The Weekly Town Crier (06/04/21)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/04/21).
We’ll Miss You:
Read ‘Actor Gavin MacLeod of 'The Love Boat' and 'Mary Tyler Moore' dies at age 90” at CNN.
Read “Patrick Sky, Folk Singer and Bob Dylan Contemporary, Dead at 80” at Rolling Stone.
Read “B.J. Thomas, 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head' singer, dies at age 78” at CNN.
Read “Buddy Van Horn, Clint Eastwood’s Stunt Double and Director, Dies at 92” at Hollywood Reporter.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “Zondervan won't publish ‘God Bless the USA Bible,' says marketing was 'premature' after backlash” at Christian Post.
Watch “The 15 year old that Mark Driscoll targeted for kissing his daughter tells his side” at Youtube.
Read “Postcards from Phoenix: When Church Divides a Family”
Read “Kentucky ties to Baptist kids agency at risk over LGBTQ rights” at Religion News Service. “Baptist-affiliated Sunrise Children’s Services is refusing to sign a clause in a new contract with the state that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
Read “‘It is a constituency:’ QAnon embraced by many in the U.S.” at MSNBC.
Read “The Untold Story of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s Secret Pact With Nazi Propagandist Leni Riefenstahl” at Daily Beast.
Read “Exclusive: Sex abuse allegations by Carl Lentz’s former nanny put spotlight on Hillsong culture” at Religion News Service.
Read “Preaching at FBC Dallas, Patterson Denounces “Lynch Mob” Trying to Get Him” at Word and Way.
Read “Patterson disputes allegations he improperly took items, used SWBTS’ donor list” at Baptist Press.
Read “Leaked Russell Moore letter blasts SBC conservatives, sheds light on his resignation” at Religion News Service. “In a letter written more than a year before his resignation, Moore explained his troubles with the SBC leadership in bitterly frank terms. Then-President Donald Trump barely makes an appearance.”
Read “Russell Moore to ERLC trustees: ‘They want me to live in psychological terror’” at Religion News Service.
Read “I'm a teacher but I serve God first': Virginia teacher refuses to comply with proposed pronoun policy” at NBC News.
Read “Rape Victim Says Liberty University Deceived & Betrayed Her” at Roys Report.
Read “How Is The GOP Adjusting To A Less Religious America?” at NPR.
Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “Latino or Latinx? The Linguistic Debate Over Inclusive Terms” at KJZZ.
Read “Texas State Rep. Moody On Bill That Would Allow Anyone To Carry A Handgun Without A Permit, License” at WBUR.
Read “Miami Police Chief Slams Texas Bill That Would Allow Unlicensed Carrying Of Handguns” at Huff Post. “Common sense tells us” that the new gun measure is “ridiculous,” said Art Acevedo, the former Houston police chief.”
Read “The U.S. forced them into internment camps. Here’s how Japanese Americans started over.” at National Geographic.
Read “The Gig Economy’s Business Model Is a Racial Justice Issue” at Vice.
Read “San Jose Gunman Expressed Hate for Co-Workers for Years, Had History of Sexual Violence” at Democracy Now.
Read “One hundred years ago, white mobs burned Tulsa’s Black neighborhood to the ground.” at Wall Street Journal.
Read “Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood found prosperity after the 1921 massacre. Then the highways arrived” at NBC News. “The plot to take it over has happened — it just didn’t happen in 1921,” a researcher said of the once-thriving Greenwood district.”
Read “When Our Forefathers Fail” by David French. “On the moral imperative of mourning the Tulsa Race Massacre today.”
Read “The job is not done yet": Black Wall Street documentaries detail the massacre & still seek justice” at Salon.
Read “Tulsa pastors honor ‘holy ground’ 100 years after massacre” at Associated Press.
Read “Biden leaves Hyde Amendment out of budget” at The Hill.
Read “Roger Stone predicts a Donald Trump criminal indictment is on the horizon” at Salon.
Read “2 dead, 20 injured in mass shooting in Miami” at The Hill.
