Today’s inspiration comes from award-winning African-American science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.
Raised in poverty in segregated America, she fought against traditional beliefs of the day that Black people were not capable of intellectual achievement. She worked days and attended college at night, writing in her spare time and eventually achieving success with such novels as “Speech Sounds,” “Bloodchild,” and “Parable of the Talents.”
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006)
It is from the last that this insightful quote is taken. Its relevance to today’s world should be obvious:
“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.”
– Octavia E. Butler, “Parable of the Talents” (1998)
Today is World Freedom Day, established in 2001 by then U.S. President George W. Bush to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the supposed end of communist rule in Eastern and Central Europe.
Fall of the Berlin Wall – November 9, 1989
But totalitarianism has not died. Throughout the 25 years (thus far) of Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule of the Russian Federation, increasingly oppressive laws have chipped away at individual freedoms; dissidents have been rounded up and imprisoned or exterminated; acts of terror are periodically blamed on ethnic minorities; and wars have been waged . . . most notably, the ongoing “special military operation” against Ukraine.
For nearly four years — since February 24, 2022 — the people of Ukraine have been held hostage to Putin’s ambition to re-absorb the former Soviet republics and vassal states . . . even, if necessary, by first destroying them.
Despite international efforts at resolving the conflict, Putin has refused to agree to a ceasefire, and continues his deadly attacks day after day after day. Yesterday alone, Russia launched hundreds of missile and drone attacks on residential targets and civilian infrastructure in 25 locations across Ukraine, including Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad and Kharkiv, in which at least six people were killed and countless thousands left without electricity, water, and — in many cases — without shelter against the coming winter. [James Landale and Alex Kleiderman, BBC, November 8, 2025.]
Apartment Building in Dnipro – Two People Killed, November 8, 2025
So today — World Freedom Day — it is especially appropriate to recognize the entire population of the sovereign nation of Ukraine as political hostages of Vladimir Putin, and call once more for increased measures to stop the slaughter of its innocent citizens and expedite the return of its nearly 20,000 kidnapped children being held in Russian territory.
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Of course, we also remember those individuals who continue to suffer in prisons and penal colonies in Russia and elsewhere — convicted, for purely political reasons, of crimes they did not commit:
Prisoners of War:
The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children The People of Ukraine
Immigrant Detainees in Russia:
Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Endangered Exiles:
Mikita Losik Yulia Navalnaya Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents
Ales Bialiatski Andrei Chapiuk Marya Kalesnikava Uladzimir Labkovich Andrzej Poczobut Marfa Rabkova Valiantsin Stafanovic Yuras Zyankovich
In Georgia:
Mzia Amaglobeli
In China:
Chenyue Mao (American)
In Russia:
David Barnes (American) Gordon Black (American) Antonina Favorskaya Konstantin Gabov Robert Gilman (American) Stephen James Hubbard (American) Sergey Karelin Timur Kishukov Vadim Kobzev Darya Kozyreva Artyom Kriger Michael Travis Leake (American) Aleksei Liptser Grigory Melkonyants Nika Novak Leonid Pshenychnov(in Russian-occupied Crimea) Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler) Sofiane Sehili (French) Igor Sergunin Dmitry Shatresov Robert Shonov Grigory Skvortsov Eugene Spector (American) Laurent Vinatier Robert Romanov Woodland (American)
Founded in 1993, UNITED for Intercultural Action is “the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants, refugees and minorities. Together with over 560 supporter organisations all around Europe, ranging from local grassroots associations to national and international NGOs, UNITED coordinates campaigns, organises conferences, takes part in projects, produces publications and undertakes advocacy work to protest against discrimination and promote our shared vision for a diverse and inclusive society.” [Unitedfia.org.]
Logo of UNITED for Intercultural Action
And they have declared tomorrow, November 9th, to be a day to speak out against fascism and antisemitism.
I would go one step further, and suggest extending it to every day of every year. But we have to start somewhere.
So, from here in the U.S., in solidarity with our old and valued friends across the Pond, I wish us all a very peaceful — and free — November 9th.
Today’s quote comes from English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic Eric Arthur Blair — better known to the world as George Orwell.
George Orwell (1903-50)
Best remembered for his dystopian novel “1984,” Orwell was born into a respectable family, attended Eton on scholarship, and foreswore the comforts of the life for which he seemed destined, to live instead for his writing. As research into the lives of the lower economic classes, he sometimes lived in squalor, sometimes with family members or friends, and almost always in penury.
His voluntary service in the Spanish Civil War solidified his hatred of totalitarianism in all of its forms, and greatly influenced his later writings: most famously, “Animal Farm” and the immortal “1984.”
It is from that latter work — his final one, as it turned out — that this brief quote is taken . . . as relevant in today’s turbulent political environment as it was in 1949:
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Remember this incident in October 2017, when Donald Trump — then in his first term as occupant of the Oval Office — finally visited Puerto Rico after it had been hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria?
