Features
Letter from one Russian dissident to another dissident
The April 13, 2022 issue of The Jewish Post & News carried my article, “Conversations with a Friend in Russia,” about the war in Ukraine.
My friend and I have continued to exchange messages about the ongoing illegal war of aggression by Russia via a secure network.
Here is an edited version of a recent long letter my friend asked me to send via email to Russian dissident émigré Mark Feygin.
Feygin is a former Russian lawyer and human rights activist. He also served from January 1994 to December 1995 as a deputy of the State Duma and was the vice mayor of Samara, notes Wikipedia.
In 2011 and 2012, Feygin was active in opposition to President Vladimir Putin, and announced that he was forming an opposition party. Since the February 24, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has gained a following on YouTube, hosting daily discussions with Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych on his channel. I have made some minor grammatical and syntactical corrections to the letter.
“Dear Mark!
“I hope my letter will not only reach you, but you will find time to read it. I considered it important to share with you the following considerations. I developed them as a result of a long – since February 24, and continuing all the time – following the course of Putin’s war against Ukraine.
‘“… this (Putin’s lies) is not obvious to the Russian layman …”’ These were your words in the New Year’s Eve stream at Zhdanov’s. That’s exactly what it is – for the main contingent, from which Putin’s occupying army is replenished, Putin’s lie is not obvious! This category of citizens has their brains blocked by many years of Putin’s propaganda. But it is necessary to make sure that Putin’s lies, his real war crimes and crimes against his own people become obvious even to the most recent idiots in this country! We need replacement drivers in their primitive and zombied brains.
“Why is it important to do this now, and not wait until Putin is somehow demolished and his accomplices, remaining in power, begin to explain to the masses that the dwarf ‘turned out to be not a father, but a bitch’ (as Andrey Piontkovsky voiced this scenario).
“This must be done now, in the midst of the war; because the doubts sown in the brains of marginals deformed by Putin’s propaganda is a real mechanism for influencing their motivation. This is a real mechanism to reduce the ranks of creatures ready to become consumables in Putin’s occupying army. The more degenerates join the ranks of the occupying army, the longer the war will last, the longer the torment of Ukrainians will continue, the more destruction there will be in Ukraine, the longer the maniac will be able to continue his terrorist activities. Therefore, it is important to reduce their ranks and change their motivation.
“The human psyche is a plastic material, an easily induced substance, but in order to reorient it, it must be acted upon. Putin’s propagandists, for their part, make an active direct impact on the brains of this redneck mass (and very effectively), but there is no counter-influence on this contingent.
“Clever verbose analytical streams of opposition bloggers and experts do not solve the problem of suppressing the drivers operating in the heads of this category of the population. They do not hear and do not listen to these clever arguments.
Here, Kiriyenko calls on the masses to make this real terrorist war the people’s war…. And, who is calling the Russian layman to the people’s war against Putin and his occupation regime?
Some of the citizens come to understand the realities themselves. But the majority in this demographic cohort won’t make it on its own. If such appeals are heard, then (it must be done) in the verbose context of analytical reasoning and assessments.
“But in this format, these appeals will not pierce the brains of idiots. They must be broken through with short and sharply directed formulations – directly calling Putin the only enemy of their homeland, of their nation.
“Cattlemass, which includes representatives of all social categories of citizens, does not care about the suffering of Ukrainians. On the contrary, they rejoice at this because they have already had hammered into their heads that their enemies have settled in Ukraine, and Putin is their protector. These deformed brains cannot be reoriented by clever reasoning and revelations.
“They need to briefly and clearly drive other formulas into their minds: that Putin is an enemy of the Russian (their) people; that Putin has plundered their country and is now finally destroying it; that Putin is an enemy of Russia, destroying the population of their country, exterminating them; that Putin is depriving their children and grandchildren of a future in this country; that each of their volleys in Ukraine is a volley that destroys their own country; that those who serve Putin are traitors to their country and there will be punishment for this; that Putin in power in Russia is Hitler’s revenge for the defeat in the Second World War, etc. – that Putin must be destroyed in order to save Russia and restore a normal life in their country for themselves.
“Your own shirt is closer to the body” and this should be emphasized in the information war. For them, these formulas should sound short, repeated and continuous. Otherwise, the majority will not reach.
