{"id":7250,"date":"2023-08-05T21:50:44","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T04:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7250"},"modified":"2023-08-05T21:50:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T04:50:44","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-414","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2023\/08\/05\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-414","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 414"},"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>     Once a week, usually on Friday, 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>This is volume 414, which is a multiple of&nbsp;23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A day late because I was traveling. Next week\u2019s may be delayed as&nbsp;well.<\/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\">\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/thepost\/the-best-predictor-of-happiness-in-america-marriage\/\" target=\"_blank\">The best predictor of happiness in America? Marriage<\/a> (W. Bradford Wilcox and David Bass, Unherd): \u201cThis truth is borne out yet again in new research from the University of Chicago, which found that marriage is the \u2018the most important differentiator\u2019 of who is happy in America, and that falling marriage rates are a chief reason why happiness has declined nationally. The research, surveying thousands of respondents, revealed a startling 30-percentage-point happiness divide between married and unmarried Americans. This happiness boost held true for both men and women.\u2026 Other factors do matter \u2014 including income, educational achievement, race, and geography \u2014 but marital status is most influential when it comes to predicting happiness in the&nbsp;study.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Related: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalliturgies.net\/p\/more-on-singleness-marriage-and-the?utm_source=%2Finbox&amp;utm_medium=reader2\" target=\"_blank\">More on Singleness, Marriage, and the Church<\/a> (Samuel D. James, Substack): \u201c\u2026some readers took me to be saying that single people are in sin or not growing in their faith the way that married people are. Not so. There is a profound (subtle, perhaps, but profound) difference between saying that something has intrinsic value in the normative life of an individual or the church, and saying that this thing is compulsory.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Very helpful followup to the article I shared last&nbsp;week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/01\/opinion\/oregon-drug-failure.html?unlocked_article_code=nXQyG4MCZgQPYyJsMn9docUzEBzxO77uJHVaqJouss2b9z2bs_x0wgpdeovLYoVp4QSwGpLL_aKZlBa2qDkdVtt423SLM07lpmOS_zHSsjONZYcvZUBNrucbbJGMB1rK6nW6lE6KxchioueLb3kwgMJOTerkQsOZv8oEFDHzCZVMs23MvqkWoiChKhP0wZh_9bYofoIqUzYzGUp7or5C6O2BzdewNCGSstpy6RtvmU6VUFyeR80Hj7UaDgBquZwC3hEnyRO2EnjSfVrxXkwYLGKqK14iZlgcbWIl8ihRgGx2LpSMb8VM5vUdtPg4AMP-3FnTCpshyHHTYkwWdw&amp;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\">The Hard-Drug Decriminalization Disaster<\/a> (Bret Stephens, New York Times): \u201c\u2026the sticky fact that proponents of decriminalization rarely confront is that addicts are not merely sick people trying to get well, like cancer sufferers in need of chemotherapy. They are people who often will do just about anything to get high, however irrational, self-destructive or, in some cases, criminal their behavior becomes. Addiction may be a disease, but it\u2019s also a lifestyle \u2014 one that decriminalization does a lot to facilitate. It\u2019s easier to get high wherever and however you want when the cops are powerless to stop&nbsp;you.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unlocked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/betonit.substack.com\/p\/shes-the-one?utm_source=%2Finbox&amp;utm_medium=reader2\" target=\"_blank\">She\u2019s the One<\/a> (Bryan Caplan, Substack): \u201cHumans are good at hedonically adapting to most material conditions. You get used to your house, your car, your clothes, your granite countertop, and your money. What humans are bad at hedonically adapting to is\u2026 other people. If you spend a lot of time around humans whose company you enjoy, you will probably be happy. If you spend a lot of time around human whose company you detest, you will probably be unhappy. Over your lifetime, you will probably spend more time around your spouse than any other human. So while finding good friends and good co-workers is crucial for happiness, finding a good spouse is even more&nbsp;so.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is full of mostly-good advice for&nbsp;guys.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2023\/08\/whats-going-on-with-the-reports-of-a-room-temperature-superconductor\/\" target=\"_blank\">What\u2019s going on with the reports of a room-temperature superconductor?<\/a> (John Timmer, Ars Technica): \u201cThe perfect time to write an article on those results would be when they\u2019ve been confirmed by multiple labs. But these are not perfect times. Instead, rumors seem to be flying daily about possible confirmation, confusing and contradictory results, and informed discussions of why this material either should or shouldn\u2019t work.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Related: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/03\/science\/lk-99-superconductor-ambient.html?smid=nytcore-android-share\" target=\"_blank\">LK-99 Is the Superconductor of the Summer<\/a> (Kenneth Chang, New York Times): \u201cI truly don\u2019t get the excitement about her preprint,\u201d said Douglas Natelson, a professor of physics at Rice University in Houston. