Very interesting. I feel I totally understand your relationship with Andre as I had a friend like that at school, a force to be reckoned with who would get me to do things I didn't want to do, and I'd be glad I'd done them.
I had an experience somewhat like yours. Left Silicon Valley for rural Vermont, met someone who was already doing farming and logging, we married, built a house, did some pretty serious food growing and forest work, as well as building up her craft business. I had to leave the relationship a few years later, but I learned a huge amount that I never could have learned in Silicon Valley, and I have no regrets.
Our neighbor experience was similar too. We had some old-time Vermonters living nearby, and some of them were pretty crusty and curmudgeonly, but some were super helpful and kind.
Do you think the harassment by government is meant to chill any other independent journalists, such as you, Riley, from questioning the motives behind the jab, CBDC's, and digital ID's to name a few? You were using a lot of satire to mock government policy, they prolly read your blog and said "Nyet!" to your tranquil life.
Highly likely. Actually, I know Westerners who still work in media in Russia who have admitted to me, privately, that they are afraid to cover certain subjects. It's a regrettable state of affairs.
I was so impressed at your coverage of the not-war. Back when you showed a school that had a hole blown through the chalkboard and through the next wall, I thought "Yes, a real journalist!" That is an image that remains fresh in my mind today. Your courage and tenacity demonstrated a quality of journalistic integrity that towers above the majority of others in that rarified air.
If you remain stateside, Riley, it would be a great honor to meet you. I can offer you plenty of tools to get you started in your next adventure. Bring a truck.
Very kind of you. Ironically, I saw that blow-up kindergarten during a press tour of Donetsk that was almost certainly organized by the FSB (via sketchy government-linked organizations). Anyway, it was an experience I'll never forget. I recall speaking with an elderly woman who was living in a basement (because of the regular shelling) who said that she didn't care about Putin or Poroshenko, she just wanted it all to end. This was in 2015. It is sad to think about.
I am in the States but on the east coast -- a pilgrimage to the west is a distinct possibility. It would be my greatest joy to apprentice under you. I absolutely love your glass rooms build from old windows. I was actually collecting old windows in the village to undertake a similar project. Alas, time ran out. Anyway, we will be in touch.
DM me at any time for contact info. I have a huge stack of windows waiting for me to get better so I can build another one - and I could use your help. What a learning experience that would be for you. We can dream and let the warmth of our burning desires for liberty comfort us through the cold.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the same is true of China. Alas these days open criticism is not desired, especially from foreigners. Chinese citizens have far more leeway because they can’t be kicked out. While the cheerleader brigade is always welcome, Westerners sharing nuanced perspectives risk losing their visas.
This is the problem with relying on information from westerners who move to a foreign country and profess expertise: they are essentially captives of their adopted government. Of course, if you kiss the ring, you can live very comfortably and without worries. But as you noted, there is little room for nuanced discussion. I should add that the crackdown on "inconvenient" speech, specifically on the internet, is rapidly accelerating in Russia -- for Russians and foreigners alike. The government now requires owners of Telegram channels with 10,000 or more subs to "register" with the authorities, who have the ability to essentially blacklist any channel that they deem unsavory. This means that there could be penalties for other Telegram accounts that link to or reference any "unauthorized" Telegram channel. Just one of several new policies that make a mockery of the marketplace of ideas... Well, so it goes.
Good to hear from you. It's been a while. Hope all is well on your end.
Any fans of Dostoyevsky here? I'd like to spread the word about an uncanny passage I found in the Epilogue to "Crime And Punishment" that eerily describes the Covid Plandemic, even though this was written in 1866. It's the odd dream the protagonist, Raskalnikov, has when he's ill with fever in the Siberian camp. It's a long paragraph and talks about a "plague" that "comes from the heart of Asia" and sweeps across Europe and makes the people of the world sort of insane. I would like others to know this because I just don't know what to make of it myself, other than to point it out. You can find this online with a search. All the best!
Although I'm saddened that the rvil globalists conspired to destroy the awesome potential the Institute for Village Studies had to influence the world to shake off the chains of globalist totalitarian control. I'm excited that now the Institute can become mobile! You can travel and perhaps contrast the differences between Russia and America, the people, the society, dealing with the governments. How are chicken attitudes different? Do cows fart more in the US or Russia? Do ducks quack more in the US? These critical questions are what I'm sure the Russian Government was desperately trying to silence. Imagine the groundbreaking research you can conduct now! I can't wait for the first report of the MIVS, the Mobile Institute for Village Studies.
I just watched the interview with Corbett... a strange one. You didn't explain how the FSB got to your Telegram messages and you seem puzzled as to why any of this happened? Did you expect them to ignore the presence of an American blogging against Putin's regime while all of NATO is trying hard to undermine Russia whichever way they can?
It was great to read about anyway. A bizarre fairy tale almost. I'm still in VA not too far if you are here. I'm thinking of going even more primitive (I currently LARP at a blue belt) but I'm making deer sausage and mushroom logs this weekend if you are bored!
