I’ve come to presume illegality of almost anything Trump does, even if I’m not familiar with the area of law. My presumption has been right oftener than it has been wrong, though I have been surprised a few times at what the law actually does allow a President to do. (It allows him to do too much, but nowhere near everything, without Congress.)
57 years to the day since the first man, a Purdue Boilermaker, set foot on the moon. Soon, there will be a space mission with 5 Boilermakers.
We’ve called it “the cradle of astronauts” for years.
I sing in a chorale with a Purdue prof who’s behind the Mars Rover and jockeys it around.
Have I mentioned yet today how much I love Becket?
Probably my last World Cup comment.
A foreign color commentator was asked before the final “What are we going when this is over?” His answer: “Laundry. It’s hard being on the road for a month.”
Am I the only one wondering about how the World Cup final is going to work in an open stadium full of wildfire particulates? ⚽
“Kylian Mbappé broke the all-time scoring record for the tournament with his 22nd goal.”
Talk about a record that needs an asterisk next to it!
Reading Carlos M.N. Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 📚
Finished reading: Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite 📚Will buy the other three volumes if Guite completes them and I’m still conscious.
It’s morning in America: Trump only stretched his pack of paranoid delusions to 25 minutes of prime time last night.
I just discovered that my 1982 Law Journal Note is freely available online. I thought of downloading it and reading it for the first time in decades, but I don’t think I could bear it. Much water under the bridge since then.
I was rooting for France, but I think Spain is going to be hard for anyone to beat. No big-name superstars, but a bunch of guys playing with intense discipline as a team. Very impressed, especially with that second goal. ⚽️
I started to write about Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell. Then I remembered how unlikely it is that they will be remembered as important by anyone other than historians in even ten years.
I suspect that AI is the real, enduring story of our era. And who is the Avatar of AI?
My wife just read me a news item about Martha Lillard, the last polio survivor still using an iron lung.
How terrifying had to be it for my parents’ generation to watch the advance of polio! I had one classmate who survived it. The Salk Vaccine is one of the great achievements in public health.
Watching England and Norway on two-hour delay (it conflicted with Vespers). I’m impressed with Norway’s lightning strikes. Glad I got to see what all the Haaland buzz is about.
With USMNT out, I’m shifting my allegiance to France (which isn’t hard for me) and I’m stoked about today’s match against Morocco.
Pulisic appeared to sustain the injury in the 52nd minute of the U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 defeat, when he wound up to take a shot at the edge of the penalty box but instead kicked the back of Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans’ calf.
James Horncastle, Henry Bushnell and Paul Tenorio
First, I’m going to ask “What are you guys smoking? He kicked the heel of the Belgian’s shoe. And my leg ached just watching the replay.”
Second, I’m going to see if there’s a YouTube for a very belated VAR … Well, there is and it shows that I’m right.
In need of salvation, yet not wanting to be made safe by science. The humanities are hoary. Towards the end of one’s life, towards the end of the century; worse still towards the end of the millennium, the tempter appoaches us as desperation.
R.S. Thomas, The Echoes Return Slow, in Collected Later Poems 1988-2000
This is set off on Lilly Road at Lafayette’s southwest, on the way to nowhere else that I ever go. It’s Lafayette’s cog in the Eli Lilly (Evonik) wheel, and Evonik is spending another $100 million for expansion.
Employs 750 with 80 more on the way. How can this be so easy to forget?
Seriously, Chrysler: “In loud we trust”? (World Cup ad)
The calculated corruption of “In God we trust” is secondary; my primary offense is the message that we Americans are power-hungry and tumultuous jerks.
I was looking forward to the USA vs. Belgium World Cup match tonight, but the decision of FIFA to suspend the one-game suspension of Balogun cast a pall over it.
I’ve now rationalized the suspension of the suspension and will watch with a clear conscience.
Currently reading: Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite 📚
I’m shockingly ignorant of Arthururian lore and of the Grail, but this is going to be a delightful way to learn.
I’m taking the poet’s advice and reading aloud, pretending I have a wide-eyed child on my lap.
This Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone Into the Perfect Kids’ Dumb Phone. Who knew?
It makes the most sense as a reconfiguration of an old iPhone passed down to a child.