“Hope is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul / And sings the tune without the words / And never stops — at all — ”
Friday, March 28, 2025
Haiku Friday: How do you feel about your name?
For most of us, we did not choose our names-- our parents did, and they stuck. I asked my parents once how they came up with "Mark," and they told me they liked the hard consonant letter before "Osler." Which.... I get, but there is not a lot of deep meaning there!
So let's haiku about our names this week! Here, I will go first:
A neighbor told me
"Mark" sounds like a dog talking
Which is kinda true...
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun!
Thursday, March 27, 2025
PMT: Signal App, blah blah blah, HILLARY'S EMAILS!
[So, I asked AI for an image of "Hillary Clinton and her home email server," and it gave me this fascinating depiction. Most intriguing is the third arm, apparently belonging to someone else, helping her out. And, of course, it doesn't look much like Hillary Clinton. I do like the shirt, though.]
As most people know by now, the nation's leaders (except, oddly, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) used a group chat on Signal to discuss a then-occurring military operation against Houthis in Yemen. Here is a sample:
Look, the operations of government don't always handle sensitive data well. When I was at DOJ, I received a Top Secret clearance-- and they mis-spelled my name on the letter informing me of this.
However, this was apparently a very serious breach. I kind of understand how they got there-- this is a bunch of people new to government at this level, and in their previous jobs at Fox News, venture capital, etc., the way you kept things from becoming discoverable in later lawsuits is to use signal, which erases after a period. It is designed to allow discussions without subjecting those discussions to becoming known when someone is sued.
Which, of course, isn't great on its own.
But the need to protect war secrets is different-- the point is not to avoid discovery in future civil suits; It's to make sure enemies don't get the information in real time. That means a different kind of protection, which the government has developed over time.
But these are people more worried about future lawsuits and civil (or criminal) discovery than they are about the Russians.
To put it in a nutshell, using Signal protects them. Traditional data security protects us.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
With Hope
Anne Lamott has a piece in The Washington Post that I very much identify with. The essence of it is that even with all that is happening, that has happened, she still has a strong sense of hope. She says this, after quoting Emily Dickinson:
Really? High, piping birdsong that never stops?
This is very nice, but in the past four months, few of us have heard chirps and whistles. With the theological understanding of a bright third-grader, I am probably the most hopeful among my friends, with a cranky optimism and decades of teaching Sunday school under my belt. Still no birdsong, no trill of the dark-eyed junco, no chirp of the backyard sparrow. Instead, nearly every day I have felt tapped lightly, as if by an arm of the pygmy octopus, which weighs about an ounce, like a cherry plum. Tap, tap.
I feel that tap, tap, too. And then she concludes with this:
Something’s happening here, and I wish it would speed the hell up. Our role will be to spill peacefully out into the streets, when we get our marching orders. It is still cold and will be for a while, and we’ll need the warmth of heaters and fires for a while, the light of the little sunrises and sunsets we create in the fireplace, but I tell you, something is rising, unscripted, elemental, incremental. It always does, right about now, like clockwork.
Don't you just love good writing? It may be the thing that saves us.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
So much going on!
This past Sunday, the "family panel" at my dad's show was a great time-- my family is pretty good at stuff like that, it turns out. I loved seeing people appreciate my dad's work, and hearing their stories about him.
And the excitement continues-- on Thursday this week, I'll be at William & Mary to talk to some classes and for the showing of "Unlikely Allies," an excellent documentary that tells the remarkable story of Weldon Angelos, the history of the First Step Act, and is also the only movie that features both me and Snoop Dogg. Details here!
Monday, March 24, 2025
Working
Great haiku about work this week, from people we are well familiar with here at the Razor-- and, oddly, all four are from Virginia (3) or North Carolina (1).
First, it is always great to hear from CraigA, and I get to see him this week!:
Retired: glad to be.
Yet, loved my life’s profession:
Good, meaningful work.
Yet, loved my life’s profession:
Good, meaningful work.
IPLawGuy made up a new word, and I love it:
Researching, Writing!
Adminstrivia, though
How do I avoid?
Adminstrivia, though
How do I avoid?
Des is kind of a hero, right?:
Convincing the old
Salts to protect Right Whales. Tough,
but so rewarding.
Salts to protect Right Whales. Tough,
but so rewarding.
And Christine does what she loves:
The soil calls me
Raking, mulching and planting
Bird chorus surrounds
Raking, mulching and planting
Bird chorus surrounds
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Christianity and Politics Today
A lot of commentary has taken on the idea of "Christian Nationalism," which conflates Christianity with MAGA-style American nationalism. It exists, and it's abhorrent to many Christians who see it (as I do) as antithetical to much of which Christ actually taught.
