203 Advent 1: Qui Bono?
“Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” ~ Psalm 80
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Qui bono?
In the fall of 2019, during Bible Class, I said something like: "Yeah, but what about this COVID thing? Have you heard of that? It’s like bird flu. But what if something like that really soars the globe and came over here? Can we even imagine what that would be like? I don't think we're ready." Now, you know what you know. News this week is being promoted regarding "white lung" or "coughless" or “mycoplasma” pneumonia as a “sudden” and “worrisome” trend. The story broke last Friday out of China via the Kathmandu Post. Charlie Kirk and Laura Loomer, noted “independent” reporters, were the first to break it on the Twittersphere. It was not picked up by other outlets, but midweek “reports” popped up in Ohio, Massachusetts, and more. Meanwhile, legacy news and other alternative reporting remained silent until this weekend CBS’s “Face the Nation” threw the mainstream into the ring. “But why?” That’s my question. “Why now?” (There are several evident hypotheses being tossed about already, election year being the most obvious one.) And, “Who is paying for the advertising?” Nothing in media reaches you for free. All of it is designed to make money. All of it assumes you listen carefully but forget by next week. I don’t know what to believe about any of this so far as next week goes. But I do know that we’ve cried “Wolf!” often enough and long enough that the damage to communal trust is already done. Now we could have a real pandemic and a real nutritious solution, and half the world would refuse to believe it out of principle. I am not a doctor, but the internet can tell you that "walking pneumonia" is a colloquial term for mild pneumonia where individuals generally continue their activities. It's often associated with atypical bacteria-like Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Symptoms include a persistent cough, low-grade fever, and mild fatigue. Though less severe, it still requires medical attention for proper diagnosis and treatment. I also can admit that I learned the hard way not to listen to people who I cannot hold accountable for lying to me. If it was easy to discover the truth in this crazy end of the age, then everyone would be vigilant. If you could trust everything you read, you wouldn’t be so eager to open Mad Mondays. This is why we are here. MadPXM.com is your go-to source for knowing what we can know, with a touch of wisdom for the moment and little more. WE are in this together. WE don’t want narratives but clarity. And, WE will not be taken off-guard again. It’s Advent indeed. Watch! Till angel cry and trumpet sound, The Mad Christian
The Blitz
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Life:
A few Senate Republicans are considering whether to side with Democrats to get around Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade of military appointments. Senator Tuberville has been using his position to “slow-walk votes on…military nominees” in protest over the Pentagon’s unconstitutional policy to pay for “service members’ travel expenses to get abortions.” Although Tuberville’s critics on both sides of the aisle have accused him of placing national security in jeopardy, the policy could easily be walked back with CNN revealing that barely more than a dozen abortions are covered by the military each year. But rather than roll back their commitment to abortion, Democrats are hoping to woo the 9 Republicans needed to make a temporary, rare, procedural change (as if anything in Washington is temporary!). The standing order resolution would make it easier to confirm blocs of appointees, essentially rolling Tuberville’s hold. (The Federalist, CNN, The Hill)
The Texas Supreme Court has heard arguments against the state’s pro-life laws. A pro-abortion group claims the “medically-necessary” qualification for terminating a baby is too narrow. (WNG)
Sex:
The Biden Administration wants every organization which receives federal grant money to get on board with the sexual revolution or lose their funding. The move comes on the back of the 2020 Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, which ruled that “transgender” is a protected class under the Civil Rights Act meaning employees can not be discriminated against on that basis. The comment period closes tomorrow and can be found here. (The Federalist)
If you need more reasons to avoid Target… After being hit with customer boycotts for stocking “non-binary” clothing back in June, Target has decided to double down, hiring an especially obnoxious trans-activist and adding “diverse” Christmas decorations to its range. (Red State, Twitter)
A senior Pentagon official who was in charge of the US military school system has been arrested in a Georgia human-trafficking operation. The two-day sting freed 6 women from sex slavery and resulted in 26 arrests. Separately, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police has made 70 arrests in connection with anti-trafficking efforts, with most of the individuals “reportedly attempting to meet minors for sex.” (New York Post, The Blaze)
