Monday, December 08, 2025

When You Really, -Really, REALLY Don’t Know What You’re Doing

"See? We stopped killing people. It’s all good now!”

“Then why did you ever start?

“——-“


It’s literally amazing how they can always manage to make things worse.
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It’s The Stupid, Stupid

Politico:
the center of their midterm message as they seek to protect their majorities in Congress. But as cost-of-living concerns mount across the political spectrum, the GOP is struggling to act decisively to address them.

Already top Republicans acknowledge they haven’t done enough to sell the “one big, beautiful bill,” the party-line centerpiece of their economic agenda they enacted over the summer. Now internal divisions and the need for bipartisan support in the Senate are threatening any attempt to follow up on it.
You mean they haven’t figured out how to convince people that rising food prices due to deporting farm laborers, and rising prices due to tariffs, and eliminating the ACA to give tax cuts to billionaires, is all good for John Q. Public?

Imagine that.

Maybe it would be better to say the GOP went on an epic bender last summer, and now the bill for the party has been presented. Because it’s not a matter of “messaging,” it’s a matter of “what the hell did you expect?”
Yet top GOP leaders in Congress are keeping expectations low for major new economic legislation. Instead, they are betting on having an easier time addressing affordability questions next month, when new programs enacted as part of the megabill start impacting voters — like no taxes on some tips and overtime income.
Never mind. It really is idiots all the way down.
A plethora of rank-and-file options are under development, with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) backing a two-year extension of the subsidies with new eligibility restrictions, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wanting to provide more flexibility for health savings accounts and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) proposing to make it easier to deduct medical expenses on their income taxes.

“It’s a disaster,” Hawley said. “Health care, as it currently is, is too expensive for everybody.”
I mean, seriously.
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Music for Advent: The Christmas Song

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And This Will Be A Sign Unto You

Stop what you’re doing and watch this:

Pope Leo XIV just went viral belting out “L.O.V.E” with Michael Bublé at the Vatican’s Concert with the Poor, a Christmas event where the front rows are filled with homeless and low-income guests.

No VIP boxes, no hedge-fund donors, just the Church’s first American pope turning a Christmas concert into a love song for the forgotten — and Michael Bublé calling it “the greatest night” of his career.

The full story is below.
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Second Monday of Advent 2025

 


Isaiah 11:1-10

A ruler brings justice and peace

11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear,

11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.

11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Reversal is the theme this week. The reversal which is God’s justice.

True to the Hebraic witness, this justice comes from a ruler who will “judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth.” And the spirit that guides this ruler comes from the spirit of the Lord, “ the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” Which could lead us off to a discussion of Sophia. No, not a woman, but wisdom. Because wisdom comes from God, and is a sign of God’s spirit.

But for now, just pay attention to the catalog. The spirit of the Lord will give the ruler wisdom (Sophia), understanding, counsel, might, and knowledge. All of which leads in two directions, which are actually one: justice for the poor and the oppressed; and a “peaceable kingdom” in which all creatures, animal and human, live together in harmony. Predators and prey live peacefully together. And “ They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” The reversal of conditions is final and absolute, when the ruler receives the spirit of the Lord and puts on his “armor of light (righteousness and faithfulness) then all shall be well, and all things shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.  

This is the fuel of the apocalyptic, this revelation of cosmic justice. After all, it’s not that big a step from “Give the king your justice, O Lord, to: fuck this shit!


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Sunday, December 07, 2025

Idiots All The Way Down

Then that source is very stupid. And likely not a lawyer; or at least a trial lawyer.

It’s not “judicial activism,” it’s a TRO. Those are usually issued ex parte, with the opposition getting a full hearing within 10 days, or the TRO expires.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you support this pardon of the former Honduran president?

ERIC SCHMITT: I'm not familiar with the facts or circumstances

STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you mean you're not familiar with the facts? It's been front page news

SCHMITT: You spew Democrat talking points every single week, which is probably why your ratings are so bad
Oh, look!👀 It thinks it’s so clever! Who you gonna believe? Me? Or your lyin’ eyes? 👀  

And: “I wanna vote for the guy’s party that says they can’t do anything about the economy until maybe next year.” Said nobody, ever.
What, you thought those pardons were magnanimous? Everything he does is transactional. It has nothing to do with immunity. It’s the unreviewable pardon power and the historical failure of impeachment, for which we, the people, are as responsible as anyone. How many Senators lost office for failure to remove Trump the first two times? And the pardon power? Time to amend Art. II, isn’t it?Alternatively: Imagine being this small and pitiful. Says the guy who has no idea what his own country thinks of him. He just wants "a little taste." Maybe Netflix can get him an Emmy. Or just call it an Emmy.
Yup. Idiots are in charge in Washington. It’s idiots all the way down. And even some of the idiots are disgusted:
I know his reasons are not mine, but the enemy of my enemy is free to kick ass where I would, whatever the technique.
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“Mother, Here’s Your Boy!”

