214 Lent 3: Nostalgia Gets It Backwards
“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether; More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.“ ~ Psalm 19
Nostalgia Gets It Backwards
"What? Do you just want to wake up every morning the rest of your life, sip your coffee and look over the headlines?" - Dr. Adam Koontz, rhetorically, on A Brief History of Power, some time ago, on an episode somewhere. Me, a small epoch later: "In fact, yes. And then, I'm want to get to work doing something about it until Jesus gets back." This coming week (3/7) Dr. Koontz and I will dive deeper in our dissection of the Seven Deadly Sins as a non-biblical "vice" list, while wandering past the death of Jacob Rothschild, the insanity of Gemini AI, and a US Senator's hearing on bioweapons. Find us on Spotify.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
The Mad Christian
Lent
The steady work of Pastor Franson and his merry band of paladins has resulted in this year’s MadPX Lenten Devotional. This is a wonderful, free resource to accompany your observance of the season:
The Blitz
Religion and the Church
An excellent reminder: Dr. Koontz on persevering in hope during times of trouble. (Issues Etc)
Births, Deaths and Marriages
A new study out of Finland concludes that gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults does not lead to higher rates of suicide, casting doubt on the popular notion that youth experiencing such confusion should be “transitioned” as quickly as possible. The study’s data raises many questions, however, about the effectiveness of “treatment” for GD and the difficulties of accounting for the role that existing mental illness plays in those seeking relief from dysphoria. One doctor quoted asks, “If gender-affirming medicines could not provide sufficient relief to the adolescents so treated and reduce their suicidality, should such patients have received hormones at all?” (Reality’s Last Stand, Mercator)
Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee has signed into law a bill which means officials “shall not be required to solemnize a marriage.” (NBC)
How to counsel abortion-minded mothers. (The Federalist)
The woman taking on PornHub. (Mercator)
How we all came to be feminists. (First Things)
Health, Medicine and Food
Young Americans are dying of accidental fentanyl overdoses. Teens and youth dealing with anxiety or stress, wishing to focus on school work are taking what they think are prescription drugs but are actually counterfeit. Young folks order Xanax, Percocet or Adderall online, or are given it by a friend, not realizing it to be laced with fentanyl. Drug makers have taken to mixing fentanyl into their dreadful wares as it is cheap to make and can be easily smuggled because it is so potent in small quantities. It is also addictive, so lacing recognizable drugs and medications with fentanyl can produce repeat customers (if they come back, that is). As with all drugs produced illicitly, consistency is not guaranteed. “Fentanyl is made so sloppily by Mexican cartels that one part of a single pill can contain a high dose of the fatal drug, while the other carries no risk.” Parents who lost their 22 year-old son to a fake pill are keen to spread the word and help young people: “Acknowledge and honor their stress and anxiety. Tell them they are not alone with these problems. Coach them that relieving stress by self–medicating is no longer an option. As we say, ‘You can’t solve real problems with fake pills.’” (The Free Press, ABC News, NCBI)
Research out of Harvard suggests that we can catch good bacteria from others during social interactions, not just pathogens. (The Week)
The FDA wants to design a new label to identify healthy food. (CBS)
Presidency
A Illinois judge has ordered that Former President Donald Trump be removed from the state's primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment. (Just the News)
The Super Political Action Committee supporting Robert F Kennedy Jr’s presidential run says he has enough signatures to appear on ballots in Hawaii, New Hampshire, Arizona and Georgia. He has already secured a place on Utah’s ballot and the PAC say they will continue to seek enough signatures for ten other states. While his bid for the White House is a long shot, “his appearance on the ballot in pivotal swing states could reshuffle the electoral dynamics in a potential rematch between Biden and Trump.” (CNN)
White [House] Privilege
![White [House] Privilege](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_280,h_280,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6df2c79b-5a2a-40ef-a7f4-b35f117643f8.heic)
Politics
Investigative journalist Steve Baker was frog-marched in chains to a courthouse in Dallas on Friday to hear charges against him stemming from his reporting about the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021. Baker says he was aware that charges would come someday after “receiving threats” from the FBI and the DOJ last year. (NewsWeek, Daily Caller)
Vice President Kamala Harris announced a plan to pay students to help register people to vote. Critics pointed out the ethical conflict of using federal funds in a way that could influence elections. The Biden administration says it is committed to fighting “voter suppression.” (Ground News)
