of Kremlin pressure on all of the then-independent media. The office of their website is located in Latvia, and they have conducted investigations into such diverse matters as the poor quality of Russian COVID-19 tests, the persecution of Alexei Navalny, oil spill disasters in Russia, the Pandora Papers, and even Vladimir Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova and her husband.

So I am not questioning their authenticity. But, again, I have to wonder about their sources, and the reliability of the information being fed to those sources.

In my experience, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/11/24

Few things bring tears to my eyes these days. This date is one of them. After 23 years, the memories are still so clear, and so painful . . .

The view of the smoke rising from the Pentagon directly across the Potomac River from my office.

Being unable to get a phone line to reach family members so they’d know I was all right.

Traffic jams, but no one honking their horns impatiently, everyone yielding to everyone else.

My Middle Eastern neighbors taking refuge in their apartments, afraid and ashamed to show their faces.

The endless replays on TV of the buildings collapsing in New York . . . the running people . . . the falling man.

My three-year-old grandson running to me, calling out, “Nana! Nana! Some bad guys blowed up a building!”

And for a while afterward, the sense of patriotism, of togetherness, and the determination that it would never happen again.

For a while . . .

And after two-plus decades, knowing that the world had learned nothing.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/11/24

“War is hell.”

American General William Tecumseh Sherman is credited with having said it first, in an address to military school graduates sometime after the end of the U.S. Civil War (1861-65). And he was an expert on the subject, as the man whose troops had burned a gigantic swath through the State of Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah.

Today, 21st-Century weaponry being what it is, the hell of war has only gotten bigger and more devastatingly destructive.

Ask anyone in Ukraine.

As always, there are thousands upon thousands of innocent victims — civilians who are caught between two warring factions and become what is blithely referred to as “collateral damage.”

But there is another sort of collateral damage to be considered these days: the populations of neighboring countries, accidentally (or otherwise) the unlucky recipients of bits and pieces of weaponry that can’t read a map and don’t know where a border marks the end of one country and the beginning of another.

Drones, for example, are “smart” weapons; but they’re not infallible. And on Sunday, Romania and Latvia — both members of NATO — reported incursions into their territories by Russian drones.

In Romania, it was reported by the Ministry of National Defense that a Russian drone had entered its territory early on Sunday as Moscow was engaged in a strike against “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube River in Ukraine. An investigation was underway as to the actual “impact zone” in an area — fortunately uninhabited — along the Romania-Ukraine border.

Luckily, there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. But the government in Bucharest deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace, and issued alerts to the residents of two eastern regions. [Stephen McGrath and Jari Tanner, Associated Press, September 8, 2024.]

And this isn’t the first such incident. Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In this most recent instance, I was able to use the words “fortunately” and “luckily.” But, what if . . .? Just a few degrees in any direction, and human lives might have been lost, residential buildings and critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed . . . in a NATO country. Then what?

NATO’s outgoing Deputy Secretary-General — who also happens to be a former top diplomat of Romania — condemned Russia’s violation of his country’s airspace:

“While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against Allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.” [Id.]

To say the least . . .

*. *. *

Looking at the above map, it’s easy to see how a drone or a missile might travel a little farther than intended and stray across the border into Romania. But what about Latvia? It doesn’t share a border with Ukraine.

It does, however, abut Russia’s good friend Belarus, as well as Russia itself. But a drone coming from either of those countries with a target somewhere in Ukraine would have to be pretty far off-course to end up in Latvian air space. Yet that’s apparently what happened.

The crash site has been identified, and an investigation is underway. But Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds has thus far downplayed the incident, saying:

“I can confirm that there are no victims here and also no property is infringed in any way. Of course, it is a serious incident, as it is once again a reminder of what kind of neighboring countries we live next to.” [Id.]

I could tell you what kind of neighbors they are . . . but it’s not necessary. Everyone already knows.

*. *. *

And in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that the incursions were “a reminder (that) the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation go beyond Ukraine’s borders.” [Id.]

Indeed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24

It could happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. But it has already been announced in the UK offices of “Big Four” accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to become effective January 1st. At that time, PwC will begin tracking where its employees in the UK are working.

Happy New Year, folks!

That’s right — they will be using “location data“ to verify where their employees are at any given time, presumably during working hours.

And it’s all because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave rise to work-at-home, which then — even after the worst of Covid was said to be behind us — morphed into a hybrid work schedule that has become so popular in many places around the world.

But even the best of intentions can have unexpected negative results. And now some employers are having trouble getting their people back into the office; it seems that folks enjoy working at home in their pajamas, and not having to commute in heavy traffic and all sorts of weather.

But employers have found — and I can’t imagine why they should be surprised — that some people cheat. Or simply don’t work as industriously or conscientiously outside a business environment or without supervision.

In addition, PwC-UK — who now insist that employees spend at least three days a week, or 60% of their time, in the office or with clients — have said:

“Our business thrives on strong relationships — and those are almost always more easily built and sustained face-to-face . . . By being physically together, we can offer our clients a differentiated experience and create the positive learning and coaching environment that is key to our success.” [Lianne Kolirin, CNN, September 6, 2024.]

