Presidents and other leaders have always had advisors by their sides — generally learned individuals in their specific fields of endeavor, chosen to augment the leader’s own expertise and . . . here’s the key word . . . to advise on matters of importance.

Not to walk in and take charge; not to form cadres of mercenaries to storm the government agencies and decimate them regardless of the stupidity, the illegality, or the unconstitutionality of their actions; not to dictate foreign policy; and not to upstage the leader at a press conference while dressed in a logo tee shirt and baseball cap and carrying a four-year-old child on their back.

Not like this guy:

The entire population of the United States — in fact, the entire world — is agog at the audacity of Elon Musk’s actions since Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20th of this year. He may be the world’s richest individual; but no one elected him President. In fact, they couldn’t . . . because he was not born in the USA.

Yes, he is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and as such can hold public office. But he cannot be President or Vice President; nor has he been elected or appointed/confirmed to any legitimate office. Yet he has usurped powers that rightfully belong to those who have.

Perhaps if his actions were the least bit beneficial to the welfare of the country, they might be tolerable. But he has already created chaos in vital government agencies that are relied upon for the health, safety and welfare of our country and its people. With his symbolic chainsaw, he has placed at risk the livelihoods, and even the lives, of countless thousands — perhaps millions — of individuals and families.

As crazy as it may sound, he seems to be intent on wiping out the entire population of the United States who are not in his tax bracket. (Except that we pay our fair share of taxes, while he . . . well . . . doesn’t.)

But are we now seeing the first crack in the foundation of his political adventure? Has his unprecedented $280,000,000 investment in Trump’s campaign run out? One can only hope.

Because on Thursday, Trump called an impromptu meeting of his cabinet secretaries to discuss Musk’s slashing of government spending and personnel. And that meeting is reported to have been anything but pleasant. Musk accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “failing to cut enough staff at the State Department,” and then had a set-to with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over “whether Musk’s . . . [DOGE] task force had tried to lay off air traffic controllers who were already in short supply in the Federal Aviation Administration.” [Anthony Zurcher, BBC, March 8, 2025.]

And when the dust settled and Trump finally spoke up, he said that — while he still supported DOGE — hereafter the cabinet secretaries would be in charge of their respective departments, with Musk’s team to advise.

There’s that word again . . . the one that Musk doesn’t take kindly to. In his mind, he is No. 1 — not just an advisor. But following the meeting, Trump said in the Oval Office that cabinet members should decide whom to cut, but that if they didn’t, then Musk would do the job:

“I had a meeting, and I said I want the cabinet members to go first. And if they can cut it’s better, if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.” [Id.]

Okay, so it’s a half-assed decision; but it’s a step — albeit a small one — in the right direction. And it’s the first time we’ve heard Trump make any statement that wasn’t 100% behind Musk. So I guess we’ll take what we can get for now, and hope that the next temblor turns out to be the big one that dismantles DOGE completely and sends Elon Musk back to the Land of X, where he can return to playing with his rockets and counting his money.

And the people of the United States — the ones who actually make this country work — can get on with their lives.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/9/25

Sadly, there is a new name added to our list this week, although her story began more than a year ago.

Nika Novak is a Russian journalist who was sentenced last year to four years in prison for alleged “confidential cooperation with a foreign state, international or foreign organization.” [RFE/RL, March 4, 2025.]

Like so many others, she was arrested for doing her job as editor-in-chief of the Zab.ru website for ChitaMedia and contributing to programs by RFE/RL’s Siberia.Realties. [Id.]

In December of 2023, FSB (Federal Security Service) agents raided the apartment she shared with her mother in the Siberian city of Chita while they slept, detained Novak, and charged her under Article 275.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which had been adopted in 2022 — shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — to augment the existing number and definitions of acts considered to constitute treason or espionage. She is the first journalist to be sentenced under that specific article, which Human Rights Watch has called “reminiscent of the Soviet-era ban on contacts with foreigners.” [Id.]

Following her arrest, Novak was flown to Moscow to be placed in pretrial detention. According to relatives, she has been moved to other facilities, the most recent being in Irkutsk. But last week she was transferred to a prison in Novosibirsk, which they described as worse than any of the other facilities she has been held in to date.

Since the latest transfer, she has been sharing a noisy and chaotic cell with ten other inmates facing a variety of criminal charges, and has stopped eating as a result of stress and fear . . . despite having been recognized by Russian human rights group Memorial as a political prisoner.

