Facts, Fears and Conspiracy Theories

Fox News Channel is the most-watched U.S. cable news network, according to this October 2019 story in Deadline.com. 

Viewers in 3rd Quarter 2019 (millions)

• Fox: 2.4 
• MSNBC: 1.5
• CNN: 1.0

I have acquaintances who emphatically refuse to watch CNN News. I've been told that nobody who knows what's going on watches CNN any more; that CNN has been completely discredited; and that MSNBC has been caught reporting "fake news."  

This is a great example (as if we needed another one) of how party politics have divided the U.S.

I don’t view CNN as discredited. Neither is Fox or MSNBC. To me, the issue is that all of them go too far in trying to push back against what they perceive as bad reporting from the other side. All three serve up much more partisan, point-of-view material than national newscasts used to.  I like to think I'm mature enough, and educated enough, to identify bias and separate fact from opinion. I'm not sure everyone is, though. These channels broadcast opinion and debate mixed in with hard news in ways that sometimes make it hard for the casual observer to distinguish one from the other. 

It seems to me that the fear of fake news and conspiracies has become so pervasive that people have come to doubt everything unless it comes from a source they have already decided they trust.  And the message they get from the trusted source is some variation of:  “Listen to me. Don’t trust those other guys. They're giving you bad information. I’m the one who will tell you what’s really happening." 

Talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh bear huge responsibility for this state of affairs. It's bad enough that Americans are so polarized that they can't agree on who is telling the truth. But the problem became much worse when we learned that Russia launched "a social media campaign to provoke and amplify political and social discord in the United States," in the words of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, before and during the last presidential election. As we now know, Russia's aim was to favor Donald Trump's campaign and put Hillary Clinton at a disadvantage. When that came to light, Americans were handed a legitimate reason to trust nobody. The result is described by James Clapper, a former director of U.S. national intelligence in his memoir: 

“…my fear is that many Americans are questioning if facts are even knowable, as foreign adversaries and our nation’s leaders continue to deny objective reality while advancing their own alternative facts.… Getting its target audience to believe that facts and truth are unknowable is the true objective of any disinformation campaign… the primary objective is to get readers or viewers to throw up their hands and give up on facts.”

I share Clapper's concerns. Our national conversation has become a toxic hell-broth of finger pointing, name-calling and bizarre conspiracy theories like QAnon. With these distractions, it's hard to see how we're going to come to grips with pressing concerns like health care, climate change and immigration policy. 

Conviction by Denise Mina

Conviction by Denise Mina

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've read most of Denise Mina's novels. For some reason I can't quite recall, I read the first 50 pages or so of this one, then set it aside and picked it up again a couple of weeks later. I rarely do that, and in this case it was a mistake because this novel has a complex plot. One key character has a secret identity and a backstory that the others don't know about. Another is mentioned throughout the book but never actually appears in person until page 355. All of this made it necessary to re-read and mark up the early chapters to figure out who was who and how they were related.

The fact that I felt motivated to do that tells you how good this novel is once the action gets started. Once I picked it up again, it became one of those situations where everything was put on hold to read the hell out of this one until there was no more to read and the story was over.

Apart from the fact that I admire Mina as a writer, I also like the fact that she's active on Twitter and has even responded to my own tweets a few times. if I was a literary agent I'd urge my clients to do that. It builds the author's brand loyalty.

View all my reviews

Walk The Wild With Me

Walk the Wild With Me by Rachel Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a nice read for fantasy fans, followers of folklore and Anglophiles (all of which include me, for what it's worth). Mortals, aided by Robin Goodfellow, The Green Man and Father Tuck, try to defeat cruel faerie Queen Mab. In this telling, certain characters are magical creatures who can take the form of humans. For example, Robin Hood is the human form of the gnomish Robin Goodfellow, Little John is The Green Man (and also a tree) and so on. Herne the Huntsman makes a few brief appearances as well, although that character is curiously underdeveloped.

I thoroughly enjoyed Walk the Wild With Me and was sorry to see it end. A sequel is planned. Rachel Atwood is one of the pen names of prolific author Phyllis Irene Radford. 


