TODAY

 Today, I'm going to be part of a ballet - The Nutcracker.  I have my brand new all black shoes.  Don't worry, I don't have to wear a tutu - I look so good in my tights. 

 At my age, the Pliè gets to my knees a little and the Relevè tweaks my right Achilles tendon but I can still Jetè and Assemblè with the best of them.  My Pirroutte and Fouttè could stand some work.  Be assured, I'll do my best.  

The Nutcracker story was turned into a ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1892.  He embellished a story by Alexander Dumas written in 1844.  It takes place at the foot of a Christmas tree on Christmas eve.  Among other gifts, a little girl is given a Nutcracker doll.  In her dreams that night, the nutcracker comes to life and leads a battle against the Mouse King.  After the battle, they take a trip through the enchanted Land of Snow to the magical Kingdom of Sweets. There, they are met by the Sugar Plum Fairy and all her dancing friends.  You'll have to guess my part.

SON DAY

 Don't forget what this season is all about.  CHRISTmas

NEWS OF THE WEEK

 All the wars in the world are still raging.  Russia has seized the offensive in Ukraine as Winter sets in.  Ukraine took out a real bad man in Moscow.  They are just left with poking the bear.  

Everybody's calling for ceasefires in the Middle East but Israel is squeezing the last Hamas fighters in south Gaza.  They also, struck back mightily at the Houthi in Yemen for firing missiles toward Jerusalem.  Stay tuned.

People in New Jersey are still spending nights watching the lights in the sky.  Pretty sure most of the drones belong to our government with a few pranksters thrown in.  The games people play.

For the first time in a decade, the obesity rate in the U.S. went down last year - just a teensy bit.  I did not help the average.  Diabetes is taking a hit as a secondary result.

The top musical album of 2024 as adjudged by a bunch of "experts" is Brat by Charli XCX.  Best I can tell, she is a British pop-rocker.  Was Taylor too busy at Chiefs' football games to make an album?

Travis Hunter, a two-way star from Colorado won the Heisman Trophy.  He started his football career at Jackson State and then followed his coach, Deion Sanders, to the Buffalos.  He'll probably just play defense in the pros.

The Bengals beat the lowly Tennessee Titans last Sunday.  Joe Burrow made news when lip-readers read his disgust with the team's play. Now he can't hide where he lives, who he employees and what he says to his coach.  It's a tough  life, batman.

Two of Japan's major auto-makers are in merger talks.  Honda and Nissan together could be a real force in that industry.  Throw in Mitsubishi and Japan will be like the U.S. once was.  

The stock market was rolling along nicely toward the end of the year when FED Chairman, Jerome Powell, in his quarterly report, mentioned that they may not have as many interest rate reductions next year as previously thought.  The DOW fell a thousand points while he was still talking.  Don't worry.

Tik Tok is going to get it's case before our Supreme Court.  In January, the Court will hear argument for and against requiring it to close up business in the USA or sell it's ownership to a US company.  It is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company and some fear that the information it gleans from it's users is a national security issue.  Tik Tok is counting on our First Amendment to protect it.  

The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament held for the second time this year.  Did very many notice?  Gambling is going to control sports - if it doesn't already.

Trump's gang got themselves involved in the House of Representatives' attempt at new spending legislation.  The government could get shut down this weekend.  I really feel for those reps who might not get their salary increased as they hoped.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 I've decided that I can't depend on readers to answer questions, so I'm doing it myself.  

Question of the day:  In which location have the most people been killed in the last eight months?  Ukraine/Russia or Israel/Gaza/Lebanon/Yemen/Jorden or Syria/Iraq/Iran?  

Answer of the day:  Those are bad situations for sure but there is another that we seem to ignore.  Sudan is an African country a little smaller than Mexico with a population of about 50 million.  Civil war broke out there in April of last year.  In that time, 11 million people have been displaced; driven out of their homes.  No one knows exactly how many people have been killed in the fighting but the U.S. envoy estimated last May that the death toll was over 150,000 civilians.  In addition, because of the displacements amid the war, deaths from diseases and starvation are exploding.  

What are we going to do about the NEWS?

WISDOM

 How pretentious of me to have entries in which I project some wisdom.  I assure you it is all borrowed from wiser people than me.

Have you heard of "ghost guns"?  You will.  The United Health Care CEO was killed with one; a 9mm semi-auto pistol.  These guns have no serial number because they are built by buyers from kits.  Some parts are made by printing machines; they are almost impossible to trace. 

Have you heard of a church?  If you think a church is "a hotel for the holy," you missed the point.  Think of it as a "hospital for sinners."   My guess is that includes you!

Remember, there is sometimes a very fine line between numerator and denominator.  I know my math!

MIDWEEK PRAYER

A Christmas Prayer before Dinner

Heavenly Father, 

We gather on this special day to praise and thank you.   We thank you, today, for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate.

Bless this food before us, and may it nourish our bodies and fill our hearts with joy.  We are thankful for the love and warmth of family and friends gathered here.  

