Here it is the middle of January and last year I only had one entry though it was an eventful year with the death of my younger brother John in March. We attended family reunions at Bridgewater and a funeral of a cousin on Lib's side. Also, attended a class reunion of Lib's at Harrisonburg. Our daughter Lisa and husband Mark treated us to a weekend with them at Wintergreen in October and we had a bevy of Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday, and anniversary (Lib and I) in late December and early January 2024 celebrations.
Now, some early comments for 2024: The Ukrainian/Russia war continues unabated into its second year and soldiers and civilians are dying needlessly to satisfy Putin's insatiable desire for empire building. Last Fall a Palestinian terrorist group attacked an Israeli celebration and killed over 1200 and took 200+ hostages. The Israeli army retaliated and 20,000 Gaza and environs Palestinians have perished in the bombing raids. Smaller proxy conflagrations continue over the Middle East and Asia.
As of this entry, the United States economy is bouncing back, yet many are not noticing that grocery and gasoline prices are dropping, that inflation is lowering, (my bank is offering 5% CD's for only 8 months out, and housing prices are beginning to descend.
We have a severe "gun" problem in our country.In comparison with most other civilized nations we have a pandemic of gun deaths, way more than normal. I don't deny your right to self defense, but there have to be safeguards. The fences around car driving could be a start; (1) You have to have a license. (2)First time owners must pass a safety test and knowledge of the gun they intend to own. (3) The serial number of the gun, the license, and the address of the owner should all be registered with the State and be carried at all times on the person who owns the weapon. Persons who sell guns whether in a business or privately must use the same protocols that are observed for car sales. Miniaturization and technology make this all easily possible. Since smart phones and the nigh 100% of facial recognition systems, we scarcely
This is the year AI came into a more common availability. May 2024 be the year humanity begins to return to normalcy rather than the frenetic and suspicious mode so many have allowed themselves to entertain.
I will stop here.
