Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “Kentucky”
- kudos:
Love that our family makes a point to stop at the Kentucky Artisan Center rest stop instead of the Buc-ee’s just up the road. Further love that my favorite locally-made tea company can always be found there.
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 'KY prisoners hack state-issued computer tablets to digitally create $1M. How’d they do it?'
- kudos:Prisoners got punished for taking advantage of a hilarious exploit in an app for transferring money from their commissary accounts to a private company’s media store, but no one at that private company is being held accountable for unironically describing prisons as a “growth industry.” This sounds like something Doctorow would have made up for The Bezzle, and it’s kind of amazing that I’m reading it in the news instead.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'KY inmates and their families spend millions on for-profit computer tablets'
- kudos:The state and a private company are splitting millions of dollars that they earn from charging a literally captive audience to use tablets. This is straight out of Cory Doctorow’s The Bezzle, and I hate it so, so much. link to “KY inmates and their families spend millions on for-profit computer tablets”
surveillance (but not accountability) in school acceptable use policies
- kudos:It’s that time of year (again) for signing the acceptable use policy for kiddo’s school, and I’m again grumpy about a lot of the details in here. Some of these details are me being a nitpicky academic, like the use of the word “technology” to refer to digital technologies alone. Others strike me as more serious, though. Let’s take a look at this paragraph, listed under a “Roles and Responsibilities of Parents/Guardians” header:
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Boone County High School alum still fighting for school to drop the ‘Rebels’ as mascot'
- kudos:I went to BCHS and was on speech and debate with Akilah. I was one of those naïve white kids who didn’t really register all of the problematic parts of our mascot, and I have regrets. I’ll be interested to listen to this podcast and do some more internal work. link to “Boone County High School alum still fighting for school to drop the ‘Rebels’ as mascot”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Missouri joins other red states in trying to stamp out ranked choice voting'
- kudos:I had forgotten Kentucky did this, and that just makes me more mad. link to “Missouri joins other red states in trying to stamp out ranked choice voting”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'House education chair says professor review bill is not aimed at limiting tenure in Kentucky - Kentucky Lantern'
- kudos:You can say that, but it’s hard to understand how this isn’t limiting tenure. link to “House education chair says professor review bill is not aimed at limiting tenure in Kentucky - Kentucky Lantern”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky Senate leader files bill to curb 'divisive concepts' in public higher education - Kentucky Lantern'
- kudos:Welp, here’s something to pay attention to this legislative session. link to “Kentucky Senate leader files bill to curb ‘divisive concepts’ in public higher education - Kentucky Lantern”
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Louisville francophones connect and explore with French-language podcast'
- kudos:How have I missed this??? A French-language podcast here in Kentucky sounds right up my alley. Bonus, the latest episode is an homage to Karl Tremblay. link to “Louisville francophones connect and explore with French-language podcast”
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️🖤🖤🖤 for Warlords of Appalachia, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
- kudos:I don’t know what this book is supposed to be. It feels like too much worldbuilding and too little plot; I would like to see more of the Kentucky I know, but it also feels vaguely exploitative of Eastern Kentucky; it feels like an excuse for violent storytelling and wants to be something deeper without quite getting there. I wasn’t a fan.
- kudos:
Kiddo picked up a new library card over the weekend (lots of Kentucky counties do reciprocity agreements, so we collect them), and she’s incensed that there’s a 25-book limit at this system (we regularly check out 50 books each from two different counties).
- kudos:
Maybe not clicking with Utah is because so many of my interactions with Utah and Utahns involved being defensive about or emphasizing my being from somewhere else. Even in my Mormonism, I was a Kentucky Mormon, and I filtered a lot through that perspective.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'New lawsuit challenges educational components of SB 150 | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Glad to see action being taken against this law. link to “New lawsuit challenges educational components of SB 150 | Lexington Herald Leader”
Pete, mint brownies, and two competing visions of Mormonism
- kudos:Pete and Sarah were mainstays of my Mormon experience growing up. Their oldest—a famously rowdy boy with several rowdy younger brothers—was present on the Sunday when I was introduced in children’s classes as a newcomer to the congregation. When I outgrew children’s classes and made my way to youth Sunday School, Pete was our teacher for a while—the kind of teacher who tried to suppress a giggle (and usually unsuccessfully) whenever the word “ass” (especially “dumb ass”) appeared in the KJV.
caffeine
- kudos:I grew up not drinking tea or coffee because of religious convictions—a habit that ultimately stayed with me longer than those convictions! Over the course of the two years I spent as a Mormon missionary, I taught a number of people that (among other things) they should adopt the same convictions and also give up tea and coffee. One of the most interesting lessons on this subject I had was with Jonathan.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Lexington KY police start using Fusus camera software | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Ew, gross, no. link to ‘Lexington KY police start using Fusus camera software | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Legislature’s Transportation Budget Cuts Contributed to the JCPS Bus Debacle - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy'
- kudos:I hadn’t thought about this before, but of course the same General Assembly complaining about the JCPS bus crisis is responsible for underfunding their bus system. link to ‘The Legislature’s Transportation Budget Cuts Contributed to the JCPS Bus Debacle - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy’
how does a churchgoing agnostic talk about religion with his kid?
