Although they deny, deny, deny that they’ve felt much of an effect — and indeed they have found work-arounds to some of them — it’s no secret that Russia is indeed hurting, both economically and politically, from the sanctions imposed on them by the United States and numerous other Western countries since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. And they’re not just European nations.

Among the countries to have taken steps against some of Russia’s “bad actors” over the past two and a half years are Australia — which alone has sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and companies — and its neighbor, New Zealand.

It’s also well-known that Vladimir Putin, despite all his protestations to the contrary, is royally pissed.

So, like any spoiled brat, he’s been spending a good bit of time — the part that’s not devoted to screwing with the U.S. election process — trying to get even. And this week he decided to pick on the two South Pacific nations by banning 131 Australians and nine New Zealanders from entering Russia.

Oh, no! How ever will they survive such punishment?!!

The list of Australians includes officials of the defense industry, broadcast journalists and public figures, who now stand accused by Russia of promoting an “anti-Russian agenda.” The same holds true for the nine New Zealand Defense Ministry officials, including three deputy ministers. [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, October 29, 2024.]

Other than putting a crimp in any discussions that may have been taking place between the two defense ministries, I’m finding it difficult to imagine this action alone having much of a negative impact on Australia’s or New Zealand’s day-to-day affairs.

But, as I find myself saying much too often these days, we simply have to wait and see what happens next.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing something from the Kremlin’s ubiquitous spokesman, good old Dmitry Peskov, before long.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/30/24

This was in yesterday’s late news:

“Shawn Mendes took some time during his concert in Colorado on Monday to address a personal topic.

”In a video shared widely on social media, the 26-year-old singer took a break during his performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre to share ‘the truth’ about his sexuality.” [Lisa Respers France, CNN, October 29, 2024.]

And that’s where I stopped reading. Because I don’t care whether Shawn — or anyone, celebrity or otherwise — is L, G, B, T, Q, or any other letter of the sexual-identity alphabet. I only care if you’re a decent human being.

Some things are personal, and I really don’t need to know. Like who you slept with last night, who you’re going to vote for next week, or how often you shower. I can’t say this often enough or emphatically enough:

I really don’t need to know these things. They are not what makes you . . . you. And they are none of my business.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/30/24

According to Google Translate, it’s this:

Great. Now . . . how do you pronounce that? (Okay, all you Korean speakers, please put your hands down.)

I do have a reason for asking — and it’s a good one. It’s because of the rumor that’s been circulating for a week or more to the effect that North Korea has agreed (or offered) to send about 3,000 troops to Russia to be trained for possible deployment in Ukraine.

And I was immediately mentally transported back to a classroom in New Hampshire in 1950, and a teacher’s explanation of America’s involvement in something called the Korean War. And how scared we all were, because the North Koreans were Communists, and they were being backed by the Chinese Communists, and maybe even the terrifying Communist Soviet Union.

And it wasn’t at all the way it was depicted years later in M*A*S*H. It was real.

And it’s real today. Only this time the situation is reversed, and the North Koreans are sending help to the Russian forces, which are daily being reduced by the large numbers of casualties they’re suffering at the hands of the very same Ukrainian people they were supposed to have conquered more than two years ago. Life is strange.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, of course, had no difficulty in justifying his use of foreign military personnel; he merely pointed out NATO’s support of Ukraine . . . though conveniently ignoring the fact that no NATO country has troops on the ground in Ukrainian territory. But he rationalized:

“When we have to decide something, we will decide … but it is our sovereign decision whether we will apply it, whether we will not, whether we need it. This is our business.”

And:

“The sooner they realise the futility of such an approach in relations with Russia, the better it will be for everyone, and perhaps, above all, for themselves.” [Anastasia Teterevleva, Reuters, October 25, 2024.]

End of discussion.

And now NATO has confirmed that more than 3,000 North Korean troops have indeed been sent to Russia, with more than 12,000 expected by December. According to South Korean intelligence, included among those troops are fighter pilots. [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, October 28, 2024.]

*. *. *

But what do the Russian soldiers think of the “help” they’re receiving from their Asian friends? Well, it seems they have some concerns, such as how to communicate with them, how commands will be given, how ammunition and military kits are to be issued and explained, and how you warn them to duck when they’re about to be taken apart by a Ukrainian drone. [Victoria Butenko, Maria Kostenko and Lauren Kent, CNN, October 25, 2024.]

