COVID-19
Matt Taibbi, Michal Shellenberger, and several others, who used to be journalists at what we call the national news media or mainstream media, have been doing independent journalism for some time – the kind of journalism that used to be common in the United States. Taibbi and Shellenberger were two of those involved in reporting on the Twitter files, which showed the U.S. government was not above attempting to censor any and all who disagreed with it (especially on the subject on the Hunter Biden laptop, which turned out not to be Russian disinformation, despite the FBI’s best efforts to convince us otherwise).
These journalists were able to obtain the transcripts from an ongoing chat session held in 2020 between the four scientists who were assessing the origin of COVID-19 for what would be deemed the definitive study. Their initial conclusions pointed to the escape of an engineered virus from the Wuhan lab in China, but they quickly discovered that Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and even Nature Magazine were frowning on that, believing it would lend credence to wild conspiracy theories. So, the four scientists in their chat room fretted, worried, discussed, commiserated – and ultimately gave Collins and Fauci what they wanted. Follow the science!
· New Covid Documents Reveal Unparalleled Media Deception.
· “In Their Labs”: Fifteen Illuminating Passages in the Proximal Origin Chats and Emails.
· Covid’s Origins and the Death of Trust.
· “The Guy Isn’t Totally Wrong”: The Curious Case of Covid-19 Scientists and Senator Tom Cotton.
And if you think The New York Times doesn’t try to right the record, it published a story headlined “A Positive Covid Milestone.” Down in the 17th paragraph of the story, you’ll discover that COVID deaths were over-calculated by about 30 percent. When I was in journalism school, we called that burying the lede. And my journalism teacher would have awarded me an automatic F for doing it.
Life and Culture
Ambiguity and Belonging in Oklahoma – Benjamin Myers at Front Porch Republic.
Digital IDs are coming and they’re worse than you think – Ricky at Council Estate Media. This is a report about the UK, but don’t think the lessons are being lost in the US. China, apparently, has much to teach us.
In 2018, Martin Gurri published The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, which goes a long way in explaining why no one trusts institutions any more. At City Journal, he’s writing about one of the most curious developments of 21st century American culture: How the establishment Left, once such a champion of freedom of speech (think ACLU), has now embraced government control of digital speech. .
In Defense of Libraries – Philip Bunn at The London Lyceum.
A good movie gets smeared – Bethel McGrew at World Magazine.
Faith
Man Cannot Live on Feeds Alone – Trevin Wax at Desiring God.
14 Lesser-Known Details about J.I. Packer – Leland Ryken at Crossway.
The Local Church We All Need – Lara d’Entremont.
How Were the Books of the Bible “Chosen”? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.
Poetry
Poem Found: New Orleans, September 2005 – Martha Serpas at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).
Good Friday, Revisiting Glamis – James Sale at Society of Classical Poets.
Art
Arms – Sonja Benskin Mesher.
American Stuff
One of the best Thanksgiving memories my family has is the time (about 1992) we went to Lake of the Ozarks for what was an exceptionally cold holiday. We stayed at Lodge of the Four Seasons (no connection to the Four Seasons hotel chain), enjoyed a lavish Thanksgiving buffet, swam in a heated pool, competed in bowling, took walks, and enjoyed a movie in the lodge’s theater (well, my wife and oldest son enjoyed the movie; the younger son and I found something else to do, as he was not yet a fan of movie theaters). The Lake of the Ozarks has developed in a major way since then; it gained national fame (infamy?) on Memorial Day 2020, when tens of thousands crowded in for the holiday as the country was locked down for COVID (the number of cases that resulted: 2). Max Meyer at The Free Press went to the lake, and he says “Welcome to the MAGA Hamptons.”
“What these heroic souls of the 5th Regiment began, we must complete”: Booker T. Washington’s Address – Sarah Kay Bierle at Emerging Civil War.
The Chicago Mob Vs. the World’s Fair – Anika Scott at CrimeReads.
Writing and Literature
Blood Meridian is Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece – Aaron Gwyn at The Spectator.
British Stuff
Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Churches – Spitalfields Life.
Whole Lotta Love vs. Beethoven 5th Symphony – 2 Cellos
That 2 Cellos clip was phenomenal!
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