Epstein Files

Epstein Files

I have not been willing or able to go through even one page of the 3 million pages of the Epstein files recently released by the Justice Department. Nor have I been interested enough or informed enough to write about the story on The Weekly Bystander. However, in last week’s Wall Street Journal Barton Swaim, a regular columnist on the op-ed pages, gave an excellent summary of the evidence. Here are some highlights. 

In the first place, he noted that the latest release included an earlier assessment of the case by the FBI that “found no evidence in Epstein’s residence and bank accounts of a trafficking ring or of “sex videos” supposedly used for blackmail.” In short, to the dismay of conspiracy seekers on both sides, 

There was in the end, no sex-slave ring, no blackmail operation, no cameras recording dalliances for later use, no client list, just a deeply sick and rich predator with a few enablers.

Secondly, the new documents seem to contain no evidence that Donald Trump “cavorted with Epstein and his harem.” Indeed, Swaim noted the presence of a document from 2006 detailing a phone call from Trump to the Palm Beach Chief of Police where Trump indicated he knew about Epstein’s behavior and “thought it vile.”  Trump told the Chief that on one occasion he was with Epstein, but when some teenage girls appeared, “he got the hell out of there.” Swaim also believes that there is nothing in the files that really can harm ex-President Bill Clinton.  

However, there seems to be a whole group of lesser fry that are exposed by the Epstein files. Swaim notes that there was “a circle of well-connected, wealthy and politically liberal men who looked past Epstein’s taste in girls and remained on friendly terms with this charming, lavishly generous and intellectually conversant epicure.” These men, “liberal VIPs in media, tech, and politics… all held conventional liberal opinions and gave lavishly to liberal causes and Democratic candidates.” Practically every day since the release of the files, headlines tell of resignations from prominent positions by member of this liberal elite. 

I have wondered why the Epstein files were never released during the Biden administration. Could it be because Democrats in the Justice Department knew there was nothing in them to implicate Domald Trump, but that there was plenty to implicate liberal Democrats. Only Trump hatred could have led them to demand the release of the files once the President was back in office. They hoped to find something that would disgrace the President, but so far, no luck.

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Note: It is amazing that our government somehow amassed 3 million pages of documents on this one individual. Even more amazing is the fact that people in and out of the government have spent, and continue to spend countless hours going through these files. This looks like a job for AI.

Success Sequence

 

Wendy Wang

The obvious success of Asian immigrants to this country is hard to square with a systemic racism narrative. If there is systemic racism in America, why do the children of Asian immigrants do so well that American universities have to take measures to prevent too many Asian students from being admitted?  Below is a post written a few years ago that tried to answer the question. **************************

It’s college admissions time in the USA again, and letters of acceptance and rejection are being mailed out. Inevitably, elite colleges and universities will find themselves overwhelmed with extremely qualified applicants with Asian backgrounds. It has long been suspected that admissions offices impose quotas to keep the number of Asian students down. On the other hand, affirmative action administrators  will bend over backwards to find qualified black applicants. 

Why do Asian students do so well in school while black students do so badly? It is easy to blame prejudice and racism but my own experience has led me to believe that the reason is cultural. A Wall Street Journal op-ed by Wendy Wang, the Director of Research at the Institute for Family Studies, bore out my suspicions. 

Ms. Wang argued that there is a “sequence” that must be followed to achieve success in rising out of poverty. The sequence begins with education, at least a high school diploma, followed by a job, and only then marriage and children. There will be exceptions but her research shows that failure to follow this sequence results in a high probability of a life of poverty or worse. In other words, if children come before marriage, work, and education the results are disastrous.

Wang cited statistics concerning so-called millennials from a study that tracked young adults from their teenage years to early adulthood. Of those who failed to follow the “sequence”, 53% were in poverty. The rate dropped to 31% for those who had at least a high school diploma, and 16% for those with a full-time job. Finally, the poverty rate dropped to 3% for those who held off having children until married.

Interestingly, the success sequence worked extremely well for young adults from low income backgrounds. “Eighty percent of those with lower income backgrounds made it into middle or upper income brackets when they followed all three steps.” Missing one of the steps or putting them out of sequence, like having children before marriage, led to a very high probability of failure.

Ms. Wang cited her own Asian background. In the small Chinese city in which she grew up there were practically no childbirths before marriage. It was unthinkable. Today in China, Japan, and South Korea the out of wedlock birthrate is only 4%. Compare that rate to America’s urban centers where the out of wedlock births often exceed children born to married couples.

