{"id":5985,"date":"2020-05-01T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5985"},"modified":"2020-05-01T19:20:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T03:20:00","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-248","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/05\/01\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-248","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 248"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>     On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m a little happy because the number 248 seems cool to me. If I ever reach 1248 I\u2019ll think it\u2019s even cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalaffairs.com\/publications\/detail\/religious-liberty-and-the-common-good\">Religious Liberty and the Common Good<\/a> (National Affairs, William Haun): \u201cMany of today\u2019s progressives, conservatives, and libertarians [cannot] explain why religion <em>in particular<\/em> and religious exercise <em>in particular<\/em> should shape the common good, even when they go against the grain of secular visions adopted in law.\u201d This is probably the most important link I\u2019ve shared in quite a while. Not light reading but worthwhile. The author is a lawyer for the Becket Fund.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/outreachmagazine.com\/interviews\/42227-erwin-mcmanus-the-peaceable-warrior-part-1.html\">Erwin McManus: The Peaceable Warrior<\/a> (Paul J. Pastor, Outreach Magazine): \u201cI talked to someone last Sunday who said, \u2018I\u2019m here because somebody invited me. I didn\u2019t want to come.\u2019 [Laughs] She actually said, \u2018I\u2019m mean, jaded and cynical. I don\u2019t believe in God or religion. I think it\u2019s all a sham.\u2019 I said, \u2018You\u2019re really disappointed, aren\u2019t you?\u2019 \u2018Why?\u2019 \u2018Because you like us,\u2019 I said. \u2018Yeah,\u2019 she said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what to do with that.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d (the excerpt is actually from <a href=\"https:\/\/outreachmagazine.com\/interviews\/42228-erwin-mcmanus-becoming-fully-human-part-2.html\">part 2 of the interview<\/a> and the story gets even better). I only stumbled upon this slightly older article because it won a Maggie award for <a href=\"http:\/\/maggieawards.com\/68th-annual-maggie-awards-winners-revealed\/\">best interview of 2019<\/a>.<\/li><li>Coronavirus News &amp; Perspectives&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scientificamerican.com\/observations\/comparing-covid-19-deaths-to-flu-deaths-is-like-comparing-apples-to-oranges\">Comparing COVID-19 Deaths to Flu Deaths Is like Comparing Apples to Oranges<\/a> (Jeremy Samuel Faust, Scientific American): \u201cWhen reports about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV\u20112 began circulating earlier this year and questions were being raised about how the illness it causes, COVID-19, compared to the flu, it occurred to me that, in four years of emergency medicine residency and over three and a half years as an attending physician, I had almost never seen anyone die of the flu. I could only remember one tragic pediatric case.\u201d The author is an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Fascinating.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boredpanda.com\/different-perspective-telephoto-lens-vs-wide-angle-philip-davali-olafur-steinar-ry\/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_campaign=organic\">Photographer Takes Pics Of People In Public From 2 Perspectives And It Shows How Easily The Media Can Manipulate Reality<\/a> (Liucija Adomaite and Denis Tymulis, Bored Panda): \u201c\u2018The proximity of people has widely been debated in Denmark in the past weeks. Danish politicians and authorities have frequently referred to images which they believed to show members of the public behaving in disagreement with the general guidelines.\u2019 As a national photo news agency that supplies visual coverage on the coronavirus pandemic, \u2018we became aware that our contribution could be misread.\u2019\u201d A picture is worth 1000 words, not all of them honest.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2020\/05\/04\/seattles-leaders-let-scientists-take-the-lead-new-yorks-did-not\">Seattle\u2019s Leaders Let Scientists Take the Lead. New York\u2019s Did Not<\/a> (Charles Duhigg \u201aNew Yorker): \u201cConstantine told me, \u2018Jeff recognized what he was asking for was impractical. He said if we advised social distancing right away there would be zero acceptance. And so the question was: What can we say <em>today <\/em>so that people will be ready to hear what we need to say <em>tomorrow<\/em>?\u2019 In e\u2011mails and phone calls, the men began playing a game: What was the most extreme advice they could give that people wouldn\u2019t scoff at? Considering what would likely be happening four days from then, what would they regret not having said?\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2020\/04\/27\/pastor-landon-spradlin-coronavirus-death\/\">A Virginia preacher believed \u2018God can heal anything.\u2019 Then he caught coronavirus.<\/a> (Peter Jamison, Washington Post): \u201cIn the days after Landon succumbed to covid-19, his death brought words of sympathy from people who knew him \u2014 and jeers from people who didn\u2019t. The New York Post, the Daily Mail and an atheist blog published articles seizing on his March 13 Facebook post. Landon was posthumously attacked as a victim of misguided beliefs \u2014 in the assurances of his president and the protections of his&nbsp;God.