The Weekly Town Crier (09/18/20)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/18/20).
We’ll Miss You:
Read “Diana Rigg, star of 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Avengers,' dies at 82” at NBC.
Read “Hal Singer, Saxophonist and Tulsa Massacre Survivor, Dies at 100” at New York Times.
Read “R.I.P. Toots Hibbert, Reggae Pioneer and Frontman of Toots & The Maytals Dies at 77” at Consequence of Sound.
Read “Original Bad Brains singer Sid McCray, RIP” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “No Pearl-Clutching Allowed” by Diana Butler Bass.
Read “Former Avalon Singer Michael Passons Says He Was Kicked Out of Christian Band for Being Gay” at People.
Read “It’s Out Of Control’: How QAnon Undermines Legitimate Anti-Trafficking Efforts” at Huff Post. “The child sex trade is a global crisis. Far-right conspiracy theorists are harassing, distracting and intimidating the organizations fighting to end it.”
Read “Black Lives Matter co-founder denounces Pat Robertson for saying the movement is 'anti-God' at Religion News Service.
Read “'God Has a Mission for Me': Roger Stone Tells CBN News He's Not Out for Revenge but on a New Path” at CBN News.
Read “On the Use and Abuse of Critical Race Theory in American Christianity” at The Dispatch.
Read “Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias A Serial Liar And Molester? Brothers In Faith Blame “Demonic” Hindu Yoga In His Spa” at Swarajya Mag.
Read “Betrayed Trust, Part One: New Testimony, Emails & Other Documents Portray Ravi Zacharias as Predator in Sexting Scandal” at Roys Report.
Read “Betrayed Trust, Part Two: Woman Accused in Sexting Scandal Claims Ravi Zacharias Groomed & Exploited Her” at Roys Report.
Read “Betrayed Trust, Part Three: Ravi Zacharias Claimed Accusers in Sexting Scandal Were Extortionists, But Evidence Indicates Otherwise” at Roys Report.
Read “How Did Martin Luther Become So Popular?” at Sojourners.
Read “Former Christianity Today Editor Mark Galli to be Confirmed a Catholic” at Roys Report.
Read “Baptist Calvinists defend slavery of Southern Seminary founders” at Baptist News.
Read “Catholic group launches $9.7M campaign against Biden targeting swing-state voters” at The Hill.
Read “White Christians Have Become Even Less Motivated to Address Racial Injustice” at Barna.
Read “No race problem here: Despite summer of protests, many practicing Christians remain ambivalent” at Religion News Service.
Read “Evangelical Pastor Urges Christians to 'Mobilize' to Fight Civil War Against Left-Wing Activists” at Newsweek.
Read “An evangelical activist could draw big crowds to Milwaukee, Madison and Kenosha as Wisconsin reaches record COVID-19 cases” at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Read “The Complicated Importance Of Abortion To Trump Voters” at NPR (EDITOR’S NOTE: Abortion would not be legal nor exist as it currently does without Republican support).
Legal/Justice/Human Rights and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “Conor McGregor arrested for alleged attempted sexual assault in Corsica” at Mirror.
Read “Former Judge Gleeson's response to Justice Department efforts to drop Michael Flynn's prosecution” at CNN.
Read “The IRS offers a $625,000 bounty to anyone who can break Monero and Lightning” at Coin Telegraph.
Read “Naomi Osaka Says She Wore 7 Masks About Black Lives During This Year's U.S. Open to 'Make People Start Talking' at Time.
Read “A Coded Word From the Far Right Roils France’s Political Mainstream” at New York Times.
Read “Young US Latinos are at the forefront of a climate revolution” at PRI.
Read “19 families buy nearly 97 acres of land in Georgia to create a city safe for Black people” at CNN.
Read “Judges halt plan to exclude unauthorized immigrants from count used to award seats in Congress” at CBS News.
Read “Oregon prisoners report ‘inhumane’ conditions following fire evacuations, transfers” at Oregonian Live.
Read “How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled” at NPR.
Read “California Woman Goes Off On Racist Rant At Man During Dispute About His Kids’ Sidewalk Art” at Percolately.
