And in that case for you those books aren't 'holy' (i.e. scripture), but for people for whom those books are scripture, yes, they are meant to be studied analyzed. That's what it means for a text to be scripture to someone.

On reports the Home Secretary plans to grant police more powers to prevent ‘repeated protests’, Greenpeace UK:

“Protest works because it is repetitive. If police had told the Suffragettes or civil rights activists ‘you’ve made your point,’ they would never have won the victories we all enjoy today"

Just as a reminder, the NUWSS spent 22 years repeatedly protesting about a single issue before everyone came around to their way of thinking. That's how protest works. It takes a long time. Stopping that process is stopping democracy.

British politics is basically a doom spiral of increasingly unhinged hostile policies.

Reform says something unhinged
⬇️
Labour counters with their own unhinged policy
⬇️
Tories shout from back they'll be even more unhinged
⬇️
Reform announces different unhinged proposal in response
⬇️
And repeat...🔁

Even if he did do that, it would just be doing his job, giving well-informed, confidential legal advice. But he didn't do it! He wasn't involved with the Comey case at all. And the case he was actually working on is one Trump supports, but still he was fired because of a mistaken influencer. Mad.

And for those more context of the craziness of the story itself, this is about the lead prosecutor on one of the highest profile terrorism cases in the country getting fired because MAGA influencer said he counselled the Justice Dept not to indict Comey.

"...figures like Ed Martin, the leader of the Justice Department working group that has the responsibility of pursuing the president’s adversaries."

This whole story is crazy, but that we're in a place where the NYT drops this job description in a piece like it's a normal thing now is just mad.

Thank goodness it's best of five. Hopefully Counsell will save the best of the bullpen arms for game 2 and try to get back to Chicago with a 1-1 tie.

And this is the problem.

Because antisemitism is always, always wrong.

This was an attack on British Jews, praying in their shul on the holiest day of the year.

If your response to hearing of their murder starts with “but Gaza” you are missing the point.

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

Solidarity with the Jewish community, especially in Manchester. The murder of two people at worship on the holiest day of the Jewish year is beyond reprehensible.

I do know that the largest expense in the community in which I pray regularly, is security.
The attack on the Manchester synagogue, murder and injury of congregants is reprehensible. The targeting of a synagogue on the Holi day of the year is beyond reprehensible.

At Kent we almost lost all our Modern Languages and Linguistics, we've lost Religious Studies and Philosophy.
There has been and continues to be an attack on the Humanities in the UK.

'Ben Ansell has a terrific new Substack post up that describes it like this:

The Andy Capp in their head has left containment and is making increasingly incessant demands.' 2/2
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...

I wrote about Artificial Desire

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

As a US citizen the importance of the civilian control of the military is a core value. But if you're asking people to be willing to die for their country they're at least owed competent civilian leaders and this ain't that.

This is a joke, right? Right? Like, it's surely an infographic from The Onion or something, right?

So much good work is done by unglamourous people acting under the radar to faithfully carry out the work God has given them.

"Mr Rinaudo's technique [is used on] 5 million hectares, with 200 million trees regenerated [and contributes] $US900 million every year to Niger's agricultural output."

I'm feeling oddly nostalgic for the days when Disney felt so powerful that they forced through copyright extensions across the USA just to protect Mickey Mouse. Seems like they aren't even interested in sticking their head a couple inches above the parapet to protect their human stars these days.

Really eloquent post. Thanks for sharing this.

This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.

My local from growing up days!