Her arrest has also been condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Coalition for Women in Journalism. And the International Press Institute has said that her sentencing was “made possible by Russia’s continued instrumentalization of its own legislation with the aim of repressing independent journalists and other critical voices.” [RFE/RL Advocacy.]

I don’t think there’s much doubt of that.

*. *. *

Novak’s lawyers have filed a motion to have her moved to a different cell, on the basis of provisions of Russian law stating that prisoners like Novak should be kept separate from others accused of serious, non-political, often violent crimes including murder.

The appeal of her sentence is scheduled to be heard in Novosibirsk on March 24th. In the meantime, she shares a cell with hardened criminals pending a decision on her attorneys’ motion.

*. *. *

Thus, our roll call of political hostages has grown by one this week:

David Barnes
Ales Bialiatski (in Belarus)
Gordon Black
Andrei Chapiuk (in Belarus)
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Ihar Karney (in Belarus)
Vadim Kobzev
Uladzimir Labkovich (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Aleksei Liptser
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Nika Novak
Marfa Rabkova (in Belarus)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Valiantsin Stafanovic (in Belarus)
Siarhei Tsikhanouski (in Belarus)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)
Yuras Zyankovich (in Belarus)

*. *. *

And — like a broken record — I again offer this plea to Donald Trump in the White House . . . though I realize it will likely fall on deaf ears:

“Amidst all of the hubbub of your new administration, it is imperative that these innocent men and women not be forgotten. Negotiations for their safe release have been underway for some time. President Joe Biden succeeded in bringing home 16 innocent people on August 1st of last year, and you have added two others to that list. But you should be trying to do even more. Whatever else you do, this should be high on your list of priorities. The people you promised to represent are counting on you.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/9/25

. . . especially when it’s addressed to a total narcissist.

What’s that? A Russian Foreign Minister complimenting a President of the United States? That can’t be true . . . can it?

In this world of “anything goes,” we shouldn’t be surprised to hear absurdities coming from anyone’s lips. But to hear Sergei Lavrov speak the words he recently uttered about Donald Trump is . . . well, just see for yourselves:

Last week — despite Trump’s back-and-forth on his revived friendship with Vladimir Putin — Lavrov had nothing but praise for the U.S. Destroyer-in-Chief, saying that Trump showed “common sense” in his aim to end the war in Ukraine, and accusing the European powers — which have steadfastly remained in Ukraine’s camp — of trying to prolong the conflict.

While conceding that Washington and Moscow would never see eye-to-eye on everything, Lavrov said they should build a relationship like that of the United States and China, working toward doing “mutually beneficial things” without allowing disagreements to devolve into war.

“Donald Trump is a pragmatist,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda (“Red Star”). “His slogan is common sense. It means, as everyone can see, a shift to a different way of doing things.” [Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters, March 2, 2025.]

Oh, it’s a different way of doing things, all right. Different, dishonorable, destructive, dangerous, and despicable.

But wait . . . there’s more. Lavrov added:

“But the goal is still MAGA (Make America Great Again). This gives a lively, human character to politics. That’s why it’s interesting to work with him.” [Id.]

“Lively” . . . “human” . . . “interesting.” Not the most exuberant of compliments; but coming from Sergei Lavrov — or any Russian official — a clear indication that Trump isn’t the only pragmatist in this scenario. There is a mutual admiration society being built here, and it is not just sickening; it’s ominous. . . . and all the more so when China is added to the mix. That’s a menage a trois that bodes ill for the entire world.

And while we’re talking about “a different way of doing things,” do not lose sight of BRICS, and their forthcoming summit in July. Are you ready for a whole new world order?

They are.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/8/25

Though apparently Donald Trump thinks he is. Or at least he hopes that’s the case.

Because Trump keeps yanking Putin’s chain. First they’re best buddies, ready to sit down — without Ukraine’s President Zelensky — and negotiate an end to the disastrous war that Russia started.

Then — in what Putin obviously considers the spirit of negotiation — Russia once more hits Ukraine with everything in its arsenal of 21st century weapons . . . just days after the U.S. “paused” aid to Ukraine.

So Trump comes back with a threat of more serious sanctions against Russia, including against its banking and oil sectors.

But in the next breath, Trump says that “Russia holds all the cards.” [Leinz Vales, Shania Shelton Elise Hammond and Aditi Sangal, CNN, March 7, 2025.]