In an audio intercept from an encrypted Russian transmission channel, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence reported one Russian soldier describing another, the latter having been tasked to “meet people” — presumably as a sort of official “welcome wagon” representative. Clearly, that Russian greeter was displaying some uncertainty as described by his buddy:

“And he’s like standing there with his eyes out, like … f**k. He came here and says what the f**k to do with them.” [Id.]

What to do with them, indeed? How many of those soldiers — the Russians and the Koreans — are likely to speak each other’s language? What if the “help” turns out to be a hindrance? Did Putin give that any thought before making his deal with Kim Jong Un?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/30/24

How on earth do you go about stealing 48,000 pounds of . . . well, anything, really? But in this case, it was cheese. Top-quality, rather pricey, artisanal Cheddar cheese. All 24 tons of it.

The reason is simple enough: it’s worth, at wholesale, around $390,000. But how do you pull off a heist of this magnitude? You clearly don’t just break into the dairy and carry out a 24-ton chunk o’ cheese — not even broken down into smaller chunks.

No . . . if you’re in England, you have it delivered.

Now, that is a twist worthy of an episode of Midsomer Murders — but happily without the murder part. The perps (that’s perpetrators, to non-mystery fans) posed as legitimate wholesale distributors for a major French retailer, and presumably arranged the transaction in the usual manner.

The victim — Neal’s Yard Dairy, which sells top-quality British and Irish cheeses to stores and restaurants worldwide — only realized it had been scammed when the delivery had already been made. The company posted the following statement:

“Over 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe, and Pitchfork Cheddar were delivered before the fraud was discovered. Despite the significant financial blow, we have honoured our commitment to our small-scale suppliers and paid all three artisan cheesemakers in full.” [Lianne Kolirin, CNN, October 28, 2024.]

Now, that’s British class for you!

I should think the cheese police would have a fairly easy time in tracing the thieves. After all, there had to be a delivery address. Surely you can’t squeeze 950 wheels of Cheddar into a post office box!

And they have had additional help from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has sent out an appeal to his Instagram followers:

“You’re going to think I’m joking but I’m not — there’s been a great cheese robbery. Some of the best cheddar cheese in the world has been stolen. . . . If anyone hears anything about posh cheese going for cheap, it is probably some wrong’uns.” [Id.]

Oliver went on to wonder what the thieves would do with “lorryloads of posh cheese. Are they going to unpeel it from the cloth, and cut it and grate it and get rid of it in the fast food industry, in the commercial industry? I don’t know — it seems like a really weird thing to nick.” [Id.]

You said it, Jamie — it is indeed a weird one: “The Great Posh Cheese Robbery.” It’s a sad thing for Neal’s Yard Dairy; but it’s tailor-made for one of those great British comedies.

As long as Colin Firth is in it, I’ll be in the front row.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/29/24

And the Golden Microphone Award goes to . . .

My boy . . . Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov!

Congratulations — you did it again, Dima, with your brief but brilliant performance as “Sincere Guy” claiming to be promoting peace in the Middle East. Your straight-faced presentation put even that master of the genre, Buster Keaton, in the shade.

You almost had us believing you this week when you did that shtick about Israel’s recent strikes on Iran. Allow me to quote your own words back at you:

“Russia is maintaining contacts with all parties to this conflict. We have contacts with Tehran, and we have contacts with the Israelis and the Palestinians.

“Russia is constantly doing everything possible to call on the parties to show restraint and to facilitate any attempts to de-escalate tensions.

“… There is still an extremely tense situation in the region and, of course, it is very important now to promote restraint in this regard.” [Reuters, October 28, 2024. Bold emphasis is mine.]

I have emphasized the funny bits, in case you don’t realize just how amusing you are. That part about the need to “show restraint” and “de-escalate tensions” — well, that’s just classic! Do you even know what a talent you have for irony?

And in case you still don’t get it, I have five little words that should help:

“Special Military Operation in Ukraine.”

