U R World To Me Quotes

This time I spelled my name L-A-R-A, tossing out the “u” my parents had given me at birth because I believed this new spelling to be Russian and worldly. I decided Mr. Martin had been right. I decided that I would be the diamond.

I will  m fear no evil,     for  n you are with me;         your  o rod and your staff,         they comfort me.     5 You  p prepare a table before me         in  q the presence of my enemies;     you  r anoint my head with oil;         my  s cup overflows. 6    Surely [4] goodness and mercy [5] shall follow me         all the days of my life,     and I shall  t dwell [6] in the house of the LORD          u forever. [7] The King of Glory A Psalm of David.     PSALM 24  v The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, [1]         the world and those who dwell

No party in the world will ever prevent me from preferring Truth to the Party. As soon as falsehood comes in, I am ill at ease. My role is to denounce it. It is to Truth that I am attached. If the Party abandons it, then I abandon the Party. It is essential to see things as they are and not as we should have liked them to be.

Hump, well! I wonder (if we survive this war) if there will be any niche, even of sufferance, left for reactionary back numbers like me (and you). The bigger things get the smaller and duller or flatter the globe gets. It is getting to be all one blasted little provincial suburb. When they have introduced American sanitation, moral pep, feminism, and mass production throughout the Near East, Middle East, Far East, U.S.S.R., Hither Further and Inner Mumbo-land, Gondhwanaland, Lhasa, and the villages of the darkest Berkshire, how happy we shall be. At any rate it ought to cut down on travel. There will be nowhere to go. So people will (I opine) go all the faster. Colllie Knox says 1/8 of the world's population speaks 'English', and that is the biggest language group. if true, damn shame__ say I. May the curse of Babel strike at all their tongues till they can only say 'baa baa'. It would mean much the same. I think I shall have to refuse to speak anything but Old Mercian.

Taki As a prolific author and journalist, Taki has written for many top-rated publications, including the Spectator, the London Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, National Review, and many others. Greek-born and American-educated, Taki is a well-known international personality and a respected social critic all over the world. In June 1987, I was an usher at the wedding of Harry Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, to Tracy Ward. The wedding and ensuing ball took place in the grand Ward country house, attended by a large portion of British society, including the Prince and Princess of Wales. Late in the evening, while I was in my cups, a friend, Nicky Haslam, grabbed my arm and introduced me to Diana, who was coming off the dance floor. We exchanged pleasantries, me slurring my words to the extent that she suddenly took my hand, looked at me straight in the face, and articulated, “T-a-k-e y-o-u-r t-i-m-e.” She mistook my drunken state for a severe speech impediment and went into her queen-of-hearts routine. Nicky, of course, ruined it all by pulling her away and saying, “Oh, let him be, ma’am; he’s drunk as usual.

From the day I entered in to this world and opened My eyes N to The day I passed away from this world and closed My eyes U cared of me ...... U taught me...... U shown d ryt path.... U cried for me.... U missed me... U loved me.... I never forget d moment ... I hold ur hand to start walking on d floor I never forget d moment .. U r afraid of me when I started walking for d first time U taught me how to eat U showed me how to read U taught me how to respect others U cared of me when I felt sick U prayed for god for my happiness U blessed me to achieve all my goals U cherished me when I won medals U fought with others when they spoke wrong abt me U buyed clothes for d spcl moment of mine U prepared fruit salads n made me to eat U roamed along with me U waited for me N U made me believe U r my first sight U r my first luv U r my first teacher U r my first guide U r my first goddesses U r my belief N u r the only one who gives every thing N expects nothing in all aspects of my life Forgive if i can't love u more than u love me Give me some time to make u realize I am loving u...... ♡♡♡♡ MOM ♡◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆●●●●●●●◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆♡

