Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
12.01.2026 00:35
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Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
What's the scarier prospect?
That chatbots are analyzing people's data? Or that this practice is seen as unremarkable?
www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/when-co...
TEXT: "And then this: do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. And there too a great deal has to be gone through, as gradually you struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. The range tends to narrow down, but it gets much more real. In the end, as you yourself mention in passing, it is the reality of personal relationships that saves everything."
Over the years, many people have encountered Merton’s letter but usually without the context for how it came to be. I wanted to share both today.
The part of the letter that is often quoted is this:
Jim Forest sent a letter to Thomas Merton in 1966. He did not know Merton but Merton wrote back to him what has become known “Letter to a young activist.” jimandnancyforest.com/2014/10/mert...
IES is the federal agency with the second largest reduction in staff this year, narrowly behind USAID
This song has been rolling through my head since Wednesday.
Know Your Rights, The Clash
youtu.be/7yeZrctpAGc?...
Front pages of American newspapers after Jan. 6, 2021, with headlines like "Capitol Chaos," "Assault on Democracy," "Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol."
Five years ago.
Thank you, Merriam-Webster. You knew just what I needed.
Hopeful.
“Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans rely on voting by mail. This new law is going to be especially hard on seniors, Ohioans with disabilities, rural Ohioans and students. Voters should not be punished because of slow mail delivery days.”
-Jen Miller, @lwvohio.bsky.social
www.vindy.com/opinion/davi...
Thursday?
A black cat curled up in a ball on a fluffy blanket. My feet are under the blanket next to her.
I am home sick in bed for NYE, but I have a sweet little fur ball keeping my feet warm. So long, 2025.
When I was little, the U.S. military came to our home at gunpoint and took me and my family away. We were imprisoned for years in barbed wire camps simply because we were Japanese American. I have spent my life telling that story, hoping it would never be repeated.
Hey so this seems like something more people should be talking about 🤔 🗳️
www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...
Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation to eliminate the four-day grace period for mailed absentee ballots.
A poster depicting Mary holding Baby Jesus as she rides a donkey. Behind them, on foot, Joseph looks back, perhaps to see if they are being followed. You will find story of The Flight Into Egypt in the Gospel according to Matthew 2:13-15: ‘After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”’ ~ New Living Translation From the website Facing History & Ourselves: “In 1939, 83% of Americans were opposed to the admission of refugees. In the midst of the Great Depression, many feared the burden that immigrants could place on the nation’s economy… While economic concerns certainly played a role in Americans’ attitudes toward immigration, so too did feelings of fear, mistrust, and even hatred of those who were different. Immigration policies were shaped by fears of communist infiltrators and Nazi spies. Antisemitism also played an important role in public opinion.”
This poster, 1938, was printed by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio to encourage Americans to welcome Jewish refugees from Germany & Austria. More info in ALT. I couldn’t track down the name of the artist. #arthistory #illustration #immigration #immigrants #Refugees
Were Jesus, Mary and Joseph refugees?
In today’s Feast of the Holy Family, we read of Jesus, Mary and Joseph fleeing the murderous designs of an evil king and journeying to Egypt, a traditional refugee for Jewish people of the time, as Joan Taylor points out in her book “Boy Jesus.”
Happy 91st to Columbus’ king of the late night airwaves, Frederick Peerenboom aka Fritz the Nite Owl!!
unironically a good idea
A very regal black cat sitting on a white crocheted pouch in front of a decorated Christmas tree
Merry Christmas to all!
Bill eliminates grace period for mailed-in ballots in Ohio
“It simply erects more barriers to voting and punishes hard working Ohio tax paying citizens for something out of control, the speed of the mail service.”
-Jen Miller, @lwvohio.bsky.social
bgindependentmedia.org/bill-elimina...
This brings back childhood memories of Christmas Eves spent trying to fall asleep on a aluminum and nylon camp cot (so cold) as my bed was reserved for my one of my 2 great aunts who stayed over every year.
#DuvetKnowItsChristmas
A notice posted at an entrance to the Banadir Mall warns that ICE agents may not enter without a judicial warrant. Sam Gulid, an American citizen from Somalia, said he had to reassure his third-grade son, who did not want to go to school because he was afraid of immigration agents.
ICE Sweeps Into Ohio, Stirring Fear Among Somalis and Other Immigrants www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
ah yes a true holiday classic
Catholic Bishops is Florida want a holiday moratorium on immigration enforcement so people can go to church and celebrate Christmas and New Years.
Canada doing Radio Free Europe for Americans
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
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If I hired a research assistant who made up multiple papers that didn’t exist, and when I asked why he said “Well I’m hallucinating 30-40% of the time”, that guy would be fired, and I’d have a talk with his advisor, and it would be my go-to anecdote at every conference for the next few decades
Cover of the program to BalletMet's Nutcracker at the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio. The cover illustration is a photo of the dancers performing the Snow Waltz.
Photo of the curtain and very ornate decoration of the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio before a performance of the Nutcracker ballet. A large Christmas wreath is projected onto the curtain.
My official holiday season kickoff with BalletMet's performance of The Nutcracker in the historic Ohio Theater.