San Juan, Puerto Rico – October 3, 2017
Because of the extent of the damage, there had been some delay in delivery of recovery aid. To show what a caring individual he is, he showed up at a relief center where food and supplies were at last becoming available, and began tossing paper towels to the local citizens gathered there . . . as though that would help them blot up the water in what was left of their flooded homes.
Speaking to Mike Huckabee during an interview afterward, he said:
“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ‘em to me! Throw ‘em to me Mr. President!” [Daniella Silva, NBC News, October 8, 2017.]
They had no homes; no food or drinking water; no utilities; no businesses; and nearly 3,000 people dead. But they were “having fun” watching Marie Antoinette tossing the beautiful, soft paper towels at them.
What class! What heart! What a guy!
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Now it’s 2025, and we’re in the tenth month of his second, non-consecutive term. Has he managed to grow a heart in the interim? Well, let’s see . . .
He is currently . . .
> overseeing the brutal arrest, imprisonment and deportation of masses of immigrants without due process;
> the firing by DOGE of hundreds of thousands of government employees without cause;
> the furloughing of nearly a million more, and requiring hundreds of thousands to work without pay, due to a Republican-created government shutdown because they’re determined to rob the American people of affordable health care;
> the cancelling of food assistance to low-income families because of a falsely-claimed lack of government funds, while he builds a gaudy ballroom at the White House and parties like Gatsby at Mar-a-Lago;
> the blowing up of suspected drug runners in small boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific without prior proof of guilt . . .
> and all while lecturing other countries on their poor human rights records.
Oh, yeah . . . he’s all heart, all right.
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And then, on a more personal level, there was this on Thursday:
Oval Office – November 6, 2025
During a press conference attended by Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and several others, one of the attendees suddenly went limp and began to fall to the floor. Dr. Oz was able to grab the man and ease him to the floor as he passed out.
As the above photo shows, several people rushed to the man’s aid, while Trump stood staring helplessly at what was happening. At the same time, videos of the incident show Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and another woman rushing the press out of the room — though they kept photographing as they left, producing this follow-up picture of Trump, now turned completely away from the patient and in the direction of the retreating press corps.
Oval Office – Seconds Later
Look at his expression, and tell me what you see. What I see is a spoiled child, upset — not out of concern for the man lying ill on the floor of his office not six feet away — but pissed off at the interruption of his big, beautiful press conference.
I did hear a report that he remembered — or was reminded — to call the man’s wife later to check on his condition. (He is apparently all right.) But that was after the fact; it is the initial reaction that is most telling of the priorities of an individual who always, without fail, thinks first and exclusively of himself.
And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with this administration.
The Greek philosopher Diogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, was born in Sinope, Turkiye, between 413 and 403 B.C. Exiled from his native country (the date is unclear), apparently as the result of some sort of family financial scandal, he spent the remainder of his 90 or so years in Greece, where he became known for his “ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critiques of social conventions.” [Wikipedia biography.]
Ever the eccentric, he was seen walking through town one bright day carrying a lighted lantern. When asked what he was doing, he reportedly replied: “I am looking for an honest man.”
Statue of Diogenes
I’m sure I would have liked Diogenes the Cynic, both for his irreverent sense of humor and his total disdain for pretentious and dishonest people. Many of the sayings attributed to him are as meaningful in today’s world as they were more than two millennia ago. And in that context, today’s selected quote speaks volumes in just seven words:
“The mob is the mother of tyrants.” *. *. *
Which brings to mind this nightmarish mob event of nearly five years ago:
Mob at U.S. Capitol – January 6, 2021
It seems that mankind hasn’t learned a thing since Diogenes’ day . . . which is perhaps our greatest tragedy of all.
If an individual were to kidnap their own child and demand an obscene amount of money in exchange for allowing the child to live, that person would be universally declared, not merely a criminal, but the lowest form of human being.
Yet that is exactly what this man is doing. No, not to one of his 14 (or more) biological children, but to his corporate “baby” — Tesla, Inc.
When Elon Musk took on the task of decimating the U.S. government as head of Donald Trump’s newly-created, ironically-named Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he began neglecting his duties as CEO of Tesla . . . much to the dismay of its directors and shareholders, who were left to deal with plummeting profits and share prices.
When he exited DOGE in May of this year, it was believed that he would be returning full-time to Tesla. But some investors have said that his other business and political interests are still interfering with his obligations to the company. So, in true oligarch fashion, he struck a deal . . .
. . . for the bargain price of $1,000,000,000,000.
Yes, that’s One Trillion Dollars, folks . . . with 12 zeros and four commas. And before you say it, please allow me:
No one — not a single person on this Earth — is worth that much money!!!
Not even Elon Musk. And, let’s face it . . . no one needs that much money, or could spend it in a lifetime, unless they gave most of it away. Or founded their own country. Perhaps on Mars?
But back to Planet Earth. The good news is that Tesla — 75% of whose shareholders approved this scam . . . er . . . deal — does not have to raise a trillion dollars in cash. And Musk does have to earn it over a ten-year period by meeting various targets and raising the firm’s market value from its present $1.4 trillion to an astonishing $8.5 trillion. He would also have to get a million self-driving Robotaxi vehicles into commercial operation. [Lily Jamali, BBC, November 6, 2025.]
