It comes down so fast, I need a hat

by liberal japonicus

It's been a month, but it is pretty astonishing how much s**t has coming down. A short list

• Desantis!
• Ilhan Omar!
• Haley!
• Chinese Spy Balloons!
• Grammys and 50 years of hip hop!
• Tanks in the Ukraine!
• AI Arms race!

The links are meant only to prime the pump. Take the post where you like.

Comments

[CharlesWT]

Verse 1:
DeSantis, the governor of Florida's state,
Leading with his conservative views so great.
Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman with might,
Standing for justice with all her might.

Chorus:
From politics to pop culture, the world is spinning round,
With news from everywhere, and stories to be found.

Verse 2:
Nikki Haley, a diplomat with grace,
Diplomacy and power in every pace.
Chinese Spy Balloons, a new tech threat,
The world watches as they float and jet.

Chorus:
From politics to pop culture, the world is spinning round,
With news from everywhere, and stories to be found.

Verse 3:
Grammys and 50 years of hip hop,
Music that transcends, and never stops.
Tanks in Ukraine, a new war on the rise,
Peace is threatened, before our very eyes.

Chorus:
From politics to pop culture, the world is spinning round,
With news from everywhere, and stories to be found.

Verse 4:
AI Arms Race, a new kind of war,
Countries compete, but what are they fighting for?
The future is unknown, the outcome unclear,
We hope for peace, but it may not be near.

Chorus:
From politics to pop culture, the world is spinning round,
With news from everywhere, and stories to be found.

Outro:
So many stories, so much to be seen,
We'll keep on watching, and keep our eyes keen.
For the world keeps turning, and the news keeps flowing,
And we'll keep right on, no matter what —ChatGPT

[wj]

Perhaps you should feed ChatGPT with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdqQ2BdgOA

Just for a little structure for its efforts.

[wj]

Just missing: Earthquakes in Turkey! (And where a 7.5 is merely an aftershock...!)

Wondering if Sweden will be active in the international assistance efforts. Might give Turkey a different perspective (or, perhaps, an offramp) on getting them into NATO.

[liberal japonicus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJZ9yEnTb6g

On the Chinese balloon. We are doomed...

[CharlesWT]

Perhaps you should feed ChatGPT with this:

I tried to feed it the lyrics but it choked on all the "problematic" words.

Write an article about Phil Ochs' song "Love Me, I'm a Liberal."

Phil Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. One of his most famous songs is "Love Me, I'm a Liberal," which was released in 1966. The song is a satirical take on political hypocrisy and remains relevant and thought-provoking today.

In "Love Me, I'm a Liberal," Ochs sings about a liberal who claims to be open-minded and progressive, but who is actually reluctant to take any real action to support his beliefs. The song mocks the idea that someone can be a liberal simply by saying they are, without actually doing anything to support their beliefs.

The lyrics of the song are full of irony and sarcasm, and they highlight the gap between what many people say they believe and what they actually do. For example, the song includes lines like "I love my country, but I hate the government" and "I talk to all my friends about the good things we can do, but when it comes to me, well, I'm almost through."

Ochs was a committed political activist and a fierce critic of the government, and "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" was one of several songs he wrote that aimed to expose the hypocrisy and shortcomings of the political establishment. Despite its serious message, the song is also entertaining, with its catchy melody and clever lyrics have made it a classic of American folk music.

In conclusion, "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" is a song that continues to resonate with listeners today. It serves as a reminder of the importance of examining our own beliefs and taking action to support the values we claim to hold. Whether you agree with Ochs's political views or not, there is no denying that this song is a powerful and thought-provoking piece of protest music that will continue to inspire and challenge people for generations to come. —ChatGPT

[CharlesWT]

On the Chinese balloon. We are doomed...

Before the balloon was launched, there were high-level meetings in China on the subject of, "What can we do to cause Americans to totally lose their shit?"...

[wj]

My first thought on the balloon was that someone in China, without authorization from above, decided to get cute. And left their bosses with a headache that they really would have preferred not to have.

But then I read that there were at least 3 balloons like this that floated across the country during the previous administration.** Which suggests that it's an on-going effort, not a one-off.

It will be really interesting to find out from the wreckage just what the balloon was looking at and recording. (Which, in turn, may make it a serious intelligence Oops for the Chinese. Not least because it says something about what information they feel they cannot get via their existing satellites.)

