Two Ruckuses, Little Truth

Two ruckuses that have occupied our society the past couple of weeks have gotten me thinking a lot about truth. One came from the Left and one from the Right. One was Liz Cheney’s loss, one student loan debt forgiveness.

Do we care about truth? That’s my column for the week.

Filibuster or Bust

I’m a fan of the filibuster. Here are my thoughts on it:

Joe Manchin and Krystin Sinema are due a heap of gratitude by all of us. Personally, I prefer a government that is stable and seeks to represent the whole of the country and not a specific subset and it is those two, and not figures I’d probably have been more inclined to elect, that are holding to the esoteric parliamentary rule — the filibuster — that offers us such stability.

Please Don't Go Brandon

The phrase kept showing up in my social media feed, probably as it has for you. I’ve been busy, so I kept putting off finding out the reason for the latest social media fad, but finally bit: just who is “Brandon” and why is everyone cheering him on? It seemed like everyone was having lighthearted fun… at first.

tl;dr: The phrase is shorthand for “f—- Joe Biden.” And that seems like a problematic statement coming from believers.

The Ending Platform Monopolies Act is Dangerously Misinformed

How Politicos' Low Tech Understanding Threatens High Tech Harm

I see folks on both sides of the aisle getting way to excited about a massive interference in Big Tech by Big Government. In this piece, I discuss some of the issues that are inevitable with it while also noting the real Big Tech problems we need to deal with:

Probably all of us have some frustration with one or more of the Tech Giants who are being targeted by Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s “Ending Platform Monopolies Act.” It is tempting to cheer on efforts to offer a cure to common Big Tech disease, checking their power over us. But, like a layperson coming up with the wrong treatment for a serious illness, this and other similar proposals, dangerously operate on oversimplification that threatens to make our technology much worse while ignoring the genuine Big Tech problems staring us down.

Not the Enemy

Facebook reminded me that I wrote the following 4 years ago today. The point seems even more applicable now than it did four years ago…

Today’s attack against the Republican baseball team by someone apparently angry because of his opposing political ideology is an example of why we need to change our rhetoric. We need to stop acting as if those whom we disagree with are the enemy. At times we may disagree. At times those whom we disagree with might be genuinely wrong, even. The problem is when we take “I disagree” or “I think you are wrong” and turn it into “I think you are evil.”

As Christians, we are called by Christ to lead the way on this: when we interact in the political sphere or anywhere else, we should have our words filled with Christ’s love, even when we must disagree.

Zippy Episode 3

Hyper-Partisanship and the Old Klingon Proverb

Time to Zip! #ZippytheWonderSnail 🏁🐌🏁

Tim and Jason zip through segments on the current Washington debate over infrastructure (with a visit to plans around space exploration, no less), the case for vaccination versus going “No-Vax,” the dangers of hyper-partisanship and the value of laughter.

Brooding over Brood X

For your afternoon amusement, Dennis E. Powell muses on those brooding over #BroodX:

If you pay any attention to the national news you have seen how Washington, D.C. has gone more berserk than normal. The cause of this particular derangement is this year’s emergence of the proud members of brood X of the 17-year cicada.

Yeah, That'll Sell Me on the Site

I got a spam today trying to sell me on a new software download site. Here's an excerpt:

Dear user,
We take this opportunity to announce you that a new free software portal has been released, where you can find a wide diversity of software to fit all your needs.



Our website is updated every day with day 0 state of the art free to download software, for both Macintosh computers and PCs.

Yup. I always like to go to places with “0 state of the art free to download software.” Betcha y'all want me to tell you the address so that you can go too, right?

Real ID Act

“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

— Revelation 13:16-17 (NIV)

Ok, so I'm not going to say the newly approved Federal Real ID system will be the mark of the beast. But that is not going to make me like the idea of a federally run ID system in the United States. I don't like the idea of carrying around a smart card that I must present to open a bank account or get on an airplane. How much information do I want the government to have?

I just happened to run across an Flash advert from the ACLU today (see here). It is well done and somewhat amusing. But it also demonstrates the frightening possibilities of a nationally connected ID database. Sure, I don't think the local Pizza Hut is going to start worrying about my health soon, but a little hyperbole hardly invalidates the point of the ad. Yes, let the record show that I agree with the ACLU on this.

Interesting… there are many signs of the apocalypse occurring at the moment. First, there was the case a week or two ago when I found myself agreeing with Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, now I find myself agreeing with the ACLU. What's next? Four horsemen doing a cross country tour?

Voting

Municipal elections are always disappointing; it never seems like there is enough to vote on to make it worth one's while to come in. Take today: there was some construction at the church where my precinct is, so I had to walk a ways to the entrance, then wait while they looked up my record and so on. It probably took five minutes from the car until I received my ballot. I then went to the Vote-o-Matic and was pushing my ballot into the ballot box less than one minute later. sigh

At least I got one of those nice “I Voted” stickers out of the deal.