The Weekly Town Crier (01/29/21)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/29/21)

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Hank Aaron, Home Run King Who Defied Racism, Dies at 86” at New York Times.

Read “Larry King, legendary talk show host, dies at 87” at CNN.

Read “Gregory Sierra, ‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘Barney Miller’ actor, dies at 83” at Wish TV.

Read “Cicely Tyson, an Actress Who Shattered Stereotypes, Dies at 96” at New York Times.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “The Disgraced Preacher and the Songwriter” at The Atlantic. “The man who wrote one of the most popular worship songs is linked to the leader of an organization hit with allegations of sexual abuse.”

Read “Five myths about evangelicals” at Washington Post. “They aren’t all conservative.”

Read “COVID-Spreading Preacher: Joe Biden is Promoting an “Anti-Christ Agenda”” at Patheos.

Read “Franklin Graham Defends Former Tennis Star Who Compares LGBTs To Hitler: She’s Quoting Biblical Truth” at Joe My God.

Read “SBC president JD Greear’s church launches inquiry into past actions of Bryan Loritts” at Religion News Service.

Read “SBC pastor calls Vice President Kamala Harris a ‘Jezebel’ two days after inauguration” at Baptist News (EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’ve ever wondered why I no longer affiliate with the SBC, you could start here).

Read “John MacArthur Returns to Pulpit after Apparent, Undisclosed Illness” at Roys Report.

Read “Biden’s first 100 days: What’s not for evangelicals to like?” at Religion News Service.

Read “Jesus Plus Masculinity for America’s Sake: Replying to “Jesus and John Wayne”” at Mere Orthodoxy.

Read “A group of Catholic bishops issues statement condemning bullying of LGBTQ youth” at Religion News Service.

Read “Some Black Southern Baptists Feel Shut Out by White Leaders” at U.S. News.

Read “A Baptist, a Catholic, and a Neo-Pagan Shaman Walk Into a Bar...” by Diana Butler Bass.

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

Read ‘Texas Supreme Court Silently Denies Alex Jones All Forms of Relief: Sandy Hook Families and Others Can Now Sue Conspiracy Theorist and InfoWars into the Ground” at Law and Crime.

Read ‘Supreme Court wipes out lower court rulings in Texas abortion battle” at NBC News. “The governor ordered a halt to nonessential medical procedures last year, which the attorney general then said applied to "any type of abortions."

Read “When White Extremism Seeps Into The Mainstream” at NPR.

Read “Biden lifting Trump's transgender military ban” at The Hill.

Read “Judge: Kenosha shooter can’t associate with supremacists” at Associated Press.

Read “Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns” at NPR.

Read “States eye allowing concealed carry of guns without a permit” at Associated Press.

Read “It’s about freedom from fear’: Deportations loom despite Biden executive order” at MSNBC.

Read “Biden to order DOJ to end private prison contracts as part of racial equity push” at CNBC.

Read “In major new move, Disney to erase 'negative depictions of native peoples' from famous 'Jungle Cruise' ride” at The Hill.

Read “Lawmakers in 14 states have proposed anti-LGBTQ bills, many of which target trans youth” at CNN.

Read “DHS issues warning on 'violent domestic extremists'“ at PRI.

Read “Leader of Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, Was a Government Informer” at Democracy Now.

Read “South Carolina Senate votes to outlaw most abortions in state” at The Hill.

Read “Poland to implement near-total ban on abortion imminently” at The Guardian.

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

Read “A Total Failure’: The Proud Boys Now Mock Trump” at New York Times.

Read “U.S. files conspiracy charge against Oath Keeper” at Washington Post.

Read “Supporters’ words may haunt Trump at impeachment trial at Associated Press. “The words of Trump’s supporters who are accused of participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot may end up being used against him in his Senate impeachment trial. At least five supporters facing federal charges claim they were taking orders from him.”

Read “Capitol rioter charged with threatening to 'assassinate' Rep. Ocasio-Cortez” at CNN.

Read “Calls grow for 9/11-style panel to probe Capitol attack” at The Hill.

Read “Strange costumes of Capitol rioters echo the early days of the Ku Klux Klan - before the white sheets” at The Conversation.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “AZ Board Of Education Sees Dramatic Increase In Discipline Cases Against Educators” at KJZZ.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “A Vaccine Road Trip And what else you need to know today” at New York Times.

Read “Undercounting of Covid-19 deaths is greatest in pro-Trump areas, analysis shows” at Stat News.

Read “Cactus League asks the MLB to delay the start of spring training due to COVID-19” at AZ Family.

Read “California Lifts State Stay-at-Home Order as Virus Spread Slows” at Variety.

Read “Charges still stand against pastor Tony Spell for violating COVID-19 crowd limits” at WJTV.

Read “South Carolina detects first US cases of coronavirus strain first seen in South Africa” at CNN.

Read “America's botched vaccine rollout puts its broken health care system on full display” at MSNBC.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “Microsoft Files Patent to Create Chatbots That Imitate Dead People” at IGN.

Read “Fauci Refutes Biden Admin Claim that Trump Left ‘No Plan’ for Vaccine Distribution” at Yahoo.

Read Newsweek’s opinion piece: “Student Debt is a Curse Upon America's Future. Biden Must Wipe It Out—All Of It.”

Read “K-Pop Fans Who Hijacked ‘ImpeachBidenNow’ Hashtag May Have Violated Twitter Rules” at Variety.

Read “A look at Michelle Wolf’s most “controversial” WHCD jokes, one year later” at Fast Company.

Read “I Think My Gmail Has Crashed”: The Teacher Who Made Bernie Sanders’ Mittens on Watching Them Go Viral” at Slate.

Read “Mar-a-Lago is a 'sad place' since Trump moved in as members begin quitting” at Raw Story.

Read “Twitter launches 'Birdwatch' community forum to combat misinformation” at CNET.

Read “Budweiser to skip Super Bowl ads, donate to coronavirus vaccination awareness instead” at The Hill.

Read “Robinhood faces backlash from both parties for limiting trades” at The Hill.

Read “Toxic ‘Black Mayonnaise’ Seeps Into Gowanus Bay After Barge Accident” at New York Times.

Read “Healing the Imagination: Art Lessons from James Baldwin” at Image Journal.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Dem’s New Bill Aims to Bar QAnon Followers From Security Clearances” at Daily Beast.

Read “Biden replaces controversial White House physician” at CNN.

Read “GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert and husband racked up arrests in home district” a New York Post.

Read “Leahy, not Roberts, to preside over impeachment trial” at The Hill.

Read “Biden wants to unite America. Republicans have a different idea of what that means.” at NBC News. “Republican pleas for unity focus on urging Biden not to take actions that upset their voters. But that's incompatible with the new president's agenda.”

Read “Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Run for Arkansas Governor” at New York Times.

Read “Sen. Sinema Opposes Eliminating the Filibuster, ‘Not Open to Changing Her Mind’” at National Review.

Read “Democrats reintroduce $15 minimum wage bill” at The Hill.

Read “McConnell Relents On Senate Filibuster Stalemate” at NPR.

Read “Senate committee advances Biden's DHS pick despite Republican pushback” at The Hill.

Read “Giuliani election witness who testified at Michigan hearing says she's running for state house seat” at The Hill.

Read “Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated support for executing prominent Democrats in 2018 and 2019 before running for Congress” at CNN.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “The Ignominious Deceits of Congressman Cawthorn” at The Nation. “Representative Madison Cawthorn has misled the public about training for the Paralympics, just as he misrepresented his education and business history.”

Read “Kevin McCarthy: ‘Everybody Across This Country’ Is To Blame For Capitol Attack” at Huff Post.

Read “Sen. Tom Cotton campaigned on his "experience as an Army Ranger" — but he didn't have any” at Salon.

Read “Trump Reportedly Pressured DOJ to File Case in Supreme Court to Overturn Election” at Slate.

• Read “Internal watchdog to investigate whether DOJ officials sought to interfere with 2020 election” at The Hill.

Read “Madison Cawthorn is trying to use ableist stereotypes to exploit America” at MSNBC.

Read “Resurfaced Videos Of QAnon Congresswoman Harassing Parkland Survivor David Hogg Spark Outrage” at Comic Sands.

• Read “Reporter Tossed Out of Marjorie Taylor Greene's Town Hall by Cops for Trying to Ask Question” at Newsweek.

Read “GOP bill would allow lawmakers to override electoral votes” at Arizona Capitol Times.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read ‘Yasmin Williams puts a fresh spin on finger-style guitar” at Washington Post.

Read “What to Know About Music’s Copyright Gold Rush” at Pitchfork.

Read “The Art of Kinda Fittin’ In: ZZ Top Begins” at Tidal.

Read “Black musicians, led by Alicia Keys, ask Biden to create racial justice commission” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Lucinda Williams Looks Back on Every Album She’s Ever Made” at Spin.

Read “Venues Offer COVID-19 Vaccine Spaces and Assistance in Open Letter to Biden” at Pitchfork.

Read “Kris Kristofferson Retires from Stage and Screen” at No Depression.

Read “DistroKid Announces New “Upstream” Program to Share Streaming Data With Record Labels” at Pitchfork.

Read “‘Meaningless’ at 20: Jon Brion Looks Back on His Obscure Solo Masterpiece” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “Unlocked Recordings” at the Internet Archive. “Recordings made available under the Music Modernization Act. A reasonable search has been conducted to determine that these items are not commercially available.”

Read “Every Issue of Punk Planet Is Available on the Internet Archive” at Pitchfork.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Browse Time’s picks for “The 20 Best Anime Series to Watch on Netflix Right Now.”

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Rolling Stone seeks 'thought leaders' willing to pay $2,000 to write for them” at The Guardian.

Read “He dreamed of creating his own African superhero universe. Now it’s finally paying off.” at Washington Post.

Read “The old gods died” at Abraham Joseph (Substack).

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “This 392-Year-Old Bonsai Tree Survived the Hiroshima Atomic Blast & Still Flourishes Today: The Power of Resilience” at Open Culture.

Read “Harvard’s top astronomer says our solar system may be teeming with alien technology” at New Statesman.

Food Cultures:

Read “How Orange (the Fruit) Inspired Orange (the Color)” at Atlas Obscura.

Local:

Read “Nearly 4,000 Maricopa, Pima County Republicans Switched Parties Within 1 Week Of U.S. Capitol Insurrection” at KJZZ.

Read “For a local reporter in Arizona, Trump’s collapse in the state was a longer story going back years.” at Slate. “For a longtime local reporter in Arizona, Trump’s collapse in the state was several narratives finally colliding.”

Read “2 Arizona fugitives captured 5 days after prison escape” at KTAR.

The Weekly Town Crier (01/22/21)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/22/21)

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Phil Spector Dead at 81” at Pitchfork. “The producer, who was in prison for murder, reportedly died of “natural causes”.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Is Dave Ramsey’s empire the ‘best place to work in America’? Say no and you’re out” at Religion News Service. “For years, Dave Ramsey has boasted that his company is the best place to work in the country. COVID-19 and a failure by a high-profile leader put that to the test.”

• Read ‘Full Ramsey Solutions Response” at Religion News Service. “We are horrible people," the financial advice and media company told RNS in a sarcastic email.”

Read ‘Insisting on Healing May be the Death of Us” at Red Letter Christians.

Read "Where Does the South End and Christianity Begin?” by David French. “Understanding the role of shame/honor culture in the roots of Christian rage.”

Read “The Mandalorian’ is an indictment of holy wars, and a celebration of pluralism” at Religion News Service. “Religion is a constant in the galaxy far, far away....”

Read “Why Is It Difficult to Get Christians to Care About the Earth?” at Sojo.net.

Read “QAnon believers grapple with doubt, spin new theories as Trump era ends: 'We all got played'“ at Chron.

• Read “It’s Over’: Devastated QAnon Believers Grapple With President Joe Biden’s Inauguration” at Huff Post.

Read “In rare rebuke, Cardinal Cupich criticizes USCCB president’s letter to President Biden” at America Magazine.

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

Read “Man Arrested in D.C. With Unauthorized Inauguration Credentials, a Loaded Gun, and Lots of Ammo” at Slate.

Read “Biden will sign executive order to reunite migrant families separated at the border” at MSNBC.

Read ‘Two Guard members removed from Biden inauguration over ties to far-right groups” at The HIll.

Read “The 'Racial Caste System' At The U.S. Capitol” at NPR.

Read “Wayfair workers, supporters protest furniture sale to U.S. immigrant camp” at Reuters.

Read “Supreme Court faces bomb threat during Biden's inauguration” at Business Insider.

Read “NRA can’t dodge accountability by moving to Texas: N.Y. AG James” at NY Daily News.

Read “The DEA May Have Botched a Mexican Cartel Case Over Slang for ‘Balls’” at Vice.

Read “House leader calls for FBI investigation into Parler” at The Verge.

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

Read “The Whole Story In A Single Photo” at The Atlantic. ‘An image from the Capitol captures the distance between who we purport to be and who we have actually been.”

Read ‘Capitol rioters included highly trained ex-military and cops” at Associated Press.

Read “Capitol riots: Police describe a 'medieval battle'“ at BBC.

Read ‘Criminal charges filed against Jenna Ryan, Frisco real estate broker who was part of Capitol mob” at Dallas News.

Read “I think this is a wake-up call”: Seeing a familiar face in the Capitol riot” at Vox. “Some are grappling with the prevalence of extremism in America, after seeing co-workers and fellow churchgoers in the riot.”

Read “Capitol Police intelligence report warned three days before attack that ‘Congress itself’ could be targeted” at Washington Post.

Read “Selfie-Snapping Rioters Leave FBI a Trail of Over 140,000 Images” at Bloomberg.

• Read “Dating apps are using Capitol images to ban rioters’ accounts” at Washington Post.

Read “Sasse: Capitol rioters 'came dangerously close to starting a bloody constitutional crisis'“ at The Hill.

Read “Pelosi suggests criminal charges for any lawmaker who helped with Capitol riot” at The Hill.

• Read “Colorado officials pen letter requesting probe into Boebert's actions” at The Hill.

• Read “Lauren Boebert vowed to shake things up in Congress. She has delivered in her first week” at Colorado Sun.

• Read “Comms director for gun-toting congresswoman quits” at Axios.

Read the opinion piece “Congress Is Still Littered With Insurrectionists” at Slate. “It’s time to remove the busts of these traitors from Statuary Hall.”

Read “The January 6 insurrection was a last gasp for white supremacy” at MSNBC.

Read “Experts say Trump, Congress members could be targets of Capitol invasion investigation” at MSNBC.

Read “A Former Marine Stormed the Capitol as Part of a Far-Right Militia” at New Yorker.

Read “Online far-right movements fracture in wake of Capitol riot” at NBC News.

Read “Former US attorney general William Barr tells ITV News questioning election legitimacy 'precipitated Capitol riots'“ at ITV.

Read “The Confederate battle flag: Longtime symbol of white insurrection” at Salon.

Read “The FBI is tracing a digital trail to Capitol rioters” at Axios.

Read “Mitch McConnell Says Capitol Rioters Were ‘Provoked’ By Trump” at Huff Post.

Read “MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Says Bed Bath And Beyond, Kohl’s To Drop His Products; Dominion Voting Systems Threatens To Sue” at Minnesota CBS Local.

Read “An apparent leader of Oath Keepers charged with planning and coordinating breach at US Capitol” at CNN.

Read “Scottsdale Prosecutors Seek to Revoke Baked Alaska's Release Due to Capitol Livestream” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Nearly 1 In 5 Defendants In Capitol Riot Cases Served In The Military” at NPR.

This Week With The Police:

Read Sheriffs Helped Lead This Insurrection” at Slate. “Sheriffs play a key role in right-wing white supremacist movements.”

Read “The Cops at the Captiol” at The Appeal. “Law enforcement officers from around the country attended and supported last week’s rally in support of President Trump that sparked a riot.” “At least 32 members of law enforcement agencies from 15 states have been identified as having participating in the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally.”

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Europe’s Schools Are Closing Again on Concerns They Spread Covid-19” at Wall Street Journal. “Countries are abandoning pledges to keep classrooms open as concerns mount over children’s capacity to pass on the virus.”

Read “‘A hack job,’ ‘outright lies’: Trump commission’s ‘1776 Report’ outrages historians” at Washington Post.

• Read “Biden to rescind 1776 commission via executive order” at CNN.
  
  

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read, “Yes, the Pandemic Is Ruining Your Body” at The Atlantic. “Quarantine is turning you into a stiff, hunched-over, itchy, sore, headachy husk.”

Read “Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded” at Washington Post.

Read ‘COVID-19 exposure on flights is more common than you think. The US doesn't share details, but Canada does” at USA Today.

Read ‘There have now been over two million virus-related deaths worldwide” at New York Times.

Read “Arizona has highest rate of COVID-19 in world, data shows” at ABC 15.

Read “Charles Barkley: Athletes pay more in taxes, 'deserve some preferential treatment' for COVID-19 vaccine” at The Hill.

Read “This Coronavirus Is Unlike Anything in Our Lifetime, and We Have to Stop Comparing It to the Flu” at Pro Publica.

Read “Dallas County axes plan to prioritize vaccinating communities of color after state threatens to slash allocation” at Texas Tribune.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read The Importance, and Incoherence, of Twitter’s Trump Ban” at The New Yorker. ““It’s coherent—and in my view absolutely appropriate—to believe both that (i) the social media companies were right to suspend Trump’s accounts last week; and (ii) the companies’ immense power over public discourse is a problem for democracy.”

Read “NRA files for bankruptcy” at CNN.

Read ‘Biden plans early legislation to offer legal status to 11 million immigrants without it” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Pepsi, Coca-Cola will not run ads during Super Bowl” at The Hill.

Read ‘‘Guardians’ Star Offers $20,000 Reward in’TRUMP’ Manatee Case” at Huff Post.

Read “Social media has been radicalizing people for years” at Marketplace.

Read “Technologists Use Facial Recognition on Parler Videos” at Vice.

Read “One of President Biden's first orders of business: Following Chrissy Teigen on Twitter” at AV Club.

Internationalities:

Read “Japan Virus Surge Makes Suga More Look Like Short-Term Premier” at Bloomberg.

Read “Saudi Arabia Curbs Death Penalty in Move to Soften Image” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Joe Biden to Cancel Keystone Pipeline, Another Blow to Canadian Oil Industry” at Vice.

Read “US calls China's abuses of Muslim minorities 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity” at ABC News.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Josh Hawley, who led Senate efforts to overturn the election results, is being targeted by a super PAC” at New York Times.

Read “Conservative Website Admits Its Stories About Dominion Were ‘Completely False’ in Massive Retraction” at Media-ite.

Read “Biden Covid-19 Relief Plan Aims to Ease Poverty, Advance Democratic Priorities” at Wall Street Journal.

• Read “How Joe Biden’s $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Proposal Helps Women” at Huff Post.

Read “Three days after President Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Andy Biggs threatened to sue former political rival Joan Greene for defamation in a letter” at AZ Central. “Greene's lawyer said the letter "has all of the strength of a sloppy Kleenex."

Read “Former GOP congressman says he's leaving party: 'This has become a cult'“ (EDITOR’S NOTE: “AMEN”).

Read “Manchin: Removing Hawley, Cruz with 14th Amendment 'should be a consideration'“ at The HIll.

Read “The 15 most notable lies of Donald Trump's presidency” at CNN.

Read “FBI vetting service members ahead of inauguration amid reported fears of insider attack” at NBC News.

Read “Dominion threatens MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell with lawsuit over ‘false and conspiratorial’ claims” at Washington Post.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read ‘Newly sworn-in GOP senator suggests delaying inauguration” at The Hill.

Read “Limbaugh falsely says Biden didn't win legitimately while reacting to inauguration” at The Hill.

Read “At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In” at Pro Publica.

Read “Giuliani associate told ex-CIA officer a Trump pardon would 'cost $2m’” at The Guardian.

Read the opinion piece “What Does Josh Hawley Think He’s Doing?” at Washington Post.