- kudos:This summer, I’ve taken advantage of my 9-month contract with the University of Kentucky to have lots of adventures with kiddo while my spouse (who has a 12-month contract) continues at her job. It’s been a real delight! A couple of Fridays ago, we drove to Danville, a town in Central Kentucky where I spent a summer as a high schooler but haven’t been back to since. We bought her a book, me some amazing chocolate mint tea, and had a great time exploring fun shops and public art in adorable downtown Danville.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '584 | What’s Brewing | A Path Forward for Chicago – Project Zion Podcast'
- kudos:Bookmarking this for later. Community of Christ isn’t very big in Kentucky, and I wonder how digital technologies could help connect us and provide people easier ways to visit us. This seems like an interesting model. link to ‘584 | What’s Brewing | A Path Forward for Chicago – Project Zion Podcast’
on doing—and asking—what is right
- kudos:One of this week’s lectionary readings in Community of Christ (and presumably elsewhere) is in 1 Peter 3. As I was reading the NRSVUE rendering of this passage this morning, verses 13-17 stood out to me: 13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.
- kudos:
Update: I’ve been a Kentuckian for 20+ years, but my first time watching the Kentucky Derby was just meh. So much wealth invested in a race that I didn’t really find interesting. Looking forward to family Eurovision next Saturday, though!
- kudos:
We signed up for a month of Peacock so that we could watch the Kentucky Derby today and Eurovision next Saturday. I’m sure that says something about our family, but I couldn’t say exactly what.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Calls for action on gun violence meet silence from Kentucky's Republican legislative leaders - Kentucky Lantern'
- kudos:Local shame in response to local tragedy. link to ‘Calls for action on gun violence meet silence from Kentucky’s Republican legislative leaders - Kentucky Lantern’
- kudos:
J’ai appris cette semaine que les transports publics de ma ville sont soutenus par la RATP, ce qui m’étonne pas mal.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Veto puts Kentucky in thick of fight over transgender rights | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Even if the Kentucky GOP is right and this is what loses Beshear the election, it it was clearly the right thing to do. I want Beshear to stay in office, but I don’t know if I could vote for him if he didn’t resist the queerphobia coming out of the General Assembly. Shame on our legislature for passing this bill—and for so clearly acknowledging here that it’s to score political points at the expense of Kentucky children.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '“The library is a safe place.” – WIL WHEATON dot NET'
- kudos:I’ve felt a lot of appreciation for Wil Wheaton recently, but for him to come to Kentucky to praise our libraries and speak against dumb laws passed by our legislature makes me just love the guy. link to ‘“The library is a safe place.” – WIL WHEATON dot NET’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky governor vetoes sweeping GOP transgender measure | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Good for Andy. One thing I personally appreciate about Governor Beshear is that he so often invokes his faith as a Democrat. Granted, it’s probably a calculated decision in such a red state, and I’m still uncomfortable with how faith and politics are intertwined in the U.S., but it shows that faith doesn’t have to be queerphobic. link to ‘Kentucky governor vetoes sweeping GOP transgender measure | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Lexington & KY reports more than high flu cases this season | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Oh, so this is why my family’s gotten rocked by flu the past five days. link to ‘Lexington & KY reports more than high flu cases this season | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Report: Internet providers offer Louisville residents unequal speeds for similar prices – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos:I’d skipped over the story when the Markup reported it, but seeing local coverage of how it plays out locally makes it even worse. Municipal broadband ought to be more common! link to ‘Report: Internet providers offer Louisville residents unequal speeds for similar prices – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'McConnell Dismisses the Threats to U.S. Democracy - The New York Times'
- kudos:McConnell gets so close to recognizing the danger other Republicans pose to democracy, but he always stops just short. link to ‘McConnell Dismisses the Threats to U.S. Democracy - The New York Times’
🔗 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 '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’
🔗 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 'Lexington, KY writer Ada Limón is the next US poet laureate | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:I haven’t read Limón’s poetry (I don’t read much poetry at all), but I’ll have to change that. Happy for some Kentucky and Lexington representation in this way. link to ‘Lexington, KY writer Ada Limón is the next US poet laureate | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky court delves into use of cell phones for tracking | AP News'
- kudos:Good for the court, though the narrow majority is disappointing. link to ‘Kentucky court delves into use of cell phones for tracking | AP News’