However Lonsdale started this: He didn’t like the response he got. Apparently edge lords are very thin-skinned.
Derek.

I have worked my whole career to protect people.

Palantir was specifically setup to REPLACE the unaccountable and unchecked tech that existed before we arrived on the scene 22 years ago. It has audit trails like nothing else to watch the watchers. And is far more advanced - we then helped stop a huge number of attacks that wouldn’t have been stopped.

Right now our cities are dangerous thanks to bad choices, and we see a huge amount of vulnerable people being hurt and killed. Criminals released dozens of times to keep hurting people.

I believe in second chances. But with repeat violent crimes - making the right decisions to protect the innocent is our job as leaders.
It’s a representative democracy. Who chose him as a leader over government actions? The market? The shareholders of Palantir? And technology has never been the problem. How people use it , always has been. Don’t look now, Lonsdale, but you are “people.” Okay, Derek first:
What would be your preferred method of execution? Hanging? Lethal injection? Gas chamber? Electric chair? Or shooting? Maybe drawn and quartered for full effect?

Do you feel this deterrence would be greater if we all took part? Like we all press a button simultaneously for the electric chair? Or do you feel it's enough if we watch? Should we watch in person or should it be pay-per-view?
Now Lonsdale;
We have a large criminal population that is not scared enough of the consequences of felony violence.

I would bias towards only doing this for the third violent crime. At the same time we should have better incentives, and accountable cultures for rehabilitation. There’s a lot we work on fixing in criminal justice. But we can’t just keep letting people hurt others, or tolerate subcultures that assume they can get away with repeated violence.

Hanging seems appropriate; this sends the right message and would likely lead to protecting a lot of innocent lives, and making our cities safer for all, especially the most vulnerable.
The timeline is a little rocky, but that seems to be the point where Lonsdale blocked Guy. I’m reminded of a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy is chasing down Linus, when he stops and begins to reason with her. She ends his argument by knocking him to the ground. As she walks off she tells Charlie Brown: “I had to hit him quick. He was beginning to make sense.”

Lonsdale’s argument reminds me of a minor character in Cat’s Cradle. He’s also an advocate of public hangings to deter crime. A few people hanging from lampposts with signs around their neck reading “Mother’s, here’s your boy!” would do the trick, he figures.

Which makes me think of Tower Bridge in Elizabethan times, when the heads of traitors (a generously defined group) were left for daws to peck at and rot away. Or the public executions of the Reign of Terror. Or lynchings in 20th century America, that spawned a trade in turning the photographs into postcards long before you could do that on the internet. Yeah, public executions teach one thing: the power of government (or those with more power than you) over the individual. What Lonsdale is “leading” to is the abolition of due process so these executions can happen quickly, as well as publicly. Criminals forfeit their rights, in his scheme; which was pretty much the lesson taught by Elizabeth and the Reign of Terror. During the lynching crazy, blacks simply had no rights. What did we learn from all of that? That it works pretty well, as long as you have the power to decide who the criminals are. But when you don’t….

William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!” 

Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?” 

William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!” 

Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
May I suggest the executives at Palantir read something other than Vonnegut and Tolkien (from which they derive all the wrong lessons)? Maybe some Robert Bolt? Or Turgenev?

By the way, Palantir is perfectly comfortable with these antics. They’re using it as a recruiting tool.
 
Pretty much all you need to know.
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A Government of Men, Not of Laws

Just show us your papers l, or let us handcuff you and search your personal belongings…and we’ll let you go in a few hours…a few days ..maybe a week or so. But eventually. No harm, no foul. Right? But it does anyway because what else do we have to go on? Besides, Justice Kavanaugh said it was okay!👌  Well, you gotta listen to what we say he meant! Otherwise it sounds really bad! Non-white people aren’t entitled to a presumption of innocence.
SEN. CURTIS: All of us need to wake up every morning and say, 'what am I doing to make immigrants feel welcome' regardless of an individual says

BASH: But he's not just an individual. He's the president calling an entire community garbage

CURTIS: We knew very well what we were electing. We wanted a disrupter
You fucked up! You trusted us!
BASH: If you were to take the confirmation vote again today, would you vote to make Hegseth defense secretary?

