Eric Orlin

Messina

The Romans had some of this too: the pontiff had to touch the doorpost of the building he was consecrating. For more, see Bianka Misic's edited collection on senses, cognition, and ritual in the Roman world.

I've been thinking about the Rangers' decision to display One Riot, One Ranger, and what it says about who this team is for. So I wrote about that. It's a big ol' bummer.

www.dmagazine.com/sports/2026/...

It has a bit of the feel of Gospel writers absolving Pontius Pilate of blame for the death of Jesus in order to blame the Jews, when the Romans absolutely had decision-making authority and putting Jesus to death was fully in keeping with Roman practice.

Multiple news stories criticizing the Texas Rangers for putting up that statue of the segregationist

You love to see it. I know the Rangers and @mlb.com don't give a shit and are happy to honor racism, but you love to see it called out at least.

That statue, which was cast back in 1961, was modeled on 1950s Texas Rangers – as in the law enforcement Texas Rangers – Captain Jay Banks. Since it's unveiling 65 years ago it has spent most of its life at Love Field in Dallas. But then in 2020 it was removed and placed in storage. Why? Because Captain Jay Banks was a racist cop who made it his mission to stop schools from integrating. This is an excerpt from the 2020 book, Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers by Doug Swanson, which describes' Banks' role in efforts to keep schools in Texas racially segregated in defiance of the United States Supreme Court's 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education: Then there is the form and face of the statue itself. This dates to 1956, when the NAACP, backed with a court order, attempted to integrate the high school in Mansfield, about 30 miles southwest of Dallas. White residents erupted in fury, so Gov. Allan Shivers dispatched the Rangers. But unlike state police in other Southern racial hotspots, the Rangers in Mansfield did not escort black students past howling mobs of white supremacists. They had been sent instead to keep the black children out of a white school.

The commanding Ranger on the scene was Sgt. E.J. “Jay” Banks. A wire service photo showed him casually leaning against a tree outside Mansfield High. To his left, above the school’s entrance, was a dummy in blackface, hanging from a noose. Nearby a white mob had assembled. Some carried signs that threatened death for anyone attempting to integrate the school. Banks saw no need to remove the effigy or disperse the mob. “They were just ‘salt of the earth’ citizens,” he later wrote. “They were concerned because they were convinced that someone was trying to interfere with their way of life.” Blacks were so intimidated that none attempted to enroll at Mansfield. Several days later, Gov. Shivers ordered Banks and a few other Rangers to Northeast Texas, because African-Americans wished to take classes at all-white Texarkana Junior College, a public institution. Again the Rangers’ job was to stop black students from enrolling. As at Mansfield, a mob of white men gathered outside the school. An 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy, both black, arrived by cab and began to walk toward the college. The mob blocked their path. Some surrounded the 17-year-old and kicked him, while others threw gravel. The Rangers watched it happen and did nothing except threaten to arrest the two students. That wire service photo of Banks in front of the school with the Black person hung in effigy can be seen at the top of today's newsletter.

The statue was removed from public view in 2020 in the wake of that book about the Rangers being published. This occurred at the same time that statues of Confederates, Klansmen, racists, and segregationists were removed all over the country following the murder of George Floyd. But now the Texas Rangers Baseball Club, knowing full well the history of the statue, its subject, and its removal, and knowing that multiple municipal institutions decided it was inappropriate for public display, is happy to put that statue up in a public concourse at a major league baseball stadium. When I learned of this yesterday afternoon I contacted Major League Baseball and asked the following questions: Is Major League Baseball aware of the history of the "One Riot, One Ranger" statue and its subject, Jay Banks? Is Major League Baseball aware that Love Field and the City of Dallas removed the statue and put it in storage in 2020 after Banks' involvement in attempting to keep schools segregated in the 1950s came to light? Does Major League Baseball condone one of its Clubs erecting a previously-removed statue of a staunch segregationist at its ballpark?; and Does Major League Baseball have any comment regarding the discomfort that will be felt by Black fans when confronted with the statue of a segregationist at Globe Life Field? I did not receive a response. I'm going to assume that the league's silence on this means that it wholly condones the Rangers putting up the "One Riot, One Ranger" statue despite its sordid and extraordinarily well-reported history.

Yesterday the Texas Rangers erected a statue of a segregationist cop at Globe Life Field. A statue that was removed from public property in 2020 because of its racist history. @mlb.com has refused to comment. www.cupofcoffeenews.com/cup-of-coffe...

