{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "milk and honey", "icon": "https://avatars.micro.blog/avatars/2026/25/11913.jpg", "home_page_url": "https://orangejeep.org/", "feed_url": "https://orangejeep.org/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/08/10/saruman-or-adrian-vermeule-as/", "content_html": "

Saruman or Adrian Vermeule?

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\n

As the Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2026-08-10T14:28:18-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/08/10/saruman-or-adrian-vermeule-as/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/08/06/difficult-on-purpose-jonah-goldberg/", "content_html": "

Difficult on purpose

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Jonah Goldberg:

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For obvious reasons, I don’t trust Trump with unchecked power. But I also wouldn’t trust Abdul Al-Sayed, or Bernie Sanders, or anyone else with unchecked power. Indeed, the fact that these people tend to believe that obstacles and inconveniences on their quest for ever-more power are somehow illegitimate or unfair is precisely why I don’t trust them with power.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2026-08-06T09:07:28-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/08/06/difficult-on-purpose-jonah-goldberg/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/20/real-casualties-isabella-gonzales-a/", "content_html": "

Real Casualties

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Isabella Gonzales, a 19-year-old Army private from a Dallas suburb, was one of the three U.S. service personnel killed over the weekend because of Donald Trump’s lack of impulse control. Real death, real grief; not that he cares. But the rest of us should.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-07-20T09:06:21-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/20/real-casualties-isabella-gonzales-a/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/19/messi-notwithstanding-this-is-just/", "content_html": "

Messi notwithstanding, this is just terrible.

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From The Athletic:

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Argentina standing with their backs to the presentation as Spain players go up to receive their medals.

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More from Darron Richman on The Athletic:

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… Argentina shamed themselves from beginning to end and even beyond the final whistle. They were an embarrassment.

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Oh, and this is nice too. Post-match.

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Leandro Paredes, … pushed the Barcelona defender [Eric Garcia] in the throat.

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Finally, this Argentina showreel.

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-19T18:20:08-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/19/messi-notwithstanding-this-is-just/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/18/well-that-didnt-work-or/", "content_html": "

“Well, that didn’t work. Or that. Or that.” What now for Iran?

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Richard Haas:

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It is important to keep in mind that economic shortcomings still constitute the principal weakness of the Iranian regime. There is no reason to give up on the notion that economic pressure can lead to policy moderation or conceivably even regime change down the road. Economic relief for Iran should thus be heavily and specifically conditioned.

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The whole thing is worth your time. And Trump’s.

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-18T12:04:07-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/18/well-that-didnt-work-or/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/18/why-am-i-not-surprised/", "content_html": "

Why am I not surprised?

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Like calls to like:

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\n

Paxton struck back with Texas heavyweights…. The single $250,000 donation from Jones, the Cowboys owner, dwarfed any individual celebrity contribution to Talarico.

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Dallas Morning News, July 18, 2026

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-18T11:46:11-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/18/why-am-i-not-surprised/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/17/the-great-photography-of-gordon/", "content_html": "

The Great Photography of Gordon Parks

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Via Colossal

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-17T09:00:24-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/17/the-great-photography-of-gordon/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/15/world-cup-especially-for-england/", "content_html": "

World Cup

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Especially for England (but for France, too), having to play a stupid 3rd-place game amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-15T16:25:51-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/15/world-cup-especially-for-england/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/14/pedro-porro/", "content_html": "

Pedro Porro!

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-14T17:26:14-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/14/pedro-porro/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/10/only-too-true-now-julian/", "content_html": "

Only Too True

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‘Now, Julian, we don’t want a sermon,’ said Winifred. ‘You know Mildred would never do anything wrong or foolish.’

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I reflected a little sadly that this was only too true and hoped I did not appear too much that kind of person to others. Virtue is an excellent thing and we should all strive after it, but it can sometimes be a little depressing.

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Barbara Pym, Excellent Women (1952)

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-10T14:11:54-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/10/only-too-true-now-julian/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/10/skill-nostalgia-or-necessary-calibration/", "content_html": "

Skill nostalgia or Necessary Calibration?

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This may resonate with some micro.bloggers: “The radical reasons why you dream of making things by hand”

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-10T11:02:50-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/10/skill-nostalgia-or-necessary-calibration/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/06/subsidiarity-and-repair-too-many/", "content_html": "

Subsidiarity and Repair

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Too many essays about [name your American institution (in this essay, it was scouting)] end with the same refrain: It isn’t what it used to be, so I’m leaving. Sometimes, that’s the right decision. Institutions can lose their way, and there are moments when fidelity to conscience requires us to walk away. But increasingly I wonder whether our first instinct has become departure rather than stewardship. Progressives are often criticized for believing institutions can simply be rebuilt from scratch. Yet conservatives sometimes make the opposite mistake: assuming that once an institution has changed, it is beyond salvaging. Both forget that institutions become what people make of them. Stated simply, institutions endure only when people remain long enough to preserve what is good and patiently reform what is not.

