It's way too hot out for sustained thoughts, so here are a handful of unsustained ones … Russell Moore is dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. For now, he is, anyway. Southern's president, Al Mohler, has a history of purging professors who stray from his conservative party line — particularly when their supposed trespasses are theologically sound and therefore immune to suppression under the pretense of defending doctrine. I doubt Mohler would... Read more

Czeslaw Milosz would have turned 99 years old today. Song on the End of the World On the day the world ends A bee circles a clover, A Fisherman mends a glimmering net. Happy porpoises jump in the sea, By the rainspout young sparrows are playing And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be. On the day the world ends Women walk through fields under their umbrellas A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn, Vegetable... Read more

Suzy Khimm of Mother Jones reads a new study by British economist James Rockey and finds his some of his conclusions "perplexing." Rockey writes: It would seem that the better educated, if anything, are less accurate in how they perceive their ideology. Higher levels of education are associated with being less likely to believe oneself to be right-wing, whilst simultaneously associated with being in favour of increased inequality. This result contrasts with those for income: higher levels of income are... Read more