The Weekly Town Crier (01/01/21)
All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (01/01/21).
We’ll Miss You:
Read “Guitarist Tony Rice Dead at 69” at Pitchfork.
Read “In Memoriam: Leslie West (1945-2020)” at Jambands.
Read “Pierre Cardin, iconic Space Age fashion designer, dead at 98” at New York Post.
Read “MF DOOM, Elusive Bard of Hip-Hop, Dead at 49” at Rolling Stone.
Religion and Stuff:
Read “From cruise ships to Trump’s hotel, Calvinist Christian nationalism is making moves” at Religion News Service. “Michael O'Fallon argues that America's Judeo-Christian heritage and 'the right of self governance' are under attack by the Open Society Foundation and society at large.”
Read “The Nationalist Roots of White Evangelical Politics” at Dissent. “From its origins, white evangelicalism has been marked by a vision of a Christian America, driven to overcome its perceived enemies.”
Read “The Church Needs Prophets, But It Wants Lawyers” by David French. “It’s time to listen to men and women who tell us what we need to hear.”
Read “RZIM Confirms Ravi Zacharias’s Sexual Misconduct” at Christianity Today.
Read “RZIM Branch in UK Calls on U.S. Board to “Reform Radically”” at Roys Report.
Read “Several Black pastors break with the Southern Baptist Convention over a statement on race” at Washington Post.
Read “If You Want to Understand White Evangelicals, Tour a Hobby Lobby Store” at Daily Beast. “The merch illustrates a cultural identity that is clearly Christian but less about loving thy neighbor and more about loving thy guns and a militant white masculine ideal.”
Read “How Jesus became white — and why it’s time to cancel that” at Religion News Service. “Nearly a century later, both ‘Head of Christ’ and criticism of its role in enshrining Jesus as white endure.”
Read “CT’s Top 20 Stories of 2020” at Christianity Today.
Read “Mormon church sued for alleged role in Boy Scouts sex abuse” at KBTX.
Read “The path to enlightenment is an ego trip: Meditation and mindfulness linked to narcissism and feelings of 'spiritual superiority', study finds” at Daily Mail.
Read “There’s no theological education pipeline anymore” by Justo L. González at Christian Century. “It’s been replaced by a thriving irrigation hose.”
Read “Los Angeles activists say Sean Feucht is ‘waging biological warfare’ ahead of homeless outreach events” at Religion News Service. “Activists are holding car caravans on Wednesday and New Year’s Eve to block Christian recording artist Sean Feucht from holding outreach events in two homeless communities in Los Angeles.”
Read “Christian Singer Sean Feucht Moves Ahead With New Year's Eve Concerts in LA Despite COVID-19 Rules” at Billboard.
Read “Justin Bieber reportedly studying to be a minister for Hillsong church” at Page Six.
Read “Jericho March plans DC return in the new year to pray Pence will overturn election” at Religion News Service.
Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:
Read “Possible human remains found near Nashville explosion site, police chief says” at CNN.
Read “These six Nashville police officers evacuated residents moments before motor home exploded” at CNN.
Read “Authorities probing whether Nashville bomber Anthony Warner blew up dogs” at New York Post.
Read “Investigators reportedly looking into whether Nashville bombing suspect believed in alien lizards” at Task and Purpose.
Read “Nashville Bomber's Girlfriend Warned Police About Him In 2019” at NPR.
Read “The Economy Isn’t Working. That’s Exactly the Plan.” at Common Dreams. “Inequality is reaching feudal proportions, where very few own almost everything, and everyone else is crushed under the wheel of engineered destitution.”
Read “Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activists Face Prison, Again, After Breaking Into Naval Base” at NPR.
Read “A Woman Attacked a 14-Year-Old Black Boy on Video After She Falsely Accused Him of Stealing Her Phone” at Vice.
Read “Ghislaine Maxwell denied $28.5m bail in sex crime case” at BBC.
Read “Religion, Abortion, Guns And Race. Just The Start Of A New Supreme Court Menu” at NPR.
Read “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs bill requiring fetal remains be buried or cremated” at Cincinnati.com.
This Week With The Police:
Read “What we know about the fatal shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man, by Columbus police” at Columbia Dispatch.
Read “Ohio police officer fired in fatal shooting of Black man” at AP News.
Read “Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'“ at AZ Central.
Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings
Read “Betsy DeVos tells Education Department employees to 'resist' Biden administration, report says” at USA Today.
Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:
Read “Covid-19 Aid Bill Remains in Doubt as Congress Braces for Showdown With Trump” at Wall Street Journal.
Read “Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan jailed for 'provoking trouble' with Wuhan reporting” at NBC News.
Read “L.A. County is probing whether a new, more contagious COVID strain is spreading locally” at Los Angeles Times.
Read “Still Disinfecting Surfaces? It Might Not Be Worth It” at NPR.
Read “Small Number of Covid Patients Develop Severe Psychotic Symptoms” at New York Times.
Read “If you want to travel next year, you may need a vaccine passport” at CNN.
Read “COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll in America’s mental health-care deserts” at National Geographic.
Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology and/or “Celebrities”):
Read “Shia LaBeouf to Enter Rehab for Addiction and Psychological Issues” at Consequence of Sound.
Internationalities:
Read “US begins labelling illegal settlement products as 'Made in Israel'“ at Middle East Eye.
Politics And Sucheries:
Read “Growing number of GOP lawmakers back Electoral College challenge” at The Hill.
Read “Senate filibuster designed to oust Mitch McConnell over $2000 survival aid” at Raw Story.
Read “Georgia signature audit finds no fraud in presidential election” at The Hill.
Read “Ossoff slams Loeffler criticism of Warnock: She's 'been campaigning with a Klansman'“ at The Hill.
Read “Graham calls for stand-alone vote on $2K checks” at The Hill.
Read “Biden's Incoming Press Secretary: Briefings Won't Be A Platform For Right-Wing Spin” at NPR.
Read “Republicans Propping Up the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Borderline Socialist” at Slate.
This Week In Political Corruption:
Read “Trump's final days try to turn the military into a political pawn” at The Hill.
Read “GOP lawmaker sues Pence in bid to overturn Biden win” at The Hill.
Read “Pence asks judge to toss GOP lawmaker's bid to overturn election results” at The Hill.
Read “Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20” at Pro Publica.
Read “Sen. Josh Hawley Will Contest the Electoral College Vote Count” at Slate.
Music-Related News and Such:
Browse The Allmusic 2020 Year In Review.
Read “Interview: Jeff Tweedy on Creativity and Catharsis” at Relix.
Read “How Music Persisted During the Pandemic” at Pitchfork. “From Bandcamp Fridays to Verzuz battles, these were our silver linings from a strange, stuck year in music.”
Browse “Lee Ranaldo lists his favorite guitarists of all time” at Brooklyn Vegan.
Read “Vinyl Just Had Its Best Sales Week in History” at Consequence of Sound.
Read “Ticketmaster To Pay $10 Million Fine Following Songkick Legal Dispute” at Relix.
Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:
Read “Nadine Labaki to Star in Arabic ‘Perfect Strangers’ Remake” at Variety.
Design/Artsy Things:
Read “Photographer Crafts Special Camera To Capture Delicate Snowflakes in the Highest Resolution Ever” at My Modern Net.
Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:
National Geographic has chosen their favorite photographs of the year:
Browse “The best science pictures of 2020.”
Browse “our best animal photos of 2020.”
Browse “Family Life 2020—in photos.”
Misc. Oddities:
Read “Wanted: albino python thieves in Massachusetts” at Boing Boing.