Read “‘Like an Experimental Concentration Camp’: Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Mass Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Center” at Law and Crime.
Read “Whistleblower Alleges 'Medical Neglect,' Questionable Hysterectomies Of ICE Detainees” at KCRW.
Read “A Civil War Political Movement Reawakens — Complete With Capes” at New York Times.
Read “The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90%—And That's Made the U.S. Less Secure” at Time.
Read “ICE deported a key witness in investigation of sexual assault and harassment at El Paso detention center” at Texas Tribune.
Read “Donald Trump accused of sexual assault by former model Amy Dorris” at The Guardian.
This Week In Protest-Related News:
Read “George Floyd family attorney slams defense claim he died from drug overdose” at NBC News.
Read “City of Louisville agrees to 'substantial' settlement in Breonna Taylor shooting” at Louisville Courier-Journal.
Read “Portland slaps new $20K daily fine on fed courthouse fence” at Pamplin Media.
Read “Portland Protesters Say Their Lives Were Upended by the Posting of Their Mug Shots on a Conservative Twitter Account” at Willamette Weekly. “What Andy Ngo is doing is legal. The mug shots are public records. And Ngo told WW that it is his “duty” to report on protesters who have been arrested.”
Read ‘KPCC Journalist Tackled, Arrested While Trying To Cover L.A. Protest” at NPR.
Read “Violent protests erupt in Colombia after the death of a man repeatedly tasered by police” at CBS News.
Read “Massive Protests Continue In Belarus As Demonstrators Demand Lukashenko Resign” at NPR.
Read “Attacks on journalists during protests risen sharply: UNESCO” at Al Jazeera. “Journalists attacked, arrested or killed in 21 protests between January and June of this year, UNESCO said.”
Read “Whistleblower says officials considered using "heat ray" on D.C. protester” at Axios. “Federal officials stockpiled ammunition at the D.C Armory and sought crowd control devices before law enforcement forcibly cleared protesters from Lafayette Square in June, a whistleblower said in written submissions to Congress.”
This Week With The Police:
Read “4 Texas police officers fired after fatally shooting man 'having a mental breakdown' in April” at USA Today.
Read “NLVPD officer accused of kneeing handcuffed suspect, asking others to turn off bodycams” at Las Vegas 3.
Read “Salt Lake police chief, former chief address shooting of teen with autism” at KSL.
Read “Flagstaff police officer dead after reportedly taking his own life” at 12 News.
Read “2 L.A. deputies shot in ‘ambush’ attack recovering after surgery” at Los Angeles Times.
Read “Shooting of L.A. deputies new flashpoint in a 'tinderbox moment'" at Yahoo.
Read “Policing in Arizona is at a crossroads as long-simmering issues involving race and use-of-force come to a head” at KJZZ.
Read ‘Roderick Walker: Georgia Police Tackle & Pin Cab Rider in Viral Video” at Heavy.
Read ‘Maryland Police Officer Indicted After Man Left Partially Paralyzed” at NBC Washington.
Read “Officer-involved shooting leaves one person injured in North City” at KMOV.
Read “Openly-Gay Congressional Candidate Hits Back After Police Union Calls Him A 'First Class Wh*re'“ at Comic Sands.
Read “A Newark Officer Was Filmed Punching Someone. Jelani Cobb Asked a Police Union Head If It Was Justified” at PBS’ Frontline.
Read “8 Times Cops Let People Go as Personal Favors (And One When They Didn’t)” at Vice.
Read “Documents Reveal How the Police Kept Daniel Prude’s Death Quiet” at New York Times.
Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings
Read “Nearly two-thirds of US young adults unaware 6m Jews killed in the Holocaust” at The Guardian.
Read “Trump announces commission to further 'patriotic education' at The Hill.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Read “Canada reports zero COVID-19 deaths for first time since March” at Reuters.
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 “RNC chairwoman says history will vindicate Trump's coronavirus handling” at NBC News.
Read “Joy Reid on Trump downplaying coronavirus dangers: Your President lied to you” at MSNBC.