** Naturally without the handwringing about how letting the balloon go by, without shooting it down ever, was a sign of weakness.

[russelll]

Re: the Grammys - I was glad Bonnie Raitt won something, it's been a while since I knew who any of the Grammy nominees were.

Re: Phil Ochs - one thing you can say for fascists, they are not hypocrites.

[ral]

Leaving aside the question of whether it is wise to take ChatGPT's advice on any subject, let's consider our immediate societal problems and whether "Liberalism," as so aptly skewered by Phil Ochs' song, rises to anywhere near the top of the list.

lj, above, provides a starting point. Let me add today's announced charges against Brandon Russell — founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen (AWD) and Sarah Clendaniel to represent threatened domestic terrorism by extreme right-wing actors. They are not the only example of attacks on the domestic power grid.

The prior thread examined the dissemination of information and identified the rise of television and now social media as, for one thing, limiting the career potential of authors of books.

In my opinion the flood of misinformation is only the surface of the problem. The science of mass persuasion, originating from commercial advertising but now honed to a sharp edge and applied ruthlessly in politics, has led to the rise of political candidates who successfully exploit deep emotional responses of substantial voting populations.

I don't have a recommended solution for this problem. I think, though, that criticism of liberals is unimportant and does not address the real issue.

[wj]

Re the Ochs song, one thing you can say for liberals is that they (at least many of them) can laugh at themselves.

Picture any of the MAGA types doing that. If you succeed, you definitively have a totally awesome imagination. Me, I just can't.

[Nigel]

Why are the GOP making such an issue of the balloon story ?
It’s a nothingburger, politically.

Lawmakers gear up to grill Biden officials over Chinese spy balloon
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3846405-lawmakers-gear-up-to-grill-biden-officials-over-chinese-spy-balloon/

Troubles in the Skies: Chinese Spy Balloon
… What the Chinese (or anyone else) would not learn much about is the placement of U.S. nuclear-deterrent forces. That information has been on the public record for decades.

I, personally, have flown a little single-engine plane at 3,500 feet above U.S. nuclear-submarine bases—not 60,000 feet up, like this balloon. I have done this many times, above bases both on the East Coast and on the West.

What I did is perfectly legal. It would have been equally legal for any Chinese citizen who was a passenger or pilot on a helicopter or small plane. The listings are publicly available on any aviation chart...

.. on current evidence, this seems like a gigantic screwup on the Chinese side. It reveals simultaneously how far they might be willing to push things, and how bad they might be at doing so. It makes them look simultaneously aggressive and incompetent.

I would not want to be the person who promoted this great idea within the Chinese leadership.

[Nigel]

Sorry, missed posting the link for the Fallows comment above.
https://fallows.substack.com/p/troubles-in-the-skies-chinese-spy

[liberal japonicus]

I'm pretty sanguine about the Chinese balloon, and I think Fallows is a bit off.

I'm thinking that it was collecting signals intelligence (kind of surprised Fallows doesn't at least mention the possibility) and I'm sure that the US tolerated it because (I assume) they/we have U-2 overflights of Chinese territory
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/26/obvious-provocation-china-accuses-us-spy-plane-of-entering-no-fly-zone

I've got no idea how often, but I'd be pretty surprised if we never did it. The balloon offers a low tech way of matching the West, so I think Fallows is wrong that it was some sort of rogue operation. It looks like it was ongoing during the Trump dumpster fire,
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/us/politics/china-spy-balloon-trump-administration.html

and they could have assumed that it was either tolerated or certainly conveniently ignored.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

"threatened domestic terrorism by extreme right-wing actors. They are not the only example of attacks on the domestic power grid."

They don't want free electrons, it's true.

[hairshirthedonist]

...let's consider our immediate societal problems and whether "Liberalism," as so aptly skewered by Phil Ochs' song, rises to anywhere near the top of the list.

Of course it does. Why...? **THE WOKE AGENDA!!!**

[wj]

They don't want free electrons, it's true.

For the government to spend tax dollars holding elections, free or otherwise, is CREEPING SOCIALISM!

[nous]

We should privatize elections and have tech companies compete to create elections. Then people could decide which one they preferred and the market could give us the best, most efficient elections through the magic of the free market.

Governments should be allowed nowhere near elections.

