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

That’s Oleg on the left — the late Alexei Navalny’s baby brother, whom I mistakenly placed on my list of imprisoned Hostages, when in fact he has fled further prosecution (and persecution) by the Russian government and is in hiding.

Two sons, lost to their aging parents — one forever, the other facing an unknown future in an unknown land, unable for an indeterminate amount of time to return to his homeland. All because — and only because — they dared to oppose the despotic regime of Vladimir Putin.

But the murder of one and the forced exile of the other have not killed their spirit. Because Alexei’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, lives on — though also in exile — and has assumed the mantle previously worn by her husband as head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), created by him in 2011 to do just as its name implies: to fight corruption, in all of its forms, in Russia.

And now she also bears the official title of “fugitive.” The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has formally accused her of “participation in an extremist organization,” and has recently ordered her to be arrested in absentia. Little more than a formality as long as she remains outside of Russia, the order nevertheless has rendered Yulia and her two children — Dasha, 23, and Zakhar, 16 — stateless. If they return home, they are as good as dead.

But Yulia is not alone. Other loyal members of the ACF, also in exile, continue the fight by her side, unearthing and publicizing the sickening truths behind the false face of Vladimir Putin, his administration, and his war — still euphemistically referred to in Russia as a “special military operation” — against Ukraine. They have lost the corporeal presence of their beloved leader; but his spirit lives on. And as long as it does, the fight against tyranny will continue.

This is why I continue to write (perhaps ad nauseam) about Alexei Navalny, and about the other Hostages remaining in Putin’s archipelago of prison camps. And why I persist in reminding you — my readers — that:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/11/24

It hasn’t been that surprising to see the number of Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American countries that have recently been kissing up to Vladimir Putin. But equally — or possibly even more — disturbing, though for vastly different reasons, is the evolving relationship between India and Russia. And when you factor in China, well . . . it becomes the stuff of nightmares.

India’s connection with today’s Russia has its roots in its ties with the Soviet Union during the Cold War years. Their status as trading partners is nothing new; but it has expanded incrementally since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent sanctions placed against the Putin regime by the West since then. At present, India is one of the two principal customers for Russia’s oil — the other being China — and Mr. Modi, now in his third term as Prime Minister, consistently refuses to condemn Moscow for its actions in Ukraine, merely calling for a peaceful settlement.

But all is not well between India and China — not merely as competitors for Russia’s favors, but as a result of long-standing border disputes. And Russia’s increasingly close ties with China have caused friction in its dealings with India, to the extent that Modi skipped the recent summit in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances — instead sending his Foreign Minister. Both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were in attendance.

“The enemy of my friend is my enemy” has no meaning in Putin’s world. There are no loyalties, only expediencies — a fact that Mr. Modi would do well to keep in mind.

* NOTE: Most interesting in the above photo is the tall fellow standing to Putin’s immediate right: none other than Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of NATO member Turkiye. Despite his country’s being listed — not as a full member — but as a “dialogue partner” of SCO, he appears to take pride of place, front and center, in this motley lineup. A prize-winning fence-sitter, indeed, is our Mr. Erdogan.

*. *. *

Still, none of this was allowed to interfere with Modi’s visit this week to Moscow, where he met with Putin on Monday at the latter’s palatial residence in the Novo-Ogaryovo region on the outskirts of the city — the very day of Russia’s bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv. This was followed by formal talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday (yesterday), just as NATO members were gathering in Washington for their summit. To those who believe the timing was coincidental, I would say simply: “Wake up!” In Vladimir Putin’s world, there are also no coincidences.

Photos posted on Modi’s “X” account of his red-carpet arrival in Moscow were accompanied by a statement, in both English and Russian, that he was “looking forward to further deepening the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between our nations.” [AP, July 8, 2024.]

There were bear hugs, pledges of loyalty and friendship, and mutual expressions of admiration served along with lunch on the best presidential china. To which at least one savvy individual — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — had this to say:

“It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.” [Independent (U.K.), July 9, 2024.]

And here is where I envision Prime Minister Modi losing a whole lot of sleep. Because, as is well known, the United States and India have long enjoyed a bilateral trade relationship in areas such as semiconductors, space, telecom, AI, defense, biotechnology, and others. According to the U.S. Department of State, “The relationship between the United States and India is one of the most strategic and consequential of the 21st Century.” [U.S. Department of State, United States-India Relations, Nov. 9, 2023.]

