Monthly Archives: February 2025

Missional:

“Missional” or “missional living” is a Christian term that in essence describes a missionary lifestyle. Being missional includes embracing the posture, the thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to reach others with the message of the gospel. The term “missional” gained its popularity towards the end of the 20th century with the influence of Timothy Keller, Alan Hirsch, and others, as well as the Gospel and Our Culture Network. Their basic premise is that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).[Got Questions]

Noted in “PCA Members, I Don’t Think This is Wise,” Erick Erickson:

But as someone who takes the law and our obligations under it seriously, I find it bad that a missional organization would advise people to avoid showing documents with “country of birth or citizenship” to escape the consequences of coming into the United States illegally.

I’ll be interested in further commentary from Mr Erickson. So far under the new Administration, Erickson’s been a mitigator: Oh, this isn’t so bad, it’s all commonsensical, what illegalities?, the left will riot so keep your head down! He doesn’t address the usurpation of the division of powers, or attempted rupture of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

I’ve entertained the hypothesis that his lust for power causes him to OK anything that brings in more power, all while he’s trying hard to keep his little flock together; I have no idea if he’s being successful.

But when religious organizations begin leaking away, even his mother organization, that has to make him uncomfortable. He was furious with the Episcopalian bishop that rebuked President Trump, and with Wheaton College when it withdrew congratulations from Wheaton College^[1] graduate and right-wing extremist Russell T. Vought for winning the position of Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Erickson’s remarks concerning Bishop Budde were particularly instructive:

The most surprising thing to learn about Bishop Budde is that she is married to a man. That is not very on brand for Episcopalian bishops these days. I had a few people tell me there used to be a girlfriend in the mix too, perhaps that is just idle gossip, but a throuple would be very on brand for what is now a post-Christian denomination that is in as rapidly declining as it is running away from Christ. Funny how Christians are leaving behind all the denominations that left Christ behind.

Classic arrogance, no? And given the Christian arrogance that we see these days, is it any surprise that all the arrogant ones leave those institutions that might constrain them?

But, Mom! All the other kids are jumping off the cliff!

Anyways, the next month or so should be very interesting.

¹ My Arts Editor’s father lectured at Wheaton.

And now I’m a liar, because here’s more.

… don’t do this:

Well, that’s a barrel of money:

Elon Musk leads an offer to buy ChatGPT’s parent company for nearly $100 billion

In a high-stakes bid that could reshape the future of artificial intelligence, Elon Musk is leading a group of investors who have offered to buy OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, for $97.4 billion.

(CNN/Business)

I wonder what’ll happen if Altman turns Musk’s group down. Ooops, missed this:

In response, Altman said in a post on X, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Given Musk’s temper, I might be looking for bodyguards at this point. Or if Musk, et al, have existential worries in the face of ChatGPT, that too could encourage irresponsible actions.

Remember that unlimited egos engage in unlimited actions.

And here I sit, wondering if I have ChatGPT all wrong – or if they do.

A final batch.

A tribute to the roller derby league …

… that often appears at the State Fair?

Probably melted by now.

Tough to make out …

… but a play on the famous ball and spoon.

This bit of stupidity caused heartburn in the intelligence community:

• Shrinking the intelligence agencies: The White House ordered the C.I.A. to send an unclassified email listing employees hired in the past two years, part of the Elon Musk-led effort to drastically slash the federal work force. The C.I.A., as well as the National Security Agency, began offering employees the option to stop working, then resign effective Sept. 30. The nation’s largest federation of unions started a campaign to push back against attempts to cut jobs. [The New York Times]

I can only wish the list they sent was actually the membership of the Trump transition team. Or all his nominees for Senate-confirmed posts.

Finishing with “D. Trump.”

A picture meant to remind the reader of warmer days, relaxing the mind and making it receptive to the essay’s message.