[hairshirthedonist]

Back when all the controversy over the 2020 census was atop the news of the day, someone I know proposed that there was no longer any need to perform the census because Google existed. I'm still not clear on how that made any sense, even to him.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

"Show us on the doll where the Invisible Hand touched you"

[bobbyp]

how come nobody ever asks the electrons what they think?

[pun]

how come nobody ever asks the electrons what they think?

because asking about their position changes their position.

[nous]

We don't have a power grid, the power grid has us! - The Foucauldian Electrician

[bobbyp]

because asking about their position changes their position.

So that is how they slip and fall off the wires?

[Michael Cain]

because asking about their position changes their position.

No, fixes their position.

Long ago when I was an undergraduate, electron-slit experiments chased me out of a physics second major. IIRC, what I told my academic advisor in the Physics Dept was, "If this is how the universe works, I don't want to know any more."

[Michael Cain]

Since it's an open invitation, yesterday I put down a deposit for a room at a memory care facility for my wife. It's a new building, with high ceilings and tall windows and lots of light. The director and head of the medical staff had good answers to all the questions my daughter and I asked. We'll take my wife to visit next week just to make sure she doesn't respond with "It's the ugliest place I've ever seen." Working towards moving her in around the first week in March.

[nous]

"If this is how the universe works, I don't want to know any more."

So interesting, because this is the part of science that I love.

I remember having a conversation similar to that one with another student while I was attending a community college, refreshing my credits before returning to university after a decade hiatus in my undergrad plans. I was taking an astronomy course with an instructor who had just completed his Ph.D., and who was super excited to share the latest cosmological discoveries and the unknowns that were driving current research. I appreciated the instructor's passion for his subject.

One of the others in the class was another non-traditional student who was hoping to become a high school science teacher. He was really disappointed with the class, said that he did not care about all the questions, he only wanted to learn the things that we knew for certain and pass those on to others.

I have a hard time imagining that he got through his teacher training, let alone the first three years of teaching.

I've always found space scientists to have a refreshing sense of wonder.

[Michael Cain]

I've always found space scientists to have a refreshing sense of wonder.

Cosmology doesn't give me problems (well, after you get past the first few nanoseconds of the Big Bang expansion). The "if you're not watching the single electron, it goes through both slits" at the other extreme is what got me. Which is admittedly hypocritical, since I cheerfully accept floating gate transistors and flash memory.

[nous]

Didn't figure you for being like the would-be science teacher, Michael, just another moment that reminded me of the breadth of things that people find engaging in math and science. And then that reminded me of my soul dead classmate.

[ral]

Ah, flash memory. Michael, here is a presentation that might interest you by Andrew Shane Huang (a.k.a. "bunnie") given at the 2013 Chaos Communication Congress, showing some of the grimy details of flash memory.

Here's the corresponding blog entry.

My best wishes to you, your wife, and your family.

[bobbyp]

I must say, the President is going right at 'em. Good on him.

[Ufficio]

Why are the GOP making such an issue of the balloon story ?
It’s a nothingburger, politically.

Their plan to badger the powers that be into causing mass unemployment as a "solution" to inflation is in shambles. The balloon is the only thing in sight to grasp at. Or was, I suppose.

[wj]

Their plan to badger the powers that be into causing mass unemployment as a "solution" to inflation is in shambles. The balloon is the only thing in sight to grasp at. Or was, I suppose.

Or they could just invent something out of whole cloth. Which, after all, seems to be a core competency. Much harder to fact check something which, unlike unemployment, has no connection to reality at all.

[wj]

Gotta love "I'll see you at the groundbreaking" even if you voted against infrastructure.
Zing!

[Nigel]

Yes, quite the SOTU.

Some very deft moves from the doddery old guy.

[russell]

I think Biden has achieved the state of geezer nirvana where you just don't have any more f***s to give.

I find it refreshing.

[Girl from the North Country]

nirvana where you just don't have any more f***s to give

A very fine kind of nirvana indeed.

[GftNC]

https://twitter.com/kangaroos991/status/1622563995638202369/photo/1

Can this actually be true?

[Pete]

No, fixes their position.

But obscures their direction? Sort of?

