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.

 

Resolution and Tradition

It's that time again; it's New Year's Eve, that nostalgic moment poised on the brink of a new year that hovers ever-hopeful before us. It's often a time of introspection, evaluation, and resolve. Almost everyone seems to be turning over a new leaf, and not just on the calendar. (Yes, I still use paper calendars.)

New Year's resolutions are often broken quickly; "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," as The Lord put it. I think part of the issue with abandoned resolutions is that sometimes they are either unrealistic, e.g. "lose 50 lbs. by Easter" or too numerous--"start running, stop drinking, read a book a month, take a cruise, organize the photos, clean the garage." As experience has taught me, if we ask too much of ourselves, we can become discouraged quickly. 

Last year I had five cross-country trips scheduled and one international journey. I made a single, double-sided resolution for 2022--to enjoy all my travels to the full and to not worry about Covid. I succeeded, and I managed to do so in continuing good health. I don't know if my resolution was fulfilled by positive thinking, a hearty constitution, providence, blind luck, or a combination of all. I'm just grateful that it worked out.

What's my resolution for 2023? I'm not sure yet, and I have another day to contemplate my decision. I do know that there will be just one resolution, and that it will be something I'm reasonably confident I can achieve.

In my ongoing determination to keep what's good from the past, I'll handwrite my 2023 goal on my kitchen's paper calendar. That calendar is a traditional gift from my adult children, compiled with dozens of photos of my grandkids throughout the outgoing year.

I'll never give up that wall calendar. Some resolutions are easy to keep.

Leaving 2022 behind

Not In the Cards

Christmas cards—that’s what I call them, please deal with it—used to be a prominent and fun part of this season. Beginning as early as Thanksgiving weekend, my mailbox would begin to deliver happy greetings from family and friends near and far. There were often several cards arriving each day, many in colorful envelopes festooned with holiday stickers. Sometimes there would be a newsy letter enclosed, recapping significant personal events in the year gone by. Often there would be handwritten notes on the inside or a photo print (remember those?) enclosed.

In those days, by Christmas Eve, dozens of Christmas cards would be taped all over my doorways. It was not so long ago, as recently as five years past. But those days, sadly, are vanishing like snow in the sunlight. Writing and sending Christmas cards takes a chunk of time, extra effort, and money—all items in short supply in most people’s lives today. Postage rate hikes have not been kind to the greeting card custom. It is considerably more expensive to mail cards today than it was in years past.

I suppose we should feel lucky to receive even a “holiday” text, at this point. At least, we know we are remembered. And there is always the occasional “e-card” in my email's Inbox. But for me, a text or e-card can never generate that small thrill of seeing a Christmas card peeking out from my mailbox. I would always save the daily cache of cards to open last, a special treat after all the other mundane mail was disposed of. Receiving cards was a part of the Christmas magic that today is devolving into yet another “once upon a time” tale for the grandkids.

It is less than four days before Christmas Eve, and I have received nine cards. I’m grateful for every one of them. But each year their numbers are fewer. The piano used to be where I started standing up the cards, moving them onto doorways by mid-December as their numbers grew. But there’s no more taping cards on doorways; all the Christmas cards now fit easily atop my piano.

I, for one, will not let the treasured tradition of sending Christmas cards go gently into that goodnight. I’ll keep writing my annual newsletter as long as I can, too. So, to all my Christmas correspondents, it’s in the cards that you’ll have at least one old-fashioned Christmas greeting in your mailbox. My hope for you is that my card will have lots of company.

Merry Christmas!

Fireside on Fire

A couple of years ago, I signed up as a supporting member of Prager U. I'd heard Dennis Prager on the radio sporadically over the years. His mid-day radio show time clashed with my working hours, so I was only able to catch him on off days or in the car on the way to appointments. He always held my attention.

Prager is a very intelligent man. He is also very logical, experienced, interesting, and well-informed. Prager is also a conservative. This combination of positive traits is a lethal witch's brew to his left-wing enemies, who have been on a multi-year mission to destroy him. Many of his videos have been maligned, censored, and banned. His 5-Minute Videos on the Ten Commandments were particularly repugnant to the Lefties. In fact, the video about the commandment not to murder was banned from YouTube because it "discussed murder." How's that for an example of the critical thinking skills of the media giants managing our lives right now?

I joined Prager U because I think the work Dennis is doing is not only important, but necessary to preserve our way of American life. Prager U doesn't charge its viewers. The Fireside Chat is posted every Thursday, and I look forward to watching each of these 30-minute philosophical discussions of life, love, and our current social predicaments. Dennis Prager is almost always a genial, phlegmatic speaker. He is very rarely ruffled. 

Tonight he was on fire. In a departure from the show's usual format, he had as his guest the CEO of Prager U, Marissa Streit. She discussed with him the continuous malevolent efforts of the left-wing "fact checker" organization NewsGuard to take down not only Prager U, but all of its donors and supporters. Dennis was justifiably angry. Upon hearing what was happening to Prager U from NewsGuard's totalitarian lowlifes, I was angry, too.

Just to decide for yourself--while that's still an option in the USA--you should check out Prager U's website. There's a wealth of content there besides the Fireside Chat. I'm especially gratified by the children's content Prager has added in recent years.

