The Weekly Town Crier (11/27/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (11/27/20).


We’ll Miss You:

Read “David Dinkins, New York's first Black mayor, dies at 93” at CNN.

Read “Hal Ketchum Dies at 67 from Complications of Dementia: 'May His Music Live on Forever,' Says Wife” at People.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “What is the QAnon conspiracy theory?” at CBS News.

  • Read ‘A Game Designer’s Analysis Of QAnon” at Medium: Curioser Institute.

Read “He’s The Chosen One To Run America”: Inside The Cult of Trump, His Rallies Are Church And He Is The Gospel” at Vanity Fair.

Read “‘America, Nobody Can Serve God and the Military’” by David French.

Read ‘For Pilgrims, Thanksgiving Was a Way of Life” at Christianity Today.

Read “White Christians' voting patterns are an indictment of churches” at National Catholic Reporter.

Read “Poor People’s Campaign mourns 250K COVID deaths, calls for stimulus relief” at Religion News Service.

Read ‘This Will Change Your Life” at The Atlantic. “Why the grandiose promises of multilevel marketing and QAnon conspiracy theories go hand in hand.”

Read “Opinion Pope Francis: A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts” at New York Times.

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

Read “Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old from Illinois charged with killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin, has posted a $2 million cash bond and has been released from custody.” at Associated Press.

  • Read “Kyle Rittenhouse’s Attorney Thanks Actor Ricky Schroder for Helping Post $2 Million Bail” at Variety.

Read “'Longest-serving cannabis offender' to be released early from 90-year prison sentence” at NBC News.

Read “Merrick Garland on list to be Biden's attorney general” at The Hill.

Read “Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company’s Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups” at Vice.

Read “When It Comes to Race, White Evangelicals Have a Fox News Problem” by Jemar Tisby.

Read “Unite the Right organizer Kessler denied concealed handgun permit” at Daily Progress.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Phoenix City Council votes down creation of police oversight office” at KTAR.

Read “Former Mesa officer pleads not guilty to assault” at 12 News.

Read “Here's what interviewing voters taught me about the slogan 'defund the police'“ at The Guardian. “While 80% of my focus group agreed racism exists in the criminal justice, they are turned off by the slogan – even though they support cutting police funds.”

Read “Former Phoenix police officer 'secretly recorded' women during police stops” at ABC 15.

Read “What's next for Phoenix's 1st civilian review board for police after council hits brakes” at 12 News.

Read “Protests erupt in Omaha after police fatally shoot Black man during traffic stop” at NBC News.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “More GOP Senators Have COVID Than Have Acknowledged That Joe Biden Won” at Huff Post.

Read ‘Trump lawyers to avoid Michigan lawmaker meeting after COVID exposure” at Axios.

Read “Landmark case study finds coronavirus easily transmitted in ideal outdoor conditions” at USA Today.

Read “Donald Trump Jr. Has Coronavirus and Is in Isolation” at Slate.

Read “Why Are States Imposing Virus Curfews?” at New York Times.

Read “Airlines take another hit as CDC warns against Thanksgiving travel” at The Hill.

Read “Santa Claus is ‘immune’ to COVID-19, says Dr. Anthony Fauci” at New York Post.

Read “Ben Carson Says He Was 'Desperately Ill' With The Coronavirus” at NPR.

Read “The Secret Service Is Investigating 700 Cases of Covid Relief Fraud” at Wired.

Read ‘Fewer International Students at Christian Colleges” at Christianity Today. “COVID-19 causes decline, hurting CCCU campuses.”

Read “A Day in the Life of an Amazon Warehouse Worker” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Christmas Dies Hard” at The Atlantic. “The middle of a global pandemic might seem like a good time to cut back on holiday excess. But we live in America.”

Read “Wyoming’s governor has resisted calls for a mask mandate. Now he has the coronavirus” at Washington Post.

Read ‘Pope Francis criticizes people who refuse to wear masks” at CNN.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “Apple Seeks to Keep Secrets From Google In-House Lawyers” at Bloomberg.

Read ‘'Cake Boss' star says 'only time will tell' if he can bake again after injury” at 12 News.

Read “Trauma ran away with my childhood: Losing my father to violence forced me to grow up fast” at Salon. “Trauma is normal. So many of us in Baltimore never really get a chance to be young.”

Read “US Billionaires Have Increased Their Riches By $1 Trillion During the Pandemic” at Jacobin Magazine.

Read “Obama says some Republicans drive message that 'White men are victims'“ at Fox Propaganda.

Internationalities:

Read “Pompeo meets with Taliban delegation in Qatar after mortar barrage kills at least 8 in Kabul” at NBC News.

Read “The Uncertainties of Barack Obama” at Slate. “The former president’s remarkable memoir reveals how he grasped, and struggled with, the ambiguities of a complex world.”

Read “Farmers march: India farmers clash with police in protest march” at BBC.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Trump Tweets News That Was So Incorrect Tucker Carlson Had Already Apologized For It” at Comic Sands.

Read “GOP senator calls for cooperation on Biden transition: 'I'd rather have a president who has more than one day to prepare'“ at The HIll.

Read “Biden picks Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security secretary” at Los Angeles Times.

Read the opinion piece “Trump, GOP’s ridiculous, flailing coup isn’t a joke. It’s a crime. There must be consequences” at Inquirer.

Read “Michigan election board votes to certify Biden win, dealing blow to Trump effort” at NBC News.

Read “Biden Picks Janet Yellen To Be Treasury Secretary” at NPR.

Read “The Economy’s Struggles Will Shape Joe Biden’s Presidency” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Dow hits 30,000 on start of transition to Biden, prospect of Yellen as treasury secretary” at NBC News.

Read “A good deed from the wicked witch?” at Salon. “Actually ending the war in Afghanistan.”

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Trump team looks to box in Biden on foreign policy by lighting too many fires to put out” at CNN.

Read “This Was Always the Plan” at The Dispatch. “President Trump telegraphed that he would try to steal the election if he didn’t win.”

Read “Michigan Republicans Abandon Their Effort to Block Election Results” at Mother Jones. “They reversed course at the last minute, thanks to an outpouring of Zoom protest.”

Read “It Actually Was a Landslide: 80 Million Votes and Counting For Biden” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Real Reason Trump’s Lawsuits Disproportionately Target Black and Latino Voters” at Slate.

Read “President Donald Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that the Arizona Legislature would hold a public hearing on Nov. 30 about the election, but legislative leaders said they had not authorized any such meeting” at AZ Central.

Read “NRA admits some executives used nonprofit money for personal benefit” at The Hill.

Read “Georgia Senator David Perdue Privately Pushed for a Tax Break for Rich Sports Teamowners” at Pro Publica.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “BBC Set To Air New Fela Kuti Documentary ‘Fela Kuti: Father Of Afrobeat’” at Okay Player.

Read “Meet Shameika Stepney, Inspiration to Fiona Apple on Fetch the Bolt Cutters” at Pitchfork.

Read “Guitarist Snowy White on His Years With Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and Thin Lizzy” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Watch Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff perform on ‘Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ reunion set” at NME.

Read “Album John Lennon Signed For Mark David Chapman Going Up For Auction” at Consequence of Sound.

Browse “An introduction to Parliament-Funkadelic in 10 records” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Sex Pistols star Johnny Rotten bitten by a flea after rescuing squirrels” at 1 News. “Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, has been bitten by a flea on his penis.”

Read “British Pianist Performs Concert For Thailand Monkeys — And It’s Bananas” at Huff Post.

Read “Ani DiFranco on ‘Revolutionary Love’ and Tending to Wounds” at No Depression.

Read “Trevor Noah to Host Grammys 2021” at Pitchfork.

Read “Why are so many bands selling the rights to their music to faceless companies?” at A Journal Of Musical Things.

Browse Treble’s picks for “18 Albums From 2020 You Might Have Missed.”

Browse Treble’s picks for the “25 Best Albums of 2020.”

Read “How a Japanese medical student and local businessman made one of the most coveted records of all time” at Vinyl Factory.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “How John Belushi Rose From Second City to ‘SNL’ to Stardom” at Variety.

Read “MSNBC to debut docuseries 'Obama'“ at The Hill.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “‘RS Interview: Special Edition’ With Ta-Nehisi Coates” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book” at Vice.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “The movement to restore the memory of Spain’s forgotten women artists” at PRI.

Science/Technology/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth” at New York Times.

Read “Not just lizards - alligators can regrow their tails too” at Eurekalert.

Read “Scientists accidentally discover Australian marsupials glow in the dark” at CNet.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “If You Left A Monolith In A Remote Utah Canyon, Authorities Would Like A Word” at Huff Post.

Read “400 years ago, visitors to this painted cave took hallucinogens” at National Geographic. “People at California’s Pinwheel Cave left evidence of their altered state literally stuffed into its walls—the first physical evidence for hallucinogenic consumption at a rock art site.”

Local:

Read “Arizona Unemployment Rate Increases To 8.0%” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (11/06/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (11/06/20).



We’ll Miss You:

Read “Sean Connery Has Died. Friends, Fans, and the Other James Bonds Are Saluting Him on Social Media” at Slate.

Read “Bob Biggs, Los Angeles Punk-Rock Entrepreneur, Dies at 74” at New York Times.

Read “Gospel legend Bishop Rance Allen dies at age 71” at CNN.

Read “Comedian and actor John Sessions has died” at NME.

Read ‘Jamie Coots, co-star of ‘Snake Salvation,’ dies of a snakebite” at Religion News Service. “Coots, whose father is also a serpent-handling preacher, was a legendary figure among a small group of Pentecostal believers who practiced the so-called “signs of the gospel” found in Mark 16; among them taking up serpents.”

Read “Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone Photographer Who Captured Rock Gods, Dead at 83” at Rolling Stone.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Waking the Witch: The Feminist History of Spiritualism” at Ms. Magazine.

Read “For a growing number of evangelical Christians, Trump is no longer the lesser of two evils” at The Conversation.

Read “Scholars call out Putin and the ‘escalation’ of persecution against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” at Religion News Service.

Read “The First Church of Equivocation” at Christian Socialism. “One obvious reason is simply that well-connected people protect other well-connected people. However, another reason is bound up in the story “moderate” evangelicals tend to tell each other: a guy like Metaxas might be going a bit far, but hey, what about those softly totalitarian authors of picture books that humanize gay couples? Aren’t they just as bad?”

Read “They All Got Careless’: How Falwell Kept His Grip on Liberty Amid Sexual ‘Games,’ Self-Dealing” at Politico. “The deposed university president secured backing by ousting critics and hiring the family members and businesses of loyalists.”

Read “It’s time to rescue the ‘pro-life’ label from anti-abortion activists” at Religion News Service.

Read Black faith leaders call for nonviolent resistance, strikes if Trump refuses election results” at Religion News Service.

Read “John Piper’s Liberty Convocation Pulled After Election Post” at Christianity Today.

Read ‘Trump’s refugee policy is a miserable moral failure” at Christian Century. “So is our nation’s long history of choosing economic success over global equity, safety, and wellbeing.”

Read “It’s time to rescue the ‘pro-life’ label from anti-abortion activists” at Religion News Service.

Read “Yep, There’s a Second QAnon Supporter Heading To Congress” at Vice.

Read “Latino Evangelicals Boost Trump in Florida and Texas” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Hispanics’ Support For Trump Tied To Faith” at NPR.

Read “A cemetery is desecrated, shaking Michigan’s Jewish community on Election Day” at Religion News Service.

Read “Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong East Coast and Justin Bieber, terminated for ‘moral failures’ says church” at Religion News Service.

Read “Election Civility Is Not Enough” at Christianity Today.

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

Read “2 Former Black Comics Editors Allege Years of Racial Discrimination at DC Comics” at The Root.

Read “Illinois authorities extradite Kyle Rittenhouse to Wisconsin” at USA Today.

Read “Study warns five states at high risk for election-related armed violence by militia groups” at The Hill.

Read “In 1868, Black suffrage was on the ballot” at American History.

Read “MLK's children fire back after McConnell invokes their father in victory speech” at The Hill.

Read “MSNBC’s Joy Reid Calls Clarence Thomas ‘Uncle Clarence’” at Free Beacon.

Read “Steve Bannon and his co-host discuss beheading Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray” at Media Matters.

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

Read “Mississippi Votes To Replace Confederate-Themed State Flag” at NPR.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Thai pro-democracy leader taken to hospital after ‘chokehold’” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Supreme Court sides with activist DeRay McKesson in lawsuit over officer injured at protest” at CNBC.

This Week With The Police:

Read “N.Y.P.D. Anti-Harassment Official Accused of Racist Rants” at New York Times. “The official was relieved of his command after City Council investigators amassed evidence that he posted vitriolic messages online under the name “Clouseau.”

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Trump Claims Doctors Make ‘More Money’ When They Lie About COVID-19 Deaths” at Huff Post.

  • Read “American Medical Association Blasts Trump’s Claim Doctors Inflate COVID Numbers for Cash” at Slate.

Read “Utah Department of Health Utah Department of Health building in Millcreek glass door shot out with pellet gun” at KSL.

Read “Idaho Republicans, including Lt. Gov. McGeachin, decry pandemic measures in new video” at Idaho Statesman.

Read “Trump said not to fear COVID-19. These people beg to differ” USA Today.

Read “German Study Finds Covid-19 Risk Is Low at Indoor Concerts With Safety Precautions” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Dubai Ruler Gets Covid Vaccine, Joining Other Top UAE Officials” at Bloomberg.

Read “Sweden’s Health-Care Workers Get $620 Bonus for Covid-19 Work” at Bloomberg.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Halloween in the pandemic: Costumes and candy, at a distance” at KTAR.

Read “What Happened to All Those 'Vote for Pedro' Shirts?” at Vice. “Just in time for the election, we tracked down owners of the 'Napoleon Dynamite' relic and asked them: Why? And then it got deep.”

Read “No One Fights QAnon Like the Global Army of K-Pop Superfans” at Bloomberg.

Read “Yes, nuclear war could still happen” at The Hill.

Read “Why Ivanka Trump Is Coming Out Against Abortion Now” at Slate. “The first daughter has realized that her self-presentation as a “moderating force” no longer makes sense.”

Read “Johnny Depp Loses Libel Case Against British Tabloid The Sun” at Vulture.

Read “Whale sculpture stops Dutch train crashing into water” at The Guardian.

Read “‘Freak Power’: what Hunter S. Thompson’s fight to fix America can teach us in 2020” at NME.

Read “Buying a Gun Ahead of the Election Won't Make You More Powerful. Here's What Americans Should Do to Deal With Crisis Instead” at Time.

Read “Jack Ma’s Fortune Slumps $3 Billion After Ant Group IPO Freeze” at Bloomberg.

Read “Fascism, Then and Now” at Bias Magazine.

Read “Oregon Decriminalizes All Drugs, While D.C. Decriminalizes Psychedelics” at Rolling Stone.

Internationalities:

Read “Russian oligarch nicknamed the 'Sausage King' killed in sauna with crossbow” at BBC News.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Woman in labor stops to vote on her way to the hospital” at The Hill.

Read “Federal Judge Rejects Bid to Toss Texas Drive-Through Votes” at Bloomberg.

Read “How Conservatism Failed Its Women” at Slate.

Read “So How Wrong Were the Polls This Year, Really?” at Wired. “Pollsters spent four years preparing to better capture Trump support and avoid a repeat of 2016. Somehow, they missed it again.”

Read “Kanye West Concedes Presidential Race, Looks Toward 2024” at Los Angeles CBS Local.

Read “Twitter and Facebook slap warning labels on Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud” at Salon.

  • Read “Wisconsin official scoffs at idea of voting irregularities: ‘There are no dark corners or locked doors’” at Washington Post.

Read “Networks pulled away from President Trump’s shocking press conference” at Poynter. “Then, even normally reserved news anchors responded swiftly and strongly to Trump’s false claims about the election.”

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Judges Are Already Testing How Far Amy Coney Barrett Will Go for Republicans” at Slate. “In a shocking opinion, two judges tried to hijack Minnesota’s election law to throw out mail ballots.”

Read “Biden camp cancels multiple Texas events after a "Trump Train" surrounded a campaign bus” at Texas Tribune.

  • Read “Trump Writes ‘I Love Texas!’ Over Video Of MAGA Truck Attack On Biden Caravan” at Huff Post.

Read “Special interest groups likely spent more than $13 million at Trump properties. They got what they paid for” at Citizens For Ethics.

Read “Attorney General Bill Barr Meets With Radical Right-Wing Activist Dave Daubenmire” at Right Wing Watch.

Read “Arizona elections official sees uptick in calls after Trump spreads false information to voters” at 12 News.

Read “MAGA Fanatics Descend on Detroit Vote-Counting Site As Biden Wins Michigan” at Daily Beast.

Read “AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s big distortions on mail-in voting” at Associated Press.

Music-Related News and Such:

Browse “100 essential Arizona records: The 1920s to 1950s” at AZ Central.

Read “When Music Becomes Political Protest” at Pitchfork. “A conversation about the long and complex relationship between music and social justice movements, on our podcast The Pitchfork Review.”

Read “The Deeply Meditative Electronic Music of Avant-Garde Composer Eliane Radigue” at Open Culture.

Read “Maynard James Keenan on “Arrogant” Pandemic Behavior: “There’s Logic Attached to Just Looking Out for Each Other” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Spotify to offer artists and labels the option to promote their music in your recommendations” at Fader. “In exchange for a lowered “promotional recording royalty rate.”

Browse “Treble Roundtable: Comfort Albums at Treble.

Read “The Rock Hall Figured 2020 Induction Performances Would Be Too ‘Boring,’ So There Aren’t Any” at Vulture.

Read “Musicians’ Union calls for government not to “abandon” self-employed artists” at NME.

Read “Grammys Rename World Music Category Over “Connotations of Colonialism” at Pitchfork. “The Recording Academy sought to name the award with a “more relevant, modern, and inclusive term”

Read “South Carolina Amphitheater to Be Renamed in Honor of Sharon Jones” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Eyes of Shannon Hoon: Danny Clinch on Using Found Footage to Craft a Documentary” at Relix.

Read “Stevie Nicks On TikTok, Tom Petty And Claiming What's Yours” at NPR.

Read “Why Is ‘Saturday Night Live’ Suddenly Booking So Many Older Rock Bands?” at Variety.

Read “Justin Bieber & Chance the Rapper Are Dropping the Acoustic Version of 'Holy'“ at Billboard.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Marilyn Manson joins anthology series ‘Creepshow’ for second season” at NME.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Rare bright yellow turtle spotted for only second time” at CNet.

Read “Did You Know That Some People Can Create a Rumbling Sound in Their Ears?” at My Modern Net.

Food Cultures:

Read “Reviving America’s Forgotten Boozy, Fruity Election Cake” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “BevMo acquired in $350-million deal as booze deliveries surge” at Los Angeles Times.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Why There’s a Columbo Statue in the Middle of Budapest” at Atlas Obscura. “The American television character is memorialized in an unlikely locale.”

The Weekly Town Crier (10/16/20)

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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 (10/09/20)

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All the week's news that's fit to cry about (10/09/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Helen Reddy Dies at 78; Sang ‘I Am Woman’” at New York Times. ”The Australian-born singer’s first No. 1 hit became a feminist anthem and propelled her to international stardom.”

Read “Eddie Van Halen Dead at 65” at TMZ.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “QAnon Is Going After Members of Congress Now” at Slate. “It’s not every day,” says Rep. Tom Malinowski, “that the fake and likely nonexistent guru of a conspiracy-mongering cult personally attacks you.”

  • Read “Facebook bans QAnon across its platforms” at NBC News. “The change is a significant escalation over its previous actions targeting QAnon and one of the broadest rules the social media giant has put in place in its history.” Facebook "will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts for representing QAnon" like any other militarized social movement, militia or terror group.

  • Read “QAnon leaders look to rebrand after tech crack downs” at NBC News. “The shift in tactics comes the same week as Twitter released new data stating that their ban on QAnon-related accounts was severely limiting the reach of the conspiracy theory.”

Read “Stop telling Black people to pray for Donald Trump” at Religion News Service. "Refusing to pray for our anti-Black oppressor-in-chief is logical, human and prophetic."

Read “Justices Thomas, Alito Blast Supreme Court Decision On Same-Sex Marriage Rights” at NPR.

Watch “Why Do People Join Cults? An Animated Primer Explains” at Open Culture.

Listen to “Faith in the modern world” at BBC. “Marilynne Robinson and Rowan Williams discuss faith and humanity with Andrew Marr.”

Read “Four years ago, Donald Trump’s infamous brag about sexually assaulting women made the news. I wrote this then and, sadly, these words are still needed today: Call Out Locker Room Talk for the Sin That It Is” by Karen Swallow Prior at Christianity Today (from 2016).

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

Read “The Turmoil Over ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Political Speech at Coinbase” at Wired. “The CEO of the cryptocurrency pioneer declared political discussions out of bounds—then gave employees a week to agree or leave.”

Read “DOJ Frees Federal Prosecutors To Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections, Weakening Long-Standing Policy” at Huff Post. “The Justice Department created an exception to a decadeslong policy meant to prevent prosecutors from taking overt investigative steps that might affect the outcome of the vote.”

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Fannie Lou Hamer’s Dauntless Fight for Black Americans’ Right to Vote” at Smithsonian. “The activist did not learn about her right to vote until she was 44, but once she did, she vigorously fought for black voting rights.”

Read “We just want to go home’” at Chicago Reader. “CPD’s violent response to a student-led protest downtown and what it says about this moment in our history”

This Week With The Police:

Read “NYPD Threatens Disciplinary Action For Officers Who Don’t Wear Face Masks” at New York CBS.

