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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Dallin Oaks and Marjorie Taylor Greene on heterosexual extinction
- kudos:Thanks to a recommendation from BoingBoing, I just finished reading a Business Insider article describing a recent video in which Marjorie Taylor Greene: predicted that identifying as heterosexual will be a thing of the past within a period of less than 200 years thanks to LGBTQ-inclusive sex educators, who she called “trans terrorists.” More specifically, Greene was quoted as saying that heterosexual extinction would come about “probably in about four or five generations.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Two-Thirds of Republicans Believe Great Replacement Theory, New Poll Shows'
- kudos:GOP has some reckoning to do. link to ‘Two-Thirds of Republicans Believe Great Replacement Theory, New Poll Shows’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Racist and Violent Ideas Jump From Web’s Fringes to Mainstream Sites - The New York Times'
- kudos:Content moderation is a good thing, and ‘free speech’ should not be our primary concern when it comes to social media platforms. link to ‘Racist and Violent Ideas Jump From Web’s Fringes to Mainstream Sites - The New York Times’
- kudos:
Listening to The Aquabats tonight and remembering how I pegged the Mormon connection when I was first listening to them because of subtle allusions to food storage and pioneer hymns.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A Reporter Reflects on Covering Seven Mass Shootings — ProPublica'
- kudos:This is difficult but important to read. As gut wrenching as these shootings are, I am still distant enough from them that they don’t always stick with me. It’s helpful if depressing to read about what sticks with others who are closer to them. [link to ‘A Reporter Reflects on Covering Seven Mass Shootings — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/shooting-news-msm-reporter-essay
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'McConnell mum on guns as U.S. Senate recesses for a week – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos:Disappointing but unsurprising. I wish McConnell would show as much willingness to call out Republicans on guns as he does for Ukraine. link to ‘McConnell mum on guns as U.S. Senate recesses for a week – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Richard Scarry's 21st Century Classroom | Boing Boing'
- kudos:Tom the Dancing Bug is usually just the right level of dark. link to ‘Richard Scarry’s 21st Century Classroom | Boing Boing’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '‘It Was the Wrong Decision’: Uvalde Cops Waited in Hallway as Kids Called 911 Begging to Be Saved From Gunman'
- kudos:It makes me sick and angry to read all of this. We have so badly failed the children of this country. link to ‘‘It Was the Wrong Decision’: Uvalde Cops Waited in Hallway as Kids Called 911 Begging to Be Saved From Gunman’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ted Cruz walks away after reporter asks him why mass shootings keep happening : NPR'
- kudos:Imagine thinking that this is the price we pay for American exceptionalism. Imagine thinking that mourning these children and wanting to do something about it is a partisan agenda. link to ‘Ted Cruz walks away after reporter asks him why mass shootings keep happening : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on ''Under the Banner of Heaven' raises the question: Are Mormons dangerous?'
- kudos: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?’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on ''The Onion' has reused this satire after more than 20 mass shootings since 2014 : NPR'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Florida student suing over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ uses curly hair as commencement speech code | The Hill'
- kudos:Love this. link to ‘Florida student suing over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ uses curly hair as commencement speech code | The Hill’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The election system shuddered in 2020. Now, there are fears of an attack within : NPR'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Why we need a public internet and how to get one - The Verge'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Clearview AI ordered to delete facial recognition data belonging to UK residents - The Verge'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Pence, Tiptoeing Away From Trump, Lays Groundwork for ’24 Run - The New York Times'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures - The New York Times'
- kudos: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’
Book of Mormon dependence on the King James Version
- kudos: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.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Beshear, KDP will not back Democratic candidate for U.S. House seat'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Madison Cawthorn is beaten in North Carolina's GOP primary : NPR'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'How the Buffalo shooting livestream went viral - The Verge'
- kudos:Content moderation is (sometimes) a good thing. link to ‘How the Buffalo shooting livestream went viral - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'We're Suing Kentucky Prisons for Violating the First Amendment | ACLU of Kentucky'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal ‘Cannot Move Forward’ in Current State - The New York Times'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'QAnon Thinks Elon Musk Is Going to Let Them Back On Twitter'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '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'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Conservatives celebrate Musk’s deal to buy Twitter. - The New York Times'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump says he won’t leave Truth Social, despite Musk’s Twitter takeover - The Verge'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter Has a New Owner. Here’s What He Should Do. | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter accepts buyout, giving Elon Musk total control of the company - The Verge'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter in talks with Musk over bid to buy platform, according to reports : NPR'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky's voter guide for the 2022 primary elections – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Best bookstore in Lexington, KY bracket: Elite Eight | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'McConnell and McCarthy’s Jan. 6 Fury at Trump Faded by February - The New York Times'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Gorton unveils $460 million Lexington budget | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos: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’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Gab CEO Ironically Pines For Net Neutrality | Techdirt'
- kudos:Never thought to connect Gab back to net neutrality; interesting reflection here. link to ‘Gab CEO Ironically Pines For Net Neutrality | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'New Flock security cameras being installed in Lexington by end of May | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos: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’