These senators and representatives call themselves “leaders.” One of the primary principles of leadership is that a leader never asks or orders any follower to do what he or she would not do themselves. Such action requires the demonstration of the acknowledged traits of a leader among which are integrity, honesty, and courage, both physical and moral courage. They don’t have those traits nor are they willing to do what they ask and order. Just this proves we elect people who shouldn’t be leading the nation. When the great calamity and pain comes, it will have been earned and deserved. The piper always has to be paid at the end of the party. The party is about over. The bill is not far from coming due. Everybody always wants the guilty identified. The culprits are we the people, primarily the baby boom generation, which allowed their vote to be bought with entitlements at the expense of their children, who are now stuck with the national debt bill that grows by the second and cannot be paid off. These follow-on citizens—I call them the screwed generation—are doomed to lifelong grief and crushing debt unless they take the only other course available to them, which is to repudiate that debt by simply printing up $20 trillion, calling in all federal bills, bonds, and notes for payoff, and then changing from the green dollar to say a red dollar, making the exchange rate 100 or 1000 green dollars for 1 red dollar or even more to get to zero debt. Certainly this will create a great international crisis. But that crisis is coming anyhow. In fact it is here already. The U.S. has no choice but to eventually default on that debt. This at least will be a controlled default rather than an uncontrolled collapse. At present it is out of control. Congress hasn’t come up with a budget in 3 years. That’s because there is no way at this point to create a viable budget that will balance and not just be a written document verifying that we cannot legitimately pay our bills and that we are on an ever-descending course into greater and greater debt. A true, honest budget would but verify that we are a bankrupt nation. We are repeating history, the history we failed to learn from. The history of Rome. Our TV and video games are the equivalent distractions of the Coliseums and circus of Rome. Our printing and borrowing of money to cover our deficit spending is the same as the mixing and devaluation of the gold Roman sisteri with copper. Our dysfunctional and ineffectual Congress is as was the Roman Senate. Our Presidential executive orders the same as the dictatorial edicts of Caesar. Our open borders and multi-millions of illegal alien non-citizens the same as the influx of the Germanic and Gallic tribes. It is as if we were intentionally following the course written in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The military actions, now 11 years in length, of Iraq and Afghanistan are repeats of the Vietnam fiasco and the RussianAfghan incursion. Our creep toward socialism is no different and will bring the same implosion as socialism did in the U.S.S.R. One should recognize that the repeated application of failed solutions to the same problem is one of the clinical definitions of insanity. * * * I am old, ill, physically used up now. I can’t have much time left in this life. I accept that. All born eventually die and with the life I’ve lived, I probably should have been dead decades ago. Fate has allowed me to screw the world out of a lot of years. I do have one regret: the future holds great challenge. I would like to see that challenge met and overcome and this nation restored to what our founding fathers envisioned. I’d like to be a part of that. Yeah. “I’d like to do it again.” THE END PHOTOS Daniel Hill 1954 – 15

Taki As a prolific author and journalist, Taki has written for many top-rated publications, including the Spectator, the London Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, National Review, and many others. Greek-born and American-educated, Taki is a well-known international personality and a respected social critic all over the world. In June 1987, I was an usher at the wedding of Harry Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, to Tracy Ward. The wedding and ensuing ball took place in the grand Ward country house, attended by a large portion of British society, including the Prince and Princess of Wales. Late in the evening, while I was in my cups, a friend, Nicky Haslam, grabbed my arm and introduced me to Diana, who was coming off the dance floor. We exchanged pleasantries, me slurring my words to the extent that she suddenly took my hand, looked at me straight in the face, and articulated, “T-a-k-e y-o-u-r t-i-m-e.” She mistook my drunken state for a severe speech impediment and went into her queen-of-hearts routine. Nicky, of course, ruined it all by pulling her away and saying, “Oh, let him be, ma’am; he’s drunk as usual.” We occasionally met after that and always had a laugh about it. But we never got further than that rather pathetic incident. In 1994, I began writing the “Atticus” column for the Sunday Times, the bestselling Sunday broadsheet in Britain. By this time Diana and Charles had separated, and Diana had gone on the offensive against what was perceived by her to be Buckingham Palace plotting. As a confirmed monarchist, I warned in one of my columns that her popularity was enough to one day bring down the monarchy. I also wrote that she was bonkers. One month or so later, at a ball given in London by Sir James Goldsmith and his daughter Jemima Khan, a mutual friend approached me and told me that Princess Diana would like to speak with me. As luck would have it, yet again I was under the weather. When I reached her table, she pulled out a seat for me and asked me to sit down. The trouble was that I missed the chair and ended up under the table. Diana screamed with laughter, pulled up the tablecloth, looked underneath, and asked me pointblank: “Do you really think I’m mad?” For once I had the right answer. “All I know is I’m mad about you.” It was the start of a beautiful friendship, as Bogie said in Casablanca.

