Summer Musings (7/17/2026)
Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:
The mountains are calling. There will be a brief interruption of the Riddleblog and Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Romans
Thinking Out Loud:
No to Türkiye—it is “Turkey.” No to Mumbai—it is “Bombay.” No to the “Gulf of America.” It is the “Gulf of Mexico”
I heard one political commentator make the point that the biggest ideological divide in America today might just be between the political class (those who are super on-line, left and/or right tribalists) and the rest of America who pay little or no attention to political in-fighting until immediately before elections, and even then they usually pay no mind to the political class. The commentator might just be right
Why do professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL) feel the need to promote Pride night? This certainly generates more public ill-will than ticket sales
And why not celebrate Swiss night? The players could all wear lederhosen, and alpenhorns could be used for the national anthem. Stadiums could sell some great cheese and chocolate at the concession stands. Instead of Bobble head dolls, they could sell Swatches with the player’s faces. All the fans would be neutral and could suck on a Riccola cough drop if they get hoarse from celebrating their neutrality. I am an oppressed minority!
The late State Department official John Negroponte once made the sarcastic comment after Richard Nixon’s 1972 Christmas bombing campaign in North Vietnam—“We bombed them into accepting our concessions.” I hope Trump’s efforts in Iran don’t end the same way
An old friend and I were recently discussing our favorite rock concerts we attended back in the day. We didn’t know each other at the time, but we were both at the Hollywood Palladium in November of 1973 to see Robin Trower and Wishbone Ash. They were meh . . . But the as of then unknown opening band absolutely stole the show—that little ole band from Texas, ZZ Top. Best 45 minutes of blues rock/boogie I ever saw in person
We also agreed that the worst concert we ever saw (we both there and still didn’t know each other yet) was Deep Purple in Long Beach in April of 1973. Richie Blackmore was in a snit (what else was new), and someone threw a cherry bomb at the band during their set. When it went off over their heads, the band was furious and stormed off—who can blame them? They came back after a long wait, played three songs half-heartedly, and that was it. Huge disappointment
Currently Reading and Thoroughly Enjoying!
I heard Allen Guelzo speak about this project a year or so ago—a two volume set of beautifully illustrated volumes covering the intellectual and cultural of history of the Western Tradition. They are coffee table books, something you pick up and browse through. They are heavy and not the sort of volume you’ll pick up and read from cover to cover. But they are volumes to which you’ll be drawn to pick up again and again just to browse through them and tackle a topic or two. They are magnificent with great narrative text, illustrations, and well-chosen excerpts from primary sources.
The Publisher’s blurb about volume one:
Where do the threads that form the Western tradition originate, and how were they woven together over the two and a half millennia before 1500? What are the sources of our modern ideas about science, freedom, equality, law, good government, and virtue? These are the questions explored in The Golden Thread, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom, written by James Hankins.
The story begins with the seminal culture of the classical Greeks and moves through the Hellenization of the east following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hankins then narrates the rise and dominance of Rome and the fusion of Greco-Roman and Judea-Christian cultures in the Christian empire of the fourth century AD. The volume follows the history of Christendom from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, charts its centuries-long rivalry with the Islamic world, and culminates in the emergence of European civilization in the Middle Age and Renaissance.
Volume I Examines how the foundations were laid for the West's political and economic dominance in the modern era, illuminating the deep roots of the ideas, arts, and institutions that continue to shape our world.
The Publisher’s Blurb About Volume Two:
With the Renaissance in Europe, the Western world experienced a long series of cataclysmic events that still reverberate in modern society. Written by Allan C. Guelzo, The Golden Thread, Volume II: The Modern and Contemporary West begins in 1500, when the Protestant Reformation brought an end of the Roman Catholic Church's dominance over European states. It then turns to the rise of imperial powers that swiftly circled the globe, and to the explosion of intellectual, economic, and technological advancements sparked by the Enlightenment.
These were moments of flourishing in Western civilization, but also moments of uncertainty, as they portended the violent political upheavals that shook continental Europe and the Americas during the American, French and Bolivarian Revolutions as well as the Napoleonic Wars. The Industrial Revolution, the Romantic revolt against the Enlightenment, and a second wave of scientific advancement in the nineteenth century challenged any attempt to restore the classical unity of the West. A radically redrawn world emerged from these developments, one that was ill-prepared for the colossal physical and moral shocks of the First and Second World Wars.
In its closing chapters, Guelzo explores how Western civilization has, in our own time, been simultaneously challenged by secular totalitarianism and yet remained remarkably resilient laying the foundations for material prosperity around the globe. Through the paradoxes of the twentieth century, The Golden Thread engages with the most significant questions facing the West today.
These volumes ain’t cheap, but I find myself looking through them on a regular basis and getting lost in whatever section I’m reading.
Recommended Links:
Allen Guelzo on The Life and significance of Abraham Lincoln (MP3) Magnificent!
Michael Horton, Miles Smith IV, and Darryl Hart on the question “was America Founded as a Christian nation?” Outstanding
Great essay from my friend and old colleague, Andrew Compton. How Did Noah Point to Christ?
Reformed Dogmatika has published case files from the Genevan Consistory in the days of Calvin. The cases are fascinating, dispel the rumors about a Genevan “theocracy,” and remind us that people or their problems haven’t changed much since the 1560s
A Bit of Fun:
I showed this to my wife—the look on her face . . . She’d have died if this happened to her—Brave newscaster
For the life of me, I don’t know how he can do it, or why he’d want to—Joey Chestnut wins again
As if you could tell there was a new intestinal problem at Taco Bell
LA Mayor Karen Bass is the Lord of the flies
I’d hate to have this guy for a neighbor—the town crier
Scientist working on teleporting disappears. There might be a simple explanation . . .
The latest Nigerian on-line scam—driveway theft
Previous Musings:
Video:
UP’s beast of a locomotive—Number 4014, “Big Boy”—leaves Scranton, Pennsylvania. The video is like a Jurassic Park of steam locomotives. Every train you had as a kid makes an appearance, with huge crowds cheering along the route. And that whistle . . . “I’m here!” Great stuff!