What is a “press conference”? According to ChatGPT, it is an event when someone speaks to a group of journalists and answers their questions. Using that definition, the event led by Trump and Putin in Anchorage last night does not qualify. They answered no questions. In fact, they avoided speaking about the matters which led to their summit. Putin gave a undergraduate-level talk on Russia-American relations in Alaska over the years. And Trump bad-mouthed Biden, talked about the “Russia hoax” and told everyone again what a great relationship he has with “Vladimir”. No other details were given.

The one thing that is certain? There are a lot of journalists who wonder why they took the trouble to fly to Anchorage.

My day was pretty quiet. Took Edie to the ophthamologist for her day-after-cataract surgery visit, and sat around with her most of the day to make sure she didn’t bend down below the waist. (I actually first wrote “below the waste.” That, too.)

I did watch a bad (but very well acted) film on Netflix once again. This one called Night Always Comes. But even a bad film can prove a point. The point is that American cities (in this case, Portland OR) contain some people who are down and out, and who are destined to remain down and out. Lynette (Vanessa Kirby) grew up in an impoverished house with a selfish and incompetent mother and an older brother with developmental disabilities. Her father had deserted the family. Kirby had got involved with drugs and sex when still underage and, try as she might, was never able to fully break away. She lives with her mother and brother in a small rented house and works more than one job to keep the family afloat and her brother out of an institution. The house goes up for sale and Kirby and her mother have saved enough for a down payment to become homeowners and have some stability for the first time. But her mother torpedoes the deal the day before closing by spending all her share of the down payment on a car (about $25,000. Kirby has until the morning to come up with the money that her mother decided to spend elsewhere. She turns out to be resourceful, but also reluctantly both unethical and criminal, as she (with the help of a co-worker) threatens to blackmail a married lover, steals a safe from her girlfriend’s apartment, and sells the cocaine found in the safe.

The point is not that you should applaud Kirby for falling further into criminality as the night goes on, but you can see how it could happen when you are at the bottom of a well, with no visible way out.

I always wondered what I would do in such a situation and thought about how easy it might be to wind up there. I have a law degree and that, of course, meant a lot. But I am a very untalented person and not at all a risk taker by nature. If I had found myself without professional credentials, money, or connections (and even more so if I had a mental illness, a phtsical disability or a drug, alcohol, or health problem), what would I have done? What could I gave done? And if on top of that if I debt, or enemies? It’s a frightening thought and watching Night Always Comes, you realize that this is a central facet of American society. The country is filled with people without economic hope. And we obviously take this for granted and, as a society, do not really care.

But Putin and Trump weren’t talking about poverty in the US or Russia. They were talking about territory in Ukraine and maybe about rare minerals.

Rare minerals? Yes, remember our deal to get a share of Ukraine’s rare minerals? You haven’t heard much about it since the day it was signed.

That’s because most of these rare minerals are located in the four Ukrainian provinces claimed by Russia. So here’s my latest thought: the US supports terratorial shifts to Russia in return for a deal (now kept secret) to give us a share of those rare minerals. Add that to my theory about Trump and Russian real estate.

We will find out details of their conversation when they are made public or  leaked. My guess is, once again, Trump will look foolish.

One thing we know. Russian bombardment of Ukraine will continue. There was no ceasefire.

Just like there was no press conference.

And speaking of “no”, why is Russia one of the only countries with no tariffs?