I spent the weekend awaiting the final statement from the Synod in Rome (while catching up on Doctor Who). My take on the ongoing debate is here. I don’t have much to add tonight, except to say again that the most significant shift is merely that there is finally an open, unafraid dialogue and at the same time no consensus on the most contentious issues, i.e. how to handle divorced, re-married and gay Catholics and their families. That means that Francis has succeeded in a core early task: the beginning of a real conversation about gay people and other less-than-ideal families in search of the truth about us.
Meanwhile, another moonbeam of hope, this time in journalism. There’s a new browser addon you can add to Firefox or Google Chrome which makes sure you don’t mistake a “sponsored content” fake article for the real thing. It’s called AdDetector. Instead of searching for the deliberately subtle fig-leaf of a disclosure, it will add a big, bright red banner to any ad posing as an article. I downloaded it and tested it a bit. Here’s what a page on Slate now looks like:
Pretty cool, huh? Sometimes, it can get very intrusive, like this AdDetector version of a fake article at the Atlantic:
Hard to miss. Download AdDetector and force “sponsored content” to be transparent. And the more often you come up against these big red banners, the more you know you shouldn’t trust the site/magazine/blog you’re reading. So far, the add-on is only for a handful of major sites – from the New York Times to Buzzfeed – but the add-on creator’s Reddit page says he’s happy to add others. Get in touch with him and get some of the worst sites on the list.
Some gems from the weekend (curated and edited primarily by Jessie Roberts and Matt Sitman): a fantastically witty cartoon with two rather plucky octopi; rave reviews of a new Rembrandt exhibit in London; the peculiar poetry of James Laughlin; a splendid defense of shitty beer; the case for hope in Israel; and a Quote For The Day from Francis Spufford that will knock your secular socks off.
Plus: the unforgettable faces of an English cock and a pissed-off Siamese fish.
The one post that made me laugh the loudest: this Tumblr of drunk J-Crew models. Priceless.
The most popular post of the weekend was this post on meditation: Compassion Is A Muscle. Next up: The Trouble With Religion which has already promoted a reader explosion (almost entirely in revulsion).
Dish t-shirts are for sale here, including the new “Know Dope” shirts, which are detailed here. I’ve been wearing mine this weekend and just remembered to take it off before Mass. 19 more readers became subscribers this weekend. You can join them here – and get access to all the readons and Deep Dish – for a little as $1.99 month. Gift subscriptions are available here.
See you in the morning.
(Chart via Rollin Bishop)
The Dish 