Tuesday, February 28, 2023
He prefers his guns on-screen …
… Liam’s Got a Gun: Gun Control Advocate Liam Neeson Rarely Without A Gun in Action Films.
Poor Liam Neeson was disappointed that he could not discuss gun control on “The View.” The Irish actor, who became an American citizen, is a serious gun control advocate, telling a British newspaper in 2014, “I am totally for gun control in the US. The population of America is roughly 300 million and there are 300 million guns in this country, which is terrifying.”
I guess Neeson didn’t bother to read the Constitution before he became a citizen. It not says the right to bear arms shall nit be infringed. It also explains why. Look it up.
Something think on …
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.
— Michel de Momtaigne, born on this date in 1533
It’s come to this …
… Canceling Scott Adams - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Was Adams’s offbeat cri de coeur well conceived? Hard to say: it’s certainly not my own style. Will it effect significant change? We’ll find out soon enough. But his underlying premise is undeniable: our social media, our round-the-clock news cycle, and our clickbait culture have turned millions of Americans into emotionally driven hysterics or mischief-making, anonymity-cloaked firebrands who are all too eager to deepen the nation’s divisions. And no one embodies the very opposite of all that more than the sober, sensible Scott Adams. His very demeanor testifies to a deep distaste for the high-octane name-calling that defines today’s social and legacy media; his focus is always on understanding how things work — and on figuring out how people of all backgrounds can collaborate to make them work better. His motto might well be “come, let us sit and reason together.”
Monday, February 27, 2023
Javier Marias
A well-executed novel focused on the rarified air of Oxford or Cambridge is always a treat. And Javier Marias's All Souls is no exception. This novel has lots to like: comedy, personality, and a steady dose of sex and sexuality -- to name a few. But more than that, there are genuine insights into how these university towns operate, how their academics interact, and how ancient institutions assume their own momentum.
Marias, who only recently passed away, has an excellent sense of humor, and each flirtation with the arcane or obscure is accompanied by comedy. This is not, however, to say that Marias mocks the intellectual life: instead, he reveals its loneliness and eccentricities. Below the veneer of an Oxford or Cambridge, Marias seems to suggest, is a cast of characters engaged in a variety of misbehaviors -- chief among them, adultery.
All Souls does indeed focus on a single adulterous affair; but as the novel progresses, it reaches for more: the sexual relationships which Marias charts are united by a shared sense of loss. Marias is attuned not only to this loss, but also, in equal measure, to repression: it is these two emotional experiences which dominate his "Oxford novel."
I would not claim that All Souls is a perfect novel, and there are elements of Marias's style which can be grating (including his incessant use of parentheses). But as books of this type go, Marias has achieved something special: memory and loss are interwoven with sexuality and intellectualism. This is a rare breed, but it is one which sparkles at moments. I was surprised to have enjoyed All Souls so much.
Tracking the decline …
… Chris Hedges: The Trump-Russia Saga and the Death Spiral of American Journalism - scheerpost.com.
(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The U.S. media has the lowest credibility — 26 percent — among 46 nations, according to a 2022 report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. And with good reason.
Something to think on …
The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.
— John Steinbeck, born on this date in 1902
This seems to bear watching …
… Fascinating New Research Focuses on Origins of Life.
New research suggests a crucial step for the emergence of life can occur even in the very inhospitable conditions of space.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Something to think on …
Inner space is so much more interesting, because outer space is so empty.
— Theodore Sturgeon, born on this date in 1918
Hmm …
… Shocking Report: Fake Meat Pushed by Bill Gates is Made of Cancer Cells.
In order to get the cell cultures to multiply at the rates necessary to keep these doctored meat companies afloat, “several companies, including the Big Three, are quietly using what are called immortalized cells. … Immortalized cells are a staple of medical research, but they are, technically speaking, precancerous and can be, in some cases, fully cancerous.”
In case you wondered …
… Why perfection seemed simple to St. Thérèse and how we get it all wrong.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s wisdom as a Doctor of the Church radiates in a poignant remark:
Perfection seems simple to me: Perfection consists in doing God’s will, in being what he wills us to be. I see it is sufficient to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself as a child into God’s arms.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Good advice …
… Ingredients of Happiness - by William F. Vallicella.
