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John Carter

@roguebaptist.bsky.social
41 followers 27 following 80 posts

Kentuckian. Theologian. Law professor. Posts are my fickle own. Error has rights.

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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The through-line: we are building systems of unprecedented speed and lethality at the very moment the structures of accountability around them are eroding.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Just out: I try to gather in one place the algorethics conversation, Palantir's ontology stack, the Anthropic-Pentagon dispute, the drone wars already reshaping Sudan and Ukraine, and make a parallel with John Ford SJ's classic "The Morality of Obliteration Bombing" papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Algorethics and Neuro-Symbolic Military AI: Ontologies, "Hellscapes," Just War, and Silicon Valley
<span>Algorethics, as described in the Rome Call for AI Ethics (2020) and related documents, is an overarching field that includes algorithmic accountability, s
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John Dickerson @jdickerson.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
If you are a reader of Thomas Merton, some of my stumbling thoughts about him. open.substack.com/pub/johnfdic...
open.substack.com
The Monk in the Marriott
This is an edited version of a speech I gave to the International Thomas Merton Society at Bellarmine University on March 17, 2026.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Young adults turn to Quakers' silent worship to offset — and cope with — a noisy world www.latimes.com/world-nation...
latimes.com
Young adults turn to Quakers' silent worship to offset — and cope with — a noisy world
There’s been an unprecedented surge in the numbers of attendees at Sunday worship at the Quaker Arch Street Meeting House in Old City Philadelphia.
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Joshua McElwee @joshmcelwee.org · 05/10/2025
Pope Leo urged the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on Sunday to care for immigrants, pressing ahead with a message of welcome for migrants days after criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line anti-immigration policies. For @reuters.com:
reuters.com
Pope Leo, after Trump critique, urges Catholics to help immigrants
Pope Leo urged the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on Sunday to care for immigrants, pressing ahead with a message of welcome for migrants days after criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line anti-immigration policies.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 27/09/2025
Left unchecked, openAI and other infotech providers will destroy any remnants of the American education system that manage to escape the Trump administration. Read the full thread.
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
This is one thing giant movie studios can still do--the crazy big swing that costs a lot of money and is not tied to an algorithm or concern about "viewer retention rate at minute three"--that no other entity can. It is one reason the film ecosystem still needs them.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 30/09/2023
Lou Reed, "September Song" youtu.be/RQsJK0voNRI?...
youtu.be
Lou Reed - September Song
From the 1985 compilation disk Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill
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Brenton Wiernik @bwiernik.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Happy Large Boulder the Size of a Small Boulder Day to all who celebrate!
Screenshot of a tweet by the San Miguel Sheriff department originally posted in Jan 2020 that reads “Large boulder the size of a small boulder is completely blocking east-bound lane Highway 145 mm78 at Silverpick Rd. Please use caution and watch for emergency vehicles in the area.” with a photograph of the named large/small boulder.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
“Every day is all there is.”https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/realestate/fine-china-memories.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU4.BlDj.tKz86CpthWgv&smid=bs-share
nytimes.com
Yes, It’s OK to Use the Fine China (Gift Article)
Readers fight the decline of fine china by using their “good dishes” for everything from pizza to takeout.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
the sin of creating an impersonal world www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Nurses, Chaplains and Teachers Should Not Be Replaced With Technology (Gift Article)
We’re increasingly becoming a society where very wealthy people get human care, like concierge medicine and private schools with tiny class sizes.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 05/11/2024
"Handel had a reason for making use of whatever was at hand: He was on deadline." wapo.st/4fpx7HS
wapo.st
Opinion | Unsettled by the future? This is the moment for the ‘Messiah.’
Handel’s beloved oratorio was born out of turmoil. It’s fitting for today.
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Pod Bless Nashville @pbn.bsky.social · 05/03/2024
Great to have a guest on the show this week who hangs over here in the sunlight… @iamstevenhale.bsky.social explains what it’s like to witness an execution and the remarkable community he discovered in his new book (you should buy!) “Death Row Welcomes You” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 05/03/2024
it is so good to see Alma Guillermoprieto's byline... www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Forty-Three Mexican Students Went Missing. What Really Happened to Them?
