Picto Diary - 10 to 15 July 2023 - Kotkin: Six Possible Outcomes for Russia
Above: Cora, New Frontier RV Park, Winnemucca, NV. 11 July 2023.
190-pound Great Dane. We didn't bring Freddie on this trip. To Cora, he 150 pounds, would have played second fiddle.
Above: Peter Robinson and Steven Kotkin. Hoover Institution, Stanford University. 11 July 2023.
Steven Kotkin: There are only six possible outcomes for Russia.
1. France. Become a large bureaucratic, democratic nation that does not threaten its neighbors.
2. Authoritarian nation that does not threaten its neighbors.
3. Chinese puppet regime.
4. Biggest "North Korea" the world has ever seen.
5. Anarchic Collapse.
6. Something else, unpredictable at this time.
In the Q and A there was only one question taken, not mine. Here is what I would have asked:
Donald Trump has promised to end the Ukraine War his first day in office. How? Were I advising him on tactics, I would tell him to broker an agreement that withdrew US funding support to Ukraine, left Russia with Russian speaking eastern Ukraine territories, and left it to Europe (not NATO) to supply Ukraine with a security guarantee. US "no" to NATO membership. Your options one and two would seem very viable under those circumstances. And this would be a satisfactory outcome, right?
Above: Stephen Haber, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 12 July 2023.
Topic: The Battle for Academic Freedom at Stanford.
Above: Haber slides.
Haber: "I think we are turning the corner, but we have a long way to go.
In the Q and A I asked Haber if he had heard of the Jefferson Council at UVA? He hadn't. I gave a thumb nail about how it was an alumni-based effort to counter wokeism at UVA. One of its strategies was to work with Governor Youngkin to, over time, replace the UVA board of trustees with conservative, free speech supporting trustees. I asked Haber where the Stanford trustees stood vis a vis Stanford's adoption of wokeism. Haber didn't have an answer for that, but he listed other universities where pushback against woke was gaining traction. He showed cautious optimism that the anti-free speech movements at American universities were meeting growing opposition.
Above: Gary Eagan. Bartollo's Restaurant, Kimball Junction, UT. 14 July 2023.
Chance meeting of a motorcycle riding legend.
Gary won the Iron Butt motorcycle rally in 1995.
The Iron Butt Rally is a competitive motorcycle road rally held in the United States. It was first held in 1984, and beginning in 1991, now takes place in odd numbered years, usually in August. The rally lasts 11 days, and riders often travel over 11,000 miles (18,000 km) in that time. During the rally, entrants earn points by riding their motorcycles to various "bonus" locations in the U.S. and Canada. A bonus is a task or destination with a point value. To earn the points for a bonus, a rider must provide evidence by photographing an object or scene, purchasing a particular item, or by various other means specified by the organizers.
In 2004 Gary broke the Iron Butt Association's record for a north-to south traverse of North America on a Ducati Multistrada motorcycle. 101 hours, 7500 miles, starting in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on 17 June 2004.
In the early aughts, I rode several Iron Butt sanctioned twenty-four-, or thirty-six-hour motorcycle rallies including the Utah 1088, Colorado Thin Air TT, and a thirty-six-hour rally in Nevada (name of which I have forgotten). Circa 2004 Gary and I rode together from Park City, Utah to Dillion, Colorado to participate in the Colorado Thin Air TT. Gary's bike had an eleven-gallon fuel tank. He would have ridden nonstop, 400 miles, to Dillion were it not for the fact that I needed a fill-up along the way. Gary, ever the gentleman, was happy to stop while I attended to fueling business.
Gary reported that he is receiving radiation treatment for cancer. I didn't go into detail. He was with family members. But he looked chipper and radiated a positive attitude. He said he hadn't ridden motorcycles for some years and was living in Salt Lake City.
Above: Kreg Van Stralen. Wasatch Bagel, Park City, UT. 15 July 2023.
Chance meeting. Owner of Wasatch Bagel, who last year purchased El Chubasco in Park City is working on additional deals in Wasatch County and Las Vegas. Uber, resourceful entrepreneur Kreg now reports owning ten season tickets for the home games of the Las Vegas (football) Raiders.