Read “Trump’s coronavirus death toll estimate exposes his failure” at Vox. “Trump had a chance to avert the unfolding coronavirus disaster. He blew it.”
Read “Trump’s COVID-19 Culpability” at Niskassen Center.
Read “CDC Director Says COVID-19 Vaccine Likely Won't Be Widely Available Until Next Year” at NPR.
Read “Trump says CDC director "made a mistake" when he said vaccine won't be widely available until at least summer 2021” at CBS News.
Read “Political Appointees Meddled in C.D.C.’s ‘Holiest of the Holy’ Health Reports” at New York Times. “Trump loyalists at the Health and Human Services Department have been exerting influence on the Centers for Disease Control’s weekly reports on all disease outbreaks, the coronavirus and beyond.”
Read “Trump Pressed for Plasma Therapy. Officials Worry, Is an Unvetted Vaccine Next?” at New York Times.
Read “Adults with Covid-19 about 'twice as likely' to say they have dined at a restaurant, CDC study suggests” at CNN.
Read “COVID creeps into a sprawling Syrian refugee camp in Jordan” at CBS News.
Read “Bullfighting has reached a crisis point in Spain” at PRI. “Spain has just become the first country in Europe to register half a million coronavirus cases, leaving bullrings empty and bullfighters out of work.”
Read “Florida bars to reopen even as state battles coronavirus” at CBS News.
Read “Coronavirus pandemic taking much bigger mental health toll on young adults compared to older adults, survey finds” at CBS News.
Read “Tom Hanks' Blood Will be Used To Develop COVID-19 Vaccine” at Today.
Read “A top disease expert is warning of 'another 12 to 14 months of a really hard road ahead of us,' and says the US has no national plan to stop it” at Yahoo.
Read “Israel to Enter Second Virus Lockdown After Bungled Reopen” at Bloomberg.
Read “Utah County behind ‘clear’ spike in coronavirus cases, state health officials say” at Salt Lake Tribune.
Read “UArizona recommending 14-day shelter-in-place for students to curb spread of COVID-19” at KGUN9.
Read “Coronavirus cases are growing in 11 U.S. states as Fauci warns of 'disturbing' data” at CNBC.
Read “The Sturgis Biker Rally Did Not Cause 266,796 Cases of COVID-19” at Slate.
Read “Bill Gates: CDC being 'written out of the picture' on coronavirus” at The Hill. “The CDC is largely being written out of the picture because you have people at the White house who aren’t epidemiologists, saying what a great job they’ve done, and so it’s no longer a set of experts.”
Read “Coronavirus: Ukraine accuses Belarus over stranded Jewish pilgrims” at BBC.
Read “Hungary Tightens Rules With Virus Wave Expected to Last Months” at Bloomberg.
Read “Iran’s Daily Coronavirus Cases Surge to Three-Month High” at Bloomberg.
Read “West Coast Fires Are Raising Covid-19 Risks” at Wall Street Journal.
Miscellany Cultural Items:
Read “In Oregon, a New Climate Menace: Fires Raging Where They Don’t Usually Burn” at New York Times.
Read “As the West Coast Burns, Communities Unravel With Each Death” at New York Times.
Read “West Coast Fires: Climate, Forest Management, Lax Rules, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around” at NPR.
Read “Trump Bucks Climate Science in Wildfire Briefing” Fact Check.
Read “Former Daily Caller Editor Reveals He Was Forced To Publish Oleg Deripaska” at Empty Wheel.
Read “Alicia Keys interview: ‘I despise the word celebrity – it’s such an empty word’” at The Telegraph.
Read “‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ Is Finally Free After 35 Years in Confinement” at Global Citizen.
Read “Bush’s Empty Words on Post-9/11 Tolerance Were Good, Actually” at Slate.
Read “In Oregon, a Year of Political Tumult Extends to Devastating Wildfires” at New York Times.
Read “13-year-old dies from brain-eating amoeba after vacation in Florida, family says” at CBS.
Read “Facebook deleting posts linking activist groups to Oregon fires” at CNet.
