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Mole

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Everything posted by Mole

  1. I’m not disagreeing with your general sentiment, but I like precision when it comes to the words of Jesus. My reading of the passage, given below, is that he asks them to sell their cloak and buy swords (he doesn’t specify two), they tell him that they have two there already and he says, “that’s enough!” It’s a pretty ambiguous passage,but I’d agree that it certainly isn’t a charge to go and arm ourselves. If that were the case, then I guess it would be also making the case against tactical gear while armed, right? Gun or coat, pick one. 35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. 36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” 38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That’s enough!” he replied.
  2. Definition of nonplussed 1: unsure about what to say, think, or do : PERPLEXED 2 chiefly US : not bothered, surprised, or impressed by something
  3. I think the antonym of nonplussed is nonplussed.
  4. I’ve always found Ives, THE great American composer, much more patriotic and rousing than the national anthem.
  5. Look on the bright side. It's almost no-Nuke Friday. But yeah, it's heartbreaking, enraging, and completely expected all at once. The indifference to any sense of morality or decency will never not be shocking, even when everything has been obvious for while. If you grant Trump's lie as the truth, overthrowing the government is actually kind of reasonable. If the things that Trump claimed over and over were true, violence had to have seemed justified by the true believers. How could it not?
  6. As a veteran and musician, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the National Anthem. It should have a three feel, not four; it's a drinking song afterall, so it should sound like it. When they yell, Stars fans are engaging a drunken tradition with the tune that predates the US Constitution. https://ks4.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/f/ff/IMSLP534456-PMLP31185-levy-000-002.pdf I'd support Abbot's proposed law if it required the singing of all verses. If we're going to do it, let's do all the way. Make sure to include the Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr. verse: When our land is illumined with Liberty's smile, If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory, Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile The flag of her stars and the page of her story! By the millions unchained, who our birthright have gained, We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained! And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
  7. Question for the law dogs: is there some nifty Latin turn of phrase for a defense that implicitly acknowledges that nothing matters so that even though the right thing is blindingly clear, nothing matters at all? Where everyone knows the right thing but we all also know that so many are so cynical that there’s no real point in offering much of a defense? Because, why bother putting in extra effort when you know it doesn’t matter? If not, may I suggest Ano est vitae?
  8. A pro-bike stance might make some enemies around here.
  9. I’m inclined to agree with you, but the bolded gives me pause. I’ve learned over the past few years that the dumbest possible answer eventually seems like the compromise position. Boundless stupidity and ingenuity are deeply intertwined.
  10. Speaking as someone who is evangelicalish theologically, evangelicals and their political madness have caused the greatest damage to the stated evangelical cause of spreading the Gospel. They’ve done more harm to the Gospel message than every abortion doctor, married gay couple, anti-prayer lawsuit, and whatever other social issue they claim to care about combined (if these issues hurt the cause at all). From my limited observations, Q beliefs have become deeply imbedded into evangelical churches. I doubt that you’ll find too much pure, uncut Q, but the less insane claims (still a low bar) seem to be easily and widely accepted. A lot of this stuff has become mainstream. I have no hard data; this is just what I’ve witnessed.
  11. I’m really tired of all of these unresolved questions. It took us a couple of centuries, but I think we’ve found the coup loophole. I miss norms.
  12. That’s so cool. Let me try: IheartDerka
  13. On the other hand, she’ll miss out on some prime grand standing moments when she gets to berate a high school math teacher for indoctrinating children with polynomials when everyone knows the answer is always 1776.
  14. Consider greatness. A great man must have a following, whether he gain it Like Roosevelt by good intentions, cajolery and bribes, or Hitler by fanatic Patriotism, frank lies, brutality and terror, Without great following no greatness, it is ever the greedy Flame on a wick dipped in the fat of millions;
  15. We should keep celebrating these ex Q people: treat them like America heroes; even put up statues that we can tear down 100 years from now. It’s very difficult to go so public and admit just how lost from reality you were. It’s very affirming to see this happening. As to the percentage of Q adherents, some Q ideas have seemed to infect the mainstream. Your next door neighbor might not believe that you’re JFK Jr. in a new lizard person form, but they might have believed the Wayfair sex trafficking thing or something else that is Q light.
