Sunspots 732

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer argues that there should be more humor in worship.

A Relevant writer tells us why we should find hope, no matter what we may be going through.


Computing: Gizmodo reports on an analysis of the Russian Twitter activity, designed to influence the election of 2016.

NPR reports that the Federal Communications Commission may finally be going to do something substantial about robocalls.

Environment: Catherine Rampell wonders why none of the Democratic candidates for President mention a Carbon tax in their plans for the environment. Rampell says that most economists, left- or right-leaning, think a Carbon tax would be a good idea.


Health: ScienceNow reports on a limit to how much energy a marathon runner can utilize. (Pregnancy makes similar energy demands.)

Gizmodo reports on a woman who had a tapeworm egg in her brain.

Humor: (or something) People from Slidell, Louisiana, called 911 when the local Taco Bell ran out of tacos, according to Relevant.


Politics: Relevant has compiled statements from all of the Democratic candidates for President, giving their stance on abortion.

The hard drives of a deceased Republican consultant have been turned over to an organization that is trying to fight gerrymandering. They appear to be a treasure trove of ideas, many carried out, on how to minimize the impact of Democratic voting, says NPR.

South Korea is sending food aid to North Korea, according to NPR. Experts indicate that the food aid may not really help much, because of the way it's distributed. They also say that if the People's Republic of NK can afford nuclear weapons, etc., they could afford food.

Science: Gizmodo discusses slime.

Sports: Dirk Nowitzki, who played for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks longer than any other player's tenure with a team in NBA history, is enjoying retirement.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 658

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

Christianity: A Relevant write says that we shouldn't always say "it's OK," w

hen someone tells us that they are sorry for something they have done to us.

Tim Keller has written "Can Evangelicalism Survive Donald Trump and Roy Moore," for The New Yorker. Among other things, Keller offers a short list of characteristics of evangelicals, and points out that "'Evangelical' used to denote people who claimed the high moral ground; now, in popular usage, the word is nearly synonymous with 'hypocrite.'"

A Relevant writer writes about the dumbing down (knowing little theology, and even exalting those who don't know much of it) of Christianity,  and how this hurts the cause of Christ.


Relevant reports that Chick-Fil-A, which normally does not open on Sundays, opened, in the Atlanta airport, during a massive flight cancellation problem, so that people could get food. 



Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a free application that takes screenshots of your computer automatically, every 5 seconds, or at longer intervals. This may help you to remember what you did, or it may help you see if someone unauthorized is using your computer, and what they are doing on it.

Politics: (or something) Listverse gives the terrible stories of people who managed to survive North Korea's prison camps, and escape the country.

National Public Radio reports on how Russian operatives sowed discord in the US, and other countries, through web attacks of various kinds.

David Brooks, of the New York Times, writes a good piece on how to get us back together.

Science: (or photography) The BBC has posted some photos of amazing cloud formations, plus one of a moonbow. Flickr has a Gallery, currently with six photos of moonbows.

Wired compares LED and incandescent Christmas tree lights. (The kind that makes a string of 50 or more lights.)

Sports: Listverse discusses the history of balls used in several sports.

I thank one of my brothers for suggesting some of these items.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 652

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

The Arts: E. Stephen Burnett discusses the way Christians often think about popular culture.

Grammarphobia distinguishes between their, they're and there.

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey says that prominent Young-earth Creationist Ken Ham is actually driving people toward atheism.

Health: FiveThirtyEight reports on a scary subject -- North Korea probably has chemical and biological weapon capability, and biological warfare would be harder to stop than nuclear weapons.

Relevant reports that the constant barrage of Christmas music may be doing psychological harm.

Humor: (or something) Listverse discusses 10 apparently simple questions that the writer says no one can answer.

Politics: Listverse discusses ways Russian social media users tricked US citizens into distrusting one another, and our political processes.

FiveThirtyEight reports on how President Trump's trade policies (everyone is treating the US unfairly, so we'll pull out of trade agreements) are doing.

The editor of Christianity Today blasts a supposedly Bible-based defense of Roy Moore, candidate for the US Senate from Alabama: "Christians don't use Joseph and Mary to explain child molesting accusations."

Relevant also weighs in on the Moore accusations, pointing out that the Republicans from Alabama have mostly come to Moore's defense, unlike the colleagues of some high-profile entertainers.

Scientific American describes four laws that could significantly cut down on gun violence, and gives evidence for that claim.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 648

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

The Arts: A photo of two children, exploring the outdoors, which is really a commentary on war.
(And Christianity) A Relevant writer argues that horror films often have Christian values, and that the genre can teach us important truths.

Christianity: (And Politics) Sojourners is not happy with the recent actions of Vice-President Pence, at a football game.

Christianity Today reports on bias against Christians. A quotation: “We have a right as Americans not to be persecuted. ... We don’t have a right not to be ridiculed.”

FiveThirtyEight reports that going to a university is not a major factor in young people's loss of faith.

Benjamin L. Corey doesn't think we should say, "God never gives us more than we can handle," and explains why.


Computing: Wired on how difficult it would be to hack North Korea's computers.

Health: The BBC reminds us that flush toilets have a simple mechanism that keeps almost all of the stink from coming back up to us.

Politics: (or something) FiveThirtyEight says that we don't really know what a "typical" sexual harasser is like.

Science: Scientific American reports on a new kind of telescope for amateurs, that makes what you see in it look like what you see in good stellar photos.

A Scientific American writer says that we use far too much plastic, and suggests some ways to change that.

Scientific American also reports on a dwarf planet (of the sun) which isn't a sphere, has some satellites, and also rings.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 395

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

Humor:  The Onion has named Kim Jong-Un, of North Korea, the sexiest man alive. The Chinese People's Daily took them seriously.

(Not exactly humor . . .) The Huffington Post has a slideshow on signs that celebrity marriages were doomed from the start.

Science:  Wired reports that microbes have been found in a body of water in Antarctica, 65 feet under the ice.

Business Line (!) speculates that planets around other stars may be "more habitable than earth."

From Flickr, a photo of a turtle's face, close-up.

 Image source (public domain)