The Weekly Town Crier (10/23/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (10/23/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Evangelicals opposed to Trump step out of the shadows with new groups and ads” at Yahoo.

Read “Stacey Abrams’ passion for voting began with her preacher parents” at Religion News Service.

Read ‘Collins PAC donated hundreds of dollars to two candidates who support QAnon” at The Hill.

Read “Christian Witness Demands That We Defend Truth—and Reject Donald Trump” at The Public Discourse.

Read “Pat Robertson Prophesies That Trump Will Win Reelection, Then the End Times Will Begin” at Right Wing Watch.

Read “Pope Francis, in Shift for Church, Voices Support for Same-Sex Civil Unions” at New York Times.

Read “Policies, Persons, and Paths to Ruin” by John Piper at Desiring God. “When a leader models self-absorbed, self-exalting boastfulness, he models the most deadly behavior in the world. He points his nation to destruction. Destruction of more kinds than we can imagine.”

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “Black man serving life sentence for stealing hedge clippers granted parole” at NBC News. “Fair Wayne Bryant was sentenced in 1997 under the state's habitual offender law. On Thursday, a parole committee voted for his release.”

Read “Texas social workers can now turn away LGBTQ, disabled clients” at NBC News. “A state regulatory board removed the discrimination protections following a recommendation from Gov. Greg Abbott.”

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “SF archbishop performs exorcism to cleanse protest site” at SF Gate.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Swiss yodellers blamed for worst supercluster of coronavirus cases in Europe” at Telegraph.

Read/Watch “Fact-checking Trump's false claims on virus” at MSNBC.

Read “Covid-19 Patients Put Remote Care to the Test” at Wall Street Journal. “Doctors and hospitals have strived to replace some in-person care with telemedicine during the pandemic.”

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Browse “24 spooky places to visit around the world” at National Geographic.

Read “The future of public transportation in the US depends on who wins the election” at CNN.

Read “Helping Hands Need A Break, Too: How To Lend Support Without Burning Out” at NPR. “If you're feeling numb or overburdened these days in response to another's pain or request for help, that doesn't make you unkind. You could be experiencing compassion fatigue.”

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Americans Are Voting Early At A Record Rate” at Huff Post.

Read “Trump's closing pitch to voters admits that America has to be made 'great again' all over again” at Yahoo.

Read “After GOP Sen. Ben Sasse was recorded unloading on Trump, Woodward said other Republican senators “feel exactly the same way” at MSNBC.

Read “Progressive group: Feinstein must step down as top Democrat on Judiciary panel” at The Hill.

Read “Bob Woodward, Wolf Blitzer Claim GOP Senators Privately Criticize Donald Trump” at Huff Post. “After GOP Sen. Ben Sasse was recorded unloading on Trump, Woodward said other Republican senators “feel exactly the same way.”

Read “U.S. Budget Gap Tripled to Record $3.1 Trillion in Fiscal 2020, Treasury Says” at Wall Street Journal. “Spending soared 47% in year ended Sept. 30 as government rolled out programs to battle coronavirus and recession.”

Read “Inside the Fall of the CDC” at Pro Publica. “How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.”

Read “John Kerry Is Mad as Hell” at Rolling Stone. “The former senator, presidential nominee, and Secretary of State on the “nincompoop” in the White House, the decimation of America’s reputation abroad, and what needs to be done to restore it.”

Read “Court rejects bid to extend vote counting on Navajo Nation in Arizona” at KTAR.

Read ‘Cruz, other Senate Republicans to release plan barring ‘court-packing’” at Washington Post.

Read “Perdue’s mocking of Kamala Harris yields nearly $2M haul for his rival” at AJC.

Read “Trump's Twitter hacked after Dutch researcher guessed password” at The Guardian.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Joe Kennedy III campaign says it improperly spent $1.5 million in Senate primary” at Boston Globe.

Read ‘Rudy: Only ‘50/50’ Chance I Worked With a ‘Russian Spy’ to Dig Dirt on Bidens” at The Daily Beast. “In a wild interview, the president’s personal attorney made clear he believes he’s on a mission to torpedo the Bidens. And he doesn’t care who supplied the ammunition.”

• Read “Giuliani's 'October Surprise' already shows signs of backfiring” at MSNBC News. “This week's revelations were supposed to make Joe Biden look bad. Instead, they're proving to be a far bigger problem for his GOP accusers.”

Read “Inside the Republican Plot for Permanent Minority Rule” at The New Republic.

Read “Kanye West defends his candidacy after 'SNL' joke” at The Hill.

Read “Nicolas Cage and Marilyn Manson in Conversation” at Interview.

Read “Rudy Giuliani faces questions after compromising scene in new Borat film” at The Guardian. “Trump’s personal attorney has indiscreet encounter with actor playing Borat’s daughter in hotel room during pandemic.”

Read “The US Eliminated Nearly 21,000 Election Day Polling Locations for 2020” at Vice.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “First Posthumous Ennio Morricone Collection Will Feature Seven Unreleased Tracks” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Brian Wilson Disavows Mike Love’s Beach Boys Playing Trump Fundraiser” at Pitchfork.

Read “Keith Jarrett Confronts a Future Without the Piano” at New York Times.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Boston news anchor fired for appearing in Hubie Halloween” at AV Club.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read ‘From Miles Davis to Jon Hassell: the psychedelic covert artwork of Mati Klarwein” at Vinyl Factory.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “This Scientist Is Fighting to Save Coral Reefs—and Recruiting Other Women to Join Her” at Time.

Read “2,000-Year-Old Cat Etching Found at Nazca Lines Site in Peru” at New York Times.

Food Cultures:

Read “A Historical Dig Sheds Light on the Food of the Underground Railroad” at Gastro Obscura. “Archaeologists found muskrat, turtle, and other edible remains in Harriet Tubman Country.”

Read “Remembering When Americans Picnicked in Cemeteries” at Gastro Obscura.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Rancher reports another mutilated cow in E. Oregon” at Capital Press.

Local:

The Weekly Town Crier (10/16/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (10/16/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan dies at 77” at ESPN.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “5 Ways Your Predominantly White Church Can Work for Racial Justice and Reconciliation” at Missio Alliance.

Read “I was in the pro-life movement. But then, widowed with 6 kids, I prepared for an abortion” at USA Today. “The pro-life movement's caricatures make for good propaganda but terrible policy. People, real people, become pregnant.”

Read “One Jehovah’s Witness acquitted in Russia as others get months of restrictions” at Religion News Service.

Read “God intended it as a disposable planet’: meet the US pastor preaching climate change denial” at The Conversation. “Every so often you come across a piece of writing so extraordinary that you cannot help but share it. One such piece is a sermon on global warming by American pastor John MacArthur. Full of beautifully constructed rhetorical flourishes, it is forcefully delivered by an experienced and impassioned preacher to a large and appreciative audience.”

Read “Jesus Christ, Superspreader?” at Rolling Stone. “Preacher-musician Sean Feucht stages Nashville concert, ignoring Covid-19 precautions.”

Read “Vatican takes step toward making teen youngest contemporary person declared a saint” at The Hill.

Read “How will the post-pandemic church pay the bills?” at Religion News Service.

Read “The Fundamentalist War on Wokeness is a War on Christian Love” at Patheos.

Read “CRT: conservative evangelicalism’s latest Marxist chimaera” at Faith, Philosophy, and Politics.

Read “Investigation into Allegations Against Chris Rice” at Tates Creek Presbyterian Church.

Read “Trump refuses to disavow QAnon conspiracy theory” at Financial Times.

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “Militia group plan to kidnap Whitmer was part of attempt to start civil war” at The Hill.

• Read “13 charged by state, feds in plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer” at WXYZ.

Read “Graham says SC people of color can go anywhere in the state but 'need to be conservative, not liberal' at The Hill. “I care about everybody, if you’re a young African American or an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this country,” Graham said. “You just need to be conservative, not liberal.”

Read “In this LA neighborhood, residents unite to bless one of its most sacred murals” at Religion News Service. “On a recent Sunday afternoon, more than 100 people gathered at a northeast Los Angeles intersection to honor what some refer to as the neighborhood’s most sacred mural.”

Read “We have a story to tell: Indigenous scholars, activists speak up amid toppling of Serra statues” at Religion News Service.

Read “The All-American Mind of a Militia Member” at The New Republic. “I’ve spent years with men like the ones charged in a Michigan plot to kidnap the governor. They aren’t outsiders—they’re intimate products of American democracy.”

Read “Early voting begins in Georgia with long lines, high turnout” at NBC News. “Race is one of the strongest predictors of how long a person waits in line to vote, research shows.”

Listen to “No Compromise” at NPR. “Discover a social media empire with an unapologetic vision of gun rights—generating millions of likes, follows, and dollars. From Guns & America, reporters Lisa Hagen of WABE and Chris Haxel of KCUR expose how three brothers from the most uncompromising corner of the gun debate are turning hot-button issues into donations and controversy.”

Read “Mexico says 2 women may have had nonconsensual surgery in ICE detention” at NBC News. “Mexico said it has identified two women who may have been operated on without their consent while they were detained by U.S. immigration authorities.”

Read “Giffords launches national Gun Owners for Safety group to combat the NRA” at The Hill.

• Read “I’m a Teenage Biathlete Who Grew Up Shooting. Here’s Why I Support Gun Safety Laws.” at Giffords.Org.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):

Read “SBTS trustees retain building names, address history, establish $5 million scholarship for African American students” at SBTS.

• Read “Al Mohler Needs to Say Their Names” at Word and Way.

This Week With The Police:

Read “11-Year Old Boy Busted For Jacking School Bus . . . Went on JoyRide, Cops Say” at TMZ.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Despite a Strong COVID-19 Rebound, China Isn't Going Back to Normal Anytime Soon” at Time.

Read “Harris Says Covid Aid Should Be Senate Priority” at Bloomberg.

Read “Maynard James Keenan Had COVID-19” at Spin. "It was ugly," Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer frontman says.

Read ‘Chris Christie has been hospitalized with COVID-19 for a week. That’s not unusual for this disease, doctors say” at NJ.com.

Read “Fox News Doctor To Examine Trump, And Twitter Users Jokingly ‘Leak’ Footage” at Huff Post. “Trump’s televised medical exam will be as honest and transparent as Trump’s taxes,” one Twitter user promised.”

Read “As a pandemic presses on, waves of grief follow its path” at Associated Press. “In a strong voice tinged with her Irish homeland, Fiona Prine talks hauntingly about loss. From her COVID-19 infection and isolation — self-imposed in hopes of sparing her husband, folk-country legend John Prine — to his own devastating illness and death, she’s had more than her share in this year like no other.”

Read “Is There a Safe Way to Be Home for the Holidays?” at The Atlantic. “Throughout the pandemic, Americans have been tempted to violate public-health experts’ recommendations. The winter holidays might be the strongest temptation yet.”

Read “A Redding Megachurch Leader Came to Humboldt and Flouted Mask Rules. Her Ministry is Now the Source of a Major COVID Outbreak.” at Lost Coast Outpost.

Read “CDC optimistic coronavirus vaccines will be released by end of the year” at CNN.

Read “Alabama Coach Nick Saban Tests Positive for Covid-19 as Virus Disrupts SEC” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Putin Announces Approval Of A Second Unproven Coronavirus Vaccine” at NPR.

Read “Oxford researchers develop rapid COVID-19 test capable of producing results in under five minutes” at The Hill.

Read “Jetliner Cabins Are Quickly Cleared of Virus, Pentagon Says” at Bloomberg.

Read “OSHA Doesn’t Expect Employers To Report COVID-19 Hospitalizations Anymore” at Huff Post.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “California Will Keep Burning. But Housing Policy Is Making It Worse.” at Pro Publica.

Read “How Airbnb Pulled Back From the Brink” at Wall Street Journal. “Lessons from the home-sharing giant’s near-death experience: Focus on the core business, keep expenses low and listen to customers.”

Read “Facebook removes hundreds of fake profiles tied to pro-Trump group” at The Guardian.

Read “Removing Holocaust Denial Content” at Facebook.

Read “An Ethical Computer-Repair Shop Wouldn’t Do That to Hunter Biden” at Slate. “The New York Post’s controversial “scoop” involves some shady behavior by a laptop repairman.’

Read “NBC Actors, Producers Protest Network’s Decision to Host Trump Town Hall at Same Time as Biden’s ABC Event” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Twitter Changes Course After Republicans Claim ‘Election Interference’” at New York Times.

Internationalities:

Read “Vietnam flood death toll rises as storm Nangka dumps more rain” at Al Jazeera.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Biden Campaign Continues To Deflect On Court-Packing” at NPR.

Read “Biden Affirms: “I Will Eliminate Your Student Debt” at Forbes.

Read “Why the Affordable Care Act Is Such a Hot Topic” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “'Courts Are Not Designed To Solve Every Problem,' Barrett To Say In Opening Statement” at NPR.

Read “Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with GOP lawmaker over QAnon, antifa” at The Hill.

Read “The battle over a Texas order limiting ballot drop-off locations, explained” at Vox.

Read “Texas surpassed 1 million votes on first day of early voting” at Houston Chronicle.

Read “Ice Cube Clarifies Role in Helping Trump Admin Develop ‘Platinum Plan’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Senate committee sets Oct 22 confirmation vote” at Al Jazeera.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Williamson nurse charged after shooting woman in abdomen” at WCHSTV.

Read “White House Refuses to Say if Trump Still Contagious Before First Event Since Diagnosis” at Slate.

Read “Trump Told Supporters to ‘Watch’ Voting. His Staff Is More Than Watching" at New York Times.

Read “Mike Pompeo: Clinton emails could be released before election” at New York Post.

Read “California elections officials order GOP to immediately remove unofficial ballot boxes” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end census count” at Politico. “A federal judge had ordered the Census Bureau to continue enumeration until Oct. 31.”

Read “As Virus Spread, Reports of Trump Administration’s Private Briefings Fueled Sell-Off” at New York Times. “On Feb. 24, Trump's economic team privately addressed the Hoover Institution and implied that a COVID outbreak could prove worse than advisers were signaling to the public. Aides appeared to be giving wealthy party donors an early warning.”

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Juice WRLD’s Mother Pens Open Letter About Son’s Struggles for World Mental Health Day” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Haunting of Slint’s “Good Morning, Captain” at Treble.

Read “Anatomy of a Sound: Garcia Peoples” at Inside Hook. “These are the songs fueling one of the best new jam bands around.”

Read “The Best Tenor Player In the World; Pharaoh Sanders at 80” at Los Angeles Times. “Just let the music come, and spend as much time as you can listening.”

Read “Crass Walks Us Through Their Entire Bandcamp Discography” at Bandcamp.

Watch “Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires Cover John Prine’s ‘Storm Windows’” at Rolling Stone.

See “‘In My Room’ With Thurston Moore” at Rolling Stone. “Musician performs mostly instrumental versions of songs off his latest solo effort, By the Fire.”

Read “Jeff Tweedy Wants To Teach You How To Write One Song” at Uproxx.

Read “The Mountain Goats Post New Song Picture Of My Dress” at StereoBoard.

Browse “From Brian Eno to Sufjan Stevens: A playlist of chill out music to keep you calm” at Far Out Magazine.

Read “The Flaming Lips: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert” at NPR.

Watch “Bill Callahan & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy cover Hank Williams Jr w/ Matt Sweeney” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “The Age Of Adz Turns 10” at Stereogum.

Read “On Leaders And Leadership - A Conversation With Chuck D” at The Quietus.

Read “Jerry David DeCicca — The Unlikely Optimist and His Domestic Adventures (This Is a Self-Release)” at Dusted.

Read “How to Handle the Hate in America’s Musical Heritage” at New York Times.

Read “David Crosby apologizes for “not cool” Eddie Van Halen tweet” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Sturgill Simpson to Release First Bluegrass Album ‘Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1′” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Jimmy Page says he “reconnected with guitar” during lockdown” at Guitar World.

Read “Texas Punk Rock, Straight From the Pit” at New York Times.

Read “Yo La Tengo :: We Have Amnesia Sometimes/Sleepless Night” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “An Oral History Of Tom Petty’s Landmark 1994 Album, ‘Wildflowers’” at Uproxx.

Read “Remembering the Original Knitting Factory” at JazzTimes. “Owners and musicians tell the story of the New York jazz club that defined "downtown".

Read “Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill Musical Leads Tony Awards with 15 Nominations” at Consequence of Sound.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “HBO to Develop Scripted Series About Elon Musk’s SpaceX” at Variety.

Read “C-SPAN's Steve Scully suspended after admitting to lying about Twitter hack” at The Hill.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Five Indigenous SFF Authors You Should Be Reading” at TOR.com.

• Browse “Honoring Indigenous Peoples: 20 Recommended Reads” at New York Public Library.

• Browse “10 Native North American Women Writers To Read This Fall” at Book Riot.

• Read “Bookworms, How Many Of These Classic Books By Indian Authors Have You Read?” at BuzzFeed.

Read “Alan Moore Gives Rare Interview: ‘Watchmen’ Creator Talks New Project ‘The Show’, How Superhero Movies Have “Blighted Culture” & Why He Wants Nothing To Do With Comics” at Deadline.

Browse “5 books not to miss: 'Culture Warlords' by Talia Lavin, P. Djèlí Clark's 'Ring Shout'“ at USA Today.

Read “Every page makes you hungry': 20 chefs pick their favourite starter cookbooks” at The Guardian.

Local:

Read “Interim Tempe Police Chief Glover to be sworn in at city council meeting” at KTAR.

The Weekly Town Crier (09/04/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/04/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman has died” at CNN.

Read “Trail Blazers on the Passing of Blazers Great, Cliff Robinson” at NBA.com.

Read “Itaru Oki 1941–2020” at The Wire. “The Japanese free jazz trumpeter and instrument builder died on 25 August.”

Read “Original Freedom Rider, Bill Harbour, passes away at age 78” at CBS42.

