Ta Ta

On the Beach (by Ivan Aivazovsky)

May 18, 1944: This day, the deportation of the Tartars started under Stalin’s ‘liberation’ of Crimea, an historic Soviet/Russian hot-spot.  Eurovision has made this an unlikely recent issue: packed off to Uzbekistan they were, along with their families, on trains designed for maximum discomfort. Forced mass movement, especially along ethnic lines, is and was a no-no for humanity, but it is surprising what people can get away with during war-time (especially an alleged ally). With Winter Coming, the US and Europe in flux, and NATO virtually conceding the eastern corridor, who knows who’ll be next?