That would be Viktor Orban, of course: the current Prime Minister of Hungary, whose country has just begun its six-month (rotating) term as president of the European Union (EU).

The same Viktor Orban who has recently been racking up the frequent flyer miles, holding meetings — unauthorized and unsanctioned by the EU (or by NATO, of which Hungary is also a member) — with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and others, on their home turfs.

The same Viktor Orban who has labeled his tour as a “peace mission,” designed to bring about an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The same Viktor Orban who has gone against his fellow EU members by staunchly refusing to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs for its defense against Russia’s onslaught, and threatening to block financial assistance to Ukraine’s suffering populace.

And the same Viktor Orban who knows — who has to know — that his country needs to remain aligned with the West in order to survive.

How comfortable can it be, sitting on that proverbial fence?

In an interview with Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet (July 13, 2024), Orban’s political director said: “If Europe wants peace and wants to have a decisive say in settling the war and ending the bloodshed, it must now work out and implement a change of direction.” [Justin Spike, Associated Press, July 15, 2024.]

But his critics say he is acting “against the unity and interests of the EU and NATO . . . and of pursuing an appeasement strategy concerning Russia’s aggression.” [AP, id.] Ursula von der Leyen, current president of the EC (European Commission, the executive arm of the EU), has accused Orban of attempting to placate Putin. She wrote on X: “Appeasement will not stop Putin. Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” [Id.] Certainly her analysis is borne out by Putin’s own continued insistence that there will be no peace without acceptance of his demands — which include ceding large portions of Ukrainian territory to Russia . . . a condition to which Ukraine never will, nor should it, agree.

And as if to add insult to injury, Orban has also followed up on his trips to Beijing, Moscow and Washington with a letter to the EU member states, warning that a radical shift of policy toward the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be necessary “immediately after [Donald Trump’s] re-election as US president” (as though the result of the election were a given). In the letter, Orban proposes “engaging in high-level political talks with China to explore the modalities for a further peace conference on Ukraine, reopening direct diplomatic communication with Russia and launching a coordinated political offensive toward the Global South to regain its support.” [Gerardo Fortuna, EuroNews, July 16, 2024.]

Plagiarizing Putin’s playbook now, are we, Mr. Orban? Because that’s exactly how it sounds.

*. *. *

But now, Viktor Orban is going to begin to feel the first stabbings from the pickets of that fence on which he has been sitting — the allegorical “fence” between East and West he has been sharing with Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Slovakia’s Robert Fico, and Poland’s Andrzej Duda . . . all friends, to one degree or another, of Vladimir Putin. Because top officials of the EU have now decided to boycott all informal meetings to be hosted by Hungary during its six-month EU presidency.

The neighborhood kids aren’t coming to your party, Viktor.

*. *. *

How much of a deterrent that will be to his high-handed methods of ingratiating himself with the leadership of Putin and Xi’s “new world order” remains to be seen. But it is clear that Viktor Orban cannot be ignored. Speaking in favor of the opposition is one thing. Sleeping with the enemy is an entirely different matter.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/17/24

Or so says the all-seeing, all-knowing . . . no, not the Wizard of Oz, but close. It’s Elon Musk. So you know it must be true. Right?

And what does he brings us today? Not, for once, a product of his fertile imagination, but a concept that has been around for a while, and that he has now wholeheartedly embraced: Pronatalism.

“Excuse me? What the hell is that?” . . . I hear from every direction, including from my own mind. So let’s break it down into its individual parts:

pro: meaning “for” or “in favor of.”
natal: referring to birth.
ism: a belief system.

Now I’m beginning to get it . . . sort of. It’s a movement to get people . . . well . . . moving. Having more children, to be specific — lots and lots of children — whether you want them or not. Remember yesterday’s discussion of Musk’s alleged (but denied) offer to donate his sperm in order to populate Mars? Well, it sounds like it’s gonna be one big ‘60s-style love-in.

Now, cut that out! This is serious.

And strange. He was just telling us we need to get Mars ready to be inhabited because we’ve pretty much worn Earth to a frazzle, and now he says we need more people here? Surely he’s talking about raising the first generation to be sent to Mars . . . right? That would sort of, almost, make sense.

Well, now I’m not so sure. Because what the Pronatalists are saying is that, in spite of Earth’s worsening problems — not the least of which are the environmental issues caused by global warming, which in turn is partially the result of overpopulation — our planet is actually in danger of becoming . . . drumroll, please . . .

