Steven D. Greydanus

PEPFAR, the program to stop hundreds of thousands of children and adults from dying of HIV/AIDS, was $6.5 billion a year.

an actual leader

i'm not an economist but if 900 people can afford to fund $3,000 checks to damn near everyone else in america and still be insanely fuckin rich afterwards maybe they have too much fuckin money

Immigration, deportation, and Catholic principles: 21 points [UPDATED: on the “intrinsic evil” of deportation]

Is deportation “intrinsically evil”? Is illegal immigration always morally wrong? What does Catholic social teaching really say? Revised, expanded, and more relevant than ever: 21 points on immigration, deportation, and Catholic principles

Kash Patel Fired Entire Team of Iran Experts Right Before Trump’s War They were let go during a purge of people who investigated Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents.

Wait. There are still experts working in federal government? (Or were, at least, as of last month?)

Immigration, deportation, and Catholic principles: 21 points [UPDATED: on the “intrinsic evil” of deportation]

Is deportation “intrinsically evil”? Is illegal immigration always morally wrong? What does Catholic social teaching really say? Revised, expanded, and more relevant than ever: 21 points on immigration, deportation, and Catholic principles

He's really done it.

good thing groceries are so cheap that we don’t have to worry about a little bump in gas prices

February 2026 monthly digest [celebrating one year of Dailies & Sundays!]

What a month it’s been!

Very interesting—especially considering how the films diminish other noble characters around Aragorn to make him even *more* awesome! E.g., the Black Gate diversion is Book Gandalf’s idea, but Movie Gandalf is despairing and Movie Aragorn saves the day. I actually named this dynamic after him!

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON This cartoon has four panels, each showing a different scene. In addition, there’s a small “kicker” panel under the fourth panel. PANEL 1 The panel shows a counter at a fast food restaurant. We can see a couple of customers, and a couple of workers. The workers are wearing hats that very vaguely resemble hamburger buns. A sign on the wall shows a smiling hamburger with eyes, below the caption “Soilent Green YUM.” A smaller sign says “SAFETY” in larger letters followed by tiny print, which says “is a word we use a lot so you can’t sue us.” The worker at the cash register is turning to speak directly to the reader. WORKER: To get an official photo I.D., I have to go to the nearest government office, which is 90 miles away, and I don’t have a car, and even if I did my boss won’t give me a weekday off. PANEL 2 We’re in what looks like someone’s back yard. In the foreground is a garden, with some sort of plant being grown in tidy rows. An elderly woman is kneeling on the ground in front of the garden, wearing a floppy straw hat, an apron with a floral patter, and holding a trowel. She speaks directly to the reader. WOMAN: I can’t get I.D. without a birth certificate. But when I was born home births didn’t get birth certificates. PANEL 3 A mover wearing jeans and a black tank top is carrying a sofa as he’s talking to the reader. MOVER: The state charges $60 for a driver’s license…. but first I’d need a copy of my birth certificate, which is $30. I can’t afford 90 dollars to vote! PANEL 4 This panel shows the interior of a coffee shop. A man and a woman sit together at a table. They're both looking at their devices, him annoyed, her dismissive. MAN: Why wouldn’t anyone be able to get an I.D.? Idiots! WOMAN: People like that don’t deserve to vote. SMALL KICKER PANEL UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE CARTOON The man from panel 4 yelling at Barry MAN: If it’s easy for me it must be easy for everybody! That’s just science!

How Hard Could Getting Voter ID Be?

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LOL!

First rewatch of the LOTR trilogy in years, confirming long-held opinions:

1. greatest performance: Ian Holm
2. also obviously magnificent, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean
3. best film: FOTR
4. Viggo is a better Strider than an Aragorn
4. everyone who thinks ROTK has too many endings can soak their head

A screenshot of a tweet by @DarrigoMelanie. it says: “Updated:” and has a screenshot of a Trump tweet from 10/9/12. Trump originally said: “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin-watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.” The ‘updated’ version says: “Now that my poll numbers are in tailspin-watch for me to launch a strike in Iran. I am desperate.”

