Sunspots 786

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

Christianity: A Sojourners writer is not happy with Franklin Graham's actions on racial justice. The same writer commends the record of Franklin's father, Billy Graham.

A Christianity Today writer says that the recent LBGT Supreme Court ruling was not a death knell for church and state relations.

Christianity Today also has a good article on simple things you can do to enhance your Bible-reading.

Ken Schenck offers thoughts on the Prodigal Parent, on Father's Day.

Computing: An article that says that the real bias of social media platforms isn't against conservatives, but is for extreme views of all stripes.

ListVerse suggests 10 alternatives to commonly used web applications and web sites. The claim is that these alternatives do a better job of protecting your privacy.
 
Environment: Another report, from Gizmodo/Earther, that honeybees are threatened.


Finance: FiveThirtyEight on how the stock market has stayed pretty healthy, while the economy, by most measures, has been hit pretty hard by the COVID pandemic.

NPR reports that banks, and other businesses, are running low on coins -- like pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters.

Health: Gizmodo tells us that Anthony Fauci downplayed the effect of COVID-19 early on, and says that he actually lied about the effectiveness of masks, so that they would be available for health workers.

Gizmodo also tells us that we should shut the toilet lid before flushing.


Politics: A writer for Sojourners is not impressed by the Trump administration's record on religious freedom.

The fourth of a series of posts by Joel Edmund Anderson, taking an in-depth look at the racial situation in the US.

FiveThirtyEight says that the firing of the head attorney for the Southern District of New York was wrong, for four important reasons.

So far, President Trump's poll numbers show that white evangelicals are not nearly as solidly for him as they have been, according to a Fox News poll, reported by Relevant.

Science: Gizmodo reports that astronomers may have discovered a new category of object, larger than our sun, but not much larger.


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

Thanks for looking!

I'm thankful for the Fabaceae (pea family)

Soybean pods (legumes) against a November sky. Abbeville County, South Carolina.



Purple flower of wild pea plant, Pickens County, South Carolina. (Both photos are links to the originals, in my Flickr photostream.)

The photos above are of just two representatives of the enormous, and enormously important, pea family, also known as legumes, or Fabaceae. Why are they important? Let me count the ways. Rather, let me list just some of the members of this family:

peanuts
soybeans
beans (many kinds)
peas (many kinds)
clover (many kinds)
alfalfa
carob
licorice

Peanuts and soybeans are important crops. According to this source, we exported $16 billion worth of soybeans and soybean products in a recent year. See here for the Wikipedia article section on soybean use. Uses include oil, tofu, edamame, and many other food uses. Peanuts are also noted for having many uses, including, of course, peanut butter. See here for the Wikipedia reference. Beans and peas, of many kinds, are eaten in many ways. Alfalfa and clover are important cattle food. Clover is used as an ornamental, too.

One reason that the members of this family are so important in human diets is that the family is rich in protein. One reason for that is that the plants have nodules on their roots, where Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live, in a mutually beneficial association with the peas, beans, etc. There is some gaseous Nitrogen in the air, and there is air in the soil, usually. The bacteria take some of this Nitrogen, and change it into amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. Glycine is one of the amino acids. Glycine is also the scientific name of soybeans. Since we must have protein for almost every biological function -- it's essential for all of our cells -- having a source of protein is critical for human diets, and members of the pea family are good sources of protein. Vegetarians, and people who can't afford to eat meat, generally eat beans and peas and other members of the pea family as protein sources.

It is probable that Daniel and his friends persuaded the Babylonian officials to let them eat members of the pea family, as part of their diet, rather than the meats the rest of the trainees ate. The Prodigal Son was probably feeding carob pods to the pigs. Carob is used to make a chocolate substitute.

I'm thankful to God for the bounty of the pea family! Thanks for reading.