Read “MCSO deputy admits to having sex with domestic violence victim” at AZ Family.

Read “Four Austin Women Reported Their Sexual Assaults. But Police and Prosecutors Failed To Hold The Perpetrators Accountable” at The Appeal. “While a debate over defunding the police rages in Austin, a new lawsuit reminds its residents that assault cases in the city are routinely ignored.”

Read “Trump’s Favorite Texas Sheriff Faces Re-Election Amid a Spike in Deaths at His Jail” at Texas Observer. “Conservative media have turned Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn into a right-wing celebrity despite a long list of scandals on his watch.”

Read “Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin Is Released On $1 Million Bond” at NPR.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning” at Pro Publica.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “White House wanted to keep Hope Hicks's positive COVID-19 test private” at The Hill.

  • Read “Nine people in President Trump’s inner circle test positive for coronavirus” at Yahoo.

  • Read “Chris Christie is the latest in Trump circle to get virus” at Yahoo.

  • Read “They want to kiss": Trump appears to blame troops and cops for spreading virus to his inner circle” at Yahoo.

  • Read “China's President and other leaders react to Trump coronavirus diagnosis” at MSNBC.

  • Read “Drugmaker says White House doctor described Trump treatment inaccurately” at NBC News.

  • Read “Dozens Of Secret Service Agents Get COVID During Trump’s Travels” at KHN.

  • Read “Covering a cover-up in real time” at Axios. “What is the actual state of President Trump's health?”

  • Read “Trump returns to comparing COVID-19 to the flu: 'We have learned to live with it'“ at Yahoo.

  • Read "GOP Sen. John Cornyn Criticizes Trump On COVID-19: 'A Lesson To All Of Us' at Yahoo.

Read “GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Went to Oktoberfest Party While Awaiting COVID-19 Test Results” at Daily Beast.

Read “Fearing 2nd Wave, N.Y.C. Will Adopt Restrictions in Hard-Hit Areas” at New York Times. ““Today, unfortunately, is not a day for celebration,” the mayor said of rising virus rates. His plan would affect 20 neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.”

Read “US Department of Transportation rejected mask mandate on public transportation” at The Hill. “A spokesperson said the department has sufficient mandates already in place.”

Read “White House not contact tracing Rose Garden event considered possible 'superspreader'“ at The Hill.

Read “Senior Pentagon leadership quarantining after exposure to coronavirus” at CNN.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Everything to know about the Melania Trump secret recordings” at Yahoo.

Read “The Ultra-Rich Are Using Giant Home Loans to Access Cheap Credit” at Bloomberg. “JPMorgan has issued a $42.5 million loan on a New York penthouse owned by a Russian billionaire’s family.”

Read “Regal Movie Chain Will Close All 536 U.S. Theaters On Thursday” at NPR.

Read “Former MLB player Charles Haeger, suspected in ex-girlfriend's killing, found dead at Grand Canyon” at NBC News.

Read “The Thought Leaders Issue: Mariah Carey” at V Magazine. “The singer talks identity politics, Black Lives Matter, and health care access.” "We’ve been socialized to believe that poverty is a personal failure rather than our systems failing us."

Internationalities:

Read “When the US Became a Rogue State in the Middle East” at Lit Hub. “Noam Chomsky on War with Iran, Both Covert and Overt.” “The US is alone in its ability to impose sanctions. That is a bipartisan consensus freely exercised for many years."

Read “'Zero tolerance' of abuse in aid sector failing to have an impact, MPs told” at The Telegraph. “Governments must do more to stamp out 'culture of impunity' that has allowed peacekeepers to escape punishment for sexual abuse.”

Read “Golden Dawn guilty verdicts celebrated across Greece” at The Guardian. “Ex-leader and MPs found guilty after biggest trial of fascists since Nuremberg.”

Read “How a Chinese company took control of an entire nation’s electrical grid” at PRI. “In the past decade or so, China, via its vast network of state-run companies, has brought a development blitz to Laos.”

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “The definitive case for ending the filibuster” at Vox. “Every argument for the filibuster, considered and debunked.”

Read “Judge blocks ‘unlawful’ plan to end Census Monday; Arizona still lags” at Cronkite News.

Read “More than 1K alumni from Amy Coney Barrett's undergrad college sign letter of concern” at The Hill.

Read “We binge-watched 15 hours of Amy Barrett's speeches. Here’s what we learned about her judicial philosophy” at USA Today.

Read “Viral Post Overstates Effect of Trump’s Order on Preexisting Conditions” at Fact Check.

Read “Pence demands plexiglass dividers not be near him at debate” at Raw Story.

Read “Visionary and Pragmatic'—A Black Feminist Guide to Electoral Politics” at Scalawag Magazine.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Texas governor limits election drop boxes to one per county in sprawling state” at CNN.

Read “How John Roberts Quietly Made It Harder to Vote” at Slate. “The Roberts Court has been rewriting the rules of our democracy via the shadow docket.”

Read “In big states, tiny counties, Trump attacking voting rules” at Associated Press. “It’s clearly based on a strategy to disrupt the election as much as possible. You’re seeing a broad-based, generalized strategy to suppress the vote by the Republican Party.” Barry Richard, who represented George W. Bush in the 2000 Florida recount.”

Read “John McAfee, tech mogul and presidential candidate, arrested on suspicion of tax evasion” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “We need to take away children.” Jeff Sessions and top Justice Department officials pushed hard for migrant family separations in 2018, a watchdog found” at New York Times.

Read “Trump Lashes Out at His Cabinet With Calls to Indict Political Rivals” at New York Times. “Most politicians can handle losing a race, but they really don’t want to be embarrassed. When a loss seems inevitable, people who want a future in politics start looking out for their own interests,”

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “The War on Drugs Detail New Live Album” at Spin.

Read “On following the idea” at The Creative Independent. “Musician Phil Elverum on parenting in a pandemic, expressing universal truths through personal details, and finding the beauty in uncertainty.”

Read “Phoebe Bridgers launches her own record label, ‘Saddest Factory’” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Listening Post: Sun Ra Arkestra” at Dusted.

Radiohead’s Kid A turns 20:

  • Read “Kid A Turns 20” at Stereogum.

  • Read “Kid A Reaches Adulthood: Radiohead’s Mesmerizing Fourth Record Turns 20” at Spin.

  • Read "Between the Grooves of Radiohead's 'Kid A'“ at PopMatters.

  • Read “20 Years Ago, Radiohead's 'Kid A' Changed The Way Albums Were Marketed” at Billboard.

Read “Thurston Moore on the Obscure Sonic Youth Songs He Loves the Most” at Vulture.

Read “Sinéad O’Connor Returns With Powerful Cover of Mahalia Jackson’s ‘Trouble of the World’” at Spin.

Read “And The Heat Goes On: Talking Heads' Remain In Light At 40” at Quietus.

Read “The story of grunge in 15 classic albums” at NME. “From Neil Young to Nirvana and their juggernaut anthem 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', along with the post-grunge that followed, the genre has a knotty history.”

Read “Mdou Moctar signs to Matador, shares “Chrismiten” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “The (Mostly) True Story of Vanilla Ice, Hip-Hop, and the American Dream” at The Ringer.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Ever Wonder How The Big Bird Costume Worked?”Ever Wonder How The Big Bird Costume Worked?” at The Mind Circle.

Read “Tom DeLonge directing coming of age sci-fi film with “blink-era dick jokes, skateboarding culture, UFOs” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Books/Reading/Authors

Browse “11 Women Horror Writers You Need to Read” at Mental Floss.

Browse “24 Dystopian Books That Will Suck You In And Make You Think” at Buzzfeed.

Read “A Sneak Peek of Margaret Atwood's Poem, Blackberries” at Waterstones.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Joy As Resistance” at Vulture. “Artist collective the Wide Awakes takes NYC this weekend. Why we’re marching.”

Food Cultures:

Read “The Court Case That Killed the ‘Ladies Menu’” at Gastro Obscura. “Upscale restaurants once listed prices only for men.”

Read “It's Not Goodbye, But Not Good Either: Ruby Tuesday Declares Bankruptcy” at NPR.

The Weekly Town Crier (10/02/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (10/02/20).





We’ll Miss You:

Read “In Memory of Mac Davis” at American Songwriter.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters” at The Atlantic. “Former aides say that in private, the president has spoken with cynicism and contempt about believers.” “The president's religious right base doesn't mind that he doesn't share their doctrinal beliefs or even belittles them — they care that he selects conservative justices who protect religious liberty and the unborn and that he fights for them.”

Read “The story behind Amy Coney Barrett’s little-known Catholic group People of Praise” at Washington Post.

Read “The Church Mothers Teach Us to Delight in Scripture” at Christianity Today. “Monica and Macrina didn't just influence Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa. They were biblical interpreters in their own right.”

Read “For Conservative Christian Women, Amy Coney Barrett’s Success Is Personal” at New York Times.

Read “Christian group raises over $500K for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse” (EDITOR’S NOTE: This should read: “Christian” group raises . . . “

Read “Christians Struggled with Relational Health Prior to the Crisis—So What Has Changed?” at Barna.

Read “What Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination doesn’t mean” at Christian Century. “Don’t bother looking for the political significance of the Supreme Court nominee’s Catholicism. There isn’t any.”

Read “Ravi Zacharias’s Ministry Investigates Claims of Sexual Misconduct at Spas” at Christianity Today. “Three women have come forward with additional allegations against the late Christian apologist.”

Read “Making Your Church Manlier Won’t Make It Bigger” at Christianity Today. “History tells us that denominational growth has nothing to do with sex ratios in the pews.”

Read “Meet the new Justin Bieber: Popstar, husband, holy hugger” at Religion News Service.

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

Read “Racism has cost America $16 trillion this century alone” at WSMV Nashville.

Read ‘Indigenous Groups Protest Border Wall Construction At Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument” at KJZZ.

Read “The US government won't detail why TikTok is a security threat” at CNET.

Read “Ballistics don't support AG Cameron's claim Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot officer” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

  • Read “Officer Charged in Breonna Taylor Case Pleads Not Guilty” at Wall Street Journal.

  • Read “Kentucky attorney general didn't recommend any homicide charges to Breonna Taylor grand jury” at The Hill.

Read “A lot of differences’: Experts address health disparities among Asian American subgroups” at Cronkite News.

Read “California will house transgender inmates by gender identity” at SF Gate.

Read “Federal court orders Texas prison system to provide hand sanitizer for some geriatric inmates during pandemic” at Texas Tribune.

Read “They Have Lost So Much But They Will Not Lose Their Right To Vote.' Advocates Fight To Enfranchise Americans Displaced by Wildfires” at Time.

Read “The 'Dindu' Conspiracy: Donald Trump, America and an Inanimate Object Called Whiteness” at The Root.

Read “This Indian Company Just Introduced a Period Leave Policy” at Global Citizen.

Read “Trump refused to condemn white supremacists. The debate didn't get any better from there” at Mashable. “"Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left." Drumpf went on to say: “This is not a Right Wing Problem," once again denying his own security officials.

  • Read “A Pro-Trump Militant Group Has Recruited Thousands of Police, Soldiers, and Veterans” at The Atlantic. “....The

  • Read “A Pro-Trump Militant Group Has Recruited Thousands of Police, Soldiers, and Veterans” at The Atlantic. “....The leaked database laid everything out. It had been compiled by Rhodes’s deputies as new members signed up at recruiting events or on the Oath Keepers website.... About two-thirds had a background in the military or law enforcement."

  • Read “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism Is On The Rise. Did The Warning Signs Evade Us?” at WBUR (from 07/2020).

  • Read “Retailers Are Already Pulling 'Stand Back and Stand By' Merch From Online Shelves” at Vice.

Read "H. R. McMaster: ‘Condemning White Supremacists Should Be a Layup’” at The Atlantic.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “US teen charged in Kenosha shootings fights extradition” at Al Jazeera.

Read “How The Protests Upended Portland’s Mayoral Race” at The Intercept.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Breonna Taylor’s death shocked the nation. In Louisville, many Black people are far from surprised” at Los Angeles Times.

  • Read “AG Cameron to release Breonna Taylor grand jury records after juror complains he misled” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read "Parents Knowingly Sent Kids With Coronavirus to School, Wisconsin Officials Say” at NBC New York. “Never in a million years did we imagine or think to account for parents deliberately sending their sick or symptomatic child to school," one health official said.”

Read “The Federal Government Promised Native American Students Computers and Internet. Many Are Still Waiting” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “The federal government gives Native students an inadequate education” at AZ Central.

Read “60% of Portland State University students face housing, food instability” at Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump test positive for Covid-19” at CNN.

Read ‘Pope to UN: Use COVID crisis to come out better, not worse” at 12 News. “Pope Francis said the world has a choice to make as it emerges from the COVID-19 crisis and addresses the grave economic impact it has had on the most vulnerable.”

Read “Over 50 Million People Dually Affected by COVID-19 and Climate Disasters” at Global Citizen.

Read “No Job, Loads of Debt: Covid Upends Middle-Class Family Finances” at Wall Street Journal. “The pandemic is wreaking havoc in loan-laden white-collar workers’ households; ‘I will never claw my way out of this situation’.

Read “Democrats Unveil $2.2 Trillion Pandemic Relief Bill” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “The Coronavirus Mostly Spares Younger Children. Teens Aren’t So Lucky.” at The New York Times.

Read “Titans-Steelers NFL game postponed after positive COVID-19 tests: report” at The Hill.

Read “Trump’s Family Didn’t Wear Masks During Presidential Debate — Except On Social Media” at Huff Post.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Everybody Vs. the App Store: Why Companies Are Taking Issue With Apple’s Growing Revenue Engine” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Judge Rules Tucker Carlson Is Not a Credible Source of News” at Slate.

Read “Tracking the Major Wildfires Spreading Across Northern California” at Bloomberg.

Read “Brené Brown, Vulnerability, and The Trump Voter” at Book Riot.

Read “Military Suicides Up As Much As 20% During Coronavirus Era” at Huff Post.

Read “The Legacy of ‘Going Postal’” at Vice. “In the late 80s and early 90s, a spate of shootings by disgruntled postal workers became the primary way most Americans thought of the post office. They also shed light on an agency with a profoundly unhealthy work environment.”

Read “Thousands of Airline Jobs Hang in the Balance as Lawmakers Debate Aid” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Disney cuts: What is life like after 'magic' job?” at BBC.

Internationalities:

Read “Ai Weiwei: 'Too late' to curb China's global influence” at BBC.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Guest Commentary: I served under six presidents — four Republicans, two Democrats — only one has failed to serve U.S. national security interests” at Denver Post.

Read “Why Arizona Is Tilting Blue: ‘The State’s Clearly in Motion’ at New York Times.

Read “57 percent of Americans think next president, Senate should fill Ginsburg vacancy” at The Hill.

Read “Sen. Cory Booker: This president is menacing our democracy” at MSNBC.

Read “Voter registration spiked in days immediately following Ruth Bader Ginsburg death” at The Hill.

Read “Cindy McCain ups support of Joe Biden, joins Democrat’s transition team” at KTAR.

Read “A debate that will live in infamy: That sweaty, red-faced liar is actually our president” at Salon.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Tillis says he has ‘grave concerns’ about voting by mail in NC after board settlement” at News Observer.

Read “The question of how Donald Trump’s Scottish resorts are financed just became even more urgent” at Slate.

Read “IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor” at Pro Publica. “Congress asked the IRS to report on why it audits the poor more than the affluent. Its response is that it doesn’t have enough money and people to audit the wealthy properly. So it’s not going to.”

Read “Trump tax records show duplicity. That's devastating for his campaign.” at NBC News.

Read “Detainees at California’s for-profit ICE detention centers will soon be able to sue over abuse, harm” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Police took 10 guns from Trump associate’s Florida home after wife showed them bruises” at Miami Herald.

Read “DeJoy Says Mail Sorting Machines Were Stripped For Parts And Can't Be Reinstalled” at Yahoo.

  • Read “Postal service ordered to stop cuts, federal judge says” at 12 News.

  • Read “In NC, consequences of Postal Service slowdown extend beyond the mailbox” at WECT.

Read “Foreign Hackers Cripple Texas County’s Email System, Raising Election Security Concerns” at Pro Publica.

Read “Census Cuts All Counting Efforts Short By A Month” at NPR.

Read “Judge orders Georgia officials to provide backup paper poll books ahead of election” at The Hill.

Read “Weissmann: WH didn't fully cooperate with our investigation” at MSNBC. “Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, discusses how Trump manipulated the findings in the Mueller Report and why he says the findings from the NYT report are 'potentially indictable'.”

Read “Secretive group who bankrolled Brett Kavanaugh confirmation is now backing Amy Coney Barrett” at Salon.

Read “Money For Misinformation? Experts Say The First Domestic 'Troll Farms' Are Here” at WBUR.

Read “Trump’s ex-national security adviser says president is ‘aiding and abetting’ Putin” at Politico.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “The Quiet Return of Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Sufjan Stevens’s Cry of Despair and Prayer for Redemption” at New York Times.

  • Read “'I have a sense of urgency': Sufjan Stevens wakes from the American dream” at The Guardian.

Read “Stone Roses’ Ian Brown Says COVID Was “Planned,” Releases Anti-Lockdown Song” at Stereogum.

Read “Bonnaroo Shares The Beastie Boys Final Concert” at Jambase.

Read “I Was Bullied for Being Arab. Nine Inch Nails Threw Me a Lifeline.” at New York Times.

Read “It's a bunch of clowns you voted in': Willie Nelson urges fans to 'Vote 'Em Out' in video” at AZ Central.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “‘Black Panther’ Mural With Chadwick Boseman Unveiled at Disneyland” at Variety.

  • Read “Sienna Miller says Chadwick Boseman took a pay cut on 21 Bridges so she could make more money” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Now let’s lament a system in which this was necessary in the first place).

Read “Watch Trailer for New Doc on Nickelodeon’s Glory Days, ‘The Orange Years’” at Rolling Stone.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Studio Ghibli Puts Online 400 Images from Eight Classic Films, and Lets You Download Them for Free” at Open Culture.

Food Cultures:

Read “Why Are So Dang Many Potato Chip Brands From Pennsylvania?” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Ireland’s Supreme Court rules Subway sandwiches have too much sugar to meet legal definition of bread” at Market Watch.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “The Rise and Fall of North Carolina’s National Hollerin’ Contest” at Atlas Obscura.

Local:

Read “Pedestrians in Arizona are more likely to be hit and killed than nearly any other state. Why?” at AZ Central.

The Weekly Town Crier (07/17/20)

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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 (07/03/20)

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





Read ‘Milton Glaser, Master Designer of ‘I ♥ NY’ Logo, Is Dead at 91” at New York Times.

Read “Marc Orleans of Sunburned Hand of the Man Has Died” at Pitchfork.

Read “Carl Reiner, longtime comedy legend, dies at 98” at CNN.

Read “Controversy and Coronavirus Keep Church Plants Out of Schools” at Christianity Today.

Read “I’m Not Hateful, You Are Judge me? You don’t even know me!” by David French at The Dispatch.

Read “Israel Orders Christian TV Channel to Stop Broadcasting GOD TV argues application for new Shelanu channel in Hebrew was forthright, decries decision as political” at Christianity Today.

Read “This is a moment of reckoning on race for White Christians” at CNN.

Read “Will International Religious Freedom Survive the Trump Administration? The president’s executive order elevates its priority in US foreign policy. Nine experts assess the strategy’s longevity” at Christianity Today.

Read “White Supremacist Ideas Have Historical Roots In U.S. Christianity” at NPR.

Read “Black Lives Matter in the Bible From Genesis to Revelation, racism runs counter to everything Scripture teaches” at Christianity Today.

Read “White, Black, and Blue: Christians Disagree Over Policing Black Christians overwhelmingly say police treatment is biased against them. Why don’t white evangelicals believe them?” at Christianity Today.

Read “87 Percent of Practicing Christians See the U.S. as a Leader to the World” at Barna.

Read “Supreme Court Dismisses State Ban on Public Funding for Religious Schools” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Taxpayers Shouldn’t Have to Fund Religious Education: How Today’s Supreme Court Decision Further Erodes the Separation of Church and State” at ACLU.

Read “Pastors Worry About Patriotism But Still Favor July 4th Displays”at Facts and Trends. “53% of Protestant pastors say their congregation sometimes seems to love America more than God.”

  • Read Mark Noll on “Christian Patriotism” for Christianity Today in 1986. “Is This Land God’s Land?”

Read “Researcher: Most Evangelicals Support Women in Church Leadership” at Christianity Today.

Read “Why Evangelicals Support Trump—and Why They Shouldn’t Worry about ‘Christianophobia’ is understandable. But Trump is no true ally—and his immorality, race-baiting, and sexism give his Christian supporters a bad name” at The Bulwark.

Learn about “The Sand Creek Massacre: When U.S. Forces Slaughtered As Many As 200 Unsuspecting Native Americans” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “CBP Is Using Pandemic As Cover For Deportations, Advocates Say” at Sojourners.

Read “Trump Retweets Video Of Apparent Supporter Saying 'White Power' at NPR.

  • Read “'Indefensible': Trump slammed for sharing video where supporter yells 'white power' at protesters” at AZ Central.

  • Read “It Took 3 Hours to Delete the President’s ‘White Power’ Tweet Because No One Could Reach Him. He Was Out Golfing...During a Pandemic” at The Root.

  • Browse “How Trump talks about race” at PBS.

  • Read “Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower a 'symbol of hate,' Trump tweets” at 12 News.

