Privilege is seeing yourself as independently good and not seeing that your goodness is built on the goodness of others.
“If we truly understand that the Church went off the rails by aligning herself with Constantine, then it shouldn’t be too hard to see that anyone who maintains political entanglements is still emulating that same Constantinian form of Church.”
Keith Giles , Greg Boyd (Foreword), Jesus Untangled Resurfaced with readwise.io
Religion is the most powerful force, as in “powers and principalities,” in the world. It’s why so much is written in the Old Testament about idolatry. Yahweh doesn’t “feel” the human emotion of jealousy that we humans think is why idolatry is offensive, but love naturally knows it needs to be free and that idolatry is true enslavement.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution may be one of the most enlightened of the writings that were a result of The Enlightenment because James Madison and the Founders understood how Power uses religion to enslave and thus increase power. This recognition might be the heart of the freedom our country was founded upon, but it is no longer taught as such because Power has appropriated it into the modern understanding as only freedom of religion and not also preventing government from using religion.
It is easy to say the Duo is a smartphone but when you look at how Microsoft is promoting the hardware, to me, this is device reminds me more of the PDAs of the early 2000s than of the smartphones of the 2020 era.
Brad Sams' review of the Microsoft Duo is the first I’ve seen that calls it a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), which I suspect is a better categorization than smartphone or tablet. The problem again comes back to price, it’s just way too expensive and doesn’t not provide enough for that expensive beyond being a niche product. My hope is that Microsoft and Google don’t give up on it too soon and find a way to get the price down.
Based on my read of a few of the Microsoft Duo reviews, which are negative, I see that they are written in the context of the device’s $1400 price. Compare reviews of the Google Pixel 4a and the Microsoft Duo, in some ways they are the same, but because the 4a only costs $350 the issues are understandable or overlooked. Devices priced at $1k or higher need to be perfect; the Duo appears to be a beta, akin to Google Glass.
Introducing the Surface Duo for Business – Do One Better – Microsoft Surface
Got my first ad for the Microsoft Duo and note they emphasized it for business use, which makes sense.
I believe the main message our brains ought to receive in how we see the pandemic treated in the United States and how we see the contempt of life of those other than me is that the sin we are trapped in is the egoistic obsession with wealth. For example, have you stopped to consider why the checks the government gave at earlier this year were called “stimulus checks”?
Woodward’s book confirms what we always knew. While I think Woodward withheld what he learned earlier in the year for the sake of book sales, I am not convinced that reporting what he had or even playing the tapes would have made any difference. Republican Senators had plenty of evidence to find Trump guilty and ignored that for sake of party, THEY are the ones most at fault for the loss of lives and we ought not forget it. At this point the only remedy is to vote Trump out of office.
Like last year, Google has released a new version of Android the day after Labor Day. The Android 11 update is installing on my Pixel 4a right now.
Candy maker announces plan to fulfill desire to be Willy Wonka. Look for the golden dog tag, but really, no Oompa Loompas?
It’s mind boggling to me that people don’t accept that COVID-19 and colleges are a toxic combination. No college is dry and you can’t drink and wear a mask. And the real problem is that people don’t want to accept the fact that the consequences are unknown. It’s like when everyone knew smoking caused lung cancer and yet nobody seemed to want to accept that fact until years later.
“As a businessman, he played with other people’s money. As a politician, the stakes have been other people’s lives.”
David Frum, I Crossed Back Into a State of Denial
Based on what I read, I see two things about COVID-19. For older people, particularly those in poor health, it has a high risk for death. For everyone else there is a risk of long term, chronic, illness.
The most universal answer must begin with the observation that death is not a synonym for risk.
Let’s play two! The Cubs have a COVID-19 double header today with the Cardinals in Wrigley. Rookie pitcher going in the first game.
About last night
A team of scientists hunting dark matter has recorded suspicious pings coming from a vat of liquid xenon underneath a mountain in Italy. They are not claiming to have discovered dark matter — or anything, for that matter — yet.
Last year, on this date, Google released Android 10. If they follow the same schedule, that might mean Android 11 will be released next week, after Labor Day. I’ve also read reports that the Pixe 5 and Pixel 4a 5G will release on September 30 and it would make sense to me they launch with Android 11.
“Joy,” as the Archbishop said during the week, “is much bigger than happiness. While happiness is often seen as being dependent on external circumstances, joy is not.”
Desmond Tutu The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Last year at this time the Chicago Cubs had no batter hitting .300 or higher, this year they have one, with another hitting .299. Slight improvement, but no real change and not surprising given the line up is the same. The problem stands, the Cubs have a lineup of sluggers not hitters and that will not get it done in the playoffs.