Read “Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame pitcher, dies at 75” at CNN.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Former pool attendant details alleged relationship with Becki and Jerry Falwell Jr.” at ABC News. “The Falwells told him during that first encounter that they had visited a Miami swingers' club the previous night...”

• Read “What Jerry Falwell Jr. Taught Me at Liberty University” at New York Times. "At Liberty, our minds may have been receiving correct content, but our hearts were being trained to love wrongly: to love political power, physical security and economic prosperity as higher goods than they are.”

• Read “Trailer Park Boys Video Reveals Raunchy Falwell Family Culture With Many Ties to Liberty U” at Roys Report.

• Read “Liberty trustees failed Falwell, too” at Alabama.com. ““You know who else was due some love and protection? The faithful and sincere members of the Liberty faculty who had to walk into the classroom each day and face students who were confused and angered by the brazen hypocrisy going on all around them.”

• Read “Liberty University launches investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president” at WFXRTV.

• Read “Larry Flynt: My Final Farewell to the Falwells” at Daily Beast. “The Hustler publisher, who won a landmark First Amendment legal battle against Jerry Falwell Sr., writes about Jerry Falwell Jr.’s fall from grace—and the Trump of it all.”

Read “As Billy Graham's granddaughter and a proud evangelical, I worry for our country under Trump” at Independent. “Where is the fight for the marginalized communities Jesus exemplified? The church has been quicker to condemn an NFL player peacefully protesting than they are the racism that brought the protestor to his knees in the first place.”

Read “One-third of evangelicals believe Jesus was a “good teacher," but "not God”” at Disrn.

Read “Christian Dandy Throws A Punch” in which Rod Dreher defends Eric Metaxas for punching someone: “You just get so sick of these people and their filthy mouths, and their berserk screaming at people. ... Sometimes you have to use violence to preserve order.”

• Read “Rod Dreher: “I don’t care that Eric threw a punch at that guy. He had it coming.” at The Way of Improvement.

• Read “Eric Metaxas says a protester on a bike menaced him, ducks questions about punch” at Religion News Service.

Read “John MacArthur: There is No Pandemic” by Warren Throckmorton. "In truth, 6% of the deaths that have occured can be directly attributable to COVID, 94% cannot. Of the 160,000 people who have died, 9,210 actually died from COVID. There is no pandemic."

• Read “Los Angeles County Evicts Grace Community Church From Parking Lot” at Todd Starnes. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is not persecution.

• Read “John MacArthur claimed there is 'no pandemic.' He was politicizing science, experts say” at Religion News Service.

Read “What ‘Black Panther’ Means for Christians” at Christianity Today.

Read “On the Front Lines, Some Pro-Life Activists Think Twice About Supporting Trump” at Christianity Today. “A pro-life spokeswoman quit her job rather than endorse Donald Trump for another term in the White House.”

Read “More than 350 faith leaders endorse Biden, citing 'need of moral leadership'“ at The Hill.

Read “American Christianity’s White-Supremacy Problem” at The New Yorker. “History, theology, and culture all contribute to the racist attitudes embedded in the white church.”

Read ‘Can Christians Justify the Violence on America’s Streets?” at Christianity Today.

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “Authorities find 123 missing children in just ONE day during a Michigan sex trafficking operation” at MSN.

• Read “U.S. Marshals find 39 missing children in Georgia” at My Fox 8.

• Read “U.S. Marshals rescue another 25 missing and sex-trafficked children” at DISRN.

Read “Banksy bought a refugee rescue boat and its crew is saving lives” at Boing Boing.

Read the opinion piece “RNC Spectacle Revealed Sheer Hypocrisy of Trump's Immigration Policy” at Newsweek.

Read “NBA to resume games after player protest, turn stadiums into voting sites” at Reuters.

• Read “NBA Players Urge Activism but Only 20 Percent Are Registered to Vote” at Mediaite.

Read “Why You Should Think Twice Before Sharing Your ‘Blackout Tuesday’ Post on Instagram” at W Magazine.

Read “Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Was Under Investigation for Child Pornography” at Pro Publica. “The richest man in South Dakota, T. Denny Sanford, was investigated for possible possession of child pornography, according to four people familiar with the matter. Sanford is a major donor to children’s charities and Republican politicians.”

Read “Activist Shaun King Accused of Profiting off Chadwick Boseman's Death” at Newsweek.

Read “California bans flavored tobacco sales in response to a surge in teen use” at Yahoo.

Read “King James' Profanity Prayer” by David Dark at Paste.

Read “Why is the Border Patrol undermining humanitarian aid efforts at the southern border?” at Christian Century.

Read “Ron Jeremy Charged With 20 More Counts of Sexual Assault” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Trump's latest weird theory involves a 'plane loaded with thugs' at MSNBC. “People lurking "in the dark shadows" controlling American streets? A plane full of black-uniformed "thugs"? What on earth is Trump talking about?”

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):

Read ‘Mississippi to vote in November on new state flag featuring magnolia” at CNN.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Amazon protesters outside Jeff Bezos' home construct guillotine” at Fox Business.

Read “Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, faces first-degree intentional homicide, five other charges in Kenosha protest shootings” at AZ Central.

• Read “ASU conservatives raising funds for Kenosha protest shooter Kyle Rittenhouse” at AZ Central.

• Read “Vigilante? Militia? Confusion And Politics Shape How Shooting Suspect Is Labeled” at NPR.

• Read “Militias, Armed Vigilantes Encouraged Online to Head to Kenosha Before Deadly Attack” at NBC Chicago.

• Read “Christian fundraising site has raised over $220,000 for accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse” at Raw Story.

• Read “Trump Defends Kenosha Shooting Suspect” at NPR.

• Read “Kenosha Protests, Violence Expose Racial Disparities Among The Worst In The Country” at NPR.

Read “One Author's Argument 'In Defense Of Looting' at NPR.

Read “Rand Paul recounts confrontation with protesters after RNC” at Axios.

Read “1 killed in Portland amid clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters” at Axios.

• Read “Wolf says "all options" on the table for ending violent protests in Portland” at Axios.

• Read “Oregon State Police deploying to Portland after fatal shooting” at Axios.

• Read “Oregon State Police troopers deputized by feds” at KATU.

Read “Athlete Activism Against Police Violence Reminds Ken Shropshire Of '85's 'Sun City' at WBUR.

• Read “NBA playoffs to resume after agreement on social justice initiatives” at Axios.

Read “New Jersey teen behind Black Lives Matter rally receives bill for thousands of dollars for police overtime” at CBS News.

Read “Mark Meadows: "Most of Donald Trump's America is peaceful" at Axios.

Read “Kentucky AG says he has received ballistics report in Breonna Taylor probe” at Axios.

• Read “Court Records Show Drug Suspect Offered Plea Deal to Name Breonna Taylor as Part of 'Organized Crime Syndicate' at The Root.

Read “Arrest of Tampa protesters under scrutiny; lawyer calls it a ‘joke charge’” at Tampa Bay Weekly.

Read “ACLU Demands Resignation of Top Cops in Kenosha for Racism & Brutal Response to Jacob Blake Protests” at Democracy Now!

Read “Trump Moves to Cut Federal Funding From Democratic Cities” at New York Times. “The president directed officials to identify “anarchist jurisdictions” and move to withhold funds as he tries to build his campaign around the unrest that has accompanied racial justice protests.”

This Week With The Police:

Read “Police reforms face defeat as California Democrats block George Floyd-inspired bills” at The Sacramento Bee.

Read “The FBI warned for years that police are cozy with the far right. Is no one listening?” at The Guardian.

Read “NYPD to adopt guidelines for disciplining officer misconduct” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Los Angeles sheriff’s office says Black bicyclist fatally shot by police had dropped a gun” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Whistleblower Testifies Deputy Who Shot Gardena Teen Was “Chasing Ink” at Spectrum1 News.

Read “Ex-Boston Police Union Pres. Charged With Raping 4 More Children” at NBC Boston.

Read “The Little Cards That Tell Police 'Let's Forget This Ever Happened' at Vice. “Some cops give their friends and family union-issued "courtesy cards" to help get them out of minor infractions. The cards embody everything wrong with modern policing.”

Education and The Learnings:

Read “Photo of children using Taco Bell's free WiFi to do schoolwork sheds light on digital divide” at KCTV5.

Read “Man, 21, busted for posing as 14-year-old and enrolling in high school” at Boing Boing.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Sen. Thom Tillis says he “fell short” by not wearing mask at Trump's RNC speech” at Axios.

Read “Iowa was reporting false COVID-19 information for months, until this nurse blew the whistle” at The Gazette. “State epidimiologist knew about the problem since July.”

Read “Far right using coronavirus as excuse to attack Asians, say police” at The Guardian.

Read “Rise in coronavirus cases as 123 positive tests overnight in Scotland” at The Daily Record.

Read “The U.S. Can Fix Its COVID Testing Failures” at Slate. “We need more rapid results tests, and we need them now.”

Read “Can you be evicted during the pandemic? It depends on your ZIP code” at CNBC.

Read “White Man in Alaska Demonically Screams in the Face of Walmart Worker, 'You Have No Authority Over Me' at Raw Story.

Read “'Small events add up to a lot': Limited gatherings quietly emerge as source of coronavirus infections” at AZ Central.

Read “Northern California church accrues $25,000 in fees for violating public health orders” at Religion News Service. “"If I get COVID, God bless you," Rev. Jack Trieber, the church's pastor said. "It's going to be a great funeral."

Read “Herman Cain account tweets coronavirus 'not as deadly' as claimed after his death from COVID-19” at The Hill.

Read “Ducey's maskless photos came as Arizona has spent $3M on 'mask up' campaign” at Tucson.com.

Read “Uber to require that passengers provide face-mask selfies” at 12 News.

Read “The Trump Administration Is Backing Out of a $647 Million Ventilator Deal After ProPublica Investigated the Price” at Pro Publica.

Read “Making Gyms Safer: Why The Virus Is Less Likely To Spread There Than In A Bar” at NPR.

Read “CDC requests states ready COVID-19 vaccine distribution by November” at Axios.

Read “Three Phoenix-Area Bars Shut Down By State Officials Over COVID-19 Violations” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Surly Brewing Co. to close its destination beer hall in Minneapolis” at Star Tribune. ““This space is built for a lot of people, for socializing and getting together with friends,” said Surly owner Omar Ansari. “That’s not the way the world is working right now. There’s a pandemic going on, and there’s just no way for places like ours to make it in a COVID world.”

School Re-Openings:

Read “Utah coronavirus case numbers spike to 458 on Saturday, with another hospitalization tied to a school outbreak” at Salt Lake Tribune.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Study says Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in states with the most despair” at KFOR.

Read “FDA removes top spokesperson after 11 days on the job” at Axios.

Read “The Furious Hunt for the MAGA Bomber” at Wired. “Scarred by trauma and devoted to Trump, a man began mailing explosives to the president’s critics on the eve of an election. Inside the race to catch him.”

Internationalities:

Read “EU warns Turkey of sanctions as east Mediterranean crisis worsens” at Al Jazeera.

Read “French spying: Senior army officer investigated” at BBC.

Read “Russiagate Was Not a Hoax” at The Atlantic. “The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence confirmed what the Mueller report could not.”

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Rival Themes Emerge as Race Enters Final Weeks: Covid vs. Law and Order” at New York Times. “Mr. Trump’s aides said he enjoyed the frustration and anger he caused by holding a political event on the South Lawn of the White House, shattering conventional norms and raising questions about ethics law violations. He relished the fact that no one could do anything to stop him, said the aides, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal conversation.”

• Read “The GOP’s norm-shattering convention showed how the two parties are worlds apart” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Here Is How RNC Speakers Addressed Two of the Most Pressing Issues in America Today” at Slate.

Read “Mitch McConnell’s campaign hires Covington teen Nick Sandmann” at New York Post.

Read “Top general says no role for military in presidential vote” at Associated Press. “The comments from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscore the extraordinary political environment in America, where the president has declared without evidence that the expected surge in mail-in ballots will make the vote “inaccurate and fraudulent,” and has suggested he might not accept the election results if he loses.”

Read “Donald Trump’s pathology of victimhood: It's dangerous for his own party — and the rest of us” at Salon. “As a clinical psychologist, what I see in Donald Trump is a classic and destructive pattern of malignant narcissism.”

Read “The Ford Administration Rolled Out a Vaccine Program Right Before the 1976 Election. It Backfired—And Not Just Politically” at Time.

Read “Kanye West Is Trying Hard to Get on Arizona’s Presidential Ballot This Fall” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Steve Scalise draws fire and then doubles down over doctored video of a disabled activist” at NOLA.com.

Read “Fact Check: Trump's Address To The Republican Convention, Annotated” at NPR.

Read “Joe Biden call for 'lawless' rioters to be prosecuted in push back to Donald Trump's criticism” at The Telegraph. “'Does anyone believe there will be less violence if Trump is re-elected?'

Read “The Payroll Tax Delay Is Here, But So Is Confusion About It” at NPR.

Read “Facebook And Twitter Remove Russia-Backed Accounts Targeting Left-Leaning Voters” at NPR.

Read “U.S. Debt Is Set to Exceed Size of the Economy Next Year, a First Since World War II” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Generation Z In The GOP: Young Republicans Reflect On The Future Of Their Party” at NPR.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Justice Dept. Never Fully Examined Trump’s Ties to Russia, Ex-Officials Say” at New York Times. “The former deputy attorney general maneuvered to keep investigators from completing an inquiry into whether the president’s personal and financial links to Russia posed a national security threat.”

Read “Oklahoma Governor Asked EPA to Strip Tribes of Environmental Authority” at TYT. “GOP Leaders Quietly Working to Circumvent Supreme Court Ruling Giving Tribes Control of Half the State.”

Read “The USPS Is Actively Being Destroyed By Trump—Here's How to Help” at Yahoo.

Read “Trump encourages North Carolina residents to vote twice to test mail-in system” at CNBC. EDITOR’S NOTE: It is illegal to vote more than once in an election, meaning the president urged people to break the law. And he did it publicly.

Read “Postal Service Has Paid DeJoy’s Former Company $286 Million Since 2013” at New York Times. “Documents obtained through a public records request showed the degree to which XPO Logistics, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s former employer, is intertwined with the agency he now oversees.”

Read “House Democrats launch probe into Postmaster General Dejoy” at Al Jazeera. “The investigation comes amid reports that Dejoy illegally reimbursed former employees for political campaign donations.”

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Public Enemy Announce New Album, Return to Def Jam” at Pitchfork.

Read “Turntable Lab’s NYC store has closed” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Leonard Cohen Estate Considering Legal Action After RNC Plays “Halleujah” at Slate.

Read “Taylor Swift Spends a Fourth Week at No. 1 Thanks to Full Album Sales” at New York Times.

Read “Justin Townes Earle and the Burden of Names” at Paste.

Watch “Dave Grohl and 10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Face Off in Drum Battle” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Getting To Know Sundressed” at Something You Said.

Read “David Byrne addresses wearing Blackface in ‘Stop Making Sense’ promo video” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Public Enemy’s New Album to Feature Beastie Boys, George Clinton, Cypress Hill, Run-DMC, More” at Pitchfork.

Read “Toots Hibbert Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit” at Pitchfork.

Read “Soul Coughing’s Mike Doughty On His New EP Ghost Of Vroom 2” at Stereogum.

Read “Master P launches “Uncle P’s” line of food products as alternative to Aunt Jemima & Uncle Ben’s” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “H.C. McEntire :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Devandra Banhart Honors the Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah Anniversary With Cover” at Spin.

Movies/TV/Etc.:

Read “Owen Teague Playing Tommy Stinson In Replacements Biopic” at Stereogum.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Douglas County Library Board of Trustees will investigate library director, staff over support for BLM movement” at Sierra Nevada Ally.

Read “Everything We Know About Stephen King’s New The Stand Miniseries” at Rotten Tomatoes.

Read “Donald Trump Jr. wants to use his social media power to disrupt publishing” at Axios.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “The science of stoking fear” at Axios. “Academics codified it as the "fear drive" method in the 1950s, referring to the idea that engaging with fear can be the motivation for people to buy into anything that would make the feeling of fear go away.”

Read “NASA data shows glacial lakes swelling 50% due to climate change” at CNET.

Read “Musk Says It Will Be Possible For Owners To Telepathically Summon Their Tesla With Neuralink Implant” at Yahoo.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Heart of Belgian city mayor found entombed in fountain” at BBC.

Read “Airline pilots reported seeing 'a guy in a jetpack' flying 3,000 feet over Los Angeles” at NBC News.

Local:

Read “'Black Lives Matter' could be painted on a street in downtown Phoenix” at AZ Central.

The Weekly Town Crier (08/28/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (08/21/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “R.I.P. Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali” at AV Club.

Read “Justin Townes Earle Dead at 38” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Justin Townes Earle Died From ‘Probable Drug Overdose,’ Police Spokesperson Says” at Spin.

Read “Arizona coaching legend Lute Olson dies at age 85” at AZ Desert Swarm.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “To prevent the next Christian scandal, shrink the integrity gap” at Religion News Service. “Currently on a leave of absence from Liberty University because of some controversial social media posts, Falwell has also demonstrated that as a leader’s influence grows, so must his or her commitment to integrity.”

• Read “Liberty Trustees Hold Special Meeting, but Don’t Decide Whether to Remove Jerry Falwell Jr.” at Julie Roys.

• Read “Business partner of Falwells says affair with evangelical power couple spanned seven years” at Reuters. “Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room."

• Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. and the Evangelical Redemption Story” at The New York Review of Books. "The redemption stories peddled by the evangelical right are never about a sinner who repents after a lifetime of exploiting renters as a landlord, after being horribly racist to black people or abusive toward women."

• Read “Falwell says Fatal Attraction threat led to depression” at Washington Examiner.

