Blogaround

Image description: That scene from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" where Rey, Finn, and BB-8 are running from the explosion, except it's been photoshopped so Hillary Clinton is Rey, Obama is Finn, Tim Kaine is BB-8, and Trump is the explosion. This is the best thing ever. Image source.

1. I've never donated to politicians before, but I decided to donate to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Because Trump is a hateful, racist, misogynist jerk who's constantly finding innovative new ways to hate people. He's a threat to the very concept of freedom and democracy. We gotta stop him. (And yes I also believe Clinton is qualified and I agree with a lot of her positions and she will be a great president- if it was Clinton vs an average Republican, Clinton would have my vote. But because it's Clinton vs Trump, she has my vote and my money.)

2. ‘Vote for the crook. It’s important.’ (posted August 3) "So Pennsylvania Democrats did the only thing they could do: They put up billboards and bought radio advertisements urging Democrats to vote for Richard Schulze. The Democratic Party in Pennsylvania endorsed and campaigned for the Republican candidate because their nomination process had been hijacked and supporting the opposition’s nominee was the only way to keep that hijacker out of the party’s congressional delegation."

3. On Being Right vs. Being Loved (posted August 4) "Purity culture required perfectionism. You were supposed to get it right the first time and every time. And that is the most absurd value of all."

4. South Florida therapist sues officer who shot him even though he was unarmed, says civil rights were violated (posted August 4) "All officers, including Officer Aledda, were close enough in proximity to hear Mr. Kinsey's statements, and one officer even announced over the police radio, 'It's a toy truck. He's saying it's a toy truck.'"

5. I'm feeling some Christian-music nostalgia for the song "Secret Ambition" by Michael W. Smith. [content note: the video has a crucifixion scene appear for one second at 2:30, and then gets really gory starting at about the 3-minute mark]


6. Wayne Grudem and the evangelical double-standard of sin (posted August 5) "On the one hand, evangelicals believe human sin is so profoundly wicked that it deserves eternal torture as punishment. On the other hand, if you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and savior, no sin is grave enough to disqualify you from entering heaven."

7. Joshua Harris, I Want My Teens Back (posted August 3) "Instead, they started learning how to date in their mid-twenties, when marriage was a real possibility — and the stakes were infinitely higher. Now, mistakes that were simply the result of inexperience, ones that would have been understandable in high school — like not calling when you said you were going to — were interpreted as character flaws, red flags, dealbreakers."

8. It Was Only a Kiss (posted August 6) "I now know I’m not the only young women who felt obligated to marry someone for such silly, simple reasons."

9. In other news, Chinese Olympic swimmer Ning Zetao 宁泽涛 has been causing me to stumble.

Magazine cover featuring Ning Zetao.

Ning Zetao 宁泽涛 in his swimsuit. More images here.

10. I Ran the C.I.A. Now I’m Endorsing Hillary Clinton. And also: George W. Bush administration official announces support for Clinton over Trump. Also this: Trump's Mormon Problem

11. Rio 2016: The Refugee Olympic Team doesn’t need your cheers. They need countries to fix their crisis. (posted August 5) "This is the first time refugees have had an Olympic team. Arguably, it’s the first time they’ve needed one."

12. Tales from the Dark Side (posted August 7) "The Bible mentions a word that our English translations present as Hell. We read that word not just in translation, but filtered through centuries of agglomerated lore and legend and sheer Barnum-esque razzle-dazzle."

13. Trump's Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think (posted August 9) "In other words, what Trump just did is engage in so-called stochastic terrorism."

Also: Trump’s Wink Wink to ‘Second Amendment People’ (posted August 9) "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated."

14. Baltimore Police Used Force 2,818 Times In Six Years. They Found One Violation. (posted August 9) "The Justice Department report, to be formally released on Wednesday, confirms what some Baltimore residents already know ― that Baltimore police routinely and disproportionately stop, frisk and arrest poor black residents without legal justification."

15. Response to Julia Serano: Detransition, Desistance, and Disinformation (posted August 9) This is a video where a detransitioned woman talks about her experience.

16. When God Reveals You Prefer Whiteness: A Response to Gaye Clark (posted August 10) "What does it tells us when our daughters come home accompanied by black people and it requires a re-examination of what we believe God?"