The Weekly Town Crier (08/07/20)

Untitled.jpg

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (08/07/20).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Wilford Brimley, 'Cocoon' actor who appeared in Quaker Oats commercials, dies at 85” at CNN.

Read “Chicago rapper FBG Duck killed in brazen daytime shopping attack” at BBC.

Read “R.I.P. Vern Rumsey of Unwound” at Treble.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “Supreme Court Rejects Nevada Church’s Appeal to Reopen Like Casinos” at Christianity Today.

Read “Trump-Loving Anti-Mask Pastor Threatens Dunkin’ Donuts Employee With Assault” at Patheos.

“Ed Stetzer asked the U.S. Surgeon General, "What medical advice would you like churches to know?" Here's what he said: “Keep Your Distance.” Read "Keep Your Distance: Words of Advice for Churches from the Surgeon General” at Christianity Today.

Read “N. T. Wright: The Pandemic Should Make Us Humble—and Relentlessly Practical” at Christianity Today.

Read “Obeying God Rather than Men? What’s Really a Religious Liberty Issue?” at Christianity Today. “

Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. Just Deleted a Photo of Himself With His Arm Around a Woman and His Pants Undone and People Are Very Confused” at Second Nexus.

  • Read “Jerry Falwell Apologizes For Pic Of Him With Unzipped Pants In Head-Scratching Interview” at Huff Post. “The influential evangelical leader said in a slurred voice, “I’ve apologized to everybody and I promised my kids, I’m gonna try to be a good boy from here on out.”

Read “Liberty University Poured Millions Into Sports. Now Its Black Athletes Are Leaving” at Slate. “One student was once told by an instructor: “Don’t be scared...I’m not going to pull out my whip and hit you with it.

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “An all-White jury convicted a Black man of rape in 1976. Now, lawyers say evidence was hidden from the defense” at WBTV.

Read “The myth of closing the racial wealth gap with individual accomplishment” at Axios.

Read “93-Year-Old Former Nazi Guard Convicted In One Of Germany’s Last Holocaust Trials” at All That’s Interesting. “Dey claimed he had been forced to serve as an SS guard, and was merely following orders placing him in that position.”

Read “PPP was not distributed equally across racial lines” at Axios.

Read “'Family Separation 2.0.' Parents in ICE Detention Have To Decide Whether to Keep Their Children or Release Them To Sponsors” at Time.

Read “A Black Lives Matter mural is set to be removed in Tulsa after the city received a request for a pro-police painting” at Insider.

Read “‘If The Players Won’t, I Will’: Hockey Fans Post Pictures Kneeling For Black Lives Matter” at Forbes.

Read “An Effort to Abolish Court Fees Grows in California” at Bloomberg.

Read “Louisiana Supreme Court upholds Black man's life sentence for stealing hedge clippers more than 20 years ago” at CNN.

Read “The mother of NSA leaker Reality Winner speaks out: 'Everything about her case has been so harsh and just cruel' at Business Insider.

Read “Why the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is necessary” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Trump’s reflections on John Lewis preview his own potential legacy” at Washington Post. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose — I never met John Lewis, actually, I don’t believe.”

Read “Thousands rally in Turkey to demand end of violence against women” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Capital One fined $80 million for 2019 hack of 100 million credit card applications” at Washington Post.

Read “NY AG files lawsuit to dissolve the NRA after 18 month investigation” at American Military News.

Read “The Ghost of Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood and the complexities of anti-racism.” at New York Times.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “Burns, bloody wounds, broken bones: Injuries mount at Portland protests” at Oregon Live.

This Week With The Police:

Read “L.A. County deputy alleges ‘Executioner’ gang dominates Compton sheriff station” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “East Hartford police union president says some department-issued pistols don’t shoot straight, a defect that could lead to ‘a needless tragedy’” at Hartford Courant.

Education and The Learnings:

Read “Michigan Court Frees Black Teenager Jailed for Missing Online Schoolwork” at Democracy Now.

  • School Re-Openings:

  • Read “A Georgia sleepaway camp's coronavirus outbreak is a warning for what could happen when schools reopen, CDC says” at CNN.

  • Read “A Study Shows Children Can Carry Tons of Virus. What Does That Mean for Schools?” at Slate.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “COVID-19 Hospital Data System That Bypasses CDC Plagued By Delays, Inaccuracies” at NPR.

Read ‘Arizona Cardinals void season tickets for upcoming season amid COVID-19 outbreak” at 12 News.

Read “Trump says Fauci is "wrong" about coronavirus cases surge” at Axios.

Read “In GOP plan, you can't sue your employers for giving you COVID — but they can sue you” at Yahoo.