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/2020\/04\/62837\/\">Information Can Do What Lockdowns Can\u2019t<\/a> (Lyman Stone, The Public Discourse): \u201cAmericans, like people in almost every country, were quicker to understand the risks than most of the people who govern us. Alas, had our leaders taken the threat seriously a month earlier, and communicated the risks to Americans more explicitly, COVID could have been a flash in the pan. Instead, many thousands of Americans are going to die unnecessary deaths.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/why-did-youtube-remove-the-doctors-briefing\/\">Why Did YouTube Remove The Doctors\u2019 Briefing?<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201c\u2026I absolutely believe that it\u2019s wrong to censor what qualified medical professionals (read: not quacks) are saying about the crisis, which is so unique in our experience as a nation. A strong lockdown was necessary at first. If there is good medical evidence that the lockdown, and related public health strategies, might be doing more harm that good at this date, then let\u2019s hear that argument.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/taibbi.substack.com\/p\/temporary-coronavirus-censorship\">The Inevitable Coronavirus Censorship Crisis is Here<\/a> (Matt Taibbi, Substack): \u201cThe people who want to add a censorship regime to a health crisis are more dangerous and more stupid by leaps and bounds than a president who tells people to inject disinfectant. It\u2019s astonishing that they don\u2019t see&nbsp;this.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/undark.org\/2020\/04\/23\/covid-19-borders-insulin\/\">With US Borders Closed by Covid-19, How Will I Afford Insulin?<\/a> (James Stout, Undark): \u201cDuring months when I teach as an adjunct professor and am covered by my university\u2019s insurance plan, I stock up as much insulin as I can. During the remainder of the year, I do what thousands of others do: I cross the border to Mexico where, just 12 miles from my house in San Diego, I can buy the same medicine at one-tenth of the price.\u201d Sent my way by a student.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2020-05-01\/ufo-sightings-they-deserve-to-be-taken-more-seriously?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-view&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=view&amp;utm_mediu\">UFO Sightings: They Deserve to Be Taken More Seriously<\/a> (Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg): \u201cThe official release of some previously leaked UFO videos taken by U.S. navy pilots has sparked renewed interest in the bigger questions. For sure those flying objects are unidentified, but how much attention should we earthlings devote to this issue? I am struck by the contrast between those who see this as an important question and those who think the whole thing will turn out to be an error or some kind of optical illusion.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Related:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/5dmnp3\/ufo-videos-only-scratch-the-surface-of-what-the-pentagon-knows-harry-reid-says\">UFO Videos \u2018Only Scratch the Surface\u2019 of What the Pentagon Knows, Harry Reid Says<\/a>&nbsp;(Jason Koebler, Vice): \u201cReid, who was a senator for 30 years and was Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, helped to create a so-called \u2018black budget\u2019 for the Pentagon\u2019s UFO program, called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<li>This is something <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?s=UFO\">I\u2019ve shared articles about before<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>On the Chinese Communist Party:&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/opinion\/china-hong-kong-coronavirus.html?action=click&amp;module=Opinion&amp;pgtype=Homepage\">China Has a Post-Pandemic Dream for Hong Kong<\/a> (Yi-Zheng Lian, New York Times): \u201cBut the recent developments actually are remarkable. For the first time, the traditional pan-dems are being treated as enemies just like the separatists. And for the first time, Beijing is violating the very letter of the Basic Law, which it itself has promulgated; the Chinese government typically only contorts the law and distorts its spirit.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecrimson.com\/article\/2020\/4\/23\/harvard-china-scrutiny\/#.XqWvr_Pq_5k.twitter\">The End of the Harvard Century<\/a> (Matteo N. Wong, Harvard Crimson): \u201cChinese officials regularly deliver complaints to universities hosting events on sensitive issues and even offer scholars money to modify research critical of China.\u2026 given Harvard\u2019s status in the international academic hierarchy, Chinese authorities may be particularly interested in the University. \u2018We\u2019ve had Chinese citizens at Harvard, who are clearly doing the bidding of the Chinese state, coming and sitting in on talks and taking notes and reporting back,\u2019 Perry says. She similarly suspects Chinese citizens of reporting on visiting Chinese scholars\u2019 activities.\u201d This article is quite long but fascinating.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/global-opinions\/mitt-romney-covid-19-has-exposed-chinas-utter-dishonesty\/2020\/04\/23\/30859476-8569-11ea-ae26-989cfce1c7c7_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_week_in_ideas&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_ideas\">America is awakening to China. This is a clarion call to seize the moment.