Some News (Not Trump)

Events can happen in bunches. 

And, this is not just a matter of it being the end of the SCOTUS term, resulting in a lot of decisions, and more content here about them. No. We have a range of things happening, including Pat Robertson (another "that person is still alive?" candidate; oh James Watt also died).

James Watt was a Scottish inventor.  But, we aren't talking about him.  This guy was a horrible Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan Administration.  His evangelical Christian views were flagged by Bart Ehrman in his recent book at the end of the world (or one version of it) and how this can affect political views.  Of course, this is more apparent with Pat Robertson.  A reminder that there are other views by religious believers.

Somehow related to this overall conversation are the Canadian wildfires going on now.  They were so bad that the smoke migrated down to New York City (pretty nasty on Wednesday, could even smell it) and D.C.  Local baseball was postponed for a least a day.  The first Yankee game was played in bad conditions.  Luckily, it was decent on Thursday (in NYC) though not sure if they should have played two games.  The Mets were on the road.

A person involved with the Stephanie Miller Show (out of California) was annoyed that what he deemed unbalanced coverage on the east coast was compared to when there were California wildfires.  I don't know enough to judge this completely.  But, the level of smoke was novel; it was "news." A NYT article also noted it was historically bad even comparable to those wildfires.  And, when something affects the nation's capital, yes, you know. 

Again, the Mets are on the road, playing the Braves (First Place NL East) and Pirates (somewhat mediocre, but showing signs, fighting for a wild card and/or spot at the top of a struggling division, the Cardinals having a bad year, and the Brewers about as mediocre).  They are in the midst of a six-game losing streak.  They lost 13-10 last night.  Okay.  

It's in the mix. Anyway, they are still only a few games out of the wild card, now with three spots. Focus on .500 and the wild card.  They have issues now, but the young bats are showing some life.  It is quite easy to see them snapping out of it enough to get to the playoffs as a wild card. And, once there, think of Phillies '22.  

There is Trump stuff but I'll do that separately. I'm likely missing something here.  Let's not forget other ongoing stuff, including the Santos prosecution (the latest bit involving who paid his bail). 

ETA: And, now the Unabomber is dead.  No big mystery since he was over 80 now.  He died in prison while various others were executed. I'm for consistency on the side of life.  

Actually, it turns out he committed suicide, which is how numerous people die in prison.  He was over 80, had health problems, and apparently decided (like a range of people outside prison walls) that it was time to go.  

(The article discusses the problems of suicide taking place in prisons, but this isn't exactly Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself shortly after being confined.  He died after years in confinement.  I don't know how much we really should feel that terrible about the whole thing.) 

The connection to other news is that Merrick Garland was involved in his prosecution. We also have this:

In 2017, the deputy editor of the conservative publication First Things, Elliot Milco, credited Mr. Kaczynski with “astute (even prophetic) insights.” In 2021, during an interview with the politician Andrew Yang, Tucker Carlson cited Mr. Kaczynski’s thinking in detail without any prompting.

The glorification of the leadership of Viktor Orbán is one thing.  This is a bit much. But, we are talking about unhealthy souls.