It is arguable, though not provable, that one cannot live maximally well in this world without also hoping beyond it. This, for some, will be psychologically impossible. If it is psychologically possible for you, then go for it. You will be in the company of great minds. The belief that death does not spell the annihilation of the person is not unreasonable. But then your life-task will be all the harder: live in such a way as to deserve a life beyond the grave.
For some reason — probably my mother’s unconditional love of me — I have always rather liked myself and been content to deal with whatever comes along.
Friday, February 24, 2023
In case you wondered …
… The words actually worth banning. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Lionel used to review for me. She is one of the sharpest humans I have ever know. And very pretty as well. Glad to see her demolishing this woke nonsense. Oh, I almost forgot: She’s a great writer.
My town, sort of …
… Philadelphia: The saving grace of modesty. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
What Repplier describes is pretty much the city I grew up in. The city today, however, with the junkies crowding Kensington Avenue and the murder rate, is not the same as then,
Nice to know …
… Philadelphia library brings back Saturday hours after 3 years. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Faith and suffering…
…The Mind in Pain by James Mumford. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Paradoxically, I find that reading about the abandonment of Christ can be profoundly reassuring. Why? Because here, as Calvin highlights, is a precedent. Clearly, there is an utterly unique phenomenon at play in the Passion narrative: the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, who carries the curse, and therefore upon whom the Father cannot look. Nevertheless, at the level of experience, it is profoundly comforting to learn that Christ has been to a place “pitched past pitch of grief.” He too has suffered the darkest possible night.
Waking up to the woke …
… The Triggers of History - Taki's Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… to return to the expunging of words with Christian connotations or meanings from the calendar of the London School of Economics. The Daily Telegraph said that it was insulting to Christians, but actually it was far more insulting to non-Christians, such as I, for it assumed that they are so sensitive and intolerant that they are offended by the slightest reference to the Christian religion or to any vestiges of the Christian past of the country in which they live, either permanently or temporarily. In other words, non-Christians are made of psychological eggshells and are so delicate constitutionally that they need the protection of the LSE apparatchik and nomenklatura class—which after all has to occupy itself with something (it held meetings to make this decision, no doubt under the mistaken impression that it was working, even working very hard).
Something to think on …
Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?
— George Moore, born on this date in 1852
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Faith and science …
… Pope Benedict's Last Testament | Dan Kuebler | First Things.
But the universe did not have to be structured in such a fashion. Is this order merely due to happenstance, a freak accident, or is it the result of God's creative reason? Pope Benedict sums up the alternatives:
Here we are faced with the ultimate alternative that is at stake in the dispute between faith and unbelief: are irrationality, lack of freedom and pure chance the origin of everything, or are reason, freedom and love at the origin of being? Does the primacy belong to unreason or to reason? This is what everything hinges on in the final analysis.
See also: Giving Up Darwin by David Gerlernter.
Something Werner Heisenberg said is also pertinent:
“I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.”
Even the Times agrees …
… Opinion | The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? - The New York Time.
The most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses — including Covid-19 — was published late last month. Its conclusions, said Tom Jefferson, the Oxford epidemiologist who is its lead author, were unambiguous.
“There is just no evidence that they” — masks — “make any difference,” he told the journalist Maryanne Demasi. “Full stop.”
Something to think on …
The chief problem in any community cursed with crime is not the punishment of the criminals, but the preventing of the young from being trained to crime.
— W. E, B. Dubois, born on this date in 1868
And the winner is …
… Software Engineer's Bald Eagle Photo Wins NatGeo Photo Contest. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Talk about a must-read …
… The Cruel Legacy of Social Darwinism in Nigeria | Evolution News.
This book does not deny that there are differences in material culture, literacy, and technological attainments between Europe and Black Africa; rather, it firmly rejects the sleight of hand according to which these external differences indicate a difference in the basic building blocks of the European and of the African (understood to mean black-skinned Africans), and that this supposed inherent difference causes cultural differences and warrants “Europeans are superior to Africans” propaganda. These matters I shall discuss in Part Two of this book.