Further, PwC said, the move is intended to “adjust” the firm’s existing hybrid working approach in order to place “more emphasis on in-person working”:

“We all benefit from the positive impact of a hybrid approach, but the previous guidance of at least two to three days a week was open to interpretation. This update aims to provide clarity around where and how we expect everyone to work.“ [Id.]

They do assure employees that individual working location data will be shared with them on a monthly basis, “to ensure that the new policy is being fairly and consistently applied across our business.” [Id.]

And in a recent online press release, the managing partner of PwC-UK stressed the importance of face-to-face working, while at the same time continuing to offer the flexibility of hybrid working.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy. Personally, before I retired, I preferred working in the office, where the entire atmosphere — the availability of resources, equipment setup, interaction with other human beings — was more conducive to actually getting the job done, and offered a change of scenery and a certain amount of socialization that you just don’t get at home in your jammies. (In all honesty, though, I really hated the morning and evening commutes.)

But where does the tracking stop? Of course, it’s supposed to end at the close of the normal workday — say, for example, 5:30 p.m. And hopefully, at PwC that is exactly what will happen. But where is the guarantee of that? You know this idea is going to spread. What is to stop some not-so-scrupulous employer from failing to turn off the tracker at closing time . . . perhaps in the guise of assuring that their employees aren’t spending personal time in unacceptable — perhaps even illegal — pursuits that might impact negatively on the business? Is that a legitimate excuse for spying on people?

And will the tracking technology be connected solely to the employer’s hardware being used at the employees’ homes, to be deactivated at that 5:30 closing time? Will the employees be able to shut it down? Or will the companies also be geolocating their employees through the individuals’ cell phone GPS software? Will people have to start turning off their personal phones in order to maintain any sense of privacy?

*. *. *

Before I can decide how I feel about this development, I need to know more about how it will work. In the meantime, maybe I’ll just go back to blaming those bats in China for starting the whole Covid thing again.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24

Maria, age 69, and her two kittens sit on a bus waiting to leave the city she has lived and worked in for 30 years, because the shelling and bombing and missile strikes are now too close for comfort. Her city — Pokrovsk, Ukraine — had a population of 48,000 people just two months ago; today, half of them have already left. [Abdujalil Abdurasulov, BBC News, September 9, 2024.]

Relatively few people in other parts of the world have heard of Pokrovsk. But to Ukraine, it is a key transportation hub that is depended upon as one of the main supply routes in the area. If Pokrovsk were to fall to the Russians, it would effectively mean the loss of nearly the entire Donetsk region — which has been a key goal of the Kremlin from day one of the February 24, 2022, invasion.

This is what President Volodymyr Zelensky and his troops hoped to prevent when they launched an offensive into the Kursk region of Russia. Their intent was to force the Russian military to divert offensive troops to the defense of Kursk in sufficient numbers for Ukraine to be better able to defend its remaining territory in the Donbas region.

But one thing Russia has in seemingly endless numbers is people — human bodies to throw into the front lines, wave after wave of them, conscripted from Chechnya, from friendly foreign countries, from mercenary groups like Wagner (now called the Africa Corps), and even from their own Russian prisons. Human cannon fodder. According to Pokrovsk’s military administration, the ratio of fighting forces in that area is ten-to-one in Russia’s favor. [Id.]

And they have the equipment and the weaponry, much of it also supplied by friendly countries including China and Iran . . . while they continue to protest Ukraine’s use of American and other Western armaments.

On Sunday, Russia claimed to have taken control of the village of Novohrodivka, just 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) from Pokrovsk. One unconfirmed report says that Ukrainian forces have retreated from there. [Id.]

*. *. *

And so, Maria sits on the bus with her two precious kittens, waiting to be taken to the next phase of her life . . . wherever and whatever that may be. Hopefully, she will be safer there.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24

For once, there is some good news to report — although it’s not exactly happy news, because Hvaldimir is indeed still dead. But the big, beautiful beluga whale did not expire as the result of man’s inhumanity to a fellow mammal; he was instead the victim of the sort of hazard that faces all sea creatures: a floating object.

A police autopsy — or necropsy, if you will — has concluded that “human activity” did not cause Hvaldimir’s death. What they did find was that a stick had become lodged in his mouth, and that what were initially thought by some to be bullet holes were just some “completely superficial” injuries. [Tom McArthur, BBC News, September 9, 2024.]

So, whether he was a Russian-trained spy whale who decided to “come in from the cold” and retire in the free world, or just a big bleached ball of blubber with a poor sense of direction, his last years were spent as a sort of folk hero to a lot of good people in Norway.

Once again . . . hvil i fred (R.I.P.), Hvaldimir; and know that you are missed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24

Evan Gershkovich — the first U.S. journalist to be arrested in Russia on charges of spying since the end of the Cold War — was one of the sixteen prisoners released in the momentous spy swap on August 1st of this year. It seems that, as he was being released, Gershkovich — in what must have been a brilliant display of courage, wit and irony — asked Vladimir Putin to grant him an interview. [Dmitry Antonov, Lucy Papachristou, Reuters, September 9, 2024.]

