Lex Lata

Donohue's conscience: Okay, Bill. I see three options. One, say nothing. Two, express sympathy for the victims. Three, quibble about semantics in a way that makes it look like you're siding with Epstein, which would be tone-deaf and heartless--

Donohue: WELL ACTUALLY EPSTEIN WASN'T A PEDOPHILE.

Me last week, reading about Epstein, Summers, Bannon, Trump, etc.: "THIS IS THE GROSSEST TIMELINE AND IT COULDN'T GET ANY GROSSER."

Me today, reading about the White House "Nazi streak" attorney leaning on federal law enforcement to lighten up on notorious creeper ex-clients: "WITHDRAWN."

Yeah, it's not a big leap to go from Kelly's semantic hand-wavery to Roy Moore-ish "Well, Mary was a teenager" apologetics.

Should probably get out in front of this. If Congress ever publishes my electronic communications, Epstein-like, the contents will be:

5% Warhammer 40k lore
10% Unsolicited thoughts on ancient languages and literature
85% My wife and me trying to figure out when the dogs were last outside

YouTube video by Bible & Archaeology How Ancient Kings Gaslit Each Other: The Amarna Letters Explained

Insightful interview with @digkabri.bsky.social about those Late Bronze Age cuneiform DMs, the Amarna Letters.

youtu.be/LyebNnJNOvU?...

Not sure about the title. Apologetics can be pretty profitable for some. 😉

But this should be an interesting watch. Apologists routinely cite historians, archaeologists, and other scholars, but the reverse is exceedingly rare, and for good reason.

Next month, at what's left of the Heritage Foundation: 'Anti-Antisemtism, the REAL Enemy Within. An evening with Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.'

But seriously. When you're publicly unfriended by the antisemitism task force you helped organize, there's a problem.

Minneapolitans say #NoKings!

One odious side effect of efforts like this, which in practice are routinely Christianity-centric despite lip service about "Judeo-Christian" values, is the effective relegation of Jewish students to second-class social status--an unofficial but still consequential kind of antisemitism.

Superb discussion about the Hebrew Bible between two clear, cordial thinkers, @timoneill.bsky.social and @maklelan.bsky.social, both able to move past their fundamental disagreements about the existence of the Almighty and the utility of US football analogies.

No biggie, just Fox News hosts calmly floating the definitely not-fascist idea of executing undesirables who've committed no crimes. 😳

The number is preposterously, insanely dishonest on its own, yes, but it's also worth pointing out this is a preposterously, insanely dishonest boast about a massive tax increase on US businesses and ultimately consumers.

Thanks for the hospitality, Ben!

(You might get a chuckle out of this, @atpgeo.bsky.social.)

Team Trump restoring that weedfighter spirit . . . .

What kind of degenerate monster takes only the first book of a complete trilogy I put in our Little Library??

Finally, some content from @drkippd.bsky.social that doesn't contain any swear words (probably).

No cheating, last photo of your pet.

Cannot believe my nerdar didn't pick this up until today--basically the Woodstock of contemporary Exodus scholars (and a welcome sequel to the outstanding 2013 conference). Lectures are all on YouTube!

FYI, @amateurexegete.bsky.social and @atpgeo.bsky.social

exodus2.ucsd.edu

WHY DOES MY NEW RAZOR HAVE A USB CONNECTOR INSTEAD OF A NORMAL PLUG THIS IS AN OUTRAGE

The Story of Moses and YHWH YouTube video by Critical Faculty

Excellent and energetic discussion of epistemology, historiography, and the traditional Exodus/Conquest narrative, courtesy of @atpgeo.bsky.social, Aaron Adair, and Critical Faculty.

www.youtube.com/live/kf1RjFi...

Dome of the Tempio Maggiore, the Great Synagogue of Rome.

YouTube video by Paulogia Can this Fresh-Faced Apologist Refute the Grizzled Godless? (Wes Huff response)

Wes Huff (around the 2:20 mark): "don't confuse confidence for actual expertise and competency in a field . . . . Confidence does not equal competency."

Oy vey.

Thought you and Mark might get a kick out of that, @amateurexegete.bsky.social

youtu.be/csVdw9LCZw4?...

Alternate title: Bible Nerds Spread the Gospel of Nicholas Cage.

Copious thanks to @amateurexegete.bsky.social and Mark Edwards for the hospitality and conversation.

The Transformation of Hebrew Script: From Paleo-Hebrew to Aramaic - TheTorah.com Before the exile, Israelites and Judahites wrote in Old Hebrew script. During the Second Temple period, Aramaic script slowly replaces Old Hebrew to the extent that the rabbis even disqualify a Torah ...

An artful, concise history of the Hebrew alphabet(s) from Aaron Koller. The tale is more complicated and intriguing than you might expect.

www.thetorah.com/article/the-...

... In which Ola Wikander's straining bookshelves fill me with both envy and anxiety.

But seriously. Well said.

Wildfire smoke extends Minnesota air-quality alert through Wednesday morning Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to spread across Minnesota.

Team Trump has promised to respond by raising tariffs on the Canadian smoke, shooting it with 2nd Amendment rights, and remigrating it to an overcrowded prison in El Salvador.

www.startribune.com/air-quality-...

Amen! There's only a deficit if you haven't fired the accountants who calculate the deficit.

I WILL CRUSH YOU.

Text me, k?

And of course the serious problem isn't the threat to low-cost optional goods--it's the threat to the supply of *necessary* items. Not just whole goods, but replacement parts and assemblies for vehicles, toilets, industrial machinery, etc., etc., etc. The doll rhetoric is a cynical distraction.