Why not move to Belarus? Is it difficult to get residency there? Seems like that might offer the closest set of conditions to Russia without being Russia. As I recall, during the Covid years they were a real bastion of freedom, no?
Belarus is part of the "Union State" with Russia, and trying to relocate there would undoubtedly make us a target for Belarusian state security (which is still called the KGB). It just seems too risky. Although it would be an obvious, and in many ways excellent, choice for us.
I wonder if Katja managed to get a Belarusian passport with a nice Cyrillic name on it if that would reopen the door to Russia for her. A circuitous route of course but it seems to me that might work. Or are they using fingerprints now to identify people?
That said, a far quicker route would probably be to simply find someone with high level relationships and get him or her to resolve the impasse. That’s how we would typically resolve such issues in China.
Here's a genuine question: why in this interview there is no mention to the real cause for Katherine's entry ban to Russia? Of course I might be wrong in taking for granted that such a measure was an indirect punishment meant at you, not her. But if my assumption is right, then I think Russian authorities would be portrayed all the more stupid and arbitrary had you spoken in the interview about your longtime loud criticism for the Kremlin. Sure, one might argue that by omitting that information the FSB appears as a bunch of deranged lunatics in tinfoil hats randomly banning entries for no good reason whatsoever, and maybe that's your goal. But wouldn't it be even better to portray them as the evil, revengeful thugs they are?
The problem is that we don't know the actual reason because they refuse to say (and are stonewalling our legal efforts to find out). I mean, I tried to "say it without saying it" that she was targeted because of me/the blog. I suppose I should have been more "suggestive". I was very suggestive here: https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/goodbye-russia-fsb-closes-edward
Any way you cut it though, it just makes the FSB look ridiculous and cowardly. Which they are, of course.
Yeah, that's my point. I think you should have been more suggestive, as you say. That's what I missed in this interview: an outright denounce of the FSB cowardice. Whomever listens to James Corbett but does not follow your blog will be dumbfounded and won't know what to make out of it.
Governments eventually ruin everything.
Fact check: True.
Very interesting. I feel I totally understand your relationship with Andre as I had a friend like that at school, a force to be reckoned with who would get me to do things I didn't want to do, and I'd be glad I'd done them.
Great interview.
I had an experience somewhat like yours. Left Silicon Valley for rural Vermont, met someone who was already doing farming and logging, we married, built a house, did some pretty serious food growing and forest work, as well as building up her craft business. I had to leave the relationship a few years later, but I learned a huge amount that I never could have learned in Silicon Valley, and I have no regrets.
Our neighbor experience was similar too. We had some old-time Vermonters living nearby, and some of them were pretty crusty and curmudgeonly, but some were super helpful and kind.
Do you think the harassment by government is meant to chill any other independent journalists, such as you, Riley, from questioning the motives behind the jab, CBDC's, and digital ID's to name a few? You were using a lot of satire to mock government policy, they prolly read your blog and said "Nyet!" to your tranquil life.
Highly likely. Actually, I know Westerners who still work in media in Russia who have admitted to me, privately, that they are afraid to cover certain subjects. It's a regrettable state of affairs.
I was so impressed at your coverage of the not-war. Back when you showed a school that had a hole blown through the chalkboard and through the next wall, I thought "Yes, a real journalist!" That is an image that remains fresh in my mind today. Your courage and tenacity demonstrated a quality of journalistic integrity that towers above the majority of others in that rarified air.
If you remain stateside, Riley, it would be a great honor to meet you. I can offer you plenty of tools to get you started in your next adventure. Bring a truck.
Very kind of you. Ironically, I saw that blow-up kindergarten during a press tour of Donetsk that was almost certainly organized by the FSB (via sketchy government-linked organizations). Anyway, it was an experience I'll never forget. I recall speaking with an elderly woman who was living in a basement (because of the regular shelling) who said that she didn't care about Putin or Poroshenko, she just wanted it all to end. This was in 2015. It is sad to think about.
I am in the States but on the east coast -- a pilgrimage to the west is a distinct possibility. It would be my greatest joy to apprentice under you. I absolutely love your glass rooms build from old windows. I was actually collecting old windows in the village to undertake a similar project. Alas, time ran out. Anyway, we will be in touch.
DM me at any time for contact info. I have a huge stack of windows waiting for me to get better so I can build another one - and I could use your help. What a learning experience that would be for you. We can dream and let the warmth of our burning desires for liberty comfort us through the cold.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the same is true of China. Alas these days open criticism is not desired, especially from foreigners. Chinese citizens have far more leeway because they can’t be kicked out. While the cheerleader brigade is always welcome, Westerners sharing nuanced perspectives risk losing their visas.
