Sick and tired of all the angst, the doomsday prophecies, the political drama, the worsening climate conditions? Had it up to here with your neighbors’ teenage kids, your boss’ unreasonable demands, the price of vegetables? Thinking of finding that perfect forever home . . . somewhere else? Anywhere else?

That’s good . . . because I have just the piece of property you’ve been dreaming of. It’s acres and acres of undeveloped land, just waiting for you to give it the love it deserves. Choose the lot you want, as many acres as you’d like, and get your architect started on those plans.

This particular lot even comes with its own ready-built rock garden. Initial tests indicate that it’s pure sulphur. That’s got to be worth something . . . right?

Oh, did I mention the name of the development? It’s called “Mars” for now, though eventually I’m sure it will be subdivided and given some cute moniker, like “Heavenly Acres,” or the unpronounceable name of one of Elon Musk’s kids — just as soon as NASA declares it to be habitable, that is.

Yes, I know it’s 140 million miles from the nearest Walmart. But is that necessarily a bad thing? And I know Amazon doesn’t deliver there yet — though I heard a rumor that Uber and Lyft are competing for the first transportation franchise. And one of the folks at SpaceX said their cameras picked up a “Dollar General Coming Soon” sign . . .

But if you can put up with a few inconveniences for a generation or two, just think of the advantages: No wars (yet); no politics (yet); no communicable diseases (yet); no Kardashians, no Harry and Meghan, no Trumps (yet).

Sound ideal? For further information, contact Elon Musk; he’ll have your paper work ready to sign in no time. I don’t have his phone number or email address, but if you want it badly enough, I’m sure you’ll be able to find it. Good luck, and tell him I said hello.

NOTE: In the spirit of full disclosure, this cheery bit of advertising has been brought to you — just for laughs, because God knows we need them — by me. Hope it helped.

Brendochka
7/23/24

We seniors reminisce fondly about the ‘50s and ‘60s, and for the most part, they were good times . . . simpler times, for certain. But it wasn’t all fun and games. How well I remember the insane popularity of the personal air raid shelters:

I always wondered what would happen if the food ran out before it was safe to emerge; what life would be like afterwards; and where you would walk the dog in the meantime.

And there were the “duck-and-cover” drills at school, when we were told that this would protect us from an atom bomb attack:

I’m not sure the two boys at the back of the row got the message, but it wouldn’t have mattered. If the worst had happened, we would all have been toast in any event.

And from the end of the Second World War, while the Soviet Union pushed the rest of the world into an unending game of brinkmanship, we lived in the same kind of fear. The only difference was that we finally acknowledged that our desks weren’t going to save us.

Then one day — November 9, 1989 — the Berlin Wall came crashing down. And the countries of Eastern Europe began declaring their independence from Soviet rule. Finally, on December 25, 1991, the world got the biggest, bestest Christmas present it could have asked for: the hammer-and-sickle flag was lowered over the Kremlin, the Soviet Union was declared defunct, and the Cold War — officially, at least — was over. We could exhale at last.

*. *. *

And for the rest of the 20th Century we did breathe more easily. Oh, it wasn’t a world completely at peace, of course; that would be far too much to hope for. But where Russia — the “main enemy” — was concerned, we were now told to consider them our friends. We even sent money, technology, people to help them modernize and move forward into the 21st.

In other words, we let our guard down. And waiting in the wings was a small, unimpressive man from Leningrad (soon to be renamed St. Petersburg), seizing the unexpected opportunity to work his way up the ladder from KGB officer, to assistant to the Mayor of Leningrad, to the inner circle of the Kremlin in Moscow . . . to the presidency of Russia itself. And when Vladimir Putin took over, the world should once more have held its breath . . . but we didn’t. Not enough was known about this funny-looking little man, and we simply trusted that he would carry on along the path of Gorbachev’s reforms and Yeltsin’s good cheer.

And boy, were we wrong! Because this is where we are now:

What’s going on here? Why is the Norwegian army carrying on exercises called “Cold Response 2022”? What does that even mean?

Well, from the vantage point of 2024, it’s obvious: it’s a reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, and the underlying, ever-present threat of more to come. And Europe — which has seen far too many devastating wars in its past — is not simply ducking under a desk for cover, or turning a blind eye to the obvious. Not this time. In 2024, they’re preparing for the worst.