One night in 2014, a group of young men from a rural teachers’ college vanished. Since then, their families have fought for answers.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 02/03/2024
@joshuagrubbsphd.bsky.social so given your fluency in all things Tolkien, I'd run a hypothesis by you: LOTR is the 20th c. Pilgrim's Progress
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 02/03/2024
Absolutely one of all-time favorite writers, who recently died after what seems to have been a wonderful life latimes.com/entertainmen... “‘The Bloodied Nightgown’ is a monument to Joan Acocella's savage wit and unsentimental generosity”
latimes.com
'The Bloodied Nightgown' is a monument to Joan Acocella's savage wit and unsentimental generosity
An eclectic collection of essays on subjects including Dracula, dirty words and Elena Ferrante is a tribute to its writer, who died last month at age 78.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 27/02/2024
“I never saw it coming,” Moore said. “It took me months to walk through my own house in the dark.” www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...
courier-journal.com
Stresses of farm life taking toll on farmers' mental health. What's being done to help?
U.S. farmers are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to data compiled by the University of Kentucky.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 08/02/2024
"based on cell phone usage data, Louisville’s downtown has had the second worst recovery from the pandemic of all the major cities in the United States. Only St. Louis has been worse" www.courier-journal.com/story/opinio...
courier-journal.com
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 05/02/2024
The Potent Pollution Of Noise www.noemamag.com/the-potent-p...
noemamag.com
The Potent Pollution Of Noise | NOEMA
Earth’s acoustic environment has been profoundly altered by noise, but it’s not too late to change course.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 05/02/2024
"Having the phone away from me has almost made my brain more open to information." www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/t...
nytimes.com
A Practical Guide to Quitting Your Smartphone
Readers who have taken the plunge said it had improved their lives, marriages and mental health, and offered advice to those going without their smartphones for “Flip Phone February.”
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 01/02/2024
How a Mennonite farmer became a drug lord www.latimes.com/world-nation...
latimes.com
How a Mennonite farmer became a drug lord
Mennonites are pious Christians who eschew much of the modern world. But in Mexico even they have not escaped the pull of the drug cartels.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 30/01/2024
"Everyone says trees are good for us. This scientist wants to prove it. Nearly 8,000 trees and shrubs in southern Louisville and health data from about 500 residents fill out the urban science experiment." wapo.st/4bbbzNP
wapo.st
Everyone says trees are good for us. This scientist wants to prove it.
An ongoing science experiment involves nearly 8,000 trees and shrubs in southern Louisville and health data from nearly 500 residents.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 28/01/2024
1. A lot of helpful framing in this (depressing) thread on the winnowing the news industry, but I also wonder how it alters the mechanisms of politics. E.g., I noted last week how movies Selma and Gandhi both feature scenes of a NYTimes journalist reporting on a horrific beating of protesters…
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 25/01/2024
Very pleased to share my essay “Lot's Daughters and Naomi and Ruth: Of 'Moral Love' and National Myths” in the Journal of Religious Ethics, now available (open access): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10..... Applies the work of @abizadeh.bsky.social and Spivak to 1619 Project. Tries to anyway ;)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jore.12452
Wiley Online Library requires cookies for authentication and use of other site features; therefore, cookies must be enabled to browse the site. Detailed information on how Wiley uses cookies can be fo...
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Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 06/01/2024
Not 100% sure on this, but this may be the first image of the #Magi labeled with their traditional names: Balthasar, Melchior, Caspar. S. Apollinare Nuovo, #Ravenna, early 6th century. Restored after damage in the 19th century. 📷🇮🇹 flic.kr/p/BQtbgx
flic.kr
The Magi (Ravenna, Italy)
The church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna was built as the palace chapel of the Ostrogoth king Theoderic (454-526). Theoderic was an Arian Christian. Eastern Arianism held that as Son of God, Jes...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 07/01/2024
i wrote about exactly this last year. one of the long term consequences of trump’s entire scheme is that a once pro forma occasion has become another field of political contestation. or put another way, the norms that governed this process no longer hold
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 31/12/2023
They cite Ford's pardon of Nixon, but what they don't mention is that many think that pardon contributed to Ford's defeat wapo.st/3tABoWq
wapo.st
DeSantis, Haley pledge to pardon Trump if he’s convicted
In separate campaign stops, both Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley reinforced that, if elected, they would pardon former president Donald Trump, who is facing 91 felony counts.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 21/12/2023
More things from the past working through time to be where they should www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
Celebrity chef Chris Bianco’s father painted a masterpiece. Then it vanished. What happened?
