To quote Edward T. Taylor's famous quip about Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hegseth "knows no more of the religion of the New Testament than Balaam's ass did of the principles of Hebrew Grammar". (The similarity ends there; Taylor admitted that Emerson was "one of the sweetest creatures God ever made".)

Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah Of more than 2,000 people killed in Lebanon since Israel's current war with Iran-backed Hezbollah began, 168 are children.

Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with Hezbollah
apnews.com/article/leba...

Goatwalking: A Guide to Wildland Living, A… | CharlottesvilleFM library | TinyCat CharlottesvilleFM library

Here goes: Jim Corbett's "Goatwalking". A unique mixture of wisdom about the ethics and mechanics of knight errantry, goat herding, and sanctuary for immigrants, by someone a priest coworker once described as "a very Catholic Quaker".
www.librarycat.org/lib/Charlott...

I'm surprised they let this stay in: "Washington’s most defining act was his voluntary departure from office after two terms. In his Farewell Address in 1796, he warned against political factions and foreign entanglements." Subtweeting the current occupant of the White House?

It's surprising to see so much frank detail from a Hezbollah commander talking to a U.S. outlet but I'm sure he didn't disclose anything that Israel doesn't already know. And rare indeed to hear this perspective in mainstream American reportage.

The other guy is the owner of the Los Angeles Times. Why he wants to harm its brand by association is a good question.

One has to imagine the prompt used to generate: "Give me a comic-book-like picture of a lovely high-rise prison in front of a large horizontal administrative building, with a green lawn and blue sky, and a billboard reading [text with misspelling]." Sigh.

AI-generated illustration of a prison, showing two guard towers, a large horizontal three-story building, and a massive tower maybe 15 stories high. Behind the prison fence is a sign reading "26% Revenue Growth / 8.84% Dividand [sic] Yield". The style is comic-book realism, with a green lawn inside the fence and a blue sky with a cloud or two.

I have news alerts set for CoreCivic and Geo Group to keep an eye on immigration detention news, as they are the two largest private-prison firms involved. So I get items from the financial press, sometimes enthusedly bullish. Usually depressing. A recent one had this dystopic AI-slop illustration.

“We have already given in example one effectual check to the Dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body, from those who are to spend to those who are to pay.” TJ to J. Madison, 9/6/1789—
Or so they thought…

Two protest signs are displayed on chairs. One says "HUNDREDS killed in LEBANON since the 'Ceasefire'." The other one says "CEASEFIRE FOR LEBANON". Above them is a banner with colors and cedar tree from the Lebanese flag, and the name of Lebanon in Arabic, French, and English.

Charlottesville had a small antiwar protest downtown yesterday early evening. We showed up with our signs and banners. Every voice matters!

An AP news story about Israeli strikes in central Beirut posted by Abby Sewell, one of the authors, who added, "One strike hit the apartment building where I used to live, and another one hit one block over from my current apartment. Both in very normal residential neighborhoods. Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there"

I've been following your podcast for a while but never expected to be X degrees of separation from you (where X is a small number). Also I think the strike on Tallet el Khayat was less than 500m from an AirBNB near ABC Verdun where I stayed in 2023. With all Beirutis in spirit.

Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut without warning, causing panic after the announcement of the ceasefire in he U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Daughter Abby covering the attacks, one of which hit within a block of her apartment in central Beirut.
apnews.com/article/isra...

Massacre upon massacre in Beirut in the last hour. AUBMC announced a “code disaster.” Over 100 airstrikes in 10 minutes across the country. One hit right behind my house. Sirens ambulances & the smell of sulphur. The city is in total chaos the people in complete panic

Photo of bomb strikes on Beirut as part of Israeli offensive hitting 100 sites in ten minutes

"Red Cross reports many casualties after Israeli strikes". Beirut hospitals are asking for blood donations.

"Ceasefire". Infuriating even if predictable.

I very much hope that if the ceasefire is agreed, Lebanon will be included and both sides will honor it. But my hopes are not high.

The AP is a nonprofit news organization; please consider supporting with a donation if you value this work. (Full disclosure: I have a close family member who works for AP in the Middle East)

We have an Iranian friend in Tehran who has devoted his career to translating Thoreau for an Iranian readership. Starting with 'Walden,' through Thoreau's anti-slavery works and essays on civil disobedience, the lot.

We have not heard anything from him since the bombardment began.

Earlier today I saw a truck with a Virginia license plate that *should* have been rejected: a "Don't Tread on Me" vanity plate reading "AK🐍47" with the rattlesnake coiled in the middle. I'll take a driver with scatological humor over that guy any day.

Displaced by war, Lebanon's Christians mark Easter far from their homes and churches Many Lebanese Christians are marking Easter far from their homes and churches, displaced by Israel's war with the militant Hezbollah group. The Rev.

“Today, you understand what the cross means, not as an idea, not as a concept, but because you are going through it"

Displaced by war, Lebanon’s Christians mark Easter far from their homes and churches

apnews.com/article/leba...

2/3 of us agree. Unfortunately, the other 1/3 hold the reins of power at the moment and are backed by oligarchs who control everything else.

Very faded hand-painted sign reading "DRIVE SLOWLY", with the S illegible. F

There need to be more of those everywhere.

Amen.

And now I have running through my head Josh White's rendition of the old spiritual: "Paul and Silas bound in chains, all night long / Who shall deliver for me?"

Historians: The Trump administration wants to issue oil and gas leases across the greater Chaco landscape. They've given the public ONE WEEK (till 4/7) to weigh in on the future of this immensely important place. Please tell them what you think: eplanning.blm.gov/Participate-...

"Somebody's Not Doing His Job!" Peanuts and the purpose of life

I have a new Substack post up. #philosophy #Peanuts #Murdoch
open.substack.com/pub/davidsew...

This is 100% ethnic cleansing. And Israel will keep doing it as long as the world keeps looking away with their eyes while reaching out their hands to help fund it.

I remember when I used to look forward to April 1 because there would always be clever Internet postings with outrageous but barely plausible "news". Now under Trump II, with the actual news cycle indistinguishable from April Fool's, there's no longer much point.

Israel to destroy 'all houses' near Lebanon border, defence minister says Israel will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the ‌border and 600,000 people who fled the south will not be allowed home until northern Israel is secure, the defence minister said on Tuesday...

The Israeli defense minister threatens an illegal occupation and crimes against civilians

www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Thanks to cooperation from the village folk and an all-night toymaking stint making the "little blue men" that are the final symptom of the mania, Quillow manages to trick the giant into diving into the sea, never to reemerge. In our day, a less benign Quillow would no doubt be a clickbait crafter.

Three paragraphs from "The Great Quillow". The text reads: “This other giant,” said Quillow, “suffered no pain. His symptoms were marvelous and dismaying. First he heard the word. For fifteen minutes one morning, beginning at a quarter of six, he heard the word.” “Harumph!” said Hunder, finishing his pie and reaching for his chocolate. “What was the word the giant heard for fifteen minutes one day?” “The word was ‘woddly’,” said Quillow. “All words were one word to him. All words were ‘woddly’.

In James Thurber's "The Great Quillow", a gentle and clever toymaker rids his village of a rapacious giant by convincing him that he has developed a mysterious mental illness curable only by immersion in the sea leagues away. The first symptom of the illness? All words one hears sound like "woddly".