View all my reviews

Mind the Gap

A recent article in The Londonist makes the startling observation that "mind the gap" announcements on the Underground were once made by live people -- not by recordings, as is the case today today. 

Mind The Gap! The Forgotten Tube Pioneer, Minnie Smith

The Londonist, January 15, 2020

I find this odd. I thought everyone knew that.  During the period 1966 - 1970, Underground platform attendants (or sometimes “guards”, who rode the trains) routinely shouted out “Mind the gap” as well as “Mind the doors” when trains were discharging and taking on passengers. I know this was the case, at least during the busiest hours at big stations like Waterloo, Piccadilly and Baker Street. During those years I rode the Bakerloo and Northern lines every weekday.

I was a schoolboy then. Some 30 years later, when I returned to London after a long absence (or "gap", if you will), I found myself a middle-aged man, amazed to hear recorded voices making these same announcements.  It saddened me. A bit of my childhood had vanished forever. Mind that gap.

The Shropshire Hoard

The Shropshire Hoard

These coins, found in a farmer's field in England, are roughly 2,000 years old. The metal detectorists who unearthed them didn't follow the rules for reporting the find to the authorities. As for me, I have made it a lifelong endeavor to follow the rules... all the rules... whether they make sense or not. But these rogues evidently do not agree. They still haven't come forward. 

Most of the coins are attributed to a tribe known as the Dobunni (which sounds like Dubonnet... but that is another story).

Further Reading
BBC News. Mystery of Shropshire Iron Age coin hoard detectorists. May 22, 2019.
Pirani, Steve. How to Make a Gin and Dubonnet, the Queen's Favorite Cocktail. August 3, 2019.

Chances Are... by Richard Russo

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2019
ISBN 9781101947753 (ebook)

In this splendid novel by one of my favorite writers, three men in their mid-60s - longtime friends Lincoln, Teddy and Mickey - spend a weekend on Martha's Vineyard mulling over the disappearance of Jacy, their mutual fantasy girlfriend from college days.

I've read most of Russo's novels. This one has all the things I love about his writing. It's highly readable, with a compelling story and believable characters. But then there are passages such as this one, which appears after Lincoln wonders: "If there was such a thing as do-overs, if we all had a bunch of chances at life, would they all be different? .... Or would they play out exactly the same?"

"To Teddy's way of thinking - and he'd thought about it a lot - this depended on which end of the telescope you were looking through. The older you got, the more likely you'd be looking at your life through the wrong end, because it stripped away life's clutter, providing a sharper image, as well as the impression of inevitability. Character was destiny. ...Why? Because... well, that's just how the story went. Nor, as the ancient Greeks understood, was it possible to interrupt or meaningfully alter this chain of events once the story was underway."

Russo doesn't bludgeon us with his insights. He has the knack of blending them together with plot, character development and believable dialogue.  Chances Are... will appeal to readers of my generation who remember the Vietnam war, the draft and the late 1960s in general. Russo fans will also notice that poignant sense of regret that runs through much of his work.

NB - I could hardly believe it when I read it, but this book contains the following passage: "Staring out to sea, she said, 'How come everything has to be so fucked up?' "  This is quite a coincidence, because in jest I have often asked my wife that same question, in almost exactly the same words. I have yet to find the answer.

Further Reading
New York Times Book Review. The Old Men and the Sea (or Richard Russo's New Novel). Alida Baker. July 30, 2019.

Neil Armstrong: Deist

In recent weeks, much ink has been spilled over the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Among the more interesting tidbits: astronaut and moon walker Neil Armstrong once listed his religious affiliation as “deist.” Could I do the same?

Deists believe in a Creator, who was the first cause of everything. But the Deists' Creator is not involved with or concerned about mankind, and may not even be aware that mankind exists.  Deists do not believe in divine miracles, one true faith, or a true and authentic holy scripture.

I’m willing to accept the possibility of a Creator. Everything I can think of was created in one way or another.  Plato's Timaeus dialogue holds that "Everything that becomes or is created must of necessity be created by some cause, for without a cause nothing can be created." In this view, since the universe exists, it must have been created, and something must have caused that to happen. 