Read “US soldier accused of sending information to neo-Nazi group as part of plot to attack his unit” at The Hill.

Read “Disguised Sacha Baron Cohen Crashes Far-Right Rally With “Inject Obama With The Wuhan Flu” Sing-Along” at Stereogum.

Read “Hair weaves from Chinese prison camps seized” at AP.

Read “3 States Abruptly Make Protesting Fossil Fuel Pipelines a Felony” at Green Matters.

Read “We have been through this before.’ Why anti-Asian hate crimes are rising amid coronavirus” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Asian American churches hold march through Chinatown, calling for unity with Black communities” at Chicago Sun Times.

Read “Why We Never Talk About Black-on-Black Crime: An Answer to White America’s Most Pressing Question” at The Root.

Read “Mike Pence explains why he refuses to say "Black lives matter" at Axios. “Vice President Mike Pence told CBS that he won't say the words "Black lives matter" because he believes the leadership of the BLM movement is pushing a "radical-left agenda."

  • Read "Trump: Painting 'Black Lives Matter' On 5th Avenue Would Be 'Symbol Of Hate' at NPR.

  • Read “'Black Lives Matter' to be painted on NBA courts” at 5 News Online.

George Floyd:

  • Read “New Jersey Corrections Officer Seen Mocking George Floyd's Death on Track to be Fired” at The Root.

Elijah McClain:

  • Read “Cops in Riot Gear Stormed a Violin Vigil for Elijah McClain” at The Cut.

  • Read “Colorado Police Officers Under Investigation For Photos At Elijah McClain Memorial” at NPR.

This Week In Protest News:

  • Read “On Stonewall anniversary, the NYPD launched a brutal unprovoked attack on LGBTQ people As Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted about honoring Stonewall, the NYPD was unleashing pepper spray on LGBTQ people dancing in celebration” at LGBTQ Nation.

  • Read “Couple points guns at protesters marching to call for St. Louis mayor to resign” at 12 News.

  • Read “Troops were issued bayonets in DC unrest” at Associated Press.

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

  • Read “Native Americans protesting Trump July 3 trip to Mount Rushmore Many Indigenous American activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation” at 12 News.

  • Read “Meet The Confederados, The Confederate Loyalists Who Fled To Brazil After The Civil War” at All That’s Interesting.

  • Read “Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove rebel emblem from flag” at Fox 4 News.

  • Read “Mississippi governor signs bill into law removing Confederate symbol from state flag” at NBC News.

  • Read “Trump’s Message to African-Americans Unhappy With Monuments to Slave Owners: ‘You Have to Learn’ History” at Media-Ite.

  • Read “Boston to remove statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln” at Associated Press.

  • Read “Homeland Security sets up task force to protect monuments, statues” at 12 News.

  • Read “President Trump says he'll veto defense bill to keep Confederate base names” at 12 News.

  • Read “Columbus, Ohio, Takes Down Statue Of Christopher Columbus” at NPR

  • Read “Some Arizona Veterans Call On Ducey To Remove Confederate Monument.”

Read “Read "Three Words. 70 Cases. The Tragic History of ‘I Can’t Breathe.’ The deaths of Eric Garner in New York and George Floyd in Minnesota created national outrage over the use of deadly police restraints at New York Times.

This Week With The Police:

  • Read “House approves sweeping police reform package that would ban chokeholds, end qualified immunity after George Floyd death at AZ Central.

  • Read "City Council OKs charter amendment to remove Minneapolis Police Department. “The Minneapolis City Council on Friday unanimously approved a proposed amendment would remove requirements for the city to maintain a police department from the city’s charter. The 12-0 vote is step toward putting the issue in front of Minneapolis voters on the November ballot.”

  • Read “Miami Cop Arrested And Charged After Tasing A Pregnant Woman On Her Stomach And Lying On The Police Report” at Blavity.

  • Read/Watch “How the Philadelphia Police Tear-Gassed a Group of Trapped Protesters” at New York Times.

  • Read “Landlords Use Police to Stop Tenants From Organizing” at Jacobin Magazine.

  • Read “Police Unions: What to Know and Why They Don’t Belong in the Labor Movement” at Teen Vogue.

  • Watch “How Cop Shows Lie to You | The Daily Social Distancing Show” by Trevor Noah at Youtube.

  • Read “Two San Jose School Districts End Contracts with Local Police” at San Jose Inside.

  • Read “ACLU of Oregon files class-action suit against PPB, city” at KOIN.

  • Read “Philadelphia officials announce moratorium on tear gas following NYT investigation” at The Hill.

  • See an interactive map of police violence in the United States. So far, “Police have killed 576 people in 2020.”

  • Read “Hoover police officer fired over Facebook photo of protester in crosshairs” at Al.com

  • Read “‘We are just gonna go out and start slaughtering them’: Three cops fired after racist talk of killing black residents” at Washington Post.

  • Read “L.A. council advances plan to replace LAPD officers with social workers on non-violent police calls” at KTLA.

  • Read “L.A. cuts LAPD spending, taking police staffing to its lowest level in 12 years” at Los Angeles Times.

  • Read “Congress Urged to Repeal Program That Transfers 'Weapons of War' to Local Police” at Common Dreams.

Read “NFL to play Black anthem before national anthem” at Associated Press.

Read “Was It All for This? The Failure of the Conservative Legal Movement” at The Public Discourse.

  • Read “Supreme Court strikes down restrictive Louisiana abortion law that would have closed clinics” at Washington Post.

  • Visit “The Louisiana Clinic At The Center Of Abortion Case Before Supreme Court” with NPR.

  • Read “Have Pro-Lifers Lost the Supreme Court Fight? What's ahead for abortion opponents after another frustrating decision” at Christianity Today.

Read ““Reality” is constructed by your brain. Here’s what that means, and why it matters. What the science of visual illusions can teach us about our polarized world” at Vox.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

  • Read “Scottsdale nightclub Riot House charged for failing to enforce social distancing, mask requirements Several other Old Town Scottsdale businesses are under investigation and may be charged for similar violations, a Scottsdale police spokesman said” at AZ Central.

  • Read “How Arizona ‘lost control of the epidemic’” at Washington Post.

    • Read “Inside the COVID-19 ICU: Valley nurses share what they see as cases rise in Arizona” at 12 News.

    • Read “Tempe mayor-elect tests positive for coronavirus” at 12 News.

  • Read “If president, Biden would make Americans wear face coverings in public during pandemic The presumptive Democratic nominee's comments came amid a surge of coronavirus cases in several states” at 12 News.

  • Read “CDC says coronavirus cases in U.S. may be 10 times higher than reported” at MSNBC.

  • Read “Judge Orders ICE To Free Detained Immigrant Children Because Of COVID-19” at NPR.

  • Read “In Mexico City, the Coronavirus Is Bringing Back Aztec-Era ‘Floating Gardens’” at Atlas Obscura.

  • Read “Parties — Not Protests — Are Causing Spikes In Coronavirus” at NPR.

    • Read “Black Lives Matter protests have not led to a spike in coronavirus cases, research says’ at CNN.

    • Read “Little Evidence That George Floyd Protests Spread Coronavirus in U.S., Experts Say” at ABC7.

    • Read “Why researchers say protests have not contributed to rise in COVID-19 cases” at 12 News.

  • Read “Workers removed thousands of social distancing stickers before Trump’s Tulsa rally, according to video and a person familiar with the set-up” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Revived Mount Rushmore Fireworks Will Feature Trump But No Social Distancing” at NPR.

  • Read “This chart shows the link between restaurant spending and new cases of coronavirus” at CNBC.

  • Read “Tennessee Concert Attracts Packed Crowd With No Masks Or Social Distancing” at Stereogum.

    • Read “Festival organizer defends packed, maskless crowd at Chris Janson show” at Brooklyn Vegan.

    • Read “The Pandemic Is Still Killing People. Why Is Country Music Putting on Concerts?” at Rolling Stone.

    • Read “Chase Rice responds to criticism over his TN show with packed, maskless crowd” at Brooklyn Vegan.

    • Read “Jason Isbell Blasts Chase Rice & Other “Country Stars”: “Some Are So Broke They’ve Decided To Do Shows This Weekend” at Whiskey Riff.

    • Read “Vanilla Ice Cancels 4th of July Concert: “I Didn’t Know the Numbers Were So Crazy!” at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Global coronavirus death toll exceeds 500,000” at Axios.

  • Read “Fake News and the Politicization Of Science Could Cost Lives” at Sojourners.

  • Read “U.S. Pediatricians Call For In-Person School This Fall” at NPR.

  • Read “Poll: 30% of Americans say they trust Trump to get facts right on coronavirus” at Axios.

  • Read “Kansas becomes latest state to make wearing masks in public mandatory” at Axios.

  • Read “Sen. McConnell Says Americans Must Have 'No Stigma' In Wearing Face Masks” at NPR.

  • Read “Fauci warns U.S. could see 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day” at Axios.

  • Read “Goldman Sachs says a national mask mandate could slash infections and save economy from a 5% hit” at CNBC.

  • Read “South Dakota governor: "We will not be social distancing" at July 3 event with Trump” at Axios. "We will have a large event on July 3. We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we won't be social distancing."

  • Read “European Union formally bars U.S. travelers due to coronavirus threat” at MSNBC.

  • Read “CDC expert warns U.S. has "way too much virus" to contain outbreak” at Axios.

  • Read “Model Predicts Tens of Thousands of Lives Could be Saved if Almost Everyone Uses Masks” at US News.

  • Read “Young people of color more likely to be hospitalized for coronavirus” at Axios.

  • Read “Florida is "not going back" on reopening, governor says” at Axios.

  • Read “Coronavirus ‘Incarnates’ Biblical Teachings in French Evangelical Leader President of CNEF and COVID-19 survivor explains his renewed confidence to defend the faith and French evangelical churches, as well as why his mother now calls him “Lazarus” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “A's join Giants and offer MLB fans option to buy cardboard cutouts of themselves for empty stadiums” at CBS Sports.

  • Read “Army Halts SERE Course after 90 Students Test Positive for Coronavirus” at Military.

  • Read “The US Public Paid to Develop This COVID-19 Drug. It Will Cost $3,000 a Dose” at Jacobin Magazine.

  • Read “This fall, going back to school will be a luxury few families can afford” at The Gazette.

  • Read “Texas governor mandates face masks in public spaces” at Axios.

  • Read “White House to 'seriously consider' second stimulus check, Treasury Secretary says” at 12 News.

  • Read “The gift of nurturing small things during isolation” at Christian Century.

  • Read “More than 40 Bay Area school principals exposed to coronavirus during in-person meeting” at San Fransisco Chronicle.

  • Read “Closing bars to stop coronavirus spread is backed by science” at Associated Press.

Read “Attorney General Barr Says DOJ Acts Independent Of Trump's Interests” at NPR.

Read “Atlanta Hawks Arena To Host Voting Site, Team Challenges Rest Of NBA To Follow” at NPR.

Read “Oklahoma Votes For Medicaid Expansion Over Objections Of Republican State Leaders” at NPR.

Read “Judges rule Donald Trump CANNOT use $2.5 billion in military cash to build his border wall - days after he signed a new section” at Daily Mail.

  • Read “Appeals court rules funding for Trump border wall construction ‘unlawful’” at NBC News.

Read “Trump’s Latest Comments About Blacks Thanking Him for His ‘Law and Order’ Approach Is Right Out of the Slave Master’s Playbook” at The Root.

Read “Trump renews vow on preexisting conditions after urging court to overturn ObamaCare” at The HIll.

Read “Spies and Commandos Warned Months Ago of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops The recovery of large amounts of American cash at a Taliban outpost in Afghanistan helped tip off U.S. officials” “Spies and Commandos Warned Months Ago of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops The recovery of large amounts of American cash at a Taliban outpost in Afghanistan helped tip off U.S. officials” New York Times

  • Read “Russian spy unit paid Taliban to attack US troops, US intelligence says It couldn’t be determined whether Russian bounties paid to Taliban fighters resulted in any American combat deaths in Afghanistan” at Fox News.

  • Read “Top Republican demands answers from White House over reports of Russian bounties” at Axios.

  • Read “GOP senator demands accountability over reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops” at Axios.

  • Read “White House briefs Republicans on Russian bounties Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are calling for all lawmakers to be briefed, not just GOP members” at Politico.

  • Read “AP sources: White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019” at Associated Press.

  • Read "President Trump tweets that Russia bounty allegations are 'Fake News'“ at 12 News.

  • Read “Top Democrat introduces amendment to sanction Putin for alleged Russian bounties” at News Break.

Read “Russians back reforms that could let Putin rule through 2036, officials say” at Axios.

Read “Veterans Group Accuses Donald Trump Of Acting Like A Traitor” at News and Guts.

Read “House approves statehood for DC in 232-180 vote” at The Hill.

Read “Tribes, environmentalists sue to stop rollback of Clean Water Act protections” at AZ Central.

Read “r/The_Donald banned from Reddit as Trump suspended from Twitch” at Brooklyn Vegan.

  • Read “Reddit Bans The_Donald, Forum Of Nearly 800,000 Trump Fans, Over Abusive Posts” at NPR.

Read “From pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers, Trump’s phone calls alarm US officials” at CNN.

Read “Amy McGrath wins Kentucky Democratic Senate primary” at Axios.

Read “Colorado Supreme Court upholds state’s ban on large-capacity gun magazines State’s prohibition on magazines that hold more than 15 rounds adopted after Aurora theater shooting” at Denver Post.

Read “Biden calls on Trump to wear a mask, limit rallies amid coronavirus surge” at Axios. "The crisis is real and it’s surging, Mr. President. America knows that this crisis isn’t behind us, even if you don’t."

  • Read “Hundreds Of Former Bush Officials Unite To Endorse Joe Biden” at NPR.

  • Read “Biden Faces Pressure To Pick A Black Running Mate. But Warren Remains A Top Contender” at NPR.

Read “McConnell warns Democrats not to change filibuster rule” at The Hill.

Read “Judge temporarily blocks publication of tell-all book by Trump's niece” at Axios.

Read “AOC’s brand was groundbreaking. Now it’s inspiring copycats around the world” at Fast Company.

Read “GOP Candidates Open To QAnon Conspiracy Theory Advance In Congressional Races” at NPR.

Read “A 10% cut to the US military budget would help support struggling American” by Bernie Sanders at The Guardian.

Read “Wave Of Young Judges Pushed By McConnell Will Be 'Ruling For Decades To Come' at NPR.

Read “Starbucks stops advertising on ALL social media while Pepsi joins the growing list of companies boycotting Facebook as pressure grows on sites to crack down on 'hate speech'“ at Daily Mail.

Read “Zuckerberg Loses $7 Billion as Firms Boycott Facebook Ads” at Bloomberg.

  • Read “Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said Facebook is 'not gonna change' in response to a boycott by more than 500 advertisers over the company's hate-speech policies” at Business Insider.

Read “The Indebted Dead Tracing the history of the Grateful Dead folktale and the evolving obligations of being alive” at Lapham’s Quarterly.

Read “The cost of giving birth in America is now more than an average month’s salary” at Motherly.

Half-year-end Half-lists:

  • Browse “The 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far” at Treble.

  • Browse “The Best Of 2020 – Halftime Report A list of 72 Albums we've enjoyed from January to June” at Uncut.

  • Browse “Exclaim!'s 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far”.

  • Browse “NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums Of 2020 (So Far)” at NPR.

  • Browse “Post-Trash's Best of 2020: A Mid-Year Report”.

  • Browse “The 50 Best Albums of 2020 So Far” at PopMatters.

Read “Trey Anastasio on the Power of Live” at Relix.

Read “Dean Wareham interviews Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom The Luna/Galaxie 500 singer chats with his old friend, Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum” at Talk House.

Read “Sufjan Stevens Announces New Solo Album 'The Ascension'“ at NPR.

Read “New True Crime Podcast to Explore Deaths and Disappearances of Deadheads” at Jambands.

Read “With New Albums, Bob Dylan, Neil Young And Willie Nelson Are As Relevant As Ever” at NPR.

Read “Rolling Stones Threaten Trump With Lawsuit Over Rally Music “This could be the last time Trump uses any Jagger/ Richards songs on his campaigns,” band’s rep says” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time From funk masters to prog prodigies and beyond, we count down the players who have shaped our idea of the low-end theory” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “40 Years of Experimental Dub Label On-U Sound Records: Nine Essential LPs” at Bandcamp.

Read “John Prine Named Illinois’ First Honorary Poet Laureate” at PItchfork.

Read ‘Roland and Korg fined £5.5 million” for price fixing at Wire.

Read “Back-stabbing, bullying, busking: how The Clash disintegrated” at Louder Sound.

Read “One Eleven Heavy interview” at It’s Psychedelic, Baby. “Transatlantic psychedelic rock resurrecting the joyful, altered reminiscence of the first wave of Cosmic American Music.

Read “Radio Is Quietly Scrubbing the Word ‘Urban,’ Sources Say Insiders say radio giant iHeartMedia and radio analytics company Mediabase are poised to remove the word, which has been controversial in industry-wide discussions around systemic racism” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Ford-Wyoming Drive-In was top-grossing movie theater in nation over weekend” at Freep.

Read “Beavis and Butt-Head Are Returning With New Episodes Mike Judge is resurrecting his beloved Gen X cartoon as part of a new deal with Comedy Central” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Drawing on Walls: An Wondrous Illustrated Homage to Keith Haring, His Irrepressible Art of Hope, and His Beautiful Bond with Children” at Brain Pickings.

Read “The Origins of Warhol’s Brillo Boxes” at Warholiana.

Browse “5 Best Routes for a Cross-Country Road Trip” at The Discoverer.

Read “Arizona reps. Debbie Lesko, Paul Gosar push for Peoria to be home base of Space Force” at 12 News.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/26/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/26/20).

Read “Complementarians in Closed Rooms Aimee Byrd, Beth Moore, and private words that reveal a pressing problem” at Christianity Today. “When we see the words of some complementarians outed from a Facebook group, it reminds us we all have a responsibility to root out misogyny.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: What is the difference between Complementarianism and Patriarchy?)

Read “Leaving Liberty After a decade of declining black enrollment on campus, a tweet set off several recent departures among black students and staff” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “I Suppressed So Much of My Humanity in Being Here” What it’s like to be black at Liberty University” at Slate.

Read “Why are so many white Christians suddenly standing up for racial justice? It might help that our pews aren’t available to sit in and pray” at Christian Century.

Read “Dozens of Christian College Faculty Eliminated in Spring Budget Cuts” at Christianity Today.

Read “In an interview with EWTN, Trump hails ‘tremendous letter of support from the Catholic Church’” at America Magazine.

Read “The ‘Over There’ Era of Missions Is Over Nowadays, the Western church needs to send ambassadors to its own culture” at Christianity Today.

Read “We reversed Trump’s immigration policy once. We’re back to fight ‘Remain in Mexico.’ at Religion News Service.

Read “Black Practicing Christians Are Twice as Likely as Their White Peers to See a Race Problem” at Barna.

Read “Brazil’s massive replica of the Temple of Solomon The Pentecostals of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus have a mighty vision” at Christian Central.

Read “Did Race and Racism Exist in the Middle Ages?” at Not Even Past.

Read “Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben deserve retirement. They're racist myths of happy Black servitude. The mascots were intended to let white consumers indulge in a fantasy of enslaved people as submissive, self-effacing, loyal and contentedly pacified” at NBC News.

Read “Fact check: Father of modern gynecology performed experiments on enslaved Black women” at USA Today.

Read “Who Wrote ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’? Inside The Little-Known True Story” at All That’s Interesting.

  • Read “Tulsa Athletic to no longer play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at The Black Wall Street Times. “Tulsa Athletic, an American soccer team based in Tulsa and part of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), announces the club will no longer play the “The Star-Spangled Banner” and will play a new song of that's more inclusive and representative of today's America, “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, at all home matches.”

  • Read “Pro Softball Players Quit After Manager Brags To Trump About Her Team Standing For The National Anthem” at PercoLately.

Read “Why some people are willing to challenge behavior they see as wrong despite personal risk” at PBS. “Psychologists describe those who are willing to defend their principles in the face of potentially negative social consequences such as disapproval, ostracism and career setbacks as “moral rebels.”

Read “Never Forget, America’s Mass Lynching: 237 Black Sharecroppers Were Murdered In Arkansas” at Black Westchester.

Read “'World should know what is happening' to children in ICE detention: Mother testifies "It is painful for me to relive this experience and remember that suffering." at ABC News.

Read “We still don’t know just how much was lost in the Tulsa massacre of 1921” at QZ.

Read “The History of Racism Is Not Past” at Sojourners.

Read “'Black Lives Matter' is About More than the Police” at ACLU.

Read “A Call For Reparations: How America Might Narrow The Racial Wealth Gap” at NPR.

Juneteenth:

  • Read “Why Juneteenth is a holiday every American should celebrate” at Denison Forum.

  • Read “On Juneteenth, look to the biblical prophets and the Black Lives Matter movement” at America Magazine.

  • Read “Juneteenth and the Meaning of Freedom Emancipation is a marker of progress for white Americans, not black ones” at New Yorker.

  • Read “Honoring the 'Mother of Juneteenth' in Portland, Clara Peoples” at KGW.

  • Read “Senators propose bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday Juneteenth is currently recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia as a state holiday or observance” at NBC News.

Read “How Did We Get Here? 163 years of The Atlantic’s writing on race and racism in America” at The Atlantic.

Read/Listen to “'An Extraordinary Moment': Angela Davis Says Protests Recognize Long Overdue Anti-Racist Work” at WBUR.

