Let me be clear: There was no excuse, and there is no forgiveness, for the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas forces on the innocent civilians of Israel, which took the lives of more than 1,200 people, with another 251 taken hostage. A proportional response was most certainly called for, and most of the world stood firmly behind Israel and mourned with her people.

But there is nothing proportional in what Benjamin Netanyahu has done to Gaza in the past two years. In his fury to exact revenge upon Hamas, he has leveled an entire region and killed an estimated 70,000 civilians, including children, journalists and aid workers, while also blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid for the survivors.

Peacekeeping efforts thus far have had only limited success, with ceasefire agreements being broken by one side or the other almost as soon as they take effect. And now Donald Trump — who knows even less about the history of the Middle East than he does about Russia and Ukraine, if that’s possible — thinks he not only has the solution to the Israel-Gaza conflict, and the perfect vision for the rebuilding of the territory, but also the divine right to run the show.

Well, why not? After Venezuela and Greenland, Gaza should be a piece of cake. And what’s next after that? Australia? Taiwan, before China gets their hands on it? Or how about the Holy See? I hear the Vatican is loaded with priceless ancient treasures.

*. *. *

But seriously, Trump has already formed a “Board of Peace” — a committee to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza — initially comprised of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, realtor-cum-special-envoy Steve Witkoff, realtor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, CEO of Apollo Global Management Marc Rowan, President of the World Bank Group Ajay Banga, and Deputy National Security Adviser Robert Gabriel. Needless to say, the Chairman of this illustrious group — which Trump describes as “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled” — is none other than . . . drumroll, please . . . Donald J. Trump. [Ivana Kottasova and Anna Chernova, CNN, January 19, 2026.]

Well, aside from the first three, at least he seems to have assembled a knowledgeable group to get things rolling.

But then he began casting his net over a wider territory — worldwide, in fact. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, except for the fact that the first invitations have gone out to some of the world’s most notorious authoritarian leaders: Turkish president Erdogan, Argentine President Milei, Egyptian President el-Sisi, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, Indian Prime Minister Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Belarusian (presumptive) President Lukashenko, and — as the cherry atop the ice cream sundae — Vladimir Putin. [Id.]

It is not yet clear how many of the invitees have responded. But in a statement to reporters during a regular media briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

“President Putin also received through diplomatic channels an invitation to join this Board of Peace.” He said that the Kremlin is now reviewing the invitation and “hoping to get more details from the US side.” [Id.]

That’s right: Vladimir Putin — the man still raining terror, death and destruction on Ukraine — and several of his most ardent supporters are among those whose countries have been chosen by Trump as potential members of his “Board of Peace.” I’m surprised he hasn’t yet invited Xi Jinping or Kim Jong Un . . . or maybe he has and we just don’t know about it yet.

With or without Xi and Kim, I’m finding it difficult to imagine a group of people less likely ever to come to an agreement on anything.

And by the way, those wishing a permanent seat on the Board (as opposed to the regular three-year term) will be able to do so for the bargain price of $1 billion. According to an unnamed U.S. official, all funds will go toward rebuilding Gaza, and “there will be no exorbitant salaries and massive administrative bloat that plagues many other international organizations.” [Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN, January 18, 2026.]

(Note that the official failed to define “exorbitant” and “massive.”)

Incidentally, an invitation was also sent to French President Emmanuel Macron, who is the only one thus far known to have said “thanks but no thanks.” France will not be participating.

*. *. *

Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War”; Donald Trump (or rather, his ghost writer, Tony Schwartz) produced “The Art of the Deal.” The first has stood the test of time for more than two millennia; the second . . . well . . . not so much. But do you suppose Trump might now be aiming for a Nobel Prize for Literature with a new masterpiece, perhaps to be titled “The Art of Owning Everything”? If so, I foresee advice like this:

• Method No. 1: Invade the country, kidnap its president, confiscate its oil and sell it to an adversarial country or countries, stashing the proceeds in a Qatari bank in your own name.
• Method No. 2: Offer to buy the country, insult them if they refuse your offer, and threaten to resort to Plan B, which is disturbingly similar to Method No. 1.
• Method No. 3: Have one of your authoritarian allies demolish a “shithole” region, doing your dirty work for you so that you can then move in, take it over, and — using other people’s money — build a big, gold-encrusted, Riviera-style resort for your billionaire friends to enjoy.

In his best days, even Mel Brooks couldn’t have made this stuff up. But this isn’t satire; this is a real person, pacing in his bedroom, shooting off social media rants at 3:00 a.m., really believing that it is not just conceivable, but totally o.k., for him to do these things.

While the world goes to pieces.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/20/26

In the years of my childhood, that description was applied to the ultimate comic book hero, Superman. In today’s cyber world, it’s the news that travels at supersonic speed, often rendering a just-released item obsolete, or at best, not completely accurate.

Just a short while ago, I stated that Russia was not expected to send a representative to the World Economic Forum being convened this week at Davos, Switzerland. I stand corrected.