7But whatever were gains to me I now consider lossm for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowingn Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christo 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,p but that which is through faith in1 Christ—the righteousnessq that comes from God on the basis of faith.r 10I want to knows Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,t becoming like him in his death,u 11and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrectionv from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,w but I press on to take holdx of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.y 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behindz and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press ona toward the goal to win the prizeb for which God has calledc me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

My fruit is  p better than  q gold, even fine gold,         and my yield than  r choice silver.     20 I walk in the way of righteousness,         in the paths of justice,     21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,         and filling their treasuries.     22[^] [†]  s “The LORD  t possessed [2] me at the beginning of his work, [3]         the first of his acts  u of old.     23 Ages ago I was  v set up,         at the first,  w before the beginning of the earth.     24 When there were no  x depths I was  y brought forth,         when there were no springs abounding with water.     25 Before the mountains  z had been shaped,          a before the hills, I was brought forth,     26 before he had made the earth with its fields,         or the first of the dust of the world.     27 When he  b established the heavens, I was there;         when he drew  c a circle on the face of the deep,     28 when he  d made firm the skies above,         when he established [4] the fountains of the deep,     29 when he  e assigned to the sea its  f limit,         so that the waters might not transgress his command,     when he marked out  g the foundations of the earth,         30 then  h I was beside him, like a master workman,     and I was daily his [5]  i delight,         rejoicing before him always,     31  j rejoicing in his  k inhabited world         and delighting in the children of man.

My soul came in to this world alone N heart ♡ in it is connected To the another soul with a unknown Feel filled inside in it..... I don't knw what exactly it mean But, I addicted to it as a drug & It makes me feel comfortable When I am near to that soul & I can rely on that soul When I need support & I can't explain about that feel When any 1 ask me ....... These feel has its own defination It differs from the person to person N it's better to say Heart♡ to heart♡ it differs Some one says these feel never dies... Once it starts in our heart♡... But no 1 can say how it starts & when it starts... I just feel to say , U r my everything..... & U r my drug.... & Never lev me alone When I'm near to that soul My soul feels like flying in air, When it is along with that soul & N every 1 used to call this feel with a Special n unique name as , ...**LOVE**... Even it has different names in different places But I feel it's not just love This feel is some thing else Which is more than love If I say just love it make no sense This feel is more valuable When u take consideration of Two souls which r connected These feeling fulfill all d hopes n happiness Between these two soul's As, It gives strength It cares It makes brave It refresh d heart with a cool breeze It will guide U till d end & These feel makes a bonding between the souls & I name this bonding as , ●●●●●●●●.....LIFE.....●●●●●●●●● & This is d perfect word which I say to that feeling Between the hearts in the two souls & Atlast these feel makes a LIFE between d two souls & I BELIEVE IN IT

I wasn’t thinking of the Viet Nam War but war in general; in particular, how a war forces you to become like your enemy. Hitler had once said that the true victory of the Nazis would be to force its enemies, the United States in particular, to become like the Third Reich—i.e. a totalitarian society—in order to win. Hitler, then, expected to win even in losing. As I watched the American military‐industrial complex grow after World War Two I kept remembering Hitler’s analysis, and I kept thinking how right the son of a bitch was. We had beaten Germany, but both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were getting more and more like the Nazis with their huge police systems every day. Well, it seemed to me there was a little wry humor in this (but not much). […] Look what we had to become in Viet Nam just to lose, let alone to win; can you imagine what we’d have had to become to win? Hitler would have gotten a lot of laughs out of it, and the laughs would have been on us … and to a very great extent in fact were. And they were hollow and grim laughs, without humor of any kind.

DIGITAL TECH GUARD RECOVERY // THE CYBERSECURITY SOLUTION YOU NEED It’s astonishing how quickly trust can turn into betrayal. I had been engaging with a man on TikTok whom I believed to be a reliable source of investment advice. When my son revealed the truth about his deceitful nature, it felt like my entire world had collapsed. I had invested a staggering £48,800 in Bitcoin, convinced that it would not only secure my financial future but also foster a sense of companionship. Instead, I was left with a heavy heart, grappling with feelings of betrayal and regret. The aftermath was nothing short of devastating. I found myself in some of the darkest days of my life, plagued by sleepless nights, endless tears, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. I replayed every conversation in my mind, desperately searching for the signs I had missed. The platform, the alluring promises, the sweet words they were all part of a carefully orchestrated deception. When I finally gathered the courage to tally my losses, I was shocked: £48,800 gone without a trace. In my despair, I felt that reporting the scam to authorities would be futile; I had heard too many stories of individuals losing their crypto investments with no hope of recovery. Just when I was about to give up, I discovered Digital Tech Guard Recovery. Although I was initially skeptical, my desperation drove me to reach out for help. Their team was not only professional but also incredibly dedicated. To my astonishment, they managed to trace and recover every single penny of my stolen funds. The relief I felt was beyond words. What had once seemed like an unending nightmare transformed into a powerful lesson about resilience and the importance of seeking help. Digital Tech Guard Recovery turned my feelings of hopelessness into a renewed sense of optimism, and I now approach online interactions with heightened awareness and caution. By sharing my story, I hope to illuminate the pervasive dangers of online scams and encourage others to take proactive steps if they ever find themselves ensnared in a similar situation. Remember, you are not alone, and there are invaluable resources, like Digital Tech Guard Recovery, available to assist you in reclaiming what you have lost. WhatsApp: + 1 ( 4 4 3 ) 8 5 9 - 2 8 8 6 Email @ d i g i t a l t e c h g u a r d . c o m Website link: d i g i t a l t e c h g u a r d . c o m

