God bless honest journalists. They grow up in the most delightful ways. A growing cloud.
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Mainstream journalism has become so unreliable that the few independent voices are having a field day.
Matt Taibbi earned his stripes as a muckraking reporter for the Rolling Stone. Hardly a conservative rag. Five years ago I knew him best as the guy who penned the description of Goldman Sachs thusly: "The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."
However, he, Glenn Greenwald and Alex Berenson are among the few who have refused to sell out. It has made them lose jobs, friends and numerous platforms upon which to write. However, their integrity is such that they keep on going.
Taibbi was a Moscow-based correspondent for a number of years. This long piece is the best single take I have seen on our impending war.
Taking Zoriana to the bus stop right now, I reflected on how quickly children change. In her case, dramatically for the better. Three months ago we would fight every morning over getting up, what to eat for breakfast, getting dressed, whether to bring the sled to kindergarten and so on. She had a sour expression on her face so much of the time that I was worried it would be permanent.
That face still dissolves into vinegar every now and again, but generally she is sweetness and light. She enthusiastically plays dominoes. My hope had been that she would learn arithmetic. That has not happened much, but she has learned how to play by the rules, get along with the other players, and accept losing with good grace. To me that is more important.
She is also getting along better with Eddie and Marianna. She picks Marianna up more than anybody would like to see, but we note also that she is careful not to hurt her. Marianna enjoys playing with her. She and Eddie pick on each other like any couple of siblings, but that relationship too is improving. They don't fight so often about bedtime stories. I don't show favoritism, and they accept what I read. I am just finishing reading 101 Dalmatians in Ukrainian. It is probably clear that I don't understand everything, but I am pleased with how much I do.
Substack now has a video feature. Here's a picture of Eddie and Zoriana playing a game that Oksana bought them yesterday.
People growing up in big families tend to have big families. They have an understanding of what it takes to get along with siblings. I would not be surprised if they have better marriages for the same reason.
A conspiracy theory that appeared as a small cloud on my horizon two months ago is getting bigger and darker. I'm not going to go into it in detail. It aligns with my previous suspicions and it doesn't affect my personal plans. It will most likely affect yours. If curious, type (don't paste) Yеаdon Fuеllmіch Wоdаrg into a search engine.
That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the man of the house is eyeing his exercycle again with great anticipation. The good looking woman feeling better as well, and she winks back. The babysitter returned the remaining іvermectin today. Lastly, the children are back to their normal activities.
Graham