*extreme Blazing Saddles townsperson voice*

Sam Adams is RIGHT!

Every accusation is a confession.

Total agreement. CARS isn’t a great movie, but it has a special quality—a Pixar vibe that feels like it’s been loved into existence. It loves cars and is smart about them in a way that, e.g., A BUG’S LIFE isn’t entomologically smart. Its nostalgia is half-baked, but interesting, at least.

Pope Leo, A.I. ‘homilies,’ and true preaching [Homiletics 101: You don’t know how to write a homily … and neither do I]

Pope Leo XIV exhorted clergy not to use A.I. to write homilies. I wrote some thoughts on what a homily is and isn’t.

(Homiletics 101: You don’t know how to write a homily … and neither do I!)

It is incredibly funny to me that Takei and Shatner remain so incredibly petty toward one another even at their ages.

The intention seems to have been to be as cruel, punitive, and humiliating as possible.

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON This cartoon has six panels. A caption at the top says "History, Rhyming." PANEL 1 A close up of someone's hand lying limply on the ground, in sepia tones. CAPTION: August 20, 1965: Civil rights activist Jonathan Daniels put himself between a deputy sheriff and the black teen the deputy was attacking. The deputy shot Daniels to death. PANEL 2 A close up of a gloved hand lying limply on snowy pavement, a cell phone lying nearby. Drawn in blue tones. CAPTION: January 24 2026: Anti-fascist activist Alex Pretti put himself between border protection agents and the woman the agents were attacking. The agents shot Pretti to death. PANEL 3 This panel is divided in two, sepia on the left and blues on the right. On the sepia side, a man inn a suit sneers. On the right side, a man in a border patrol uniform sneers. BOTH (in unison): He was intended to commit a massacre! CAPTION (sepia side): Arthur Gamble: Corrupt prosecutor who threw the case. CAPTION (blue side): Gregory Bovino: Border Patrol Commander. PANEL 4 Another panel divided into sepia and blue sides. On the sepia side is a cheerful middle-aged man in a suit. On the right side are two masked Border Patrol agents. ALL THREE (unison): I was in fear for my life! CAPTION (sepia side): Tom Coleman, Daniels' murderer. CAPTION (blue side): Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, Pretti's murderers. PANEL 5 On the sepia side, three people with 1960s haircuts are angrily yelling. On the blue side, same thing except with current-day hair and clothes. ALL (unison): If he hadn't put himself where he didn't belong he'd still be alive! Cops have to make split-second judgements! Law! Order! Bark bark bark bark woof! CAPTION: Boot-licking stooges. PANEL 6 In a clearing, surrounded by grass, trees, and shrubs, two men talk to each other. One, wearing a clerical collar, is "Jonathan Daniels, 1939-1965." The other, wearing a winter jacket and baggy jeans, is "Alex Pretti, 1989-2026."

History, Rhyming

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we finally reached the end of this calendar event i accidentally made 12 years ago

so fun fact: recently during the fraud investigations being redone by this season’s feds, MN’s rate of medicaid/medicare fraud was well below the national average

nationally, it’s ≈ 6% each year; in minnesota it’s like ≈ 2.5%

we know this is vindictive at this point

whereas those who are happy about what it describes don’t think it’s a good essay

“Much of organised Catholicism these days simply revels in bringing the high low”

God. It’s God who revels in that.

“The great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low”
“Every mountain and hill shall be made low”
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones”

Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Flight 93 The memorials are the same; it’s the terrorists who have changed.

Hey, The Bulwark featured my Bishop Barron piece in this edition of the Triad

Among “triumph” cognates, the best choice would be “triumphalistic.” Though “preening, self-congratulatory” is better.

Never a big Narnia guy but this 6 seconds typifies everything I love about British television.

not only, of course, in Spain

Even the silent 1916 DeMille is pretty remarkable as spectacle