For the season …
… Unlearning Ourselves - The Catholic Thing.
Let it not then distress Christians, even if they find themselves exposed to thoughts from which they turn with abhorrence and terror. Rather let such a trial bring before their thoughts, with something of vividness and distinctness, the condescension of the Son of God. For if it be a trial to us creatures and sinners to have thoughts alien from our hearts presented to us, what must have been the suffering to the Eternal Word, God of God, and Light of Light, Holy and True, to have been so subjected to Satan, that he could inflict every misery on Him short of sinning?
Telling one from another …
… Bullshitting and Lying - by William F. Vallicella,
The bullshitter is one who 'doesn't give a shit' about the truth value of what he is saying. He doesn't care how things stand with reality. The liar, by contrast, must care: he must know (or at least attempt to know) how things are if he is to have any chance of deceiving his audience. Think of it this way: the bullshitter doesn't care whether he gets things right or gets them wrong; the liar cares to get them right so he can deceive you about them.
Something to think on …
A mistake constantly made by those who should know better is to judge people of the past by our standards rather than their own. The only way men or women can be judged is against the canvas of their own time.
— Louis L’Amour, born on this date in 1908
Something to think on …
The dance is the mother of all languages.
— R. G. Collingwood, born on this date in 1889
In case you wondered …
… Why 'Story of a Soul' is a best-seller.
Celebrated by UNESCO as a “figure of peace” in 2023, the Carmelite nun, who was declared a Doctor of the Church, has aroused fervent devotion throughout the world. Her popularity remains unparalleled and her masterpiece of spirituality ranks in the top 10 best-selling books in the world: 500 million copies have been published. Translated into more than 50 languages, constantly studied and commented on, it remains a permanent source of inspiration.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Hmm …
… Is Sin a Fact? - by William F. Vallicella.
I’m not sure I buy this. But I suspect that Bill is a far less sinful person than I have been. Experentia docet.
Telling it like it is …
… Abp. Viganò: FBI targeting Catholics is a 'logical consequence' of Pope Francis persecuting the faithful - LifeSite.
It is true: we Catholics are a threat to those who want a world rebellious to God and a “synodal church” subservient to the spirit of this world. The Martyrs bear witness to the heroism of the presence of the Christian name in society, a heroism that faces the torments and death inflicted on those whom a perverted authority considers enemies because it knows and fears their example and above all the explosive power of the Gospel.
Something to think on …
Prayer is to the spiritual life what the beating of the pulse and the drawing of the breath are to the life of the body.
— John Henry Newman, born on this date in 1801
Monday, February 20, 2023
For President’s Day …
… THE COLUMN: State of Fear | The Pipeline.
Contrary to the Washington Post, democracy does not "die in darkness." It dies in chaos, brought on by fear, engendered by uncertainty and birthed of instability —an instability that, in the case of the United States of America, has been deliberately cultivated and fanned by the nation's political leadership and other "elite" big chiefs by a decades-long policy of institutional and moral destabilization. And on this Presidents Day, chaos is exactly where we're heading.
Such as they may be …
… The Ethics of Higher Education - by Virginia Postrel.
As their faculties and administrations grow more intellectually homogeneous, today’s campuses risk turning fundamentalist: allowing no more dissent on political questions—in the classroom or out of it—than Bob Jones or Liberty University permits questioning the inerrancy of scripture or the creation of the world in six literal days. When you limit the range of debate and forbid certain questions, you stifle the creation of knowledge and, over time, erode both the purpose of the university and the character of its constituents.
Paul knows what he’s talkng about …
…Paul Davis On Crime: Oldfellas: A Look Back At Frank Sheeran and Martin Scorsese's Film, 'The Irishman'.
Bill Tonelli, a writer who grew up in South Philly, debunked Sheeran’s claims in a piece at Slate. He called Sheeran “the Forrest Gump of organized crime.”
The bar that figures in The Irishman is just a few blocks from where I live.
A legend of sorts
… The Mack - BallNine.
Connie Mack was still managing the A’s when I went to my first baseball game when I was, I think, five years old (1946). He never went out on the field, since he wasn’t in uniform. But you could see him in his dark suit.
