I'm a citizen of Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, the world, and the digital sphere. Politically, I care about equality (and changing structures to support it), elections (that is, making them more fair and representative), and electronics (or, rather, their impact on society).
I am a believing agnostic in Community of Christ with a (mostly) cherished past as a (mostly) literalist Mormon.
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🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump is Being Investigated for Potentially Violating the Espionage Act'
- kudos:On one hand, I strongly believe Trump should be held accountable for all laws he’s broken or flouted. On the other, I believe that the Espionage Act has been used as a crude cudgel by several presidential administrations, and it’s really important not to be sloppy here. The second doesn’t outweigh the first, but just like one can defend the FBI raid without putting the FBI on a pedestal of infallibility, we need to be critically minded about all this.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'FBI Standoff Suspect Posted ‘Call to Arms’ on Trump's Truth Social'
- kudos:Interesting development here. link to ‘FBI Standoff Suspect Posted ‘Call to Arms’ on Trump’s Truth Social’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on ''Ring Nation' Is Amazon's Reality Show for Our Surveillance Dystopia'
- kudos:Such a bad idea. Normalizing Ring won’t make it any better—only worse. link to ‘‘Ring Nation’ Is Amazon’s Reality Show for Our Surveillance Dystopia’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'It’s Not Just Trump — LBJ Took Classified Documents Too'
- kudos:I was not aware of this episode of history, and I feel more informed for it. It’s an example of where a Democratic president should be held to the same standard as Trump is being held right now—not out of any kind of whataboutism, but because both presidents crossed lines. In fact, “both” isn’t right here: Nixon comes out of this looking as bad as (if not worse than) Johnson.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Why none of my books are available on Audible | Cory Doctorow's craphound.com'
- kudos:Doctorow convinced me years ago that Audible was terrible, but here, he showed me just how bad they are. link to ‘Why none of my books are available on Audible | Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How Mormons are addressing sex abuse: Too little, too late'
- kudos:Appreciate Jana’s perspective on this horrible story. link to ‘How Mormons are addressing sex abuse: Too little, too late’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'No cap, Sen. Mike Lee’s personal Twitter account is called ‘BasedMikeLee’ - The Verge'
- kudos:Lots of directions to go with this one, but “based” is the red pill red flag for me. Lee is (unsurprisingly) borrowing the language of the far right. link to ‘No cap, Sen. Mike Lee’s personal Twitter account is called ‘BasedMikeLee’ - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion'
- kudos:Compelling example of the need for digital privacy in a post-Row world. link to ‘This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Republicans Are Suddenly Very Eager to Defund the Police'
- kudos:I’ve been thinking this since yesterday. It’s telling how so many “law and order” conservatives who make a big deal about being pro-police reverse on those positions as soon as law enforcement is inconvenient for them. link to ‘Republicans Are Suddenly Very Eager to Defund the Police’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Even Before the FBI Search, MAGA World Was Saying It's at War'
- kudos:A worrying look at CPAC. What is happening to the Republican Party? link to ‘Even Before the FBI Search, MAGA World Was Saying It’s at War’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump Supporters Are Calling for Civil War After FBI Search of Mar-a-Lago'
- kudos:McCarthy isn’t saying the same thing as these Telegram channels, but he’s making it easier for them to say what they’re saying. link to ‘Trump Supporters Are Calling for Civil War After FBI Search of Mar-a-Lago’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky candidates struggle when describing 2020 election | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Disappointing but unsurprising. link to ‘Kentucky candidates struggle when describing 2020 election | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A Few Minor, and Hopefully Helpful Editing Suggestions on the LDS Church’s Recent Statement about Abuse | By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog'
- kudos:I’ve long lacked confidence in my own opinions (as a general rule—I can also be an opinionated jerk), so even the simplest disagreement with a position I’ve taken can take some wind out of my sails. When I read the official Latter-day Saint response to the recent AP story, I didn’t agree with it, but it still slowed me down some. “Maybe I should consider things from another point of view,” I thought.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Pluralistic: 07 Aug 2022 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow'
- kudos:Why do we let inkjet printers get away with this nonsense? link to ‘Pluralistic: 07 Aug 2022 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Teen Who Helped Expose the Boy Scouts’ Pedophilia Epidemic, and the Mormon Church’s Cover-Up'
- kudos:This reporting is from a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t paying enough attention at the time, and recent events make me regret that. link to ‘The Teen Who Helped Expose the Boy Scouts’ Pedophilia Epidemic, and the Mormon Church’s Cover-Up’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk challenges Twitter CEO to a ‘public debate’ about bots - The Verge'
- kudos:Musk continues his trolling. This is a dumb proposal, and Twitter shouldn’t accept it. link to ‘Elon Musk challenges Twitter CEO to a ‘public debate’ about bots - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Amazon Buys Roomba Company, Will Now Map Inside of Your House'
- kudos:Some good points about how Amazon owning Roomba is scarier than just Roomba existing on its own—even if I didn’t realize that Roomba was creepily mapping houses. link to ‘Amazon Buys Roomba Company, Will Now Map Inside of Your House’
should I stay or should I go?
