Down at the stadium they’re waiting for the end of the age

Down at the stadium they’re waiting for the end of the age April 30, 2014

• The residents of Meadowbrook Trailer Park in Richmond, Maine, are looking to buy the land beneath their homes. By forming a cooperative to purchase and manage the land, they would ensure their future stability, build equity in the homes they own, and take responsibility by taking charge of their own community.

The 200+ residents of the Mission Trails Mobile Home Park in San Antonio, Texas, may not have that option. The owner of the land beneath their homes plans to sell that land, displacing all those families and replacing them with a $75 million “luxury apartment development.” The residents — mostly working class retirees — face a tougher fight because Texas is not Maine. In Texas, “freedom” means that people who own land are free to trample people who don’t, and the more than 200 residents of Mission Trails may soon be free to be homeless.

James Bond: Why Are We Fighting?: “Let’s call your mother, tell her you’re OK, alright? She’ll like that.”

Rob and Mabel Williams

• Mabel Williams died April 19 at the age of 82. Williams led the senior meals program in her local Catholic church and was a longtime supporter of the Idlewild Historic & Cultural Center and Museum near her Michigan home.

Oh, and also, with her husband Rob, she founded the Black Guard, an armed group that defended black communities from Klan violence and terrorism in 1950s North Carolina. Read more about her fascinating American life.

• Sean Monahan offers a terrific short video on why people tawk the way they do here in Philly.

That’s fascinating for me because I grew up in central Jersey — north of the KAWfee/COFFee line. My guess is that the decline of broadcast TV will change the linguistic landscape of New Jersey. The Garden State is divided into two main sections: 2-4-7 Jersey in the north and 3-6-10 Jersey in the south. I was born and raised in 2-4-7, so I’m a Mets fan and I drink KAWfee, even though I’ve lived here in 3-6-10 Philly for more than 25 years.

• Be nice to have a week go by without seeing a story like this, but I don’t expect to see that happen until 2017.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal sheds some sunlight on one of the oldest, dumbest young-Earth creationist lies. James McGrath chimes in:

At the heart of young-earth creationism is not scientific ignorance and deceit, although those play a role. It is pride. The reason some of us fall for the lies that YEC proponents offer is because we like the idea that we, together with other Christians, are smarter than the world’s scientists.

There is no such thing as a humble young-Earth creationist. Show me a young-Earth creationist who isn’t blinded by simple, sinful pride and I’ll show you a former young-Earth creationist.

 


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