As a software engineer^[1], there’s a certain necessity of developing a literal turn of mind, specifically when coding. Computers, with the possible exception of generative AI^[0], but certainly not during the creation of programs, do not comprehend metaphors, similes, and those other modes of human expression we so commonly use. It’s possible to argue otherwise, but I fear the point might be stretched into a particularly gauche semi-colon, or even a sentence structure that has yet to be invented. The general literality of computers encouraging this facility of literality becomes important to the software engineer, particularly when faced with a few pages of obscure and unexpected errors emitted from a compiler^[2]. The ability to play the computer, real or virtual, involves literal interpretation of the code refused by the compiler in order to amend it into acceptability.

It’s not inaccurate to say that this inclination to literal interpretation is sometimes present^[3] at times that are inappropriate, such as reading communicative prose. This brings me, attentive to writing deficiencies in both myself and others, to the phrase that is bothering me. I shall obscure irrelevancies and personalities for the sake of clarity.

If XXX wins her Oscar…

The internal contradictions are key. If XXX wins implies a future potential state, which is possible but of uncertain predictability. … her Oscar, however, is a subtly incompatible composition. Her implies definite ownership of the award, as if the time of selection has already passed and the lady in question already possesses the honor that is associated with such an award. This might work, logically, if her candidacy was viewed as the overwhelming favorite, but it is not. In fact, the article in question examines the contention that her potential for victory in the contest has been lessened due to personal views on various social issues.

In today’s destructive chaos of frenzied reading, it seems harmless enough, but in such a short phrase, a mere fragment of a sentence, lies the seeds of insanity. I’ve written elsewhere on this platform about the possible consequences of poor writing, namely of poor thinking^[5], a problem afflicting so many of us^[4]. Perhaps the best therapy for those applying pen to paper is to review their proposed writing with a literal turn of mind, correcting all such errors they can find; I shall neither enumerate nor bookend the errors. In this case, I do not know if the writer as relaxed onto a shoal of intellectual sloth, or has carefully chosen the phrase to capture the attention of a reader whose attention may be flagging. If the latter, I wish they hadn’t, as the insanity that many believe afflicts the political left does have a hidden origin in how they express themselves.

Indeed, some would argue that we are all mad, and we know it from self-expression.

⁰ Nor do I propose to investigate it; my interpretation of non-technical articles on the subject suggest it to be little more than a sophisticated party trick, although certain scholarly occupations will find its ability summarize semantic content valuable, although they must beware brutally wrong answers. But I may be wrong.

¹ These days I introduce myself as an obsolete software engineer. At a recent event, a funeral and wake, when I used this phrase on introduction to one couple, they, in unison, said, “Don’t retire!” It turned out, in their separate jobs, that they both depended on old computing systems that still need support.

² Compilers translate human-composed instructions into the native electronic instructions used by computer, aka machine language. Compilers may be the king of such errors, if I may employ the simile, but among the peerage might be found interpreters, which may translate to an intermediate format; linkers, which link together specific programs to general purpose libraries; and other tools of the instructional trade of programmer.

In fact, composition of this blog requires a literal view of HTML, as the HTML-oriented editor delivered by WordPress that I use, which I believe they call their Classic Editor, does not support footnotes. I must insert that code manually.

³ If a modifier to this observation is required, it might subcutaneous, a purely metaphorical description.

⁴ Some folks, including most of those occupying political leadership positions of all brands, should simply tattoo their faces crimson and resign, although their successors might find an obligation to copy their predecessors.

The above may be reflective of those who select such leaders, namely the followers.

⁵ Or perhaps I have consequent and antecedent confused, a not unknown problem when such a situation appears circular. If my reader is uncertain, consider the ‘chicken and the egg’ conundrum, which may even have quantum echos a la Dr. Erwin Schrödinger. How do I mean? I leave that as an exercise for the diligent reader. If any such have reached this divergence from the essay.

Nerves of steel. Explains why he was never found in an MRI machine.

For those who have failed to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), it’s worth knowing that, at the time of its release, it was technically considered quite a trailblazer, at least by the viewing audience.