But does the same argument apply to the Creator itself? What created the Creator?


Some religions believe that the Creator has always existed. It was the first cause, and was caused by nothing. That would make it a totally unique being. Likewise, some say the universe itself was not created, but has always existed. This concept of an entity with no beginning puzzled me as a child, and still does.

Some say that you can't use the existence of the universe as an argument for a Creator unless you accept the possibility that the Creator was itself created by something else, just like the universe.  This leads to a dizzying scenario "wherein each newly presumed creator of a creator is itself presumed to have its own creator" (Wikipedia, Problem of the Creator of God).  Sometimes known as "infinite regress," this seems almost a paradox. It's like "turtles all the way down," the myth that the world stands atop a World Turtle, which stands on another turtle, which in turn stands on yet another turtle, and another and another, all the way down to....what? Infinity, I suppose. If this is true, reality is a hall of mirrors and infinite reflections.  

Some Gnostics believed in an artisan god, the demiurge, which fashioned what we perceive as the universe but was itself created by a higher being. That higher being created the raw material with which the demiurge worked. This, Gnostics reasoned, explains why the world we perceive is not perfect. But who created the higher being? Where did the process begin? We are searching for the first cause, not something that was acted upon by something else. 

All of these possibilities are difficult to grapple with.  I keep coming back to the question of what came before. (This reminds me of the cleverly titled Who Came First, Pete Townshend's first solo album. But that is another story.)

Timaeus handily disposes of this problem by stating that "the father and maker of all this universe is past finding out."  This is a good point. There’s an inherent mystery here that cannot be solved by logic and reasoning.  I suppose it is ultimately a matter of faith, something which I do not have. Creator? No Creator? Supreme Being? First cause? Turtles all the way down? To me, the answers are unknowable. 

The Tooth Picker: A Poem

Dedicated to Walt Whitman

I am a man of the narrow spaces

There no space remains

To breathe, to grow, to live

To chew, to brush, to floss.

Something is stuck in the narrow spaces

A morsel lodged between my teeth

I yearn to be free of it 

I am the tooth picker. 

In my dreams rotten teeth crumble

My mouth a horror of broken stumps

I must choose new teeth

I am the tooth picker. 

Broken-down busboy, trailer park carny

We share the same fate, grimacing and ashamed

Yet hope remains for smiles and laughter

A new day dawning in my mouth. 

False teeth sustain me.

New mouth set me free.

Nightmare Alley (1947)

Last night, watching Turner Classic Movies, I stumbled across a film that I've been searching for since childhood. I saw part of it on television as an adolescent, and while I’d forgotten the title and most of the plot, two scenes made a big impression on me all those years ago. 

The Geek

 In one, a carnival barker tosses a live chicken to a sideshow performer styled The Geek, announcing: "And now ladies and gentlemen, it's feeding time."  In the second, a pretty female carny demonstrates her electric chair act for a sheriff. He’s snooping around because he’s been told of performances involving live chickens and women in scanty outfits. 

 I can now report that the movie containing those scenes is Nightmare Alley (1947). It's an excellent film noir with many redeeming features, including some great acting by Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, the fetching Colleen Gray (who plays Molly/Electra) and Helen Walker. 

 I was hoping Nightmare Alley might also contain another scene from a movie whose title I’d forgotten, involving a runaway carousel. But as it turns out, that’s in Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train (1951).

Trump-Induced Constitutional Crisis

I'm very proud of myself for not posting this on Facebook, which I almost did a moment ago. So I'm going to vent here and now. 

According to this article in today's New York Times, "Some who previously urged caution are now saying impeachment may be inevitable." 

Facing Defiant President, The Democrats Aim for a Get-Tougher Strategy

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times

Let's back up for a moment. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation and submitted his findings. I've read Volume II of the report (well, the executive summary and selected pages, at least).

Congress is seeking an unredacted copy of Mueller's report. They are also pursuing multiple investigations of Trump's doings.  Mr. President and Attorney General Robert Barr are refusing to cooperate and "fighting all the subpoenas", as Trump puts it. 

After the Mueller report was released, over 400 former federal prosecutors released a statement which included the following: 

Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.