Read “Trump Does His Part in Scandalizing the Presidential Pardon Power” at National Review.

• Read “Trump commutes 40-year sentence of Clearwater Ponzi scheme operator” at Tampa Bay Times.

• Read “Joe Exotic says he was ‘too gay’ to be pardoned by Trump” at New York Post.
  
  

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters to Play at Biden-Harris Inauguration Event” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Lady Gaga to Sing National Anthem at Biden-Harris Inauguration” at New Now Next.

• Read “MF DOOM, Kendrick Lamar Highlight Joe Biden Official Inauguration Playlist’ at OkayPlayer.

• Read “New Radicals Reuniting After 22 Years to Perform at Biden Inauguration Event” at Pitchfork.

Read “Ariel Pink and Tucker Carlson Are Both Parasites” at Vice. “Pink played the victim on Fox News Thursday night, and Carlson gladly let him do it. No one mentioned that Pink is facing allegations of abuse.”

• Read “Ariel Pink Accused of Sexual Abuse and Misconduct” at Spin.

Read “Marianne Faithfull: 'I was in a dark place. Presumably it was death'“ at The Guardian. “After battling Covid-19 for three weeks in hospital, Faithfull went on to finish her 21st solo album – and possibly her last. She reflects on how she might never sing again, her hatred of being a 60s muse and why she still believes in miracles.”

Read “Dr. Dre Released from Hospital Following Brain Aneurysm Scare” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Mozart apparently liked to imitate cats. Here’s the tail as we know it” at Classic.fm.

Read “Rough Trade Closing Current Brooklyn Location” at Stereogum.

Read “Gary Numan: 'One of my songs got over a million streams - I got £37'“ at Sky News.

Read “With COVID-19 Transmissions Under Control, New Zealand Hosts 20,000-Person Concert” at Relix.

Read “A Probably Futile Attempt To Figure Out What Happened To Mark Kozelek” at Uproxx.

Read “Trump Pardons Lil Wayne and Kodak Black” at Pitchfork.

Read “Van Morrison to start legal action over Northern Ireland Covid ban on live music” at The Guardian.

Read “An Update From The Wrens On The Most Delayed Indie Album In History” at Uproxx.

• Read “Charles Bissell Details New Wrens Album And Teases 2021 Release: “Plans Are Afoot”” at Stereogum.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi to Produce Three Netflix Projects Based on His Anti-Racism Books” at People.

Read “Ken Burns Says U.S. Has 3 Viruses: COVID-19, White Supremacy And Misinformation” at NPR.

Read “‘The Muppet Show’ Heads To Disney+” at Deadline.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to pen foreword for impeachment book” at The Hill.

Read “Why Should You Read Toni Morrison’s Beloved? An Animated Video Makes the Case” at Open Culture.

Read “'Wow, you're awesome': Cooper left speechless by youth poet laureate” at CNN.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “The most expensive comic art in the world was folded up in a drawer for decades” at Boing Boing.

Read “Wanna buy a Botticelli? The masterpiece coming to auction, and who might nab it” at Los Angeles Times.

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Mice may ‘catch’ each other’s pain — and pain relief” at Science News.

Food Cultures:

Read “Oscar Mayer Is Hiring Wienermobile Drivers for Road Trips Across the U.S.” at Thrill List.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi Veerabhadra Temple Lepakshi, India” at Atlas Obscura.

Local:

Read “Bill aims to disallow Sharpies to be used on ballots” at AZ Mirror.

Read “Oatman Ghost Town Oatman, Arizona” at Atlas Obscura. “This Wild West ghost town on Route 66 is filled with wild burros.”

The Weekly Town Crier (01/08/21)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/08/21).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Gerry Marsden of Gerry & the Pacemakers Dead at 78” at Pitchfork.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Meet Shane Vaughn, Mississippi pastor and star of viral ‘if Trump does not concede’ video” at Religion News Service. “A small-town Mississippi preacher’s video claims President Trump could still win the election.”

Read “The (so-called) "Traditional" Argument is not Traditional” at Christianity Today. “The claim to have a traditional argument ag: women's ordination is far from traditional.” “First, the church’s traditional view is that women were ontologically inferior to men. Second, the church’s traditional view is not that women and men were essentially equal. Third, the view that women and men were essentially equal emerges widespread in the church in about the middle of the Twentieth Century.”

Read ‘Six white men shouldn’t decide Southern Baptist position on race” at Religion News Service. “Last week’s statement from the presidents of six SBC seminaries opposing critical race theory isn’t good for the denomination or evangelism.”

Read “Priesthood of All Professors? Court to Consider ‘Ministerial Exception’ for Gordon College” at Christianity Today. “Decision could impact freedom of faculty, ability of evangelical institutions to hire and fire.”

Read “Biden DHS nominee has ‘refreshing’ meeting with faith groups about immigration, refugees” at Religion News Service. “One attendee described the meeting as 'a 180 degree change from what we've been enduring for the last four years.'

Read “Democrat lawmaker’s gender inclusive ‘amen and awoman’ congressional prayer causes stir” at Independent.

Read ‘Historic Black church in DC sues Proud Boys for destroying Black Lives Matter sign” at Religion News Service. “'We, the descendants of these extraordinary women and men of God, will not allow white supremacist violence to go unchecked by the laws of the land,' said Metropolitan AME pastor the Rev. William H. Lamar IV.”

Read “The SBC, Whiteness, and an Exodus of Black Pastors” by Raymond Chang at Christianity Today.

Read “How the shofar emerged as a weapon of spiritual warfare for some evangelicals” at Religion News Service. “Shofar blowing, as in today's Jericho March, has become commonplace in many political demonstrations far removed from any Jewish or Israel-related themes.”

Read “Taking the white Christian nationalist symbols at the Capitol riot seriously” at Religion News Service. “The attack exposed the comfortable juxtaposition of Christianity and white supremacy.”

Read “Trump’s evangelicals were complicit in the desecration of our democracy” at Washington Post.

Read “Faith groups among those calling for Trump’s impeachment after US Capitol occupation” at Religion News Service. ““The political and religious costs of a tight evangelical alliance with violent bigots and crackpots were easily foreseen. I and many others foresaw and foresaw until our fingers ached at the keyboard.”

Read “We Worship with the Magi, Not MAGA” at Christianity Today.”Epiphany reminds us that faith is not a prop for political power.”

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

Read “Indiana law going into effect Jan. 1 will require women to have ultrasound before abortion” at The Hill.

Read “Spying Before Stonewall: How the FBI Secretly Tracked Gay Activists in the 60s” at Vice.

Read “On Kenosha and the difficulty of recognising Nazism in the US” at Al Jazeera. “Nazis have not disappeared. They have simply said they are not Nazis.”

Read “Texas loosens firearm laws hours after the state’s latest mass shooting left five dead” at CNN.

Read “UK judge denies US request to extradite Julian Assange” at CNN.

Read “Kelly Loeffler's new Facebook ad darkens skin of Raphael Warnock, her Black opponent” at Salon.

Read “Illinois teen pleads not guilty in Kenosha protest slayings” at 12 News.

Read “Black Lives Matter in 2021: Where the movement might go” at KCRW.

Read “Ohio governor signs controversial gun bill expanding "stand your ground" right” at CBS News.

Read “Hack of federal agencies 'likely Russian in origin,' U.S. says” at Los Angeles Times.

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

Read “Madness on Capitol Hill” at Newsweek. “Part insurrection, part happy hour, Trump supporters lost their minds, and I watched a man urinate on the Capitol steps. The nation, ashamed, was left to mourn.”

Read “State capitals come under siege by pro-Trump mobs” at The Hill.

• Read “State employees told to avoid Arizona Capitol, work from home after certification chaos” at AZ Central.

Read “Arizona Democratic Party Chair: Trump To Blame For Mob At U.S. Capitol” at KJZZ.

Read “The U.S. Capitol was built to inspire awe. But that's all gone now” at Salon. “If those had been Black Lives Matter protesters storming the Capitol, half of them would be dead by now — and the other half would have been tear-gassed, beaten and arrested within minutes.”

Read “Tracking the White Extremists Involved in Insurrection at the Capitol” at The Takeaway.

Read “Police Response to Far-Right Insurrection Draws Comparisons to Last Summer's Black Lives Matter Protests” at The Takeaway. “Black activists and allies were repeatedly targeted by law enforcement, at times with tear gas and physical violence. Though police were present at the Capitol yesterday, far-right insurrectionists faced little resistance from them, as they stormed the building.”

Read “How To Talk To Kids About The Riots At The U.S. Capitol” at NPR.

Read “How To Process A Scary Day For The Nation With Your Kids” at LA-ist.

Read “Antisemites Implicate Jews, Zionists in DC Violence” at Anti Defamation League.

Read “Alabama AG leads nonprofit that helped organize march at Capitol” at Alabama Political Reporter.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “National security law: Mass arrests in Hong Kong 'over primary vote'“ at BBC.

Read “Trump supporters protesting the election begin demonstrating in D.C.” at Washington Post. ‘“I’m going to give everyone three action steps … turn to the person next to you and give them a hug,” one speaker exhorted the crowd. “Someone you don’t know … it’s a mass-spreader event! It’s a mass-spreader event!”

Read “Police: Protesters outside Sen. Josh Hawley’s home were peaceful” at St. Louis Dispatch.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Columbus’ Policing Problem Goes Deeper Than the Shooting of Andre Hill” at Slate.

Read ‘Kenosha: Negligence Claims Filed Against City And County Over Fatal Shootings” at NPR.

Read “2 detectives involved in Breonna Taylor raid are fired” at WLLWT5.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Simple Justice: Kids Deserve School Choice” at Public Discourse.

Read “Betsy DeVos urges Congress to reject student loan forgiveness in apparent farewell letter” at CBS News.

• Read “Betsy DeVos resigns as Education Secretary” at The Hill.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Prison Guards Without PPE Are Endangering Lives At Yuma Hospital, Nurses Say” at KJZZ.

Read “Belgian retirement home records 26 COVID-19 deaths after visiting Santa tests positive” at The Hill.

Read “Romney: Lack of comprehensive vaccine distribution plan is 'inexcusable'“ at The Hill.

Read “U.S. Surpasses 20 Million Confirmed Coronavirus Cases” at NPR.

Read “North Korea asks for COVID-19 vaccines from international alliance” at The Hill.

Read (Contradicting the president) “Surgeon General says 'no reason to doubt' COVID-19 death toll number” at The Hill.

Read “Coronavirus latest news: Watch live as Boris Johnson makes announcement on new lockdown rules” at Telegraph.

Read “Federal Data Reveal Which Hospitals Are Dangerously Full This Week. Is Yours?” at NPR.

Read “Georgia's First Reported Case Of COVID-19 Variant Detected In 18-Year-Old” at GPB.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “The tale of two Americas. The S&P 500 gained more than 16 percent in 2020 in a year of steep job losses and widespread financial pain” at Washington Post.

Read “'Steamrolled Us In Every Direction' : The Year Grief Hit From All Sides” at NPR.

Read “Wall Street minted 56 new billionaires since the pandemic began — but many families are left behind” at NBC News.

Read “One dead, several injured in Texas church shooting” at NBC News.

Read “Sherlock Holmes and the case of toxic masculinity: what is behind the detective’s appeal?” at Salon.

Read “U.S. government checks constituted 40% of farmers’ income in 2020: USDA” at Market Watch (EDITOR’S NOTE: I thought the U.S. was against Socialism?)

Read “Google Workers Publicly Launch Union” at Vice.

Read “Grief’s Anatomy” by Hanif Abdurraqib at The Baffler. “Hope awaits organizers like a trap.”

Read ‘How Memorial Tattoos Can Help With The Grieving Process” at Huff Post. “Remembrance tattoos can aid people dealing with loss in more ways than you might realize, according to mental health experts.”

Read “Exporting the U.S. Shale Boom Has Changed Oil Markets Forever” at Bloomberg.

Read The modern US army: unfit for service?” at The Guardian. “Gone are the days of the all-American army hero. These days, the US military is more like a sanctuary for racists, gang members and the chronically unfit.”

Internationalities:

Read “White House announces $3.7bn aid grant for Puerto Rico” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Protests Erupt Again in Senegal Over COVID-19 Curfew” at Okay Africa.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Corporate group urges officials consider Trump's removal 'to preserve democracy'“ at Reuters.

Read “Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward fails (again) to destroy America” at AZ Central.

Read “What we forget about Jimmy Carter's legacy” at CNN.

Read “Trump leaves mark on immigration policy, some of it lasting” at KTAR.

Read “Nancy Pelosi narrowly re-elected as US House speaker” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Fed Returns Money to Treasury for Terminated Emergency Programs” at Bloomberg.

Read ‘We must impeach Trump and bar him from holding office again. Now” at The Guardian.

Read ‘NPR Had The Leaked Trump Tape, Too. Here's What The Newsroom Did With It” at NPR.

Read “After latest failure, Trump legacy to be defined by conduct since election loss” at KTAR.

Read “D.C. Police to contact GOP Rep. Boebert about plans to bring Glock to work” at Politico.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “On Tuesday, an offer of hot chocolate to a shivering voter could become a crime” at AJC.

Read “I just want to find 11,780 votes’: In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor” at Washington Post.

• Read “More Republicans Reject Effort to Disrupt Biden’s Certification” at Bloomberg.

• Read “Wall Street Journal: GOP Electoral College 'stunt' will hurt US, Republican Party” at The Hill.

• Read “‘Questioning’ Is Over: All Living Former Defense Secretaries Decry Election Attacks” at Huff Post. “Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts."

  Read “Chip Roy challenges seating of House members from six presidential battleground states” at The Hill.

• Read ‘Perdue and Loeffler Are Abetting Trump’s Coup Attempt” at Slate. “Their response to the leaked phone call shows how far they’re willing to go.”

• Read “Judge floats sanctions for attorneys who sought to block Congress from counting electoral votes” at The Hill.

• Read “Trump pressures Pence to throw out election results — even though he can't” at Politico.

• Read “Cori Bush introduces legislation to sanction, remove all House members who supported election challenges” at The Hill.

• Read “Trump publicly acknowledges he won't serve a second term a day after inciting mob” at CNN.

• Read “Justice Department warns of national security fallout from Capitol Hill insurrection” at Politico.

• Read “Capitol Attack Leads Democrats to Demand That Trump Leave Office” at New York Times.

• Read “Maryland company terminates employee who wore badge during Capitol rioting” at The Hill.

• Read “Jake Angeli: The Psychedelic Guru Who Stormed The Capitol” at Psymposia.

• Read ‘These Are the Rioters Who Stormed the Nation’s Capitol” at New York Times. “The mob that rampaged the halls of Congress included infamous white supremacists and conspiracy theorists.”

• Read “Some among America's military allies believe Trump deliberately attempted a coup and may have had help from federal law-enforcement officials” at Business Insider.

Read “GOP leaders in Pa. Senate will refuse to seat Democrat certified by state as winner” at Inquirer.

• Read “PA Legislature Descends Into Chaos After Republicans Refuse to Seat Certified Democratic State Senate Winner” at Second Nexus.

• Read “Pa. governor calls GOP refusal to seat Democrat a 'shameful power grab'“ at The Hill.

Read “Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home to a Finance Industry Official Whose Organization Was Lobbying the Senate” at Pro Publica.

Read “Forty Fort man applied for a ballot for his deceased mother, detectives allege” at Citizen’s Voice.

Read “U.S. Capitol In Chaos As Pro-Trump Extremists Breach Building” at NPR.

• Read “4 people died as Trump supporters occupied Capitol; 1 woman shot by police, 3 in medical emergencies” at WWay.

• Read “Back In July, Trump Demanded Capitol Protesters Serve 10 Years In Prison” at Huff Post.

Read “If Trump pardons himself now, he’ll be walking into a trap” at Washington Post.

Music-Related News and Such:

Watch “Five minutes of a mushroom playing a synthesizer” at Boing Boing.

Read “Coltrane, Kamasi and the art of looking both directions at once” at VInyl Factory (from 2018).

Read “Radio-Friendly Unit Shifters” at Slate. “Chris Molanphy talks to veteran Billboard analyst Geoff Mayfield about the Billboard charts in the early SoundScan era.”

Read “You will never forget the music you loved as a 14-year-old. Here’s why.” at A Journal Of Musical Things.

Read “Tens of thousands attend New Zealand festivals without having to socially distance” at NME.

Read “Bad Religion reflects on their 40 years in punk rock, from underground to mainstream” at KCRW.

Read “Bruce Springsteen says he has a “big surprise” coming in 2021” at NME.

Read “'The beauty and the tragedy': Gin Blossoms' founder Doug Hopkins' story being told in film” at AZ Central.

Read “Grammy Awards Postponed as Covid-19 Rages in Los Angeles” at New York Times.

Read “Dr. Dre Suffers Brain Aneurysm. In ICU at L.A. Hospital” at TMZ.

Read “Neil Young Sells 50% Stake of Songwriting Catalog to Hipgnosis” at Pitchfork.

Read “What To Do When A New Record Is Skipping” at Discogs.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “How a Fictional Soccer Coach Showed What the World Should Be” by David French. “Ted Lasso and the simple power of forgiveness.”

• Read “Yes, Ted Lasso Really Is as Delightful as You’ve Heard” at Opus Zine. ‘This endearing Apple TV+ series about an American coaching an English soccer team is one of 2020’s true pop culture highlights.”

Read “Soul Is Pixar at Its Most Unpredictably Weird” at Vulture.

Read “Parents rejoice as Caillou finally meets its long-overdue demise” at AV Club.

Books/Reading/Authors

Browse “Hayao Miyazaki Picks His 50 Favorite Children’s Books” at Open Culture.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Inside the U.S. Army’s Warehouse Full of Nazi Art” at New Yorker.

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Scientists Are Fighting Fire (Ants) With Wasabi” at Atlas Obscura.

Read ‘The Milky Way is probably full of dead civilizations” at Space.

Read “Earth is whipping around quicker than it has in a half-century” at Live Science.

Food Cultures:

Read “'I'm 72 and I Grow Giant Vegetables'“ at Newsweek.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “10 Secure Places to Wait Out the Zombie Apocalypse” at Atlas Obscura.

Local:

Read “Arizona Drivers Get Extra Year To Renew Licenses” at KJZZ. “Arizona is giving drivers an extra year to renew their licenses to minimize in-person visits to Arizona Motor Vehicle Division offices during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Read “Tonto Forest Begins Thinning Project To Reduce Wildfire Risk” at KJZZ.

Read “As Arizona becomes world hot spot, focus put on governor” at Washington Post.

• Read “Video taken by Arizona governor's son at packed party prompts criticism of Ducey” at AZ Central.
  

The Weekly Town Crier (01/01/21)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/01/21).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Guitarist Tony Rice Dead at 69” at Pitchfork.

Read “In Memoriam: Leslie West (1945-2020)” at Jambands.

Read “Pierre Cardin, iconic Space Age fashion designer, dead at 98” at New York Post.

Read “MF DOOM, Elusive Bard of Hip-Hop, Dead at 49” at Rolling Stone.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “From cruise ships to Trump’s hotel, Calvinist Christian nationalism is making moves” at Religion News Service. “Michael O'Fallon argues that America's Judeo-Christian heritage and 'the right of self governance' are under attack by the Open Society Foundation and society at large.”

Read “The Nationalist Roots of White Evangelical Politics” at Dissent. “From its origins, white evangelicalism has been marked by a vision of a Christian America, driven to overcome its perceived enemies.”

Read “The Church Needs Prophets, But It Wants Lawyers” by David French. “It’s time to listen to men and women who tell us what we need to hear.”

Read “RZIM Confirms Ravi Zacharias’s Sexual Misconduct” at Christianity Today.

• Read “RZIM Branch in UK Calls on U.S. Board to “Reform Radically”” at Roys Report.

Read “Several Black pastors break with the Southern Baptist Convention over a statement on race” at Washington Post.

Read “If You Want to Understand White Evangelicals, Tour a Hobby Lobby Store” at Daily Beast. “The merch illustrates a cultural identity that is clearly Christian but less about loving thy neighbor and more about loving thy guns and a militant white masculine ideal.”