Read “Oracle Picked as Winning Bid for TikTok U.S. Over Microsoft” at Bloomberg.
Read “What I Learned From Writing Letters To Strangers Across America” at NPR.
Read “David Lynch Tries to Make a List of the Good Things Happening in the World … and Comes Up Blank” at Open Culture.
Read “Bill Gates: “Our values do change what gets funded in this economy” at MarketPlace.
Internationalities:
Read “Liberia declares rape a national emergency after spike in cases” at Al Jazeera.
Read “Iran: Secret execution of wrestler Navid Afkari a ‘travesty of justice’” at Amnesty International.
Read “India-China dispute: China returns five missing Indian nationals” at BBC.
Read “Afghan-Taliban talks: Government calls for ceasefire” at BBC.
Read “Officials: Iran weighs plot to kill U.S. ambassador to South Africa” at Politico.
Read “Sweden and France Confirm Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says” at Vice.
Read “Yemen: Aid Obstruction Puts Millions at Risk” at Human Rights Watch.
Read “US ambassador to China stepping down” at The Hill.
Read “Trump says he wanted to kill Assad, but Mattis opposed” at France 24.
Politics And Sucheries:
Read “The Trump campaign played a song about rich kids dodging the Vietnam War draft — which the president did 5 times — at a Michigan rally” at Business Insider.
Read “Ohio high court says no to Kanye West’s ballot request” at Fox 8.
Read “Trump Campaign Staffer Slammed After He Tried Mocking Joe Biden as He Visited His Son's Grave” at Second Nexus.
Read “Top Aide in Review of Russia Inquiry Resigns From Justice Dept.” at New York Times.
Read “A major American city may soon allow 16-year-olds to vote — and others could follow suit” at NBC News.
Read “Years after 9/11, the political use of fear continues on” at Chicago Tribune.
Read “Republicans Are Knocking On Doors. Democrats Aren't. Biden's Campaign Says That's OK” at NPR.
Read “Mary Trump says reporters 'continue to pull these punches' at CNN.
Read “NRA's political influence dwindling ahead of the election” at Axios. “The National Rifle Association has spent $9.2 million on political expenditures this cycle, about one-sixth of the $54.4 million reported in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission data tracked by Open Secrets.”
Read “Biden Creates Legal War Room, Preparing for a Big Fight Over Voting” at Yahoo.
Read “Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden” at Scientific American. “We’ve never backed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history—until now.”
Read “400,000 people have registered to vote through Snapchat” at The Verge.
Read “At Least Someone's Trying to Pass a Stimulus Package” at Vice. “The House Problem Solvers Caucus — a bipartisan group of 50 lawmakers — is trying to broker a compromise between Democrats and Republicans before benefits completely run dry.”
Read “Pelosi: House to stay in session until COVID-19 rescue pact” at KTAR.
Read “Schumer, Sanders call for Senate panel to address election security” at The Hill.
Read “Pelosi: We're supposed to be crushing the virus; Trump is crushing the ACA” at MSNBC.
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “The CARES Act Sent You a $1,200 Check but Gave Millionaires and Billionaires Far More” at Pro Publica.
Read “Twitter And Facebook Flag Trump's Mail-In Voting Post for Platform Violations” at NPR.
Read “As Energy Secretary, Rick Perry Mixed Money and Politics in Ukraine. The Deals Could Be Worth Billions” at Time.
Read “Longtime Climate Science Denier Hired At NOAA” at NPR.
Read “Fact-checking William Barr: Is your vote no longer secret with mail-in ballots?” at CNN.
Read “Trump Says He Will ‘Negotiate’ Third Term Because He’s ‘Entitled’ To It” at Forbes.
Read “Pompeo’s wife assigned State Dept. work on secretary’s behalf using private email” at The Olympian.
Read “Companies Owned by This Billionaire Governor Received up to $24 Million in Bailout Loans” at Pro Publica.
Read “South Dakota AG Involved in Fatal Car Accident Kept Driving, Thinking He Hit Deer: Cops” at Daily Beast.