It's hard to ignore a statement like that, coming from so many legal professionals. To me, it's a call to action. And it is Congress which must act now.  Trump cannot be indicted as a sitting president. He is effectively above the law unless Congress decides to impeach him. 

I once hoped this country would never have to endure another impeachment. But sadly, my view is that Congress must impeach to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution. This is part of the system of checks and balances that has held our democracy together for centuries.  

There are others who agree with me. In an April 27 article, The Economist opined that impeding an investigation and accepting help from an enemy (which interfered in the 2016 election "in sweeping and systematic fashion", as the Special Counsel's report put it) are precisely the sort of actions the founding fathers would view as grounds for impeachment. That article went on to say: 

Democrats fear an unsuccessful effort to remove Mr Trump would help the president. But just moving on as if it were business as usual seems unacceptable too, signalling as it would that the only limit to the power of presidents is what they can get away with politically. How Congress and American political institutions respond in the coming weeks to Mr Mueller’s report will set precedents that could last for decades. 

A few final, dismal observations: not so long ago, the President and some of his supporters in Congress called for an investigation as to why the Special Counsel was appointed in the first place. Others would like to see the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton investigated.  And in a particularly mind-bending twist, there are those who call for an investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to determine whether the FBI spied on the Trump campaign. 

Our federal elected officials are stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of investigating one another. This activity is a huge distraction. They should be dealing with critical issues facing this country: health care, gun control, national security, the federal deficit, climate change. But there's no time for that now. We've got a constitutional crisis on our hands. 

Nevada Gaming Control Board vs. Wynn Resorts

On January 25 the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a complaint against Wynn Resorts, owner and operator of the luxurious Wynn and Encore hotel/casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. In that complaint, the Gaming Control Board asks the Nevada Gaming Commission to fine Wynn Resorts and "take action against" the licenses held by the company.

Las Vegas Review-Journal,  January 28, 2019

The complaint contains numerous allegations of sexual misconduct by Wynn executives, including Steve Wynn himself. Even worse is the Gaming Control Board's claim that various senior executives were aware of these incidents, but did not report or investigate them -- a violation of the company's own sexual harassment policy. Even the chief human resources officer and three separate people who held the position of general counsel are said to have failed to act in this regard.

In other words, the company did not apply its own policies and procedures to Mr. Wynn. And it goes beyond that. A former Wynn employee now stands accused of facilitating sexual relationships between cocktail servers and guests of Wynn Resorts (see page 16 of the complaint; link below).

Read the complaint:

Nevada Gaming Control Board vs. Wynn Resorts

Complaint, January 25, 2019

The following is a summary of the allegations contained in the Gaming Control Board's January 25 complaint.

• A Wynn employee complained to her supervisor that she had been raped by Mr. Wynn and became pregnant as a result. The company settled this complaint for $7.5 million. See page 9 of complaint. 
• A cocktail server at Wynn Resorts claimed that Mr. Wynn pressured her into a nonconsensual sexual relationship. Wynn Resorts settled this claim for $975,000. See page 11.
• A former Wynn cocktail server and flight attendant claimed that Mr. Wynn engaged in sexual misconduct against her. See page 12.
• Separately, a flight attendant sent Mr. Wynn a letter alleging that he had engaged in sexual harassment with several flight attendants. See page 14. 
• Three employees of Wynn's Encore Spa claimed that Mr. Wynn engaged in sexual harassment during massages that were performed on him. See page 13.
• A former general counsel of Wynn Resorts received an e-mail alleging that a former executive "loves sleeping with cocktail servers". The general counsel did not investigate or report the matter, according to the complaint. See page 17.

About a year ago,  some of these accusations were made public in the Wall Street Journal. At that point, the Board of Directors of Wynn Resorts began investigations. Wynn has since resigned his position and divested all his holdings in the company.

It is not clear to me why it took the Nevada Gaming Control Board so long to file the January 25 complaint. A year has passed since the Wall Street Journal published its article. Perhaps that's how long it took for the Wynn board to complete its own investigation.

Speaking of the company's board of directors, many of the allegations in the complaint relate to things that happened over 10 years ago.  How could something so wrong go on for so long without coming to light? Why didn't the board come to grips with this sooner?