Read “Top Fed official: Short, sharp coronavirus lockdown will enable recovery” at Axios.

Read “More athletes opt out as U.S. struggles with coronavirus” at Axios.

Read “Our pandemic slowdown has been good for the planet What if we kept it going?” at Christian Century.

Read “'It is what it is,' Trump says of rising coronavirus death toll as he insists outbreak is 'under control'“ at AZ Central.

Read “The Unraveling of America Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era” at Rolling Stone.

Miscellany Cultural Items:

Read “Florida 17-year-old charged with Twitter hack of Obama, Biden, Kanye, other high-profile accounts” at NBC News.

Meet Theo, the 7-year old boy who has been homeless his whole life at San Francisco Chronicle.

Read “James Murdoch exits News Corp. board” at Axios.

Read “Postage Stamps Honor Scholars and Novelist in Schomburg Center Collections” at New York Public Library.

Read ‘U.S. Postal Service Considers Downsizing, Senator and Union Leader Say” at Time.

Read “Disney Suffers Brutal Quarterly Earnings Due to Theme Park Closures” at Variety.

Read “Beirut blast: Hundreds injured in explosion - Red Cross” at BBC.

  • See “Aerial footage shows scope of devastation after Beirut explosion” at NBC News.

Read “When Workers Can Live Anywhere, Many Ask: Why Do I Live Here?” at Wall Street Journal. “Coronavirus prompts Americans to reassess the need to reside near hot job markets.”

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Trump Gives Medical Stockpile A 'Kodak Moment' With New Loan To Make Drugs” at NPR. ‘The Trump administration said it plans to give a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak – which has struggled to survive after digital cameras displaced film – so the company can manufacture ingredients used in pharmaceuticals.”

Read “Trump Keeps Criticizing Universal Vote By Mail. But The Nation Isn't Doing That” at NPR.

Revisit: “The Electoral College’s Racist Origins” from The Atlantic in 2019. “More than two centuries after it was designed to empower southern white voters, the system continues to do just that.”

Read “Citing Election Delay Tweet, Influential Trump Ally Now Demands His Re-Impeachment” at NPR.

Read “Biden campaign faith director talks Christian beliefs, outreach to evangelicals and systemic racism” at Christian Post.

Read “Biden will no longer travel to DNC to accept Democratic nomination amid pandemic” at ABC News.

Read “Protest leader Bush ousts 20-year US Rep. Clay in Missouri” at Associated Press.

Read “Pence blasts Chief Justice John Roberts as ‘disappointment to conservatives’” at Politico.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Soundtrack Of My Life: Spoon’s Britt Daniel Founder of the legendary alt-rockers talks love of The Beatles, Bee Gees and spending lockdown listening to Sleaford Mods” at NME.

Read “What Beyoncé Tells Us Without Saying a Word” at Vulture.

  • Read “Beyoncé’s Black Is King Offers Awe-Inspiring Looks and Muddled Messages” at Pitchfork.

Read “The Rolling Stones to Release 1989 Trump-Promoted Concert as Live Album and Film” at Consequence of Sound. “Keith Richards infamously pulled a knife on Trump after he reneged on an agreement with the band.”

Read “Nick Cave on Living with Loss and the Central Paradox of Grief as a Portal to Aliveness” at Brain Pickings.

Read ‘Ishmael Butler on the 10 Best Shabazz Palaces Songs” at Treble.

Read “Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on the album that changed his life” at Far Out.

Read “The Who Will Launch Weekly “Join Together @ Home” Broadcast with 1982 Shea Stadium Show” at Relix.

Read “Neil Young Sues Donald Trump Campaign Over Unauthorized Use of His Music” at Pitchfork.

Read “Tom Petty Estate Shares Unheard ‘Wildflowers’ Track, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)” at Jambands.

Movies/TV/Etc.:

Read “The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Swings into the ’60s: Review” at Consequence of Sound. “Netflix's fractured superhero family goes through the motions, but in the '60s this time.”

Read “'Mulan' will premiere on Disney+ September 4th for $30” at Engadget.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “Eric Metaxas is writing a memoir” at The Way of Improvement.

“Culture”/Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Tourist snaps the toes off 19th-century statue while posing for photo” at CNN.

Science/Animals/Technology/Environment/Etc.:

Read “"Zombie cicadas" infected with mind-controlling fungus return to West Virginia” at CBS News.

Read “Remembering the Astronaut Who Smuggled a Sandwich Into Space” at Atlas Obscura. “He got into a lot of trouble.”

Read “Why Some People Can Stay Sharp Even After Age 95” at Psychology Today.

Food Cultures:

Read “KFC Has Launched Its Own Lipstick – & It Tastes Like Hot Wings” at Bustle.

