I suspect that there is nothing as damning in Mormon history as Mormons’ failure to own up to that history, and Jana’s writing here captures that nicely. link to ‘‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ raises the question: Are Mormons dangerous?’

This is one of the best things The Onion has ever done. link to ‘‘The Onion’ has reused this satire after more than 20 mass shootings since 2014 : NPR’

Love this. link to ‘Florida student suing over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ uses curly hair as commencement speech code | The Hill’

Fascinating (if worrying) article on just how important the basic mechanics of an election are. link to ‘The election system shuddered in 2020. Now, there are fears of an attack within : NPR’

Lots of interesting ideas in this interview. I particularly like libraries running Mastodon instances. link to ‘Why we need a public internet and how to get one - The Verge’

Let’s do the same in the U.S., please. link to ‘Clearview AI ordered to delete facial recognition data belonging to UK residents - The Verge’

I don’t think I want a Pence presidency any more than another Trump one, but I do want to see the GOP wrestle with what it’s going to be going forward. link to ‘Pence, Tiptoeing Away From Trump, Lays Groundwork for ’24 Run - The New York Times’

Glad that there hasn’t been much conversation about this in Kentucky, but it’s still really worrying stuff. link to ‘How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures - The New York Times’

It’s a bit of a truism to say that the Book of Mormon is dependent on Biblical language, but one thing that’s been on my mind for the past few years (especially since reading Thomas Wayment’s excellent The New Testament: A Translation for Latter-day Saints) is how specifically dependent it is on the particular language of the King James Version of the Bible. Over the past year or so, as a personal project, I’ve been toying around with what a modern-language version of the Book of Mormon would look like.

Pretty upset about these results from the primary. I voted for the other candidate and was shocked to find Young won. At least I have a few months to figure out who to write in. link to ‘Beshear, KDP will not back Democratic candidate for U.S. House seat’

Last night, I had a bizarre dream that I was telling Ted Cruz that he was a jerk but that I didn’t mind when it was directed at Madison Cawthorn. Don’t know if that fully reflects my waking views, and don’t know anything about the victor here, but I am glad to see Cawthorn lose. link to ‘Madison Cawthorn is beaten in North Carolina’s GOP primary : NPR’

Content moderation is (sometimes) a good thing. link to ‘How the Buffalo shooting livestream went viral - The Verge’

Religious freedom isn’t worth anything if it’s only a shield for conservative Christianity. link to ‘We’re Suing Kentucky Prisons for Violating the First Amendment | ACLU of Kentucky’

What a troll. Even if the deal falls through, the way in which a sole rich dude can mess around with Twitter is souring me on the platform. link to ‘Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal ‘Cannot Move Forward’ in Current State - The New York Times’

If QAnon is excited, the rest of us should be worried—though I think there is a possibility that Musk realizes just how bad his ideas re: limiting moderation are and fails to deliver. link to ‘QAnon Thinks Elon Musk Is Going to Let Them Back On Twitter’

Et bien oui, ça me paraît très évident. link to ‘En rachetant Twitter, “Elon Musk a un projet politique derrière la tête”, estime un journaliste qui a enquêté sur l’homme le plus riche du monde’

Say it together now: Content moderation and free speech are different things. link to ‘Conservatives celebrate Musk’s deal to buy Twitter. - The New York Times’

The quotes in here underline how often ‘free speech’ is used to mean ‘problematic right-wing talking points.’ link to ‘Trump says he won’t leave Truth Social, despite Musk’s Twitter takeover - The Verge’

EFF cares about and actually understands free speech and content moderation, so their voice is especially important today. link to ‘Twitter Has a New Owner. Here’s What He Should Do. | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

Not excited about this, but the good news is that I’ve already been thinking about revamping my web presence, and this is a push to do something about it. link to ‘Twitter accepts buyout, giving Elon Musk total control of the company - The Verge’

Yet another reason to revisit my social media presence. link to ‘Twitter in talks with Musk over bid to buy platform, according to reports : NPR’

Primaries are coming up! Time to do your homework! link to ‘Kentucky’s voter guide for the 2022 primary elections – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

I have long supported Joseph-Beth, but this is giving me ideas for other bookstores to try! link to ‘Best bookstore in Lexington, KY bracket: Elite Eight | Lexington Herald Leader’

Disappointing that G.O.P. leaders so quickly did an about face. January 6th was a terrible event, and it’s cynical and irresponsible to pretend anything otherwise. link to ‘McConnell and McCarthy’s Jan. 6 Fury at Trump Faded by February - The New York Times’

Most of this budget sounds great, but why are we budgeting for 75 more ALPRs when we haven’t even finished the trial of the current ones yet? Not to mention that the trial is unlikely to evaluate ethics, only “effectiveness.” link to ‘Gorton unveils $460 million Lexington budget | Lexington Herald Leader’

Never thought to connect Gab back to net neutrality; interesting reflection here. link to ‘Gab CEO Ironically Pines For Net Neutrality | Techdirt’

There are a few yellow flags in this article for me. Quick and efficient sounds good, but are those the most important values in policing? What values do they stand in tension with? It’s great that there are policies against using a ALPR database for personal reasons, but these policies regularly get violated. No, these aren’t videosurveillance cameras, but that doesn’t make them harmless. link to ‘New Flock security cameras being installed in Lexington by end of May | Lexington Herald Leader’

Hooray for additional bike infrastructure! link to ‘Lexington gets $2.9 million for two shared use trails | Lexington Herald Leader’

Grumpy about this this morning. link to ‘KY lawmakers reverse vote, give politicians control of libraries | Lexington Herald Leader’

Very interesting read. I have never been a Republican, but I frequently voted GOP prior to 2016. Because my personal political views have shifted since then, it’s hard to say whether I would vote for a GOP that throws off the Trump baggage, but I do hope such a party one day re-emerges. I may not agree with it, but we certainly need it. link to ‘Trump as a Modern-Day Party Boss: Hoarding Cash and Doling Out Favors - The New York Times’

Bad faith edits were the main reason why I’ve never jumped on the “edit button” train, so I think this is a good way to handle this. link to ‘Twitter’s upcoming edit feature may keep track of tweet history - The Verge’

Interesting read on potential stakes of France’s presidential election. link to ‘Marine Le Pen Victory Would Threaten European Alliances’

Good article on our past optimism for Putin. link to ‘When Vladimir Putin joined George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas : NPR’

Fascinated by this article for so many reasons. First, it’s a great example of meaningful practices in online spaces; second, it brings it back to the need for more, smaller platforms. link to ‘Of ‘Algospeak’ and the Crudeness of Automated Moderation | by Clive Thompson | Apr, 2022 | OneZero’

Reading about Mike Lee’s attempts to interfere with the election reminds me of the missionary companion who dreamed of rising high enough in the FBI to be ready to help Salt Lake carry out a coup if needed.

I have only been reading Techdirt for a short amount of time, but I increasingly appreciate Masnick’s perspectives on issues like this. link to ‘Elon Musk Demonstrates How Little He Understands About Content Moderation | Techdirt’