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that it\u2019s wrong, just that theorists and computational materials folks very often produce preprints based on the latest claimed material of interest. There\u2019s nothing exceptional in&nbsp;that.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2023\/07\/31\/how-recycle-plastic-labels\/\" target=\"_blank\">You\u2019re probably recycling plastic wrong. And it\u2019s not your fault.<\/a> (Robert Gebelhoff, Washington Post):&nbsp; \u201cPicture this: You finish a drink from a red Solo cup, and before throwing it out, you check the bottom of the cup to see the iconic recycling symbol. That means it can be tossed in the recycling bin, right? Wrong. Solo cups are made of polystyrene, a plastic that is very difficult to recycle.\u2026 Nowadays, the only plastic items that are consistently recycled are bottles and jugs made out of polyethylene terephthalate (which is labeled with a \u20181\u2019) and high-density polyethylene (labeled with a \u20182\u2019), as a survey of recycling facilities by Greenpeace shows. Recycling plants typically reject almost everything else, meaning it ends up in landfills.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/28\/world\/middleeast\/lebanese-bank-depositors-robbery.html\" target=\"_blank\">He Held Up a Bank to Get His Own Money<\/a> (Raja Abdulrahim, New York Times): \u201cThe central bank has not allowed depositors to withdraw more than a few hundred dollars a month since a financial collapse in 2019. So, like other desperate Lebanese before him \u2014 some of them similarly compelled by the need for medical treatment \u2014 Mr. al-Hajjar went to his bank in November, threatening to burn it down unless it gave him some of the $250,000 he had in his account. More than 12 hours later, he left with $25,000 in stacks of cash. \u2018If you don\u2019t go in and threaten to hurt them, they won\u2019t give you anything,\u2019 he said months later.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Absolutely wild (and sad)&nbsp;story.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/story\/2023-07-27\/free-calls-restore-inmates-ties-with-the-outside-can-they-reform-californias-prisons-too\" target=\"_blank\">California\u2019s free prison calls are repairing estranged relationships and aiding rehabilitation<\/a> (Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu &amp; Helen Li, Los Angeles Times): \u201cAt a time when most consumers enjoy free or low-cost calling, prison phone calls at their peak in California cost more than $6 per 15 minutes via a private telecommunications provider. That allowed only hurried, superficial conversations between the siblings \u2014 with one eye always on the&nbsp;clock.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/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 wp-block-list\">\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/solution-2\" target=\"_blank\">The Trolley Problem Solved<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is kind of sad that I only came across one diverting thing this&nbsp;week\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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 <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/residentcontrarian.substack.com\/p\/on-the-experience-of-being-poor-ish\" target=\"_blank\">On The Experience of Being Poor-ish, For People Who Aren\u2019t<\/a> (Anonymous, Substack): \u201cWhen someone is telling me they are or have been poor and I\u2019m trying to determine how poor exactly they were, there\u2019s one evergreen question I ask that has never failed to give me a good idea of what kind of situation I\u2019m dealing with. That question is: \u2018How many times have they turned off your water?\u2019.\u201d Follow up: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/residentcontrarian.substack.com\/p\/being-poor-ish-revisited-reader-questions\" target=\"_blank\">Being Poor-ish Revisited: Reader Questions<\/a> These are both really good. From <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2021\/03\/05\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-291\" target=\"_blank\">volume 291<\/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:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once a week, usually on Friday, 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. This is volume 414, which is a multiple of&nbsp;23. A day late because I was \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2023\/08\/05\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-414\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 414\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/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":"Need links? I got links. Enjoy!","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":[279,201,208,112,164,214],"class_list":["post-7250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-criminal-justice","tag-drugs","tag-environmentalism","tag-marriage","tag-relationships","tag-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1SW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250","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=7250"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7252,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions\/7252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}