According to a news flash that just popped up in my email, the Kremlin’s special envoy, economist and business executive Kirill Dmitriev, will indeed be attending. [Julian Borger, The Guardian, January 19, 2026.]

Whether he will be authorized to discuss the situation in Ukraine, however, is still unclear.

Stay tuned.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/19/26

“We are working with our American partners to further advance the peace process. We will continue to work on achieving a just and sustainable peace, as well as security guarantees for Ukraine and agreeing on the next steps.”

So said Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, following yet another weekend of talks in the United States with Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. [RFE/RL, January 19, 2026.]

Indicating that the talks would continue this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Umerov reiterated:

“Ukraine needs peace that guarantees security and sovereignty.” [Id.]

It’s the same old song — same tune, same lyrics, same imperative to avoid annoying Donald Trump. Same sh*t, different day.

It’s not Umerov’s fault; there simply isn’t anything new to report, because in Moscow, Vladimir Putin remains silent, refusing to discuss even a temporary ceasefire while his missiles, drones and ground troops continue their relentless attacks on the infrastructure of a nation of people suffering through another bitter Ukrainian winter.

Meanwhile, Trump — the guy who pulls the strings attached to Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner — hands Putin a ready-made permission slip to continue his war by setting an example in Venezuela and threatening to do the same to Greenland.

Yet Ukraine cannot stop trying. Because this is their only alternative:

Endless days and nights of death and destruction, living in shelters, fighting to find food, medicine, and a bit of warmth at aid stations — called “Points of Invincibility” — hastily created in yurts and other stationary or mobile tents:

We’ll see what happens in Davos. But with Russia not expected to send an envoy to the forum, all discussions of the war in Ukraine will be strictly one-sided; and the assurances of continued support from the EU allies, while important to hear, will be unlikely to have any meaningful effect on the lives of the Ukrainian people as winter drags on.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/19/26

When I wrote earlier today about a reunion with a couple of old friends, I realized — in addition to how good it was to see them — that there aren’t many of them left. Because they are just that: old friends.

I never expected to live this long. You see, my mother and sister had died at the same age, and when I eventually reached that age, I expected that I would follow suit. But I didn’t, and I’ve already beaten their record by more than two years.

That reminded me of something I’d read recently from the writings of the late TV writer and broadcaster Andy Rooney, whose wit and sense of irony made his weekly broadcasts something I looked forward to for many years:

“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.”

Perhaps Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez had the solution to that conundrum when he wrote:

“The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.”

– Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude”

Taking into account what good, long lives they both enjoyed, they must have done something right. So perhaps I’ll try making a pact with . . . well, not total solitude, but a much quieter life. We’ll see how that works out.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/19/26

I always write my blog posts a day ahead, so although you won’t see this until Monday, what happened actually took place on Sunday afternoon.

I was reminded today (Sunday) — in the most pleasant way — of the years when I had a life: a busy, active, productive, meaningful life. Not just going through the day-after-day routine that comes along with retirement, but the kind of life where you end each day exhausted because you’ve worked hard, and sometimes you can even say you’ve made a small but worthwhile difference in the world. Then you go out for drinks and maybe dinner with friends, your significant other, or a few colleagues from work, and head home for a well-earned good night’s sleep.

I miss those days. But obviously, nothing lasts forever, and I left that life behind me nearly ten years ago. I have kept in touch with a number of my former work friends including my last boss, with whom I worked for 21 years, and his lovely wife. On Saturday, I heard from him out of the blue, telling me that they would be passing by my area on their way to Florida and would like to stop by on Sunday.

We have been friends for a long time, and I was thrilled to see them again, to catch up on life in Washington, who’s who at the office, etc. And as we sat and talked, it became clear that my retirement came at exactly the right time. Because things have changed, and not for the better.

It had already started back then in 2016, and even earlier: the imposition of massive, onerous government regulations; the frenzied cost-cutting to maximize profit for the people at the top; the shift in focus from a friendly workplace environment to a more efficient, bottom-line mentality. Practicing law was no longer fun. Gone was the satisfaction of knowing you had provided assistance to someone in need . . . replaced by the knowledge that you had just racked up a massive number of billable hours by helping a corporation complete another billion-dollar merger.

So today’s visit was fortuitous in two ways: first, of course, to be able to catch up with old friends and recollect those happy years before invasive governmental regulation permeated every aspect of our lives. But also to remind myself that, since I do not have the power to reverse the changes that have taken place in the world, then maybe retirement was a good thing after all.

As another, even older friend said when she called from Arizona last week, she was just checking on a few people and was glad to know I was still above the ground . . . because a couple of the others weren’t.

I guess that — and all of those great memories — are a lot to be thankful for.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/19/26

It’s still snowing, and the temperature is well below freezing in Greenland. But the political climate continues to grow hotter as Donald Trump attempts to pressure America’s few remaining European allies to side with his irrational obsession over ownership of the island. His latest weapon of choice?

TARIFFS.

