Sunday morning music

 

Yesterday, March 15th, was the fifteenth anniversary of my marriage to my dear lady wife.

I never expected to marry, and she had given up much thought of it.  We were both struggling with the debilitating long-term effects of serious injury.  When a mutual friend, Oleg Volk, introduced us to each other via e-mail, we had no thought of anything except, "Oh, a new person.  Sounds interesting."  However, within days, we were phoning each other and exchanging longer and longer e-mails.  I think both of us realized, in less than a week, even though we'd never met each other, that this had the potential to be something very special.

I flew up to Alaska to meet her for the first time a month later.  I took with me an engagement ring, about which we'd consulted and jointly selected on a Web site.  When I left to come home, two days later, she was wearing it.  (I think we blew Oleg's mind at the speed with which everything happened . . . not at all what he'd been expecting!)

Fifteen years into our marriage, and we're still very much in love.

I wanted to select a piece of music that expressed our bond, and thought about my parents.  They met when my father fell on top of my mother in a Birmingham bus during an air raid in 1940 - not your average romantic meetup at all!  He walked her home, very apologetic, and allegedly proposed to her at her front door.  She indignantly refused, but did agree to go out with him for supper that evening.  They had more supper dates as and when he could get leave from the Royal Air Force, and he kept proposing, and she kept refusing . . . until one evening he told her that he was being posted overseas, so if she said "No" again, he wouldn't bother her any more.  She said "Yes".

Almost as soon as they were wed, Dad shipped out in a convoy to Singapore in mid-1941.  He was taken off his ship in Durban, South Africa, to help the South African Air Force solve a couple of engineering problems.  The rest of his draft landed in Singapore - just in time to be taken prisoner by Japanese forces in early 1942.  Very few of them survived their prison camps to come home again.  He went on to be posted to the Western Desert campaign, then the Dodecanese campaign, then back to England.  He was reunited with my mother more than three years after saying goodbye to her.  Despite problems, and realizing that wartime pressures might have led to a marriage they otherwise would not have made, they stuck it out, and were married for 64 years until she died in the early noughties.  He followed her a few years later.

I'd like my wife and I to echo their fidelity and commitment to each other;  so, to celebrate our own anniversary, here's a commemoration from the World War II years.  Vera Lynn recorded the "Anniversary Waltz" in 1941.  I'll embed it here in memory of my parents (may God rest their souls), and for my own wife.

Soppy and sentimental, by modern standards?  Perhaps . . . but just as real for all that.

Peter

I don't normally post on Saturdays, but...

 

... two articles in my regular blog/Substack daily roundup caught my eye this morning.  Both are full of interesting information and insight, and I want to recommend them both to your attention.

Jeff Childers, writing at Coffee & Covid, tells us about "2025’s surreality motif, Trump’s political alchemy, Biden’s fake presidency, Autopen orders, Trump’s Supreme Court battle, and a Trump-Putin negotiation masterclass".  An excellent article with some very interesting insights.

El Gato Malo, writing (without capital letters) at Bad Cattitude, discusses our universities, saying:  "education and research in america constitute a gordian knot situation and such situations need lateral thinking to resolve. they cannot be fixed within the construct that made the mess. a new frame is required."  He proceeds to offer just such a framework.

Both articles are excellent, and I highly recommend them.

Peter

I fear he's not wrong...

 

As usual, Stephan Pastis does a bang-up job (you should pardon the expression) of describing American society in this day and (troubled) age.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version of the cartoon at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

I've heard from a number of contacts in the firearms industry that before last year's elections, most of their customers were conservatives or libertarians.  Since President Trump took office, they report many more liberal and progressive Democrats coming in to arm themselves.  That's not what I'd call a very optimistic forecast for social discourse in America . . .

Peter

A fascinating monochromatic world

 

The BBC's "In Pictures" page hosts regular features with photographs from all over the world;  some from professional photographers, some from anyone who wishes to contribute or enter.  They recently published a feature titled "Your pictures on the theme of 'monochrome'."

