Irving Kristol RIP

by Erik Kain · September 18, 2009

Erik Kain

Erik writes about video games at Forbes and politics at Mother Jones. He's the contributor of The League though he hasn't written much here lately. He can be found occasionally composing 140 character cultural analysis on Twitter.

Ten Second News

Boris Johnson announces that the Withdrawal Agreement has received Royal Assent

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Boris Johnson announces that the Withdrawal Agreement has received Royal Assent

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From Twitter:

The Withdrawal Agreement has received Royal Assent and is now law. We will leave the EU on January 31st 🇬🇧
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 23, 2020

(Featured image is "UnionJack" by www.rubenholthuijsen.nl. Used under creative commons license.)

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Grist for the Moral Mill

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Grist for the Moral Mill

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From here (courtesy of Hanley):

Rather, I want to explore two ideas that are ubiquitous among the morally (self) righteous, of whatever stripe, and which may somewhat explain why they behave so awfully so often.
The first is that the rightness of one’s cause justifies and even ennobles terrible behavior on one’s own part.
...
The second – and it is intimately related to and entwined with the first – is that those whom the (self) righteous believe are Bad People deserve neither quarter nor pity. The idea isn’t just that The Bad deserve what they get, a kind of melancholic observation of what comes of bad Karma, but that we should put the boot in (especially when they are down) and should be brutal in doing it…and pitiless afterwards.

Extending grace only to those you like is not how grace works.

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From the Daily Mail: Mexico and Colombia may have their first coronavirus cases

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From the Daily Mail: Mexico and Colombia may have their first coronavirus cases

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From the Daily Mail:

Mexico and Colombia may have their first coronavirus cases as the contagious illness that has killed 17 spreads from China to at least 531 people around the world

Mexican and Colombian officials are investigating their countriess first possible case of the new coronavirus
In Mexico, the patients is on the northern border state of Tamaulipa, which borders Texas
The Colombian case concerns a 19-year-old Chinese citizen, who traveled to Bogotá from Turkey
As of Wednesday, 531 worldwide have caught the viral illness and 17 have died
Cases have been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US, which reported its first patient, a man in his 30s in Washington state, on Tuesday
One person in Australia is reportedly in isolation and may have the virus

(Featured image is coronavirus, from the Science Photo Library.)

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Terry Jones, Founding Monty Python Member, Passes at Age 77

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Terry Jones, Founding Monty Python Member, Passes at Age 77

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From the BBC:

Monty Python star Terry Jones has died at the age of 77, four years after being diagnosed with dementia.
A statement from his family said: "We have all lost a kind, funny, warm, creative and truly loving man."

(Featured image is Terry Jones, taken by Myung Jung Kim/PA Wire URN:49759970 (Press Association via AP Images)).

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Impeachement Day 2: Now That The Rules Are Settled

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Impeachement Day 2: Now That The Rules Are Settled

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Day one done, day two kicks off at 1PM EST. Let's Talk about it..

Senators voted 53-47, approving a set of procedures for the impeachment trial put forward by the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, all amendments introduced by Democrats were rejected https://t.co/o8eFFt2exh pic.twitter.com/6xSb0A8TNL
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2020

CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News:

With a marathon day of debate on the rules of President Trump's impeachment trial now behind them, the Senate will gather at 1 p.m. Wednesday to hear opening arguments from the House's impeachment managers.
The Senate approved the parameters for the impeachment trial in the early morning hours Wednesday after Democrats were roundly rejected in their efforts to subpoena witnesses and documents before opening arguments are finished.
Increasingly restless senators sat silently over the 13-hour session as House impeachment managers and White House lawyers debated 11 amendments to the resolution introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell setting the rules for the trial, all of which failed, and all but one in party-line votes. McConnell's resolution was adopted in another party-line vote of 53-47.
A particularly bitter exchange in the early morning hours prompted a stern rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial.

WATCH: Chief Justice John Roberts admonishes House impeachment managers and president's counsel for “speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse.”
“I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are” https://t.co/TVuArFZFGD pic.twitter.com/smOHfyqufd
— ABC News (@ABC) January 22, 2020

Live feed can be found here.

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