• Read “Ready, Set, Trump: Big-Money Faith, Football, and Forgiveness at Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Liberty University” at The Ringer (from 12/2019). ‘Falwell is one of the bulwarks of the religious right, an heir to his father’s Moral Majority. His family has built its legacy on the intertwinement of faith and politics, fighting for prayer in schools and against gay marriage. Yet Falwell seems to be suggesting that his political activity is no longer guided by his Christian beliefs. So I ask how much his faith informs his political views. “Not at all,” he says.

• Read “Falwell denies reports of his resignation” at Politico.'

• Read “Liberty University says Jerry Falwell Jr. agreed to resign, then changed his mind” at NBC News.

• Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns as head of Liberty University” by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. at Boing Boing.

• Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns as head of Liberty University, will get $10.5 million in compensation” at Washington Post.

• Read “Was Liberty’s Board Set up to Support Falwell or Liberty?” at Christianity Today.

• Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. May Be Owed $10.5 Million by Liberty University” at Wall Street Journal.

• Read “Let Liberty University Be A Lesson In Unchecked Power” by Karen Swallow Prior at Religion Unplugged.

• Read the opinion piece: “Jerry Falwell Jr.’s fall, Liberty University and the myth of the Moral Majority” at Religion News Service.

• Read “‘She was the aggressor’: Former Liberty student alleges sexual encounter with Becki Falwell” at Politico. “A former student at the evangelical university opens up about a 2008 incident with the wife of the school’s president.”

Read the opinion piece: “Let’s help evangelical Christians break free of the shame that drives them” at Baptist News.

Read “Confessing Complicity in Systemic Sin” at Christianity Today.

Read “Summer Unrest over Racial Injustice Moves the Country, But Not Republicans or White Evangelicals” at PRI

Read “Joe Biden’s acceptance speech caps off an unusually faith-filled Democratic National Convention” at Religion News Service.

Read “When What Is Lawful Is Lethal” at Christianity Today. “Structural sin may be legal, but that doesn’t make it right.”

Read “Turkey Turns Another Historic Church into a Mosque” at Christianity Today.

Read “More Than God-Talk” by Diana Butler Bass. “"A Field Guide to Religion and Politics.”

Read “This interview tells us a lot about John MacArthur and the movement he represents” at The Way of Improvement. “Watch what MacArthur does here. He equates biblical teaching with abortion, homosexual marriage, and transgenderism. That’s it. For MacArthur, biblical thinking about politics essentially comes down to these three things.”

Read “Evangelical Anti-Trafficking, Humanitarian and Denominational Organizations Petition Ivanka Trump to Protect Vulnerable Children” at World Relief.

Read “How has religion played a role in Donald Trump’s presidency?” at The Atlantic.

Read “Pastor, 16-Year-Old Girl Among Latest 11 Christians Murdered in Nigeria” at CBN

Read “How QAnon Conspiracy Is Spreading In Christian Communities Across The U.S.” at NPR.

• Read “QAnon Is a Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing” at Christianity Today.

• Read “Evangelicals are looking for answers online. They’re finding QAnon instead” at Technology Review. “How the growing pro-Trump movement is preying on vulnerable churchgoers to spread its conspiracy theories.”

Read “Trump’s Faithful: Franklin Graham, Navajo VP, Freed Pastor Andrew Brunson on GOP Convention Lineup” at Christianity Today.

• Read “Republican National Convention to include several conservative Christian speakers” at Religion News Service. “There’s nothing sheepish about this insidious internet demon.”

Read “American Evangelicalism isn’t patriarchal or feminized. It’s matrilineal” at Mere Orthodoxy. “Matrilineal societies are centuries old systems that organize community life so that the day-to-day activities of women are placed at the center of social thriving for successive generations.”

Read “'Let's Fix Our Eyes on Old Glory' - Pence Speech Draws Criticism From Some Faith Leaders” at CBN. “Pence, however, substituted the flag for Jesus, calling on Americans to support a second Trump term by saying  "let's run the race marked out for us. Let's fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents.”

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “'Severe inhumanity': California prisons overwhelmed by Covid outbreaks and approaching fires” at The Guardian.

Read “Trump Cabinet officials voted in 2018 White House meeting to separate migrant children, say officials” at NBC News. “If we don't enforce this, it is the end of our country as we know it," said Trump adviser Stephen Miller, according to officials present at a White House meeting.”

Read “The scheduled execution of the only Native American man on federal death row is highlighting the Navajo Nation's struggle for sovereignty” at AZ Central.

Read “An RNC Speaker Said Cops Would Be 'Smart' to Racially Profile Her Own Son” at Vice. “"Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons," anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson said in a YouTube video earlier this year.”

Read “Gov. Polis Calls Homeless Sweeps Near Capitol ‘A Relief’” at Denver CBS Local.

Read “‘Death is Everywhere’ Millions More Uyghurs Missing CJ Werleman 24 August 2020” at Byline Times.

Read “Alaska’s Attorney General Resigns Hours After We Published “Uncomfortable” Texts He Sent to a Younger Colleague” at Pro Publica.

Read “Guns Are Still Being Sold on Facebook Marketplace” at Wall Street Journal. “Firearm sellers are finding new ways to disguise weapon listings after lawmakers called on Mark Zuckerberg to better police the site’s Marketplace last year.”'

Read “Black Homeowners Face Discrimination in Appraisals” at New York Times. “Companies that value homes for sale or refinancing are bound by law not to discriminate. Black homeowners say it happens anyway.”

Read “U.S. cities sue federal government over untraceable 'ghost guns'“ at Reuters.

Read “Migrants Giving Up on America Are Using Coyotes to Smuggle Them Home” at Vice.

Read “We Need to Talk About the GOP’s ‘Black Friends’” at The Nation.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):

Read “Hurricane Laura Topples Confederate Statue After Vote to Keep It” at NBC Chicago.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signs bill upping penalties on some protests” at News Channel 5.

Read “Teens4Equality and People's Plaza lead rally against Tennessee's new anti-protesting law” at The Tennessean.

Read “Protesters rally over fatal police shooting of Black man in Louisiana” at Axios.

Read “Violence in Portland after far-right groups rally” at Axios.

• Read “Feds in Portland Now Unrestrained in Removing Journalists at Protests” at Courtroom News.

Read “How rural organizers are building community connections and power” at The Forge.

Read “Chicago police arrest 13 people after tents are set up outside CPS headquarters to protest officers in schools” at Chicago Tribune.

Read “Armed COVID-19 Protests Exploit Open Carry Loophole” at Every Town Research.

Read “Dozens Arrested In Louisville Protest Calling For Justice For Breonna Taylor” at NPR.

• Read “What Breonna Taylor's mother thought of AG Daniel Cameron's Republican convention speech” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

Read “Jacob Blake handcuffed to hospital bed, father says” at

Read “Trump says Wisconsin governor to allow federal assistance in Jacob Blake protests” at Axios.

Read “Facebook takes down ‘call to arms’ event after two shot dead in Kenosha” at The Verge.

Read “17-year-old arrested after 2 killed during unrest in Kenosha” at Associated Press.

• Read “A 17-Year-Old Aspiring Cop Has Been Charged With Murder In Kenosha” at Vice. “Police arrested Kyle Rittenhouse, a onetime police cadet, whose social media accounts indicated an affinity for the "Back the Blue" movement.”

• Read “Facebook chose not to act on militia complaints before Kenosha shootingFacebook chose not to act on militia complaints before Kenosha shooting” at The Verge.

• Read “Kenosha police chief says 3 people wouldn't have been shot during protests if they weren't illegally out past curfew” at Insider.

  • Read “Kenosha Sheriff in 2018: ‘There’s Some People That Aren’t Worth Saving’” at Rolling Stone. “Sheriff David Beth called on shoplifters to be “warehoused” for life to stop “these males [from] going out and getting 10 other women pregnant.”

• Read the opinion piece: “Arrested, Charged And…Celebrated By The Right” at News and Guts. “With no denunciation, or even a mention from the president about his actions, a teenage boy who allegedly carried out a murderous spree is suddenly being hailed a hero by some.”

Read “Alleged 'Boogaloo' extremist charged in killing of federal officer during George Floyd protest” at NBC News.

Read “Protesters Try to Drown Out Trump Speech, Confront Sen. Paul” at NBC Washington.

Read “‘We’re more than just basketball players,’ Ray Allen says of sports boycotts” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Kushner: NBA players are "very fortunate" to be "able to take a night off from work" at Axios.

• Read “NFL teams suspend practice over Jacob Blake shooting” at Axios.

• Read “NBA players decide to resume playoffs after boycott” at Axios.

This Week With The Police:

Read “The NYPD Is Withholding Evidence From Investigations Into Police Abuse” at Pro Publica.

Read “Blue Bloods: America’s Brotherhood of Police Officers” at Vanity Fair. “To understand the citadel of law enforcement, we must reckon with its unions—which resemble fraternities more than labor unions.”

Read “We Are Tracking What Happens to Police After They Use Force on Protestors” at Pro Publica.

Read “Black Family Who Had Phoenix Cop Pull Gun on Them Over 'Stolen Doll' to Receive $475K From the City” at The Root.

Education and The Learnings and School Re-openings:

Read “Career Advice The Pandemic Is Forcing Teachers Out Faster Than Ever, and We Might Not Recover” at We Are Teachers.

Read “Teachers could stay in classroom if exposed to COVID-19” at 12 News.

Read “Teachers shot by plastic pellets during training drill sue sheriff's department, officers” at Indy Star.

Read “New taskforce to examine ventilation in every NYC school classroom by next week” at NY Daily News.

Read “Parties, Basketball, Slip-and-Slides: ASU Student Employees Say Campus Is a Health Risk” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Some Arizona students may have been exposed to COVID-19 during the first week” at AZ Central.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Maine CDC now links 53 COVID-19 cases to Millinocket wedding reception” at Press Herald.

Read “Ex-FDA chief rebukes Trump over claim that "deep state" has slowed virus treatments” at Axios.

• Read “Mark Meadows defends Trump's "deep state" attacks on FDA” at Axios.

Read “FDA, under pressure from Trump, authorizes blood plasma as Covid-19 treatment” at STAT News.

Read “Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh Terrorized By Neighborhood TikTok Influencers’ “COVID Parties” at Stereogum.

Read “F.D.A. ‘Grossly Misrepresented’ Blood Plasma Data, Scientists Say” at New York Times.

Read “American Airlines to lay off 17,500 frontline workers due to coronavirus travel slump” at USA Today.

Read “Why the economic value of a face mask is $56.14” at The Economist.

Read “Zoom weddings: A blessing in disguise?” at PRI.

Read “Crowd Shatters Glass To Get To Idaho House Session On Virus” at Associated Press.

Read “As His Mom Fought Covid-19, a Med Student Gained End-of-Life Insights” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Kentucky Man Accused Of Breaking Canada's COVID-19 Rules Faces $569,000 Fine” at NPR.

Read “Are U.S. medical experts being influenced by the Trump administration?” at PBS News Hour.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Pence on QAnon: "I dismiss it out of hand" at Axios.

• Read “QAnon looms behind nationwide rallies and viral #SavetheChildren hashtags” at NBC News.

• Read “Texas QAnon Supporter Used Car to Attack Strangers She Believed Were ‘Pedophiles’” at Right Wing Watch.

• Read “GOP leader: 'There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party' at The Hill.

Read “National Enquirer Chief David Pecker Out After AMI Merger” at Daily Beast.

Read “Big Basin, Home To Majestic Coast Redwoods, Is 'Gone'“ at Alt1053.

Read “In secretly recorded audio, President Trump’s sister says he has ‘no principles’ and ‘you can’t trust him’” at News and Guts. “He has no principles. None.”....“His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God,” she said. “I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.”

Read “Over 3.5 billion lack reasonably reliable access to electricity” at Axios.

Read “For $5,500, you can have your body composted in Washington for an environmentally friendly burial” at Religion News Service.

Read “Massive California wildfires expected to get worse as lightning, wind storms move in” at Los angeles Times.

Read “Jeff Bezos Becomes The First Person Ever Worth $200 Billion” at Forbes.

Read “Hurricane Laura smashes parts of Louisiana and Texas, killing 6 and leaving widespread wind damage” at CNN.

Internationalities:

Read “Satellite photos appear to show Chinese submarine using underground base” at CNN.

Read “Universal basic income seems to improve employment and well-being” at New Scientist. “Finland’s two-year test of universal basic income concluded that it doesn't seem to disincentivise working, and benefits recipients’ mental and financial wellbeing.”

Read “How Israel wages war on Palestinian history” at Mondo Weiss.

Read “Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to resign for health reasons” at Axios.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Sen. McSally urges supporters to donate to her campaign instead of buying a meal” at AZ Family.

Read “Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Is Both Proceeding and Unraveling” at The Intelligencer. “I called up all of the electors Kanye West submitted in Virginia today. Of the 13 electors on the ballot, 7 were surprised to either be electors, to have signed anything connected with Kanye or both.”

Read “Kushner plans trip to Middle East to encourage more Gulf states to normalize with Israel” at Axios.

Read “Trump Changes Convention Schedule, Plans To Speak Every Night” at News and Guts.

Read “Barr says he's "vehemently opposed" to pardoning Edward Snowden” at Axios.

Read “Trump says the 2020 DNC was ‘gloomiest’ in history” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Pelosi says "of course" she would accept election results if Trump wins” at Axios.

Read “Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake Endorses Joe Biden For President” at KJZZ.

Read “Kellyanne Conway announces she's leaving the White House and George Conway is stepping away from Lincoln Project” at CNN.

Read “Key moments from Harris and Biden's first joint interview” at Axios.

Read “Poll Finds Just 13% of Voters Still Up for Grabs for Trump, Biden” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Richard Spencer Backs Joe Biden, Says 'MAGA/Alt-Right Moment is Over' at Newsweek.

Read “Trump campaign releases second-term agenda” at Axios.

Read “The psychological wage of liberalism was laid bare at the DNC” at Christian Century. “If democracy is a moral abstraction instead of an embodied struggle, it won’t survive.’

Read “Don Jr. Threw Some Shade At The Loch Ness Monster During His RNC Speech, And People Are Pissed” at Comic Sands.

Read “RNC Speaker Cancelled After Boosting QAnon Conspiracy Theory About Jewish Plot to Enslave the World” at Daily Beast.

Read “A fascist manifesto is gaining fans on the right, including state Sen. Roger Chamberlain” at Minnesota Reformer.

Read “Ex-Intel Chief: 'I Wish We Had Taken More Action' Against Russian Meddling” at NPR.

Read “'Country First': More than 100 former staffers of Sen. John McCain endorse Joe Biden” at AZ Central.

Read “Trump casts Biden as vessel for "wild-eyed Marxists" in 70-minute RNC speech” at Axios.

• Read “CNN adds second chyron to fact-check Trump's RNC speech” at Axios.

Read “Mike Pence hopes four years of subservience to Trump paves his political future” at Washington Post.

Read “House Democrats say subpoena for Trump's financial records meets Supreme Court's requirements’ at Axios.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “How Much of the Right Is a Financial Scam?” by David French at The Dispatch. “Steve Bannon’s alleged fraud is the tip of the con-artist iceberg.”

Read “What the Heck Are Trump “Boat Parades”—and How Is the Steve Bannon Arrest Connected?” at Slate.

Read “More Than 550,000 Primary Absentee Ballots Rejected In 2020, Far Outpacing 2016” at NPR.

• Watch “Postmaster says ‘no idea’ mailboxes, equipment being removed” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Postal trucks sometimes travel across country - with no mail - after USPS cuts” at News Channel 5.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Pyramids Rebuilt: An Interview With Idris Ackamoor” at Passion of the Weiss.

Read “Van Morrison asks artists to speak out against socially distant concerts: 'Fight the pseudo-science'“ at Yahoo.

Read “New Pylon Box Set Announced” at Pitchfork. “The 4xLP collection includes the Georgia group’s two studio albums, unreleased tracks, and more.”

Read “John Doe of Punk Legends X Riffs on Their New Album and Not Winning Awards” at Phoenix New Times.

Movies/TV/Gaming/Etc.:

Read “Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Melissa Fumero Doesn’t Love the Look of Canada’s B99 Remake” at Vulture. The actress was disappointed to see the remake had rewritten two characters as white: 'I'm suddenly curious about the Latina population in Quebec'.

Read “Your guide to intelligent, nonviolent video games” at America Magazine.

Read “Theaters pitch consumers to return with new safety standards” at Axios.

Read “Sterling K. Brown: Black Actors Have Waited 'A Long Time To Be Fully Recognized'“ at NPR.

Read “Judge Tosses Age Discrimination Claim in ‘Simpsons’ Composer Alf Clausen’s Firing” at Variety.

Read “HBO Shares First Trailer for David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’ Film, Directed by Spike Lee” at Relix.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Boris Johnson and the revenge of the school librarian” at TES

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “An Elusive ‘Corpse Lily’ Bloomed Larger Than Ever Before in Indonesia” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “Asteroid heading our way day before presidential election” at New York Post.

Read “Bizarre Brains Of The Animal Kingdom” at Science World.

Read “Mystery human ancestor discovered, Ireland's most haunted mansion goes on sale, 1,300-year-old shipwreck uncovered” at All That’s Interesting.

Food Cultures:

Read “The Greek-Canadian Origins of the Hawaiian Pizza” at Gastro Obscura.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Netflix Captures One Man’s Weird, Wonderful Mission to Contact Aliens by Playing Kraftwerk” at Daily Beast.

Read “David Bowie used to store his urine in the fridge to stop witches stealing it” at Far Out Magazine.

Local:

Read “Arizona Supreme Court says ballot measure to legalize marijuana can appear on November ballot” at AZ Central.

Read “Instagram deletes account advertising ASU COVID-19 parties” at KTAR.

Read “Maricopa County won't pursue charges over explicit photos of Arizona lawmaker sent to lobbyist” at AZ Central.

