The Weekly Town Crier (02/26/21)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/26/21).
We’ll Miss You:
Read “Akron/Family’s Miles Seaton Has Died at 41” at Pitchfork.
Read “Johnny Pacheco, Who Helped Bring Salsa to the World, Dies at 85” at New York Times.
Read “Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Beat Poet And Small Press Publisher, Dies At 101” at NPR.
Read “John Baker, founder of the Christian support group Celebrate Recovery, has died” at Religion News Service.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “Founders Ministry President: VP Kamala Harris “Going to Hell” at Word & Way. “While defending Southern Baptist pastors who called Vice President Kamala Harris a “Jezebel,” prominent Southern Baptist pastor Tom Ascol declared Harris was going to hell.”
Read “New planets raise old questions” at Religion News Service. “The discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby dwarf star, Trappist-1, is raising lots of questions with religious implications.”
Read “Christians, Conspiracy Theories, and Credibility: Why Our Words Today Matter for Eternity” at Lifeway Research.
Read “More Christian Groups Cut Ties with Ravi Zacharias & RZIM” at Roys Report.
Read “Ministry leaders’ rush to empathize with Ravi Zacharias is beyond alarming” at Religion News Service.
Read “Ravi Zacharias posthumously defrocked, ministry suspends fundraising after abuse report” at Religion News Service.
Read “As US refocuses anti-extremism programs on far right, many Muslims still oppose them” at Religion News Service. “After the Capitol attack, the Biden White House called for countering violent extremism programs to shift to a focus on white supremacists. But Muslim groups say the programs are still a waste of resources.”
Read “Before Rush Limbaugh, Father Coughlin was America’s first demagogue of the airwaves” at America Magazine.
Read “Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy” at SBC News. “Divisions over race, politics, gender and LGBTQ issues are roiling the Southern Baptist Convention ahead of a meeting of its executive committee next week.”
Read “Evangelicals perfected cancel culture. Now it’s coming for them.” at Religion News Service. “One Alabama megachurch preacher is experiencing a cautionary tale about a central spiritual idea: What goes around comes around.”
Read “Why Is it So Hard to Reach the Christian Conspiracy Theorist?” by David French. “When fellowship is superior to facts.”
Read “George Saunders on What Buddhists Can Offer the World Right Now” at Tricycle.
Read ‘Fewer Churches Held In-Person Services in January” at Christianity Today.
Read “Palestinian Christians Promised an Outsized Voice in New Legislature” at Christianity Today.
Read “SBC president J.D. Greear: “God did not call Southern Baptists to save America” at Religion News Service. “In a speech to the SBC Executive Committee meeting, Greear asked, “Do we want to be a gospel people, or a Southern culture people? Which is the more important part of our name — Southern or Baptist?” “We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of color,”
Read “Southern Baptists Expel Two More Churches Over Abuse” at Christianity Today. “Top leaders address divides in the denomination at the first in-person Executive Committee meeting in a year.”
Read “Floyd, Greear stare down division, call for refocus on the Great Commission at EC meeting” at Baptist Press.
Read “Written in Protest The impeachment vote was a vote for white supremacy” at Religion News Service. “The refusal to confront the white supremacy at the Capitol is a refusal to reconcile America’s lofty democratic rhetoric with the state of its floundering institutions.”
Read “No, Rush Limbaugh Did Not Hijack Your Parents’ Christianity”at Religion Dispatches. “Many conservative Christians embraced Rush Limbaugh because they had already embraced a faith that championed an us-vs.-them militancy... and a thinly veiled misogyny that kept women in their (God-given) place.”
Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “Federal judge temporarily blocks South Carolina 'heartbeat' abortion ban” at CNN.
Read “Nazi Concentration Camp Guard Sent to Germany From Tennessee” at Bloomberg.
Read “New Mexico Legislature moves to preserve abortion rights” at Associated Press.
Read “Iowa lawmaker Brad Zaun cited for having gun at airport” at Des Moines Register.
Read “Woman who gave birth alone in cell secures $200k settlement” at Associated Press.
Read “Whistleblowers: Software Bug Keeping Hundreds Of Inmates In Arizona Prisons Beyond Release Dates” at KJZZ. “Sources say Department of Corrections leadership has known about the problem since 2019.”
Read “New Jersey governor signs bills legalizing marijuana” at The Hill.
