Catching up

So, another hiatus in posting... no real reason, just...being busy.  And, I am trying to get over a cold, and, of course I am just...lazy?  Alas.  We will now commence with the usual empty promise of more posts!  :P

I wonder -- not sure if you can quantify it -- how much of BoJo's electorate is "Trumpian" and how much is people who are appalled by Corbyn. I am not sure all of it will carry over here -- the left is newer and more energized on this side of the pond -- but I suspect in the UK BoJo, for all his faults, is... well, more comforting...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/an-ode-to-the-video-store-chain-on-the-occasion-of-blockbuster-s-demise?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 I actually think (or thought; how often have I gone to one) that this was one of the best things about the video store...you could (if you were interested) go out and see and learn about films that you would not have experienced otherwise...

https://ahousedividedapd.com/2019/12/05/how-the-decline-of-religious-institutions-fueled-the-rise-of-the-trump-evangleical-coalition/

 Interesting.  I guess I come from the Catholic side of things, where there is Church teaching and actual practice...but I would argue on the Protestant side of things there is a sorting, where people tend to go to churches where what they believe in preached and practiced.  I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing -- as I say at work, no one should be forced to eat at bad restaurants, right?  -- but on the other hand, let the market decide isn't exactly sound theology.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/10/opinion/welfare-state-brezhnev-doctrine/

Funny and true!