New Year, New Name

Until recently the "Lunar" New Year was always called "Chinese New Year." Heaven forfend that in these enlightened "woke" times we recognize nearly forty centuries worth of history that is celebrated by the majority of the world's population. No, now it sounds like it's simply the Moon that's celebrating a new year. No basis in historical fact is necessary, as is customary these days with the Woke crowd.

Nevertheless, it's always fun to look up your Chinese (Lunar?) zodiac sign and see what the description tells you. I was born at the tail end of the Year of the Rabbit; I missed being a Dragon by about 72 hours. So 2023 is my year once again. Predictions seem a bit tentative for Rabbits in 2023. Oh well, whatever transpires, I'm sure I've lived through worse.

Even the Chinese people are annoyed at the effort to change the name of their ancient holiday. So, as they say in Mandarin, Xin Nian Kuai Le ~ Happy New Year. 

Go ahead, Wokesters. Translate that into Lunarspeak.

Ready to Rumble

About a year ago, when I was trying to find a way to stream "forbidden" Internet content, I happened upon Rumble.com. Ever since then, my "Rumble stumble" has paid off brilliantly. I'm rumbling nearly every day to find what I have an impossible time finding elsewhere.

From Dennis Prager videos to commercial-free Fox News shows, if you can't find it on YouTube you can probably find it on Rumble. I happened to chance upon a Tucker Carlson Today show on Rumble last week and decided to watch it "for a few minutes." I was captivated for the entire hour.

The show is an in-depth interview with Rumble's founder and CEO, Chris Pavlovski. He is young, calm, thoughtful and measured in his comments, and incredibly smart. In this interview, Pavlovski details how he built his company literally by hand, and how he ensured that it will be impervious to the controlling talons of Big Tech.

Unlike the unfortunate social media startup, Parler, Rumble is not dependent on outside servers. Pavlovski and his team built an independent platform, a cloud-based service that allows those Internet contributors whose content has been censored and banished to have a safe haven to speak freely. That includes President Donald Trump's Truth Social site. 

"Fair and honest" is how Pavlovski describes Rumble's way of doing business to Tucker Carlson. In a year's worth of viewing shows and other content on Rumble, I have found that to be true.

Rumble's success proves it's true that one person can make a difference. I can't help but feel a rumble of hope for the future.

Enough to Make You Sick

I started reading What Really Happened in Wuhan last August. Written by Australian journalist Sharri Markson, it's a thorough investigation and history of the Covid-19 virus beginnings, outbreak, cover-ups, censorship, and conspiracies. The early chapters read like a spy thriller novel; the book is a gripping page-turner.

As the untold history of the Covid pandemic's murky beginnings began to unfold, the detailed scientific explanations slowed me down but held my interest. Markson has uncovered so much information about the virus that has been concealed or buried by multiple cooperating entities--the United States included.

The last two chapters took me many weeks to complete, not because they were dull (quite the contrary), but because the level of US culpability and complicity revealed and documented made me feel ill. I couldn't read more than a few pages at a sitting without groaning aloud and shutting the cover in disgust. I forced myself to finish the book on New Year's Eve, so that I could begin 2023 with the sickening history of Covid behind me.

I'm angry that China will never be made to answer for Covid-19, because the US is involved in its genesis. The whole alphabet soup of administrative agencies on both sides of the world are implicated. WHO, CDC, NIH, and many others, along with the Chinese CCP, PLA and Wuhan's Institute of Virology--WIV--all played their parts in the run-up to the Covid pandemic and in the sweeping destruction left in its aftermath.

What's worse is that this could easily happen again. In fact, it most likely will. Markson's in-depth investigation shows that China is intent on continuing research in how to make viruses more deadly to humans, and they are doing so with impunity. So unfortunately for humanity, there is no happy ending to this story.

The book is a shocking education in previously unknown facts. Markson interviewed many key public figures and behing-the-scenes individuals who worked together throughout this global catastrophe. In addition to many international scientists and Australian officials, her American sources include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien.

Reading What Really Happened in Wuhan is an eye-opening, if nauseating, experience. If you want to learn what actually happened to us in 2020, I recommend you read it. But do so only if you have strong stomach.

God on the Web

There's a new "Godcast" popping up in the number one Apple podcasts slot. It's The Catechism in a Year (CIY) with Father Mike Schmitz.

I'm not surprised. Although it was not a 2022 resolution, I did finish The Bible in a Year (BIY) during New Year's weekend. In listening, I discovered the depths of my ignorance about the Bible, especially the Old Testament. So when Fr. Mike began mentioning the upcoming CIY podcast in the fall, I knew I'd subscribe.

As of Day 5, I'm very glad I did. This journey promises to be perhaps even more edifying than BIY. Not only will Catholics learn about their faith in more depth, the podcast will certainly help to dispel many misconceptions about the Catholic religion among non-Catholics--who are listening in untold thousands.

CIY is packed with content, so reading along is recommended. Fortunately I bought a Catechism about a dozen years ago. Aside from being pulled down occasionally for brief references (especially during my mother's end-of-life care), it's been patiently waiting in my bookshelves. Now it's on my bedside table and getting a daily workout.

We hear and read so much today about the "Nones," people who are agnostic, atheistic, or disinterested in religion. The success and popularity of Fr. Mike's podcasts speaks otherwise. It seems that people are aware that we don't have it all figured out for ourselves. There appears to be a deep hunger for something transcendent, something beyond human beings to help guide us through our troubled times. 

Considering all the damage the Internet has wrought in modern society, maybe these podcasts are God's way of throwing us a bone, so to speak. Check Romans 8:28.

See? You can't help but learn. I think you should give CIY a try.

Accountability Crisis

 …It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Macbeth 5:5

I’ve decided that the most overused and meaningless word of 2022 is: “Accountable.”

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, “accountable” means “1. subject to giving an account: ANSWERABLE <held accountable for the damage> 2. capable of being accounted for: EXPLAINABLE syn see RESPONSIBLE”

The definition indicates that someone specific must be held responsible for a particular outcome. Do you see this happening with any of the ongoing crises for which the word “accountable” is so ubiquitously tossed around? Neither do I.

It's difficult to keep track of how many times this hotair balloon of a word pops up in articles, interviews, and broadcasts. Biden must be held “accountable” for the southern border crisis. Congress must be held “accountable” for overspending. Big Tech should be held "accountable" for censoring news items. Local governments must be held “accountable” for election irregularities. The FBI must be held “accountable” for monitoring parents as domestic terrorists. The CDC must be held “accountable” for lockdown damage, China must be held “accountable” for the Covid pandemic.

Those are merely random samples. On and on the demand for "accountability" continues, ad nauseam, and no one ever seems to answer for anything, anywhere, at any time.

The word “accountable” in today’s parlance now means “blared by the media for a few days until we move on to the next headline.” The overarching strategy seems to be, call for accountability until the pack forgets and/or tires of the issue. "Accountable" has devolved into a chest-beating term intended to sound intimidating, but it's actually devoid of meaning.

For the thorough trashing of a perfectly serviceable word, someone should be held accountable.