Friday, January 3, 2025

New Year's Resolutions and Predictions

 I often make some New Year resolutions (I less often keep them!) To me  New Year's resolutions are different from Lenten practices, which tend to be more spiritually oriented. 

My New Year's resolutions are sometimes things I don't want to do, but know I need to. This year's joint resolution, together with my husband, is to update our wills. Actually it is to make them in the first place, because we don't have one. Irresponsible, I know, but it's going to be pretty much the same as the one the state has for someone who dies intestate. Also to have in writing medical directives (my husband has one, I don't, except verbally). And funeral plans. We have life insurance policies to cover that. So much fun.

Not quite as weighty, but also needs to be done, start giving away or discarding stuff we don't need and don't use. After being in this house almost 30 years, there's a bunch of that.

Now for predictions. Those are more entertaining to make than wills and funeral plans, but hit and miss as far as actually coming true. My first one is that the Trump and Musk bromance is going to have a break-up, relatively soon. It is going to reflect the larger conflict of interest between the Silicon Valley tech bros, and the actual MAGA populists, especially given the contempt those two factions have for each other. 

Another prediction is that at least one, and maybe more, of Trump's cabinet picks isn't going to make the cut. Most likely fail is RFK Jr. Trump is already backpedaling about vaccines, saying that preventing polio is actually a good thing. RFK on the other hand, is hard core anti-vax, and is on record as having exacerbated a measles outbreak in Samoa. He is going to get lots of pushback from Congress.

Another prediction is that Trump will have to deal with a foreign policy crisis before six months have gone by. It might be China, making moves on Taiwan's sovereignty. Or it might be trouble with Mexico. Trump has already antagonized Claudia Sheinbaum. He always has *cute* nicknames for everyone. Hers is Claudia Shiny-bum. But worse than that is not recognizing the help Mexico has already given the US with immigration issues. 

Do any of you want to have a go at resolutions or predictions?

34 comments:

  1. My resolutions are: Pay attention, encourage more, consume less.

    I am not making predictions outside of the fact that the next four years will be deflating. I hope to live long enough to celebrate Trump's political demise, but I am already 2 yrs past my projected expiration date, so time will tell.

    A Musk-Trump breakup and an RFK rejection would not surprise me, but their departure would only usher in new and equally horrid people.

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  2. Somewhat inspired by my new favorite YouTube personality, Jared Henderson (Commonplace Philosophy on Substack), I am going to make an effort to not buy books this year but read the ones I already own as Kindle books and listen to my Audiobooks. The number of titles I have amassed over the past 15 years or so is startlingly large.

    I agree with Henderson when he says that buying books and reading books are two different hobbies. In the past year I have done a lot less reading than usual, but I have continued to acquire digital books, audiobooks, and even physical, paper-and-ink books at possibly an accelerated rate.

    There are many books that I both want to read and feel I should read (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Wolf Hall, Wide Sargasso Sea, Death Comes for the Archbishop, To the Lighthouse) but this is not a self-improvement project, and I have a lot of mysteries, science fiction that I can turn to as well.

    I don't have any specific political predictions, but I do believe Trump is consciously and deliberately trying to damage American decency and democracy as we have known it, and I expect him to keep trying.

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    1. I have a lot of books I haven't read, too. I need to refrain from buying more until I read some of the ones I already have.
      I read Death Comes for the Archbishop years ago, it is good.
      Wide Sargasso Sea sounds interesting.

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    2. I am a serial reader: I read one book at a time, finish it (or, occasionally, give up on it), then buy and start another.

      I don't generally make New Year's resolutions, but this year I have made two: to get our bathroom remodeled, and get my passport renewed. I am going to work on the latter today.

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    3. I will buy a Kindle book if it's $2.99 or less. I read them all. But we can order books delivered to our library online, and given the way libraries have been attacked by the right wing, keeping lots of books in circulation is important. I'm doing my part!

      My hoarding problem is with yarn. I used to run the yarn swap table at the Fiber Festival, so snagged a lot of high-end free stuff that has accumulated. I have started charity knitting projects again, and will unload a lot of scarves, hats, mittens, and baby blankets at Christmas. A lot of people in my family and friend circle will be getting socks this year. And I may, after 65 years of knitting, finally force myself to learn to make a sweater.

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    4. My wife asks for gift cards from Joann's whenever Christmas or her birthday rolls around. She uses the cards to buy yarn. I think we have enough yarn now to stock several Joann's stores.