Read “How Jesus became white — and why it’s time to cancel that” at Religion News Service. “Nearly a century later, both ‘Head of Christ’ and criticism of its role in enshrining Jesus as white endure.”

Read “CT’s Top 20 Stories of 2020” at Christianity Today.

Read “Mormon church sued for alleged role in Boy Scouts sex abuse” at KBTX.

Read “The path to enlightenment is an ego trip: Meditation and mindfulness linked to narcissism and feelings of 'spiritual superiority', study finds” at Daily Mail.

Read “There’s no theological education pipeline anymore” by Justo L. González at Christian Century. “It’s been replaced by a thriving irrigation hose.”

Read “Los Angeles activists say Sean Feucht is ‘waging biological warfare’ ahead of homeless outreach events” at Religion News Service. “Activists are holding car caravans on Wednesday and New Year’s Eve to block Christian recording artist Sean Feucht from holding outreach events in two homeless communities in Los Angeles.”

• Read “Christian Singer Sean Feucht Moves Ahead With New Year's Eve Concerts in LA Despite COVID-19 Rules” at Billboard.

Read “Justin Bieber reportedly studying to be a minister for Hillsong church” at Page Six.

Read “Jericho March plans DC return in the new year to pray Pence will overturn election” at Religion News Service.

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

Read “Possible human remains found near Nashville explosion site, police chief says” at CNN.

• Read “These six Nashville police officers evacuated residents moments before motor home exploded” at CNN.

• Read “Authorities probing whether Nashville bomber Anthony Warner blew up dogs” at New York Post.

• Read “Investigators reportedly looking into whether Nashville bombing suspect believed in alien lizards” at Task and Purpose.

• Read “Nashville Bomber's Girlfriend Warned Police About Him In 2019” at NPR.

Read “The Economy Isn’t Working. That’s Exactly the Plan.” at Common Dreams. “Inequality is reaching feudal proportions, where very few own almost everything, and everyone else is crushed under the wheel of engineered destitution.”

Read “Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activists Face Prison, Again, After Breaking Into Naval Base” at NPR.

Read “A Woman Attacked a 14-Year-Old Black Boy on Video After She Falsely Accused Him of Stealing Her Phone” at Vice.

Read “Ghislaine Maxwell denied $28.5m bail in sex crime case” at BBC.

Read “Religion, Abortion, Guns And Race. Just The Start Of A New Supreme Court Menu” at NPR.

Read “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs bill requiring fetal remains be buried or cremated” at Cincinnati.com.

This Week With The Police:

Read “What we know about the fatal shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man, by Columbus police” at Columbia Dispatch.

• Read “Ohio police officer fired in fatal shooting of Black man” at AP News.

Read “Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'“ at AZ Central.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Betsy DeVos tells Education Department employees to 'resist' Biden administration, report says” at USA Today.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Covid-19 Aid Bill Remains in Doubt as Congress Braces for Showdown With Trump” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan jailed for 'provoking trouble' with Wuhan reporting” at NBC News.

Read “L.A. County is probing whether a new, more contagious COVID strain is spreading locally” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Still Disinfecting Surfaces? It Might Not Be Worth It” at NPR.

Read “Small Number of Covid Patients Develop Severe Psychotic Symptoms” at New York Times.

Read “If you want to travel next year, you may need a vaccine passport” at CNN.

Read “COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll in America’s mental health-care deserts” at National Geographic.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology and/or “Celebrities”):

Read “Shia LaBeouf to Enter Rehab for Addiction and Psychological Issues” at Consequence of Sound.

Internationalities:

Read “US begins labelling illegal settlement products as 'Made in Israel'“ at Middle East Eye.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Growing number of GOP lawmakers back Electoral College challenge” at The Hill.

Read “Senate filibuster designed to oust Mitch McConnell over $2000 survival aid” at Raw Story.

Read “Georgia signature audit finds no fraud in presidential election” at The Hill.

Read “Ossoff slams Loeffler criticism of Warnock: She's 'been campaigning with a Klansman'“ at The Hill.

Read “Graham calls for stand-alone vote on $2K checks” at The Hill.

Read “Biden's Incoming Press Secretary: Briefings Won't Be A Platform For Right-Wing Spin” at NPR.

Read “Republicans Propping Up the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Borderline Socialist” at Slate.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Trump's final days try to turn the military into a political pawn” at The Hill.

Read “GOP lawmaker sues Pence in bid to overturn Biden win” at The Hill.

• Read “Pence asks judge to toss GOP lawmaker's bid to overturn election results” at The Hill.

Read “Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20” at Pro Publica.

Read “Sen. Josh Hawley Will Contest the Electoral College Vote Count” at Slate.

Music-Related News and Such:

Browse The Allmusic 2020 Year In Review.

Read “Interview: Jeff Tweedy on Creativity and Catharsis” at Relix.

Read “How Music Persisted During the Pandemic” at Pitchfork. “From Bandcamp Fridays to Verzuz battles, these were our silver linings from a strange, stuck year in music.”

Browse “Lee Ranaldo lists his favorite guitarists of all time” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Vinyl Just Had Its Best Sales Week in History” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Ticketmaster To Pay $10 Million Fine Following Songkick Legal Dispute” at Relix.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Nadine Labaki to Star in Arabic ‘Perfect Strangers’ Remake” at Variety.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Photographer Crafts Special Camera To Capture Delicate Snowflakes in the Highest Resolution Ever” at My Modern Net.

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

National Geographic has chosen their favorite photographs of the year:

• Browse “The best science pictures of 2020.”

• Browse “our best animal photos of 2020.”

• Browse “Family Life 2020—in photos.”
  

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Wanted: albino python thieves in Massachusetts” at Boing Boing.

The Weekly Town Crier (12/18/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (12/18/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Charley Pride, country music's first Black superstar, dies at 86 of COVID-19 complications” at Tennessean.

Read “Tony-Winning Broadway Legend Ann Reinking Dies at Age 71” at Broadway.com.

Read “In Memoriam: “Nationally Recognized Tastemaker” Rita Houston (1961-2020)” at Relix.

Read “Jeremy Bulloch, 'Star Wars' actor who played bounty hunter Boba Fett, dies at 75” at USA Today.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “So, Why is Evangelicalism Not Declining? Because Non-Attenders Are Taking On the Label” at Religion In Public.

Read “The Dangerous Idolatry of Christian Trumpism” by David French. “We can pray peace will prevail, but we’d be fools to presume it will.”

Read “What I Saw At The Jericho March” by Rod Dreher at American Conservative.

• Read “A Review of Rod Dreher's Live Not by Lies” at Christian Socialism. “Rod Dreher's back in our feeds because of his heroic stand against crass Trumpists. But aside from some aesthetic and rhetorical differences, Dreher depends on the very industrial fear-mongering complex he's decrying.”

Read “‘Proud Boys’ burn Black Lives Matter signs at churches in Washington” at Religion News Service. “'For me it was reminiscent of cross burnings,' said the Rev. Ianther M. Mills, pastor of a church whose Black Lives Matter sign was burned.”

Read “RZIM Apologist Sends Stunning Letter: Says Ministry Has Lost Trust & Needs to Make “Meaningful Reparations” at Julie Roys.

Read “It’s Desecration, Not Vandalism”" at Slate. “A longtime congregant on the Proud Boys’ violent attacks on Black churches in Washington.”

Read “Racism, Misogyny and Abuse: Why the SBC Keeps Getting it Wrong” at Faith, Philosophy, and Politics.

Read “Biden should reestablish the faith-based office” at Religion News Service.

Read ‘How to Be Pro-Life in Our Real Lives” at Christianity Today. “The Christian call to care for the vulnerable starts with facing the heightened needs in our own communities.”

Read “White evangelicals, don’t just condemn Christian nationalism. Own it.” at Religion News Service. “Piously opposing Trumpism as evil is empty, because it does not deal with white evangelicalism's own racism.”

Read “CA Pastor Charged With Contempt After Holding Indoor Maskless Church Services” at Patheos.

Read “Fifth Jehovah’s Witness receives six-year sentence in Russia for practicing his faith” at Religion News Service.

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

Read “Justices rule Muslim men can sue FBI agents over no-fly list” at Religion News Service.

Read “The Pandemic Gave Men a New Way to Sexually Harass Female Restaurant Workers” at Vice. “Pull that mask down so I can see if I want to take you home later,” one customer told a worker.”

Read “Peter Nygard: Fashion mogul faces sex trafficking charges” at BBC.

Read “Right-Wing Embrace Of Conspiracy Is 'Mass Radicalization,' Experts Warn” at NPR.

Read “Report Finds Federal Execution Numbers Top States' for 1st Time” at NBC Philadelphia.

Read “Trump Twitter ‘hack’: Police accept attacker's claim” at BBC. “Dutch prosecutors have found a hacker did successfully log in to Donald Trump's Twitter account by guessing his password - "MAGA2020!"

Read “Sexual Harassment Isn't a Party Issue, It's a Power Issue” at Men Yell at Me. “Or, how the Iowa Democratic Party promoted a state senator accused of harassment.”

Read “38 states file anti-trust lawsuit against Google” at 12 News.

Read “How did a Proud Boys leader with a felony record get into the White House?” at Salon.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “MAGA Protesters Chant ‘Destroy the GOP’ at Pro-Trump Rally” at Rolling Stone.

Read “1 person shot, 5 arrested after opposing protests turn violent in Olympia” at King 5.

Read “MAGA Marchers and Proud Boys Descend on D.C., Setting Fire to Churches' Black Lives Matter Signs and Getting into Stabbing Fights” at The Root.

This Week With The Police:

Read “To Stop Police Violence, We Need Better Questions — and Bigger Demands” at Medium.

Read “Ex-Cop Held Man at Gunpoint to Search for Fraudulent Ballots That Didn't Exist, Prosecutors Say” at Vice.

• Read “Former Houston police captain accused of violent attempt to prove election conspiracy was hired by GOP activist's group” at Texas Tribune.

Read “The latest tool to help police develop empathy for the public: Virtual reality headsets” at Washington Post.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Harold Budd's Family Confirm Cause Of Death” at The Quietus.

Read “Around America’s ‘Christmas City,’ Rural Churches Left Heartbroken by COVID-19” at Christianity Today.

Read “COVID-19's effects include seizures and movement disorders -- even in some moderate cases, study finds” at AZ Family.

Read “CMA Awards: Unmasked, Indoor Ceremony Raises Questions About COVID-19 Precautions, Producers Cite 'Extremely Diligent' Measures” at TV Line.

Read “Rick Rubin Court Date Set for COVID-19 Quarantine Violation” at Pitchfork.

Read “Dave Ramsey, Christian personal finance guru, defies COVID-19 to keep staff at desks” at Religion News Service.

Read “Arizona has 'all but locked in a humanitarian crisis' ahead of Christmas, expert says” at 12 News. “Dr. Joe Gerald from the University of Arizona said a lack of harsh mitigation tactics have pushed the state into crisis.’

Read “The Mass Distribution of Covid-19 Vaccines Is Under Way. ‘Everything Has to Come Together” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “As U.S. Deaths Surpass 300,000, Obituaries Force Reckoning with Covid” at New York Times.

Read “What The Pandemic Means For The Future Of Movie Theaters” at KJZZ.

Read “Melania Trump breaks children's hospital rules by taking her mask off to read to patients” at CNN.

Read “How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died at the VA” at Pro Publica.

Read “California sheriff refusing to comply with order to release inmates due to COVID” at The Hill.

Read “FDA panel backs Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use in the US” at CNET. “This follows the backing and subsequent authorization of Pfizer's vaccine last week.”

Read “Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko In Quarantine After COVID-19 Exposure” at KJZZ.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris named Time Person of the Year” at CNN.

Read “Tennessee lawmaker pushing for Presidential Medal of Freedom for Dolly Parton” at News Channel 9.

Read “How Rita Moreno Found Dignity and Strength With Her ‘West Side Story’ Role” at Variety. “I was not treated like a serious young actress and that was very hard. It sent me into psychotherapy, which is one of the smartest things I ever did. It taught me that I had to find value in myself.”

Read ‘U.S. needs estimated $4.5 trillion in stimulus to recover, analysis argues” at Yahoo.

Read “Red Flags for Economy as Retail Sales Fall for a Second Month” at New York Times

Read ““A Ray of Sunshine in a Dark Time”: A Look at ‘Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President’” at Relix.

Internationalities:

Read: (Canada) “Federal government to pay for COVID-19 vaccine costs as Canada’s death toll surpasses 13K.”

Read “Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government - sources” at Reuters.

Read “Australia: NSW man charged over allegedly corrupt betting on table tennis” at BBC.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Fox News poll: Majority say US worse off than it was 4 years ago” at The Hill.

Read “House Democrat says 126 Republicans backing Texas election challenge shouldn't be seated” at Washington Examiner.

Read “Chris Christie calls Trump's legal team's legal theory an 'absurdity'“ at The Hill.

Read “Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Last-Minute Request To Toss Election Results” at Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Read “Joe Biden picks Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary” at CNN.

Read “McConnell urges GOP senators not to object to Electoral College vote” at The Hill.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Rep. Katie Porter Exposes 'Corruption In Real Time' After McConnell's Attempts To Tank Relief Bill” at Comic Sands.

Read ‘GOP Lawmakers in Missouri Propose Bills Making It Legal to Hit Protesters With Cars” at Newsweek.

Read “USPS Finally Releases Louis DeJoy’s Calendar — And Everything’s Redacted” at Huff Post.

Read “At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In” at Pro Publica.

Read “The CARES Act Sent You a $1,200 Check but Gave Millionaires and Billionaires Far More” at Pro Publica.

Music-Related News and Such:

2020 Year-End Lists (* = New This Week):

• Browse “Brad's Top 50 Albums of 2020” at Amoeba Music.

• Browse “Aquarium Drunkard :: 2020 Year In Review.” *

• Browse AV Club’s picks for “The 20 best albums of 2020.” *

• Browse Bandcamp’s picks for “The Best Soul of 2020.”

• Browse Clash’s “Clash Albums Of The Year 2020.” *

• Browse “Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020” at Consequence of Sound.

• Browse Crack’s picks for “The Top Albums of 2020.”

• Browse The Fader’s picks for “The 50 best albums of 2020.” *

• Browse “Glide’s 20 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Ted Goia’s picks for “The One Hundred Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Gorilla Vs. Bear’s Albums of 2020.

• Browse the New Yorker’s picks for “The Best Music of 2020” (topped by a 2018 album which I can get behind).'

• Browse the New York Times’ picks for the “Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse NPR’s picks for “The 100 Best Songs Of 2020.”

• Browse NPR’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums Of 2020.”

• Browse Paste’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 30 Best Electronic Music Releases of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 100 Best Songs of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums of 2020.” *

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 35 Best Rock Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 20 Best Music Videos of 2020.”

• Browse “Tunes that kept The World spinning in 2020: A playlist” at PRI. *

• Browse Stereogum’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums Of 2020”.

• Browse Time’s picks for “The 10 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Treble’s picks for the “Top 100 Songs of 2020.”

• Browse Treble’s picks for the “Top 50 Albums of 2020.”

• Browse “The 2020 Uproxx Music Critics Poll.” *

• Browse Vice’s picks for “The 100 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Vinyl Factory’s picks for their “favourite vinyl artwork and packaging of 2020.”

• Browse Yardbarker’s picks for “The 30 best albums of 2020.”

Read “Family affair: Tengger reunite after Covid enforced separation” at The Wire.

Read “FKA twigs sues Shia LaBeouf, alleges sexual battery and assault in new interview” at The Fader.

• Read “Sia Says ‘Pathological Liar’ Shia LaBeouf ‘Conned’ Her ‘Into an Adulterous Relationship’” at Spin.

• Read “What We Know About the Domestic Abuse Allegations Against Shia LaBoeuf” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Harold Budd's Music Was Heaven On Earth” at NPR.

Read “Rapper Lil Wayne pleads guilty to illegal gun possession” at The Hill.

Read “Streaming payments 'threaten the future of music,' says Elbow's Guy Garvey” at BBC.

Read/Listen to “How independent musicians are planning for 2021” at MarketPlace.

Read “‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Drummer Jerry Granelli :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview” at Aquarium Drunkard (REPOST).

Browse “A Visual History of The Rolling Stones Documented in a Beautiful, 450-Page Photo Book by Taschen” at Open Culture.

Browse The Ringer’s picks for “The Top 100 Albums in the Rick Rubin Extended Universe, Ranked.”

Read “An Update on Bandcamp Fridays” at Bandcamp.

Read “Chance the Rapper Says He and Dionne Warwick Are Working on New Music on ‘Colbert’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “H.C. McEntire Delivers Her Masterpiece with 'Eno Axis'“ at Pop Matters.

Read “Emily Eavis says Glastonbury is “a long way” from being able to confirm 2021 festival” at NME.

Read “6 Paths Through Jazz in 2020” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Carlos Santana Launches New Coffee Company” at Jambands.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “The Best Films of 2020” at Flood Magazine.

Books/Reading/Authors

Browse “Christianity Today’s 2021 Book Awards.”

Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “Our 15 Favorite Music Books of 2020.”

Design/Artsy Things:

Take “a Close Look at Basquiat’s Revolutionary Art in a New 500-Page, 14-Pound, Large Format Book by TASCHEN” at Open Culture.

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “‘Cat scratch’ fever may cause human madness, study says” at New York Post.

Read “Kangaroos Can Learn To Communicate With Humans, Researchers Say” at Huff Post.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Mysterious Radio Signal Is Coming From Inside Our Galaxy, Scientists Announce” at Independent.

The Weekly Town Crier (12/11/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (12/11/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dead at 97” at KREM.

Read “Howard Wales on Jerry Garcia, ‘Hooteroll?’ and Beyond” at Relix. “On December 7, 2020 keyboard iconoclast Howard Wales passed away. Here is a look back at our 2017 piece on Wales.”

Read “US composer Harold Budd dies aged 84” at The Guardian.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Senator Manchin, Your Faith Teaches You Better Than This” at The Nation by William J Barber II.

Read “Thomas Jefferson Tried to ‘Fix’ the Bible. He Only Succeeded in Making It Sad.” at Christianity Today.

Read “Southern Baptists Keep Quarreling Over Critical Race Theory” at Christianity Today.

Read “Disgraced Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz might get payoff despite ‘multiple affairs’” at Page Six.

• Read “The Rise and Fall of Carl Lentz, the Celebrity Pastor of Hillsong Church” at New York Times.

• Read “The Crisis of Christian Celebrity” by David French at The Dispatch.

• Read “The sad irony of celebrity pastors” at The Spectator. “Instead of making me want to become more like them, it looks very much as if they want to become more like me.”

• Read “The Celebrity Pastor Problem Is Every Church’s Struggle” at Christianity Today.

Read “St. John Paul II Did Not Change Catholic Teaching on Capital Punishment: A Reply to E. Christian Brugger” at Public Discourse.

Read “Looted Nazi Art Again Before Supreme Court” at NPR.

Read “Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning of race” at Religion News Service.

Read “It’s time to end ‘name and shame’ religious freedom policy” at Religion News Service. ”President-elect Biden and his foreign policy aides need to focus on a broader strategy of religious engagement.”

Read “In Which I Stop Saving Myself for Marriage” at Fathom.

Read “Church in The Woodlands where woman was abused will not face repercussions from SBC” at Houston Chronicle.

Read “New Labor Department rule expands religious exemption for federal contractors” at Religion News Service.

Read “The Mandalorian’ is an indictment of holy wars, and a celebration of pluralism” at Religion News Service.

Read “Leonard Cohen on Christianity” by David Dark.

Read “Sacred Tension: Overcoming the Faith Cartel with David Dark” at Stephen Bradford.

Read “The Decline of the Christian Consensus” at National Review.

Read “With vaccines on the horizon, faith leaders could play a crucial role in promoting their use” at Religion News Service.

