The illegal alien who murdered Kate Steinle got off.  Because he was an illegal alien; because she was so obviously a core American; because he murdered her for no real reason other than that she was a core American, and he was not; because his murdering was an inconvenient fact.

Justice was done.  Social justice was done.  He murdered her, but he did not social justice murder her.  So he is guilty, but he is not social justice guilty.  He walks free on all those charges.*

He has more rights in my country than I do. He has more rights in this country than you do.  We would not walk free.  We only have the right to  justice.  He has the right to social justice.

Who, whom.

We are the whom.

That is the definition of social justice.

America’s 200-year vacation from history is over.  It doesn’t matter if you agree or not.  Reality doesn’t need your consent.

Classical liberal regimes die this way.  The Right in Weimar Germany.  Both Right and Left in Republican Spain.  First their wacko fringes kill and go unpunished  Then the killings get organized.  Ultimately they get official.

*But not completely free, because hilariously the California jury couldn’t forgive the ritual impurity of handling a firearm.

I read that rich people are having fun playing survivalist.

And why not?  No harm in it, and just like our years’ supplies, they may do some good during those horrible catastrophes that history tells us are inevitable but that our daily experience conditions us to believe can never be.  There are black swans–course changing events that we could not have predicted–and there are white swans–course changing events that we could have predicted but sure didn’t.

All the same, most plans for real catastrophe are silly.

Like Taleb’s black swan investment strategy they mostly assume the continuity of the government and current Overton windows.

Or else they are fundamentally nihilistic.  Live in a luxury-stocked bunker somewhere eating down your luxuries waiting or hoping that someone else puts civilization back together, comforting yourself until you die.  There is no future in that vision.

The rich guys who buy farm land are at least thinking a little, though not very much at all.

Here is what a rich guy who thought it through would do. (more…)

Anyone else watch Venus and Jupiter in the dawning sky today? It was a good sight as my son drove with me to seminary.

In case you ever wondered what that looks like . . . (more…)

Eleven years ago, we had arranged to spend Labor Day weekend at the beach, an end-of-summer recreation. A tropical storm arrived before we did and summer ended for us a little earlier than we had desired. Six years before that, we finished up three years living in Los Angeles just four miles from beaches that we enjoyed frequently year round. The muting of seasonal cues became stranger to my perception the longer I was there. I would strain to recollect milestones by which I could reckon the current month, much as I usually do to figure out the date of the month when a calendar is not at hand. A neighbor cut down a Norfolk pine, and I obtained a couple feet of the trunk to show the cub scouts its rings. It turned out that it didn’t have any distinct rings. Not even the trees of LA know what season it is. (more…)

After the requisite soul-searching and angst and all that, Nephi cut off Laban’s head, snicker-snack. He probably did not know at the time that he was setting up a type of Christ. (more…)

Four years ago when internet streaming of the general priesthood meeting was announced, I wrote a short post with the title “The Singing Won’t be the Same.” It looks like it wasn’t. The latest turn for that meeting leaves me feeling defeated. Reduce and simplify the demands on members and leaders, because we just aren’t up to gathering twice a year anymore. It’s too much for us and of too little value.

I think authenticity is the modern day version of the Puritan doctrine of election.

Remember that Puritan Calvinists believed that only the elect could be saved and that election was a pure act of will by God.   This meant you could not achieve election by your own efforts.  But it also meant that you could not really know when you were elected.  The resulting anxiety drove a lot of Puritan behavior.

Now, our modern Puritans want to be authentic.  But how to be authentic?  If you are trying to be authentic, you aren’t authentic.

The resulting anxiety drives a lot of their behavior. (more…)

Isaiah 52:7. Explained by Abinadi in Mosiah ch. 15 to the priests of Noah who were too lazy to understand it. Partially repeated in Nahum 1:15. Cited by Jesus in 3rd Nephi 20:40. And Paul in Romans 10:15. Also Doctrine and Covenants 128:19.

Diagramming sentences teaches you a good deal about language.  It also makes you realize some odd things about it that you had taken for granted before.  Grammar is not the Platonic form of language.  What it is is a good tool.

The West doesn’t think much about virtue.  We do have a rich and neglected treasury of practical experience out there, and a decent amount of engineering knowledge, for those who look for it.  We also have thinkers who address first principles and meta-ethical questions.  What is the nature of the good? and so on.  What we don’t have is anything in between.  It is as if the study of biology knew evolution (along side stockbreeders who knew practical things) but had never invented anything like taxonomy.

A while back I accidentally invented a sophisticated tool for investigating virtue.

(more…)

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain woke priest that way; and when he saw the man he returned to Jerusalem and launched a campaign for travel control, so only licensed travelers with adequate provision to defend themselves against robbers would be allowed out on the road. Those he met were impressed with his compassion and wealthy caravanners donated to his campaign. #CareforTravelers

(more…)

Looking back at sunsets on the eastside
We lost track of the time
—“Smile Like You Mean It” from the Killers 2004 Hot Fuss album

The photo above was taken from the east side of the Las Vegas Valley. It was sent yesterday by an LDS missionary of my acquaintance who is serving in my hometown. As Brandon Flowers once told a Times reporter, “Have you been to Los Angeles? Well, our sunsets are better!” The large buildings below the mountain silhouette are hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. (more…)

Early in the spring, former LDS missionary and veteran pitcher Jeremy Guthrie started what would be his only game of the 2017 season. (“So, how was your 38th birthday?”) July 31st he announced his retirement. (link) On August 31st, Brother Guthrie let anyone reading Twitter know: “My next chapter has me teaching early morning seminary class at Sunset High. Please share any ideas you may have from your fav teachers.” Something to think about as the regular season concludes this last weekend of September. Repeating myself from April, “He’s one of us, and it’s on to the next part of his life.”

From the LDS Newsroom:
After receiving media inquiries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided the following statement about the LoveLoud Festival in Orem, Utah, which takes place August 26, 2017:

We applaud the LoveLoud Festival for LGBT youth’s aim to bring people together to address teen safety and to express respect and love for all of God’s children. We join our voice with all who come together to foster a community of inclusion in which no one is mistreated because of who they are or what they believe.

We share common beliefs, among them the pricelessness of our youth and the value of families. We earnestly hope this festival and other related efforts can build respectful communication, better understanding and civility as we all learn from each other.

LoveLoudFest.com

Words of Lemuel Sturdevant Leavitt (1827-1916):

Our crops had been very poor. There was never enough water for each man to irrigate his scanty acres. We not only had our own families to feed, but often the Indians came and demanded bread. One winter was particularly hard. Our crops were more meager than usual and the winter was extra-long and severe. Our bins, as well as those of most of our neighbors, were getting pretty low so it was decided that I should make a trip to Parowan to replenish our supply of flour. At that time it was a hazardous undertaking, for in the winter a trip over the snow covered mountains to the north, with no road to follow, was a real undertaking, however, it was necessary that someone make the trip. (more…)