The Weekly Town Crier (04/09/21)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (04/09/21).
We’ll Miss You:
Read “War Bassist B.B. Dickerson Has Died at 71” at Pitchfork.
Read “Küng, original celebrity theologian and liberal muse, dead at 93” at Crux.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “At second Easter under pandemic rules, Christians glimpse church’s future” at Religion News Service.
Read “Beth Moore left the SBC after the SBC left women to fend for themselves” at Religion News Service.
Read “Beth Moore apologizes for her role in elevating ‘complementarian’ theology that limits women leaders” at Religion News Service. “In an email to Religion News Service, Moore didn’t go quite so far as to say she has entirely abandoned complementarianism. But she no longer sees it as essential.”
Read “White Evangelical Resistance Is Obstacle in Vaccination Effort” at New York Times. “Millions of white evangelical adults in the U.S. do not intend to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Tenets of faith and mistrust of science play a role; so does politics.”
Read “Saudi Arabia to Reopen Mecca Holy Site to “Immunized” Pilgrims” at Democracy Now.
Consider “10 Reasons Why Men Should Not be Ordained for Ministry” with Eugene Cho.
Read “Black and Asian Christian leaders discuss role of church in fighting racism” at Religion News Service.
Read “Is the evangelical view of sex at the root of our sex scandals?” at Religion News Service. “It was not celebrity culture that taught Ravi Zacharias, Carl Lentz and countless other pastors to objectify women. Our evangelical culture primed them for it.”
Read “White Evangelical Racism Has Always Been a Political Power Grab” at Medium. “Anthea Butler explains how racism has been essential to growing the power of white evangelical Christians.”
Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “A spokesman for Matt Gaetz quits, as the Justice Dept. investigates whether his boss violated sex trafficking laws” at New York Times.
Read “Georgia Law Could Seal Trump's and Rudy's Fate in Election Interference Investigation” at Second Nexus.
Read “Elderly Asian woman stabbed in California while walking dogs” at The Hill.
Read “The myth about smart black kids and “acting white” that won’t die” at Vox. “Nerds come in all colors.”
Read “Virginia Latest to Strike ‘Trans Panic’ Defense of Violent Crime” at Bloomberg Law.
Read “Amazon Admits Drivers Sometimes Have to Pee in Bottles While on the Job” at Slate.
Read “Justices dismiss suit over Trump's blocking of critics on Twitter” at The Hill.
Read “Supreme Court nixes Alex Jones' appeal in Newtown shooting case” at NBC News. “Jones was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.”
Read “Utah Will Require Fathers to Help With Pregnancy Bills” at New York Times.
Read “Biden to unveil long-awaited executive action on guns” at Politico.
Read “NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Faces Grilling During Highly Anticipated Bankruptcy Trial Testimony” at Law and Crime.
This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):
Read “Fears of White People Losing Out Permeate Capitol Rioters’ Towns, Study Finds” at New York Times.
This Week With The Police:
Read “U.S. Capitol locked down after a vehicle plows into officers, police say” at Yahoo.
Read “Officer dead after suspect rammed car into police at US Capitol barricade” at Yahoo.
Read “Video Of Chicago Police Killing 13-Year-Old Adam Toledo Will Be Released, Agency Says After Public Pressure” at Book Club Chicago.
Read “DA wants to dismiss 90 convictions tied to ex-NYPD detective accused of perjury” at NBC News.
Read “NYPD ‘Goon Squad’ Manual Teaches Officers To Violate Protesters’ Rights” at The Intercept.
Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings
Read “Tennessee lawmaker proposes bill to ban LGBTQ history and issues from state curriculum” at UT Daily Beacon.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Read “White Evangelical Resistance Is Obstacle in Vaccination Effort” at New York Times. “Millions of white evangelical adults in the U.S. do not intend to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Tenets of faith and mistrust of science play a role; so does politics.”
Read “Montana Governor Who Rescinded Mask Mandate Now Has COVID” at Daily Beast.
Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):
Read “The Cause of Tiger Woods’ Car Wreck Is No Longer a Mystery” at Yahoo.
Read “Amazon apologizes for tweet denying some workers urinate in bottles” at The Hill.
Read “How Adults with ADHD Can "Manufacture" Motivation” at Psychology Today.
Read “California man sues after father dies during taco eating contest” at The Hill.
Read “Pageant winner has title revoked for twerking” at The Hill.
