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John Wm. Houghton

@numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net

1.2K followers 1.8K following 2.8K posts

Episcopal priest; school & seminary chaplain. Writes on Tolkien, Bede, Hoosier history. Dog, Beda. Poems: https://a.co/d/0CneRK8 Thaumaturge of Annandale series: https://tinyurl.com/B087RS699Q I-Númenóreo Taracáno Lisseryar: https://tinyurl.com/RKGandA

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · Nov 16

Introductions:
Educated at Culver Military Academy, Harvard, Indiana, Yale, Notre Dame.
I taught English, History, Religious Studies & Ethics in private day and boarding schools. Most recently Dean of the Alumni Chapel & Chair of Religious Studies and Philosophy, The Hill School. 1/x

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 4h

I thought it was the doctrine that you can't keep beating a dead horse.

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 5h

(Our former bishop here was a descendant of, and named after, Admiral Cockburn.)

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 5h

With Naval support.

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 5h

In Chicagoland, we had an emperor-Norton-ish goose.

Publicity still from the WGN children’s show, “Garfield Goose and Friend.” Garfield Goose and Romberg Rabbit lean out a castle window to “speak” to Frazier Thomas, in a fantasy military uniform.

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 10h

He harbors hope of becoming the Humpty Dumpty of arithmetic.

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 15h

The Immortal Memory!

(1.9 kg of certified oak from 2001 HMS Victory refit.)

On a walnut shelf, in front of a white wall, a mug showing Nelson’s flag signal, “England expects that every man will do his DUTY”; a piece of oak from HMS Victory; and a postcard showing the coat Nelson was wearing when shot.

Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

the symbolism of “Trump destroying the White House for a overpriced luxury vanity project, during a government shut down, days after a historically-large mass demonstration against his regime called “No Kings”’ would be rightly viewed as laying it on a little thick if it was in a work of fiction

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Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

By a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit just held that the president can federalize the National Guard forces and deploy them when protesters shine flashlights in the eyes of ICE officers. It’s one of the most dangerous and legally flawed court decisions I’ve seen this year. 1/23

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 1d

Thereby enabling any number of location shots for _Law and Order_ (or so we were told up at BDS!).

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 1d

The _money_ doesn’t smell.

Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Josiah Hawthorne @josiahhawthorne.bsky.social · 1d

'This is worse than Mordor!' said Sam. '...because it is home, and you remember it before it was all ruined.'

'Yes, this is Mordor,' said Frodo. 'Just one of its works...'

Saruman laughed... 'I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives.'

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

omg!

"Demolition crews have begun tearing down part of the White House...

"Construction teams Monday were demolishing a portion of the East Wing, with a backhoe ripping through the structure..."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 1d

If one can get past the idea of FDR singing and dancing:

youtu.be/EweHKAoYIKk?...

JAMES CAGNEY ... 'OFF THE RECORD'.

YouTube video by MinstrelSurfer { MovieMusicals }

youtu.be

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 1d

Or both.

Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Andrea (I have friends everywhere) @ninedragons99.bsky.social · 1d

History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_A...

Domus Aurea - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Elaborating b/c there's a lot of misunderstanding on this.

Insurrection Act does nothing except you can then use soldiers as cops. They can enforce laws, but they're the same old laws. It doesn't suspend the Constitution. No martial law, no closing courts, no removing state officials, none of that.

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Even if he did, which I'd bet is likelier than not, none of this is true. The Insurrection Act is not a declaration of martial law. It doesn't close the courts. It doesn't suspend habeas corpus. It means you can use the military to enforce federal laws, but the laws themselves remain the same.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "I'm allowed as you know as president, like 50% of the presidents have used the Insurrection Act. Everybody agrees you're allowed to use that and there is no more court cases, there is no more anything. We're trying to do it in a nicer manner, but we can always use the Insurrection Act."

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

I believe it's one sett fits all.

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

You’re thinking of the one in Wisconsin.

Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 6d

Trump's mechanism to pay the troops during the shutdown is by far the most illegal budgetary action he's taken as POTUS, potentially setting the stage to break everything.

It's also needless because Congress would easily pass a troop pay bill if Johnson were willing to gavel in.

Long thread.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/10/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-8/

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

“Cream or dry?” was always the first question one was asked at student vestry meetings when I was in div school.

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

Given that at least one of those congregations holds a relic of Charles King and Martyr . . .

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Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Matthew Stienberg @matthewstien.bsky.social · 2d

People were down on me for expecting Trump to change his mind again, but I think it's obvious he just wants a peace deal, any deal to buff his image.

Putin is better at massaging his ego.

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

If one has to spend the afternoon reading proof, I suppose there are worse arrangements. Gas log and cup of tea not shown.

Oneself, seated front left on a brown couch with a green afghan thrown over the back, looking down into the glow of an open laptop. Cuddled to my immediate left, a 40 pound white dog, facing the far end of the couch. Behind the couch, a large window with open Venetian blinds; at the far end, a small shelving unit holding a potted aloe.

John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

All dressed up in tin and flannel

Reposted by John Wm. Houghton

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

BARTIROMO: Did you get any sense from Putin that he's open to ending this war without taking significant property from Ukraine?

TRUMP: Well, he's gonna take something. I mean, he's won certain property.

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John Wm. Houghton @numenor.reunitedkingdoms.net · 2d

Absolutely! Even more to the GOP’s point, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was duly elected President of the Second Republic: when he couldn’t run for reelection, he first changed the constitution, giving the President vast new powers, and then later declared the Second Empire.