Thursday's Trailheads

Tolkien and Tech by Michael Lucchese "Tolkien’s near-Luddite skepticism can still teach us how to relate to new technologies, even if motorcars have become an insurmountable fact of modern life. The Digital Revolution, from smartphones to artificial intelligence, promises to make human life easier by delegating more and more to our virtual assistants. But this all comes at a steep environmental cost—and an even steeper spiritual price. Tolkien’s fiction warns us that when we disconnect ourselves from nature, from God’s creation, we also lose our sense of self." "All around us, we see signs that modern society is slipping into the kind of technological idolatry that doomed Bovadium. The rage of social media and the near-universal addiction to screens are disheartening, to say the least. As industrialization turns to digitization, it seems our lives get further and further away from the rootedness Tolkien prized. But we do not have to allow our minds, like Saruman, to become subject to “metal and wheels,” or subject our society, like Bovadium, to machinery. In fact, Tolkien’s rediscovered story may even help us laugh at these trends—and remember what it means to be truly human and thereby help us avoid Bovadium’s fate." Home Is Where Your Politics Are by Howard Husock "My turn rightward was gradual, not sudden. But were I to pick one essential event, it would be the purchase of a home at age 25. Marriage—a conservative institution—came first. But homeownership changed so much. Which is why it’s worrying how elusive it is for many today in an era of limited construction and high interest rates." "It was more than the mere fact of property ownership that changed things for me. As an owner, I was now invested not only in a home but in the health of a neighborhood and, by extension, the town of Brookline, Mass. The local hooligans breaking bottles in a park where my wife and I hoped our children would play were more than a nuisance. They were also a threat to our home’s value." EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department Closes In on Illegal Alien for Smuggling Unaccompanied Minors by Audrey Fahlberg "The Justice Department is preparing criminal charges against an illegal alien for allegedly using fake identities to gain custody of unaccompanied migrant children, The Free Press has learned. The prosecution could shed new light on how relaxed screening for sponsors of unaccompanied minors in recent years has allowed widespread fraud and endangered the welfare of thousands of children." "A criminal complaint was filed against the defendant, Guatemalan national Maritza Azucena Cahuec Coc, in an Ohio federal court last week for allegedly filing fraudulent unaccompanied alien children sponsorship applications to facilitate their entry into the U.S. An indictment is expected within the next two weeks, according to a source familiar with the matter."