Read “Jacob Wohl Staged Fake FBI Raid on Business Partner, Actor Hired for Production Says” at The Daily Beast.
Read “Judge rules Chad Wolf likely unlawfully serving as Homeland Security secretary and temporarily blocks some asylum restrictions” at CNN.
Read “Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility” at The Hill.
Read “Wray says Russia engaged in 'very active efforts' to interfere in election, damage Biden” at Politico.
Read “Judge blocks 'politically motivated' changes to U.S. Postal Service ahead of election” at Reuters.
Music-Related News and Such:
Read “Jazz Lives in Clubs. The Pandemic Is Threatening Its Future.” at New York Times.
Read “Cocteau Twins’ vast influence lives on :: 24 great artists they’ve inspired” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Read “Pearl Jam Announce ‘Take-Three Pledge’ Vote By Mail Initiative” at Jambands.
Read “Bob Dylan Is Bringing Back His “Theme Time” Radio Show” at Pitchfork. “His first installment in over a decade airs September 21 in honor of Bourbon Heritage Month.”
Read “John Fogerty on Trump’s ‘Confounding’ Use of a Creedence Classic About Draft Dodgers: ‘He IS the Fortunate Son’ at Variety.
Read “‘American Utopia’ Review: One of the Best Concert Docs Since ‘Stop Making Sense’” at Indie Wire.
Read “The Cure Finished Their New Album While in Lockdown” at Consequence of Sound.
Read “Blues singer Lady A sues the band fka Lady Antebellum” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Read “Amoeba Music plans to open San Francisco store for first time in 6 months” at Date Book.
Read “A New Prescription: A Dose of Live Music for Hospital Patients” at Wall Street Journal.
Read “Bill Callahan: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert” at NPR’s Tiny Desk.
Read “Biggie’s Plastic Crown Sells for Nearly $600,000 in Sotheby’s Hip-Hop Auction” at Pitchfork.
Read “The Psychedelic Sound of Rüstəm Quliyev, King of Azerbaijani Guitar” at Bandcamp.
Read “Kanye West tweets video of himself pissing on a Grammy” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Read “Van Morrison to release lockdown protest songs” at BBC.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “49 Years Ago, Harry Belafonte Hosted the Tonight Show—and It Was Amazing” at The Nation.
Read “Warner Bros. Won’t Share ‘Tenet’ Box Office Data, Angering Rival Studios” at Variety.
Read “How the Kardashians turned celebrity into something monstrous” at The Telegraph.
Read “How Cuties, a French movie on Netflix, became part of America’s culture war” at Vox.
Read “Jeremy Tardy Parts Ways With ‘Dear White People,’ Cites Racial Discrimination” at Okay Player.
Books/Reading/Authors
Read “The Novel and the Secret Police” at Boston Review. “In Vineland, his underappreciated 1990 novel, the author of Gravity’s Rainbow anticipated a United States in which security would become the greatest good.”
Read “Bookstore Sales Fell 24.6% in July” at Publisher’s Weekly.
Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:
Read “A ball python laid 7 eggs at the Saint Louis Zoo, even though she hasn't been around a male in years” at CNN.
Read “NASA sets out to buy moon resources mined by private companies” at Reuters.
Read “13 mysterious mummies discovered in Egyptian well” at CNN.
Read “Scientists baffled by orcas ramming sailing boats near Spain and Portugal” at The Guardian.
Read “Scientists find gas linked to life in atmosphere of Venus” at The Guardian.
Read “A perfectly preserved Ice Age cave bear has been found in Russia -- even its nose is intact” at CNN.
Read “'We Really Don't Know' If Bird Die-Off In New Mexico Is Related To Climate Change, Expert Says” at WBUR.
Food Cultures:
Read “To Save Madagascar’s Wildlife, an Entomologist Is Helping Revive a Bug-Based Cuisine” at Gastro Obscura.
Read “Japan Is Combating Rural Decline With a National Network of Ice Cream” at Gastro Obscura.
Misc. Oddities:
Read “Where Did the Monk’s Haircut Come From? A Look at the Rich and Contentious History of the Tonsure” at Open Culture.