Black-and-white photography has always interested me.  As a young man I had a fairly extensive camera outfit, first an Olympus OM-1, then a Nikon system, and did a lot of work in monochrome.  I enjoyed the challenge of expressing what I saw without referencing a color palette, particularly when it came to portraiture and the human body.  Therefore, I was very interested to look through the photographs in the BBC's article.  This one, in particular, caught my eye.  It's titled "A pelican making a splash."  Click the image for a much larger view.

That's a fascinating interplay of feathers, droplets and the surface of the water.  The photographer must have been in exactly the right place at just the right time to capture it.  I envy him!

The other photographs in the article are also well worth viewing.  Open each one in a new tab or browser window to magnify them to full size.

While you're there, check out the other articles listed on the "In Pictures" page.  There are several very good ones.

Peter

President Trump's inherited a fiscal nightmare

 

Karl Denninger points out that President Trump has to deal with US government overexpenditure right now, or risk bankrupting the nation.  Medicare/Medicaid is undoubtedly the principal culprit.  Emphasis in original.

$296 billion in all revenues and $603 billion spent last month; all of which was with President Trump in office.

This, while Speaker Johnson (and Trump) both want to continue this insane level of spending beyond revenues -- more than a 50% deficit last month -- until the end of September.

. . .

Note that Social Security, which people will try to lump in, is not the problem.  It takes in a huge amount of tax (and pays out a huge amount); in contrast Health and Human Services spent $145 billion last month which is more than all income tax receipts deposited from individuals and more than 14 TIMES that deposited from corporations and yet the total deposited from Medicare tax was $28 billion -- or just nineteen percent of what was spent.

. . .

In total CMS has spent $1,030 billion thus far this year or one third of the total $3,039 billion spent by the Federal Government and yet it has received only $164 billion in taxes against that, or sixteen percent of what it has spent.

In addition prescription drug spend in Medicare has risen a stunning 80% over last year's run rate -- that currently stands at $74 billion against $41 billion this time last year while the entire last year spend was just over $100 billion.

Hospital payments are up 20% over last year and physicians payments are up 31%.

There's more at the link.

Mr. Denninger's solution is to enforce existing laws, which have not been applied to medical costs and entities despite having been on the books for years, even decades.  He makes a strong case for his position, and I can't disagree with it in theory - except for the practical consideration that if we did so tomorrow, the medical infrastructure of the entire country would grind to a halt, because no organizations such as hospitals, medical insurers, etc. would be able to take the hit in the short term.

That said, I don't see any other way to avoid it either.  If anyone is dependent upon Medicare or Medicaid for one's health care, they face a very uncertain future, because the money simply isn't there to sustain the current level of care and/or pay for future increases in cost.  It's a nightmare scenario for many of us, yet as the figures show, it's just landed right on our front lawns.  It might be punted a short way down the road by printing more money and spending against borrowings, but that's just reached a point where it's no longer sustainable.  The efforts of D.O.G.E. to cut government spending are laudable, but even they can't touch this sort of deficit between income and expenditure.  An axe has to be taken to the root of the problem - but all of our politicians are terrified to do so, because they know the backlash from voters will be savage and extreme.  They simply dare not do what has to be done, because if they do, they'll be voted out of office at the next available opportunity.

It's as simple - and as complex - as that.  We've reached a point of no return.  A solution has to be found, and one is available:  but to implement it, our politicians have to be willing to "fall on their swords" in electoral terms, and few of them are willing to do that - so they'll do nothing, by default, and pretend that it's beyond their control.  It's not, of course, but they will pretend otherwise.

Folks, good luck with this one.  We're all going to be facing it, and it's going to cost most of us a great deal of money over the years unless something drastic happens.  We should already be making plans to prepare for that, as far as it's possible to do so.