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  3. I agree with the prediction that the Trump/Musk bromance won't make it to the end of 2025. It will end the way virtually all of Trump's relationships end, with him screwing Musk or throwing him under the bus. Although I don't underestimate Musk's capacity to tell Trump to go pound sand.

    Politically, Musk has become important, not just to Trump personally, but to the entire GOP. I believe his super PAC donations helped fund a lot of Republican campaigns. So when Trump and Musk inevitably break up, Trump will be screwing his party, too. But nothing new about that.

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  4. Katherine, I think getting rid of unneeded stuff is a wonderful idea, and I wish you and K all the best in pursuing that.

    An aunt passed away recently. Over the course of a long lifetime, she had accumulated an enormous amount of stuff - Victorian furniture, figurines, French mantle clocks, china sets and so on. Multiple cabinets full of bric-a-brac. Now her kids, who are not particularly collectors or accumulators, are burdened with making it all go away.

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    1. My sister and I were discussing lately that we feel like curators, of family stuff. Trouble is, we have had no indication that other family members wish to take the heirlooms and mementos off our hands. I have told our kids to please let me know if there are specific things they want. They would get them right now. Otherwise I will open it up later to nieces and nephews. Some things will likely get donated after we are gone, or even before.

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    2. In my experience, you have to take photos of this stuff and send notices to interested parties: "Come and get it by X date or it's gone." Pain in the rear, but it staves off wailing over the green pressed glass salad set you gave away that suddenly holds precious memories for some overwrought relation.

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    3. Little bit of a funny story; a few years back I received a package from an aunt, containing a china tea pot and cream and sugar set. It looked vaguely oriental, and was white with silver ornamentation. Kind of pretty, but had some chips and a crack. A note was with it, saying that my mom had given it to the aunt and uncle for their silver anniversary. And she was downsizing and thought of me. I really didn't want it, but thought I'd better write a gracious letter and thank her. So I did. Next time I saw some of my siblings I told them about it. One of my brothers laughed and said, "So you were the lucky one to get that!" Turned out three people had turned it down before it got to me. So much for being the honored one!

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    4. My Gramma was an inveterate re-gifter. She gave my mom some doodad one day and said, "Do you want this? Somebody years ago gave me this, and I don't care a thing about it." The doodad was something Mom had given her. So the family joke was always to buy Gramma stuff that you'd want to get back as a re-gift.

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  5. I learned long ago not to make predictions or NY resolutions. We have to update our trust and will. Continue to get rid of stuff. And I too have many unread books.

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    1. I haven’t read this whole article, but these are Politico’s speculations @bout possible 2025 crises.

      https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/03/15-unpredictable-scenarios-for-2025-00196309

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    2. I eat up dystopian narratives, so that was morbid fun. I think a major cyber attack and new pandemic are inevitable, if not this year certainly in the next 5 years. I think secession is unlikely, but that we'll see more "state's rights" rulings that will underscore regional differences and tensions, and perhaps more ideological migration such that blue states get bluer and reds redder.

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    3. A little morbid speculation I have indulged in is gaming out the end of the world (that is, the end of human life on it) and the Parousia. If it were sin and human wickedness that caused it, it would have happened long ago. My guess is a perfect storm of geological events, such as a meteor like the Chicxulub one 60 million years ago that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The shock waves triggered earthquakes and volcanic eruptions across the world.

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  6. This is not a prediction, more of a prayer. I join Pope Francis in praying for peace in the Holy Land. I do think there is a point where the war has to stop, hopefully soon.

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  7. I’m going to parcel out the family memorabilia which, of course, fell into the lap of someone with no heirs. Try to tone down my anger at the way things are by converting it into some sort of activity like anti-genocide demonstrations. Keep learning Polish. Try to love people more instead of wanting to throttle them.

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  8. A blessed New Year to everyone.

    The civil new year is not the time that I usually make plans or resolutions. More likely to do that at the beginning of the Advent for the church year, or at the beginning of September for the parish/school year or the beginning of July for the fiscal year. January 1 comes right in the middle of the Christmas season. Even when I used to make plans for exercise to take off the Christmas pounds it was usually in early February after the gym was less crowded with all the people that were taking off their pounds. I like to keep up the Christmas decorations at least until Candlemas on February 2nd and sometimes until Ash Wednesday.