“The lamentations of some well-known anti-Putin and anti-Russian bloggers-journalists that ‘Russians are genetically predetermined slaves’ are not just stupid and unfair (remember how the people rose in Khabarovsk, at least) – they are harmful, because they only help Putin’s mafia to consolidate the rednecks around Putin and use them as an instrument of his crimes.
“For the benefit of the cause of victory over Putin’s evil, it is necessary to reprogram these deformers as far as possible, in all possible ways, right now. Seeds of doubt can only germinate if they are thrown into the ground. Otherwise no.
“There is such a formula: “If a person is told every day that he is a donkey, he will soon scream like a donkey!’
“This is how the human psyche works. Putin’s propaganda actively and aggressively uses this principle, it is built on this. And it gives results, as we all see. And yet there is no effective counteraction to this in the information war! The situation in the information field is similar to the situation in the real war on the combat front, where the defenders of Ukraine are forced (so far) to respond to massive shelling by the occupiers only by shooting down missiles in their skies and destroying the occupiers within their own territory.
“In the information war, Putin’s people are persecuting lies, but by a method that affects simple brains. They aggressively stigmatize the victims of their aggression as ‘Nazis’, attribute all their own crimes to the victims, inspire their inhabitants that this is a holy war for the ‘defense of the Russian world’, etc. In the brains of Russian inhabitants (in very many) induced by Putin’s propaganda, there was a merger of retrospective images of the Second World War with their perception of the current acts of Putin’s occupiers as the war against enemies. And, in response to that from the so-called opposition on the information field, only wordy explanations of the depth of the maniac’s mental deformation, endless exposure and ridicule of his paranoid delirium, repeated discussions of his health and the vile tricks of his lackeys, etc.
“This also needs to be voiced, of course, but this is absolutely not enough to achieve a result. Where are the active direct accusations and calls for a people’s war against the occupiers? The information war on the part of the anti-Putin forces should change from debatable and explanatory to offensive and accusatory, calling for resistance.
“Moreover, now the long-winded and repeatedly repeated arguments of anti-Putin bloggers also come with oppositionists (true and pseudo) attacking each other and their mutual denials. I do not give examples, they are well known. Well, what result should be expected from such an ‘information war’? Oppositionists cease to be trusted. The opposition seems to be there, well, at least this, but the result? In the current format, these moans of the opposition can last forever.
“To achieve success on the field of “information warfare” an active, aggressive counter-action is needed. We need a consolidation of all forces, and not neurotic outbursts and mutual pecking. If there is real resistance, it will objectively work to sow doubts in the zombie brains of the bulk of the Russian layman, reprogram them – point them to their real enemy, urge them not to become accomplices in the destruction of their own country. Moreover, it will be pure truth, reinforced for them by what they experience every day in their own skin. They experience, but endure and do not think about the reasons, because they are under hypnosis. There is no anti-hypnosis. There is no massive ‘trench agitation’. (It is all the more strange that it does not exist in a country with such historical experience – let us recall what successes the Bolsheviks achieved with their “trench agitation”).
“Orcs can only be changed by driving other motivating blocks into their minds – that their real enemy is the one they currently serve. There are still surprisingly few examples of such active offensive work on the information front (as Arestovich said – “little, bad, not enough” – that’s exactly the case here!)
“A positive example of how this should be done is the New Year’s address of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Reznikov. Everything is on point, strong and concise. It is all the more strange that “trench propaganda” is not used by anti-Putin informationists, when a maniac and the actions of his gang provide abundant objective texture for guilty verdicts and calls for a people’s war against a real enemy.
“These accusations and appeals must be made not only on some Telegram channels and (intricate, lengthy, often contradictory) on some YouTube streams, but in 24×7 mode, on all possible channels, briefly, persistently, with conviction and clearly.
“It is necessary to use all available modern technologies in order to convey the necessary messages to the addressee. It is necessary to hack federal TV channels and load them with the necessary content (experience with regional TV has already begun to appear).
“It is necessary to hack the loading of advertising plasmas on the streets of big cities and display the necessary frames and appeals on them. (It is technically possible, because there was a case when an amateur hacker put a porn video on Moscow street plasmas). Well, and so on. Do it now, and not wait until after the victory over Putin’s fascism. Information warfare is important as a direct instrument of real physical warfare, but to be effective it must be carried out with methods that penetrate to the target.
“That’s all for now. But, there’s a lot more to say.
“Respectfully,
“Good luck and victories in your fight!
Features
Is This the End of Jewish Life in Western Countries?
