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.