More on shoes: I remember a time when I was guilty of throwing my shoe at a target, too. One day I sat relaxing in my house in Sheldon, and I saw movement in the entryway. Myron Boeder’s pet raccoon, an animal with a local reputation for being a fearless pest, had opened my screen door with his claws and strolled into the kitchen snooping around for some treats, I suppose. My shoes sat on the floor in front of me, and I reacted immediately by picking one up and flinging it hard in the animal’s direction. He moved much faster on the way out than on the way in, and thereafter I got in the habit of latching the door’s hook.
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A small article buried deep on page 4 of our local daily paper caught my eye with the headline Russian treason bill could hit critics. The lead sentence stated that “new legislation backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would allow Russian authorities to label any government critic a traitor — a move that rights activists said...was a chilling throwback to times of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.”
If the present Russian leaders act as Stalin did then citizens of that country will again be severely restricted if they want to speak out against government leaders and policies. To avoid punishment for treason individuals will have to restrain and censor their speech and actions. History says Stalin in his “Great Purge” killed off thousands of people whom he perceived as being dissenters, including many of army’s top generals.
Leon Trotsky rose to a high leadership position after the Russian Revolution. Then when Stalin began to exercise his murderous tendencies Trotsky fled the country, eventually settling in Mexico City where he continued to verbally assail Stalin’s tactics. Stalin quieted him though when he sent an assassin. Trotsky, unwittingly, welcomed this man into his home to hold a discussion. The assassin had a pick axe hidden under his topcoat and struck Trotsky in the head with it. His last words were “I think Stalin has finished the job he has started.”