By HENRY SREBRNIK “Globalize the Intifada” has been the chant echoing through streets since October 7th, 2023. It was never a metaphor, and we now see the gruesome results across the western world, from Australia to Canada: the rise of groups of large, active networks of Islamist and anti-Zionist organizations.
Jews in the West are discovering that the nations they defended, enriched, and profoundly shaped have become increasingly inhospitable. After the Holocaust, explicit Jew-hatred became unfashionable in polite society, but the impulse never disappeared. The workaround was simple: separate Zionism from Judaism in name, then recycle every old anti-Jewish trope and pin it on “the Zionists.”
We have seen the full legitimization of genocidal anti-Zionism and its enthusiastic adoption by large segments of the public. The protests themselves, as they began immediately on October 7th, were celebrations of the Hamas massacres. The encampments, the building occupations, the harassment campaigns against Jewish students, the open calls for intifada, the attacks on Jews and Jewish places have become our new norm. History shows us that antisemitism does not respond to reason, incentive or the honest appeals of the Jewish community.
Outside the United States, there is no Western political establishment with either the will or the capability to address this problem, let alone reverse its growth. I’m sorry to say this, but the future of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is likely to be increasingly Jew-free.
Today, police stand and watch mobs chant for Israel’s destruction, call for the genocide of its people, harass visibly Jewish citizens, and drive antisemitic intimidation deep into urban life. They now believe their job is to enforce the law only if it does not risk upsetting violent constituencies. This makes Jews expendable, because defending them risks confrontation. This was very clear in the Bondi Beach massacre.
Jews are again donning caps instead of kippot, dressing generically with no cultural markers, and avoiding even a tote bag with Hebrew on it. A corrosive creep toward informal segregation in retail and service sectors is occurring, as Jewish customers report being refused service. A mezuzah hanging from a rideshare mirror leads to cancellations. When Jews express frustration, they are accused of exaggeration or attempting to suppress criticism of Israel. Jewish fear is not treated as a real problem.
“Jews Are Being Sent Back into Hiding,” the title of a Dec. 15 article in the New York Free Press by David Wolpe and Deborah Lipstadt, asserts that the attacks on Jews, including physical assaults, social media campaigns and, most tragically, the recent murders in Australia, are part of a purposive campaign designed to make Jews think twice about gathering with other Jews, entering a synagogue, going to kosher restaurants, putting a mezuzah on the doorpost of their apartments or dorm rooms, or wearing a Jewish star around their necks.
“We know of no one who would consider giving a niece, nephew, grandchild, or young friend a Jewish star without first asking permission of their parents,” they write. The unspoken, and sometimes spoken, question is: “Might wearing a star endanger your child’s well-being?”
Recently, a prominent American rabbi was entering a Target store in Chicago with her grandson, whom she had picked up from his Jewish day school. As they walked into the store the 10-year-old reached up and automatically took off his kippah and put it in his pocket. Seeing his grandmother’s quizzical look, he explained: “Mommy wants me to do that.”
Borrowing a phrase from another form of bigotry, they contend that Jews are going “back into the closet.” No public celebration of Hanukkah took place in 2025 without a significant police presence. Some people chose to stay home.
Lipstadt and Wolpe know whereof they speak. They are respectively a professor of history and Holocaust studies who served as the Biden administration’s ambassador tasked with combating antisemitism, the other a rabbi who travels to Jewish communities throughout the world, and who served on Harvard’s antisemitism task force in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 pogrom.
What the world has seen over the past two years is a continual, often systematic attempt to terrorize Jews. When political leaders fail to condemn rather than merely “discourage” chants of “globalize the intifada,” we are seeding the ground for massacres like the Hannukah one in Sydney.
If each Jewish holiday will now be seen by antisemites as an opportunity for terror, then the prognosis for diaspora Jewry is bleak. There will be fewer public events, more alarms, more bag checks at doors; there will have to be more security and more police. Unless things change, Jewish life in the diaspora will become more sealed off from the larger society.
Why has this failure come about? Confronting antisemitism, stopping the mobs, challenging the activists, and disciplining antisemitic bureaucrats all carry electoral risk for politicians; Jews are demographically irrelevant, especially compared with Muslim voters, with the U.S. being the only partial exception.
There are those who suggest Jews stop donating funds to educational and other institutions that have turned against us. At this point, I doubt very much that withdrawing dollars will have an impact. For every dollar withdrawn, there will be 100 from Qatar and other sources in its place.
