This week on Bwoglines: a decision by the Supreme Court, a deputized Prime Minister, and another reason to like St. John’s.

Happening in the World: Boris Johnson has deputized Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, to take over the duties of the position while he is in the hospital. This comes without warning or really precedent as there is no clear line of succession for the position of Prime Minister and may prove challenging as in times of crisis the position of prime minister is vital. (NY Times)

Happening in the US: The supreme court recently ruled against the Governor of Wisconsin’s ruling to push the Wisconsin primaries to June. Ruth Bader Ginsberg released a dissenting opinion criticizing the decision, arguing that in these times of crisis special circumstances might have to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease and aid in the election process. (CNN)

Happening in New York: St. John of the Divine will be converted soon into a temporary emergency field hospital to help care for those with Coronavirus. This includes not only the main sanctuary, but also the crypt will be used for planning and staging of operations. The Dean of the cathedral says that this practice may be a first for St. John, but was common practice in medieval times during plagues. (NY Times)

Joshcore album of the week: I have for you today perhaps one of the strangest and yet one of my favorite albums of all time. “The Unicorn” by Queens artist Peter Grudzien is a remarkable queer country album released to basically no critical acclaim in 1974. It’s what many would call “Outsider Music,” in that it has received little to no attention and likely won’t largely due to the frank subject matter, disregard for traditional genre and recording techniques, and overall weirdness. At its core I believe is an album that is an expression of the self without a facade or sugar-coating. It isn’t always an easy album, especially if you aren’t a fan of bluegrass or country music, but give it a listen if you want an album to challenge you.

Image via Bwarchives