Read “Black Lives Matter is inspiring demonstrations all over Latin America” at America Magazine.

Read “13 Microaggressions Black People Deal With All The Time” at Huff Post.

Read “Bubba Wallace responds after FBI says noose found in stall there as early as Oct. 2019” at 12 News. “"The image that I have, that I have seen hanging from my garage is not a garage pull," Bubba Wallace said in an interview with CNN. "From the evidence that we have, that I have, it's a straight-up noose."

Read “High court justices press attorneys over high-capacity magazine ban” at VT Digger.

Read “Mark Taylor: Black men are hanging themselves to start ‘civil war’ that will stop Trump’s reelection” at Dead State.

Read “Antisemitic incidents in Colorado continue to rise as attacks against American Jews reach all-time highs, new report shows” at MSN.

Read “Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA in big win for Dreamers” at NBC News.

Read “NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson” at Axios.

Read “The US Government Kills Black People with Impunity Both at Home and Abroad” at The Nation.

Read “U.S. Soldier Charged With Plotting to Let Neo-Nazis Ambush Read “NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. JacksonHis Army Unit” at Time.

Read “Tennessee Tennessee Republicans approve six-week abortion ban in surprise vote Ban beginning at six weeks, which is before most women know they are pregnant, is blatantly unconstitutional” at The Guardian.

Read “Looking for black-owned restaurants in Arizona? Here are more than 50 around metro Phoenix” at AZ Central.

Read “What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain” at The Cut.

Ahmaud Arbery:

  • Read “Ahmaud Arbery murder suspects indicted on murder charges” at Axios.

George Floyd:

  • Read “Opinion Why Did Cup Foods Call the Cops on George Floyd?” at New York Times.

  • Read "Scottsdale Councilman Apologizes to George Floyd's Family for Mocking 'I Can't Breathe' at Phoenix New Times.

Breonna Taylor:

  • Read “One of the officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor is being fired, Louisville mayor says Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder calls actions of Brett Hankison a "shock to the conscience" at Salon.

  • Read “Mayor Fischer announces initiation of termination procedures against LMPD Officer Brett Hankison” at LouisvilleKY.gov.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments):

  • Read “SEC tells Mississippi it has to change its flag, or risk losing host rights for championship events” at CBS News.

  • Read “Mayor Fischer announces initiation of termination procedures against LMPD Officer Brett Hankison” at LouisvilleKY.gov.

  • Read/Listen to “Confederate Monuments Continue To Come Down In Racial Justice Protests” at WBUR.

  • Read “Washington, D.C.'s only Confederate statue sacked during protest” at Axios.

  • Read “Confederate Speaker Portraits To Be Removed From The U.S. Capitol On Juneteenth” at NPR.

  • Read “President Trump tries to tie statue destruction to Democrats” at 12 News.

    • Read “President Trump says 'learn from history' instead of removing statues President Trump spoke out after an attempt Monday night to bring down a statue near the White House of Andrew Jackson, one of Trump's favorite presidents” at 12 News.

    • Read “President Trump threatens anyone destroying statues could face 10 years in prison” at 12 News. “President Trump said he's 'authorized' the arrest of anyone 'who vandalizes or destroys' monuments or statues.”

      • Read "Twitter flags ANOTHER Donald Trump tweet for 'abusive language' after he threatened protesters trying to topple Andrew Jackson statute outside the White House with 'serious force' at The Daily Mail.

  • Read “'I did the right thing:' Man arrested on suspicion of painting Arizona Confederate memorial speaks out” at AZ Central.

  • Read “We need to do more than topple (some) statues” at America Magazine.

  • Read “Miss. Baptists ask for removal of Confederate symbol from state flag” at Kentucky Today.

    • Read “Walmart bans Mississippi state flag due to Confederate symbol” at Axios.

  • Read “Minnesotans Petition To Replace St. Paul’s Columbus Statue With A Prince Monument” at Live For Live Music.

  • Read “Slavery advocate’s statue removed in South Carolina” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Dixie Chicks Change Name to The Chicks” at Pitchfork.

This Week in Protest News:

  • Read “Armed Vigilantes Antagonizing Protestors Have Received A Warm Reception From Police” at The Intercept.

  • Read “Phoenix church leads 'White Silence is Violence' march” at 12 News.

  • Read “Over 3,500 people take part in Tokyo’s first official Black Lives Matter march” at Time Out.

  • Read “Police Turned Richmond, Virginia Into a War Zone Last Night” at Vice.

  • Read “Chicago Police Illegally Denied Protesters Right To Attorney, Phone Call, Top Public Defender Says” at Block Club Chicago.

  • Read “Police shoot flash-bang grenades, pepper balls at protesters outside Phoenix Trump rally” at AZ Central.

This Week With the Police:

  • Read “NYC's 1975 Nightmarish Cop Propaganda Pamphlet” at Cracked.

  • Read “Nextdoor Ends Its Program for Forwarding Suspicions to Police” at Bloomberg. “Forward to Police,” one of several Nextdoor programs to strengthen law enforcement relations, has been criticized for elevating racial profiling.

  • Read “Hundreds of Police Officers Belong to Racist Facebook Groups” at The Root.

  • Read “The ‘Warrior Cop’ Is a Toxic Mentality. And a Lucrative Industry. Police are paying firms that preach extreme vigilance and deadly force.” at The Trace.

  • Read “Why Are Cops Putting Kids in Cuffs? Federal funding, zero tolerance, and lack of choice encourage the creeping criminalization of student misbehavior” at Reason.

  • Read “Shake Shack, "poisoned" cops, and how the press falls for police propaganda Break the dependence on police information” at Press Run.

  • Read “APA Urges Closer Partnerships Between Police, Behavioral Experts To Stem Racial Incidents” at American Psychological Association.

  • Read “Six lessons for police reform from the Catholic Church" at America Magazine.

  • Read “Who caused the violence at protests? It wasn’t antifa’ at Washington Post.

  • Read “Lawmakers in New Mexico back mandatory police body cameras” at 12 News.

  • Read “Beyond Reform The Senate stalls out before doing anything about police abuse.” at Slate.

  • Read “Above the Law: The Data Are In on Police, Killing, and Race” at The Public Discourse.

  • Read “Minneapolis Council members draft charter amendment to replace existing police department” at Minneapolis Reformer.

  • Read “National Teachers Union Wants Police Out Of Schools” at Cap Con.

  • Read “Should cops who shoot someone be tested for drugs and alcohol? Metro Council may demand it” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

  • Read “Demilitarization of Police Means Disrupting the Army-to-Police Pipeline” at Jacobin Magazine.

  • Read “Democrats Vow To Block GOP Police Reform Bill Unless Republicans Agree To Negotiate” at NPR.

  • Read “Florida police caught using mug shots of black men for target practice” at MSNBC.

  • Read “Anonymous digs up vast tranche of U.S. police documents” at Axios.

  • Read “The urgent need for deep changes in American policing Are the police meant to protect people? Or to fight them?” at Christian Century.

  • Read “How the Phoenix Police Department Spends Its $745 Million Budget. “The city wants to give the force an additional $24 million. But the department is still failing to solve crimes, and officers have shot 212 people between 2011 and 2018, killing about half” at The Appeal.

Read “Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can’t Tell Black People Apart” at ACLU.

Read “Minneapolis Park Board declares parks are ‘refuge’ for homeless” at Minnesota Reformer.

Read “Brett Favre says Colin Kaepernick will be considered a hero like Pat Tillman” at TMZ.

Read “Boston Lawmakers Vote To Ban Use Of Facial Recognition Technology By The City” at NPR.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

  • Read “Apple Closes Retail Stores in Four States as Coronavirus Cases Rise Apple said it would close stores near Naples, Fla; Charlotte, N.C.; in Greenville, S.C.; and in Arizona” at Wall Street Journal.

  • Read “Ducey will let Arizona cities decide on mandating mask wearing, announces new rules for businesses” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Phoenix will require masks starting Saturday. Refusing to wear a face covering could bring a $250 fine” at AZ Central.

  • Read “The Karens Are Giving Us a Hard Time Now” A waiter at a reopened restaurant explains how dining works in a pandemic” at Slate.

  • Read “Maricopa County sends mandate to every resident in the county: Wear a mask no matter what city, town or area you live in” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Treasury to release names of some businesses that received PPP loans” at Axios.

  • Read “Yes, Wearing Masks Helps. Here's Why” at NPR.

  • Read “Six Trump campaign staffers test positive for coronavirus ahead of Tulsa rally” at Axios.

  • Read “Rep Andy Biggs believes mandatory face masks are tyranny. Yeah, he said that, tyranny” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System” at Phoenix New Times.

  • Read “Phoenix Mayor Gallego: Mask policy won’t be enforced at Trump event” at KTAR.

  • Read “Spain opens border to tourists; Trump wants less testing” at AP News.

  • Read “President Trump suggests he urged slowing of coronavirus testing” at 12 News.

  • Read “White House Defends Trump's Use Of Racist Term To Describe Coronavirus” at NPR.

  • Read “German Federal Government Pledges $169 Million For Live Events Industry With “Restart Culture” Initiative” at Live FOr Live Music.

  • Read “Amid threats and political pushback, public health officials are leaving their posts” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Why Native Americans took Covid-19 seriously: 'It's our reality' Coronavirus is novel to the world, but the impact on native communities is anything but a new experience” at The Guardian.

  • Read “The pandemic has deepened my insomnia—and my prayers As I lie awake, it seems right to join those who address God with different names than I use” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Young people in the US South and West are increasingly getting coronavirus” at CNN.

  • Read “Years of potential life lost” is the most sobering and sad Covid-19 statistic I’ve seen” at Vox.

  • Read “EU prepares to ban American travelers as borders reopen on July 1” at Axios.

  • Read “Coronavirus has brought US 'to its knees', says CDC director” at The Guardian.

  • Read “You Can Order A Face Mask Customized With The Rest Of Your Face On It” at Crafty.diply.

  • Read "We Still Don't Fully Understand The Label 'Asymptomatic'

  • Read “Protest against mask mandates, led by Scottsdale councilman, underway in Old Town” at AZ Central.

  • Love your neighbor, wear a mask.

  • Read “Hospitals issue joint call to wear masks in public: ‘Wearing a mask is not a political statement’” at News Break.

  • Read “Rubio: 'Everyone should just wear a damn mask' at The Hill.

  • Read “Nike Turned Away a Public Health Official From Its Warehouse Days After a Worker With COVID-19 Died” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “Study Finds Black Lives Matter Protests Didn't Lead to Growth in Coronavirus Cases” at The Root.

  • Read “The U.S. divide on coronavirus masks” at Axios. “Mask-wearing has become the latest partisan division in an increasingly politically divided pandemic.”

  • Read “Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was ordered by a federal judge on Tuesday to wear a face mask outside or be fined” at Axios.

  • Read “What Parents Can Learn From Child Care Centers That Stayed Open During Lockdowns” at NPR.

  • Read “Texas family shaken after 18 relatives test positive for COVID-19 following surprise birthday party.” at KSDK. “Three are now hospitalized, including two elderly family members and one woman battling breast cancer.”

  • Read “With COVID-19 Cases Rising, Some States Slow Their Reopening Plans” at NPR.

Read “CBS Reporter Becomes Internet Hero After Asking Trump Why He Keeps Hiring 'Wackos And Liars'“ at ComicSands.

  • Read ““William Barr Poses The Greatest Threat… To Our Rule Of Law” at News and Guts.

    • Read “Powerful US attorney who investigated Trump associates refuses to step down after Barr pushes him out” at CNN.

    • Read “House Judiciary panel preparing to subpoena Barr” at Politico.

  • Read “Politics Influenced Justice Department In Roger Stone Case, DOJ Lawyer Tells Hill” at NPR.

  • Read “Prosecutor to tell Congress of pressure from ‘highest levels’ of Justice Dept. to cut Roger Stone ‘a break’” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Judge says Bolton can publish book despite efforts to block it” at 12 News.

  • Read “Stephen Colbert To John Bolton: “How Could You Be Naive?” at News and Guts.

  • Read “Appeals court orders dismissal of Michael Flynn's criminal case The decision was made, even though Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to prosecutors in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation” at 12 News.

Read “In Arizona, Republicans worry about losing traction with independent voters In a state that could prove pivotal in both the presidential race and the fight for Senate control, Republicans are concerned about a shrinking base” at NBC News.

Read “A new Trump proclamation will block foreign workers It could affect hundreds of thousands of foreigners stranded abroad” at Vox.

Read "Trumps lose attempt to gag Mary Trump from publishing tell-all book as a judge dismisses petition for a protective order saying their claims are 'fatally defective' at NPR.

Read “Biden to accept nomination at pared-down Milwaukee convention” at Axios.

  • Read “Biden Takes Dominant Lead as Voters Reject Trump on Virus and Race” at New York Times.

  • Read “Trump Is Struggling To Run Against A White Guy” at The Atlantic.

Read “Devin Nunes can’t sue Twitter over statements by fake cow, judge rules’ at Fresno Bee.

Read “Black Progressives Appear To Surge In Primaries, While Trump-Backed Candidates Lose” at NPR.

Read “More Than 100 Veterans Sign Letter Condemning Sen. McSally” at KJZZ.

Read “24-Year-Old Easily Tops President Trump's Pick In N.C. Republican Primary” at NPR.

Read “Zuckerberg says he’s ‘disgusted’ by Trump’s rhetoric. It’s just crocodile tears” at Washington Post.

Read “Alaska's 'Into the Wild' bus, known as a deadly tourist lure, has been removed by air” at CNN.

Read “Philly shuts down dumpster pools: 'We are not screwing around' at USA Today.

Read “Bill Cosby’s appeal of sex-crime conviction accepted by state supreme court” at USA Today.

Read “Okayplayer CEO Abiola Oke Resigns, Company Cites Recent Allegations” at Exclaim.

Read “Tom Petty’s Family Blasts Trump For Using His Music At Tulsa Rally” at Stereogum.

Read “K-Pop Stans Take Credit For Ruining Trump’s Tulsa Rally” at Stereogum.

Read “Jefferson Airplane to Receive Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021” at Jambands.

Read “There is Now An Official Grateful Dead Deodorant” at Relix.

Half-year-end Half-lists:

  • Browse “The 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far” at Treble.

  • Browse “The Best Of 2020 – Halftime Report A list of 72 Albums we've enjoyed from January to June” at Uncut.

  • Browse “Exclaim!'s 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far”.

Read “Toil and Trouble: Uncle Tupelo’s ‘No Depression’ Turns 30” at No Depression.

Read “'I Have Had No Prouder Moment in Music': Run the Jewels On Capturing the Sound of American Rage” at Esquire.

Read “Sammy Hagar Is Willing to “Get Sick and Even Die” to Kickstart the Concert Industry Again” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Barcelona opera house reopens with performance to 2,292 plants” at CNN.

Read “More Than 50 Years Ago Thelonious Monk Played A High School In California. Now The Album’s On Vinyl Everything You Need To Know About The Newly Discovered Lost Monk Album” at Vinyl Me Please.

Read “John Prine Scores First No. 1 Single with Final Recording “I Remember Everything” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Nick Cave Explains Why He Doesn’t Write Protest Songs” at Stereogum.

Read “Paul McCartney Calls on Schools to Cease Serving Meat-Only Lunches "No one needs to eat meat, so it shouldn't be mandatory to serve it in schools" at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Warren Haynes Pens Op-Ed ‘A Change Is Gonna Come—Oh, Yes It Will’, Shares Accompanying Playlist” at Jambands.

Read “Dixie Chicks Change Name to The Chicks” at Pitchfork.

Browse “The Story of ’80s Texas Punk in 9 Photographs” at Pitchfork.

Read “'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Creators Scrap Season 8, Plan to Start over Amid Police Brutality Protests” at Exclaim.

Read “Large iguana found in freezer of pizza restaurant in Florida.

Read “Large iguana found in freezer of pizza restaurant in Florida” at Boing Boing.

Read “An exploitative digital cult born from Facebook meme groups is imploding” at AV Club.

Read “Tourist's photo showing creature rising from water sparks online claims that it could be 'one of the best ever' pictures of Loch Ness Monster” at The Daily Mail.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/19/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/19/20)



Read “Legendary Batman writer, Denny O'Neil dies at age 81” at Games Radar.

Read “Evangelicals perfected cancel culture. Now it’s coming for them” at Religion News Service.

Read “Jesus Was Divisive: A Black Pastor's Message To White Christians” at NPR’s Code-Switch. “Of course, they are willing to sacrifice black and brown bodies to hear a full-throated hymn.”

Read “Apartheid’s Roots Nourished By Religion” from January 1985’s Chicago Tribune.

Read and Sign an “Open Letter to Our Nations’ Lawmakers on Systemic Racism” from The Poor People’s Campaign. "The question before us is whether America can be what it has promised to be." We will not stop until we can all breathe.

Read “Most US Pastors Speak Out in Response to George Floyd’s Death Survey finds many still worry discussing race is “too political” at Christianity Today.

Read “Before protests, black Americans said religious sermons should address race relations” at Pew Research.

Read “A Brief History of People Using Romans 13 to Justify White Supremacy” at The Root (originally published 2018).

Read ‘In landmark case, Supreme Court rules LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination” at NBC News. “The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status”

Read “Supreme Court blocks Trump’s bid to end DACA, a win for undocumented ‘Dreamers’” at Washington Post.

Read “Number of Refugees World-Wide Has Doubled in Past Decade Nearly 80 million people were displaced from their homes at the end of 2019, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Colonialism’s Cages: When Indigenous People Were Placed In Human Zoos” at All That’s Interesting.

HAPPY JUNETEENTH!

  • Read “The meaning of Juneteenth and how we should commemorate it today” at MPR News.

  • Learn about Juneteenth at Teen Vogue.

  • Read “Trump claims he made Juneteenth "very famous" at Axios. “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous." The president claimed that "nobody had ever heard" of the June 19 celebration before he planned a rally in Tulsa on that day.”

  • Read “Juneteenth: A Truer Independence Day The official end of slavery in America more fully embraces the self-evident truth of all people as created equal” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Juneteenth – 7 Books for Kids!” at Englewood Review of Books.

  • Read “Amid Calls for a General Strike, Labor Will Shut Down 29 Ports on Juneteenth” at Truthout

Learn about Medgar Evers.

Learn about Ruby Bridges.

Learn about “The Trail Of Tears: Government-Approved Ethnic Cleansing That Removed 100,000 Native Americans From Their Ancestral Lands” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “Top Military Leaders Acknowledge Black and Hispanic Service Members Get Treated Unfairly in Its Justice System” at Newsweek.

Read “Top State Department official resigns in protest of Trump’s response to racial tensions in the country” at Washington Post.

Listen to “'Lean Into Discomfort' When Talking About Race” at WBUR.

Read “The Unmistakable Black Roots of 'Sesame Street' at Smithsonian.

Read “Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is 'based on a racial stereotype' at NBC News.

  • Read “Aunt Jemima's logo has changed 6 times, and its history is rooted in racial stereotypes and slavery — check out how the brand started and evolved over 130 years” at Business Insider.

Read “Is Genocide Happening In Nigeria As The World Turns A Blind Eye?” at Forbes.

Read “Beyond Berets: The Black Panthers as Health Activists” at US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.

Learn about the “Boogaloo movement” at CNN.

  • Read “The 29-Year-Old Bodybuilder Behind the Armed Effort to Reopen Texas A month ago Philip Archibald was stuck inside his Dallas home, unable to work. Now he commands a heavily armed network of anti-lockdown vigilantes, some with extremist leanings” at Texas Monthly.

  • Read “Members of armed civilian group arrested, suspected gunman identified after man is shot at Albuquerque protest” at Washington Post.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments):

  • Read “George Floyd's uncle calls on South Dakota police department in his hometown to remove Confederate flag from their logo” at Daily Mail.

  • Read “Trump's history of defending Confederate 'heritage' despite political risk” at ABC News. (EDITOR’S NOTE: You don't get to call yourself "The Party of Lincoln" while defending Confederate symbols.

  • Read “Taylor Swift Speaks Out Against Tennessee’s Confederate Monuments” at Stereogum.

  • Read “Tennessee just showed that white supremacy is alive and well; Honoring a former Confederate general and KKK grand wizard in 2019 is outrageous” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Is this the end for public monuments to the Confederacy?” at PBS News Hour. "While some argue the monuments honor Southern ancestors, Lecia Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center says most went up either early in the 20th century or during the civil rights era, as racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan flexed their muscle.”

  • Read "NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace on banning the Confederate flag and a new generation of fans” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Cities Are Removing Racist & Confederate Statues That Protesters Have Targeted” at Now This!

  • In modern-day Confederate news, Read: “Mitch McConnell: We paid for 'sin of slavery' by electing Obama” at USA Today.

  • Read “Statue of Josephus Daniels, publisher and white supremacist, removed from Raleigh square” at The News and Observer.

  • Read “Columbus To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue At City Hall” at WOSU.

  • Read “Letting Go Of The Lost Cause: Confederates Were Racist Traitors The Civil War ended 155 years ago. We need to finally correct the historical record. The Confederates were racist traitors and should not be celebrated” at Rantt Media.

  • Read “Kingston Decides to Swap One George Clinton for Another” at Hudson Valley River News.

This Week in Protest News:

  • Read “'Riots', 'mobs', 'chaos': the establishment always frames change as dangerous” at The Guardian.

  • Read “Tear Gas: An Investigation. What it is, how it is abused and why you should care” at Amnesty.org.

