τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ᾽ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ᾽ ἔμμεν’ ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν – “Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom god leads to destruction.” (Sophocles, Antigone)
Dear Readers:
In nation after nation, we see signs that the human race is literally going mad. Pessimistically, this brings to mind the famous Latin phrase Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat (“Those whom God would destroy, he first makes them demented.”)
It’s happening everywhere, but here is just one more example: the tiny nation of Latvia.
I have this piece by reporter Nikita Demyanov. Who begins with the following quote from the Mayor of a certain Latvian town:
“What is going on here? Is everybody going mad? The Ministry of Defense? The Prime Minister? Maybe they don’t know each other and don’t communicate among themselves?”
The Mayor was responding emotionally to certain decrees coming down the pipe concerning “national defense against Russian aggression”. Decrees which will directly affect his town and his constituents.
Preparing For War
On March 6, the Latvian government announced certain measures it was undertaking to put in place a “defensive plan” for those regions of the country which border with “the aggressor nations”, by which they mean Russia and Belorussia (Belarus).
Latvia plans to implement this plan immediately, without delay. The goal is to creative a “defensive stripe to protect the Eastern border of NATO and the nations of the Baltic Sea, starting with the very first centimeter.”
First line of defense along this stripe will consist of units of the National Armed Forces, along with caches of ammunition, explosives, and minefields. On the Latvian side of the fortifications, soldiers will dig up the roads and replace them with anti-tank pits and Dragon’s Teeth. This is expected to slow down the expected Russian-Belorussian Blitzkrieg across the Latvian border. Latvians will also be able to use, effectively, the natural defenses given to them by the gods, for example, forest lines and swamps.
There is a backup plan, just in case the Russian start to penetrate too far, whereby Latvians will start to blow up their own transportation arteries: roads, railroads, and bridges.
Gotta hand it to the Latvians, they know how to plan ahead. This is actually a decent plan, if they were about to be invaded. Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection is also planning to build “artificial water reservoirs”, by flooding certain regions. These reservoirs will “ensure agriculture during times of climate change” but will also come in handy during war conditions, as they will help to block certain roads from enemy passage.
Latvian journalist Nikolai Kabanov, who has a Russian name but used to serve in the Latvian Parliament, notes the following: “Simplistically put, they are planning to flood a section of Latgale in the event of an enemy incursion.” For those whose knowledge of Latvian geography may be sparse, Latgale is an eastern region of Latvia, believe it or not I actually did a post on this region way back in 2017, here is a link in case anybody is interested in reading it, it gives some geographical/historical background on this very interesting region and people, who are a Baltic sub-ethnic group.
Kabanov goes on to comment that, “But before flooding the region, they need to consider how to use the existing road infrastructure to convey troops and supplies.”
Construction of defensive fortifications will take place under the aegis of a project called “Baltic Defensive Zone”, this project was approved jointly, this past January 19, by the Defense Ministers of the three Baltic nations, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
The Mayor whose squeak of alarm was cited at the very beginning of this piece: We are now informed that his name is Andrejs Elksniņš and that he is the Mayor of the city of Daugavpils, the second largest city of the nation (the first being the capital, Riga, of course). Daugavpils itself is not all that far away from Belorussia. In fact, residents of Daugavpils used to travel massively to Belorussia to go shopping, until the officials in Riga closed the border last year. But now we see why “Hiz Honor” is upset, because his city is right smack in the new defensive zone which the Baltic leaders are planning to tear up and flood.
“They have lost their minds!”
It also has to be said that Elksniņš is one of those rare “freethinkers” in Latvian society, who has not drunk the NATO kool-aid. He also enjoys the massive respect and popularity of the residents of Daugavpils, who also happen to be, massively, ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people. Which is one of the reasons why NATO probably considers them to be expendable.
[to be continued]
Awful Avalanche 
And what happens when Russia does not invade, and Balticslagheapistan has wrecked its own economy and infrastructure to prevent this “invasion”? How long exactly can it continue?
