Blogaround

 Links not related to the antichrist:

1. The Walmart Effect (2024, via) "In it, the economist Justin Wiltshire compares the economic trajectory of counties where a Walmart did open with counties where Walmart tried to open but failed because of local resistance. In other words, if Walmart is selecting locations based on certain hidden characteristics, these counties all should have them. Still, Wiltshire arrives at similar results: Workers in counties where a Walmart opened experienced a greater decline in earnings than they made up for with cost savings, leaving them worse off overall."

2. Against fallacy-spotting (May 4) "Most arguments are not about logical inferences. Arguments are about warring narratives. I tell a story, you tell a story, and we each decide what story is most compelling."

Also from Siggy: Why does asexual representation need to be explicit? (May 4) "So what exactly do we want asexual representation to do, and why does non-explicit representation fail to accomplish it?"

3. Not fleeing: New report shows more wealthy residents in Mass., 2 years into 'millionaire's tax' (April 28, via) "Voters narrowly approved a 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million in a statewide ballot referendum in November 2022."

4. Federal judge says results of North Carolina court race with Democrat ahead must be certified (May 6) Good news here. Hopefully this is over. I've been following this because I'm an overseas voter, and the Republican candidate was trying to get the overseas absentee ballots thrown out.

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Links related to the antichrist:

1. Action item: You can leave a public comment on this proposal about Rescinding the Definition of Harm under the Endangered Species Act (via). The deadline is May 19. See this article for info about what this proposed change means: Destroying endangered species' habitat wouldn't count as 'harm' under proposed Trump rule (April 17)

2. Moving to Canada: Immigration Overview for Transgender U.S. Citizens (February 11) This is useful- it's about the reality of how immigration systems work- if you're privileged enough to be able to find a job in another country, you'll be able to immigrate and it won't be much of a problem. If you're in danger in your home country and applying for asylum, you need to know that is very tricky.

3. Fact Check: Trump's HHS Review On Trans Care Filled With Pseudoscience, Pushes Conversion Therapy (May 2) "Before delving into the document’s most egregious factual distortions, it’s worth emphasizing that it has no listed author and bears none of the hallmarks of scientific rigor. There is no evidence of peer review. Instead, the report reads less like a medical analysis and more like an anti-trans screed—politicized, inflammatory, and devoid of scholarly grounding."

Also from Erin in the Morning: "Focus On Real Issues That Matter," AZ Governor Hobbs Vetoes Anti-Trans Bills (May 6)

And: SCOTUS Allows Military Ban That Calls Trans People "Dishonorable" To Go Into Effect (May 7)

4. Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't (May 2) "'CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President's authority,' the corporation wrote in a statement issued Friday morning. 'Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.'"

Hey now is a great time to donate to NPR~

5. Trump orders 100% tariff on foreign-made movies to save 'dying' Hollywood (May 6) "It was unclear if the tariffs would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in theaters, or if they would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue." What? What on earth?

6. 'We took on Trump and won': USDA will unfreeze money meant for Maine (May 5) "This development marks the latest chapter in the ongoing legal battle between the state and the Trump administration over Title IX, presidential power, and transgender athletes."

7. The ruling against Trump's law firm order shows how to respond in this moment (May 5) "As one amicus aptly put it, '[o]ur judicial system is under serious threat when determining whether to file an Amicus Curiae brief could be a career-ending decision. But, when lawyers are apprehensive about retribution simply for filing a brief adverse to the government, there is no other choice but to do so.'"

8. U.S. intelligence memo says Venezuelan government does not control Tren de Aragua gang (May 6) "The memo contradicts claims by President Trump, who has accused Maduro of controlling the gang, which Trump says is invading the U.S. The government has relied on this argument to justify the deportation of alleged gang members under the Alien Enemies Act."