  • Read “What the Heck is Going On In Seattle?” at Medium.

  • Read “Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” at Seattle Times. (EDITOR’S NOTE: MAYBE, Just Maybe, Fox “News” isn’t news after all but propaganda?”

  • Read “Trump draws rebukes for suggesting 75-year-old protester pushed to the ground in Buffalo was part of a ‘set up’ at Washington Post.

  • Read “As protests continue, black women activists are leading again” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “The Small-Town Antifa Invasion That Never Came Hundreds of people in Klamath Falls, Oregon, rallied with guns and bulletproof vests in response to a Facebook rumor” at Slate.

  • Read “US law enforcement surveilled protests with drones, spy planes” at Al Jazeera.

    • Read “AOC Wants to Know Why the Hell a Predator Drone Was Spying on Protesters The military-grade Predator B drone was far outside the 100-mile operational zone of Customs and Border Protection” at Vice.

  • Read “Kneeling Protest, Once a Flashpoint, Now a Widespread Symbol of Solidarity Four years after Colin Kaepernick was shunned, demonstrators, police and lawmakers embrace the gesture” at Wall Street Journal.

  • Read “The George Floyd demonstrations turned into a movement when the protesters began to sing It was as if the spirituals of the Civil Rights waited, just below the surface, to surge forth once more” at Dallas News.

  • Read “Black Lives Matter is Winning, and They Don’t Need Advice from the Liberal Establishment” at Due Dissidence.

  • Read “Cornel West on US protests: The chickens have come home to roost Activist and scholar talks to Middle East Eye about the Black Lives Matter movement and the roots of neoliberalism that need to be dismantled” at Middle East Eye.

George Floyd:

  • Read “George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America” at Scientific American. “The weaponization of medical language emboldened white supremacy with the authority of the white coat. How will we stop it from happening again?”

Breonna Taylor:

Read “Sen. John Cornyn’s distorted interpretation of ‘systemic racism’ displayed what a lot of Americans don’t get about it. A witness at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing on policing reform offered a lesson on what it means” at Washington Post.

This Week With the Police:

  • Read “Unarmed professionals will now respond to non-criminal police calls in San Francisco to reduce 'police confrontations' at Yahoo.

  • Read “Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks has been terminated” at

  • Read “Police Have Long History of Responding to Black Movements by Playing the Victim” at Truthout.

  • Read “Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols. It has never been a neutral institution” at ACLU.

  • Read “'I can't breathe,' Oklahoma man tells police before dying. 'I don't care,' officer responds. Newly released video of the 2019 incident shows officers restraining Derrick Scott, 42, who is heard asking repeatedly for his medicine and saying he can’t breathe” at NBC News.

  • Read “Why Minneapolis Was the Breaking Point Black men and women are still dying across the country. The power that is American policing has conceded nothing” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “They Were the Authority and I Didn’t Argue With Authority” In an era before rape kits, Sue Royston decided to fight for justice even though the police doubted her, the prosecution discouraged her, and those around her dismissed her story” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “Seattle Council Bans Police Use of Crowd Control Weapons” at New York Times.'

  • Read “Lawsuit: Arizona's Use Of Private Prisons Violates The U.S. Constitution” at KJZZ.

  • Read “'Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over' - iPhone shortcut helps record police interactions An iPhone shortcut that allows users to automatically record their interactions with the police is gaining popularity” at ABC 7.

  • Read “Defund The Police? Columbus Police Account For More Than A Third Of City's Budget” WOSU.

This Week In Prison Abolition:

  • Read “What Is Prison Abolition? The movement that is trying to think beyond prisons as a tool to solve society’s problems” at The Nation.

  • Read “Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind” at New York Times.

  • Read “What Abolitionists Do” at Jacobin Magazine. “Prison abolitionists aren't naive dreamers. They're organizing for concrete reforms, animated by a radical critique of state violence.”

  • Read “The Challenge of Prison Abolition: A Conversation” at History Is A Weapon. A conversation between Angela Y. Davis and Dylan Rodriguez.

Read “Autopsy report says Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back, lists manner of death as homicide” at CNN.

  • Read “Ex-Atlanta Police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder” at CNN.

Read “A short history of black women and police violence” at The Conversation.

Read “The Sacrifice Black Children Shouldn’t Have to Make This country prizes Black children’s precocity — insists on it, even, much of the time” at The Cut.

Read “Law Professor On Misdemeanor Offenses And Racism In The Criminal System” at NPR.

Read “Loving Day: 53 years after the Supreme Court overturned laws banning interracial marriage Mildred and Richard Loving took their case to the highest court after they were arrested for living together as an interracial married couple in Virginia” at WFAA.

Read “‘A change is gonna come’: Reimagining public safety” by Jim Wallis for Religion News Service.

Read “In U.S., 87% Approve of Black-White Marriage, vs. 4% in 1958 Ninety-six percent of blacks, 84% of whites approve” at The Guardian.

Read “Starbucks to allow baristas to wear Black Lives Matter attire and accessories after social media backlash” at CNBC.

Read “Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration” at NPR.

Read “How some researchers are using data science to fight sex trafficking” at America Magazine.

Read “John Cleese Blasts the BBC After 'Fawlty Towers' Episode Gets Removed for Using the N-word "We were not supporting [these] views, we were making fun of them... If people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?" at Exclaim.

Read “'There Is No Neutral': 'Nice White People' Can Still Be Complicit In A Racist Society” at NPR.

Read “Making people aware of their implicit biases doesn’t usually change minds. But here’s what does work” at PBS News Hour.

Read the history of NYPD Challenge Coins at Research and Destroy.

  • Read “Stories about people who have the right to remain silent, but choose not to exercise that right—including police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who secretly recorded his supervisors telling officers to manipulate crime statistics and make illegal arrests” at This American Life.

Read “Federal Executions Set To Resume After Nearly 2-Decade Hiatus” at NPR.

Read “These companies are giving their employees time off for Juneteenth A growing list of companies have decided to make Juneteenth, which commemorates the ending of slavery in America, a paid company holiday” at 5 News Online.

Read/Listen to “A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America” at NPR.

Read “University of California divests from fossil fuels, puts $1 billion into clean energy” at Cronkite News.

Read “Study: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting” at Science Post.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read “#TheArizonaWay doesn’t include a plan to stop spiking COVID cases” at Arizona Mirror.

  • Read “CDC warns U.S. may reimplement strict coronavirus measures if cases go up ‘dramatically’” at CNBC.

  • Read “‘The direct result of racism’: Covid-19 lays bare how discrimination drives health disparities among Black people” at Stat News.

  • Read “Our masked future Wearing a mask all the time affects how we interact with each other. But how?” at Vox.

  • Read “After six months of coronavirus, how close are we to defeating it?” at The Guardian.

  • Read “Argentina pastor turns church into bar in protest at uneven coronavirus restrictions” at The Guardian.

  • Read “Florida fired its coronavirus data scientist. Now she’s publishing the statistics on her own” at Washington Post.

  • Read “FDA revokes authorization for hydroxychloroquine” at Market Watch.

  • Read “How Independent Music Venues Are Fighting for Their Existence” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Pence Tells Governors to Repeat Misleading Claim on Outbreaks” at Washington Post. In other words: “Pence Tells Governors to Lie Like He Does . . . “

  • Read “Fauci said US government held off promoting face masks because it knew shortages were so bad that even doctors couldn't get enough” at Business Insider.

  • Read “Partygoers have been packing Arizona bars. Now the state is a coronavirus hot spot” at Los Angeles Times.

  • Read “Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey: Arizonans Must Learn To Live With The Coronavirus” at KJZZ.

  • Read “Record spike in new coronavirus cases reported in six U.S. states as reopening accelerates” at Reuters.

  • Read “Judge Orders Trump Administration To Give Tribes Their COVID-19 Relief Funds The Treasury Department was planning to sit on $679 million in emergency aid that was due to go to tribal governments months ago” at Huff Post.

  • Read “'It may save your life': Facing virus surge, more U.S. states mandate masks” at Reuters.

Read “There’s No Going Back to ‘Normal’ Once we accept, and grieve, that our old way of life is gone, we can build a better future” at The Atlantic.

Read “When Donald Trump tried to stage a coup: Was June 1 the turning point? Last week our president tried to send the Army into America's streets. Aides pushed back, but it was a close call” at Salon.

Read “Bolton Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions at New York Times. “Mr. Bolton also adds a striking new allegation by saying that Mr. Trump overtly linked trade negotiations to his own political fortunes by asking President Xi Jinping of China to buy a lot of American agricultural products to help him win farm states in this year’s election. Mr. Trump, he writes, was ‘pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.’”

  • Read “Trump asked China’s Xi to help him win reelection, according to Bolton book” at Washington Post.

Read “Facebook Removes Trump Ads With Symbol Used By Nazis. Campaign Calls It An 'Emoji' at NPR.

Read “Twitter labels Trump video tweet as manipulated media, continuing its cra

Read “Twitter labels Trump video tweet as manipulated media, continuing its crackdown on misinformation The label marks the fourth time Twitter has added labels to the president’s tweets” at Washington Post.

Read “Democrats also gain from the border wall The militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border was always a bipartisan effort, with symbolism that’s useful to both parties” at High Country News.

Read “History says Trump's low approval rating is unlikely to move” at CNN.

Read “Biden running mate search zeroes in on group that includes at least four black women” at Washington Post.

Read “Poland Accidentally Invades Czech Republic In 'Minor Misunderstanding' at NPR.

Read “For Fans Of: Sonic Boom’s “All Things Being Equal” at Bandcamp.

Read “Understanding Blackness to understand Black art” at The Wire. “Does the diversity of your record collection reflect the diversity of your real social life or approach to the world?”

Read “Lady Antebellum Is Now ‘Lady A.’ But So Is a Blues Singer Who’s Used the Name for 20 Years “This is my life. They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time,” says the original Lady A, a 61-year-old black singer who’s released multiple records under the name” at Rolling Stone.

Read “David Crosby: ‘Trump Is Far More Dangerous Than Nixon’ “My democracy that I love so much is failing and being abused to death,” Crosby says” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Bob Dylan Has a Lot on His Mind” at DNYUZ.

ReadTrouser Press’ entire ’70s/’80s magazine run now available online for free” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “The Prescient Power of ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Maybe Alanis Morissette was angry, but mostly she was lucid” at Tidal.

Read “Lemmy Kilmister Biopic in the Works” at Pitchfork.

Read “2020 Americana Music Award Nominations Reflect Roots Music’s Rich Diversity” at No Depression.

Read “GET TO KNOW… SAMMY BRUE” at DIY Magazine.

Watch “David Bowie blast MTV for not playing enough Black artists in 1983” at Brooklyn Vegan. “It occurred to me, having watched MTV over the last few months, that’s it’s a solid enterprise, really. It’s got a lot going for it. I’m just floored by the fact that there are so few black artists featured on it. Why is that?"

Read “The Roots and Michelle Obama to Host Virtual Music Festival” at Pitchfork.

Read “Rose City Band: Summerlong review – a gorgeous record” at The Guardian.

Read “Bob Dylan Has Given Us One of His Most Timely Albums Ever With ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Michael Stipe, Chad Smith and other rock stars featured in trailer for 'Creem' magazine documentary” at ABC News Radio.

Read "Neal Casal Music Foundation Launches With Tribute Album to Late Guitarist Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and Billy Strings cover Casal’s songs on ‘Highway Butterfly’; a book of the musician’s photos is also on tap” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Live Nation Wants Artists to Take Pay Cuts and Cancelation Burdens for Shows in 2021” at Rolling Stone.

ReadInside Out makes the profound case that sadness is good” at AV Club.

ReadInside Out makes the profound case that sadness is good” at AV Club.

Read “Meet Hercules, One of America’s Early Celebrity Chefs Heralded for his food, the enslaved cook headed the first presidential kitchen” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Phoenix artists fighting racial injustice with public murals Around town, murals are starting to appear supporting a message of equality” at 12 News.

Read “Roll The Windows Down And Take A Drive Down Kayenta-Monument Valley Scenic Road In Arizona” at Only In Your State.

Read “There may be more than 36 intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way, scientists say” at CBS News.

Read “Surge Letter To Churches - June 2020” at Surge Network.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/12/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/12/20)

Read “Bonnie Pointer, Pointer Sisters Singer, Dies at 69” at Spin.

Read “When Christians won’t acknowledge racism, protest becomes church” at Religion News Service.

Read “An open letter to my fellow white Americans” at America Magazine.

Read “Why White Evangelicals Won’t Rise To This Moment” at Colorblind Christians. ““It is probably not possible for evangelical leaders to please at once the enthusiastic Trump supporter and the black lives matter protestor. If the past is prologue, white evangelical elites are likely to try to thread the needle anyway. Crucial to their calculations will be the knowledge that there are far more Trump supporters in their midst than black lives matter activists.”

Read “Unliked Likes: Pastor Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands, and Twitter's Wrath Some social media "likes" gets Church of the Highlands kicked out of some public schools they were renting, but such cancel culture is the wrong answer” at Christianity Today.

Read “A Person You Flee At Parties; Donald And The Devil” by David Bentley Hart at First Things.

Read the opinion piece “Ignore the optics. Trump’s executive order could jump-start the cause of global religious freedom” at America Magazine.

Read “The Christian Martyrdom Movement Ascends to the White House A former professor of Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s new press secretary, explores her enduring obsession with religious persecution and death” at New Republic.

Read “Is There a Religious Left? Why progressive activism rooted in faith is so often misconstrued” at The New Yorker.

Read “Tim Keller Asks for Prayers for Pancreatic Cancer The New York pastor and author announced his diagnosis Sunday and begins chemo next week” at Christianity Today.

Read “Justice Too Long Delayed It’s time for the church to make restitution for racial sin” at Christianity Today.

Read "A Soul Check for White Christians In the words of MLK, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal” at Christianity Today.

This week in the president’s Bible-Photo-Fiasco:

  • Read “What I’d like to say to President Trump about the Bible I’d tell him a secret I learned from Eugene Peterson” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Catholic Archbishop Criticizes Trump's Visit To St. John Paul II Shrine” at NPR.

  • Read/Watch “The crackdown before Trump’s photo op What video and other records show about the clearing of protesters outside the White House” at Washington Post.

  • Read “More than 1,250 former Justice Dept. workers call for internal watchdog to probe Barr role in clearing demonstrators from Lafayette Square” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Breaking News: The top U.S. military official, General Mark Milley, apologized for taking part in President Trump’s walk to a church photo op. “I should not have been there.” at New York Times.

Read “African American Alumni Call on Jerry Falwell Jr. to Step Down Thirty-five faith leaders who went to Liberty University released a letter criticizing the college president's rhetoric, including his recent blackface mask tweet” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Liberty’s Jerry Falwell Jr. apologizes for tweet; director of diversity resigns” at Washington Post.

Read “Raise your signs and voices. Then raise your church's race awareness” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Preaching Against Racism Is Not a Distraction from the Gospel The pulpit gives a record of our witness” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “White Pastors: Our Decision to Show Up Matters It takes humility to be an ally. Even if we make mistakes, we need to do it” at Christianity Today.

  • Consider “When protest becomes prayer” at America Magazine.

Browse “Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race” at Books For Littles.

Read “There Is a Stench’: Soiled Clothes and No Baths for Migrant Children at a Texas Center” at New York Times.

Read “Native Americans Want to be Included in Race Talks” at Voice Of America.

Read “Drake University grad gets Merriam-Webster Dictionary to update 'racism' definition” at Des Moines Register.

Read “An Empirical Analysis of Racial Diiferences in Police Use of Force” by Roland G. Fryer, Jr. at https://scholar.harvard.edu/.

Learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre (1921) at History.

  • Meet “The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921” at NPR’s Codeswitch.

Learn about the Rosewood Massacre (1923) at History.

Read “Hundreds of Thousands Sign Petitions Urging the U.S. Government to Declare KKK a Terrorist Group” at Newsweek.

Read “The Familial Language of Black Grief Black people feel the pain and loss of black life as if it were our very own blood that had been brutalized—because it easily could have been” by Jemar Tisby for The Atlantic.

Read “Ohio State Sen. Steve Huffman, a Republican, has been fired from his position as an emergency room doctor after using racist language to question whether people of color are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus because of poor hygiene” at Cleveland.com.

Read “The White House is preparing a speech on race relations written by Stephen Miller, who crafted the Trump Administration’s immigration plan along the southern border with Mexico” at American Urban Radio Networks.

In the “You mean this didn’t exist before” category, read: “Band-Aid launches bandages for different skin tones.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments):

  • Read “U.S. Marine Corps Orders Confederate Flag Ban Including on Bumper Stickers, Mugs And T-Shirts” at Newsweek.

    Read/watch Tennessee "lawmakers vote down removal of Nathan Bedford Forrest bust” at WSMV.

  • Read “Protests Are Bringing Down Confederate Monuments Around The South” at NPR.

  • Read “NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace wants Confederate flags banned from races” at Fox 59.

  • Read “NASCAR bans Confederate flags from all racetracks” at ESPN.

  • Ever wonder “Is There a Racist Monument In Your Town? Check This Map to Find Out The Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked Confederate monuments for years, but the map has taken on a new utility now” at Vice.

  • Read “What Are We to Do With Cinematic Monuments to the Confederacy?” at Vulture.

  • Read “Protesters Topple Jefferson Davis Statue In Richmond, Va.” at NPR.

  • Read “J. D. Greear Urges SBC to Retire Historic Gavel from Slaveholding Preacher” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “'Homage To Hate': Pelosi Calls For Confederate Statues Removed From U.S. Capitol” at NPR.

  • Read “Black Lives Matter Protesters Topple Slave Trader Statue and Dump It in Harbour The much-hated statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston now lies at the bottom of Bristol Harbour” at Vice.

  • Read “Congress Heads Toward Clash With Trump Over Removal Of Confederate Symbols” at NPR.

  • Read “Cuomo declines to call for removal of Christopher Columbus statue” at The Hill.

  • Read “Beheaded Christopher Columbus Statue In Boston Will Be Removed From North End Park” at Boston CBS.

  • Read “Tennessee Republicans Rally To Preserve Statue And Holiday For KKK Founder” at Forbes.

This Week in Protest News:

  • Read “Why these protests are different There have been uprisings against police brutality and racism before, but this is the country at its exasperation point” at Vox.

  • Read “Police abolitionists find fuel in the protests As more people lose faith in the state, organizers offer alternatives” at Chicago Reader.

  • Read “DC Mayor has “Black Lives Matters” painted in massive letters on street leading to The White House” at Brooklyn Vegan.

  • Read “Kanye West joins Chicago protests after donating $2M to families of Floyd, Taylor & Arbery” at Brooklyn Vegan.

  • Read “Phoenix Police Chief Marches With Protesters, Faces Criticism” at KJZZ.

  • Read “Show Taper/Defense Attorney Represents George Floyd Protesters Pro Bono Dan Lynch, founder of NYCTaper, has been offering pro bono services to arrested demonstrators” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “Iowa City protest leader jailed after unlawful assembly case” at Associated Press.

  • Read “Officers slashed tires on vehicles parked amid Minneapolis protests, unrest” at Star Tribune.

  • Read “Mitt Romney Joins Evangelical Racial Justice March in DC” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “The New White House Fence Is Getting Covered In Protest Art” at DCist.

  • Read "Amherst man pushed by police responds after Trump tweet: 'Black Lives Matter' at Democrat and Chronicle.

  • Read “Ohio protester dies two days after exposure to tear gas, pepper spray”

  • Read “Understanding the LRAD, the “Sound Cannon” Police Are Using at Protests, and How to Protect Yourself From It” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “How The Antifa Fantasy Spread In Small Towns Across The U.S. Rumors of roving bands of Antifa have followed small protests all over the United States. Why are people so ready to believe them?” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Rev. Al Sharpton criticizes Trump's response to peaceful protesters” at MSNBC.

  • Read “White Signs at Black Protests The jovial, jokey messaging I have witnessed at New York protests illustrates my profound discomfort with how I feel white people are approaching this critical moment” at Vanity Fair.

  • Read “All Lives Matter protesters re-enacted George Floyd's death as a Black Lives Matter march went by” at CNN.* *(Editor’s Note from Holiday at the Sea: This has nothing to do with asserting that "All Lives Matter" and everything to do with White Supremacy.)

  • Read “The 'Concerned Citizen Who Happens To Be Armed' Is Showing Up At Protests” at NPR.

  • Read “Amazon pauses police use of its facial recognition tech for a year” at Reuters.

    Read “Microsoft says it won’t sell facial recognition software to police until there’s a national law ‘grounded in human rights’ at CNBC.

George Floyd:

  • Read “Trump says he hopes George Floyd ‘looking down’ and seeing today’s jobs numbers as ‘a great day for him’ at The Independent.

  • Read “George Floyd protests: Trump says ‘MAGA loves the black people’ after being accused of stoking racial violence” at The Independent.

  • Read “Texas GOP chairwoman faces calls to resign after she pushed a conspiracy theory that George Floyd's death was staged to hurt Trump” at Daily Mail.

  • Read “Minneapolis Will Ban Chokeholds After The Killing Of George Floyd” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen joins Black Lives Matter march with the family of George Floyd” at Charity Institute.

  • Read “'Stop the pain': George Floyd's brother testifies on policing reform Philonise Floyd appeared before the House Judiciary Committee' at ABC News.

Breonna Taylor:

  • Read “FBI opens an investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor” at ABC News.

  • Read “Louisville police release the Breonna Taylor incident report. It's virtually blank” Courier-Journal.