Read “One-fifth of Americans who bought guns last year were first-time buyers” at The Hill.
Read “Judge approves plea deal of Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg; sentencing set for August” at The HIll.
Read “NFL pledges to halt ‘race-norming,’ review Black claims” at Associated Press.
Read “Giuliani and Prosecutors Agree on Former Judge to Review Seized Materials” at New York Times.
Read “How the Supreme Court has tilted election law to favor the Republican Party” at Los Angeles Times.
This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // Insurrectionists // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):
Read “Jan. 6 defendants continue to struggle as Trump continues to lie” at MSNBC.
Read “DOJ adds four defendants to Oath Keepers conspiracy case” at The Hill.
Read “Former Trump advisor Michael Flynn said the US should have a coup like Myanmar, where the military overthrew the democratically elected government” at Yahoo.
Read “Neo-Nazi Was Behind Walmart Mass Shooting Plot, Group Claims” at Vice. “The Texas man was arrested and police confiscated guns, ammo, and extremist paraphernalia, including a T-shirt featuring the image of the neo-Nazi group that claims he was one of their own.”
This Week In Protest-Related News:
Read “Thousands marched in Phoenix against police brutality a year ago. So, what's changed since?” at 12 News.
This Week With The Police:
Read “Deputy demoted after leaving his K-9 partner in a patrol car, the dog died” at AZ Family.
Read “What If Your Abusive Husband Is A Cop?” at New Yorker.
Read “Phoenix Settles Rape Claim Against Former Police Officer” at KJZZ.
Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings
Read “Oklahoma teacher says summer class canceled due to bill that bans teaching critical race theory” at KOCO.
Read “How Hillary Clinton Went Undercover to Examine Race in Education” at New York Times.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Read “Methodist Hospital employees sue over vaccine requirement, citing violation of Nuremberg Code” at Houston Chronicle.
Read “Costco says free samples and food courts will fully return by June” at USA Today.
Read “Florida rock concert tickets are $18 if you're vaccinated – $1,000 if you're not” at The Hill.
Read “Hat makers distance from Nashville store amid uproar over 'Not Vaccinated' badges” at The Hill.
Read “Vietnam Detects New Highly Transmissible Coronavirus Variant” at Slate.
Read “Anti-vaxxer sheriff's deputy dies from COVID-19 complications shortly after mocking the vaccine on Facebook” at Yahoo.
Read “'Karen' baby name popularity drops over 170 spots in 2020” at The Hill.
Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):
Read “The Colorado River is facing an alarming water shortage for the first time ever” at The Hill.
Read “U.S. Military Personnel Spilled Nuclear Secrets in Online Flashcards” at Vice.
Read “Homebuyers Squeezed As Western States See Prices Double Or More In Last Decade” at NPR.
Read “Matt Gaetz says $155k to close on yacht with his fiancee ‘went missing’” at Yahoo.
Read “TikTok’s ‘Americancore’ Trend Shows Americans How the Rest of the World Feels at Vice.
Read “American Airlines joins Southwest in delaying return of alcohol sales” at The Hill.
Read “How Would You Feel About a 4-Day Workweek?” at The Nation. “As productivity has soared, time off has not kept pace. It’s time to change that.”
Read “Mental Health Struggles Don't Care About 'Success'“ at Huff Post. “Naomi Osaka is just one of many examples where compassion evaporates the second someone publicly discusses their well-being.”
Read “World No. 1 Ash Barty Withdraws From French Open Due To Hip Injury” at Huff Post.
Internationalities:
Read “NGOs say Biden's proposed military aid to Egypt undermines human rights” at Al-Monitor.
Read “Germany Officially Recognizes It Committed Genocide In Present-Day Namibia” at NPR
Read “US returns ancient stone carvings to Thailand” at BBC.
Read “Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia” at APTN News.
Read ‘AI emotion-detection software tested on Uyghurs” at BBC.
Read “Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary” at BBC.
Politics And Sucheries:
Read “The six GOP senators who backed Jan. 6 commission bill” at The Hill.