The story around the infamous J6 pipe bombs just continues to get murkier. House Republicans have released 5,000 more hours of footage from January 6th and hope it will solve some of the mystery. (The Federalist, The Blaze)
Hunter Biden had some curly explanations for his interactions with Chinese and Ukrainian companies during a Congressional deposition hearing. (The Federalist)
Crime
Court documents from the 2006 trial of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein will be released later this year, in compliance with a new Florida law. The publishing of the documents may reveal why Epstein received such a lenient sentence at the time and potentially publish more names of his associates. (WNG, New York Post)
Breitbart has reported that the Biden administration “planted an operative” in Georgia RICO/election interference of Donald Trump and several associates. The right-wing publication says such actions could be seen as interference in this year’s election. The case has featured quite the cast of characters.. (Breitbart, Declassified with Julie Kelly)
The Digital Age
A huge case impacting the future of the internet is at the Supreme Court: Laws in Texas and Florida have triggered a challenge from trade groups representing social media companies. The Justices heard arguments last week over the two state’s desire to set rules about how platforms moderate content, especially when it comes to censoring conservative speech. It’s an old question: “Are social platforms akin to newspapers, which have First Amendment protections that give them editorial control over content—or are they common carriers, like phone providers or telegraph companies, that are required to transmit protected speech without interference?” (ScotusBlog, Wired)
The White House is seeking to prevent the Chinese government from spying on America and Americans via the cars it makes. China’s BYD recently overtook Tesla as the biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles. (WNG, SCMP)
X (yes, formerly Twitter) has quietly updated its policies regarding “preferred pronouns”, stating that it “will reduce the visibility of posts that purposefully use different pronouns to address someone other than what that person uses for themselves.” Users discovered the change and called it out, but owner Elon Musk said its is specifically designed to stop “targeted harassment”, which left many confused. (Reclaim the Net, Red State)
Scammers in Scotland have used AI-generated images to falsely advertise a Willy Wonka experience. People who turned out were pretty ticked at the lackluster warehouse with a handful of decorations. (Vox)
Lenovo unveils its transparent laptop concept. (DeZeen)
Apple has reportedly abandoned its project to develop an electric car, after 10 years and a rumored $10BN. (Tech Crunch)
Money, Markets and Jobs
West Virginia is playing hardball when it comes to ESG – which is sort of the corporate world’s version of critical theory. The State Treasurer Riley Moore has warned several large banks they will be banned from doing business in the state if they support anti-fossil fuel initiatives. “We want banks to act like banks and continue in our fight here to liberate the free market,” Treasurer Moore said. (Washington Times)
A federal judge has agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, saying that Congressional Democrats did not follow constitutional rules when they passed last year’s $1.7TR omnibus bill. (Just the News, The Federalist)
“Office building anxiety has swept the financial world.” Preference for work-from-home conditions and higher borrowing costs have triggered concerns of more “firesales” after a Canadian pension fund sold its stake in Manhattan office block for $1. (ZeroHedge)
An expert panel reviewing Boeing's safety management has found that communication between management and employees was “disconnected”. (Yahoo)
Macy’s has announced it will close 150 stores nationwide. (NBC)
Kellogg’s CEO has been lambasted for suggesting that families could eat cereal for dinner to save a bit of money. (Hot Air, Yahoo)
Hearts and Minds
People probably like you more than you think. (HBR)
Why time seems to pass faster as we age: a theory. (Inverted Passion)
Saying ‘no’ doens’t have to be scary. (The Conversation)
Why you rarely see a clock in a shopping mall (or casino): Researchers "found that after 23 minutes supermarket shoppers began using the emotional part of their brain rather than the cognitive part.” (The Hustle)
From the Mad☧Tank
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This week:
Recent stuff from our archive:
Arts, History and Sport
We heard last week that Larry McMurtry’s library has been moved to Chip and Joanna Gaines’ revamped hotel in Waco. McMurtry was an avid book collector and the Gaines’ thought his library would bring warmth and character to the foyer of their hotel project. A interesting piece by writer Colin Ainsworth highlights the nature of book collecting and book collectors, the beauty of a physical library against its utility and what will be picked up by posterity. (Paris Review) .
