Category: Miscellaneous
Life is not only work.
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executive dignity
It has to be said, that in a fit of adolescent petulance, the president chose this as his response to a massive protest against his leadership: Trump, the successor to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, posted an AI-created video of himself as a fighter pilot, wearing a crown, flying over an American city, and dumping shit onto…
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{insert verb} nazis
Republican leaders are having a fascist moment right now. It’s ok to have an American flag prominently displayed in your congressional office, altered to include a Nazi swastika (Ohio representative Dave Taylor). It’s apparently ok to have a blatantly misogynist, rape fantasy, racist, xenophobic group chat. There’s been a lot of opinion lately a out…
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thrift store confidant
I walked down the shoe aisle swiftly, in search of a decent pair running shoes, avoiding the throng of fellow discount shoppers. Saturdays are bustling at the thrift store – half off! Midway from the loafers to the boots I pass a familiar voice. But it wasn’t someone talking in the store; it was a…
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to capture a nation
To capture a democratic nation, authoritarians must control three sources of power: the intelligence agencies, the justice system, and the military. Tom Nichols, The Atlantic
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teaching tools and vandalism
The school district that my kids are in has been taken over by christian nationalists. I’m sorry, there’s just no sugar coating it. They recently passed a “Flag Policy” which bans the display of rainbow flags in classrooms. Never mind what the class actually wants. Ostensibly, the policy claims to strive for neutrality of viewpoints.…
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Reckoning or Redoubling?
I have more to write on this topic, but for now I want to link to an incredible piece by James Greenberg Once politics takes on the rhythm of liturgy, it no longer depends on persuasion. It depends on repetition. James Greenberg If you’ve found yourself asking: Is there no bottom? … or pleading with…
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Killing in the name of
Several years ago, during the anti-abortion groundswell by radical Christian activists, I got into an argument with a relative. A prominent abortion care doctor had been murdered. My relative had the rather monotone position that “at least there’s one less abortion doctor left.” I remember being floored by that. It was clear in the sentiment…
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science & autocracy
There’s a great article at The Atlantic about authoritarian regimes and their attacks on institutions of higher learning. A nation’s dominance in the sciences also suffer as a result. The self-inflicting harm of such “anti-elitism” cannot be overstated, for the true relationship between science and government is actually symbiotic: science research betters the country. Article:…
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the scandal of grace
When I was in high school, one of the first cracks in my Reaganite armor came in the form of theologian Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace. I devoured it; it felt revolutionary and kindred at the same time, like it was changing the way I thought about the world and others, and…
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The magic of electricity
This blog is no stranger to the adoration of electricity. So it was with certain glee that I ran into this funny meme… The circuit shown is simply a bridge rectifier circuit. The positive side of the incoming sine wave goes through D1 and D3, negative half […]