Peter

Heh

 

You know that D.O.G.E.'s budget cuts are hitting the target when you read about this sort of shenanigan.  From Time magazine:

U.S. Added to Global Human Rights Watchlist Over Declining Civil Liberties

The United States was added Sunday to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist, a research tool that publicizes the status of freedoms and threats to civil liberties worldwide. 

The move comes amid President Donald Trump’s “assault on democratic norms and global cooperation,” said CIVICUS—a global alliance and network of civil society groups, including Amnesty International, that advocates for greater citizen action in areas where civil liberties are limited—in a press release. The organization also cited the Administration’s cut of more than 90% of its foreign aid contracts and its crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)—which Trump called “illegal and immoral discrimination programs”—through executive action.

“The Trump Administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances which are the pillars of a democratic society,” said Mandeep Tiwana, Interim Co-Secretary General of CIVICUS, in a press release. “Restrictive Executive Orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks, and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the Administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal.”

There's more at the link, if you want to waste your time reading it.

I'd never heard of CIVICUS, and didn't know them from a bar of soap, so I went looking.  So did Charlie Martin of PJ Media.

I looked at the estimable DataRepublican Nonprofit Financials page, where I found that in its most recent filing, CIVICUS has a total of $10,573,000 (rounded to the nearest dollar) in receipts, of which $7,882,463 — or about 75% — came from the US taxpayer.

At this point, the light dawned. What is the United States' cruel human rights abuse? Cutting back on funding to NGOs.

Recently, on the Larry Kudlow show (March 8, 2025), Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) — always good for a sound bite — observed: "When you trim fat, pigs squeal."

Again, more at the link.

Perhaps we should send a telegram of congratulations to D.O.G.E. for making the world a much more difficult place for those sponging off US taxpayer dollars, and a much better place for the rest of us!

Peter

The "Deep State" appears to have become almost a religion

 

I was struck by the exit of James Dennehy, formerly Assistant Director in charge of the FBI's New York Field Office.  Take a look for yourself.

I quote Mr. Dennehy:  "Semper Fidelis means Always Faithful.  I will always be faithful to this country;  to this organization;  and most of all, I will always be faithful to you."

Follow this link to find an incomplete list of the problems, scandals and failures that have been associated with the FBI over the years.  Has the organization always been faithful to the constitution and laws of the United States?  Is it faithful to them today?  In the light of the "missing" documents related to the Epstein case (miraculously "found" and sent to Washington D.C. after the most cursory of searches), the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, involvement in several investigations and imputed scandals affecting President Trump, and many, many other issues . . . I suggest it isn't faithful at all.  I concluded back in 2021, following the Project Veritas scandal, "The FBI can no longer be trusted in any way, shape or form".

Sundance, writing at The Last Refuge, opined:  "What the Federal Security Service (FSB) is to the internal security of the Russian state; so too is the FBI in performing the same function for the U.S. federal government.  The FBI is a U.S. version of the Russian “State Police”; and the FBI is deployed -almost exclusively - to attack domestic enemies of those who control government."

With those perspectives in mind, re-examine the video clip above showing Mr. Dennehy's exit from the Bureau.  He's relaxed, proud of his service, loyal to his Bureau and the people working there.  There's not a scintilla of evidence that he was in any way ashamed of or embarrassed about withholding evidence from the Attorney-General of the United States, despite the fact she had officially demanded that all such evidence be turned over to her.  He disobeyed not only her orders, but also those of the newly-appointed Director of the FBI.  One looks in vain for any expressed or displayed loyalty to them - but one doesn't find it.  All one sees is an attitude that seems to say, "I have kept the faith with all of you who, like me, disagree with the political order in Washington D.C. today.  Make sure you keep it from now on - and I'll be around to give you every support I can from outside the Bureau."  Judging from the applause and the expressions on the faces of his former colleagues, many of them agree with him.