You may wonder why I have put so much effort into writing this post. And I shall tell you. If the January 25 complaint is accurate, Wynn Resorts has committed an outrage against its own employees and against the city of Las Vegas. Worst of all, of course, is the damage done to employees. But there's a business concern as well. This sordid tale fulfills the coarsest "Sin City" myths and expectations that so many people have come to believe. That tarnishes the reputation of our city. It's bad for business in so many ways. Just as an example, stories like this make it harder for local companies to recruit quality employees to relocate to Las Vegas. No wonder we have a shortage of doctors in this town.

Read the story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Wynn Resorts admits wrongdoing, Nevada regulators find more sexual misconduct allegations

by Todd Prince and Richard N. Velotta, January 28, 2019

UPDATE: On February 26, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts $20 million for the conduct outlined in the complaint, according to The New York Times.  This follows a settlement reached between the Gaming Control Board and Wynn Resorts. The timeline for the settlement is curious. All parties signed the settlement on January 25. That is the same day the Gaming Control Board filed its complaint.  I wish I had a better understanding of this timeline. Why didn't the Gaming Control Board mention the settlement in the complaint? Or was the settlement speedily reached after the complaint was filed and signed on the very same day? 

Bible Reading Project: On Track

In September 2017, I outlined a plan for reading one page of the Bible per day. Ever seeking to celebrate small accomplishments (a good morale booster), I am pleased to report that I'm ahead of schedule.

488 days have elapsed since that post. During that time, I have read 719 pages.  That's 47% more than required by my self-imposed schedule.

Despite all this reading, I still lack the faith that Christianity requires.  But I have gained understanding, if not faith. Sometimes it's interesting reading, and soothing as well if taken in small doses.  So I shall plod on. At this rate, I should be finished in....oh, about four years.

N.B. The version I'm reading is The New Oxford Annotated Bible, College Edition, New Revised Standard Version. It's quite useful, with a nice ecumenical point of view and plenty of annotations and reference materials to make the text more accessible.

Strength in Unity: Letter to the Editor

To: William GIbbs
Editor, Coin World Magazine

Sir,

I enjoyed Chris Bulfinch’s article Fasces on U.S. Coins in the October 29 edition. I’d like to expand on the symbolism behind this bundle of rods. To me, the fasces represents first and foremost the idea that there is strength in unity.  A single rod is easily broken, but a bundle of rods is very difficult to break. 

Viewed from this perspective, the fasces represented much more than authority and power. It was a potent symbol of ideals for citizenship and governance. We are stronger united than divided - an idea worth pondering in the midst of the bitter divisiveness that plagues our nation.  

“E pluribus unum” - from many, one. 

Image: Wikimedia

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

A few days ago, a man named Robert Bowers killed 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue. News reports indicate that the shooter believed Jews are the "children of Satan". 

Most of us will agree that this is a thoroughly despicable point of view. But let's be clear about this: there is language in the New Testament that supports Bowers' vile belief.  In John 8:44, which Bowers cited in one of his social media posts, Jesus says to a group of Jews:

"You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him."  

I have no desire to attack Christian beliefs. But the fact remains that the New Testament contains statements such as the following which openly blame Jews for the death of Jesus. These are the roots of anti-semitism.

• John 7:1: "The Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him [Jesus]."
• John 8:34: "Jesus answered them [the Jews]...' you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word.'"
• John 11:53: "So from that day on they [the Jews] planned to put him [Jesus] to death."
• John 19:6: "When the chief priests and the [temple] police saw him [Jesus], they shouted 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' "
• John 19:14: "He [Pilate] said to the Jews: 'Here is your King!' They cried out 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' "
• Matthew 27:20: "Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed."
• Matthew 27:25: "Then the people as a whole answered, 'His blood be upon us and our children.'" This is perhaps the worst of all, extending guilt to all the descendants of the biblical Jews.

