They Have Blood On Their Hands

I stopped by a local bookstore today. As I often do when I'm in a bookstore, I wander about looking at the books in particular sections. 

One of the sections I always check out is the new books one.

And what did I spot today?

Why Fascists Fear Teachers by Randi Weingarten. 

In the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination that title jumped out at me.

The alleged killed used that language in reference to Kirk - echoing the language used by people like Weingarten and various people on the left when talking about Kirk and the Trump administration.

Weingarten is, of course, president of the American Federation of Teachers. She has repeatedly used such intemperate, violent language.

In the wake of the shooting, so many teachers and school personnel have been suspended or fired for celebrating the killing of Kirk, and they frequently say or imply he was a fascist. Echoing Weingarten's  language and the language of various people on the left. 

The use of that term and similar language helped to create the climate and attitudes that engendered the kind of political violence that led to Kirk's killing.

Weingarten has blood on her hands.

On another shelf in the new books section I spotted the word "fascism," 

Lessons From Cats For Surviving Fascism by Stewart "Brittlestar" Reynolds.

It's supposed to be a humor book, but the references to "Maga" and "Mar-a-Lago," along with repeated use of "fascist" and "fascism," made what inspired this book clear. He is exploiting the language and attitudes that helped to create the climate of political violence that led to Kirk's killing. Exploiting it to make money. 

Reynolds has blood on his hands.

Pax et bonum

If I Had 1.8 Billion Dollars

The Powerball jackpot is up to 1.8 billion dollars. It may grow even bigger by the time of the drawing tonight. 1.9 Billion, or maybe even 2 billion.

I broke down and bought a ticket.

Now, given the fact that I would take the lump sum, and with taxes, the actually amount I could receive would decrease. One estimate for my state is about 450 million dollars.

What would I do if I won? After all, the odds are about 1 in 300 million, so you never know.

First, the prize would be divided five ways. My wife and my three daughters and I would each get a share. So my share would come to about 90 million.

One thing I’d do with my share is increase the amount I donate to the charities I currently donate to, places like my church, Focus Pregnancy Help Center, the Margaret Home (for women facing unexpected pregnancies), St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen, Saint Luke Productions, St. John Bosco Schools, Chesterton Academy, Restore Health and Wellness, Brightstar Community (women escaping human trafficking), and so on.

Given our ages and infirmities, I’d buy a house that better suits our needs and limitations - one floor (no hauling laundry to the basement!), a library/study for me so I can put all the books in boxes up on shelves, a music room where I can listen or play my instruments without disturbing anyone.

I’d get a new computer. I’m currently typing this on a 2010 laptop with Windows 7!

There are a few places I’d like to visit, especially Donegal and Scotland because of my roots, and Fatima and Lourdes (where some of those previously mentioned infirmities might find some help).

I’d buy a better Santa outfit.

I’d book time in a recording studio and record some of my songs while I can still sing and arthritis isn’t interfering with my guitar playing yet.

I’d self-publish a couple of my poetry books, and a collection of my Christmas stories. Christmas gifts!

That’s about it. I’d just bank the rest.

I wouldn’t buy an emu, a monkey, or John Merrick’s bones.

But I would still eat macaroni and cheese.

And I wouldn’t have to buy my wife’s love. Nor she mine.

So I’m already rich.

Pax et bonum

He Sure Liked To Read! (Part 2)

A couple of days ago I wrote about Dan Pelzer, who, when he died in July at age 92, was found to have kept a list of every book he's read between 1962 and 2023. In that span he read 3,599 books, a truly impressive total. He averaged 59 books a year.

The library from which he borrowed those books created a catalog listing books he'd read. It was heavy on nonfiction, especially history, biography, politics, and religion. I looked at a couple of the pages of the catalog and saw no fluff. I know of people who read lots of lighter works who could probably claim to have read more books than he did, but certainly not books of the level of those on his list.

I then noted that I had been keeping a tally of my own since 2013. In the past 13 years my total is 560 books. That works out to an average of 43 per year, but since I retired in 2020 my average per year has been 65 books a year.