9. Trump, asked if he has to 'uphold the Constitution,' says, 'I don't know' (May 4)

Blogaround

1. Reach, Throw, Row, Go (January 18) "A lesson in 'How to Save a Drowning Person' that started with an argument for Why You Should Want To Do That would meet with a kind of puzzled anger." It's about this: Feds demand Texas stop blocking Border Patrol agents access to border 

Also from The Slacktivist: We Don’t Live In ‘Bubbles’ (January 25) "Heck, if Chester A. Arthur had even said something so completely stupid in such an arrogant tone, then that’s all he’d be remembered for today. Historians would refer to President Arthur as 'the magnets guy' instead of just as, um, one of those guys who came between Grant and Teddy and probably won’t be on the final."

2. The Lives of China’s Hidden Workers, Through Their Own Camera Lens (January 25) "Instead, it is narrated by the people Sun calls the documentary’s 'co-directors,' from truck drivers and construction workers to fishermen and rice farmers — typical users of Kuaishou, which is more popular in China’s smaller cities and countryside than rival platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok."

(One quibble there: Tiktok is the international version of Douyin. Not the other way around.)

Also from Sixth Tone: Endangered Xizang Cattle Cloned For the First Time (January 30) "The latest national survey of livestock found only 19 Zhangmu cattle and 39 Apeijiaza cattle left in the country, with just one breeding bull remaining. According to Xinhua, the breeds are considered strategic resources for the country due to their ability to live on the snowy plateau at altitudes of more than 3,500 meters."

3. China, Singapore agree visa-free deal for travel stays of up to 30 days (January 25) China keeps adding more countries to the list! Great news for people from Singapore who want to travel to China.

4. American Family Radio Drops Alistair Begg Following Controversial Remarks About LGBTQ+ Weddings (January 24) "After confirming that the woman’s grandson understood that she doesn’t affirm his choice to marry a trans person, Begg said, 'Well then, okay. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you buy them a gift.'" Oh look, pastor Alistair Begg, who very much believes being trans is wrong, advises a grandma to go to her grandson's wedding to a trans person. Apparently this is not good enough for American Family Radio- what if someone thinks that attending the wedding means Grandma thinks being trans is okay? We can't have that!

Remember when I said that being evangelical means you have to throw queer people under the bus? This is exactly what I'm talking about.

5. Alabama man shook violently on gurney during first-ever nitrogen gas execution (January 27) [content note: death penalty]

6. From Scrooge McDuck to Zacchaeus to 21st century wealth inequality (January 29) "For far too long we’ve sequestered Zacchaeus inside a children’s song."

7. Brittany Watts, Ohio woman charged with felony after miscarriage at home, describes shock of her arrest (January 26) [content note: miscarriage] New details about how the hospital did not give her the medical care that she needed.

8. Uranus and Neptune are actually similar blues, 'true' color images reveal (January 5) Cool!

9. Red Lake considers a future without blood quantum (2023, via) "It's really not our traditional way. And in fact, it's a tool that was meant to divide our people to eliminate our people."

Blogaround

1. Deciphering Dunhuang (December 2) "Compared to official histories like the 'Twenty-Four Histories,' which only record the political activities of emperors and generals, the Dunhuang manuscripts are mostly original records and archives, not pruned by ancient historians. They preserve many materials that would otherwise have been filtered out by historians, allowing us to understand the social life of ordinary people in ancient times. For example, humorous poems, perhaps written by copyists when they were bored."

Also from Sixth Tone: China’s Delivery Workers Are Hiring… More Delivery Workers (December 7)

Reminds me of when Aladdin said, "I have servants who go to the marketplace for my servants."

2. Mike Bickle, leader of IHOP movement, accused of sexual abuse (October 29) (This IHOP is the International House of Prayer- not the pancake one.) I have feelings about this, because... when I was evangelical, the impression I had of the International House of Prayer was that it was so good and holy. Basically, the whole idea of the International House of Prayer is that people "raise support" (ie, ask all their friends for money) to go and just pray there, like it's their full-time job. Like being a missionary, except you only pray, instead of actually interacting with people to help them and/or evangelize to them. And evangelicals were always saying "prayer is the most important thing", "we don't pray enough", etc- and then here was IHOP literally living out that belief. Admittedly, it kind of gave me vibes like it was a little bit loony, a little bit too fundie for my comfort level- but I didn't see anything actually bad about it- like, yes, we should pray all the time, right? Isn't that what everyone's always saying? Here are people who have enough faith to actually do that, even though it comes across as really weird (can you imagine asking your friends for money to sponsor you to just go pray all the time?).