And it remains a not-bad integration of animation and live-action filling.

Toon-town is the home of ‘toons, or cartoons, characters driven by their original artists (best line: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” – Jessica Rabbit). It’s now connected via tunnel to the human world, and the inhabitants of the two worlds can enter each others’ worlds, work, and play.

But the toons are owned by Marvin Acme, and when he is murdered, the fate of the toons are up in the air. In response, Roger Rabbit tries to hire Eddie Valiant, private eye who worked for toons – until a toon killed his brother.

Now he lives in a bottle.

But the judge who’s looking into the matter pisses Valiant off, and he finally agrees to look into a case that might as well be an Escher print, because only a toon case could get this twisted.

Are there plot holes? Sure. Are the toons sometimes a bit irritating? Yes! But it remains a lot of fun, and, if it’s dated, it’s not a terrible burden.

Do yourself a favor and see it.

If you’re an older person, you may understand the terms deep reading and bookworm are virtually synonymous, if you’ve run across the former term at all. You may have been a bookworm, as was I, in your youth, or caught the reading bug in early adulthood, perhaps as part of the time when your brain finished its growth spurt or neuron purge, known to occur in the mid- to late-20s.

Or perhaps you’ve never really been a deep reader, but just skim along so you can say you’re part of the Internet.

If you’re a younger reader, and you’ve actually read this far, this may all sound mysterious, fantastical, even the musings of aliens.

To all of you, young and old, I encourage you to watch this video by Cinzia DuBois, a literature scholar and lover, where she discusses the loss of her ability to concentrate, to deep read, and assigns some blame.

No, go back and watch the video. I nodded along, recognizing symptoms, and maybe you will, too.

If you’ve taken my advice, you may now understand the remark about younger readers being amazed at such thoughts. DuBois’ commentary helped clarify my own thoughts on the matter, and I do have to wonder, after 40+ years of social media, just the measure of wreckage my brain has sustained Just By Trying To Keep Up.

Sound familiar? Do you try to keep up with the fire hose that’s the Internet? Just out of curiosity, is it purely, ah, curiosity that drives you, or is their a social status element involved?

Pick me! Pick me!

My useless contribution is that, of late, I’ve been trying to write fiction, and finding the concentration and drive to do so has been difficult. It’s so much easier to ‘catch up on my reading,’ and I’m not talking about the 20-30 books sitting unread, or in progress, on my bookshelves, such as Great Expectations (Dickens), which I’ve been working on for close to a year. The magazines, as they’re cute when they beg, do get some attention. But, no, it’s really the latest political post, whether it be Benen, Erickson, or Sullivan, which, in the end, are depressing illustrations of mendacity in action, whether it’s the writer or their subject.

So I’m giving some thought to dropping out and turning the Internet into a utility, by which I mean using it for working from home, checking email, and otherwise ignoring it. Oh, yes, and blowing off steam on the blog. Forty years of social media does breed some irreversible habits, doesn’t it?

Call it claiming your life back.

How about my readers? Any urges to just say Screw it and go back to real life? Tell me about it.

This seems harmless enough. Although why a Charlie Chaplin-esque character was inserted into this story montage is a bit puzzling. Maybe the producers owed this actor a favor.

The Canterbury Tales (1972) is an Italian rendition of the old, excuse me, Middle English stories from Geoffrey Chaucer. I don’t know much about Italian movies, but this seemed typical of Italian movies from the era, a messy mixture of nudity, sex, bored women, and weird men.

I was bored. Not much to see here.

NPR reports on a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the fake government department you may have heard of, and a loss from their staff:

A staffer connected to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned on Thursday after now-deleted racist social media posts were resurfaced. …

Marko Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer, was working inside the Treasury Department to cut costs and root out fraud, as part of Musk’s DOGE effort. Elez was one of two temporary appointees at Treasury connected to DOGE who have been granted access to a highly sensitive Treasury system that processes trillions of dollars in payments every year. …

“You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” the account [associated with Elez] wrote in September. “Normalize Indian hate,” a separate post from that month read.