CURTIS: That's a question I can't answer without as much thoughtful research as I did the first time I did that vote

BASH: Now you have evidence

CURTIS: But if you by what's in the newspaper, it's near impossible to know exactly what's going on
I did do my own research, but that was a long time ago! I’m only a U.S. Congressperson! I have to trust the newspaper!
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Leviticus 19

33 “Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. 34Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
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Second Sunday of Advent 2025



Isaiah 11:1-10

A ruler brings justice and peace

11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear,

11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.

11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

The righteous shall flourish

72:1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son.

72:2 May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.

72:3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.

72:4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.

72:5 May he live while the sun endures and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

72:6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.

72:7 In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

72:18 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.

72:19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.

Romans 15:4-13

Living in harmony

15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

15:5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,

15:6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors

15:9 and in order that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will confess you among the gentiles, and sing praises to your name";

15:10 and again he says, "Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people";

15:11 and again, "Praise the Lord, all you gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him";

15:12 and again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the gentiles; in him the gentiles shall hope."

15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-12

Prepare the way of the Lord

3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,

3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him,

3:6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

3:8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,

3:9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

3:10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."



There’s a theme this week (well, there’s always a theme to the lectionary readings. They aren’t chosen at random.), and I’m going to freely exploit it.

I’m also skipping the epistle this week, for no better reason than Wednesday is Thomas Martin’s death day, and Friday is the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. So I’m not going to crowd either day.
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Saturday, December 06, 2025

On The One Hand

On the other hand: (The rest of the speech was not uphill from there.)

But, you know; the price of eggs…or something.

We have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage. We have met the enemy, and he is us.
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Say It With Me, Kiddies

"It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.”

(Yeah, I know, it should be the crime. But the story of the crime is soon exhausted, while the story of who knew and who tried to hide it, goes on and on and on. Gossip loves nothing so much as a story that promises ever new characters and expanding scandals. And news is mostly gossip.)
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All Of The Reaganaut Republicans…

... have been driven out of the GOP.  So…

…not the flex he thinks it is.

(Although I’m good with it. Comparing Reagan to Trump lowers Reagan to where I think Reagan should be. But I’m hardly Hegseth’s target audience. For the life of me, I can’t figure out who that audience is.)
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Nu-uh!

Not that anyone will ever confuse CNN with the agora; or the Lyceum; or even a high school debate. Nixon was impeached because what he did could not be allowed to happen again. Had he not resigned, he would have been removed from office. Compared to Trump, Nixon was a choirboy. And at least he was a competent (if corrupt) President.

Let Trump call the impeachment process “RIGGED!” all he wants.
Mockler: I used to go to Trump rallies and I would debate with his supporters. That was my thing, debating his supporters. There was this one woman with American flag face paint. I asked her who her favorite podcaster was. She said Dan Bongino. I asked her if she would vote for Putin or Kamala if she could choose. She said I'd vote for Vladimir Putin…
She got her wish.
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Music for Advent: St. Nicholas, by Benjamin Britten

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First Saturday of Advent 2025: St. Nicholas' Day



SAINT Nicholas. Day of death: (according to the martyrology) December 6, about 360. Grave: originally at Myra; since 1087 at Sari in Italy. Life (highly legendary): Nicholas was born at Patara in Asia Minor to parents who, having long been childless, had petitioned God with many prayers. Already as a youth Nicholas became noted for his zeal in helping the unfortunate and oppressed. In his native city there lived a poor nobleman who had three marriageable daughters; he could not obtain a suitor for them because he could offer no dowry. The contemptible idea struck him to sacrifice the innocence of his daughters to gain the needed money. When Nicholas became aware of this, he went by night and threw a bag containing as much gold as was needed for a dowry through the window. This he repeated the second and third nights. During a sea voyage he calmed the storm by his prayer; he is therefore venerated as patron of sailors. On a certain occasion he was imprisoned for the faith. In a wonderful way he later became bishop of Myra; his presence is noted at the Council of Nicaea. He died a quiet death in his episcopal city, uttering the words: "Into your hands I commend my spirit."

