What rock star/musician would you like to read a book from.

Tune in tomorrow, March 1st, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

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Used to be bands came first.

Now they come last, if they come at all.

Used to be you had to learn how to play an instrument. Even punks had to know the chords.

Now you can buy the beats online.

Used to be you had to form a band to hear what your song sounded like, now you can pull up sounds from computer software or your electronic keyboard.

And one thing is for sure, it’s harder than ever to make money making music.

So the internet killed bands. Along with the economy. The dream of yore is passé. We’ve still got stars, but they’re rarely bands. And unless you’re a star, you’re struggling as a band. Better to do it yourself.

That’s what the internet has provided, you can do it all by yourself.

Used to be you had to be a wizard, a true star, to do it yourself. You had to know how to engineer, never mind getting your hands on the recording equipment, the multitrack tape machine and the board. People forget that the portastudio was such a breakthrough when it appeared, long after the Beatles had come and gone. You could record four different tracks! On a cassette. Despite “Nebraska” being recorded this way, in truth cassettes were a substandard medium, home demos were not of releasable quality. But now with GarageBand, which comes free with every Mac, you can record in .wav, and for just a few bucks you can get your production on all the streaming services. Play live? That’s for suckers, it’s far too slow. Ever since “Fireflies” that has been the goal. Make it in your bedroom, put it up online and hope to get lucky. And if you’re not, if your track doesn’t connect, you just go back to the drawing board and do it all over again. And in the hip-hop world it’s even easier, you can just rap atop the above-referenced purchased beats.

Used to be you formed a band. Which required you to find the players. And then figure out who was good, who was reliable and who was committed. Also, you needed transportation. So, if someone had a station wagon or a van, they’d be in the band, even if their playing was not up to snuff.

And then you needed to find a place to play. Which was always for free at the beginning, assuming you could even find that. Maybe you entered a battle of the bands. Maybe you set up in a park. Maybe you played at a school. You had to play a bunch of free shows before you’d generated enough fans to get a paying gig. At a bar, where deejays and records were anathema, at bar mitzvah parties and weddings.

You were on a slow train to nowhere. But if you hung in there, started writing original material, then you might be able to get a label interested. But it probably behooved you to move to Los Angeles to gain notice. Because otherwise there were too many weak links in the chain, you could be pretty good but no one would know.

And you continued to go through band members. If someone quit or was fired they oftentimes took their fans with them. So your career took a step back. And indie was death. At least prior to the nineties boom. If you weren’t on a major label you weren’t just second tier, you weren’t even in the game.

And if you got a label deal, sure you’d get an advance, and they’d deliver publicity and hopefully some radio play, but there was no guarantee you’d connect, most acts did not, and then you found yourself back home broke and disillusioned, and second chances were few and far between.

But at least you could survive on what you were making, while you were struggling. A dollar went much further than it does today. Today you can’t go on the road because you can’t afford it, the gasoline and the hotels.

And let’s say you do make it. That’s when the shenanigans truly begin.

You find out all those limo rides and meals were paid for by you, not the label. And when you split the royalties four or five ways, there really isn’t that much. And you learn about publishing, and how those who wrote the songs are in a different economic bracket. This alone tends to break up bands.

But if you can do it all by yourself…

Bands used to be gangs, them against the world. Which was not interconnected. Actually, the bands connected the country. Went from town to town with their fans following, they were the link. Today you’ve got that link right in the palm of your hand, with your smartphone. You don’t need to go to the gig to connect. As far as going to get a date? It’s possible, but you’re better off using Tinder, or some other dating site.

And if your band made it… Sometimes the perks alone were worth it, even if you didn’t make any real money. All that travel. But today people fly hours just to see a sporting event, travel is no longer exotic. As for all the sexual shenanigans, forget HIV, there’s the smartphone camera. And the mores have changed. Going on the road and raping and pillaging is a badge of dishonor today. So you’re left in your vehicle with the rest of your mates, holding your own.

But if you do it alone…

Hell, you can have no label and make a living on streaming payments. You’ll need an attractive song and a fan base, but it’s totally doable. Those who complain about streaming payments either don’t make palatable music, or have no fans, having not paid their dues, or are signed to a label, which takes the lion’s share of the money, if not all of it, at least until you recoup, which you probably won’t.