Misc. Oddities:

See “Here’s How 30 People React To A Sign On The Sidewalk Telling Them To ‘Commence Silly Walking’” at Bored Panda.

AZ Local:

Read “Lawsuit accuses Bikini Beans Coffee owners of stealing wages from employees” at 12 News.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/26/20)

newesttowncrier.jpg

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/26/20).

Read “Complementarians in Closed Rooms Aimee Byrd, Beth Moore, and private words that reveal a pressing problem” at Christianity Today. “When we see the words of some complementarians outed from a Facebook group, it reminds us we all have a responsibility to root out misogyny.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: What is the difference between Complementarianism and Patriarchy?)

Read “Leaving Liberty After a decade of declining black enrollment on campus, a tweet set off several recent departures among black students and staff” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “I Suppressed So Much of My Humanity in Being Here” What it’s like to be black at Liberty University” at Slate.

Read “Why are so many white Christians suddenly standing up for racial justice? It might help that our pews aren’t available to sit in and pray” at Christian Century.

Read “Dozens of Christian College Faculty Eliminated in Spring Budget Cuts” at Christianity Today.

Read “In an interview with EWTN, Trump hails ‘tremendous letter of support from the Catholic Church’” at America Magazine.

Read “The ‘Over There’ Era of Missions Is Over Nowadays, the Western church needs to send ambassadors to its own culture” at Christianity Today.

Read “We reversed Trump’s immigration policy once. We’re back to fight ‘Remain in Mexico.’ at Religion News Service.

Read “Black Practicing Christians Are Twice as Likely as Their White Peers to See a Race Problem” at Barna.

Read “Brazil’s massive replica of the Temple of Solomon The Pentecostals of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus have a mighty vision” at Christian Central.

Read “Did Race and Racism Exist in the Middle Ages?” at Not Even Past.

Read “Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben deserve retirement. They're racist myths of happy Black servitude. The mascots were intended to let white consumers indulge in a fantasy of enslaved people as submissive, self-effacing, loyal and contentedly pacified” at NBC News.

Read “Fact check: Father of modern gynecology performed experiments on enslaved Black women” at USA Today.

Read “Who Wrote ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’? Inside The Little-Known True Story” at All That’s Interesting.

  • Read “Tulsa Athletic to no longer play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at The Black Wall Street Times. “Tulsa Athletic, an American soccer team based in Tulsa and part of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), announces the club will no longer play the “The Star-Spangled Banner” and will play a new song of that's more inclusive and representative of today's America, “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, at all home matches.”

  • Read “Pro Softball Players Quit After Manager Brags To Trump About Her Team Standing For The National Anthem” at PercoLately.

Read “Why some people are willing to challenge behavior they see as wrong despite personal risk” at PBS. “Psychologists describe those who are willing to defend their principles in the face of potentially negative social consequences such as disapproval, ostracism and career setbacks as “moral rebels.”

Read “Never Forget, America’s Mass Lynching: 237 Black Sharecroppers Were Murdered In Arkansas” at Black Westchester.

Read “'World should know what is happening' to children in ICE detention: Mother testifies "It is painful for me to relive this experience and remember that suffering." at ABC News.

Read “We still don’t know just how much was lost in the Tulsa massacre of 1921” at QZ.

Read “The History of Racism Is Not Past” at Sojourners.

Read “'Black Lives Matter' is About More than the Police” at ACLU.

Read “A Call For Reparations: How America Might Narrow The Racial Wealth Gap” at NPR.

Juneteenth:

  • Read “Why Juneteenth is a holiday every American should celebrate” at Denison Forum.

  • Read “On Juneteenth, look to the biblical prophets and the Black Lives Matter movement” at America Magazine.

  • Read “Juneteenth and the Meaning of Freedom Emancipation is a marker of progress for white Americans, not black ones” at New Yorker.

  • Read “Honoring the 'Mother of Juneteenth' in Portland, Clara Peoples” at KGW.

  • Read “Senators propose bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday Juneteenth is currently recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia as a state holiday or observance” at NBC News.

Read “How Did We Get Here? 163 years of The Atlantic’s writing on race and racism in America” at The Atlantic.

Read/Listen to “'An Extraordinary Moment': Angela Davis Says Protests Recognize Long Overdue Anti-Racist Work” at WBUR.

Read “Black Lives Matter is inspiring demonstrations all over Latin America” at America Magazine.

Read “13 Microaggressions Black People Deal With All The Time” at Huff Post.