Just sayin’, Dima . . . just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/29/24

Elon Musk: Visionary, industrial and entrepreneurial genius, risk-taker, and now . . . political activist.

But, as in everything else he undertakes, lower-level politics could never satisfy him; he has to be at the top. He is not only Donald Trump’s new best friend; it seems he is also edging closer and closer to Vladimir Putin. If it’s true, then he has managed to plant himself smack in the middle of the political ménage a trois of the century.

During the past three years, Musk has reportedly met with dozens of political figures, including presidents and prime ministers. There was, for example, a well-publicized visit to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to smooth out an antisemitic post on Musk’s “X” platform; and a quieter visit with Argentine President Javier Milei, reportedly concerning a variety of matters. According to “a review of Musk’s meetings, calls and conversations with political figures around the world since August 2021 . . . Musk has gone from being one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen to an increasingly powerful player in global affairs.” [Clare Duffy and Way Mullery, CNN, October 25, 2024.]

And now there are the unconfirmed reports of regular communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the Wall Street Journal, since late 2022 Musk has been in regular contact with Putin and other Russian officials about Starlink and other matters. Of course, the irrepressible Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has called this report “absolutely false,” and said that Musk and Putin have only ever spoken once — before 2022, and over the phone. There was no comment on this from Musk’s attorney. [Id.]

Regardless of the precise number or nature of his contacts with world leaders, there is no doubt that Musk has become a major player in international political and economic affairs — not to mention his very outspoken support of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race. So why would he do something so completely, outrageously, insanely stupid . . . ?

No . . . that’s definitely not it. He may be a little — well, a little more than a little — strange, but he is definitely not a dummkopf. Still, to do this really weird thing . . .

I am, of course, talking about his million-dollar payoffs to registered voters in certain specific swing states just a couple of weeks before the most hotly-contested, contentious, and closest presidential election in recent memory? The payoffs for which Philadelphia’s District Attorney, Larry Krasner, is now pursuing a civil lawsuit against Musk and his political action group, America PAC, charging them with carrying out an “illegal lottery scheme” in Pennsylvania. The suit alleges:

“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens — and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) — to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million. That is a lottery. And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery.” [Id.]

Surely, Musk or his lawyers or someone in his cadre of advisers must have said at some point, “Hey, is that even legal?” So why did he go ahead with it?

But who knows why Elon Musk does anything? His thought processes are often a complete mystery to those of us not on his astral plane. What is clear is that — as the world’s wealthiest individual, and a risk-taker with an ego the size of Black Hole TON 618 — he is a force to be reckoned with.

And one who will not be contained.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/29/24

In true Facebook parlance, today I am feeling . . . Lucky!

Because my good and true friend from Georgia (again — the country, not the state) has sent me what I asked for . . . no, actually much more than I had even hoped for . . . about his country’s political situation. And I have designated today a Learning Day, to be dedicated to reading and — yes — learning.

And when I’ve absorbed as much of that subject as my humble brain will handle at one sitting, I will take a walk in the lovely October sunshine, come back to my easy chair, and open the cover and flyleaf of the newest book in my collection: Patriot. It’s the just-released, posthumous autobiography of Alexei Navalny, started in a hospital in Germany while recuperating from an attempt on his life by means of poisoning, and completed during his incarceration in a Russian penal colony.

I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those page-turning, no-time-to-eat, “go-away-dog-get-someone-else-to-scratch-you” days. I’m not even sure about that walk now.

So, see you tomorrow . . . assuming I’ve been able to put the book down tonight. It’s nearly 500 pages, so it may take a while.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/28/24

Yesterday I wrote that there hadn’t been any word this past week of new political arrests in Russia — no new hostages for our list. That was the good news.

And then I read about the addition of five names — four individuals and one media outlet — that have just been added to the growing register of “foreign agents” under Russia’s oppressive and intentionally misapplied foreign agents registration laws.

One of the four men has already left Russia. Renowned literary critic and professor Oleg Lekmanov chose self-imposed exile as a means of continuing to voice his opposition to his country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But even in absentia, one can become a target of Russia’s campaign against any sort of political dissent, and he has been declared a “foreign agent.”

Professor Lekmanov has joined the faculty at Princeton University as a research scholar in its Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. [humanities.princeton.edu, September 5, 2023.] He is one of the lucky ones.