Several European countries have already returned to programs of compulsory military service as one segment of increased defense measures being taken. Robert Hamilton, head of Eurasia research at the U.S. Foreign Policy Research Institute, put it this way:

“We are coming to the realization that we may have to adjust the way we mobilize for war and adjust the way we produce military equipment and we recruit and train personnel. It is tragically true that here we are, in 2024, and we are grappling with the questions of how to mobilize millions of people to be thrown into a meatgrinder of a war potentially, but this is where Russia has put us.” [Radina Gigova, CNN, July 21, 2024.]

And from former NATO Supreme Allied Commander/Europe, General Wesley Clark (Ret.):

“So we’ve now got a war in Europe that we never thought we would see again. Whether this is a new Cold War or an emerging hot war is unclear, [but] it’s a very imminent warning to NATO that we’ve got to rebuild our defenses.” [CNN, id.]

After 1991, many European countries discontinued the draft. But several countries — most notably in Scandinavia and the Baltics, which lie perilously close to Russia’s northern and western borders — have recently reintroduced it, largely due to the threat from the growling bear at their doorstep. Latvia was the latest, where a 20-year-old student’s reaction was this:

“At first there was a lot of pushback. [But ultimately] the need for a state defence service was clear. There wasn’t really an option where we can stand by and think things will go on as they were before because of the unprovoked aggression in Ukraine.” [CNN, id.]

*. *. *

So, what will it be? Another cold war, with our grandchildren and great-grandchildren having to relive our childhood nightmares? Or — unimaginably — another “hot” war in Europe? And would this one be confined to Europe? Would it even be survivable?

With all of the other conflicts ongoing in the Middle East, Asia, and just about anywhere else you might stick a pin on the map — not to mention the as-yet-unknown results of the upcoming, contentious U.S. presidential election — wasn’t this just what the world needed to cope with right now?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/23/24

In English, that’s “No To War” — a slogan seen and heard less and less frequently in Russia these days. Because saying it, writing it, displaying it anywhere is strictly against a series of laws rammed through the Russian Parliament with lightning speed at the pleasure of the president.

We’re all too familiar with the horror stories of people — both Russian citizens and foreigners (mostly Americans) — being arrested, detained, tried, convicted, and sentenced to multiple years in one of Russia’s hundreds of stinking prisons . . . all because they have opposed the war in Ukraine, or “insulted” the military, “spread false information,” expressed an opinion contrary to the official line, or simply associated with someone who has been deemed to have done one of the above.

And all in total disregard of the so-called Constitution of the Russian Federation, which — and I’m sorry, but I find it incredibly difficult not to laugh right now — guarantees the right to free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of peaceful assembly, and other basic rights taken for granted in the free nations of the world.

* Please note here that I started reading an English translation of the Russian Constitution, which was apparently not done by a native English speaker. It was rather confusing in places, and I’m trying to find a better translation; otherwise, I will have to spend a year struggling through the original, one phrase at a time, just me and my Russian-English dictionary. Oy!

What is not amusing, however — and especially not to the citizens of the Russian Federation — is the manner in which these laws have been designed, passed, interpreted, and implemented for the sole purpose of shutting people up. The people’s constitutional rights, so hard won following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, no longer have any force. They are gone.

The only law is Putin’s law. And that truly is not funny.

*. *. *

But sometimes a bit of unintentional humor can be found in the most unexpected places — even in the onerous restrictions imposed by the Russian government. I specifically refer to a law that penalizes “discrediting” the Russian army, which has been broadly applied to actions interpreted as being in support of Ukraine or critical of the war. These include — and I honestly couldn’t tell you which is my favorite, because my laugh meter never veered off the top of the scale as I read them — the following:

– Wearing clothes (including shoes) in the blue-and-yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag;

– Writing anti-war slogans on cakes (as one pastry chef sadly found out the hard way);

– Dyeing one’s hair blue-and-yellow;

– Listening to Ukrainian music;

– Displaying anti-war posters with messages ranging from “No War” to eight asterisks — the number of Russian letters that spell “No War” — or even just a blank sheet of paper.

