A few words about the blog. In the spring of 2009 I started writing emails every other week, discussing current events, to about five or six people. I was particularly upset with the new Obama/Biden team. My daughters kept telling me I should have a blog, which, I had no idea what they were talking about. But come Thanksgiving Day in 2009, they told me to sit down at the computer and check out my blog. They named it "The Truth - Uncensored." They moved a bunch of my earlier weekly emails to the blog. And they showed me how to write new posts. So, thank you to my daughters.
From the beginning, the blog topics have included politics, culture, strong support for Israel, and a bunch of personal posts about me. A popular post was "Lessons From My Childhood," posted July 22, 2017. One of my favorite personal ones was "Growing Up In 1961," posted July 10, 2022. That was followed by "Growing Up In 1971," then 1981, 1991 and 2001. I've yet to do 2011 and 2021.
I'd like to say that the new year started off on a happy note, but we know that a US Army veteran who became a radical Islamist, decided it was a good idea to drive a truck into a crowd of people celebrating the new year on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. 14 people were killed and dozens were injured by this despicable person. After crashing his vehicle, he engaged the police in a shootout. Sad to say, he was shot and killed by the police. Sad, because he got off too easy. Way too easy. Maybe public torture and execution for such an evil monster, driven by an evil ideology.
On a lighter note, college football is my favorite sport. And I enjoyed watching much of the the quarter final bowl games in the new 12 team championship playoff. Penn State beat Boise State, Texas defeated Arizona State, Ohio State easily beat no. 1 Oregon, and Notre Dame Beat Georgia. In the semifinals, Notre Dame will take on Penn State and Ohio State will play Texas. What is notable is the way the teams were seeded. I noticed that not a single one of the top four teams made it to the semi-finals.
Then I read an article in the WSJ weekend edition discussing this very thing. The 4 champions of the 4 power conferences left in college football, automatically qualified for the playoffs. And they got a first round bye. And they all lost in the next round. The writer discusses that maybe there should be only 8 teams in the playoffs. I have advocated that for years. 4 teams is too few, because often numbers 5 and 6 deserve to be there. And 12 seems to be too many. The oddsmakers also did not think highly of these automatic qualifications for the 4 conference champions - none of them were favored to win their games and none did. Let's go with 8 next year, with no automatic berths for conference champions.
Should anyone be surprised by this story? New York Judge Juan Merchan set a January 10 date for the sentencing of former, and soon to be current, President Trump, in the so-called hush money case. Trump is expected to receive an "unconditional discharge," meaning no prison time and no fine. So then what's the point? The point is that , in New York State, even after a jury verdict finding a defendant guilty, they are apparently not considered a convicted felon until sentencing. So, clearly, Merchan wants Trump to assume the presidency as the only convicted felon ever. Just disgusting that the judge would engage in such political gamesmanship. But this judge showed his bias throughout the trial. And what he, and Bragg and Smith and the others, don't get, is that their politization of the justice system no doubt helped Trump win the election. People did not like the unfairness, the targeting of one man. It's un-American.
Thanks to Israel, Trump will be entering into office with a remade Middle East. Hamas is weaker. Hezbollah is weaker. Israel has also hit the Houthis and Iran. So, Iran's proxies are not doing well. And Assad is out of Syria; but the Islamists in his place do not bode well for that region.
I guess I should say a few words about the passing of Jimmy Carter. He was a terrible president. Inflation was out of control. I realize that cannot all be blamed on Carter. But it was. Iran took Americans hostage. And yes, Carter helped to broker the Camp David Accords, resulting in a lasting, albeit uneasy, peace between Israel and Egypt. Carter is mostly remembered for his humanitarian efforts, especially Habitat for Humanity, after leaving office. But I also remember his 2006 anti-Israel book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." I knew that Carter was a lover of the Arabs. And this book just confirmed it. As far as I am concerned, Carter proved himself to be an antisemite. Okay, I mentioned Carter.
I'll end by thanking everyone for your readership on the occasion of my 700th post. What started out as a simple email to 5 or 6 people, now gets up to several thousand hits in a month's period. I know that's not much, but I've done nothing to link the blog to other sites. Maybe I'll retire soon and expand its reach. Happy New Year, everyone!
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