iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ok everybody it’s Skubalon Sunday where Paul uses a nasty word translated as “Rubbish” but which means something much cruder. If your minister doesn’t preach on “poop”, walk out.

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Top 5 Saints I Would NOT Want to Hang Out With: 1) Jerome 2) Simeon Stylites 3) Cyril of Alexandria 4) Pope Pius V 5) Catherine of Siena (I’d be scared of whatever takedown of me she could write up)

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I always am amused that he practiced his seething misogyny (even for his own time!) while living for decades off the largesse and support of wealthy widows

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I tell this not to brag -- God knows I have made mistakes as a dad -- but because of this: On this #EarthWindFire Day, remember: your kids will not always be three, will not always dance in public, and will not always ask you to join them. May your heart ring in the key that your soul sings!

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So I stopped pushing the cart and joined in, a small group of people clapped and laughed as we got down. When the song ended, we went on with our shopping trip. 2/3

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

On this 21st of September #EarthWindFire Day, here's a story: When the boy was 3, we were shopping in Trader Joe's. "September" came on; he knew it because it was in a movie he watched endlessly. He shouts "Time to dance!" and started grooving. He then looked at me and said, "Daddy, dance!" 1/3

static.klipy.com

Earth, Wind & Fire - September

ALT: Earth, Wind & Fire - September

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

For no particular reason was thinking about how nearly all the monuments built to Stalin or things named after him were all torn down and renamed within a few years after he was no longer in power.

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Had a dream last night Eusebius of Caesarea emailed me and said he wanted to talk about some of the things I said about him in my book and so we arranged a meet up and he walked in and that’s when I woke up How’s your day so far

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The conference I am attending had team quiz competition for fun night. Our team was named the Samuel Seabury Shanties. The topic: Episcopal History. We won.

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I was in Manhattan on 9/11 so I don’t post pictures of that day. Here’s me contemplating the first changing leaves of the season as I went a long walk and listened to Springsteen’s “The Rising” album this morning.

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Them: [pause..then in annoyed voice] Well, Mr. Ferguson, -- [I interrupt] Me: Actually, it's Doctor Ferguson. [Not telling them it's a PhD] 3/x

Them: [reviews] OK you need to enroll in both a supplemental insurance plan and apply for a manufacturer's assistance program or it'll be $900 a month Pause Them: Are you still there? Me: I am, I just don't know what the $25,000 a year my employer and I currently pay for insurance is for. 2/x

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Adventures in US health care! Me: Hi calling about a claim [5-7 minutes identity verification even though have entered all of this already] OK what's your question Me: My Dr prescribed this for me -- [interrupts] That's a medication, not a claim. Me: Well you didn't say I needed to specify 1/x

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Strong Krusty trying to bribe his audience vibes… www.bbc.com/news/article...

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Yep. The rest of the country granted concession after concession and the slaveholders were infuriated that they weren’t just being tolerated they insisted on being affirmed.

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Now let’s hold all the AI companies accountable for their massive violation of copyright laws and the theft they have engaged in for years to train their chatbot slop. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as it settles US trial over teen addiction for up to $18bn

US tech giant agrees to establish further protections for teens such as daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I'll be honest: Never understood how anyone can listen to Whitney's "I Will Always" after hearing Dolly's. The tender, vulnerable, sad yet hopeful original which isn't about romantic love at all is from a different planet than the cover which while impressive vocally always left me cold and empty.

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Reposted by Tom Ferguson

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

A great loss for us all. A light in our darkness, a talent like none other. Rest in song and mirth, Dolly. The heavens have a new star among them.

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Right which is why I made sure to note my insurer is a publicly traded for profit entity…best years of my life was when I was covered by a community based not for profit co-op.

How does this even work and what do any of these definitions mean I have cousins in Northern Ireland and as far as I can tell there's, like, at least half a dozen Northern Irish accents alone in a place the size of Connecticut.

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the 5 simpsons lines i’ve uttered most off the top of my head 1) he's embiggened that [original was "role", insert any example] 2) In theory, Marge! In theory communism was a good idea! 3) I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords 4) there's a "New" Mexico? 5) Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

More dispatches from dystopian US health care landscape: multibillion dollar for profit publicly traded insurance company refuses to pay for generic medication prescribed for chronic lifelong condition, only will cover exact same medication under brand name that costs 5x as much.

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Which is more likely cause: 1) fortune cookie writer going through existential crisis and lost passion for the job; 2) fortune cookie company invested $5 billion in AI to produce this result ?

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Dog cloaking device activated. (I did not leave the pillows like this.)

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Congrats! Always loved the half-marathon distance.

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A bit gobsmacked that Don’t Look Back, a 1973 horror/slasher film set in Venice and centered on a grieving American father is somehow considered essential to Britishness. (yes the source material was written by a British author but there’s nothing essentially English about the film)

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I will say in 1987 when I flew from Dulles to Moscow and boarded the Aeroflot plane directly from the people mover I felt like a combination of astronaut and spy. Kinda lame now when it just drops you at a terminal and you trudge to your gate.

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

In the days before jet bridges (Dulles built in late 1950s) these things brought people directly to/from boarding door. When I flew out of Dulles as a teenager years ago they still did that, rather than now just depositing you in the proper terminal and then you board through a jet bridge.

Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The Episcopal Church was historically one of the more socially conservative denominations for much of its existence: had remarriage laws as strict as Catholicism into 1950s, was heavily segregated north and south into 1960s, was last mainline Protestant denomination to ordain women as clergy

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

fwiw, I'm not convinced by this, just noting that's really the only way to construct an argument for a formal prohibition in TEC.

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Argument is that rubrics presume there are people, e.g. does not say "Sacrament is delivered to the people if present". Since violation of rubrics is technically grounds for clergy discipline, extrapolation is then it's not permitted because it would be violating rubric which is violating canons..

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Tom Ferguson @drtcfergus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

There's no explicit prohibition in the Constitution & Canons or 1979 BCP. Those claiming it is not permitted do so by extrapolation from the rubrics in BCP -- e.g. "The ministers receive the Sacrament..then immediately deliver it to the people." (p. 365)

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omg, college football esp, amirite

I feel if more people studied the cultural and sociological development of tent revivals/camp meetings, it would provide really important context for the things like national party political conventions, large scale pop concerts (TSwift, Springsteen), even Trump rallies.

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without fail #1 makes me cry every week

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