This is the problem with relying on information from westerners who move to a foreign country and profess expertise: they are essentially captives of their adopted government. Of course, if you kiss the ring, you can live very comfortably and without worries. But as you noted, there is little room for nuanced discussion. I should add that the crackdown on "inconvenient" speech, specifically on the internet, is rapidly accelerating in Russia -- for Russians and foreigners alike. The government now requires owners of Telegram channels with 10,000 or more subs to "register" with the authorities, who have the ability to essentially blacklist any channel that they deem unsavory. This means that there could be penalties for other Telegram accounts that link to or reference any "unauthorized" Telegram channel. Just one of several new policies that make a mockery of the marketplace of ideas... Well, so it goes.
Good to hear from you. It's been a while. Hope all is well on your end.
You are so funny, Riley! Your absurd humor reminds me of a poet named Gary Snyder and the "Merry Band of Pranksters" in the 1960s.
Any fans of Dostoyevsky here? I'd like to spread the word about an uncanny passage I found in the Epilogue to "Crime And Punishment" that eerily describes the Covid Plandemic, even though this was written in 1866. It's the odd dream the protagonist, Raskalnikov, has when he's ill with fever in the Siberian camp. It's a long paragraph and talks about a "plague" that "comes from the heart of Asia" and sweeps across Europe and makes the people of the world sort of insane. I would like others to know this because I just don't know what to make of it myself, other than to point it out. You can find this online with a search. All the best!
I read C & P, The Brothers K, and A Day In The Life Of Ivan D. when in High School. Still have them in my home office. I am 72.
Enjoyed your chat with James Corbett. Hope to keep hearing about your future adventures.
Yep came here from there
Tovarich, please keep growing the beard and abstaining from vodka (and Modified mRNA "vaccines"), da?
Two of my favorite people. Great interview!
Poor Susan. Hope he's (not a typo) OK.
Although I'm saddened that the rvil globalists conspired to destroy the awesome potential the Institute for Village Studies had to influence the world to shake off the chains of globalist totalitarian control. I'm excited that now the Institute can become mobile! You can travel and perhaps contrast the differences between Russia and America, the people, the society, dealing with the governments. How are chicken attitudes different? Do cows fart more in the US or Russia? Do ducks quack more in the US? These critical questions are what I'm sure the Russian Government was desperately trying to silence. Imagine the groundbreaking research you can conduct now! I can't wait for the first report of the MIVS, the Mobile Institute for Village Studies.
I just watched the interview with Corbett... a strange one. You didn't explain how the FSB got to your Telegram messages and you seem puzzled as to why any of this happened? Did you expect them to ignore the presence of an American blogging against Putin's regime while all of NATO is trying hard to undermine Russia whichever way they can?
It was great to read about anyway. A bizarre fairy tale almost. I'm still in VA not too far if you are here. I'm thinking of going even more primitive (I currently LARP at a blue belt) but I'm making deer sausage and mushroom logs this weekend if you are bored!
Why not move to Belarus? Is it difficult to get residency there? Seems like that might offer the closest set of conditions to Russia without being Russia. As I recall, during the Covid years they were a real bastion of freedom, no?
Belarus is part of the "Union State" with Russia, and trying to relocate there would undoubtedly make us a target for Belarusian state security (which is still called the KGB). It just seems too risky. Although it would be an obvious, and in many ways excellent, choice for us.
I wonder if Katja managed to get a Belarusian passport with a nice Cyrillic name on it if that would reopen the door to Russia for her. A circuitous route of course but it seems to me that might work. Or are they using fingerprints now to identify people?
That said, a far quicker route would probably be to simply find someone with high level relationships and get him or her to resolve the impasse. That’s how we would typically resolve such issues in China.
I'm pretty sure from his prior writings they have full biometrics.
Here's a genuine question: why in this interview there is no mention to the real cause for Katherine's entry ban to Russia? Of course I might be wrong in taking for granted that such a measure was an indirect punishment meant at you, not her. But if my assumption is right, then I think Russian authorities would be portrayed all the more stupid and arbitrary had you spoken in the interview about your longtime loud criticism for the Kremlin. Sure, one might argue that by omitting that information the FSB appears as a bunch of deranged lunatics in tinfoil hats randomly banning entries for no good reason whatsoever, and maybe that's your goal. But wouldn't it be even better to portray them as the evil, revengeful thugs they are?
The problem is that we don't know the actual reason because they refuse to say (and are stonewalling our legal efforts to find out). I mean, I tried to "say it without saying it" that she was targeted because of me/the blog. I suppose I should have been more "suggestive". I was very suggestive here: https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/goodbye-russia-fsb-closes-edward
Any way you cut it though, it just makes the FSB look ridiculous and cowardly. Which they are, of course.
Yeah, that's my point. I think you should have been more suggestive, as you say. That's what I missed in this interview: an outright denounce of the FSB cowardice. Whomever listens to James Corbett but does not follow your blog will be dumbfounded and won't know what to make out of it.
yeah, fair enough.
Correct, if one didn't know this blog the interview would lead them to think the Russians banned him for being a homesteader.