So what should we expect next . . . a threat to bomb the Kremlin? Or an invitation to Putin to come to dinner at the White House?

But wait . . . there’s breaking news! On Friday, Trump said he is finding it “more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine” than with Russia in attempting to negotiate a peace deal between them. He told reporters in the Oval Office that the U.S. is “doing very well with Russia, [and] it may be easier dealing with” Moscow than Kyiv. [Ian Aikman, BBC News, and Tom Bateman, State Department correspondent, March 7, 2025.]

So at the moment, it sounds more like diner a deux. But that could change momentarily.

Can the man who is supposed to be President of the United States not make up his mind? Does he not understand the need for a firm foreign policy? Does he even know what foreign policy means? Can he spell it?

In short, will he ever stop reacting with his gut, and begin thinking and acting like the “stable genius” he professes to be?

Never mind the math. Read your history, you poor gullible patsy, and stop sucking up to Vlad! The history of Russia, both ancient and recent, will tell you all you need to know about the reliability of Russian government promises. And read about Vladimir Putin himself — the thug from St. Petersburg who lied, cheated, stole, bullied, and murdered his way into the Kremlin — and the number of bodies he has had to step over in order to stay there for 25 years (and counting).

Then tell the world why you have chosen to deal with him rather than with our European allies, and why you think handing over any part of Ukraine to him will make the world safer for democracy.

Because the world, myself included, would really like to know what you could conceivably be thinking.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/8/25

Women of the world . . . unite!

On this annual celebration of International Women’s Day, and in this 30th year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,** we should all stand up and let our voices be heard.

There are too many of us to be overlooked or sidelined. We matter. We, and our children, are the hope of the world.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/8/25

** The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) is a United Nations resolution adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, on September 15, 1995, to promote gender equality and women’s rights. Though not legally binding, it is considered a sort of global “Bill of Rights” for women, and was adopted to promulgate a set of principles concerning the equality of men and women.

Retirement sucks.

Not for everyone, of course. Those people who were fortunate enough to earn more and smart enough to squirrel it away, and those who were blessed with good genes and have aged well, are no doubt enjoying their leisure years. They’re doing the things they always wanted to do but didn’t have the time for, whether it be traveling, applying their expertise to volunteer work, taking up salsa dancing, or simply sitting at home reading the Great Books from Aristotle to . . . well, whoever is at the end of the alphabet.

Others are trying to eke out an existence on the lower end of the Social Security scale. And still others, sadly, may be marking time in nursing homes, too ill or too non compos mentis to do much of anything.

Then there are those of us in the middle: able to do some, but not all, of the things we enjoy. In my case, there are a few physical issues; but the brain is still functioning well enough to know that I miss the days of travel, stimulating companionship, and adventure. So I write about them instead. And I fight the boredom.

But yesterday I received an unexpected phone call from an old and dear friend who travels the world on business constantly, and with whom I’ve only been able to communicate by email for a number of years. He was back in the U.S. for a while, and took the time — a couple of hours, actually — for a wonderfully long conversation. Like in the old days, when we worked together in Washington.

We talked about everything: about world politics, of course; and about mutual friends, about those grand adventures of the Cold War days, and some things we never knew about each other.

And while I was reminded of how ordinary my life today is by comparison to those earlier days, I also thought about how fortunate I am to have had those years of exciting work, travel, and friends who, though now at some distance, are still a part of my life.

Not everyone is so blessed.

Thanks for the call, Bill. We’ll do it again soon.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/7/25

Ask yourself this question: Would you rescue a puppy from the gutter, shivering, wet and hungry after being abandoned by a heartless individual; take it into your home to be fed and sheltered and given a taste of a secure life; only to toss it back out into the cold with nowhere to go?

Of course, you wouldn’t. Even if you were unable to keep the pup as your own, you would try to find it a happy home, or at least take it to a shelter where it would be cared for and placed for adoption by a loving family. It’s the only decent thing to do . . . isn’t it?

How, then, can the occupant of America’s White House be thinking about revoking the legal status granted by former President Biden to 240,000 Ukrainian refugees left homeless by the relentless Russian assault on their country?

People we invited here, took into our homes and our hearts, and offered a measure of relief and sanity and hope.

People with no homes to return to — just bombed-out shells of buildings in cities still under siege from the daily attacks by Vladimir Putin’s missiles, drones, and marauding military troops.

