For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know from my comments yesterday what I’m talking about today: the deluge of interesting news items confronting me when I woke up and checked yesterday morning’s news reports. I could probably make an individual article out of each of them, but that might be overkill. So I’ll try to sum it all up in one long spiel. Ready? Let’s start with . . .

U.S. Army Private Travis King. Now, there’s a young man carrying a big load of grief. Two months ago, he was supposed to be on his way home from South Korea to face the consequences of an alleged assault with which he had been charged. Instead, he somehow joined a public tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea, and managed to cross the line into the North, where he either requested asylum or was taken into custody, or both. The word from North Korean authorities was that Private King said he was fed up with the mistreatment he had received in the Army, and with the U.S. as a whole.

Did he actually say that? We don’t know. But now, after two months during which the North Koreans have had ample opportunity to question, debrief, and possibly brainwash him, they’ve decided they don’t want him hanging around any longer and have sent him home. We (the U.S.) acknowledge only that there were negotiations (through Sweden as the “protecting power,” since we have no diplomatic relations with North Korea), and that “no concessions were made to North Korea in the transfer, ‘full stop.’”

Wait a minute! North Korea gave back an American captive without demanding anything in return? I don’t know about Private King, but I’d be pretty damned upset if anyone wanted that badly to get rid of me. That’s just insulting. Is there something we’re not being told? Come to think of it, if that is the case, I don’t want to know. What happens in North Korea, probably should stay in North Korea.

Private King, of course, still faces possible military disciplinary action, once he’s been found to be in good health. But what on earth would have caused his extreme behavior in the first place? Fear of discharge from the Army? Possible incarceration? Those are bad enough, but are they really worse than life in North Korea? I’d like to hear his answer to that, now that he’s had a taste of it. But in any event, welcome home, Private King.

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Slovakia. In 1991, I was fortunate to be able to spend a summer living and working in Prague, then the capital of Czechoslovakia. Two years earlier, the fall of the Berlin wall had ended Russia’s hold on a number of Eastern European countries; and when I arrived in Prague, the Czechoslovak people were celebrating the departure that very week of the last of the Russian military occupiers. What an amazing time that was!

But in 1992, a year after I returned home, the eastern half of Czechoslovakia declared itself a separate and independent nation by the name of Slovakia, leaving the western half to find a new name for itself. They settled on The Czech Republic, or Czechia for short.

Both The Czech Republic and Slovakia are members of NATO and have fully supported Ukraine in its war with Russia. Slovakia even shares a border with Ukraine, and has taken in large numbers of refugees, in addition to providing military hardware to its embattled neighbor. But that may be coming to an end. The people of Slovakia are getting ready — tomorrow! — to elect their fifth Prime Minister in four years, and the man leading in the polls is Robert Fico, a Kremlin sympathizer who has blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” for provoking Russia into its invasion of Ukraine, and promises that if he is elected, Slovakia will “not send another round of ammunition” to Ukraine.

It’s useful to note that, in addition to Ukraine and Czechia, Slovakia also shares borders with Poland, Hungary, and Austria. If it should indeed become another of Russia’s puppet states (like Belarus), that makes its location strategically all the more significant, should Russia proceed with its westward expansion.

Be assured that I will be following the results of the election, though I don’t know how long it will take to receive the final tally. But stay tuned — this one’s important.

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Nagorno-Karabakh. Oy! This little enclave has a long, bloody history; but as briefly as possible, I can tell you that it’s an area geographically located inside the borders of Azerbaijan with an estimated 95% ethnic Armenian population. There has been back-and-forth killing of Armenians and Azerbaijanis for decades, and in the latest battle, Azerbaijan won. Every single Armenian in Nagorno-Karabakh is now being ousted with only what they can carry, sent in an endless convoy to Armenia, where they have been informed they are welcome. And then, says the government at Baku (capital of Azerbaijan), Nagorno-Karabakh will simply cease to exist. Poof! Gone. Never happened. A tragic end to a very long, convoluted story. For you history buffs out there, it’s worth a read to get the full background.

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The Case of the Missing Admiral. I mentioned him on Wednesday, but here’s a quick recap. Last week, Ukrainian missiles took out the Russian Naval Headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea, reportedly killing 34 or 35 people, including the commanding officer, Admiral Viktor Sokolov. But the Kremlin insists he is still alive, and have posted a picture of him seated at a meeting . . . though looking oddly stiff, and with a pillow propped behind his head. Other photos purport to show him in perfect health; but there is no way to know when or where those pictures were taken. So, is he alive? If so, why isn’t he speaking? Or if he’s dead, where is his body? Have we got ourselves another Yevgeny Prigozhin? “He’s in Sevastopol.” “No, he’s in Moscow.” “He’s alive and well.” “The hell, you say — we got him with one of our missiles.” Good grief! I’ll be following up on this one, too.

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Farewell, Professor Dumbledore. Sadly, pneumonia has taken the life of Michael Gambon, aged 82, who was best known to the millions of Harry Potter fans as Professor Dumbledore. R.I.P. Michael . . . or Professor . . . whichever you prefer. You will be missed.

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The End of the World. All sorts of people have made all sorts of dire predictions about this for as long as I can remember, and long before. But according to Nature Geoscience, a study now shows that all the land on Earth will form a volcanic supercontinent known as Pangea Ultima, which will somehow wipe out all the mammals on Earth. (There is no mention of cockroaches, though, so I assume they will once again beat the odds and survive.) But before you panic, don’t make a run for Elon Musk’s Mars shuttle just yet — this isn’t going to happen for another 250 million years. Although I have a bad feeling that we humans will be wiping ourselves out a few million years before that, if we don’t change our ways. Either way, it’s a pretty gloomy prospect for our long-range descendants, don’t you think?

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And . . .

Did I hear someone say, “You mean there’s more?” Well, yes . . . there’s China’s missing Defense Minister (another missing person?!!); mysterious “fairy circles” being studied all over the world (as if UFOs weren’t enough); the denial of Alexei Navalny’s appeal of his prison sentence by a Russian “court” (big surprise!); and — if you’re really desperate for dinner table conversation — there’s always Kim Kardashian’s fake haircut. (I don’t know about you, but I hope and pray I will never be that desperate for something to talk about.)

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And now . . .

That’s enough for one writing session. I may expand on some of these topics another day, but right now, I need to stretch my legs, my back, my neck . . . just about every body part. See you tomorrow.

TTFN,
Brendochka
9/29/23