Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “2024 elections”
personal and theological reflections after a minor bike wreck
- kudos:After six years and over 6,000 miles1 of bike commuting without any real incident2, I took a corner too fast this morning, hydroplaned, and slid a few feet on the road before picking myself up to get back to the sidewalk and out of the way of the cars whose path I was blocking. It wasn’t a huge wreck: I didn’t hit my head, my bike seems to be fine3, and three scrapes (one bigger than others) and some torn-up clothes are the worst of the damage.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump’s Historically Small Victory'
- kudos:I’ve seen this argument floating out there, but this is the first time I looked at some of the numbers. link to “Trump’s Historically Small Victory”
some thoughts on joining Bluesky, maintaining platform independence, and tweaking Mastodon
- kudos:It’s now been over two years since I ditched Twitter, and I recently made the decision to go ahead and outright delete the account rather than leave it there to ward off imposters. It’s been really interesting to explore the new landscape of social media during this time, and I wanted to put together a post with some of my current thoughts. I’m on Bluesky now, I guess? First, I set up a Bluesky account a number of weeks ago, and I’ve been following other Bluesky accounts for a while (first via RSS, now via the Reeder app alongside RSS), but I’ve finally started actually using it since the election, which seems to be sparking some new interest in ditching Twitter.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'And Yet It Moves'
- kudos:I don’t agree with Ken on everything, but I always appreciate his perspective. I could quibble about some of his finer points here, but I think this is worth a read. link to “And Yet It Moves”
books I want to reread after this particular Election Day
- kudos:Walkaway, by Cory Doctorow, because it’s a story of radical hope in the face of bleak reality The Bezzle, by Cory Doctorow, because I’m going to need to keep up my frustration with self-enriching amoral tech bros The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States, by Jeffrey Lewis, because it compellingly portrays the danger of entrusting nuclear weapons in the hands of any president but especially one who is particularly petty and impulsive The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth, because it so compellingly describes the soft edges and semi-plausible deniability that American fascism would inevitably be draped in Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang, because it’s unapologetically pro-immigrant and anti-racism (and implicitly argues that churches should be, too) Practical Anarchism: A Guide for Daily Life, by Scott Branson, because it advocates for solving problems of care and support on our own when it’s clear that the government won’t do it for us The Kingdom of God is Within You, by Leo Tolstoy, because it argues for loyalty to all of humanity over loyalty to any country the March trilogy, by John Lewis, because reading it the first time made me realize that I might well have been a “surely it’s not that bad” bystander during the Civil Rights movement, and I refuse to be that guy over the next four years There are, of course, a number of books that I want to read for the first time in response to last night, and I probably need to prioritize those for a number of reasons.
- kudos:
I’ve been scheduled for a while to preach on hope during Advent. It was always going to be about hope in the face of bleakness, but I can see the tone changing a bit now anyway.
- kudos:
Between class, early voting, and Halloween yesterday, I did not get to much of my email inbox. Today’s going to have to be “All Sends Day.”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Long lines reported on first day of early voting in Kentucky'
- kudos:Standing in one of these lines right now! Fingers crossed for the future. 🤞🏻😬🤞🏻 link to “Long lines reported on first day of early voting in Kentucky”
- kudos:
Sure looks like someone finally got fed up with the majority of Harris signs in our cul-de-sac and decided to swipe them all overnight.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk worked in US illegally in 1995 after quitting school – report'
- kudos:Rank hypocrisy. I don’t necessarily think Musk should have been deported way back when, but I think he should be called out on this. link to “Elon Musk worked in US illegally in 1995 after quitting school – report”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment'
- kudos:There are countless GOP politicians and voters who believe Harris is unqualified for the job for lesser (and often exaggerated or fabricated controversies), and yet none of this seems to bother them. gift link link to “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the ‘Enemy’'
- kudos:Like so many other things, this alone should disqualify him. Gift link. link to “Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the ‘Enemy’”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.'
- kudos:This is terrifying—but needs more attention. link to “We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump condemned for suggesting ‘one really violent day’ to combat crime'
- kudos:How is this guy a legitimate candidate? link to “Trump condemned for suggesting ‘one really violent day’ to combat crime”
James vs. the Trump-Vance ticket: An orphaned, remixed sermon
- kudos:After being ordained earlier this summer, I was added to my home congregation’s preaching rotation. Today was supposed to be the day that I gave my first sermon there, but once I started to make plans to attend a family funeral, I reached out to ask if someone could sub for me. Before getting the bad news, though, I’d already written most of the sermon, and so I figured I should post the text here so that I get some use out of it.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Father of Ohio boy, 11, tells Trump and Vance to stop using son’s death for ‘political gain’'
- kudos:Good for the dad, and shame on the politicians being this terrible. link to “Father of Ohio boy, 11, tells Trump and Vance to stop using son’s death for ‘political gain’”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'What If Trump Wins?'
- kudos:It is wild—and worrying—just how close this race is. link to “What If Trump Wins?”
- kudos:
Look, I’m feeling better about November than I have in a long time, but waking up this morning from a stressful “count the electoral votes” dream has reminded me how nervous I still am about things.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk’s SuperPAC Is Misleading (Some) Voters Into Thinking They Registered To Vote; Collecting Tons Of Data'
- kudos:Finally read up on this, and it’s worrying. link to “Elon Musk’s SuperPAC Is Misleading (Some) Voters Into Thinking They Registered To Vote; Collecting Tons Of Data”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses'
- kudos:I don’t understand how this has a chance to win in November. gift link link to “Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk Spreads Election Misinformation on X Without Fact Checkers - The New York Times'
- kudos:I was already fed up with Twitter before election season started. C’mon, Musk. Gift link. link to “Elon Musk Spreads Election Misinformation on X Without Fact Checkers - The New York Times”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump's not-so-secret plans for unprecedented power : NPR'
- kudos:Some worrying information here. link to “Trump’s not-so-secret plans for unprecedented power : NPR”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A New Trump Administration Will ‘Come After’ the Media, Says Kash Patel - The New York Times'
- kudos:I try not to post too much about this campaign because I find it overwhelming, but this is worrying stuff. Really worrying. link to “A New Trump Administration Will ‘Come After’ the Media, Says Kash Patel - The New York Times”