Still in Russia, under the watchful eye of Putin’s enforcers, is Nikolai Kavkazsky, a member of the Yabloko opposition party and a human rights and LGBTQ activist. He has previously been arrested and held for six days for participating in an anti-war action, and is now officially a “foreign agent.” [RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, October 26, 2024.]

Artyom Medvedev is “guilty” of advocating for the independence of the Russian autonomous region of Udmurtia — or the Udmurt Republic — some 835 miles from Moscow. He has taken part in events of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia, which has been classified as an “undesirable organization,” for which he was fined. [Id.]

Anton Hardin, a popular blogger with over 127,000 subscribers to his Telegram channel, is an outspoken opponent of the war in Ukraine, and has advocated against political repression in Russia. [Id.]

And last on this list is Astra, an independent Telegram channel that publishes news not carried by the official Russian media. [Id.] Some of its income must come from foreign sources, which is all it takes to be labeled a “foreign agent.”

*. *. *

The targeting of individuals and organizations deemed to be “foreign agents” or “undesirable” continues unabated in Russia despite international condemnation — and despite last week’s ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declaring the law as being in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and labeling it as “arbitrary” and used in an “overly broad and unpredictable way.” [Id.]

That case was brought before the Court by 107 plaintiffs, including the Russian human rights group Memorial, and major media outlets and human rights organizations. The Court ruled that the law imposed severe restrictions on the plaintiffs’ activities and that labeling them as foreign agents amounted to intimidation. [Id.]

That’s all well and good. But how can that ruling be enforced when Russia’s membership in the ECtHR ceased as of September 16, 2022? That Court has no real enforcement power.

And Vladimir Putin refuses in any event to pay attention to that which he does not care to see. He ignores — or finds means to circumvent — sanctions against himself and his country’s industries and financial institutions. When the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an enforceable warrant last year for his arrest on charges of war crimes, he simply stopped traveling to those countries that might have been obligated, as members of the ICC, to obey the warrant . . . and instead brought their leaders to him, as he did for last week’s BRICS summit.

So the “foreign agents” register continues to expand exponentially, and the good people of Russia who dare to express an unpopular opinion or criticize a government policy continue to live in fear . . . the very sort of fear that their older family members recall all too well from the Cold War and pre-War days.

The fear of Big Brother.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/28/24

Most often, you regret it.

And that is what happened to me today. Luckily, it wasn’t an earth-shaking, life-changing, disastrous event. But it shouldn’t have happened at all, because it could so easily have been avoided if I had followed my oft-repeated advice, namely:

“Don’t believe everything you read, especially on the internet and social media.”

I’m happy to say I did not fall so far as to take some so-called influencer’s word as gospel on any subject. But I did assume that the reportage in the legitimate press on the elections in Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state) would be accurate and objective.

Apparently, I was wrong.

What I should have done was check first with my own source — an unimpeachable source, with first-hand knowledge. But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to bother him. I had all the information I needed from the good men and women of the fourth estate — or so I thought.

I just overlooked one important fact: that journalism today isn’t what it used to be, which was — in the days of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow — the search for truth and the unbiased reporting of facts. Period. Not analysis and opinion based on personal viewpoints and prejudices. Those were reserved for the op.ed. pieces, and clearly presented as such.

And as a result, I am guilty of having formed a conclusion based on insufficient, or even incorrect, information in writing my earlier piece on the Georgia election. I am now attempting to re-educate myself, and until I have done so, my only further words on the subject will be:

Mea culpa.

Not just sayin‘ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24

What do you, the opposition party, do when your exit poll and the incumbent’s exit poll are miles apart, and the incumbent is already claiming victory?

And that incumbent has been leading his country in a pro-Russian, anti-Western direction, with promises (or threats) of more of the same to come?

Well, you do the only thing you can do: you protest the “stolen” election.

And that is what is happening in the Republic of Georgia today. The election, held yesterday, is nowhere near decided . . . nor is the future of Georgia itself.

I have a dear friend from that “other” Georgia, and I know he is far from happy today. From this distance (in the U.S. state of Georgia), all I can do is follow the news and hope for the best. Not really surprised, but so very sorry, my friend.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24