Chef Chris Bianco's father in 1970 painted a portrait of a well-to-do Manhattan woman. It vanished under a cloud. What happened to it?
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 21/12/2023
‘This is for you,’ Craig Wheeler said. ‘I found it in my parents’ house. My mom saved it.’ wapo.st/48oJd0a
wapo.st
Perspective | I was eating at a diner when a man handed me my schoolwork from 40 years ago
“This is for you,” Craig Wheeler said. “I found it in my parents’ house. My mom saved it.”
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 19/12/2023
“It’s not a single path forward,” Henwood said. “It’s a lot of resourcefulness and creativity.” www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
$750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
A study by USC and a San Francisco-based nonprofit has found that a $750 monthly stipend improves the lives of homeless people.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 15/12/2023
The latest in my Christian nationalism series is now live, looking at the ongoing fight over public school chaplains in school boards across Texas. Locals say it taps into a years-long struggle over local education primed to spread beyond Texas in 2024:
religionnews.com
In Texas, debate over school chaplains escalates school board culture wars
HOUSTON (RNS) — Conservative Christian activists are hoping to turn Texas public schools into a ‘mission field.’
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 14/12/2023
in 2001, A.O. Scott wrote a review of Apocalypse Now Redux that remains so astute: www.nytimes.com/2001/08/03/m... "it will be worth seeing 22 years from now, when its lucidity and murk will resolve in new ways for new eyes. To paraphrase Che Guevara, there are two, three, many Apocalypses."
nytimes.com
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Aching Heart Of Darkness (Published 2001)
A O Scott Critic's Notebook article on Apocalypse Now Redux, expanded three-hour version of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film; says movie, split between its immediate historical subject--Vietnam War--a...
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 13/12/2023
Bernie Sanders: "The Netanyahu government’s current military approach is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States must end our complicity in those actions." www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releas...
sanders.senate.gov
NEWS: Sanders Urges President Biden to Withdraw Support for $10.1 Billion in Military Aid to Israel ...
Sanders lays out the devastation in Gaza, now equivalent to that of Dresden after two years of bombing during World War II, and emphasizes it is being carried out with bombs produced and provided by t...
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 12/12/2023
we thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions which have greatly improved the paper
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Hermione, Texas Granger @misterfungi.bsky.social · 11/12/2023
the Wikipedia entry for axolotls reads like a Cake song
Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and possess long, thin digits.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 11/12/2023
"Redamancy," which means "the act of loving in return." George Sand was right when she wrote, "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved." wapo.st/46UEjXI
wapo.st
He was behaving differently. He had lost something. I was the only one who noticed.
His widow, Sally Quinn, recalls the struggles of Washington Post legend Ben Bradlee’s final years.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 09/12/2023
My favorite of the many covers of Joni Mitchell's melancholy Christmas classic "River," from Holly Cole's 1997 release 'Dark Dear Heart' youtu.be/pwGell7Qroo?... Bass – George Koller Piano – Aaron Davis Soprano Saxophone – Steve Tavaglione Steel Guitar [Pedal] – Greg Leisz
youtu.be
River
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupRiver · Holly ColeDark Dear Heart℗ 1997 Alert Music Inc.Released on: 1997-10-07Composer Lyricist: Joni MitchellA...
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 02/12/2023
Beginning of December, so here's the sublime Holly Cole's cover of the Merle Haggard classic youtu.be/OqX84f-BJXA?...
youtu.be
If We Make It Through December (2022 Remastered)
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupIf We Make It Through December (2022 Remastered) · Holly ColeBaby It's Cold Outside And I Have The Christmas Blue...