UNDERpopulated!!! We need more people.

Again: “Excuse me? What the hell . . .?”

Yes, I hear you. And I’m with you. There does seem to be a bit of a dichotomy here. Does Musk even realize that he’s touting two diametrically opposed premises: one, that the Earth’s resources are being exhausted due to the ravages of over-population so that an alternative habitat must be found; and two, that . . .

Well, this is where it gets interesting, and somewhat complicated. Two articles, both focused on a couple named Malcolm and Simone Collins, explain it most clearly. According to Luke Munn of the University of Queensland in his May 28, 2024, article in theconversation.com, “Pronatalism is the latest Silicon Valley trend.” Its advocates feel that “declining birth rates across many developed countries are an existential threat. The solution is to have ‘tons of kids,’ and to use a hyperrational, data-driven approach to guide everything from genetic selection to baby names and day-to-day parenting.” [Luke Munn, The Guardian, id.]

My initial reaction: Stepford babies??!!! Holy crap!

And reading on, I found I wasn’t far off. In fact, it appears to be even worse than I’d feared.

As Mr. Munn describes the Collinses: “They don’t heat their Pennsylvania home in winter, because heating is a ‘pointless indulgence.’ Their children wear iPads around their necks. And a Guardian journalist witnessed Malcolm strike their two-year-old across the face for misbehaviour, a parenting style they apparently developed based on watching ‘tigers in the wild.’”

I was about to Google the number for Pennsylvania Child Protective Services when I came across another article, this one by Jenny Kleeman of The Guardian, detailing her interview with the Collinses, which took place when Simone Collins was eight months pregnant with their fourth child. When Ms. Kleeman arrived at the Collins home, she met their four-year-old son, Octavian George Collins. His little brother, two-year-old Torsten Savage Collins, was “on his iPad somewhere upstairs.” Simone had her daughter, 16-month-old Titan Invictus Collins, strapped to her back — perhaps as a counterweight to her eight-months-pregnant belly. And Ms. Kleeman was proudly told that the name chosen for the soon-to-be born fourth baby — a girl — was Industry Americus Collins. [Jenny Kleeman, The Guardian, May 25, 2024.]

This was now beginning to sound more like Orwell’s 1984.

And I thought Elon Musk and a few show biz stars were the only ones who cursed their kids with names that will plague them throughout their lives . . . or until they’re old enough to have them legally changed.

I’m fairly certain (or at least I hope) that not all Pronatalists are cruel to their children. But they do share the basic belief that — as stated by Elon Musk on X — “Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.” [Id.] They’re afraid that, with the growth of the aging population, there won’t be enough younger people to support their elders, or to keep the world running as the older folks retire and ultimately pass on.

What does not seem to be taken into consideration is that birth rates are not declining across the board; in some countries, including much of Africa, populations are expanding at troublesome rates. Shouldn’t we work on that as well? And although the Pronatalist advocates do propose financial assistance and other programs to support families with multiple children in the lower-birth-rate countries, I have yet to see an explanation of how those governments are expected to cover the added costs. Those droves of additional children aren’t going to be pumping tax dollars into the national budget for a good many years. And their parents don’t all have the resources of Elon Musk. (In fact, neither do some countries!)

*. *. *

I did warn you that it was complicated, and . . . what’s the word? . . . unusual. In the interests of time and space, I’ll leave you to check out the cited articles for further details, if you think your psyche can handle it. But while we’re trying to figure out the pros and cons of this (quite literally) growing movement, keep in mind that Elon Musk and his like-minded friends are busily cranking out duplicates, and triplicates, and quadruplicates of themselves.

Quelle nightmare!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/16/24

Not if Elon Musk has anything to say about it, there won’t be. Because everyone there is going to look like him.

At least, that’s what the New York Times would have us believe — though Musk, already the father of twelve (that we know of), denies that he has volunteered his sperm for the purpose of populating the Red Planet. The problem is: Whom do we believe?

The New York Times has long been known as the news source that gives us “all the news that’s fit to print.” Musk gives the world kids named Techno Mechanicus and Exa Dark Siderael — and a social medium he felt compelled to rename “X.”

So we’ve come to expect pretty nearly anything from old Elon over the years. But what is this latest dust-up about?