Tesla Robotaxi, being admired by Optimus
When the announcement was made, Musk was in Austin, Texas, where he took to the stage and danced as his audience chanted his name. When he stopped moving, he had this to say:
“What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book. Other shareholder meetings are snoozefests but ours are bangers. Look at this. This is sick.” [Id.]
Well, yes . . . it is sick, but in an entirely different sense of the word. Look at it this way: If you somehow managed to put a trillion dollars into an account or fund that paid a mere one percent simple interest per year, your annual earnings would still be $10 billion.
Now, obviously that’s not what one does with that kind of money. And his payout would consist, not of cash, but hundreds of millions of new Tesla shares. But still, I repeat . . .
NO ONE NEEDS THAT MUCH MONEY!!!!!!!!
There are entire countries whose GDPs don’t even come close to it.
And there’s still the question of whether he will fulfill the requirements of the deal. His remarks earlier on Thursday focused on his Optimus robot, rather than the company’s electric vehicle business or the Robotaxis.
Optimus: On the Job
As expressed by analyst Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management:
“His vision of the ‘new book’ starts with Optimus. No mention of cars, FDS [full-self driving] and robotaxi yet.” [Id.]
So, Elon probably shouldn’t start counting those shares too soon. Ten years is a long time . . . and he doesn’t have the greatest attention span.
One of the joys of reading as much as I do is that I learn something new every day.
Today’s lesson was that Eleanor Roosevelt — a brilliant, admirable woman whom I will no doubt be quoting frequently — also had a subtly wicked sense of humor.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
I particularly love this example, because it reveals an unsuspected aspect of her personality — the all-important ability to laugh at herself:
“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.”
I can’t help wondering what FDR had to say about that!
A semi-submersible vessel was recently seized at sea by Portuguese police and naval authorities, who surrounded the boat, boarded her, arrested the four crew members, and seized 1.7 tons of Class A cocaine.
The narco-sub, which was bound for the Iberian peninsula, was operated by two Ecuadorians, a Venezuelan and a Colombian, who were remanded in pretrial custody following a court appearance in the Azores on Tuesday.
And that — for the benefit of U.S. officials — is how it should be done. Yes, they were in international waters, some 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal. But it was accomplished on the basis of reliable information received by the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, with the backing of the UK’s National Crime Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [James Gregory, BBC, November 4, 2025.]
It was not a small boat “suspected” of carrying drugs; it was not blown out of the water by a missile launched from afar; and no one was killed or injured.
The Trump Method of Drug-Fighting
The suspects have received a preliminary hearing, and will be given due process of law . . . though 1.7 tons of coke should be sufficient to guarantee a conviction.
Following seizure of the vessel, it was found that it was incapable of being towed back to shore due to poor weather conditions and the “fragile construction” of the sub, and it sank at sea. Vitor Ananias, head of Portugal’s police anti-drug-trafficking unit, told reporters:
“ . . . between the heat, the vessel’s fumes and high waves, with difficult weather conditions, even one day is tricky [for the four men on board]. By the end of 15 or 20 days all you want is to get out.” [Id.]
It sounds as though being arrested may actually have saved the lives of the four accused criminals — certainly a better option than being blown to bits.
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Few people would argue against the dangers of illegal drug-running, or the need to put the multi-national drug cartels out of business. But the existence of the problem is not an excuse for cold-blooded murder.
Nor is the use of remotely-launched weaponry justifiable by saying it was done that way to ensure the safety of the U.S. military involved in the attack.
No Portuguese police or naval officers were injured in the seizure of the much larger vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Surely, U.S. military personnel are equally competent. It hardly seems necessary to deploy the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS GERALD R. FORD, to troll the waters of the Caribbean in search of more victims. Yet that is what Donald Trump has done.
USS GERALD R. FORD
Thus far, some 66 people have been wiped out in the course of 16 such strikes, with no evidence or substantial details being offered by the administration to justify the actions. But Trump has rationalized the deaths by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
And Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, while on a recent trip to Asia, posted:
“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens.” [The Associated Press, November 5, 2025.]
Pete Hegseth
That is what he said: “find and terminate” . . . as though he were talking about a fantasy movie, with himself in the role of Hellboy.
But those 66 people — criminals or not — were human beings, not characters in a film. And they were not given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law.
So would someone please tell me: What ever happened to “truth, justice, and the American way”?
We’re back to the Russian writers today: my personal favorite, Fyodor Dostoevsky (“Crime and Punishment,” “Brothers Karamazov,” etc.).
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-81)
No . . . Dostoevsky was not suggesting that we should go around insulting people for the fun of it. A level of empathy and simple good manners — or what we now call “political correctness” — is just a matter of decency and common sense.
But he understood the dangers inherent in being robbed of our political opinions, and our right to express them, in order to avoid offending the imbeciles in high offices: in his time and place, those were the Russian Tsar and his minyons.
And while times change, human nature unfortunately does not.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 