Nicholas is highly venerated in the East as a miracle worker, as "preacher of the word of God, spokesman of the Father."

--Pius Parsch

Gift giving and Christmas are tightly connected.  In Italy it is La Befana, an old woman, who brings gifts to children.  It's based on a legend that the Magi stopped at her house on the way to Bethlehem, and she treated them hospitably.  There are all kinds of legends around Christmas, including those involving St. Nicholas “(highly legendary)".

I have a representation of La Befana dropping gifts into a chimney, a la Santa Claus/St. Nick.  I understand that in the early days of America houses had one chimney and centrally located fireplaces in each room connected to the one chimney, so the chimney was quite large.  The idea of Santa, from Moore's poem, slipping down the chimney, was not such an outlandish one.  Though, by Moore's time, chimneys were already relocated to the edges of the house, and one house might support several chimneys.  Building technology had changed, IOW.  So most likely Moore didn't invent the idea of Santa and the chimney as an entry point, but it required more and more reliance on fantasy as chimneys turned to stove pipes, and then disappeared altogether.  The Lovely Wife says she knew as a child Santa didn't come down the chimney because they didn't have one; that he came through the front door, and her mother let him in.  I can't remember being bothered at all with how Santa got in the house; I was too busy playing with what he'd brought on Xmas morning.

Giving is a large part of our Xmas celebration; but giving to whom?

"What keeps you from giving now? Isn't the poor person there? Aren't your own warehouses full? Isn't the reward promised? The command is clear: the hungry person is dying now, the naked person is freezing now, the person in debt is beaten now-and you want to wait until tomorrow? "I'm not doing any harm," you say. "I just want to keep what I own, that's all." You own! You are like someone who sits down in a theater and keeps everyone else away, saying that what is there for everyone's use is your own. . . . If everyone took only what they needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such thing as rich and poor. After all, didn't you come into life naked, and won't you return naked to the earth?

"The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry person; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the person who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the person with no shoes; the money which you put in the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help, but fail to help."
Basil
4th Century

"The large rooms of which you are so proud are in fact your shame. They are big enough to hold crowds--and also big enough to shut out the voices of the poor....There is your sister or brother, naked, crying! And you stand confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering."
Ambrose
4th Century

What was that about Advent being the time for rousing, for waking up to the truth of ourselves?  "The primary condition for a fruitful and rewarding Advent is renunciation, surrender."  Every year I try to imagine any church leader, any pastor, any TV evangelist or writer of popular Christian books, echoing the words of Basil and Ambrose from 1700 years ago.

I must admit I don't have that much imagination, except to imagine that, unlike John the Baptist, they wouldn't draw that many people to the wilderness to listen to them.

If you go back to John the Baptist, you get the same message Ambrose and Basil are offering here.  But not back to Matthew's story; this time, go to Luke's;

So [John] would say to the crowds that came to be baptized by him, "You spawn of Satan! Who warned you to flee from the impending doom? Well then, start producing fruits suitable for a change of heart, and don't even start saying to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' Let me tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham right out of these rocks.  Even now the axe is almost at the roote of the trees.  Every tree not producing choice fruit gets cut down and tossed into the fire."

The crowds would ask him, "So what should we do?"

And he would answer them, "Whoever has two shirts should share with someone who has non; whoever has food should do the same." 

--Luke 3:7-11 (SV)

A little extension of Matthew's version there, but salient in light of what Jesus said about Elijah, which his disciples understood to mean John the Baptist.  Elijah is an interesting choice, because Elijah was (is) such an important prophet it was expected he would return before the Lord comes, before, as Malachi puts it, that "great and terrible day."  Jesus compares John to Elijah.  It's hard, in other words, to be a greater prophet than Elijah; but John is the Elijah who has come as herald.  We focus on the "herald" part of that; we should focus on the "great prophet" part of that.  As Malachi puts it, Elijah is above Moses, above all the prophets we think "great" because we remember them in Advent, or take their words out of context to predict the end of the world.  We should pay more attention to Elijah.