Family:
A Florida family has been awarded over $200m in damages in a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Maya Kowalski, who is now a teenager, was taken away from her family after the hospital believed her mother was falsifying her rare illness. The jury agreed that the “actions of staff” at Johns Hopkins had driven Maya’s mother, Beata, to take her own life in 2017. This case has brought attention to many similar cases of children being taken from their families on the opinion of hospital doctors. One Iowa family nearly lost their children to the state after cocaine was reportedly detected in umbilical cord blood. Mother Emily Donlin said, “The minute that they did a non-consensual drug test on my son my motherhood was removed. I'm the mother of my son and nobody asked me about this test…now we have eight months of the repercussion of this.” (Fox, Collider, Blaze)
Obituaries:
Former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger 1923 -2023. (AP, The Transom)
First female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. (Britannica)
Billionaire, Charlie Munger 1924 - 2023 (Forbes)
Digital Age
Argentina’s recent presidential election has been called the “first ever AI-election” after both candidates used content made with generative technology in their campaigns. While AI-generated content is not too hard to spot currently, experts worry the difference between fake and real will become more difficult as the tech improves. Calls for warning labels to be placed on AI content have been raised in media, while think tank types have called for government regulation, saying that AI content represents a “threat to elections.” (Daily Mail, Context)
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has been busted for running articles created using AI. If anyone cares. (The Hustle)
A warning to parents: Consider who is watching when you share your kids’ lives online. (LinkedIn)
IKEA has announced it will soon sell cheap sensors that detect open doors, motion indoors and leaking water. (The Verge)
AI is being used to decipher 5,000 year-old weathered tablets in languages such as Sumerian and Akkadian. (The Debrief)
PSA: Zero-day fix for Chrome plus security patches for Microsoft, Mozilla, Atlassian, Cisco, and more. (Wired)
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Politics
Journalist Michael Shellenberger has testified to the House Weaponization Committee that a new trove of documents and now whistleblower testimony reveal that a network of US and UK military and intelligence organisations joined together to censor speech under the guise of disinformation. (Twitter, Not the Bee)
Republican Congressman George Santos (NY) has been expelled from the US House of Representatives after ethical and criminal infractions. John Fetterman (D-Pa) surprised others this week by suggesting that Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) should also be turfed out on account of the conspiracy charges leveled against him. (BBC, The Hill)
It may have been a political oddity, but the Great State Debate between California’s governor Gavin Newsom and Florida’s governor Ron De Santis may have been one of the most interesting so far. (The Transom)
Crime, law, courts
Three Palestinian-American students have been shot while walking near their college in Vermont. The young men have been treated for their injuries, but one may be paralyzed. The shooter was a 48 year-old man who suffers from bouts of “depression and other mental health issues.” Families of the victims are urging police to treat the attack as a hate crime. (CNN, The Messenger)
Prosecution against rapper Young Thug will be allowed to submit his lyrics as evidence in a conspiracy and racketeering trial. The artist is accused of organizing a criminal gang under cover of his record label. The defence has argued against the inclusion of the lyrics as being protected free speech. (CBS)
A bank assessor had flagged a transaction between a Chinese energy firm and Hunter Biden back in 2017. The money was marked as being “high risk” and possibly laundered money. (Just the News)
After being subpoenaed to testify to a Congressional committee, Hunter Biden has said he will only do so publicly. He has accused Republicans of manipulating the narrative when it comes to closed-door sessions. (WNG)
An executive from Deutsche Bank has testified that the behavior of former President Donald Trump currently under scrutiny of in a New York lawsuit is “not entirely unusual.” The bank is named as a victim in the case. (ZeroHedge)
Economy, markets and jobs
Money traders are reportedly “optimistic” that federal rate hikes are over for now with future funds responding to the hope that the Fed may even cut rates in the Spring. (CNBC)
Singapore’s Monetary Authority will pilot a Central Bank Digital Currency next year. The trail will “involve the use of a live wholesale CBDC to settle payments between commercial banks.” (The Block)