So how does Prime Minister Modi justify playing both sides? And how long does he expect to be able to continue doing so? I know of a Turkish leader who can fill him in on the extreme discomfort of fence-sitting.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/10/24

Just when you think it’s safe to go into the water . . .

*. *. *

*. *. *

and . . .

*. *. *

I think I’ll just go hide under a rock. Maybe someone could let me know when it’s safe to come out.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/9/24

There are times — I suppose we all have them — when the world’s drama just becomes overwhelming, and you need to get away from it all. Perhaps not literally, but at least mentally. Yesterday was one of those days for me, and — miracle of miracles! — there were actually some cheery items that made it into the news, when I wasn’t even searching for them. They all came to me compliments of CNN News, and of course, I have to share:

Lottery Win: This was a special story because the winner of the $5 Million scratch-off jackpot was a 75-year-old great-grandmother in Pennsylvania, one Donna Osborne, who had recently completed her treatment for breast cancer. She had given up on a flight she was supposed to have taken to Florida that was delayed and delayed, and she finally left the airport to return home, no doubt in a less-than-wonderful frame of mind. Stopping for gas, she impulsively bought a ticket at the gas station and scratched it there. The rest is history. And I can’t think of many people who better deserve that kind of luck. Use it well, Mrs. Osborne . . . and in the best of health.

Moulin Rouge: I wasn’t aware that the iconic windmill at Paris’ Moulin Rouge had lost its blades three months ago. No one seems to know just how or why it happened, but it really doesn’t matter. Happily, the world-famous cabaret was able to have its new blades installed before the Olympic flame passes through its Montmartre neighborhood on July 15th. Around 500 spectators attended the installation event, along with a performance by some twenty can-can dancers. Now, that’s one I would love to have seen! They do know how to throw a party in Gay Paree, don’t they?

Canine Chef: He was probably just trying to fix himself a snack, but a pup in Colorado Springs, Colorado managed to set his home on fire — well, the kitchen anyway. According to home security video footage, he accidentally lit the stove where some boxes had been placed when he tried to climb up, probably to see whether they contained anything edible. The good news is that the homeowners were awakened in time to put the fire out even before the fire department arrived, and no one was seriously injured — including the offending pooch. Lesson to homeowners: Keep flammable stuff away from the stove! Duh.

And finally . . .

Hermes: Not Just For Fashion: In Bulgaria, of all the surprising places, some local archaeologists unearthed real treasure this week while digging in an ancient Roman sewer: a well-preserved marble statue of the Greek god Hermes, said to be the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. That’s quite a lot of responsibility for one god to handle on his own, and all while also acting as the herald to the other gods. No wonder his scarves are so expensive!

I don’t know much about the Greek gods, but I will say this for Hermes:

Nice buns, dude!

They say you should always get off the stage while you’re hot, and I don’t think I can do much better than Hermes’ heinie. So on that note, I’m out of here until tomorrow. I feel better now.

TTFN . . .

Brendochka
7/9/24

Turkey . . . Hungary . . . Slovakia. As reported earlier today, all three lining up in obeisance to Vladimir Putin, backing his stance on the invasion of Ukraine and anything else he might demand of them. All three members of NATO, defying the solidarity of their fellow members. All three conveniently forgetting — or ignoring — the Soviet yoke thrown off by Eastern Europe just three decades ago.

Distressed by their inexplicable perfidy, I likened them to the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. I did not imagine that before the day was over, the Three Witches would become the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . . . adding Poland to their number of evildoers.

Enough imagery. What happened while I was focused on events in Russia is that the President of NATO member Poland, Andrzej Duda, traveled to China on June 24th to meet with that country’s leader, Xi Jinping — avowed backer of Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine. The meeting at the Great Hall of the People included a full honor guard and a 21-gun salute. Duda reportedly told Xi that relations between Poland — which had once inspired democratic movements with its push for democracy — and China — which is a communist state — remain strong. [AP, June 24, 2024.]

Xi’s response: “Over the past 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bilateral relations have maintained steady development, constantly injecting new vitality into the traditional friendship between the two countries.” [Id.]

How sweet! How heart-warming! How quickly we forget Poland’s Solidarnosc (Solidarity) movement of the 1980s, and then-President Lech Walesa’s ousting of communist rule immediately following his 1990 election.

I shudder to think of what he must be feeling at this turn of events, as he recalls the years of struggle to drag his country out of the Soviet Union’s oppressive control. Was it all for nothing?

Because here was Duda saying that Poland was aiming for closer commercial relations with China, even referencing Xi’s “Belt and Road Initiative” — an ambitious program designed to expand China’s political and economic influence as a means to overtake the United States as world leader. Make no mistake: China wants nothing less than world domination, no matter how long it takes to achieve it.