I know a young woman with a degree in elementary education from a fine college who started her teaching career as a first grade teacher in a Bridgeport school made up largely of black and hispanic children. Her college degree could not have prepared her for the chaos she encountered on her first day. Every day presented new pathological personal and social behaviors, and these were only first graders. In many ways, first grade is pivotal for it is then that the mind is ready to learn how to read. If the opportunity is missed, students will inevitably fall behind and never catch up.

Sadly and significantly, the teacher told me that on Parent’s Night, only four parents showed up to hear about their child’s progress. Maybe parent is the wrong word because most of these Bridgeport first graders didn’t have parents. They were being raised by grandparents some of whom were not even in their forties. Sometimes even great-grandparents were the caregivers for these children. Moreover, in most cases there were no men involved in the raising of these children. 

No amount of money will rectify the tremendous social disaster that has taken place in American cities in the past few generations. Unwed teenage pregnancies create an almost impossible educational problem. To get an education certificate today, teachers have to take courses that would almost qualify them as master psychologists. 

Even the best teachers will not be able to overcome this cultural disaster.  There is a high probability that the parentless first grader will come to regard school as a prison and even before he or she gets to eight grade they will likely be attacking classmates and teachers, and destroying school property. Next, the probability is also very high that they will join a street gang, become a drug addict or dealer, and eventually wind up in jail or dead on the street.

Some will argue that Ms. Wang’s “sequence” success formula of education, work, marriage, and children is old fashioned. Actually, the success formula she finds in Asia was once the norm in the USA, especially among that generation that we now fondly recall as the “greatest generation.” Some may also argue that just getting an education and a job is sufficient for success, and that marriage and children are no longer necessary. However, another recent news article indicated that there is an epidemic of loneliness and depression sweeping over the country today that seems to indicate that love and marriage are still part of the success sequence.

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Political Hatred

In a recent column in the Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins cautioned MAGA supporters against falling in love with a politician. Good advice, but he failed to mention that it is perhaps even more unwise to hate a politician. Coincidentally, about the same time a letter to the Journal cited the words of Michael Corleone in the Godfather, "Don't hate your enemies, it clouds your judgment." These words brought to mind a post I had written about political hatred back in 2022 during the Trump interregnum. ***************************

In my quiet suburban neighborhood, I sometimes come across lawn signs that read, "HATE HAS NO HOME HERE." Nevertheless, in the past few years I have never witnessed so much hatred in my town and in my country as has been directed at former President Donald Trump. Like all hatred it seems visceral rather than reasonable. It is as if a large part of the population has received a political vaccination that enables the political immune system to form an immediate and violent reaction to even the mention of his name. 

During the election when I questioned my neighbors about their Trump animosity, they invariably replied that they just could not stand the man, no matter what he might have accomplished in office. They could not even bring themselves to acknowledge that he might have accomplished even one good thing as President. He has been our of power for more than a year but still my Internet home page features almost daily anti-Trump headlines.

I have been thinking about this Trump hatred phenomenon for awhile, and recently I found as good an explanation as I have ever read in a biography of Sir Robert Walpole, an English politician of almost 300 years ago. It would appear that Walpole was as larger than life as Donald Trump, and just as hated despite his accomplishments. Below is J.H. Plumb's concluding appraisal of Walpole that brought Trump and his haters to mind. 

All that he does and says in the early thirties argues a growing inflexibility of temperament, a greediness to grasp and exercise power; the anxiety lessens, and the future is contemplated less than the present. As a young man his contemporaries spoke of his gaiety, of his ebullient life, of the warmth and spontaneity of his nature. Some of this he never lost. Although he could be the most affable of men, quick to respond to his defeated enemies, this should not blind us to the essential ruthless nature of his political actions. Where he differed from many great men who have wielded political power as great as his, is this: he did not require the death or even exile of men who had vainly crossed his path. Their complete political impotence was all he desired. Nor did great power make him secretive or remote or grossly suspicious of his close friends. … He was available to all from field marshals to ensigns, admirals to midshipmen, archbishops to curates, princes to merchants, so long as they were prepared to wait patiently in the throng that daily besieged his doors. And to his colleagues, and to the Court, he remained open-hearted, generous almost to a fault, retaining his delight in ostentatious display, in gargantuan meals and vast potations; his coarseness, his love of lecherous sally, grew rather than diminished with the years… His frankness, his lack of pretentiousness, were nevertheless tinged with vulgarity, with a gross enjoyment, with almost a delight in stimulating the envy of men. 