Read “NASCAR Legend Michael Waltrip Races into Phoenix to Open a New Brewery” at Phoenix Magazine.

The Weekly Town Crier (08/21/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (08/21/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “R.I.P. Todd Nance, Founding Drummer of Widespread Panic” at Relix.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Why Jerry Falwell Jr.'s social media 'yacht' posts were problematic for Liberty University” at Religion News Service. “Religion News Service verified that Jerry Falwell has liked a handful of images posted on Instagram showing young women—some who are Liberty students—in swimsuits and scantily clad outfits.”

• Read “Liberty Alumni Pastors Urge University Board to 'Permanently Remove' Jerry Falwell Jr. as President” at CBN News. “"The students of Liberty University need a chancellor and president that embraces the responsibility to live out their faith with integrity and passion both publicly and privately.”

• See Jerry Falwell Jr.’s workout routine to deal with all the stress he’s under.

Read “How Megachurches Spent Coronavirus Relief Funds” at Christianity Today. “Religious groups got $7.3B in forgivable loans. That financial security helped ministry teams focus.”

Read “The California Court of Appeal today set aside a lower court order that would have allowed indoor services to take place at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley” at Yubanet.

Read “Joe Biden Campaigns on Faith” at Christianity Today. ““He may not be the conservative Catholic that a lot of evangelicals would like him to be, but when he talks about his faith, it rings true,” said Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Seminary.”

• Read “Joe Biden’s Catholic politics are complicated—but deeply American” at America Magazine.

• Read “By embracing faith, Joe Biden and the Democrats have the potential to transform American politics” at Religion News Service.

Read “QAnon: The alternative religion that’s coming to your church” at Religion News Service.

Read “It’s Not Enough to Broadcast a Service. Churches Need to Foster Community” at Christianity Today.

Read “Is the White Church Inherently Racist?” at New York Times. “White Christianity has not merely been a passive bystander in the construction of this nation’s racial caste system, it has been the primary cultural and religious institution creating, promoting and preserving it.”

Read “A New Face for Canadian Social Conservatism” at Christianity Today.

Read “Compassion begins in the eyes” at Christian Century.

Read “Americans want churches open but aren’t attending when they are open” at Baptist News.

Read “Evangelicals Call for Police and Criminal Justice Reform” at Christianity Today.

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “President Donald Trump calls NBA players 'very nasty' and 'very dumb' for kneeling during anthem” at AZ Central.

Read “Facebook goes after Apple” at Axios. “Facebook is seeking to force a face-off with Apple over its 30% in-app purchase commission fee, which Facebook suggests hurts small businesses struggling to get by during the pandemic.”

Read “8 Years After Proving Racism Affected His Trial, North Carolina Inmate Taken Off Death Row” at Time.

Read “What we know about the killing of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant” at Washington Post.

Read “Federal Appeals Court Throws Out California Ban On Large-Capacity Gun Magazines” at NPR.

Read “Portland Is Still Protesting. Where Is the Church?” at Christianity Today. “Christian leaders weigh when and how to engage in the city’s mounting clash over racial justice.”

Read “Dolly Parton Talks Black Lives Matter, Says 'Do We Think Our Little White Asses Are the Only Ones That Matter?' at The Root.

Read “Greece secretly sent away more than 1,000 migrants, abandoning them on the open sea” at Business Insider.

Read “President Trump's suburbs” at Axios. “President Trump cast an outdated vision of "the 'suburban housewife'" as he swiped this week at Joe Biden's newly minted running mate Kamala Harris — building on his months-long play to drive a wedge through battleground-state suburbs by reframing white voters' expectations.”

Read “Who Wrote The Pledge Of Allegiance — And Why Its History Is Controversial” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “Antifa crackdown is the new red scare” at The Real News.

Read “Jordan: Escalating Repression of Journalists” at Human Rights Watch.

Read “Russian opposition figure Navalny in coma after poisoning” at Politico.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Far-right groups clash with anti-racism protesters in U.S. cities” at Axios.”Far-right and anti-racism groups have clashed in several U.S. cities — including in Portland, where Black Lives Matter protesters were targeted with paintball from a paintball gun as they marked their 80th straight day of protests, per local media.”

• Read “Proud Boys, antifa clash in downtown Kalamazoo” at The Detroit News.

Read “Maker of tear gas used on Washington, D.C., protesters will exit business” at CBS News.

This Week With The Police:

Read “FL Sheriff Who Threatened to Hunt Down Godless BLM Looters Faces Felony Charges” at Patheos.

Read “Millions in lawsuit settlements are another hidden cost of police misconduct, legal experts say” at ABC News.

Read ‘Cops Who Shot and Killed a Queer Black Man Won’t Be Charged’ at New, Now, Next. “Kawaski Trawick accidentally got locked out of his apartment while cooking and called 911 because he thought he may have accidentally started a fire. Fire Dept arrived & let him in. Police arrived & killed him in his doorway. They will not be charged.”

Read “The Infuriating History of Why Police Unions Have So Much Power” at Mother Jones.

Read “Campus cop whines after she’s fired for putting ‘KKK member’ in her Twitter bio: ‘Not one person had my back’ at Raw Story.

Education and The Learnings/School Re-Openings:

Read “Less Than A Week After Starting Classes, UNC-Chapel Hill Reports 4 COVID-19 Clusters” at NPR.

Read “UNC reverses plans for in-person classes after 130 students test positive for Covid-19” at CNN.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read ‘CDC director says U.S. could have "worst fall" ever if public health measures are not followed” at CBS News.

Read “One in three Americans say they won't get coronavirus vaccine” at The Hill.

Read “The cardiac threat coronavirus poses to athletes” at Axios. “Cardiologists are increasingly concerned that coronavirus infections could cause heart complications that lead to sudden cardiac death in athletes.”

Read “Trump eyes new unproven coronavirus "cure" at Axios. “A senior official told Axios, "The involvement of the Secretary of HUD and http://MyPillow.com in pushing a dubious product at the highest levels should give Americans no comfort at night about their health and safety during a raging pandemic."

Read “Sweden’s disease expert says just wearing face masks could be ‘very dangerous’” at New York Post. In case you, like me, do not like this headline, the full context is that he argues: “it’s “very dangerous” if people believe the coverings alone will stop the spread of the coronavirus.”

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “American Passports Are Useless Now” at The Atlantic.

Read “Cultural Marxism” at Hedgehog Review (from 2018).

Read “Facebook begins merging WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger infrastructures” at Axios.

Read “Japan’s Been Proudly Pacifist for 75 Years. A Missile Proposal Challenges That.” at New York Times.

Read “The Company Behind Fortnite Is Waging a Righteous War Against Apple” at Slate.

Read “Snapchat adds in-app voter registration targeted at young people” at Axios.

Read “750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes approved for release in Florida Keys” at CNN.

Read “Uber and Lyft get reprieve from court, won't shut down in California for now” at CNN.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Biden hits Trump for vow to block USPS funding: "He doesn't want an election"“ at Axios.

Read “Biden on track to beat Trump with Harris, as Dems eye the "next AOC" at MSNBC. “As Biden continues to beat Trump in the polls, Sen. Kamala Harris sparks a record-breaking $48 million in donations for Biden.”

• Read “Could Kamala Harris’s Presence on the Ticket Help Usher in a Third Reconstruction?” at The Nation.

Read “Iran foreign minister accuses Western countries of using Beirut blast to dictate policies” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Poll: Biden Expands Lead; A Third Of Country Says It Won't Get Vaccinated” at NPR.

• Read “Poll: 58% of Biden voters say vote is more "against" Trump than "for" Biden” at Axios.

Read “Trump tightens screws on ByteDance to sell Tiktok” at Axios.

Read “Trump administration looks to ease showerhead water flow rules” at PBS News Hours.

Read “Rep. Ilhan Omar Wins Congressional Primary” at NPR.

Read “Trump campaign to flood the web with ads during Democratic convention” at Axios.

Read “Mike Pompeo signs deal to send U.S. troops from Germany to Poland” at Axios.

Read “Trump says ‘No one will be safe in Biden’s America’ at NYPD event” at PBS News Hour.

Read “House Republicans Get Cranked Up” at Slate. “QAnon is headed for Capitol Hill.”

Read “Biden Faces A Convention Test, To Offer A Vision Beyond Beating Trump” at NPR.

Read “Puerto Rico governor loses primary” at Axios.

Read “O'Brien on deterring Russian meddling: "There’s almost nothing left to sanction" at Axios.

Read “Here are five questions to ask when analyzing political polls” at NBC News. “Not all political polls are created equally so here are five key questions to ask when reading them.”

Read “The ‘Rage Moms’ Democrats Are Counting On” at New York Times.

Read “Trump announces he'll posthumously pardon Susan B. Anthony, convicted of voting illegally as a woman in 1872” at ABC News.

Read “The Senate Intelligence Committee’s new Russia report, explained” at Vox.

Read “Bernie Sanders Becomes The “Party Unifier” at News and Guts.

Read “Effort appears to be underway to qualify Kanye West for the presidential ballot in Arizona” at AZ Central.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read ‘U.S. Postal Service Confirms It Has Removed Mailboxes in Portland and Eugene” at Willamette Week.

• Read “USPS removes mail collection boxes and reduces post office hours as critics accuse Trump administration of voter suppression” at CNN.

• Read “Obama: Americans could be "collateral damage" in Trump's war on mail-in voting” at Axios.

• Read “"He needs to cheat to win": Dems condemn Trump's USPS attacks” at Axios.

• Read “Postal service inspector general reviewing DeJoy's policy changes and potential ethics conflicts” at CNN.

• Read “Postal workers' union endorses Biden” at Axios.

• Read “Mail sorting machines across the country being removed, multiple reports say” at 12 News.

• Read “New Postmaster Hasn't Yet Met Election Officials About Mail-In Ballot Concerns” at NPR.

• Read “Postal Service Warns States – No Guarantee Ballots Will Arrive In Time To Be Counted” at News and Guts.

• Read “Trump says postmaster general wants to make USPS "great again” at Axios.

• Read “Phoenix Mayor Gallego stresses importance for Postal Service funding” at KTAR. “Absentee ballots have been an important part of voting in Arizona. We were one of the first states where anyone could vote by mail without an excuse."

  • Read “Katie Hobbs asks Arizona AG to investigate Trump administration over USPS” at 12 News. “The timing of the changes prior to a major election where most will be mail-in voting is conspicuous, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said.”

• Read “Romney rebukes Trump on mail-in voting” at Axios. “Sen. Mitt Romney said on Friday that he's unaware of "any evidence that voting by mail would increase voter fraud," countering repeated claims from President Trump that mail-in voting will lead to rampant fraud.”

• Read “President Trump requests mail-in ballot for upcoming Florida primary, despite rhetoric” at News and Guts.

• Read “Pelosi Calls House Back From August Recess To Act On “Postal Sabotage” at News and Guts.

  • Read “Postmaster general to testify before Senate committee on Friday” at Axios.

• Read “USPS to Suspend Changes Until After Election” at Wall Street Journal. “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says agency won’t remove equipment or cut hours amid congressional scrutiny ahead of an expected surge in mail-in voting.”

Read “Senate committee sought investigation of Bannon, raised concerns about Trump family testimony” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Trump And His Campaign Amplify Untrue 'Birther' Conspiracy Against Kamala Harris” at NPR.

• Read “AP Fact Check: Harris meets constitutional requirements” at Associated Press.

Read “One Tough Question For DOJ If Biden Is Elected: Whether To Prosecute Trump” at NPR.

Read “Feds Ignored Warnings of Border Wall Construction Impacts, Emails Show” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon arrested on fraud charges in border wall fundraising scheme”

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Elvis Costello Announces New Album Hello Clockface, Shares Latest Single” at Spin.

Read “Billie Eilish to Perform at 2020 Democratic National Convention” at Pitchfork. “The Chicks, Maggie Rogers, John Legend, Leon Bridges, and others are also set for the virtual DNC.”

Read “Kathleen Edwards Left Behind Roots-Music Stardom to Sell Coffee. Now She’s Back” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Two Men Charged with Murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay” at Consequence of Sound. “Indictments come 18 years following the death of the iconic DJ.”

Read “A History of North American Death Metal in 30 Albums” at Treble.

Read “Student gets a D in art, picks up report card in amazing homemade GWAR costume” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Sun Kil Moon’s UK tour cancelled following allegations against Mark Kozelek” at Brooklyn Vegan.

• Read “Mark Kozelek: “I reject the false allegations and innuendo in the recent press” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Watch “Fiona Apple Narrates Video About ICE Arrests” at Pitchfork.

Read “Bruce Springsteen, Bob Weir, Lucinda Williams Set for Massive Joe Strummer Tribute Livestream” at Consequence of Sound. “Josh Homme, Beto O'Rourke, Jim Jarmusch, and Steve Buscemi are also expected to appear.”

Read “How the U.S. Postal Service Gave Us John Prine” at Rolling Stone. “Delivering the mail provided a steady job at a crucial time for one of America’s greatest songwriters.”

Read “Mariah Carey Announces Rarities Album, New Song Out This Week” at Pitchfork.

Read “Non-verbal teenager Tyler Hartfield writes music inspired by Nick Cave” at ABC.

Read “Tom Petty Estate Announces ‘Wildflowers & All The Rest’ Collection, Shares Video for “Wildflowers (Home Recording)” at Relix.

Movies/TV/Etc.:

Read “George Orwell's Animal Farm Is Becoming a Videogame” at Paste.

Read “The Ellen DeGeneres Show Fires 3 Producers Amid "Toxic" Work Environment Allegations” at Yahoo.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “How ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ Saved My Life” at The Millions.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua could still be alien technology, new study hints” at Live Science.

Read “Pentagon unveils Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force” at Axios.

Food Cultures:

Read “How Former Samurai and Farmers Cultivated the First Japanese Apples” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Krispy Kreme to open NYC flagship location next month with world’s largest 'Hot Light' after COVID-19 delay” at USA Today.

The Weekly Town Crier (08/07/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (08/07/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Wilford Brimley, 'Cocoon' actor who appeared in Quaker Oats commercials, dies at 85” at CNN.

Read “Chicago rapper FBG Duck killed in brazen daytime shopping attack” at BBC.

Read “R.I.P. Vern Rumsey of Unwound” at Treble.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Supreme Court Rejects Nevada Church’s Appeal to Reopen Like Casinos” at Christianity Today.

Read “Trump-Loving Anti-Mask Pastor Threatens Dunkin’ Donuts Employee With Assault” at Patheos.

“Ed Stetzer asked the U.S. Surgeon General, "What medical advice would you like churches to know?" Here's what he said: “Keep Your Distance.” Read "Keep Your Distance: Words of Advice for Churches from the Surgeon General” at Christianity Today.

Read “N. T. Wright: The Pandemic Should Make Us Humble—and Relentlessly Practical” at Christianity Today.

Read “Obeying God Rather than Men? What’s Really a Religious Liberty Issue?” at Christianity Today. “

Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. Just Deleted a Photo of Himself With His Arm Around a Woman and His Pants Undone and People Are Very Confused” at Second Nexus.

• Read “Jerry Falwell Apologizes For Pic Of Him With Unzipped Pants In Head-Scratching Interview” at Huff Post. “The influential evangelical leader said in a slurred voice, “I’ve apologized to everybody and I promised my kids, I’m gonna try to be a good boy from here on out.”

Read “Liberty University Poured Millions Into Sports. Now Its Black Athletes Are Leaving” at Slate. “One student was once told by an instructor: “Don’t be scared...I’m not going to pull out my whip and hit you with it.”

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “An all-White jury convicted a Black man of rape in 1976. Now, lawyers say evidence was hidden from the defense” at WBTV.

Read “The myth of closing the racial wealth gap with individual accomplishment” at Axios.

Read “93-Year-Old Former Nazi Guard Convicted In One Of Germany’s Last Holocaust Trials” at All That’s Interesting. “Dey claimed he had been forced to serve as an SS guard, and was merely following orders placing him in that position.”

Read “PPP was not distributed equally across racial lines” at Axios.

Read “'Family Separation 2.0.' Parents in ICE Detention Have To Decide Whether to Keep Their Children or Release Them To Sponsors” at Time.

Read “A Black Lives Matter mural is set to be removed in Tulsa after the city received a request for a pro-police painting” at Insider.

Read “‘If The Players Won’t, I Will’: Hockey Fans Post Pictures Kneeling For Black Lives Matter” at Forbes.

Read “An Effort to Abolish Court Fees Grows in California” at Bloomberg.

Read “Louisiana Supreme Court upholds Black man's life sentence for stealing hedge clippers more than 20 years ago” at CNN.

Read “The mother of NSA leaker Reality Winner speaks out: 'Everything about her case has been so harsh and just cruel' at Business Insider.

Read “Why the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is necessary” at Christian Century.

• Read “Trump’s reflections on John Lewis preview his own potential legacy” at Washington Post. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose — I never met John Lewis, actually, I don’t believe.”

Read “Thousands rally in Turkey to demand end of violence against women” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Capital One fined $80 million for 2019 hack of 100 million credit card applications” at Washington Post.

Read “NY AG files lawsuit to dissolve the NRA after 18 month investigation” at American Military News.

Read “The Ghost of Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood and the complexities of anti-racism.” at New York Times.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Burns, bloody wounds, broken bones: Injuries mount at Portland protests” at Oregon Live.

This Week With The Police:

Read “L.A. County deputy alleges ‘Executioner’ gang dominates Compton sheriff station” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “East Hartford police union president says some department-issued pistols don’t shoot straight, a defect that could lead to ‘a needless tragedy’” at Hartford Courant.

Education and The Learnings:

Read “Michigan Court Frees Black Teenager Jailed for Missing Online Schoolwork” at Democracy Now.

• School Re-Openings:

• Read “A Georgia sleepaway camp's coronavirus outbreak is a warning for what could happen when schools reopen, CDC says” at CNN.