Apparently, running SpaceX, Tesla and X hasn’t been enough to keep him busy (thus, those 12 kids). His continuing fascination with the possibility of colonizing Mars has inevitably led him to a concern as to the eventual permanent population of Earth 2.0 — because Earth 1.0 (that’s us) is where the first Mars residents will come from. And we don’t want to choose just anyone, do we? After all, why bring our problems with us when we actually have an opportunity to leave them behind, presumably to die out over time?

Are you getting the point here? It’s called, I believe, “selective breeding,” which has been mentioned as far back as the 4th Century B.C., in no less worthy a publication than Plato’s Republic. It has also more recently been known as “Eugenics,” which chillingly summons up images of Adolph Hitler’s plans for a “master race.”

So is Elon Musk now advocating that we give it another shot (so to speak)?

Well, yes and no. Maybe. Because no one really knows what goes on in his mind at any given time, do we? But in response to the New York Times he stated: “I have not fwiw [for what it’s worth] ‘volunteered my sperm’” . . . followed by a laughing emoji. He added that “No one at SpaceX has been directed to work on a Mars city. When people have asked to do so, I’ve said we need to focus on getting there first.” [Elon Musk on X, July 11, 2024, as reported by Eva Roytburg, Fortune, July 11, 2024.]

According to the Fortune report, however, “Musk reportedly has employees working more than 100 hours a week in windowless rooms to engineer every element of the plan, from the design of small-domed habitats to spacesuits to child-rearing on the planet.“

Goodness knows what else they’re doing in those windowless rooms, because in 2013, Musk told Raw Science that he would like to create his own species uniquely bred to survive Mars’ harsh conditions. In an interview, he stated: “I think it’s quite likely that we’d want to bioengineer new organisms that are better suited to living on Mars. Humanity’s kind of done that over time, by sort of selective breeding.” [Fortune, id.]

So what would we call this new breed? Musk-o-vites? Or would that too easily be confused with the existing Muscovites: those poor folks already being re-engineered by Vladimir Putin over there in Russia? Too close for comfort? How about Musk-et-eers? Nah — already done. Musk-rats, then? Any suggestions from the gallery?

STOP IT! Don’t laugh. It’s really not funny . . .

Well, yeah, it is, sort of . . . when you think about a civilization comprised of little Elons, slaving away in windowless rooms on Mars, trying to figure out how to colonize Jupiter next.

But seriously, folks . . . the whole sperm thing aside . . .

No, really, cut it out.

The whole sperm thing aside, Musk — and NASA — are in fact looking at Mars as the possible salvation of the human race. NASA says they don’t expect to land any humans there until the 2040s, though Musk the Magnificent says it could be done in less than ten years. “For sure in 30, civilization secured,” he tweeted (or “X-ed,” because you can’t really “tweet” without Twitter, can you?). But wait — is it ten years or thirty? Because thirty years is later than the 2040s, so which is it: Sooner? Or later? As usual, trying to understand what Elon Musk is saying has left me thoroughly confused.

Meanwhile, he has adopted another new ideology, allegedly prescribed to by some of his Silicon Valley peers as well: Pronatalism. While seemingly as wackadoodle as the rest of his musings, it does offer a certain logic as the first step toward the whole Eugenics thing.

But that’s a whole other nest of hornets. So stay tuned for more on this fascinating subject tomorrow. And in the meantime, as I continue my research into the 21st Century world of Elon “Flash Gordon” Musk . . .

I can’t help wondering what my beloved Bubbe would have thought of his world. Most likely, a simple “Oy!” would have summed it up for her. And then she would have gone back to seasoning the big pot of golubtsy simmering on the stove.

That, my friends, is reality.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/15/24

Yesterday — Saturday, July 13, 2024 — was a day from Hell. We lost two of the good ones:

The irrepressible Dr. Ruth Westheimer . . .

. . . and the irresistible Richard Simmons.

And then we nearly lost a former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

I can only speak for myself, but I’m quite sure I’m not the only one feeling totally exhausted today — mentally, physically, and mostly emotionally. So this is what I’m not going to do today:

— I am not going to dwell on the sadness.

— I am not going to binge-watch the news broadcasts.

— And, for damn sure, I am not going to discuss politics . . . not with anyone. In fact, I’m going to work very hard at not even thinking about it.

What I am going to do is this:

— I’m going to read a good book.

— I’m going to check up on some distant friends.

— I’m probably going to eat another pint of ice cream (finished off the cherry vanilla last night, but there’s still the Haagen-Dazs coffee . . . ).