We should pay more attention to John, too.  To give your extra shirt to a shirtless man; to share your food because you have this day your daily bread, is not a suggestion.  As Ambrose says, as Basil says, the commandment is clear.  And the commandment comes from John: standing by that river, wearing animal hides and shouting at people who come to listen despite his anger.  I know lots of preachers who love to spew fire and brimstone and imagine they are John, painting the horrors of sinners in the hands of an angry God.  But John is more radical than that, goes further than they would.  He offers salvation, and it isn't in confession or belief or even claiming repentance.  It is in producing fruits suitable for a change of heart.  It is in giving away what you have an excess of; and "excess" means more than you need for today.

The commandment is clear.  The voice is that of Elijah.  The voice is that of God.  Baptism is the least of it.  John is more than a herald.

Advent can be a real kick in the head.
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Friday, December 05, 2025

The Emperor Is Not Only Naked

He’s a toddler with a shotgun. And the world knows it, even if we can’t say it. I wonder if he’ll sleep with it? It’s a fair question. If Trump is not repudiated by the Congress (the only body that can do it), what keeps the next President from doing what he did? Especially when a Republican returns to the White House? What’s the check then? Not getting re-elected? That’s hardly enough, is it?

This isn’t about the immunity decision. This is Congress’s burden. For the first time in history, they need to remove a President from office, ban his ever returning (don’t give the Supremes the chance to rewrite the 22nd Amendment. I’m not sure they won’t rewrite the first clause of the 14th.), and thereby make clear to Vance he can be removed, too. This president must be shamed and his place historically marred so that the lesson is, actions such as his are not tolerated by the government formed under this Constitution.

Or we might as well pack it in, and recognize we couldn’t keep the Republic after all.
Because Mockler is right. Already, telling the truth is indistinguishable from mockery:
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Is This Guy A CEO Because He Always Behaves This Way?

Or does he behave this way because he’s on drugs?

I ask because I have a family member (wife of a cousin) who still thinks I was on drugs one night over 50 years ago, largely because I inadvertently gave her good reason to think so. We were all in high school, I was visiting my cousin, and I got a wild streak (as is my very occasional wont), and jumped out of the car (it was stopped) in a park. And ran off. My cousin, playing along, drove off. He later told me his girlfriend (now wife) screamed at him that I was “high as a kite” and they had to go back and get me. If I was on anything, it was drive-in movie candy.*

But, despite that aberration that was (is) perfectly in keeping with my personality, I’m not, and never have been, CEO material. So I’m seriously wondering, what’s up with this guy? And granted this is taken out of context, but: what the hell is he talking about?

If you saw this guy on the street corner, you’d cross the street; mid-block, if necessary.


*To this day, every time I see her, she mentions the incident. I made quite an impression in my youth. 
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“WE’RE THE SUPREME COURT, BITCHES!”

Scathing dissent from Justice Kagan:

"[T]his Court reverses that judgment based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record. We are a higher court than the District Court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision. That is why we are supposed to use a clear-error standard of review—why we are supposed to uphold the District Court’s decision that race-based line-drawing occurred (even if we would have ruled differently) so long as it is plausible. Without so much as a word about that standard, this Court today announces that Texas may run next year's elections with a map the District Court found to have violated all our oft-repeated strictures about the use of race in districting. Today's order disrespects the work of a District Court that did everything one could ask to carry out its charge—that put aside every consideration except getting the issue before it right. And today's order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race. Because this Court's precedents and our Constitution demand better, I respectfully dissent."
There was nothing wrong with the district court’s opinion. The majority just didn’t like it.

This is what I mean when I say the appellate courts review the law, not the facts. Just as the majority says the legislature is entitled to deference, so, too, is the district court that heard the evidence in the case. But the conclusion of the district court after hearing the evidence being inconvenient to the majority on the Court, they simply set it aside, because “WE’RE THE SUPREME COURT, BITCHES!”

It’s time to remind the Court where Art. III falls in the Constitution, and how much authority the Constitution gives Congress over the Courts. As well as who holds the whip hand in amending the Constitution to say what it now needs to say.
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Music for Krampusnacht

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December 5 Krampusnacht



 
Speaking of “gloom of night…”

It’s finally a small pillow and an addition to the Xmas decor at Chez Adventus. And it’s still a little happier sentiment than this one:


Yes, Virginia, greeting cards like that were very popular in Victorian times.  Germans weren't quite as sloppily sentimental as the Dickensian English, it would seem.

Krampus, in central European popular legend, a half-goat, half-demon monster that punishes misbehaving children at Christmastime. He is the devilish companion of St. Nicholas. Krampus is believed to have originated in Germany, and his name derives from the German word Krampen, which means “claw.”