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

Read “The House Just Voted to Decriminalize Weed” at Vice. “In a historic first, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to end the federal ban on cannabis. Senate Republicans are unlikely to take it up.”

• Read “Matt Gaetz warns GOP that arguments against legalizing marijuana increasingly unpopular” at The Hill.

• Read ‘Why So High? More Than Half the Cost to Legalize Weed in VA Goes to Police, Report Says.” at Dogwood.

Read “Leader of the Pro-Black ‘NFAC’ Militia Arrested and Charged by Feds” at Vice. “John Fitzgerald Johnson, aka Grand Master Jay, could get up to 20 years for pointing his gun at authorities.”

Read “Gun violence has become a disturbing public health crisis. The Biden administration must step in and immediately do something about it” at Business Insider.

Read “This Is the Case That Could Bring Down Roe v. Wade” at Vice. “Amy Coney Barrett has only been a Supreme Court justice for a few weeks, and she’s already facing a test on abortion.”

Read “14 Fort Hood soldiers fired, suspended over violence at base” at Associated Press.

Read “Michael Flynn judge says pardon doesn’t mean ex-national security adviser is innocent” at Washington Post.

Read “Black Michigan Lawmaker Got Racist Threats for Calling Out Giuliani's Lies” at Vice.

Read “U.S. Justice Department To Investigate Killing Of Casey Goodson Jr.” at WOSU.

Read “DC attorney general sends cease-and-desist letter to DoorDash over premium service” at The Hill.

Read “6 Dark Places Aleister Crowley Performed His Particular Brand of Magick” at Atlas Obscura.

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

Read “Virginia Military Institute Removes Confederate ‘Stonewall’ Jackson Statue” at Huff Post.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Hong Kong police arrest 8 activists over anti-government protests” at The Hill.

Read “Portland mayor authorizes ‘all lawful means’ to clear protesters from occupied area on Mississippi Ave.” at Oregon Public Broadcasting.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Law Enforcement Took More Stuff From People Than Burglars Did Last Year” at Washington Post.

Read “Hartford detective demoted, suspended for suggesting bet on first homicide of 2021” at NBC News. “The Hartford police chief said the text "represents an appalling lack of judgment" and "an extreme insensitivity toward our community."

Read “Providing police with military gear does not reduce crime or protect officers” at ABC News.

Read “The Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them” at Pro Publica.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Paradise Valley Superintendent Dr. Jesse Welsh and his family harassed, threatened over school closures” at ABC 15.

Read “Jill Biden to advocate for debt-free community college as next first lady” at The Hill.

Read “Male Texas teen suspended from school for wearing nail polish” at The Hill.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Oregon doctor's license revoked over refusal to wear mask during pandemic” at NBC News.

Read “Trump announces Rudy Giuliani has Covid” at NBC News.

• Read “Witness Mellissa Carone says she's not self-quarantining after Giuliani's COVID-19 diagnosis” at The Hill.

• Read “Giuliani from hospital calls COVID-19 'a curable disease'“ at The Hilli.

Read “Tipped Service Workers Are More Vulnerable Amid Pandemic Harassment Spike” at NPR.

Listen to “Wrecking Public Trust” at The Gist. “Those who downplayed the virus because their brand is contrarianism have greatly damaged our ability to recover.”

Listen to “Anti-Vax Ideas Have Metastasized in 2020” at WNYC.

• Read “Vaccine opponents rebrand as rollout of Covid-19 shots looms” at Politico.

Read “A whistleblower says the FDA isn’t properly regulating vaccine facilities” at PBS News Hour.

Read/Listen to “Iris Meda Came Out Of Retirement To Teach Nursing. She Died Of COVID-19 After Exposure From Student” at WBUR.

Read ‘Wyoming Governor Issues Statewide Mask Mandate” at Wall Street Journal.

Read ‘Canada preparing to administer COVID-19 vaccine this month” at The Hill.

Read “Arizona legislature shuts down after Giuliani tests positive for coronavirus” at The Hill.

• Read “'Cowardly' say some Arizona Republicans of their leaders following closure of Legislature” at AZ Central.

Read “Yes, some Americans may be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine but not by the federal government” at USA Today.

Read “How were COVID-19 vaccines made so fast? Scientists had a huge head start” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “How big could a COVID baby bust be?” at Market Place.

Read “Arizona Businesses Navigating Liability Issues Related To COVID-19” at KJZZ.

Read “Ohio club cited for Covid violations after 500 people attend indoor Trey Songz concert” at NBC News.

Read “COVID-19 hospitalizations exploded the week of Nov. 6. They still haven't slowed down” at 12 News.

Read “Pastor Celebrates COVID Outbreak at Church: “THE FAVOR OF GOD IS ON THIS HOUSE!”” at Patheos.

Read “West Wing fears COVID spread after Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis attends WH party” at Axios.

Read “Americans Aren’t Actually Quarantining” at The Atlantic.

Read/Listen to “Boston Reverend Enlists Dr. Fauci To Help Black Community Get Behind COVID-19 Vaccine” at WBUR.

Read “The Danger of Assuming That Family Time Is Dispensable” at The Atlantic. “Americans who are desperate to see their loved ones need advice that goes beyond “Just say no.”

Read “The FDA says Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is safe and effective. But trial participants warn of intense symptoms after second shot” at NBC New York.

Read “'How a picture of my foot became anti-vaccine propaganda'“ at BBC.

Read “'A slap in the face': Yuma hospital fires ER doctor for talking about COVID-19” at AZ Central.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Browse “20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths And Psychopaths Use To Silence You” at Thought Catalog.

Read “Chick-fil-A Sues Poultry Suppliers, Alleging Price-Fixing” at Wall Street Journal. “Lawsuit adds one of the U.S. chicken industry’s biggest customers to expanding litigation that alleges long-running collusion among poultry processors.”

Read “Guy Fieri, the Fundraiser of Flavortown” at Bloomberg. “Guy Fieri has raised $21.5 million for unemployed restaurant workers, which means Guy Fieri has done more for unemployed restaurant workers than Congress has in the last 8 months.”

Read “Breakdancing to become an Olympic sport, will debut at Paris in 2024” at Boston Globe.

Read “Uber, After Years of Trying, Is Handing Off Its Self-Driving Car Project” at New York Times.

Read “The FTC is suing Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp” at The Verge.

Read “Time Nominates “Racial Justice Movement” As Person Of The Year” at Okay Player.

Read “Disney Increases Layoff Plans to 32,000 Employees in First Half of 2021” at Variety.

Internationalities:

Read “How will US President-elect Biden deal with Iran?” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Iran Says Scientist Was Killed Using Satellite-Controlled Gun” at Bloomberg.

Read “Argentina passes new tax on wealthiest people to pay for cost of coronavirus pandemic” at BBC.

Read “Greek police detain dozens to stop march in memory of slain teen” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Senior Saudi Prince Blasts Israel at Security Conference” at Bloomberg.

Read “Major Jewish Group Joins Fight Against Trump’s Massive Middle East Weapons Sale” at Huff Post.

Read “Mexican president proposes stripping immunity from US agents” at The Hill.

Read “Civilians killed in air strikes in Afghanistan soars by more than 300%” at BBC.

Read “Denmark apologises to children taken from Greenland in a 1950s social experiment” at BBC.

Read “Archaeologists find vast network of Amazon villages laid out like the cosmos” at Live Science.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Barr Is Said to Be Weighing Whether to Leave Before Trump’s Term Ends” at New York Times.

Read “Biden will pick California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead Health and Human Services” at NBC News.

Read “Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin to run Pentagon” at Politico.

Read “Trump’s Election Attack Ends December 14—Whether He Knows It or Not” at Wired.

• Read “Trump's election push causing long-term damage, experts say” at The Hill.

• Read “Arizona GOP Dragged After Suggesting Trump Will Be 'Inaugurated for His Second Term' on January 20th” at Second Nexus.

Read “Today marks an important Electoral College deadline. Here's why that's bad news for Trump” at USA Today.”

Read “Deficit climbs 25 percent to $430 billion through November” at The Hill.

Read “Biden's Victory Cemented As States Reach Key Electoral College Deadline” at NPR.

Read “Mitch McConnell is destroying the case for Georgia’s GOP senators” at Washington Post.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Pompeo spent over $40,000 in taxpayer funds for State Dept dinners” at The Hill.

Read “Trump Trade Adviser Violated Hatch Act With Biden Attacks, Watchdog Says” at Huff Post.

Read “ER doctor who criticized Trump's actions to be removed from Walter Reed schedule” at CBS News. “Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who publicly criticized President Trump's decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October, has been removed from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's schedule starting in January, according to sources familiar with the situation.”

Read “Armed Mexicans Were Smuggled In to Guard Border Wall, Whistle-Blowers Say” at New York Times.

Read “Agents raid home of ousted Florida health scientist who accused state of manipulating data” at The Hill.

• Read “Republican lawyer resigns appointed state post over treatment of data analyst” at Miami Herald.

• Read “Florida’s justification for raiding COVID data whistleblower Rebekah Jones is looking a little shaky” at The Verge.

This week in the GOP Election Kerfuffle:

• Read “Election Lawsuits Withdrawn Under Threat Of Sanctions” at KJZZ.

• Read “Cruz offers to argue Pennsylvania election case before Supreme Court” at The Hill.

• Read “Texas sues states Biden won in Supreme Court, seeking to delay Electoral College vote” at The Hill.

• Read “Trump Asked Pennsylvania House Speaker About Overturning His Loss” at New York Times.

• Read “Hobbs Begins Recovering Taxpayers' Funds From AZGOP For Defending Trump Election Challenges; Gloves Come Off” at AZ Law.

• Read “US Supreme Court rebuffs attempt to block Biden’s win in Pennsylvania” at Financial Times.

Read “1,500 Attorneys Call On Bar Associations To Condemn Trump Campaign Lawyers” at Huff Post.

Read ‘More voters say pardons for Trump's family would be inappropriate” at The Hill.

Read “After Democrats flip state, Georgia moves to shut down early voting locations ahead of Senate runoff” at Salon.

Read “Trump Roasted For Bragging That 'Bookies' Favoring Him On Election Night Is Proof That He Won” at Comic Sands.

Read “Rush Limbaugh Says Conservative States Are 'Trending Toward Secession' From U.S.” at Newsweek.

Read “The GOP Abandons Democracy” at The Atlantic. “One hundred and six members of Congress, and 18 state attorneys general, are asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election.”

Music-Related News and Such:

2020 Year-End Lists:

• Browse “Brad's Top 50 Albums of 2020” at Amoeba Music.

• Browse Bandcamp’s picks for “The Best Soul of 2020.”

• Browse “Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020” at Consequence of Sound.

• Browse Crack’s picks for “The Top Albums of 2020.”

• Browse “Glide’s 20 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Ted Goia’s picks for “The One Hundred Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Gorilla Vs. Bear’s Albums of 2020.

• Browse the New Yorker’s picks for “The Best Music of 2020” (topped by a 2018 album which I can get behind).'

• Browse the New York Times’ picks for the “Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse NPR’s picks for “The 100 Best Songs Of 2020.”

• Browse NPR’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums Of 2020.”

• Browse Paste’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 30 Best Electronic Music Releases of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 100 Best Songs of 2020.”

• Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Stereogum’s picks for “The 50 Best Albums Of 2020”.

• Browse Time’s picks for “The 10 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Treble’s picks for the “Top 100 Songs of 2020.”

• Browse Treble’s picks for the “Top 50 Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Vice’s picks for “The 100 Best Albums of 2020.”

• Browse Vinyl Factory’s picks for their “favourite vinyl artwork and packaging of 2020.”

• Browse Yardbarker’s picks for “The 30 best albums of 2020.”

Browse “The 2020 No Depression Guide to Holiday Music That Doesn’t Suck.”

Read “So, How Was Your 2020, Thurston Moore?’ at Rolling Stone. “Former Sonic Youth singer and guitarist reflects on the music, books, TV, and movies that helped him get through this year.”

Browse “The 35 Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years, Picked by 35 Well-Known Artists” at Spin.

Read “The Cultural Impact of the Technics SL-1200 Turntable, Then and Now” at Discogs.

Read “Why You Should Listen to John Fahey’s Christmas Music—Even If You Hate Christmas Music” at Pitchfork.

Read (and listen to) “Frozen Fingers :: An American Primitive Holiday Meditation” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Browse Louder Sound’s picks for “The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever.”

Read “‘Gimme Shelter’ at 50: How The Rolling Stones Got Conquered By America” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Here’s The Story Of The 1970s Most Forgotten Funk Star” at Okay Player.

Read “Bob Dylan Sells Songwriting Catalog to Universal Music Publishing” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Wait, Bob Dylan Owned ‘The Weight’? An Explainer” at Rolling Stone. “In selling his own catalog to Universal Music, Dylan also sold the publishing rights of the Band’s first album Music From Big Pink — thanks to a peculiar arrangement that goes back to 1967.”

• Read “Bob Dylan’s Overlooked Christian Music” at Sojourners.

Read “Sinéad O’Connor Announces Memoir Rememberings” at Pitchfork.

Browse “An introduction to Don Cherry in 10 records” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Neil Young Drops Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Campaign” at Pitchfork.

Read “Fiona Apple Explains How She Ended Up On Bob Dylan’s New Album And The “Tramp Stamp” She Got For David Blaine” at Stereogum.

Read “Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir Is Suing Him For $1 Million For Unpaid Wages” at The Jasmine Brand.

Read “Without Music, I Wouldn’t Have Been Able to Navigate My Breakups” at Vice.

Read “Ethan Hawke On How Music Shaped His Film Career” at Pitchfork.

Read “‘Take Five’ Is Impeccable. ‘Time Outtakes’ Shows How Dave Brubeck Made It.” at New York Times.

Read “Fiona Apple on How She Broke Free and Made the Album of the Year” at Pitchfork.

Read “Pharrell Discovered His Synesthesia Listening To A Tribe Called Quest” at Okay Player.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Why an All-Streaming Movie World Won’t Look Like You Think It Will” at Variety.

Read “Netflix says it won't add disclaimer to 'The Crown'“ at The Hill.

Read “Mario Lopez plays sexy Colonel Sanders in Lifetime movie, because it's 2020” at CNet.

Read “Culture Clash: Warner Bros.’ HBO Max Move Signals New Day in Hollywood” at Variety.

Browse Vulture’s picks for the “Best Movies of 2020.”

Read “John Mulaney and Andy Samberg are your new Chip 'N Dale, we guess” at AV Club.

Read “‘Moana: The Series’ Set for 2023 on Disney Plus” at Variety.

Read “John Lurie Returns to TV in New HBO Series ‘Painting With John’” at Variety.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Yes, Roald Dahl was a Jew-hater” at Religion News Service. “The family of the late British novelist and screenwriter has given the Jewish people an early Hanukkah gift: an apology.”

Browse Los Angeles Times’ picks for “The Ten Best Books of 2020.”

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “What is the largest desert on earth?” at Universal Sci.

Read “Everest Gets an Altitude Adjustment: Nepal and China Agree on Height” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “A New Report Says Microwave Attacks Caused Mystery Illnesses In US Diplomats. Scientists Say That Makes No Sense” at Buzzfeed News.

Read “So You Think You Know Gravity? Let Us Drop Some Knowledge” at Wired.

Read “Former Israeli military leader opens up about contact with "Galactic Federation" of aliens” at Boing Boing.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Giant Penis Sculpture Disappears from German Mountaintop” at Vice.

Read “Mysterious Monolith Update: Racists Destroy California Monolith, Proclaim Christ Superior to Space Aliens” at Vice.

Read “How a Young Eagle Huntress Kicks Butt at a Kazakh Tradition” at Atlas Obscura.

Local:

Read “Effort To Recall Ducey Gains Unlikely Support From Paul Gosar” at KJZZ.

Read “'Shut the hell up': Arizona GOP at war over Trump's election loss” at MSNBC.

Read “Arizona gets $1.4 million in nationwide settlement with a mortgage servicer” at KTAR.

The Weekly Town Crier (11/27/20)

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 (11/20/20)

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

Religion and Stuff:

Read ‘The Evangelical Reckoning Begins” at The Atlantic. “Andy Stanley, the pastor of one of the largest megachurches in the country, ponders the future of an influential corner of American Christianity.”

Read “How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps” at Vice. “A Muslim prayer app with over 98 million downloads is one of the apps connected to a wide-ranging supply chain that sends ordinary people's personal data to brokers, contractors, and the military.”

Read “What the Study of Religion Can Teach Us About Psychedelics” at Harvard’s Bill of Health website.

Read as Christian Century wonders “How do we grieve the hundreds of thousands of people the COVID-19 pandemic has killed?”

Read “William Barr and the politics of death” at Religion News Service. “We are not executing the ‘worst of the worst,’ as some may believe, but the poorest of the poor, and disproportionately people of color.”

Read “Never the Same Twice: Grace and the (Divinely) Inspired World of Jazz” at Mockingbird.

Read “Vatican Launches Probe After Pope’s Insta Account Likes Very Risqué ‘School Girl’ Pic” at Daily Beast.

Read “Five faith facts about former President Barack Obama’s new book: ‘A Promised Land’ at Religion News Service.

Read “Pastors Launch Church-Planting Network for ‘Black and Brown Neighborhoods’” at Christianity Today.

Read “Chicago church releases a beer for Advent — and the end of the world” at Religion News Service.

Read “Carl Lentz and the ‘hot pastor’ problem” at Religion News Service. “Maybe the problem isn’t hot pastors like Lentz but a toxic megachurch culture that makes narcissism a prerequisite.”

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

Read “The far right is cracking up, as their violent fantasies of Trump's fascist takeover evaporate” at Salon.

Read “University of California agrees to $73M sex abuse settlement over former UCLA gynecologist” at NBC News.

Read “Trump's legal adviser Jenna Ellis in 2016 called him an 'idiot' and said his supporters didn't care about 'facts or logic'“ at CNN.

Read “Rudy Giuliani Isn’t Even Trying to Make Coherent Legal Arguments Anymore” at Slate.

Read “Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer” at ABC7 Chicago. “Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer reveal their Plan B was to takeover the Michigan capitol building with 200 combatants, who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials.”

Read “7 Ways Biden Could Go It Alone on Gun Violence Prevention” at The Trace.

Read “Make fun of the "Million MAGA March" all you want — white supremacy has not been defeated” at Salon.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Prosecutors say Chauvin kept his knee on teenager’s back for 17 minutes in 2017, while the boy said ‘I can’t breathe’” at Minnesota Reformer.

Read “ACLU, Activist Groups Denounce Prosecutions of Anti Police Brutality Protesters” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Suburban Milwaukee Police Officer Who Has Killed 3 People Since 2015 Set To Resign” at NPR.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “When Schools Closed, Americans Turned to Their Usual Backup Plan: Mothers” at New York Times.

Read “Nicola Sturgeon insists schools in Scotland must stay open even in level 4 lockdown areas” at Daily Record.

Read “Mississippi governor calls for spending $3 million on 'Patriotic Education Fund'“ at The Hill.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “More than 130 Secret Service officers are said to be infected with coronavirus or quarantining in wake of Trump’s campaign travel” at Washington Post.

Read “Super-spreading wedding party demonstrates COVID-19 risk posed by holiday gatherings” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Denver bar owner dies after second battle with COVID-19, cancer” at 9News.

Read “‘No One Is Listening to Us’” at The Atlantic. “More people than ever are hospitalized with COVID-19. Health-care workers can’t go on like this.”

Read ‘Utah Valley Hospital strained by conspiracy theorists trying to enter ICU” at KSL.

Read “Billionaire Medadoners Who Fought Wisconsin’s Plans To Contain Pandemic Get Infected At White House” at Milwaukee Independent.

Read “On Fox News, Dr. Scott Atlas encourages large holiday gatherings: “For many people this is their last Thanksgiving” at Media Matters.

Read as Marketplace wonders “How might COVID-19 vaccine makers compete in the marketplace?”

Read “Alabama Sorority Gets Official Blessing for 600-Person Farm Party Just in Time for Holidays” at Daily Beast.

