Thank you, Greg. Cults of personality don't usually end well. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, Kim the Nork, Reagan, #MangoWanker the Turdking .... Vlad must think about them all, every day.
Yeah we zowie. I don’t know which I like best, Rodentine, Obdurate or your reference to the Pine Barrens episode, one of my favorites.
But let’s talk turkey here.
That smarmy little scumbag made a veiled threat on the life of our new president. It is time we respond accordingly.
In context, I am the granddaughter of Russian immigrants who spent time in Saint Petersburg as a delegate an an exchange of judges, family law experts and mental health professionals. I was there when Russian people were celebrating the reopening of their Christian churches and first able to return to open and joyful worship.
His good shall be interred with his bones. Sooner the better.
At the time I was excited about visiting my family homeland and being part of an exchange meant to bridge the cold war gap between us.
But over the past four years I find myself regretting the trip because it’s served to lend credibility to a monster.
We have cleaned our home. It is time to lend an assist Toovey gaslighting, deprived and manipulated Russian people. At the same time we will protect our new president, the only world leader who has the guts to look that rat bastard in the eye and call him on his psychopathy. Two birds. One stone. Efficient. I like it.
As to the Doofi, I found myself pondering how conservatives—who’d made fools of themselves hounding out fellow citizens as *Commie Pinkos* during my twenties—could become closet *Commie Groupies* by the time I'm pushing eighty. Very likely it's sex n' drugs n' rock n' roll. But I sense there's something bigger lurking up in there. Something like a Global White Conspiracy to counter the Asians.
I've made this joke a lot: "Say what you will about the John Birch Society, but at least they hated the Rooskies." Turns out they only hated the commies. The oligarchs they are fine with.
Tragic that a person, probably born with the intellect of an Einstein, uses it for deadly and vile purposes. Aspergers Syndrome (if that is what Putin has, and one of your sources makes a clear case for it) is not an inherently evil condition. There is a trade off for that genius gene though, physically, emotionally and socially including: difficulty reading faces and gestures - or a room, touch avoidance since even a handshake can cause sensory overload, and having to process emotions intellectually rather than automatically. I started to write "naturally", but someone with Aspergers sees those of us without it as "neurotypical" - most people "do emotions", they don't. A person with this "high end autism" can appear arrogant, when in fact he or she is anxious. Connecting to people is a real challenge (but to dogs and horses it is wonderfully therapeutic). I suspect, most people with Aspergers are never diagnosed, and probably don't need to be.
Why one person with this condition becomes a benevolent billionaire, while another grows up to be a malevolent dictator, is a question for the ages and early childhood specialists. What is clear, though, is how to respond to them, and it sounds as if our defense and diplomatic experts have tutored all our powers-that-be on how to do just that.
I find it curious, looking back at American history to the present, that we have elected presidents who probably had Aspergers. Experts in neuropsychology suggest Thomas Jefferson had it, for example - a man whose brilliant contributions have grounded us in democracy for 2 1/2 centuries. More recently we have had candidates who may share some of those characteristics. Although they did not win, they would have been superb presidents.
Thanks for writing this. I'm well-acquainted with Aspergers, as anyone who has read my novels knows. I include it here because it's an analysis most people have not heard, but that is important to understanding who he is and how his brain works. That's not the part of him that is bad; the sociopathy is the part that's bad.
Yes. Very important for folks to know, and to understand why Biden responds (or doesn't respond) as he does. Unfortunately, though, something must have happened in Putin's youth to create the malevolence - that sociopathy (although I suspect psychopathy - even with years of psychiatric nursing experience it can be hard to differentiate). Having Aspergers would make it much more difficult to process and cope with adverse events or abusive parenting.
Dr Martha Stout points to a genetic component to sociopathy. Her book, The Sociopath Next Door, may be out of print, 2006 I think, but I keep it on my Kindle. When you think you see one (like that demented despot whose name shall never fall again from my lips) look at the family tree. His daddy.