    I am optimistic that the coming year may be a very good one church wise at least for me. Our bishop, who has been here for four years released a pastoral letter on December 17th. I discovered it on the diocesan website on December 29th.

    If you remember, last summer he released a Deanery reorganization plan that has a lot of promise about how he is going to manage the diocese. This letter is a very practical grassroots vision addressed to everyone in the diocese empowering everyone to move forward without a lot of management from above. In other words, he is NOT going to manage the deans who will manage pastors who will manage the staff who will manage the parish members.

    All the things that I am doing that I had a hard time getting a hearing from the pastoral staff of my parish are central to his vision.

    He has asked everyone to read and underline parts of the pastoral and begin talking with their families, friends and neighbors about it. No waiting for pastoral staff to call meetings to explain it to us. I am in the process of posting my underlines, and commentary on one of my websites. (I will be giving you link to the post in a few days).

    I am also going to send a link to a deacon friend on pastoral staff (he is actually a full-time paid staff member) rather than the pastor, letting them know indirectly that I am already beginning conversations among my friends. Deacon Bob knows Betty from way back when her daughter was in Catholic High School; he was a teacher there at that time. Her daughter had cancer (which she survived); Bob helped them manage that situation.

    Going to be nice to let everyone know that I am just doing what the bishop wants us to do. By the way the pastoral letter says very little about either synodality or Eucharistic renewal. It begins with people's daily lives. More to come shortly.

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    1. January 6, which we still celebrate as Epiphany in the Anglican tradition, is the day the Christmas stuff comes down and think about what "gifts" we have to offer God and our neighbors in the coming year. This year I put it on a Post-It sticker so I can keep it on the calendar month to month. I get very distracted with the day-to-day grind by March. I expect my Road to Hell will be paved with those lost good intentions!

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    2. Since we are supposed to be walloped by a big snowstorm tonight our tree will stay up another week. There won’t be tree pickup on Monday. But I would like to keep it up this year anyway - it’s cheerful. I did minimal decorating this year indoors and outdoors. It may be our last Christmas tree in our own place. No outdoor lights, but candles in the windows and a wreath on the door. But the tree is shedding needles and it will have to come down in another week. Christmas was a gift this year though - the grandkids decorated the tree with my husband supervising. He seldom smiles but the grandkids got lots of smiles . Our eldest son and his family bring joy. But they are gone now. It’s the heart of our dilemma - stay here ( I am happier here in our own home than elsewhere) or move near one of the sons so that my husband gets a bit more pleasure out of life as a paralytic.

      We have lost our 5 day weekday caregiver and only have a part time one for now. Please pray for us to find a new caregiver. TY

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    3. Jack, that all sounds very positive for you and Betty. New Years blessings to both of you, and all here.

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    4. One reason I like to keep the Christmas decorations up is that it often becomes sunny in January as the Lake begins to freeze and Lake effect snows cease (but the snow often remains on the ground).

      Another reason is that there often is not enough time before Epiphany to enjoy all the liturgical music for the season even if one extends Epiphany to next Sunday, the Feast of the Baptism of Christ. That is where the Julian calendar comes in handy. Christmas doesn't come until Tuesday, January 7th. Theophany (Epiphany) does not come until Sunday, January 19th and Candlemas does not come until February 15th. That is about the time the Orthodox who keep our calendar begin their observances leading up to Lent. That effectively eliminates "Ordinary Time" until Summer, which is just fine with me. Before Vatican II the Sundays after Epiphany were called just that.

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    5. I didn't get my Christmas tree and lights up until Dec. 23rd. So they just might stay up until Candlemas. We don't put any outdoor lights up, just the ones on the tree and some across the piano, and some lighted thingys in the front window. I do love seeing the Christmas lights around town, and enjoy it when people keep them up a bit longer.

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  9. If anyone would like to listen to an interesting podcast which isn't about politics, try this one by Jimmy Akin in which he attempts to narrow down the dates when the four canonical Gospels were written:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C5dzvoozVfw

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    1. I had to look up the name. Catholic Answers - not a source I use.

      Pope Francis has appointed McElroy to become the new Archbishop of DC. Good choice. Maybe he can teach the alleged Catholic, Vance, that mass deportations of immigrants and family separation, and the death penalty, and cutting safety net programs aren’t in alignment with Catholic teachings. Vance needs a different Catholic mentor.