<\/a> (Mitt Romney, Washington Post): \u201cChina\u2019s alarming military build-up is not widely discussed outside classified settings, but Americans should not take comfort in our disproportionately large military budget. The government of President Xi Jinping doesn\u2019t report its actual defense spending. An apples-to-apples analysis demonstrates that China\u2019s annual procurement of military hardware is nearly identical to ours; but because our military has missions around the world, this means that in the Pacific, where China concentrates its firepower, it will have military superiority.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/04\/21\/i-was-arrested-hong-kong-its-part-chinas-larger-plan\/?utm_campaign=wp_week_in_ideas&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_ideas\">I was arrested in Hong Kong. It\u2019s part of China\u2019s larger plan.<\/a>(Martin C. M. Lee , Washington Post): \u201cHong Kong people now face two plagues from China: the coronavirus and attacks on our most basic human rights. We can all hope a vaccine is soon developed for the coronavirus. But once Hong Kong\u2019s human rights and rule of law are rolled back, the fatal virus of authoritarian rule will be here to&nbsp;stay.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/04\/29\/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype\/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_most\">My Native American father drew the Land O\u2019Lakes maiden. She was never a stereotype.<\/a> (Robert DesJarlait, Washington Post): \u201cMia\u2019s vanishing has prompted a social media meme: \u2018They Got Rid of The Indian and Kept the Land.\u2019 That isn\u2019t too far from the truth. Mia, the stereotype that wasn\u2019t, leaves behind a landscape voided of identity and history. For those of us who are American Indian, it\u2019s a history that is all too familiar.\u201d<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2020\/05\/andrew-sullivan-by-bidens-own-standards-he-is-guilty.html\">By Biden\u2019s Own Standards, He Is Guilty As Charged<\/a> (Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine): \u201cOn Friday\u2019s <em>Morning Joe<\/em>, Biden laid out a simple process for judging him: Listen respectfully to Tara Reade, and then check for facts that prove or disprove her specific claim. The objective truth, Biden argued, is what matters. I agree with him. But this was emphatically not the standard Biden favored when judging men in college. If Biden were a student, under Biden rules, Reade could file a claim of assault, and Biden would have no right to know the specifics, the evidence provided, who was charging him, who was a witness, and no right to question the accuser.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>This article is about college Title IX proceedings using Tara Reade and Joe Biden as illustrations. If its inclusion comes off as partisan, bear in mind that the author intends to vote for&nbsp;Biden.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GQ08UJ8QNtg&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Dolphins swim in bioluminescent waves in Newport Beach<\/a> (YouTube): three minutes<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/obviously-confused-amash-runs-for-president-even-though-we-already-have-two-choices\">Obviously Confused Amash Runs For President Even Though We Already Have Two Choices<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2020\/04\/28\">Unusually Heavy Call Volumes<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/latest-cdc-computer-modeling-predicts-between-0-and-126-billion-new-covid-19-deaths-by-summer\">Latest Computer Model Predicts Between 0 And 12.6 Billion New COVID-19 Deaths By Summer<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aoz7Q5OXIHY\">Steve Harvey Gets Tie Stolen by Pickpocket Bob Arno<\/a> (Steve Harvey Show, YouTube): seven minutes, recommended by a student<\/li>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have the provocative read <a href=\"http:\/\/chronicle.com\/article\/In-Defense-of-Flogging\/127208\/?sid=at\">In Defense of Flogging<\/a> (Peter Moskos, Chronicle of Higher Education) \u2014 the author is a former police officer and now a criminologist at the City University of New York. This one was shared back before I started sending these emails in a blog post called <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2011\/05\/05\/punishment\">Punishment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I\u2019ll usually mention it). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent.\n\nAlso, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the best explanations of religious liberty I have read, along with articles about the pandemic, UFOs, the Chinese Communist Party, and a fascinating interview with a pastor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"One of the best explanations of religious liberty I have read, along with articles about the pandemic, UFOs, the Chinese Communist Party, and a fascinating interview with a pastor.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[125,262,275,172,138,147],"class_list":["post-5985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-china","tag-hong-kong","tag-pandemic","tag-racism","tag-religious-freedom","tag-sexual-assault"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1yx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5985"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5997,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions\/5997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}