— And I’m going to search for a happy subject for tomorrow’s blog, and begin writing it.

And somewhere in there, I’m going to find time to hope and pray that Monday is a better day. Although I do have a dental appointment . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/14/24

NOTE: In spite of yesterday’s horrific events at the Republican rally in Pennsylvania, in which Donald Trump was wounded in what appears to have been a political assassination attempt, and the shooter and at least one innocent bystander were killed . . . still, the rest of the world’s problems cannot be overlooked. And for me, that includes the ongoing tragedy of Vladimir Putin’s HOSTAGES. It is Sunday, and as promised, here is my weekly update.

And yes, I’m sorry to report that, again this week, there are more.

Journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin have, not unexpectedly, been detained on charges of “extremism” as a result of their allegedly having produced content for the late Alexei Navalny’s YouTube channel, “NavalnyLIVE.” Other members of Navalny’s team have been imprisoned or have fled Russia and are living in exile.

Gabov is said by the Moscow court more recently to be a producer for Reuters news agency, which has continued to operate in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Karelin, who was arrested in the Murmansk region of Russia a week ago, previously worked for a number of outlets, including the Associated Press (AP), and German publication Deutsche Welle (DW). (The latter was banned in Russia in 2022.)

Tragically, it doesn’t take much to qualify for my HOSTAGES list these days.

Just sayin’ . . .

*. *. *

And the wait for information about Vladimir Kara-Murza drags on. There was some hopeful news on Wednesday, when one of his legal team was allowed to see him at last. Still in the prison hospital, his condition was described by the attorney as “relatively stable” — though “the exact reasons for the examination at the hospital are being clarified.” Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia, said only that her husband was “alive and as well as can be expected.” Better than nothing, I suppose — but just barely. Perhaps tomorrow — when yet another weekend has passed — will bring better news.

And, as always, we pay our weekly tribute once more 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

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

Brendochka
7/14/24

When will the anger . . . the hatred . . . the senseless, unbridled violence . . . when will they stop??!!!

Hopefully in my lifetime, because I just don’t know if I can bear to live in this kind of world any longer.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/13/24

Seriously — I’d like to get off at the next stop, please.

Perusing today’s news for possible topics for tomorrow’s blog post, I found the following headlines on CNN’s “World” site:

“British police arrest man, 34, in connection with human remains found in suitcases.”

“5 jailed for murdering Ecuadorian presidential candidate.”

“21 people die as school building collapses in Nigeria when students were taking exam.”

“‘Severely mutilated’ bodies found in Nairobi dumpsite sparks protests.”

“Israeli military retreats from northern Gaza, leaving dozens of Palestinians killed and razing neighborhoods to the ground.”

“Man arrested on suspicion of killing three women in UK crossbow attack.”

“Dead seals on Cape Town beaches raise fears about widening rabies outbreak.”

And that’s just one news source, on just one day. And it doesn’t include the domestic news, like the forthcoming U.S. presidential election . . .

*. *. *

So you can understand why I was contemplating, at the very least, going back to bed and pulling the covers over my head until the next millennium, when a news flash popped up on my screen, delivering the further sad word that that sweet, feisty, tiny ball-of-fire, beloved sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, has passed away at the ripe old age of 96. Though, in light of all of those earlier headlines, maybe we shouldn’t be sad for her. Maybe she’s the lucky one.

R.I.P., Dr. Ruth. If we each finally get the Heaven of our choice, I’m sure yours will be filled with cheerily copulating couples on clouds of contentment.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/13/24

Shadow boxing is well-known as a useful exercise for a boxer warming up in preparation for the real fight against a living opponent. So useful, in fact, that Vladimir Putin has decided to test it on a larger scale. Much larger. He has for some months been waging a shadow war against the West, so cleverly disguising his attacks as random acts of vandalism, arson, or assault and battery, that we in the West haven’t even been certain whether there is a single opponent for us to fight.

I’ve given examples of this before (see 7/5/24: “The Sum of the Parts: Greater Than the Whole?”): an arson attack on a museum in Riga, Latvia; fires at a warehouse in London and a shopping center in Warsaw; foiled plans for explosions and arson attacks in Germany; attacks on individuals in various countries, including one fatal shooting in Spain, etc. For the most part, local “talent” — frequently amateurs — are recruited to commit the crimes, giving the Kremlin the safe haven of deniability.