In a cultural and societal war such as ours, Dennis Prager says there are three kinds of people: those who do nothing, those who fight, and those who support the fighters. He is fighting hard to keep America free. I'll do what I can to support him by keeping my monthly membership and donating additionally as I can. I signed the Prager U petition against NewsGuard, too. And you'll now find Prager U in my sidebar links. 

It's not much, but it's a start.

Dennis Prager

Techno-TKO

I've been writing this blog for a long time. Since 2004, to be exact. Over the years, I've been able to roll with the occasional updates as they launched. Until now.

For months I've been receiving emails from Google, which owns Blogger, that I need to "install Google tag." There was some message about "sunsetting the current Google Analytics." Not only do I need to install a new tag; I need to "configure" it. And, because Blogger isn't one of the supported platforms that will automatically update by "scanning the new code," I need to manually "copy and paste" the code below into each section of my website:

<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->

<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-9ZZNZ0WP65"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-9ZZNZ0WP65'); </script>

Looks like fun, right? I'm instructed to insert this code "immediately after the <head> element," which can't be found--at least by me. Need some help? Google's got me covered. Their offered solution? Go ask the other users.

So I've dutifully been to the "community forum" and read dozens of the bewildered comments and questions of other exiled Bloggers who are all totally ignored by Google. Odd that Google doesn't support one of its own platforms, but who am I to question a mega-zillion dollar Big Tech giant? Certainly not a software engineer, I've come to find out.

So that's why I've been MIA for a while, and most likely will remain so for a while longer. I've been navigating the maze of instructions, diagrams, screen shots, pages of Q&As and articles. I'll keep hacking at it until I either figure it out or move to a different blog platform. Stay tuned, if you're patient. Unlike Google, I'll make it easy for you to find me.

Thankful Through the Centuries

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in the fall of 1621--401 years ago. It took until 1863 for it to become an official holiday, courtesy of President Abraham Lincoln.

History recounts that the early New England settlers, the Pilgrims, shared a peaceful and enjoyable autumn harvest celebration with the Native Americans of the area. There are no historical records of hate crimes, racism, bigotry or white supremacy during this three-day feast of thanksgiving for a plentiful harvest.

Imagine that. People just being people together; people enjoying being good neighbors and friends. If that could happen in 1621, why not in 2022? I say yes, it can and does still happen. Despite any attempt to denigrate this uniquely American holiday, today's Americans still know and appreciate their family, friends, and neighbors. We know how fortunate we are to be living in this country. No amount of naysaying can change what grateful Americans know to be true, regardless of the century.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Lifetime Memories

On November 15, 1947, my parents got married. That would make today their 75th wedding anniversary. It's a mind-boggling stretch of time. Perhaps "a lifetime" would be a more accurate description.

Mom and Dad got married five days before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were wed. I'm the eldest of four children, but although both King Charles and Princess Anne were born before I was, my mother had her fourth child almost two years before the Queen had her fourth baby, Prince Edward.

I remember hearing about the youngest British prince's birth quite vividly. My parents and all four kids were riding in the family station wagon, on our way to visit my grandparents. My youngest brother, a hyperactive toddler, was tethered into his carseat (such as they were in 1964), and Dad had the car radio tuned to the news. The birth of the new prince was announced, with the broadcaster concluding his report with the words, "this is Queen Elizabeth's fourth child."

From the backseat, I saw my mother glance at the radio in surprise, then toss this comment in Dad's direction. "She's just now up to four? Oh, I'm way ahead of her." 

I remember that, child though I was, Mom's remark made me chuckle. The memory of it still does. It was a classic Mom one-liner. She had the proverbial million of them, and almost all had staying power. My siblings and I, now seniors all, can rarely hold a conversation without quoting some pithy saying from Mom. If she and my father were alive today, and if Mom were asked how they had stayed married for so long, she might respond "with the help of God and a couple of cops."

But I'm not sure. As mentioned, she had countless one-liners. Even her ten adult grandchildren quote her with startling regularity. In any given situation, there was no telling what Mom would say next. But it was always safe to bet that it would be memorable.

Dad & Mom ~ November 15, 1947

Gratitude and Regret

Today is the Friday after Election Day, and several states are still counting votes. In the 1860s, when votes were counted by hand, by candlelight, and a nation-wide Civil War was raging, we had results for the entire country by the end of the week.

The lack of voting results is a national disgrace, especially in our age of technology. Our vote processing methods are supposedly far superior to the 19th century. Obviously not.

The early voting, mail-in voting, and vote harvesting allowed in some states are destroying our electoral system. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that we have an Election DAY, "which Day shall be the same throughout the United States." We do not have an election week, month, or season. The opportunities this unconstitutional, drawn-out process presents for errors is incalculable.

Today is also Veterans Day, and yesterday was the 247th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Our military members did not serve, sacrifice, fight, and die to protect an unconstitutional voting system. They swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Those enemies include jaded political players manipulating state voting procedures to benefit their preferred party. The delay in vote returns is a direct insult to every American veteran and active military member.

Our veterans are owed more than thanks. They are owed an apology from every district and state still counting votes today. We also owe them a commitment to repair our broken voting system.

Thank you, Veterans