Yes, very complex origins. True story: I found that book, "The Sociopath Next Door", about 10 years ago at our town's used book store and rushed home to show my neighbor. She looked startled and said "Just a minute," and went back into her house. I thought, "Oh, No! I blew it, insensitive nurse than I am." Soon she returned, and handed me a book, "The Psychopath Next Door"!! She had bought it at a garage sale to give to me! Oh, we laughed. But mental illness is not usually a laughing matter. Psychiatry does not use either of these terms: instead diagnosis is usually made under the category of "Personality Disorders." These are conditions thought to be lifelong maladaptive behaviors in response to some adverse experience in childhood, but genetics can be, or probably is, a factor. Sorting out "nature vs. nurture" isn't always possible, especially since one so intricately affects the other. Of the ten or so types, some include characteristics we also see in Aspergers Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorders. Aspergers is NOT a personality disorder - but how one ADAPTS to it can be. So the genetic link could be the great difficulty a mom (or dad) who is touch avoidant, who has trouble integrating sensory stimuli, reading faces, and processing emotions, would have with parenting. In psychiatry these women were once labeled "Refrigerator Mothers" and scorned for their evilness. Now we know better, and can provide support and guidance. Except, women are diagnosed only 1/4 as often as men, not because there are 25% less cases in women, but because Dr. Aspergers only studied young MEN. "High-functioning autism" looks different in women. Much of the long term damage can be prevented if we invest in early childhood supports and education. And have more empathy for those who struggle to connect.
P.S. That "demented despot whose name shall never fall again from our lips" does NOT have Aspergers. He would more likely be labeled a sociopath for his ability to read a crowd, connect, and then manipulate them. Creepy. And yes, look at daddy (and to Joe McCarthy's mentor, Roy Kohn, who also mentored the former guy). But also look at mommy who was ill and absent in his early years. Tragedy all the way round. My goal as a nurse is to stop the suffering, bring understanding, and create joy. A long ways to go.
Yes, nothing says "STRONGMAN" like a lovely, bespoke, cream-colored turtleneck with a perfectly contrasting teddy bear jacket. Expect Don Jr. to find something similar to wear the next time some publication wants to take pictures of him in the woods. Sometimes I feel like I'm micro-dosing anesthesia -- this shit can't really be happening, but there it is!
After I read this article to my husband I circled back to the article you wrote in Feb 2020 referencing Mueller’s 2011 speech. I had saved the article-something about “Taxonomy”. I had looked at it several times. The article had disappeared into thin air. No fooling. It makes one feel he is being watched.
I liked the article because it dovetailed so succinctly with what Craig Unger said in both his books. This thing was planned thirty years ago. They have infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society.
I liked what Mueller said in that speech about healthcare costs, mortgage rates, the cost of gas. The Russians control it all.
It’s easy to throw darts at Putin. (What did he learn from his sambo/judo philosophy?) He is owned by “Brainy Don.”
Why isn’t Unger’s new book being promoted?
Why aren’t CNN and MSNBC yelling about this?
Does no one care? So long as we can live the “good” life, why worry that Putin is a killer?
I have spent over 60 years with a career in Russia area studies. Most of the people I know, old and young, don’t know what the Gulag is. The American public needs too much educating.
To what extent are the Russians involved in liberal media?
Do you know Skully, I was having similar thoughts just the other day. How many of our biggest media outlets belong to people they shouldn’t belong to? AP? Reuters? CNN? WaPo? NYT?
With all the attention given to the series “The Americans” why wouldn’t the American public be fascinated with the July 4 Moscow Traitors in Congress and Trump’s obeisance to Putin? Why wouldn’t the conventional journalism crowd be crawling all over that story and interviewing Greg nonstop for several weeks straight?
I am suspicious. Just from watching and observing recent events, like how the British press uses British royalty to sell papers, and how Fox News was using the Trump administration in like manner, I would expect any news outlet to jump on a story that they think will attract readership. However, I have a sneaking suspicion, don’t ask me where this comes from, that Reuters and AP are in somebody’s back pocket. Same with NYT, that’s why I canceled my subscription. Something doesn’t smell right. Something smells fishy.
And this is why I cherish my subscription to Greg and to Lucian Truscott, and also Heather Cox Richardson although to me she seems more limited and proscribed. She’s a historian, not a journalist or investigative writer, and she sticks to what she knows.
AP isn't. It's owned by all the member newspapers and broadcast outlets in the US. Really hard to corrupt such an organization. There are lots and lots of other reasons why MSM is so terrible. Eric Boehlert and I talk about this in one of the podcasts, which is worth a listen.
Fox News has been normalizing Putin and his murderous regime for a while now. Witness Hannity with his "Stalin was our ally in WW2, how bad could he be" take for a few years back.
