A Small Light

I was paging through my most recent copy of National Geographic and came across a short story about Miep Gies. I would not be surprised if you don’t know who she was. I didn’t. She was the woman who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis. She was an ordinary woman who did an extraordinary thing. Although she never considered her actions to be unusual. Someone has made a miniseries, "A Small Light", about her life and the backstory behind what she did for the Frank’s. It aired on National Geographic on May 1 and Disney+ the next day. I will have to see if I can find it.

The actor who portrayed Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was Liev Schreiber, whose grandfather emigrated from Ukraine. This is what he had to say about Gies:

“The Miep Gieses of the world-the small lights, the extraordinary ordinary people who did something, who pushed back against tyranny, who pushed back against authoritarians, who pushed back against fascists-remembering what they accomplished, I think, gives us some perspective on what we can accomplish.”

In the world we are living in today it is important that those small lights be seen, and heard.

So I have a video of a statement made in court in Russia by a woman who was just sentenced to prison for telling the truth about Putin’s war.  Please listen.

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

Slava Ukraini

A Reckoning Will Come

 I thought it important to shine a light on the words of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was just sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason by a Russian “court”. His crime? He had the audacity to speak out against Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

My Last Statement to the Russian Court

Why should we care? Because this should be a lesson to all who love democracy about what can happen if it disappears. As we watch in our country the attempts by Republican legislators to silence any dissent to their policies we must begin to realize that, yes, it can happen here too. If we do not stand up for the rights of women, of voters, of people who are not exactly like us, of even our elected officials, we run the risk of sinking to the level of a place like Putin’s Russia. Think carefully about book banning, depriving elected officials of office on trumped up issues, forcing women to bear children against their will, or taking on Mickey Mouse because he had the nerve to oppose a Governor and speak out.

Yes, that’s right, I stand with the Mouse and all those who oppose oppression. Ronnie, Vladimir Putin, and others like them, can take a long walk on a short pier.

This Easter...

It’s Easter and, despite the white snowy cover in my yard, there is hope for Spring.

It is a time of renewal. So pick up a phone and call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

Ignore the haters who are intent on banning people they don’t understand.

Stand up for those who are ejected from their rightful places, in effect overriding the will of the people for their own selfish reasons.

Remember what America was meant to be.

Happy Easter!

Consequences

I know I have been writing a lot about the Russian war on Ukraine. I have been told that there are many people in the world who are actually not that interested. They have more immediate concerns than a war that exists far from their homes. I have also been told that many people are not that upset with the actions of Putin’s Russia. They like the guy. So I was thinking perhaps this would be a good conversation to have now.

Let’s look at those who support Putin. They seem to include Iran, India, China, Syria, North Korea and others who do so more subtly. I would suggest that all of the leaders of these countries have domestic reasons that encourage that support. That may be their similarity to Putin’s mentality or they are getting some really good deals on oil or weapons, naming just two.

Then we have the people in various countries who resent the West in general or the United States in particular. Why would they step up to support them when they deserve what they are getting? After all, didn’t the United States invade Afghanistan and Iraq? Didn’t we overturn their governments, who were doing such a good job? Yes, maybe they had a few little problems, like persecuting various members of their population or curtailing certain freedoms, but at least they picked up the trash and more importantly, were not foreigners. If you knew the red lines you could live just fine. There were many innocent people who suffered in those wars. Then, and for some this is even worse, the West and the United States are just too nosy. They have the nerve to take to task those countries who may engage in certain domestic practices that are detrimental to their citizens health and well being.

There is not much I can say that would change any of those people’s minds. They are either out to gain something or they are mired in, in some cases, a justifiable resentment. They have no incentive or desire to look a little deeper at the consequences of Putin’s actions. But they will be affected eventually, just like everyone else.

What about those, perhaps in my own country, or others who are living in areas not immediately adjacent to or allied with Ukraine? They have their own concerns, such as their economic issues. Why spend all of that money in Ukraine when we could be fixing roads, improving education, dealing with social issues etc.?

Why support Ukraine? Why join with the West in opposing Putin?

