FROM an article by Dawn Lester, co-author with Dave Parker of the excellent book, What Really Makes You Ill: Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Disease Is Wrong:

It is a fundamental principle that the burden of proof lies with those who propose a theory. Yet in the case of the ‘germ theory’ that ‘proof’ does not exist; there is no original scientific evidence that definitively proves that any ‘germ’ causes any specific infectious disease. Although this statement will be regarded as highly controversial and even outrageous, its veracity can be demonstrated.

There are a number of sources that provide a corroboration of the assertion that the ‘germ theory’ lacks any original scientific proof. One of these sources is Dr. M.L. Leverson MD, who, in May 1911, gave a lecture in London in which he discussed his investigations that had led him to the conclusion that,

“The entire fabric of the germ theory of disease rests upon assumptions which not only have not been proved, but which are incapable of proof, and many of them can be proved to be the reverse of truth. The basic one of these unproven assumptions, wholly due to Pasteur, is the hypothesis that all the so-called infectious and contagious disorders are caused by germs.”

Dr. M Beddow Bayly also exposed the lack of any scientific basis for the ‘germ theory’; in his 1928 article published in the journal London Medical World, he states that,

“I am prepared to maintain with scientifically established facts, that in no single instance has it been conclusively proved that any microorganism is the specific cause of a disease.”

It is clear that evidence to support the ‘germ theory’ remained conspicuous by its absence many decades after it had been proposed by Louis Pasteur. However, the situation has not been rectified; the germ theory of disease remains unproven with overwhelming evidence to demonstrate that it also remains a fallacy.

Despite the authoritative nature of the assertions of the medical establishment that ‘germs’ cause disease, there are no explanations for the mechanisms by which microorganisms produce the wide variety of symptoms in varying degrees of intensity that are claimed to occur when a person becomes ‘infected’. This represents an immense knowledge gap, although not the only one we discovered.

It is claimed that ‘germs’ multiply within the cells of the host and that this can precipitate an excess level of ‘cell death’ that is said to be an indicator of disease. It is commonly assumed that it is the ‘germ’ that caused the cell to die; but this is a mistaken assumption.

Read more.

The Three Magi, South German Workshop of Hans Thoman, ca. 1514-25. 

FROM “The Feast of the Epiphany” by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876:

“I answer by the assertion that love for truth is, in general, rare among men. They love darkness better than light,–delusion, which flatters them, more than the truth, which points to the exercise of duty, which teaches the spirit of Christian self-denial, which inspires contempt of human consideration, united with that fidelity which assures for us perseverance unto the end.

The gospel for today affirms that Herod, and with him all Jerusalem, was terrified at the message of the three Magi, that the Saviour, the King and Deliverer of the human race, was born. Herod was afraid, and trembled lest he should lose his throne. The scribes and Pharisees also, those whitened sepulchers of evil, as Christ called them, instead of rejoicing, were filled with alarm; for they felt, and truly, that the promised Messiah would penetrate their interior, and censure their hypocrisy and malice. Read More »

THE WISE MEN
—- G.K. Chesterton

Step softly, under snow or rain,
To find the place where men can pray;
The way is all so very plain
That we may lose the way.

Oh, we have learnt to peer and pore
On tortured puzzles from our youth,
We know all labyrinthine lore,
We are the three wise men of yore,
And we know all things but the truth.

We have gone round and round the hill
And lost the wood among the trees,
And learnt long names for every ill,
And served the mad gods, naming still
The furies the Eumenides.

The gods of violence took the veil
Of vision and philosophy,
The Serpent that brought all men bale,
He bites his own accursed tail,
And calls himself Eternity. Read More »

Here, on this Feast of the Epiphany, are the London Symphony Orchestra and various choral singers performing British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The March of the Kings from his Christmas Cantata Hodie (“This Day”). The text was written by the composer’s wife, Ursula.

From kingdoms of wisdom secret and far
come Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar;
they ride through time, they ride through night
led by the star’s foretelling light.

Crowning the skies the star of morning, star of dayspring, calls:
clear on the hilltop its sharp radiance falls
lighting the stable and the broken walls
where the prince lies.