Most of these people hope to return home someday. They’re not immigrants seeking citizenship. They love their country; they don’t want to stay here, or to be a burden. But the war and the destruction at home have continued far longer than anyone expected. The time to return has not yet come.

But Donald Trump wants them sent back . . . now.

It is nothing short of a betrayal of trust — the sort of action he would not tolerate from another person if it were directed at him. But loyalty, to him, is uni-directional. And in this case, it is unabashedly inhumane; and it is unforgivable.

*. *. *

And it is not only the Ukrainians who are being affected by Trump’s savagery. Remember the refugees who were rescued from Afghanistan when the U.S. left their country defenseless against the returning Taliban? We welcomed them here, granting them temporary humanitarian parole status. And now they too are in danger of being sent back . . . not just to homes that no longer exist, but to certain death by a regime that will arrest them as traitors because they helped the Americans. Many of them were members of the resistance who opposed the Taliban, and volunteered — at great risk — to work with the U.S. military because we offered them hope of a better life.

And are we now to turn our backs on them? To ship them off to be tortured and slaughtered?

That would be beyond inhumane, beyond unforgivable; it would be murder. And need I say, that would be the ultimate betrayal.

I remember when America was better than that.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/7/25

You know who Dmitry Peskov is, don’t you? He’s the Kremlin press secretary, official mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin. The guy who spouts all the bullshit propaganda emanating from the top of the Moscow hierarchy.

And it’s getting more and more difficult to distinguish between his words and the ominous rumblings spewing forth daily from the Washington White House . . . especially as they pertain to Ukraine.

For the past week, the entire world has been scrambling to understand exactly what went wrong at the disastrous February 28th meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the U.S. tag-team of Brutus and Cassius — better known as Donald Trump and JD Vance.

And after a week of processing, the general consensus is that it was a set-up . . . an ambush . . . an evil plot to deliver the final death blow to Zelensky and his besieged country. He had arrived as an equal — the elected head of his nation — and left looking like a whipped puppy. And that is unforgivable.

Why did it happen? Clearly, not simply because he chose to wear his military garb rather than a suit and tie; but because of these two, who now will decide the fate of Ukraine — not to save what is left of the country that Putin has spent three years demolishing, but to give Russia the victory it demands.

And they don’t even try to disguise their intentions. Following the “Shootout at the D.C. Corral,” Trump posted on his so-called Truth Social website that “He [Zelensky] disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

He later added that Zelensky had “overplayed his hand” and was “looking to go on and fight, fight, fight. We’re not looking for somebody that’s going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened. We’re not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games. We want peace.” [Rebecca Shabad and Nnamdi Egwuonwu, NBC News, February 28, 2025.]

And on March 3rd, in the Kremlin’s first public statement on the subject, Zelensky was accused of having demonstrated “a total lack of diplomatic ability.” In the words of the inestimable Dmitry Peskov:

“What happened on Friday in the White House showed how difficult it will be to move towards a resolution in Ukraine.”

But not because of Trump’s and Vance’s behavior. Oh, no! According to Peskov — and thus, according to Putin — Ukrainian authorities and President Zelensky “do not want peace. They want the war to continue.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC, March 4, 2025.]

Two different languages . . . exactly the same meaning.

The Kremlin is now portraying the situation as an indication that the U.S. is in line with Moscow’s settlement demands; the American non-profit Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says no . . . this is Moscow taking advantage of the melee and spinning it to their advantage. [Kateryna Stepanenko, ISW Press, March 3, 2025.]

Either one may be correct; or the truth may lie somewhere in the middle. In any case, when the dust settles, Russia will have won . . . Ukraine will have lost . . . and Donald Trump will once again have been played for a fool by Vladimir Putin.

In the final analysis, it’s S.S.D.D. — Same Shit Different Day.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/7/25

Can you find Ecuador on the map of South America? It’s that very small country on the northwestern (Pacific) coast, sandwiched between Colombia and Peru — two of the region’s principal producers of cocaine.

Ecuador is plagued by a variety of problems: slow economic growth, rampant organized crime, disruptions in oil production, an energy crisis, climate-related events, and political uncertainty. [“The World Bank in Ecuador,” worldbank.org.]

As such, it has been at the mercy of its neighbors’ drug cartels, who use Ecuador’s transport and export system to ship bricks of cocaine hidden in boxes of bananas and other goods to the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. And where there is an active drug trade, there is inevitably violence.