To those people I say there are things taking place now, because of this war, that will affect our lives in the future. First, look very closely at how Putin, and Russia, is treating not just the Ukrainians but their own citizens. Is that the kind of world you want to live in? This is not a trick question. There is a reason a lot of refugees choose to flee, for various reasons, to Europe or America. You do not see them fleeing to Russia. You do see a lot of people leaving Russia, however. There is a reason that Russia has kidnapped so many Ukrainian children.

Also, there is a finite amount of money that the West can give to other countries. If it is used in Ukraine it will not be available to other countries who may have enjoyed some of that in the past. Will that improve those people’s economic or health situations?  While the war goes on there will continue to be a strain on resources.  While Europe feels threatened both it and the United States will funnel resources to defend her.  

Second, and this is what will affect even those who support Putin. I know many out there still do not believe in climate change. Perhaps you will if you are one of the many who is, or will be, involved in an extreme drought or flood. Perhaps you will when it starts to affect the food supply chain. This war has really upended the traditional oil supply. You have Europe trying to wean itself off of Russian oil, mothballing pipelines. You now see more ships, some not exactly sea worthy, trekking around the oceans with Russian oil in their holds. Environmental disaster waiting to happen. You had President Biden holding talks with KSA and Venezuela in hopes of their upping their supply to stabilize world markets, despite the fact that both of those countries do not have warm relations with the Biden administration.

And now we have this:

The Willow Project

Yes, this was originally approved in the Trump administration and yes, the Biden administration says there are legal constraints to stopping it. Yes, Biden will break a campaign promise if Willow goes forward. This may or may not have happened anyway. However, this or something like it, will probably need to happen if we want to maintain some independence from foreign oil supplies until we can transition, hopefully, to alternatives to fossil fuels. I know I may sound like a Republican, but times they are a changing. The reason we need to remain independent of foreign oil supplies is that there are less friendly foreign suppliers out there. The reason we need to remain independent of foreign oil suppliers is that there are those who would use oil as a weapon, like Russia.

So we are caught between a rock and a hard place. Climate change will worsen. We are being set back in our chance to fight it because of Putin’s war on Ukraine. This will affect everyone.

One Year

It has been one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is still fighting and those who support their efforts to defend their sovereignty are still with them.

In my home state:

To say it is difficult for the brave people defending Ukraine is an understatement. A small sample of their world:

Those trying to help:

Please take a moment and consider what it would be like if your country were invaded by a hostile power intent on destroying everything you have known.

Slava Ukraini!

What is Truth?

I know I have been focusing on the Ukraine War for many of my recent posts. But it will have long reaching consequences for all of us. Not just because of the shocking loss of life and destruction of infrastructure but because it has laid bare something that perhaps many of us did not realize. I speak of the way in which people see events. We have experienced a little of that here in the US with our political divisions. But in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we see delusion taken to an even more extreme degree that has resulted in this horrendous conflict.

These interviews were conducted in Russia by, I have to say, a very brave group of people. This video was very difficult to watch. Because after watching it I came to feel that I might have been being too generous with the people of Russia, giving them a pass for being deluded by the propaganda of their government. This video made me realize that perhaps there are those in Russia who really support the atrocities committed by their government.

I know there are many people who do not support Putin and his war. But it is those who do that are a real danger, not just to their own country, but to the world. Those who dare to speak out deserve respect.

The reality that is, or was, Bakhmut. This video is a month old. So I fear that some of the people in it may not still be with us.  This video is only available on YouTube, but there is a link within the window.  Or, if you prefer, you can go there and search for "The Battle for Bakhmut" by Vice News.

I would wish that some of the people in the first video could meet some of the people in the second. But I fear that there is little hope that it would change their mindset.

The Christmas Bells

We have just had a major storm move through our area, which has also impacted much of the United States. Travel has been a challenge with snow compacted roads and freezing temperatures. I am grateful that I have a warm home to come to. Yet as I sit here I think of those who are not so fortunate. I think of the people in Ukraine who are left in darkness and cold because of relentless shelling by Russian forces. I think of the people in Iran who are left in the darkness and cold by a totalitarian regime which would sooner kill those in opposition then change.

Many Christmases have gone by with our world at war. Many have been far away from their loved ones and their homes. The story of the Christmas Bells is one man’s plea for the meaning of Christmas.

My wish for those in Ukraine and those in Iran is the promise of that Christmas peace.