Read “Supreme Court Clears Way For NY Prosecutor To Obtain Donald Trump’s Financial Records” at News and Guts.
Read “Supreme Court won't review Pennsylvania GOP election lawsuits” at The Hill.
Read “Mike Lindell Just Got Sued for $1.3 Billion Over Election Conspiracies” at Vice.
Read “Minnesota returns land to Lower Sioux Indian Community after decades-long battle” at The Hill.
Read “Supreme Court turns down Stormy Daniels's defamation suit against Trump” at The Hill.
Read “James Franco Reaches Settlement with Former Students in Sexual Exploitation Suit” at Consequence of Sound.
Read “UN chief labels white supremacy a 'transnational threat'“ at The Hill.
Read “Why Clarence Thomas' Trump-like dissent in election case matters” at MSNBC.
Read “Illinois governor signs bill making state the first to end cash bail” at The Hill.
This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):
Read “Acting Capitol Police Chief, House Sergeant at Arms to testify before House Appropriations Committee” at The Hill.
Read “U.S. alleges wider Oath Keepers conspiracy, adds more charges in Jan. 6 Capitol riot” at Washington Post.
Read “Feds Charge Pa. Cop For Rioting During Capitol Insurrection: ‘I May Need A Job’” at Huff Post.
Read “His pastors tried to steer him away from social media rage. He stormed the Capitol anyway.” at Washington Post.
Read “Several Charged Capitol Rioters Complained On Social Media About Antifa Getting Credit For Their Work” at Comic Sands.
Read “Oath Keeper claims she was VIP security at Trump rally before riot and says she met with Secret Service agents” at CNN.
Read “Former North Miami Beach cop went live on Facebook from inside the Capitol during riot” at Miami Herald.
Read ‘Justice Dept. Is Said to Be Examining Stone’s Possible Ties to Capitol Rioters” at New York Times.
Read “Reporter's Video From Inside Senate On Jan. 6 Shows A Crowd Prepared For Violence” at NPR.
This Week With The Police:
Read “Video Shows NYPD Cop Repeatedly Punching a Restrained Man in the Head” at Vice.
Read “Phoenix Council Debates Moving Money From Police Oversight To Homeless Services” at KJZZ.
Read “Newly released video shows deputies confront Black man over alleged jaywalking before fatally shooting him in San Clemente” at KTLA. “The deputies themselves can be heard debating whether Kurt Reinhold was jaywalking, with one telling the other, “Don’t make case law.”
Read “Martin Gugino sues city of Buffalo, mayor and police after fracturing skull” at Religion News Service. “A grand jury declined to indict the Buffalo police officers, but the Catholic social justice activist filed a civil suit alleging his constitutional right to peaceably protest was violated.”
Education and The Learnings, And/Or School Re-Openings
Read “Cornel West Says Harvard Denied Him Tenure Consideration, Calls It 'Political'“ at Huff Post.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Watch “Fmr. FDA Commissioner: Vaccine supply could exceed demand as soon as April” at MSNBC.
Read ‘Sedentary and stressed? Get outside to improve health during COVID, experts advise” at Cronkite News.
Read “Israel: Pfizer vaccine prevents 98.9 percent of COVID-19 deaths” at The Hill.
Read “Aging Out of Foster Care During COVID-19 Pandemic Brings Additional Challenges” at Teen Vogue.
Read “Meghan McCain calls for Biden to remove Fauci” at The Hill.
Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):
Read “Video shows man screaming 'get a f---ing job' at family in line for church's food drive” at The Hill.
Read “Robinhood CEO apologizes for limiting GameStop trades” at MSBC.
Read “Politico finds Ted Cruz's Cancun scandal 'refreshingly normal'“ at The Week.
Read “DeSantis to lower Florida flags in honor of Limbaugh” at The Hill.
Read “Kim Kardashian Reportedly Files To Divorce Kanye West” at MTV.
Read “Why Were There So Many Serial Killers Between 1970 and 2000 — and Where Did They Go?” at Rolling Stone. “The answer is manyfold — encompassing everything from sociological changes, to biology, to technology, to linguistics.”
Read ‘Turkish Garbage Collectors Open a Library from Books Rescued from the Trash” at Goodnet.
Read “Free speech on campus is to be protected, but the war against cancel culture rages on” at Telegraph.
Read “Coolidge man fakes kidnapping to get out of work, police say” at 12 News.
