Sunspots 733

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer discovered that you don't have to frown to defend the Gospel. He has decided to be happier, and is better for it, in many ways.

A Relevant writer asks if God really wants everyone to be happy.

(and politics) A Christianity Today article on politics and the Southern Baptist Convention includes data indicating that the more frequent their church attendance, the less likely self-proclaimed Christians are to support building a wall, the more likely to support a pathway to citizenship, and the less likely to support stricter immigration enforcement. Also white evangelicals are less likely to support President Trump's try for a second term than are Republicans as a whole. 

A Christianity Today article on steps toward racial reconciliation in Charleston, SC, where, about four years ago, a white supremacist shot and killed 9 African-Americans at a Bible study.

(and Computing) A Relevant writer asks Christians not to engage in various kinds of behavior on social media.

Computing: (or something) Gizmodo reports on an investigation that found lots of law enforcement officers are members of on-line hate groups.

Gizmodo also reports that hospitals are being besieged by robocalls, often spoofing numbers from the hospital's own phone network.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the use of the phrase "in the weeds."

Finance: Catherine Rampell wonders how the economy can be a) as strong and stable as it's ever been and b) threatened by a slender 0.25% rise in interest rates. (Both of these according to President Trump.)

Ms. Rampell also points out the failed promises accompanying the recent GOP-driven tax law. The deficit has increased significantly.

Food: Gizmodo reports on commercially released plant-based alternatives to meat.

Humor: (or something) Listverse gives the answers to 10 fairly common questions, starting with "Do bulls hate red?"

Christianity Today recounts 10 distractions of a pastor during the sermon.


Politics: Michael Gerson reports on the desperation of Venezuelans.

Science: National Geographic discusses race and ethnicity.

Gizmodo reports on the construction of the world's strongest magnet.

Gizmodo also reported on the discovery of a new crater on Mars.

Sports: The players at the recent LPGA Meijer Classic golf tournament included J. Y. Ko, S. H. Oh, E. Ji, M. He, L. Ko and B. Do, each with about as short a surname as you can get, and P. Thanapolboonyaras and S. Santiwiwatthanaphong, whose surnames are a lot longer. None of these players won, by the way, although Oh tied for second.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 731

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

Christianity: (and politics) NPR reports that US citizens who leave water in the desert for migrants, or otherwise assist migrants, face arrest and may face prison. This is true, apparently, even if the citizen's religious convictions require him or her to give assistance to those in dire need.

A Relevant writer says that no one ever came to believe in Christ for salvation because a Christian scolded them.

Relevant, I'm sorry to say, reports that the Houston Chronicle has documented sexual abuse by a few Southern Baptist missionaries or members of mission boards. There was a previous report on abuse of this sort by youth pastors. See here for yet more on the Houston Chronicle investigation.
Michael Gerson is not happy with Franklin Graham's call to pray for the President. (Gerson, himself, does pray for Mr. Trump on a regular basis, he says.)


Computing: A reliable source recommends a YouTube series entitled "A Crash Course in Navigating Digital Information."

Environment: (and politics) It's hurricane season. Building codes in the Florida panhandle still allow homes that won't withstand a hurricane, according to NPR. Habitat for Humanity, however builds houses that can (and, in some cases, have) withstood a major hurricane.


Finance: Catherine Rampell thinks that the economic expansion is about to end.

Health: (and finance) A woman was charged over $4000 for laughing gas (Nitrous Oxide) that she took to deal with pain during childbirth. This comes close to the cost of a Nitrous Oxide machine and the raw material for producing it, according to NPR.

Gizmodo reports that people who are caffeine or nicotine addicts do a lot worse in the ICU than people who are not so addicted. They go through withdrawal, in addition to whatever else put them in the ICU.

History: (And politics) Catherine Rampell on why we need government.

Politics: NPR reports that, although they seldom agree on policy matters, Ted Cruz And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have, together, taken the first steps toward legislation that will prohibit former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists. Good for them! The article says that the reverse is also true -- nearly 200 political appointees in the Trump administration formerly worked as lobbyists. Not exactly "draining the swamp." Trump's administration isn't the first where this sort of thing has happened.

FiveThirtyEight reports that Bernie Sanders is the most popular Democratic candidate for President among Democrats not affiliated with any religion.

Science: The Scientist reports on a study showing that the browsing of deer, which removes leaves, changes the way the sounds used by other animals, in communication, are perceived.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 654

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

The Arts: Listverse on 10 really unique church buildings.


Computing: Relevant gives us 5 questions we should ask ourselves before posting to social media.

Education: Grammarphobia on when to use commas with lists of things, and when not to.

Finance: (sort of) Wired on the importance of efficient use of curb space, in and by cities.

Food: (sort of) National Public Radio reports that today's dishwashing appliances are much more efficient, in water use, than such devices used to be.

Health: Scientific American on the dangers of marijuana use by teens.

Humor: (or Finance) Listverse reports on some truly strange lawsuits.


Politics: National Public Radio reports on a poll of 38 economists, who agree unanimously that the Republican tax plan will cause the US debt to rise, and that it will not lead to increased economic growth.

Science: National Public Radio reports on studies that pinpoint which ice areas, melting, will affect which cities, causing sea levels to rise. The results are not what we might have thought.

Listverse shows us videos of 10 shape-shifting organisms.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 577

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today columnist who is not a Trump supporter cautions against looking down on evangelicals who do support him.

Benjamin L. Corey on the question of whether Jesus was a pacifist, or not.

Relevant has an essay on "How to Pray When You Don't Feel Like it."

E. Stephen Burnett argues that Christians need fantastic literature that appeals specially to them. Maybe so. I confess that I'm not a huge fan of most such literature. (I am a fan of good fantastic literature, whoever writes it.)

Weekend Fisher argues that rational thought is a natural process -- it isn't miraculous. (Which, of course, does not deny that God made it possible.)

Computing: Wired on Facebook's new privacy settings.

Education: Listverse tells us 10 facts about the English language that you may not have known.


History: (and economics, and Christianity) Ken Schenck on what the Bible says about economic structures in society.

Politics: (or economics) Wired reports on a book about the economics of Star Trek, which has what is apparently a fictional money-free society.

Science: Listverse has a post on 10 strange anatomical facts about animals. Among other things, the post discusses the tongues of frogs and the location of a tick's eyes.


Image source (public domain)  

Sunspots 458

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

Computing: You aren't the only Gmail user to have complaints about the way the service handles Contacts, according to Wired.

Gizmo's Freeware has found a free .PDF to Word file converter.

Politics (and economics): Three reports from National Public Radio:
It really does pay to go to college, in spite of high tuition and fees.

On how much waitresses (and waiters) who get tips get paid, or should get paid. It's complicated.

On the costs of alleviating global climate change.

Science: Wired tells us that crocodiles and alligators can climb trees rather well.

Wired also shows us a beautiful photo of a nearby galaxy.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 288

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

Science: NPR reports that becoming obese may actually change the instructions passed on to your offspring, so that they, too, are more likely to be obese.

NPR also reports on the difference between how cats drink, and how dogs drink (with slow motion videos).

Politics: Ken Schenck has written an analysis of the morality of various economic systems. Surprise! None of them is perfect. 

Computing: Wired says that Facebook has Google running scared. This article also lets you see some aspects of your Google account -- you probably have one -- that you didn't know about.

Image source (public domain)