But if you do it alone, how big can you be?

Well, you can get lucky, like Lil Nas X ,and hit the jackpot, but odds are extremely low. But Lil Nas X did it alone. TikTok broke him, and then he was all over the web. A band? Who needs a band?

So if you own your own work, put your music up on streaming sites yourself, you might make a good living, considering the barrier to entry is so low. I hear from people making 25-60k all the time. But you don’t know who they are. And the last thing they do is complain, they’re too busy satiating the fans they do have, working hard to maintain a job in the music business.

It’s damn hard. And do you really want to rely on somebody else?

Anybody who’s been part of the label system will tell you about its vagaries. They love you but don’t hear a single. Your advocate loses his job. The label just needs something to hit, not necessarily your track.

And what is a hit?

Hit records are getting shorter. Maybe you only need twenty or thirty seconds to make a record. Maybe less, the length of a TikTok clip.

But this is not music you say, this is not the way it used to be. And that’s absolutely correct. We no longer live in a controlled market where radio is king. Even true hit records can take over a year to break.

So I ask you, where does a band fit in this equation?

Not to mention that bands are relics of rock and roll. Pop was never based on the band. And neither was hip-hop. Of course there are exceptions, but they are de minimis.

As for the rock bands, the Active Rock and jam ones that do exist, they have their sights set low. They’re playing to a cabal. It’s almost as if there’s an iron curtain between Active Rock and the rest of the world. Active Rock doesn’t count on streaming, and its fans oftentimes listen to nothing else, and non-fans don’t listen at all.

But you can make a living.

Just like in the jam band world. There’s an ecosystem, and you can do quite well, but you’ll never be a superstar. Dave Matthews broke through in the old game, with video and radio play. Phish never broke through at all. But they make enough money to live well. But they’re not rock stars by the old definition, driving Lamborghinis, flying to the Riviera on a whim. And chances are you have to play to eat and live. Stay home and there’s no mailbox money. You’re a working musician, and just like in Active Rock, most people have never heard your name and never will.

And even if a band breaks through, what do you do about endorsements and brand extensions? Usually companies want a face. Is that the lead singer? So who gets all the money? Usually not the players. Just like the players were squeezed out of that publishing money, even though they contributed to the creation of the songs. Talk about dissension.

The biggest bands in the world have broken up over money. And control. Do you really want to put your fate in the hands of others?

Turns out most people today do not. They can hire a band to go on the road if they have a hit, and be their boss and keep most of the dough. Why would you want to share decision-making power?

So the internet and the economy killed bands. And they’re not coming back because of the economics. And one thing is for sure, no one, certainly not the U.S. government, is gonna give bands subsidies. And too many professionals don’t want to be involved with bands, they’re too hard to wrangle.

You don’t need a band to be a member of a club. That’s readily available online.

You don’t need a band to flesh out your tunes, you can do that yourself.

And you can promote and market yourself FOR FREE online! This is what separates the winners from the losers. Unless you’re willing to work 24/7 on your career, you won’t have one. Social media participation is now part of the job. And it was bad enough when certain players wouldn’t go to the radio station, but who needs freeloaders who just play their instrument and do nothing else?

NO ONE!

“In light of the tragic conflict rapidly unfolding in Ukraine, Oak View Group has pledged to not do business in or with Russia, nor will we serve Russian brands in any of our venues on a global basis, effective immediately. We stand with the people of Ukraine, we condemn the actions of Russia, and we hope our stance inspires others in our industry to take action where they can.”

The war in Ukraine has caused a giant, unanticipated reset:

1. Isolationism, America First, is history. Turns out we are all interconnected. A butterfly flaps its wings in Asia… This is something the Clintons and their trade polices had right. Unfortunately, those who worked with their hands lost their jobs with no reasonable replacements, but the derided elite intelligentsia knew that we lived in a global village. You think the rest of the world doesn’t affect you, but gas prices are going through the roof because of the war and the hottest social media platform is from China.

2. Billionaires are not the heroes we are looking for. We’ve got a Jewish comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is evidencing more integrity than those who avoided participation in Vietnam on bogus pretexts and when it comes down to the essence, corporations don’t run the world, but people. Zelensky is willing to die for the cause. He only wants to do what is right. He’s leading by example as opposed to polling. Furthermore, it turns out it’s easy to undercut the billionaire oligarchs, just freeze their assets and ability to move freely. Turns out money can’t buy you everything.