I think the only way to outage the American public is to draw a direct line between the fat men and life and death issues. What about the opioid crisis?
I have faith in Biden and the Dems. Biden just seems to turn the other cheek. They should weaponised their own “kompormat” at election time.
What concerns me, however, are Republicans at the local level who are now scurrying to curtail voting access. Why?
Maybe you can tell us more about George Soros who is supposed to be worse than Stalin, Hitler and Mao combined. Debunking this canard might help out here in the boondocks.
Karen, you are not chopped liver, God(dess) forbid. You remember our conversation here on Prevail in the car when you were driving down to D.C.? I love everything you post, everything, you know that.
On the move again. Heading for Boulder this time. But I’m ripping pissed about Bandy Lee getting fired from Yale for truth telling and ruffling some enabler feathers. What ever happened to academic freedom, First Amendment and duty to warn?? I know I’m off topic here but not really. Are Putin’s sticky fingers invading academia as well as Congress?? If anyone hears of a legal fund for her, lmk. I got kicked off Twitter for same reason Dr Lee lost her job: stating inconvenient truths. Refusing to delete them. And she’s an older Asian woman: Yale must have a death wish.
Logan airport in Boston. I was just joking. Wanted to make sure you were paying attention. Hope you are well. Stay safe. And stay connected. There is so much more to come.
You are one of the very few people I end up writing to in real time. btw I used to work at Logan during my super-brief time as an airline mechanic. People's Express as it was acquired by Continental. I froze nearly to death outside that terminal you are occupying.
Take a look at Heather Cox Richardson’s daily post, which just appeared. She actually references a Vanity Fair article in the endnotes which questions whether the NRA’s $30million support of Trump’s campaign in 2016 was Russian money.
"Hello, my name is Roland. I am OCD. I am an addict."
[group responds] "Hello Roland."
My obsession and compulsion is around society and social issues.
My number one obsession, and my joy, is my story project. How does world society return to harmony with the planet, the environment? Right now I am actively engaged in a particularly gnarly challenge in that sci-fi story project. I have hit a wall. The muse is not cooperating. But because I do not feel oppressed, rather I feel blessed by my mission, it feels like a challenge, an opportunity, a "mission impossible" task bestowed upon me. I know that success will come. It must.
If I knew of a Substack community whose subject is the planet and the environment and humankind's relationship with same, I would probably be a member.
My other obsession is current society, U.S. and world society. My presence here on Greg's site and also on Lucian Truscott and Heather Cox Richardson is a gift. I feel so grateful, so blessed, to have an outlet for my thoughts. As mentioned, I am an addict. I am obsessed by these subjects, and those thoughts and feelings compel me to voice them. So I cherish this forum, and HCR and LT.
As my wife has reminded me, the current state of society is the prequel to my book-and-movie, the foundation and basis of my story project. My vision of a better and brighter future begins in the present.
These are my passions. In college during my engineering program I remember thinking "I am a social engineer." That does not mean a eugenics expert or Orwellian apparatchik. It means a visionary, a person who is imagining the next steps for humankind, a utopian and an idealist, not an agent of a dystopian future.
I call myself "OCD" because I am compelled to think and write about these matters.
And now to the subject at hand.
Vladimir Putin is one of my pet peeves. I think the man should be removed from power. Period. He is one of the few global sponsors of assassination, along with the occasional manhunt by the Saudis and by North Korea's baby blowhard. And China, of course, has a global system of oppression and blackmail and extortion as well for its ex-patriate citizens, its dissidents.
I am an addict. I am fixated, obsessed. In the past few years I have been thinking constantly about the one-term twice impeached ex-president, and Putin, and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and the global financial system which is corrupt and severely flawed.
Of course, it's not just one man. Putin is not alone in deserving blame. The Russian people are complicit.
Over on HCR, the topic today is the NRA and gun ownership in America. Because Heather Cox Richardson limits herself closely to internal matters and rarely ventures into foreign affairs, she almost never mentions Putin. Curiously, however, the final media reference in her standard endnotes to her daily post is a Vanity Fair article entitled "The NRA Spent $30 Million to Elect Trump. Was It Russian Money?"
In this century, Putin has been spending a fair amount of resources on meddling in U.S. affairs, probably beginning with his hatred of Hillary when she was Secretary of State, because what big swinging-dick guy isn't going to love it when a woman in her power tells him where to shove it. A certain orange-haired jerk also comes to mind.
