“The First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses seem clear. They guarantee the free exercise of religion while prohibiting the state from endorsing a particular religion. In the words of the Late Antonin Scalia, ‘The state may not discriminate among religions, and a favor available to one must be made available to all.’ Yet some of the Christian Nationalist crowd is shifting away from this widely accepted interpretation. … As new excuses beyond plain bigotry must be found to disparage and marginalize Muslims, Hindus, and other non-Christians, Christian Nationalists have attached themselves to a reactionary view of our founding. They’ve convinced themselves that if a view sounds archaic enough, they can spin it and say the Founders must have believed it.” (11/08/26)
“Paris is burning again but this time the fire is spreading and it’s spreading fast. What ostensibly began as the latest upheaval in a long, proud tradition of Parisian student uprisings has exploded into a human inferno scorching every corner of the European map. … While America keeps its subjects busy with make-believe democracy at the ballot box, the kids in Europe are fucking around with the real thing in the streets and I can’t be the only stateside anarchist who wants a taste of the uncut stuff.” (11/08/26)
“Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested a new passport and identity card to allow her to return from self-imposed exile in India. The request is the clearest sign that Hasina, who has been living in India for two years, plans to make good on her promise that she would return to Bangladesh in December. Hasina told the Reuters news agency that she intended to surrender before a court in Bangladesh, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced once various formalities were completed. Bangladesh’s war crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last November for ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests that swept the country in 2024. … Last week, Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh wants Hasina returned under an extradition treaty with India. New Delhi has declined to hand her over.” (11/09/26)
“Baseball is my favorite game because of the lessons it teaches. First, it’s a team game that individuals play: your at-bats and fielding are yours and yours alone, but they are put to work in the service of your team. Second, and most importantly, it is a game of individual and team failure: you are out more often than you are on base, a team winning percentage of .550 – .600 — just more than half of your games played — is a championship-caliber team, and each attempt is isolated. It is recorded. There is nowhere to hide the miss. The game forces you to live with failure as a normal outcome. Maybe as a result, a wide range of superstitions and rituals developed and many have been passed down through the generations.” (11/08/26)
THANK YOU to subscribing contributors ACS and ERW, and to long-time supporter KL — the $110.50 they sent us over the weekend brings our annual fundraiser total (as of 5am) to $1,262!
As a fundraiser goes on, it sometimes feels like every day is “find a new hook to reel them in” day. Which can be annoying, I know, but until we hit $5,503 ($2,751.50 from all but one of our readers, and “matching funds” from supporter GL), I have to keep it up. Today’s hook:
Tomorrow is my 60th birthday (or would be if I still admitted to HAVING birthdays). In “celebration,” I hope to raise at least $60 more for RRND/FND by then. If the occasion moves you to donate $60, or any part thereof, to our fundraiser, I’ll be duly grateful.
“China will suspend an additional 24% tariff on [Chinese buyers of] US goods for another two months, formalizing a decision by the two countries’ leaders to prolong their trade truce until next January. The move will take effect at 1:01 p.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, with a 10% blanket tariff retained on [Chinese buyers of] US imports, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said in a statement. China will also extend its suspension of special fees on American ships docking at its ports until Jan. 10, the Transport Ministry said in a separate statement on Monday.” (11/09/26)
“In 1954, Congress replaced the traditional ‘Armistice Day’ observance with a celebratory ‘Veterans Day.’ Instead of mourning war, we now celebrate warriors. Parades. Air shows. Political speeches. Free meals, drinks, haircuts, etc. for veterans. A lot of ‘thank you for your service’ to everyone identifiable as a veteran of the US armed forces; quite a bit of mutual back-slapping among those of us who ‘served.’ To me, the best way to celebrate veterans would be stop making so many of us — especially, but not only, of the dead, maimed, traumatized, and homeless varieties.” (11/08/26)
