‘Tis the Season come to life in the ‘hood

Morning all. Don’t know what it is, but it sure seems quiet this morning. Tonight kids all across the Netherlands will head for bed full of anticipation. For tonight Saint Nicholas will stop by their house either bearing gifts or a piece of coal (for those less than ‘good’). Here, we’ll be putting outside our door a pair of ‘klompen’ (wooden shoes) with a couple of oranges, a few ginger cookies, and some carrots for his trusty steed. You just never know!

Two days ago (last Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021) the date was both a palindrome and a rotational ambigram. Yes, I too had to look it up; but it means it reads the same forwards and backwards even if it’s flipped upside down.

2 0 2 1 1 2 0 2

Trapped — And remember that while we’re having fun playing with that date, at the same time there are still Americans trapped in Afghanistan. These were trapped because Joe Biden abandoned them.

Insight – Since it’s still so quiet, it’s a good time to reflect on this paragraph from a WSJ piece by John Waters of Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, and other transgressive cult movies fame.

”When I was young there were beatniks, Hippies, Punks, Gangsters. Now you’re a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin’ down MasterCard. But there’s no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with a bad posture. Has Wikileaks caused a look? No! I’m mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that ~ John Samuel Waters Jr. on the very sorry style of today’s rebels

Breakthrough — Also on December 2nd (year 2016) was the anniversary of the ACS recognition of the development of Ivermectin at Merck & Co, Inc. in New Jersey (worked on in the ’70s & ’80s). It celebrates a breakthrough in the fight against diseases transmitted by parasites. Shortly after approval for use by humans Merck set up a program to donate the drug to treat ‘River Blindness’ (onchocerciasis). Even while entities such as Dr. Fauci poo-poo’d the use of Ivermectin as an early additional treatment to combat the symptoms of Covid, there is a body of science which welcomes its use. Follow the Science.

Travel – Mentioning Covid and the latest in its string of variants, there has been further lockdown in many a nation and state. Especially places where politicians manage to use it to glean further control over people. Here we’ve stopped travel from Africa. Several countries in Europe, Australia, and Canada have stopped a lot of airplane travel. Will it stop the spread of the disease? No! Will it slow the spread? Possibly.

However, also keep in mind that there is more than just a slowing of a disease which is not fatal to 99% of the population. This from Mark Twain:

”Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts”.

Is Omicron a nasty thing? – Local guru and mouthpiece Willie Cunningham says NO. He maintains that; “Omicron allows the progressive crowd to relive their Good old Days of Lockdowns – Mask mandates – Business shutdowns – Bailouts – Vaccine orders – 6-feet of separation – hand washings – Booster shots – Live Fauci updates with breathless support from adoring CNN anchors. They and Media misses panic!”

New sitcom – Found on the internet was this pitch for a sitcom. A progressive Speaker of the House; “using insider trading gains, retires to a rich Florida community filled with the very people she used to demonize and moralize against, including a former president & top golf pro. High jinx ensues.”

Pilot episode could be something like wanting to add additional staff quarters onto the mansion, the former Speaker has to battle Byzantine permitting processes, which draws the ire of the locals including her hired environmentally conscious bartender, an Alexa Caballo.

Nah, probably so over-the-top unrealistic that it would never work.

Listening – I have recently discovered [and can’t stop listening to] a master 7-string classic guitar player from Brazil – Yamandu Costa. Have a listen to his live performance of a piece called “Porro”

Fini –
• This is day 629 of the “15 days to slow the spread”.

• Our November energy bill was 62.5% HIGHER than just a year ago & 56% higher than the year prior. Temperature was probably a bit harsher than last year, but not 62.5% harsher. Thank you Joe!

• Florida is now the State with the lowest Covid-19 rate in the entire nation. Why are entities like CNN and The New York Times (which touts “all the news fit to print”) totally silent on this?

• Fascism is alive and well in Australia, something I had never thought possible. In Australia’s Northern Territory (an area with few Covid-19 cases) the authorities have set up a voluntary ‘Centre for National Resilience’; a camp complete with barbed wire to house returning travelers and many indigenous residents. People were removed from their homes and then ‘quarantined’ in the two camps set up in extremely remote nearly desert-like areas, Alice Springs and Howard Springs. This week three indigenous teenagers escaped. This caused a massive police manhunt complete with helicopters. All three had tested negative for Covid-19 the previous day.

• October 30th would have been Winston S. Churchill’s birthday. He was that one individual who with amazing fortitude, unyielding perseverance (with a drink or two), and the mobilization of language was a major force in defeating probably the darkest tyranny the world had seen. My High school years were spent at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute and he is one of my great heroes.

• Other heroes, large and small. This nameless guy, just 31 years old, invited his 89 year old neighbor to live with him to spend her last days in loving company.

• A car from the ‘50s which I always admired but never even got to sit in, the Renault Dauphine. Have a similar wish?

• The Salvation Army shot itself in the foot – Wokeness gone amok. It ended up withdrawing an item in their guide following a major backlash, when it asked white donors to “deliver “sincere” apologies for their race and past sins of the church.”

• Missed last week was the Word of the Week. This week it’s ‘Latibulate’ (17th century) meaning to hide in a corner until the situation improves.

Enjoy the Saint Nicholas weekend, then make it a great week. Stay involved. Stay creative. Stay happy. Watch out for your neighbors.

Best till next weekend.

Dirk – lover of Pomegranates