Certainly that envy was stirred, more profoundly, more publicly than is the common lot of great men of state. He was hated more for being himself than for his conduct of affairs. Not only was his power resented… his whole manner of life bred detestation wherever he went. He paraded his wealth with ever greater ostentation. He bought pictures at reckless prices, wallowed in the extravagance of Houghton, deluged his myriad guests with rare food and costly wine; his huge ungainly figure sparkled with diamonds and flashed with satin. And he gloried in his power, spoke roughly if not ungenerously of others, and let the whole world know that he was master. Such a way of life invited criticism on a personal level. All the opposition press reveled in portraying the grossness of Walpole’s life; ballads were sung of his ill-gotten wealth; obscene caricatures illustrated his relations with the Queen; bitter pamphlets laid bare the graft, the corruption, the favourtism of his regime…. Year in, year out the gutter Press squirted its filth over his reputation. His friends did little better, the institutions by which he governed worse…. His sole aim in life was to amass gold and aggrandize his family. Day after day, week after week, month after month, this twisted and malicious criticism never ceased: and embedded in the heart of the sludge was a grain of truth, enough indeed for this uncontrolled  propaganda to carry with it a certain conviction. The good that he did—the stability, the peace, the prosperity, were taken for granted—the evil magnified to phantom proportions.

Public life and the institutions of government were thereby brought into disrepute: by 1734 Parliament had lost much of the respect it had enjoyed in the early years of the century; an ever franker acceptance of the greedier side of human nature strengthened self-seeking, weakened altruism and vulgarized politics, until critical issues of state became a matter of personal vendetta…. Each year that Walpole remained in power lowered the standards of public life, for the vituperation and criticism were as responsible as the long years of power for hardening his nature and coarsening his response to life.

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J. H. Plumb. Sir Robert Walpole, the King’s Minister. 1961. Pp. 330-332. 

A Winter's Walk

Now that we are in the midst of winter, it seems appropriate to post another poem by my younger brother Robert DeStefano, a retired high school science teacher and a lifelong naturalist who has published a number of his poems and other writings on Amazon. I append his explanation.

A Winter’s Walk

 

up

 before sunrise

like 

a child on Christmas Eve

anxiously

waiting to see

what awaits

me

owls are still

 hooting

hoping to scare a mouse

out of hiding

light rays appear

and

reveal most trees 

have shed their

 leaves

except for

beech trees leaves 

that will

hang on until

spring

I

begin my walk

light illuminates

the green feather-like fronds

of

the Christmas Fern

winter is the time for

this evergreen

to show off its beauty

as all around

 it is

brown

hoar frost glistens

on 

delicate evergreen pine tree needles

they 

defy the

 cold

sway in the

 wind

and

 perfume

 the frigid air

a giant sycamore tree beckons

me

a ghostly sight

eerily white

has shed its outer bark

to remove harmful boring beetles

an icy pond

radiantly reflects sunlight

ducks bob up and down

in a small 

ice-free patch

startled by me

they quack

they fly

 circle the pond

provide

a dazzling display

of color

and as

 light reflects off their feathers

they

wave

 goodbye

A Winter’s Walk

Whenever I go to my little log cabin in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, in late fall or winter, I know I have to be prepared to expect the unexpected.  I have encountered porcupines sleeping just outside the back door to the cabin.  I use a shovel to place the porcupine in a wheelbarrow and move it to the forest, only to have it reappear the next day.     I have had to deal with red squirrels packing Norway Spruce cones between the rafters of the dirt floor cellar for winter food.  They know not to place the cones on the floor because once the thaw arrives, there will be about 12 inches of water in the cellar that will ruin the remaining cones.  In short, I never know what to expect as the cabin is in a remote area with my closest year-round neighbor about three miles away.   I start the wood-burning stove and try to get the cabin to about 65 degrees before nightfall.   I get up early, at least two hours before dawn, add wood to the fire, get dressed, and patiently wait for sunrise.