You never see it coming; and when it hits you, you have no idea where it came from. The individual incidents are so seemingly random and disconnected that finding the commonality among them can require months of intensive investigation, and even then are difficult to prove.

But not even Vladimir Putin can hide in the shadows forever. By stepping up the nature, the frequency, and the seriousness of his attacks, he has made it indisputably obvious that he is, once again, the diabolical puppet master behind the curtain — though, of course, he continues to deny, deny, deny.

Earlier this year, U.S. intelligence uncovered a plot by the Russian government to assassinate Armin Papperger, chief executive of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, the largest producer of the 155-mm. artillery shells that have been vital to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s war of attrition. Rheinmetall is also in the process of opening an armored vehicle plant inside Ukraine in the coming weeks — which, needless to say, is not going over very well in the Kremlin. [Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, July 11, 2024.]

These findings were shared by U.S. intelligence with German authorities, and the plot was foiled. But it was also found that this was just one of “a series of Russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine’s war effort.” [CNN, id.]

The German government has stated that it is “taking reports of a plot to assassinate . . . [Mr. Papperger] very seriously and will not be cowed by Russian intimidation.” [Matthias Inverardi, Matthias Williams and Steve Holland, Reuters, July 12, 2024.] Mr. Papperger himself has echoed these statements, and has expressed his appreciation for the security measures that have been taken to protect him.

A U.S. official stated that, even aside from the attempts to eliminate specific “enemies” of the Russian regime, Russian subversive activities throughout Europe have increased in the last five or six months, including the “targeting [of] buildings, facilities, companies, and people involved in the supply of weapons to Ukraine.” [Reuters, id.] Other German defense-related companies have increased security measures as well, including Hensoldt (producer of radar technology for the IRIS-T air defense system used in Ukraine); Diehl (manufacturer of the IRIS-T); and BAE Systems.

*. *. *

And while Europe, the United States, and the rest of the free world are occupied with neutralizing this new security threat, Russia is busy plotting its next series of attacks, the goals of which appear to be twofold:

First, and more pressingly, to disrupt the flow of weaponry and ammunition to Ukraine; and in the long run, to undermine and destabilize, little by little, the governments of the United States and its allies, and their interrelationships, making it possible — without the disastrous effects of an actual, expanded shooting war — for Putin and his principal allies, China and North Korea, to step in as leaders of their perceived “new world order.”

*. *. *

It took six years of all-out war to smash Hitler’s dreams of world domination under Naziism. The Soviet Union’s brand of Communism lasted for seventy long years before dying of its own internal rot. How long will it take to overcome the most recent threat of Putinism?

Hopefully, not long enough for it to take root. For, make no mistake: the world would not long survive under the aegis of the already failed systems of communism and fascism. Putin and his cohorts belong, not on their imagined thrones, but on the scrap heap of history. For the free world, failure is not an option.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/13/24

We’ve all heard of a snake in the grass . . . snakes on a plane . . . sharper than a serpent’s tooth, etc. But I don’t believe I have ever before been introduced to the concept of “snakes-in-the-pants.” Nor did I ever hope to be.

But if it’s weird, you can bet your life savings that someone will think of it, and actually give it a try — which is just what an unnamed man in China did recently. Luckily for the rest of the population of China, he didn’t succeed.

For reasons yet to be clarified, this gentleman somehow found it advisable to try to make it through Futian Port, a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China, with 104 live snakes, contained in six canvas drawstring bags, and stuffed into his pants pockets — presumably without being detected. But the Chinese officials at Shenzhen were on the ball. Maybe it was the movement in his pants that gave him away. Not just in one place, which they might have discreetly overlooked; but I’m imagining wriggling movements in both side pockets, back pockets (come to think of it, didn’t he ever have to sit down?), and if he was wearing cargo pants . . . well, my imagination just doesn’t want to carry me that far.

In any case, he was duly busted. It is not clear whether he was actually arrested, but the customs agency did say that “if the regulations are violated, the customs will pursue legal liability in accordance with the law.” [Fred He, Alex Stambaugh and Jack Guy, CNN, July 10, 2024.] My best guess is that he didn’t earn a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Apparently, however, our stalwart snake smuggler was not a total idiot: none of the species of snakes were venomous. Five species were identified: milk snakes, western hognose snakes, corn snakes, Texas rat snakes, and bull snakes — four of them non-native to China, which probably means that it’s illegal to transport them into the country under any conditions, except possibly for exhibition in a herpetarium (new word, unknown to Spellcheck).

