William "My Gray" Shunn

Apparently this was a super hard one today?

Connections
Puzzle #1001
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Book Talk: The Bone Clocks What a fanciful novel about an age-old war between two groups of immortal foes has to say about living through conflicts bigger than any lone human life.

New on Substack: Some thoughts about a decade-old novel that really amount to thoughts about a week-old war. dogb.us/clocks

Sympathy for the Dragon They battled on my father's mantel more than half a century ago. Now they battle atop my writing desk. The conflict looks much different to me now than it did then.

My father, who passed away in 2008, would have turned ninety today. I inherited his Hummel figurine of St. George fighting the dragon, and I wrote this poem about it. dogb.us/dragon

The article quotes several people from both sides of the issue commenting on the pick, including "a current BYU professor who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal from the school." I think it makes a sufficient case that the pick is already controversial.

A Strong Premonition of Death Struck Me This Morning Some days, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t shake that sense of impending doom. Fiction for a Friday the thirteenth.

In observance of Friday the 13th, I posted an old short story of mine on Substack. shunn.substack.com/p/a-strong-p...

His past actions can certainly make him a controversial figure. Being picked for apostle doesn't give him a reset on that.

Mint Conditions A display of United States quarters brings back memories of an extraordinary group of federal employees in Colorado.

When I lived in Denver, I met a group of federal employees who embodied what it means to labor for a better nation. The Trump administration has tried to erase them and their work. dogb.us/mint

jaderemedy • 4h ago And now comes the most nauseating part of this whole goddamn mess: the hypocrisy. The same loud-mouthed idiots who spent years screaming about tyranny are suddenly dead fucking silent, or worse, cheering, now that it's their side doing it. "ThEy'Re cOminG fOr OuR gUnS!" "GoVerNMenT oVerReAch!" "ShAll nOt bE inFrinGeD!" All that chest-thumping bullshit evaporated the second armed federal agents started terrorizing people they don't like. Let me get this straight: a civilian gets shot dead by federal agents, and the only thing you brainless cunts can muster is "well, DHS says he had a gun"? THAT'S your red line? Guns are sacred when they're strapped to your waist, but magically become a death sentence when they're used as a post-hoc excuse by the government? Either the Second Amendment applies to everyone, or you never believed in it at all. Fucking pick one and own it. This is exactly what tyranny looks like, by the way. Not jackboots marching in formation, but armed agents roaming neighborhoods, stopping people, killing civilians, and then daring the public to question it. Tyranny is execution followed by a press release. Tyranny is labeling the dead a "threat" so the state doesn't have to explain why someone's life just ended in the street. Tyranny is demanding obedience while shredding due process and calling it order. And all you so-called "freedom lovers" are fucking fine with it, as long as it's brown people, immigrants, protesters, or anyone you've already dehumanized. Turns out "don't tread on me" actually meant "tread on them." You weren't afraid of tyranny. You were afraid of losing dominance. There's a difference, and this moment exposes it completely. "Just comply" isn't a principle. It's cowardice dressed up as common sense. It's the language of people who have already accepted that the state gets to decide who deserves rights and who doesn't. And once you make that deal, don't act shocked when the line moves, because it always fuckin…

Absolute banger of a comment on r/military:

www.reddit.com/r/Military/c...

Watching that video of ICE breaking the windows of those observers (Mother Jones thing I reposted) and I just . . . there are so many things fucked up about all of this, but it's still jarring that they just bust people's windows and drag them from their vehicles. WTF. Happens all the time! WTF!

”Circulated by voluntary teachers and promising special blessings.”

Less true in NYC than a lot of other places, but fair. OTOH, pepper spray…

When Metamucilini finally kicks it, the riderless horse should have a pair of bonespurs braces backwards in the stirrups.

Quite the character who might also be carrying a gun. It’s kind of fascinating to observe him, but you should never forget that last part when encountering him.

I hadn’t seen this, but now I’m curious to read both books. Don’t know if I mentioned that I ran into Bernie on the street a few months ago. He only seemed to want to talk about squirrels and opossums, and about the exotic veterinary clinic we both use. Eccentric is a very mild word for him.

Not my best Saturday (that would be 7:10), but up there.

NYTimes crossword app screenshot: Congratulations! You finished a Saturday puzzle in 8:03. 432 day streak. 13:05 faster than your average.

In this clip from a longer interview, she says while she was in detention, agents called Renee Good a “lesbian b*tch.”

This video belongs to @statuscoupnews.bsky.social and I’ll take it down if they want me to.

2/2

Planet Earth Is Blue and There’s Nothing I Can Do David Bowie has been gone now for ten years. As an artist he was always conscious of his mortality, even if we were not. I remember those illusions fondly.

We lost David Bowie ten years ago today. This is what I originally posted the morning the news broke. dogb.us/bowie

This is really a moment where anyone who 1) has ever said they would have resisted the Nazis in Germany and 2) watches these videos and tries to justify the shooting should look in the mirror and realize how full of shit they are.

This is really a moment where anyone who 1) has ever said they would have resisted the Nazis in Germany and 2) watches these videos and tries to justify the shooting should look in the mirror and realize how full of shit they are.

What happened today in Minneapolis is horrifying and disgusting. This is what happens when unchecked rules with, and is ruled by, hate and fear. Take a $50,000 signing bonus, lose your soul. Fuck ICE.

Bless you a hundred times! I’m pretty fond of that story too.

Ugh.

The Scouring of the Shelves Facing two years of forced asceticism, a prospective missionary contemplates an exorbitant offering as proof of his devotion. Or maybe as self-flagellation.

What’s a young departing Mormon missionary supposed to do with his secret stash of vinyl? dogb.us/shelves

GREENWASHED | Full Documentary [Official] YouTube video by Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa

1. This short thread is about what I see as a serious breach of journalistic ethics, in the making of Sofia Pineda Ochoa’s online documentary Greenwashed. She interviewed me for the film, but neither before, during or after was I given any idea I would be its target. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjWU...

That Definition Slays

If Trump Derangement Syndrome exists, then Trump is patient zero.

Los Angeles A father’s angry prophecy inspires a poem about the things we do despite those telling us not to. Who wants to turn it into a rock anthem?

At Substack, a new poem-ish thing about dumb stuff parents say. dogb.us/la

On a city street, a bright red fire hydrant sprays water directly onto the back doors of a Mister Softee ice cream truck.

Another favorite photo from when we lived in Inwood. Even Mister Softee needs to stay cool. August 2021.

Any time anyone anywhere gets arrested for a bomb threat, I can count on someone I know sending me the news story. This morning it was my little brother. #accidentalterrorist