3. Credibility is key. Tucker Carlson sidelined himself overnight. I’m not saying he’s lost many acolytes, but the rest of the country, the rest of the world, has seen that he is not a serious person. That he’s got no grasp of world affairs. That he’s little more than a broadcaster, looking for ratings. Truth, not ratings. That’s what Zelensky has taught us. In one fell swoop you can undermine your career, especially in an era where nothing fades away and everything radiates.

4. You’re either on one side or the other. Americans don’t want to commit, for fear of being castigated. Studies have shown that essentially no one is independent. That if you check their voting history they consistently vote for one party or the other. They say they’re independent so they can be above the fray, holier-than-thou, but the truth is the world is not perfect and you’ve got to pick a side, one or the other.

5. Military strength is important, but it turns out the internet and business have heretofore unforeseen power. Turns out you can cripple a nation by cutting their access off to Swift and the international banking system. And Zelensky has called on hackers to disrupt the Russian government’s institutions.

6. Boots on the ground is everything. Which is why the “New York Times” is winning this war in terms of coverage. They’ve got the most people there. They didn’t cut back for the bottom line. And when the crisis hit, they were ready. So, the TV outlets, all of them, left and right, have been left flat-footed, dependent on independent sources, stringers and in truth…have defaulted to the big papers, primarily the “Times” and “Washington Post.” A picture is worth a thousand words, but the world is driven by print. Firsthand accounts are everything.

7. Tribes don’t only work in national politics, but international politics. Germany got off its duff to aid Ukraine once other countries took a side and got active. Furthermore, the EU is a tribe, an organization to rally around. If you’ve got no associations to begin with, you will never be taken seriously when the crisis comes, you will not have a seat at the table. You need to be a member of international groups, you must take responsibility for the world at large.

8. But one thing about pictures, they undercut all the lies being told by those who’ve been getting away with it for far too long.

And music is an international business too. Entertainment may be the most. But with no leaders, no examples, the brands-to-be with their endorsements and fealty to the Fortune 500 are frozen, they don’t know how to act. Except for Sean Penn. Who unfortunately is an unlikable guy, irrelevant of his political stands, but he seems to know how to do the right thing.

Turns out corporations have more power than individuals in the music business. Because we have no international stars that appeal to everybody. Except maybe Maneskin. Or possibly Ed Sheeran. For years we’ve been told the marginal is dominant. Turns out number one isn’t really number one if most people have never heard of it, never mind heard it. The recorded music business has capitulated its power in pursuit of profits. Finding a game-changing credible act and promoting it? That’s not done. Instead, the labels are marketing giants promoting that which has already been proven by individuals online. As for the film business… The tentpoles play around the world and mean nothing. Netflix has much more power than the studios, because it makes shows that speak to hearts and minds. Streaming TV is international. Who could predict the biggest show of the year would come from South Korea? In “Squid Game,” your life is on the line, which appeals to those lazing on the couch, high. Turns out people want to live on the edge, alive, but in America every entertainer is telling us dope is cool. IT’S NOT! BEING CLEAR-HEADED IS COOL! Being high takes you out of the game.

So when the crisis arrives…

Most Americans don’t know how to act. Told the bogus claim that America is the most powerful country in the world that can always dominate, the hoi polloi leave it to a government that they can’t stop deriding, on both the left and the right. Turns out we need tax money. And the billionaires telling us that they know how to spend it better, oh, come on.

And experience counts. Sure, Zelensky rose from nothing to be everything, but he wasn’t using his newfound status to get rich, wasn’t minting NFTs, ripping off his own citizens with falsehoods. You can learn along the way, but it turns out government is a professional job, not a popularity contest. Do you want Biden and his team who’ve been through previous conflicts, or an inexperienced autocrat who doesn’t even know which side America is on? Who coddles dictators like those in North Korea and Russia, admires Xi’s job for life…could it be because he too strives to be a dictator?

And you can fight the petty internecine wars, but in truth that just dilutes your power. But in a world where truth is fungible, no one can agree what is happening. Sure, Covid knowledge is in flux, but vaccines do work and the latest report is the virus came from a food market, not a lab: https://nyti.ms/3K0p705 Isn’t this the point at which we turn our eyes and ears away from false prophets? Even social media outlets are doing this during the war, banning people. Turns out life and death depends on it.