Krampus was thought to have been part of pagan rituals for the winter solstice. According to legend, he is the son of Hel, the Norse god of the underworld. With the spread of Christianity, Krampus became associated with Christmas—despite efforts by the Catholic church to ban him. The creature and St. Nicholas are said to arrive on the evening of December 5 (Krampusnacht; “Krampus Night”). While St. Nicholas rewards nice children by leaving presents, Krampus beats those who are naughty with branches and sticks. In some cases, he is said to eat them or take them to hell. On December 6, St. Nicholas Day, children awaken to find their gifts or nurse their injuries.

Festivities involving Krampus include the Krampuslauf (“Krampus run”). In this activity, which often involves alcohol, people dressed as the creature parade through streets, scaring spectators and sometimes chasing them. Beginning in the late 20th century, amid efforts to preserve cultural heritage, Krampus runs became increasingly popular in Austria and Germany. During this time Krampus began to be celebrated internationally, and the monster’s growing appeal was evidenced by numerous horror films. Some claimed that the expanding popularity of Krampus was a reaction to the commercialization of Christmas.

Britannica (an on-line source I find more trustworthy than most.)

That last line gives me reason enough to support the revival (or spread) of Krampus. And even, at 70, seek out a Krampuslauf.

Appropriately, Krampusnacht is the eve of St. Nicholas' Day.  (Like Hallowe’en is the eve of All Saints.) Not everything in December happens on Christmas Eve, after all.  La Befana is an old woman (or witch, in some tellings; two conditions that often appear alike) who brings gifts to children in Italy on Epiphany Eve (Epiphany being the original date/reason (?) for Xmas gift giving.  I wouldn't lean too hard on that latter, but it is interesting how many different days for recieving gifts existed in Christian Europe.)  In some representations, she drops gifts down the chimney, a la St. Nick.  Or the “real” St. Nicholas, who threw the gold through the window. 🪟 

(I have a lot of this stuff I haven’t framed.) 

I admire the idea of Krampus.  American stories about Santa Claus leaving coal in stockings (or switches) always struck me as lame because, of course that never happened!  But Krampus!  Now there's a punisher with some teeth!  Literally!  Santa may know who's been naughty or nice, but Krampus stands for accountability!

And we all like accountability.  At least when it applies to thee, and not to me!

And accountability is not to be downplayed in a spiritual—which is to say at least, practicing humility— preparation for Christmas.


BTW: six days in and we’re already talking about receiving gifts. 🎁  It wasn’t entirely Clement Moore and commercialization that taught us to think of December as all about receiving. 😈 What Krampus makes us receive is really not to be overlooked in Advent preparations, especially as Advent was once considered a “little Lent.” And all these “Eves,” all this anxious anticipation that runs through December.  December is the “Eve” month. What’s up with that?
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First Friday of Advent 2025

 


Matthew 24:36-44 


The sudden coming of salvation 

24:36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 

24:37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 

24:38 For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 

24:39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. 

24:40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 

24:41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. 

24:42 Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 

24:43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 

24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

This is apocalyptic. It isn’t meant to be literal. But discerning the meaning is…treacherous.

Literal readings of apocalyptic passages lead to strange and sometimes absurd theories of the Eschaton. Metaphorical interpretations lead to endless arguments. But the point of apocalyptic is not to explain; the point is to provoke, and prepare the way for the revelation.

Clear? Well, it shouldn’t be. That’s the point.

When apocalyptic is taken literally, all kinds of foolishness erupts. So don’t take this as some glimpse into the future, or some Nostradamus vague-enough-to-mean-anything shit. So forget the visuals, and focus on this:
But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
The question you should be asking is: What the hell does that mean?

I don’t mean what he said; that’s clear enough. I mean, why does he say it? If you know when the Sin of Man is coming, you would stay awake and prevent him?

Yeah; you probably would.

That’s what he said. That what he meant. Look at the context. Nobody knows the day and the hour. That’s intentional. That means Jesus isn’t telling you. No hints, no clues, no signs to watch for. No prophecy, in other words, and no visions from the future. And it’s meant to be scary. Like in the time of the flood, when nobody knew what was coming, until it was too late. Like when half the people are taken, and half are not?