Gold from the veins of earth he brings,
red gold to crown the King of Kings.
Power and glory here behold
shut in a talisman of gold. Read More »

The Adoration of the Magi, Quentin Massys; 1526

“WHAT right had ingots of ruddy gold to be gleaming in the Cave of Bethlehem? Arabian perfumes were meeter for Herod’s halls than for the cattle-shed scooped in the gloomy rock. The myrrh truly was in its place, however costly it might be; for it prophesied in pathetic silence of that bitter-sweet quintessence of love, which should be extracted for men from the Sacred Humanity of the Babe in the press of Calvary. Yet myrrh was a strange omen for a Babe who was the splendor of heaven and the joy of earth. How unmeet were all these things, and yet in their deep significance how meet! The strange secrecy too, with which this kingly oriental progress, with picturesque costumes, and jewelled turbans, and the dark-faced slaves, and the stately stepping camels, passed over many regions, makes it seem still more like a visionary splendor, a many-colored apparition, and not a sober mystery of the humble Incarnate Word. It is a bright vision of old heathen faith, of the first heathen faith that worshipped Mary’s Son, and it is beautiful enough to give us faith in its own divinity. Yet it almost makes Bethlehem too beautiful. It dazzles us with its outward show, and makes the Cave look dark, when its oriental witchery has passed away. They, who dwell much in the world of the Sacred Infancy, know how oftentimes meditation on the Kings is too stirring and exciting for the austere tranquillity of contemplation, too manifold in the objects it brings before us, too various in the images it leaves behind. Truly it is beautiful beyond words! a household mystery to those eagles of prayer, to whom beauty brings tranquillity, because they live in the upper voiceless sunshine! With most of us it is not so. They who feed on beauty must feed quietly, or it will not nurture the beautiful within them.”

— Fr. Frederick Faber, Bethlehem (Tan Books, 187-88)

JOHN M. sends a donation and writes:

It’s that time of year when I need to catch up on blogger appreciation. You put a lot of work and care into your writing. And I believe you affect people in a positive way, probably more than you realize. Please keep doing it. Faith, sanity, personal integrity, memory, strong families, and the ability to discern truth from lies are all needed now more than ever. Read More »

ALAN writes:

My first Christmas was in 1949.  I can’t remember anything about it because I was mostly unconscious.

Fifty years later, my mother and I sat in the comfort of her apartment and watched the 1934 motion picture “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” The story takes place in Toyland. Victor Herbert’s song “Toyland” was, for me, an acute reminder of my boyhood years and the fact—which I could not have imagined in those years—that the end of life was now coming into view.

Not a Christmas went by in the 1950s without toys under our tree:  Coloring books, board games, jigsaw puzzles, water guns, cap guns, a paddle ball, Little Golden Books, a “Learn to Draw with Jon Gnagy” kit, and a plastic map of the United States in which 48 pieces represented the States, a map that I disassembled and assembled so many times that it taught me the proper location of all the States.

Of course I took it all for granted.  Read More »

EVEN amid the beauty of Christmas, the doom-and-gloomers were busy spreading their cult of fear and dread.

They cannot stop thinking of death. They cannot let a day pass untouched by medical anxiety. We are experiencing an ongoing mass psychological breakdown disguised by the technical wizardry of pseudo-scientific tests.

Let me ask: If “variants” are everywhere and constantly emerging, how did human beings survive for these thousands of years? And without forced medication or years of social isolation?

Hundreds of thousands of viruses exist and they are constantly changing to meet the environmental assaults we encounter. They even change to meet the individual body. As the writer Jeff Green points out, viruses are enzymes that cleanse our bodies of the often cyclical build-up of toxins. They are not our enemies. Unlike bacteria, which are living organisms, viruses are not alive. They are not devouring predators. They are our friends — and one variant cannot dominate a whole society for weeks and months because viruses are too specific to their immediate environment.

Our bodies are intelligently designed to withstand many assaults. Our greatest enemies are ourselves and foolish ignorance. If people are unusually sick (and people are always sick), something else is going on. Some toxin has been introduced.

So much joy and peace have been lost. Anxiety is self-perpetuating. Once a person is habituated to it, he just won’t let go. The human race will never be wiped out by a virus. But it may be wiped out by fear.