[From an article by Vitaly Shevchenko, BBC News, July 20, 2024.]

*. *. *

As I said, the situation in Russia today is the farthest thing from funny, or even mildly amusing, because those idiotic restrictions are seriously enforced. But reading Mr. Shevchenko’s article left me wondering: Who thinks up this crap? Don’t they have better things to do . . . like, maybe, making peace with the free world? I’m almost tempted to dye my hair blue and yellow, wrap myself in a Ukrainian flag (I actually do have one), get an enlarged photo made, and send it directly to . . .

No, not Putin. It would go straight to the desk of that darling of the Kremlin press corps . . . the Kremlin Spokesman himself . . . the one, the only . . .

Dmitry Peskov.

Because my dear Dmitry (more familiarly known as Dima) had something to say about this new “false information” law when it was rushed through Parliament shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Good old reliable Dima told the world then that the law was “urgently needed because of the absolutely unprecedented information war waged against our country.”

And that’s when I really lost it.

*. *. *

And now — if I may borrow the words of the immortal Forrest Gump — “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/22/24

They may look as snug as the proverbial two peas in a pod (if you’ll pardon the mixing of the metaphors) . . .

But lyricist Dorothy Fields might easily have been thinking of this couple when she wrote the words to Jerome Kern’s music nearly a hundred years ago:

“A fine romance, with no kisses
A fine romance, my friend, this is
We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes
But you’re as cold as yesterday’s mashed potatoes
A fine romance, you won’t nestle
A fine romance, you won’t wrestle
I might as well play bridge with my old maid aunts
I haven’t got a chance
This is a fine romance.”
– Dorothy Fields & Jerome Kern – 1936

Because neither of these two . . . well, never mind the descriptors . . . neither of them can be trusted any farther than I could toss them. But they are two of a kind, and so they seem to have forged some sort of friendship — or at least an alliance of political convenience. And this is why I find myself wondering about the story behind the story in a case that has all the earmarks of a Putin-inspired scheme.

*. *. *

His name is Rico Krieger. He is a German citizen, aged 29, an emergency medical technician who worked for the German Red Cross and as an armed security officer for the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. And now he stands sentenced to death in Belarus, convicted under six counts of that country’s Criminal Code:

– “mercenary activity”
– “agent activity”
– “act of terrorism”
– “creation of an extremist formation”
– “intentional disrepair of a vehicle or communication lines”
– “illegal actions in relation to firearms, ammunition and explosives”

Viasna, a Belarusian human rights group, also reported that he had been found guilty of “arranging an explosion in order to influence decision-making by authorities, intimidate the population, [and] destabilize public order.” There has been no clarification as to the background of the alleged crimes, when they are supposed to have occurred, or what supporting evidence was presented against Mr. Krieger. [Eve Brennan, Svitlana Vlasova and Inke Kappeler, CNN, July 20, 2024.]

But he has been declared guilty, and sentenced to death.

Death. Not 15, or 20, or even 25 years in prison, as in the most severe cases of alleged espionage brought against foreigners (mostly American) in Russia. But the ultimate penalty, from which there is no return. It was Mr. Krieger’s great misfortune to have been arrested in the only country in Europe that continues to allow the death penalty. The method is a single shot to the back of the head.

Calling the death penalty a “cruel and inhumane form of punishment that Germany rejects under all circumstances,” a spokesperson from the German Foreign Office told CNN: “The Federal Foreign Office and the Embassy in Minsk are providing consular support to the individual concerned and are working intensively on his behalf with the Belarusian authorities.” [CNN, id.]

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Anatoly Glaz, said in a statement on X that Minsk has “proposed a number of options [to Germany] for the development of the situation. There have been contacts with the German side on this topic, of course. This criminal is a German citizen and we understand the German side’s concern for him . . . Consultations on this topic are being held by the foreign ministries of the two countries.” [Id.]

*. *. *

So why do I think this smells like a setup leading to an eventual prisoner swap? And why with Germany? Are there any Belarusians currently being held in German prisons that might be wanted back home?