And... you'd think, when someone spends all their time praying and really trying to know God and align themself with God, you'd think it would be very easy to NOT sexually abuse anyone. Like, how could you do that, if you're gonna have to go face God immediately after? 

How is it possible that someone could spend so much time sexually abusing people, in an environment that's so "godly"?

I mean, now I know the answer is this: These types of conservative religious environments aren't really about following God and living out the commands that God gives us. No no no, nothing like that at all. They are about control. They are about leaders who make all kinds of rules and then claim that those rules are directly from God, and God will punish you if you don't follow them (this is called taking the Lord's name in vain).

3. Sandra Day O’Connor, First Woman on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 93 (December 1)

4. Carlton Pearson, Pastor Deemed a Heretic for Denying Hell, Dies at 70 (November 21)

The Slacktivist wrote about Pearson in this 2022 post: When concordance-ism eats itself 

5. Space Typography (December 4) From xkcd. Love this.

6. This Killer Sudoku Is "Ridiculous" (December 8) 1-hour-6-minute sudoku solve video. Wow, I am really impressed by this puzzle. It's just a normal killer sudoku, nothing fancy about the rules, but wow the logic to solve it is really complex and interesting.

7. What Kind Of Future Does De-Extinction Promise? (December 6) Very good article about venture capital companies making news with claims that they are doing "de-extinction." It's always about the really glamorous extinct animals, the mammoths, the dodos, etc, while nobody seems to care that "boring" species of animals are going extinct all the time.

"But I dread the future de-extinction heralds, one where we pick and choose which species will be imperfectly reanimated, where the future of biodiversity is funded by venture capital, and where these proxy animals or even merely the promises of them make headlines while living animals' extinctions do not."

8. Masters Of Their Domain (December 11) So... apparently a lot of "accountability groups" in evangelical culture are actually all about not masturbating. I think this is more of a thing for men in evangelical culture than for women- women who "struggle with masturbation" are just told that they're freaks because women supposedly don't "sin" in that way. 

I'm a woman and also very asexual, so I did not know about this until I started reading ex-evangelical blogs. (Though yes, when I was evangelical, I "struggled" a lot with my "sinful" romantic desires- I was unable to "guard my heart" and repress my romantic desires like I was supposed to, and I had a lot of angst about that.)

"These accountability groups aren’t holding one another accountable for bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, and gentleness. They’re never about doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. And they’re certainly never about loosing the chains of injustice, setting the oppressed free, and breaking every yoke." Yes, PREACH.

9. Panera’s “Lemonade That Kills You” Is Really a Story About Our Broken Country (December 8) "In peer nations—like, for instance, the United Kingdom—the government imposes strict and consistent regulations on the front end: It requires warning labels on drinks with more than 150 mg of caffeine and bans the sale of these drinks to children under 16. In the U.S., by contrast, the FDA barely regulates caffeine: It does not require manufacturers to include caffeine on the ingredient list of many caffeinated beverages, let alone disclose the amount of caffeine on the label."

10. Texas Supreme Court rules against woman who sued for an emergency abortion (December 12) [content note: pregnancy loss] This whole thing is so awful and tragic, and the government of Texas is just making everything worse for no reason. 

Blogaround

1. Lightyear Changes EVERYTHING about the Pixar Theory! (June 24) "But it also means that the entire plot of the movie 'Lightyear' that we see is actually a live-action movie inside of the Pixar universe. Like, within the movie, Buzz Lightyear is being played by a real actor, like in the same way that Chris Evans out here in the real world plays the character of Steve Rogers."

2. New AI-generated horsies (July 22) "How to combine a four-legged horse with a two-legged rooster? Maybe as a three-legged animal."

3. Dutch collector ordered to return Buddha statue (July 20) "For local villagers, the statue is a significant cultural relic that had been at the Puzhao Temple in Sanming, Fujian province, where they could honor and worship it before it was stolen in December 1995, according to the high court."