MODERN democracy resembles not at all the beautiful myths of freedom and individual rights children are taught in schools.

No, in order to be a really successful politician today you have to be — please excuse my language —  a hired, treasonous scumbag, whatever party you follow. And if you are not a scumbag, you will be enticed and blackmailed into being one.

The story of the international sexual blackmail ring run by possibly-still-living Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was just convicted in New York on serious charges other than treason and blackmail, is a glimpse into not just the crimes of two monsters and their cunning cruelty and narcissism — all of it larger than life — but into just how depraved (and linked to the international Octopus), democracy has become. Yeah, it’s “for the people.” It’s about as much for the people as Epstein’s Lolita Express, which was strictly for hired scumbags such as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Alan Dershowitz. Prince Andrew and more. Read More »

CONSIDER ending 2021 with a modest contribution to this small, independent website that takes no advertising and recklessly panders to no one (not even to you, dear reader!!) Perhaps a year’s worth of reading here is worth the cost of a few takeout coffees, a sandwich at a decent café or a single book from Amazon?

This site does not make a profit and has not made a profit for years. I seek to cover some of the costs (e.g., security and back-up features, books, secure email account, space to work, post office box) and must make something to claim business expenses on my home office.

Thank you to the generous readers who have given! I am filled with gratitude for the encouragement you give despite my inadequate and flawed efforts. This has been a tough year for everyone. The fight must go on. Please know that I have great optimism at this time and the energy to do more.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Quelle est cette odeur agréable
Traditional French Noel (Lorrain)
Translator: K. W. Simpson

1. What is this fragrance softly stealing?
Shepherds! It sets my heart a-stir!
Never was sweetness so appealing
Never were flowers of spring so fair!
What is this fragrance softly stealing?
Shepherds! It sets my heart a-stir! Read More »

Mystical Nativity (detail), Sandro Botticelli

WAS it the silence always around them?

Was it the stars, their nightly companions?

Was it the lambs and the darkened canyons?

Why of all men was it only them?

If we could, would we hear the music?

Would we bend to earth? Would we fall in wonder?

If we could, would we have the courage?

To see what was not for better men?

****

IT IS not possible to say that there has been a specific disease called Covid-19 (or any variant of that disease) because there is no — and never has been — an accurate test for such a disease. The clinical symptoms mimic other flus, pneumonias and respiratory conditions. Environmental factors such as the cyclical build-up of airborne pollutants, pre-existing health problems and unusual medical treatments, especially the use of mechanical ventilators and extreme social isolation and panic, have not been scientifically ruled out as causes of  deaths and respiratory conditions in certain geographic areas.

I say all this not based on personal feeling or speculation, but on basic study. I am not a scientist but I am able to read the work of scientific journalists and it is my obligation to do this basic study (not that it matters to anyone). I do not need to be an expert to conclude that the science behind Covid-19 is very poor.

PCR tests are scientifically meaningless. The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who invented the test said they should never be used for the purpose for which they are currently being used.

This is not to say people are not sick nor is it to deny anyone who is sick great sympathy and the best of care. But you should not say, “I had Covid-19” or “I think I have Covid-19.” There is no scientific basis for you or any doctor making such a statement. Read More »

VIDEO link.

IT IS a sign of just how material-minded our society is that it is in the grip of a relentless, paranoid fear of physical death and phantom contagion while sustaining indifference to spiritual death. The first death happens once. The second, forever.

Some relevant thoughts on Delay of Conversion: Read More »

ALAN writes:

To a little boy growing up in that decade, it seemed that Christmas was the high point of each year.  The sights and sounds and texture of those Christmases are kept in the deepest and darkest vault of my memories.  It never was the toys or gifts I received that lingered years afterward in memory.  It was something apart from those:  The spirit of those days around Christmas, a palpable spirit of good cheer, confidence, and expectation; the extended family and friends who came to visit; their company and conversation, punctuated every so often by laughter or the silence of remembering Christmases years before; and how the home in which I was fortunate to grow up became illuminated every Christmas by such people and the sound of their voices, the lights and colors of Christmas, and the soothing, inspirational sounds of Christmas Carols and music.

Such days and those people are alive to me again whenever I review the dozens of color slides that my mother took on such occasions.  Here are a few of them: Read More »