Scams and con artists seem to have been with us forever. I was reminded of that again from Alexander: God, King, Man (2026) by Edmund Richardson. I learned that ancient Egypt prized mummified baboons. Who knew? These expensive items had to be imported from what is now Sudan and Ethiopia. The priests of Toth sold what appeared to be such creatures. The priests, however, created fakes made of cloth and papier-mâché stuffed with twigs and the like and formed into baboon shapes. The fraud was enormous and highly profitable. The fakery went on undetected for thousands of years and became known only when the “baboons” were subjected to CT scans in modern times. The world may change, but it also remains the same.
After fifteen years on top, Princeton was bumped by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to number two on the lists of best colleges. U.S. News regularly tinkers with its rankings methodologies. My understanding is that the New Jersey school fell because this year the editors for the first time factored in that Pete Hegseth is a Princeton graduate.
Pete Hegseth costumes should be big sellers for Halloween. After all, what could be scarier than more Pete Hegseths? But, no matter how much they insist, don’t send your kids out trick-or-treating as slicked-haired Pete if they are fatties or have low testosterone.
Pete Hegseth has established the Office of Religious Affairs in what Hegseth calls the Department of War. Hegseth apparently sees himself as a spiritual person and believes we should improve the “spiritual health” of our “warriors.” This made me think of Christian principles and faith. I plan to start wearing my custom WWJB bracelet—not a “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD) bracelet, which were popular in certain circles a few years back. Instead, my bracelet asks, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”
Other current government officials believe our policies should be shaped by the Bible, or at least by their biblical interpretations. For example, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who, when he retires plans to become a character on The Simpsons, has said, “I wish that everybody would acknowledge the importance of [the Israeli-American] relationship. There are a lots of scripturally based, biblical reasons to support Israel.”
The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence does allude to the Creator and religion, but it mentions neither Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Moses, God, nor Christianity.
Praise the warrior; question the wars. Did the Mexican War, the many wars against Native Americans, or the Spanish-American War preserve American freedoms or make Americans safer? How about our invasion of Russia in 1920 or our many invasions in the Caribbean? How much safer or freer do you feel as the result of the Iraqi war or the frequent bombings of Libya? Are you safer now given the Iran bombings and their aftermath? Let us not forget the warriors when their service is completed, but let us realize that it is also patriotic to question the uses of our military.
Through it all, however, remember one of the Rules for Staying Young by Satchel Paige: “Avoid fried meats which anger up the blood.”
