Blogaround

Links not related to the antichrist:

1. First things first: Biblical priorities (September 4) "This is the first thing we hear God telling us — the first thing God has to say. Religion without justice is detestable." Preach.

2. Texas lawmakers approve letting private citizens sue abortion pill providers (September 4) "Opponents see it as not only another way to rein in abortion but intimidate providers outside Texas who are complying with the laws in their states. They also say it would encourage a form of vigilantism."

3. The Super-Weird Origins of the Right’s Hatred of the Smithsonian (August 21, via) "Childress relied on Victorian reports about large bones that Powell’s team, led by Cyrus Thomas, had dismissed in 1894 as unevidenced. Hundreds of such reports littered the papers in the late 1800s, and claiming to find the bones of giants became a popular appeal to “prove” the Bible’s superiority to Darwin. The Smithsonian politely informed inquirers that these bones did not belong to the mythical Nephilim."

I never heard about this "we found the bones of biblical giants" when I was a young-earth creationist, but I gotta say I'm 0% surprised. Like, OF COURSE there's some young-earth creationist crackpot out there claiming they found the bones of biblical giants, and that scientists are trying to cover it up because they hate the bible or whatever. I've definitely heard of YECs claiming "we found Noah's ark!" and this is basically the same genre.

4. Israel is blasting through Gaza City neighborhoods, but people have nowhere to go (September 5) "The International Committee of the Red Cross says the evacuation of Gaza City cannot be done in a safe or dignified manner, calling it "unfeasible and incomprehensible." It noted that people are starving, wounded and unable to relocate, and that no area in Gaza can handle an influx of displaced people due to extreme shortages of food, water, shelter and medical care across the territory."

5. Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure (September 5) From xkcd.

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Links related to the antichrist:

1. President Trump plans to rename the Defense Department as the Department of War (September 4) Uh, wtf

2. Senators from both parties grilled RFK Jr. on vaccines and more (September 4) "Another Republican physician on the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. John Barrasso of Wyoming, joined Democrats in criticizing Kennedy for undermining vaccines."

3. How Trump's latest crypto launch enriches his family (September 3) Corruption.

4. 'Founders Museum' from White House and PragerU blurs history, AI-generated fiction (September 3) What on earth. What. They "used AI" to make videos of the founding fathers, and they're showing these at a museum? 

5. Trump keeps moving the U.S. closer to being the fascist war machine he wants (September 5) "Earlier this week, in one of the more alarming actions of this administration, Trump ordered the murder of 11 people that the Trump administration claims were drug traffickers on international waters."

Also from Law Dork: Holding vigil in "a post-USA America" as Trump orders the vigil gone (September 6) "As The Washington Post reported last month, 'The demonstration is widely considered to be the longest continuous act of political protest in U.S. history. It has survived seven presidents, countless global conflicts, hurricanes and blizzards, heat waves and floods. It has outlasted several U.S. wars, including the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, the War on Drugs and the War on Terror.'"

6. Trump walks back Chicago 'war' threat, but vows to 'clean up' cities (September 7) "In response to the post, Illinois' Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, wrote on X that Trump was 'threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal.'"

7. In April NPR profiled people who couldn't get their HIV drugs. How are they faring now? (September 6)

8. Judge steps up to block ICE's kidnapping of Guatemalan kids (September 4) "It was a remarkable display of judicial tenacity. It was also a testament to how thoroughly the Justice Department has shredded its credibility with the courts in just eight months." I posted a link about this before, but this gives a lot more detail. It is just shocking to me how ICE got children out of their beds in the middle of the night, with only a few hours' notice, and was going to send them to Guatemala. How can people do that, to children? But I guess this kind of cruel, inhumane behavior is what ICE does every single day.

Blogaround

Links not related to the antichrist:

1. Twitterlike is a Bad Shape (April 12, via) "A share addition feature (or "quote posts") can poison site culture by giving people a reason to share bad posts for no other reason than just to announce they disagree."

2. Pig kidney transplant fails after patient rejection (April 11) "'For the first time since 2016, I enjoyed time with friends and family without planning around dialysis treatments. Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney—and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcome kidney disease,' she said." This is really cool! Even though it failed, this is progress.

3. Tennessee’s "Success Sequence" law ignores what really makes kids successful (April 11) Posting this because yeah this is what I always heard, from republican role models when I was growing up, about why we shouldn't push for systemic changes to help minimum wage workers, single moms, etc. Because the way it's SUPPOSED to work [apparently] is you go to college, graduate, get a good job, get married, and then have kids. If there's a news article about a single mom who is struggling to get by in a minimum wage job- well yeah, it's not SUPPOSED to be doable to try to raise kids on a minimum wage income. We don't need to change society, we need to blame people for not following the life plan they're supposed to. If we raised the minimum wage, that would unfairly mess things up for the people who did things the right way. That's what I learned from republicans...

4. What happened to all the clothing donated during the LA wildfires? (April 14) This is really interesting- I'm very curious about how it works when people donate clothes, because I suspect that the reality is very different from whatever magical ideal is in donors' minds. Anyway, the important thing to always remember is, check with the recipients to confirm what kinds of things they want, before you donate- don't just assume that you're doing a good thing by giving them your random stuff.