To my knowledge, that comment was not widely reported at the time — or, at least, I never saw it amidst all the coverage of the event. But for some reason, Kremlin spokesman (and my all-around favorite Russian government official) Dmitry Peskov was asked today whether there was a response to Gershkovich’s request. And in his usual straightforward manner, this was Peskov’s reply:

“So far, we are not interested in such an interview. In order for there to be an interview with foreign media, and a specific one at that, we need to have an occasion. So far we don’t see such an occasion.” [Id.]

I have one question for you, Dima: What was the “occasion” for the specific interview granted Tucker Carlson in February? Was it because you were able to find the one Western “journalist” who wouldn’t ask the tough questions, but would agree to a scripted, almost completely one-way conversation with the boss?

You know that Evan Gershkovich would never play that game. And that strikes fear in Vladimir Putin’s cold, black heart.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/9/24

Looking for inspiration for an article or two . . . and naively hoping for something perhaps a bit more cheerful than the Israel-Gaza disaster, the Russia-Ukraine disaster, the Japan-China-Philippines typhoon disasters, or the latest mass shooting disaster . . . I started my Sunday by scanning the headlines.

Bi-i-i-ig mistake.

Come with me, please, as we tiptoe through the titles — just the headers, no details, though maybe a snarky little comment or two — and you’ll see what I mean:

— The mother of the teenager suspected of killing four people during a Georgia school shooting called to warn a school counselor prior to the shooting. – Wasn’t anyone listening?!!

— Three Israeli border guards were killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan. – How many more centuries . . . ?

— A manhunt continues for an “armed and dangerous” person of interest in the shooting that wounded five people . . . in Laurel County, Kentucky. – Guns, guns, guns!

— 65 people in nine states have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to recalled eggs. – I guess that “recall” wasn’t loud enough.

— Russia takes Ukrainian town in advance on Pokrovsk. – Can we call Putin’s “special military operation” what it is, please: a WAR!!

— US believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. – Same %*@#$%# war.

And to wrap things up:

— Her father listened as she was shot in the head at Taco Bell.

No. I can’t even.

Come and get me when it stops . . .

Brendochka
9/8/24

It’s been another quiet news week insofar as the American hostages in Russia are concerned. Once again, there have been no names to add to the eight still locked away in Putin’s prisons — obviously a good thing. But the eight are still there, in danger of being overlooked now that the most high-profile former prisoners have been released in the historic swap of August 1st.

And so we must remember them once again, and encourage them to stay strong and never give up hope — hope that negotiations for their release are moving forward behind the scenes.

In no particular order, they are:

Ksenia Karelina, dual U.S.-Russian citizen, recently convicted of espionage and sentenced to 12 years in prison for contributing $51.80 to an American charity providing aid to Ukraine.

*. *. *

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, who was stationed in South Korea when he fell into a Russian “honey trap.” He was on his way back to his home in Texas, on two weeks’ leave, when he was lured to Vladivostok by the Russian girlfriend he had met in Korea. He was arrested in May of 2024 on charges of alleged larceny and murder threat, and sentenced the following month to a prison term of three years and nine months.

*. *. *

Marc Fogel, a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, was arrested in August of 2021 for possession of 0.6 ounce of legally-prescribed (in the U.S.) medical marijuana. In June of 2022 he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

*. *. *

Robert Romanov Woodland, a dual US-Russian citizen, was teaching English in Russia when he was arrested in January of 2024 for allegedly attempting to sell drugs. In July, he was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in a maximum security prison.

*. *. *

Robert Gilman, already in jail in Russia serving a 4-1/2-year sentence (later reduced to 3-1/2 years on appeal) for kicking a police officer in 2022, found himself facing added charges in 2023 of punching prison staff in the head, and later also attacking a criminal investigator and another prison guard.

*. *. *

David Barnes, an American citizen and resident of Texas, was arrested in January of 2022 while visiting his children, who had been taken to Russia from Texas by his Russian wife. He was charged and sentenced in the fall of that year to 21 years in prison for child abuse (allegedly occurring while in Texas), on his wife’s accusation. I really wish I knew more of this story!

*. *. *

Eugene Spector, a dual US-Russian citizen already serving a four-year sentence handed down in June of 2021 on a bribery conviction, received additional charges of suspicion of espionage in August of 2023. No other details have been found, as the evidence is labelled “classified.”

*. *. *

Michael Travis Leake, a rock musician and former paratrooper, was sentenced in July of this year to 13 years in prison on drug charges — specifically, suspicion of selling mephedrone, and organizing a drug trafficking business “involving young people.”

*. *. *

Are any of these prisoners actually guilty of the charges leveled against them? I don’t know. But I do know that the recent timing of a number of the arrests, and the speed with which they were brought to trial, is a clear indication of Russia’s intentional roundup of American citizens to be used as (what I call) Putin’s Pawns.

What they are, quite simply, are HOSTAGES. And they will not — MUST not — be forgotten. Let’s shorten this list to zero.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/8/24