Sunspots 765

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

Christianity: (and Sports) A "prophet" has apparently claimed that, if the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl, it will be an important sign of Christ's return, or something, according to Relevant.

Relevant also has an article on the difference between praise and worship.


(or something) Relevant also reports that President Trump's spiritual advisor prayed that "satanic pregnancies" would miscarry. What?!


Computing: NPR tells us how to avoid having a smartphone hacked.

Gizmo's Freeware tells how to add a webpage address to a smartphone's home screen.


Environment: The Trump administration has taken steps to drastically change water protection regulations, making it easier for some polluters to pollute, according to Gizmodo.
Politics: The New York Times has an article discussing the different challenges facing the two main parties. Basic conclusion: Democrats have to stay close to the center if they want to win. I thank one of my sons-in-law for a link to the article.

Science: Listverse tells us 10 things our body has or does, that you probably didn't know about. Sample: we give off light.


Sports: Maya Moore, one of the best WNBA players ever, has put her career on hold to work for the release of a man she believes was imprisoned unjustly.

FiveThirtyEight says that there will probably never be another Kobe Bryant -- he took shot s that aren't taken now.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 730

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

Christianity: Relevant reports that a church has a standing offer to pay (at about $8000) for weddings of couples, in the church, who are living together without being married. About 60 couples have done this.

A pastor of a white congregation explains why ministering to African-Americans and whites at the same time is hard.

Computing: Gizmodo discusses some reasons for checking our smart phones a lot.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us that the meanings of  "emerge" and "emergency" are related.

Health: If you're a woman, you probably won't be surprised. NPR reports on a study indicating that women do better at clerical tasks when the room temperature is not so cold.

Humor: (or something) A Gizmodo article explains how some magic tricks are done.

(or something) Relevant reports that the Ark Encounter is suing because of rain damage.


Politics: Catherine Rampell on how the Trump Administration has tinkered with government statistics in various ways.

NPR reports that a lot of so-called American soil is actually owned by foreign entities.

FiveThirtyEight discusses the laws that state governments are seeking to have adopted, in states where the legislature and the governor are both from the same party.

Michael Gerson is not happy with the Trump Administration's decision to slow down the replacement of Andrew Jackson's picture, on $20 bills, by that of Harriet Tubman, and says that Tubman, even after death, makes her enemies look foolish.

Science: There's a lot of water on Mars, according to Gizmodo.

A Christianity Today writer discusses the question of whether non-human animals appreciate beauty.

Gizmodo discusses attempts to control monkey populations in India, where the animals have been responsible for several human deaths.

Listverse describes 10 organisms that don't seem to have any limits on their lifespan.

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

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 683

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today editorial on immigration.

Christianity Today also reports that multi-ethnic Protestant congregations are becoming more common, especially among evangelicals.


Computing: Gizmodo discusses the frequent failure of governments web sites, and the causes.

Health: (or something) FiveThirtyEight points out that using a phone hands-free while driving can also be dangerous. And so can the car's complicated controls.

Earther reports that, until now, most plastic waste that's recycled goes to China for such treatment. However, the Chinese are clamping down on importing plastic.

National Public Radio reports that an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that, US county by county, there is a strong correlation between opioid over use and voting for President Trump in 2016. This does not prove cause. Both phenomena may have been caused by something else, such as the local economy.

An article on the use of superlatives in reports of cancer research. Claiming too much happens a lot.

Politics: Sojourners discusses an analysis of word use in Vice-President Mike Pence's recent speech to the Southern Baptist Convention. He used "President" 61 times, "Trump" 12 times, but "God" 9 times and "Christ" twice. Some Southern Baptists, including leaders, were not happy with his speech.

The Washington Post tells us where President Trump got his figure of 63,000 people killed by illegal immigrants. Someone basically made it up.

Science: ListVerse tells us 10 interesting things about salt.

Gizmodo reports on the real cause of the "drip, drip, drip" sound made by a leaky faucet, and on how to stop that sound quickly and easily.

National Public Radio discusses the advantages of increasing the beaver population of the Western US.

Sports: The Associated Press says that pitchers are throwing fewer fast balls, and why.
Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 504

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

Christianity: Relevant tells us the real reasons why we don't invite others to church.
Relevant also has a fine article on the so-called Culture Wars. Christians shouldn't be fighting them.
Computing: Relevant says that we can now play MS-DOS games, such as Oregon Trail. I was able to get that game visible on our system, but couldn't get it to play, probably because we don't have a game controller.
National Public Radio says that Americans aren't getting the best smartphones, at the best prices.
Wired tells us why we don't usually like photos of ourselves very much.
Sports: A fantastic buzzer-beating basketball shot -- so fantastic that the shooter didn't think it had a chance. Brief video. The buzzer was the shot clock, not the game or half-time clock.

 Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 300

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

Science: The DNA of the water flea, Daphnia, has been sequenced, according to a report on NPR.

That marcescence is the term applied to deciduous trees that do not shed their leaves in the fall, such as the beech.

Politics: Wired discusses attempts to count large gatherings, like those in Cairo. They say that Tahrir Square will only hold about 225,000 people.

(or something) A newly discovered Brazilian tribe has probably had no contact with "civilized" people, ever. Wired shows photos, taken from the air. There are perhaps 100 such tribes around the world.

Computing:  Gizmo's Freeware reports on Prey, a free program, running on Windows, Mac, and Android, that allows you to order a missing smart phone to send you a map of where it is, and/or take photos showing its surroundings.

Image source (public domain)