This one is really short:

Billy Barr announced this morning that the 270 people who perished 32 years ago on Pan Am Flight 103 are still dead and a suspected bomb maker in Libya is being charged in connection to that attack.

That’s going to be a real comfort to the families of the 320,000 Americans who died of COVID-19 and the 120,000 still hospitalized and fighting for their lives.

It’s certainly going to go a long way to shield America from Russia’s heinous cyber attacks and from the disinformation being spread by our corrupt, delusional, self-dealing president, which is quite literally ripping apart this country.

Thank you, Billy Barr for being the worst, most lawless Attorney General in our history.  Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

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Flabbergasted. That’s how I felt when I heard 106 U.S. Republican congressmen and women signed a brief supporting a Texas lawsuit which aimed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by throwing out millions of votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin–states that Joe Biden won.

I was just as bewildered when I learned that 74 million people chose to vote for an infantile, narcissistic, mean-mouthed, lying blowhard-bully-poor loser (seven million votes less than Biden received, but still).

But what really shocked and saddens me is that seventy-nine percent of Republicans buy Trump’s claims that the election was stolen from him; that there was widespread illegal voting; that Biden was and is not the legitimate President elect.

Why do they believe it? Because Donald Trump told them so.

I’m not really into name-calling, but I’m stupefied that so many Americans are that, well, stupid. There is no evidence of large scale voter fraud (I’m not naive. After all, I’m from Illinois, hence I believe there could have been some small-time shenanigans here and there–on one or both sides, but no comprehensive fraud that would have changed the results of the election).

If there was, why did the U.S. Supreme Court–including Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, the three justices whom Donald Trump appointed–reject the Texas lawsuit challenging the election results?

Why have Trump and his lawsuit-happy lawyers lost over 50 lawsuits disputing the results of the election?

Why have prominent Republicans, including soon-to-be former (hmm, I wonder why that is?) Attorney General William Barr, saying there is no evidence, telling the Associated Press, “… we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.” 

Closer to home, why did Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican call Trump’s claims of voter fraud “baseless conspiracy theories”?

Why did Republican governors, including Arizona’s Doug Ducey and Georgia’s Brian Kemp, along with officials in other states, say the elections in their states were free from irregularities?

Why did Republican Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, in a better-late-than-never move, six weeks after the election, acknowledge that Biden is the winner of the presidential election?

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  Judy Marcus

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“Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh, o’er the fields we go, laughing all the way”…..I think not. Not this year when everything in the world changed in the blink of a Covid eye.

One minute, we’re planning family gatherings, figuring out seating, who will sit at the kids’ table and the next thing you know, we’re all Zooming in to “celebrate” on computer screens. I feel just awful for the young kids who need the wise counsel of grandparents yet can’t be around them now. I feel sorry for kids who will miss out on a large chunk of growing up surrounded by family (and friends).

I find myself decorating for Christmas almost manically, trying to create much needed joy that is at a premium now. I know store shelves were shopped clean of all holiday decor long before the usual time. On social media, my friends are busily sharing photos of their trees, holiday cookies, DIY Christmas ideas and so much more. Hell, we even attempted building a gingerbread house for the first time but it looked like a tornado hit it before I could even ice the roof.

Granted, it’s been a tough year for everyone but, for us, we lost a dog, family members, I lost a job, Chuck lost his two best friends and had a TIA (mini-stroke). I think I’m entitled to decorate as much as I want to try to fill this void (that I think we’re all feeling now).

And frankly, it IS helping. Nothing makes me happier than twinkling Christmas tree lights. It reminds me of all the GOOD years in the past when all of our family was together, giving gifts and thanks for our good health and the fact that we were still here.

You could still find Santa in all the department stores, which were decorated to the nines. I’m happy to see that retail, despite all its setbacks, is still trying to be festive. Macy’s, although certainly not close to the old Marshall Field’s in holiday decor, still has cheerful windows and the Great Tree in the Walnut Room. And, although families can’t carry on life-long traditions of dining there during the season, they can still order carry-out–the famous Mrs. Hering’s Chicken Pot Pie, lobster bisque, Frango Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Pie and more.

For Chuck and me, we’re still trying to carry on family traditions. We’ll bake my mom’s ham (Cooks only please) and maybe I’ll fix Mama Mary Johnson’s famous sweet potato pie (whose recipe was featured in Ann Gerber’s book, “Chicago’s Sweet Tooth.”)

The ornaments on the tree all have a story too and I make Chuck go through them with me every year. My oldest ornament dates from when I was in the 2nd grade. My teacher Edna Faulkner knit a little Santa for me as a Christmas gift. (I was her favorite, of course)

We will toast to the loved ones we’ve lost and pray for a better future, one that will bring back the human element and social interaction that is necessary to the survival of a species. We can’t drift apart. We need “parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow,” now more than ever.

Similarly, the Chicago Manual of Style, which is followed in the Northwestern University publications office from which I retired, does not use Dr. before the names of people with PhDs but does for medical doctors. 

Why should medical people be privileged and not those who have achieved the highest level in other professions? Longtime convention has associated the title “Dr.” with health fields. Following the convention avoids confusion. If you collapse on the sidewalk and a passerby shouts, “Is there a doctor around?,” you wouldn’t want a PhD in history to come to your aid.

I do not believe, however, that medical doctors, dentists, et al should be called Dr. outside their professional capacity. An MD ought to be Mr. or Ms. everywhere else, just like the rest of us. A social invitation to a DDS should be addressed to Mr. or Ms.

While following established editorial style, the in-house style guide in the publications office at Northwestern offers a solution so that doctors of philosophy, who are the great majority of university professors, and doctors of medicine are treated similarly in print. 

“To avoid offending people with PhDs, try to avoid using Dr. for MDs and DDSs,” the guide advises. “A way to do so is to identify a specialty after the name or use some other language that implies a medical degree (John Smith, an orthodontist; Mary Brown, a professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine).”

In reality, I don’t remember any PhD whose nose was out of joint because he or she was not given the Dr. designation. It’s presumed that a university faculty member, especially one at an elite university like Northwestern, has a PhD. 

Jill Biden teaches at a community college, where PhDs are less common than at four-year universities, so maybe that’s a reason she likes to use Dr. I think she should be called what she wants, but I also think Dr. Biden sounds snobby and status conscious.

Many people who labored long and hard to earn PhDs disagree, as was clear in their rebuttal to Epstein. They feel they deserve recognition as doctors. People work as hard in other areas, though, without earning an honorific. Think of someone who starts a small business and puts in years of struggle before making a profit. Or a carpenter, an artist, a mechanic, or anyone else whose skills attest to years of experience.

Uproar over Epstein’s op-ed prompted Northwestern University, where Epstein lectured years ago, to put out a statement calling the essay “misogynistic”  and saying that “the designation of doctor is well deserved by anyone who has earned a PhD, an EdD, or an MD.” 

Yes, the statement contradicts the style guide I mentioned. Lowly publications editors do not dictate to the powers-that-be. Actually, I’m glad that the university defended Biden against Epstein’s chauvinism. The topic of who should use Dr. is appropriate for discussion, but Epstein ensured that the discussion would instead focus on his misogyny.