Probably not . . . or none that I’ve been able to find mention of. But wouldn’t Lukashenko’s friend and mentor, Vladimir Putin, be beholden to Lukashenko if he were to succeed in engineering the release of a certain Russian FSB Colonel, Vadim Krasikov, from the German prison where he is serving a life sentence for the brazen daytime assassination in Berlin of Chechen dissident Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in 2019 — a killing-for-hire laid directly at the doorstep of the aforesaid Mr. Putin?

You bet he would! Because Putin has been hinting — and none too subtly — that the return of Krasikov might even be worth an exchange for none other than American journalist Evan Gershkovich . . . and possibly even former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

The problem has been that swapping an American (or two) for a Russian prisoner being held in a third country — in this case, Germany — is complicated. What does that third country stand to gain for its largesse? A gold star for being the good guys, sure. But we’re talking international politics here, and it’s just not that simple.

So maybe the answer was easier than anyone — anyone but Aleksandr Lukashenko, that is — had imagined. Just snatch a German citizen, and . . . voila! Problem solved.

Or perhaps it was Putin’s idea in the first place.

And there is yet another possibility: I might be over-thinking the whole thing. It’s certainly been known to happen. But I’ve always gone with my gut, and over the years, my gut has seldom let me down.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/22/24

I really need to establish a cut-off time for searching the headlines — made the mistake of taking another look a little while ago, and had to add two more to the to-do list:

– Viktor Orban and the Habsburg Empire.
– What is BRICS, and why should we be worried about it?
– Putin and the Houthis — and why we’re already worried about them.
– Europe reinstating the draft: Cold War, Part Deux?
– German citizen convicted of terrorism in Belarus, sentenced to DEATH.

Because just when you think it can’t get any worse . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/21/24

It’s been a busy week, and the topics just keep splashing themselves irresistibly across the daily headlines. In no particular order, since they’re of equal importance, I’m already working on:

– Viktor Orban and the Habsburg Empire.
– What is BRICS, and why should we be worried about it?
– Putin and the Houthis — and why we’re already worried about them.

And we’re just heading into a new week, presumably with more to come. I’m so glad I don’t get bogged down in the subject of U.S. politics — there wouldn’t be enough memory in my iPad.

Stay tuned, folks . . . there’s always news.

Brendochka
7/21/24

Sunday, and another American has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in Russia . . . though this one is a criminal case, once again arising from alleged drug violations. The prisoner is Travis Leake, a musician and musical producer fronting for Russian band Lovi Noch (“Catch the Night”), who was initially arrested in June of 2023.

Charged with — and now convicted of — drug smuggling, the former U.S. paratrooper pled not guilty, saying, “I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t believe I could have done what I’m accused of because I don’t know what I’m accused of.” [Sergey Gudkov, CNN, July 18, 2024.]

Though his case is not seemingly politically-motivated, Leake now becomes yet another piece of merchandise in Russia’s growing assemblage of assets to be used in its ongoing “trade war” with the United States — the commodity being human lives.

*. *. *

The update, of course, is the conviction of Evan Gershkovich on bogus charges of espionage, and the court’s sentence of 16 years (the prosecution had asked for 18) to be served in an as-yet-unnamed prison. No surprise here, though it still feels like being gut-punched.

*. *. *

And the wait for information about Vladimir Kara-Murza drags on. It has been 17 days since his July 4th transfer from his punishment cell at IK-6 penal colony to the prison hospital, under secretive and mysterious circumstances. And nearly a week since there has been any word from prison officials or Kara-Murza’s attorneys as to his condition, or even his whereabouts. To say that the situation is intolerable would be a gross understatement. The memory of Alexei Navalny is too recent, too painful . . . and too similar.

*. *. *

There are others, of course. But the one who has been held HOSTAGE the longest — just over five and one-half years — is former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. Arrested on charges of espionage on December 28, 2018 (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Paul), he was not sentenced until June of 2020. He is now one-third of the way through his 16-year sentence, and is more than deserving of recognition as the most patient of the Americans on this list . . . and of a spot at the top of the “swap list.” Hang in there, Paul; your day will come.