• Read “A Study Shows Children Can Carry Tons of Virus. What Does That Mean for Schools?” at Slate.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “COVID-19 Hospital Data System That Bypasses CDC Plagued By Delays, Inaccuracies” at NPR.

Read ‘Arizona Cardinals void season tickets for upcoming season amid COVID-19 outbreak” at 12 News.

Read “Trump says Fauci is "wrong" about coronavirus cases surge” at Axios.

Read “In GOP plan, you can't sue your employers for giving you COVID — but they can sue you” at Yahoo.

Read “Top Fed official: Short, sharp coronavirus lockdown will enable recovery” at Axios.

Read “More athletes opt out as U.S. struggles with coronavirus” at Axios.

Read “Our pandemic slowdown has been good for the planet What if we kept it going?” at Christian Century.

Read “'It is what it is,' Trump says of rising coronavirus death toll as he insists outbreak is 'under control'“ at AZ Central.

Read “The Unraveling of America Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era” at Rolling Stone.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Florida 17-year-old charged with Twitter hack of Obama, Biden, Kanye, other high-profile accounts” at NBC News.

Meet Theo, the 7-year old boy who has been homeless his whole life at San Francisco Chronicle.

Read “James Murdoch exits News Corp. board” at Axios.

Read “Postage Stamps Honor Scholars and Novelist in Schomburg Center Collections” at New York Public Library.

Read ‘U.S. Postal Service Considers Downsizing, Senator and Union Leader Say” at Time.

Read “Disney Suffers Brutal Quarterly Earnings Due to Theme Park Closures” at Variety.

Read “Beirut blast: Hundreds injured in explosion - Red Cross” at BBC.

• See “Aerial footage shows scope of devastation after Beirut explosion” at NBC News.

Read “When Workers Can Live Anywhere, Many Ask: Why Do I Live Here?” at Wall Street Journal. “Coronavirus prompts Americans to reassess the need to reside near hot job markets.”

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Trump Gives Medical Stockpile A 'Kodak Moment' With New Loan To Make Drugs” at NPR. ‘The Trump administration said it plans to give a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak – which has struggled to survive after digital cameras displaced film – so the company can manufacture ingredients used in pharmaceuticals.”

Read “Trump Keeps Criticizing Universal Vote By Mail. But The Nation Isn't Doing That” at NPR.

Revisit: “The Electoral College’s Racist Origins” from The Atlantic in 2019. “More than two centuries after it was designed to empower southern white voters, the system continues to do just that.”

Read “Citing Election Delay Tweet, Influential Trump Ally Now Demands His Re-Impeachment” at NPR.

Read “Biden campaign faith director talks Christian beliefs, outreach to evangelicals and systemic racism” at Christian Post.

Read “Biden will no longer travel to DNC to accept Democratic nomination amid pandemic” at ABC News.

Read “Protest leader Bush ousts 20-year US Rep. Clay in Missouri” at Associated Press.

Read “Pence blasts Chief Justice John Roberts as ‘disappointment to conservatives’” at Politico.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Soundtrack Of My Life: Spoon’s Britt Daniel Founder of the legendary alt-rockers talks love of The Beatles, Bee Gees and spending lockdown listening to Sleaford Mods” at NME.

Read “What Beyoncé Tells Us Without Saying a Word” at Vulture.

• Read “Beyoncé’s Black Is King Offers Awe-Inspiring Looks and Muddled Messages” at Pitchfork.

Read “The Rolling Stones to Release 1989 Trump-Promoted Concert as Live Album and Film” at Consequence of Sound. “Keith Richards infamously pulled a knife on Trump after he reneged on an agreement with the band.”

Read “Nick Cave on Living with Loss and the Central Paradox of Grief as a Portal to Aliveness” at Brain Pickings.

Read ‘Ishmael Butler on the 10 Best Shabazz Palaces Songs” at Treble.

Read “Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on the album that changed his life” at Far Out.

Read “The Who Will Launch Weekly “Join Together @ Home” Broadcast with 1982 Shea Stadium Show” at Relix.

Read “Neil Young Sues Donald Trump Campaign Over Unauthorized Use of His Music” at Pitchfork.

Read “Tom Petty Estate Shares Unheard ‘Wildflowers’ Track, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)” at Jambands.

Movies/TV/Etc.:

Read “The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Swings into the ’60s: Review” at Consequence of Sound. “Netflix's fractured superhero family goes through the motions, but in the '60s this time.”

Read “'Mulan' will premiere on Disney+ September 4th for $30” at Engadget.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Eric Metaxas is writing a memoir” at The Way of Improvement.

“Culture”/Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Tourist snaps the toes off 19th-century statue while posing for photo” at CNN.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “"Zombie cicadas" infected with mind-controlling fungus return to West Virginia” at CBS News.

Read “Remembering the Astronaut Who Smuggled a Sandwich Into Space” at Atlas Obscura. “He got into a lot of trouble.”

Read “Why Some People Can Stay Sharp Even After Age 95” at Psychology Today.

Food Cultures:

Read “KFC Has Launched Its Own Lipstick – & It Tastes Like Hot Wings” at Bustle.

Misc. Oddities:

See “Here’s How 30 People React To A Sign On The Sidewalk Telling Them To ‘Commence Silly Walking’” at Bored Panda.

AZ Local:

Read “Lawsuit accuses Bikini Beans Coffee owners of stealing wages from employees” at 12 News.

The Weekly Town Crier (07/17/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (07/17/20)

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Judy Dyble 1949-2020 at DGM Live.

Read “R.I.P. Kelly Preston” at A.V. Club.

Read “Zindzi Mandela, Daughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Dies at 59” at The Root.

Read “Grant Imahara, Host of 'MythBusters' and 'White Rabbit Project,' Dies at 49” at Hollywood Reporter.

Read “'The Magic School Bus' Series Author Joanna Cole Has Died” at NPR.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Moore, others ask Trump not to rescind DACA” at Baptist Press.

Read “Why Black Christians are bracing for a 'whitelash' at CNN.

Read “Andy Stanley Explains Why His Megachurch Won’t Gather on Sundays Until 2021” at Christianity Today.

Read “Re-Anarchizing Christianity Justice, The Politics of Scripture” at Political Theology Network.

Read “The Redemption of Interfaith Dialogue Three evangelicals wrestle with faithful witness in conversations with Muslims” at Christianity Today.

Read “Do I consider myself a Christian? I know one thing: there is holiness” at Christian Century.

Read “The “Purity” Hoax Elisabeth Elliot was the Evangelical sex guru because of a love story. Did it happen?” at Medium.

Read “Sudan Drops Death Penalty for Apostasy, Alcohol Ban for Christians” at Christianity Today.

Read the opinion piece “Roger Stone is saved” at Washington Post.

Read “The God of Good Manners? It’s easy to forget that God is both kingly and courteous” at Christianity Today.

Read “Finding God outside the church walls The Spirit is God’s wild card, played over and over again when old forms fail” by Barbara Brown Taylor at The Christian Century.

Read “What the Ministerial Exception Will Mean for Religious Employers” at Christianity Today.

Read “Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, Marxism, and Biblical Ethics Looking at Marxism and Critical Race Theory in light of the problem of racism in America” at Christianity Today.

Read “The church has no need to apologize for Paycheck Protection Program loans” at America Magazine.

Read “Comedian John Crist: ‘The Biggest Hypocrite Was Me’ The Christian viral video-maker is back online after confessing his “sexual sin and addiction” and seeking treatment” at Vox. “Local church leaders look to educate themselves and their congregations on racial injustice in the church and how Biblical teachings relate to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Read “Columbia churches reflect on racial injustice and religion” at Vox. “Local church leaders look to educate themselves and their congregations on racial injustice in the church and how Biblical teachings relate to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

The Section for Considering “Justice”/Race/Social Justice/Immigration and somewhere in the middle:

Meet “Queen Nzinga, The West African Leader Who Fought Off Slave Traders” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “Young Asian American Christians Are Finding Their Voice on Racial Justice” at Christianity Today.

Read “A Liberal North Carolina Town Has Unanimously Voted to Give Its Black Residents Reparations” at The Root.

Read “Hispanic figures slam Goya Foods after CEO praises Trump” at Axios.

Read “What’s Behind Neil Gorsuch’s Stunning Win for Indigenous People” at Slate.

Read “Poetic Justice Is The Exonerated 5 Helping Paint The BLM Mural Outside Of Trump Tower” at Blavity.

Read “Green Berets add first woman to their ranks” at Axios.

Read “The 'Best of Nextdoor' Account Is Trying to Make the Site Less Racist” at Vice.

Read “ICE is offering a six-week course on how to arrest immigrants - including 'firearms and defensive training' - as critics warns they are using private citizens as their eyes and ears” at Daily Mail.

Learn about “Mary Bowser: The Former Slave Who Helped Bring Down The Confederacy” All That’s Interesting.

Read “Appeals court: 1st federal execution in 17 years can proceed” at 12 News.

Read “Redskins to retire team name Monday; new name to be revealed later” at Washington Post.

Read “George Soros' foundation to invest $220 million in racial justice efforts” at Axios.

Read “After Years of Advocacy, the House of Representatives Finally Cuts Funding to Trump’s Deportation Force” at ACLU.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):

Read “Is the destruction of monuments a rewriting of history? Holding in tension our achievements and failures as a nation” at Christian Century.

Read “American History Is Not Canceled While Christians can’t erase the church’s slaveholding past, we can change the symbols, statues, and namesakes we celebrate” at Christianity Today.

Read “Statue of Black protester replaces toppled U.K. slave trader” at PBS News Hour.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “History Shows That Sustained, Disruptive Protests Work” at Yes!

Read “Over 600,000 Hong Kongers cast 'protest' vote against new security laws” at Reuters.

Read “Trump Dismisses Police Killing Outrage, Saying 'More White People' Killed Than Blacks” at NPR.

• Read “Trump says 'more white people' are killed by police, while studies show Black people are more likely to be killed” at AZ Central. “A Harvard analysis of deaths by police from 2013-2017 and published last month found Black men are more than three times more likely than white men to be killed by police.”

Read “Who are these federal officers sent to Portland to deal with protesters?” at KGW.

• See these “federal officers” disappear someone in Portland.

• Read “Trump Sent Cops to Portland and They're ‘Kidnapping People Off the Streets’ Camouflaged federal officers have been patrolling the streets, pulling protesters into unmarked cars and arresting them” at Vice.

• Read “Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets” at Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Read “Leaked Documents Show Police Knew Far-Right Extremists Were The Real Threat At Protests, Not ‘Antifa’” at The Intercept.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Police Viewed Less Favorably, But Few Want To 'Defund' Them, Survey Finds” at NPR. “A Pew survey finds two-thirds of respondents think officers should be held legally accountable for using excessive force — but few say they would support cutting police budgets. The results were skewed by respondents' race and political persuasion.”

Read “LA Coroner Defies Sheriff, Releases Andres Guardado Autopsy Results” at Los Angeles CBS Local.

Read “Florida Cop Fired and Charged With Assault After Pointing Gun to Handcuffed Black Man’s Head for Not Giving His Name” at The Root.

Education and The Learnings:

Read “Los Angeles and San Diego Schools to Go Online-Only in The Fall California’s two largest districts made the joint call amid a White House push to get children back into classrooms” at New York Times.

Read “New York will use formula to determine if it's safe to reopen schools” at Axios.

Read “A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention” at Pro Publica.

Read “Is School Safe? Will Districts Test For COVID-19? Answering Back-To-School Questions” at NPR.

Read “White House vows not to 'let the science stand in the way' of reopening schools as poll shows three-fourths of parents DON'T back Donald Trump's reopening demands” at Daily Mail.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Merkel says pandemic reveals limits of 'fact-denying populism'.

Read “3 things the U.S. can do to stop coronavirus” at PBS.

Read “Gov. Doug Ducey says Arizona seeing signs coronavirus is flattening” at KTAR.

Read “The Toll That Isolation Takes on Kids During the Coronavirus Era” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: "Please wear a mask to save lives" at Axios.

Read “Bill Gates calls for COVID-19 meds to go to people who need them, not 'highest bidder'“ at Reuters.

Read “How can we grieve with funerals on hold?” at The Atlantic.

Read “Dozens of Arizona bar owners suing Governor Ducey over executive order keeping bars closed” at 12 News. “Bar owners from Prescott to Phoenix to Tucson filed a lawsuit claiming that Executive Order keeping them closed isn't fair or constitutional.”

Read “CDC director: U.S. could get coronavirus "under control" in 4–8 weeks if all wear masks” at Axios.

Read “Missouri school district asks parents to sign COVID-19 ‘death’ waiver for children” at Raw Story.

Read “California orders sweeping rollback of open businesses as virus cases surge” at Axios.

Read “‘Don’t be a sheep’: Washington sheriff urges residents to defy mask order”at New York Post.

Read “New Zealand lifts all Covid restrictions, declaring the nation virus-free” at BBC.

Read “White House tells hospitals to bypass CDC on coronavirus data” at Axios.

Read “White House Strips CDC Of Data Collection Role For COVID-19 Hospitalizations” at NPR.

Read “A dangerous new chapter of the outbreak: Every state for itself” at Politico.

Read “Fauci is sidelined by the White House as he steps up blunt talk on pandemic” at Washington Post.

• Read “Fauci on who to trust amid coronavirus: "Stick with respected medical authorities" at Axios.

Read “'We Still Face Much Uncertainty': Pandemic Hammers Big Banks” at NPR.

Read “First COVID-19 vaccine tested in US poised for final testing” at Associated Press.

Read “8 world leaders demand equal access to coronavirus vaccine” at Axios.

Read “NPR Radio Ratings Collapse As Pandemic Ends Listeners' Commutes” at NPR.

Read “Why is There a Coin Shortage in the U.S.?” at Newsweek.

Read “These States’ Leaders Claim to Be ‘Pro-Life.’ So Why Are So Many of Their Citizens Dying of COVID-19?” at Time.

Miscellany:

Read “Notre Dame to be restored as closely to original structure as possible” at Axios.

Read “Record Numbers Have Lost Their Health Insurance the Moment They Need It Most” at Slate.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “The Fair Labor Standards Act: What to Know and Why the U.S. Needs New Labor Laws” at Teen Vogue.

Read “Facebook considering political ad blackout ahead of election” at Axios.

Read “Fox host's writer quits after racist and sexist online comments revealed” at The Guardian.

Read “Trump Reportedly Suggested Selling Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria” at Slate.

Read “Trump's failing culture wars” at Axios “Google search trends for “Crooked Hillary” and “Sleepy Joe” in the U.S.”

Read “Kanye West Reportedly Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race” at Hot New Hip Hop.

• Read “A ‘Kanye 2020’ Committee Just Filed With the FEC, But Is It Legit? Hours after rapper’s presidential run is rumored to be over, a supposedly Wyoming-based PAC files Statement of Organization” at Rolling Stone.

• Read “Kanye West Is Maybe Still Running for President After All” at Exclaim.

Read “Hamilton, In Fiction And History, Is Key To Understanding The Electoral College” at NPR.

Read “The once-mocked ‘Never Trump’ movement becomes a sudden campaign force” at Washington Post.

Read “What Are 2019’s Tax Brackets, and Who Gets Audited the Most?” at Pro Publica.

Read “In a Death, Details of More Russian Murder-for-Hire Plots” at New York Times. “In 2006, Russia legalized the targeted killing of 'terrorist' suspects abroad under authorizations that Russian officials like to compare to the legal justifications for American drone strikes."

Read “A Senate Takeover Is Very Much A Possibility For Democrats. Just Follow The Money” at NPR.

Read “Trump administration rescinds foreign student visa guidance” at Axios.

Read “Signed, Sealed, Undelivered: Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Rejected For Tardiness” at NPR.

Read “'It was only done to make me look bad': Trump denounces border wall section funded by supporters” at AZ Central.

Read “Biden unveils $2 trillion clean energy and infrastructure plan” at Axios.

Read “South Dakota Is Sharing Driver's License Info To Help Find Out Who's A Citizen” at NPR.

Read “Jeff Sessions loses Alabama Senate primary runoff” at Axios.

Read “Pelosi calls for Trump to invoke Defense Production Act” at PBS News Hour.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Trump commutes Roger Stone's sentence” at Axios.”President Trump has commuted the sentence of his longtime associate Roger Stone. Stone was sentenced in February to 40 months in prison for crimes including obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress.”

Read “Schiff: Trump commuting Stone an appalling attack on rule of law” at MSNBC

Read “Robert Mueller speaks out on Roger Stone commutation” at Axios.

Read “The Roger Stone Case Shows Why Trump Is Worse Than Nixon” at New Yorker.

Read “Roger Stone Clemency Latest Example Of Trump Rewarding His Friends, Scholars Say” at NPR.

Read “President Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims” at Washington Post.

Read “Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins charged with voter fraud” at Axios.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “The Revolution Will Be TikTok’d” at Pitchfork.

Read “Blues Singer Lady A: ‘I Should Not Have to Bend to Band’s Will Because They’ve Got Money’” at Rolling Stone.

• Read “Lady A Explains Why Co-Existence With Country Band Will Not Work: “Lady Antebellum Has Erased Me From Every Platform” at Stereogum.

Read “The Many Electronic Surprises To Be Found In The Nation's Vast Archive Of Folk Music” at NPR.

Read “Jerry Garcia’s Army Record Uncovered, Describing the Guitarist as “Willfully Disobedient,” An “Irresponsible, Immature” Soldier” at Relix.

Read “Bob Geldof Reflects On Live Aid, 35 Years Later” at NPR.

Read “Billy Martin Discusses Unorthodox Route To New Album, ‘G U I L T Y’” at Live For Live Music.

Read “Canadian Vinyl Sales Are Down in 2020 — and It's Not Just Because of COVID-19” at Exclaim.