Mainstream Christian thinking has evolved on this matter, becoming more Jew-friendly. I know this because I was raised as a Christian, baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal faith. I was never taught that Jews are children of Satan, or killers of Christ, or inferior to Christians. In fact, quotes like the ones listed above were never mentioned at all. Biblical scholars offer various explanations for the anti-Jewish language in the New Testament, implying that it is not quite what it appears to be. James Carroll, in his excellent book Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews explores this in detail.

Yet these harsh words remain in the Bible, which some still believe is the literal word of God and the ultimate moral authority. It is no wonder this hatred is still with us today.

Except where noted above, all biblical quotes are from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Fully Revised Fourth Edition, New Revised Standard Version. For those who prefer the King James version, John 8:44 reads, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him."

Kavanaugh Nomination for U.S. Supreme Court

Today I sent this e-mail to both of my U.S. senators. Having resisted the temptation to post this on Facebook, this matter is still gnawing away at me to such a degree that I find it necessary to unleash it on the whole world in this blog.

Dear Senator, 

I am deeply concerned about the sexual conduct allegations that have been raised against Brett Kavanaugh. The Senate’s process for reviewing them seems to be seriously flawed. 

My concerns are as follows.

1. The FBI should investigate the allegations of Blaisey, Ramirez and Swetnick. The Senate should not vote in the Kavanaugh nomination until such investigations are complete. A hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is not sufficient, given the severity of the charges, and the fact that Kavanaugh is being considered for a lifetime position on the highest court in the land.

2. Only one of the accusers (Blaisey) is appearing at tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. What about the other two? Aren’t they entitled to have their concerns heard? 

3. Why hasn’t Mr. Michael Judge been called to testify before the Committee? He was allegedly a witness to the Blaisey incident. Surely his recollections are relevant. 

4. A Supreme Court justice should be a person of impeccable character and reputation. This is not a trial in which charges are dismissed and forgotten if the accuser cannot provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Ultimately, the allegations may be found to be unproven or unverifiable. But that sets the bar much too high, presenting the appearance of a Senate that hides behind the rules of evidence rather than doing what is best for our country. 

There are serious questions about the credibility of the Senate and its role with respect to Supreme Court nominations. If Kavanaugh’s candidacy survives and is brought to a vote, I urge you to use your judgment and vote your conscience. Set aside party politics for the good of the United States of America.

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

This book ably works through a theme near and dear to me: that of hidden mysteries. 

The lead character is a jaded former screenwriter, now reduced to hosting a YouTube series on unexplained phenomena. He and his second-rate production team set forth to locate a cavern in a remote part of the Grand Canyon. Discovered by a 1909 expedition but long since forgotten, it's rumored to contain "wonders". 

The author, Michael Rutger, is a screenwriter by trade. Perhaps that's why he chooses to tell this tale using clever characters who constantly trade snappy dialogue. It's an odd choice given the subject matter of this tale. But the wry banter falls away whenever the action kicks in, which happens frequently. Rutger knows how to keep the pace moving along briskly. The Anomaly is a page-turner. I just kept reading it and reading it until there was nothing left to read. 

These virtues more than balance a couple of shortcomings. A couple of incidents are a bit too similar to certain popular movies (I won't name them, to avoid spoilers). And the author makes an effort to end most chapters with a cliffhanger phrased as a short, punchy sentence, which feels just a bit too manipulative. 

Don't be put off by the negative Kirkus review. The Anomaly is much better executed than Dan Brown's books. It's not as finely crafted as Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation or John Langan's The Fisherman. But it's still a rattling good read for lovers of weird fiction and conspiracy theories.

An Inverted Jenny Stamp Surfaces

This rare stamp has been kept in safe deposit boxes for decades. It’s so valuable that the owner made the head of the Philatelic Foundation travel from New York to Chicago to take it out of its protective packaging. 

Link: New York Times, Sept. 8, 2018

An Inverted Jenny Surfaces. The Flawed Stamp Had Not Been Seen Since 1918.

No. 49 of 100 Jennies famously misprinted with an upside-down biplane was locked away in vaults for generations. The whereabouts of No. 66 remains unknown. 