In other news, I opted for the Islanders game over the SOTU, so I only caught the curated highlights. But the SS/Medicare exchange, anticipated or not, is gonna be hard for Republicans to walk back with that video on demand. Unfortunately, the game ended and I was able to watch Sanders' word-salad homestyle-vignette-whatever. It was everything I expected from her, and less.

[CharlesWT]

Pretty much. Depends on who is compiling the list.

What are the ten most banned books in the United States?

Here are ten of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States:

1. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
2. "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
3. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
5. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
6. "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
7. "1984" by George Orwell
8. "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence
9. "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
10. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

It's important to note that these books have been banned or challenged for a variety of reasons, including explicit language, sexual content, violence, political viewpoint, or religious viewpoints. —ChatGPT

[Pete]

It's important to note that these books have been banned or challenged for a variety of reasons, including explicit language, sexual content, violence, political viewpoint, or religious viewpoints.

Ask it why the Bible is immune.

[CharlesWT]

The list changes a bit when I put in the "public libraries" qualifier.

What are the ten most banned books from public libraries in the United States?

Here are ten books that have been banned or challenged in public libraries in the United States:

1. "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
2. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
3. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
4. "The Holy Bible"
5. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
6. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown
7. "1984" by George Orwell
8. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
9. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It's worth noting that these books have been banned or challenged for various reasons, such as explicit language, sexual content, religious viewpoint, or political viewpoint. The ban on a specific book may also vary by region or library. —ChatGPT

[Pete]

Thanks! And interesting! I was kinda surprised Huck Finn was missing from the first list (and equally surprised to see Mice/Men on it).

Can it render a heat map of what's banned where?

edit: somebody gotta do that 'italiexo' thing

[Girl from the North Country]

Italiexo!

Hmm, and once the Da Vinci code is on it, I find my attitude subtly changing.....

[Girl from the North Country]

Seymour Hersh claims Biden ordered the Nord Stream pipelines bombed.

Some western officials initially suspected the Kremlin although they stopped short of formally accusing Moscow. However, 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine different western countries told the Washington Post recently that they had yet to see evidence linking Russia to the attack, with some saying they did not believe Russia was to blame. President Putin’s spokesman said allegations that Russia would cripple its own pipelines were “stupid and absurd”.

After the attack, Washington rejected allegations that the US was involved. “The idea that the United States was in any way involved in the apparent sabotage of these pipelines is preposterous. It is nothing more than a function of Russian disinformation and should be treated as such,” the US State Department said.

[CharlesWT]

Can it render a heat map of what's banned where?

Here's a recent where but not what.

Number of books titles banned in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, by state

[nous]

That list of banned books is probably an aggregate list of which books have been most challenged at schools and libraries since people started to gather that information. As such, it's going to skew towards older books because they have had a longer career of offending.

Compare that list of classic offenders to these top ten lists from the ALA:

https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

The challenges du jour are almost all over LGBTQ+ content or CRT panic.

[nous]

Gender Queer as the most challenged book is quite instructive. The evidence that people point to when trying to get it banned is a picture the author drew of erself as a young child taking off er shirt at the beach for a field trip because e saw er father do it. That one image gets presented as sexually explicit. It's the same basic approach that gets Where the Wild Things Are challenged.

But that brief moment of non-sexual nudity is just cover for what really pisses off the challengers, which is that the graphic novel is a positive depiction of a young person choosing to be non binary.

[wj]

Seymour Hersh claims Biden ordered the Nord Stream pipelines bombed.

My guess at this point is that nobody bombed it. Rather that the usual corruption in Russia resulted in substandard materials being used. Which failed catastrophically. Russia certainly won't admit to that, so they have to cast blame somewhere, anywhere, else.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

My fave banned book:Jurgen by James Branch Cabel.

Banned in the 1920's, fought all the way to the USSC, resulting in unbanning. After which a Forward was added "The Trial of Jurgen", mocking the prosecutors.

Might be out of copyright by now, but I haven't checked.

[CharlesWT]

ChatGPT is both a significant advancement in technology and a parlor trick. It's word completion on steroids. It doesn't know or understand anything. But it does a number of things well.