So I was waiting for a music entity to take a stand on Russia. No one in music wants to take a stand because they might lose a potential fan or market. Forget what they believe, they keep it inside, hidden, so when the crisis comes…they don’t have a platform or a history to build upon. If you’ve never spoken up before if you suddenly do, late, you’re seen as glomming on, you’re ignored.

So all music is niche. So there’s not an act big enough to reach everybody.

And in the internet world, those without traction think they deserve it and constantly complain that they’re doing it right and no one is paying attention. Turns out to have a seat at the table you’ve got to build a base, which takes time, but no one wants to take the time.

I’d be stunned if the acts and the labels don’t start taking a stand on Ukraine. When it’s meaningless.

The labels control the music. I don’t see them telling streaming outlets to pull their tracks from Russia, imploring them to shut down operations in Russia.

I don’t see the streaming outlets taking a risk.

And I certainly don’t see the acts doing so.

But in truth the music world now runs on live. For far too long the labels have gotten the glory, but in truth it’s those on the performance end who have the power. They lay down the cash, to pay the acts and build the buildings.

So OVG makes this statement. It won’t be long before today’s media madness spreads the word. You’ll see it everywhere. Where they reprint the headline but have nothing to say about it, or at least nothing that affects hearts and minds.

Turns out WE’RE ALL INVOLVED! Each and every one of us. No one is immune. To higher prices, at both the pump and in the grocery store. You cannot live with your head in the sand, you might live in Podunk, but you’re a citizen of the world. And with cable television and the internet you’ve got the world at your fingertips. It’s your choice whether to educate yourself or not, it’s your choice whether to believe in false prophets or not. When you read something outrageous that you want to forward, how about googling its veracity first. And yes, we have to stop teaching to the test, moving people through the hoops while learning little. As for banned books…how can you know how the world truly works unless you’re exposed to it? China punishes the Uighurs but we have to protect our children from the truth, as they live in mono-color communities clueless to what is going on outside.

So, just like Zelensky, you have power. That’s right, one individual saying and doing the right thing, someone who has lived their life on credibility, can arise at any moment to change the course of history. But you must know that money isn’t everything, clothes aren’t either, and we all like a good time, but if you’re partying like it’s 1999 you’re left out of the equation today, twenty plus years later.

So maybe you’ve woken up, maybe you haven’t.

Turns out the world is changing every day. And we used to get our truth from music, but that was eons ago. Start looking inside not out. Stop trying to burnish a false image online in pursuit of money and fame. You’ll probably never get there, and you’re abdicating your power in the process.

And learn how to think independently. And realize your tribe might have it wrong.

Because when you’re in the foxhole… Who can you trust? And can the leaders trust you? At that point you’re like an athlete, running on instinct, what have you been taught, that the do-nothings are kings and those in the trenches trying to push the ball forward and improve this world are not?

Yes, the reset is both macro and micro. Worldwide and inside yourself.

Information is king. Truthful information. Learn how to parse the truth. Don’t be a knee-jerk loser. And know that you count. Everybody counts. You might try to take away their right to vote, but that does not mean you’ve silenced them.

Right now you’re seeing autocracy in action. Putin doing whatever he wants. Sending young boys to war, quashing protest. Is this what you’re looking for?

No, I didn’t think so.

Autocracy is at the doorstep of America. Systems are being undermined. Only you can change the future. Get informed and get involved. Because in truth no one is immune today. America is not above it all, separate. We learned this during the Second World War, and seventy five years later it’s even more clear.

You’re a citizen of the world, act like one.

Sometimes there is right and wrong and you’ve got to choose a side.

This is one of those times.

“Throughline: Vladimir Putin”: https://n.pr/3veNyCS

(Also available on podcast platforms, it’s the February 13, 2022 edition of NPR’s “Up First”.)

This podcast contains a rebroadcast of an episode from a couple of years previous. There’s a new introduction, but a couple of minutes in the old episode begins and you get the history of Vladimir Putin. You MUST listen to this. It explains who Putin is and how he got to the top. I thought I knew a lot about the man, but I did not know all this. It’s utterly fascinating, and will give you insight into not only Putin, but Yeltsin. Really, you’ve got to listen to this. It gives invaluable perspective on Putin and Russia. I know people are sending you links all day, my goal is not to overwhelm you, but this is the one you should actually pay attention to and listen to. It’s got nothing to do with politics in the U.S., right versus left, Biden versus Trump, it’s just history.

