Rolling Through The Blogs
Finished reading: The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr 📚 Trinity matters to the extent that our understand of God matters, which does matter because we become the God that we worship.
What we are seeing played out between Israel and Iran and between Israel and Hammas is retribution. Violence begetting more violence. Empire convinces us this is the norm of civilization and there is no hope for change. Empire is also an idol.
Today I start lap 59 around the sun. Unlike the last two years, there is no snow. Morning sunshine gave way to clouds in the afternoon. My bride and I had a late lunch at Ford Garage.
From Buildings To Floors
I’ve added a blogroll to my Daynotes blog to checkout how it works. I think I prefer the blogroll to be a tab on that site rather than a block on the right of the page because it looks out of place and doesn’t render well on the iPad Mini.
The weather today felt more like mid July rather than mid April, with temperature approaching 80 degrees. I very much enjoyed my walk tonight.
Finished reading: The Trouble with Resurrection by Bernard Brandon Scott 📚
First flowering tree to bloom this year, as always.
I watched an introduction to AI video yesterday in which the presenter went to great lengths to try and convince me that AI is really ok and we really don’t have anything to worry about. The problem I have with AI is that I have lived through the birth and growth of the Internet and through that I’ve learned that software is just an amplification of humanity. As long as there are humans who see other humans as nothing more than a means to the ends of their wealth we have much to fear about any software that amplifies human failings.
This is what 99% of a solar eclipse looks like. Still plenty of light.
Right now it is a normal, sunny Monday morning.
Good morning Cubs fans! Welcome to Eclipse day. Our Cubbies have played three series and won two of them. We could have won all three of them if you consider how well Justin Steele was pitching before his injury in Texas. So far the lineup as produced runs and the starting pitching has been pretty good. My only disappointment yesterday is that the rain disrupted Imanga’s start against the Dodgers, which I was looking forward to seeing. Hopefully they continue to play well during the road trip this week along the west coast.
The flowering tree in our neighborhood that always blooms first has blossoms.
I just checked and discovered that circle to search is on my Pixel 7A. I don’t know why I didn’t get some form of a notification from Google that this software is on my phone given that it’s a new Pixel feature. Not sure how much I’m going to use it, but it’s nice to see current features being updated on my phone.
We Need An Emoluments Amendment
How much of the lack of trust in Biden and Trump is due to money? What about politicians in general? Of news organizations? Of the medical industry? Of regulators? What is the consequence of this lack of trust?
Today is the Chicago Cub’s home opener after they completed the first series of the season with one again and two loses against the Texas Rangers. Texas is the defending World Series champion and therefore is one of best teams, so not getting swept is a bonus. In fact, the Cubs came within inches of maybe winning the first game in the tenth inning when a foul ball hit by Christopher Morel just missed being a grand slam. Steele was keeping the Rangers lineup in check before he pulled a hamstring fielding a swinging bunt. Despite this, my reaction after one series is that the current Cubs lineup seems no better than last year’s, with the same unreliable hitting, amplified by bad fielding.
Pugnosticating The 2024 Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have completed the 2024 Cactus League spring training “season” and will start the 2024 MLB season tomorrow at the Texas Rangers. As many questions exist about the 2024 team as did for the 2023 team, so it is hard for me to expect them to be too much better than last year. Will Greg Counsell as the new manager make a difference? Perhaps that is the main question going in to this season.
One cannot read much into what happens at spring training, although I attended spring training games in 2016, which is when the Cubs won the World Series, and have not attended a spring training game since nor have the Cubs returned to the World Series. Read in to that what you will.
If you are watching the NCAA men’s or women’s basketball tournament and think to yourself, “that’s a nice basketball court,” know that what you are seeing was manufactured in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is my homeland!