So the first question that comes to mind is . . . Why? Maybe he hoped to be able to sell them to a collector, or a breeder, or Madame Zelda the Exotic Snake Charmer. Or keep them to control a rodent problem in his own neighborhood. Or just because they are rather pretty, in a long, skinny, limbless, reptilian way.

Second question: The picture of all of the little slitherers above shows them in plastic bags, presumably transferred there by the customs folks. Don’t they need air? Could we please at least punch a few holes in the bags?

Thank you.

*. *. *

I’m not sure what’s going on in China lately — actually, no one is — but it seems that just last month another man was arrested attempting to smuggle 454 endangered turtles from Macau to mainland China. [CNN, id.] Maybe there’s just a big market for Snake Steak and Turtle Terrine in Chinese restaurants these days. The article doesn’t mention their size, but I wonder where he was hiding that many of even the smallest of those hard-shelled reptiles. Surely not in his pants!

Oh, well . . . just one more thing to contemplate when I’m trying to sleep tonight.

*. *. *

And then, as inevitably occurs when one is surfing the internet, this “Tale of A Hundred Herptiles” led me to yet another true story from a couple of months ago — this time, about a single, cold-blooded, 16-inch intruder . . . on a train in Japan. This little fellow was apparently traveling on his own — by high-speed bullet train, no less — headed from Nagoya to Osaka. But a commuter reported Mr. Snake’s presence to a station staff member at a stop in Tokyo, and the reptilian hitchhiker — who presumably had not paid for a ticket — soon found himself at the end of his journey.

Now, for those who are not familiar with the efficiency of Japan’s train service, it is legendary. In fact, the story goes that in 2017, a conductor on the Tsukaba Express triggered a “network apology” after he departed 20 seconds early. Yes, I said early, not late. Apparently, in Japan “on time” means precisely that. [Moeri Karasawa, CNN, April 17, 2024.]

In any event, the presence of that one little fellow on the bullet train caused an unheard-of delay of a full 17 minutes. The train was put out of service as a precaution in case he had traveling companions, and another train was assigned to the route, causing some 600 passengers to be delayed . . . no doubt for the first time in their lives . . . as they switched trains in what can only be imagined as — oh, the irony! — a Chinese fire drill. But, that being Japan, I’m sure it was all accomplished quickly, efficiently, politely, and with a minimum of grumbling.

Hey, Amtrak . . . are you listening to this?

*. *. *

Frankly, if I were going to smuggle an illegal animal into my country (the U.S.), it would be a sweet, cuddly koala. (No, Australia, I’m not seriously thinking of trying it.) But I have it all figured out: just construct some sort of pouch under my coat, slip that little baby a mickey to make him sleep for about 14 hours, tuck him in, and tell the customs agents I’m pregnant.

Well, maybe 40 or 50 years ago they would have fallen for it . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/12/24

It’s not great news, but it’s not the worst news either. In fact, it may as well be no news, for all the credible information anyone can squeeze out of the Russian authorities.

But at least he is still alive.

Or he was, as of yesterday.

Finally — after mysteriously being transferred from his solitary “punishment” cell in Penal Colony IK-6 to the prison’s hospital, and being held incommunicado for nearly a week — Vladimir Kara-Murza was allowed a visit from one of the members of his legal team yesterday. The lawyer’s comment on Kara-Murza’s physical condition: “Relatively stable.” Attorney Vadim Prokhorov added that “the exaсt reasons for the examination at the hospital are being clarified.” [AP, July 10, 2024.]

What the hell does that even mean??!!! Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia, was not much clearer when she posted on X that her husband was “alive and as well as can be expected.” [Id.]

These are the words of people afraid to say anything more — if indeed they even know more. Why is Evgenia Kara-Murza not being told what is wrong with her husband, or what is being done for him? Why was he kept out of sight for six days? What is going on behind the iron curtain of secrecy that is the new Russia?

We know that Vladimir Kara-Murza has been ill since he was twice poisoned (in 2015 and 2017), apparently with the Russian nerve agent Novichok. And we know that since he has been confined in IK-6, he has been denied proper care and treatment for his condition.

We also know that the same circumstances existed in the case of the late Alexei Navalny. We can only wait for further news, while we hope and pray that this will not be a case of “deja vu all over again.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/11/24