70% of voters say the Dem Party is too weak
40% say it is too progressive

So why is the money & energy in Dem spaces so tilted 2 moderation? Why is every "smart" analysis about how the party has been taken over by "groups"?

How does that win over the 70%?

www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-poll-d...

The Chains that Bind: Two Visions for the Future of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies Classicism and Other Phobias by Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Princeton University Press, 2025)

An amazing review essay of Scheidel’s What is Ancient History and Padilla Peralta’s Classicisms and Other Phobias.

planudes.medium.com/the-chains-t...

Watching commentators still refusing to see the white nationalism of this administration and arguingTrump is targeting Atlanta, Philadelphia and Detroit because they are blue cities is just, it’s got to be intentional at this point. There are a ton of blue cities. These are majority Black cities.

Oh man, this looks awesome! Wish I were still on the Left Coast! At least there's a publication to look forward to?

For Alex Jeffrey Pretti Murdered by I.C.E January 24, 2026 By Amanda Goreman We wake with no words, just woe & wound. Our own country shoot ing us in the back is not just brutal ity; it’s jarring betrayal; not enforcement, but execution. A message: Love your people & you will die. Yet our greatest threat isn’t the outsiders among us, but those among us who never look within. Fear not those without papers, but those without conscience. Know that to care intensively, united, is to carry both pain-dark horror for today & a profound, daring hope for tomorrow. We can feel we have nothing to give, & still belove this world wait ing, trembling to change. If we cannot find words, may we find the will; if we ever lose hope, may we never lose our humanity. The only undying thing is mercy, the courage to open ourselves like doors, hug our neighbor, & save one more bright, impossible life.

“Fear not those without papers, but those without conscience. Know that to care intensively, united, is to carry both pain-dark horror for today & a profound, daring hope for tomorrow.”

www.instagram.com/amandascgorm...

You are why we can’t have nice things. There’s a war on and all you can do is decide you don’t need very available ally to fight it.

In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.

(I can attest to the fact that Russ did a similar fundraiser for Bolts — and delivered plenty of resources thanks to all of you reposting!)

Don’t know why they didn’t use one or more in defense. Clock was never going to be an issue for the Rams

1) she shouldn’t have been kicked out
2) it’s a deliberately provocative thing to do and shows no sensitivity to the situation.

Greco-Roman Antiquity, the Basis of White Identity At the end of 2015, as the white supremacist “Alt Right” movement had begun to attract mainstream attention, one of its leaders, Richard Spencer, released a video that he wrote “expresses our fundamen...

Depends on your course and your aims. I've often wanted to discuss white nationalism/supremacy and there are plenty of posts there. One I've used is pharos.vassarspaces.net/2021/06/04/r... but there are plenty of others.

Curtis Dozier and his Pharos site are the go-to for misappropriations of the ancient Greeks (and Romans!).

See Jo Quinn's book "How the West was Made" for a demonstration that civilizational thinking is fundamentally incoherent.

Some people just can't resist bringing that in everywhere. I wonder if there's a name for that kind of person?

"When we stop fetishizing the tenure track as such and start focusing on job security (which must include academic freedom), pay, and benefits the way workers in every other sector do, we can graduate from the academic underclass."

It seems like hugging the third rail today would be asking whether the tenure system in the US is a net positive or a net negative for faculty, taking everything - including its effects on the hiring process - into consideration. Or is it the least bad of all the options?

I loved Aosta - had fun imagining the southern Italians who might have been stationed there!

Does it factor in that HOU had gone 3 & out for the whole second half? Feels like malpractice to even risk giving them the ball in FG range.

good reminder that ezra notwithstanding, charlie kirk was and turning point usa is a vicious proto-fascist organization devoted to harassing and silencing political enemies and glorifying violence.

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Yes, and “virtually any” is still not Open. I get that there are logistical issues, but that’s the point of this tournament.

So we're really clear that this is no longer an "Open" cup. Such a shame.

No one shld lose sight of the fact that the Guard was only in DC as part of an extended political messaging stunt. The shooter is guilty for the attacks/carnage. Donald Trump is responsible for them. This is the collateral damage of Trump abusing his powers as President.

Prayer in the Ancient World chocolate bar

Academia dos have *some* nice perks. Thanks @dgb-ancientstudies.bsky.social !