  • Read “Rand Paul introduces Justice for Breonna Taylor Act to ban "no-knock" warrants” at Axios.

Read “Racial Injustice has Benefited Me - A Confession” by Phil Vischer (Veggie Tales).

Read “A Look At Housing Inequality And Racism In The U.S.” at Forbes.

Read “Dear Companies: Your BLM Posts Are Cute But We Want To See Policy Change” at Forbes.

Read “Starbucks Won't Let Employees Wear Gear That Supports Black Lives Matter Because It Is Political Or Could Incite Violence” at Buzzfeed News.

Read “The Head Of CrossFit Has Stepped Down After Telling Staff On A Zoom Call, “We're Not Mourning For George Floyd” In a recording obtained by BuzzFeed News, Greg Glassman can also be heard sharing wild conspiracy theories about Floyd and the coronavirus” at Buzzfeed News.

Read “NFL players spoke, and Roger Goodell responded. Now what? Here's what we know” at ESPN.

Read “Rex Chapman: If fewer opportunities come from me speaking out about racism, ‘so be it’” at MSNBC. "I've been in cars with black friends on my way to NBA games before, high school games," says fmr. NBA player Rex Chapman. "Been pulled over, guns are drawn. It's a way different experience than being pulled over in a car full of white people."

Read “The Embarrassment of Democrats Wearing Kente-Cloth Stoles” at The New Yorker.

  • Read “A Thoughtful Rumination on Lawmakers' Performative Wearing of Kente Stoles to Unveil the Justice in Policing Act of 2020” at Very Smart Brothas.

Read “For Black Americans, Using Social Media Means Risking PTSD” at Slate.

Read “School’s Food Drive to Help Those Affected By Looting in Minneapolis Turns Into Tsunami of Grocery Bags Deliveries” at Good News Network.

Read “White Supremacists Take on Trappings of Religion” at Christianity Today (originally published in 1986).

Read “Reading James Baldwin can help heal the wounds of racial division” at America Magazine.

Read “5 Questions About Reparations: Answered” at Ben and Jerrys'.

Read “Nike to recognize Juneteenth as an annual paid holiday” at Yahoo.

Read “Air Force general confirmed as first black military service chief in American history” at 5 News Online.

Read “Ella Jones To Become The First Black Female Mayor Of Ferguson” at Elle.

Read “Candace ‘Black Karen’ Owens’ GoFundMe Account Suspended Over George Floyd Comments” at The Root.

Read “Michael Jordan's brand donates $100 million to organizations fighting racism against black people" at CNBC.

Read “Walmart CEO in email condemns racial violence and pledges $100 million to address systematic racism” at Business Insider.

This Week With the Police:

  • Read “American police shoot, kill and imprison more people than other developed countries. Here's the data” at CNN.

    • Read “Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people” at Washington Post.

    • Read “Barr Says There Is No Systemic Racism in Policing The attorney general’s remarks, which mirrored those of other administration officials, came as the president was scheduled to meet with law enforcement officials at the White House” at New York Times.

    • Read “San Francisco may stop hiring cops with records of misconduct” at PBS News Hour. (Emphasis mine).

    • Read “Florida police organization offers to hire 'Buffalo 57,' 'Atlanta 6' cops who were fired, resigned over police misconduct” at ABC7 Chicago.

    • Read “Brevard sheriff ‘embarrassed,’ suspends lieutenant who tried to recruit cops from departments accused of brutality” at Orlando Sentinel.

    • Read “Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley propose creating a national database of cops with a record of misconduct” at Business Insider.

    • Read “Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop” at Medium. “I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety.”

    • Read “Minneapolis Police Chief Takes on Union, Promises Reform” at New York Times.

  • Read/Watch “Minneapolis City Council members intend to defund and dismantle the city's police department” at CNN.

    • Read “Defund the police? Here’s what that really means” at Washington Post.

    • Read “Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop” at Medium.

    • Read as Joe Biden argues for more ineffective incrementalism: “Biden: We must urgently root out systemic racism, from policing to housing to opportunity Federal dollars should not go to departments that violate people’s rights or turn to violence as a first resort, but I don't support defunding police” at USA Today.

    • Consider this Tweet from Johnathan Wilson-Hartgrove: “If you’re uncomfortable w/ calls to “defund the police,” consider that calls for smaller government over the past 40 yrs have meant defunding education, public health & anti-poverty programs.”

  • Read “New York passes bill to unveil police disciplinary records” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Democrats Unveil Police Reform Legislation Amid Protests Nationwide” at NPR.

  • Read “Police unions dig in as calls for reform grow” at CNN.

  • Read “Jami Resch steps down as Portland police chief, asks African American lieutenant to fill the job” at Oregon Live.

  • Read “All 57 members of Buffalo's Emergency Response Team RESIGN in 'disgust' over the suspension and criminal probe of two cops for shoving a peace activist, 75, to the floor during protests” at Daily Mail.

  • Read "Former Chief Of Reformed Camden, N.J., Force: Police Need 'Consent Of The People' at NPR.

  • Read “This city disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here's what happened next” at CNN.

  • Read “‘Cops’ Canceled By Paramount Network, ‘Live PD’ Return Evaluated By A&E” at Deadline.

  • Read “Oakland school board and superintendent back elimination of district police” at San Francisco Chronicle.

Read “America is changing, and so is the media The media has gone through painful periods of change before. But this time is different” at Vox.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read “U.S. Hits 2 Million Coronavirus Cases As Many States See A Surge Of Patients” at NPR.

  • Browse “Average Daily New Cases per 100,000 people.”

  • Read “Arizona's Largest Hospital System Nearing ICU Bed Capacity” at KJZZ.

  • Read “Survey: Many Arizonans Still Reluctant To Resume Normal Activity After Coronavirus” at KJZZ.

  • Read “Former Arizona health director: State could need new stay-at-home order” at KTAR.

  • Read “Covid-free New Zealand: There are now ZERO active Covid-19 cases in the country” at The Spin Off.

  • Read “14 states and Puerto Rico hit highest seven-day average of new coronavirus infections” at Washington Post.

  • Read as Slate wonders “How Much Should You Be Worried About a COVID-19 Spike From the Protests?”

  • Read “Alarm grows as Arizona continues with days of high case increases, deaths and hospitalizations: 28,296 cases, 1,070 known deaths” at AZ Central.

  • Read “NYT Poll: Most Epidemiologists Wouldn’t Attend A Concert For A Year Or More” at Stereogum.

  • Read “Lollapalooza Canceled Due to COVID-19 The Chicago festival will instead offer a weekend-long livestream” at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Maricopa County urges masks and individual precautions to slow the increasing spread of COVID-19” at AZ Central.

  • Read “U.S. Hits 2 Million Coronavirus Cases As Many States See A Surge Of Patients” at NPR.

  • Read “Harvard health expert anticipates 200,000 US coronavirus deaths by September” at The Hill.

Read “Colin Powell announces he'll vote for Biden, saying Trump "lies all the time" at CBS News.

Read “George W. Bush and Mitt Romney won't support Trump in 2020, while some GOP officials consider voting for Biden” at Yahoo.

Read “Trump to restart MAGA rallies this month despite coronavirus The president and his team believe the massive protests in recent weeks will make it harder for critics to single him out” at Politico.

Read “That Trump Tweet? Republicans Prefer Not to See It.” at Yahoo.

Read “Market Meltdown: Dow Dives 1,800 Points On Worries Of 2nd Coronavirus Wave” at NPR.

Read “Is This the Last Stand of the ‘Law and Order’ Republicans? A punitive brand of conservatism embraced by Trump and some GOP hardliners is rapidly falling out of step with public opinion” at Politico.

Read “Justice in Policing Act: What’s included in Democrats’ police reform bill?” at MSNBC.

Read “Sen. Susan Collins Loses Endorsement Of Major Gun Control Group Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund supported the Maine Republican in 2014. This year, they’ve thrown their support behind Democrat Sara Gideon” at Huff Post.

Read “Don Jr. cost taxpayers at least $75,000 with hunting trip to Mongolia to shoot the world's largest sheep” at Daily Mail.

Read “The Case of Reality Winner” at Texas Orator.

Read “Georgia Betrays Its Voters Again” at The New Yorker.

Read “FCC failed to monitor Chinese telecoms for almost 20 years: Senate report” at Ars Technica.

Read “A Closer Look: The CARES Act Sent You a $1,200 Check but Gave Millionaires and Billionaires Far More” at Pro Publica.”

Read “Outsider Tapped in Flynn Case Calls Justice Dept. Reversal a ‘Gross Abuse’ of Power A former federal judge said that the attorney general gave special treatment to a presidential ally, undermining public confidence in the rule of law” at New York Times.

Read “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Denies Impropriety in Firing State Department Watchdog” at Time.

Read “Zoom closed account of U.S.-based Chinese activist “to comply with local law” at Axios.

Read “Fed Officials Project No Rate Increases Through 2022 Central bank says it will maintain current pace of asset purchases to sustain growth” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Trump administration proposes toughest asylum rules yet” at Axios. Under new asylum rules, the U.S. will now reject asylum seekers looking for protection from: - terrorists - gangs - 'rouge' government officials It's now effectively near-impossible to receive asylum in the U.S.

Read “As Trump Administration Restricts Legal Immigration, It’s Expanding A Class of Vulnerable Guest Workers. Farmworker and labor advocates say these workers are among the most exploited in the country” at The Appeal.

Read “Tom Morello, Serj Tankian Address Disillusioned Fans Who’ve Just Learned Their Music Is Political at Stereogum. And read my Tweet: “I just don't understand all these people who somehow thought a band called Rage Against The Machine would support their "Conservative" worldview. I would ask: "Who are these people," but unfortunately, they all drive big trucks with blue-stripe license plates in my neighborhood.”

Read “Sex Pistols' John Lydon Reveals He's Now a Full-Time Carer for His Wife with Alzheimer's "For me, the real person is still there. That person I love is still there every minute of every day, and that is my life" at Exclaim!

Read “90% of Independent Music Venues Could Close Due to COVID-19 The National Independent Venue Association is asking Congress for longterm financial assistance” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Dalai Lama to Release Album of Teachings and Mantras, Shares First Song “Compassion”: Listen” at Pitchfork.

Browse “This Is How I Feel: A Playlist By Young Black Listeners We asked: Is there one song helping you address your feelings right now?” at NPR.

Read “Third Man Records Unearth Original Stooges Lineup’s Final Concert for Live LP Live at Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970, featuring a full Fun House performance, marks bassist Dave Alexander’s last gig with band” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Watch Flaming Lips Perform “Race for the Prize” in Bubbles on Colbert The entire band and a live audience are all in the same room, and they’re all in individual bubbles” at Pitchfork.

Read “‘We Are Regretful And Embarrassed’: Lady Antebellum Changes Its Name To Lady A” at Pittsburgh CBS.

Read “The Power and Necessity of African American Literature” at Christ and Pop Culture.

Read “The Underground Kitchen That Funded the Civil Rights Movement Georgia Gilmore’s cooking fueled the Montgomery bus boycott” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Planned Obsolescence: The Products You Buy are Designed to Break” at ACH News.

Read “That Fresh Sea Breeze You Breathe May Be Laced With Microplastic Researchers have discovered that the ocean is burping tiny plastic particles, which then blow onto land—and potentially into your lungs” at Wired.

Read “Coca-Cola and Carlsberg Will Switch to Plant-Based Bottles That Break Down Within a Year” at My Modern Met.

Read “Arizona 'Karen' is slapped in face by woman after screaming at her to 'go back to your own country' in racist rant at gas station” at The Daily Mail.

Read “Live Music Has Returned to Some Metro Phoenix Bars – Here’s What We Know” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Tempe Mural Memorializes Local Musicians Lost — From Chester Bennington to Doug Hopkins” at Phoenix New Times.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/05/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/07/20)





Read “Amid pandemic, the Wichita Kenyan community unites virtually through food and family” at Religion News Service.

Read “'Cannabis burned during worship' by ancient Israelites - study” at BBC.

Read “‘How long, O Lord?’ Psalm 13 is the cry of black Americans” at America Magazine.

Read “Dear Evangelicals, You Must Know What You’ve Done To be Healed” by Kyle J. Howard.

Read “Southern Baptists see historic drop in membership” at Washington Post.

Read “Bishop at DC church outraged by Trump visit: 'I just can't believe what my eyes have seen' at CNN.

  • Read “Peaceful Protesters Were Gassed Outside The White House So Trump Could Get A Photo Op At A Church” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Ahead of Trump Bible photo op, police forcibly expel priest from St. John’s church near White House” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “The Bible Is Not a Prop. Its Teachings, Though—about the Gospel and Justice—Are What We Need Right Now A Bible in a photo opp was not the Bible we needed” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd” at Washington Post.

  • Read “The president is dragging the church into a culture war. We shouldn’t let him” at America Magazine.

  • Read “An 'ANTIFA' Twitter account that called for looting 'white hoods' was actually run by white nationalist group Identity Evropa” at Business Insider.

  • Read “American Bible Society leader: Don’t use the Bible as a political ‘prop’” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Amid protests, US Faith leaders engage racism and politics” at AP News.

  • Read “Trump Favorability Slips Among White Catholic and Non-College Americans During National Unrest” at PRRI.

Read “Liberty University’s Director of Diversity Retention Has Resigned” at The Way of Improvement.

  • Read “Black Liberty U. alums rebuke Falwell after blackface tweet” at AP News.

Browse “Antiracism Books for Christians – A Reading Guide” at Englewood Review of Books.

Browse “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice” at Medium.

Unrest erupts worldwide in response to systemic racism in the U.S. manifesting in police brutality:

  • Read “Pentagon puts military police on alert to go to Minneapolis” at Associated Press.

  • Read “The History Behind 'When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts' at NPR.

  • Read “The Revolution Will Not Be Videoed What Paul and Silas might have said about George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and and and …” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Why Do They Riot? Rioting & The Overflow of Racial Trauma” by Jemar Tisby.

  • Read “JAY-Z Called Minnesota Governor About Justice for George Floyd, Issues Statement” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Killer Mike Delivers Emotional Speech to Atlanta Protesters at Mayor’s Press Conference” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “In Some Cities, Police Officers Joined Protesters Marching Against Brutality” at Forbes.

  • Read “Cities on Edge as Fires Burn Near White House” at New York Times.

  • Read “Music Industry to Observe ‘Blackout Tuesday’ in Solidarity with Nationwide Protests” at Relix.

  • Read “A Reporter’s Cry on Live TV: ‘I’m Getting Shot! I’m Getting Shot!’” at New York Times.

  • Read “Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge” at Los Angeles Times.

  • Read “As cities burned, Trump stayed silent — other than tweeting fuel on the fire” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Protest, Uprisings, and Race War” at Counter Punch.

  • Read “Martin Luther King Jr.’s scorn for ‘white moderates’ in his Birmingham jail letter” at Washington Post.

  • Read “The terror of wearing both a press badge and black skin’: Black journalists are carrying unique burdens” at Washington Post.

  • Read “What Does “Blackout Tuesday” Actually Mean for the Music Industry?” at Pitchfork.

    • Read “What Major Music Companies Actually Did on “Blackout Tuesday” at Pitchfork.

  • Read/Watch “Thousands protest in downtown Phoenix for 4th straight night, people being detained” at AZ Family.

  • Read “When Rioting Is the Answer” at Time.

  • Read “The additional violence of George Floyd’s autopsy report” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Minneapolis police union president releases letter criticizing city leaders following civil unrest” at KSTP.

  • Read “The DEA Has Just Been Authorized to Conduct Surveillance on Protesters” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Trump calls governors ‘weak,’ urges them to use force against unruly protests” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Colin Kaepernick sets up legal defence fund for George Floyd demonstrators” at The Independent.

  • Read “Minnesota Files Discrimination Complaint Against Minneapolis Police Department” at NPR.

  • Read “How to Safely and Ethically Film Police Misconduct” at Teen Vogue.

  • Read/Watch “Massive protests defy local curfews, Trump threats” at MSNBC.

  • Read “All four former officers involved in George Floyd's killing now face charges” at CNN.

  • Read “Social media cracks down on sick challenge mocking George Floyd’s death” at New York Post.

  • Read “If You Are White And Anti-Racist, This Non-Optical Allyship Guide Is Required Reading” at Vogue.

  • Read "A Soul Check for White Christians In the words of MLK, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Cast, Showrunner Donate $100,000 to National Bail Fund Network” at Variety.

  • Read “They Wanted A War, They Got One” Inside Trump’s Militarized Occupation of Washington D.C.”

  • Read “Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus How can we help students understand George Floyd’s death in the context of institutionalized racism?” at Daily JSTOR.

  • Read “Final autopsy report reveals George Floyd had CORONAVIRUS but died from 'cardiopulmonary arrest' after Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes” at Daily Mail.

  • Read "Jimmy Carter on George Floyd protests: 'Silence can be as deadly as violence' at CNN.

  • Read “New Yorkers Said ‘F**k The Police,’ So The Police Rioted A historic uprising against police brutality in the city has seen the arrest of nearly 2,000 people, including me” at Huff Post.

  • Browse “Resources in the Fight Against Police Brutality and Systemic Racism” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “3 more Minneapolis officers charged in George Floyd death, Derek Chauvin charges elevated” at NBC News.

  • Read “The Problem With Research on Racial Bias and Police Shootings” at City Lab.

  • Browse “Antiracism Books for Christians – A Reading Guide” at Englewood Review of Books.

  • Read “1968-2020: A Tale Of Two Uprisings” at NPR.

  • Read “Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On — Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surfaces, and can cause long-term lung damage” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “A Dubious Legal Doctrine Protects Cities From Lawsuits Over Police Brutality” at Slate.

  • Read “Floyd Protesters Met With Armed Bystanders During Indiana March” at Time.

  • Read “Law Enforcement Seizes Masks Meant To Protect Anti-Racist Protesters From COVID-19” at Huff Post.

Protests against police violence . . . produce more police violence?

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 “Standing Rock Tribe Wins in Court After Years of Perseverance” at Earth Justice.

Read “Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue” at AP News.

  • Read “Robert E Lee statue: Virginia governor announces removal of monument” at BBC.

Read “K-Pop Fans Have Hijacked #WhiteLivesMatter on Twitter to Teach Racists a Lesson” at News 18.

Read “Study: White people react to evidence of white privilege by claiming greater personal hardships” at Raw Story (from 2015).

Read “Minneapolis Police Union President: “I’ve Been Involved In Three Shootings Myself, And Not A One Of Them Has Bothered Me” at The Intercept.

Read “White New York socialite calls police on black woman for sitting on a bench” at Indy 100.

Read “Racism, Police Violence, and the Climate Are Not Separate Issues” at New Yorker.

Read “Ahmaud Arbery was boxed in by 2 trucks as he tried to escape, suspect used racial slur as he stood over body, evidence revealed in court shows” at Chicago Tribune.

Read “No, I'm not okay By Neal Lester, PhD.” at Ahwatukee Foothills News.

Read “Portland Public Schools will discontinue regular presence of school resource officers” at KATU.

Read “Breonna Taylor lived and died in a part of the U.S. where rights do not matter” at America Magazine.

Read “Atlanta-Based Organization Advocates For Rest As A Form Of Social Justice” at NPR.

Read “Putin decides to announce federal emergency due to fuel spill in Norilsk at RBC.

Read “About Face Death and surrender to power in the clothing of men” at Popula.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

  • Read “Social Distancing Is Not Enough We will need a comprehensive strategy to reduce the sort of interactions that can lead to more infections” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “Praying in a church is more important than buying flatpack furniture” at The Telegraph.

  • Read “A pastor’s pandemic diary” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Hydroxychloroquine, a drug promoted by Trump, failed to prevent healthy people from getting covid-19 in trial” at Washington Post.

  • The U.S. death toll passes 110,000.

Read “What comes after the ‘Trumpocalypse’? America has a chance to be reborn” at The Star.

  • Read “Donald Trump Appears to Have Committed Felony Voter Fraud” at Slate.

  • Read “Trump, Lacking Clear Authority, Says U.S. Will Declare Antifa a Terrorist Group” at New York Times.

  • Read “'I wish you the best': US military adviser resigns after Trump's controversial photo op at church” at Business Insider.

  • Read “James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “History Will Judge the Complicit Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?” at The Atlantic.

Read “Iowa Rep. Steve King defeated in GOP primary” at Axios.

Read “Colorado Democrats Announce a New Bill To Hold Law Enforcement More Accountable As mass demonstrations against police brutality continue throughout America, a group of Centennial State lawmakers has put forth a set of legislative solutions” at 5280.

Read “Carole Baskin wins control of Tiger King star Joe Exotic's former zoo” at Yahoo.

Read “Formation of The Bob Weir Band-Fall 1977 (Enter Brent)” at Lost Live Dead.

Read “Music Industry to Observe ‘Blackout Tuesday’ in Solidarity with Nationwide Protests” at Relix.

Hear “Bob Mould Rage Against the President and Evangelicals on ‘American Crisis’ Track will appear on artist’s upcoming Blue Hearts LP, due out this fall” at Rolling Stone.

Read “This Is How Much More Money Artists Earn From Bandcamp Compared to Streaming Services” at Pitchfork.

Read “The Apollo Theater Schedules Free ‘Let’s Stay In Together’ Benefit with Dionne Warwick, Gary Clark Jr., Warren Haynes and More” at Relix.

Read “Sturgill Simpson Announces Livestream Show At Empty Ryman Auditorium” at Jambands.

Read “The Osbick Bird: Edward Gorey’s Tender and Surprising Vintage Illustrated Allegory About the Meaning of True Love” at Brain Pickings.

