John Brown's Notes and Essays

"In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. image from article, with caption:  Mikhail Gorbachev, studies papers in his Kremlin office in May 1985 while waiting to greet an overseas visitor. | Boris Yurchenko/AP Photo By OLIVIA OLANDER, Politico , 08/30/2022 06:48 PM EDT Updated: 08/30/2022 07:51 PM EDT  World leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, following   Gorbachev’s death Tuesday .  Putin expressed condolences  following Gorbachev’s death, according to a   statement reportedly sent   to Russian news agency Interfax. Gorbachev oversaw the end of the Cold War, and subsequently, the Soviet Union. He died Tuesday at 91.  The leaders ideologically disagreed during Putin’s tenure. Gorbachev, who had opened up Soviet society after decades o...

image from article, with caption:  A mass burial in Bucha, Ukraine, this month. Credit... Lynsey Addario for The New York Times By Artem Chekh , The New York Times , August 30, 2022 [original article contains an additional photograph] Mr. Chekh is the author of “Absolute Zero,” an account of his time on the front line in the Donbas, and is currently a volunteer patrolling the Chernobyl exclusion zone . IVANKIV, Ukraine — Recently, one of the companies in our battalion returned from a mission in eastern Ukraine. When we saw our comrades a month earlier, they were smiling and cheerful. Now they don’t even talk to one another, never take off their bulletproof vests and don’t smile at all. Their eyes are empty and dark like dry wells. These fighters lost a third of their personnel, and one of them said that he would rather be dead because now he is afraid to live. I used to think I had seen enough deaths in my life. I served on the front line in the Donbas for almost a year in 2015 an...

Here’s what we know: For the first time, the Vatican said Russia had started the war in Ukraine, condemning Moscow’s invasion in strong terms after more neutral comments by Pope Francis drew criticism from Kyiv. [ see full text below ] The Vatican, for the first time, calls Russia the aggressor in the war. Ukraine claims to have broken through Russian defenses at multiple points in the Kherson region. A top Zelensky adviser says nuclear inspectors still face hurdles in reaching the Zaporizhzhia plant. The European Union plans to give 5.5 million iodine tablets to Ukraine. Nuclear inspectors are in Ukraine for a high-stakes visit to the Zaporizhzhia plant. The E.U. is locked in a contentious debate over visa restrictions for Russians. Russian shelling kills at least 5 people in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine. image from below article, with caption:  The pope’s words, the Vatican said, “are to be read as a voice raised in defense of human life and the values attached to it, and not...

The New York Times , 8/29/2022 image from article:  Ukrainian service members riding back from a position near the Kherson front line this month. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times Here’s what you need to know: [jb: click on the below entries for full text] Ukraine announces offensive operations across the south. U.N. experts head to the Zaporizhzhia facility on a risky mission after weeks of talks. Dispatching U.N. nuclear inspectors to a plant in a war zone brings benefits and risks. Russia and Ukraine welcome the U.N. nuclear experts, but still accuse each other of courting catastrophe. Residents in the shadow of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant flee as strikes persist. Ukraine says it has recovered the bodies of about 300 fighters killed in the siege of Mariupol’s steel plant. Ukraine’s military improvises tactics and weapons using the ‘MacGyver’ method.   [jb -- see ]

Emily Peck, author of Axios Markets, axios image from article;  Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios Despite what critics may say, student loan debtors who stand to benefit most from the relief plan announced last week aren't exactly latte-sipping elites. Reality check:  First, nearly 90% of those benefiting from the policy earn less than $75,000, according to the  White House . Second, a significant percentage of student loan debtors didn't get a four-year degree. That means they also don't get the income boost of a bachelor's degree. " Many Americans understandably, but mistakenly, assume that the vast majority of student loan debtors have 4-year degrees, when in fact about half do not," said Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist at the Upjohn Institute. Details:  Sojourner looked at data for those who borrowed money and started college in 2011. He found that after six years, a majority didn't have a bachelor's: 34% hadn't attained a d egree; 11% graduate...