  16. There’s combating lies and then there’s combating lies while making your opponents look like the idiots they are. There’s a time for each, but the more contentious approach needs to be used more judiciously. I get that it feels good to make bad people look bad, but it often isn’t helpful. AOC isn’t even the biggest culprit, but she’s so good at it. There are larger cultural issues at play than simply humiliating one individual on Twitter. Sometimes the humiliation is appropriate, but it needs to be considered in the context of the whole and not just the individual interpersonal interaction. These are public performances that should be considered as such. Public performance changes the culture. The performance and larger message matter. AOC didn’t cause the cultural rot, but she has a very powerful and effective voice in the current discourse. I expect her to use it wisely even when her opponents are reckless. To be clear, the insurrectionists and their sympathizers need to be shamed, but the constant contention of recent years reduces the discourse to something so lacking in depth so as to have no useful meaning. Shallow, reductive insults is currency of performative social media, but it doesn’t have to be. Jon Stewart’s Crossfire appearance remains as relevant as ever. Things are so much worse than when he accurately called Tucker a dick on national TV. It’s infected every part of our lives. Surely there’s another path. Reducing things like this creates a false dichotomy. We can see Biden trying to find another path where he’s trying to reignite a mutual respect while also remaining firm and not rolling over. We’ll see how much he succeeds, but it’s no doubt a different path than Obama took. It’s possible to firmly tell the truth and use the full extent of your political power without reducing every interaction to a zero sum game. Sometimes the metaphorical kill shot has value, but it isn’t helpful as a matter of course.
  17. There’s a bit of a false dichotomy lurking here. The following all seem objectively true to me: 1. AOC is well qualified for her position and does an admirable job. She takes her job seriously and works hard. Even those well to right of her should acknowledge this if they were to be honest. I can respect people that come to different conclusions than me when their thinking is well-reasoned. 2. Ted Cruz and the Trump terrorist movement is very bad and deserves lots of shaming. Twitter shaming is getting off easy for them. There’s no need to condemn AOC for going after them. Have at it. 3. A significant part of AOC’s public communications involve extracting the Twitter pound of flesh. She’s really good at this. Sometimes it’s warranted, but often it’s not. Sometimes it’s helpful to the cause, but more often it probably isn’t. It may feel good in the moment, but sometimes the winning move is not to play. 4. r/murderedbyAOC is not a positive reflection of our discourse. Just because it’s less harmful than the rantings of deranged republican lunatics doesn’t mean that it’s helpful. AOC is good at defeating people on Twitter, but sometimes destroying your enemy isn’t the same as victory. The last 4 years should have taught us this. 5. A sharp Twitter tongue is a powerful tool. We just watched it incite a terrorist movement. Adults in the room have a responsibility to manage this power responsibly, even if their opponents aren’t. Otherwise, we all lose. Fighting fire with fire is fun until you burn everything down. Remember, this is a goal of a large part of the Trump terrorist movement. 6. On the whole, AOC is a net positive on the national scene, but her Twitter presence is a negative. More often than not, tearing down opponents on Twitter only pushes us all deeper into the madness that we’ve lovingly embraced. Each step seems small, but they clearly add up. In summary, the culture of trying to humiliate opponents verbally is making things worse, not better. AOC is a master at this game. She does other things very well, but in this respect she’s contributing to the deteriorating culture. Ted Cruz is terrible and supports a terrorist movement. I support and admire AOC or any other victim of the Trump terrorist movement speaking honestly about their experiences.
  18. The parallels are unsettling.
  19. With the assumption that things will continue to get exponentially dumber: 1. Kanye/Nikki 2. Hershel Walker/Scott Baio 3. Tucker/Diamond 4. One of the Duck Dynasty Guys/The Pawn Star Guy 5. Q Shaman/George Will
  20. I haven't listened to him in over a year, but Rogan has always struck me as a bit of a blank slate, enthusiastically along for the ride of whatever his guest is selling. When he has a smart, interesting guest, it's a good show because the smart interesting guest is driving the show. When he has a nutcase on, the show is unhinged because the guest is driving the show. In a healthy culture, we would understand this and calibrate accordingly. Our culture isn't healthy.
  21. I'm a sucker for the bittersweet themes like Hillstreet Blues, Taxi, etc., but Dynasty is my favorite theme. There's not even the nostalgia for me that so many themes are wrapped up with, since I've never seen a second of the show.
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