Read “How Avant-Garde Legend Cecil Taylor Inspired Idris Ackamoor’s Psychedelic Jazz” at Bandcamp.

Read “Arcade Fire’s Will Butler Announces New Album Generations, Shares Song” at Pitchfork.

Read “Oumou Sangaré Proves Why She's the Songbird of Wassoulou” at Okay Africa.

Read “Nike Confirms Grateful Dead Sneaker Collaboration, Sets Release Date” at Jambands.

Read “A Band Like Us Doesn’t Have Deep Pockets”: Galactic’s Robert Mercurio Explains Uncertain Future of NOLA’s Famed Tipitina’s Club” at Jambands.

Read “An interview with Ian Curtis | Fully transcribed for the first time—Says he’s a fan of Bauhaus” at Post-Punk.

Read “Vinyl Nick Cave figure with a glowing red right hand is being released” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Movies/TV/Etc.:

Read “Robert De Niro's Lawyer Says He "Will Be Lucky If He Makes $7.5 Million This Year" at Exclaim.

Read “Richard Linklater's making an animated movie about the moon landing for Netflix” at AV Club.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Flannery O’Connor’s Grotesque Grace” by Karen Swallow Prior at Think Christian.

Design/Artsy Things:

Watch “Banksy paint COVID-19 art on London Underground system” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Science/Animals/Technology/

Books/Reading/Authors

Design/Artsy Things:

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Food Cultures:

Read “A Pirate Botanist Helped Bring Hot Chocolate to England” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “The Lost Art of Growing Blueberries With Fire” at Gastro Obscura.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “FAA Documents Offer Unprecedented Look Into Colorado Drone Mystery Hundreds of pages of documents provide consistent detailed descriptions of the drones and conclude the military wasn't behind the operation” at The Drive.

Read “Inside Lenin’s Mausoleum And The Best-Preserved Corpse On Earth” at All That’s Interesting.

Local:

Read “This Underground Hike In Arizona Will Take You Through A Lava Tube” at When In Your State.

Read “Arizona Minimum Wage Earners Would Need To Work 70 Hours A Week To Afford Housing” at KJZZ. “To afford a two-bedroom home, Arizonans now need to earn at least $21.10 per hour. That’s up more than $1.50 from last year.”

The Weekly Town Crier (03/06/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (03/07/20).

Read “Pioneering theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson dies at 96” at PBS News Hour.

Read “R.I.P. James Lipton, Host of Inside the Actors Studio Dead at 93” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Churchgoers turn their backs on Bloomberg during service” at CNN.

Read “Three Cheers for Socialism Christian Love & Political Practice” by David Bentley Hart at Commonweal Magazine.

Read “5 Reasons Capitalism is not Christian” at Mike Frost.

Read “A church returns land to American Indians “This is decolonized land,” a young woman said. “This is a liberated zone” at Christian Century.

Read “Confederate Flags, Symbols Officially Banned From All Marine Corps Installations at The Root.

Read “Virginia becomes first Southern state to pass an LGBTQ nondiscrimination law Lawmakers approve Virginia Values Act, sending it to Gov. Ralph Northam for his signature into law” at Metro Weekly.

Read “Trump’s Praise for Modi on India’s ‘Incredible’ Religious Freedom Doesn’t Match Our Research The Evangelical Fellowship of India documents 300-plus cases of Christian persecution by Hindu nationalists each year. Muslims have it even worse” at Christianity Today.

Read “How to talk to your kids about race: This video nails it 'The worst conversation adults can have with kids about race is no conversation at all” at Click Orlando.

Read “Tucson mayor, councilwoman: No Confederate flags at rodeo parade” at AZ Central.

Read “Research Ties Historic Black Names to Longer Life In late 1800s and early 1900s, African-American men with distinctively black names lived longer than their peers, new study finds” at Wall Street Journal.

Read/Listen to “'Whiplash' Of LGBTQ Protections And Rights, From Obama To Trump” at NPR.

Read “Someone is using cat stickers to cover racism in Manchester” at The Manc.

Read “Rush Limbaugh is under fire for claiming the coronavirus is a 'common cold' being 'weaponized' to bring down Trump” at Insider.

Read “Corona Beer Is Losing Millions To Coronavirus To be clear, you cannot get Coronavirus from drinking Mexican beer” at Fatherly.

Read “Chris Matthews Retires From MSNBC” at The Hollywood Reporter.

Read “No, You Do Not Need Face Masks To Prevent Coronavirus—They Might Increase Your Infection Risk” at Forbes.

• Read “Born-again Christians immune from Coronavirus says NZ pastor” at Free Thinker.

• Read “Nigerian prophet to embark on journey to China to battle coronavirus” at Legit.

• Read “Bill and Melinda Gates Pledge $100 Million to Coronavirus Response” at Global Citizen.

• Read “America's patchwork, for-profit healthcare system poised to worsen coronavirus outbreak Those with poor insurance have a financial disincentive to seek medical help — which will only worsen the crisis” at Salon.

Read “Bloom: A Touching Animated Short Film about Depression and What It Takes to Recover the Light of Being” at Brain Pickings.

Read “Australian Associated Press: News agency to close after 85 years” at BBC.

Read “Black Engineer Invents Gloves That Turn Sign Language into Audible Speech” at Black Business.

Read “Fox News Analyst Brit Hume Got A Hilarious Lesson On Why You Should Close Your Tabs When Taking A Screenshot Of Your Internet Browser” at Comic Sands.

Read “Should Economy Air Travelers Have The Right To Sit Next To Their Kids?” at WBUR.

Read “Apple to Pay Upwards of $500 Million for Intentionally Slowing Old iPhones Apple might owe you $25” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “School policy forbids kids from saying 'no' when asked to dance One mom is fighting back on behalf of her 11-year-old daughter” at Today.

Read “Pro-Life Democrats Remind Candidates They Exist Ahead of the South Carolina primary, religious voters’ push for a “diversity of opinions” on abortion gets little reception from presidential hopefuls” at Christianity Today.

Read “Sanders can’t lead the Democrats if his campaign treats them like the enemy What Bernie needs to learn from Biden” at Vox.

Consider Jello Biafra’s 2020 Presidential Endorsement(s).

• Read “Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum Endorses Bernie Sanders in Rare Public Statement” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Kim Gordon’s New Bernie Sanders Ad Is an Absurd Recipe Video “What’s Cooking America?” encourages voters in Super Tuesday states to vote for Sanders” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Cedric Bixler-Zavala Denounces Former Bandmate Beto O’Rourke for Endorsing Joe Biden Former The Mars Volta and Foss member instead announced his support for Bernie Sanders” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Pete Buttigieg To Suspend Presidential Campaign” at NPR.

• Read “Klobuchar is ending her presidential bid, will endorse Biden” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Elizabeth Warren, Once a Front-Runner, Drops Out of Presidential Race” at New York Times.

• Read/Listen/Consider “Are Women Candidates Held To A Different Standard Than Men?” at WBUR.

Read “Rep. John Lewis: “We Must…Vote Like We Never, Ever Voted Before” at News and Guts.

Read “Trump suggests his supporters vote in another Democratic primary, this time in South Carolina” at CNN.

Read “Arizona House passes bill that would allow police at polling stations” at KTAR. Welcome to the Police State you never wanted.

Read “How Voters Psych Themselves Out and Choose the Wrong Candidate” at Psych Central.

Read “Texas Has Closed Hundreds of Polling Stations—Most of Them in Places Where Black and Latinx Populations Are Growing” at The Root.

Read “How Going To A Dead & Company Concert With A Stranger Helped Me Heal After Losing My Son “I hate crowds and loud rock music, but I was being offered a gift: the chance to learn more about my son all these years after he was taken from me” at Huff Post.

Wonder “Why So Many Medieval Manuscripts Depict Violent Rabbits?” at Sad and Useless.

Read “Public Enemy Part Ways With Flavor Flav Flavor Flav recently issued a cease and desist over Public Enemy performing at a Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Public Enemy “did not part ways w/ Flavor Flav over his political views,” they say” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” Remains Private Property, Court Rules” at Pitchfork.

Read “Going Deep With Damien Jurado” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Thom Yorke Announces Rare Solo Acoustic Performance Massive Attack invited him to open at All Points East” at Pitchfork.

Read “Skate or die! How skate-punk took over the world” at Louder Sound.

Read “Elkhorn” by Scott Elingburg at Analogue.

Read “Garcia Peoples and live taping in New York” at Wired.

Read/Listen to “Zia Records Turns 40: How The Phoenix Record Store Has Survived Revolutionary Music Industry Changes” at KJZZ.

Read “A Radical Act: Canadian Musicians in Conversation About Being Sober in an Industry Built on Booze” at Exclaim.

Watch “Bob Weir And Wolf Bros: Tiny Desk Concert” at NPR.

Read “The Archive Of Contemporary Music — And Its 3 Million Recordings — Is Leaving NY” at NPR.

Read “Genesis Set to Reunite For Arena Tour: Report Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford are getting back together for the first time in 13 years” at Consequence of Sound.

Mine the rich depths of “sweetblahg 2019 year in review”.

Read “It's hopeful and generous': Thurston Moore's experimental record shop” at The Guardian.

Read “MELVINS' BUZZ OSBORNE: 10 ALBUMS THAT MADE ME From David Bowie to Redd Kross, sludge-grunge stalwart shares stories behind records that shaped his life” at Revolver.

Read “Genesis Reunite for Tour The classic '80s lineup gets back together for several UK dates” at Pitchfork.

Read “Schitt’s Creek Cast to Take Final Bow with Farewell Tour The beloved series is currently in its sixth and final season” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Garth Brooks elicits wrath of Trump supporters after wearing Barry Sanders jersey Unfortunately for Brooks, Barry Sanders shares a last name with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Hillary Clinton to start a podcast” at CNN.

Read “Post Malone Says He Gets Face Tattoos Because He’s Insecure About His Looks "I'm a ugly-ass motherf*cker," the rapper admitted” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “I Read My Way Out: My Year Of Reading Copiously and Therapeutically.”

See “Smithsonian Places 2.8 Million Historic Images Into the Public Domain” at My Modern.net.

Read “The most massive explosion since the Big Bang was just spotted in deep space” at BGR.

Read “The Exiled Prince Behind Los Angeles’s Only Fresh-Pasta Food Truck Bend the macaro-knee” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Sorry, Texas and New Mexico. Arizona loves Mexican food the most, website says” at AZ Central.

Read “Brits, Beers, and Blokes: An Oral History of George & Dragon English Pub” at Phoenix New Times.

Read/Listen to “'Not One Drop Of Blood': Cattle Mysteriously Mutilated In Oregon” at NPR.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/28/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/28/20).

Read “Monkees Singer and Bassist Peter Tork Dead at 77” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Katherine Johnson, one of NASA's 'Hidden Figures,' dies at 101” at 12 News.

Read “Mazzy Star’s David Roback Dead at 61 The producer and instrumentalist also co-founded the bands Rain Parade and Opal” at Pitchfork.

Read “Clive Cussler, million-selling adventure writer, dies at 88 Clive Cussler was an adventure writer and real-life thrill-seeker” at 12 News.

Read “This Political Moment: A Way Forward in a Divided Age. Conflict is opportunity, my friend says optimistically.”

Read “SEC Charges Son of John MacArthur & Grace to You Board Member with Fraud” at Julie Roys.

Read “Internal report finds that L’Arche founder Jean Vanier engaged in decades of sexual misconduct” at America Magazine.

Read “Why Christ wouldn't aspire to ‘Christic Manhood’” at Religion News Service.

Read “Misogyny in Baptist Higher Education” at Baptist Voices.

Read “I Really Want to Skip Church” at Mockingbird. "As much as I’d love to tell people: 'Church should be your excuse for missing everything else,' I’m acutely aware of two things: (1) Church might be the reason you are missing love, grace, and mercy in your life; and (2) Church might be a lot more work than you can handle at the moment."

Read “Must Pro-Life Mean Pro-Trump? We have placed too much faith in the political calculus and not enough faith in God’s power” at Christianity Today.

Read “The “Music from Saharan WhatsApp” Series is an Experiment in Immediacy” at Bandcamp and browse my own posts about “Music from Saharan WhatsApp.”

Read “Conservative columnist and political commentator David Brooks awarded Calvin University’s Kuyper Prize” at MLive.

Read “Pope Francis: Give Up Trolling For Lent” at Sojourners.

Read “25 Black Theologians Who Have Grown Our Faith Scholars and authors reflect on the significance of African American leaders in the church” at Christianity Today.

Read “Dialoguing Across Difference: Abortion & Big Tent Theology” at Red Letter Christians.

Read “How Stephen Miller Manipulates Donald Trump To Further His Immigration Obsession. Donald Trump’s senior adviser has been the true driving force behind this Administration’s racist agenda. How far will he go?”

Read “Women and Girls Contribute Trillions of Dollars in Unpaid Labor Every Year The world’s 22 richest men have more wealth than all of the women in Africa” at Global Citizen.

Read “Howard Thurman’s contemplative nonviolence The pastor and mentor to Martin Luther King formed a vision of resistance around prayer, not politics” at Christian Century.

Read “White Supremacist Group Arrested for Murder Plot, Found to Have More Targets in Mind Than Previously Known” at The Root.

Read “Survivors of Japanese Internment Speak Out Against Immigrant Detention” at Our Prism.

Read “Harvey Weinstein Taken to Hospital for Chest Pains Hours after being found guilty of rape” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “America's Mental Health Crisis Hidden Behind Bars” at NPR.

Read “Religion may be good for your health! People of faith are less likely to fall or feel ill compared to non-believers, official stats reveal” at Daily Mail.

Read “New Zealand Has Lifted 18,400 Children out of Poverty: Report” at Global Citizen.

Read “9th Circuit Denies Request To Vacate Arpaio Guilty Verdict” at KJZZ.

Read “The Last Slave Ship Survivor Gave an Interview in the 1930s. It Just Surfaced” at History.

Read “Colonialism’s Cages: When Indigenous People Were Placed In Human Zoos” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “What is döstädning, or Swedish Death Cleaning, and why is it causing such a decluttering buzz?” at Yahoo News.

Read “It’s Time to Let the Five Stages of Grief Die The five stages of grief are ingrained in our cultural consciousness as the natural progression of emotions one experiences after the death of a loved one. However, it turns out that this model is not science-based, does not well describe most people's experiences, and was never even meant to apply to the bereaved” at McGill.

Read “Supreme Court Pipeline Fight Could Disrupt How The Appalachian Trail Is Run” at NPR.

• Read “The Forest Service says the Appalachian Trail isn’t “land” in a pipeline fight at SCOTUS” at Quartz.

Read “Inspired by Little Free Libraries, a free pantry helps feed hungry neighbors in St. Paul” at Star Tribune.

Read “How To Give Advice: Less Fixing, More Listening” at NPR.

Read “Steve Jobs' signature is the star of retro Apple gear collection at auction An original 1983 Apple Macintosh is going for $25,000” at CNet.

Read “Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch Opens Wellness Spas Inspired by the Rigors of Touring” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Italy Just Became the First Country to Require Schools to Teach Climate Change” at Global Citizen.

Browse “The Worst Things Michael Bloomberg Has Said About Women” at The Cut.

Read “Nevada Democratic Party asks caucus volunteers to sign confidentiality agreements” at CNN.

Read “Buttigieg Warns Against Sanders As The Democratic Nominee” at NPR.

Read “Admiral William McRaven: We Should Be Frightened, Deeply Afraid” at News and Guts. “When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.”

Read “Pompeo appeared to coordinate with Giuliani on Ukraine, new documents show” at Yahoo News.

Read “With An Election On The Horizon, Older Adults Get Help Spotting Fake News” at NPR.

Read “The Trump Era Proves That Women’s Studies Matters” at Ms. Magazine.

Read “'It's About Time': House Approves Historic Bill Making Lynching A Federal Crime” at NPR.

Read “Why Millennials Refuse to Let Go of Physical Media The last generation to know life before the internet hasn't fully switched over to streaming” at Inside Hook.

Read “Public Enemy Will Perform at Bernie Sanders’ Los Angeles Rally” at Paste.

Read “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out Turns 20” at Stereogum.

Read “Robbie Robertson (The Band) Talks with M.C. Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) on the Talkhouse Podcast They talk road-dogging with Dylan, scoring for Scorsese, and creating the seminal Music from Big Pink” at Talk House.

Read “Jerry Lee Lewis Returns to Music: ‘I Thought I Would Never Play Again’ After a stroke last year robbed him of use of his right hand, the Rock and Roll legend thought his piano-playing days were over. Now, at 84, he just recorded a new album” at Rolling Stone.

Read “For the Record(s): There's No Shame in Owning a Crosley” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Rebecca Foon Gets Honest and Raw with the Gorgeous 'Waxing Moon' at PopMatters.

Read “Mavis Staples Reflects on the Stax Years: Watch New Episode of 'Memphis Masters' at Billboard.

Read “Don Letts: ‘Punk was a refuge from racism’” at The Guardian.

Watch ‘Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub’ with Bob Weir, Phish, The Roots and More” at Relix.

Read “Yeasayer Suing Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd Over Black Panther Song A new lawsuit alleges that “Pray For Me” infringes on the band’s 2007 song “Sunrise” at Pitchfork.

Read “The “Music from Saharan WhatsApp” Series is an Experiment in Immediacy” at Bandcamp and browse my own posts about “Music From Saharan WhatsApp.”

Read “Neil Young wants to tour historic venues but is struggling to find many still in operation He thinks that new arenas feel “soulless" at NME.

Read “One of Rock’s Most Doomed Romances Started on the Floor of Portland’s Scuzziest Punk Club No one at Satyricon who saw the two tangled bodies grappling in front of the jukebox could’ve known what they were witnessing” at Williamette Week.

Read “'It sounded like the future': behind Miles Davis's greatest album On the 50th anniversary of Bitches Brew, one of the contributing musicians and the director of a new documentary share their thoughts on the record” at The Guardian.

