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

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is as nasty a piece of work as one could hope to find anywhere on Earth. And his third son (he has six, in addition to six daughters) — Adam, 18 — appears to be the metaphorical apple that has fallen closest to the tree.

Considered by some as the most likely son to be groomed as his father’s successor despite not being the eldest, Adam has shown signs of having inherited the paternal evil gene. At the age of 15, a video was posted online showing him beating a Russian political prisoner who had been arrested on an accusation of burning a Koran. Following the incident, Adam received numerous awards, including the title of Hero of the Republic of Chechnya — the region’s highest honor. In Chechnya, that sort of viciousness is what passes for bravery and manliness.

Like his two older brothers, Adam was married off by his father at age 17, and received personal congratulations from Vladimir Putin. In response, Ramzan Kadyrov posted a note on Telegram thanking his buddy Putin, writing:

“You still remain his most devoted FRIEND, preserving this beautiful male tradition.” [RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service, January 16, 2026.]

I prefer not to speculate on the precise meaning of “this beautiful male tradition.” But whatever its intention, it was suddenly interrupted yesterday by a multi-vehicle accident in which Adam Kadyrov was seriously injured. Sources reported that he had been taken to Chechnya’s largest medical facility in Grozny, and that:

“He is reportedly in intensive care and unconscious. We do not know for certain what is going on with Kadyrov’s son. The roads to the hospital are closed because Adam was brought there. The car lost control while in motion and then crashed into some kind of barrier.” [Id.]

A different source later said that Adam had regained consciousness and was being flown to Moscow for treatment.

Interestingly, a post also appeared on Telegram from a local opposition movement known as NIYSO, saying that Kadyrov’s car had been in a convoy that “was moving at high speed, car after car, when it suddenly encountered an obstacle. As a result the cars began crashing into one another which is why we are receiving information that there are many injured. But the commotion was specifically because of Adam.” [Id.]

Of course, an incident of this sort always raises questions. And when sources — including a shadowy opposition group — talk about a “barrier” or an “obstacle” being the cause of the pileup, the logical first thought is whether this was indeed an accident, or whether Adam Kadyrov was the intended target of a political attack.

Since the two failed attempts by Chechnya to assert its independence from Russia that resulted in two brutal wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, a more-or-less symbiotic relationship has been established between Kadyrov and Putin. Russia retains overall control but grants Chechnya extensive autonomous powers, as well as financial aid and political protection, in exchange for absolute loyalty to the Kremlin and Kadyrov’s maintaining stability — by whatever means — in the region.

Ramzan Kadyrov, like his father Akhmad before him, is a brutal dictator who enforces strict Islamic law; but there are many Chechen citizens who still seek a break from Russian control and/or a complete change of regime within an independent Chechnya. The political situation is complex and volatile; and if Adam Kadyrov’s “accident” was indeed intentional, we could be seeing the beginning of yet another period of unrest, at the very least.

And that, of course, is the last thing Putin needs while he is still embroiled in his Ukrainian misadventure. So what happens in Chechnya is not likely to stay in Chechnya . . . which is also the last thing the world needs.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/17/26

One of the most popular pastimes in the Washington White House these days — when they’re not trying to find a new hiding place for the Epstein files — is the Sanctions Game.

Using allegations — sometimes true, sometimes fabricated or grossly exaggerated — such as human rights violations and terrorism, the Trump administration currently has outstanding sanctions against dozens of countries, including Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, Belarus, Venezuela, Syria, Myanmar, Libya, Lebanon, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau . . .

Whew!

Then there are the self-defeating tariffs, which are imposed, increased, decreased, or lifted in accordance with Donald Trump’s mood of the moment; the ever-changing visa restrictions; and the overriding threat of military action when another world leader really pisses him off, or he simply decides he wants to acquire another country.

Our own Republican-led Congress and scaredy-pants Supreme Court refuse to enforce the constitutional and legal limitations placed upon the office of the president. But I have to wonder how long it will take for another country (or countries) to decide to force-feed him some of his own medicine.

Because reason and diplomacy clearly are not working. They rarely do with bullies.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/16/26

Better known by his middle name, Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and intellectual famed for his work in linguistics, political activism and social criticism, as well as his expertise in analytic philosophy and the field of cognitive science. At age 97, he is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona, and professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also the author of more than 150 books on such varied topics as linguistics, war and politics.

And he has a face that radiates warmth and intelligence, and inspires trust.

Little wonder, then, that in 2005 he foresaw the direction in which America was headed, and had this to say about it:

“For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.”

– Noam Chomsky, “Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World”

It is a sad fact that often those who are intellectually and morally best qualified to rule nations have no such selfish ambitions, preferring instead to lead lives of quiet dignity. Mr. Chomsky, in his slightly younger days, could have been just what this country needed.

It is our loss; but at least we have the benefit of the wisdom of his writings, if we but take the time to seek it out.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/16/26

From this late-breaking photo, it appears that Donald Trump — looking as happy as a 3-year-old who has just been rewarded for going a whole day without wetting his pants at nursery school — did accept that non-transferable Nobel Peace Prize from Maria Machado after all.

Not that there was ever any doubt.

It’s just a shame that the rules of the Nobel Institute provide that their prizes are also not revocable, because this one has just lost its meaning.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/16/26