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Hi Bob,

I am a Canadian, living and working in Budapest, Hungary. Been here since October, due to leave in June.

On the day of the Russian invasion into Ukraine,  whilst on a walk, I saw a middle aged couple struggling with the parking meters.  They are impossible to use if you are not Hungarian.

I offered to help.  They explained they were from Russia. OH! How very interesting to meet on that particular day.

They explained that had driven to Budapest that day  and they were [in Budapest] looking to buy a home and get the hell out of Russia with that “crazy man leading the country”.  They have twenty something kids, one a male and they were not prepared to risk their son going to war for something that shouldn’t happen.  He went on to say no one he knew supported Putin, and you don’t want to be in Russia if you don’t support Putin.  Their entire life plan changed with this invasion.

It was a surreal conversation, being had in Hungary, between strangers.
My comment is mostly to the suggestions that Russians support Putin.  Don’t think so… they fear him.

Colleen Mitchell

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I’m currently in Russia (bad timing…); my friends and professional contacts in the music business are not representative of the population as a whole but probably the percentage of Putin supporters come out quite similarly to those for Trump supporters in the USA; the big difference is that in Russia if you protest, the consequences can easily be a beating from the police and jail, so only the immensely courageous are protesting on the streets – several thousand of them across the country

but the internet is a double-edged sword and currently at least it’s not censored so people are freely sharing Tweets etc. and people can freely access international media – mostly not in Russian of course, but everyone with an education has good English; so many people know exactly what’s going on – if they choose to know, and many do, and they are not Putin supporters, but what can they do about him? Russia is an actual, functioning dictatorship and a military state

perhaps the saddest thing is that what’s happening now in Ukraine has been flagged for years – the wars and suppressions of revolts in Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea, the Donbas in 2014, Belarus and Kazakhstan recently said it all; what’s happening now is simply the next step which Putin in his derangement feels he can take because no-one stopped him earlier

Nick Hobbs

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Hi Bob,

Greetings from Warsaw. My Polish wife and I have been living here since 2014. Been visiting since mid-90s. We live in the center of the city. The news media is much like elsewhere regarding Ukraine. But, go stand in line at the bank…..you hear some things.

There are long queues at the banks. Many of them are running out of cash. They have withdrawal limits in Polish currency equal to $1500. We already took some dollars, but found a short wait at our branch today and took some more. At about 2pm, the cashier told us she would very shortly run out of money for today. *The Russian and Ukrainian currencies are no longer tradeable.

There are also queues with long waits to buy petrol across the country, especially to the east of Warsaw. But stations are not going dry yet.

Our cashier’s son is a career soldier. They will be given instructions on where to deploy within the next 24 hours. The Russians are heading for Lviv. That’s less than 50 miles from the Polish border. You can see the heavy border traffic in Ukraine on Google Maps.

In contrast to Trump, Bannon and the Republican traitors who like spending July 4th in Russia, the Poles know a thing or two about the Russians and have never trusted them (as my mother would say) ‘as far as they could throw them’. With good reason, obviously. When I first came here in the 90s, post-USSR, the Russian mafia was everywhere. You could not park on the street without having your car stolen. On the two-lane roads, we would ease over to the shoulder when one of their black Mercedes with blackened windows would pull out onto the middle line and just floor it. Everyone knew what to do. It was like Poland couldn’t get rid of them after they had already totally wrecked the place for decades. I’ll take the Poles’ opinion on Putin before Trump’s and Pompeo’s, thank you. They have the experience.

The Poles know, Putin and the Russians are cruel and insane…and maybe drunk. They know there is a possibility he could be over that border in a minute. When Putin threatens nuclear weapons, he probably means it. If western leaders do not show some backbone, all bets are off. But Americans will never see Russians bombing and murdering in Ukraine, or the EU, as an external threat.