*. *. *

And, as always, we pay our weekly tribute to all those HOSTAGES locked away in Russian prisons for strictly political reasons:

Vladimir Kara-Murza
Evan Gershkovich
Alsu Kurmasheva
Paul Whelan
Ilya Yashin
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black
Robert Woodland Romanov
Boris Akunin
Marc Hilliard Fogel
Asya Kazantseva
Ilya Barabanov
Aleksandr Skobov
Antonina Favorskaya
Oleg Orlov
Boris Kagarlitsky
Oleg Navalny
Ksenia Karelina
Ksenia Fadeyeva
Lilia Chanysheva
Vadim Ostanin
Sergei Udaltsov
Danuta Perednya
Olesya Krivtsova
Konstantin Gabov
Sergey Karelin
Sergey Mingazov
Michael Travis Leake

. . . and the hundreds of others whose names remain unknown to me. You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Brendochka
7/21/24

My favorite Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov — well, actually the only Kremlin spokesman we ever hear from — delivered some very un-funny news yesterday in reference to a Russian military delegation presently in North Korea, reportedly for the purpose of “implementing agreements reached during President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Pyongyang.” [Reuters, July 19, 2024.]

So why are you smiling, Dima, you big putz? You think plotting the end of civilization is a joke? Do you??!!!

Well, he didn’t actually refer to the end of the world . . . not in so many words. But in June, Russia and North Korea did sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership” pact including a provision for “mutual defense in case of aggression against one of the countries.” And this is what Dmitry had to say about that yesterday:

“Work is underway, including in implementing the agreements reached during President Putin’s recent official visit to Pyongyang. It was a rich, informative and productive visit, and now the two sides are working to implement the agreements that were reached. Our delegation’s trip occurred as part of those agreements.” [Reuters, id.]

All right, fine. “So the west has NATO. Why shouldn’t other countries have similar mutual defense pacts?” — I hear you ask.

Well, for starters, NATO isn’t threatening to blow up our globe if things don’t go their way. Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin have done just that from time to time.

Second, have we seen the other provisions of their pact? Is it really just a “you-cover-my-ass-I’ll-cover-yours” equivalent to NATO’s Article 5? What don’t we know?

Third, who will be monitoring the principals? NATO has 32 members; this agreement, it appears, has just two parties. What are the safeguards against overreaction?

And finally, there is the all-important trust factor. Can you honestly tell me that you believe either of these two best buddies would put the other’s interests — or anyone’s interests — before his own? Have they ever?

It’s not a question of whether they deserve backup; it’s a matter of who’s providing that backup. If Putin says he doesn’t like U.S. policy toward . . . oh, let’s say, the Houthi rebels in Yemen . . . what’s to stop Kim from going batshit and reaching for that red button to help out his friend? Or vice-versa?

And we all know what would happen next.

*. *. *

So, Dima, do you really find it amusing that these two aggressors, each with his finger on the nuclear button, have chosen one another as their defense partner?

You do realize that, in a worst-case scenario, they’d be signing your death sentence as well, don’t you?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/20/24

I’ve only been privileged to visit England once, and then I was limited to London. It was a five-day trip in April of 1990, for a conference that my law firm was co-sponsoring on doing business in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union — and I fell in love with the place. Most of my time was spent at the conference, of course; but there were still enough hours in the day, and evening, to manage a good bit of fun: seeing the sights, riding the Underground (or Tube, if you prefer), shopping, closing a disco in Piccadilly at 3 a.m., dodging the amorous advances of a portly, overbearing Soviet official . . .

Well, best to stop there. Suffice it to say, it was a memorable trip. I found London to be charming and civilized, and Londoners very much the same, except for the concierge in the Mayfair Hotel and one waiter in a restaurant, both of whom insisted upon correcting my American terminology. Even the food, contrary to what I had always heard, was quite good. And by some miracle, the weather held out for us as well. My only regret was that there wasn’t time to get outside of London; I never did see Oxford, or Stratford-on-Avon, or Stonehenge. Or any of those lovely little villages that are the locale of so much murder and mayhem on one of my favorite British TV shows: Midsomer Murders.

Aha! Do I hear people nodding in agreement? I thought I might. I still watch the re-runs, and I have to say, I did prefer Tom Barnaby to his cousin John. But I refuse to open the floor to a vote on who was the best Sergeant, because I thought each was wonderful in his own way, and I missed them all when they moved on. But what I loved most were the quirky villages and the . . . oh, what’s the best adjective here? . . . the bizarre characters. Those villages hid more psychopathic, sociopathic, murderous, bullying, polygamous, adulterous, fetishistic, incestuous, jealous, hateful, scheming, lying, covetous, simply miserable people within a few square kilometers than one would expect to find in the entire city of London.

