Let’s start out with a few of my favorite stories I have read recently….

Awesome!—In Baltimore, David Bennett sr., 57, became the first person to receive a heart transplant using a donor heart from a pig, The Washington Post reported. The eight-hour surgery took place on Jan. 7; Bennett was so sick that he could not qualify for a transplant from another human. Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, said, “It’s working, and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before.” Scientists have worked to genetically alter pigs so that human bodies would not reject their organs, in an effort to supplement the supply of donor hearts from other people. Bennett, who was convicted of battery in a 1988 stabbing that left a man paralyzed, spent six years in prison. Before the surgery, he admitted, “I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.” His son said Bennett wished to “contribute to the science and potentially save patient lives in the future.”

Boundaries – The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPYS) in the United Kingdom on Jan. 10 removed the medical license from Simon Bramhall, a transplant surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, The Washington Post reported. The action stemmed from an incident in 2013 in which, after finishing up a transplant, Dr. Bramhall used an electric beam to burn his initials into the patient’s liver before closing her up. The flourish might not have been discovered, but the liver began to fail the following week and another surgeon discovered the signature. Bramhall said at the time it was something he did to relieve stress during long, difficult operations. In 2017, he was convicted of assault and fined about $13,000. In 2021, he submitted a letter arguing that he was again fit to practice, but the latest ruling has denied him the right to do so, noting that his actions “undermined” people’s trust in the medical profession.

Short Fuse – Alvis Parrish, 54, of Jacksonville, Florida, got tired of hearing her boyfriend, William Carter, talk on Dec. 7, so she gave him “just enough” poison in his lemonade to shut him up. Then she called police “so he wouldn’t die,” clickorlando.com reported. When officers arrived, Parrish was on her front porch, where she was handcuffed. “Do whatever you want,” she told them. “If you don’t take me, I will kill him.” A deputy who spoke to Carter, 61, said he was difficult to interview because he was so tired. Carter said the lemonade tasted funny, then collapsed on the floor. Parish is facing a charge of poisoning food or water with intent to kill or injure a person.

Keeping Up with the Times – In Aksaray, Turkey, one family has been raising cattle for three generations, Oddity Central reported. Izzet Kocak believes their success is linked to their willingness to keep up with modern technology. To that end, the farmer is testing virtual reality goggles that make his cows think they’re standing in a green field of grass in the summer. Kocak says the average yield per day from his cows is 22 liters, but “We had two of our cows wear virtual reality glasses, and watch vast green pasture all day, and the daily milk production increased up to 27 liters.” He said the quality of the milk also increased. He has ordered 10 more pairs of V goggles, and if results are similar, he plans to order them for all of his 180 cows.

—CC— Most of our children have heard from us how hard we had it and how blest they are. Recently, I read the following story written by a member of the new generation.

Bev Potter writes…

The Hard Luck Story of a Generation Alpha Kid

Nobody probably wants to hear another sob story from a privileged white kid, but my pain is just as valid as any impoverished war refugee’s.

They have literal rivers and mountains to cross, but I have mental rivers and mountains. Just the other day, I realized that none of my shoes matched my new racerback Gucci bralette. The pain was like a bullet hitting me in the back as I tried to run away from an oppressive regime.

Dad was an Instagram model, so he wasn’t around much. He was usually at the gym or hanging out at the model house on the beach, or getting his teeth whitened.

He worked really hard to put protein drinks on the table for me and Mom. Sometimes, I wanted food I could chew, but I knew the protein drinks sponsored by Sludgze had all the nutrients I needed to be my best self, and only one gram of sugar!

Mom became famous when she was on the Dr. Phil Show. She was skanky hot and had a catch phrase, and the next thing she knew, she had an agent and an Only Fans.

That first $4 million was hard, but Mom worked just as hard as any activist trying to free political prisoners from a despotic regime. I support her work by wearing a vintage tee that says FREE MANDELA. It cost $293 at a place in Scottsdale, is it wasn’t exactly free. I think a Mandela is one of those things you make out of yarn that I see on Etsy all the time.

We don’t have to read books anymore in school because of the popular backlash against intelligence, so I feel very . . . something. The vocabulary of the average person is around 100 words, just like people a million years ago in Europe who were trying to break away from the Catholic church.

I know all about hardship. If slaving over a hot laptop isn’t torture, I don’t know what is. America’s bad because our government waterboarded innocent people in Guacamole Bay? You should try buying crypto and watching the market. Now, that’s painful.

Now that I understand the younger generation’s hardships, I have a newfound respect for them. Think of the horror stories they will be able to tell their children!