My list is not as heavy as his, though. I do read histories, biographies, and religious works, but I also read lots of  fiction, including YA fiction from my teaching years. I read classics, but I'm also fond of mysteries, fantasy, and science fiction.

In my earlier post I observed that I had only begun keeping my yearly tally in 2013 when I was 57/58. Mr. Pelzer began his tally when he was about 30. So if I had started when he began I would have had a list that included books from 27 more years. That probably would have added about a thousand books to my tally. Moreover, I've been a voracious reader since I first learned to read, which probably could add many more titles to my list.

But I did not have a list of those books.

Then I remembered that in this blog before 2013, in a previous blog, and in a written journal I used to keep, I sometimes mentioned books that I had read. I did a quick look at my blog posts and the journal.

Yes, I am a bit obsessive at times!

I was surprised to see some books I'd forgotten I'd read. 

I've been able to identify an additional 161 books at this point. So my total increases to 721, though I may be able to add more to the list eventually. Still, even if I keep up my current rate, and if I live as long as Mr. Pelzer, I will not equal his remarkable total. 

Not that it's a competition. Mr. Pelzer's is in a class of his own! 

Pax et bonum

Blogging Limerick

There once was a blogging progressive
who judged conservatives too aggressive.
He went on the attack
and they fired back -
isn't Screwtape's scheming impressive?

Pax et bonum

He Sure Liked to Read!

CBS News reported about a man who liked to read.

"After the death in July of their father, Dan Pelzer, at the age of 92, John and Marci Pelzer discovered something extraordinary in his things — a very long list of every book he had ever read. In total, from 1962 to 2023, he read a staggering 3,599 books. The list of all the titles is a book in itself: 109 pages long, single-spaced.

Dan borrowed almost all his books from the Columbus Metropolitan Library. When the library staff heard about Dan’s list, they decided to share it on social media and made Dan’s title collection available as its own list that the library says people have been checking out."

I did check part of the list. He did not achieve his total by reading fluff! And he averaged just under 60 books a year. I salute him!

I started keeping a record of books I read each year beginning in 2013 - when I was 58. Since then, I've read 560 books. I'm up to 44 this year alone. 

I have been a voracious reader since I learned to read, and in my first 50 or so years of reading I suspect I've read several times that total from the last eight years. It helps that I was an English major (with a Philosophy minor) in college, earned a Master's degree in literature, and taught for 25 years.

Since retiring, I've been averaging 65 books a year. If I make it to 92, if my eyesight does not fail me, and I keep up my post retirement pace of 60-70 a year, I'll pass 2,000 since I began keeping records. And maybe a couple of thousand before I began keeping records. So I might come close to Mr. Pelzer's tally. 

Whatever my ultimate total, I applaud Mr. Pelzer.

Pax et bonum

Agatha Christi List

Five years ago, the editors of FORMA Journal selected what they deemed Agatha Christi's 20 best novels. 

And Then There Were None

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Death on the Nile
The Murder on the Orient Express
The ABC Murders
Sleeping Murder
Curtain
Five Little Pigs (or Murder in Retrospect)
A Murder is Announced
Endless Night
Ordeal by Innocence
Crooked House
4:50 from Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw)
The Murder at the Vicarage
Evil Under the Sun
Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
The Hollow
The Body in the Library
They Do It With Mirrors
The Mystery of the Blue Train

I've read a number of them - I bolded the ones I've read. To be honest, I've never even heard of some of the others!

There are other lists out there that include some of the same titles. 

I'll use this one as a guide. I've already got some goals for this year - I'm currently rereading The Lord of the Rings, for example. But now that I've read all the Father Brown mysteries, the Lord Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy Sayers, and the Navajo mysteries of Tony Hillerman, I might tackle this list. I'd also like to find more of the Cadfael mysteries of Ellis Peters. 

Goals for next year?

Pax et bonum

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Fight Back Against Letitia James Trying to Shut Them Down

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Fight Back Against Letitia James Trying to Shut Them Down