Magdalen Ross

E. M. R. Ross. It's a rather mediæval thing, being a canon lawyer. NEVER accept canonical advice from non-canonists.

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

I agree with most (not all) of this, but especially interesting are the comments on the differences in the common law versus the civil law systems. https://t.co/idatIYo4zU

[Ellen Carmichael @ellencarmichael]

The most interesting part of the red card saga isn't the ruling. It's how differently Americans and Europeans process the idea that they might have been wronged.

Europeans are fundamentally different from Americans in one particular way: they expect life to be aggravating and at times unfair. It's just a fact of moving through the world. I joke that in Europe, the customer is always wrong. You didn't read the fine print. The only pharmacy in town is closed every other Tuesday for three hours, and even if the times weren't posted, that's still your problem. Too bad if you want the bill, because the waiter's on his union-mandated half-hour smoke break, and you're just going to have to wait.

To quote the great Mark Knopfler: sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. There's something freeing in that. Things are less in your control, so there's less angst in managing your expectations.

In America, things couldn't be more different. We simply can't accept a wrong left unrighted.

The flight attendant sneezed handing you a drink on your one-hour flight? 15,000 frequent flyer miles. Didn't like your appetizer? A replacement is on the way, and the whole course comes off the bill. There's a reason our interstates are lined with trial lawyer billboards.

Europeans have turned complaining into a continental pastime with no expectation that the universe owes them a remedy for their grief. You gripe about the train being late, your friends nod solemnly and everyone goes back to their apéro. In America, we launch a full-blown investigation of the train system, sue the government (and its contractors) that allowed for the tardiness and hold a Congressional hearing on the state of national infrastructure.

So to an objective observer, the red card shouldn't have happened, and VAR was a travesty. To Americans, our star player shouldn't be unfairly banned from a match we couldn't afford to lose for a card he so obviously didn't deserve.

Who cares that FIFA used a little-used reversal to fix it. Who cares that other people are mad about it. We. Were. Wronged. It was unjust. It must be corrected. We would accept nothing less.

Europeans waxing poetic about the sanctity of the game are, of course, talking about a governing body whose last tournament host was decided via confirmed cash bribes — one that imposed dress codes on women, shrugged off widespread allegations of modern slavery and reconfigured the entire tournament calendar to suit the host country. Which is exactly the point. If you've made peace with all of that, at least enough to watch the tournament four years later, a probationary suspension isn't actually a scandal.

Maybe that's the real divide. Over millennia, Europeans have made peace with being the bug. Americans have never once considered it, and apparently, we're not about to start now.

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

https://t.co/SYloaScJa4

[Barbarian Herodotus @BBHerodotus]

Today, on the 250th birthday of The United States of America, a thread of the extant homes of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

1. Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee
- Stratford Hall

[New York Post @nypost]

Parade of Tall Ships cruises through New York Harbor to celebrate Sail4th 250: Photos https://t.co/3ajX61Vcpc

[Gerald Posner @geraldposner]

This 3-minute @smerconish about America might be the best “feel good” clip you’ll watch this 4th of July.

Over a million foreign World Cup fans arrived expecting the tense, angry, divided America their screens had shown them.

Then they met us and found the friendly, generous, welcoming country we were promised growing up.

The polls measure Washington. The visitors measured us. The gap between the two might be the most American story of all. Happy 250th, America. 🇺🇸

[BabelColour @StuartHumphryes]

For 4th July, I share this lovely American Autochrome from 1910, capturing a woman darning the US flag (which, at the time, only had 46 stars, as there were only 46 US States). It was taken in colour 116 years ago by Mrs B Russell, using an early colour glass plate process. It isn't colourised.

[Brian Gàidhlig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @BhriainGael]

There are worse places to sit and have a tea or coffee ...

Waterstones Cafe on Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙📖🏰☕

[Tony Uluadluak @AniUluadluak4]

My niece took a great picture last night at midnight

[Hayduke ⏹️ @GWHayduke97]

A quite moving plaque in the cloisters of England's Durham Cathedral:

[LeoDaVinciWave @LeoDaVinciWave]

This chalk artwork, titled Squirrely Cone, was created by street artist David Zinn.

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

https://t.co/oMsi380Rxd

[Medievalists.net @Medievalists]

⚖️ Medieval canon law helped shape the rules of international politics.

This study shows how Church legal thinking influenced warfare, diplomacy, and limits on rulers.

👉 Read more: https://t.co/VpW7ksfQGD #canonlaw

[Patrick Henningsen @21WIRE]

So true…

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

Wedding season: what's the canon law here? #canonlaw #canon_law #Catholic_weddings #annulments https://t.co/tr9riC5Olj

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

"Matters are so arranged at Your command, O Lord, that every disordered soul is its own punishment." (Saint Augustine, Confessions)

[The Sting @TheStingisBack]

Attenborough at 100 — A Sting Cut
We know what humans think of David Attenborough: the greatest broadcaster in TV history. But what do the animals think?

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

Must see. https://t.co/3YhTtbsHDM

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

"Martians" 2001 Massachusetts Ave NW, DC. Hungarian scientists were called “Martians." They spoke a unique intellectual “language,” & were so brilliant their contemporaries believed they must have come from another planet. But they were from Budapest.
https://t.co/FCjvqWrkXI

[Magdalen Ross @MagdalenRoss]

May Morning https://t.co/WW2KIIKMUV