odds and ends

I’ve been unable to think about this line by Tolstoy:

There can be only one permanent revolution—a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man.

How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.

The president of the most powerful country on the planet is governing by content and for content:

Since the operation launched in early September, over a thousand immigrants have been detained. Yet the president promised domination—tricky to achieve in a metropolis of 9m people. The videos give a sense that feds are everywhere. “We are here, Chicago, and we are not going anywhere,” said Mr Bovino on September 27th. On October 5th the administration confirmed the National Guard had been called out to the city. A day later Illinois sued Mr Trump, seeking to block the deployment. If judges allow it, there will be plenty more opportunities to create video content. — The Economist

Amen:

In an overwhelming attempt to capture memories, people have forgotten to make memories.

– Abhijit Naskar

So beautiful:

To be nostalgic is to carry memories of lost friends, vanished worlds, and songs no longer sung. To be Christian is to believe that every good in them is gathered into Christ, who makes all things new. Between memory and promise we live as pilgrims returning home—mourning what’s gone, rejoicing in what’s given, and journeying in hope for what will be. And if we look closely, we can see the faint contours of our homeland on the horizon. We know it as joy.

Fertility rate charts never cease to amaze me.