Read “Bubba Wallace responds after FBI says noose found in stall there as early as Oct. 2019” at 12 News. “"The image that I have, that I have seen hanging from my garage is not a garage pull," Bubba Wallace said in an interview with CNN. "From the evidence that we have, that I have, it's a straight-up noose."

Read “High court justices press attorneys over high-capacity magazine ban” at VT Digger.

Read “Mark Taylor: Black men are hanging themselves to start ‘civil war’ that will stop Trump’s reelection” at Dead State.

Read “Antisemitic incidents in Colorado continue to rise as attacks against American Jews reach all-time highs, new report shows” at MSN.

Read “Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA in big win for Dreamers” at NBC News.

Read “NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson” at Axios.

Read “The US Government Kills Black People with Impunity Both at Home and Abroad” at The Nation.

Read “U.S. Soldier Charged With Plotting to Let Neo-Nazis Ambush Read “NASA names headquarters after first Black female engineer Mary W. JacksonHis Army Unit” at Time.

Read “Tennessee Tennessee Republicans approve six-week abortion ban in surprise vote Ban beginning at six weeks, which is before most women know they are pregnant, is blatantly unconstitutional” at The Guardian.

Read “Looking for black-owned restaurants in Arizona? Here are more than 50 around metro Phoenix” at AZ Central.

Read “What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain” at The Cut.

Ahmaud Arbery:

  • Read “Ahmaud Arbery murder suspects indicted on murder charges” at Axios.

George Floyd:

  • Read “Opinion Why Did Cup Foods Call the Cops on George Floyd?” at New York Times.

  • Read "Scottsdale Councilman Apologizes to George Floyd's Family for Mocking 'I Can't Breathe' at Phoenix New Times.

Breonna Taylor:

  • Read “One of the officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor is being fired, Louisville mayor says Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder calls actions of Brett Hankison a "shock to the conscience" at Salon.

  • Read “Mayor Fischer announces initiation of termination procedures against LMPD Officer Brett Hankison” at LouisvilleKY.gov.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments):

  • Read “SEC tells Mississippi it has to change its flag, or risk losing host rights for championship events” at CBS News.

  • Read “Mayor Fischer announces initiation of termination procedures against LMPD Officer Brett Hankison” at LouisvilleKY.gov.

  • Read/Listen to “Confederate Monuments Continue To Come Down In Racial Justice Protests” at WBUR.

  • Read “Washington, D.C.'s only Confederate statue sacked during protest” at Axios.

  • Read “Confederate Speaker Portraits To Be Removed From The U.S. Capitol On Juneteenth” at NPR.

  • Read “President Trump tries to tie statue destruction to Democrats” at 12 News.

    • Read “President Trump says 'learn from history' instead of removing statues President Trump spoke out after an attempt Monday night to bring down a statue near the White House of Andrew Jackson, one of Trump's favorite presidents” at 12 News.

    • Read “President Trump threatens anyone destroying statues could face 10 years in prison” at 12 News. “President Trump said he's 'authorized' the arrest of anyone 'who vandalizes or destroys' monuments or statues.”

      • Read "Twitter flags ANOTHER Donald Trump tweet for 'abusive language' after he threatened protesters trying to topple Andrew Jackson statute outside the White House with 'serious force' at The Daily Mail.

  • Read “'I did the right thing:' Man arrested on suspicion of painting Arizona Confederate memorial speaks out” at AZ Central.

  • Read “We need to do more than topple (some) statues” at America Magazine.

  • Read “Miss. Baptists ask for removal of Confederate symbol from state flag” at Kentucky Today.

    • Read “Walmart bans Mississippi state flag due to Confederate symbol” at Axios.

  • Read “Minnesotans Petition To Replace St. Paul’s Columbus Statue With A Prince Monument” at Live For Live Music.

  • Read “Slavery advocate’s statue removed in South Carolina” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Dixie Chicks Change Name to The Chicks” at Pitchfork.

This Week in Protest News:

  • Read “Armed Vigilantes Antagonizing Protestors Have Received A Warm Reception From Police” at The Intercept.

  • Read “Phoenix church leads 'White Silence is Violence' march” at 12 News.

  • Read “Over 3,500 people take part in Tokyo’s first official Black Lives Matter march” at Time Out.

  • Read “Police Turned Richmond, Virginia Into a War Zone Last Night” at Vice.

  • Read “Chicago Police Illegally Denied Protesters Right To Attorney, Phone Call, Top Public Defender Says” at Block Club Chicago.

  • Read “Police shoot flash-bang grenades, pepper balls at protesters outside Phoenix Trump rally” at AZ Central.

This Week With the Police:

  • Read “NYC's 1975 Nightmarish Cop Propaganda Pamphlet” at Cracked.

