The Fixer

U.S. prices at the grocery store and everywhere else continue to climb as the Biden bunch continues to tell Americans how great things are moving along.  The Biden gang and thug elements of the United Nations and the World Economic Forum maintain a cozy relationship as people in power demand even more of YOUR power and wealth in the name of a scam called "climate change" (didn't the latest scientist who won a Nobel just excoriate nations for buying into this fraud?).  We need to vote responsibly next time and clear the government of charlatans and greed, and it appears, per Argentina (and, we hope soon, Canada) and other nations whose people exhibit a flickering desire for conservative leadership, that changes for better times may be on the horizon via baby steps.  Meanwhile, I wonder if Todd could help?

My Abounding Thankfulness

Another year, another Thanksgiving, far removed from small populations of grateful celebrants in days of old, advanced now to millions of people demanding mega-murders and cooking of animals far and wide for no particular reason anybody can remember.  But I digress.  Am I thankful this year? I'm thankful as hell.  Here are just a few things which delighted me:

1.  UFOs:  They continue to astound observers, show up on videos, illustrate their presence electronically and betray science as we think we know science.  I'm grateful for their continued presence, because even as AARO, NASA and God knows what other government agencies persist in screwing up the people's right to know in the interest of "national security," UFOs apparently have no intention of going away to give government operatives an opportunity to declare "case closed" once and for all, even if you call 'em UAPs.  Of course, it would also be nice to know what strange things in the sky do when they become strange things on the ground, and if government officials won't concede that incidents such as the UFO abduction alleged of two fishermen in Pascagoula, MS in 1973 may well be related to the subject at hand in general, they are either lying or simply too inundated with evidence of something terrible or immense to comment.

2.  I'm so appreciative that the Biden administration and FCC desired to allow the administrative state immense powers (that's total control) over the Internet -- but I'm grateful only because Congress and some members of the inquisitive public have noticed, almost assuring this nonsense will be overturned by others who understand the dangers here.

3.  Colleges and universities in antisemitic turmoil:  At last, Americans are seeing the cost of letting radical professors fill their kids' heads with poison politics instead of critical thinking abilities.  In these institutions one will also find reasons why a certain element is absolutely rabid about taking down statues and other reminders of American history (once erased, a "new" history can be implemented). U.S. higher education establishments have provided a great home for the ghost of Karl Marx for decades, and the dirt is now out in the open with every new "protest" in support of Hamas and the 90 percent-PLUS of so-called Palestinians who chose Hamas to lead them in a quest to destroy Israel forever.  Be not confused:  Israel first, then the West is on religious terrorist menus.

4.  Thanks for Washington, DC journalists who overwhelmingly support the Democrat Party:  I always have hope that the rest of the country will figure out exactly who these people are.  The fourth estate, especially with assistance of the Internet's social network, has never been more unhinged.  We pray that the country will progress from WOKE to awake and realize the nature of printed and electronic lies being whispered romantically into public ears.

5.  I appreciate Tik Tok this year for exposing itself as a prime indicator of a major reason children can't think rationally, as kids are hypnotized and conquered by Chinese misinformation.  How interesting, yet terrifying that China uses Tik Tok in its country to educate young people, whilst the U.S. version makes champions out of those who fart the most times in a minute.  Tik Tok is the ultimate entertaining stupidity manufacturer, and we suspect there are ignorant parents who consider its charms equivalent to home-schooling.

6.  Thank you, leftists, for open borders and sanctuary cities.  Now, Americans are doomed to experience the wrath of millions of illegal aliens who have nothing to offer America except crime and hands held out for welfare on demand.  Nevertheless, the dilemma is now near the top of the must-do heap for both political parties and can no longer be ignored. We just wonder how many hold-ups and rapes of public officials and their families will occur before definitive action is accomplished?

7.  Thanks, God, for barbed wire.  Though I never want to see it used to contain animals anymore, its shine and elegance really come through for Texas, as they try to stem the flow of border-jumping criminals.  That some of these folks might find themselves injured and bloody trying to navigate over the barbs demonstrates the quality of what attempts to enter the USA by the hundreds of thousands.  If you join up with Numbers USA (free, see link), that organization will write e-mails of condemnation for you and send them to your senators and congressional representatives.

