Even in the midst of chaos (packing to move), I find myself incapable of completely ignoring the daily news. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough spare hours to go into depth on any one subject today, so here’s a very brief commentary on what I gleaned from the headlines:
G-7 Meeting in France: There seems to be unanimity as to the continuation of support for Ukraine — great news indeed! As for the guy who should have been the standout member of the group . . . well, he did stand out, but not in the way one would have hoped:
Clearly Not “Mr. Cordiality”
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Russia: Getting blasted by Ukraine’s superior drones, with emphasis on oil production and storage facilities. The war has come home to Moscow, temporarily shutting down all four airports yesterday.
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Iran: Laughing all the way to the bank.
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Washington, D.C.: The White House — including the actual building and grounds — is a total mess; the newly “repaired” Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial is swarming with algae; and the government . . . well, let’s just skip that one for now, okay?
The White House – Before and After Trump 47
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The Good News: Only 875 days remaining until November 7, 2028.
I find it indescribably distressing to hear people criticizing the United States because of the abominations being committed by our current presidential administration. I love my country, and I hold out hope that the world will stick by us as we citizens continue to fight for a return to normalcy with the inevitable passage of time. So by all means, do call out the so-called leaders of our government for their crimes; but please don’t lump the rest of us into the same category.
Similarly, I cannot hate the people of Russia because of Vladimir Putin; North Korea because of Kim Jong Un; Iran because of their Ayatollah . . . or Israel because of Benjamin Netanyahu.
And it is that last name that has been much on my mind recently.
I am, and always have been, pro-Israel. For nearly 80 years it has been a small island of refuge for the persecuted Jews of the world: a barren desert that, since attaining its hard-won independence in 1948, has blossomed into a land of plenty, of technological excellence, of military superiority, and — until recently — a model of democracy.
But Netanyahu has failed the good people of Israel. He has become one of the world’s most virulent warmongers, reacting to a horrific attack by Hamas in October of 2023 — not with a well-deserved proportional response — but with a vicious, scorched-earth war in Gaza and elsewhere, deliberately intended to wipe out an entire civilization . . . the very sort of hatred and violence that necessitated the creation of Israel in the first place.
He has also joined with Donald Trump in his insane action against Iran, using it as an excuse for further attacks against neighboring countries. But even that wasn’t enough. Because now, as Trump appears to have found a way to end that conflict (though in a less-than-satisfactory manner for everyone except Iran), Netanyahu has expressed his obvious disdain for peace by continuing his strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and saying:
“President Trump and I do not always see eye to eye. He is the president of the United States, and I am the prime minister of Israel. I am responsible for Israel’s security interests, and it needs to be done wisely.
“With or without an agreement, Iran will not have nuclear weapons — not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am prime miister of Israel, it will not happen.
“The struggle is not over. We will need to remain vigilant, strong and determined to defend ourselves, as required.” [Tal Shalev, CNN, June 15, 2026.]
As the world teeters on the brink of yet another world war, I agree that the last thing we need is one more tyrannical regime in possession of the most destructive weapons known to man. But former President Barack Obama had already accomplished Iran’s denuclearization in an agreement that Donald Trump, in his first term, brilliantly tore up, opening the door to this current conflict.
And his friend “Bibi” Netanyahu is happily joining in the melee — in fact, extending it further — in the name of “defense.”
Both men advocate regime change. But perhaps it is their own regimes they should be looking at before castigating others. Because while they’re busy playing their war games, they’re not paying attention to the new world order being created in plain sight, which could lead to the demise of two of the greatest democracies the world has ever known.
Founding Members of BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
BRICS was established for the sole purpose of displacing the long-standing economic and military dominance of the democratic Western alliance of nations. They are just waiting for the right moment.
The question is: Will our present leaders give it to them?
While we’re on the subject of corruption — and when aren’t we, lately? — here’s a word of warning from the eminent astronomer Carl Sagan:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
– Carl Sagan, “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”
Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996)
Which explains the phenomenon of the current U.S. presidential administration, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the American oligarchy, and the entire MAGA-verse.
They simply cannot accept the evidence in front of them of their own colossal stupidity.
Thank you, Dr. Sagan, for clarifying it so succinctly.