Throughout history, the way a society treats its Jews predicts its future with unerring accuracy. If Jews leave, it will be because a civilization that will not defend its Jews will also defend next to nothing and may itself not survive.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island
Features
Canadian Travel Trends 2025 and the Forecast for 2026
Canadians planning to travel in 2026 should keep an eye on shifting trends and learn what’s coming their way in the new year.
Canadian travel has seen a fair amount of change and instability over the last few years, thanks mostly to the country’s southern neighbours. In 2025, and likely into 2026, travel trends in the Great White North have stabilized significantly, with more Canadians than ever choosing to travel within their own borders. And with 2026 nipping at our heels, let’s take a look at what trends in 2025 have been the most prevalent and how these will shape travellers’ decisions and travel plans in the new year.
Canadian Travel in 2025
Thanks to many factors, including politics, inflation, and airline competition, the majority of travellers opted to explore their own country rather than go abroad in 2025. More local travel money is remaining within the local economy, further bolstering it and making it an even more attractive travel choice. Thanks to the accessibility of private jet charter travel across Canada, luxury local travel has increased as well, with more people looking to immerse themselves in luxury from the start of their journey to the end. When travelling abroad, the U.S. is now the least favoured destination for most Canadian travellers, but Europe saw a significant increase in interest as 2025 progressed.
As local Canadian travel increased this year, it brought with it a drive for local tourists to find their own “Secret Canada” destinations. Far more “off the beaten path” trips were taken, resulting in more travel spending going to smaller or more boutique destinations rather than big city experiences. In 2025, travellers have sought out the wonderful diversity in destinations and landscapes, allowing themselves to access more grounded and authentically Canadian experiences.
Canada’s Government has also encouraged and benefited from local tourism, with initiatives like the Canada Strong Pass offering extra benefits. Initially implemented in the summer, but reintroduced from December 12, 2025, until January 15, 2026, this is a ticket to enjoying the richness of their own culture (iconic natural destinations, museums, train trips) at a discounted rate or even in some cases free of charge.
In the second quarter of 2025, locals took a total of 90.6 million trips that included at least some time spent travelling domestically, which indicated a rise of 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Of these trips, 58.6 million were day trip experiences (an increase of 12.4%), and 32.0 million were overnight trips or longer (an increase of 8.4%).
Between April and June of this year, Canadian residents spent $20.3 billion on local tourism, which represented a 13.5% year-over-year increase. When undertaking day trips, Canadians spent approximately $101 per visit. On overnight trips, locals spent around $449 per trip, with an average trip length of 2.6 nights. The Great White North is clearly holding its own, and then some, in the international travel market.
Canadian Travel in 2026
As we move towards 2026, many trends from 2025 will remain the standard, but some will evolve to fit changing demands. Across the board, though, the outlook for the coming year is that Canadian travel will become a far more personal thing, with trips being customized to fit travellers’ requirements and desires more closely than ever before. From choosing a hotel that they feel smacks of a beloved destination in their favourite novel, to taking a trip to a destination just to try a snack that’s famously made there and only there, travel is stretching and shifting for the traveller rather than the other way around.
Here are some slightly more specific predictions for the coming year based on the answers of polled Canadians.
- One Gen Z-led trend is the idea of “glowmad travel”. Beauty and skincare are now influencing the places that Gen Z travels, and their trips are far more likely to include visits to skincare and beauty destinations like spas and luxury stores.
- Gen Z adults are helping to drive another trend: family travel as a way to save money. 345 of Gen Z adults polled say that they would take this route.
- More than 70% of Canadians are considering some sort of mountainous getaway in 2026, specifically in summer or autumn.
- 48% of polled Canadians say they would book or consider a destination thanks to the influence of literature.
- More travellers than ever are choosing their destinations based on the accommodations available. 44% of polled travellers say that in 2026, accommodation and what it can offer comes first, and the surrounding destination comes second.
The World Is Your Nova Scotia Lobster Roll
Choose something a little different when you vacation this year. Oysters are great, but a Nova Scotia lobster roll might be more to your taste! Canadians know good travel, so take a maple leaf out of their book and experience something new this year.