Write a generalization about this list of books..[nous's list of books]

The books on this list primarily deal with themes of identity, diversity, and acceptance. They explore various experiences of marginalized communities, including gender nonconformity, racial discrimination, and sexual orientation. The authors present the challenges and triumphs faced by their characters as they navigate their identities and seek to find a place in a world that may not always understand or accept them. These books offer powerful insights into the human experience and strive to promote empathy, understanding, and acceptance for all people, regardless of their backgrounds. —ChatGPT

[nous]

…and thus they must be destroyed - ChatGOP

[Pete]

waitaminute.

Where The Wild Things Are is controversial???

Different time and place I guess, but 80-90% of those banned books were required reading when I was in school.

[nous]

Yes, though it’s actually In the Night Kitchen that gets challenged for being sexually explicit. I conflated the two in my memory, but both have a history of being challenged and stolen from libraries by irate parents.

[wonkie]

We'll take my wife to visit next week just to make sure she doesn't respond with "It's the ugliest place I've ever seen." Working towards moving her in around the first week in March.

Best wishes for your family, Micheal. My mom was in a day care setting which I believe saved my dad's life. A good care facility is a treasure.

[wonkie]

I'm unfamiliar with the current banned books, but many of the older books I have read--and would not use in a classroom, unless it was AP. Why? Too hard to read. Too long.

When purchasing books for my classroom, I avoided books with swearing or sexual activity beyond a kiss, even if the sexual activity was implied or happened "off scene." Why? I respected the parents. Many, regardless of the kind of language kids get exposed to, don't want them reading swear words and don't want them discussing the "do's" and "don't's" of sex outside of home or sex ed class. I am annoyed by authors who write for school age young people and then include words that the parents are going to object to. Of course, I was selecting books for sixth grade.

I have a different attitude about themes. Themes that relate to the diversity of the human experience are one of the main reasons for reading books, and so are important.

But swearing? Not necessary and sixth grade is too young to be reading about sexual intercourse.

All of which is my way of saying that I am not completely at odds with parents who object to books. Sometimes schools so have books that are not age-appropriate.

[wj]

Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021

I read down that list for a couple more years. Perhaps the most appalling complaint was for George in 2019. The substance/rationale for the ban: schools and libraries should not “put books in a child’s hand that require discussion”.

It seems to my mind (no doubt still stuck in the 1950s) that a book which results in discussion is exactly what children should be getting. That being the sort to thing which can produce adults who are able to think about the stuff they read. Says something about anybody who finds that objectionable.

[Pete]

Too long?

We had to read "Great Expectations" which, IIRC, was 5,000 pages.

[Hartmut]

I think an eternal problem is that many books that everyone SHOULD read are beyond the level of understanding of schoolkids but if they don't get read at school they probably never will.

On the other hand my (German) experience is that the presentation of classics in school often has the effect that the kids will NEVER again read any of them because it had been made such an unpleasant experieence: "I get forced to read this endless* stuff that I do not really understand and then I have to write endless essays about it and answer absolutely stupid questions about what the writer wants to tell us. And if I write what I really think, I get punished for it."
The latter part can get so extreme that only the interpretations that the teacher got from secondary literature get accepted, even if the kid gets first hand evidence that the author had something else in mind ("What does the AUTHOR know about his own stuff? The only relevant thing is what learned authorities have to say about it").

Mabye the best method to get kids off offending books is to treat them the way classics are treated thus creating an inner aversion in the youthful reader: "Write a 1000 word analyis about the poetic self of the very hungry caterpillar and how it relates to the inner workings of natural romnticism in the early 1950ies. Does Kerflocks theorem fully apply in this context?"

*caveat: kids are not necessarily averse to reading long books. See Harry Potter.

[CharlesWT]

I expected the Harry Potter books to appear on some of the top ten lists of banned books.

[CharlesWT]

Describe the moral panic that greeted the Harry Potter books.

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling faced some controversy and a moral panic when it was first published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some religious groups and conservative organizations claimed that the books promoted witchcraft and the occult, and were therefore a negative influence on young readers. They argued that the books glorified and encouraged an interest in the dark arts and that the characters' use of magic was incompatible with traditional Christian values.

This moral panic led to calls for the books to be banned from schools and libraries, and for parents to avoid them. Some parents and teachers even organized "burn the witch" book burnings, where they would publicly destroy copies of the Harry Potter books.

Despite this opposition, the Harry Potter books were widely popular, and many parents, teachers, and librarians saw them as a positive influence on young readers, promoting literacy, empathy, and a love of reading. Over time, the moral panic subsided, and the Harry Potter books are now widely accepted as classic works of children's literature. —ChatGPT

[wj]

They argued that the books glorified and encouraged an interest in the dark arts.

