I didn’t comment on last week’s attacks in Brussels, though it wasn’t for lack of something to say. I just needed time to think through what I wanted to communicate. I’m ready now! First, it’s worth mentioning that Brussels is not the only place to be struck recently. Yesterday, the Taliban bombed a festival in Lahore, Pakistan. In Turkey, there have been terrorist bombings in Istanbul and Ankara just this month.

No real changes to speak of, just more self-indulgence. Something new did happen, however. A comment on a previous post, which corrected something I quoted there, will likely lead to a follow-up in the near future. Not sure if I will get to it this week but I plan to hit it soon. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who does have a correction, clarification, or other useful information for me to please post it as a comment.

Just because I’m out of town for the weekend doesn’t mean the blog stops! It’s like magic. Religion * [Atheist and satanic literature to be distributed in Delta, Colorado schools](http://www.wndu.com/content/news?article=373345291) -- It may be petty but this amused me. Politics * [People have been talking about "the thing" with Ted Cruz for some time now](http://gawker.com/people-have-been-talking-about-the-thing-with-ted-cru-1767029781?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_twitter&utm_source=gawker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow) -- So, apparently Ted Cruz is some kind of sex machine who sleeps with a lot of women.

It’s time to talk about the white working class again, who have helped produce one of the biggest political upsets in recent memory. This is not another Donald Trump piece, though. This is an expansion of some things Italked about before, regarding how the working class–especially the white working class–is treated in this country. I want to bring a couple other articles into the mix. First is a new piece from The Guardian, which is a response to the Kevin Williamson screed that I previously critiqued.

It’s almost as if some states in the US are having a contest to see which can be the most oppressive toward people who aren’t a threat to anyone. Today, in a fit of pique against the city of Charlotte daring to not be a completely bigoted hellhole, the legislature of North Carolina passed (and the governor signed) a new law declaring that state laws override local ones when it comes to anti-discrimination measures.

This is not an article about Donald Trump. This is, instead, an article about the America that created him. The slogan is “make America great again.” What does this mean, really? The more I think about it, the more I see it as unintentional satire. Does it mean more jobs, broad prosperity, better communities, a just society, a healthy, happy people, and international respect? Or does it instead mean a world brought to its knees, terrorized by the American war machine?

Herein shall be reviewed (sort of) Paul Beatty’s novel, The Sellout. Confessions: I’d never read a Paul Beatty novel before, nor even any of his poems. I’ve heard they’re good–excellent, even. I forget how The Sellout came to my attention, but once I did, I put it on my Amazon wishlist and, in time, it was gifted to me. The reading could begin! I was initially struck most by Beatty’s style.

With all due apologies to the original author, whoever that may be… One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with Tim Cook. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints. Other times there were one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life When I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints.

In case you didn’t notice… Nothing dramatic altered, mind you, but the Archives and Categories sections in the sidebar have been simplified into dropdown menus. I don’t know if this works better for anyone, but I consider it a better use of space. I plan to change a few more things this week. For one, I want to add a slightly more clarified license to all pages. Everything I write here is Creative Commons licensed, requiring attribution, non-commercial use, and shares/derivatives must be shared under compatible terms.

You didn’t think you’d get through another Saturday without some links, did you? Politics * [Bernie Sanders replaces stump speech with epic call for Native American justice in Arizona](https://web.archive.org/web/20161018082004/http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-sanders-native-american-speech/) -- Good speech, but probably too little, too late for the sake of his campaign. * [Trump's top foreign policy advisor? "I'm speaking with myself"](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/273197-trumps-top-foreign-policy-advisor-im-speaking-with-myself) -- This is not even a little bit surprising, is it? * [The Obama doctrine](http://www.