*. *. *

And meanwhile, back in the Kremlin . . .

There was my buddy Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, expressing Russia’s appreciation for the efforts of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban “to clarify the positions of Russia and Ukraine on resolving their conflict.” [Reuters, July 8, 2024.]

“Mr. Orban is taking a serious initiative to compare the positions of the different sides based on original sources, and we appreciate these efforts of Mr. Orban. There is a whole set of disagreements among the parties concerned, but at least Mr. Orban is making a very serious attempt to understand the essence of these disagreements, which is very much appreciated.”

Oh, yes — Mr. Orban is very serious indeed. It seems that on Monday, he also made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping on what Orban described as the third leg of a “peace mission.” Both the European Commission and the Ukrainian government have disavowed Orban’s efforts in this regard.

And not incidentally, the peripatetic Mr. Orban is due in Washington for the NATO summit this week. We’ll see how that goes for him.

*. *. *

So there we have it: the Four Horsemen, Russia, and China. A scenario beyond even my wildest nightmare imaginings. But it’s all too real.

And I haven’t even mentioned India yet.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/8/24

Just when you thought things were about as bad as they could get, along came Slovakia, to complete the circle.

While Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orban have been busy offering their professed expertise to Vladimir Putin in an effort to “settle” the Ukraine problem (see yesterday’s post), Robert Fico — Prime Minister of Slovakia — has been recuperating from an attempt on his life in May, when he was shot by a 71-year-old writer and political activist who obviously cared more for his country’s future than his own.

But now Mr. Fico is back on his feet, and seemingly anxious to join in his colleagues’ drive for immortality by cozying up to Putin, verbally trashing the “liberal ideas” of the vast majority of NATO members with regard to their support of Ukraine. While not (yet) specifically offering to actively negotiate peace terms between Russia and Ukraine, he said that “meaningless” liberal ideas were “spreading like cancer,” and that there were “not enough peace talks” with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. [Aleks Phillips, BBC News, July 6, 2024.]

*. *. *

Would someone please tell me what the hell is happening in these NATO member countries! Why are the people — having regained their hard-won independence just a short generation ago — now electing pro-Kremlin leaders? And especially now, when Russia’s saber-rattling is becoming more audible by the day? Have they completely forgotten the years of living under Soviet rule? The constant threat of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War? Or the exhilaration of that final, successful battle for freedom in the late 1980s and early ‘90s?

These three men are clearly not Groucho, Chico and Harpo — the Marx Brothers of comedy. More ominously, they bring to my mind Macbeth’s three witches. And the rumblings of discontent and anger already so prevalent throughout the world today are making it easier for the likes of Erdogan, Orban and Fico to spread Moscow’s propaganda, constantly stirring their poisonous witches’ brew toward the boiling point.

Russia, as we well know, wrote the book on propaganda; and today, with the help of the internet and social media, their reach is limitless.

The greater problem is that too many in the West are buying what they’re selling.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/8/24

The good news is, they’re not on my list of hostages — not yet, at any rate; but they have made it onto the Kremlin’s rapidly growing inventory of “Foreign Agents,” loosely defined as anyone who ever has been, may have been, may now be, may ever in the future be, or in someone’s wildest imagination could be thought to be associated with or influenced by a foreign entity . . . but in reality including anyone who dares to criticize the Putin government, its policies, or the Russian military.

That could very well be you or me, if we lived in Russia.

It’s no longer an exclusive list, and it’s definitely not one to which any sane person would aspire. But two independent journalists — Olesya Gerasimenko and Sergei Yezhov — have just been given the “honor.” Gerasimenko works for independent online news publication Verstka, while Yezhov is an investigative journalist with The Insider.

The two journalists share their new privileged positions with a lawyer, Grigory Vaypan; a St. Petersburg deputy and LGBT activist, Sergei Troshin; and a former St. Petersburg municipal deputy, Fyodor Utkin.

If any of these five honorees have ever considered leaving Mother Russia, this might be the time.

Just sayin’ . . .

*. *. *

In the meantime, the wait for information about Vladimir Kara-Murza continues. Tomorrow — Monday, when the IK-6 penal colony reopens for “business as usual” — there should be some further word as to his status and his physical condition. Hopefully, it won’t be bad news.

And, today being Sunday, 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
Konstantin Gabov
Danuta Perednya
Olesya Krivtsova

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

Brendochka
7/7/24