The A’s won that game in the ninth inning on an improbable home run by Pete Suder, who was playing shortstop that day
Something to think on …
The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.
— Georges Bernanos, born on this date in 1888
In case you wondered …
… What, Precisely, is the Issue with “Elites”?
The assumption that school-based knowledge generally trumps practical experience seems increasingly questionable as the sphere of activity for which this assertion is made has expanded, and is indeed increasingly viewed with suspicion or with outright disdain.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Sounds like a movie well worth missing …
… A Knock at the Christian Faith: The Newest Movie Bashing Believers as Extremists - The Stream. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
No Christian sect has ever even engaged in ritual sacrifice of animals, and no religion has ever been so unambiguous in its condemnation of violence or in its opposition to human sacrifice. Indeed, Christians believe that Jesus was God come down to earth to sacrifice Himself for man. That’s the opposite of any pagan practice.
Something to think on …
Falling in love is the easiest thing in the world. It's standing in love that matters.
— Carson McCullers, born on this date in 1917
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Guess you’ll have to buy them now at used book stores …
… Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive | Roald Dahl | The Guardian.
And probably never buy anything from this publisher.
Let us pray for him …
… BREAKING: Jimmy Carter Receiving Hospice Care.
I voted for him in 1976, but was disappointed, though I think he’s a good man. I votrf for Reagan in 1980.
Painter of mystery …
… Vermeer painted the peace he could never have. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Vermeer is the ultimate master of light. He doesn’t use chiaroscuro for dramatic effect like the Dutch Caravaggists; he uses it like a lighting technician to situate the actors within the scene and control the mood. He is, coincidentally, a consummate colorist who grasped the principle of optical mixing two centuries before the pointillistes, applying pure color in tiny dots to strike the eye with a vibrancy not achievable by blending. He painted what the eye sees, not what the brain assumes, but he was not a camera: he chose what to put in and what to leave out. The crusty hunks of bread on the table in “The Milkmaid” (c. 1660) look crisp enough to eat, but he cheated with the milk jug: as she tilts it to pour, the milk should be visible inside but he chose to contrast the white stream with the dark interior
Something to think on …
As long as there are flowers and children and birds in the world, have no fears: everything will be fine.
— Nikos Kazantzakis, born on this date in 1883
Friday, February 17, 2023
Something to think on …
Two people who are true friends are like two bodies with one soul.
— Chaim Potok, born on this date in 1929
Take a look at these …
… Amazing National Winners of 2023 Sony World Photography Awards. (Hat tip, Rus Bowde.)
And the winner is …
… Announcing the 2023 Frost Medalist, Juan Felipe Herrera. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Why some of us pray …
… Thought, Action, Dogma, and De Maistre.
What then should we say about the de Maistre quotation above? I believe I have laid bare the kernel of insight it contains: human reason is weak and needs guidance from without whether or not any such guidance is available. Reason is a very poor guide to life. Appeals to 'reason' are useless when not absurd. Whose 'reason'? How applied? And what exactly is this vaunted faculty anyway? And what is its reach? How reasonable was Kant's mapping of its limits in his Critique of Pure Reason? The "Come now, and let us reason together . . ." of Isaiah 1:18 has little application among men, whatever application it has between a man and God.
Something Werner Heisenberg, the father of quantum physics, said seems pertinent: “I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.”
Makes sense …
… Paul Davis On Crime: My Broad Liberty Piece On Good Guys With Guns Refuse To Be Victims.
“Most criminals are stupid, and they are surprised when they learn the hard way that some folks will defend themselves and refuse to be a willing victim.”
Something to think on …
They know enough who know how to learn.
— Henry Adams, born on this date in 1838
Hmm …
… Why I Am Against Saving the Planet - Tablet Magazine.
The Not-Planet includes all human beings. In environmentalist ideology, we humans are not part of “nature” or “the environment” or “the planet.” We are something outside of nature: an alien, destructive force, modifying “the planet” from without. By this standard, all buildings and cities and other human settlements that billions of people depend on for their survival are rendered alien excrescences harming “the planet.” The sand on a beach is “the planet” but the moment you build a sand castle, the sand in the castle becomes Not-Planet. You have taken sand which might have been used by a beach crab for its burrow. How dare you!
