The Russian re-Sovietization plan appears to be working too well

I am one who sees the recent history of Russia as, more or less, Vladimir Putin's project to re-Sovietize Russia and (if he can get away with it) the entire region.  Particular points of interest are Putin's description of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 as a "catastrophe", his utter lack of remorse for his assistance of the Stasi in East Germany, the incredible prevalence of drug use in Russian Olympic teams, the apparent murder of dissidents and journalists with KGB methods (plutonium, Novichok, throwing from windows), and of course an expansionistic foreign policy that seeks to force neighboring nations into submission with tactics that can only be charitably described as "terroristic."   

And now, another couple of points of reference are that Russian winter crops (rye, winter wheat, etc..) are failing, just like in Soviet days, and also significantly, the Russian rate of AIDS deaths greatly exceeds that of the United States.

The latter bit may seem counterintiutive, but Mr. Putin is not in reality the traditionalist he makes himself out to be, and calls for a higher birth rate appear to be made outside the bounds of marriage.  More or less, "if you're a patriot, get those eggs fertilized by whatever means necessary", and the ugly reality is that this is a very effective way to spread disease.  It is, more or less, the same thing that the old Soviets called for in the 1920s and 1930s as formerly robust birth rates in the more prosperous Tsarist era gave way to Soviet depression.

On a side note, I would suggest that the barbarism of Russian (and formerly, Soviet) armed forces may have a lot to do with the fact that divorce rates (and the rate of absentee fathers) were sky-high.

And hopefully our government leaders will recognize the real significance of what is going on here.  It may well be that Putin will exhaust the demographics of Russia before he can get very far, but that's not something that I want to be counting on.

Update: Putin is now blaming Russian consumers and farmers for high food prices.  Apparently the five year plan to have enough meat and butter is not working out, just like the good old Soviet days.  

A lost opportunity

I am not the world's biggest fan of Meghan Trainor, though I must confess that I do in fact appreciate her love of doing more complex lyrics and harmonies than is typical in contemporary music, but it saddens me to hear of her plastic surgery troubles--apparently a face that will not move well after too much Botox, a planned breast surgery, and who knows what else?  

It reminds me of one of the songs that made her famous, All About That Bass, her natural and beautiful smile, and her insistence that her decidedly non-size-2 body was indeed beautiful.  And while I had reservations about the song's obvious feminism and "body positivity",  the overall notion that a woman could be a little bigger and still be seen as beautiful is well taken, and it's sad to see that, in a way, Ms. Trainor has "fallen off the wagon."

And so I pray for her to come back on that wagon with all of us other imperfectly beautiful people.  Plenty of room and fellowship for us all.