Even in this day and age of easily-accessible mass information, things of interest can still evade our notice at times.
While searching Internet news sources this past Monday, I became aware of a few such things, all of which are fascinating in their own different ways.
Texit.
Remember Brexit?
That was the title given to the big story of when the United Kingdom (Great Britain) cut ties with the European Union in 2016. It was an acronym representing Britain’s exit from the organization.
Well, apparently there are a bunch of folks in Texas who are dead serious about “Texit.” Yep, there’s discussion and sort of a movement regarding the Lone Star State possibly becoming the Lone Star Nation.
The situation’s recent surge is in large part due to an ongoing feud between the Biden Administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Basically, Abbott wants to protect the border to an extent that the federal government hasn’t bought into, and has publicly declared that Texas’ right to self-defense “supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” He orchestrated the installation of extensive razor wire barriers and has refused to remove them despite Biden and Company’s strong objections, and even a Supreme Court ruling.
Now, I’m not sure we’re going to need passports to enter Texas any time soon, but it’s extremely interesting that Texit is not only a thing, but a very real thing.
The United States down to 49 again. Who knew?
Stiff-person syndrome.
I didn’t watch the 2024 Grammy Awards Sunday night, but I did happen to read an article about Celine Dion making a public appearance on the show, her first in years.
Now, I knew Dion was dealing with some sort of physical impairment that had been keeping her down for a long time, but I had no idea it was “stiff-person syndrome.”
Also called “stiff-man syndrome,” the disease is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by progressive muscular rigidity and stiffness, which can result in spasms, damaged posture and limited mobility. Apparently, there are even varieties of the condition that primarily affect a specific limb (aptly called “stiff-limb syndrome”).
While I’m intrigued by the very existence of this malady, I also find it disturbing (and pretty suspicious) that experts say it’s “of unclear cause.”
A mysterious, enigmatic muscular defect. Who knew?
Chinese migrants.
I didn’t watch 60 Minutes last Sunday night, because I never watch the program.
But I see a segment from the show on YouTube that detailed a very surprising and eye-opening situation regarding the massive, ongoing illegal migration of people entering the U.S. from Mexico.
Now, the fact is that the number of migrants at the southern border is unprecedented and out of control, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 2.5 million instances of detaining or turning away people attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico in 2023. That’s a big, big number, and I believe it should be taken more seriously than it is.
But here’s what the 60 Minutes segment pointed out: The fastest growing group among the migrants is Chinese. Yep, Chinese.
The segment showed amazing video of a female reporter standing near a 4-foot “gap” between a big rock and the end of a border fence about 60 miles east of San Diego, while dozens upon dozens of Chinese people of varying ages (including children) made their way through the opening and onto U.S. soil. The video also clearly depicted large SUVs coming and going, dropping off large groups of Chinese people at the location of the gap, which the reporter said has become “a global destination.”
Many had made it there by first simply flying into Mexico or another Latin American country. She spoke with several of them and found that the groups included everything from doctors to teachers and other professionals who just wanted to escape the madness in China.
A mass illegal migration of Chinese people coming in from Mexico. Who knew?
Bitcoin.
I’m not a fan of “cryptocurrency,” and I don’t know anyone else who is, either.
But for some reason, there’s a big story playing out in England that has to do with Bitcoin.
Apparently, the man who founded it has for years gone by the fictitious name of Satoshi Nakamoto, and nobody really knows who he is. No, really, he’s an unknown individual veiled in secrecy.
But for many years, an Australian computer scientist named Craig Wright has claimed to be Nakamoto, but has been unable to prove it. Say what? You can’t prove who you are?
Well, thanks to a lawsuit filed in the UK by an organization known as the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, a trial started this week that is expected to result in a final determination about Wright’s status in relation to Bitcoin. Yep, the guy’s on trial to prove who he is.
OK, so I’m skeptical about Wright, because anyone who can’t prove he is someone almost surely isn’t that someone. The question is: If not him, then who? So weird.
But I’m equally skeptical about Bitcoin and the like as well. Ever since I first heard of this new and supposedly wonderful form of currency, I have had a series of fundamental questions, and I still do now. How can a person use it like actual money (like to buy groceries)? How is it worth anything? Why are these answers not obvious to the average person?
So Bitcoin’s creator is a mystery. Who knew?
Anyway, we live in a world of strangeness and bizarre realities, and it’s getting stranger and more bizarre by the minute. In turn, odd stories like these are going to become more and more common, which means more of them will evade our notice.
Oh well. As a friend of my wife once said, the best thing to do is “grab a bag of popcorn, have a seat, and watch it all take place.”
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
Do you have a bag of popcorn??