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Faith and art …
… God, Literature, and Anton Chekhov. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
In Chekhov Becomes Chekhov, Bob Blaisdell offers a defense for what he calls “the open-endedness” of Chekhov’s stories. “Chekhov won’t comfort us with an answer that isn’t there,” he writes. He then quotes Chekhov, in a letter to Suvorin, noting that “the time has come for writers, especially those who are artists, to admit that in this world one cannot make anything out, just as Socrates once admitted it, just as Voltaire admitted it…. And if an artist in whom the crowd has faith decides to declare that he understands nothing of what he sees—this in itself constitutes a considerable clarity in the realm of thought, and a great leap forward.”
Something to think on …
The worship of God is not a rule of safety - it is an adventure of the spirit, a flight after the unattainable.
— Alfred North Whitehead, born on this date in 1861
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Words fail me …
… Woke Crazy Believes Restoring Sight To The Blind Is Prejudice Toward The Handicapped - The Lid.
Aquino is saying giving a person the option of turning a disability into an ability of sight is the essence of evil.
Honesty …
… ‘My Nigerian great-grandfather sold slaves' - BBC News..
Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that one of her ancestors sold slaves, but argues that he should not be judged by today's standards or values.
A mystery of his own …
… ‘A Mystery of Mysteries’ Review: Edgar Allan Poe, Through the Pale Door. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
George Orwell's contention was that it is a sure sign of trouble when things can no longer be called by their right names and described in plain, forthright speech.
— Christopher Lasch, who died on this dare in 1994
Monday, February 13, 2023
Blogging note …
Woke up this morning to discover that I had lost my internet connection. Took me awhile to get in touch with my tech guy (since I had to take my iPad someplace where there was an internet connection).And a neighbor proved able to do as he suggested. So I’m back online. Not that I olan to do much tonight.
Something to think on …
The fact that we are I don't know how many millions of people, yet communication, complete communication, is completely impossible between two of those people, is to me one of the biggest tragic themes in the world.
— Georges Simenon, born on this date in 1903
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Worth knowing about …
… Revisiting the Openverse: Finding Open Images and Audio - Creative Commons. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Here at CC we use Openverse daily to explore the public commons and find works to reuse in our communications and projects. Powerful tools like Openverse demonstrate how open technologies and communities like WordPress can build on the rich public commons we all help create to support what we call better sharing: sharing that is inclusive, just and equitable — where everyone has wide opportunity to access content, to contribute their own creativity, and to receive recognition and rewards for their contributions.
A museum of sentences …
… The Indispensable Humorist. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… I recently read an essay by the theologian David Bentley Hart complaining that in the interest of simplicity modern English prose has been so denuded of character that you can hardly tell one writer from another by the sentences they write. Not so with O’Rourke and not because of any grossly indulgent flourishes. His sentences, like his point of view, were the product of a true appetite for understanding paired with a comedian’s gift for parody.
Something to think on …
And many a time, towards the end of life, does the genius repent of his choice. "It would be better not to startle the world, but to live at one with it," says Ibsen in his last drama. Genius is a wretched, blind maniac, whose eccentricities are condoned because of what is got from him.
— Lev Shestov, born on this date in 1866
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Something to remember …
… ‘A monumental moment': Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes set to make Super Bowl history.
“In so many ways, the story of this game talks about not just the story of this league, but the story of this country. When people are given opportunities, any one of us can rise up based on our merit and our ability.”
Hear, hear!
One can only hope …
… This Study Could Be 'Scientific Nail in the Coffin' for Masks.
The study was published on January 30 by the Cochrane Library, a world-renowned medical database that is famous for its high-quality evidence reviews. It comes as a battering ram to the recommendations of the U.S. public health establishment, which urged children as young as two to wear masks throughout the pandemic.
See also: I’m pro-science. That’s why I’m anti-mask.
Something to think on …
The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It's outstandingly different in quality and quantity.