Read “The Court Case That Killed the ‘Ladies Menu’ Upscale restaurants once listed prices only for men” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “How ‘Shoebox Lunches’ Made Black Travel Possible During Jim Crow Humble shoeboxes allowed African-Americans to dine with dignity” at Atlas Obscura.

Browse “The extraordinary Polaroid diary of German filmmaker Wim Wenders” at Far Out Magazine.

Support FilmBar Online.

Read “10 Black-Owned Businesses To Support In Downtown Phoenix” at DTPHX.

Read “First Amendment Lawsuit Filed Over Terrorism Lesson At Scottsdale Community College” at Fronteras Desk.

The Weekly Town Crier (05/15/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (05/15/20).





Read “Died: Darrin Patrick, Who Used His Fall and Restoration to Help Struggling Pastors” at Christianity Today.

Read “Betty Wright, Iconic R&B Singer, Dead at 66” at Pitchfork.

Read “Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87” at Rolling Stone.

Read “R.I.P. Andre Harrell, Hip-Hop Mogul and Founder of Uptown Records Dies at 57” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Jerry Stiller, Comedian With Enduring Appeal, Is Dead at 92” at New York Times.

Read “'Double Rainbow Guy' Paul Vasquez has died” at CNN.

Read “Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy duo dies of coronavirus” at CNN.

Read “Largest Christian Radio Company Faces Financial Crisis Due to Coronavirus Downturn Salem Media makes cuts as more churches and ministries pull spending during the pandemic” at Christianity Today.

Read “Germany Just Banned Conversion Therapy for Minors” at New Now Next.

Read “Nearly 2000 former DOJ officials call for AG Barr to resign over Flynn case” at ABC News.

Read “White Man Who Wore KKK Hood to Store Won't Face Charges” at The Root.

Read “Ahmaud Arbery died for the indefensible principle of white control” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Ahmaud Arbery and the Trauma of Being a Black Runner” at Christianity Today.

Read/Watch“High school senior, mother say large group of armed people, including off-duty deputy, terrorized them in their home” at WCET.

Read “Trump Believes Giving Black Voters Access to Voting Is Stealing the Election” at The Root.

Read “Breonna Taylor’s Life Mattered The young EMT didn’t need to be a hero. She just needed to be alive” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Senate Votes to Allow FBI to Monitor Browsing History Without a Warrant Federal agencies no longer need probable cause to access your online browsing data” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The many failures revealed by the Afghanistan Papers US officials have been lying about the war since it started. Why don’t we care?” at Christianity Today.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read “Trump says doing too much coronavirus testing makes the US 'look bad' as he pushes for the country to reopen” at Business Insider.

  • Read “White House Rejects C.D.C.’s Coronavirus Reopening Plan” at New York Times.

  • Read “Costco’s Mask Requirement Reminds Businesses The Customer Is Not Always Right” at Forbes.

  • Read “Americans widely oppose reopening most businesses, despite easing of restrictions in some states, Post-U. Md. poll finds” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Perils of Hollywood’s Reckless Social Media Posts” at Hollywood Reporter.

  • Read/watch “Trump administration cuts funding for coronavirus researcher, jeopardizing possible COVID-19 cure” at CBS News.

  • Read “CEOs, Farm Bureau President Told To Remove Face Masks Before Meeting With Mike Pence” at Huff Post.

  • Read “The U.S. is exporting Covid-19 to Latin America. We should instead be working with our neighbors” at America Magazine.

  • Read “Trump won't wear a mask in public because he's afraid he might look ridiculous and it will harm his reelection chances, report says” at Business Insider.

  • Read “Unreleased White House report shows coronavirus rates spiking in heartland communities” at NBC News.

  • Read "Dr. Anthony Fauci Said Reopening The Country Early Could Lead To Avoidable "Suffering And Death" at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Texas and other states that reopened early, former FDA chief says” at CNBC.

  • Read/Watch “Doctors Without Borders dispatches team to the Navajo Nation” at CBS News.

  • Read “Cancel The Rent’ at The New Yorker. “If our government can spend trillions of dollars to bail corporations out of a worsening economic situation, then there is no reason why that same gesture cannot be extended to poor and working-class families.“

  • Read “Bill Gates on how to fight future pandemics The coronavirus will hasten three big medical breakthroughs. That is just a start” at The Economist.

  • Read “COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast” at The Logos Academic Blog.

  • Read “Americans more worried about reopening too quickly than not opening quickly enough, survey says” at USA Today.

  • Read “Heavily Armed Protesters Gather Again At Michigan Capitol To Decry Stay-At-Home Order” at NPR.

  • Read “Thousands of Americans Have Become Socialists Since March The Democratic Socialists of America have an estimated 10,000 new members—growth that organizers attribute, in part, to the coronavirus pandemic” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “Trump Feared Testing Too Many People for Virus Would Spook Stock Markets, Says Report” at Daily Beast.

Read “Liberty University Dumps Its Philosophy Department” at The Way of Improvement.

Read “One For The History Books: 14.7% Unemployment, 20.5 Million Jobs Wiped Away” at NPR.

Read “Fight Over Vote-By-Mail Is ‘Spiritual Battle’ For ‘Control of the Free World,’ Says True the Vote Leader” at Right Wing Watch.

Read “Trump says Washington, DC, will never be a state — because of all the Democrats” at New York Post.

Read “Court Allows Emoluments Case Against Trump Over D.C. Hotel To Proceed” at NPR.

Read “After FBI Warrant, Sen. Richard Burr Steps Down As Intelligence Chairman” at News and Guts.

Read “QAnon Is More Important Than You Think: The Prophecies of Q. American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase” at The Atlantic.

Browse “Deaf People Show How To Swear In Sign Language, And It’s Shamefully Entertaining” at Design Your Trust.

Read “Live Nation Planning to Resume Concerts at “Full Scale” Beginning in 2021 In the short term, the concert promoter will experiment with fan-less or reduced-capacity shows” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Supreme Launches Daniel Johnston Clothing Line” at Pitchfork.

Read “Brian May taken to hospital after tearing buttock muscles while gardening” at The Guardian.

Read “Nirvana, Siouxsie and the Banshees, David Bowie and Hundreds More Peel Sessions Hit YouTube” at Flood.

Read “Coachella Radius Clause Lawsuit Dismissal Reversed Oregon-based promoter Soul'd Out Productions can now re-file their anti-trust suit in U.S. District Court” at Pitchfork.

Read “Jason Isbell Discusses New Album ‘Reunions’ On ‘CBS This Morning’” at JamBase.

Read “Laurie Anderson and Michael Stipe on Music, Art and New Chapters “You’ve got to fall on your face to sit at the table,” says the erstwhile R.E.M. frontman” at New York Times.

Read “'I found the roots of electronic music in a cupboard!': the tale of India's lost techno pioneers” at The Guardian.

Read “My Cymbals Were Melting”: Bill Kreutzmann Joins Carrie Fisher, Ad-Rock and Nick Offerman in ‘Have A Good Trip’ Which Debuts Today” at Relix.

Read “Listen to Iggy Pop Read a Bedtime Story About His Dog” at Pitchfork.

See “Salvador Dalí’s Illustrations for The Bible (1963)” at Open Culture.

Read “Original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Games Getting Re-Released for PS4, XBOX One, and PC” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “An ASU researcher is working on a virus that's harmless to humans, but kills cancer cells” at AZ Central.

Read “Stanford scientists created a sound so loud it instantly boils water” at CNet.

See “Musician who loves danger invents a flame-throwing trombone” at Classic FM.

Read “Arizona Schools Plan For The Possibility Buildings May Not Open This Fall” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (04/24/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (04/24/20).



Read “Henry Grimes, Bassist of Avant-Garde Pedigree and a Storied Return, Dies of COVID-19 at 84” at WBGO.

Read “Tex Earnhardt, colorful founder of car dealership empire, dies at 89” at AZ Central.

Read the opinion piece “Mohler's turn to Trump is the crowning flip-flop of his career” at Religion News Service.

Read “Grieving Is Leading I’d done everything I could think of to keep the church running. But I’d forgotten to mourn” at Christianity Today.

Read the opinion piece: “Evangelicals Have Abandoned the Character Test. The Competence Test is Next” by David French at The Dispatch.

Read “Good News? Are T4G/TGC Leaders Starting To Change Their Gospel? Is T4G shifting on the gospel? Looks like it” at Jesus Creed.

Read “Now Is the Time to Think About Nuclear Weapons Pope Francis condemns deterrence and the New START Treaty is set to expire. Where should Protestants stand?” at Christianity Today.

Read “Episode Eight (Daniel Smith of Danielson, Adam Again, Dylan’s Foul Murder, Salute to Prine and Withers)” at True Tunes.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read “Member of church that bused in members to defy social distancing order dies of COVID-19” at LGBTQ Nation.

  • Read “Trump claims it's his call on when to 'reopen' the country. He's wrong. Only the states can give shutdown orders, and only the states can lift them, legal scholars say. Many governors agree” at NBC News.

  • Read the opinion piece: “COVID-19 is accelerating the Republican Party’s descent into authoritarianism” at Salon.

  • Read the opinion piece “Coronavirus didn't bring the economy down — 40 years of greed and corporate malfeasance did” at Business Insider.

  • Read “The Betsy DeVos connection to the protests against Covid-19 precautions in Michigan” at Eclectablog.

  • Read “Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after lockdown protests” at New York Post.

  • Read the opinion piece: “These People Aren’t Freedom Fighters—They’re Virus-Spreading Sociopaths The “liberate America” protesters claim they just want to make their own choices about their health and safety, but they really want to force others to risk their lives” at The Nation.

  • Read "Bon Jovi Cancel Entire 2020 Tour with Bryan Adams Due to Coronavirus Pandemic "This will enable ticketholders to get refunds to help pay their bills or buy groceries" at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Here in Sweden we're playing the long game, and listening to science not fear” at The Telegraph.

  • Read/Watch “NBC News/WSJ Poll: Nearly 60% of Americans support keeping stay-at-home restrictions” at MSNBC.

  • Read “How Musicians Are Fighting Coronavirus by Turning Merch Into Masks” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “After Fauci urged caution in reopening the economy, Fox News turned to Dr. Phil for a second opinion” at Washington Post.

  • See “Video shows nurse facing down Colorado protester against stay-at-home order” at NBC News.

  • Read “Oregon town plans to deliver masks, door-to-door, to every resident in midst of coronavirus outbreak” at Oregon Live.

  • Read “Gov. Brian Kemp sets Georgia on aggressive course to reopen, putting his state at center of deepening national debate” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Trump suggests 'injection' of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and 'clean' the lungs” at NBC News.

  • Read “In New York’s largest hospital system, 88 percent of coronavirus patients on ventilators didn’t make it” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Trump reverses course, says it's 'too soon' for Georgia Gov. Kemp to reopen state” at NBC News.

  • Read the opinion piece “We Are Living in a Failed State The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “DOJ Would Support Legal Action If Governors' Restrictions Go 'Too Far,' Barr Says” at NPR.

  • Read “Parks and Recreation’ Cast Reuniting for One-Off COVID-19 Charity Episode” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read/watch “Trump suggests 'injection' of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and 'clean' the lungs” at NBC News.

Read “Virginia governor makes Election Day a holiday and expands early voting” at CNN.

Read “Trump says he will sign executive order temporarily suspending immigration into US” at The Hill.

Read “Mail-in voting doesn't benefit either party or invite more fraud, study says” at UPI.

Read “The Erosion of Deep Literacy” at National Affairs.

Read “Joe Pera Talks with You David Bazan (Pedro The Lion) on the Talkhouse Podcast” at Talkhouse.

Read “The Cure’s ‘Seventeen Seconds’ is a cold, eerie post-punk masterpiece” at Treble Zine

See “Kermit The Frog & Jim James Duet On ‘Rainbow Connection’At Newport Folk” at Jambase.

Read “Betting it all on 311” at AV Club.

Read Pitchfork’s first 10.0 rating in a decade: “Fiona Apple Fetch the Bolt Cutters.”

Read “Blanks And Postage: How To Build A Diving Bell, or Tape-Hunting Tips For Quarantined Gormandizers” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Back To Sun City :: Sir Richard Bishop, Clandestine Quartet, Sun City Girls The Sun City Girls saga came to a sad end with the death of drummer Charles Gocher in 2007. But the band’s bizarre, inspiring spirit lives on in the recent work of SCG co-founders Rick and Alan Bishop (as well as a recommended live show just unleashed from the vaults)” at Aquarium Drunkard, and watch Sun City Girl’s Cloaven Theater right here.

Read “Alison Pill on the ‘Devs’ Finale and What’s Next for Katie” at Variety.

Read “Spike Jonze’s New Beastie Boys Movie Is No Fun” at Pitchfork.

Read “ Ozone hole three times the size of Greenland opens over the North Pole” at Live Science.

Read “How Arizona native Courtney Marie Andrews' new music video honors her Bisbee music mentors” at AZ Central.

Read “With the Live Music Industry at a Standstill, Indie Venue Owners Are Banding Together” at Phoenix New Times.

The Weekly Town Crier (04/03/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (04/03/20).

Read “Remembering Doug Clark, a mysterious icon of the Phoenix punk music underground” at AZ Central.

Read “Ellis Marsalis, New Orleans jazz piano legend hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, dies” at Nola.

Read “R.I.P. Bill Withers, “Lean on Me” and “Lovely Day” Singer, Dies at 81 The legendary crooner passed away from heart complications” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger Dead at 52 From COVID-19” at PitchforkI.

Consider “Should Christians Participate in Boycotts?” with Alan Noble at Christian Research Institute.

Coronavirus Weekly Roundup:Education:

  • Read “A coronavirus outbreak in jails or prisons could turn into a nightmare Experts warn prisons and jails aren’t ready for a pandemic — and that could hurt everyone else too” at Vox.

  • Read “Rodney Howard-Browne, Megachurch Pastor Who Flouted Virus Rules, Arrested” at The Daily Beast.

  • Read “Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too The decision by the school’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr., to partly reopen his evangelical university enraged residents of Lynchburg, Va. Then students started getting sick” at the New York Times.

  • Read “Hobby Lobby Closes Stores, Slashes Salaries Following 'God Is in Control' Remarks and Social Media Has Thoughts” at PopCulture.

  • Read “Over 1,200 people attend Louisiana church service, defying coronavirus ban: "We will continue" at CBS News.

  • Read “Roy Moore, ex-Alabama chief justice, to aid Central church defying coronavirus order” at The Advocate.

  • Read “Some evangelicals deny the coronavirus threat. It’s because they love tough guys. White evangelical conservatives don’t take the novel coronavirus seriously because they believe in a muscular Christianity” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It's Not Supposed To” at Time

  • Read “John Prine Hospitalized With COVID-19 Symptoms” at Jambands.

  • Read “I'm a Doctor Recovering From COVID-19. I Can't Get Over the Government's Callousness for Human Life” at Time.

  • Read “General Electric Workers Launch Protest, Demand to Make Ventilators GE workers who normally make jet engines say their facilities are sitting idle while the country faces a dire ventilator shortage” at Vice.

  • Read “Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issues statewide stay-at-home order” at KTAR.

  • Read “ Honeywell Hiring 500 in Phoenix to Make Millions of N-95 Masks Each Month” at Phoenix.gov.

  • Read “Netflix's Tiger King star Joe Exotic hospitalised after contracting coronavirus in prison” at The Mirror.

  • Read “Brian Kemp Is What You Get When Allegiance to Trump Is All That Matters Georgia’s Republican governor announced his reversal on social distancing policies with a stunning admission” at The Esquire.

  • Read “Florida officials: Arrested pastor not exonerated by new order listing religious services as ‘essential’ at Religion News Service.

Read “Bernie Sanders says he’s staying in the presidential race. Many Democrats fear a reprise of their 2016 defeat” at Washington Post.

Read “Last Call: Neal Casal and the Dangerous Thing We’re Afraid to Talk About” at Premier Guitar.

Read “Robert Plant interview: my life after Led Zeppelin. It's been a long time since Robert Plant fronted the biggest band in the world, and now, at 71, he’s enjoying the fourth decade of a successful solo career” at Louder Sound.

Read “The My Generation: An Oral History Of Myspace Music Myspace changed the way we discovered music and fell apart after conquering the world” at Stereogum.

Read “Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’ At 50” at Tidal.

Check out “Stevie Wonder :: @ The Rainbow Theatre — London, 01/31/74” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Listen and Download “Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters :: 1974 – Bremen, Germany” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Chuck D Says Flavor Flav’s Public Enemy Firing Was a Hoax to Promote New Album” at Pitchfork.

Read “Hasbro releases every episode of 80’s G.I. Joe animated series on YouTube” at Arrow In The Head.

Read “You Can Now Binge-Watch Every Single Episode of The French Chef with Julia Child” at Taste Of Home.

See “20+ People Who Discovered Their Art History Doppelgängers at Museums” at My Modern Net.

See “Incredibly Realistic Paintings Look Like They’re Wrapped in Plastic Film” at My Modern Net.

See “Museum Asks People To Recreate Paintings With Stuff They Can Find at Home, Here Are The Results” at Sad and Useless.

Read “Gannett, publisher of The Arizona Republic, announces unpaid furloughs” at AZ Central.

Read “Arizona arts telethon has tons of content for all ages. Here's how to stream it this week” at AZ Central.

The Weekly Town Crier (03/13/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (03/13/20).

Read “Jazz Pianist McCoy Tyner 1938 – 2020” at Jam Base.

Read “Rosalind P. Walter, the first 'Rosie the Riveter', dies at 95” at Upworthy.

Read “Rolls-Royce promotes exclusive Mass with pope — for $155,000” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Rolls-Royce offer for private Pope Francis meeting ‘does not exist anymore’” at Catholic News Agency.

Read “All Non-Consensual Sex Will Be Considered Rape Under Spain’s New Law The "only yes means yes" law aims to ban all sexual violence in the country” at Global Citizen.

Read “‘This is absolutely abhorrent’: Nazi flag at Sanders rally sparks outcry, concerns about safety” at Washington Post.

Read “Gender study finds 90% of people are biased against women” at BBC News.

Read/Watch “Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison” at Yahoo.

Read “Chelsea Manning Is Freed” at Common Dreams.

Read “Child homelessness highest in more than decade, feds say” at New York Post.

Read/Listen to “When Xenophobia Spreads Like A Virus” at NPR.

  • Read/watch “Costco Will Stop Offering Free Samples & Our Shopping Trips Will Not Be the Same” at Yahoo.

  • Read “Televangelist Jim Bakker Ordered to Stop Selling Fake Coronavirus Cure” at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Italy suspends mortgage payments during coronavirus shutdown” at The HIll.

  • Read “Austin’s South by Southwest Festival Canceled Due to Coronavirus” at The Wall Street Journal.

  • Read “Coachella Moved to October 2020 Due to Coronavirus” at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Postponed” at Spin.

  • Browse “Coronavirus: Cancellations and Postponements” at Relix.

  • Read “Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis” at Politico.

  • Read “Arizona Governor Declares State of Emergency on Coronavirus, With Nine Cases So Far” at Phoenix New Times.

  • Read “Tom Hanks Tests Positive for Coronavirus While Working on Elvis Presley Movie” at Pitchfork.

Read “Mandatory vasectomy at 50 or after 3 kids? Alabama bill proposes it” at 12 News.

Read “Virginia General Assembly passes bill capping monthly costs of insulin to $50” at 12 News.

Read “Trump administration quietly cuts funding to the nation’s poorest schools” at Yahoo News.

Read “GOP-appointed judge orders unredacted copy of Mueller report as he questions Barr’s “credibility” A federal judge calls out Barr for making “distorted” and “misleading” statements about Robert Mueller’s findings” at Salon.

Read “Michael Bloomberg Drops Out Of Primary After Reportedly Spending More Than $500 Million” at Forbes.

Read/Listen to “What Democratic Socialism Means In The U.S.” at WBUR.

Read “The Body Politic Electric: Walt Whitman on Women’s Centrality to Democracy” at Brain Pickings.

Read “Federal Court Sides With House In Fight Over Mueller Grand Jury Materials” at NPR.

Read “Wu-Tang Clan Are for the Infants: New Wu-Tang Lullaby Album Coming in April It's the 100th album by Rockabye Baby” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Woman-Owned Record Shop Sonidos! Wants To Build An Inclusive Corner In The Region’s Vinyl Scene” at DCist.

Read “Remembering Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous 10 Years Later A look at the unlikely triumphs of the Virginia singer/songwriter's eerily beautiful music” at Spin.

Read “When We Celebrate John Coltrane, We Celebrate McCoy Tyner, Too” at Rolling Stone.

Read “After 25 Years, Jimmy Eat World Isn’t Just Surviving” at Christ and Pop Culture.

Read “On hobbies, habits, and creative work Musician Stephen Malkmus on the value of chill music in crazy times, the pleasures of falling into old man mode, and understanding the ways your creative process evolves over time” at The Creative Independent.

Read “My father said I should be looking after the cows': the first female Tuareg guitarist” at The Guardian.

Read “Tony Iommi Says Michael Bolton Once Auditioned for Black Sabbath Bolton has consistently dismissed the story as a rumour” at Exclaim.

Read “Stephen Malkmus on His New Folk Album, Pavement Reunion, Bernie Sanders, And More” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Wilco and Sleater-Kinney Announce Tour The rock giants will play shows together this summer” at Pitchfork.

Read “How does Nationals closer Sean Doolittle stay calm in big moments? The Grateful Dead” at NBC Sports.

Watch “Dawes Covers Grateful Dead Live at Relix” at Youtube.