Courtesy of New York Times

New York Bank Vault Hoard

Someone stored 16,000 Morgan silver dollars in a bank safe deposit box (picture in article) in 1964. They weren’t hidden or forgotten - rather, the hoard was inherited and passed on hand to hand for decades. Now the family is tired of paying for storage, so the silver dollars are coming to market. 

Based on silver content alone, these are worth nearly $190,000 (16,000 x $15/oz x 0.77344 oz.), but some are in mint condition and will be worth much more than the silver value.

Further Reading 

Gilkes, Paul. Hoard of 16,000 Morgan silver dollars to be graded, marketed. Coin World. June 8, 2018.

The Chicago Hoard: Backyard Discovery

This fellow hid his his coin and currency collection, then slipped into dementia and forgot about it. Since his death, his son has found portions of the collection all over the place: in the fireplace, under the front porch and buried in the back yard.

Family finds holdered 1876 Proof set buried in yard

Graders at CSNS authenticate eight-coin assemblage worth thousands of dollars

Coin World, May 4, 2018

Trump's Big Hoax

I promised myself I wouldn't post this on any social media, especially Facebook. It would only ignite a battle of duelling comments. I have decided to withdraw from that conflict for reasons explained in my "Facebook User Revolt" post dated April 17. But these thoughts keep bouncing around my addled brain, demanding release. And since almost nobody comments on this blog, I suppose I'm safe in venting here. 

After the events of the past week, it is abundantly clear to me that the President of the United States of America is incapable of running this country in an orderly fashion. 

This morning,  July 23, 2018,  Donald Trump made the following statement on Twitter:  

"So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!"

This is the latest in a series of disturbing events. Consider the following timeline. 

January 6, 2017: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) issues the following statement:

"We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments." 

February 16, 2018: A grand jury indicts three Russian companies and 12 Russian individuals for interference in the U.S. political system.

July 13, 2018: A grand jury issues another indictment of Russians for hacking offenses related to the 2016 presidential election.

July 16, 2018: Trump holds a news conference with Vladimir Putin in which he says U.S. intelligence sources "are telling me it's Russia... I have Vladimir Putin telling me it's not Russia... I don’t see any reason why it would be.” This seems to put the credibility of a Russian president on an equal footing with that of U.S. intelligence and the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump appears to favor Putin's version.

July 16, 2018: A 29-year-old Russian woman is charged with acting as an agent of Russia within the U.S. by infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics.

July 18, 2018: Trump retracts the July 16 statement.  He claims he misspoke. He meant to say “wouldn’t be,” not “would be.” It's painful enough to see the President all tangled up in his own underwear with such a statement. But it gets murkier when he goes on to say: 

"I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. It could be other people also. A lot of people out there." 

In the first sentence he claims to believe the U.S. intelligence findings. But the next sentence seems designed to deflect the blame away from Russia. I'm not sure what all that adds up to. What does he really believe?

Today: That brings us to today's tweet, in which he says "it's a big hoax." Is he referring to the grand jury indictments, or the special counsel's investigation of his campaign? Is he reversing himself again?  

This man is impossible to pin down. He giveth with one hand, and taketh with the other. That's a very unfortunate trait in the leader of the most powerful nation on this planet. How can such a devious president work effectively with Congress, or with other heads of state? How can he be trusted by business leaders and investors who make decisions that affect the stability of our financial markets?

I have to look away now. Based on the amount of effort I've poured into writing this, and the following list of source materials, you can see why I had to deactivate my Facebook account.

Further Reading

Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Background to Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections. January 6, 2017.

U.S. Department of Justice. Grand Jury Indicts Thirteen Russian Individuals and Three Russian Companies for Scheme to Interfere in the United States Political System. Press Release. February 16, 2018. 

Mueller, Robert S. Grand Jury Indictment of Internet Research Agency. Criminal charges filed in U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia. February 16, 2018.

U.S. Department of Justice. Grand Jury Indicts 12 Russian Intelligence Officers for Hacking Offenses Related to the 2016 Election. Press Release. July 13, 2018. 

Mueller, Robert S. Grand Jury Indictment of 12 Russian Intelligence Officers. Criminal charges filed in U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia. July 13, 2018. 

U.S. Department of Justice. Russian National Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States. Press Release. July 16, 2018.