SUPPORT GROUP FOR CYPTO FRAUD VICTIMS - FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER As a military woman, I’ve been trained to stay alert and think tactically, but nothing prepared me for the emotional and financial ambush I experienced online. It started innocently enough. While stationed overseas, I connected with someone on social media who claimed to be a successful crypto trader. He was charismatic, well-spoken, and incredibly supportive. Over the course of several months, he built my trust. He didn’t rush anything. We talked almost every day about life, service, family, and eventually, finances. He made me feel seen and understood, and I truly began to believe there could be a future with him. He slowly introduced me to his world of crypto investing. At first, I was skeptical. But he showed me a platform where he said he made consistent profits, even offering to help me get started. I watched my investment appear to grow rapidly on the site. It looked real. It felt real. Encouraged by what I saw and the bond I thought we had, I invested more and more until I’d put in a total of $250,000. It was everything I had saved. Then one day, he vanished. No calls. No messages. The platform stopped working. My heart sank. I knew I’d been scammed. I felt betrayed, embarrassed, and helpless. I might be tough in uniform, but behind the screen, I was just a woman who’d been deceived. That’s when I found FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER. From the first call, they treated me with respect and urgency. Their team got to work immediately. They were able to trace the funds through 12 different crypto wallets, following a digital trail most would never find. Eventually, they tracked the money to a real exchange account, one that the scammer had linked to his identity. That mistake cost him.Thanks to FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER expertise, $187,000 of my stolen funds were recovered before they could be laundered or hidden. They worked with international authorities and the exchange to freeze the assets in time. I’m still healing, but I’m no longer a silent victim. I’m speaking out because if it happened to me, a woman in the military, it could happen to anyone. Don’t stay silent. There’s help out there. FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER gave me a second chance. For help W H A T S A P P: +1 8 0 2 9 5 2 3 4 7 0 EmaIL F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M OR S U P P O R T @ F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M

NEED A TRUSTED EXPERT FOR BITCOIN RECOVERY - HIRE FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER Discovering that a trusted colleague had illicitly accessed my Bitcoin account and transferred $40,000 worth of bitcoins was a devastating blow. It obliterated the trust I had placed in them and left me feeling vulnerable and betrayed. However, in the face of this adversity, I sought assistance from FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER to reclaim control over my finances and hold the perpetrators accountable for their nefarious actions. The first step in my recovery journey was to engage with the FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER platform, a comprehensive tool meticulously designed to address a myriad of online security concerns. Its user-friendly interface and intuitive features made it accessible, even for someone like me with limited technical expertise. With determination and a sense of urgency, I navigated the platform to initiate the process of recovering my Bitcoin account. FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER sophisticated algorithms and extensive network scanning capabilities proved invaluable in my quest for justice. The platform meticulously combed through online records and transaction histories, leaving no stone unturned in identifying the perpetrator and tracing the stolen bitcoins. Through its thorough analysis, I gained critical insights into the extent of the breach and the necessary steps for recovery.One of the standout features of FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER its ability to provide real-time alerts and notifications, keeping me informed at every juncture. As the platform uncovered evidence of unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, I received timely updates, empowering me to take swift action to mitigate further damage. This proactive approach not only helped me regain control over my Bitcoin account but also fortified my defenses against future breaches. With the support of FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER, I was able to gather irrefutable evidence of the perpetrator's actions and hold them accountable for their crimes. Armed with the information provided by the platform, I pursued legal recourse, ensuring that justice was served. The perpetrator faced severe consequences, including legal penalties and financial restitution. Beyond its role in facilitating the recovery process, FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER instilled in me a sense of empowerment and resilience in the face of adversity. Its comprehensive suite of features and proactive approach to security gave me the confidence to navigate the online world with greater assurance and peace of mind. While the experience was undoubtedly challenging, it ultimately served as a testament to the importance of vigilance and the power of technology in safeguarding our digital assets. Thanks to FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER, I emerged stronger and more resilient, ready to confront whatever challenges the future may hold. If you require assistance, I wholeheartedly recommend contacting FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER. For help W H A T S A P P: +1 8 0 2 9 5 2 3 4 7 0 EmaIL F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M OR S U P P O R T @ F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M