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You know what would be funny as all spit-out? If Russia trolled sLutvia by feigning an invasion — building up tank corps along the border, talking provocatively, etc. — so that the Latvunatics blew up their roads and flooded their regions. Then Russia calls it off! It would take a snarktroller like Medvedev to run that ploy, though. If he ever assumes power. Maybe when Putin’s plane is forced down by the all-powerful luftNATOwaffen while he’s flying to Türkiye and he’s shanghaied for a trial on child kidnapping charges. Apres the deluge, Medvedev can yell whatever the Russian language equivalent is to “psych!” and pull the troops back. Because he’ll be too busy targeting hypersonic missiles on Eurokakistani capital cities. “Release our president or Amsterdam gets the same treatment we gave to your parliamentary buildings in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague and those other cities. You’re going to run out of legislatures before we run out of Kinzhals…”
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Funny yes but, dear Bukko, it’s, [according to public sources], actually part of US Military Strategy. Go figure.
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That would be pretty hilarious, I admit. But I don’t wish that on those benighted people who have to live in that rural area. After reading this piece, I am convinced that they are good people who just need ordinary roads and non-flooded fields and stuff, just to live a normal life.
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Brilliant!
Don’t know what these Latvian lunatics are concerned about — NATO has frontline troops on the Latvia/Russia border, led by of all folk, steely-eyed Canadians! Yes sir, been that way for six years or more now, and an extra contingent of 400 was recently sent to bolster a mighty defence force. But maybe they will be covered in concrete from feverish dragons teeth building, or drowned alive — it’s not clear what their fate will likely be. Death at the hands of Russian soldiers rolling about in uncontrollable mirth seems unlikely. Being run over by JCB construction machinery seems the more likely prospect.
I’ll tune in tomorrow for the further adventures of the Lunatics of Latvia exhibiting that Indomitable Baltic Trait of Paranoia under extreme self-induced stress. Many fly over the cuckoo’s nest there in Latvia. The place is so wonderful, OF COURSE Russia will invade, if only to merely steal Latvian treasures! But the Slavic hordes will not get any satisfaction as Latvia demolishes itself to prevent its priceless treasures from being carted off to the Urals and divided up among beings only one step up the evolutionary ladder from chimps, likely to bite on each and every piece to see if it’s edible.
Things are even crazier than I imagined. Send in Nuland on academic leave from Columbia to bolster Latvian confidence. She knows all about those murdering Russkies, and will lead the charge to repel them!
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Didn’t the Latvians collaborate extensively with one of the greatest treasure-eating monsters of all time, the Nazis in WWII? Is their current madness a case of severe projection?
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Good point! Cookies anyone?
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Oh yeah! A lot of Latvians were bigtime Nazis. They liked the Germans, they were eager to get rid of their Jewish minority while also slaughtering ethnic Russians and anybody part of the Soviet system.
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It’s like anyone touched by the Nazis and their ideologies of scientific racism have literally gone insane and are being dragged by divine meathooks to the slaughter.
And Russia, again, is the tool whetted for doing the work. Despite the reluctance of its leadership.
That lack of enthusiasm is the one light of humanity left flickering in Europe/the West.
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I suppose that Stalin bringing civilization to the Baltics was a mistake
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Well, as Professor Harold Hill likes to say, “You have to know the territory!”
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Yalensis, are you, too, trying to drive us mad with your Zen koan-like translations? In the Latin proverb you quote, you use the singular “God” with a capital letter, suggesting that this is a Christian or at least monotheistic proverb from the late Roman empire, but the proverb goes back at least to the days of Sophocles and Plato in ancient Athens, Greece, where it means “a god” or “the gods” or “the god” (a specific god), although there have been some English translations from Latin that use “God” or “the God” in context as referring to Jupiter. However, “a god” or “the gods” would be the more natural translation in the quote you give from Antigone. Which form does Sophocles use, singular or plural? I can’t read Greek. The more common translation into English, presumably because the Christian god is not usually spoken of as a deity who drives people mad, would rely on the “pagan” form “the gods” as the more natural choice. By Jove, Yalensis, are you telling us that the Christian God is driving the Latvians mad? Or are you saying that the lazy Latvian pols are refusing to make difficult ablutions or offer precious sacrifices to their ancient Latvian gods and instead now worship only the single deity Otan, He who can only be looked at indirectly with a mirror — i.e., the monotheistic god of Otan’s Chosen People, the elite demigods of the District of Columbia, whom the demigods themselves call Mammon?
