Tea and Vitriol

The final hours of 2022 are upon us. Tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of people are planning to go out to celebrate New Year's Eve after nearly two years of government-imposed isolation and restrictions across the globe to "combat" the Corona Virus. Bars and nightclubs will be offering tacky paper hats and noisemakers, as well as a plastic cup of cheap champagne at midnight to ring in the new year to customers, who will be drinking at regular prices throughout the evening. All the while, the patrons will be shrieking to each other at how much fun they're having. I hope they will be. They are the ones who weren't invited to anyone's parties. News Year's Eve is usually regarded as amateur night for drinkers, which is why the various law enforcement agencies will be out at full force. Hopefully those partiers will be up and about by January 3rd. For myself, I am not particularly nostalgic about the passing of 2022 nor particularly hopeful for 20

  Tonight is Christmas Eve. It is the official end of the Christmas Shopping Season, which began after the Fourth of July. During that period, advertisers, merchandisers and public relations people have been Hell bent on convincing consumers to spend themselves into debt, buying presents for others to prove their love. To buy their love, as it were. Traditional Christmas Carols have been perverted to reflect this commercialism. "Angels we have heard on high, telling us 'Go out and buy!'" And "God rest ye, merry merchants, may you make the yuletide pay!" This has been going on for decades, and not just in the United States. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with buying gifts for a few selected friends and family members. That, at least, is in the tradition of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus and the Three Wise Guys...or Men...or the Magi. But the expectation that casual acquaintances and relative strangers must be bought for comes under the category of "J

The Christmas season is upon us again. And Hanukkah. Both are religious holidays. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, whom all Christian faiths regard as mankind's savior. Hanukkah celebrates the purification and rededication of Solomon's temple after it was defiled by the Hellenizing actions of the Seleucid Empire. As such, the proper greeting this time of year would be "Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah." Especially in years like this one, where the holidays overlap. Yes, both holidays feature gift-giving and as such a great deal of commercialism. But still, it is a happy time of year for most people, who will still use the greeting "Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah" when they meet people. It takes us back to an earlier, less complicated time when people were less apt to take offense at everything, when such greetings produced a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I am referring to the days before progressive liberalism sought to pervert traditio

Two hundred and fifty years ago, America rejected the British Monarchy. Many of our Founding Fathers felt that we had outgrown it and that hereditary kingship was no longer beneficial to our circumstances, hopes and goals. That the British have chosen to maintain the Monarchy up until the present time is their business, so let them look to it. Unfortunately, Americans are still obsessed with the glitz and glamor the Royal Family still exudes, since they are wrapped in a cocoon of fabulous wealth, privilege and prestige. Supposedly, in our republican and democratic political culture, we have foregone all of that, yet we miss the fairy tale of it all, the rituals, the pageantry and the jewels. Our First Families simply do not compare, nor do the political dynasties our history has brought forth, because they come and go, while the British Monarchy remains. Yet the concept of hereditary monarchy is based on the belief in superior and inferior classes, with the monarch at the top of the he

  Another episode of Rochester's ongoing clown show, the anti-cop Police Accountability Board, was concluded yesterday. An independent investigation requested by Rochester's City Council called for the termination of the PAB's executive director, Conor Dwyer Reynolds. Reynolds is "affectionately" known as "Porn Stache Guy" because of his uncanny resemblance to gay porn actors from the 60's and 70's, only unhealthier looking,  The investigation found that Porn Stache Guy "exhibited during his active tenure, and continues to demonstrate, poor leadership and inappropriate behaviors that make him unsuitable to serve as Executive Director of the PAB."  The complaints were about, but not limited to sexual harassment, race discrimination, a hostile work environment, retaliation and city policy violations.  It reported that he had created a toxic work environment (although far more people quit or were fired AFTER he was placed on paid suspensio

Last night, on Rochester's northwest side, three women were shot. Two were killed. The third will apparently survive. The two deceased ladies were Rochester's 72nd and 73rd homicides respectively for the year so far. It has been decided that this was a murder-suicide. On Sunday night, a man was shot on Norton Street on Rochester's northeast side. He will survive. Yet, 24 hours previously on that same street, a 27-year-old man was shot multiple times and killed when the driver of the vehicle pulled into a driveway. There were two children in the back seat of that vehicle, one was the child of the victim. Fortunately, neither the children nor the driver was hurt...this time. Because the deadly feral urban humanoids who roam our fair city usually aren't overly concerned about children being wounded or killed. That's why the monsters who drive through our streets, shooting into homes are to be feared, because they are completely oblivious as to who is inside those homes

The US mid-term elections are over. The much anticipated "Red Tide," where the GOP would sweep national, state and local elections proved to be only so much hype. Though many races in dyed in the wool Blue states were close, too many Americans refused to reject the politically progressive perversion known as Bidenism. True, the Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives, while as of this writing there are still five Senate seats undecided. While GOP control of the House merely removes that Nancy Pelosi creature as Speaker of the House, and good riddance to her, she still remains a representative for her district in California, which means that she will continue to be a gadfly in the body politic of the US, though of lesser importance than previously. We might say "Thank God for small mercies." As for New York State, we will remain under the control of the unholy triumvirate of pre-born baby killing, criminal loving Hochul, James and Schumer. They