I'm not going to repeat those arguments here. But I do have another points to make.
The deeper (and related) threat to Christianity may be the failure of Christians to take up a leadership role in combatting decaying moral and democratic norms under the Trump administration. For much of American history-- abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights movement-- faith leaders expressed righteous moral judgment on a government that failed to live up to the ideals of faith and the Constitution, both of which focus on sacrifice to a greater good, the value of human dignity, and a genuine concern for the least of those among us. Now, the closest, fleeting moment we have had of that was the brief encounter between Bishop Mariann Budde and President Trump at the National Cathedral. That moment came and went-- there is no movement behind it, no groundswell from those who share her faith.
Christ condemned cruelty and arrogance over and over, while preaching the importance of supporting those with the least. It is the right platform for a moral challenge to this administration, but no one seems to be carrying that flag.
One underlying issue may be similar to what we have seen with both Columbia University and the Paul Weiss law firm. In both instances, they cowered and caved before Trump's threats and compromised their principles because their finances were threatened. Churches have done this for a long time-- the Ministers avoid controversy (and thus avoid clear moral statement on the issues of the day) because they fear the reaction of their richest members. Sermons at those churches are about as compelling as a pageant contestant's answers to questions, as broad platitudes take the place of true moral challenge to the problems of the world.
Perhaps this will change. Perhaps a champion will rise and carry the true cross.
Or perhaps the church has become marked with a timidity never borne by Christ.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
March Madness!
Friday, March 21, 2025
Haiku Friday: Work
It defines so much of our life, yet we haiku so rarely about it-- work. I love my vocation and what I get to do, but I realize I am lucky that way. So let's haiku about jobs this week: the one you have or the one you had or even the one you dream of. Here, I will go first:
Happy vocation:
85 youthful faces
Look at me, ready.
Now it is your turn. Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun!
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Hockey Mayhem Thursday
Yes, it's that time again-- announcing the 2025 Minnesota High School Hockey Hair Team!
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
No monarchs, please
As you know, I hate monarchies. I'm appalled at the way some Americans slobber all over the British monarchs, a strikingly unaccomplished family that still pretty much gets everything for free.
We are a people formed out of rejecting monarchy-- specifically, the British monarchy-- and yet we somehow seem to be slipping back towards it as norms of democracy are challenged and our leaders are chosen more on vibes and how we think he (and we are talking about males here) kind of is rather than what he actually does.
I worry that our new international friends, like the Russians and the Saudis, are not democracies. It's not a good trend....
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
March Madness is Here!
[I asked AI for a picture of "Wallace Shawn playing basketball," and this is what I got. And, really, there is so much to love: the basketball awkwardly attached to his chest, the basketball net that is floating in mid-air behind him, the odd group of teenagers at the edge of the court, watching. Seriously, though-- we really think we are ready to trust AI with important tasks? Yikes!]
I love March Madness, and I've already completed my bracket. Many of my favorite teams (Michigan, Yale, Wisconsin, Baylor) are in the tournament, though I did not pick any of them to win it all.
Like a lot of people, I find the early games more exciting that the actual Final Four, which (with some notable exceptions) usually involves the same old same old. This year, though, Duke is fun to watch and the favorite to win in some people's minds is Auburn, a team that has its moments but is rarely in this lofty position.
First round upsets? Well, keep your eye on Drake....
Monday, March 17, 2025
On Sculpture
There were some wonderful poems on sculpture-- how lucky am I? We had this one from IPLawGuy (about a trip we made to West Texas):
Big Field in Alpine
Full of Metal Gates and doors
To where do they lead?
Full of Metal Gates and doors
To where do they lead?
And one from Des (and I kinda wanna see this sculpture):
Giant colorful
roadrunner looks down on me.
I lunch in his shade.
roadrunner looks down on me.
I lunch in his shade.
And another from IPLawGuy:
Round metal helix?
W&M Swem field
It is Oliver.
W&M Swem field
It is Oliver.
And from Christine:
Oxford England
Dogs and Scholars grace the tops
of campus buildings.
Dogs and Scholars grace the tops
of campus buildings.
And from IPLawGuy, who was kind of in the zone:
Sculptures make you think
Memorialize or praise
Or perhaps question.
Memorialize or praise
Or perhaps question.
And from anonymous (describing another one I want to see):
Only a metal
Door,they enter,unaware—
There is no airplane.
Door,they enter,unaware—
There is no airplane.
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Weightless
This week, IPLawGuy and I went on our annual ski trip-- this year to Crested Butte, Colorado. It was phenomenal: great weather, great conditions, great friend to do it with.