8.  I'm so grateful for solar panels, wind turbines -- and of course EV vehicles that can't easily be charged and which many people simply do not want and will not buy, no matter the government-issued bribes.  As we continue to scar the land and waters with wildlife-killing and environmentally toxic monstrosities supported in large amount by government payoffs, what's the benefit beyond riches for China and other financial interests chained to big money?

9.  I'm thankful for digital chip plants being built in the USA and continuing knowledge about them -- and I continue to wonder how these will survive even one EMP blast from either the sun, or from a nuke explosion high overhead.  Talk about fried and 100 percent useless. . .

10.  What a super idea, another attempt per the Biden bunch to create a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians -- as Hamas and many Palestinians want to destroy Israel and its people in total.  A two-state solution is impossible when one side is dedicated only to subtracting the other via war and decimation.

11.  I appreciate the spike in shoplifting this year.  it's so bold and intense now that even the Democrats whose actions have allowed this to become commonplace in their nearly destroyed and business-abandoned cities have taken notice, albeit reluctantly.  As this phenomenon (?) further strangles the services afforded decent people, at least for a while let's do the right thing -- which is to fund law enforcement and allow shoplifters to be shot on sight, an approach which certainly became standard for looters following natural disasters.  It won't take many such instances, but it's really amazing what the sight of a few dead criminals littering the streets or floors can do to a society of lawbreakers who seem to believe that stealing is a Constitutional Amendment.

12.  I'm strangely thankful for public knowledge of young people appearing to drop dead shortly after enduring Covid immunizations.  There's something very nasty going on here, and the mainstream bastard media are not covering it.  As more medical voices come forward, I'll be especially thankful when the errors, hidden studies and sloppiness of major pharmaceutical corporations are exposed.  Yes, some tried-and-true immunizations are great, but we've become a society mesmerized by televised drug commercials forcing the idea that we can't live reasonable lives unless "vaccinated" by questionable substances or somehow enhanced by the pill of the week.

13.  Athletics:  Oh boy.  I'm grateful that I see no purpose in athletics becoming a multi-billion dollar industry involving putting a ball in a hole or transporting a ball from one place to another.  It's amazing how both young and old put their hearts and souls into this stuff, whilst ignoring all the bad things the political system does behind their backs.  Like in ancient societies, you build the stadium and keep the populace focused on the game, the game, the game -- while terrible decisions are made by manipulating politicians and, too often, the corporate greed bunch.  Coaches?  Those are vehicles in which one rides.  Locker rooms and showers?  It's all ambiguously gay, really.

14.  I'm heartened by the cursed memory of Osama (Usama?) bin Laden, apparently the hero of a new generation of young people raised to be more stupid than the dictionary term, stupid, ever contemplated.  If the elementary and high schools were teaching about 9/11 and American heroes instead of how to become transgendered and hate one's country as activists, this outrage wouldn't be happening.  I long for a day when the primary Marx names worshiped in this nation are Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo, definitely not Karl.

15.  I couldn't feel more blessed to discover that numerous federal agencies have purchased guns and ammunition by the truckload, presumably just in case of a REAL insurrection or something.  Why am I pleased?  Because at least we know where to go if we need guns or ammo ourselves, and I've little doubt these agencies would willingly hand guns and ammo over to their fellow Americans in our time of need to fight the enemy, which clearly turns out to be. . .the enemy within. . .oh oh.

16.  Attempts to combat climate change:  My gratitude extends to revealing the morons of science and their new-age cultists who believe we can change climate, and whom sometimes extend their efforts to fudging the so-called science (speaking of the University of East Anglia a few years ago).  May more REAL scientists come forward and explain the truth.  The UN, the World Economic Forum and others making tons of money off this fraud deserve appropriate punishment, if not additionally the act of simply being ignored.  Cult mentality and the difference between environmentalists and enviro-MENTAL-ists must be carefully determined.  Meanwhile, the Biden bunch is just so wrong about climate influences.  There is NO climate crisis.

17.  I'm grateful that the Democrats and their inflationary tactics are in so much trouble that there are even rumors of ditching Biden and running, I think it's spelled, Ms. Hell Obama.  What a clown show, if true, and what a tragedy, if this queen among socialists ever took the helm, even temporarily, to save their beloved rotten political party.

18.  Finally, I'm thankful for musings among some scientists about just how long humans are doomed to survive as a species, because these who came before our current Homo sapiens lot all disappeared unceremoniously.  Going, going, gone?  It certainly wasn't because of the SUVs they drove.  When our grand and deserved goodbye arrives, I sure wish I could be here to get a front row seat in the cheering section.