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Can Scouting Still Raise Boys?, LuElla D’Amico, The Dispatch, July 6, 2026

\n", "date_published": "2026-07-06T15:26:59-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/06/subsidiarity-and-repair-too-many/", "tags": ["ideas","citizenship"] }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/07/02/two-from-cataggio-imagining-an/", "content_html": "

Two from Cataggio

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    \n
  1. ... imagining an idealized America that never actually existed and then getting mad that modern America doesn’t look more like it is basically Populism 101.
    2. \n
  2. Postliberalism’s core conviction is that any policy problem can be solved with sufficient ruthlessness.
    3. \n
\n", "date_published": "2026-07-02T19:55:40-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/07/02/two-from-cataggio-imagining-an/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/30/archie-through-the-grass/", "content_html": "

Archie through the grass

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-06-30T20:04:30-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/30/archie-through-the-grass/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/28/finished-reading-nonesuch-by-francis/", "content_html": "

Finished reading

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Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. A ripping plot, fascinating setting (London during the Blitz), spunky (to say the least) protagonist, and real themes about important things. I enjoyed it enormously.

\n\"Auto-generated\n", "date_published": "2026-06-28T22:40:27-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/28/finished-reading-nonesuch-by-francis/", "tags": ["books"] }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/24/from-colossal-animals-and-ornament/", "content_html": "

from Colossal

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Animals and Ornament Emerge from Felted Wool in Holly Guertin’s Textiles

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-06-24T19:25:32-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/24/from-colossal-animals-and-ornament/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/24/no-voice-but-i-removed/", "content_html": "

No voice, but I removed my shoes just in case

\n\"Pine\n", "date_published": "2026-06-24T12:06:45-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/24/no-voice-but-i-removed/", "tags": ["faith","colorado"] }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/19/rip-robert-coles-heres-a/", "content_html": "

RIP, Robert Coles

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Here’s a sweet remembrance of Robert Coles, one of America’s great champions of children, written by one of my favorite photographers, Alex Harris. A Wikipedia article about Coles is here.

\n", "date_published": "2026-06-19T09:12:21-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/19/rip-robert-coles-heres-a/", "tags": ["ideas"] }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/16/king-harvest/", "content_html": "

King Harvest
\n

\n", "date_published": "2026-06-16T19:01:42-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/16/king-harvest/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/16/vacation/", "content_html": "

Vacation

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-06-16T16:39:56-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/16/vacation/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/16/finished-reading-a-month-in/", "content_html": "

Finished reading…

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A Month in the Country, by J.L. Carr.

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Wonderful, wistful, lovely book. As economical as a poem.

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“For goodness’ sake,” he said irritably, “I don’t mean that and you know I don’t, you cagey devil. I mean here, Oxgodby, the friends you’ve made, this marvelous summer, the splendid job you’ve done. I mean the lot. You can only have this piece of cake once, you can’t keep on munching away at it. Sad, but there it is!”

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\n", "date_published": "2026-06-16T13:58:49-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/16/finished-reading-a-month-in/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/14/rocks-and-trees-collection-rocks/", "content_html": "

Rocks and Trees

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\"Tall\"A\"A\"A\"A\"A\"A\"A
\n", "date_published": "2026-06-14T18:52:21-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/14/rocks-and-trees-collection-rocks/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/14/the-unofficial-feast-of-gkc/", "content_html": "

The (Unofficial) Feast of GKC

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To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.

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\n\"The\n", "date_published": "2026-06-14T11:24:31-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/14/the-unofficial-feast-of-gkc/" }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/07/holy-cow-i-just-love/", "content_html": "

Holy cow! I just love to hear the cicadas’ whirring/clacking. Sounds of summer in Texas.

\n", "date_published": "2026-06-07T17:18:41-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/07/holy-cow-i-just-love/", "tags": ["garden","texas"] }, { "id": "http://JimRain.micro.blog/2026/06/06/june-the-nd-anniversary-of/", "content_html": "

June 6, 2026 - The Eighty-Second Anniversary of D-Day

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I was in the backyard this evening just before 7 o’clock when a squall line blew through. In less than five minutes, the temperature dropped probably 10 degrees, the air — which had been heavy and muggy, a real swampy, soupy gravy — suddenly lightened and dried. The wind kicked up and the trees all whooshed and swayed in their tops. Seven or eight birds — just crows, I think — soared, wings spread to the max on the waves of air. The sky darkened. Not to the green light of tornado weather, but deep gray-blue. And something inside me absolutely vibrated with excitement and a kind of joy.

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In five minutes the wind died. And… nothing happened. No rain. No thunder. No lightening. No wind.

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But for those few minutes when it felt like a little charge, a little danger, a little excitement, like a little (or a lot of) weather was on the march, it was a happy, thrilling joy. Joy is perhaps too strong a word, but I cannot come up with anything more accurate. I prayed a thank-you prayer, and then came inside.

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I am certain that were it not for Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry — their books and their poetry — I wouldn’t have noticed; I would have come inside too soon and missed that brief interlude of aliveness. Thank you, God, for their teaching.

\n", "date_published": "2026-06-06T19:20:06-05:00", "url": "https://orangejeep.org/2026/06/06/june-the-nd-anniversary-of/", "tags": ["garden","books","faith"] } ] }