Read “The Kids in the Hall Revived by Amazon for New Season Lorne Michaels will return as executive producer for an eight-episode run” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Substance Summit: A Previously Unseen Fax From Hunter S. Thompson To Keith Richards” at Ranker.

Read “Mister Rogers Thought Farts Were Hilarious — And Often ‘Ripped One’ To Amuse His Wife” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “How a Potato Is Fueling the Fight to Protect a National Monument Indigenous farmers in Utah are championing an ancient spud” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “The Origins of GORP” at REI.

Read “This Brave Man Protests Annoying Everyday Things With Funny Signs” at Sad and Useless.

Read “In Palestine, Protecting One of the World’s Oldest Olive Trees Is a 24/7 Job Salah Abu Ali often sleeps beneath his ancient charge” at Atlas Obscura.

The Weekly Town Crier (03/06/20)

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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 (02/21/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/14/20).

Read “DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall has died” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Pete Buttigieg On Faith ‘As A Source of Unity’ And Its Role In The 2020 Election.”

Read “James Cone looked evil in the face and refused to let it crush his hope Antiblackness is outrageous, but it does not have the last word” at Christian Century.

Read/watch “Christians surprise Pride parade marchers with signs apologizing for anti-LGBTQ views” at 10tv.

Read “Will the Real Pro-Life Political Party Please Stand Up?” by Shane Claiborne at Red Letter Christians.

Read “There is beauty and joy at the end of life, too” at Globe And Mail.

Read “Deliver Us, Lord, From the Startup Life In the Midwest, Christian entrepreneurs are searching for relief from the corrosive grind of company-building—while some faith leaders preach the gospel of crushing it” at Wired.

Read “Trump critic Russell Moore, ERLC to face scrutiny by Southern Baptists” at Religion News Service.

Read “First Asian American sheriff in California vows to protect immigrants from Trump policies” at AZ Central.

Read “The No. 1 reason you’re still broke even if you received a pay raise last year” at Market Watch. “When adjusted for cost of living increases, real wages actually declined 1.3% since the end of 2017.”

Read “At the border, “law and order” looks a lot like chaos Trump’s new policies are creating confusion and misery” at Christian Century.

Read/Watch “Why Trump’s outreach to black voters is raising ethical questions” at PBS News Hour. “"It seems like the president suggested that the scholarship for Janiyah Davis was part of a government program. But then we found out that it was paid for by the personal charity of one of his employees," says Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.”

Read “Trump Administration To Waive Contracting Laws To Build Border Wall” at KJZZ.

Read “Primary Season Is Here And 'Hispandering' Is Back” at NPR.

Read “The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Will Officially Become a Part of Oklahoma School Curriculum Beginning in the Fall” at The Root.

Read “There Is Not Some Separation Between Jesus and Justice.' How Rev. William J. Barber II Uses His Faith to Fight for the Poor” at Time.

Read “Psychology shows it’s a big mistake to base our self-worth on our professional achievements” at Quartz.

Read “Boy Scouts seek bankruptcy under wave of new sex abuse lawsuits” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “If we can't stop active shooter drills, let's at least do them without traumatizing kids” at AZ Central.

Read “US ranks lower than 38 other countries when it comes to children's wellbeing, new report says” at CNN.

Read “A Second School in California Will Be Named After Michelle Obama Michelle Obama Elementary School opens its doors in August” at Global Citizen.

Read “Arizona charter school principal pleads guilty in $2.5 million enrollment scheme” at AZ Central.

Read “Trump Calls For End To Student Loan Forgiveness Program” at Forbes.

Read “To promote success in schools, focus on teacher well-being” at Brookings.

Read “Children stage mass-walkout after teachers were forced to quit for being gay” at Metro.

Read/Watch “Poverty is a winning issue for 2020” at CNN.

Read “'Just Plain Ugly': Proposed Executive Order Takes Aim At Modern Architecture” at NPR.

Read “1,100 Former DOJ Employees Call On Barr To Resign After Intervening In Stone Case” at NPR.

  • Read “Federal judges' association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in case of Trump ally Roger Stone” at USA Today.

Read “2.5M Pounds Of Radioactive Waste Illegally Dumped In Oregon Landfill” at OPB.

Read “Greece Elected an Environmentalist as Its First Woman President Katerina Sakellaropoulou gained support across party lines” at Global Citizen.

Read “Bloomberg set to debate in Nevada after qualifying in new poll” at The Hill.

Read “Trump Commutes Sentence Of Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich” at NPR.

  • Read “Trump Threatens to Sue ‘Everyone All Over the Place’ Another morning, another Twitter outburst” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “How Much Has the Government Spent at Trump’s Properties? It Won’t Say” at ProPublica.

Read “Japan’s Lost-and-Found System Is Insanely Good” at City Lab.

Read “The Next Smithsonian Might Be A Women's History Museum” at NPR.

Read “The gloriously unhinged progressive pushback against the Babylon Bee The humor may or may not be to your taste but it’s hardly about to bring the republic crashing down in a slurry of ignorance” at Spectator USA.

Read “Court Records Confirm Works From Nirvana, Elton John And Others Damaged In 2008 Fire” at NPR.

Read “Grateful Dead To Release 15-CD ‘June 1976’ Box Set” at Jambands.com.

Read “New Adventures with The Kernal” at Sound And Soul.

Read “Facing Hearing Loss, Huey Lewis Releases What 'May Be' His Last Album” at NPR.

Read “New Musical ‘Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Story’ to Open in London in 2021” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Day The Music Became Carbon-Neutral” at The New Yorker.

Read “An Attempt To Explain The “Difficult” Neil Young Records” at Vinyl Me Please.

Read “Neil Young Pens Open Letter to Donald Trump: ‘You Are a Disgrace to My Country’ Now an American citizen, Young rails against the president” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Henry Rollins To Voice Tri-Klops In Netflix’s He-Man Reboot” at Stereogum.

Read “Feature-Length Ronnie James Dio Documentary Is Being Made The film is being produced by BMG and will span the singer's illustrious career” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Watch More Than 400 Classic Korean Films Free Online Thanks to the Korean Film Archive” at Open Culture.

Read “The Original Renegade A 14-year-old in Atlanta created one of the biggest dances on the internet. But nobody really knows that” at New York Times.

Read “LeBron James to release his first children's book this summer” at Entertainment Weekly.

See “This Graffiti Artist Makes Walls Appear Transparent Using Nothing But Spray Paint” at Bored Panda.

See “Portraits of “Most Beautiful Chickens on the Planet” Capture Their Underrated Beauty” at My Modern Net.

Read “Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA” at Science Direct.

Read “Scientists detect an unexplainable radio signal from outer space that repeats every 16 days” at AZ Central.

Read “Generations of Handwritten Mexican Cookbooks Are Now Online North America’s largest-known Mexican cookbook collection inspires both tears and restaurant dishes” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “Arpaio Leads in Sheriff’s Race Cash, But Just 1 in 8 of His Donors Are Arizonans” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Lawmaker would ban students from listing dormitories on voter registration” at AZ Central.

Read “Caverns Grotto In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “7 Arizona Locations On Pier 1 Imports Store Closing List” at KJZZ.

Read “Arizona Governor, GOP Lawmakers End Sanctuary City Ban Push” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/14/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/14/20).

Read “Wes Wilson, Psychedelic Poster Pioneer, Dies at 82 His work announced concerts by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and more — to those who could read them.” at New York Times.

Read/Listen to “Robert Conrad, star of TV's 'The Wild, Wild West,' dies at 84” at 12 News.

Read “Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder, dies aged 78” at The Guardian.

Read “Lyle Mays, Evocative Pianist Who Helped Define The Pat Metheny Group, Is Dead at 66” at WBGO.

Read “Acts 29 CEO Removed Amid 'Accusations of Abusive Leadership' Steve Timmis was acclaimed for his model of close church community. But former members claim that inside The Crowded House, he resorted to bullying and control” Christianity Today.

Read “Christian activist to sue NFL because Shakira and J-Lo performances endangered his eternal soul” at Raw Story.

Read “Can Christianity be a counterforce to finance capitalism? “Religious vocation sits very uneasily with individual self-advancement.” at Christian Century.

Read “After a Backlash, Nashville’s Belmont University Says It Will Let Non-Christian Art Professors Teach After All Watkins College of Art, which is being absorbed, was originally told that Belmont had a firm no non-Christians policy” at Artnet.

Read “A German Jew Vows To Fight On To Remove Anti-Semitic Sculpture After Court Defeat” at NPR.

Read “John Ortberg Investigated After Church Volunteer Confessed Attraction to Minors Menlo Church said the senior pastor showed “poor judgment” in allowing the member to work with children and failing to notify other staff” at Christianity Today.

Read/Listen to “Brené Brown Strong Back, Soft Front, Wild Heart” at On Being.

Read “Despite Stigma, More Divorced Evangelicals Are Going to Church Their attendance outpaces other traditions, but still lags far behind married evangelicals” at Christianity Today.

Read “Breaking Out of the White Evangelical Echo Chamber Putting faithful witness ahead of political expediency starts with changing surroundings, words, and friendships” at Christianity Today.

Read “Ron Carpenter was promised $6.25M retirement payout in transition plan with John Gray, court docs say” at Christian Post.

Read World Magazine’s opinion piece “The gospel according to Pete Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks often of his religion—but he tailors it to fit his politics, and it focuses on works over faith.”

Read “Billie Eilish Can Help Us Understand Teenage Anxiety The Grammy-award winning teen’s dark music can help us have necessary conversations with our children” at Christianity Today.

Read “Pope Francis Won't Allow Married Men As Priests, Women As Deacons” at NPR.

Read “Time To Delete Your Church’s Facebook Page?” “"Seventy percent of U.S. adults use Facebook, so the platform has effectively made itself the public square. Facebook is that worst possible spawn of the capitalist system—an unregulated monopoly” at Sojourners.

Read “Are Nationalism and Populism the Cure for What Ails the West? The “strong gods” of old are knocking at the door. We ought to be wary of letting them inside” at Christianity Today.

Read “Barbie debuts Rosa Parks doll as part of series honoring iconic women” at AL.com.

Read “Police Offering Drug Recovery Help: 'We Can't Arrest Our Way Out Of This Problem'“ at NPR.

Read “Masked white nationalists march in Washington with police escort” Yahoo News.

Read “Trump ‘Is Not a Racist’ Because the ‘People Who Wash Dishes’ at Mar-a-Lago ‘Love Him,’ Says Ben Carson “The people who drive the cars and park the cars at Mar-a-Lago, they love him, because he’s kind and compassionate,” the housing secretary said” at Rolling Stone.

Read “In The 1920s, 1 In 3 Eligible Men In Dallas Were KKK Members” at WBUR.

Read “Virginia lawmakers approve Confederate statue removal bills” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Many Mississippi prisoners kept locked up past release dates due to housing shortage” at Mississippi Today.

Read “Pakistan Court Rules That Men Can Marry Underage Girls After They've Had Their First Period The ruling comes in direct violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act” at Global Citizen.

Read “Are Gun Owners Happier And Do They Sleep Better? UA Study Says No” at KJZZ.

Read “After Flint Water Crisis, Number Of Students With Special Education Needs Spikes” at WBUR.

Read/Listen to “World's 1st 3D Printed Neighborhood Being Built In Mexico” at WBUR.

Read “QAnon’ conspiracy theory creeps into mainstream politics” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Navy Pilot Who Filmed the ‘Tic Tac’ UFO Speaks: ‘It Wasn’t Behaving by the Normal Laws of Physics’” at The Intelligencer.

Read “The Age of Decadence Cut the drama. The real story of the West in the 21st century is one of stalemate and stagnation.” at New York Times.

Read “"You wouldn't think you'd go to jail over medical bills": County in rural Kansas is jailing people over unpaid medical debt” at CBS News.

Read “Trump says Coronavirus will be gone by April when the weather gets warmer, doesn't offer scientific explanation” at AZ Central.

Read “Nearly 1 in 3 American workers run out of money before payday—even those earning over $100,000” at CNBC.

Read “Not welcome: Gay students, parents are denied service in Florida’s publicly funded voucher schools” at Orlando Sentinel.

Read “President Trump Is Trying to Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts—Again—in His Just-Released 2021 Budget Proposal” at Artnet.

Read “Trump administration moves ahead on shrinking Utah monuments” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Trump Charges Secret Service up to $650 a Night for a Room in His Properties Add this to the long list of the president’s grifts” at Rolling Stone.

Read “'Not Guilty': Trump Acquitted On 2 Articles Of Impeachment As Historic Trial Closes” at NPR.

  • Read “Trump fires key impeachment witnesses Sondland, Lt. Col. Vindman in purge The officials provided critical testimony during the House inquiry into the president's conduct with Ukraine” at NBC News.

Read “Mike Bloomberg Is Paying ‘Influencers’ to Make Him Seem Cool” at Daily Beast.

Read “Pelosi Delivers Another Resistance Meme, and Nothing Else The House Speaker theatrically ripped up a speech that she gave Trump a platform to deliver” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Trump’s New Budget Goes After Social Safety Net Programs The budget calls for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps while asking tax-payers to pay billions for the president’s wall” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Tech Entrepreneur Andrew Yang Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race” at NPR.

Read “Barr takes control of legal matters of interest to Trump, including Stone sentencing Attorney General William Barr's intervention in Roger Stone's case wasn't the first time senior political appointees reached into a case involving an ex-Trump aide, officials say” at NBC News.

  • Read “William Barr Supported Pardons In An Earlier D.C. 'Witch Hunt': Iran-Contra” at NPR.

Read “Senate GOP blocks three election security bills” at The Hill.

Read “The Great Affordability Crisis Breaking America In one of the best decades the American economy has ever recorded, families were bled dry” at The Atlantic.

Read/Listen to “The Day America Went Dry: Looking Back At Prohibition 100 Years Later” at WBUR.

Read “Good Looks Alone Do Not Make You Attractive: There’s Much More To It…We live in a world where many like to think that attractiveness is all about having good looks and a cool taste for fashion” at I Heart Intelligence.

Read “Who decides what words mean Bound by rules, yet constantly changing, language might be the ultimate self-regulating system, with nobody in charge” at Aeon.

Read/Listen to “Antarctica just hit 64.9 degrees - its highest temperature ever recorded” at WHAS11.

Read “Bill & Melinda Gates Add Climate Change and Gender Equality to Foundation's Priorities” at Global Citizen.

Read “Native burial sites blown up for US border wall” at BBC.

Read/Listen to “Capturing The Undersung Blues People Of The Rural South” at NPR.

Read “10 Songs by The Clash That Made Films Better Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and Judd Apatow are all fans” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Devastating” Manufacturing Plant Fire Threatens Worldwide Vinyl Record Supply Third Man Records’ Ben Blackwell says the destruction of Apollo Masters’ California facility “will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide” at Pitchfork.

Read “Fan designs impressive Tool LEGO set that has a chance to be manufactured” at Consequence of Sound.

Read/Watch/Listen to “Family Of Bob Marley Releases New Animated Video For “Redemption Song” at Live For Live Music.

Read “Sufjan Stevens Announces New Album With His Stepfather Lowell, Shares Song” at Pitchfork.

Read/Listen to “For Bob Marley's 75th Birthday, Ziggy Marley Reflects On His Father's Legacy” at NPR.

Read “Blind Faith: The Meteoric Rise & Rapid Fall Of Clapton, Baker, Winwood, And Grech’s 1969 Supergroup” at Live For Live Music.

Read/Listen to “Fascination, Friendship And Desire: Kathleen Hanna On The Reign Of 'Rebel Girl' at NPR’s American Anthem series.

Watch “A Brief History of Dad Rock” by Pitchfork.

Read “Putting their necks on the line one gig at a time” at the Sydney Morning Herald.

Browse “5 Movie Soundtracks That Rescued Great Musicians From Obscurity” at Pitchfork.

Read “Take one: lost Dave Brubeck tapes reveal jazz hit originally sounded like ‘a bad student band’ at The Guardian.

Read “Nina Simone’s rare 1982 album, Fodder On My Wings, to be reissued Until now, the album's commercial availability has been sporadic at best” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Voice Offers A Sonic Refuge” at NPR. “Last year, a live recording of a performance from late Pakistani vocal master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was released from the archives after 35 years. The album, 'Live at WOMAD 1985,' captures Khan at his vocal prime and at his most traditional, performing in the South Asian musical style of qawwali.”

See “John Frusciante Perform With Red Hot Chili Peppers Members for First Time Since Reunion” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Yo La Tengo on the Pros and Cons of Being a Self-Managed Band” at Spotify.

Read “Pussy Riot Say Russian Police Shut Down Video Shoot, Citing “Gay Propaganda” The “БЕСИТ / RAGE” shoot was thwarted at a cost of $15,000, the group says” at Pitchfork.

Read “Kamasi Washington releasing new concert film from Apollo Theater” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Bauhaus, Morrissey, Blondie, Devo, Bunnymen, P-Furs & lots more playing LA’s Cruel World fest at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Heavy Metal, Year One: The Inside Story of Black Sabbath’s Groundbreaking Debut Half a century since Ozzy Osbourne first bellowed, “What is this that stands before me?” the band and their collaborators look back on the album that kick-started a worldwide movement” at Rolling Stone.

Read “RPM Records: Sustainable Vinyl Pressing In Europe!” at Discogs.

Read “Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Stephen Stills and More Will Perform at ‘Light Up The Blues’ Autism Benefit” at Jambands.

Read “Carol Kaye: The Boss of the Bass Guitar” at Please Kill Me.

Read “Bassist Admits to Burning Churches to “Raise His Profile as a Black Metal Musician” Holden Matthews will be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison on May 22nd” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “A Code Switch Playlist For Black History Month” at NPR.

Read “Remembering Richard Flower, an unsung player in the Gin Blossoms' origin story” at AZ Central.

Read ‘The Whole System Collapsed’: Inside the Music Industry’s Ongoing Distribution Crisis ‘It’s amazing how a company most have never heard of can bring the U.S. music industry to its knees,’ said one label exec struggling to get his artists’ records into stores” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Universal Confirms Nirvana, Beck, Sonic Youth, Elton John Masters Damaged in Warehouse Fire Works by Soundgarden, R.E.M., Jimmy Eat World, and others were also lost in the 2008 blaze” at Pitchfork.

Browse “8 Pitchfork Staffers on Their Favorite Music Moments in Recent Movies” at Pitchfork.

Read “Netflix reveals the 9 shows and movies it's pulled at the request of the world's governments” at News.AV Club.

Read “Be Kind. Please Rewind: An Ode to the VCR” at Pop Matters.

Read “The Rise Of The Single-Shot Movie In A Hyper-Edited World” at NPR. “Once editing was invented, one-shot movies seemed primitive. But in the past 20 years, the number of one-shot feature films rose 500%.”

Let's unpack this whimsical, detailed poster for Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch” at AV Club.

Read “Disney Didn’t Just Buy ‘Hamilton’ for $75 Million; It Bought a Potential Franchise Disney wants to bring the Lin-Manuel Miranda brand under the same corporate umbrella as Marvel and "Star Wars." at Indie Wire.

Read “Keith Richards quits smoking The Rolling Stones guitarist admitted that kicking heroin was easier than stopping smoking” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Famous Authors Are Writing Books for a Time Capsule Library None of Us Will Ever See” at Bookish Buzz.

Read “Finally, Van Gogh Gets His Own Action Figure, And Yes, You Can Detach His Ear” at Demilked.

Read “President Trump Wants to Make ‘Federal Buildings Beautiful Again’ With a New Executive Order That Echoes Fascist History” at Artnet.

Read “Thorncrown Chapel This futuristically sylvan church is a glass-enclosed marvel of modern architecture” at Atlas Obscura.

See “Someone In Bulgaria Is Putting Googly Eyes On Broken Street Objects, And It’s Even Better Than Fixing Things” at Bored Panda.

Read “A Small Pennsylvania Museum Just Discovered It Has Owned a Rembrandt for 70 Years Without Knowing It” at Artnet.

Read “Foucault Pendulum at the Franklin Institute A daily replay of the experiment that proved the rotation of the Earth” at Atlas Obscura. “The four-story Foucault pendulum at the Franklin Institute has now been swinging for more than 80 years.”

Read “The name you’re given as a child might affect the shape of your face” at Quartz.

Read/hear “The Trump Administration Is 'Silencing Science,' Environmental Law Expert Says” at WBUR.

Read “For Kid's Coughs, Swap The Over-The-Counter Syrups For Honey” at NPR.

Read “Researchers Link Autism To A System That Insulates Brain Wiring” at NPR.

Read “'Ghost' DNA In West Africans Complicates Story Of Human Origins” at NPR.

Read “Mad Honey This hallucinogenic honey can sell for over $60 a pound on the black market. This pollinated honey can pack a hallucinogenic punch” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “How Dried Cod Became a Norwegian Staple and an Italian Delicacy” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “All About Books and Comics is Closing in April” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “O'odham sacred site near Lukeville blasted for border wall construction” at AZ Central.

Read “President Trump hosting rally in Phoenix February 19” at 12 News.

Read “'No One Claims Responsibility': Amid Rising Homelessness, Phoenix and Its Largest Shelter Are Out of Sync” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “The Whole Family Will Love A Trip To This Bigfoot-Themed Restaurant In Arizona” at Only In Your State.

Read “Poll: Arizona Voters Support Tougher Gun Laws By 8:1 Margin” at KJZZ.

Read “Rep. Raul Grijalva: Border Wall Construction Doing Irreparable Damage” at KJZZ.


The Weekly Town Crier (01/31/20)

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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)

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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.