  • Read “Nextdoor Ends Its Program for Forwarding Suspicions to Police” at Bloomberg. “Forward to Police,” one of several Nextdoor programs to strengthen law enforcement relations, has been criticized for elevating racial profiling.

  • Read “Hundreds of Police Officers Belong to Racist Facebook Groups” at The Root.

  • Read “The ‘Warrior Cop’ Is a Toxic Mentality. And a Lucrative Industry. Police are paying firms that preach extreme vigilance and deadly force.” at The Trace.

  • Read “Why Are Cops Putting Kids in Cuffs? Federal funding, zero tolerance, and lack of choice encourage the creeping criminalization of student misbehavior” at Reason.

  • Read “Shake Shack, "poisoned" cops, and how the press falls for police propaganda Break the dependence on police information” at Press Run.

  • Read “APA Urges Closer Partnerships Between Police, Behavioral Experts To Stem Racial Incidents” at American Psychological Association.

  • Read “Six lessons for police reform from the Catholic Church" at America Magazine.

  • Read “Who caused the violence at protests? It wasn’t antifa’ at Washington Post.

  • Read “Lawmakers in New Mexico back mandatory police body cameras” at 12 News.

  • Read “Beyond Reform The Senate stalls out before doing anything about police abuse.” at Slate.

  • Read “Above the Law: The Data Are In on Police, Killing, and Race” at The Public Discourse.

  • Read “Minneapolis Council members draft charter amendment to replace existing police department” at Minneapolis Reformer.

  • Read “National Teachers Union Wants Police Out Of Schools” at Cap Con.

  • Read “Should cops who shoot someone be tested for drugs and alcohol? Metro Council may demand it” at Louisville Courier-Journal.

  • Read “Demilitarization of Police Means Disrupting the Army-to-Police Pipeline” at Jacobin Magazine.

  • Read “Democrats Vow To Block GOP Police Reform Bill Unless Republicans Agree To Negotiate” at NPR.

  • Read “Florida police caught using mug shots of black men for target practice” at MSNBC.

  • Read “Anonymous digs up vast tranche of U.S. police documents” at Axios.

  • Read “The urgent need for deep changes in American policing Are the police meant to protect people? Or to fight them?” at Christian Century.

  • Read “How the Phoenix Police Department Spends Its $745 Million Budget. “The city wants to give the force an additional $24 million. But the department is still failing to solve crimes, and officers have shot 212 people between 2011 and 2018, killing about half” at The Appeal.

Read “Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can’t Tell Black People Apart” at ACLU.

Read “Minneapolis Park Board declares parks are ‘refuge’ for homeless” at Minnesota Reformer.

Read “Brett Favre says Colin Kaepernick will be considered a hero like Pat Tillman” at TMZ.

Read “Boston Lawmakers Vote To Ban Use Of Facial Recognition Technology By The City” at NPR.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

  • Read “Apple Closes Retail Stores in Four States as Coronavirus Cases Rise Apple said it would close stores near Naples, Fla; Charlotte, N.C.; in Greenville, S.C.; and in Arizona” at Wall Street Journal.

  • Read “Ducey will let Arizona cities decide on mandating mask wearing, announces new rules for businesses” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Phoenix will require masks starting Saturday. Refusing to wear a face covering could bring a $250 fine” at AZ Central.

  • Read “The Karens Are Giving Us a Hard Time Now” A waiter at a reopened restaurant explains how dining works in a pandemic” at Slate.

  • Read “Maricopa County sends mandate to every resident in the county: Wear a mask no matter what city, town or area you live in” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Treasury to release names of some businesses that received PPP loans” at Axios.

  • Read “Yes, Wearing Masks Helps. Here's Why” at NPR.

  • Read “Six Trump campaign staffers test positive for coronavirus ahead of Tulsa rally” at Axios.

  • Read “Rep Andy Biggs believes mandatory face masks are tyranny. Yeah, he said that, tyranny” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System” at Phoenix New Times.

  • Read “Phoenix Mayor Gallego: Mask policy won’t be enforced at Trump event” at KTAR.

  • Read “Spain opens border to tourists; Trump wants less testing” at AP News.

  • Read “President Trump suggests he urged slowing of coronavirus testing” at 12 News.

  • Read “White House Defends Trump's Use Of Racist Term To Describe Coronavirus” at NPR.

  • Read “German Federal Government Pledges $169 Million For Live Events Industry With “Restart Culture” Initiative” at Live FOr Live Music.

  • Read “Amid threats and political pushback, public health officials are leaving their posts” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Why Native Americans took Covid-19 seriously: 'It's our reality' Coronavirus is novel to the world, but the impact on native communities is anything but a new experience” at The Guardian.