There is this moment when skiing that I really love. Sometimes, if you are at speed and cutting over a ridge, you have this moment where you are a little bit in the air or barely touching the Earth. It is like being weightless for a moment, totally free.
Of course the ground comes to meet you as gravity does its work after a few glorious moments. But they really are glorious moments, and I have this genuine joy in it.
I don't pretend to know why that is, but it is, and I am grateful.
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Not so long ago
Friday, March 14, 2025
Haiku Friday: Sculptures we remember
Sculpture is everywhere if we look for it, especially in cities. I know you have a favorite (or one you deplore). Let's haiku about that this week! Mine is particular to where I am from:
In cold winter wind
A giant fist moves a little
I watch, boy transfixed.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, March 13, 2025
PMT: What's up with the arts?
I asked AI for an image of "Trump looking at a painting," and it gave me this. Why is it a painting of himself? Why does he have three arms? And why is them holding a tiny gun (pointed at the painting)? I don't know the answers.
But it is clear that the Trump administration is moving into the arts with vigor. Donald Trump himself took over the chairmanship of the Kennedy Center, and filled the board with his friends. And now Shelly Lowe, the head of the National Endowment for the Humanities has been pushed out, and slashed the workforce charged with maintaining art owned by the government.
As with so much going on right now, the question has to be "what is the goal here?" People are assuming it is to turn the arts more toward what Trump prefers (or thinks people who support him prefer). I'm not sure, if true, that is the whole of it... but only time will tell.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Still true...
When I'm teaching class, once in a while a student will bring up an idea for something that could be done in criminal law. Often, what they are suggesting has been tried before, and I talk about it. That known experience can be positive (day fines in Europe, for example, where fines are adjusted for income even for things like speeding tickets-- a good idea that was effective, and should be replicated here), or negative (broad mandatory minimum sentences that rarely work as intended).
My students usually get it-- they understand that history offers actual lessons that can help us avoid replicating disasters. I like that about my students.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Remembering Martin Marty
Theologian Martin Marty died at age 97 at the end of February after a career that influenced more people than he could ever know, including me. He studied and wrote about what he called "public theology," which focuses on the intersection of culture and religion-- something very important to study at a time of rising fundamentalism. And it is that rise of fundamentalism that he addressed for years, not only in Christianity but in other faiths. What he wanted, hoped for, taught, was that culture and faith could work in the same direction for the common good.
His career was varied: he taught at the University of Chicago, served as a Lutheran minister, and edited Christian Century magazine, just to name a bit of it all (which even included a stint as the interim president at St. Olaf College in Minnesota). He won the national book award in 1972 for Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America.
My friend Bob Darden told me about an interview Marty gave to the Wittenberg Door magazine-- like most people who are smart and engaged, he was also funny.
His students were lucky; I wish that I had been among them.
Monday, March 10, 2025
River poems
Great turnout this week! I loved this one from Jill Scoggins:
Lazy Calcasieu
Meanders from our camp house
We beach its sand bars
Curving, twisting turns
Flat water from Kinder to
Lake Charles and beyond
Trees overhang with
Spanish moss. The woods beyond
Dark, mysterious
In dreams, seen again
River memories that are
as real as today.
And there were two about the Mighty Mississippi (into which Minnehaha Creek, pictured above, flows), including IPLawGuy's:
Rocky River? Mom Scoffs
Her river: Mississippi
I saw. Understood.
And Tim:
Let the river flow
Especially The Ole Miss
Mighty powerful.
CraigA is so right about the James:
Paddling the James:
flowing heart of Virginia,
a vital resource.
And Christine knows hers:
A dry creek bed
Traces through our property
Awakens with rain.
Des wrote about some great art:
The Boss sung us songs
of quiet desperation.
The River still flows.
And Anonymous takes us to the Sugar:
Behind her house
The Sugar River meandered
Magnifying Earth.
Sunday, March 09, 2025
Sunday Reflection: The Devil appears
We find this in Luke 4:
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
There is so much going on here! A love of it, too, pulls against my own theology. I've always wondered about the "Devil" part-- and I have a LOT of questions:
-- First, that the devil just shows up, personified. It's so specific, too!
-- Second, that the devil has dominion over all of the kingdoms of the people. What?!? That's the starting point?
-- Third, the request to turn stone into bread seems odd. At any rate, Jesus had already turned water into wine, so it seems like he could have done this, too. And then the answer ("Man cannot live by bread alone") is kind of baffling, since even if men need more than bread, that doesn't mean Jesus can't do this miracle.
In the end, I've always taken this as a way to deal with a certain kind of bully, who wants you to do specific things. Jesus pretty much just ignores him, and refuses to do the tricks he requests. It's not a bad take.