​According to many religions of the world and to the 13th Century Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, hell is a hot fiery place in the bowels of the earth where the souls of the damned burn for eternity in pits of brimstone and sulphur. My own belief is somewhat the opposite. Hell, to me, can be found at the earth’s surface, on the unforgiving oceans of the far north, where storms such as this, and ice, U-boats and dive bombers all combined to create a somewhat different version of the abode of the damned.

SECURING YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LEGITIMATE CRYPTO RECOVERY SERVICE - FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER I encountered Wilson on a travel photography forum a vibrant space where enthusiasts share their passion for capturing the world through their lenses. From the outset Wilson intrigued me not only because of his breathtaking travel photographs but also due to his magnetic and adventurous demeanor. He was articulate confident and seemed to embrace life with an unyielding spirit. Our connection was immediate as we bonded over a mutual love for exploration and visual storytelling. As weeks evolved into months Wilson and I developed a closer rapport. His conversations extended beyond photography to include his ventures into cryptocurrency investments. Wilson described a private token project he was involved with portraying it as a unique opportunity yielding extraordinary returns. He introduced me to a platform called GROWINVEST explaining that it was where the project was managed and where I could track our investment. His knowledge was impressive and his confidence compelling which inspired my trust. When he proposed I invest alongside him in this exclusive initiative I felt assured following his guidance. Placing trust in him felt instinctive. After all Wilson was someone I had confided in over months someone who had unveiled parts of his life to me. Without hesitation I transferred two hundred forty thousand dollars my entire savings into what I believed was a legitimate collective investment managed through GROWINVEST .My messages went unanswered no updates arrived. The GROWINVEST website he introduced me to abruptly went offline. The harsh reality dawned upon me I had fallen victim to a deceitful scheme orchestrated by someone I trusted. I was shattered not only financially but emotionally as well. I felt betrayed isolated and vulnerable. Unsure where to turn I eventually discovered FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER. Their team handled my case with professionalism and urgency. Employing Crypto forensics they meticulously traced the flow of my funds identified the fraudulent wallet network and collaborated with an international exchange to initiate legal proceedings. Within a mere two weeks they successfully recovered one hundred sixty two thousand dollars. I did not reclaim the entirety of my investment I regained control and a renewed sense of hope. I lost Wilson’s trust but found FUNDS RETRIEVER ENGINEER that recovered my funds. For help W H A T S A P P: +1 8 0 2 9 5 2 3 4 7 0 EmaIL F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M OR S U P P O R T @ F U N D S R E T R I E V E R [@] E N G I N E E R. C O M

