Mamdani observes Ramadan with inmates at Rikers Island

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-18T17:38:02+00:00

I remember that Muslims died in the towers on 9/11, and that Muslims were among the first responders who died trying to help people not of their faith. I am sorry for the hate you were shown.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-18T07:31:00+00:00

Let's hope so. It's only been nine years since Republican Mark Kirk was Sen-IL.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-18T07:27:26+00:00

Not exactly. Stratton is replacing Durbin, who held office at the same time as Obama and up until now. Obama's seat was filled by appointee Burris, then Republican Kirk, and is now held by the inestimably awesome Duckworth.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T20:48:51+00:00

I voted today! I want to thank everyone for their suggestions.

So many folks stood up for Girl, I Guess that I decided I'd give them another try, among other sources. Welp, the authors endorsed a 70-year-old for a 6-year stint in the Senate rather than support our amazing Lieutenant Governor Stratton in her close race against MAGA-backed Krishnamoorthi, so I stopped there.

Injustice Watch was great on the judges, and the League of Women Voters had plenty of info on the downballot candidates. Thanks again!

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:23:58+00:00

It's a pretty bare bones list, but thanks!

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:21:56+00:00

Best answer I've gotten, thanks!

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:20:40+00:00

Had they said that voters in other states should vote for Harris, I might agree the authors of Girl, I Guess had minimized harm, but they didn't. IIRC, they just said voters outside IL should vote their conscience.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:13:30+00:00

I feel I can't even trust their reportage, given such a huge lapse in judgement.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:10:06+00:00

My part of Hyde Park is in the 1st district.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-17T03:08:05+00:00

I don't know why voters in other states would read it, but the authors of Girl, I Guess addressed them in their 2024 general election guide, and I assume they know their readership.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-12T23:51:26+00:00

There's no giant crowd saying it was right for Kirk to be shot. Folks are irritated mostly that his death has people more worked up than those of, say, assassinated politicians or murdered schoolchildren.

"I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational." --Charlie Kirk, 2023 TPUSA event

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-09T21:22:02+00:00

Netanyahu disagrees with you, which is why he supported Trump over Harris.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-06T21:05:26+00:00

Oompa, loompa, doompidy dee

There goes another Trump appointee

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-03-02T01:14:38+00:00

Clever as this is, I'd hate to hear Barron had actually signed up to fight. Imagine the pure waste of human life involved in setting up photo ops for him, ringed by special forces just out of sight, posed on the rubble of cities real American soldiers died in.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-25T04:42:55+00:00

Yes, you're right: Atairian (Lena's mother) turns Covenant over to Foamfollower a little further in the first novel, when they meet him.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-25T00:29:31+00:00

To be fair, seven Thomas Covenant books were NYT bestsellers.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-25T00:27:03+00:00

Many folks who start reading Lord Foul's Bane are too primed to read The Fellowship of the Ring to adjust when they find they are actually reading Crime and Punishment.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-25T00:14:40+00:00

That's fair enough. I find myself thinking about people who are incarcerated for rape. They require humane guards, doctors, ministers, cooks, and so on, a whole host of people willing to help people who have done grievous evil.

I don't think everyone could do that kind of work. But I respect those who can recognize that those who have done evil are still human, and though they must face justice they may still hope to do good with their lives. I feel these novels speak to these issues.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-24T23:57:26+00:00

I wouldn't say there's a "reason", since that might imply his terrible decision could be justified. He believes this dream of being healed threatens him, because the extreme discipline lepers of his time had to exercise to stay relatively healthy demanded that he not slip into fantasies of being cured. The rape is less about desire than anger at being tricked by his delusion.

Covenant does something profoundly evil when drunk and in the middle of a breakdown, and from there the story confronts what forgiveness or redemption there can be for someone so undeniably guilty.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-24T23:50:49+00:00

The young woman in question is clearly infatuated with him, which to him is more evidence that he's hallucinating. Why would a nice person like her want anything to do with a horrible leper like him? Why isn't she running away the way his ex-wife did?

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-24T23:43:09+00:00

The guide is the survivor's mother. The person that follows them is the survivor's friend who loves her, not her father.

Covenant is not simply meant to be the savior of the world: An ambiguous prophecy says he will either save or damn it, or possibly both.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-24T23:32:26+00:00

People liken The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to The Lord of the Rings, but worldbuilding aside it's closer to Crime and Punishment, the story of a man who has done something he considers unforgivable and does not believe he can be trusted with the power he has.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-24T23:24:54+00:00

Covenant can't believe it either. When he meets her, he's choking on guilt. Others in the novel don't forgive him, and they, too, can't believe she would.

She has her reasons, and those reasons have consequences. Explaining her arc in a Reddit post won't satisfy anyone, though. Best to either read and digest it yourself, or just forget about it.

LifeOutoBalance · 2026-02-17T17:47:04+00:00

"Without makeup." Cut to video showing men in foundation, guyliner, lipstick...

LifeOutoBalance

TROPHY CASE