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Links related to the antichrist. As always, you don't need to read all these if you're too stressed out. Instead, go protest or help immigrants.

1. Trump Is Separating Immigrant Families Again. Here’s What We Can Do About It. (April 11) "The new administration has unleashed a torrent of policies that have caused irreparable harm to people and families seeking safety."

2. Trump attacks on law firms begin to chill pro bono work on causes he doesn't like (April 13) "If the legal profession doesn't push back now, Levi said, the whole idea of equal justice and the justice system is vulnerable."

3. Feds to collect personal info of people exchanging, sending money from U.S.-Mexico border (April 10) "'Providing your social to exchange two hundred dollars is ridiculous,' Guerra said."

So, there are legitimate reasons that governments would want to know who exactly is sending money internationally. But I don't trust this government is doing it for any of those reasons.

4. Think Twice: China Tells Tourists and Students Eyeing the U.S. (April 14) 

5. Trump told us the horrifying reason why Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not back in the U.S. (April 15) "Trump said the plan: The Trump administration wants this foreign prison — and, perhaps, others — to hold many people sent from America, including U.S. citizens."

And: SMART-TD Stands With Brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia (April 10)

6. Trump administration freezes more than $2.2 billion after Harvard rejects its demands (April 14) "Earlier in the day, Alan Garber, Harvard's president, said in a letter to faculty and students that the university would not submit to a list of demands made last Friday. Among them are that it eliminate DEI programs, screen international students who are 'supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism' and ensure 'viewpoint diversity' in its hiring." Good. Say no to him. For the universities/ companies/ law firms who cave to his demands, that won't be the end of it- he will continue to demand more things from them. If they're doing a calculation about how they can manage to kinda accept his deal- well, don't, because whatever he says is not the actual deal. If you accept it, it will end up being worse than what he said.

7. Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out (April 14) "An untold number of people with HIV have simply and suddenly lost access to their medication."

8. Should I stay or go? Immigrants across U.S. consider self-deportation (April 14) "'We're scared. We stay indoors all day,' Rosa, a heavily pregnant Honduran woman in Waukegan, Ill., told NPR back in January."

9. Trump can't revoke legal status of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, judge rules (April 14) "The 'early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for noncitizens who have complied with DHS programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law,' wrote Talwani, who sits on the federal district court in Boston." A little bit of good news.

Blogaround

1. Facing the Forgotten Martyrs (The Ones We Killed) (July 11) "Our own heroes have killed countless faithful people because of their different cultures, beliefs, practices, and religions. The fact that we consider them heroes for doing so betrays a lot about our ideals."

2. Nepal becomes first South Asian country to allow same-sex marriage (July 11)

3. Shannon Harris has written a book called The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife. Shannon is the ex-wife of Joshua Harris, who wrote the most influential purity culture book, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," and other books about how if you perfectly follow all of God's rules, and stay pure, and don't even kiss, and don't date unless you're really really really serious about marrying that person, and be really jumpy and scared about being "too emotionally attached" to your boyfriend or girlfriend, and worry about every little thing because maybe it will ruin your chances to ever have a good marriage... if you do all of those things perfectly, then you'll never experience heartbreak and God will give you a perfect marriage. Anyway, a few years ago, Josh announced that he had abandoned a lot of those beliefs, and then later announced that he and his wife were separating. Now we have a book that has Shannon's side of the story. I'm really interested in this.

Some of my posts about Josh Harris:
So I Watched Josh Harris's Documentary (2018)
Wishing the Best to Josh Harris and His Ex (2019)

4. We Can End AIDS, if We Follow the Path of Progress (July 14) "Worldwide, several countries are on track to end HIV/AIDS. Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have already achieved the 95-95-95 target, meaning 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of people who know their status are receiving treatment, and 95% of people receiving treatment have a suppressed viral load, reducing the likelihood of their infection being passed on. Another 16 countries are close to doing so, while China has achieved an impressive 84-93-97 ratio."

Also from Sixth Tone: Plea for Marriage Rules Reform Sparks Debate on Parental Consent (July 13) "As per the existing regulations, couples intending to marry are required to notify their household owners, typically their parents, in order to obtain the necessary document. While this step may be straightforward for many individuals, it can pose challenges when either set of parents disagrees with the marriage."

Blogaround

Doge and a wreath of Advent candles. Image has a bunch of text phrases like "very anticipate", "much candles", and "such Advent." Image source.

1. TMI: Vaginismus, Me, and Why We Need to Talk Abut Female Sexual Dysfunction (posted 2015)

2. Three decades later, men who survived the 'gay plague' speak out (posted 2017)

3. Dutch church holds 800-hour service to save family from deportation (posted November 29) I posted a link about this last week. As of this November 29 article, it's still going.

4. Dumbledore's Dark Twin: Aurelius Explained | Fantastic Beasts Theory (posted November 29) [content note: spoilers for "Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald"]

Blogaround

A cute little doggy on a skateboard. Image source.