ChatGPT got that right. Although a human being would likely have pointed out the incompatibility of that view with the extremely evident glorifying of the battle against a practitioner of the dark arts. With two operative brain cells to rub together, the people objecting would have realized they should instead be lobbying to make the books required reading.

Well, assuming their stated objection was their real one. Which, on other topics, they typically are not -- c.f. abortion.

[Pete]

With two operative brain cells to rub together,

So, I identified the problem with your hypothesis almost immediately…

[Hartmut]

You adhere to the heresy of Werkgerechtigkeit
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werkgerechtigkeit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalism_(theology).
Harry Potter does not act in the name of G*d and thus his good deeds are spiritually worthless. From a fundamentalist POV it's even worse than worthless since by being areligious it creates the impression that Good without G*d is possible, thus leading people astray from the straight and narrow way.

[Girl from the North Country]

Snarki: I had never heard of Jurgen, but have now ordered it. Thank you.

[wj]

You adhere to the heresy of Werkgerechtigkeit.

Indeed, I had never encountered "Werkgerechtigkeit" -- either the word or the concept. (Even though, very long ago, I was confirmed a Lutheran. Perhaps a matter of my having never been inside a Lutheran church since. Long story.)

It seems like the sort of heresy that everybody ought to embrace. I have a serious problem with the idea that good deeds lack merit unless they spring from a particular source. That seems to be a flat out evil position to take.

[Pete]

Re: Werkgerechtigkeit

I never heard of it either. Frankly, that Wiki article read like word salad to me.

I mean, a woman needs to be stoned to death (with stones!) by all the men in the city for not being able to offer proof of virginity on her wedding night - I think we can all agree on that. But I'm in the suburbs, so... a little wiggle room there? Or am I being "legalistic"?

[wj]

a woman needs to be stoned to death (with stones!) by all the men in the city for not being able to offer proof of virginity on her wedding night - I think we can all agree on that.

Except, isn't that just another example of urban elites forcing their (liberal?) views on the rest of the world...?

[Pete]

Except, isn't that just another example of urban elites forcing their (liberal?) views on the rest of the world...?

Nah. It's more of a top-down, Big Government thing. The urban elites are just sheeple. I have my suspicions about dark money influence coming from Big Stone, tho.

[wj]

Nah. It's more of a top-down, Big Government thing.

Except that, if it's "all the men in the city" [emphasis added] it sounds like a populist thing, rather than a Big Government one.

[Pete]

But it's God by his Word that commands "all the men in the city". I mean, I suppose there a Civilian Review Board on Virginity or something which gives them some agency. But I don't think behavior forced by totalitarian dictate can accurately be described as "populist".

[wj]

I don't think behavior forced by totalitarian dictate can accurately be described as "populist".

Fair enough.

[wj]

One does wonder, however, why an all-powerful deity would need to mobilize a mob to get the job done. I mean, if it simply must be death by stoning, what else are meteorites for?

[Hartmut]

But that would deny the virtue signaling of the men expressed in the stoning.

[Pete]

This is where my "Big Stone" theory comes in. Like, you lobby to get a law passed to make seatbelts mandatory in every car and it just so happens that your brother-in-law owns a seatbelt manufacturing & installation company. Well...

"and ye shall stone them with stones"
- Deuteronomy 22:23, KJV

That doesn't look just a little suspicious? No sticks. No branches. No shellfish or shoes or coconuts. In this town, you stone with Stone™! No exceptions!

Blatant regulatory capture.

[wj]

Just for something radically different, here's a story about members of Congress managing to work together, across party lines, to get something done. Even more hopeful, it was a Committee charged with making the Congress function better.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/09/house-modernization-committee-bipartisan-collaboration-lessons/
Turns out, one useful step is just rearranging the furniture.

No question, Congress is a mess these days. But not quite a hopeless mess. (Despite the deliberate efforts of some to make it totally nonfunctional.)

[CharlesWT]

Now if they would just relinquish control of C-SPAN's cameras to C-SPAN.

[wj]

Hey, baby steps.

[wj]

Broadening our horizons. (Even if it never came close to the Grammys.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0JySZPo2x8