Sunspots 897

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

The Arts: NPR has posted photos of lots of fireflies in action.

Politics: A Conversation writer discusses access to White House documents.

Another Conversation writer tells about partisan news consumption. (In other words, getting news from one side of the political divide.)

Yet another Conversation post discusses political activity by members of the military.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a newly discovered species of isopods (aka pill bugs, wood lice, roly polys, and more) can grow up to a half meter or so in length.

The Scientist reports on why doing work that requires thinking makes you feel tired.

The Scientist also has an article about dreaming in animals, and its possible ethical implications.

A Conversation article tells us why animals have tails.

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

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 724

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

The Arts: (And Christianity) Reviews of Mary Magdalene in Relevant, and Plugged In.

Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach on his cello, near the border, in Texas.
Christianity: Relevant has a good article on things newlyweds should know, but probably didn't learn about in church (if at all).


Computing: Google doesn't index everything. Here are some suggestions on how to find things that Google can't.

Christianity Today reports on a statement by evangelical leaders (mostly Southern Baptists) about the implications of artificial intelligence.

Finance: (and politics) Catherine Rampell on why confirming Herman Cain and/or Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve Board would be a disaster. (I don't believe that either of them have been officially nominated yet, but the President is making noises about doing so.)

Rampell also tells us about what she says is a sensible tax plan, which would help working families, but should have Republican support.

Philosophy: (and Christianity, and History) Joel Edmund Anderson on the question of the source of morality.


Politics: (and health) A USA Today opinion writer, a psychologist, with experience in dealing with dementia, believes that President Trump has dementia.

Michael Gerson warns about the dangers of the partisanship which is so prevalent in our society.

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

Thanks for looking!

Patriotism/partisanship: not always a good idea

The Free Dictionary's definition of patriotism says, succinctly: "a devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country. . ." The Wikipedia article on the subject is here. A partisan is defined thus: "A fervent, sometimes militant supporter or proponent of a party, cause, faction, person, or idea." There is a Wikipedia article on Partisan.

Patriotism, or partisanship, can sometimes be a good thing, I guess, as, for example, when the Jews, or slaves in the US, helped each other against oppression and injustice. But, clearly, such devotion to country, ethnic group, tribe, political party and the like, can go way too far, and often has, leading to various kinds of evil, including war. Some church congregations or denominations will not display a US flag, perhaps because of the evils perpetrated in the name of various forms of partisanship or patriotism.

There is a terrible example of this in the book of Judges. Chapters 19-20 tell the story of how the men of one town in the tribe of Benjamin performed a horrible crime, or several such. The residents of Gibeah were not hospitable to a man passing through, then, later, wanted to sexually assault him, and, finally, sexually assaulted his concubine, so terribly that she died. When the rest of the Israelites demanded that the criminals be turned over for punishment, the entire tribe of Benjamin refused, even though the majority of them had no part in the crime, and, after the Benjamites killed many from the other tribes, the men of the tribe were almost completely wiped out.

Some actions should not be supported or defended, even if carried out by my country, my political party, my extended family, my socio-economic group.

Is it easy to go against your own group? No, of course not. But sometimes it is necessary.