The story of Maria Butina paints the picture. She was tasked with cozying up to the NRA, because clearly that agenda and approach to messing in U.S. politics has been front-and-center for a long time for the KGB and FSB and whatever other CIA-like acronym agencies are out there in Russia.
Here's a curious piece of trivia: if you look up the name of Putin's family members, the name "Putina" shows up. There must be a suffix or variation in the Russian language for the surnames of females. It turns out that "Putina" and "Butina" are closely related surnames, springing from a common source.
Putin needs to be shackled. He needs to be removed from power. Messing in foreign politics is not acceptable, and I am not excusing the CIA in this, I am no hypocrite, the CIA's meddling in foreign affairs is also despicable and inexcusable and completely unacceptable.
Today's article by Greg gets my attention because, to me, the Case of Vladimir Putin, Dictator, is up there in importance and priority with The Case of the Chinese Communist Party and The Case of the Saudis, A Pseudo-Royalty Dictatorship.
Any nation that exports assassination, and I include the USA, needs to be criminalized and muzzled and slapped. The Mossad is another of these heinous groups.
It’s TUESDAY🎉🎉🎉 Today’s favorite nugget is “dirty rubles” - great book!
Thank you, Greg. Cults of personality don't usually end well. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, Kim the Nork, Reagan, #MangoWanker the Turdking .... Vlad must think about them all, every day.
Yeah we zowie. I don’t know which I like best, Rodentine, Obdurate or your reference to the Pine Barrens episode, one of my favorites.
But let’s talk turkey here.
That smarmy little scumbag made a veiled threat on the life of our new president. It is time we respond accordingly.
In context, I am the granddaughter of Russian immigrants who spent time in Saint Petersburg as a delegate an an exchange of judges, family law experts and mental health professionals. I was there when Russian people were celebrating the reopening of their Christian churches and first able to return to open and joyful worship.
His good shall be interred with his bones. Sooner the better.
Thanks for sharing this. That time there must have bee fascinating!
At the time I was excited about visiting my family homeland and being part of an exchange meant to bridge the cold war gap between us.
But over the past four years I find myself regretting the trip because it’s served to lend credibility to a monster.
We have cleaned our home. It is time to lend an assist Toovey gaslighting, deprived and manipulated Russian people. At the same time we will protect our new president, the only world leader who has the guts to look that rat bastard in the eye and call him on his psychopathy. Two birds. One stone. Efficient. I like it.
I like you. All of this.
"smarmy little scumbag"
Thank you.
As to the Doofi, I found myself pondering how conservatives—who’d made fools of themselves hounding out fellow citizens as *Commie Pinkos* during my twenties—could become closet *Commie Groupies* by the time I'm pushing eighty. Very likely it's sex n' drugs n' rock n' roll. But I sense there's something bigger lurking up in there. Something like a Global White Conspiracy to counter the Asians.
I've made this joke a lot: "Say what you will about the John Birch Society, but at least they hated the Rooskies." Turns out they only hated the commies. The oligarchs they are fine with.
It's all about the Benjamins.
Tragic that a person, probably born with the intellect of an Einstein, uses it for deadly and vile purposes. Aspergers Syndrome (if that is what Putin has, and one of your sources makes a clear case for it) is not an inherently evil condition. There is a trade off for that genius gene though, physically, emotionally and socially including: difficulty reading faces and gestures - or a room, touch avoidance since even a handshake can cause sensory overload, and having to process emotions intellectually rather than automatically. I started to write "naturally", but someone with Aspergers sees those of us without it as "neurotypical" - most people "do emotions", they don't. A person with this "high end autism" can appear arrogant, when in fact he or she is anxious. Connecting to people is a real challenge (but to dogs and horses it is wonderfully therapeutic). I suspect, most people with Aspergers are never diagnosed, and probably don't need to be.
Why one person with this condition becomes a benevolent billionaire, while another grows up to be a malevolent dictator, is a question for the ages and early childhood specialists. What is clear, though, is how to respond to them, and it sounds as if our defense and diplomatic experts have tutored all our powers-that-be on how to do just that.
I find it curious, looking back at American history to the present, that we have elected presidents who probably had Aspergers. Experts in neuropsychology suggest Thomas Jefferson had it, for example - a man whose brilliant contributions have grounded us in democracy for 2 1/2 centuries. More recently we have had candidates who may share some of those characteristics. Although they did not win, they would have been superb presidents.