I once found a book being discarded by a library titled “One Day on Beetle Rock” by Sally Carrighar when I had just returned from the Army in 1972.  The book caught my eye because there was an image of a squirrel on the cover.  When I saw the title on the inside of the book, I almost put it back until I read the first two lines of the book.  They read, “The water of the brook reflected the sunlight up to an alder branch, where it flickered along the gray bark. On the fool’s gold under the ripples lay a web of sunlight, gently shaken.”   I could not stop reading the book.  I realized that Sally Carrighar possessed a gift for observation as well as being able to describe with impeccable detail the events that occur in nature.  One seems as though they are actually in Sequoia National Park, where nine animals are interacting with nature and each other during one day on Beetle Rock.  I have always loved nature, but her book made me realize that I had to use all my senses when walking in nature because there is so much to be seen, heard, smelled, touched, and even occasionally tasted when one gets into “the woods.”

My poem depicts a typical winter’s day for me at the log cabin and the surrounding woods.  I am very fortunate to be in an area scarcely touched by humans.  To me, as a former science teacher and Botanist, the property is like my personal outdoor laboratory.  There is so much happening during every season of the year; however, it requires childlike eyes and a childlike mind to appreciate it all.  

Yes, the Christmas Fern has a story to tell.  How does it survive the freezing temperatures?  Yes, the Sycamore trees have a story to tell.  How did they evolve to shed their bark to avoid insect damage? Yes, the pond has a story to tell. How was it formed, and why is it so important for so many species that live in or near it? I will attempt to answer these questions with future poems and stories. 

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Trump: Egomania or What?

 

A long-time friend just sent me an email in which he argued that President Trump’s actions and words were the product of his massive ego. My friend has never liked Trump and cannot believe that Trump is motivated by anything other than self -conceit. I think my friend’s views are shared by millions of Trump haters.


For example, in a recent interview conducted by Bret Baier with Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, a high-ranking member of the Senate Intelligence committee, the Senator attributed all of Trump’s foreign policy initiatives to personal ego, and not to any legitimate policy or strategic concerns. The Senator, given his status, should know better.

In foreign affairs the Trump administration has had one success after another. After the bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities, the President brokered a cease fire in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Later, he brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. About the same time, he brokered a cease-fire between Rwanda and Congo, two warring African nations. Leaders of both countries signed the deal in the Oval office. Earlier, President Trump intervened to prevent a war between India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers. Were these initiatives all motivated by personal ego?

I don't agree. Why would a 79-year-old man who has everything even want to be President? He is rich, has a beautiful wife, luxurious homes, and everything else? He came within an inch of being shot to death, was impeached, and charged with many crimes. Half the country hates him with passion, and will not give him credit for anything.

Could it be possible that back in 2016 he actually believed that politicians were flushing the country down the toilet in both domestic and foreign affairs?

Look at the mess after the invasion of Iraq. If President Bush had known in 2001 that American troops would be fighting in Iraq for over a decade, would he have invaded in the first place? Remember that Vice-President Dick Cheney was detested by Democrats and charged with provoking the war just to benefit oil-driller Schlumberger. Now Cheney is a Democratic saint because Trump opposed the Iraq incursion.

Look at the mess that is Obamacare. Does anyway remember the tricks and deals used by the Obama administration to jam the ACA through Congress. Remember that Federal employees, including Senators, were supposed to be enrolled in Obamacare. What happened to that? Speaking about President Obama, what about Benghazi, his “red line” in Syria, and the rise of ISIS? Just imagine the furor if Trump and Hegseth experienced such disasters.

Look at the Biden administration. Why didn’t anyone call Biden an egomaniac for thinking he could manage a second term? Look at the immigration disaster. What motivated him to open the borders? Can you believe that in 2024 the Democratic candidates were Kamela Harris, and Tim Walz, especially when you look at the massive welfare fraud in Minnesota and other blue states? What qualifications did they have other than massive egos.

Was Trump wrong about the failures of politicians in both parties to put country ahead of their own egos and personal ambitions?

It is interesting to note that practically everything the Democrats blame Trump for doing, they have done themselves. They call him a dictator when he issues executive orders, but Obama said all he needed to govern was a pen and a phone. They say he wants to abolish the Senate filibuster, but progressives urged Biden to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices. Democrats say he seeks revenge on his detractors, but they are proven masters of that tactic.

Nothing will stop “no Trumpers” from hating the President. They have seemingly been inoculated from giving the President one iota of credit for anything. The other day someone said that if Trump were to fight Cancer, Democrats would be in favor of Cancer.


It is not egomania to want credit where credit is due, and to want recognition for a job well done. Let's stop talking about ego and concentrate on the issues.