Read “New Order and Pet Shop Boys Announce Co-Headlining Tour The new wave legends will play 11 shows together this fall” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “City Of Liverpool To Open Memorial Garden In Honor Of George Harrison” at Live For Live Music.

Read “This black female musician you may not know has written songs you probably do’ at Good Morning America.

Read “RZA Shares New EP of Guided Meditation Songs” at Pitchfork.

Read “Revisiting Talk Talk, A Band Worried About Being A 'Laughing Stock'" at NPR.

Read “'She exists out of time': Umm Kulthum, Arab music's eternal star” at The Guardian.

Read “Heavy Rain: The Exodus of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry” at Please Kill Me.

Watch “More Than 400 Classic Korean Films Free Online Thanks to the Korean Film Archive” at Open Culture.

Read “Sinclair stations are airing a dramatic special fearmongering about socialism, and it’s hosted by former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka” at Media Matters.

Read “The One Where the Friends Reunion Is Officially Happening on HBO Max” at Vulture.

Read “'Just Mercy' Wins Big At NAACP Image Awards” at BET.

Read “Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes Killed In Crash Of Homemade Rocket” at NPR.

Read “Greg Kinnear to Make Broadway Debut as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'" at Hollywood Reporter.

Read “We’re gonna do economic activity—without money!”: Inside the criminal glamour of the San Francisco Diggers with Kent Minault” at Diggers Docs.

Read “Turkish Trash Collectors Built a Library of Discarded Books” at Global Citizen.

See “Thousands of life jackets worn by refugees attached to pillars at Minneapolis Institute of Art” at Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Read “Surrealism Was a Decidedly Feminine Movement. So Why Have So Many of Its Great Women Artists Been Forgotten?” at Art Net.

Read “Scientists Found a Plastic Grocery Bag in the Ocean's Deepest Trench The bag was spotted in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 36,000 feet” at Global Citizen.

Read “An Iceberg Triple The Size Of San Francisco Breaks Off Antarctica's Most Endangered Glacier” at WBUR.

Read “Survival Of The Friendliest: How Our Close Friendships Help Us Thrive” at NPR.

Read “A New Theory On Time Indicates Present And Future Exist Simultaneously” at Science Philes.

Read “This 8-Year-Old Mexican Girl Won a Prize for Making a Solar Heater From Recycled Objects” at Global Citizen.

Read “You Cannot Heal Your Way Out of Being Human And you were never meant to” at Human Parts.

Read “A woman took 550 times the usual dose of LSD, with surprisingly positive consequences” at CNN.

Read “The Planet Is Doomed Unless We Stop Eating So Much Meat, UN Warns” at Global Citizen.

Read “Supermarkets in Thailand Are Replacing Plastic Packaging With Banana Leaves” at Global Citizen.

Read “C.S. Lewis’s Greatest Fiction Was Convincing American Kids That They Would Like Turkish Delight What would the perfect fantasy treat look like? Depending on where you’re from, probably not this” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “The Creepy Small Town In Arizona With Insane Paranormal Activity” at Only In Your State.

Read “Arizona Leads The Nation In Auto Glass Insurance Claims” at KJZZ.

Read “The 25 Best Places To Eat & Drink In Phoenix” at The Infatuation.

Read “Students walk out of Centennial High School after former principal resigns” at 12 News.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/07/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/07/20).

Read “Gang of Four’s Andy Gill Dead at 64” at Pitchfork.

Read “Ivan Král, Patti Smith Group Member, Dead at 71” at Pitchfork.

Read “Kirk Douglas, Hollywood Icon and Spartacus Star, Dies at 103” at People.

Read “For Those Who Feel Betrayed By Christianity” at Sojourners. "Since the election of President Donald Trump, many Christians are asking: How could so many Christ-followers agree with actions that are so decisively un-Christlike?"

Read “Christians are Supposed to Care About People” at John Pavlovitz. “I never once see a Jesus brandishing a “Don’t Tread On Me” bravado in the face of dire need. I don’t see him lecturing the poor and the afflicted to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” I can’t find him inviting war or celebrating bloodshed or reveling in loss of life for any reason.”

Read “Evangelicalism Is Dead. We Need A New Label For Our Faith” at Sojourners.

Read “State of the Church” at Barna.

Read “Faith formation in my world religions classroom Each year a Hindu priest asks my students to “worship our own, but respect all.” They find the second part easier” at Christian Century.

Read “Christian Nonprofits Reeling from Trump Cuts to Foreign Aid Work in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador was starting to bring change, agencies say” at Christianity Today.

Read “Richard Rohr Reorders the Universe” at New Yorker.”The seventy-six-year-old Franciscan friar Richard Rohr believes that Christianity isn’t the only path to salvation.”

Read “Capitalism Is Incompatible With Christianity” at Sojourners.

Read “Pope Francis Turned a Roman Palace Into a Homeless Shelter” at Global Citizen.

Read “U.S. Showing ‘Many’ Genocide Warning Signs Under Trump, Expert Says: ‘I Am Very, Very Worried” at Newsweek.

Read “Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know” at Heavy.

Read “Before the Bus, Rosa Parks Was a Sexual Assault Investigator Why has history left out this piece of Rosa Parks' story?” at History.com.

Read “US judge in Tucson overturns convictions of 4 border-aid volunteers” at AZ Central.

Read “Investors Buy Old Hotel and Convert It into 139 Mini-Apartments for the Homeless” at Black Business.

Read “Finland's Women-Led Government Has Equalized Family Leave: 7 Months For Each Parent” at NPR.

Read “Watch: News Anchor Shows Americans Real Size of Wealth Gap—Using American Pie” at Common Dreams.

Read “How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk” at New York Times.

Read “E.B. White’s Beautiful Letter to a Man Who Had Lost Faith in Humanity What sailors teach us about hope and the resilience of the human spirit” at Brain Pickings. "As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate."

Read “Steve Wozniak: When Apple got ‘big money’ Steve Jobs’ personality ‘changed’” at CNBC.

Read “Report: Where Parents Have More Choice, Schools Appear To Become More Segregated” at WBUR.

Read “J.Lo and A-Rod Just Donated a Year’s Worth of Meals to a Tennessee School” at Global Citizen.

Read “Excess Teacher Responsibilities are Stealing Bonding Time with Students” at Bored Teachers.

Read “It's official: Trump's tax cuts were an economic bust” at Business Insider.

Read “Trump administration ‘rolling back women’s rights by 50 years’ by changing definitions of domestic violence and sexual assault” at The Independent.

Read “Senate rejects witnesses in Trump trial, ensuring acquittal” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Which Republicans Had the Worst Excuses for Ending the Impeachment Trial With No Witnesses?” at Slate.

• Read “Voting to acquit this noxious criminal is the point of no return for the Republican Party” at Salon.

• Read “Sen. Kyrsten Sinema votes to convict President Trump on impeachment charges” at AZ Central.

• Read “Mitt Romney: ‘Dishonesty Is Donald Trump’s Hallmark.”How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty” at Sojourners.

  • Read “How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty” at The Atlantic.

Read “Trump extends travel ban to 6 countries — but is OK with selling arms to those same places” at NBC News.

Read “Trump's sexual assault allegations: The full list of women who have accused the President” at The Independent.

Read “The Downfall of the Republican Party To see men and women who had a positive vision beaten down and broken by Trump is a poignant thing” at The Atlantic.

Read “'It was a total mess': Caucusing is long over, but Iowa still doesn't have a winner” at USA Today.

Read/listen to “'No Longer A Friend': Ukrainians Are Losing Faith In The U.S.” at NPR.

Read “Trump Administration Loosens Obama-Era Restrictions On Land Mine Use” at NPR.

Read “Pelosi rips up Trump’s State of the Union speech” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Attorney General Barr Issues New Rules For Politically Sensitive Investigations” at NPR.

Read “Rush Limbaugh Says He Has Been Diagnosed With Advanced Lung Cancer” at NPR.

• Read “Trump Honors Rush Limbaugh With Presidential Medal Of Freedom” at News and Guts.

Read “Gen X Will Not Go Quietly” at Gen.Medium.

Read “Fully Armed Rally-Goers Enter Kentucky’s Capitol Building With Zero Resistance” at Rolling Stone.

Read: “The Reading Room: Where Politics and Country Music Collide” at No Depression.

Watch “Vampire Weekend Perform at Bernie Sanders Rally” at Pitchfork.

Read “Country music is ‘dead’: Icon Loretta Lynn trashes modern hits” at Lexington Herald Leader.

Watch “The Velvet Underground Played At My High School” at PBS.

Read “Read between the lines with Mike Doughty” and Aarik Danielson at Columbia Daily Tribune.

Read “From White Supremacy To Opioids, Drive-By Truckers Confronts 'The Unraveling' at NPR.

Read “Built To Spill Announce Daniel Johnston Covers Album” at Stereogum.

Read “Remembering Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & The Big Bopper On ‘The Day The Music Died’ In 1959 (02/03) at Live For Live Music.

Read “Spike Lee To Direct Film Version Of ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ Stage Show” at Deadline.

Read “Soundgarden countersue Vicky Cornell over ownership of final Chris Cornell recordings” at Consequence of Sound.

Consider “Television’s Punk Epic “Marquee Moon,” 40 Years Later” at Pitchfork.

Read “ABBA intend to release new music in 2020 The iconic Swedish group's first material in over 30 years” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “In conversation: When Elvis Costello met Tom Waits” at Far Out Magazine.

Read “David Byrne to Appear as Musical Guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’” at Jambands.

Read “Prominent Malian Musician Alleges That TSA Destroyed His Instrument” at NPR. “Delicate and complex, koras can stand more than 4 feet tall. In a statement on Ballaké Sissoko's Facebook, an ethnomusicologist deemed the custom-made style irreplaceable.”

Read “Brian Wilson Opposes Mike Love’s Beach Boys Show at Trophy Hunting Convention Wilson points fans toward a Change.org petition that calls to boycott the Beach Boys until their performance is canceled” at Pitchfork.

Read “Pee-wee Herman's "Dark" Reboot: Paul Reubens Is Ready to Stage a Comeback” at Hollywood Reporter.

Browse “74 Ways Characters Die in Shakespeare’s Plays Shown in a Handy Infographic: From Snakebites to Lack of Sleep” at Open Culture.

See “Super High-Resolution Photo of the Sun Reveals It Looks Like ... Corn” at Mental Floss.

Read “15,372 Scientists Just Signed a Letter Calling Climate Change Impact ‘Catastrophic’” at Global Citizen.

Read “Record-breaking astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after 328 days in space” at 12 News.

Read “The Art and Science of Kashmir’s Pink Tea Green tea becomes rosy with the addition of a special ingredient” at Atlas Obscura.

Browse “Haunted by Cybersects A freaky tour of the extant websites of 1990s cults” at Baffler.

Read “Arizona Quietly Sells 16,810 Acres to Freeport-McMoRan for Mining Waste” at Phoenix New Times.

The Weekly Town Crier (01/31/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/31/20).

Read “Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Legend, Dead at 41 Basketball great and 13-year-old daughter Gianna among five dead in helicopter crash near Calabasas, California” at Rolling Stone.

Read “You Are Here Bonhoeffer on the ‘Stupidity’ That Led to Hitler’s Rise Americans today might do well to heed Bonhoeffer’s warning” at Intellectual Takeout.

Read “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace An update on America's changing religious landscape” at Pew Forum. “Catholics are no longer a majority among U.S. Latinos.”

Read “The Art of Grieving: A Spiritual Practice for our Time” at Missio Alliance.

“Get Ordained Free as a Dudeist Minister” at Dudeism.

Read “Trump’s spiritual adviser called for ‘all satanic pregnancies to miscarry.’ It was a metaphor, she says” at Washington Post. Behold, Trump’s version of “Pro-Life”.

Read “The Tanzanian Court Just Banned Child Marriage in the Country For Good” at Global Citizen.

Read “Our problem isn’t just loneliness—it’s species loneliness How human isolation from the rest of the world keeps us from thriving” at Christian Century.

Read “75 Years After Auschwitz Liberation, Survivors Urge World To Remember” at NPR.

Read “Portion of US border wall in California falls over in high winds and lands on Mexican side” at CNN.

Read “Children With Parents Who Are Addicted To Their Cell Phones Affect Children's Development” at Healthy Holistic Living.

Read/Watch “Space Force logo tweeted by Trump bears uncanny resemblance to 'Star Trek' insignia” at CNN.

Read “Single-use plastic: China to ban bags and other items” at BBC.

Read “4 Reasons Why Slowing Down Will Actually Make You More Successful” at Inc.

Read “We Are Drowning in a Devolved World: An Open Letter from Devo Following the band's Rock Hall nomination, founder Gerald Casale reflects on its dystopian legacy in the age of Trump” at Vice.

Read “Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need” at Scoop.

Read “Heard but Not Seen Black music in white spaces.” at Slate.

Read “United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education” at Forbes.

Read “Trump is attracting a new crop of big donors, including many who have never given before” at Washington Post. “It’s like insurance that is going to help save the country. . . . It’s for me and my grandkids and the next generations. Trump’s vaunted political money machine is helping drive record sums to the Republican National Committee, and not just from the same donors who supported him in 2016. Enticed by exclusive gatherings and ecstatic about the president’s tax cuts, an eclectic new crop of donors is going all in, giving five and six figures to support his reelection.”

Read “44 Years Ago, Shirley Chisholm Became the First Black Woman to Run For President” at Smithsonian Magazine.

Read “Pompeo steps up attacks on NPR reporter, but doesn't deny her account The secretary of state on Saturday attacked the correspondent who reported that he had cursed and berated her over questioning about Ukraine, but did not directly challenge those claims.” at NBC.

• Read “State Department drops NPR from Pompeo trip after Ukraine dust-up” at CNN Business.

• Read “NPR Seeks 'Clarification' From State Department About Reporter Dropped From Trip” at NPR.

Read “Supreme Court order allows Trump’s new green card rule to take effect” at PBS News Hour.

Read “2,500-Year-Old Chariot Found – Complete with Rider And Horses” at Archeology World.

Read the (satirical?) piece “Band Member With Kid Subtly Adds Girl Scout Cookies to Merch Table” at The Hard Times.

Attention Grateful Dead fans: “Ever wanted to quickly find every performance of a Grateful Dead song, along with the song played before/after? Or maybe only the ones from a certain year, band lineup, guest musician, etc? Now you can! Get it here (FREE)”.

Read “Neil Young is Now a US Citizen: Here’s 5 Versions of “Rockin’ In The Free World” at Relix.

Read “Neil Young says that the MacBook Pro has “Fisher-Price” audio quality and calls it “a piece of crap” at Music Radar.

Read “Mick Fleetwood on His Peter Green Tribute Show, Future Plans, and Lindsey Buckingham “Lindsey’s legacy is alive and well, and as it should be,” says the drummer. “It will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us” at Rolling Stone.

“Watch the First Teaser for Beastie Boys and Spike Jonze’s New Documentary” at Pitchfork.

Read “Ozzy Osbourne: ‘I Think About Death But I Don’t Worry About It’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The New Pornographers Censor Their Name for New Kids’ Shirts” at Pitchfork.

Browse Clickhole’s list of “5 Episodes Of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives’ Where Guy Fieri Clearly Just Stopped Into The Restaurant Because He Desperately Needed To Use The Bathroom.”

Browse “Super Bowl Halftime Shows Ranked: From Worst to Best” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Check Out Washington Nationals Pitcher Sean Doolittle’s Phish-Inspired Wilson Glove” at Relix.

Read “In 2019, more Americans went to the library than to the movies. Yes, really.” at LitHub.

Read “Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to Read'“ at Inc.

Read “Classic Children’s Books Now Digitized and Put Online: Revisit Vintage Works from the 19th & 20th Centuries” at Open Culture.

“Say Hi, How Are You To Houston's New Mural Honoring Daniel Johnston” at Houston Press.

See “Perfectly Timed Photo Frames a Solar Eclipse Around a Man Leading a Camel in the Desert” at My Modern Met.

Read “Psychology still skews western and affluent. Can it be fixed? Critics have argued that these biases present an imperfect view of the human mind. Why is it so hard to correct?” at Salon.

Read “Ask Ethan: How Can We See 46.1 Billion Light-Years Away In A 13.8 Billion Year Old Universe?” at Forbes.

Read “Germany is turning 62 military bases into wildlife sanctuaries 'We are fortunate that we can now give these places back to nature' at The Independent.

Read “Eat Like a 1970s Radical With ‘The People’s Philadelphia Cookbook’ The 1976 book included contributions from the Black Power and Gay Liberation movements” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “'Penis Man' Graffiti Artist Arrested by '25 Heavily Armed SWAT Officers' at Phoenix New Times.

Read “World’s first Atari-themed hotel will open in Phoenix” at AZ Weekend.

Read “Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Architecture School Is Shutting Down” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Federal court says Arizona 'ballot harvesting' law discriminates against minority voters” at AZ Central.

The Weekly Town Crier (01/24/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/24/20).

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Stream/download an introductory mix of Sacred Steel music.

Browse all my favorite music of 2019.

• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

Read “Singer-songwriter David Olney dies on stage at age 71” at CNN.

Read “Jazz Saxophone Legend Jimmy Heath Has Died” at NPR.

Read “Terry Jones, Monty Python Co-Founder and Comedy Polymath, Dead at 77” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Jim Lehrer, journalist who co-founded PBS' nightly newscast, dead at 85” at NBC.

Read “When Your Theology of Pain Is Painfully Bad” at Mockingbird.

Read “The Heresy of Christian Nationalism” at John Pavlovitz.

Read “Kindness, kinship, and the boundaries of justice The virtue of kindness depends on who we see as kin” at Christian Century.

Read “70% of people in local jails are not convicted of any crime” at Prison Policy.