Read “Pfizer CEO says Trump told him vaccine 'will help me' with election” at The Hill.
Internationalities:
Read “MLB signs deal with China's largest tech company” at CNN.
Read “New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour” at Independent.
Read “Flash floods in Indonesia and Timor Leste kill more than 50” at BBC.
Read “Unrest in Northern Ireland: 27 police officers injured as riots occur in Belfast and Derry” at Independent.ie
Politics And Sucheries:
Read “Stimulus checks and COVID optimism raise Biden's approval rating to highest level yet” at Yahoo.
Read “Laura Ingraham Warns Corporations of 'Wrath of GOP' Over Georgia Voting Law” at Newsweek.
Read “Democrats Look at Lowering Medicare Eligibility Age in Healthcare Package” at Wall Street Journal.
Read “MLB Moves All-Star Game from Atlanta to Protest Georgia Voter Suppression Law” at Democracy Now.
Read “Georgia Governor Criticizes MLB For Buying Into Liberal 'Lies' About New Election Law” at NPR. “Major League Baseball announced it would pull this year's All-Star Game and its draft out of Atlanta after Georgia revamped its voting rules. Gov. Brian Kemp says it's an example of "cancel culture."
Read “Arkansas Governor Vetoes Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth” at NPR.
Read “Republicans rediscover their concern for the national debt” at Washington Post.
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “How Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations” at New York Times. “Online donors were guided into weekly recurring contributions. Demands for refunds spiked.”
Read “Trump May Be Gone, but His Biggest Scam Is Still With Us” at Slate.”There’s a frustrating connection between the Derek Chauvin defense and the Matt Gaetz scandal.”
Read “NYT: Matt Gaetz said to have sought blanket pardon” at MSNBC.
Read “Matt Gaetz Spent 4 Years Sucking Up to Trump — and Trump Just Abandoned Him” at Vice.
Read “Congressman Matt Gaetz to speak at conservative women's summit amid federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations” at CBS News.
Read “Republicans trumpet elements of Covid-19 relief bill they voted against” at NBC News.
Read “Former Trump HUD official fined and barred from federal work over Hatch Act violation” at CNN.
Read “Ethics watchdog group accuses Cruz of using campaign funds to promote book” at The Hill.
Music-Related News and Such:
Read “DMX hospitalised and in critical state after suffering overdose” at NME.
Read “Ever wonder why drums sound the same on many of today’s recordings?” at a Journal of Musical Things.
Read “36 of America’s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What’s Next” at Pitchfork.
Read “Paul Simon Sells His Entire Songwriting Catalog to Sony” at New York Times.
Browse Treble’s picks for “The Best Albums of March 2021.”
Read “Tedeschi Trucks Band Postpone Wheels of Soul Tour to 2022” at Relix.
Read “Ryley Walker: 'Going two days sober was impossible since I was a kid” at The Guardian.
Read “The 49 Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2021: Taylor Swift, Japanese Breakfast, J Balvin, and More” at Pitchfork.
Read “Brandi Carlile Has Always Seen Herself Clearly. Now It’s Our Turn.” at New York Times.
Read “Hugh Masekela: The Politics Of South Africa’s Famed Trumpeter” at U Discover Music.
Read “Page McConnell Announces Ambient Electronic Solo Record ‘Maybe We’re The Visitors,’ Shares First Single” at Relix.
Listen “to Taylor Swift’s New “From the Vault” Song “Mr. Perfectly Fine” at Pitchfork.
Read “Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson to star in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon” at Consequence of Sound.
Read “Despite Quarantine, Beauty Pill Find New Artistic Paths” at Bandcamp.
Read “So the singers of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC went for a walk in the woods…” at A Journal Of Musical Things.
Read “RSD Drops 2021: Lady Gaga, Oneohtrix Point Never, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Shrek, and More” at Pitchfork.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “Top CBS Local Station Executives Exit Amid Probe of Racism Allegations” at Variety.
Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:
Read “NASA prepares Mars helicopter for first flight on another planet” at The Hill.
Read “Finding From Particle Research Could Break Known Laws of Physics” at New York Times.
Misc. Oddities:
Visit “Cryptozoology & Paranormal Museum Littleton, North Carolina” with Atlas Obscura.
Local:
Read “First Friday Unofficially Reopens On Phoenix's Roosevelt Row” at KJZZ.