Linkage

Today in History, presented by Tara Ross

This Day in History: Benedict Arnold is born
On this day in 1741, Benedict Arnold is born. You know him as a traitor to the American cause, but do you know the rest of his story? Arnold started off as someone that you might admire. ...

THE BRIEFING, presented by Albert Mohler

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021
PART I We Are All Witnesses of History: U.S. House of Representatives Votes to Impeach President Donald J. Trump for Second Time
PART II What’s the Big Deal about $1? The Supreme Court Hears Arguments in a Case with Nominal Monetary Value, but Huge Implications for Religious Liberty
PART III New York State Is Facing a Serious Money Crisis: What Does It Mean That Lawmakers Are Turning to Expanded Gambling and Legalized Marijuana as Potential Solutions?

Blog and Mablog, presented by Doug Wilson

Real Justice
Pastor Doug writes:

We live in a time when many evangelicals are realizing that we are standing at the base of a really steep learning curve. These are demented times, and the steep learning curve consists of the effort you will need to exert just in order to keep your sanity. If you are in that position, and are not sure where to start, I would recommend starting with this book, The Justice Primer. ...

This is good to see: President Trump issues statement urging that there be "NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind". He expands on the theme in this video, as well.

In this kinda long essay, Richard M. Reinsch, II writes "Why the Republic Can Hold" in National Affairs magazine. Well worth the few minutes it takes to read it!

Charissa Koh of WORLD Magazine looks into efforts to demilitarize the police. Very good article. My take: The lead photo is of a St. Louis County PD - my home county! - armored vehicle deployed during the 2014 riots in Ferguson. Personally, I will be so glad when the police go back to being the police, rather than a paramiltary organization.

Last but not least:
Peter Heck writes in Disrn,

Missouri declared the first “abortion-free” state

Missouri has become America's first "abortion-free state," after all 45 abortion facilities in the state have closed or ceased performing abortions, according to a report from pro-life organization Operation Rescue. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

It's been a long time, hasn't it? Sorry about that.

Well, good afternoon to all my wonderful readers! I know, I dropped off the map for quite some time.

To catch up, my health has deteriorated a little. I'd been having some mild chest pains off and on for a long time. Not drop-me-to-the-floor pain, just kinda sharp discomfort that would go away after a few minutes.

Well, finally, after waiting for months, I was able to see a cardiologist for a chemical stress test. It was determined that there was some damage to the heart from reduced blood flow, called "ischemia". So,  I'm having a catheterization test done next Tuesday. We'll know more after that. I may have a stent implanted, but that is uncertain until after my cardiologist completes the cath procedure.

Around the first of the year, my eye doctor found a severe cataract in my right eye. I was sent to an eye surgeon that specializes in laser repair of cataracts. However, once he got me on the table, he found that due to various things, laser repair would not work.

So, I was referred to a different surgeon, one that does the surgery the "old-fashioned" way, with scalpels and such. However, they were booked up so far in advance that my appointment was set in late March. Which of course means that by that time the pandemic had caused all "non-essential" or "elective" procedures to be postponed indefinitely. I finally got called in a few weeks ago for the consultation, but the doctor is so backed up that he couldn't even give me a date for the surgery. A few months at least. They'll call me. In the meanwhile, I've gone virtually blind in my right eye. My depth perception is gone. My glasses are so old that even the vision in my left eye isn't as good as it was, and my ophthalmologist won't prescribe new ones until the cataract gets fixed.

Corona virus / Covid-19 

So far, so good. Being a severe introvert, and maybe mildly enochlophobic - that's what they call a fear of crowded places - the quarantine hasn't been that big of a deal. The Debster, extrovert that she is, is champing at the bit to be out and about. So far, to my knowledge, we haven't had any close relatives or friends get infected, although a couple of the Debster's acquaintances have, including one that wound up on a ventilator for a time, but all have survived. There have been about a dozen deaths in the Debster's home town/county, but no one is saying who they were. Most of them were residents on one particular nursing home. It's possible some of them were Deb's acquaintances or distant relatives, but she hasn't heard anything.

Well, that's enough for the moment. I plan on telling you about a few books I've read and a few other things.

I also hope to be able to insert a few humorous things, as well as links to some of the better blog posts I'm reading, like this one:

The Clouds of Heaven

Doug Wilson, pastor of Christ Church in Moscow Idaho is one of my favorite bloggers. In this particular piece, he tries to define and shed some (post-millennial) light on the subject of "the clouds of heaven" that surround the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as he comes in glory.

Go in peace, my friends!

Ron, AKA Just An Old Fart Doing His Thing