Thanks for writing this. I'm well-acquainted with Aspergers, as anyone who has read my novels knows. I include it here because it's an analysis most people have not heard, but that is important to understanding who he is and how his brain works. That's not the part of him that is bad; the sociopathy is the part that's bad.
Yes. Very important for folks to know, and to understand why Biden responds (or doesn't respond) as he does. Unfortunately, though, something must have happened in Putin's youth to create the malevolence - that sociopathy (although I suspect psychopathy - even with years of psychiatric nursing experience it can be hard to differentiate). Having Aspergers would make it much more difficult to process and cope with adverse events or abusive parenting.
Dr Martha Stout points to a genetic component to sociopathy. Her book, The Sociopath Next Door, may be out of print, 2006 I think, but I keep it on my Kindle. When you think you see one (like that demented despot whose name shall never fall again from my lips) look at the family tree. His daddy.
Yes, very complex origins. True story: I found that book, "The Sociopath Next Door", about 10 years ago at our town's used book store and rushed home to show my neighbor. She looked startled and said "Just a minute," and went back into her house. I thought, "Oh, No! I blew it, insensitive nurse than I am." Soon she returned, and handed me a book, "The Psychopath Next Door"!! She had bought it at a garage sale to give to me! Oh, we laughed. But mental illness is not usually a laughing matter. Psychiatry does not use either of these terms: instead diagnosis is usually made under the category of "Personality Disorders." These are conditions thought to be lifelong maladaptive behaviors in response to some adverse experience in childhood, but genetics can be, or probably is, a factor. Sorting out "nature vs. nurture" isn't always possible, especially since one so intricately affects the other. Of the ten or so types, some include characteristics we also see in Aspergers Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorders. Aspergers is NOT a personality disorder - but how one ADAPTS to it can be. So the genetic link could be the great difficulty a mom (or dad) who is touch avoidant, who has trouble integrating sensory stimuli, reading faces, and processing emotions, would have with parenting. In psychiatry these women were once labeled "Refrigerator Mothers" and scorned for their evilness. Now we know better, and can provide support and guidance. Except, women are diagnosed only 1/4 as often as men, not because there are 25% less cases in women, but because Dr. Aspergers only studied young MEN. "High-functioning autism" looks different in women. Much of the long term damage can be prevented if we invest in early childhood supports and education. And have more empathy for those who struggle to connect.
P.S. That "demented despot whose name shall never fall again from our lips" does NOT have Aspergers. He would more likely be labeled a sociopath for his ability to read a crowd, connect, and then manipulate them. Creepy. And yes, look at daddy (and to Joe McCarthy's mentor, Roy Kohn, who also mentored the former guy). But also look at mommy who was ill and absent in his early years. Tragedy all the way round. My goal as a nurse is to stop the suffering, bring understanding, and create joy. A long ways to go.
As to Putin, there's something of a Rhesus quality about him...
I suspect Putin is a psychopath, rather than a sociopath. Regardless, he is deadly.
I’ll never think of Putin the same way after seeing him in his teddy-bear suit. Thanks!
Weren't there also some mysterious "falls" from various balconies? Or am I imagining things?
Nope, you got it right. Murders galore, including one within sight of the Kremlin.
I know you from HCR! I think you are the one who introduced me to Olear! Thanks.
Double thanks here, Roland!
MaryPat it's also a big pleasure to see you over here.
You continue to be an inspiration Roland!
Thank you that's very sweet of you. *blowing you a kiss*
Ellen, I am so pleased you found Greg.
Yes, nothing says "STRONGMAN" like a lovely, bespoke, cream-colored turtleneck with a perfectly contrasting teddy bear jacket. Expect Don Jr. to find something similar to wear the next time some publication wants to take pictures of him in the woods. Sometimes I feel like I'm micro-dosing anesthesia -- this shit can't really be happening, but there it is!
Ha! I was going to Photoshop in the pic of JUnior in the woods, but I was too lazy...
All that's missing from the Siberia teddy bear photos is Putie with his thumb in his mouth, whining for his pacifier.
After I read this article to my husband I circled back to the article you wrote in Feb 2020 referencing Mueller’s 2011 speech. I had saved the article-something about “Taxonomy”. I had looked at it several times. The article had disappeared into thin air. No fooling. It makes one feel he is being watched.