As we share this food, help us remember the true reason for this season—the love, hope, and salvation that Jesus brings into our lives.  May the gifts we exchange remind us of the great gift You have given us.  In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. 

WONDERING

 Last Tuesday, I wrote under this same title, Wondering, about the statistic that says if you are over 65 and suffer a fall, chances are that you will die in the next year.  Before the week was out, Nancy Pelosi suffered a fall in Europe.  She is well over 65.  I wonder if her life insurance is paid up.  Just wondering.

I read an article by some scientists who are working with apes.  The jungle animals - real apes, not King Kong - but yes, big monkeys.  Anyway, they are teaching them to communicate with people - real people using sign language.  Well, I shouldn't have said 'communicate' because that's the point of my message here.  They have taught a bunch of apes to understand sign language and to respond with sign language.  It's kinda creepy but it is what it is.  So we ask them a question and they answer with sign language.  Get the picture.  They're getting really good at it.  But, no matter how hard the handlers try, they cannot get the apes to ask a question.  They have gotten good at answering, they can carry on a conversation but they never ask a question.  The scientists now believe the apes will never learn to ask a question. They are not inquisitive.  I'm wondering if there are people like that.  Our children learn to ask questions at an early age.  "Why mommy?"  Learning comes from asking questions.  Do you ask questions?  Did you ask questions in school?  Except for some wise guys, the smart kids were the ones asking questions.  To learn is animal - to ask is only human.  To learn the most, be inquisitive.  Never be embarrassed to ask a question; the apes don't but smart people do.  I'm wondering if some people will start asking me what I'm doing here.

CHAIRS

Have you seen a picture of the Last Supper with Jesus and his Apostles sitting around a table and breaking bread?  I'm sure you have.  Well, don't believe it. The custom at the time was to "recline at table".  There may have been some pillows on the floor but almost certainly not chairs.  If there was a table, it was only a few inches off the floor.

Leonardo Da Vinci's famous work depicting a long table with chairs is what a person would expect at the time he made the painting in the late 15th century -  not 33 AD.  Chairs were not commonly found in homes until the Middle Ages (5th - 15th centuries).   

Chairs were first made for Kings and other royalty. The Chair was a sign of one's power and dignity.  There was usually only one chair in a castle or a building of government like the Roman Senate.  Our government buildings and court rooms are fashioned in this manor.  The seating for the congress or common people is called "the benches"- only the top guy gets a chair.

You know, we call the person in charge of a group the "chairman".  Yes, the man who has the chair.   The Chairman of the board. 

Oooops!  We only use the 'chair' on the worst criminals.

Now, do you think the first rocking chair was made by accident?   If you have any other thoughts on chairs, let me know.

SON DAY

 Happy Sunday - it's better than Monday.   

Only 10 more days 'til Christmas!  

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth sunk into a big fat hunk of meet me at the park your car in the back of the lots of candy.    

NEWS OF THE WEEK

10 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

The Assad regime's reign ended in Syria.  Those who are taking over are terrorists.  The good part is these terrorists are not friends with Iran.  These are Sunni Muslims while the Shia Muslims control Iran.  Iran has been using Syria for a pathway to send help to the Hezbollah, the Hamas, the Houthi, etc. and to inflict harm directly on Israel.    It's still a mess in the Middle East but we'll have to see how it all shakes out to see how it effects the U.S.  Right now Israel is intent on seeing that arms caches in Syria don't fall into the hands of terrorists. Can't blame them.

The College Football Playoffs start next Friday night.  The participants were named this week.  12 schools are in the tourney.  The top 4 have a bye next week.  The other eight play to reduce the field to the eight who will play the following week.  You get it?  The games of local interest are Indiana at Notre Dame on Friday and Tennessee at Ohio State on Saturday.   Can't wait.

The New York Mets gave a baseball player the largest contract in the history of sports.  Juan Soto is moving across town from the Yankees for a mere $765 million over 15 years.  Not bad for a 26 year-old. He got $75 m up front and the size of the contract could increase under certain conditions.  Baseball is being controlled by the big city teams on the east and west coasts.  Sad.

Taylor Swift finally ended her "ERAS" tour.  It grossed $2.2 billion.  A movie named "Moana 2" topped the box office take last weekend.  Youngsters control the movie and entertainment industries.

The murderer of the United Health Care CEO has been captured and will try to make a case for his motives.  He's sick.

President Biden followed up his pardon of his son with the pardon of 39 individuals convicted of non-violent crimes and the commutation of the sentences of 1500 others.  There's probably more to come.

Nancy Pelosi took a fall in Europe on a government-paid vacation and broke her hip.  President-elect Trump was named Time Magazine Person of the Year.  Does anyone still read Time Magazine? 

After two years, Kroger gave up fighting the government in order to acquire Albertsons - the merger was called off.  Now Albertson is suing Kroger for not trying harder.  

That's all for this week, Pookies. 