Writers in the 1970s clearly had overpopulation on their minds. (Reactor)
The Dark Knight’s most famous line was almost cut from the film. (Den of geek)
Live music stimulates the brain more than recorded music. (University of Zurich)
The Wild West of the NBA’s jump ball. (The Ringer)
Last week in history:
1993: A fifty-one day siege waged by federal agents against Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas begins. (Tom Elliott)
Science
Researchers find that striped marlin change the color of their stripes to avoid colliding with one another during high-speed hunting. Cool! (IGB)
All of US history has taken less than one Plutionion year. (Kottke)
How sound engineers created the original Godzilla’s roar. (Far Out)
Coming to America
Illegal immigration is now a top concerns for voters. (Gallup)
New York mayor, Eric Adams is contemplating tightening his sanctuary city’s rules, concluding that illegal migrants who commit violent crime should be deported. That’s a novel idea.. (WNG, Fox)
Selling Sanctuary
Education
The University of Florida is “firing all employees in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) positions and administrative appointments” to comply with a new law signed by Governor Ron De Santis. (Fox)
Social And Emotional learning (SEL) is the delivery mechanism for Critical Theory in schools. (Courage is a Habit)
Students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine will finish their studies free of charge after a former professor donated $1BN to the New York medical school. (ABC News)
Could empty malls be used to house charter schools? (The Hustle)
God’s Green Earth
Texas’ Smokehouse Creek fire is now the largest in American history, after swallowing up a smaller blaze. Footage and photos of inferno followed by snow are hard to take in. (Daily Mail)
“Recycling Doesn’t Work—and the Plastics Industry Knew It.” (The New Republic)
Florence’s new airport’s roof will be covered with a vineyard. Bold reds with notes of AvGas?? (Fast Company)
As Italy depopulates, is it ready for the return of wilderness? (New Atlantis)
War
A young US airman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in an “extreme act of protest” in support of Palestine has died of his injuries. Reports say the man was mentally unwell, having been raised in a Christian cult. He had also been part of anarchist groups online and was seemingly inspired by a similar incident outside Atlanta’s Israeli embassy recently. NPR pointed out that self-immolation has been the last act of desperate people for some time, but it is a sad commentary on the power of political discourse in our country when people applaud a man for taking his own life for a fight which is not his. Over at American Mind, Kate Sedgwick blamed the insidiousness of woke politics: Aaron Bushnell “embraced his unworthiness as a white man and expressed it in a futile gesture of sacrifice.” Lord have mercy, and help us spread the hope we have in Jesus Christ to those who have none! (ZeroHedge, NPR, The Federalist, American Mind)
Israel’s military and Hamas spokesmen are offering conflicting accounts of a mass casualty event in Gaza last week, with over 100 dead and hundreds more injured, according to reports. The IDF say Palestinians rushed aid trucks and were crushed in the stampede. Hamas authorities say that Israeli soldiers shot into the crowd and ran people over with the aid vehicles. The US government has said it will investigate the tragedy. Media outlets say Gaza is on the brink of starvation with blame being largely placed on Israel for not allowing aid to get through. However, Hamas has no shortage of money or supplies so we know there is likely lots of lying on every side (ZeroHedge, NBC)
France’s President Macron says NATO members should not rule out the possibility of sending troops to fight for Ukraine. Russia’s President Putin then reminded the world that he has nukes and threatened to use them. The head of European Commission has suggested using windfall from frozen Russian assets (worth €300bn) to fund weapons for Ukraine. (Politico, Semafor, Financial Times)
Stories from Far Away
🇸🇪 Sweden will join NATO later this year. Hungary and Turkey were holding out but both have now approved the historically-neutral nation for membership. (The Guardian)
🇦🇷 Argentina’s President Javier Milei is in a dispute with the governor of the country’s oil-rich province of Chubut. Governor Ignacio Torres had threatened to cut energy supplies from the rest of the nation after Miliei’s government withheld federal tax revenue from Chubut. (ABC News)
🇫🇷France looks set to become the first country to enshrine abortion in its constitution with a parliamentary vote set for today, requiring a three-fifths approval. (WNG)
🇫🇷 Also in France, President Macron has vowed he’ll take a dip in the Seine to put Parisians minds at rest that the river is safe for bathers as the Olympics approaches. (Semafor)
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
🪡 Repurposed quilts become clothing
🌩️ Counting lightning strikes by US state
🌈 Enough to brighten anyone’s day: a rainbow building in Tokyo
🪵 Timber topiary: curious geometric sculptures
🚒 A driver has been recused from a semi which was left dangling from a bridge in Louisville, Kentucky
❤️ The best: Puppies and kids
🍺 The Florida Man games return
🐜 Ants vs humans: who would win a tug of war?
👸🏻 Units of measurement you probably haven’t heard of. Helen of Troy “is widely known as ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’. Thus, 1 millihelen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship. Other derived units such as the negative helen (the power to beach ships) have also been described.” Useful.
Promo of Friends
A Good Word: Links from the Show Notes
Stop the White Noise was a nice casual affair last week, with Jonathan and Meridith chatting about the joys of upcycling, the challenges of being a pastor’s wife and the politics of church small groups. You can catch it on YouTube or Rumble.
Sweetness You May Have Missed
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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