  • Read “The pandemic has deepened my insomnia—and my prayers As I lie awake, it seems right to join those who address God with different names than I use” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Young people in the US South and West are increasingly getting coronavirus” at CNN.

  • Read “Years of potential life lost” is the most sobering and sad Covid-19 statistic I’ve seen” at Vox.

  • Read “EU prepares to ban American travelers as borders reopen on July 1” at Axios.

  • Read “Coronavirus has brought US 'to its knees', says CDC director” at The Guardian.

  • Read “You Can Order A Face Mask Customized With The Rest Of Your Face On It” at Crafty.diply.

  • Read "We Still Don't Fully Understand The Label 'Asymptomatic'

  • Read “Protest against mask mandates, led by Scottsdale councilman, underway in Old Town” at AZ Central.

  • Love your neighbor, wear a mask.

  • Read “Hospitals issue joint call to wear masks in public: ‘Wearing a mask is not a political statement’” at News Break.

  • Read “Rubio: 'Everyone should just wear a damn mask' at The Hill.

  • Read “Nike Turned Away a Public Health Official From Its Warehouse Days After a Worker With COVID-19 Died” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “Study Finds Black Lives Matter Protests Didn't Lead to Growth in Coronavirus Cases” at The Root.

  • Read “The U.S. divide on coronavirus masks” at Axios. “Mask-wearing has become the latest partisan division in an increasingly politically divided pandemic.”

  • Read “Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was ordered by a federal judge on Tuesday to wear a face mask outside or be fined” at Axios.

  • Read “What Parents Can Learn From Child Care Centers That Stayed Open During Lockdowns” at NPR.

  • Read “Texas family shaken after 18 relatives test positive for COVID-19 following surprise birthday party.” at KSDK. “Three are now hospitalized, including two elderly family members and one woman battling breast cancer.”

  • Read “With COVID-19 Cases Rising, Some States Slow Their Reopening Plans” at NPR.

Read “CBS Reporter Becomes Internet Hero After Asking Trump Why He Keeps Hiring 'Wackos And Liars'“ at ComicSands.

  • Read ““William Barr Poses The Greatest Threat… To Our Rule Of Law” at News and Guts.

    • Read “Powerful US attorney who investigated Trump associates refuses to step down after Barr pushes him out” at CNN.

    • Read “House Judiciary panel preparing to subpoena Barr” at Politico.

  • Read “Politics Influenced Justice Department In Roger Stone Case, DOJ Lawyer Tells Hill” at NPR.

  • Read “Prosecutor to tell Congress of pressure from ‘highest levels’ of Justice Dept. to cut Roger Stone ‘a break’” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Judge says Bolton can publish book despite efforts to block it” at 12 News.

  • Read “Stephen Colbert To John Bolton: “How Could You Be Naive?” at News and Guts.

  • Read “Appeals court orders dismissal of Michael Flynn's criminal case The decision was made, even though Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to prosecutors in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation” at 12 News.

Read “In Arizona, Republicans worry about losing traction with independent voters In a state that could prove pivotal in both the presidential race and the fight for Senate control, Republicans are concerned about a shrinking base” at NBC News.

Read “A new Trump proclamation will block foreign workers It could affect hundreds of thousands of foreigners stranded abroad” at Vox.

Read "Trumps lose attempt to gag Mary Trump from publishing tell-all book as a judge dismisses petition for a protective order saying their claims are 'fatally defective' at NPR.

Read “Biden to accept nomination at pared-down Milwaukee convention” at Axios.

  • Read “Biden Takes Dominant Lead as Voters Reject Trump on Virus and Race” at New York Times.

  • Read “Trump Is Struggling To Run Against A White Guy” at The Atlantic.

Read “Devin Nunes can’t sue Twitter over statements by fake cow, judge rules’ at Fresno Bee.

Read “Black Progressives Appear To Surge In Primaries, While Trump-Backed Candidates Lose” at NPR.

Read “More Than 100 Veterans Sign Letter Condemning Sen. McSally” at KJZZ.

Read “24-Year-Old Easily Tops President Trump's Pick In N.C. Republican Primary” at NPR.

Read “Zuckerberg says he’s ‘disgusted’ by Trump’s rhetoric. It’s just crocodile tears” at Washington Post.

Read “Alaska's 'Into the Wild' bus, known as a deadly tourist lure, has been removed by air” at CNN.

Read “Philly shuts down dumpster pools: 'We are not screwing around' at USA Today.

Read “Bill Cosby’s appeal of sex-crime conviction accepted by state supreme court” at USA Today.

Read “Okayplayer CEO Abiola Oke Resigns, Company Cites Recent Allegations” at Exclaim.