ANSWER TO MONDAY'S QUIZ

 Are any of you into ChatGPT?   My college student-granddaughter is and so am I.  It is an amazing app, AI at it's best; you should really try it.   You can use it for free (which is my major criteria.)  It takes a little practice to get the best use of it.  I asked the Chat for a list of sad songs and here's what I got.  The bot gave me two each for several genres.  

Classic:  Eric Clapton "Tears in Heaven" and Billie Holiday with "Strange Fruit". 

Next Rock/Alternative:  Radiohead "Creep" and Nirvana "Something  in the Way"

Pop/Ballads:  Adele "Someone Like You" and Sam Smith "Stay with Me"

Indie & Folk:  Bon Iver "Skinny Love and Phoebe Bridgers "Funeral"

Country:  Johnny Cash "Hurt"  and Dolly Parton "Jolene"

R&B Soul:  Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" and Etta James "I'd Rather Go Blind"

I've never heard of most of these but they are all available on YouTube.  I tried listening to all of them but it is too sad, especially if you know the background of the song.  

All of the proposed songs are in the comments of Monday's entry.  You can go back to see them. 

My personal saddest is Willie Nelson "You Are Always on My Mind"  I think it is beautiful - but very sad.

Okay, I screwed up with this subject.  Hope not too many of you ended up crying.  Amy's choice is actually called "Christmas Shoes" and it is a tear jerker.  

WISDOM

 DOES WISDOM COME WITH AGE?   IS IT AUTOMATIC?

To some degree, old age does give you something like wisdom.  You have so many more mistakes to effect what actions you take. Hopefully, we all learn from our mistakes.  I can verify that not everyone does.  

How old am I?  The first TV I purchased had a black and white picture.  The first TV I purchased with color picture was used.   I bought it from a TV repair man whose son I coached in football.  (Yes, there were TV repairmen.)

How old am I?  At my first real job, the owner expected everyone to work 44 hours per week. Everyone in the office was on biweekly pay.  (I worked for less than $10/hr.)

How old am I?  My first "calculator" at work had about 75 buttons and a crank.  It really could only add or subtract.  The answer was on a roll of paper.  (How advanced)

How old am I?  I remember when my office got its first fax machine.  It was a miracle.  Instantly sending information.  Soon we got a computer - sort of.  It couldn't do much except talk to our corporate office.  

How old am I?  I have a great grandchild.  PTL

Here comes the wisdom part:

Don't exercise to add days to your life; exercise to add life to your days.  

MIDWEEK PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

As we go through this sacred season of Advent, we pause to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Your Son, Jesus Christ. We remember the anticipation and hope that filled the hearts of Your people as they waited for the promised Messiah, and we join with them in eager expectation.

Lord, help us to quiet the noise of our busy lives so that we may listen for Your voice and recognize Your presence in our midst. May this season be one of reflection, repentance, and renewal as we draw closer to You through prayer, worship, and acts of love.

Prepare us, O God, to celebrate the gift of Christ’s birth with humility and joy. May His light shine in our hearts, dispelling darkness and fear, and may we share His light with those around us.

Strengthen us to walk in Your ways, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to extend kindness, mercy, and hope to all who are in need. May we always remember that the promise of Advent is not just a celebration of the past but a reminder of Your ever-present faithfulness and Your promise to return again.

We trust in Your timing and Your perfect plan, knowing that You are our Savior, our King, and our eternal hope.

In the name of Jesus, our Emmanuel—God with us—we pray,

Amen.

WONDERING

 How many of you thought I meant wandering?  Maybe wandering in a sea of indecision. That's a bad place to be.  No, I'm just wondering if an ad I just saw on the internet it accurate.

A company called Grounded Footwear says on one of their ads that if you are over 65 and suffer a fall, you have a 50% chance of dying in the next year.   Is this just made up or is there some truth to it?

I have it on good authority that about 98% of 70 year-olds make it to 71 and 93% of 80 year-olds make it to 81 and 81% of 90 year-olds make it to 91.   When you look at it that way, I could live for a few more years.  A fall could change everything and be real bad, especially if it breaks a large bone.  Luckily I fell on my head. 

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You can do a lot of tricks with statistics.  Take our government for example.  They come up with loads of statistics and many people take them very seriously.  That brings back a memory.  In the late 1960s, I was selling a product called asbestos cement pipe.  It was a very minor or discontinued item for us and was rarely used then by anyone and never used these days.  Asbestos is bad for you and some companies, namely Johns-Manville, used it in the making of water pipe.  

Stick with me now.  The government has a long list of items that they sample each month or quarter to give an overall estimate of construction product pricing.  Back then, they were using the Cincinnati Enquirer's Business News department to help them acquire this pricing.  My cousin, Denny Doherty, worked in that department and did an article for the paper regularly.  Anyway, he called me from time to time to check the current price of that one item; per foot pricing of 8" diameter asbestos cement pipe.  We had totally stopped selling the stuff but they kept calling for the current price.  I used to just make something up.  Don't bet your life on government statistics. 

What are you wondering?