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.
“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.]
People Freeze in Kyiv, as U.S. Talks Go Nowhere
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.]
Rustem Umerov
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:
A Yurt Aid Station in Mykolayiv, Southern Ukraine
Emergency Aid Tent in Kyiv, Ukraine
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.
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.”
Andy Rooney (1919-2011)
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”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014)
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.
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.
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.
Nuuk, Greenland
Copenhagen, Denmark
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.
Mark Carney and Xi Jinping in Beijing
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.
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”
Sun Tzu (544 B.C. – 496 B.C.)
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.
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
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)
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.
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.
(L-R) Adam Kadyrov with his father, Ramzan Kadyrov – August 2025
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.]
Vladimir Putin with Ramzan Kadyrov
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.
Chechen Justice : Kadyrov’s Death Squads
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.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 