That is, after all, his favorite word. Still trying to convince Americans that it’s the other countries who pay them — or maybe he actually believes his own lies — he has now threatened a February 1st increase of 10% on tariffs against any country that dares to oppose his acquisition of the autonomous territory of fellow NATO member Denmark. And if that doesn’t do the trick, he said that he might increase it another 15% until a deal was reached.

Thus far, that would include the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands — all of whom have dispatched a small number of troops to Greenland in what is being called a reconnaissance mission. Yesterday, Trump posted on Truth Social that they were playing “a very dangerous game,” and that the very “Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet” were at stake. [Henri Astier and Bernd Debusmann, Jr., BBC, January 17, 2026.]

Quite rightly, the response has been the opposite of what he would have hoped. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Trump’s action was “completely wrong,” while French President Emmanuel Macron labelled it “unacceptable.” [Id.]

And the people of both Greenland and Denmark took to the streets en masse to protest the attempted hostile takeover.

Meanwhile, Mark Carney — Prime Minister of our (former) best friend to the north, Canada — traveled to China to meet with Xi Jinping, where they took a first step toward resetting their countries’ relationship by agreeing on a lowering of tariffs. Smart move on both their parts.

At the risk of repeating myself again and again and again, this whole idiotic idea — aside from being completely illegal — is totally unnecessary. Trump’s rationale is that Greenland’s proximity to the North American continent makes our control of it essential for their (and our) defense against Russia and China. But we already have a military presence on the island, and a treaty that allows us to deploy as large a force there as we deem necessary. And the EU nations are on board with an increase in defensive measures in the Arctic region.

So what it all boils down to, again, is Trump’s neurotic, insatiable need for ownership: ownership of land, of people . . . and let us not forget those precious minerals and rare earth metals hiding under all of that white Greenland snow.

Because that is what it’s really about: unlimited wealth, and the power that goes with it.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/18/26

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher and writer whose definitive work on warfare, “The Art of War,” continues to be cited for its wisdom some two and a half millennia later.

One sentence stands out to me as more than a simple observation; it resonates as a prophecy of life as we now know it in the 21st century A.D., in a land that Sun Tzu didn’t know existed:

“An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.”

– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”

There is such a wealth of wisdom to be gleaned from the writings of the ancients. But we have to be willing to search for it and to remain open to learning from it.

Unfortunately, not everyone is.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/18/26

This weekly column began two years ago as a tribute to, and a plea for the release of, the political hostages being held in Vladimir Putin’s chain of prisons and penal colonies. It has grown to include those in similar situations in other authoritarian countries such as Belarus, Azerbaijan and China; and most recently — and perhaps most shockingly — we have added the victims of Donald Trump’s assault on Venezuela.

With all that is happening in the world, and the unprecedented pace at which events are occurring, it is difficult to keep track of all of the tragedies that require our urgent attention and action: Ukrainians freezing and dying as Russia continues to assault their civilian infrastructure; some 3,000 people slaughtered for protesting the brutal regime in Iran; children dying of starvation in Gaza; Greenlanders arming against possible invasion, not by Russia or China, but by the United States; and an ominous silence from the Kremlin in Moscow.

In a world spinning out of control, it is too easy to push other, older matters to the back burner; and that is what seems to be happening to the original hostages. While it is entirely possible that negotiations may be quietly continuing behind closed doors, there has been a notable absence of news concerning new arrests, or the status of those already imprisoned. It is as though their lives have become of secondary importance.

*. *. *

But we cannot — must not — allow that to happen. So, for those known hostages remaining in limbo, here are their names again, with no reported changes since last week other than the addition of the people of Greenland anxiously awaiting word of their fate:

Victims of Greed:

The President, First Lady, and citizens of Venezuela

Europeans Under Threat:

The Nation and the People of Greenland
The people of NATO and EU member states

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In China:

Chenyue Mao (American)

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
— Oleg Antipov
— Artyom Azatyan
— Georgy Azatyan
— Aleksandr Bylin
— Roman Solomko
— Artur Terchanyan
— Dmitry Tyazhelykh
— Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

Please know that you are not forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/18/26

That is when I will respond to an email message from some bogus organization called “The Trump Kennedy Center,” soliciting my membership and financial support.

But this is what I found in my inbox yesterday:

I can only assume they’re getting desperate, digging out the records of memberships from years ago in an effort to fill those empty seats.

From its opening in 1971, I was a proud and happy patron of a real cultural complex in Washington known as The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, when there truly was “something for everyone.” But I know a fake and a rip-off when I see one.

The day that I give one cent of my hard-earned Social Security “benefit” to a bunch of billionaires so that they can have another vulgar, glitzy, gold-plated venue in which to congregate, flaunt their White male Christian superiority, and brag about their latest tax-free scams and sexual conquests . . . well, that will be the day I resign from the human race. Because I would no longer deserve to live among decent people.

I’d sooner send money to a Go-Fund-Me account to buy rubber truncheons for ICE.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/17/26

“The hardest tumble a man can take
is to fall over his own bluff.”

– Ambrose Bierce

It’s inevitable; we only have to hold on long enough.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/17/26