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Jeremy Markovich @ncrabbithole.com · 30/11/2023
it's my newsletter's third birthday, let me tell you about the time when an entire shipping container of doritos washed up in the outer banks and people started grabbing as many bags as they could www.ncrabbithole.com/p/3rd-birthd...
ncrabbithole.com
Happy 3rd Birthday to this Newsletter, the Outer Banks Beach Doritos of the Internet
In 2006, a shipping container fell off of a vessel and washed thousands of bags of nacho chips ashore along Hatteras Island. Also, this newsletter is beginning its fourth year of existence.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
interesting development: "large cos. with dormant pension plans—either closed or still paying out to older retirees but inaccessible to younger workers—could reap benefits by reopening or unfreezing those plans as a complement to a defined-contribution plan." www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/b...
nytimes.com
The Pension: That Rare Retirement Benefit Gets a Fresh Look
As the downsides of 401(k)-style plans become apparent, workers and some companies, including IBM, are showing new interest in defined benefit plans.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 22/11/2023
My most recent column: "the desire for retribution is a fool's errand" baptistnews.com/article/the-...
baptistnews.com
The desire for retaliation is a fool’s errand
Ever since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists, followed by the horrific obliteration bombing of Gaza in response, there is a passage from the Hebrew Bible that has echoed in my mind....
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
there also existed an “ancient common law prohibition against ‘terrifying the good people of the land’ by going about with dangerous and unusual weapons.” But good luck getting Supreme Ct to find a way to recognize that in the current positivist climate. baptistnews.com/article/revi...
baptistnews.com
Revisiting ‘natural law’ and gun rights
Two years ago, I wrote an essay that tried to untangle the legal and political issues that evolved over the 20th century that led to the current impasse around guns. There's no panacea, I argued,...
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
Big Bolts news: I'm thrilled to share that Bolts is hiring! We're looking to hire a new staff writer! Details are in this post: but please let me know if you have any questions. Come work with us, and we'd love to hear from you! boltsmag.org/jobs-at-bolt...
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
in 1998, there was a documentary musical abt "the Comedian Harmonists" from the 20s and 30s (also the subject of a new Broadway musical), with music recreated by the contemporary group Hudson Shad. here's Hudson Shad on a 1998 episode of NPR Fresh Air: freshairarchive.org/segments/new...
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 03/11/2023
I wrote an essay that tries to untangle some of the legal and political issues that evolved over the 20th century that have led us to the current impasse around guns. There's no panacea. But at least we can clarify why we all feel so stuck. jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/8931...
jmt.scholasticahq.com
Natural Law’s Return: Uncovering the Roots of Intractability on Guns as Prelude to New Growth | Pu...
By John E. Carter. An overview of the recent legal history and politics behind current intractability on gun issues, which proposes the need for renewed engagement between the natural-law and legal tr...
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 28/10/2023
In one of the most important essays written in 20th century moral theology, and before World War II was over, John Ford, SJ wrote an essay in 1944 declaring obliteration bombing as always wrong. journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
journals.sagepub.com
The Morality of Obliteration Bombing - John C. Ford, 1944
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 18/10/2023
“Black political power is not merely when a Black person is in office, Black political power is when Black working class people feel like they have a voice and a stake in their political futures.” www.lpm.org/news/2023-10...
lpm.org
Decades after merger, Louisville struggles to maintain Black political representation
In the leadup to the 2001 merger vote, many Louisville activists came out against the plan, saying it would diminish Black political power.
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John Carter @roguebaptist.bsky.social · 18/10/2023
I can't stop listening to Nickel Creek's new album, all thanks to Craig's review, which was the only way I found out a new album dropped: www.wmot.org/roots-radio-...
wmot.org
Nickel Creek’s Second Revival Is Something To Celebrate
Nickel Creek deserves a chapter all its own in the story of American music. Because just at the time when the surprise hit soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou? revived the charms and earthy richn...
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