What fun!

I believe the late Queen Elizabeth summed it up best when she met some of the cast members of what she said was her favorite TV show, and asked, “Tell me: is there anyone left alive in Midsomer?”

These were not simply one-and-done murder mysteries — every killer was a serial killer, often out of necessity, when he (or she) had to cover up one murder by then killing off a possible witness . . . or several. And the methods they devised to bump off those poor victims left one wondering about the sanity of the writers who dreamt up the concoctions. Such as:

– Shrink-wrapped, packaged in a shipping container of cookies, and shipped off to Denmark.
– Buried alive in wet concrete.
– Smacked in the head with various heavy, solid objects.
– Pushed off a roof.
– Scared to death by a fake ghost.
– Beheaded.
– Hung up on a meat hook alongside the fresh beef.
– Tied down and pelted with bottles of champagne launched by a conveniently handy catapult.

– Drowned in various liquids, some of them disgustingly viscous.
– Burnt to a crisp.
– Locked in a commercial freezer.
– Locked in a commercial clothes dryer.
– Locked in a room filled with gas fumes.
– Locked in an iron maiden.

– Garroted with piano wire, curtain pulls, or whatever was handy.
– Run through with a lance that happened to be sitting around.
– Poisoned with deadly mushrooms or little blue venomous frogs.
– And sometimes merely shot with a rifle, a shotgun, or a crossbow.

The British — particularly the aristocracy — seem inordinately fond of their antique weapons, don’t they?

*. *. *

And the characters themselves? With all of their manias, phobias, fetishes, and other psychological aberrations, they were beyond the imaginings of even a Dostoevsky or a Stephen King. There are too many to mention, but I do have a favorite pair: the Rainbirds. Featured in the very first season, they were a mother-and-son pair that would have made Sigmund Freud jump for joy. They met an unpleasant end — together, as they would have wanted it — but happily, the writers were able to bring them back from the dead in a later season. Well, not actually reincarnated, but cast as the nearly identical sister of the original Mrs. Rainbird and an equally obnoxious son, though not quite as evil.

If you have somehow missed this delightfully different series, I strongly recommend it. But be sure to begin at the beginning, with “The Killings at Badger’s Drift,” and say hello to the Rainbirds.

Yes, that’s the England I didn’t get to see . . . which is probably for the best. I was better off in the city, where my biggest worries were getting run over by a double-decker bus, or embarrassed to death by a very British concierge.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/20/24

Evan Gershkovich has been convicted of espionage and sentenced to a term of 16 years in a Russian prison. In addition, he was fined costs equivalent to $77 (U.S.), and certain of his personal belongings — including his iPhone and his notepad — were ordered destroyed. Not simply confiscated . . . destroyed.

Talk has now turned to the possibility of an exchange of Gershkovich for someone the Russians want released from a foreign prison: quite possibly Vadim Krasikov, presently serving a life sentence in Germany for the brazen daytime assassination of a Chechen emigre in Berlin.

And all of this is of the utmost importance. But we must not let it distract us from the equally urgent situations of others presently being held on false, purely political charges in Russian prisons:

– Vladimir Kara-Murza (British-Russian)
– Alsu Kurmasheva (American-Russian)
– Paul Whelan (American)
– Marc Hilliard Fogel (American)
– Staff Sgt. Gordon Black (American)
– Robert Woodland Romanov (American-Russian)

With the exception of U.K. citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza — whose situation is dire as he is kept incommunicado, in unknown physical condition, in the prison hospital at Prison Colony No. 7 in Omsk, Siberia — we hear little or nothing about the U.S. citizens being wrongfully imprisoned. And that silence is terrifying for them and their families at home.

Negotiations for exchanges may be underway for some or all of them, and if so, those talks are understandably not made public until they are concluded. But in the meantime, the prisoners and their loved ones live in a vacuum. There must be no letup in the pressure to bring them home.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/19/24