Authorities have been doing their best to clean up the criminal gangs in areas such as Guayaquil, where the problem is especially acute. There are frequent raids on known gangs, but the situation is so ingrained in the local society that the people have simply become inured to the crime — though there has been an increase in migration from Ecuador of those who are able to leave. [David Culver, Barbara Arvanitidis, Abel Alvarado and Rachel Clarke, CNN, March 5, 2025.]

One undercover officer told CNN: “We could use the US’s help. We need resources: vehicles, armor, personnel.” [Id.]

And Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa — who is due to stand for reelection next month — has indicated that he wants foreign military assistance, which many believe would include U.S. troops. The U.S. has long been a major trade partner with Ecuador, as well as a leading investor. About 20% of the bananas imported into the U.S. come from Ecuador, along with shrimp, tuna, cacao and cut flowers. And we have a long history of supplying financial aid to their country.

In addition, Noboa has taken steps to maintain a friendly relationship with Donald Trump. They both enjoy personal wealth; Noboa has mirrored Trump’s tariffs on imports from Mexico; he has announced his support of Trump’s intention to categorize drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; and he is in a position to accept more deportees from the U.S. as a result of Trump’s mass eviction of undocumented immigrants.

But . . .

And remember that, in politics, there is always a “but.”

. . . but is all of that enough to convince Donald Trump to offer help, when he is in the process of brutally slashing U.S. foreign aid, including to war-torn Ukraine? Does he care enough about bananas and shrimp, or the loss to U.S. businesses that currently import them? Does he really give a crap about the welfare of a country — along with Lesotho — that he probably believes no one has ever heard of?

If President Noboa is counting on years of friendly relations to sway Donald Trump, I fear he may be in for a rude awakening. Because to Trump, loyalty always has been, still is, and always will be a one-way street.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/6/25

To Arend, Anneesa, and the eight younger Feenstras: I don’t know whether you have time to read other people’s social media sites, with all that you have to do each day. Between tending the farm and the new animals, the ongoing construction work, cooking, cleaning, sewing, studying, developing new business enterprises, driving miles to do your essential shopping or visit a doctor . . . just thinking about it is exhausting.

And still you find time for your almost daily video presentations. You must be the most organized people in the world!

But, just in case word of this letter does reach you — perhaps through a friend who may have stumbled onto my site — I would like to share with you something that happened the day before yesterday that has me gobsmacked. And it has to do with you.

My blog, which I share on Facebook, has a very small readership. An average day might bring 10-15 views; a good day is 20-30; and a really good one can go as high as 40-50 views. And that’s fine. I write for pleasure, and just knowing that someone out there is interested in what I have to say is reward enough. I never expected my little blog to go viral.

But by 11:54 p.m. on Tuesday of this week, for some reason I cannot fathom, an amazing thing happened: I had topped off at 292 views — an incredible number for a site that is clearly of interest to a limited audience. And those 292 views were from 169 “visitors” in 13 countries: by far the most from the U.S., but others ranging from the U.K. to Kenya, and from New Zealand to Canada.

My blog site also provides data on the specific articles that were read each day, and . . . this is where it gets really interesting . . . out of 18 different articles going back as far as six months, 13 of them were about your family. And the total number of views of those articles was an astonishing 277.

In short, you — the Feenstra family of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia — are international stars!

But perhaps you already knew that. That is, after all, the purpose of your social media programming, isn’t it? To tout the alleged superiority of life in Russia over life in Canada (or anywhere else)? To promote Vladimir Putin’s drive to increase his country’s dwindling population by importing large, conservative families such as yours? And, in so doing, to secure your family’s comfortable future there?

I began writing about you when I first read of your arrival in Moscow. In the beginning, I thought you must have been incredibly stupid to have made such a move. But I have learned, over the past year, that that is not the case. I believe you — your whole family — are very decent, intelligent, certainly hard-working, but unfortunately gullible people who were so anxious for a better life that you swallowed Putin’s propaganda . . . hook, line and sinker.

I know you’ll never be able to admit that openly. And perhaps I’m wrong . . . perhaps you really do believe you’ve found nirvana. For your sakes — all ten of you — I hope so. I’m just not convinced.

In any event, I plan to keep following you, watching your beautiful children grow, and seeing your farm expand. If nothing else, you’ve given me something more pleasant to write about than the daily horror of the world’s news.

Всего доброго.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/6/25