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Mark Twain: First Impressions and Second Thoughts

My wife and I recently read and enjoyed Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, a wonderful read full of Twain's characteristic humor and great story telling. It is an account of a trip he took in 1867 on a steamboat full of what he called pious Protestant American pilgrims anxious to explore the Old World, especially the Holy Land. I recommend the book highly to anyone interested in American history, but do not intend to write a review here. I just want to reproduce an episode that I found illustrated a universal truth. 

While in the Holy Land a few of the pilgrims took a side trip to the desolate Dead Sea. It turned out to be a hot and exhausting journey even on horseback. Afterwards, the weary travelers found an overnight refuge in a lonely monastery. Below is Twain's account of that episode in which his first impressions of the monks were altered by actual experience, a lesson for us all. It starts with a devastating critique but ends with appreciation.

***********************

Some of those men have been shut up there for thirty years. In all that dreary time they have not heard the laughter of a child or the blessed voice of a woman; they have seen no human tears, no human smiles; they have known no human joys, no wholesome human sorrows. In their hearts are no memories of the past, in their brains no dreams of the future. All that is lovable, beautiful, worthy, they have put far away from them; against all things that are pleasant to look upon, and all sounds that are music to the ear, they have barred their massive doors and reared their relentless walls of stone forever. They have banished the tender grace of life and left only the sapped and skinny mockery. Their lips are lips that never kiss and never sing; their hearts are hearts that never hate and never love; their breasts are breasts that never swell with the sentiment, “I have a country and a flag.” They are dead men who walk.

I set down these first thoughts because they are natural—not because they are just or because it is right to set them down. It is easy for book-makers to say “I thought so and so as I looked upon such and such a scene”—when the truth is, they thought all those fine things afterwards. One’s first thought is not likely to be strictly accurate, yet it is no crime to think it and none to write it down, subject to modification by later experience. These hermits are dead men, in several respects, but not in all; and it is not proper, that, thinking ill of them at first, I should go on doing so, or, speaking ill of them I should reiterate the words and stick to them. No, they treated us too kindly for that. There is something human about them somewhere. They knew we were foreigners and Protestants, and not likely to feel admiration or much friendliness toward them. But their large charity was above considering such things. They simply saw in us men who were hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and that was sufficient. They opened their doors and gave us welcome. They asked no questions, and they made no self-righteous display of their hospitality. They fished for no compliments. They moved quietly about, setting the table for us, making the beds, and bringing water to wash in, and paid no heed when we said it was wrong for them to do that when we had men whose business it was to perform such offices. We fared most comfortably, and sat late at dinner. We walked all over the building with the hermits afterward, and then sat on the lofty battlements and smoked while we enjoyed the cool air, the wild scenery and the sunset. One or two chose cosy bed-rooms to sleep in, but the nomadic instinct prompted the rest to sleep on the broad divan that extended around the great hall, because it seemed like sleeping out of doors, and so was more cheery and inviting. It was a royal rest we had.

When we got up to breakfast in the morning, we were new men. For all this hospitality no strict charge was made. We could give something if we chose; we need give nothing, if we were poor or if we were stingy. The pauper and the miser are as free as any in the Catholic Convents of Palestine. I have been educated to enmity toward every thing that is Catholic, and sometimes, in consequence of this, I find it much easier to discover Catholic faults than Catholic merits. But there is one thing I feel no disposition to overlook, and no disposition to forget: and that is, the honest gratitude I and all pilgrims owe, to the Convent Fathers in Palestine. Their doors are always open, and there is always a welcome for any worthy man who comes, whether he comes in rags or clad in purple. The Catholic Convents are a priceless blessing to the poor. A pilgrim without money, whether he be a Protestant or a Catholic, can travel the length and breadth of Palestine, and in the midst of her desert wastes find wholesome food and a clean bed every night, in these buildings. Pilgrims in better circumstances are often stricken down by the sun and the fevers of the country, and then their saving refuge is the Convent. Without these hospitable retreats, travel in Palestine would be a pleasure which none but the strongest men could dare to undertake. Our party, pilgrims and all, will always be ready and always willing, to touch glasses and drink health, prosperity and long life to the Convent Fathers of Palestine.

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2025 Review

 

I’ve learned from experience not to make predictions or resolutions at the New Year. But there is no harm in looking back over the past year and trying to assess whether it was a good year or not. In my opinion I rate 2025 as a good to very good year. Here are some reasons.