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Eight (Final)

Bone rejection:  No, we're not talking about a surgical transplant, but we're certainly referencing a bone excision completed at Palenque, its entirety whisked off to the USA.

As two letters from Russ show, nobody in the field of the strange & unusual contacted through his efforts wanted anything to do with this toe, a bony remnant of a Palenque ancient.  I suspect the shady circumstances of retrieval may have had something to do with that, but I also wouldn't doubt that Russ's persistent attitude had a bearing on his rejections.

Unrewarded by his exuberance, condemned to acquire no answers as to a possibly mysterious (extraterrestrial?) origin of the skeletonized remains from Palenque, Russ Reardon had no option but to display his find on a shelf at home, perhaps serving as at least a conversation piece to help fill in the days remaining of his life.

During the remainder of 1993, not counting the letters displayed here, I received 11 more letters from Russ, each retreating further from the Palenque trip as subject matter shifted to other stories in the news, or to topics momentarily on his mind.

 Among the letters was this photo of Russ and Susan, apparently taken in 1993, and it was the nicest -- and last -- picture of them I would ever receive.  

With his final actions, it was almost as if he knew time was growing short, and I had actually come to realize that Russ, having no children, was in some way using me to document his, and occasionally his wife's, activities -- no matter the outcome.

His last letter was dated November 18, 1993, and as 1994 swept the previous year away I was never again to receive an envelope postmarked from his location.  While I still need to pin down his obituary, I'm pretty sure Russ met his demise around that time, or maybe he suffered another stroke or heart attack and lingered for a bit.  At any rate, his ultimate exploratory quest had been fulfilled, despite the outcome.

What of the bone?  With Susan's death in 2012 as a very old woman, the mystery of the toe's final destination may never be known.  Maybe it went to a distant family member of Susan's, or perhaps it sits in a museum somewhere.  I, however, wouldn't be surprised if it simply ended up in a box of discarded kitty litter in South Carolina -- hardly fitting for the toe of Mayan royalty.

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Seven

Frequently, I had the impression that Russ, though focused on this one thing, was nevertheless pulling himself in several directions at once, all of which would culminate in little but disappointment.

Lacking my invited (and declined) presence as a grave-robbing companion, Russ and Sue journeyed at last to the Palenque ruins in June of 1992 and encountered the ancient skeletal remains of a very tall person.  As pictures here illustrate, he first mailed off a postcard to me, one side showing excavated remnants of the city, and the other scribbled with a note regarding the tomb itself.

The close-up photo of the tomb was snapped by Russ and on the reverse he, obviously excited, wrote, "I have a bone!" after the deed was accomplished, apparently sans authorities, police or tomb-protective ghosts.

The result?  We'll cover that -- and finish this series -- next time.

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Six

People go to Mexico for many reasons.  For some, vacations and leisure time quench their desires.  For others, the drug trade attracts like moths to the flame.

In a letter dated December 3, 1989, Russ indicated plans for his own Mexican trip, involving neither vacation or drugs.   His focus was upon the ruins of Palenque, an ancient Mayan city in southern Mexico, documented to have perished in the eighth century A.D.

Among his interests was -- you could call it roughly -- the ancient astronaut theme, and he was determined to explore human remains still accessible in the now-vastly restored and explored city reclaimed from a concealed jungle of thick vegetation.  Russ was particularly obsessed with one ancient Mayan ruler, who he suspected was born of some other universe.

But it wasn't until April, and then May of 1992 when possibilities turned into actual substance.  Two letters from those months shown here explain the situation, and while I was heartily invited to join the two-person (Russ and Susan) expedition, I instead did what I became increasingly comfortable with as years went by: I declined.

As we'll see next time -- Skeleton, LOOK OUT!-- Reardon's on the way and he's coming for you!  (Part of you, anyway. . .) 

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Five

Following a brief absence of correspondence from my Isle of Palms friend, and this picks up a few years after Part Four of these blog entries, I received a letter dated July 28, 1989.  From this point on, Russ Reardon's letters would characteristically be filled with spelling errors, cross-outs and a sloppiness previously unseen.  The reason for this abrupt change was a "minor stroke" as he called it, and my immediate reaction was, the damned cigarettes finally took a toll.  That he apparently bounced back physically is either a tribute to his medical care or to his well-honed stubbornness.  From what I know, he continued smoking in years thereafter.  This addiction, however, did not stand alone: An obsession for knowledge can be just as overpowering, as I would discover years later.

