(And they’re alright.)

«For 18 months, Bluff City Church and First United Methodist Church have been “courting,” said Bishop Bill McAlilly of the Nashville Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church.

“Today we come to be married, thanks be to God,” McAlilly said.

…

The merger of the two churches was also a commitment by both congregations to remain United Methodist, a commitment coming at a time when some churches are leaving the denomination over differences regarding church practice and doctrine, often related to same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.

“In the overall perspective of the United Methodist World, this is a really important message, because it says that people can come together and honor our differences and distinctiveness but also be one in Christ together,” said the Rev. Tom Fuerst, who will pastor the combined church.

….

Fuerst founded Bluff City Church about five years ago at the direction of McAlilly, after Fuerst was fired from Christ Church Memphis. Christ Church has since voted to disaffiliate from the denomination.

For years, Bluff City Church didn’t have a permanent home, meeting in other churches and temporary spaces.

At the same time, First United Methodist Church was wondering what its future would look like. Founded in 1826, the church has, like many historical congregations, struggled to recruit newer membership as its members age.»

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2023/04/24/in-a-time-of-division-two-united-methodist-churches-become-one-in-memphis/70143343007/

Joaquin Castro cuts loose on Mastodon.

@Joaquincastrotx 🔗 https://mastodon.social/users/Joaquincastrotx/statuses/110244134369406082 – Dear Texas Republicans — I’m a lifelong Catholic but I don’t want kids to be forced to pray in their public schools. Texans don’t want their kids to be forced to study the Bible in public schools. We can go to church to study the Ten Commandments if that’s what we want. We especially don’t need a lesson in morality from you hypocrites. 1/2 https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/20/texas-senate-passes-ten-commandments-bill/

Learning Go.

The following code:

		if elm, ok := retval[w]; ok {
			retval[w] = elm + 1
		} 
		else {
			retval[w] = 1
		}

Results in the following compiler error:

.\main.go:16:3: syntax error: unexpected else, expected }
.\main.go:19:2: syntax error: non-declaration statement outside function body

But the following “} else {” on one line fixes it:

		if elm, ok := retval[w]; ok {
			retval[w] = elm + 1
		} else {
			retval[w] = 1
		}

Because https://go.dev/ref/spec#Semicolons. (Go inserts a semicolon at the end of a line if the line ends with “}”.)

Short break for head exploding.

Ok, I guess. You’d think the tutorial would mention it, though. (Oh, look! A complaint icon, right on the page! https://github.com/golang/tour/issues/1481)

Like any other high-quality liquor.

Gunpowder

Gin Mare

https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2022/how-the-racial-wealth-gap-has-evolved-and-why-it-persists#:~:text=It%20matters%20a%20great%20deal,13%20percent%20of%20the%20population.

Related to https://herereadthis.blog/2023/03/28/why-most-americans-oppose-reparations-for-slavery-npr/

Such sad. One of my favorites.

Republicans. Not too long from now, that word will mean about the same as “quisling”, a new dictionary entry.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/14/2163811/-GOP-advances-bills-that-could-let-it-throw-out-future-election-results-in-Texas-largest-blue-county

By the time I was almost done quoting, I realized I was about to paste the entire article, so just go read it. It’s not that long.

«Republicans have run into a ditch. Their base gets high off displays of authoritarianism and religious zealotry, so they’ve taken up an agenda that actively targets fellow Americans, inflicting real harm on communities with race-baiting tactics and onerous health restrictions. And in doing so they continue to alienate the voters they desperately need to win elections in purple states.  How Republicans got here is no mystery; Trump touched the third rail of the Republican base, the people who were so beyond the pale that previous candidates had at least pretended to disavow them. I’m talking about the Richard Spencer types, the racists, the antisemites. After touching this rail, and narrowly eking out a win in 2016, Republicans found themselves dependent on that base for turnout. Now they have gone so far down this road that they find themselves staring down an intractable death ray with crushing defeat—unless, that is, they change the rules to keep minority rule.»

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/04/tennessee-abortion-trump-gop-loves-losing

My one free read at VF, I guess.