I liked the article because it dovetailed so succinctly with what Craig Unger said in both his books. This thing was planned thirty years ago. They have infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society.
I liked what Mueller said in that speech about healthcare costs, mortgage rates, the cost of gas. The Russians control it all.
It’s easy to throw darts at Putin. (What did he learn from his sambo/judo philosophy?) He is owned by “Brainy Don.”
Why isn’t Unger’s new book being promoted?
Why aren’t CNN and MSNBC yelling about this?
Does no one care? So long as we can live the “good” life, why worry that Putin is a killer?
I have spent over 60 years with a career in Russia area studies. Most of the people I know, old and young, don’t know what the Gulag is. The American public needs too much educating.
To what extent are the Russians involved in liberal media?
We need more voices like yours, Greg.
I could not agree more. 👍👍👍👍❤️🏆✅
Do you know Skully, I was having similar thoughts just the other day. How many of our biggest media outlets belong to people they shouldn’t belong to? AP? Reuters? CNN? WaPo? NYT?
With all the attention given to the series “The Americans” why wouldn’t the American public be fascinated with the July 4 Moscow Traitors in Congress and Trump’s obeisance to Putin? Why wouldn’t the conventional journalism crowd be crawling all over that story and interviewing Greg nonstop for several weeks straight?
I am suspicious. Just from watching and observing recent events, like how the British press uses British royalty to sell papers, and how Fox News was using the Trump administration in like manner, I would expect any news outlet to jump on a story that they think will attract readership. However, I have a sneaking suspicion, don’t ask me where this comes from, that Reuters and AP are in somebody’s back pocket. Same with NYT, that’s why I canceled my subscription. Something doesn’t smell right. Something smells fishy.
And this is why I cherish my subscription to Greg and to Lucian Truscott, and also Heather Cox Richardson although to me she seems more limited and proscribed. She’s a historian, not a journalist or investigative writer, and she sticks to what she knows.
AP isn't. It's owned by all the member newspapers and broadcast outlets in the US. Really hard to corrupt such an organization. There are lots and lots of other reasons why MSM is so terrible. Eric Boehlert and I talk about this in one of the podcasts, which is worth a listen.
Thanks, Skully. We need more voices like yours, too.
Here is the piece you cite:
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about
Fox News has been normalizing Putin and his murderous regime for a while now. Witness Hannity with his "Stalin was our ally in WW2, how bad could he be" take for a few years back.
What can I do?
I think the only way to outage the American public is to draw a direct line between the fat men and life and death issues. What about the opioid crisis?
I have faith in Biden and the Dems. Biden just seems to turn the other cheek. They should weaponised their own “kompormat” at election time.
What concerns me, however, are Republicans at the local level who are now scurrying to curtail voting access. Why?
Maybe you can tell us more about George Soros who is supposed to be worse than Stalin, Hitler and Mao combined. Debunking this canard might help out here in the boondocks.
"To what extent are the Russians involved in liberal media?" I think you answered all of your other questions with this question! You nailed it.
So many friends over here today!! Hi MaryPat‼️ Hi Ellen‼️ Hi MaryB ‼️
Am I chopped liver? Lol. Good morning from Logan.
Karen, you are not chopped liver, God(dess) forbid. You remember our conversation here on Prevail in the car when you were driving down to D.C.? I love everything you post, everything, you know that.
On the move again. Heading for Boulder this time. But I’m ripping pissed about Bandy Lee getting fired from Yale for truth telling and ruffling some enabler feathers. What ever happened to academic freedom, First Amendment and duty to warn?? I know I’m off topic here but not really. Are Putin’s sticky fingers invading academia as well as Congress?? If anyone hears of a legal fund for her, lmk. I got kicked off Twitter for same reason Dr Lee lost her job: stating inconvenient truths. Refusing to delete them. And she’s an older Asian woman: Yale must have a death wish.
[Stepping gingerly off soapbox.]
Gingerly my rear end. Step off that soapbox with authority. Passion, righteous passion, is a good thing.
Logan? Is that Utah? No, you must be in Ohio. Logan Ohio, or is there another Logan I am unacquainted with?
Logan airport in Boston. I was just joking. Wanted to make sure you were paying attention. Hope you are well. Stay safe. And stay connected. There is so much more to come.