Of the entire gamut of reforms proposed by Gorbachev, glasnost really did work and rapidly changed everything. Unlike everything else, to achieve it, you didn't have to do anything; you had only not to do anything. You hade to not prohibit, not censor, not dismiss journalists for articles they wrote. Stories began appearing in the press that made you wonder how they ever got published. It soon became clear that writing the truth was actually profitable: you were not kicked out of your job, no "administrative conclusions" were drawn, you became wildly popular, and the circulations of publications you worked for went through the roof. The ideological dam had begun to crack, and although the Soviet leaders tried desperately to shore it up, they couldn't. The news that a program had been removed from the national television channel's schedule provoked instant fury, as if these very protesters had not been living a year previously in a country where censorship was total...From 1987 onward the U.S.S.R. moved rapidly toward winning the world championship for free speech. The realization that you no longer went to prison for anything you said so delighted everyone that people tried to make up for the preceding seventy years lost to censorship. In October 1987 the national channel began airing Vzglyad (Viewpoint), which came to mean everything to me....Young presenters, also unlike the standard officious old codgers, covered a wide variety of news stories and discussed them in the studio. From time to time this was interrupted by videos of bands like DDT, Alisa, Kino, and Nautilus Pompilius. Seeing rock musicians with their socially relevant and often anti-Soviet songs on national television was fantastic. This was no longer a crack in the dam of censorship, but more like seeing it under fire from heavy artillery....For four years, Vzglyad was unquestionably the most popular broadcast in the Soviet Union. Its journalists and presenters became superstars who determined the way television developed. Their subsequent fates have been strikingly different. Vladislav Listyev, the mainstay of Vzglyad, was shot dead in the entrance to his apartment complex. Artyom Borovik, who had become one of the top investigative journalists, died in an airplane accident in 2000; my daughter went to a school named after him. Alexander Lyubimov, the Vzglyad journalist I most adored, now roams the state-run television and radio studios as a diligent Putinite. In 2007, when Putin's censorship was in full bloom, he invited me on his talk show on a radio station run by the state-owned gas company Gazprom. He was as smart as ever, had the same intonations I remembered so well from my childhood, but now was pushing the official line and had a clear understanding of what could be said and what was banned. I looked at him and the whole time felt such an urge to say, "For heaven's sake, Alexander, I became who I am thanks to you and your colleagues. For some reason, you betrayed all that." After Vzglyad, Konstantin Ernst hosted Matador, a program about the movies, every broadcast of which I watched. He now heads Channel One of state television and is a major Putin propagandist. The most repulsive, deceitful reports, including the infamous lie about a little Russian boy allegedly crucified by Ukrainian soldiers in front of his mother, aired on his watch... It seems incredible to believe that most of these people, who were at the wellspring of free speech in Russia, did not just hold their tongues after giving in to the temptation of easy money, but brought the same energy and initiative of their early days to bear as active propagandists of the new regime, foaming at the mouth as they defended acts of injustice and corruption.

On August 21, the Soviet defense minister, Dmitry Yazov, gave the order for troops to be withdrawn from Moscow. The State Committee for the State of Emergency had lost, and along with it, the U.S.S.R. had, too. On returning from his dacha in Crimea, Gorbachev evidently expected to be greeted by rejoicing crowds as a liberated hero. People were happy to see him back, but only as further evidence that the putsch committee had been defeated. Gorbachev's expectation of consolidating his authority on a surge of support came to nothing. All the admiration and support was for Yeltsin and a new government, the people who had taken risks and acted resolutely. This was strengthened when testimony was produced suggesting that Gorbachev might have had a part in preparing the conspiracy, or at least knew of it in advance and, in his usual way, decided not to take sides either with the Soviet conservatives or with the Russian reformers but to wait and see who came out on top. Indecision is a cardinal sin in an era of change. In an instant, Gorbachev lost everything. Once again, as happens during revolutions, something mind-blowing had occurred. On Monday he was, if not the most popular of leaders, the universally acknowledged president of a vast nation, with power over the world's largest army and over the industry and agricultural enterprises of a territory covering one-sixth of the world's land area-and the power to start a nuclear war. Come Thursday, he was nobody. He still retained a personal limousine, his secretaries, and a special telephone, only now no one was calling him. Whatever might be documented in seemingly unchallengeable statutes protected by a constitution and an army of lawyers, the center of power had shifted to Yeltsin, transferred in some intangible manner. Nobody really understands exactly how it happened, but neither was anyone in any doubt that the transfer of power had taken place. On December 8, 1991, the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republics, and Ukraine pulled of a spectacular ruse. Their leaders, Stanislav Shushkevich, Boris Yeltsin, and Leonid Kravchuk, met in a forest in Belarus, where they declared that, since their three republics had been the founders of the U.S.S.R., they had the right to dissolve it, which they would proceed to do. In its place they established the Union of Independent States. From their point of view, the trick made good sense: the presidents of the republics wanted to put Gorbachev and all his officials out of contention and to seize unfettered power for themselves. That is what was behind their action, and to implement it they needed formally to put an end to the indestructible U.S.S.R. Nowadays, people go on about what a mistake that action-the Belovezha Accords-was. One of those publicly lamenting it is Vladimir Putin. With great intensity and passion, he claims the accords was "a major geopolitical disaster." Well, it didn't seem like that to me at the time (and I'm not claiming to be a repository of objective truth, just relaying what my feelings were). It was just one more item on the television news-well, perhaps an item that rated a bit more discussion that usual, but there was no sense of portentousness. If those who gathered in the woods executed a crafty and, to be honest, rather deceitful and devious legalistic maneuver, they were only confirming something that was already obvious, namely that the U.S.S.R. no longer existed as a real country.