Thinking more about him today. One time, he was feeling under the weather, so I brought him home communion. He must have seen how in awe of him I was. He said to me with a sly smile, "don't misunderstand: my family is from Okinawa, so I'm not quite samurai."

Used to go to church with a Japanese American WW2 vet. He was so proud of his service in Italy during the war. When he got home, he married a woman who was white, and faced persecution for it. He knew ALL about the good and the bad of this country and wouldn't have changed one thing he did.

Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now. Prepare now.

Will Stancil 👍

The idea that there are no protests in the US and no one is standing up to Trump is proving incredibly hard to kill over here in Germany. It’s become dogma, utterly detached from empirical reality. I wonder if the people who keep talking like that understand they’re perpetuating regime propaganda.

"Arbitrary" is one of the worst traits a character can get in a Paradox strategy game. Your vassels hate you for it.

The “predictable bully vs unpredictable one” Unpredictability: Deterrent against adversaries ❌ Toxic to allies ✅ Allies don’t hedge against strength. They hedge against arbitrariness.

Life is often difficult and unjust but we get dogs.

One principle of dialogue that more folks could use is “both participants need to demonstrate a minimal amount of self-criticism towards their own traditions and communities”. Too many folks just do the “I won’t criticize my side, just double down on the opponent” stuff.

Pet theory: Jonah reads like a story preachers tell on themselves. You tell a story that shows a time where you were a doofus, and show that your listeners have a chance at doing better and that they shouldn't get too down on themselves when they mess up.

Portia wounds her own thigh to prove to her husband that she could withstand torture. The lengths women have to go to! Painted 1664 by Elisabetta Sirani of Bologna, whose day is today.

in 🇯🇵 Capybaras enjoy an end-of-the-year yuzu bath at Himeji Central Park.

I keep seeing posts of maps of what states people are willing to live in with Georgia being red for no-go. But we're a purple state! With two Democratic senators! I live in a large, populous blue county. It's great!

Hot take: so are all video game companies

Rude

This is why I'm glad I was raised on chores that included dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning the bathroom.

American Canto? Oh, then I’m not interested; I thought you said American Kantō, and I was hoping to learn about bald eagle Pokémon

Self-portrait wearing a scarf, by Zinaida Serebriakova. Today has been her day.

Pretty serious question. Does lol not mean anything anymore? Have we used it so long that people ignore it and treat it like a period? I cannot understand how a text or post that ends with lol can be treated as anything but not serious

lizard king who secretly rules the world: well. someone's feeling a little dinosore

Without claiming Hillsdale meant this, I have a right as an American to claim all Americans as my ancestors, because I am a rightful inheritor of them as an American whatever the specifics of my direct ancestry.

A jaguar, strolling jauntily along. Drawn in Brazil by Dutch artist Frans Post, who was born on this day in 1612.

Various group-philosophical pessimisms will have you believing that universalism is impossible, not worth striving for. That if you don't oppress, you will inevitably be a victim. I refuse. We are best protected by democracy, by the rule of law, by human and civil rights.

The night my grandmother was born, the country doctor who had just delivered her turned to my great-grandparents as he was headed out of the farmhouse and said, "By the way, President Harding is dead."

Not exactly the same thing, but preaching professor warned us about the sources we consulted before writing a sermon. If not careful, it's really easy to regurgitate what you read and hear "undigested" in your preaching, especially when you're working week-to-week.

My anthropology prof in college had studied a tribe in the Amazon that, when they were "found", they had already acquired materials from the outside world, like t-shirts. For this reason, he said he found the idea of the prime directive to be hard to enforce in practice.

Anyway, maybe this comes off as performative, but I think we need to perform solidarity and love for our neighbors loudly again.

I voted!

if you see this post, your actions are: - if you have a spare buck, give it to Wikipedia, then repost this - if you don't have a spare buck, just repost your action is mandatory for the world's best source of information to survive

The American project must be nothing less than the quest to achieve universal brotherhood of the entire human race

I grew up around some pretty conservative kids, many of whom were close friends. They never said stuff like this no matter how private or "jokey" the conversation. They showed more character than the 30 yr-olds in this group chat.

And the men who predictably said nothing in her defence are cowards.

I appreciate the sentiment, but dang if us Lutherans haven't been catching strays lately

I want a movie about old and gnarly military veterans of the Triarii, the final battle line of the ancient Roman Republican army. Guys who are over war, but they will use their skills and their spears to defend the rear of their force, no matter what.

Like yeah, homeless encampments are unsightly! I don’t love seeing them, either! But they are a SYMPTOM of the real problem and none of that means it’s ethical to trash people’s stuff or ban unhoused people from existing in public.

your daily reminder that hope is a floatation device- grab it with both hands 🖤

We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.

Snowden is always great, but I really like the format of "here are 3 increasingly intense solutions to this problem" for posting

When I was in high school, I wrote a paper comparing the short story to the original movie from the '30's. Had to track down a video store(!) that still carried it. Guy running the store was like, "oh yeah, that's a classic." Memorable short story and memorable exercise for teenage me.

This is also why I feel like the Confessions need to be taught in context the same way we like to teach scripture.

Starfish gets it

Thinking about how many times during the Roman Republic certain men illegally ran for the consulship (because they were too young, had held the office recently, etc.) and won anyway.

Like the old preacher adage about how everyone comes through the line after service saying, "I know someone who needed to hear that sermon." Yes! You! You needed to hear it!

Gave a sermon today on Luke 12:49-56. Decided to risk getting a little political and talked about the military authoritarianism we're witnessing as a "sign of the times" that Jesus talks about. Congregation was nodding along in agreement regardless of their party affiliation.

I'd go with "adiaphora" rather than "trivial", but yeah

Wait, this is deep

Saw the reverse of this at a Braves game a few years ago. Cartoon Network (also based in Atlanta) had displays up at the park for shows that hadn't been on the air in years.

Obviously, Batman is vigilante fantasy, and I think that's fine. It's also fine to critique that vigilantism, but it's better done in a fun way like they do in Lego Batman, not like Tyler is doing here which is lame.

Angron forcing the Butcher's Nails on the World Eaters. (I played Warhammer 40k today)

This reminds me of the Roman dice tower decorated with a saying translated as, "The Picts are defeated, the enemies destroyed, play with confidence." Propaganda, yes, but a reminder that stability isn't natural!