- kudos:I haven’t attended the Latter-day Saint congregation I officially belong to since March of 2020, and I’m coming up on one year of being an official member of Community of Christ. It’s pretty clear to me—and, likely, to others—where my religious future is headed. Yet, I’ve always expected that I would remain a de jure—if not de facto—member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even if it’s not the right spiritual home for me or my family any more, and even if I have major disagreements with it, this church has been an important part of my life, and I’ve always wanted to preserve that by retaining my official membership.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Amazon Buying Roomba Maker iRobot for $1.7 Billion - WSJ'
- kudos:Amazon keeps getting bigger, and I don’t think that’s for the better. link to ‘Amazon Buying Roomba Maker iRobot for $1.7 Billion - WSJ’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Mormon church sex abuse: AP investigation | AP News'
- kudos:This is a horrifying, sickening story. When it’s marriage equality, the Church is eager to say that being legal doesn’t make something right (a bad take, for the record), so to hear “it was fine because it was legal” as a defense for bishops’ failure to report child sexual abuse (at Salt Lake’s encouragement) is sickening. link to ‘Mormon church sex abuse: AP investigation | AP News’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Study Says Trump’s Truth Social Is Much More Aggressive, And Much More Arbitrary, In Moderating Content | Techdirt'
- kudos:Unsurprising, but still a valuable read. link to ‘Study Says Trump’s Truth Social Is Much More Aggressive, And Much More Arbitrary, In Moderating Content | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Hiroshima and Nagasaki Are Not Just History: The Horrors of Nuclear Weapons Live On | Friends Committee On National Legislation'
- kudos:I don’t believe nuclear disarmament will be easy, but I’m increasingly convinced that it must be done. Just a single mistake or miscommunication could doom our entire planet. link to ‘Hiroshima and Nagasaki Are Not Just History: The Horrors of Nuclear Weapons Live On | Friends Committee On National Legislation’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos:There’s a similar amendment on the ballot in Kentucky in November; here’s hoping for similar results. link to ‘Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’
'Belgian French' and the intentional awkwardness of LDS Book of Mormon translation
- kudos:This week and last, I’ve been reading up on Mormons’ commitment to both the language of the King James Version (Philip Barlow’s Mormons and the Bible is a fantastic read) and what is seen as the authoritative text of the Book of Mormon. In Paul Gutjahr’s The Book of Mormon: A Biography, he quotes the official Latter-day Saint Scripture Translation Manual as including the following guidelines for translators of the Book of Mormon:
believers who rob others of belief
- kudos:Nearly a year ago, a friend gave me a copy of Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation as a gift for my confirmation into Community of Christ. It (obviously) took me a while to start it, and it’s taking me some time to read through it, but there’s a lot in there that I like. This afternoon, this passage stood out to me: Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God, for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice, your mediocrity and materialism, your sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'At least 25 people have died in Kentucky's floods, governor says : NPR'
- kudos:We’ve had a rough year of natural disasters. link to ‘At least 25 people have died in Kentucky’s floods, governor says : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Tech We Won’t Build — The Internet Health Report 2022'
- kudos:Compelling podcast episode from Mozilla highlighting morally dubious uses of AI. It’s really important that we be more reflective about this instead of trying things and seeing where they lead. link to ‘The Tech We Won’t Build — The Internet Health Report 2022’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Gun-makers made millions marketing AR-15-style guns as a sign of manhood : NPR'
- kudos:So much of modern right-wing politics boils down to concerns about masculinity. link to ‘Gun-makers made millions marketing AR-15-style guns as a sign of manhood : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Doug Mastriano Faces Criticism Over His Backing From Antisemitic Ally - The New York Times'
- kudos:I knew that Gab was supporting Mastriano, but I didn’t realize ties ran this deep. Gab is a toxic hellhole, and if Mastriano is sending them money, that should rule him out as a candidate. link to ‘Doug Mastriano Faces Criticism Over His Backing From Antisemitic Ally - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Zuckerberg: Apple, Meta are in “deep, philosophical competition” | Ars Technica'
- kudos:Look, I’m a critic of Apple’s closed system, but it’s laughable for Meta to set itself up as an oprn alternative. link to ‘Zuckerberg: Apple, Meta are in “deep, philosophical competition” | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Indiana doctor says she has been harassed since providing 10-year-old's abortion : NPR'
- kudos:This case seems so clear cut to me, and the American right’s willingness to harass this doctor suggests that things are going very wrong. link to ‘Indiana doctor says she has been harassed since providing 10-year-old’s abortion : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '‘Christ Is King’: Man Allegedly Vandalized Bakery Hosting Drag Show'
- kudos:I didn’t know Fuentes was also using “Christ is King,” but it’s a favorite of Gab’s Andrew Torba, too. link to ‘‘Christ Is King’: Man Allegedly Vandalized Bakery Hosting Drag Show’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Stranger People | Times & Seasons'
- kudos:I haven’t watched Stranger Things 4, but it’s interesting how media depictions of Mormonism often get some of the details wrong, folding it in with broader conservative Christianity instead of focusing on its unique weirdness. This often confused me as a kid, especially when adults would wonder if I were allowed to play games with supernatural themes or… sing songs? link to ‘Stranger People | Times & Seasons’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Police Are Still Abusing Investigative Exemptions to Shield Surveillance Tech, While Others Move Towards Transparency | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:Who is allowed to watch the watchmen? This is why I’m grumpy about Lexington being hush hush about its new automated license plate readers—it sets a precedent for secretive use of even more invasive surveillance. link to ‘Police Are Still Abusing Investigative Exemptions to Shield Surveillance Tech, While Others Move Towards Transparency | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Republicans Sharpen Post-Roe Attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights - The New York Times'
- kudos:Worrying days ahead. There’s a lot being said on Gab that’s spilling out into “mainstream” GOP discourse. link to ‘Republicans Sharpen Post-Roe Attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Facebook Is So Sure Its Erroneous Blocking Of Music Is Right, There’s No Option To Say It’s Wrong | Techdirt'
- kudos:Intellectual property is important, but copyright filters are an absolute mess. link to ‘Facebook Is So Sure Its Erroneous Blocking Of Music Is Right, There’s No Option To Say It’s Wrong | Techdirt’