Read “Trump Slams Paul Ryan For Calling End To His Presidency ‘Disgraceful’” at Huff Post. “The ex-president claimed the former House speaker is “a curse to the Republican Party.”
Read “A win for DeSantis? Fla. law fines social media companies for banning candidates” at MSNBC.
Read ‘Fmr. DHS Secretary Napolitano slams GOP Senators for ignoring national security threats” at MSNBC
Read “Alaska: Biden to suspend Trump Arctic drilling leases” at BBC.
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “Senate Republicans block commission on January 6 insurrection” at CBS News.
Read “These 11 senators skipped the Jan. 6 commission vote” at Daily News.
Read “Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Won’t Explain Why She No-Showed for the Capitol Riot Commission Vote” at Daily Beast.
Read “Sen. Cruz shares far-right Russian propaganda video to attack U.S. military” at MSNBC.
Read “Texas Republicans finalize bill that would enact stiff new voting restrictions and make it easier to overturn election results” at Washington Post.
Read “DOJ Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuits Against Trump for Violent Clearing of Lafayette Square” at Slate.
Read “The RNC's scandal-plagued finance team, four years later” at MSNBC. “Four years ago, the RNC announced its national finance team. How many of the quartet have faced Justice Department investigations? All of them.”
Read “National Review writer 'can attest' to Trump pressing conservatives to say election was 'stolen'“ at The Hill.
Read “Postmaster General DeJoy under investigation for claim he once called ‘outrageous’” at MSNBC.
Music-Related News and Such:
Read “It Came Out of the Sky: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Willy and the Poor Boys’ at 50” at The Ringer (originally from 2019).
Read “10 big talking points from the posthumous new DMX album ‘Exodus’” at NME.
Read “What Is Asian American Music, Really?” at Pitchfork.
Read “Jeff Tweedy in Conversation with Jeff Tweedy” at Believer.
Read “Man Returns Bob Dylan Album to Library After 48 Years Overdue” at Consequence.
Read “Resistance Songs: Mdou Moctar's Favourite Music” at The Quietus.
Read “Hanson Tap Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen for New Song ‘Don’t Ever Change’” at Rolling Stone.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “Apple Orders ‘The Big Door Prize’ TV Adaptation From ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Producer David West Read” at Variety.
Read “'Rugrats' Reboot: Phil and Lil's Mom Betty Will Be Openly Gay in Paramount+ Show” at Pop Culture.
Read “‘Paddington 2’ Loses Top Movie of All Time Honor Due to New Bad Review” at Hollywood Reporter.
Read “The Healing Power of Lodge 49 How a Short-Lived Show Broke Through My Pandemic Fog” at Vogue.
Read “Universal Reportedly Wants A Fast & Furious And Jurassic World Crossover” at We Got This Covered.
Books/Reading/Authors
Read “A Medieval Book That Opens Six Different Ways, Revealing Six Different Books in One” at Open Culture.
Design/Artsy Things:
Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:
Read “UFO whistleblower says Pentagon tried to silence him” at The Hill.
Read “UFO filmmaker releases 46-second video allegedly showing swarm of objects hovering near Navy ship” at Yahoo.
Read “U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either” at New York Times.
Read “Even Creatures in The Deepest Ocean Trench Have Eaten Plastic” at Global Citizen.
Read “It’s really beginning to look like Tom DeLonge can blow the lid off the mystery of UFOs” at A Journal Of Musical Things.
Read “Viral video shows massive shark circling boat in Atlantic Ocean” at 12 News.
Read “China to send 3 astronauts to its new space station in June” at 12 News.
Read “Nasa to launch baby squid to International Space Station” at BBC.
Food And Drink Cultures:
Misc. Oddities:
Local:
Read “Arizona ‘refurbishes’ its gas chamber to prepare for executions, documents reveal” at The Guardian.
Read “Ducey vetoes 22 bills, says nothing will be signed until budget is approved” at AZ Mirror.
Read “‘We should be very worried’: Top Arizona election official sounds alarm over GOP’s war against democracy” at The Independent.