Sapere aude

Temperature: a bone-cracking cold came in from Siberia and parked over us, so we experienced winter as we haven’t experienced it in a while. It's gone now with warmer winds and rains coming in from the south. ‘Zat you, spring?

Eating: a simple and savory feijão.

Drinking: tea, Maracanã-sized kettles of it. (Yes, Maracanã can also be used as an adjective, e.g. a Maracanã-sized pizza is a big-ass pizza, as in big and ass-widening, if you’re unwilling to share. Then again, there are greater tragedies in this world than having a big butt.)

Listening: to Tucker Carlson “interview” Putin would have been hilarious if it weren’t another horrific example of the Russian propaganda machine in vigorous action. No one interviews Putin in any conventional meaning of the word; it’s a manuscript carefully curated by the government so that there are no surprises, nothing inconvenient or embarrassing. If Carlson’s aim was to get the so-called other side of the story, he succeeded, and the story is whatever the Kremlin says it is at any given moment, because the truth may change at any given moment, the truth being whatever the Kremlin says it is. (These people have a black belt in gaslighting and subterfuge.) Carlson got his doe-eyed “interview.” He should visit Ukraine next and see and hear for himself, and show to his followers, what happens when Russia sets its sights on something, and how going along or looking the other way hasn’t made the world a safer, more peaceful and stable place. Go along or look away, Russia latches on to every concession made and immediately or over time makes new demands, asks for more concessions to see where you draw the line, to see if there is one, is it movable, by force if necessary, and before you know it, your borders and your sovereignty and your national security are somehow their business; you find yourself under coercive control. Give an inch and they'll take a mile. Why? They acted with impunity in WWII, and they’ve acted with impunity ever since, because too many countries go along or look away. It’s all about maximizing power and reach, using violence if necessary, because who's gonna stop them? Unlike Germany, they've never come to terms with or been held accountable for war crimes committed in any theater of war in any decade, so why would they stop? Unable to change or evolve, they are at it again, forcing their will on others. If Ukraine (and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other once-occupied parts of the former Soviet Union) wanted to be a part of Russia, they would still be a part of Russia. They got out of Dodge the first chance they got. Given a choice, people tend to choose freedom over oppression.

[An American who still doesn’t get it? I know that looking from afar things don't always seem so very bad, but if you're not concerned, I'm afraid you don't understand how serious a situation this is. And seriously, the world doesn't expect you to pay for everything and police everything, but it is in your best interest to take an interest. As a European much closer to the thick of things, let me paint you a picture. Imagine (a nuclear weapon state) Mexico falling into the hands of a tyrant and this tyrant deciding they want Texas back. They had it at one point so it is actually still theirs and now they want it back. They start claiming America mistreats Mexican citizens so they have no choice but to intervene on their behalf. Without presenting tangible evidence, fabricating proof and spreading lies instead, they insist America is governed by fascists. There are neo-Nazis all over the place. In the name of regional peace and stability, Mexico has to act. Won’t give up Texas voluntarily? Okay then, you leave us no choice but to take it by force. You could have avoided all the death and destruction raining on you if you’d simply handed over Texas as asked, but no, you declined, so you brought this on yourself. You wouldn’t listen, now look what you made us do. Once they're in Texas, they start eyeing Alta California, and you're wondering where does it end, how dare they, what gives them the right. They will spout nonsense nonstop, and they will keep attacking you, unless you put a stop to it before it even begins. (Russia = Mexico and America = Ukraine in this analogy.) If you don’t think that’s absurd, if you believe Mexico has a legitimate claim, if in your world big trumps small every time and needs but a cock-and-bull excuse for its aggression, then go along, look the other way. Just don’t think you won’t pay the price one day, somewhere along the way. Enabling a criminal, undemocratic, ruthless regime, in any way, will come back to haunt you. And I know Biden v. Trump is the rematch no one wants, but a Trump presidency is a risk without reward to the free, rules-based world. Autocrats and dictators don’t care for rules and they sure as heck don’t care for freedom and free thinking, and you bet Putin’s bots, trolls and minions will be working overtime to ensure a Trump victory because there’s a man they’ll be able to steer by simply stroking his ego. And you really have to wonder and worry about Trump's adulation of Putin, a man who is the antithesis of freedom, justice and equality. America, you deserve better, and so do the rest of us. Sorry, but what you do still echoes in the world and right back at you despite how much you might prefer isolation and a hands-off approach. The Kremlin desperately wants you to choose Trump, isolation and a hands-off approach because in their books that gives them wiggle room. That's what it's all about.]

Watching: The Lazarus Project.

Reading: how 80 years ago, in February 1944, Stalin decided to make Finns suffer by bombing Helsinki to the ground. Thanks to Soviet ineptitude, and a tight ring of barrage fire, despite three attempts, they failed, but there are visible scars around the city if you know where to look. Finns haven't forgotten; how could they, and why would they, all things considered. Oh, you wanted a book! For a chilling, start-them-young look into the Putinjugend: Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth by Ian Garner.

Writing: all manner of things.

Thinking: Not a single word about Gaza? (Or Yemen, Sudan, Syria; whatever happened to the Rohingya, or the Uighur...) Not sure what to think? Books to the rescue once more: Étoile errante by J. M. G. Le Clézio, available in several languages. No, it won’t tell you what to think, but it will take you places, and you'll get there by walking in shoes other than your own. What do I think? This is overkill, pure and simple.

Feeling: all manner of things.