Read “Some Texans got electric bills up to $17,000 after the storm. How does that happen?” at Washington Post.
Read “Power Companies Get Exactly What They Want”: How Texas Repeatedly Failed to Protect Its Power Grid Against Extreme Weather” at Pro Publica. “Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but time and again they furthered the interests of large electricity providers.”
Read “The Comedy Industry Has a Big Alt-Right Problem” at The New Republic. “How safe spaces for transgressive humor, both online and in real life, helped breed a hateful ideology.”
Read “Twitter Kicked Donald Trump Out and Its Stock Surged to a Record” at Bloomberg.
Read “Mark Changed The Rules”: How Facebook Went Easy On Alex Jones And Other Right-Wing Figures” at Buzzfeed News. “Facebook’s rules to combat misinformation and hate speech are subject to the whims and political considerations of its CEO and his policy team leader.”
Read “Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen Launch Spotify Podcast” at The Hollywood Reporter.
Read “28-Year-Old Dad-to-Be Dies in Explosion While Building 'Gender-Reveal' Device” at People.
See “Woman Yelling at Cat" in LEGO” at Boing Boing.
Read “The Army Is Building a New High Powered Laser” at Vice. “The Army wants to build a new kind of laser that fires in 1 quadrillionth of a second.”
Read “How Disney is using ‘Star Wars’ to help Chevy sell electric cars” at Los Angeles Times.
Internationalities:
Read ‘US sanctions inflicted $1 trillion damage on Iran’s economy: FM” at Al Jazeera.
Read “Canada's parliament declares China's treatment of Uighurs 'genocide'“ at BBC.
Read “North Korean Defector’s DMZ Crossing Raises Questions About Border Security” at Wall Street Journal. “Man swam across the border, went through a drainage conduit and appeared on South Korean military cameras eight times before being detected.”
Read “China denies requiring anal swabs from US diplomats” at BBC.
Read “US bombs Syria facilities used by Iran-backed militia; first airstrikes under Biden” at USA Today.
Politics And Sucheries:
Read “Ocasio-Cortez calls for full investigation of Cuomo's handling of coronavirus in nursing homes” at The Hill.
Read “Mike Pence Declines Invite to CPAC Event Where Donald Trump Will Speak” at Newsweek.
Read “Progressive caucus chair: Income thresholds for direct payments should stay at $75,000” at The Hill.
Read “The GOP is rapidly becoming the blue-collar party. Here's what that means” at NBC News.”Most of the GOP's blue-collar growth took place during the presidency of Donald Trump.”
Read ‘Trump to claim total control of GOP” at Axios. “In his first post-presidential appearance, Donald Trump plans to send the message next weekend that he is Republicans' "presumptive 2024 nominee" with a vise grip on the party's base, top Trump allies tell Axios.”
Read “Florida official tells offices to disregard DeSantis order to lower flags in Limbaugh's honor” at The Hill.
Read “Riot Romney predicts Trump would win the 2024 G.O.P. nomination if he ran for president.” at New York Times. “He has by far the largest voice and a big impact in my party,” Mr. Romney said.
Read “Bill would strip pension for president convicted of felony” at The Hill.
Read “Why Biden Can’t Fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy” at Slate. “Trying to force DeJoy out could lead to constitutional chaos.”
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “McConnell Wants the Law Changed to Ensure He's Replaced by a Republican If He Leaves the Senate Early” at Second Nexus.
Read “Georgia Republicans Are Doubling Down on Racist Voter Suppression” at Mother Jones. “After Black voters turned out in record numbers, the GOP wants to make it harder to vote.”
Read “Matt Schlapp on Banishing Mitt Romney From CPAC: I Would Be ‘Afraid For His Physical Safety’ If He Came” at Mediaite.
Read “Trump’s blunt weapon: State GOP leaders” at Axios. “Virtually every Republican who supported impeachment was censured back home, or threatened with a primary challenge.”
Read “Trump to reemerge on political scene at CPAC” at The Hill.
Music-Related News and Such:
Read “Dinosaur Jr’s Green Mind Turns 30” at Spin. “We spoke with frontman J Mascis about the band’s early days, and why 'Green Mind' is still a pivotal work.”
Read “Sub Pop opens new flagship record store in Seattle” at Vinyl Factory.
