The Weekly Town Crier (05/14/21)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (05/14/21).
We’ll Miss You:
Read “Vans co-founder Paul Van Doren dies At 90” at PennLive.
Read ‘Pervis Staples, Co-Founder of the Staple Singers, Dies at 85” at Pitchfork.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “For some pastors, the past year was a sign from God it was time to quit” at Religion News Service.
Read “Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory To Evangelicals” at Sojourners.
Read “Saddleback Church Ordains 3 Women Pastors, Defying Southern Baptist Position” at Roys Report.
Read “How American Christendom Weakens American Christianity” at David French.
Read ‘German priests defy Pope Francis with blessings of same-sex unions” at Wall Street Journal.
Read “Mark Driscoll Accused of Cult-Like Actions; 24/7 Surveillance, Mandated Loyalty” at Roys Report.
Read “Inside Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam’s Strange Ties to Scientology” at Daily Beast.
Read “Meet Kashmir’s ‘Midnight Drummers,’ keeping alive an age-old Ramadan tradition” at Religion News Service.
Read “Religion plays a role in the renewed conflict in Israel, but it may not be what you think” at Religion News Service.
Read “Former Members of Indiana Church Accuse Pastor of Sexual Abuse & Presbytery of Covering it Up” at Roys Report.
Read “The Eugenics Roots of Evangelical Family Values” at Religion and Politics.
Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “The War on Critical Race Theory” at Boston Review. “Turning a blind eye to the realities of racial injustice, the highly orchestrated right-wing attacks cast a body of scholarship about race in the law as a great threat to American society.”
Read “Two Asian women repeatedly attacked with cinder block as they closed Baltimore store” at NBC News.
Read “Maryland governor pardons 34 victims of racial lynching” at The Hill.
Read “Sub shop owner allegedly pays manager to kill employee to avoid back pay” at Crime Online.
Read “'Woke,' Leftist & Black: The Incomplete Glossary of White Slurs” at The Root.
Read “DA to seek death penalty, hate crime charges against 22-year-old spa shooting suspect” at 11 Alive.
Read “Bodycam video shows Andrew Brown Jr. didn't drive into deputies who shot him, lawyers say: "He did just the opposite"“ at CBS News.
This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // Insurrectionists // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):
Read “In Exclusive Jailhouse Letter, Capitol Riot Defendant Explains Motives, Remains Boastful” at Pro Publica. ”The material obtained by ProPublica sheds light on the radicalization of a Jan. 6 defendant whom prosecutors have characterized as a “serious danger ... not only to his family and Congress, but to the entire system of justice.”
Read “Rep. Paul Gosar defends the 'peaceful patriots' who rioted on Jan. 6” at AZ Central.
Watch “GQP reps claim Capitol riot was a "normal tourist visit" at Boing Boing.
This Week In Protest-Related News:
Read “Washington bans open carry of weapons at state capitol, public protests” at The Hill.
This Week With The Police:
Read “Two More Lawsuits Filed Against Williamson County Sheriff's Department For Its Use Of Force” at KUT. “Attorneys say Ramsey Mitchell was punched, kicked and tased by deputies multiple times, and that he was put in a chokehold before being rendered unconscious. The incident was captured on camera for the the now-canceled reality television show “Live PD.”
Read “Alabama officer convicted of murdering suicidal man while on duty” at The Hill.
Read “Federal grand jury charges 4 former Minneapolis cops with violating George Floyd’s civil rights — Chauvin also charged in teen arrest” at CNBC.
Read “KARE 11 Investigates: New data shows MPD searches Black drivers at 29 times the rate of whites after minor stops” at KARE11. “A KARE 11 analysis reveals huge racial disparities continue in Minneapolis for minor traffic stops and searches despite reforms promised after George Floyd’s death.”
Read “Virginia prosecutor says Black motorist should never have been pulled over, asks for investigation” at CNN.
Read “Witness: Man angered by Texas deputies in yard killed them” at Yahoo.
Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings
Read “Schools Seeing Relief, Conflicts Since Arizona Lifted School Mask Mandate” at KJZZ.
Read “Dillard University Receives $1 Million From The Ray Charles Foundation” at Offbeat Magazine.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Read “Nurses Honor 400 Colleagues Who Lost Their Lives to COVID-19, Call for More Protections” at Democracy Now.
Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):
Read “Pro golfer arrested for attempting to meet with minor for sex” at ABC 15.
Read “Caitlyn Jenner tells Hannity friends are fleeing California because of homeless people” at The Hill.
Read ‘Logjam! A journey to the heart of the lumber shortage.” at Slate.
Read “Anyone can claim copyright to your videos - and YouTube stands by and watches” at My News Desk.
Read “Kintsugi: The Centuries-Old Japanese Craft of Repairing Pottery with Gold & Finding Beauty in Broken Things” at Open Culture.
Read “Called by God” at Slate. “In 2014, I went on a vigilante raid to “save” kids sold for sex. What we did haunts me now.”