You are one of the very few people I end up writing to in real time. btw I used to work at Logan during my super-brief time as an airline mechanic. People's Express as it was acquired by Continental. I froze nearly to death outside that terminal you are occupying.
were occupying this morning
Take a look at Heather Cox Richardson’s daily post, which just appeared. She actually references a Vanity Fair article in the endnotes which questions whether the NRA’s $30million support of Trump’s campaign in 2016 was Russian money.
She’s coming around, slowly but slowly.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-23-2021/comments
"Hello, my name is Roland. I am OCD. I am an addict."
[group responds] "Hello Roland."
My obsession and compulsion is around society and social issues.
My number one obsession, and my joy, is my story project. How does world society return to harmony with the planet, the environment? Right now I am actively engaged in a particularly gnarly challenge in that sci-fi story project. I have hit a wall. The muse is not cooperating. But because I do not feel oppressed, rather I feel blessed by my mission, it feels like a challenge, an opportunity, a "mission impossible" task bestowed upon me. I know that success will come. It must.
If I knew of a Substack community whose subject is the planet and the environment and humankind's relationship with same, I would probably be a member.
My other obsession is current society, U.S. and world society. My presence here on Greg's site and also on Lucian Truscott and Heather Cox Richardson is a gift. I feel so grateful, so blessed, to have an outlet for my thoughts. As mentioned, I am an addict. I am obsessed by these subjects, and those thoughts and feelings compel me to voice them. So I cherish this forum, and HCR and LT.
As my wife has reminded me, the current state of society is the prequel to my book-and-movie, the foundation and basis of my story project. My vision of a better and brighter future begins in the present.
These are my passions. In college during my engineering program I remember thinking "I am a social engineer." That does not mean a eugenics expert or Orwellian apparatchik. It means a visionary, a person who is imagining the next steps for humankind, a utopian and an idealist, not an agent of a dystopian future.
I call myself "OCD" because I am compelled to think and write about these matters.
And now to the subject at hand.
Vladimir Putin is one of my pet peeves. I think the man should be removed from power. Period. He is one of the few global sponsors of assassination, along with the occasional manhunt by the Saudis and by North Korea's baby blowhard. And China, of course, has a global system of oppression and blackmail and extortion as well for its ex-patriate citizens, its dissidents.
I am an addict. I am fixated, obsessed. In the past few years I have been thinking constantly about the one-term twice impeached ex-president, and Putin, and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and the global financial system which is corrupt and severely flawed.
Of course, it's not just one man. Putin is not alone in deserving blame. The Russian people are complicit.
Over on HCR, the topic today is the NRA and gun ownership in America. Because Heather Cox Richardson limits herself closely to internal matters and rarely ventures into foreign affairs, she almost never mentions Putin. Curiously, however, the final media reference in her standard endnotes to her daily post is a Vanity Fair article entitled "The NRA Spent $30 Million to Elect Trump. Was It Russian Money?"
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/the-nra-spent-dollar30-million-to-elect-trump-was-it-russian-money
In this century, Putin has been spending a fair amount of resources on meddling in U.S. affairs, probably beginning with his hatred of Hillary when she was Secretary of State, because what big swinging-dick guy isn't going to love it when a woman in her power tells him where to shove it. A certain orange-haired jerk also comes to mind.
The story of Maria Butina paints the picture. She was tasked with cozying up to the NRA, because clearly that agenda and approach to messing in U.S. politics has been front-and-center for a long time for the KGB and FSB and whatever other CIA-like acronym agencies are out there in Russia.
Here's a curious piece of trivia: if you look up the name of Putin's family members, the name "Putina" shows up. There must be a suffix or variation in the Russian language for the surnames of females. It turns out that "Putina" and "Butina" are closely related surnames, springing from a common source.
Putin needs to be shackled. He needs to be removed from power. Messing in foreign politics is not acceptable, and I am not excusing the CIA in this, I am no hypocrite, the CIA's meddling in foreign affairs is also despicable and inexcusable and completely unacceptable.
Today's article by Greg gets my attention because, to me, the Case of Vladimir Putin, Dictator, is up there in importance and priority with The Case of the Chinese Communist Party and The Case of the Saudis, A Pseudo-Royalty Dictatorship.
Any nation that exports assassination, and I include the USA, needs to be criminalized and muzzled and slapped. The Mossad is another of these heinous groups.