https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t39_pRTAni4 Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2025 (YouTube). Editor's (admin's) note. This post started out journaling about Timothy Snyder's warning about the Trump regime's flirtation with antisemitic and Russian fascist tropes. As Snyder commented on similar tropes in Trump's attempt to deport a Palestinian activist at Columbia, it morphed into my thoughts on what I believe … Continue reading Timothy Snyder sees antisemitic, fascist parallels in Trump’s tactics against Ukranian president, Palestinian student
Of Trump’s ‘Gulf of America,’ twilight years, Comrade Gromyko’s rubber donkey and the moral purpose of satire
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GdE4_nbxcw8 Desi Lydic, 'Donald Trump is holding up a mirror to the American people' (The Daily Show). “Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind reception it meets with in the world, and that so very few are offended … Continue reading Of Trump’s ‘Gulf of America,’ twilight years, Comrade Gromyko’s rubber donkey and the moral purpose of satire
Let’s see if a bland headline on a story about Christians in Gaza will be anodyne enough for social media
Screen shot, Jordan Times, Aug 12, 2024 (Photo Agence France-Presse). Well, well, well, it looks like I'm on Facebook's naughty list. Here's how I got there. I tried to copy an article in The Jordan Times, an English-language newspaper published in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on the plight of Christians in Gaza. Written by … Continue reading Let’s see if a bland headline on a story about Christians in Gaza will be anodyne enough for social media
An aging hippie reflects on student protests, in the 60s and now, and the lessons of Passover in wartime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75KcMUjMyI 'Seder in the Streets to Stop Arming Israel,' Brooklyn, April 23, 2024. What's an aging hippie to do? Coverage of the student protests over US support of Israel's conduct in Gaza brings back so many memories of the anti-war movement of the 1960s, it ought to come with a trigger warning. Most of the … Continue reading An aging hippie reflects on student protests, in the 60s and now, and the lessons of Passover in wartime
Scary headlines distract from student protesters’ Passover service, message of support for Gaza
Shabbat service Friday at Gaza protest, @TheIndypendent, New York City. Over the weekend as the Passover holiday neared, the headlines blared. "Anti-Israel Protests RAGE At Columbia, Biden CONDEMNS Anti-Semitism on Campus" (The Hill), read one. "Columbia University campus security concerns ahead of Passover," said another (ABC News), in more modulated tones. And a third, "Rabbi … Continue reading Scary headlines distract from student protesters’ Passover service, message of support for Gaza
Why New Yorkers’ reaction to an Islamophobic rant on the Upper East Side gives me hope for the future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJBzamR9Ak4 Brooklynite of Egyptian heritage supports halal street vendor (Loudlabs News NYC). I'm a generation and a half removed from New York City -- my father left Brooklyn in 1932 to go off to college and never moved back -- but I couldn't be prouder of the way New Yorkers reacted Thanksgiving week to an … Continue reading Why New Yorkers’ reaction to an Islamophobic rant on the Upper East Side gives me hope for the future
Sundays@6: Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste,’ avoiding fake news and the consequences of our racial pecking orders (week 6)
Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to members of our congregation, Peace Lutheran Church of Springfield, in advance of the sixth meeting an adult faith formation book study, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We call the group Sundays@6, and it meets over Zoom Sunday evenings … Continue reading Sundays@6: Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste,’ avoiding fake news and the consequences of our racial pecking orders (week 6)
One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
Readers who have followed Ordinary Time and/or seen it linked to my Facebook account are no doubt aware of my ongoing struggle with two-factor authentication. To recap briefly: FB will lock me out of my account unless I activate something called "Facebook Protect," but to do that I have to supply an updated password. And … Continue reading One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSoREiG23M 'Morning Joe' show, MSNBC, Dec. 16, 2022 When the dust settles over Elon Musk's attempt to run a social media company singlehanded, as surely it will, I want Katty Kay of BBC and MSNBC's Morning Joe show to write the obituary. Her comments in the middle of a brilliant segment on the subject (beginning … Continue reading ‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
Is Elon Musk egging on QAnon, or is he simply naive? Either way, he has no sense of media ethics whatsoever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti7LiO_QnRE David Axelrod: 'He said [political invective] gets the Brooklyn up in him.' Well, that certainly didn't take very long, did it? The Washington Post reports that Elon Musk's tweeted invective about US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband and White House infectious disease adviser Anthony Faucci has "injected new energy into the jumbled set of … Continue reading Is Elon Musk egging on QAnon, or is he simply naive? Either way, he has no sense of media ethics whatsoever
British tech writer reads Elon Musk’s Twitter dump so you don’t have to — ‘a big, hyped, coordinated’ partisan hit job
Enemy of the People? (Wikimedia Commons) A British tech writer and UK technology editor for the Guardian took time away from covering the FTX cryptocurrency scandals to post an item today to the paper's website with the intriguing headline: "I read Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ so you don’t have to." That head's a fair summary … Continue reading British tech writer reads Elon Musk’s Twitter dump so you don’t have to — ‘a big, hyped, coordinated’ partisan hit job
Notes & quotes: Alito’s speech on First Amendment rights, free exercise clause at Notre Dame event in Rome
Content advisory: The speaker pictured in the video below is not Justice Samuel Alito but another political figure who shares a similar ideology. The video is embedded to share remarks by Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, regarding Alito's speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kht_3z3hrQs Amanda Tyler's remarks begin at 4:20. More than a year ago … Continue reading Notes & quotes: Alito’s speech on First Amendment rights, free exercise clause at Notre Dame event in Rome
Hey Facebook, your awesome new super-duper whiz-bang ‘security measures’ locked me out, and I can’t get you to help
Every time I try to access Facebook, I get this error message instead. I've been locked out of Facebook for two months now, and I hadn't given much thought to it recently. I miss my FB friends -- at least most of them -- but I don't miss those lengthy threads arguing politics with people … Continue reading Hey Facebook, your awesome new super-duper whiz-bang ‘security measures’ locked me out, and I can’t get you to help
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