Read “Dolly Parton partly funded Moderna Covid vaccine research” at The Guardian.

Read “GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa tests positive for Covid-19” at CNN.

Read “Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Trump’s response to the pandemic: ‘Frankly, he hasn’t been any help’” at MSNBC.

Read “Trump’s post-election tantrum is holding up federal vaccine planning” at The Verge.

Read “What we know about face masks has changed. Here's what experts say and which states mandate masks” at USA Today.

Read “FDA Approves First At-Home Coronavirus Test” at KCRW.

Read “McEnany calls state coronavirus restrictions for Thanksgiving 'Orwellian'“ at The Hill.

Read “Tyson managers bet money on how many workers would contract COVID-19” at Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Read “CDC urges Americans against traveling for Thanksgiving as coronavirus outbreak worsens” at CNBC.

Read “U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 250,000” at National Review.

Read “Ben Carson says he used unproven COVID-19 treatment recommended by MyPillow CEO” at The Hill.

Read “Biden calls for national mask mandate to fight COVID-19” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Reporters Blow Up at Covid Task Force For Ducking Questions at End of” at Mediaite.

Read “Tennessee mayor won’t require COVID masks until Holy Spirit says so” at Alabama.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Trump's next move might be even more dangerous than his presidency” at MSNBC. “Trump's term is ending, but the fight against the extremism he stirred up is far from over.”

Read “The invention of mirrors and why they matter” at Boing Boing.

Read “BuzzFeed to Acquire HuffPost in Stock Deal With Verizon Media” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Big Retailers Made Nearly $15 Billion During the Pandemic, But Most Halted Hazard Pay” at Public Citizen.

Read “Now More Than Ever, Brandon Stanton Makes People Feel Less Alone” at New York Times.

Internationalities:

Read “Russia moves to protect Putin from prosecution” at BBC. “The Russian parliament's lower house - the Duma - has backed a bill granting Russian presidents and their families immunity from criminal prosecution after they leave office.”

Read “Israel scrambles to expand settlement in anticipation of changing U.S. policy under Biden” at Globe and Mail.

Read “Pompeo makes unprecedented visits to Israeli settlement in West Bank and Golan” at BBC.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists’ at Time.

Read “The End of Trump? Biden & Harris Claim Victory in Historic Election, Vowing to Heal Divided Nation” at Democracy Now.

Read “Trump Sought Options for Attacking Iran to Stop Its Growing Nuclear Program” at New York Times.

Read the opinion piece “Republicans are letting Trump wage war on democracy” at Washington Post.

Read “Joe Biden wins Georgia, flipping the state for Democrats” at AP News.

Read “Rahm Emanuel under consideration to become Biden's transportation secretary” at CNN.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money” at Local 10.

Read “Sore loser or victim? Trump voters struggle with president’s role in defeat” at Washington Post. "A majority of Republican voters — 70 percent — say the election was unfair, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll"

Read “Trump Administration Ending Like It Began: Lying About Crowd Size” at Slate.

Read “Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude legal ballots” at Washington Post. “Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he has come under increasing pressure from fellow Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, to question the validity of legally cast absentee ballots in an effort to reverse Trump's loss.”

• Read “Graham says he's talked to officials in two states about election” at The Hill. “After Graham told reporters that he spoke with election officials, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) said on Twitter that Graham had not spoken with her.”

  • Read “Graham faces questions for reaching out to GA election official” at MSNBC.

  • Read “Lindsey Graham’s Alleged Attempt to Toss Georgia Ballots Is Felony Election Fraud” at Slate.

• Read “Trump Fires Election Security Director Who Corrected Voter Fraud Disinformation” at NPR. “President Trump has fired Christopher Krebs, a top cybersecurity official who affirmed the security of the election and rebutted rumors and baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud that Trump promoted.”

• Read “Trump Doesn't Have To Win In Court To Erode Trust In Voting” at NPR.

  • Read “'People will stop believing in the process.' Why Donald Trump's Legal Strategy Is Dangerous Even If It's Likely to Fail” at Time. “Rudy Giuliani, to the chagrin of many, is candidly telling associates the goal of the campaign's lawsuits is sow enough doubt among GOP that legislatures in swing states punt and appoint their own electors”

• Read “Trump Supporters Echo False Claims of Fraud: Election Update” at Bloomberg.

• Read “Trump Campaign Attorneys Admit ‘There Is No Evidence’ of ‘Any Fraud’ in Connection with Challenged Ballots in Bucks County, Pa” at Law and Crime.

• Read “Trump’s Strategy for Contesting the Election: Throw Out Black People’s Votes” at Mother Jones.

• Read “Michigan Republican leaders going to White House Friday; Trump calls GOP canvassers” at Chicago Tribune.

• Read “Illinois Sen. Duckworth says 'silence is deafening' from Republicans on Trump's election maneuvers” at Yahoo News.

• Read “Inside Rudy Giuliani's attempt to sow chaos on behalf of Trump and steal the election” at CNN.

• Read “'Did you all watch My Cousin Vinny?' Sweating Rudy Giuliani presents 'evidence' for 'massive voting fraud' as hair dye runs down his face - alongside 'elite legal strike force' who claim Joe Biden's win is a Venezuelan plot they uncovered on the internet” at Daily Mail.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires Exit Country Music Association After 2020 CMAs Didn’t Honor John Prine” at Pitchfork.

Read ‘Melvins Announce New Album Working With God, Share “I F**k Around” and “Bouncing Rick” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Morrissey and BMG Part Ways” at Pitchfork. “Morrissey accused the label of dictating “how their artists should behave”.

Read “Run The Jewels Release “No Save Point” Video, Announce Craft Beer Collaboration” at Treble.

Read “Electrosoul's SAULT Center Themselves Around Blackness on 'UNTITLED (Black Is)'“ at Pop Matters.

Read “Guitar Center Is Officially Filing for Bankruptcy” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Bandcamp Launches New Livestreaming Service for Artists” at Pitchfork.

Read “Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Has Become One Of The Internet’s Most Popular Subgenres; Is Slowed & Reverb Next?” at Okay Player.

Read “Anti-Flag release vol. 2 of new protest/benefit single ft. Tom Morello, Marcia of The Skints & more” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Why Is The Obscure B-Side “Harness Your Hopes” Pavement’s Top Song On Spotify? It’s Complicated” at Stereogum.

Read “How Elektra Records ushered in the alternative music revolution—and then helped kill it” at AV Club.

Read “It Is Time For The Youth To Wake Up!" Songhoy Blues Interviewed” at Clash Music.

Read “Steve Earle Covers Justin Townes Earle’s “Harlem River Blues” for Upcoming Memorial Record” at Jambands.

Read “How Leonard Cohen Haunted the Trump Era” at Pitchfork.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “John Mulaney joins Seth Meyers’ ‘Late Night’ writing staff” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Nelly Cast as Chuck Berry in New Buddy Holly Biopic” at Pitchfork.

Design/Artsy Things:

Watch “this expert apple sculptor create juicy delights” at Boing Boing.

Read “Art Yard publishes Sun Ra inspired photography book” at The Wire.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Public Health/Etc.:

Read “Vaccine Group Hits $2 Billion 2020 Goal for Low, Middle Income Nations” at Bloomberg.

Read “World's only known white giraffe fitted with tracker to deter poachers” at BBC.

Read “Japanese town enlists terrifying robot wolves to protect them from bears” at Boing Boing.

Read “Technology Promises Connection, but Gen Z Sees a Paradox” at Barna.

Local:

Read “As Stores Close At Phoenix’s Paradise Valley Mall, Future Plans Grow” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (11/13/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (11/13/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Alex Trebek, long-running 'Jeopardy!' host, dead at 80” at CNN.

Read “Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., Trump’s Evangelical Adviser, Dies At 66” at Black Enterprise.

Religion and Stuff:

Read ‘Sexy swingers club or ‘church’: Who gets to decide?” at Religion News Service. “Rooms labeled as dungeons in remodeling plans for The Social Club have been renamed as "choir" and "handbell" space in the revamped United Fellowship Center. Courts may decide the sincerity of that conversion.”

Read “Evangelical asylum-seekers stuck in Mexico hold prayer vigil for the US election” at Religion News Service. “'Their lives and the lives of the children depend on the outcome of the election,' said Alma Ruth, founder of the Texas-based Practice Mercy Foundation.”

Read “Stressed by COVID, online seekers discover Buddhism’s calming practice” at Religion News Service. “Buddhist teachings about suffering and the impermanence of all things, many find, have particular relevance in this moment.”

Read “Conservatives value personal stories more than liberals do when evaluating scientific evidence” at The Conversation.

Read “Worse than bungling, McCarrick report shows Vatican failed to take abuse seriously” at Religion News Service.

Read “Is the Pastor Carl Lentz Fallout Just Beginning?” at Vanity Fair.

Read “Amid cries for church unity post-election, some Christians say ‘Not so fast’” at Religion News Service.

Read “Evangelical Advisers Back Trump’s Challenges of Election, but Stop Short of Alleging Fraud” at Roys Report.

Read “In a less religious country, Biden gained ground with religious voters” at Religion News Service.

Read “On Evangelical Masculinities” at The Revealer. “A review of Jesus and John Wayne and a reflection on evangelicals, masculinity, and race.”

Read “Joe Biden, president-elect at last, was shaped by a very American Catholic faith” at Religion News Service.

Read “Biden pledges to raise refugee ceiling to 125,000 in address to Jesuit group” at Religion News Service.

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

Read “'Remain in Mexico' policy: My foster daughter was separated from her family at the border” at USA Today.

Read “Would a Former President Get Secret Service Protection in Prison?” at Slate.

Read “Digital misogyny: Online abuse of women surges during COVID” at Al Jazeera.

Read “NASCAR Driver Indefinitely Suspended Over Swastika Tweet” at The Algemeiner.

Read “Judge dismisses Trump's libel lawsuit against CNN” at The Hill.

Read “White House press secretary refers question to the White House” at MSNBC.

Read “An Engineer Gets 9 Years for Stealing $10M From Microsoft” at Wired.

Read “Appeals Court Rules Harvard Doesn't Discriminate Against Asian American Applicants” at NPR.

Read “Zuckerberg defends not suspending ex-Trump aide Bannon from Facebook: recording” at Reuters.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Arkansas police chief resigns after threatening to abuse Democrats” at USA Today.

Read “Police, county attorney's office hide 738,000 records in Kentucky sex abuse case” at Tennessean.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “How Are We Going to Get Through the Next Two Months of COVID?” at Slate. “Even if Biden wins, we still have two months of Trump’s pandemic.”

Read “Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Infected With Coronavirus” at Bloomberg.

Read “After COVID-19 Diagnosis, Nearly 1 In 5 Are Diagnosed With Mental Disorder” at NPR. “1 in 5 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 is diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within 3 months, a new study finds. But the link goes further: people with psychiatric diagnoses were about 65% more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19. It's unclear why.”

Read “Biden’s ready to start his pandemic response immediately” at Stat News.

Read “Trump adviser overseeing campaign legal challenges gets coronavirus, sources say” at CNN.

Read “Two White House Aides, Guest of Giuliani Test Positive for Virus” at Bloomberg.

Read “Wear Masks To Protect Yourself From The Coronavirus, Not Only Others, CDC Stresses” at NPR.

Read “Ukraine's President Hospitalized With COVID-19” at NPR.

Read “At dinner parties and game nights, casual American life is fueling the coronavirus surge" at Washington Post.

Read “Nicola Sturgeon says Scots could get coronavirus vaccine 'by end of 2020'“ at Daily Record.

Read “Some Chicago Cops Still Won’t Wear Masks Despite 1,200 COVID Infections — Will A New PSA Actually Help?” at Block Club Chicago.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Douglas Emhoff to become America's first second gentleman” at CNN.

Read “Mississippi legislator apparently floats secession after Biden victory” at The Hill.

Read “Today’s Authoritarian Leaders Aren’t Fascists—But They Are Part of the Same Story” at Time.

Read “I Put My Baby’s Urine In It” – Mike Tyson Pleads Guilty to Cheating” at Essentially Sports.

Read ‘Zoom Will Increase Its Security After FTC Alleges It Misled Its Users” at Slate.

Read “Jon Voight says fighting 'lie' Biden won is 'greatest fight since the Civil War'“ at The Hill.

Read ‘Trump’s Defeat Didn’t Stop His ‘Ban’ on Modern Architecture” at Bloomberg. “The president never signed a controversial “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” executive order. But a neoclassical-only building mandate is still happening.”

Read “Cannabis farms struggle to survive California wildfires without insurance” at Cronkite News.

Read “These companies are helping working parents navigate an impossible situation” at Fast Company.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read ‘Joe Biden Wins The 2020 Presidential Election” at Okay Player.

• Read “Donald Trump’s statement in full after Joe Biden declared winner Trump says presidential race is far from over, accuses Biden’s ‘media allies’ of hiding the truth” at Al Jazeera.

Read “The Green New Deal Didn't Sink Democrats” at Gizmodo.

Read “Trump commission did not find widespread voter fraud” at Associated Press.

Read “The Slow-Motion Humiliation of an Empty Demagogue” at Slate. “The president’s sadism ends in his own agony.”

Read “Congress’ first gay Afro-Latino on his historic election” at MSNBC.

Read “'We're not some demonic cult': Democrats fume over faulty messaging” at Politico.

Read “Slim majority support adding more seats to Supreme Court” at The Hill.

Read “Claims that dead people voted went viral. These are the facts” at CNN.

Read “Trump campaign wins case on voter ID deadline” at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Election Day Failing Puts DeJoy at Risk of Contempt Order” at Courthouse News.

Read “Pompeo on election results: 'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration'“ at The Hill.

• Watch “Republican senators refuse to say Biden won the election” at MSNBC.

• Read “White House attorney dispatched to agency blocking Biden transition” at Yahoo.

• Read “White House tells federal agencies to proceed with plans for Trump’s February budget in latest sign of election defiance” at Washington Post. “Directive is latest sign that Trump aides are acting as if he won the election and won’t leave office on Jan. 20.”

• Read “Why the GOP Is Keeping Trump’s Voter-Fraud Fantasy Alive” at Vice. “The crucial importance of the two Senate runoff races in Georgia gives GOP leaders a powerful incentive to entertain Trump’s ludicrous claims.”

• Read “Trump may accept results but never concede, aides say” at Yahoo.

• Read “Math doesn’t care about your baseless allegations,’ Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Fetterman says about Trump lawsuits” at Yahoo.

  • Read “Few legal wins so far as Trump team hunts for proof of fraud” at Yahoo.

Read “Senate panel proposes $696B Pentagon spending bill” at The Hill.

Read “Trump weakens U.S. security with installation of unqualified loyalists at Pentagon” at MSNBC.

Read “Mark Esper fired as Pentagon chief after contradicting Trump” at The Guardian.

Read “Why are Republicans sticking with Trump? Peer pressure—and we’re all susceptible to it.” at America Magazine.

Read ‘Top official on U.S. election cybersecurity tells associates he expects to be fired” at Reuters.

Read “Donations under $8K to Trump ‘election defense’ instead go to president, RNC” at Reuters.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Here's What Kamala Harris Is Jamming To In Between Campaign Stops This Summer” at Bustle.

Read “The Red Hand Files Issue #123”. “If there are others all moving in the same direction, and they look like you, and they move like you, and they all like the same things, and they hate the same things, and they are angry about the same things, and they are screaming about the same things, chances are you are on the wrong path.”

Read “Transmissions :: John Darnielle of Mountain Goats” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Brian Eno’s Music for Anxious Times” at New York Times.

Read “An Architect of Americana, Lucinda Williams, Talks with ‘Songcraft’ Podcast” at American Songwriter.

Read “How 200 Musicians Joined Forces to Complete Sufjan Stevens’ Unfulfilled 50 States Project” at Pitchfork.

Watch “Sturgill Simpson Chat, Play “Breakers Roar” on Colbert” at Pitchfork.

Read “Lambchop :: The AD Interview” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Fighting to Be Heard: The Story of the Black Country Music Association” at Rolling Stone.

Listen to “Neil Young & Crazy Horse :: Danger Birds (A 40-Minute Live Megamix)” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “The Troubled Afterlife Of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” at Stereogum.

Browse Rolling Stone’s picks for “Neil Young’s Essential Albums”.

Read “The Weeknd to headline Super Bowl halftime show” at The Hill.

Browse “Decibel’s Top 40 Albums of 2020”.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Concrete Jungle: Forthcoming U.K. TV Show Celebrates 2 Tone Ska Scene” at Flood Magazine.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “DC Comics Promotes Marie Javins to Editor-in-Chief” at Variety.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Botched Restoration of Spanish Sculpture Draws Scrutiny” at Art News.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Early Hackers Used Whistles From Cap’n Crunch Cereal Boxes” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “What was the Carrington Event?” at Universal-Sci.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “Exploding whale film gloriously restored in 4K” at Boing Boing.

Read “Inside a Domed Pyramid With Astounding Acoustics and a History of Miracles” at Atlas Obscura.

The Weekly Town Crier (10/30/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (10/30/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Jerry Jeff Walker (1942 – 2020), “Mr. Bojangles” singer and songwriter” at Legacy.

Read “Diane di Prima 1934–2020” at Poets.Org.

Read “Billy Joe Shaver, Seminal Outlaw Country Songwriter, Dead at 81” at Rolling Stone.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Meet the TikTok Generation of Televangelists” at Christianity Today.

Read “A Photographer's Journey Through the Dangerous New Age of Conspiracies in America” at Time.

Read “New England Churches Buy Up, Forgive $26.2 Million In Medical Debt” at Boston Globe.

Read “AOC credits her Catholic faith for positions on health care, environment” at National Catholic Reporter.

Read “Peeing pastor’ hunt comes to an end” at Religion News Service. “The wife of a North Carolina pastor accused of disorderly conduct during a flight from Las Vegas to Detroit says he had a bad reaction to sleeping medication.”

• Read “Well-Known” N.C. Pastor accused of urinating on Michigan woman during flight identified” at NC Beat.

Read “The Anti-Abortion-Rights Movement Prepares to Build a Post-Roe World” at The Atlantic. “As activists move closer to their goal of making abortion illegal, they have started planning for the infrastructure needed for a world with more babies—and recruiting major CEOs to bankroll their cause.”

Read the Opinion piece “Don’t Vote Trump For Religious Liberty” at Religion Unplugged.

Read “NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years in prison” at Salon. “At the sentencing, one victim said she was treated like a “piece of meat” and a “brainwashed sex slave"

Read “He’s a former QAnon believer. He doesn’t want to tell his story, but thinks it might help” at Washington Post.

• Read “Christian QAnon’ers Want To #Savethechildren. They’re Making Things Worse” at Sojourners.

Read “Mysterious Orb Caught On Camera In Florida Pastor’s Home” at Miami CBS Local.

Read “Trump Becomes the First President Since Eisenhower to Change Faiths in Office” at Christianity Today. “Like many Christians switching churches, he now identifies as nondenominational.”

Read ‘The Alpha-Male Style in American Evangelicalism” at Christianity Today. “A historian asks whether a warped view of masculine authority has corrupted our faith and political witness.”

Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. Sues Liberty University for Defamation” at Julie Roys.

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

Read “'A flat-out lie': Breonna Taylor attorneys seek new prosecutor after jurors speak out” at Yahoo.

Read “US Ice officers 'used torture to make Africans sign own deportation orders'“ at The Guardian.

Read “Kushner questions if Black Americans "want to be successful" in widely criticized Fox News interview” at Salon.

Read “Ida B. Wells was driven out of Memphis in 1892. She might soon have her own statue there” at USA Today.

Read “Neo-Nazi Ex-Marine And Porn Actor Arrested In Conspiracy To Hide Weapons From Government” at Huff Post. “The cases, involving three men, appear linked to threats against Alicia Garza, a Black Lives Matter movement co-founder.”

Read “Number of Women Alleging Misconduct by ICE Gynecologist Nearly Triples” at The Intercept. “Advocates briefed senators on allegations that a doctor working with with an ICE detention center performed unnecessary or overly aggressive procedures.”

