Daniel Matarazzo (1:53)
Oops, updated link
Two-Thirds Of Religious Americans Believe Coronavirus Is A Message From God
More than half of those surveyed said they felt God would protect them from infection.
By Carlie Porterfield @ Forbes
A New Clinical Study Is Underway To Determine If You Can Pray Coronavirus Away
Other past studies have revealed “no scientifically discernible effects” for intercessory prayer for healing.
By Marla Milling @ Forbes
The Supreme Court seems likely to give religious employers a broad ability to discriminate
It suggests that religious conservatives are likely to prevail in other cases asking the Court to weigh whether civil rights laws apply to people who object to those laws on religious grounds.
By Ian Millhiser @ Vox
World Naked Bike Ride is cancelled
Stationary bikes at home are now encouraged.
By Andrew Jankowski @ Willamette Week
Caravaggio
Curator Letizia Treves curates (30:51)
Poe
The Raven spoken by Christopher Lee (12:03)
Censorship warped how DC and Marvel dealt with Heaven, Hell, and Jesus
In 1954, the Comics Code Authority was created to monitor comics before they were delivered to the public.
By Alan Kistler @ Polygon
Making friends out of foes
Ontario Premier Doug Ford
By Sarah Miller Llana @ The Christian Science Monitor
The System
Homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich
The Isleys Live
Confederate flags and swastikas
“Operation Gridlock” — a large-scale demonstration organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative group linked to the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
By Quint Forgey @ Politico
Lawsuit accuses Liberty University of ‘profiting’ from the coronavirus pandemic
The class-action lawsuit was filed Monday by “Student A,” who, according to her lawyers, chose to remain anonymous “out of fear of retaliation and harassment.”
By Konstantin Toropin and Daniel Burke @ CNN
Monasticism
Paul Freedman is the Chester D. Tripp Professor of History at Yale University. (45:49)
Alone on the trail
Thirty three minutes of near total isolation.
Is that so?
The other cheek
“I don’t think God wants Christians to just sit back and not protect what they believe in and protect the people they have a fiduciary responsibility to protect.” Liberty University President Jerry Falwell,
By Kate Riga @ Talking Points Memo
A World Unseen
I was hypnotized by the scenery in the film The Revenant. Upon investigation, I found this documentary about the making of the film. A short synopsis here.
Covid-19 is ravaging the music world
A dispiriting couple of weeks in the lives of music fans have now climaxed with the death of Bill Withers, whose lean, leathery-tough vocals on such pop classics as “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Use Me,” “Just the Two of Us” and “Lean on Me” were deeply woven into the soundtracks of several generations’ lives.
Opinion by Gene Seymour @ CNN
Commercial Smart Devices
One day as I was fast-forwarding through the commercials of a show I recorded, I noticed an inordinate number of scenes, however brief, of smartphones whizzing by in the ads. Practically every commercial displayed a smartphone or computer of some type, regardless of the product being advertised. The innumerable number of smart devices are less obvious when watching the commercials at normal speed, but the rapid succession of images brought them to light. My subsequent inspection of commercials have revealed a bit less than my initial discovery, but it’s still striking.
On the other hand, there are movie.
Frank gets political
During the 1980s, Frank Schaeffer could make more money off of a single book table after giving a seminar to 15,000 people than he now makes in a year, he claims.
By Micah Danney @ Religion Unplugged
Treasure Hunt
From the Library of Congress to the Smithsonian Institution, national research resources abound for the curious writer. Here’s how to use them.
By Jennifer L. Blanck @ The Writer
How Bernie Sanders Answers A Question
via Nerwriter1
Pretty images
Jimmy Cliff
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns…
The rufous hornero.
“Ukraine, Disinformation, & the Trump Administration” by Fox News
A Fox News internal document is critical of pro-Trump Fox regulars for spreading ‘disinformation.’
By Will Sommer, Maxwell Tani, Andrew Kirell @ The Daily Beast
Oslo had no pedestrian or cyclist deaths in 2019
European cities generally are considered more advanced than U.S. cities on reducing personal vehicle use as a means to improve urban safety and address climate change concerns.
By Katie Pyzyk @ Smart Cities Dive
Bach’s G major prelude
Deconstructed by Alisa Weilerstein @ Vox
a rare intempestivity 