Vladimir Putin crossed a gigantic red line last night, when he struck and burned — not just a UNESCO World Heritage site under enhanced protection by the Second Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention — but one of the oldest and most sacred monasteries in Eastern Christianity: the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
The Lavra was founded in 1051 A.D. Ironically, its graveyard contains the remains of Yuriy Dolgorukiy, the Grand Prince of Kyiv who founded Moscow itself nearly a century later (1147 A.D.).
Speaking about the attack, Tetiana Berezhna, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Culture, said:
“An attack on it is one of the gravest crimes against world cultural heritage. When the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra comes under fire, this is not only about Ukraine. It is about heritage that belongs to all of humanity.” [Euromaidan Press, June 14, 2026.]
And Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, wrote on X:
“As a result of Russian shelling happening right now, on the night of 15 June, the roof of one of the holiest sites in the Christian world — the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra — is on fire.
“We ask for your prayers for the salvation of this holy site from destruction.
“Yet another Russian crime against humanity, against history, against Christianity.
“What else must the Kremlin’s Antichrist do for the world to realize it must act decisively to end Russian terror against Ukraine and against the very principles of peace?
“Most Holy Mother of God, stop Herod!” [Id.]
While Ukraine carefully targets Russia’s military and its oil and gas refineries and storage facilities, the Kremlin continues to order attacks on civilian infrastructure: residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, public transportation . . . and now, it’s most holy and historic sites.
Metropolitan Epiphanius
There is clearly no bottom to the depth of Putin’s depravity. As Metropolitan Epiphanius said, the madness of this modern-day “King Herod” must be stopped, once and for all.
We all know that history tends to repeat itself. But it doesn’t usually happen so quickly.
Does anyone remember the case of Russian-American Ksenia Karelina, who was arrested in 2024 on charges of treason while visiting her family in Yekaterinburg, Russia? She was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the alleged offense of having contributed $51 to a pro-Ukraine fund — a transaction only discovered when her cell phone was seized and her data reviewed.
Karelina was lucky; in April of 2025, she was included in a multi-nation prisoner swap and returned safely home to the U.S. after serving more than a year of her sentence.
Ksenia Karelina – Returning Home
In what may be an indication that the Putin regime is running out of excuses to arrest people — and specifically Russian citizens living outside of Russia but returning to visit relatives — they’ve done it again. Or perhaps it’s a ruse that has worked so well in the past, they simply keep repeating it.
Mikhail Loshchinin, 48, is a Belgian and Russian citizen who has lived in the European Union since 1999. In 2021, he traveled by motorcycle to Russia and returned to his home in Western Europe without incident. So last summer (2025), when his father, who still lives in Russia, suffered a heart attack, he decided to make the trip again.
Mikhail Loshchinin
But this trip did not go well. Shortly after legally crossing the border into Russia from Latvia, he was detained, tortured, and tried on a charge of treason — specifically, for “financing representatives of a foreign state recognized as an adversary of the Russian Federation.” [RFE/RL’s Russian Serivce and Current Time, June 5, 2026.]
Again, the government’s only evidence consisted of a single transfer of the equivalent of $245 to a Ukrainian former girlfriend.
According to Loshchinin’s mother, he was sent to a facility for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Stary Oskol, a city in the Belgorod region of Russia near the Ukraine border. She reports that his eyeglasses were taken from him, leaving him nearly blind, and that the guards “tortured and humiliated him, both morally and physically,” including stripping him naked and beating him. [Id.]
In response to questions he received from the Russian-language media outlet Bereg, Loshchinin wrote:
“I won’t describe all the atrocities. . . . But the psychological and physical torture was daily. It’s a world where you’re no longer a person. Where you’re happy when you’re in your cell with the door closed and the hallway silent. Where hell comes in every time the door opens. And the door opened often.” [Id.]
But, he said, “I met people who suffered a lot more.” [Id.]
In August, he was transferred to a pretrial detention center in Pskov, which “looks [like] a five-star hotel” compared to the prison at Stary Oskol. But there was no medical care, despite the fact that he needs surgery on one eye. Authorities have even refused to provide the vitamins that could slow the deterioration of his eyesight. [Id.]
On June 2, 2026, Mikhail Loshchinin was (of course) convicted of treason and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He has been designated a political prisoner by the Russian rights group Memorial, which has a current list of 1,170 such cases.