Read “Judge blocks DOJ's gambit in Trump's E. Jean Carroll case” at MSNBC. “After a woman accused Trump of sexual assault, he lashed out at his accuser, prompting a defamation case. The DOJ wants to intervene; a judge won't let it.”

Read “Militia leader Stewart Rhodes says that his group will be at polling locations and is ready to kill Democrats” at Media Matters.

• Read “'It's performance art': Lawyer for Alex Jones says InfoWars founder is 'playing a character'“ at Business Insider from 2017).

Read “Unlocking the Vote in Jails” at Slate. “The majority of the 745,000 people held in local jails can vote, but few do. Advocates say it’s voter suppression on a national scale.”

Read “42% of Young Australian Men Don’t Think Punching a Partner Is Domestic Violence” at Global Citizen.

Read “ICE moves to quickly deport more immigrants without court hearings” at CBS News.

Read “Susan Collins: 'I do not believe systemic racism is a problem in the state of Maine' at CNN.

Read “Lil Wayne Voices Support For Trump’s Platinum Plan: “He Listened To What We Had To Say” at Okay Player.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “'Boogaloo Bois' member charged in attack on Minneapolis police precinct during George Floyd protests” at ABC News.

Read “A Look Back at the People's Plaza Protest” at Nashville Scene. “With the process to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust underway, we look back on the summer's longest-running protest.”

Read “A White House Adviser Was Involved in Surveillance of Protesters” at The Nation. “Formerly a Middle East adviser to Mike Pence, an intelligence official central to DHS’s Portland operation has not been made available for congressional testimony.”

This Week With The Police:

Read “Protests in Philadelphia After Police Fatally Shoot Black Man” at New York Times.

Read “Phoenix police officer accused of threatening Mayor Kate Gallego” at KTAR. “A Phoenix police officer allegedly made a “credible threat” against Mayor Kate Gallego, the mayor’s office said.”

Read “Cops Do a Big Lie About Philly Protests, Immediately Get Caught” at Discourse Blog.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Guidelines for keeping classrooms open during COVID-19 revised by ADHS” at 12 New AZ.

Read “Montgomery faith leaders urge voters to approve property tax increase for schools” at Montgomery Advisor.

Read “State leaders in Arizona have quietly changed school metrics as COVID-19 cases rise” at ABC 15.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Health Agency Halts Coronavirus Ad Campaign, Leaving Santa Claus in the Cold” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Certified safe labels coming for face masks” at Boing Boing.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Small-business owners say national paid sick leave wouldn’t hurt their bottom line” at Fast Company.

Read “BuzzFeed Expects to Break Even This Year, Thanks to Heavy Cost Cuts” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Facebook’s Top Public Policy Executive in India Steps Down” at Wall Street Journal. “Ankhi Das drew criticism in India over social-media giant’s enforcement of its policy on anti-Muslim hate speech.”

Read “Marilynne Robinson: 'America still has a democratic soul' at The Guardian. “The author of Gilead on the Black Lives Matter protests, the dangers of social media, and her latest novel, Jack.”

Read “A liberal daughter discusses White privilege with her conservative dad” at Christian Century. “What would happen if we listened to each other in love?”

Read “City Pages is closing, ending the era of alternative weeklies in Twin Cities” at Star Tribune.

Read “Sarah Cooper Jokingly Calls Out Stephen Colbert For Creating Trump” at Huff Post. “The “Late Show” host’s fictional “Colbert Report” character has become a reality.”

Read ‘One in Five Holiday Dollars Will Be Spent Online” at Bloomberg.

Read “Trump Has Weaponized Masculinity As President. Here's Why It Matters” at NPR.

Read “The Co-Opting of Rap Criticism Is About More Than Just Music” at Vice. “The strongest reporting on the LA riots of 1992 came from Black writers at a hip-hop magazine. In 2020, the infrastructure for a robust Black press doesn't exist.”

Internationalities:

Read “Putin rejects Donald Trump's criticism of Biden family business” at Reuters.

Read “Kazakhstan’s Tourism Board Embraces Borat’s “Very Nice!” as New Slogan” at Consequence of Sound.

Browse “Photographer Shows Differences Between North and South Korea” at Clever Classic.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “To defend taking immigrant kids from their parents, Trump blamed Biden” at Washington Post.

Read “Trump Told Donors That It Will Be ‘Very Tough’ For Republicans To Hold Senate” at Huff Post.

Read “Texas Supreme Court temporarily reinstates governor's ban on additional ballot drop boxes in state” at The Hill.

Read “Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett To The Supreme Court” by NPR.

Read “Boston man charged with setting fire to ballot drop box” at The Hill.

Read “Cruz: Hunter Biden attacks don't move 'a single voter'“ at The Hill.

Read “Ex-Postal Service worker charged with tossing absentee ballots in dumpster in Kentucky” at NBC News.

Read “Murkowski predicts Barrett won't overturn Roe v. Wade” at The Hill.

Read “Middle-finger voting is driving the entire country mad” at The Week. "The animating principle of our public life is the performance of certain rituals that set us apart (or so we fondly imagine) from persons utterly unlike ourselves whom we despise."

Read “Scaramucci: ‘I applaud the President for unifying the country. It just happens to be against him’” at MSNBC.

Read “Miles Taylor, a Former Homeland Security Official, Reveals He Was ‘Anonymous’” at New York Times.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Five Lessons for Fighting Back After a Disputed Election” at Slate.

Read “Trump Basically Just Encouraged Voters To Commit Election Fraud By Changing Their Already-Cast Votes To Him” at Comic Sands.

Read “Thousands of mail ballots may be lost, Pittsburgh-area official says” at The Hill.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “When David Byrne Got Together With Spike Lee” at New York Times.

Read “The Spiritual Power of Pharoah Sanders” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Jah Wobble on his 5 essential bass albums” at Guitar World. “Jah Wobble on his 5 essential bass albums.”

Read as Cameron Crowe interviews Joni Mitchell for The Guardian. “Joni Mitchell: 'I'm a fool for love. I make the same mistake over and over'“.

Read “Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, More to Play Virtual David Bowie Tribute Festival” at Pitchfork.

Read “Earth Couldn’t Contain Sun Ra’s Ideas. His Arkestra Is Still Exploring Them” at New York Times.

Read “Lamb of God’s John Campbell: Donald Trump Is “Murdering People” at Consequence of Sound.

Listen/Read “Lambchop Cover Stevie Wonder’s ‘Golden Lady’” at Spin.

Read “Stevie Nicks Can’t Wait for the Magic to Come Back” at Rolling Stone. “Nicks discusses her ’24 Karat Gold Concert Film’ and returning to live shows in new interview.”

Browse PopMatters’ picks for “The Top 10 Definitive Breakup Albums”. What are your picks?

Browse Paste’s picks for “14 Creepy Songs From 2020 to Add to Your Halloween Playlist.”

Browse Rolling Stone’s picks for “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Collaborations”.

Browse Consequence of Sound’s picks for “Every Bruce Springsteen Album from Worst to Best”.

Read/Listen to “What Bruce Springsteen Lost And Found” at NPR.

Read “Garcia Peoples :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview”.

Browse PopMatters’ picks for “15 Overlooked and Underrated Albums of the 1990s.”

Browse “Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh on the Music That Made Her” at Pitchfork.

Read “Can’t get enough K-pop? Check out these 6 reality shows to feed your fandom” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “‘Stardust’: Young David Bowie Hits the Road to Fame, Self-Discovery in New Trailer” at Rolling Stone.

Read “He Helped Create Lollapalooza. Now He Wants to Save Live Music” at New York Times.

Watch “The Flaming Lips bring their socially distanced bubbles to ‘Assassins Of Youth’ video” at NME.

Read “Chill Vibes, Minus the Wind Chimes: It’s a New Day for New Age Music” at New York Times.

Read “13 Songs for Halloween: "Red Right Hand" + "Song of Joy" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds” at KEXP.

Read “How Jamaica shaped the creative spirit and evolution of music production” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Outkast’s Stankonia Presented An Eclectic Hip-Hop Utopia” at Treble.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “Stacey Abrams’ Voter-Suppression Documentary ‘All In’ Will Be Free on YouTube” at Variety.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Lemonheads’ Evan Dando Pens Memoir ‘Rumors of My Demise’" at Rolling Stone.

Browse “10 Recent Books By Asian American Poets” at Book Riot.

Browse “Ten Poets Every Pastor Should Read” at Anglican Compass.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “NASA discovered evidence of hidden water on a sunlit surface of the Moon for the first time” at Today News Post.

Read “Scientists discover coral reef taller than the Empire State Building” at CNet.

Read “Alphabet's Loon sets record for stratospheric flight by a balloon” at CNet.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “The Myth of the Werehyena and the Fear of the Other in the Horn of Africa” at Astro Obscura.

See “A Glass Floor in a Dublin Grocery Store Lets Shoppers Look Down & Explore Medieval Ruins” at Open Culture.

Local:

Read “How Arizona Wilderness DTPHX Became a Bird-Friendly Beer Garden” at Phoenix New Times.

The Weekly Town Crier (10/23/20)

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

We’ll Miss You:

Religion and Stuff:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week In Protest-Related News:

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

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

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

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

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

Miscellany Cultural Items:

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

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

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

Politics And Sucheries:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week In Political Corruption:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music-Related News and Such:

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

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

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

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

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

Design/Artsy Things:

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

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

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

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

Food Cultures:

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

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

Misc. Oddities:

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

Local:

The Weekly Town Crier (10/16/20)

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

We’ll Miss You:

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

Religion and Stuff:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week With The Police:

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

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miscellany Cultural Items:

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

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

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

Read “Removing Holocaust Denial Content” at Facebook.

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

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

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

Internationalities:

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

Politics And Sucheries:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week In Political Corruption:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music-Related News and Such:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

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

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

Books/Reading/Authors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Local:

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

The Weekly Town Crier (10/09/20)

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 (09/25/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/25/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at 87” at CNN.

Read “Robert Graetz, minister who helped organize Montgomery Bus Boycott, dies at 92” at Montgomery Advertiser.

Read “Juliette Gréco, French chanteuse, dies at 93” at Boing Boing.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Prominent Southern Baptists are dropping ‘Southern’ name amid racial unrest” at Washington Post.

Read “Liberal congregations more politically active than conservative ones” at Religion News Service. “new study of 1,262 congregations across the United States shows it is liberal congregations, and particularly Black churches, that have become substantially more engaged in political activity compared to their conservative counterparts.”

Read “Critiquing the Church’s Beliefs about Sex and Gender (Aimee Byrd)” at Hebraic Thought.

Read “Pope Francis will take his Message on Climate Change to the UN General Assembly” at Open PR.

Read “Political Divides, Conspiracy Theories and Divergent News Sources Heading Into 2020 Election” at Journalism. “43% of Republicans identify fraud as a major problem with voting by mail versus 11% of Democrats. 41% of Republicans who have heard about QAnon say it's a good thing for the country, per new Pew poll.”

• Read “Who is behind QAnon? The Reply All podcast investigates” at Boing Boing.

Read “ICE apprehension on church grounds violated federal policy, say faith leaders” at Religion News Service.

Read “Cult leader who claims to be reincarnation of Jesus arrested in Russia” at The Guardian. “Former traffic officer Sergei Torop, AKA Vissarion, arrested in special operation in Siberia.”

Read “The Black Church Is Atlanta’s Original Community Organizer” at Christianity Today.

Read “U.S. bishops urge immediate halt to federal executions” at American Magazine.

Read “AG Barr To Receive “Catholic” Award Hours After Authorizing Execution” at Catholic Mobilizing Newtork.

Read “‘That’s No Accident’: Robert Henderson Credits His Prayer for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death” at Right Wing Watch.

Read “People who are highly spiritual tend to be more civic-minded” at Religion News Service.

Read “Pandemic Denial Sows Division and Endangers Others” at Christianity Today.

Read “Prominent evangelical church is the first to sue D.C. over covid-19 worship limits” at Washington Post. “The complaint filed by the 850-member Capitol Hill Baptist Church is the first legal challenge by a religious organization to the capital’s coronavirus restrictions. There have been two others in the region — one in Virginia and one in Maryland — since quarantine measures began, and final decisions are pending in both.”

Read “The Market Made Me Do It: The Scandal of the Evangelical College” at Mere Orthodoxy.

Read “How a Sean Feucht worship service convinced me I am no longer an evangelical” at Religion News Service. “I can no longer call myself an evangelical, because what defines a white evangelical in the United States has become a longing for an authoritarian state where Christianity is prioritized and privileged.”

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

Read “NBC News contributor Hugh Hewitt: “The lockdown ... is other than slavery the most numerous imposition on people's individual liberty” at Media Matters.

Read “McConnell Warns D.C. and Puerto Rico Statehood Part of Democrats' 'Radical' Agenda” at Newsweek.

Read “White Supremacists Are a Threat to Elections, Says the DHS” at The Nation. According to this report, right wing extremists have been encouraging followers to intentionally spread covid in minority neighborhoods and at political rallies.

Read “Nike jerseys commemorating four years since Kaepernick took a knee sold out in under a minute” at The Hill.

Read “What Is Critical Race Theory and Why Is Trump Afraid of It?” at The Nation. “His attacks are an attempt to reach those who repudiate the symbols and premises of white supremacy but worry that anti-racist advocacy can go “too far.”

Read “Whiteness as Property” at Harvard Law Review (originally from 1993).

Read “Satchuel Cole, leader in the fight for racial equality in Indianapolis, lied about own race” at Indy Star.

Read “Female graduates earn less than their male counterparts just one year after university - here's why” at The Telegraph.

Read “A racial slur remains in hundreds of place names throughout North America” at Public Radio International. “Clashes throughout North America about the racial slur "squaw" is starting to lead to place name changes.”

Read “The Top Contender for RBG’s Seat Has a Fundamentally Cruel Vision of the Law” at Slate. “Here’s what we can expect if Trump fills the late justice’s seat.”

Read ‘A Neighborhood’s Race Affects Home Values More Now Than in 1980” at Bloomberg.

Read “He fought wildfires while imprisoned. California reported him to Ice for deportation” at The Guardian. “Kao Saelee worked as an incarcerated firefighter in California. But when his release date came, the state partnered with ICE and transferred him to detention. He now faces deportation to Laos, a country his family fled when he was two years old.”

Read “Wells Fargo CEO ruffles feathers with comments about diverse talent” at Reuters. "[T]he unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from." - Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf.

Read “Fight to protect Joshua trees faces stiff local opposition in California” at The Guardian.

Read “GOP will ask Supreme Court to limit mail voting in Pennsylvania in first post-RBG test” at The Hill.

Read “Almost half of NFL fans have changed their mind about Colin Kaepernick” at The Hill.

Read “Program to house homeless people in hotels is ending after falling short of goal” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “In North Carolina, Black Voters’ Mail-In Ballots Much More Likely to Be Rejected Than Those From Any Other Race” at Pro Publica.

Read “Biracial Couple Gets Lower House Appraisal With Black Family Member Present” at WBUR.

Read “The Secret History Of The Word 'Cracker' at NPR. “A 1783 pejorative - "crackers" specifies people who descended from convicts that were transported from Great Britain to Virginia at different times, and inherit so much profligacy from their ancestors, that they are ostracized.”

Read “Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free” at New Yorker.

Read “The Truth About ‘The Truth About’ Memes” at New York Times.

Read “Extremists Pose a Violent Threat, FBI and DHS Officials Say” at Wall Street Journal. “Christopher Wray, Ken Cuccinelli warned a Senate committee of white supremacists, anarchists and militia-style groups.”

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Portland protests resume, demonstrators remain resolute in push for racial justice” at Oregon Public Media.

Read “DOJ Designates New York City as an “Anarchist Jurisdiction” at NBC New York.

• Read “Trump's DOJ Threatens To Strip Funds From NYC And Other "Anarchist Cities," Prompting Cheers From NYPD Unions” at Gothamist.

Read “Tohono O'odham protest at border wall site ends in standoff, scuffle” at AZ Central.

Read “Luxury cars, MAGA flags and Facebook invites: How an unknown Idaho family organized the Portland rally that turned deadly’ at Washington Post.

Read “Video refutes trooper who denied unmasking protester” at Associated Press.

Read “The Problem With Militias and the Constitution” at U.S. News and World Report. “The presence of illegal militia groups at recent racial justice protests increases the chance of violence and has already proved deadly.”

• Read “pro-Trump activists plotted violence ahead of Portland rallies” at The Guardian. “Patriots Coalition members suggested political assassinations and said ‘laws will be broken, people will get hurt’, leaked chats show.”

Read “Jailed Denver anti-racist leaders subjected to dangerous and degrading conditions in custody” at Liberation News.

Read “A fake protest led to armed resistance in Prescott” at AZ Central. “Posts spread on social media in the Prescott area, claiming buses of protesters were coming on Sept. 11. They claimed local police needed help. There was no protest planned, and the police didn't request help, but armed counterprotesters still turned out.”

Read “Suspect charged in connection to shooting of 2 Louisville officers” at 12 News.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Salt Lake City police officer charged after body cam video shows K9 ordered to bite suspect” at NBC News.

Read “Man in MCSO custody dies after being found unresponsive in Cave Creek substation” at AZ Central.

Read “Trooper who shot Dion Johnson will not face criminal charges, county attorney says” at AZ Central.

Read “NYPD Officer Spied on Tibetan New Yorkers for Chinese Government: Feds” at Daily Beast.

Read “Bodycam shows Salt Lake City police shooting 13-year-old boy with autism” at Salt Lake Tribune.

Read “Six Louisville cops under internal investigation for roles in fatal Breonna Taylor search” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

• Read “Kentucky Grand Jury Indicts 1 Of 3 Officers Over Breonna Taylor Killing” at NPR.

• Read “Q&A: Why was no one charged in Breonna Taylor's shooting?” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Is Black Lives Matter Causing a Police Shortage?” at Slate. “Probably not.”

Read “Maricopa County Attorney Calls For Body Cameras For All Arizona Officers” at KJZZ.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read ‘This company says it's 'not a school' and has no teachers. But it gets millions meant for charter, private schools” at AZ Central.

Read "New Zealand Schools Have Been Advised to Use Students’ Preferred Names, Genders, and Pronouns” at Global Citizen.

Read “Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow and family hope 'Bald Beagle' will teach kids 'God and country' American history” at Religion News Service. “President Donald Trump believes American history is under attack. His lawyer — and his lawyer’s kids — want to do something about it. Enter Bald Beagle.”

Read “Telling the Truth About Slavery Is Not ‘Indoctrination’” at The Atlantic. “Our country is made better, not worse, by young people reckoning with the full legacy of the institution.”

Read “University of California wrongly admitted well-connected students, state auditor finds” at ABC 7.

Read “'Where Are the Kids?' School Is Back in Session, but Many Kindergarteners Are Missing” at Time.

Read “Jeff Bezos Announces The First Bezos Academy, A Free Preschool For Students From Low-Income Families” at Forbes.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Fresh curbs in Europe as global coronavirus cases top 30m” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Police Haul Man Out of Library for Not Wearing Mask During Meeting About Wearing Masks” at Herman Cain’s website, saying: “It's time for the obsessive mask-wearing to wear off.” . (EDITOR’S NOTE: Herman Cain died of Coronavirus).

Read “Boris Johnson warns second coronavirus wave has arrived in the UK” at Daily Record.

Read “2-month-old dies from COVID-19 in Michigan: 'Children are not spared' at The Hill.

Read “Anti-maskers in Indonesia are being forced to dig graves for COVID-19 victims” at KXAN.

Read “Boris Johnson says self isolate or face £10,000 fine as tough new virus law imposed” at Daily Record.

Read “CNN's medical expert says 'source' told him '80-90%' of COVID deaths could have been saved by scrapped WH mask plan” at Fox News.

Read “Top US health official says coronavirus vaccine not likely until mid-2021: 'That's just a fact'“ at The Hill.

Read “Scotland Restricts People From Visiting Other People’s Homes” at Bloomberg.