— Antony Flew, born on this date in 1923
Friday, February 10, 2023
Hmm …
… Huge Piece Of Sun Breaks Off, Scientists Stunned.
Solar physicist Scott McIntosh of the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research, who has been observing the Sun for decades, told Space.com that he had never seen a "vortex" like the one that occurred when a piece of the prominence broke away and was whipped into the solar atmosphere.
Something to think on …
I'd like to grow very old as slowly as possible.
— Charles Lamb, born in this date in 1775
Blogging post …
A hospital bed for Debbie has just been delivered. She will be discharged from rehab later this morning. So I have much to do today Blogging will resume whe I have the time.
Thursday, February 09, 2023
A wonderful essay …
… Ride the High Country by Hannah Long. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Ride the High Country is a picture at once good enough to launch a visionary career and also form a fitting conclusion to a genre in its twilight years. It’s not a postmodern film, but it gains immense gravitas from the history and biography of its primary players, as well as its own place in cinematic history. Importantly, it doesn’t substitute nostalgia for emotion. Rather, its own deep emotion is intensified by its circumstances, its mixture of styles, and the stature of its cast. This is a story with a revisionist sensibility that believes the virtues of a noble past are real – and inheritable.
It really is a great film.
Saul Bellow
There's no way around it: The Adventures of Augie March is an exceptional novel: indeed, in many ways, it is the quintessential American novel, easily comparable with other great books of the twentieth century.
Much can be said about Augie March, but for me, the most impressive part must be Bellow's capacity to construct characters. The sheer number of personalities in Augie is staggering: each of them with background, history, and ambition. It is hard to imagine how a novel with this many people could come together so seamlessly: and yet it does. Augie March really is a triumph of the human intellect.
Another part of the novel which resonated me with me was Bellow's insistence -- his very patient insistence -- on the idea of journey. Toward the end of the book, Augie confronts his adventures; he's meandered this way and that (and spent one hundred and fifty pages in rural Mexico training an eagle). But in a very real sense, he's arrived. The path was a circuitous one, no doubt; but that does not call into question the reality of what he's discovered. It's as if Bellow subjects Augie to repeated tangents and temptation only to prove a singular point: you can be sent home a failure -- you can be dismissed and dejected -- but that doesn't make your discovery any less real. The thing you've seen is true; there's something solid beneath your feet.
The Adventures of Augie March is just that: a set of uniquely American adventures. There is very little social hierarchy or family lineage. There is a focus on money, but only in the sense of questing after the impossible. Augie ends the book in Paris, but it takes him six hundred pages to get there, to work his way through the boundless potential of that thing called America. Bellow has presented a moving and infinitely layered rendering of the country between the wars. For the believability and three dimensionality of Bellows's characters alone, this novel is worthy of continued celebration.
Something to think on …
How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone!
— Amy Lowell, born on this date in 1874
Wednesday, February 08, 2023
Speaking of religion …
… FBI Internal Memo Warns against ‘Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology’.
George Hill, a former supervisory intelligence analyst for the bureau, told the Daily Signal the report is “poorly sourced from sources who use unsubstantiated data to draw their own conclusions and not in compliance with FBI publication guidelines.”
As well they ought …
… Visitors Sue Over National Air & Space Museum's Alleged Demand That They Remove "Rosary Pro-Life" Hats.
What do they make of what the Constitution says about making “no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise.”?
Just so you know …
… The CDC Grossly Exaggerated Evidence Supporting Mask Mandates, Review Show.
These findings go to the heart of the case for mask mandates, a policy that generated much resentment and acrimony during the pandemic. They also show that the CDC, which has repeatedly exaggerated the evidence in favor of masks, cannot be trusted as a source of public health information.
Something to think on …
The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda.
— Martin Buber, born on this date in 1878
Family affairs …
… Two of the Best Translators in the Business Are Married (to Each Other) and Up For the Same Literary Award. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A Conversation with Jennifer Croft and Boris Dralyuk About Raising Twins and Winning Awards.
Subtle sanctity …
… Edward Feser: An anonymous saint? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… saintliness, like the still small voice heard by Elijah, can manifest itself in subtler ways.