Read “Tom Petty’s Family Blasts Trump For Using His Music At Tulsa Rally” at Stereogum.

Read “K-Pop Stans Take Credit For Ruining Trump’s Tulsa Rally” at Stereogum.

Read “Jefferson Airplane to Receive Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021” at Jambands.

Read “There is Now An Official Grateful Dead Deodorant” at Relix.

Half-year-end Half-lists:

  • Browse “The 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far” at Treble.

  • Browse “The Best Of 2020 – Halftime Report A list of 72 Albums we've enjoyed from January to June” at Uncut.

  • Browse “Exclaim!'s 33 Best Albums of 2020 So Far”.

Read “Toil and Trouble: Uncle Tupelo’s ‘No Depression’ Turns 30” at No Depression.

Read “'I Have Had No Prouder Moment in Music': Run the Jewels On Capturing the Sound of American Rage” at Esquire.

Read “Sammy Hagar Is Willing to “Get Sick and Even Die” to Kickstart the Concert Industry Again” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Barcelona opera house reopens with performance to 2,292 plants” at CNN.

Read “More Than 50 Years Ago Thelonious Monk Played A High School In California. Now The Album’s On Vinyl Everything You Need To Know About The Newly Discovered Lost Monk Album” at Vinyl Me Please.

Read “John Prine Scores First No. 1 Single with Final Recording “I Remember Everything” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Nick Cave Explains Why He Doesn’t Write Protest Songs” at Stereogum.

Read “Paul McCartney Calls on Schools to Cease Serving Meat-Only Lunches "No one needs to eat meat, so it shouldn't be mandatory to serve it in schools" at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Warren Haynes Pens Op-Ed ‘A Change Is Gonna Come—Oh, Yes It Will’, Shares Accompanying Playlist” at Jambands.

Read “Dixie Chicks Change Name to The Chicks” at Pitchfork.

Browse “The Story of ’80s Texas Punk in 9 Photographs” at Pitchfork.

Read “'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Creators Scrap Season 8, Plan to Start over Amid Police Brutality Protests” at Exclaim.

Read “Large iguana found in freezer of pizza restaurant in Florida.

Read “Large iguana found in freezer of pizza restaurant in Florida” at Boing Boing.

Read “An exploitative digital cult born from Facebook meme groups is imploding” at AV Club.

Read “Tourist's photo showing creature rising from water sparks online claims that it could be 'one of the best ever' pictures of Loch Ness Monster” at The Daily Mail.

The Weekly Town Crier (03/27/20)

DudeCrier.jpg

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (03/20/20).

Read “Legendary country singer Kenny Rogers dies at 81” at CNN.

Read “Tres Warren Of Psychic Ills Dead At 41” at Stereogum.

Read “Mike Longo, Prominent Jazz Pianist Known For His Tenure with Dizzy Gillespie, Dies at 83” at WBGO.

Read “Albert Uderzo, a creator of French hero Asterix, dies at 92” at Art Canvas.

Read “Ray Mantilla, Percussionist Who Blazed a Trail in Both Jazz and Latin Music, Is Dead at 85” at WBGO.

Read “Sax maestro Manu Dibango has died from Covid-19, aged 86” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Playwright Terrence McNally, 81, dies of coronavirus-related complications” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Dear Liberty University board: Please stop Jerry Falwell Jr. before it’s too late” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. is inviting some students back to Liberty University amid pandemic, argues he’s ‘protecting’ them” at News and Guts.

Read “If you can’t go to confession, take your sorrow directly to God, pope says” at Crux News.

Read “Robert Jeffress suggests that Tim Keller is a “wimpy Christian” who has “cloaked” his “cowardice in theology” at The Way of Improvement.

Coronavirus Weekly Roundup:

  • Read “Coronavirus: Rough sleepers in London given hotel rooms” at BBC.

  • Read “Vinyl Delivery? How Local Record Stores Are Adjusting to Coronavirus Concerns” at Phoenix New Times.

  • Read “‘I’m going to keep pushing.’ Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic The infectious disease researcher has become America’s most trusted coronavirus expert” at News and Guts.

  • Watch “How to practice #SocialDistancing, according to the films of #WesAnderson. Edited by Luís Azevedo” at Little White LiesYoutube page.

  • Read “Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety As bigots blame them for the coronavirus and President Trump labels it the “Chinese virus,” many Chinese-Americans say they are terrified of what could come next” at The New York Times.

  • Read “DOJ Wants to Suspend Certain Constitutional Rights During Coronavirus Emergency The Department of Justice has secretly asked Congress for the ability to detain arrested people “indefinitely” in addition to other powers that one expert called “terrifying” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments 101 Volunteers made the valves for about $1” at The Verge.