An auto-industry reporter got up close to Tesla’s much-hyped Cyber Truck (well, as close as you can get currently). Videos at the launch event showed off its bulletproof exterior and speed against a Porsche. (Inside EVs, The Blaze)
Health, Medicine and Food
Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton has kicked off legal action against Pfizer for overstating the ability of its vaccine and conspired to censor claims to the contrary. (Reclaim the Net)
The UK Covid Inquiry seems to be an exercise in missing the point, says retired microbiology prof, David Livermore. Chief scientific and medical officers said that Britain should have locked down sooner. (Spiked)
Climate and the Natural World
A United Nations agency tasked with overseeing agriculture and food policy is expected to issue a “roadmap” for Western nations to eat less meat. (Fox)
Google’s Nevada data center will be partly powered using geothermal energy. (AP)
An ice “stupa” is an innovative way to store water for farmers in Northern India. (CNN)
Climate activists have interrupted a New York opera. (NBC)
Culture
Did you hear that the latest Disney movie has disappointed at the box office? Probably not. Disney continues its freefall with ratings and earnings dropping. Blame has been apportioned to a few different targets – not enough micromanaging on productions filmed during the pandemic and too much content means families are just waiting to watch on Disney’s streaming service. All that is to say, House of Mouse doesn’t seem that it will steer away from tales of woke any time soon. (Not the Bee, Den of Geek, Not the Bee)
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary has released their word of the year: authentic. Merriam-Webster said their had been an increase in searches for the term, which may reflect concern over artificial intelligence’s ability to “deceive and dehumanize.” (Merriam-Webster, Intellectual Takeout)
Maybe sport’s commentary is just sticking to sports now? (House of Strauss)
Science
An engineer built a radar app from scratch for his airplane-loving toddler. (Jacob’s Tech Tavern)
Stories from Far Away
🇾🇪 Three commercial ships in the Red Sea have been struck by ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels. A US warship also shot down three drones in self-defence, according to the Pentagon. (AP)
🇮🇱 According to a new report, Israel knew of Hamas’ plan to attack over a year ago, but believed it to be aspirational. Israel has restarted its campaign to take out Hamas in Gaza after an extended truce. (Sky, Reuters)
🇸🇦 Reports say that Saudi Arabia has offered to invest more in Iran if Tehran agrees to bring regional proxies such as Hamas to heel. (Bloomberg)
🇫🇷 French political commentator says the country may have reached a “tipping point” after a gang of Muslim youths killed one teen boy and injured several others in a stabbing attack last month. The young men entered a winter ball, shouting that they were “here to stab white people.” (The Blaze)
🇫🇮 Finland has closed its border to Russia after a surge in migrants attempting to enter. (BBC)
🇻🇪 Venezuelans have voted to reject international court rulings in favor of annexing the disputed territory of Essequibo. The oil-rich parcel of land is currently belongs to Guyana and is home to 125 000 people. Some history here. (Reuters)
🇰🇵 🇰🇷 North Korea claims it took pics of the White House and military bases in South Korea with their newly launched spy satellite. Meanwhile, SpaceX has been used to carry a South Korean satellite into orbit. (WNG, Reuters)
🇮🇳 41 workers in a collapsed tunnel in India have been rescued. (WNG)
🇨🇳 President Xi Jinping's desire to have a major soccer league in China has hit a wall - it’s out of money. (BBC)
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
👨🍳 Why do chefs cross their arms for photos?
🇹🇳 Star Wars sets have been left behind in the deserts of Tunisia
🇰🇵 A rare look into life in the Democratic Republic of North Korea
✖️ The SAT question everyone got wrong in 1982
👨🚀 The “most terrifying photo” ever taken in space
🍸 During WWII, sailors made cocktails from rocket fuel
🐙 Pet octopus navigates a maze and earns her freedom
🌶️ Who has the spiciest food? Warm climates or cool? Considering where most spices grow, you might hazard a guess..
🪓 Lumberjack speed climbing is insane!
🐟 Some angler fish may spend most of their lives upside-down
A Good Word: Links from the Show Notes
On this week’s Stop the White Noise (YouTube, Rumble), Jonathan and Meridith had a long chat about gift giving, stewarding money and living for today:
Giftgiving examples from the Bible: The Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10) and the Magi (Matthew 2:7)
Treasury of Daily Prayer - Regular Edition edited by Scot A. Kinnaman
Ausburg Confession Articles 7 and 8: of the Church
The book of Ecclesiastes for putting life in perspective
Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
Our disclaimer: These are some resources the Fisks have found edifying, but when dealing with human-authored texts, apply discernment liberally!
Sweetness You May Have Missed
This Week Preached:
·Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.