Focus, Man, Focus! [https://www.quantamagazine.org/to-pay-attention-the-brain-uses-filters-not-a-spotlight-20190924/] One of my favorite quotes: "In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention." Simone Weil Attentional processes are the brain's way of shining a searchlight on relevant stimuli

The Blog and Podcast Return Today. Just in time for . . . Pot Cafe Opens Today [https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/miley-cyrus-backed-cannabis-cafe-brings-amsterdam-to-hollywood-1.1323335] I favor legalization, especially when I've seen first hand people benefit from marijuana's medicinal capacities, but I can't get rid of the feeling that

Note: A death in the family has derailed TWE temporarily. Give me a few days . . . Baptisms at Practice [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/18/dabo-swinney-christianity-clemson-football-recruiting] Dabo Swinney's faith has aided in the recruiting that's made Clemson a college football powerhouse, while drawing the ire

Family matters are taking me out of commission for a few days. Enjoy this mix of regular stories and drinking stories. Priests Spray Drunks with Holy Water from Plane [https://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-priests-spray-holy-water-plane-stop-alcohol/story?id=65668588] I'm absolutely fascinated by this ongoing tornado born of Holy

Abortion Mysticism [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/opinion/pete-buttigieg-abortion-democrats.html] Douthat is the man . . . The unapologetic grisliness of a Klopfer, or a Kermit Gosnell before him, haunts a Buttigiegian abortion politics more than it does a “safe, legal, rare” triangulation, because it establishes the most visceral of contrasts

Catholic Intelligentsia Waging War [https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190912-academias-holy-warriors?key=mi0Bff1vaLHL09_no2EmgyubkYGaE_Z0wYeVvMXRpBMlzD16oZl7OvOuo9-6VB1CQ1pUYTE5WnhOR1J5VUFMaG1lRk1TdExEQ1VIbkRnQXRiYkZkdzh4VER0MA] Let's be a part of the Catholic Dark Web that must emerge in order for this to succeed. As Deneen was speaking, blueberry pie was served to an audience that included Rod Dreher, the

Dan Aykroyd, Podcasts and John Senior, LSD and Shifting Consciousness [https://www.eudemonpodcast.com/the-weekly-eudemon/2019/9/15/episode-45] Or:

Paid to be a Jerk [https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/ryan-gunderson-washington-generals-harlem-globetrotters-stories] Gunderson survived what many might consider the worst job in professional sports: playing for the Washington Generals. He was the team captain and starting point guard for a team whose sole existence is to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters.

Marco . . . Polo [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2019/09-10/explorations-of-marco-polo/] Western civilization's first secular bestseller. The world-famous explorer Marco Polo is credited with many things, but perhaps the greatest is compiling one of the world's first best-selling travelogues. Published around 1300, the book chronicles his

Brews You Can Use Friday the 13th. Harvest Moon. You better drink heavily. E-Drunk [https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-08-29/e-scooters-plus-drinking-a-fast-pass-to-the-er] I like the new e-scooters. I like drinking. I also like to combine them, but it's not advised. Drinking and driving an electric scooter doesn&