  • Read “R.E.M's Mike Mills on why It's the End of the World resonates during the COVID-19 pandemic Social Sharing For the record, he still feels fine” at CBC.

  • Read “Trump says he wants the country 'opened up and just raring to go by Easter'" at CNN.

  • Read “White supremacists encouraging their members to spread coronavirus to cops, Jews, FBI says” at ABC NEWS.

  • Read “Arizona national-forest campgrounds are closed due to coronavirus. Here's what we know” at AZ Central.

    • Read “National Park Service to waive entrance fees at open parks to aid social distancing” at CNN.

  • Read “Conservative churches need to get the social distancing memo” at Religion News.

  • Read “How Panic Buying Affects Our Personal Finances For many, it will lead to overspending, credit card debt, and greater anxiety” at Psychology Today.

  • Read “Target Spends $300 Million To Give Raises, Paid Leave To Workers” at Forbes.

  • Read “How the Pandemic Will End The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “Senate Passes $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package” at NPR.

  • Read “NY Gov. Cuomo Counters Trump: Don’t Put a Dollar Figure on Human Life” at News And Guts.

  • Read “Fact Check: Trump Compares Coronavirus To The Flu, But It Could Be 10 Times Deadlier” at NPR.

  • Read “The coronavirus is now the American virus As deaths and infections mount, our historic failure to stop the outbreak will become a dark lesson” at The Verge.

  • Read “#GenX is Trending on Twitter Because of How They're Handling Coronavirus—Here's Why” at Parade.

  • Read “The U.S. Now Leads the World in Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Following a series of missteps, the nation is now the epicenter of the pandemic” at New York Times.

  • Read “Jackson Browne Tests Positive for COVID-19, Shares New Song “A Little Soon to Say” at Jambands.

Read “Wisconsin Humane Society Finds Home for Every Animal Up for Adoption: 'We’re Near Tears'“ at Yahoo.

Read “GOP Congressman Blasts Sen. Richard Burr For Suspicious Stock Sale” at News and Guts.

Read “Federal Reserve to lend additional $1 trillion a day to large banks” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Beatles’ Iconic Abbey Road Crosswalk Gets Repainted Because Nobody Is Outside The London landmark, which is usually clogged with tourist traffic, gets a fresh coat” at Pitchfork.

Read “The lost art of deep listening: Choose an album. Lose the phone. Close your eyes” at Yahoo News.

Watch “Neil Young’s Stunning First Fireside Session Got a Little Weird: Watch Including performances of "Vampire Blues", "Razor Love", and "Tell Me Why" at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Never-Ending Couch Tour: How Livestreams and Social Media Have Already Transformed Live Music” at Pitchfork.

Read “Sinéad O'Connor Is Still In One Piece” at Washington Post.

Read “Musicians Earned $4.3 Million From Bandcamp on Friday Nearly 800,000 items were sold on the day the site waived its revenue shares” at Pitchfork.

Read “Track By Track: African Head Charge - Songs Of Praise Ahead of the mighty reissue of the dub ensemble's back catalogue, band leader Bonjo guides us through one of his favourite albums...” at Ransom Note.

Read “Nine Inch Nails Release Two New Albums ‘Ghosts V - VI’ For Free Download” at Revolver.

Read “Montreux Jazz Festival Releases More Than 50 Full Sets from Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Should Music’s Biggest Companies Be Doing More to Help Right Now? Spotify, Amazon, Warner Music Group, and other major music companies are donating to coronavirus relief — but how do the acts stack up against meaningful measures elsewhere in the industry?” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Bob Weir Shares “Gymming Playlist” for Active Deadheads” at Jambands.

Read “Wes Anderson Made His ‘French Dispatch’ Cast Watch These 5 Movies Before Filming Wes Anderson fans might want to prioritize watching these five French classics before the July 24 release of "The French Dispatch." at Indie Wire.

Read “Japan’s Toei Launches YouTube Channel for Classic Tokusatsu Shows” at Variety.

Read “David Lynch Is Coming to Disney+ in April, So Get Your Children Ready” at Indie Wire.

Read “Using Art to Expose What Government Hides: An Interview With Laurie Anderson” at The Nation.

See the “‘Where’s Waldo’ Coronavirus Edition Is Here And It’s A Tad Easier To Spot Waldo Than Usual” at Bored Panda.

See “Rooms From Famous Paintings Brought to Life With Realistic CG Renditions” at My Modern Met.

Read “The Oregon Creamery Making Vodka From Milk” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “KEZ will bring a little cheer to the airwaves with Christmas music. Here's when to tune in” at AZ Central.