Features
Fake IDs and Underage Bettors: The Growing Problem for Sportsbooks
The expansion of legalized sports betting worldwide has resulted in sportsbooks grappling with a problem that they can no longer overlook: the increase in underage individuals using counterfeit identification to place bets. As more and more ways to bet through mobile apps and online sign-ups emerge, minors who are set on their goal are inventing ways to get around age limits. The emergence of this trend is a breach of the law and morality; however, it is also an enormous problem that threatens the very existence of the platforms, which are forced to rigorously obey the regulations .
Why Fake IDs Are Becoming More Sophisticated
Conventional fakes used to be quite simple to recognize—low-quality printing, different fonts for the text, and inconsistent holograms would make them not very reliable for any kind of verification. But counterfeit documents have changed significantly over time. Nowadays, fakes are made better with the help of printing technology and software, and they can even copy barcodes and other scannable features, so their IDs look almost real.
This fact complicates things significantly for sportsbooks, especially those operating online. Most of the time, automated identity verification systems capture a user’s photo and perform basic data matching. In cases where a very good fake ID is used by a teenager who looks older, some systems cannot recognize the trick. Therefore, young bettors have found ways to be able to place wagers through these loopholes.
The Influence of Social Pressure and Online Culture
Social media is a major factor in the increase in risky behavior that minors are engaging in. On various platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit, teenagers come across betting slips, parlay wins, and big-payout screenshots that are shared, most probably, by other users. The glamorization of sports betting is leading young people to copy the behavior of influencers, older friends, or even celebrities, as they think that it is the right thing to do.
The competitiveness usually associated with sports is one of the reasons some minors decide to bet on sports. For many, betting becomes another way to engage as a fan—by predicting outcomes, challenging friends, and experiencing the same excitement that adult fans enjoy. Unfortunately, only a small number of minors fully understand the financial risks involved, making them more vulnerable to developing harmful patterns that could continue into adulthood. This is why choosing the most responsible sportsbook, which you can discover more here, is essential. Such platforms provide guidance, enforce safe practices, and ensure regulated play, allowing fans to engage with sports betting in a more informed, secure, and controlled manner.
Sportsbooks Facing Regulatory Pressure
The sportsbooks are being given the task of more closely monitoring and preventing minors from betting on their platforms. If they fail, harsh penalties are possible, including severe fines, loss of a gambling license, and negative publicity that undermines a brand’s trustworthiness. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to verify their identities, although this also inconveniences those who are, in fact, legitimate users.
Sportsbooks have to decide between two options that are in conflict with each other: on the one hand, they have to keep the registration process as simple as possible, and on the other hand, they have to carry out age verification in a very thorough manner. The work of balancing is tough, and the underage gamblers are trying all methods to find a way out.
The Rise of Identity Fraud Services
An alarming trend is the emergence of online vendors who openly advertise fake IDs and identity documents. These vendors often claim their products can pass standard sportsbook checks. Some even tailor IDs to specific regions, knowing that certain provinces, states, or countries use verification systems that rely heavily on image comparison rather than live validation.
The availability of these fraudulent services not only empowers minors but also exposes sportsbooks to risks related to stolen identities, money laundering flags, and fraudulent accounts that may later become legal liabilities.
The Consequences for Underage Bettors
While a minor might think that gambling is just a bit of fun without any harm, the outcome can be quite serious. If there is a catching, accounts are closed right away, winnings are confiscated, and parents or guardians, in some cases, are made legally liable for any financial disagreements. Besides that, the risk of developing a gambling problem in the future increases with early exposure to gambling, especially since teenagers are more impulsive and less capable of handling financial risks.
The majority of minors are not aware that sportsbooks keep very detailed records of their activities, including device information and IP addresses. In case a fake ID works one time, using it multiple times will definitely lead to getting caught.
A Growing Problem That Requires Joint Action
Fake IDs and underage betting are issues that have become a major challenge in the industry, and no single stakeholder can solve these problems on their own. Sportsbooks need to enhance their identity verifications, regulators should get prepared for new types of fraud, technology providers have to come up with new solutions more quickly, and parents should always be aware of what their children are doing online. The industry’s rapid development is making this problem more and more urgent because the number of minors trying to get around the safety measures is increasing.
Sports betting can serve as a fun and legal form of entertainment for adults, but the need to protect the youth is what defines the industry and ensures its survival in the long run. As the quality of fake IDs keeps improving and the online culture is more and more inclined to consider betting as a normal activity, sportsbooks must ensure that underage users do not have access and that the environment is safe for all users. They need to do this now more than ever.