Read “Depressive realism We keep chasing happiness, but true clarity comes from depression and existential angst. Admit that life is hell, and be free” at Aeon. “What if depression is the collapse of the illusions that help us cope with a truly depressing reality?”

Read “Indiana's Oldest State Worker Is Retiring At 102: 'I've Been A Pretty Lucky Guy'" at NPR.

Read “The Mysterious “Order of the Odd Fellows” that frankly, belongs in a Wes Anderson Movie” at Messyness Chic. “A secret society that outnumbered the Freemasons at one point. But had you ever heard of them??”

Read “Patagonia’s CEO is donating company’s entire $10M Trump tax cut to fight climate change.” at Upworthy.

Read “If the National Archives Blurs Anti-Trump Speech From Its Exhibits, Is It Really an Archive?” at The Root.

Read “The National Archives Has Apologized For Altering A Photo To Remove Criticisms Of Trump” at Buzzfeed.

Read “Italy passes law to send unsold food to charities instead of dumpsters Italy joins growing list of countries looking to end food-waste” at Global Citizen.

Read “Richmond Gun Rally: Thousands Of Gun Owners Converge On Virginia Capitol On MLK Day” at NPR.

Read “Football and Brain Trauma – Recommended Books” at Englewood Review of Books.

Read “Why Do You Think They Cross the Border?” by John Pavlovitz.

Read “High School Transforms Hallways Into Iconic Book Covers” at For Reading Addicts.

Read “Trump Administration to Roll Back Obama School Lunch Rules” at News and Guts.

Read “Pelosi impeachment manager is calling for McConnell’s recusal from Trump Senate trial” at Miami Herald.

• Read/watch “Lev Parnas remarks on role of Devin Nunes in Trump Ukraine Scheme” at MSNBC.

Read “NRA Was 'Foreign Asset' To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals” at NPR.

Read “Trump’s Plan to Reduce Trade Deficit Falters as It Hits an All-Time High Instead” at Fortune.

Read “In a break with convention, the editorial board has chosen to endorse two separate Democratic candidates for president” at New York Times.

Read “Wiggles member Greg Page goes into cardiac arrest during reunion concert” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “M.I.A. receives M.B.E. from Prince William” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Without Small Venues, the UK Doesn't Have a Music Industry How many more have to be railroaded by rent hikes and property developers before we lose our grassroots scenes completely?” at Vice.

Read “Nick Cave says Kanye West is currently “our greatest artist” "There is no musician on Earth that is as committed to their own derangement as Kanye" at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Radiohead Add Rarities to Streaming Services in Online Archive Launch The Radiohead Public Library corrals band trivia, visuals, HD performances, rare songs and merchandise, and more” at PItchfork.

Read “The Wall of Sound The untold story of the Grateful Dead's short-lived mega PA, arguably the largest, most technologically innovative sound system ever built” at Vice.

Read “Why We Need MTV Now More Than Ever The struggle to find music in a world with too many options and not enough community” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Aerosmith Drummer Sues Band for Excluding Him Ahead of Grammys” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Josh Klinghoffer on Red Hot Chili Peppers Exit: ‘Complete Shock But Not a Surprise’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “‘Punky Brewster’ Is Coming Back to Traumatize a Whole New Generation” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Quentin Tarantino plans to write and direct Bounty Law series He also teases his tenth movie may have a connection to his first” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Joe Pera Talks With You’ Is the Best Thing Adult Swim Has Ever Done The comedian plays a gentle, Mr. Rogers-like figure who navigates our anxiety-ridden world with unfailing kindness” at Vice.

Read “Ozzy Osbourne Reveals Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosis” at Rolling Stone.

Read “A vending machine for books” at Bookish Buzz.

Read: The Secrets of The ‘80’s New York Art Scene - As Told By John Lurie.”

Read “Hoverboarding dentist found guilty of 'unlawful dental acts' at NBC.

Read “In 1930s New York, the Mayor Took on the Mafia by Banning Artichokes” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “Ranking says Phoenix is a top 50 city in the world, top 20 large city in the US” at KTAR.

The Weekly Town Crier (10/04/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about 10/04/19 Edition.

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Read/Watch CBS DFW’s report: “Dallas Jury Finds Former DPD Officer Amber Guyger Guilty Of Murdering Botham Jean.”

• Read NPR’s report: “Brandt Jean's Act Of Grace Toward His Brother's Killer Sparks A Debate Over Forgiving.”

• Read “The Perverse Spectacle of Black Forgiveness” at Jezebel.

• Read “What the Amber Guyger Case Reveals About White America” by Andre Henry at Medium.

• Read “Botham Jean’s Brother’s Offer of Forgiveness Went Viral. His Mother’s Calls for Justice Should Too” at Christianity Today.

Browse Colossal’s piece: “Gross Domestic Product: Banksy Opens a Dystopian Homewares Store.”

See “The Paintings of Miles Davis” at Open Culture.

Seeking to answer the age of question of whether you can “jump the shark” underwater, AZ Central reports: “Playing for the sharks: Kiss announces exclusive – but affordable – underwater concert.”

Read BBC’s report: “Single malt Scotch whisky targeted by United States tariffs.”

Read “Tommy Stinson on the Replacements' New Box Set and Outdrinking Metallica” at Rolling Stone.

Read about the new Senate report that found: “The NRA acted as a "foreign asset" for Russia in the period leading up to the 2016 election — providing more political access than previously known,” at NPR.

• Read New York Times’ report: “N.R.A.’s LaPierre Asks Trump to ‘Stop the Games‘ Over Gun Legislation in Discussion About Its Support.”

Hear “Snoop Dogg Cover Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand” at Post-Punk.

Read “They’re Using Us as Props for the Show” Former employees at Relevant, a hip evangelical culture magazine, have sparked a sprawling conversation about race and Christian office politics.” at Slate.

Read “Sure, we'd listen to a podcast about America through the legacy of Dolly Parton” at AV Club.

Read “Creed’s Human Clay Turns 20” which begins with the classic line: “Among other things, Creed’s second album holds the distinction as the only piece of recorded music I’ve been punched in the face over.”

Read “Kim Gordon on her first solo album, anxiety, and finding inspiration in Cardi B” at Entertainment Weekly.

Read about Robert Smith’s time with Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Two Nigerian Evangelicals Executed in Boko Haram Video.”

Read “Chicago’s Hidden Indie Rock Archive Over three decades, Aadam Jacobs obsessively documented Chicago’s indie rock scene. Today, the future of his roughly 10,000 live recordings is unclear” at WBEZ.

Read as Christianity Today considers a recent Pew study: “Evangelicals Trust Faith Leaders, Police More Than the General Public Pew Research found the only leaders that evangelicals are more skeptical of are journalists.”

Read about a laundry detergent that claims to smell like “Whiskey” and “Bonfire.”

Read Atlas Obscura’s piece: “Centralia Ghost Town Church A mine fire has been burning under the deserted town since 1962, but this church is still going strong.”

Read “Black Crowes Drummer Steve Gorman’s New Book: 7 Wildest Tales About the Band ‘Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes’ paints a picture of a group in constant turmoil” at Rolling Stone.

Read Pitchfork’s review of the new Hiss Golden Messenger album “Terms of Surrender.”

Read “J Mascis on the Nineties, Nirvana, and Dinosaur Jr.’s Forgotten Masterpiece” at Rolling Stone.

• See and hear Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis demonstrate the Converse that’s also a wah wah pedal.

I’m not a “Wine Geek,” but I like Sake, so browse “A Wine Geek's Guide to Sake, for Beginners” at Paste.

Read IGN’s report: “Spider-Man Is Officially Back in the MCU Following Sony, Disney Announcement.”

Read this 2017 report and wonder why people weren’t as upset by this as by people confessing to plants: “'Make America Great Again' Sung to Trump by Church Choir, Copyrighted for Church Services.”

Read as Rolling Stone wonders: “Why Everyone Is Freaking Out About ‘Joker’ Is the Joker backlash mere moral panic, or does the movie actually sympathize with incel culture?”

Read New York Times’ report that the White House ambassador to Ukraine has resigned.

Read about the “Man (who) drank 7 beers before turning himself in, but there was no warrant for his arrest.”

Read Out’s report: “Arizona Governor Says Christians Shouldn't Have to Serve Gays.”

Browse a “Latino and Hispanic Theologian Book List” at Starke College and Seminary.

Read AV Club’s report: “Trump tweeted out a Nickelback meme and Nickelback got Twitter to take it down so thanks, Nickelback.”

Read Washington Post’s report: “POTUS told Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the election because the US did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed officials to limit access to the remarks.”

• Read Slate’s piece: “Trump Implies Whistleblowers Should Be Executed, Which May Conflict With Rules Protecting Whistleblowers.”

• Read AZ Central’s report: “Jeff Flake: 'At least 35' GOP senators would vote to remove Trump if vote was private.”

• Read New York Times’ opinion piece: “The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write His complaint offers lessons on how to make a point.”

• Read USA Today’s piece: “Poll: Only 4 in 10 Republicans think Trump mentioned Biden on Ukraine call even though he acknowledged doing so.”

• Read Religion News Service’s report: “Franklin Graham on impeachment: ‘Our country could begin to unravel’.

• Read Slate’s report: “Robert Jeffress Goes All In on “Civil War” The evangelical pastor and Trump loyalist has had quite a week.”

While we’re on the topic of impeachable offenses, read News and Guts’ report: “Stunning NYT Report Alleges Donald Trump Wanted To Find Ways To Injure Migrants.”

• See Jack Jenkins’ Tweet: “:: stares at phone for several minutes :: . . . “The President once considered shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down at the southern border, the New York Times reports.”

• Read the New York Times’ report which includes details such as “electrified, flesh-piercing wire on the wall, alligators & snakes in a pit.”

  • Read Aaron Niequist’s Tweet: “The loudest voices defending a serial liar caught in his web of lies are Christians. Just let that sink in. Those who claim the name of the Way, Truth, and Life are actively defending the embodiment of corruption, lies, and greed. Jesus weeps” and weep with Jesus.

Read The Verge’s report: “Elizabeth Warren says Facebook has ‘repeatedly fumbled’ its responsibility to democracy.”

• Listen as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg explains “Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks a President Elizabeth Warren would 'suck' at CNN.

Read Vice’s piece: “'Freaks and Geeks' Understood That Popular Kids Aren't Cool At All: Twenty years ago, 'Freaks and Geeks' steered clear of the jock-cheerleader cliches to tease out high school's most relatable anxieties.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Mexico listens to more music than any country worldwide: “Mexicans listen to 25.6 hours of music a week, eight hours more than the global average.”

Read KXAN’s report: “‘True love will find you in the end’ billboard appears along I-35 honoring late Daniel Johnston.”

Read Washington Post’s opinion piece: “The ‘Billy Graham Rule’ serves only to impede careers, not affairs.”

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “Is Racial Justice Becoming a Priority for Evangelical Voters? LifeWay Research measures political support for the issue for the first time,” which finds that “85 percent of US evangelicals say they “will only support a candidate who demonstrates personal integrity,” which causes great confusion because it may just mean that “85 percent of US evangelicals lie when taking surveys.”

Consider “The case against sermon-centric Sundays” by Skye Jethani at Premier Christianity.

Read as Eric Metaxas describes what Republicans are currently doing while ascribing it to Democrats: “Cultural elites in America have slowly persuaded themselves...that they are right on a number of issues. & if it means going around the electoral process, if it means going around the usual procedure that they’re going to do what they must” at Religion News Service.

Read: “Why the liberal West is a Christian creation Christianity is dismissed as a fairy tale but its assumptions underpin the modern secular world.” at New Statesman.’

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Metallica postpone tour as James Hetfield enters rehab "Our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years"

Read Time’s report: “CDC Says for First Time That THC Could Be Behind Vaping Deaths and Illnesses.”

Read as Paste wonders: “Is Bob’s Burgers a Low-Key Adaptation of Stanley Tucci’s Movie Big Night?”

Watch “John Turturro licks a fresh bowling ball in the all-Italian trailer for his movie about The Jesus” at AV Club.

See “Miles Davis' Illustrations Drive A Classic Recording In New Video For 'Moon Dreams'“ at NPR.

Read “Finding a faith that is stronger than death — or my family’s rejection: My problem wasn’t with religion. It was with bad religion” by Heidi Hall at Religion News Service.

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Evangelical Advocates Feel the Sting of More Trump Refugee Cuts It’s the third consecutive year that the administration has reduced resettlement totals to record lows. Under the Trump administration, the US refugee resettlement program has fallen to a quarter of previous size, and fewer persecuted Christians and other religious minorities are making it to safety in the US.”

The marketing says: “Never lose your drink in the dark again with this light up insulated drink wrap.” We say it’s a glow-in-the-dark Koozie.

See “The Strange and Stranger Things at the 2019 International UFO Congress” at Phoenix New Times.

Read as Psychology Today wonders: “Do You See Your Partner’s Sacrifices? We may only accurately detect a partner’s sacrifice about half the time.”

Read “Consistent Doodles: 40,000-Year-Old Symbols Found in Caves Worldwide May Be the Earliest Written Language” at Open Culture.

Read Wall Street Journal’s essay: “Religion for Adults Means Embracing Complexity If you think you’ve outgrown your childhood faith, you might just need to discover the real depth of its teachings.”

Read Tim Keller’s Op-Ed piece at The New York Times from 2018: “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t The historical Christian positions on social issues don’t match up with contemporary political alignments.”

Read Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson’s 5-day Bible reading plan to accompany their new book May It Be So (which I profiled here).

Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s TED Talk: “How craving attention makes you less creative.”

Read The Atlantic’s piece: “What a New Theory of Attention Says About Consciousness Filtering out distractions might be more important for the brain than highlighting important information.”

Read Vulture’s report: “Netflix Orders Stranger Things 4, Teasing a World Beyond Hawkins.”

Read “Cormac McCarthy on how to write a scientific (or any kind of) paper” at Boing Boing.

Read Brooklyn Vegan’s report: “Victory Records acquired by Concord.”

Read “Aldous Huxley on the Transcendent Power of Music and Why It Sings to Our Souls” at Brain Pickings.

Read “The Black Woman Who Biked Across the US Alone During the 1930s Jim Crow Era Despite pervasive racism and the weight of the Great Depression, Bessie Stringfield found freedom on the open road” at Vice.

Read Pew Research Center’s findings: “Independents often are portrayed as political free agents with the potential to alleviate the nation’s rigid partisan divisions. But the reality is that most independents are not all that “independent” politically.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Kanye West says he’s done making secular music, new album features no cursing The born-again Christian will only be releasing gospel music going forward.”

Read “The myth of the golden age of reading Even before the digital age, book-lovers were always prone to distraction” at Prospect Magazine.

Read Exclaim’s report: “Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's Former Seattle Home Is Up for Sale.”

Read The Spectator’s piece: “In praise of cultural elitism We have become so tolerant of each other’s taste that taste no longer matters.”

Read as Neuroscience News wonders: “Why do older people hate new music?”

Read about and participate in University of California’s research finding: “When it comes to politics, you’re not as rational as you think.”

Read Mic’s opinion piece: “Greta Thunberg's U.N. speech prompted ugly insults — proving her critics can't fault her actual message.”

I'm glad to see them getting the press, but it's weird to me that Pitchfork considers 75 Dollar Bill to be an "overlooked" album this year. Where have they been looking? Browse Pitchfork’s list of “overlooked” 2019 albums and, while you’re at it, peep my first post so far about 75 Dollar Bill to sample some of the music.

Read “HALL IN THE FAMILY: A Conversation With Incoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Chairman John Sykes” at Hits Daily Double.

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “Pastors Don’t Do It For The Money, But Having Enough to Retire Would Be Nice.”

Read Phoenix New Times’s profile of The Rhythm Room. One of the best and long-standing Phoenix venues for live music. Remember seeing Mumford and Sons there? No, because it was sold out and packed and I was there and you weren’t!

Read about the Forth Worth public libraries doing away with late fines.

Read AZ Central’s report: “Original Alice Cooper group reunion to headline Christmas Pudding with Joe Bonamassa.”

Read The Wrap’s piece: “Fox News Host Todd Starnes Out After Suggesting Democrats Worship Pagan God Moloch.”

Read “Album Of The Week: Wilco Ode To Joy” at Stereogum.

R.I.P. “Kim Shattuck of The Muffs, rest in peace Read More: Kim Shattuck of The Muffs.”

Browse “A Snapshot of the Values, Views & Faith of Hispanic Americans” at Barna.

Read “A Wreng Among The Pornographers” by Charles Bissell of The Wrens. “As you probably know, my friend & favorite musician person, Will of Okkervil River, has been doing a subscription series of live albums spanning the Okkervil career so far (also available individually) and that he’s just released Vol. 6, A Wren Among the Pornographers. You may not know that that wren is me - I was the Okkervil guitar-for-hire spring/summer of ’08, and chiefly for that tour, opening up for the the New Pornographers.”

Read “Her Side of the Story: Debbie Harry Talks About Her Life in Blondie in Her New Book” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Michael Stipe to release debut solo single ‘Your Capricious Soul’ this weekend” at Slicing Up Eyeballs.

Listen to “The Friends Theme but it's Clapping Music by Steve Reich” at Youtube.

See Aldi’s “Cheese Advent Calendar.”

Read “City on mute When you stare at your phone or use Uber to navigate your neighbourhood, you flatten the rich texture of urban life” at Aeon.

Read/Listen to “Reasons To Be Cheerful: A Conversation With David Byrne” at NPR.

Stream Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ new 11-track double LP, “Ghosteen” consisting of Cave's "fever dreams"

Read Artsy’s report: “Arts Sector Contributed $763.6 Billion to U.S. Economy—More Than Agriculture or Transportation, New Data Shows.”

Browse “5 Strategies to Demystify the Learning Process for Struggling Students” at KQED.

Read as Exclaim wonders “Is David Lynch Working on More 'Twin Peaks'?”