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Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat…
well, I mean, in the version of the Latin quote that I pick-pocketed, “Deus” is spelled with a capital “D” and it is the masculine singular case, so just one singular, masculine god. They probably mean Jupiter. We just have to stipulate that he is not the only god around.
Now, the Greek quote:
τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ᾽ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ᾽ ἔμμεν’ ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν
I don’t like to brag, but I actually can read a little Greek, I had one semester of classical Greek in college, it was required (along with a semester of Latin) for the Comparative Linguistics minor.
Anyhow, here is my transliteration of the Greek:
to kakon dokein pot’ hesthlon tod hemmen hoto frenas theos hagei pros hatan
The keyword here, to answer your question, “theos” which is god, again masculine singular, so must refer to Zeus.
Anyhow, I think what I am trying to say is that SOME supernatural being out there, call it or him or her what you will, is driving people mad. People who read my blog are immune, however.
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Thanks for the careful reply. If I were the translator of Sophocles here I would translate “a god,” since without an article and with the capitalization of the initial consonant, the default reading would be the Christian God, who is incomparable and therefore incapable of being modified by “a.” And simply “god” implies monotheism — but impolitely, since it doesn’t capitalize G. And anyway, BC-born Sophocles wasn’t a Christian! I often come across this proverb, and I believe this is the first time I’ve encountered “the God” or even “the god,” since there is no context for which god is implied. I’m just talking about usage, though, not metaphysics. Unfortunately, to G or not to G is a very big deal in some parts of the US…..
BTW, why was the Z-man giving medals to Greeks together with the Greek president in (near?) Odessa? There was some contradictory, madness-causing news recently.
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How can you tell that theos is Zeus here? There were many male gods in the Greek pantheon. Does the context here require that the reference is to Zeus? If not, then “a god” would seem best. I would guess that, if this is a clear reference to Zeus, many translators might simply translate theos as Zeus here because of the strong, confusing theological bias displayed by English. Besides, my pet theory is that, in the language of the ancient Greeks, who were very advanced, theos means “the (divine) Operating System”…..
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Have you ever been driven (temporarily?) mad by an OS? I have….
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C’mon CCD, it’ll get fixed in the next update…they promise
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Maybe it could be the god Bacchus (Βάκχος). He was known for driving people crazy. Euripides wrote a famous play about him called “The Bacchae”.
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Yeah, that’s a great play. If the reference isn’t certain, then “a god” might be best here, I’d think.
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Okay, how about this, and I like it because it’s gender neutral as well:
“He or she whom a god or goddess wishes to destroy, first that deity will drive that person crazy!”
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As a scholarly direct translation or crib or as a footnote to a translation this is excellent, but as a *literary* translation I think it reads as comedy and drains the tension, shock, and horror out of the line. Do you have a problem with “a god” or “the god”? I think choosing the right article would depend on the translator’s understanding of the whole scene or the whole play. Regarding “goddess,” it’s about as satisfying as “poetess.” I myself would use “male or female god.” This form is getting more common these days. The word “god” can have have an electrifying effect which “goddess” doesn’t necessarily bring with it. I’m not sure why, but I prefer “mad” with “drive.” That pair is very powerful. Crazy sounds slightly lighter and less ominous. Maybe because “mad” sounds unusual in this context in American English — i.e., “drive,” like a screwdriver, pries “mad” out of its more common semantic slot as “angry” in American English, while “crazy” is often used in jokes or in a positive sense, as in “He’s crazy about her,” or “the moshing/Taylor-Travis craze.”
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The Germans forgot what war means, and forgot how their latest Russian adventure turned out. Maybe they are in need of a complete reconstruction program?