Loshchinin maintains his innocence, and has vowed to keep fighting. He says that:
“Because of everything that has happened, [my life] now has more of a spiritual than a physical meaning. I have seen and felt so may lies, so much terror and lawlessness, and have heard so many stories that made me cry upon returning to my cell. Fighting alone is much easier than watching other innocent people suffer and not being able to help them.” [Id.]
If there are still people who believe that today’s Russia under Vladimir Putin is a “kinder, gentler” place than the former Soviet Union, they have only to study Mikhail Loshchinin’s case — or any of the thousands of others like his — to discover the barbaric treatment that continues unchecked despite worldwide condemnation and sanctions.
The Face of Evil
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Today, Mikhail Loshchinin’s name is added to our list, joining the others whom we remember again this week:
Prisoners of War:
The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children The People of Ukraine
Immigrant Detainees in Russia:
Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Endangered Exiles:
Pavel “Pasha” Talankin Mikita Losik Yulia Navalnaya Oleg Orlov Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents
Political Prisoners:
In Afghanistan:
Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American) Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)
Andrei Chapiuk Uladzimir Labkovich Andrzej Poczobut Marfa Rabkova Valiantsin Stafanovic Yuras Zyankovich
In Georgia:
Mzia Amaglobeli
In Russia:
The “Crimea 8”: Oleg Antipov Artyom Azatyan Georgy Azatyan Aleksandr Bylin Roman Solomko Artur Terchanyan Dmitry Tyazhelykh Vladimir Zloba
James Scott Rhys Anderson (British) Aleksandr Andreyev David Barnes (American) Yevgenia Berkovich Gordon Black (American) Hayden Davies (British) Yury Dmitriyev Anastasia Dyudyaeva Antonina Favorskaya Konstantin Gabov Robert Gilman (American) Stephen James Hubbard (American) Sergey Karelin Timur Kishukov Vadim Kobzev Darya Kozyreva Artyom Kriger Michael Travis Leake (American) Aleksei Liptser Mikhail Loshchinin Grigory Melkonyants Nika NovakSvetlana Petriichuk Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea) Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler) Lev Schlossberg Sofiane Sehili (French) Igor Sergunin Dmitry Shatresov Robert Shonov Grigory Skvortsov Eugene Spector (American) Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)Karina Tsurkan Laurent Vinatier Robert Romanov Woodland (American)
I just received a news flash on Facebook that dragged me away from packing for my upcoming move:
The entire Feenstra clan — Arend, Anneesa, and the eight youngsters — are on a vacation trip to Crimea.
Arend Feenstra – On the Train to Crimea
Yes, you read that correctly. Having just recently returned from several months in Canada and the U.S. in time for spring planting season, calving season, lambing-and-shearing season, and their myriad of endless farm chores, they have once again packed their bags and left Nizhny Novgorod . . . this time to spend two hours on the train, six days in Crimea, and another two days on the return ride.
Wait . . . did he say CRIMEA??!!!
What the #%?*^%# ??!!!
Yes, that Crimea — the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula that is currently a war zone; where divers are retrieving pieces of exploded drones from the Black Sea waters; where gas is so scarce that drivers are restricted to purchasing 20 liters (just over 5 gallons) of gas at a time; and where the beautiful resorts exist side-by-side with bomb shelters.
And at the busiest time of year on the farm.
Oh . . . and Arend also mentioned something about being accompanied by “some friends,” as yet unidentified.
I am gobsmacked by this whole thing. It makes absolutely no sense. Is it another mandatory propaganda program? Is the war getting too close to Nizhny Novgorod? Where is the money coming from?
What the hell?
I guess we can only stay tuned for updates, and hope for the best. Meanwhile, it’s back to packing for me. I just had to take time to share this bombshell with you.
As I read the daily reports of man’s inhumanity to man — including the outrageous perversions of justice being committed by members of my own government — I can’t help musing on how lovely it would be if the perpetrators could be on the receiving end of their own heinous actions . . . having to live for a couple of months on minimum wage or Social Security, without medical insurance, for example.
I know that millions of people are thinking along the same lines. And it’s fascinating to know that Abraham Lincoln was way ahead of us . . . in his case, with respect to the issue of slavery, but equally applicable to today’s problems.
“Honest Abe” (1809 – 1865)
What he said was:
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 