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    2. Jimmy Akin is different than most of the people on Catholic Answers. He actually cares about research rigor and goes where some of the others don't go. And reaches some conclusions they don't.
      I would say Catholic Answers has changed a lot, from say, a couple decades ago. I don't pay any attention to most of the people on there anymore, with a few exceptions.
      JD Vance just needs to go soak his head.

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    3. I looked at Catholic Answers a few times long ago and decided it wasn’t a site to return to. Not quite as bad as Father Z, but bad enough to not spend time there. What happened to Z? Did he get excommunicated?

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    4. I hadn't thought of Father Z, aka Father John Zuhlsdorf, in a long time. According to Wikipedia, he is no longer incardinated in the diocese of Madison Wisconsin, apparently after a falling out with his bishop over a livestreamed exorcism. It said he is incardinated in the diocese of Velletri-Segni which is in Italy and is one of those titular historical artifacts. Unclear if it actually has any people nowadays?
      He has gone pretty far down the Traditionalist rabbit hole.

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    5. Re: Cardinal McElroy, Michael Sean Winters has a good article about him on NCR today.

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  10. A couple of years ago I lost the ability to sign in to blogger to initiate a discussion. So I have to do it in a comment. Katherine - None of us really know what happens after death. I assume ( but don’t know with certainty) that souls exist and that somehow they continue on after the body dies. I have no idea where or how, or if there are states of existence that we call heaven and hell. The group in this article focus on reincarnation. I know many Christians focus on reports of near death experiences and the famous light and seeing Jesus. ( since the light is part of near death reports from many cultures and religions, scientists speculate that it has to do with changes in brain chemistry in the near dying brain). I know that non- Christians who report near death experiences often see the light but do not see Jesus rather they see a long dead, loved relative. I have no idea. But I have sometimes thought that reincarnation - a cycle of birth, death and rebirth as one comes closer in each life to enlightenment and can end the cycle, sounds a bit like purgatory - living better in each life, or learning to repent and love in purgatory.

    Anyway, I thought you might be interested in this article even though the focus is reincarnation stories in children rather than near death stories.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/style/virginia-dops-reincarnation.html

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    1. That is an interesting article. I have had some thoughts about reincarnation. Mostly I don't believe in it, because I don't see the point of it. If we don't remember our past lives, how can we learn from them, and avoid making the same mistakes? Also, it seems like it would be too easy to "blame the victim", they must have done something bad in their past life or they wouldn't be suffering so much in this one.
      But I suppose God could reincarnate people if he wanted to. I just devoutly pray that he doesn't want to. I have no desire to come back to life on earth. Not because I have had a bad life; I have had a very good one. I just want what Jesus promised, "... I go to prepare a place for you..that where I am you also may be."

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    2. One of the comments after this article put forth an interesting idea:
      "One clue to resolving this problem might be in a much deeper understanding of human genes. We appear to be born with knowledge that is not acquired through education, formal or otherwise. Animals know many things as part of their heritage and we call this instinct. It seems there is much more to it.
      A scientist who studies birds has found that one bird, the Wherry, leaves its southern winter home, Brazil, much earlier if the hurricane season ahead is likely severe. How could this small animal acquire such understanding and act on it? A sound reason to leave early is obvious: the birds would not be able to cross the Atlantic ocean and return to North America in the high winds of a storm."
      "It appears that some aspects of knowledge are stored and passed along to successive generations in many types of animals. Recent studies of humans has indicated that traumatic experiences of one generation are passed along to the next, indicating that the impact of wars and other horrid events continues long afterward"
      With children, there is also the possibility of telepathy or clairvoyance, they seem to be tuned in to picking up other people's wavelengths sometimes.
      My daughter in law has a type of epilepsy. Fortunately she hasn't had an episode in over a decade. But she has said that prior to the episodes (they aren't really seizures) she had a strong sense of deja vu. And I have read that that is often a symptom of epilepsy. So there is the possibility that some memories of past lives may have a neurological cause.

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    3. What I dislike about reincarnation regarding how it exists in Hinduism is how it relates to the caste system. If you’re a good dahlit, can you work your way up the ladder to brahmin? And if you’re an untouchable, is it because you were a good dog or a really bad brahmin? Is it another version of Calvinism. Seems to serve to justify a hierarchical social system. Well, even if it were so, you still have to have some new souls since the population is growing exponentially. And if there’s a dieback due to climate catastrophe, there’s going to be a big waiting line.

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