1. The Clinton Foundation Is Not a Scandal. It’s a Phenomenal, Life-Saving Success. (posted August 25) "The Clintons’ AIDS relief work is humanity at its best. And the smear campaign against their charity is politics at its absolute worst."

2. The Anthem’s Racist Lyrics: “No Refuge Could Save The Hireling And The Slave” (posted August 30) "Stop the tape. Stop the tape. STOP THE GODDAMN TAPE."

3. The problem with how men perceive rape (posted August 27) This is a really important point. And you can talk all you want about enthusiastic consent, but women are less privileged in general and there's no way to truly isolate that inequality from sexual situations.

4. White evangelicals’ ‘new chapter’ on race (cont’d.) (posted September 1) "It echoes the self-important religious leaders who felt their authority as arbiters of legitimacy was being undermined by John’s baptisms and Jesus’ preaching of good news to the poor."

5. Seventeen year-old Chloe Cross absolutely slayed her yearbook quote (posted September 6) LOLOLOLOL. It's about modesty culture and it's GREAT.

Blogaround

Two cats hugging each other while they sleep, with their tails curled up to form a heart. It is THE MOST ADORABLE THING. Image source.

1. The Family Research Council and the Politics of Exclusion (posted May 23) "Here again with the call to “protect our children.” Well guess what? The transgender children the directive is intended to help are “our children” too."

2. Western do-gooders need to resist the allure of 'exotic problems' (posted April 23) "But if you ask that same 22-year-old American about some of the most pressing problems in a place like Uganda — rural hunger or girls’ secondary education or homophobia — she might see them as solvable. Maybe even easily solvable."

3. Can traditional sexuality exist without social control? (posted May 10) "What would happen if traditional sexuality were presented by people who didn’t have ironclad political control and thus had to think about how to make a persuasive presentation to those who disagreed?"

Wow. Now that is a question. What if the church taught "here are the reasons we think it's good to take this certain approach to sexuality, so you should think about if those reasons are important to you"? My experience has always been more like "here are God's rules for sex, and we have to follow them because that's what God said. Of course, God designed it, so following God's rules will be the most beneficial for us. For example, [gives examples of benefits of following those rules]. But even if those examples don't really seem relevant to your situation, even if you think God's rules seem like a really bad idea for you, TOO BAD, that's what God said, you don't know what's best for you."

I submit to you that this is the definition of legalism.

4. Meet the Woman Who Cared for Hundreds of Abandoned Gay Men Dying of AIDS (posted May 19) Wow. That is love.

5. Buying Coffee Every Day Isn’t Why You’re in Debt (posted May 26) "When Russ Alan Prince and Lewis Schiff looked at the phenomenon of what they described and ultimately titled The Middle-Class Millionaire, those with a net worth between $1 million and $10 million, they found a group of people who didn’t exactly sweat the small stuff—who used high-priced concierge medical practices and utilized business coaches to help them get ahead. They were most emphatically not cutting back on small luxuries."

6. A Long-Lost Manuscript Contains a Searing Eyewitness Account of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (posted May 27) "They shut down the phone systems, the railway. . . . They wouldn’t let the Red Cross in. There was complicity between the city government and the mob. It was mob rule for two days, and the result was the complete devastation of the community."

7. These Ohio Women Want A Refund For The State’s ‘Discriminatory’ Tampon Tax (posted March 29) "The lawsuit claims that the unequal treatment amounts to discrimination against women, violating their rights under the state and federal constitutions, since Ohio exempts prescription drugs and medical equipment from sales tax."

8. Panama Papers: a massive document leak reveals a global web of corruption and tax avoidance (posted April 3) "Even as the world's wealthiest and most powerful nations have engaged in increasingly complex and intensive efforts at international cooperation to smooth the wheels of global commerce, they have willfully chosen to allow the wealthiest members of Western society to shield their financial assets from taxation (and in many cases divorce or bankruptcy settlement) by taking advantage of shell companies and tax havens."

9. "we put glasses on the floor at an art gallery" (posted May 26) LOLOLOLOLOLOL

10. Need to Explain Evolution to a 3-Year-old? No Problem! (posted May 24) Cool!

11. New Favorite Tumblr: Headless Women of Hollywood (posted May 13)

12. Trump University Told Recruiters to Target Single Parents With Hungry Kids (posted May 31) "The Republican nominee is literally, objectively, a con man."

13. The Oregon Trail Generation: Life Before And After Mainstream Tech (posted 2015) "Precisely at the time that you were becoming obsessed with celebrities, music and the opposite sex, you magically had access to “the internet,” a thing that few normal people even partially grasped the power of at the time." WOW I LOVE THIS ARTICLE! I relate to this so much! I was born in the late 80's though- the article says it's about people born in the late 70's and early 80's.

14. Clobber-texting isn’t a principled hermeneutic: A horrifying case study (posted May 26) "Or, in other words, it wasn’t designed to be a functioning hermeneutic. It was designed to distract us from the fact that we haven’t got one." Also, Slacktivist uses the term "ret-conned" to describe the "hermeneutic" that evangelicals use to say which Old-Testament laws CLEARLY apply to us now and which CLEARLY do not- and "ret-conned" is EXACTLY THE RIGHT WORD FOR THAT.