<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-8d3125b6-7fff-4c8a-a5c3-98dd33f3fcec"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Today's Issues group meets at 9:30 on Sunday mornings in person in the parlor of the Religious Education buildings next to the church and on Zoom  at:  </span><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8583258484?pwd=RFdJUGZOZkU4THArWFpnVkllZzh1dz09" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://us0</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Our next meeting will be on January 8 and we will discuss our predictions and expectations for 2023</span></p><br><p style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This chatty discussions makes some specific predictions:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/opinion/new-year-biden-world-cup.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Opinion | How About Some Predictions for the New Year? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v7j6m831dxlYavwgFqM0GQFbC0ihRZEF0q6GmIyik4A/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Printable Google Docs File</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Ginnie suggested this article about the reaction to the COVID pandemic</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.aier.org/article/the-decimal-point-that-blew-up-the-world/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Decimal Point that Blew Up the World | AIER</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">    A related article suggested by this one is:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://kjacobs00.medium.com/cfr-ifr-and-you-what-is-the-true-covid-19-death-rate-c3c762c4f940" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">CFR, IFR, and You: What is the true COVID-19 death rate? | by The Blabbering Biologist | Medium</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">These articles are looking back, but we can also discuss the future of the pandemic and of control of infectious disease more generally. Things may be taking an unexpected turn,  I don’t know if any of us anticipated the recent change in China. Was DeSantis right to oppose school closings?</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Another topic we had in mind was the future of Congress under the new Republican majority.  There is a lot of material in the press on this interesting topic, and the situation can change quickly, but the following essay looks ahead:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/04/house-republicans-dysfunction-points-more-chaos-ahead/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">House Republicans’ dysfunction points to more chaos ahead - The Washington Post</span></a><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qNyX1ElMoZ0J_OpV5a3xO14-Rn9090SA64iyfiPvx5k/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Printable Google Docs Copy</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Here is one quote from the story just above: </span><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“The MAGA crackup accelerated as crackpots fought with nihilists, wing nuts pointed fingers at extremists, and grifters started slap-fights with one another.”</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It may be more stimulating to make your own predictions before reading others’.  How about predicting the future of Twitter? The war in Ukraine? The new Israeli government?  The climate? But if you want ideas, there are web sites out there, some of which are mostly for entertainment value.  Here are some: </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://grist.org/fix/policy/23-predictions-for-2023-climate-justice-forecast-trends/#:~:text=23%20Predictions%20for%202023%201%20A%20critical%20juncture,New%20voices%20and%20spending%20in%20clean%20energy%20" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">23 Predictions for 2023: Climate progress in the year ahead | Fix (grist.org)</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/01/reasons-for-optimism-2023/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">2023 might not be all bad. Here are some things that might improve. - The Washington Post</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://nypost.com/article/nostradamus-predictions-2023/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Nostradamus predictions for 2023: An antichrist, World War III and the monarchy dies (nypost.com)</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://psychicschool.com/psychic-predictions-for-2023/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Psychic Predictions for 2023 | The Psychic School</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://nypost.com/2022/12/30/major-2023-astrology-predictions-for-the-entire-world/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Major 2023 astrology predictions for the entire world (nypost.com)</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/world/asia/india-ukraine-russia.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">India Emerges as Key Global Player Amid Russia’s War in Ukraine - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-indent:18pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/12/climate/california-rain-storm.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Georgia;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Coming California Megastorm - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</span></a></p><br><br></span></div></div></div>