Taken? Literally? Taken where? This is one of the passages the idea of a rapture is drawn from. Taken literally, it means the chosen are saved, the righteous are spared, and the lost are “left behind.” Except this message is not a literal one; and Jesus doesn’t say where they are taken. Maybe the “left behind” are the “chosen.” Maybe they’re better off. Don’t presume you know.

No one knows. That’s the point.

You see, the presence of God is always frightening. When Moses stood in the doxa, the glory of God, on Sinai, the Israelites saw a thunderstorm on the mountain, a theophany of the presence of the Creator in the creation. Moses came down with his face glowing from the doxa, and the people said they would stay in their tents, thank you very much, because they didn’t leave Egypt for the wilderness and this!

When Elijah soaked the wood pile with water and stood back and God consumed it in a holocaust, to prove God was god, do you think the people whipped out marshmallows and kosher hot dogs? I’m guessing it’s more likely they peed at least a little. The presence of God is a fearsome thing.

So Jesus plays that tune: two will be about quotidian tasks, and one will be taken. As in the days of Noah; no one will know until it’s too late. If that doesn’t get your attention, you’re doing it wrong.

So what about the thief? The thief is the disruption that is not wanted. Silicon Valley edgelords bragged about being disruptive, until Elmo and DOGE ruined that for them. They were always pikers. The coming of the Son of Man is the real disruption.

So we domesticate it, reduce it to a baby and three guys bringing presents and angels singing to shepherds, and say that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. Something suitable for children. But the apocalypse of the Incarnation is the ultimate disruption.

Matthew says those gifts included frankincense and myrrh, perfumes used to cover the smell of a decaying corpse in the desert air of 1st century Judea. Gifts for a baby. Gifts as narrative foreshadowing. We domesticate it. Matthew knew what he meant. Those visitors alert the powers that be, and the family flees to Egypt even as Herod kills every male child under the age of 2 in Bethlehem. Because he can. Because he’s scared. 

Scared to death.

And no one in Bethlehem saw it coming; and not even 1 of every 2 was left behind. And if Herod had known the thief was coming, would he have stayed awake and prevented it?

Surely he would.

So keep awake, because you don’t know the day, or the hour. Stay awake, because salvation is scary, because even a baby can be threatening. But then think: what is the threat? What are you afraid of? If you are afraid, maybe you understand. If you aren’t, maybe you don’t.

Keep awake. If only to see how this turns out. You don’t want to sleep through this.

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Thursday, December 04, 2025

The Stupid, It Burns

Why does it look like he’s sitting in the engine room of ST:OS? (No, I’m not addressing his statement. It doesn’t deserve it.) When you don’t know whether to laugh, or cry. Alright, now I can laugh.
Sprouting shoots of normal accountability functions: (i) an IG report critical of Sec Def; (ii) serious congressional engagement with the Venezuela boat strikes; (iii) a change in DOD protocols, presumably sparked by internal legal concerns, to rescue rather than kill first-strike survivors.
Is our children learning?
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But! “War”! “Narco-Terrorists”!!Franklin The RPG-Totin’ Turtle!”

Lawmakers are apparently being shown the full video of the Sept 2 boat strikes in their meetings with Adm Bradley and Gen Caine.

HIMES: “what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service…you have two individuals and clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, were killed by the United States.”
"Just a little bit more than the law will allow.” Maybe. Depends on who enforces the law. How many people are going to pay for this? And how many aren’t?
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It’s Not Racism If It Isn’t Blatant Enough

 Only when six people say it is:

'This court's stay, this court's decision today guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year's elections for the House of Representatives. That result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution.'
Violation of the Constitution is such a harsh term when there are ambiguities present:
Texas is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the District Court committed at least two serious errors. First, the District Court failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature. Contra, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, 602 U. S. 1, 10 (2024).
Texas said the districts were redrawn based on race. Then realized that wasn’t so good, so argued in court that they didn’t really mean that. Which apparently created an ambiguity sufficient for the majority to decide the case without further ado, like, you know, full briefings and oral arguments.

Because white people deserve the presumption of good faith; especially when non-white people are getting screwed. The Constitution is color blind, after all. And the solution to unconstitutional racial discrimination, is to not discriminate. Against white people. Says the white court with 1 Uncle Tom.

Do I sound disgusted? If I don’t, or it’s ambiguous, I’m not doing it right.
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A Station Wagon In Every Driveway!

Pretty sure consumers made the choice to switch from station wagons to minivans about 40 years ago. And then to SUV’s from minivans.