Read “Jorma Kaukonen Honored By The State of New Jersey for Providing “Respite and Entertainment” Through COVID-19 Pandemic” at Jambands.

Read “Officiant At Superspreader Maine Wedding Is An Anti-Mask Evangelical” at Huff Post.

Read “Dr. William Schaffner: CDC's removal of virus transmission guidance 'very distressing'“ at MSNBC.

Read “Despite early, strict quarantine measures, Peru has worst COVID-19 death rate in the world” at Miami Herald.

Read “The media needs to do more to show real Americans' pain during the pandemic” at CNN. “29 million Americans are on unemployment aid, 5% of renters (8 million people) are behind on rent, and 1 in 10 families with kids didn't have enough to eat in August.”

Read “Why SF has the lowest COVID-19 death rate of any other major city” at SF Gate.

Read “Fauci testifies on coronavirus response” at CNN. “You’ve misconstrued that, senator, and you’ve done that repeatedly in the past.” Dr. Fauci pushes back against Sen. Rand Paul’s claims on the coronavirus.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Trump Administration to Ban TikTok App Downloads Starting Sunday” at Pitchfork.

Read “I Have Blood on My Hands”: A Whistleblower Says Facebook Ignored Global Political Manipulation” at Buzzfeed News. “I’ve found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform on vast scales to mislead their own citizenry, and caused international news on multiple occasions. I have personally made decisions that affected national presidents without oversight, and taken action to enforce against so many prominent politicians globally that I’ve lost count.”

Read “Kanye West Calls Puma ‘Trash’ and Says He Is the ‘Head of Adidas’ on Twitter” at Footwear News.

Read “The West’s Wildfires Collide With its Housing” at Bloomberg. “Oregon was already short 155,000 homes before fires destroyed thousands more, including a huge share of one county’s most affordable options. Where do people go now?”

Read ‘Wired Magazine: Amazon Takes Down Controversial Job Postings” at KJZZ. “Amazon recently removed job postings for Phoenix that went viral with descriptions that included "collecting information about labor organizing threats against the company."

Read “Facebook says it may quit Europe over ban on sharing data with US” at The Guardian.

Read “California to Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars Starting in 2035” at at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Nikola founder Trevor Milton forfeits $166 million in stock he would have lost anyway and gets to keep $3.1 billion under separation deal” at CNBC. “Electric truck company Nikola is under investigation by the Justice Dept and SEC for fraud. Two-thirds of its value was wiped out in the scandal. The company has sold 0 trucks. The founder just resigned with $3.1 billion exit package.”

Read “If You Live in Illinois, Facebook Probably Owes You $400” at Vice.

Read “Harley-Davidson to exit world's biggest bike market” at BBC.

Internationalities:

Read “Erdogan willing to meet Greek PM over east Med tensions” at Al Jazeera.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “He arrived in NC with big donations, but the money traces to a business with QAnon link” at News Observer. “Four voter support groups suspect someone tried to infiltrate their operations as part of an undercover campaign to discredit them.”

Read “Democratic senator calls for eliminating filibuster, expanding Supreme Court if GOP fills vacancy” at The Hill.

Read Court-packing, Democrats’ nuclear option for the Supreme Court, explained” at Vox.

Read “51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college” at The Hill.

Read “Arnold Schwarzenegger Offers Grants to Reopen Polling Places” at Variety.

Read “What The SCOTUS Vacancy Means for Abortion — And The 2020 Election” at NPR.

Read “Democrats Prepare New Coronavirus Aid Proposal” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Mary Trump sues President Trump, family members over fraud allegations” at The Hill.

Read “Democrats prepare bill limiting U.S. Supreme Court justice terms to 18 years” at Reuters.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “U.S. Admits That Congressman Offered Pardon to Assange If He Covered Up Russia Links” at Daily Beast. “Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher offered Assange the deal in 2017, a year after the emails that damaged Hillary Clinton had been published.”

Read “Federal Prosecutors Have Steve Bannon’s Murky Nonprofit in Their Sights” at Pro Publica. “Tucked at the bottom of the long indictment against Bannon, prosecutors say they want to seize the assets of his nonprofit Citizens of the American Republic, shedding more light on the secretive political group’s finances.”

Watch: “The Daily Show Hilariously Cut Together Clips of Trump Doing Exactly the Things He Accuses Biden of Doing” at Second Nexus.

Read “Virginians wait up to four hours to cast early voting ballots” at The Hill.

Read “What GOP Leaders Said About Merrick Garland Back In 2016” at Huff Post.

• Read “Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, and Susan Collins Have Said They Won’t Vote For SCOTUS Nominee During An Election” at Politics USA.

• Read “Lindsey Graham Goes Back on His Word, Vows to Vote for Ginsburg Replacement Before Election” at Slate.

• Read “Sen. Lisa Murkowski Reiterates Opposition To Confirmation Vote Before The Election” at NPR.

• Read “Democrats say 2016 should be the standard for high court nominees in election year” at NBC News. ““They made a new precedent," Hillary Clinton said Sunday about Senate Republicans, "and that new precedent, which they all defended incredibly passionately, is to wait for the next president.”

• Read “Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice” at The Hill.

• Read “McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Why is this a “fight” if we’re all just trying to do the right thing?).

Read “DeJoy Didn't Bother to Check Whether His Policies Would Kneecap the USPS” at Vice. “USPS collected the data they needed to know running trucks on time would destroy service, but they didn't look at it.”

Read “ICE Hysterectomy Doctor Wasn’t Even a Board-Certified OB-GYN” at Daily Beast.

Read “Trump, Orbán, and Putin Are Forming an Authoritarian Alliance” at The Intelligencer.

Read ‘The Pentagon funneled nearly $1,000,000,000 of taxpayer money meant for masks and medical equipment to defense contractors building jet engines and body armor” at Washington Post.

Read “DHS awarded $6 million in contracts to firm where Acting Secretary Wolf's wife is executive” at NBC News.

Read “Texas Republicans sue to stop Gov. Greg Abbott's extension of early voting period during the pandemic” at Texas Tribune.

Read “Trump's threat: 'Get rid of the ballots' — 'there won't be a transfer, frankly, there will be a continuation'“ at Boing Boing.

Read “Judge orders Eric Trump to sit for NY Attorney General deposition before the election” at NBC News. “Eric Trump had tried to delay answering questions in the A.G.'s Trump Organization investigation.”

Read “Mary Trump: Take It Seriously That Trump May Not Hand Over Power” at Huff Post. “How far is he willing to go to remain in office if he loses? “Farther than you can possibly imagine,” warned the president’s niece.”

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “How South Africa’s Blue Notes Helped Invent European Free Jazz” at Bandcamp.

Read “Three Years After Tom Petty’s Death, His Dream Project Finally Emerges” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “A Beginner’s Guide To The Interstellar Music of Sun Ra” at Treble.

Read “Final Recordings of the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie Set for New Album” at Pitchfork. “Listen to a pair of songs from Away Is Mine, a double album featuring tracks recorded months before he died.”

Browse (if you must) Rolling Stone’s picks for “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Read “Sun Ra: ‘I’m Everything and Nothing’” at New York Review of Books.

Read “Punks Unite in Trailer for Rock Against Racism Doc ‘White Riot’” at Rolling Stone. “British punks unite in the trailer for Rock Against Racism documentary 'White Riot,' a new film chronicling the movement against racist rhetoric in the U.K. in the late Seventies.”

Read “Channeling alienation into a cosmic passion project” at Xtra. “John Shepherd dreamed of contacting aliens through music he beamed into space.”

Read “We’ve Got A File On You: Thurston Moore” at Stereogum. “The Sonic Youth legend on Bernie Sanders, black metal, Steve Albini, 'Gilmore Girls,' & more.”

Read “Michael Kiwanuka Wins Hyundai Mercury Prize 2020” at Clash.

Read “‘Wonderwall’ at 25: How Oasis’ Unlikely Ballad Became One of the Last Rock Standards” at Rolling Stone. “A quarter-century ago, the British band broke into America with an uncharacteristically sensitive hit. The song remains shockingly popular — even if the guy who wrote it isn’t really a fan.”

Watch “From The Edge of America :: Lonnie Holley and Richard Swift” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Terms Of Service” at NCart. “Cory Rayborn had an unlikely bonus task to complete in the midst of his law school orientation, in the summer of 2000: package and ship the debut release from his fledgling record label, Three Lobed.”

Watch “Kraftwerk’s “The Robots” Performed by German First Graders in Adorable Cardboard Robot Outfits” at Open Culture.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “See All the Winners of the 2020 Emmys” at Time.

Read “Microsoft buys Bethesda, publisher of Skyrim, Doom, and Fallout, for $7.5 billion” at AV Club.

Read “‘Family Guy,’ ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Score Two-Season Renewals at Fox” at Variety.

Read “Some monster is tweeting out the entire Shrek 2 script, one line at a time” at AV Club.

Read “Dan Levy On Schitt’s Creek’s Fulsome, Splendrous Emmys Night” at Vulture.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “We're Booked: Join NPR At This Year's Virtual National Book Festival” at NPR.

Design/Artsy Things:

See “Type lovers, over 30,000 old cigarette boxes.”

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Scientists Race Against Time To Save Coral Off Florida Keys” at WBUR.

Read “The Internet Archive Will Digitize & Preserve Millions of Academic Articles with Its New Database, "Internet Archive Scholar" at Open Culture.

Food Cultures:

Read “Minnesota’s ‘Root Beer Lady’ Lived Alone in a Million-Acre Wilderness” at Gastro Obscura. “The “loneliest woman in America” brewed root beer for thousands of visitors.”

Local:

Read “Ducey signs law adding 2 justices to Arizona Supreme Court” at Tucson.com.

Read “Everything you need to know before voting on Proposition 207 in Arizona” at 12 News.

Read “Live events workers marched with empty road cases to a rally in Tempe to save jobs” at AZ Central.

The Weekly Town Crier (09/11/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/11/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read ‘Jazz Bassist Gary Peacock Dead at 85” at Pitchfork.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Christian Group Seeks Removal Of Dinosaur From Tucson McDonald's” (EDITOR’S NOTE: I have no idea if this is satire or not).

Read “Black Christians Play a Crucial Role in Athlete Activism” at Christianity Today.

Read “Falwell swipes at media: 'You got nothing'“ at The Hill.

• Read “Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen links Falwell’s endorsement in 2016 to suppression of racy photos” at Reuters.

• Read “Reforming Liberty University in the post-Falwell era should begin with the Falkirk Center” at Religion News Service.

• Read my own piece on LIberty University idolatrous Falkirk Center: ‘We're All Biblical Literalists (Until We're Not)”

Read “The Manosphere and the Church” at Theopolis.

Read “Jen Hatmaker, Christian author and former reality TV star, files for divorce” at Religion News Service.

Read “Christian musician Sean Feucht held defiant Seattle worship protest after concert was banned” at Religion News Service.

Read “The Church of Individualism” at Mere Orthodoxy.

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

Read “I CANCEL MYSELF’ White professor Jessica A Krug reveals she pretended to be black during entire career teaching African history” at The Sun.

Read “Akon Says His Senegalese Smart-City Will Be a Safe Haven for African Americans. Some Locals Wonder If There’s Room for Them, Too” at The Root.

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

Read “The Inevitable Whitelash Against Racial Justice Has Started” at The Nation.

Read “'The Gotaway': Online video produced and posted by the Border Patrol spreads fear of migrants” at Yahoo.

Read “White House memo calls for ban on federal agencies conducting training on "critical race theory," "white privilege" with taxpayer dollars” at CBS News.

• Read “Trump Bans Diversity Training, Claiming It’s Divisive, Anti-American Propaganda” at Forbes.

• Read “More Than Ever, Trump Casts Himself as the Defender of White America” at Yahoo. “Sorry liberals! How to be Anti-White 101 is permanently cancelled!”

• Read “Trump says schools teaching NY Times’ 1619 Project ‘will not be funded’” at New York Post.

Read “On Kenosha and the difficulty of recognising Nazism in the US” at Al Jazeera. “Nazis have not disappeared. They have simply said they are not Nazis.”

Read “Census Work Has Been Winding Down, But A Judge Says It Needs To Press On For Now” at NPR.

Read “History gives us reason for hope that inequality can be beaten” at Open Democracy.

Read “Appeals court agrees R&B singer R. Kelly should stay jailed” at 12 News.

Read “She Was Sued Over Rent She Didn’t Owe. It Took Seven Court Dates to Prove She Was Right.” at Pro Publica.

Read “ACLU Calls On Tech Companies to End Their Alliance with ICE and CBP” at ACLU.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Car drives through protesters in Times Square” at Bronx 12 News.

Read “Thomas Massie praises Kyle Rittenhouse, says he showed 'incredible restraint” at Louisville Courier-Journal. "He didn't empty a magazine into a crowd."

Read “Portland shooting suspect killed by officers” at Axios.

Read “Naomi Osaka Wears Face Mask with Breonna Taylor’s Name at U.S. Open” at Democracy Now.

Read “Alleged Boogaloo members face terrorism charges in Minnesota” at Yahoo.

Read “Michael Reinoehl appeared to target right-wing demonstrator before fatal shooting in Portland, police say” at The Oregonian.

Read “Kentucky Derby 2020: Empty stands and armed militias at America's most famous race” at The Guardian.

Read “Jacob Blake says from hospital bed it "hurts to breathe" following shooting” at Axios.

Read “93% of Black Lives Matter Protests Have Been Peaceful, New Report Finds” at Time.

Read “Proud Boys Seen in Video Attacking Protester With Bat at Oregon Rally” at Daily Beast.

Read “Across the Country, Protests Demand Release from Prisons, Jails, Detention Centers” at American Friends Service Committee.

Read “'Because I'm Scared': Jane Fonda's New Book Details Her Journey To Taking Climate Action” at WBUR.

Read “Michael Brown protest organizer suing Phoenix police, city for wrongful arrest” at 12 News.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Gilbert officer charged with falsifying arrest report, court records show” at ABC 15.

Read “From soldier to worker” at Reader. “Police unions were born of resistance to discipline for brutality. Do they belong in the labor movement?”

Read “A Black man was detained while jogging for fitting a suspect description and later offered a job with the sheriff's department” at CNN.

Read “Call police for a woman who is changing clothes in an alley? A new program in Denver sends mental health professionals instead.” at Denver Post.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “After Beirut Explosion, Lebanon Sees A Spike In Coronavirus Infections” at NPR.

Read “Fact check: No, the CDC has not reduced the death count related to COVID-19” at WFLA.

Read “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was 'superspreading event' that cost public health $12.2 billion: analysis” at The Hill.

Read “Gatherings of more than six people banned in England from next Monday” at NME.

Read “Governor Ducey Issues Enhanced Surveillance Advisory To Track The Impact Of COVID-19 And Influenza On Health Care Capacity” at AZ Governor.

Read “U.S. closes in on grim pandemic milestone: the 200,000th COVID-19 death” at NBC News.

• Read Trump told Bob Woodward he knew in February that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' but wanted to 'play it down' at NBC News.

• See “32 times Trump said the coronavirus would go away” at Washington Post.

Read “We Need to Take Care of the Growing Number of Long-Term COVID-19 Patients” at Time.

Read “Union president: Grocery stores should kick out unmasked shoppers” at CBS News.

Read ‘AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine study put on hold due to suspected adverse reaction in participant in the U.K.” at Stat News.

Read “California’s GOP Senate leader was under quarantine. She spoke with no mask at a huge prayer event anyway” at Washington Post.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Jim Carrey Pens Striking Political Essay Urging Americans to Vote Out Trump” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Beyoncé Pledges Another Million for Black-Owned Small Businesses” at Teen Vogue.

Read “Are Your Texts Passive-Aggressive? The Answer May Lie In Your Punctuation” at NPR.

Read “California wildfires set record as more than 2 million acres are scorched” at San Francisco Chronicle.

• Read “As Wildfires Ravage the State, the Dark Side of the California Dream Slinks Out of the Shadows” at Los Angeles Magazine. “Fires have always loomed large over the California landscape—both a cleansing promise and an obliterating threat. But like so much else these days, they suddenly seem out of control.”

• Read “Shocking pics show blaze devastation at 'national treasure' Scots woodland” at Daily Record.

Read “Facebook engineer quits, accuses social network of 'profiting off hate' at CNET.

• Read “Zuckerberg to "Axios on HBO": "Just wrong" to say Facebook driven by conservatives” at Axios.

Read “We Talked to the Host Accused of Doing “Satanic Rituals” In His Airbnb” at Vice.

Read “The Atlantic gained 20,000 subscribers after Trump dismissed it as a 'dying' magazine” at CNN.

Internationalities:

Read “The Ghost Towns Behind The Gates” at NPR.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Trump's Base Is Shrinking As Whites Without A College Degree Continue To Decline” at NPR.

Read “Trump Faces Fallout From Report He Calls Military 'Losers' And 'Suckers' at NPR.

Read “Trump Weighs Putting Up to $100 Million of His Cash Into Race” at Bloomberg.

Read “Kanye Loses Arizona Supreme Court Appeal, Off the Ballot In Key Swing State” at “AZ Law”.

Read “Schiff: Barr “Flat Out Lying to American People” About China Election Threat” at Slate.

Read “White House lawn, Rose Garden being re-sod after damages from GOP convention” at Washington Post.

Read “Polls show Biden lagging among Latinos in close Florida race” at Al Jazeera.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “'People Around The President Are Trying To Stop Him,' 'Times' Journalist Says” at NPR. “New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt says it's unusual for advisors to be so focused on preventing a president from breaking the law. "Trump's use of power is so unusual that we have a phenomenon here where the people around the president are trying to stop him," he says.”

Read “Trump Reportedly Spent $58 Million In Campaign Funds On Legal Fees And Compliance” at Huff Post.

Read “Strzok: Trump's financial involvement with Russia is very broad” at MSNBC. “"There are a variety of entanglements that he holds that ... are of great concern and present prime opportunities for leverage over the president."

Read “Whistleblower alleges briefings on Russian interference stopped because it made Trump look bad” at MSNBC.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Taylor Swift 'Shake It Off' lawsuit goes forward in Los Angeles” at Fox7 Austin.

Read ‘M.I.A. Shares New Song “CTRL” at Pitchfork.

Read “Slow music: Chord change in Germany of 639-year organ piece” at Associated Press.

Read “Foreign Artist Visa Fee To Increase By Over 50% In The US” at The Quietus.

Listen “to New Order’s First New Song in 5 Years” at Pitchfork.

Read “Holy Roar Records founder accused of rape, several bands respond” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Rush’s Geddy Lee Confirms He’s Alive After Trending on Twitter” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Netflix Announces BLACKPINK Documentary Light Up the Sky” at Pitchfork.

Movies/TV/Video GamesEtc.:

Read “Ellen Promises (Threatens?) to ‘Talk About It’ When Her Show Returns” at Vulture.

Read “'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' coming to an end on E!” at CNN.

Read “Peacock lands the gritty Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air reboot, gives it a 2-season order” at AV Club.

Read “Black-ish’ Spinoff ‘Old-ish’ Starring Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Lewis in Development at ABC” at Vulture.

Read “The Return of Colin Kaepernick — To The Madden Franchise” at NPR.

Read “TMZ’s Newsroom Is A Hotbed For Racism, Misogyny, And Verbal Abuse, Ex-Employees Say” at Buzzfeed News.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Reed Hastings on New Book, Netflix’s Future — and Why He Fired His Last CFO” at Variety.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Explore 1,100 Works of Art by Georgia O’Keeffe: They’re Now Digitized and Free to View Online” at Open Culture.

Food Cultures:

Read “The Egyptian Egg Ovens Considered More Wondrous Than the Pyramids” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “Fuddruckers, Luby’s Restaurant Chains to Be Sold in Liquidation Plan” at Wall Street Journal.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “When Botswana Farmers Paint Eyes on Their Cattle’s Butts, Everyone Wins” at Atlas Obscura.