In July of last year, the account posted: “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.”

Uh huh.

You may have heard of this group that Mr Musk of Tesla, etc, brought to the party to disassemble the government. All youngsters. I didn’t think about this myself until this evening, when it occurred to me that not all people in the cited age range, which I seem to remember is 19-24, are fully neurologically wired.

That is, such people are inclined to poor reasoning and weak adherence to moral norms; many are prone to grandstanding in their desire for attention. It appears Mr Elez managed to get Mr Musk’s attention.

But I suspect not because of his racist views (although some impute racism to Mr Musk), or any sort of legendary computer skills.

But because he hasn’t figured out how much this is a transgression of morality and ethics, systems set up to protect … himself.

The youth are often manipulated by older men precisely because of this vulnerability. Happens with women, too.

Now, programmers are often libertarians, some because they really like the philosophy, thinking about former colleagues of mine … and some because they think it’s cool. Yes, there is a difference, and I bordered on the latter 30+ years ago. Libertarians do like to believe they’re more clever than the average bear, and that’s a lure into the sin of confirmation bias. Just read their writings.

But they’re not. More clever, that is.

So there’s a reason that many or all of Mr Musk’s DOGE team is so young, and it’s not because they’re clever. It’s because they’ll perform Mr Musk’s desires without objection.

Or at least I think that’s quite likely.

“The first thing to know about Canadians is that they like beer.” She replied, “I’m Canadian, and I don’t like beer.” His assistant said, “Neither do I.” The Inspector sighed and muttered something about telling a coherent story, but they ignored him.

Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery (2013) is a prosaic murder mystery, set in Three Pines in Canada, in which an inheritance is up for grabs so much so that the an old woman is killed by an arrow.

I think.

This wasn’t memorable; I only just barely remember watching it just a couple of weeks ago. I recall it being fun, but no deeper issues are touched on in this telling of the story than how some people think the naive painting style is cool.

It’s not, Mother what’shername not withstanding.

I was fascinated by this remark from House Budget Committee member Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC):

Norman tells Fox that the $500 billion proposal in cuts is “laughable,” adding that he and other conservatives were “shocked it was that low.”

He wants a budget which slashes spending between $2 and $5 trillion.

“We’ve got a math problem. We’ve got to get a resolution we need which has a number which can get through committee and get through the floor.”

My bold.

How much do we spend a year, all told?

The federal government spends money on a variety of goods, programs, and services to support the American public and pay interest incurred from borrowing. In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the government spent $6.75 trillion, which was more than it collected (revenue), resulting in a deficit. [Treasury.gov]

On the high end, that’s a near-75% cut.

It’d be fair to bemoan this sort of cutting as a disaster, but I’m more interested in the ex post facto prediction I should have made for this, for this is actually unsurprising.

Long-term readers will recall my observation that when voters are trained to disregard such criteria as competency, ability to compromise, and humility, the candidates will naturally turn to policy extremism to win votes. Extremism is another word, in this case, for purity, the purity of arrogance.

The more pure you can be, the more you can shine with that old-fashioned light of goodness.

Or so goes the informal, common theory of those sure that the divine, or justice, depending on your point of metaphorical origin.

So here we are with the budget fanatics, those who think we spend too much, and now they’ll be vying to be the most pure with the biggest cuts. With no compromise. Or perhaps not. Maybe Rep Norman has cut off everyone at the knees.

In any case, I expect this budget process will get all locked up like an engine with sand in it. Fanatics can’t entertain the notion that they’re wrong, and so….

It was a very fast trade war.

Donald Trump assured Friday that his promise of 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico was ironclad. When asked if the countries could do anything to prevent them, Trump said: “No. Nothing. Not right now, no.” He said it was not a negotiating tool. “We’re not looking for a concession,” he added.

It turns out that wasn’t true. Just three days later, Trump paused the tariffs on both countries for 30 days, citing concessions they had made.

