Sunspots 766

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

Christianity: The prayer of Senate chaplain Barry Black, at an invocation during the recent Senate impeachment meetings.

Environment: The Trump administration plans to weaken protections for migratory birds.


Health: The Centers for Disease Control has published statistics on the leading causes of death.

Politics: A Fox News host, who says he's a big fan of Mike Pompeo, criticized the Secretary of State for his behavior, in an interview with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. "Don't be such a baby" said the Fox host. An NPR reporter has been banned from taking a trip with Pompeo. There's a post from NPR, indicating what that organization felt about this, and how President Trump reacted.

Christianity Today discusses the Trump peace plan for Israel, and gives reactions of Christian Arab leaders.

Relevant reports that Jerry Falwell, and the governor of West Virginia, have urged some Virginia counties to secede from that state, and join West Virginia. Really.

A web page showing what city, in each state, has declined the most on population, recently, with explanations in some cases.

Science: Gizmodo reports that scientists have implanted manmade devices into jellyfish, and thereby sped up their swimming speed.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 750

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

The Arts: The History Blog reports that a painting by Agnolo Bronzini is being shown publicly for the first time in about five centuries.

Christianity: Christians can disagree, but they should observe these principles.

Todd Wood reflects on the forbidden fruit.

A Relevant writer tells us why Christians should care for the environment, even though the present earth may be drastically changed.


Education: Grammarphobia discusses the matter of being hoist by one's own petard.

Finance: Catherine Rampell points out that the deficit is getting much larger.

Politics: Relevant reports that a recent Fox news poll indicates that white evangelicals support for impeachment of President Trump is growing.

Relevant also reports that a female Kurdish official, who supported Kurdish Christians, has been executed by forces allied with the Turks.

FiveThirtyEight analyzes loss of Republican support for President Richard Nixon.

NPR has posted a timeline of events, some of which you probably didn't know about, related to Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani, and other matters related to the impeachment inquiry.

Joe Biden, and his son, or others, may or may not have been involved in corruption of some sort. But President Trump's record on corruption isn't exactly a great one, say reports by NPR, here and here.

FiveThirtyEight on where to find anti-Trump Republicans.


Science: Science News and other outlets tell us about the discovery of lots of new, small moons orbiting Saturn.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.
Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 749

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today article suggests ways of dealing with temptation to sexual sin.

Computing: (And Politics) A web page that lists the best fact-checking sites.

Education: Grammarphobia on why we say "zig-zag," not "zag-zig."

Environment: CBS News, and other outlets, report that Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is being severely harmed by border fence construction.
 
Finance: (and politics) Catherine Rampell says that the economy probably won't be enough to keep President Trump from being impeached.

Catherine Rampell also points out that  President Trump has brought back the much-criticized individual mandate.

Food: (and politics) NPR reports that most Himalayan pink salt is actually from Pakistan.

Politics: Catherine Rampell describes another whistleblower matter -- about the President's tax returns.

FiveThirtyEight examines the question of whether Democratic Presidential hopefuls Sanders, Warren or Harris are likely to move toward the center if they become the Democratic nominee.

FiveThirtyEight also reviews evidence that most of us (of whatever political persuasion) see things through serious bias.

Michael Gerson believes that President Trump is being driven by a bizarre conspiracy theory.

Science: The Scientist tells us that macaques are not able to hear patterns and frequency ratios in music.

Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that human fetuses have limb muscles that disappear during embryonic development. These muscles are like those found in reptiles.

Gizmodo also reports on evidence that a large object struck the earth about 12,800 years ago.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.
 
Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 627

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

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey argues that a Christian pacifist, and/or a Christian who refuses to use a gun on others, is not, therefore, a coward.

FiveThirtyEight reports on a study that says that as much as 25% of the US population may be atheists, although most of them don't identify themselves as such.

Christianity Today analyzes the influence of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr on James Comey, the recently fired head of the FBI, and on other prominent public figures.


Computing: Pro Publica reports that some Trump properties, including Mar-a-Lago, used by the President and other important figures, have networks that could easily be hacked. Wired has more on this.

Open Broadcaster Software is a free tool for recording and live streaming video.

The Conversation argues that banning laptops on airplanes would do little to increase security.

Listverse discusses the origin of 10 fonts currently in use.

Politics: Scientific American reports that the Republican governors of Vermont and Massachusetts are seriously concerned about the current and future effects of global warming, and are urging the Trump administration to continue trying to slow it down.

FiveThirtyEight gives a thorough analysis of the likelihood of President Trump being removed from office by the Congress.

Science: The History Blog reports on a fossil Nodosaur.

Scientific American reports that plants may be able to hear.

Scientific American also reports on an apple-picking robot. (With video)


Image source (public domain)