October Musings (10/8/2025)
Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:
Christ Reformed Church’s 30th Anniversary celebration is coming up—October 24-26. C-Ref alums Dr. Mike Horton and Dr. R. Andrew Compton will be speaking on Friday night (Oct. 24), Dr. Brian Lee will be leading the catechism service, and I’ll be preaching Sunday morning (Oct. 26). If you wish to attend, go here for info (Christ Reformed Church 30th Anniversary)
Programming note: Both Riddleblog posts and the Blessed Hope Podcast will be interrupted at the end of the month and early November. I will be traveling
Thinking Out loud:
Preach it, Warren Buffet! “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election”
After a terrible July-August, it is hard to believe that the Yankees have made the playoffs, beat the Bosox, and are now squaring off against the Jays. We’ll see how that turns out—looks bad so far
I’ve used Gameday to follow MLB games for years. The balls and strikes count is quick on that platform and should be seamless in games given such a large and prolonged user-test. Using such a system will end bad calls by the home plate umpires, it should reduce the number of batters chirping over ball and strike calls, as well as cut back much of the whining coming from the dugouts about missed calls. Manager ejections should decrease dramatically. Someone quipped that we all owe Angel Hernandez a debt of gratitude for dragging MLB into the future
After watching Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and members of Congress act like they were in an Animal House food fight, it is time turn the cameras off and put an end to this sort of asinine political theater. Is there any wonder why Congress has a 70% unfavorable rating? The government shutdown no doubt will increase the already pathetic unfavorability rating
I’m with Justin Amash on this. “I’d never trust anyone on the right or the left who is inconsistent on free speech. A person willing to abandon this fundamental American principle for short-term politics—justifying their own hypocrisy by citing the other side’s hypocrisy—can’t be counted on to uphold anything”
To tweak a phrase from Tombstone, it is not a reckoning Trump wants, it is revenge. Not a good character trait for a president
I’m glad Gavin Newsom is running for president—with the qualification, I hope he loses badly enough to leave the political scene permanently. For one thing, California will finally be rid of him (although he will still probably live in Napa Valley). For another, he’ll have to do something to keep gas prices from spiking after the New Year. With a national average in the mid-three dollar per gallon range, it is not a good look for a presidential candidate from California to have the state’s gas prices hover between five-six dollars per gallon—two dollars more than the national average
Recently Read:
Rick Atkinson’s The British Are Coming is one of those rare books which is a great read, meticulously researched, contains the right amount of useful anecdotal material from archival sources (including the journals and diaries of the participants), and breaks a fair bit of new ground in terms of how the war was fought and conducted. I eagerly await reading the next two volumes in his triology on the Revolutionary War (The Fate of the Day and a forthcoming third volume). With the release of Ken Burns’ new PBS series on the Revolutionary War due out in November 2025), there will be renewed interest in the war of our nation’s founding. Atkinson’s trilogy will provide much important historical background for those so interested.
This volume does what many others fail to do. A very good map (or maps, when necessary) is provided at the start of each chapter to illustrate where and what is taking place, the chapters are usually short (ten pages or so), so the narrative moves along at a good and steady pace. You get the sense throughout that Atkinson could say much, much more at many points, but restrains himself to give a clear and concise summary of what the reader actually needs to know—something skilled writers excel at doing. Among many other honors, Atkinson won the Pulitzer Prize for An Army at Dawn, for his work on the US Army’s role in Europe in WW2. His skill as a writer shines throughout The British Are Coming.
I won’t summarize the entire volume, but especially compelling to me was his account of the tensions which led to the war, the fighting around Bunker Hill and the British occupation and subsequent departure from Boston. Atkinson also recounts the Colonial’s harrowing attempt to seize Quebec—many a historian’s favorite counterfactual. What if the rebels had succeeded to take and hold Canada? But alas, the attempt ended in abject failure due to sickness (smallpox), a small and ill-equipped army (mostly untrained militia), and a brutal winter. Atkinson’s treatment of Washington’s futile effort to hold New York City likewise reveals the ironic subplot of the American Revolution—that despite losing battles and control of coastal cities (like New York), the rebels were actually winning their independence.
England’s large, well-equipped, well-trained, and capably led army was unstoppable when supported by the Royal navy. But when the fighting moved inland, the Americans were more than a match for the mighty Brits. In winning a series of battles—with several notable exceptions when the rebels were victorious—England was actually losing the war. The price in British lives and treasure was far too high, American resolve faltered at times, but never failed. Furthermore, the rebels had a significant home-court advantage. No cross-Atlantic supply lines and a rapidly growing and young American population provided a seemingly endless stream of manpower willing to take up arms. And there were eventually powerful allies—especially France.
Other than the curse of endnotes (when will publishers finally get the message and stop doing this???) this is a great read and I really think you’ll enjoy it. I sure did. I am very much looking forward to reading the next two volumes in the series—that is the best endorsement I can give this book.
Recommended Links:
Here’s a chance to sit at the feet of a premier historian. Jonah Goldberg interviews Allen Guelzo on the history and traditions of Western Civilization. Listening to Guelzo was one of the best best hours I have spent in a long time
Carl Trueman’s essay, Toward a New Humanism
What is up with Peter Thiel’s obsession with Antichrist? Someone should write a book about that. Wait, someone already has
More archaeological safety deposit boxes have been opened. Egyptian scroll confirms the Egyptian plagues
On Doug Wilson’s provocative communication. And by the way, he’s not a prophet
Beale and Batzig on interpreting the Book of Revelation
From Jonathan Landry Cruse’s new book: “The Surprising Secret to World Domination”
Dad Joke Caliber Links:
I guess it is all downhill from here—senior moments are a thing
Will your pets go with you in the Rapture? Dogs, maybe, Cats, definitely not
I always wanted to go to Machu Picchu. I’ve changed my mind
Here we go again—don’t they ever learn? More Rapture predictions
Oh, the mischief you can make with a can of fart spray
Why your office smells like sweaty feet
I wonder if this was in response to the question, “does anyone here present know any reason why these two may not be lawfully joined in matrimony?”
Nothing worse than being awakened by a cat fight at night. This should do the trick
This led to what you might call a royal flush
Previous Musings:
September Musings (09/05/2025)
Video:
I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during this session . . .