It was bound to happen, sooner or later. With tensions high, and ill-trained (1), heavily armed, masked ICE agents roaming the country, someone was going to get hurt. That someone was Renee Good of Minneapolis, MN, an American citizen who lost her life on January 7th when an ICE agent shot her in the face three times at point-blank range, as she was attempting to move her vehicle, which she had positioned to partially block the street.
In the wee hours of Saturday, 3 January 2026, US special forces bombed military and power facilities in the Venezuelan capital, raiding the presidential palace in Caracas and abducting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his wife and son, and transporting them to the US, where they face federal narcotics charges. A build-up of US naval power in the region, as well as frequent strikes at sea on alleged drug-runner boats and the seizure of two tankers supposedly carrying contraband oil, presaged the military operation on the mainland. Trump has been applying increasing pressure on Maduro to leave office, and has now stated that the US will “run” Venezuela while an interim government is established.
2026 got off to a tragic start in Crans-Montana, a Swiss alpine ski resort, where a New Year celebration took a deadly turn, sparking a fire that killed upwards of 40 people, with an additional 115 wounded. At about 1:30 AM CET, patrons at Le Constellation, a popular regional bar in Switzerland’s Sierre district, watched in horror and scrambled for the exits as a champagne bottle, topped with either sparklers or a lit candle (reports vary) was hoisted to the rafters by a staffer resting on another staffer’s shoulders. The wooden ceiling caught fire, with flames spreading rapidly to create an inferno. Pandemonium ensued, with guests smashing windows to make their escape.
The world’s most-visited museum has had a run of bad luck this autumn, with the Louvre in Paris losing some $102 million in royal jewelry after a daring theft in broad daylight in October, and a leaky pipe that flooded an Egyptology reference library in November, damaging hundreds of rare books.
On December 14, 2025, the world was shocked by the news of the brutal stabbing deaths of famed actor/director Robert Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner. Within hours, authorities had arrested the Reiners’ second son, Nick, for the crime. Two days later, he was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple homicides; if found guilty, Nick Reiner could receive the death penalty.
‘Tis the season, and it’s Year Two of my Yuletide décor rotational scheme. A couple years ago, I realized I now had way too much in the Yule collection to display everything every year. Rather than delegate some cherished pieces into the outer darkness of nonuse, I devised a three-year plan, where I would pick a theme and then rotate these, repeating every third year. At least this way, everything gets its moment in the sun, even if it has to wait for it.
I chose traditional red Santas for the inaugural year in 2024 – in 2025 it’s the turn of white and burgundy Santas, backed up by a display of holly and poinsettia-themed china. It’s been a fun project, getting my creative juices flowing, and I’m enjoying the process.
