occasional reflections on culture & politics
I NEED TO BELIEVE Corvallis, October 9th, 2022 – P#786 I need to believethat beneath all this sorrowbeneath all this painand all this senseless senselessnessis waiting a future timemuch better than the current onewaitingto be bornout ofallthis I need to believebecause without this beliefthere would be nothingkeeping mefrom seeking madnessrather than sanityand desperationrather than resilienceand… Continue reading #196: Poem: I Need to Believe
We keep hearing in the news frequently that most Russians support Putin’s war. This is highly misleading, and very probably wrong. There cannot be objective surveys in Russia. All independent journalistic institutions have either been closed or are about to close. Any independent thinking is being actively discouraged, and if discouragement does not work, it… Continue reading #183: What Are Russians Thinking?
What a funny sight: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did fly to the G20 meeting, held some talks with country representatives that are less critical of Russia (in order to promote their own self-interest), and departed before being able to meet and listen to any of the critics. This, again, demonstrates that Russia has no… Continue reading #173: Putin and Lavrov Demonstrate the Weakness of Today’s Russia
We have heard nothing but outrageous claims, distortions and lies from the Russian government and those that support it. At this point, it is almost impossible to know what is fact and fiction, and we should really not care. What does Russia want? Is “Russia” identical with its government? For now, as long as those… Continue reading #169: What Russia Claims to Want Is Irrelevant Now
There are quite a few opinions out there who caution against unachievable war aims and urge both parties to negotiate some kind of settlement. The delivery of more and more weapons would, in this argument, lead to a prolonged conflict, and thus to more loss of life and destruction. In the end, both parties would… Continue reading #168: Why Must Ukraine Win?
You can hardly turn on the news today without being faced with manifestations of every possible disaster known to humankind: war, genocide, disease, famine, climate change, etc. Death and its precursors are all around us. How can you stay sane in such a world? How can we ever tolerate the presence of so much death… Continue reading #164: The Answer to Death is Life
Under the guise of celebrating the 77th year of victory over Nazi Germany, Russia has continued to deny its own home-grown brand of totalitarianism and to sanitize the savage brutality of the Soviet Union. Before Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, the Soviets were allied with him and happy to wage war on Poland, Finland, Latvia,… Continue reading #163: Putin’s Russia Celebrates Its Own Fascism
WE ALL Corvallis, April 28th, 2021 - P#773 we allhave hopeswe allhave dreamswe allseek solace of the soul for as we walkin this valley of darknessfar too oftenwe're all alonewe're all, deep down,a single being,reaching outfor all our lives:for all our sakes:and though we trythe only certainty in birthis death;and all that happens in betweencan… Continue reading #161: Poem: We All
Russia is complaining that the West is “prolonging” the war unnecessarily by helping Ukraine out with weaponry. This is quite outrageous – the aggressor, who in 2014 attacked an innocent country it was bound to protect (due to the Budapest Memorandum), stole part of its territory (Crimea and Donbas), and has now been waging an… Continue reading #160: Victim Blaming Par Excellence: Russia Complains About Those Helping Ukraine
Many people are asking whether Ukraine just doesn’t give up. Would that not save lives? How bad can it possibly be? All those cities destroyed, all those refugees, would it not be better to continue living in peace than to resist a much larger enemy? Anyone asking this needs to consider the evidence of what… Continue reading #159: Stop the Ukrainian Genocide
Erratic Attempts 