I got a late start today. Up at the normal time, but I had a Zoom finance committee meeting for the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies and then undertook some followup activities. Our snow event yesterday…..

Digression: I still think that the folks at the former MSNBC made a big mistake when they took the new name MS NOW. Before, I have complained that the word “now” sounded confusing in news reports about what happened yesterday when preceded or followed by MS NOW. I have also thought that the new name could be viewed as a promo for MS magazine, or even support for more Multiple Sclerosis. But today, all I could think of was M SNOW, and that was the last thing I wanted to think of.

Continuing before I was so rudely interrupted….

Our snow event yesterday was weird. We probably have about 6 or 8 inches of snow on our lawn and walkway. But no snow is piled on our backyard table, or on our fence top, or on our railings. Just odd. No ice on tree limbs or power lines. The snow on our front steps would be difficult to shovel. I took a cane to see how light it was and, believe it or not, the cane cannot permeate the ice at all. Even if there is melting from the sun (the temperature itself is now, at 2 p.m., 23 degrees), it will all refreeze. Usually, we have folks knocking on our door offering to shovel our walks and driveway, but not today. As the temperature is forecast not to even reach the 30s for a week, we may be in the house a while. I am under strict instructions not to go out and shovel (that’s what I normally would do) because of both my age and my importance to the world, but I don’t think I would do it even if no one cared.

So what have we been doing?

Well, for one thing, I just finished watching the 3 episode (yes, only 3) Agatha Christie drama, The Seven Dials, on Netflix. It is typical Christie in that it involves large British estates, guests all with one or another title, and people being murdered one at a time. It is delightful because films based on Agatha Christie are always delightful, and because the lead character, a young British actress, Mia McKenna-Bruce, is delightful, as is her mother played by Helena Bonham Carter, and Martin Freeman as the Scotland Yard inspector on the case. And it is helped more because McKenna-Bruce’s character is named Lady Eileen Brent, but she is called by everyone Bundle, and Freeman’s Scotland Yard name is Battle.

THIS PARAGRAPH IS A SPOILER: The ending of the show involves Bundle being invited by Battle (who, when masked, is the Seven, or the boss man, of the secret organization, Seven Dials), to join the Seven Dials, whose purpose is to save humanity and the world from evil doers. My reaction, as I watched the end of Episode 3, is that I wanted an invitation to join. That is exactly the kind of organization I wanted to belong to. And exactly the kind the world now needs.

OK, SPOILER OVER.

We have also been re-watching Homeland. We are now two episodes into Season 3 (of 8). Homeland, which I am sure many/most of you have seen when it was on HBO (it is now on Netflix) was aired from 2011 to 2018, 96 episodes in all. It is interesting to rewatch it 2026, 15 years later, in part because I wonder if it could even be made today. As you might remember, it is basically the story of good Americans against bad Arabs (yes, some Americans are not so good, and a few Arabs aren’t really that bad), and I am not sure that this would pass the politically correct test today. But it is very good entertainment, and watching a second time is a real treat for me. Why? Because I now can understand what is going on in every scene. I think I missed quite a bit the first time through, when you could only watch one episode a week on HBO, and after a 12 week season ended, you had to wait 9 months for the next episode. If you have the time and inclination, I think watching Homeland again is a pretty good use of your time.

Digression: Part of seasons 2 and 3 of Homeland actually is set in Venezuela (how timely), and there is a description of the country’s economic decline. The majority of the Season 3 Caracas episodes take place in a 45 floor building, the “Tower of David”, that was abandoned mid-construction and taken over by squatters. The setting is real. Google: Caracas Tower of David and you will read about it.

Much of Homeland remains timely. Should we give Israel bunker bombs? Should we bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities? What kind of oversight should be given to the CIA? And if a CIA agent lies at a Congressional hearing because an honest answer would compromise American security, is it still perjury?

Finally, over the weekend, I read a book by former Wesleyan professor Philip Pomper titled Lenin’s Brother. It is a short (220 page) biography of Vladimir Lenin’s older brother Alexander (Sasha), who was executed in 1887 for plotting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. Sasha was clearly a brilliant boy who grew up in the middle class Ulyanov family in Simbirsk, wanted to be a biologist, went to the University of St. Petersburg, and got radicalized, become a conspirator who wanted to bring about a total restructuring of Russia and Russian society.

It’s a very interesting book, but what struck me was how different radicalization works today in this country, but how similar it might be, say, in the Arab world. In 19th century Russia, like in today’s Arab world, the radicals by and large came from strong families, were well educated, and were very determined. They studied political philosophers, literature, and how to make weapons. Sure, they had their differences: terror, no terror, or limited terror; what the goals of a restructured society should be; what role do Russian agricultural peasants have; is now the right time, or is the right time still in the future; should there be one massive event or a series of events?

On the day Alexander III was to be killed, his schedule was delayed at the last minutes, explosives did not work, and one member of the conspiracy named names. Three of the 15 or so arrested were condemned to death.

Pomper makes it clear that Sasha’s rebellious acivity did influence Lenin, but that Lenin had a very different mindset – purer Marxism without a touch of peasant populism, working outside the country rather than within, and being patient (he led a ten year preparatory effort).

That’s it for now. I didn’t mention Trump or Minneapolis or Venezuela. Oh, yeah, I did mention Venezuela.