What we should/should not be thinking of

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (World English Bible)

That passage indicates that we should think about, and consider, the good in God's world, and the good that other people do. And it also indicates that we should avoid thinking of thangs that aren't good, in the society we live in.

That's hard. I'm something of a news junkie. CBS has been featuring Steve Hartman, reporting on the good in people, every week, for years. The network also reports on the good, nearly every evening. NBC has done the same thing, weekly, even explicitly reminding us that they are telling us about the good that people do.  I don't watch ABC or Fox evening news. Perhaps they, too, are highlighting good things. I hope so. Local TV news seems to be a morass of shootings, politicians lying, and people being horribly mistreated. There's an old saying, I think about newspapers (whatever they were!) "If it bleeds, it leads." There is plenty of bleeding in the world, but we emphasize it way too much.

Thanks for reading. I hope this post has done you some good. 

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Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Computing: Gizmodo reports that workers who work accompanied by robots tend to slack off more than workers who work with humans.

Ethics: A Conversation writer has studied lies and lying: how often, in what circumstances.

Health: A Conversation writer tells us that chicken soup really does us some good.

Gizmodo reports on a woman who had a spider living in her ear. Really.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports on an analysis that shows that children of married parents are better off than children of single mothers.

(or something) A Conversation writer discusses traffic roundabouts.

Science: Nature reports on the question of whether there is life on earth. Really.

Sex: A Conversation writer points out that neither humans nor animals are entirely male or entirely female, and discusses other aspects of sex and reproduction.

(and the Arts) NPR reports on a study indicating that young people think there is too much sex in movies and TV.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

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Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity: Russell Moore, the editor of Christianity Today, is angry about the attack on Paul Pelosi, and about the lies that supported that attack (and still are).

     (sort of) A Christianity Today author reviews the scandals associated with Jerry Falwall, Jr., and Liberty University.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that composting plastics doesn't really work.

Finances: A Conversation writer on insurance fraud, which is described as all too common, and as a low risk crime.

Science: NPR reports on research showing that a lot of animals, not just birds, make noises.

Gizmodo reports on the tallest volcanic plume ever measured.

NPR reports on research that indicates that bumblebees play with objects in their surroundings.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

 

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Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Computing: Gizmodo tells us that an 8K TV may not show a picture any better than a 4K one.

Environment: Listverse discusses wildlife bridges, which are supposed to make it much less dangerous for animals to move around in populated areas.

Health: (and Politics) Gizmodo describes the worst COVID lies on Fox News, 2021.

Science: Gene editing has worked, on a case of sickle-cell anemia, according to NPR.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of parasite eggs in a toilet used about 2700 years ago.

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

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

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

Christianity: Christianity Today reports that a lot of Christians believe in the Prosperity Gospel.

Christianity Today also tells us four lies that keep people from attending church.

Relevant tells us why we should question our views on important subjects.

Relevant also reports on the most common searches on Bible Gateway, over the last 25 years.

Health: Scientific American reports that women are more likely to die from a heart attack if the emergency physician is a male.

Politics: Gizmodo is pleased with President Trump's nomination (finally) of a science adviser, but fears that there are too many voices in the Administration that don't pay attention to scientific findings.

Science: A CBS 60 Minutes discussion of a story "Are Zookeepers Playing God?" Note -- this links to three videos, which are each a few minutes long. I thank one of my daughters for pointing to this material.

Gizmodo says that July, 2018, will be the hottest month ever recorded in one place, in Death Valley.

A Scientific American writer says that stories about time travel never talk about a fundamental hindrance to such travel.

Sports: (and Politics) A USA Today columnist compares the contributions to education of LeBron James and President Donald Trump, after Trump recently attacked James. James had attacked Trump, but, as the columnist points out, so have two prominent white NBA coaches, and the President hasn't hit back at them.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

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

The Arts: On The Writer's Almanac, Garrison Keillor reads a fine short poem, and discusses the beginning of National Parks in the U. S., and other things.

Christianity: Andy Crouch discusses the Creation in a thought-provoking and stimulating post from BioLogos.


Computing: Wired considers the possibility of having a simpler smartphone.

A Wired writer asked a cybersecurity company to send him phishing e-mails. He almost got caught.

Ethics: Wired has an essay on the ethics of the lies told by President Trump, and other people. The article references what some church fathers had to say on the subject of lying.

Food: National Public Radio reports that India is having political, religious, and economic disagreements over the use of cows as meat.

Humor: Relevant warns us of serious theological problems with fidget spinners.

(or something) Wired shows us a photo of an amazing "bicycle graveyard" in China.
 

Politics: Relevant on the danger of Christians entertaining conspiracy theories.

Image source (public domain)

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

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer tells us why Down Syndrome children are valuable.

Fox News reports that some Muslim refugees are converting to Christianity, in Europe.

(and health) From a blog: "What I'll say to my Children if I'm Diagnosed with Alzheimer's." (Thanks to a regular reader for the link.)


Ethics: A Sojourners article says that President Trump's lies are putting us on the brink of a moral crisis. The article notes other lies from other Presidents, but claims that Mr. Trump's lies are bolder, more frequent, and, apparently, deliberate.

History: The History Blog reports on a toilet seat that was made nearly 2,000 years ago.

Listverse tells us 10 interesting things about trains. (Some of these are about Japanese trains.)

Humor: (sort of) Listverse tells us 10 stupid things that the CIA did years ago.


Politics: FiveThirtyEight and other sources, including Scientific American, indicate that President Trump's recent roll-back of environmental regulations affecting coal won't have much effect -- the coal industry, and coal miners, aren't going to be helped significantly.

Image source (public domain)