Read “Diamond in the rough: Japanese Americans imprisoned at Arizona camps during WWII found solace in baseball” at Cronkite News.
Read “Who Should John Mulaney Be Now?” at Vulture.
Browse “Leonardo da Vinci’s Handwritten Resume (1482)” at Open Culture.
Read “Hummer destroyed by fire after driver stockpiles gas” at The Hill.
Read “The 1970s Fashion Designer Who Was Outlandishly Ahead of His Time” at The Atlantic. “Twenty years ago, fashion lost the visionary designer—and prophet—behind P-Funk and Kiss.”
Read “McDonald's-owned U.S. restaurants boost pay to lure new workers” at Reuters.
Internationalities:
Read ‘Man Trapped on Bridge After Glass Deck Blown Off By Strong Wind” at Vice.
Read “8 dead in Russia school shooting” at The Hill.
Politics And Sucheries:
Read the opinion piece “Republicans will never certify a Democratic win ever again” at Boing Boing.
Read “Liz Cheney removed from position as House GOP conference chair over anti-Trump stance” at New York Post.
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Post reporters’ phone records” at Washington Post.
Read “Arizona Republicans to brush off DOJ concern about election audit” at The Hill.
Read “Are Donald Trump & Rudy Giuliani Sitting on Secret Pardons?” at News and Guts.
Read “Tennessee cuts off $300 federal unemployment supplement” at The Hill.
Read “Election security experts say giving Maricopa County routers to Arizona Senate's election auditors would be concerning” at AZ Central.
Read “Activists and Ex-Spy Said to Have Plotted to Discredit Trump ‘Enemies’ in Government” at New York Times.
Music-Related News and Such:
Read “Van Morrison: Latest Record Project Volume 1 review – depressing rants by tinfoil milliner” at Guardian. “The veteran bluesman loudly wakes up the sheeple with this boring and paranoid double album, reminiscent of a dinner party with a bitter divorcee.”
Read as Pitchfork reviews Van Morrison’s newest album: “It’s a terrible night for a moondance: On this risible and intermittently lovely 28-song collection, Van indulges in some of his most cherished paranoid theories and deepest-held grudges.”
Read “Mac Miller’s Family Condemns Unauthorized Biography” at Pitchfork.
Read “Chrissie Hynde Details New Bob Dylan Covers Album Standing in the Doorway” at Consequence.
Read “David Lynch Directs New Music Video for Donovan’s “I Am the Shaman”” at Consequence.
Read “On maintaining creative relationships” at The Creative Independent.
Read “The Artist Impostors of Spotify” at Salon. “I tracked some down.”
Read “Rodney Crowell Previews New Album With Urgent ‘Something Has to Change’” at Rolling Stone.
Read “Listening to Hard Rock and Metal Can Lead to Unhealthy Food Choices” at Consequence.
Read “Dead & Company on Summer Tour: ‘You Couldn’t Turn Your Back on This Music’” at Rolling Stone.
Read “Archie Shepp’s 1974 Paris concert set for first vinyl release” at Vinyl Factory.
Read “JAY-Z, Foo Fighters, Tina Turner Inducted Into Rock Hall of Fame 2021” at Pitchfork.
Read “Kraftwerk FINALLY gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Oh, and the Foos made it, too)” at A Journal of Musical Things.
Read “Can’s Live Shows Will Be Heard at Last, Thanks to a Bootlegger in Big Pants” at New York Times.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “NBC Is Dropping Golden Globes After Criticism Over Diversity” at Bloomberg. “Musician Matt Sweeney discusses confidence, different types of collaboration, paying attention, and creating and sustaining your lane.”
Read “The "Ted Lasso" way is comforting – and a counter to the hollow nationalism Americans have embraced” at Salon.
Read “'American Idol' finalist Caleb Kennedy out after KKK-style hood video surfaces” at CNN.
Read “Bong Joon Ho working on animated film involving "deep-water sea creatures"“ at AV Club.
Books/Reading/Authors
Read “The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: 17,500 Entries on All Things Sci-Fi Are Now Free Online” at Open Culture.
Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:
Read “A Private Company Is About to Send the First Paying Crew to the International Space Station” at Time.
Read “The Psychedelic Miracle” at Rolling Stone. “How some doctors are risking everything to unleash the healing power of MDMA, ayahuasca and other hallucinogens.”
Read “A New Study Points to MDMA as a Powerful Treatment for PTSD” at Time.
Read “The Soviet Doctor Who Cut Out His Own Appendix” at Flashback.
Food Cultures:
Read “Restaurants are running out of chicken wings” at ABC 15.
Local:
Read “21 and Over! Here are 21 New Craft Beer Releases from Arizona Breweries” at Phoenix Magazine.
Read “What were those strange lights in the Arizona sky?” at AZ Family.
Read “Arizona's Early Voting List Is No Longer Permanent” at KJZZ.