The Weekly Town Crier (08/21/20)

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

We’ll Miss You:

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

Religion and Stuff:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week In Protest-Related News:

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

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

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

This Week With The Police:

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

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

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

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

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

Education and The Learnings/School Re-Openings:

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

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

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

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

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

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

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

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

Miscellany Cultural Items:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Politics And Sucheries:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read “Puerto Rico governor loses primary” at Axios.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Week In Political Corruption:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music-Related News and Such:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movies/TV/Etc.:

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

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

Books/Reading/Authors

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

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

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

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

Food Cultures:

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

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

The Weekly Town Crier (03/20/20)

All the week's news that's fit to cry about (03/20/20)

Read “Genesis Breyer P-Orridge Dead at 70 The Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV co-founder was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017” at Pitchfork.

Read/Listen to “Survey: White Evangelicals See Trump As 'Honest' And 'Morally Upstanding'“ at NPR. And stay tuned for more news from the Isaiah 5:20 channel soon!

Read “White Christians: Trump May Not Be a Good Person, But He Is a Good President New Pew Research data details the mixed feelings among Trump’s faithful supporters” at Christianity Today.

Read “Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to ‘flatten the curve’ at Washington Post.

• Read “America Is a Sham Policy changes in reaction to the coronavirus reveal how absurd so many of our rules are to begin with” at Salon.

• Browse “Coronavirus: Updated List of Tours and Festivals Canceled or Postponed Due to COVID-19” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Record Store Day 2020 Postponed Due to Coronavirus Concerns The global music event has been moved from April to June” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Coronavirus Should Be a Turning Point for the Music Industry” at Vulture.

• Read “Trump Dissolved Pandemic Response Team Because He Doesn't Like Having People Around "When You Don't Need Them" at Paste.

• Read “He Has 17,700 Bottles Of Hand Sanitizer And Nowhere To Sell Them. Amazon cracked down on coronavirus price gouging. Now while the rest of the world searches, some sellers are holding stockpiles of sanitizer and masks.

• Read “Racist Attacks Against Asians Continue to Rise as the Coronavirus Threat Grows” at People.

• Read/Listen to “When School Is The Safest Place For Kids; Concerns Over School Closures For Low-Income Students” at KJZZ.

• Read “AMC Theatres to Close All U.S. Locations as Cinemas Across the Country Go Dark” at Hollywood Reporter.

  • Read “NBCUniversal Breaks Theatrical Window, Will Make Movies Available On Demand Immediately” at Hollywood Reporter.

• Read “Amazon Will Cease Stocking Vinyl Records Due to Coronavirus The retail giant needs to make room on its shelves for more essential items” at Consequence of Sound.

  • Read “Bandcamp Waives Revenue Shares to Support Musicians During COVID-19 Outbreak The platform will not collect their cut of sales for 24 hours on March 20 in an attempt to “put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Coronavirus Could Decimate Touring Musicians’ Livelihoods” at Rolling Stone.

• Read “America begins drinking at home With states and cities shutting down bars and restaurants, the government response to the coronavirus outbreak enters a new phase” at Politico.

• Read “Need to stock your pantry? These L.A. restaurants are temporarily flipping to corner stores.” at Time Out.

• Read “Russia deploying coronavirus disinformation to sow panic in West, EU document says” at MSN.

Read “Moog and Korg make synth apps free to help musicians stuck at home” at Engadget.

In honor of Phil Lesh’s 80th birthday listen to the official “In The Phil Zone” mix from the Grateful Dead at Spotify.

Download the new John McLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain album for free at Bandcamp.

Read “You can now download over 300,000 books from the NYPL for free” at Time Out.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/28/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/28/20).

Read “Monkees Singer and Bassist Peter Tork Dead at 77” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Katherine Johnson, one of NASA's 'Hidden Figures,' dies at 101” at 12 News.

Read “Mazzy Star’s David Roback Dead at 61 The producer and instrumentalist also co-founded the bands Rain Parade and Opal” at Pitchfork.

Read “Clive Cussler, million-selling adventure writer, dies at 88 Clive Cussler was an adventure writer and real-life thrill-seeker” at 12 News.

Read “This Political Moment: A Way Forward in a Divided Age. Conflict is opportunity, my friend says optimistically.”

Read “SEC Charges Son of John MacArthur & Grace to You Board Member with Fraud” at Julie Roys.

Read “Internal report finds that L’Arche founder Jean Vanier engaged in decades of sexual misconduct” at America Magazine.

Read “Why Christ wouldn't aspire to ‘Christic Manhood’” at Religion News Service.

Read “Misogyny in Baptist Higher Education” at Baptist Voices.

Read “I Really Want to Skip Church” at Mockingbird. "As much as I’d love to tell people: 'Church should be your excuse for missing everything else,' I’m acutely aware of two things: (1) Church might be the reason you are missing love, grace, and mercy in your life; and (2) Church might be a lot more work than you can handle at the moment."

Read “Must Pro-Life Mean Pro-Trump? We have placed too much faith in the political calculus and not enough faith in God’s power” at Christianity Today.

Read “The “Music from Saharan WhatsApp” Series is an Experiment in Immediacy” at Bandcamp and browse my own posts about “Music from Saharan WhatsApp.”

Read “Conservative columnist and political commentator David Brooks awarded Calvin University’s Kuyper Prize” at MLive.

Read “Pope Francis: Give Up Trolling For Lent” at Sojourners.

Read “25 Black Theologians Who Have Grown Our Faith Scholars and authors reflect on the significance of African American leaders in the church” at Christianity Today.

Read “Dialoguing Across Difference: Abortion & Big Tent Theology” at Red Letter Christians.

Read “How Stephen Miller Manipulates Donald Trump To Further His Immigration Obsession. Donald Trump’s senior adviser has been the true driving force behind this Administration’s racist agenda. How far will he go?”

Read “Women and Girls Contribute Trillions of Dollars in Unpaid Labor Every Year The world’s 22 richest men have more wealth than all of the women in Africa” at Global Citizen.

Read “Howard Thurman’s contemplative nonviolence The pastor and mentor to Martin Luther King formed a vision of resistance around prayer, not politics” at Christian Century.

Read “White Supremacist Group Arrested for Murder Plot, Found to Have More Targets in Mind Than Previously Known” at The Root.

Read “Survivors of Japanese Internment Speak Out Against Immigrant Detention” at Our Prism.

Read “Harvey Weinstein Taken to Hospital for Chest Pains Hours after being found guilty of rape” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “America's Mental Health Crisis Hidden Behind Bars” at NPR.

Read “Religion may be good for your health! People of faith are less likely to fall or feel ill compared to non-believers, official stats reveal” at Daily Mail.

Read “New Zealand Has Lifted 18,400 Children out of Poverty: Report” at Global Citizen.

Read “9th Circuit Denies Request To Vacate Arpaio Guilty Verdict” at KJZZ.

Read “The Last Slave Ship Survivor Gave an Interview in the 1930s. It Just Surfaced” at History.

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

Read “What is döstädning, or Swedish Death Cleaning, and why is it causing such a decluttering buzz?” at Yahoo News.

Read “It’s Time to Let the Five Stages of Grief Die The five stages of grief are ingrained in our cultural consciousness as the natural progression of emotions one experiences after the death of a loved one. However, it turns out that this model is not science-based, does not well describe most people's experiences, and was never even meant to apply to the bereaved” at McGill.

Read “Supreme Court Pipeline Fight Could Disrupt How The Appalachian Trail Is Run” at NPR.

• Read “The Forest Service says the Appalachian Trail isn’t “land” in a pipeline fight at SCOTUS” at Quartz.

Read “Inspired by Little Free Libraries, a free pantry helps feed hungry neighbors in St. Paul” at Star Tribune.

Read “How To Give Advice: Less Fixing, More Listening” at NPR.

Read “Steve Jobs' signature is the star of retro Apple gear collection at auction An original 1983 Apple Macintosh is going for $25,000” at CNet.

Read “Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch Opens Wellness Spas Inspired by the Rigors of Touring” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Italy Just Became the First Country to Require Schools to Teach Climate Change” at Global Citizen.

Browse “The Worst Things Michael Bloomberg Has Said About Women” at The Cut.

Read “Nevada Democratic Party asks caucus volunteers to sign confidentiality agreements” at CNN.

Read “Buttigieg Warns Against Sanders As The Democratic Nominee” at NPR.

Read “Admiral William McRaven: We Should Be Frightened, Deeply Afraid” at News and Guts. “When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.”

Read “Pompeo appeared to coordinate with Giuliani on Ukraine, new documents show” at Yahoo News.

Read “With An Election On The Horizon, Older Adults Get Help Spotting Fake News” at NPR.

Read “The Trump Era Proves That Women’s Studies Matters” at Ms. Magazine.

Read “'It's About Time': House Approves Historic Bill Making Lynching A Federal Crime” at NPR.

Read “Why Millennials Refuse to Let Go of Physical Media The last generation to know life before the internet hasn't fully switched over to streaming” at Inside Hook.

Read “Public Enemy Will Perform at Bernie Sanders’ Los Angeles Rally” at Paste.

Read “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out Turns 20” at Stereogum.

Read “Robbie Robertson (The Band) Talks with M.C. Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) on the Talkhouse Podcast They talk road-dogging with Dylan, scoring for Scorsese, and creating the seminal Music from Big Pink” at Talk House.

Read “Jerry Lee Lewis Returns to Music: ‘I Thought I Would Never Play Again’ After a stroke last year robbed him of use of his right hand, the Rock and Roll legend thought his piano-playing days were over. Now, at 84, he just recorded a new album” at Rolling Stone.

Read “For the Record(s): There's No Shame in Owning a Crosley” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Rebecca Foon Gets Honest and Raw with the Gorgeous 'Waxing Moon' at PopMatters.

Read “Mavis Staples Reflects on the Stax Years: Watch New Episode of 'Memphis Masters' at Billboard.

Read “Don Letts: ‘Punk was a refuge from racism’” at The Guardian.

Watch ‘Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub’ with Bob Weir, Phish, The Roots and More” at Relix.

Read “Yeasayer Suing Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd Over Black Panther Song A new lawsuit alleges that “Pray For Me” infringes on the band’s 2007 song “Sunrise” at Pitchfork.

Read “The “Music from Saharan WhatsApp” Series is an Experiment in Immediacy” at Bandcamp and browse my own posts about “Music From Saharan WhatsApp.”

Read “Neil Young wants to tour historic venues but is struggling to find many still in operation He thinks that new arenas feel “soulless" at NME.

Read “One of Rock’s Most Doomed Romances Started on the Floor of Portland’s Scuzziest Punk Club No one at Satyricon who saw the two tangled bodies grappling in front of the jukebox could’ve known what they were witnessing” at Williamette Week.

Read “'It sounded like the future': behind Miles Davis's greatest album On the 50th anniversary of Bitches Brew, one of the contributing musicians and the director of a new documentary share their thoughts on the record” at The Guardian.

Read “New Order and Pet Shop Boys Announce Co-Headlining Tour The new wave legends will play 11 shows together this fall” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “City Of Liverpool To Open Memorial Garden In Honor Of George Harrison” at Live For Live Music.

Read “This black female musician you may not know has written songs you probably do’ at Good Morning America.

Read “RZA Shares New EP of Guided Meditation Songs” at Pitchfork.

Read “Revisiting Talk Talk, A Band Worried About Being A 'Laughing Stock'" at NPR.

Read “'She exists out of time': Umm Kulthum, Arab music's eternal star” at The Guardian.

Read “Heavy Rain: The Exodus of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry” at Please Kill Me.

Watch “More Than 400 Classic Korean Films Free Online Thanks to the Korean Film Archive” at Open Culture.

Read “Sinclair stations are airing a dramatic special fearmongering about socialism, and it’s hosted by former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka” at Media Matters.

Read “The One Where the Friends Reunion Is Officially Happening on HBO Max” at Vulture.

Read “'Just Mercy' Wins Big At NAACP Image Awards” at BET.

Read “Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes Killed In Crash Of Homemade Rocket” at NPR.

Read “Greg Kinnear to Make Broadway Debut as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'" at Hollywood Reporter.

Read “We’re gonna do economic activity—without money!”: Inside the criminal glamour of the San Francisco Diggers with Kent Minault” at Diggers Docs.

Read “Turkish Trash Collectors Built a Library of Discarded Books” at Global Citizen.

See “Thousands of life jackets worn by refugees attached to pillars at Minneapolis Institute of Art” at Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Read “Surrealism Was a Decidedly Feminine Movement. So Why Have So Many of Its Great Women Artists Been Forgotten?” at Art Net.

Read “Scientists Found a Plastic Grocery Bag in the Ocean's Deepest Trench The bag was spotted in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 36,000 feet” at Global Citizen.

Read “An Iceberg Triple The Size Of San Francisco Breaks Off Antarctica's Most Endangered Glacier” at WBUR.

Read “Survival Of The Friendliest: How Our Close Friendships Help Us Thrive” at NPR.

Read “A New Theory On Time Indicates Present And Future Exist Simultaneously” at Science Philes.

Read “This 8-Year-Old Mexican Girl Won a Prize for Making a Solar Heater From Recycled Objects” at Global Citizen.

Read “You Cannot Heal Your Way Out of Being Human And you were never meant to” at Human Parts.

Read “A woman took 550 times the usual dose of LSD, with surprisingly positive consequences” at CNN.

Read “The Planet Is Doomed Unless We Stop Eating So Much Meat, UN Warns” at Global Citizen.

Read “Supermarkets in Thailand Are Replacing Plastic Packaging With Banana Leaves” at Global Citizen.

Read “C.S. Lewis’s Greatest Fiction Was Convincing American Kids That They Would Like Turkish Delight What would the perfect fantasy treat look like? Depending on where you’re from, probably not this” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “The Creepy Small Town In Arizona With Insane Paranormal Activity” at Only In Your State.

Read “Arizona Leads The Nation In Auto Glass Insurance Claims” at KJZZ.

Read “The 25 Best Places To Eat & Drink In Phoenix” at The Infatuation.

Read “Students walk out of Centennial High School after former principal resigns” at 12 News.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/21/20)

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 (01/31/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/31/20).

Read “Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Legend, Dead at 41 Basketball great and 13-year-old daughter Gianna among five dead in helicopter crash near Calabasas, California” at Rolling Stone.

Read “You Are Here Bonhoeffer on the ‘Stupidity’ That Led to Hitler’s Rise Americans today might do well to heed Bonhoeffer’s warning” at Intellectual Takeout.

Read “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace An update on America's changing religious landscape” at Pew Forum. “Catholics are no longer a majority among U.S. Latinos.”

Read “The Art of Grieving: A Spiritual Practice for our Time” at Missio Alliance.

“Get Ordained Free as a Dudeist Minister” at Dudeism.

Read “Trump’s spiritual adviser called for ‘all satanic pregnancies to miscarry.’ It was a metaphor, she says” at Washington Post. Behold, Trump’s version of “Pro-Life”.

Read “The Tanzanian Court Just Banned Child Marriage in the Country For Good” at Global Citizen.

Read “Our problem isn’t just loneliness—it’s species loneliness How human isolation from the rest of the world keeps us from thriving” at Christian Century.

Read “75 Years After Auschwitz Liberation, Survivors Urge World To Remember” at NPR.

Read “Portion of US border wall in California falls over in high winds and lands on Mexican side” at CNN.

Read “Children With Parents Who Are Addicted To Their Cell Phones Affect Children's Development” at Healthy Holistic Living.

Read/Watch “Space Force logo tweeted by Trump bears uncanny resemblance to 'Star Trek' insignia” at CNN.

Read “Single-use plastic: China to ban bags and other items” at BBC.

Read “4 Reasons Why Slowing Down Will Actually Make You More Successful” at Inc.

Read “We Are Drowning in a Devolved World: An Open Letter from Devo Following the band's Rock Hall nomination, founder Gerald Casale reflects on its dystopian legacy in the age of Trump” at Vice.

Read “Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need” at Scoop.

Read “Heard but Not Seen Black music in white spaces.” at Slate.

Read “United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education” at Forbes.

Read “Trump is attracting a new crop of big donors, including many who have never given before” at Washington Post. “It’s like insurance that is going to help save the country. . . . It’s for me and my grandkids and the next generations. Trump’s vaunted political money machine is helping drive record sums to the Republican National Committee, and not just from the same donors who supported him in 2016. Enticed by exclusive gatherings and ecstatic about the president’s tax cuts, an eclectic new crop of donors is going all in, giving five and six figures to support his reelection.”

Read “44 Years Ago, Shirley Chisholm Became the First Black Woman to Run For President” at Smithsonian Magazine.

Read “Pompeo steps up attacks on NPR reporter, but doesn't deny her account The secretary of state on Saturday attacked the correspondent who reported that he had cursed and berated her over questioning about Ukraine, but did not directly challenge those claims.” at NBC.

• Read “State Department drops NPR from Pompeo trip after Ukraine dust-up” at CNN Business.

• Read “NPR Seeks 'Clarification' From State Department About Reporter Dropped From Trip” at NPR.

Read “Supreme Court order allows Trump’s new green card rule to take effect” at PBS News Hour.

Read “2,500-Year-Old Chariot Found – Complete with Rider And Horses” at Archeology World.

Read the (satirical?) piece “Band Member With Kid Subtly Adds Girl Scout Cookies to Merch Table” at The Hard Times.

Attention Grateful Dead fans: “Ever wanted to quickly find every performance of a Grateful Dead song, along with the song played before/after? Or maybe only the ones from a certain year, band lineup, guest musician, etc? Now you can! Get it here (FREE)”.

Read “Neil Young is Now a US Citizen: Here’s 5 Versions of “Rockin’ In The Free World” at Relix.

Read “Neil Young says that the MacBook Pro has “Fisher-Price” audio quality and calls it “a piece of crap” at Music Radar.

Read “Mick Fleetwood on His Peter Green Tribute Show, Future Plans, and Lindsey Buckingham “Lindsey’s legacy is alive and well, and as it should be,” says the drummer. “It will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us” at Rolling Stone.

“Watch the First Teaser for Beastie Boys and Spike Jonze’s New Documentary” at Pitchfork.

Read “Ozzy Osbourne: ‘I Think About Death But I Don’t Worry About It’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The New Pornographers Censor Their Name for New Kids’ Shirts” at Pitchfork.

Browse Clickhole’s list of “5 Episodes Of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives’ Where Guy Fieri Clearly Just Stopped Into The Restaurant Because He Desperately Needed To Use The Bathroom.”

Browse “Super Bowl Halftime Shows Ranked: From Worst to Best” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Check Out Washington Nationals Pitcher Sean Doolittle’s Phish-Inspired Wilson Glove” at Relix.

Read “In 2019, more Americans went to the library than to the movies. Yes, really.” at LitHub.

Read “Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to Read'“ at Inc.

Read “Classic Children’s Books Now Digitized and Put Online: Revisit Vintage Works from the 19th & 20th Centuries” at Open Culture.

“Say Hi, How Are You To Houston's New Mural Honoring Daniel Johnston” at Houston Press.

See “Perfectly Timed Photo Frames a Solar Eclipse Around a Man Leading a Camel in the Desert” at My Modern Met.

Read “Psychology still skews western and affluent. Can it be fixed? Critics have argued that these biases present an imperfect view of the human mind. Why is it so hard to correct?” at Salon.

Read “Ask Ethan: How Can We See 46.1 Billion Light-Years Away In A 13.8 Billion Year Old Universe?” at Forbes.

Read “Germany is turning 62 military bases into wildlife sanctuaries 'We are fortunate that we can now give these places back to nature' at The Independent.

Read “Eat Like a 1970s Radical With ‘The People’s Philadelphia Cookbook’ The 1976 book included contributions from the Black Power and Gay Liberation movements” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “'Penis Man' Graffiti Artist Arrested by '25 Heavily Armed SWAT Officers' at Phoenix New Times.

Read “World’s first Atari-themed hotel will open in Phoenix” at AZ Weekend.

Read “Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Architecture School Is Shutting Down” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Federal court says Arizona 'ballot harvesting' law discriminates against minority voters” at AZ Central.