The World did not come to an End.

There are still real problems facing the world today but 2025 turned out to be a pretty good year despite dire predictions following the Trump victory. War still goes on in Ukraine but no one can say that the Trump administration has not tried to broker a peace. For the time being, the war in Gaza is over, and the Iranian nuclear program has been derailed. Despite threatening gestures China did not invade Taiwan.

President Trump has also brokered a number of peace deals, and the U.S. military must be given credit not only for the destruction of the Iranian nuclear sites, but also for the weakening of Iranian surrogates in the Middle East. 

The United States did not go down the Drain.

Predictions of doom did not materialize after Donald Trump was sworn in as President in 2025. Somehow, the nation has survived his first year as President. Despite unprecedented and vitriolic hatred on the part of his enemies, President Trump and his administration have chalked up a number of achievements. I said at the beginning of his first term that it would be wise to see what Trump does as President rather than obsess over his words and tweets. I think this still holds true today.

In his second term President Trump seems to have put together a skilled and experienced set of advisors at the Cabinet level and on down. It appears as if adults and not ideologues are now in vital government offices. It would be hard for anyone to deny that Marco Rubio has done a good job as Secretary of State, or Scott Bessent has done a good job at the Treasury. More than anything else, Trump is an active and energetic President. He is out there every day answering questions from all sides. In this important respect he is the opposite of his predecessor.

The Stock Market hit an all-time high.  

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 14%. The tech heavy NASDAQ gained more than 20%, and most global markets also hit record highs. Stock market gains benefit everyone, not just wealthy capitalists. Retirement plans, both public and private, are primarily invested in the stock market. Employees of profitable companies also get higher bonuses. President Trump cannot be given all the credit for this economic boom but his election did not cause the economy to collapse. So far Trump's tariff policies have not produced the dire results predicted by his opponents in politics or the media. 

Despite unanimous Democrat opposition, the Republican Congress passed a Tax Reform Bill. Although it is still too early to tell, it would appear that the bill will benefit low income workers more than the well to do. With the increased standard deduction those living at or below the poverty level will pay little or no income tax, and most Seniors will see a reduction in the tax on their Social Security benefits. Eliminating fraud and waste also benefits those in real need.

Inflation seems under control. 

During President Trump's first administration Democratic opponents never tired of complaining about income inequality, but in 2025 they switched to an affordability mantra. My wife tells me that prices are up at the supermarket, but she also noticed that gas is cheaper at the pump. Now that winter is here consumers will also see a marked decrease in the cost of their home heating oil. In 2023 during the Biden administration I paid $6.50 per gallon for home heating oil. That's $6500 for 1000 gallons. This year my price is capped at about $3.00 per gallon, and so our home heating cost will only be $3000. Interestingly, the price is down to what it was in the first year of Trump's first administration. In the first three years of the Biden administration my oil price cap was $6.50, $4.94, and $5.04. Why didn't anyone talk about affordability then? 

I compared my electricity and water bills and they are practically the same this year as they were last year. The cost is remarkably cheap considering the essential importance of electricity and water in our daily lives. I was even able to switch our cell phone carrier and reduce our monthly bill from $125 to $70. The new carrier even threw in two new smart phones (I hated to part with my old dumb phone), as well as $650 in Costco bucks. Competition is still the best way to keep costs down.

I really wonder about affordability concerns when I see the following:

The LA Dodgers won the World Series and the cheapest seat in their ballpark was around $800 and the stands were packed. Prices for playoff games in Yankee Stadium were similar. The cheapest seat in Madison Square Garden for a Knick game is around $200 but people in court side seats pay up to $13000 for even a meaningless regular season game. When cameras pan the fans in these expensive seats, most appear to be young men. Are they the same ones who can't afford to get married and start a family?

Of course, anyone's evaluation of 2025 will probably be based mainly on personal and family considerations. Despite old age health concerns last year, by the end of the year my wife and I were in relatively good shape for our age. In addition, our children and grandchildren seem to be doing well, and we are even expecting a third great-grandchild in Texas in 2026. Personally, it was a good year and we have much to be thankful for.

Speaking of thanks, I found the lovely and poignant song "Thanks for the Memory" on Youtube last year. It was sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross back in 1938 in an otherwise awful film, but it is amazing to watch the two performers put over the song that would become Bob Hope's signature for the rest of his long career. Click on this link or watch below. 

Happy New Year!