They also seem to like the choice of cars that aren’t gas guzzlers.
Trump’s economy is the best! A station wagon in every driveway!
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None Dare Call It Racism

NYTimes on BlueSky:
President Trump on Tuesday delivered blatantly xenophobic public remarks, which included attacking Somali immigrants in Minnesota and calling them “garbage.”

Listen to "The Daily."
Question for the NYT style sheet: is “xenophobic” a synonym for “racist,” or nah? Would it be racist to say “All Belgians are miserable, fat bastards,” or just xenophobic?

Asking for a friend.
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Music for Advent 2025: Dead by Christmas

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Advent And Obscenity





I will, as you’ve already seen, repeat this sentiment from time to time.  Not too often, I hope, because the words are offensive, and are meant to be. I think of them as a contemporary version of the apocalyptic literature of Daniel and Revelation; or Mary’s Magnificat. It is meant to offend, in other words; but in a way that shakes us awake. Too much repetition, and it would dull and lose value. It’s pepper; and you don’t need too much of it.

The root of apocalyptic is: “fuck this shit.” Repeat that too often and you get SNAFU and FUBAR. Which were not apocalyptic expressions, but seem like it, coming out of the context of the “good war.” They challenge the memories of those of us too young to have known that war at all. We created a mythology for the Civil War; we did it again with the “Greatest Generation.” It’s hard to reconcile Tom Brokaw’s hagiography with those two earthy acronyms.

But SNAFU and FUBAR are resignation, not challenge; not defiance. It’s reconciliation to the conditions that prevail. Apocalyptic can’t be reconciled at all, unless we turn it into metaphor and symbolism and then literalism; or we tame it altogether. Daniel gets the first treatment, Revelation the second, the Magnificat the third. And Advent, which is the church season of the apocalyptic, often ignores the topic altogether.

Fuck this shit.

Is there a good way to say “Fuck this shit”? Yes. In Apocalyptic. Apocalyptic isn’t about doom and despair and destruction and collapse. It’s about the revelation of justice. Justice is disruptive, but the disruption is good. If you’re on the right side of it. The proud are cast down; so be humble. The rich lose their wealth; so don’t store up riches on earth. The well-fed go hungry, so share your food with the hungry now. It’s injustice, the tolerance for injustice, that’s the obscenity.

Part of the preparation for the Christchild is the preparation for the end of all things. The apocalypse, the final revelation, the truth behind all things. The coming of God’s justice. The reversal that resets the table. Permanently. The preparation for that, is to first recognize how screwed up things are.

One other thing: apocalyptic seems to be diametrically opposed to humility and care for self as care for others. But keep an open mind on the subject; we’ll be coming back to it.
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First Thursday of Advent 2025



Romans 13:11-14

Salvation is near; wake from sleep

13:11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;

13:12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;

13:13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.

13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Advent is the season of “woke.”  The papal nuncio to America may not agree with me (why should he?) , but “woke” is not an unchristian extreme. The papal nuncio and I may disagree, but I stand with Archbishop Romero and the martyrs of El Salvador, and see in “woke” the cry for justice, and the Advent call, “Fuck this shit.”

And I think Paul agrees with me.

Paul was too canny to go full apocalyptic; that way lies a frontal challenge to the powers-that-be which would, in his day, cut very short his evangelical mission. Paul was not a coward. He just wasn’t interested in leading an uprising, anymore than Jesus was. Still, he’s telling the church in Rome he thinks they need to “woke up,” and “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

He’s talking about preparing ourselves for what is coming, which today we call the basileia tou theou. Of course, for most of us, December is all about gratifying the flesh and its desires; well, at least when it comes to food and drink and receiving gifts.🎁  I’m not going all ascetic on you, and quietly saying you must set aside all those things for Advent. But would it hurt you to think a bit less about gaining the world (or buying lots of unnecessary Christmas gifts), and a bit more about care of the soul?  Yours and everyone else’s yours touches in life. That’s not necessarily a religious statement; it’s the central theme of the redemption of Scrooge. Dickens barely mentions the “reason for the season,” but his story is perfectly in line with Advent’s season of spiritual preparation.

And in line with what Paul is saying. To throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (and protect yourself from…what?) is not just an act of will; it requires a change of heart. And perhaps it even helps to raise an ebenezer. Anything to help us keep awake.  And that would be, to be woke; wouldn't it?
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