4. Chinese Paddlefish That Outlived Dinosaurs Now Extinct, IUCN Says (July 22) "'The world’s failure to safeguard sturgeon species is an indictment of governments across the globe, who are failing to sustainably manage their rivers and live up to their commitments to conserve these iconic fish and halt the global loss of nature,' said Arne Ludwig, chair of the IUCN Sturgeon Specialist Group."

5. Next time I fall (July 23) "We can’t get up to present our 'personal testimony' about walking down the gangplank onto Ellis Island, but we can tell about our 'struggle' with sexual purity. And so, in a sense, the personal testimony of every child-convert, once they pass into adolescence and youth group, becomes something akin to that Seinfeld episode about being 'master of your domain.' We don’t have the conversion narrative expected by first-generation converts, and so we start to sound like we’re sharing at a 12-step MA meeting."

6. Woman detained for commemorating tablets to Japanese war criminals (July 25) [content note: genocide]

7. Chinese astronauts enter Tiangong space station's new lab module after dock (July 26) Cool!

Blogaround

1. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African anti-apartheid leader, dies at 90 (posted December 26)

2. A couple of the replies on this Twitter thread- yes, this is so real. 

When I was a new mom at the ripe age of 22, I was terrified to love my baby too much else God would take her away. Because that's what he does to everything you might love more than him.

— Darcy, Sage Millenial 💗💜💙 (@Dragonfly_Darcy) December 28, 2021

You are definitely not the only one. The proof is the horrified look on my therapists face when I told her about sitting up at night watching my newborn sleep and begging god not to take him away from me, because technically god had that right and surely I didn’t deserve him.

— Em *only intersectional feminism pls* (@life_she_wrote) December 28, 2021

Personally I didn't experience this specific fear because fortunately I was way way out of evangelicalism by the time my baby was born. I wrote about it here: I'm SO HAPPY I Won't Be Praying During Childbirth.

3. And somewhat related: The Strange Sad Story of Olive Heiligenthal (posted 2020) [content note: child death] This happened 2 years ago, and I don't think I blogged about it back then, because it's just so sad. I have nothing but sympathy for the parents. If it was my child, I'd do anything, of course I would do anything, I would sell myself to any god or devil- even the kind of devil who judges your worthiness for miracles by how many people get emotionally worked-up at a big worship event and how far and wide your grief gets spread on the internet to be mocked.

4. Covid Diary: The world envies us (posted December 31) Here's a blogger in Australia talking about what the pandemic has been like there.

5. I'm a church pastor and here's the truth about my late-term abortion (posted 2016) "In those moments, Trump, who has never been pregnant and presumably has navigated this far in his life without undertaking any difficult, gut-wrenching, gray-area decisions, used my own pain — deep, deep pain — to advance his political agenda."

6. NASA’s Webb Telescope Reaches Major Milestone as Mirror Unfolds (posted January 9)

7. Grieving Extinct Species on All Saints Day (posted November 2) "A congregation could specifically lift up the names of the species that have gone extinct in their state and/or country. They could display pictures of them, light candles, and toll the bell to remember their passing." I really love this idea. I believe in a God who cares about animal species going extinct, and I believe that is something worth mourning. But also I can't imagine how any kind of remembrance for extinct species could actually happen in an actual church service- every time I try to picture it, I picture the congregation laughing, like it's a joke, like "can you believe they're having us talk about extinct animals in church? what a bunch of hippy nonsense LOLLLLL"... I would be really interested in going to a church where this kind of service could really happen without everyone laughing at it.

8. Bambi: cute, lovable, vulnerable ... or a dark parable of antisemitic terror? (posted December 25) "There is a sense at the end that Bambi and all the other wild animals in the forest are merely 'born to be killed'. They know they will be hunted – and they know they will die. 'The major theme throughout is: you don’t have a choice.'"

9. Also a lot of people have COVID. Seth Myers. Whoopi Goldberg. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Stay safe everyone, get your vaccines and boosters, and also let's work on building a society that protects those who are most at-risk from COVID.