In another context years ago in this blog, I mentioned Russ's encounter with a doctor and used the word, psychic, but after locating his original letter I can clarify what he actually said when his physician encountered Russ after the stroke.  Why didn't you come to see me before you had the stroke? asked his doctor. "Because I'm not clairvoyant," followed his savvy reply.

October of 1989 brought another devastating surprise when Hurricane Hugo wiped out a good deal of South Carolina's coast, including Isle of Palms.  Russ and Susan lost their home and pretty much all of their possessions (some of it to looters), forcing them temporarily to move into a tiny apartment.  They were also forced to relocate from Isle of Palms to Mt. Pleasant, SC by May of 1990, where they would live for the rest of their lives.

Just before that move, however, Russ Reardon was already making plans for a journey south, way far south.  I had a hint of this in a letter dated December 3, 1989.

Shortly after their relocation to Mt. Pleasant, Susan Reardon required a double mastectomy (per letter of July 31, 1990) from which she emerged well, but I'm not so certain that the stress of both the hurricane and Russ's stroke hadn't exacted a toll on her both physically and emotionally.  The solitary photo included on this page today shows Susan Reardon relaxing at their new home in (fast forward to) 1993 with a female friend (not shown, at least not much of her, as I edited the picture)

.Over a year later (letter of September 11, 1991) Russ was still disappointed that his collection of letters from Paul Bennewitz had not been returned by a person who I now knew was named Steve Nelson.  Whether the move from Isle of Palms to a new place had a relationship to this situation, I do not and would never know.

As the calendar skipped to 1992, I realized that old Russ was about to accomplish a very ill-advised project.  How could I NOT know, since he invited me to participate?  It was no thanks from me, but full speed ahead for Russ Reardon, and even Susan went along with the deal reluctantly, probably hoping to keep him out of trouble.

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Four

"The Premise," Russ Reardon's paper suggesting that Jesus remained young and alive, safely escaping the aging process as he sped through the universe and avoided Earth's time lag in a spaceship, finally saw print after its concept was rejected by other sources.  The Cambridge UFO Research Group (Canada) approved the piece and featured it in their newsletter of March, 1981.  Interesting though the idea might have been, his attempt to speak about it at a church meeting did not go well (see scanned letter).

Years passed as Russ and I corresponded about mundane issues and, again, from him a plethora of partially laid out commentary which often made little sense to me.  Maybe in the end I'm just stupid?

As April of 1984 rolled by, Russ seemed thrilled, yet a little uncertain to relate how he was invited to be master of ceremonies at his 11th Airborne reunion, an affair which both he and Susan could attend and enjoy.  The Bonnie Wheeler mentioned in his letter (see image) was head of the Cambridge UFO Research Group, and the group's newsletter seems to have included plenty of UFO-related cartoons in each printing.

If anything would extract Russ Reardon from months on end of disappointment and ventures unfulfilled, it was eventual publication for the second time of his article, "The Premise," this time in the journal, Pursuit in 1984.  I was actually amazed because, as a regular writer/book reviewer for Pursuit myself, I knew that Russ had badgered director Robert Warth and other staff members for months on end to get his paper printed in the respectable pages of Pursuit, and his persistence was probably not like a ray of sunshine, particularly to Warth.  (By the way, all editions of Pursuit printed by the now-defunct SITU are available in a special collections section for free online.  The journal mentioned here is designated Vol. 17, No. 4, Whole Number 68, Fourth Quarter 1984.)

By 1985, maybe earlier, Russ had begun corresponding with the late and much maligned Paul Bennewitz (if you are familiar with the UFO "scene" look up references to Bennewitz and Richard Doty) about aliens and religion -- especially the latter.  Written communication and at least two phone conversations between the two of them was not exactly cordial as time progressed, from what little I have seen, and most of the actual letters from Bennewitz apparently ended up in the hands of a person whose name I do not recognize.  This person was supposed to return everything to Russ, but never did so.

As the mid-eighties rolled on and matured to the next inevitable decade, Russ and Susan began encountering several tragedies, all of which seemed to force upon Russ a profound impatience about taking a bold step while he still could.  I don't know about Jesus manipulating time in a spaceship, but I did realize that time was indeed of the essence for Russ as he appeared caught up in curiosity.