Sunspots 695

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant, and other sources, report that China is attacking Christians and churches, and other religions, too. In another report, China is blocking on-line Christian services.

Richard Mouw, in Sojourners, argues against uncritical support for Israel, and claims that the Bible does not teach such support.

Some prominent Christians have recently argued that Christians have no business trying to work for social justice. Russell Moore, of the Southern Baptist Convention, begs to differ.


Food: Listverse has posted 10 little-known facts about Avocados.

In case you didn't know it, cacao (the plant that chocolate comes from) is susceptible to plant diseases. Scientific American reports on attempts to find resistant cacao plants.

Gizmodo on whether breakfast cereal is good for us or not.

Politics: Not a surprise. Scientific American reports that more people are killed by active shooters when they are using semi-automatic weapons.

Earther reports that, as Hurricane Florence neared landfall, President Trump called the government's response to Hurricane Maria, in Puerto Rico, an "unsung success," in spite of plenty of contrary evidence. Then, later, he claimed that the death toll, about 3,000, was a figure made up by Democrats, to make him look bad.

The Trump administration is in process of relaxing regulations on institutions that lend money to military personnel, and has done so without consulting the Pentagon, which is opposed to these changes, according to National Public Radio.

Relevant reports that the number of Christian refugees entering the US has fallen sharply under the Trump administration.

(Not really politics, I hope) Gizmodo reports that a system is being developed to allow the President to send a warning text message to every cell phone in the US, in case of terrorist attacks, weather disasters, and the like.

Science: Barrier islands in the Atlantic Ocean, which protect North and South Carolina from some hurricane damage, are disappearing, says Scientific American.

Gizmodo reports that there is a plan in place to sequence the DNA of all living vertebrate species, about 66,000.

Earther reports on a typhoon that was stronger than Florence, at about the same time.

Scientific American reports on a study that indicates that people who are new to us dislike us less than we think they do.

Thanks for looking!