I take back half the nice things I said about Indiana’s GOP resisting MAGA demands for a norm-busting mid-decade redistricting.
The federal Judge in the vindictive cases against James Comey and Letitia James has dismissed the charges. I’m not yet clear on whether the dismissal was on grounds that would mean Comey’s prosecution is now barred by the statute of limitation or whether there’s a 6-month window to re-file.
Pilgrims
Demons Want To Be Needed. Don’t be a life coach for a Demon’s self-esteem issues. If you want to disturb a Demon, a Machine, or a Monster, think about making a hand-made, human-sized life. Sometimes things are simpler than we may think. Find the Angel in the Machine, not just the Demon. Be the Angel in the Machine if you can. It’s radical to be a pilgrim.
Hmmmm. I know there are design, pen, ink and paper enthusiasts ‘round these parts. I suspect that some of them would be interested in this notebook.
“People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think,” - Aldous Huxley via Andrew Sullivan.
Today is the 62nd anniversary of three deaths:
- JFK
- C.S. Lewis
- Aldous Huxley
The coincidence provided the conceit for a book I enjoyed very much.
Oh my! I counted out Wake Forest when they were down by 2 against Memphis with 1.5 seconds on the clock. But a set play put the ball in the hands of Myles Colvin, formerly of Purdue, who drained a 3 at the buzzer. The Purdue fans, assembled for the Championship game against Texas Tech, exploded.
Abandoned Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions. 📚 Maybe if I was 55 years younger?
Reading Dostoyevsky, Demons. 📚 (At least for now I am.) The translation is quite readable, but the translator isn’t even identified! (It’s a Kindle version from General Press in New Delhi)
Hoosier MAGA ghouls have taken to SWATting Republican State Senators who declined to redistrict the state. Four instances and counting ….
Confession: I cannot listen to a good performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms without weeping repeatedly.
Corollary: It’s unusually hard for me to sing Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (which I’ve done a few times and hope to do at least once more).
Ruth Graham is a very solid religionbeat journalist, and she hits few of the tripwires most journalists stumble over when reporting on religious topics: Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts (gift link).
(Matthew Heimbach moved to a pseudo-Orthodox group, not “another branch.”)
So far as I can tell, I’m the first to identify one of Tucker’s obsessions with the specific heresy of Marcionism. I float it here since I know that there are some smart people who’ve studied theology formally who can set me straight if I’m just off on a stupid tangent.
More reasons why James Comey is gonna walk.
Today, I have confirmed by looking at a 1997 calendar, is exactly the 28th anniversary of my reception into Orthodox Christianity.
Indiana will NOT be gerrymadering its Congressional Districts this year. The Senate President Pro Tem counted noses and there’s not enough support among Republicans in that house, so they won’t even come back for a Special Session.
Kinda sorta proud to be a Hoosier today.
Reading Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions. 📚 H/T Shilo Brooks’ Old School podcast for calling it to my attention. I read Sowell’s columns for years, but never before picked up one of his books.
Finished Giuliano da Empoli, The Wizard of the Kremlin. 📚Recommended (I gave it 5 stars), though it’s hard to say just why.
Yes, it’s paywalled, but Damon Linker’s The Intellectual Right Goes to War (with Itself) helps clarify what’s going on with “conservatives” in the U.S. today.
Fr. Stephen Freeman speaks slowly, with a Tennessee drawl, and he writes simply.
But don’t underestimate him. He’s smart (ThM, Duke Divinity). He’s penetrating.
His latest strikes me as a succinct Orthodox apologetic, complete with illustrations and contrasts. The Abbreviated God
That Rastafarian who got his head shaved by rogue jailers?
It isn’t before SCOTUS to decide whether that was wrong. It’s more like deciding whether the courts can imply a cause of action for money damages for him and others who suffer such wrongs. No such cause of action appears in the statute.
I saw a news item claiming that SCOTUS was “debating” whether to take a case to reverse same-sex marriage. I’ll bet this rejection of that case was 9-0 with little debate.
SCOTUS doesn’t debate about unjust 6-figure verdicts, even if Chicken Little fancies they do.
When I saw a local obituary with a photo of the decedent next to a dead bear and the archery tools he took the bear with, I thought he was a macho jerk.
Then I read in the obit that he was born with Spina Bifida, used a wheelchair, ran a prosthetics business, etc..
Context matters. I’m the jerk.