He did so as his tariffs — taxes on imported goods that are generally passed along to consumers — threatened to exacerbate inflation and spooked the stock market. Trump had repeatedly suggested before the deals that Americans should be prepared for potential economic “pain.” [WaPo]

President Trump’s strategy is out of focus.

His tariffs against China, on the other hand, are still in place.

I, just like everyone else, suspect that his entire tariffs gig is mostly just a head feint, an attempt to gain leverage over lesser opponents. China, whatever you may think of them, is certainly several steps up from Mexico and Canada, and they are both prideful and ambitious. As one of the very few surviving Communist nations, they are also conscious of their precarious situation, and that their reactions will be viewed by unaligned nations, such as those in Africa. A misstep could be fatal to those ambitions; a proper response may reassure potential allies.

And President Trump only seems to attract disreputable figures such as Putin, Orban, and others of that ilk.

And how much did Trump decide to settle for what appears to be achievements, but are not really? Author Aaron Blake quotes a number of concessions made by Canada, and then notes:

As we saw over the last couple of years, voters gave the edge to Democrats in special elections, but not so much in the general election. The first half of that predilection is continuing:

Iowa Democrats have flipped a state Senate seat vacated earlier this year by Chris Cournoyer [(R-IA)], who resigned to become the state’s new lieutenant governor.

Democrat Mike Zimmer has defeated Republican Kate Whittington in the special election for Senate District 35.

According to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, Zimmer won with 52% of the vote to Whittington’s 48%. [Des Moines Register]

Cournoyer, incidentally, won this seat 61% to 39% in November. And who won this district in the Presidential election? From Sioux County Radio:

Democrat wins Iowa Senate seat in district Trump won by 21 points

What does it mean? Perhaps the Republican candidate is deeply repellent, perhaps the Democratic candidate is a local hero.

To read the goat entrails too deeply is to commit confirmation bias. This could be nothing. Or it could be the first sign of the fall of the 2024 November victors. But the signal is weak.

Here’s some memorable testimony, coming from nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel at his confirmation hearings:

Following criticisms by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, Patel rejected the characterization of his comments.

“In the collective, all of those statements are taken out of grotesque context,” he said. [CBS News]

Think about that. “Grotesque context.” I don’t even know what that might be, yet it’s so fucking evocative.

Maybe Patel should be a novelist. Although he’ll be a novel leader of the FBI.

While I know enshittification is a popular term, I have to wonder if Facebook is on its way to another, more vivid term now:

Body Farm. (Here’s a bit by mortician Caitlyn Doughty on body farm, although it’s not really applicable here.)

That is, it is becoming a mass of decaying accounts, populated with few, if any, live users, as more and more users are repelled by founder Zuckerberg’s ill-conceived management approach.

Well, it’s just a thought. In my experience, there are many approaches to managing social media, but the more active approaches are less scalable. It may turn out that national social media platforms are inherently unstable.

We’ll see what the future holds.

Deaccessioning:

Deaccessioning is when objects and art in museums are permanently and formally removed from the museum’s collections. [Columbia Library Journals]

Ah. Noted in “This go-to term for teamwork is now a no-no for the snobbery police,” Mark Lasswell, WaPo:

My apologies for no posts for the last few days; my excuses are burnout, nothing interesting to write about, and binging Only Murders In The Building. Ach, Lester! And trying, and failing, to write a political compendium. The last word is probably both proper and improper.

I’m in, what, my eleventh year of this silly hobby? It blows steam off nicely, but perhaps I approach the end.

For those who like windy, unlikely predictions, here’s one for you: President Trump is physically chased from the White House, not by enraged liberals, but by a MAGA-head mob who discover “owning the libs” isn’t half as impressive as 50% increases in the price of fresh produce due to draconian immigration policies, and general 10-15% price inflation due to tariffs, both imposed by the ambitious President Trump, who, for all his superior understanding of Americans, still doesn’t get them in the end.