Read “Courtney Love Says She Stopped Acting Because of “A Bunch of #MeToos” at Consequence of Sound. ‘"No one would believe me, and it wouldn't stop. So I left, and it left."
Read “Decades Since ‘3 Feet High & Rising’ & De La Soul Still Isn’t In Control Of Its Legacy” at Okay Player. “In an age where countless veteran rap acts are benefiting off of nostalgia, pioneering hip-hop group De La Soul hasn’t fully been able to do the same.”
Read “Bill Callahan, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Cassie Berman Cover Silver Jews’ The Wild Kindness’” at Jambase.
Read “Marilyn Manson under investigation by LA County Sheriff’s Department” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Browse Jerry Garcia’s guitars.
Read “José González Returns With First New Song in 5 Years” at Pitchfork.
Read “R.I.P. Miles Seaton of Akron/Family” at Talkhouse. James Toth (Wooden Wand) remembers his friend.
Read “Daft Punk Break Up” at Pitchfork. “The legendary dance duo have called it quits 28 years after forming in Paris.”
Read “U-Roy: the singularly musical toaster was a vital part of reggae's bloodline” at The Guardian. “His inspired technique made toasting into an international phenomenon, yet he was endearingly modest to the end.”
Read “Dinosaur Jr. Announce New Album, Share New Song “I Ran Away”: Listen” at Pitchfork.
Browse Bandcamp’s picks for “The Best Experimental Music on Bandcamp: February 2021.”
Read “Can Live Series Begins With Release Of 1975 Stuttgart Show” at The Quietus.
Read “Spiritualized to Reissue Their First Four Albums on Vinyl” at Pitchfork.
Read “Post Malone Covers Hootie and the Blowfish for Pokémon Day Celebration” at Rolling Stone.
Read “Uproar at KCRW as former producer accuses public radio giant of 'blatant racism'“ at Yahoo.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “What Are the Commercials in WandaVision Telling Us? at Vulture.
Read “32 Memorable ‘Muppet Show’ Musical Moments to Stream on Disney+” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Read “David Lynch’s Industrious Pandemic” at New Yorker. “Checking in with the director as he turns seventy-five.”
Read “Disney+ Adds Disclaimer to The Muppet Show” at Consequence of Sound. “The streaming platform warns viewers of "negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures."
Read “E.T. II, the mega-dark sequel that never happened” at Boing Boing.
Read “Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn trash HBO documentary series as a ‘hatchet job’” at Los Angeles Times.
Read “From Heroes to WandaVision: How superheroes learned to meet TV halfway” at AV Club.
Browse Paste’s picks for “The 10 Best Movies on Apple TV+ Right Now, Ranked.”
Read “Tom Morello to Serve as Executive Music Producer on Netflix’s ‘Metal Lords’ Film” at Rolling Stone. “Coming-of-age comedy about high school metal band to premiere later this year.”
Books/Reading/Authors
Read “Brian Eno Lists 20 Books for Rebuilding Civilization & 59 Books For Building Your Intellectual World” at Open Culture.
Read “Stan Lee and the Dot-Com Disaster” at Vulture.
Read “How the Internet Archive Digitizes 3,500 Books a Day–the Hard Way, One Page at a Time” at Open Culture.
Read “Cindy McCain planning 'intimate memoir' of life with John McCain” at The Hill.
Read “What Are Magazines Good For?” at New Yorker. “What is the cultural sway of magazines when there are 20-year-old TikTok influencers with many more subscribers than Time?”
Design/Artsy Things:
Browse “Uncanny Portraits of Perfectly Symmetrical Pets” at Wired.
Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:
Read “First Arctic Navigation in February Sends a Worrying Climate Signal” at Bloomberg.
Local:
Read “37 suspects accused of child sex crimes arrested in Phoenix-area” at AZ Family.
Read “Banner Health Eases Visitor Restrictions” at KJZZ.
Read “What did Allister Adel know about protest ‘gang’ charges?” at ABC 15. “ABC 15 obtained radio calls and dispatch logs that show (a specific MCAO prosecutor) was directly advising Phoenix police officers before the arrests against the group were even finalized on the night of the protest."
Read “The U.S. Air Force is going to set up a distribution center in Glendale and give out bottled water to nearby residents/business owners who had their drinking water contaminated by Air Force activity” at AZ Central.
Read “Spend Or Save? Phoenix Estimates $153 Million Budget Surplus” at KJZZ.