Six years ago, I went back to school for a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Warsaw. We studied from a European perspective. Interesting. We also had an entire class on Ukraine. I recalled Brzezinski’s book ‘The Grand Chessboard’ from ’97 (His son recently became the US Ambassador to Poland). He named Ukraine as one of five geopolitical pivots with Azerbaijan, South Korea, Turkey, and Iran. Ukraine “is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire. Russia without Ukraine can still strive for imperial status, but it would then become a predominantly Asian imperial state…” Hence Putin’s rantings of national grandeur.

My greatest fear is that the US and western powers have grown so mentally soft over the past 20 years that they are not up to it. Obama gave away Syria and Crimea to Putin. Then Trump was elected president (!!), Fox News turned into RT, a former National Security Advisor (Flynn) was convicted of lying about Russian communications and pardoned by the POTUS, and the US Capitol was successfully attacked while barely guarded, with little punishment/investigation to show for over a year. And Merkel made significant strategic missteps and ignored her weakened military. Then there was Brexit.

Imagine what the cruel and insane Putin sees. A chilling thought. As a Realist in IR terms, he believes states act only in their own interests and the world is in a constant state of anarchy…and he is a player, having the capacity to exercise power beyond his borders.

Putin’s final piece of “luck” was: the Fed having incompetently pumped so much money into the financial system since the Great Recession that inflation is finally accelerating out of control. The credit cycle is turning. Therefore, when both the conflict itself and sanctions drive up oil prices, western consumers are hurting and the stock market may well be retracing. But it wasn’t luck was it? We handed it to him through weakness, greed and incompetence. Why would he stop now?

Someone here said to me this morning, “Either someone kills him or it’s a world war.”

Best regards,

Robert Bond

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Hello Bob,

Another great post.

You have nailed it once again. Seems we never learn and are just concerned with our own destiny and welfare. The ominous future is an event that will only happen to others.

Great to see once again how well informed you are about the situation in Europe and the state of the different countries like UK and Italy. Instead of a committed union it keeps falling apart in their own preferred agenda’s.

This war in the Ukraine is another big test. The odds are not looking bright.

Best regards from the Netherlands, where we like to talk from a moral high-ground, but mostly not act accordingly.

Luc Begas

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Bob,

Have spent a lot of time in Poland as you may remember, working with some of its greatest musicians, the brilliant Mietek Szcześniak and his colleagues—all of whom grew up under communism, required to speak Russian, unable to obtain passports, standing in lines for whatever was being offered and finding their way through the new democracy which is exactly the same age as my son, 32 years. The Poles were the first to bring down the Soviet Union, thanks to Solidarity and Pope John Paul II—every one else followed. Poland is not closer to Russia in construct, and historically never has been. If you read history, it’s clear that Poland has been at odds with Russia for hundreds of years: the Poles never go quietly, even during the 132 years when all the surrounding nations partitioned Poland, until 1918. The Poles have the same issues as we do: they had the brilliant Donald Tusk as the head of their government  when we had Obama, and in the same approximate time that we had Trump, they pivoted to Duda and his current stupid presidency.-which is as stupid as ours was under Trump.

But they are very different in every way from Russia-culturally, linguistically, technologically,  and especially in the citizenry’s willingness to march and protest. Now, they are in NATO. We still treat our Eastern European NATO partners as second class citizens, but at least they’re there now. We of course are the ones who sold them out in 1945, but I don’t think we will this time.

It’s a nation with a remarkably high per capita IQ as well as a sizable backwards village population: in other words, a schizophrenic but fascinating place. No one knows better than Mietek’s generation what it’s like to have Russia breathing down your neck and to live under that boot. He warned me years ago that this would happen—common observation among Poles, “nothing new here.”

Poland already has a very close relationship with Ukraine, all of my pals there have family, friends, colleagues, in Ukraine, and all of them have been there many times. As you said, it’s like going from California to Oregon for them. They will have a huge influx of refugees from Ukraine, I expect.

Putin, I hope, will be shut down. He wants the USSR back. As Biden said today, if we don’t sanction them, they will be in Poland next, which is of course a plum prize with its enormous agricultural and labor resources.
Parenthetically, we were in the USSR and Estonia in 1988 before the wall came down.

It was clear the Estonians were over Soviet domination and they told us so openly. And seeing Russia, you could only feel sorry for the poor citizens of that country. Same with Belarus; people under the domination of thugs.
May it pass quickly.

Wendy Waldman