This is what the Deep State is all about.  Its leaders, staffers and denizens actually believe in the Deep State more than they believe in the United States of America and/or its constitution and laws.  To their mind, they're the ones in the right.  President Trump and his duly appointed office-holders are not.  They're outsiders, enemies to be ignored whenever possible and endured for as long as necessary, until they can arrange to throw them out of office and bring the "right" politicians into power once more.

How many other James Dennehy's are there in high office in the Executive Branch of the United States government?  How many more are "true believers" in what they've built up over the years, to the extent that they're willing to defy the duly elected leaders of the nation?  How many are willing to ignore the choice of the electorate, and work against those who were elected?  And how can they possibly justify such attitudes and actions when they are diametrically opposed to their duty?

The oath of office upon entering into Federal employment reads as follows:

"I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Did Mr. Dennehy "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution?  Did he "well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office" he held?  I submit that his summary termination suggests he did not . . . yet he doesn't seem to see it that way at all.  He's proud of his service.  His perspective on those issues must be radically different from yours and mine, because he sees nothing in his actions of which he need be ashamed - despite open disobedience to the orders of his superiors.

That's what we're facing in the Deep State.  Its followers are convinced - they believe, and their belief cannot be shaken - that they're right.  We're wrong.  We're the enemy, as far as they're concerned.  They're what Eric Hoffer would have called "True Believers".  Theirs is an almost irrational belief in the sanctity of their own rightness and our wrongness, an almost religious blindness to any other perspective.  That's what President Trump, Elon Musk and their colleagues are fighting against right now.

What do you think, dear readers?  Am I overstating the case?  Let us know in Comments - and also consider what it's going to take to convert those "true believers" into what they should be, supporters of the constitution and laws of this country.  Is that even possible any more? . . . because if it isn't, schism will be the inevitable result, with all the chaos and tragedy that may involve.

Peter

This is long overdue!

 

I'm 100% behind this request.

Concerned Catholics are asking the DOJ to look into the actions of multiple Catholic related individuals and entities and their relationship and actions in response to government funding.

. . .

Prominent Catholics ... have sent the following letter to Vice President JD Vance:

<snip>

Many Catholics believe the USCCB, Catholic dioceses, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, and all NGOs that have received government funding through the Catholic Church must make a full disclosure of how the funds were used. For example, it was reported that the Diocese of Fort Worth, TX, which has received over 1 billion dollars in federal funding, partnered with the Islamic Circle of North America that has ties with terrorist organizations.

Although the USCCB has argued that it has used federal funds primarily to help resettle vetted refugees and immigrants, one wonders if the USCCB exercised due diligence in respect to those whom they settled. How many illegal immigrants did they assist? Did any of the funds end up in the hands of cartels who are involved in criminal behavior such as sex trafficking and the smuggling of Fentanyl? What did they do to protect vulnerable children and women?

In fact, most faithful Catholics are happy that it seems that USAID will no longer be using the USCCB to help settle refugees and immigrants. It grieves us a great deal to suggest that the Church cannot be trusted, but we fear that is the case.

There's more at the link.

As regular readers will know, I served the Catholic Church as a priest and chaplain for several years, until the American bishops' abysmal, immoral, disastrous mishandling of the clergy youth sex abuse scandal led me to walk away.  I saw at first hand how many Catholic organizations had become so focused on the worldly aspects of their mission that they'd almost forgotten the Divine.  Some were no longer ministries - merely charities, and pretty secular ones at that.  What's worse, over the past couple of decades they have become one of the principle architects and enablers of illegal alien migration into this country, abandoning what should have been their primary national loyalty in the name of transnational secular humanism.

I hope and pray the Vice President will follow up on this open letter, and do something about it.  If you'd like to add your name to the list of people seeking intervention, you can sign a petition here.  I've already added my name.

Hmmm . . . could we camouflage Elon Musk and a few of his D.O.G.E. assistants in cassocks, and sneak them into the next meeting of the Bishops, to penetrate their computer network and see what they've been up to?  It might cause an unholy row, but then, right now that's the point, isn't it?

Peter