The French forgot how their last adventure in Russia turned out.
The Baltic statelets think talking with a loud voice and making menacing faces will scare Russia. Like those little things that resemble a furry rat more than a dog, but can bark incessently, especially when not really threatened.
The Brits believe they still have what they think is an army, navy and an airforce. Instead of talking softly and carrying a big stick, they now talk with braggadocio and no stick at all.
The Finns and Swedes think because they joined NATO will protect them from harm, contrary to evidence. Or they like to be included in new ventures against some brown people to show how “tuff” the whities are?
The Spaniards are sitting on the fence, wearing grooves into their collected arses. Better than finding themselves in pieces on some foreign battlefield they cannot even find on a map.
The Portuguese send a tank or two to some country they never heard of before, because the EU tells them. Portugal is even more EU than the EU itself.
The Poles have to still find out if the Ukrainians are the enemy or friend, but in the meantime think it is cool to be a US carrier in the North.
Altogether they think that replacing their withering economies with a “war economy” (without having any clue what that means, utterly clueless being a requirement and status symbol or our present political class) is somehow feasible and viable.
And in order to convince the plebs to support this transition into military, social and economic oblivion, they of course need a beelzebub, and who better than the old and familiar enemy, the RUSSIAN Slav.
And later maybe the Chinese, who are even more strange and foreign, hardly considered to be members of the Homo Sapiens family.
Until the first nuclear bomb craters appear in their countries, the will continue their path. Either into the abyss of full blown economic oblivion or the bottom of said craters.
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Different country, different day but, the recipe is the same, run a pogrom against ethnic/cultural Russians who live on Russia’s border, after a few kristallnachts “just happen” begin shelling Russ enclaves with artillery. If ethnic/cultural Russkies fight back, blame Russia and kill more of their civilians…and the beat goes on
Oh goodie, another country needs another batch of my special recipe, homemade, cookies….
While the US is busy warring in the Middle & Far East, Russia should just get this shit over with and redraw the map to include traditional Russian lands and those ethnic/cultural Russkies who want protection from the mobsters running DC/London/Jerusalem.
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To be honest, I am not even sure that Noodles home-baked her own cookies. In those photos from the Maidan, it’s hard to tell, but it looks like packaged store-bought cookies in plastic wrapping and tossed into a dirty bag. She probably gave them Little Debbie cookies. Not to knock it, some of those Debbie cookies are pretty good. But it’s still not the same as home-baked and fresh out of your Easy Bake Oven.
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I think you missed my double entendre…those cookies were a VERY special recipe 🙂
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Most of the good people have left Latvia. The rest are being expelled.
https://www.rt.com/russia/593989-latvia-eu-expulsion-language/
Poland, the Baltic States and Finland will be the new Ukraine. A front line with eternal aggression against Russia and everything Russian.
In Latvia almost 100k Jews, Gypsies, ++ were killed during WW2. I suspect this was more than any other country when compared to population size. The Russian speaking community in the Baltic States should know what’s coming to them.
Hitler’s initial plan for the Baltic offensive was to take Riga by sea. Today, Riga is flooded by NATO bases, ships, planes and troops. Hitler’s Army Group “North” administrated Latvia 80 years ago. Today the task is taken over by NATO’s multinational division “North”. I’ve heard proud grandmothers almost with tears in their eyes talking about how their grandsons walk the streets of Riga to protect “Western civilization” from Putin.
The US cares as much about the Baltic people as they do about Ukrainians. For them Riga is nothing but a perfect place to organize the nuking of St. Petersburg, Minsk and Moscow. The newly nuke-certified F-35s can fly in over the Baltic Sea and just let it rip. And the dumb, corrupt and childish Europeans fight only over who’s their daddy’s favorite kid.
It’s sad when the only little hopes you can have is that a bragging, inept orange man gets elected or that the economy will crash badly before the NATO scum get their way.
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The Baltics are the “foreposts” of the Empire. I think it is from here the Empire will launch its land and sea invasion of Russia. NATO hopes to accomplish what Hitler failed to do.
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