Vladivostok, and other things.

I’m ending this week with ‘miscellany’ – there’s far too much going on to write about everything.  Here goes:

1. VLADIVOSTOK

Earlier this week, Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin met near Vladivostok, Russia.

I am a long-ago Geography Major.  Back then – the 50s – I would only have known it had to be a very long ride from Pyongyang to Moscow.  Those were the days when you had to look at a Globe, a map hanging on the wall, or an Atlas in the library to even find Vladivostok, if it even showed up on the immense land mass that was, then, the USSR.

Now, the handy route map on my computer  apologizes for having no data about how to get from Pyongyang to Vladivostok, but still provides amazing information.  So, my alternative was to get the route from Moscow to Vladivostok.  Here it is, as adapted by myself:

Moscow Vladivostok Russia N. Korea Ukraine

Long and short: It’s over 5000 land miles from Moscow to Vladivostok.  On the other hand, unknown to me till yesterday, Russia shares a few miles of border with North Korea, close to Vladivostok. Indeed, Khasan, Russia is at the border with North Korea,  160 miles or so from Vladivostok.

(It’s about 500 miles from Kyiv, Ukraine, to Moscow – not much more distant than Minneapolis to Chicago.)

Geographically, Russia is an immense country – roughly the size of Canada and the U.S. combined.  On the other hand, Russia’s population is less than half that of the United States; and about three times the population of Ukraine….

Of course, Vladivostok would not be in the news except for the fact that Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin were talking in person about some deals.  The in-person meeting had its own messages to the assorted audiences who would see it.

So, we catch a moment when two authoritarians apparently commit to their deal.  Of course, their power will be utterly worthless to them when they die, as they will, as we all ultimately do.

There are few scoundrels in Putin and Kim’s class.  But I could easily write a list of perhaps ten individuals who I’d consider equally or even more dangerous authoritarians – people who control power over people in assorted ways, a few of them in our own country.  Your list may well be similar to mine, but who specifically doesn’t matter.  To whom, including themselves, would more concentration of power make a long term difference?

The reality, it seems to me, is the symbolism of the armored train that Kim Jung Un used to get to the border of Russia.  It demonstrates the constant paranoia about enemies.  They and their ilk are  in prisons of their own making, with only temporary reward.  No thanks.

2. COURT

The Rule of Law has been the hallmark in our countries aspiration to democracy.   It has been and hopefully will continue to be our ideal.  By no means is our Rule of Law perfect.  But it is infinitely better than a Law of Force, such as demonstrated Jan. 6, 2021, and surrounding days following the election of 2020.   It has been a dismal time in our history.

The Rule of Law is deliberately tedious and all about interpretation of evidence, and ultimately left up to a judge (there are over 30,000 of these, state and federal), or a jury of citizens.  Justice takes time, and is foolish to predict outcomes.  I can wait.  But I will follow the process over the coming months and perhaps even years.

I pay a great deal of attention to the legal issues front and center regarding Jan. 6, Mar-a-Lago, Fulton County GA, New York, etc., but   I have devoted very little space to them here.  To the best of my recollection I have not personally used the words “Donald Trump” in this blog since January 2021.   (There have been rare mentions since Jan 2021, and have been in comments by others than myself.). To me, “Donald Trump” is really only the people who voted him into office and still support him.  As an individual, he is nothing – a modern day “Wizard of Oz” behind his media screen, a fraud gifted in front of a microphone.  In my opinion, he will stand alone as the worst president in all of our history as a country.

In progress now are the first of endless court cases which deserve to be watched.  There are  over  1,300,000 lawyers in the U.S.  who will be especially attentive.  Their function is to argue points of law.  So disagreements and losing cases are not alien concepts to them.  Every lawsuit is at some level one versus another.

My continuing mantra: be sure you’re registered to vote, and that you vote well informed in the upcoming elections; and urge others you know to do the same.

 3. MAUI:

This week I came across a 2013-14 calendar I’d kept which featured a series of ancient maps.  I leafed through it, and January was an 1885 map of Maui:

Maui, 1885

If you look carefully, on the far left of the map, there is a circled word, Lahaina, which has immediate meaning in these days.  Here’s a pdf of the  map,  Maui 1885

Lahaina, the site of the recent disastrous fires which gripped us all,  is but a speck on Maui, as Maui is just a speck in the Pacific Ocean.

Detail is important, but it is also important to retain perspective.

(The colors on the map connote ownership in 1885, the green and the yellow were either government or crown properties.  Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898, a state in 1959.)

4. MISCELLANY:

Of course, there’s always “breaking news”. everywhere.  This week a strike of United Auto Workers began; there is harping about impeaching Joe Biden, etc. etc.  Bad news always sells better than good.

I like to notice the people I have contact with every day, in every context, whether I know them or not.  While there are exceptions, I am struck by how truly decent people are.  It is good grounding in reality.  I would guess others have the same impressions.  We know we’re a polarized society, but I see signs that folks are working on that, one interaction at a time.  There is hope.

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Molly sent an article about Covid vaccination for the upcoming fall season. “There’s a lot of general info & background in this article, fyi. here sounds good to me!” .

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Frank suggests the following:

Father Harry Bury, Maverick Priest was interviewed by Don Olson on Thursday September 14th on KFAI on 90.3 FM’s “Northern Sun New”.

This talk will be archived for 2 weeks.

Play at Landmark “War, Resistance, and Protest: The Trial of the Minnesota 8”  October 5th & 6th – 7 pm | October 7th – 2 pm, 2023      $10

Dick’s note: The play is Frank’s personal story of the  important trial and subsequent imprisonment at the time of Vietnam War protests in the late 60s early 70s.  Frank is a long-time friend, but I did not know him till long after the events of the Trial.

5. RECOMMENDATION:

Like everyone, I’m besieged with information.  Every time I publish a post I say publicly what I consider my self to be – you can see it at upper right: Moderate Democrat.

Over time, I’ve come to rely on several commentators as frequent sources of credible information, especially on politics in general.  I recommend you check out any of these sources, any time.  Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, on matters of Law; Heather Cox-Richardson, Letters from an American, on matters of public and international policy and history; Jay Kuo, The Status Kuo, on matters of Law; Doug Muder, The Weekly Sift, on general matters of public policy.  There are many other reliable sources, but these are good, reliable, frequent sources of informed analysis.  I especially thank my friend, Joyce, for making me aware of these and many other resources.

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POSTNOTE SEP. 17: Last evening I happened across a very relevant TV program, released May, 2020, which is still accessible.  It was a 2020 William Shatner program on the topic of Cults.  At least take notice of it, here.  I did not seek the program out, but it is very relevant to today….

COMMENTS (see also the end of this post): 

from Howie: Thanks for the geography lesson. Having driven from the Midwest to Seattle and from the Midwest to DC, I have a personal experience with the size of the US, about 3000 mi wide. 5000 mi within Russia takes on a personal scale. I suspect that many who travel at 300 mph, 30k ft above the earth, will not have that personal perspective.

from Darryll:  Early in Trumps rule, I compared him to the Wizard of OZ.  I also compared him to a carnival barker.  I now believe “mob boss” is the best description. I cannot understand the people, I know well, supporting him.  The book, by his niece, describing him is right on the money.

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