216 Lent 5: This Is
“I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways.“ ~ Psalm 119
This Is
Modern "nation-states," (that is, banks that service multi-caste, pseudo-ethnicities delimited by language), collapse once in a while. It is not the event that is new this time, but the apparent scale. Nothing is too big to fail. In fact, "too big" is a primary failure by adverbial foul ball. The Kingdom ours remaineth. Till angel cry and trumpet sound, The Mad Christian
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Leaked internal communications from the WPATH, “the nation’s predominant transgender medicine and advocacy organization” show that its leadership knows that children are being harmed by transgender procedures. The documents reveal that WPATH knows there is no science to back current “gender affirming” guidelines and paint the organization as a bunch of creepy ideologues. (There I said it..) (New York Sun)
An answer to prayer: The National Health Service in the United Kingdom has banned the use of puberty blockers for gender-confused children. The practice had recently been restricted to children involved in clinical studies, but as Dr Hilary Cass who led the review noted, there is “a lack of long-term evidence on what happens to young people prescribed blockers.” Dr. Quentin Van Meter, a pediatric endocrinologist told World News that puberty blockers are amazing drugs when used in the right situations - adults with hormone-dependent tumors and young children who experience precocious puberty. “Puberty is not a disease, it is a very important part of life that changes you from an infertile child into a reproductive adult. And puberty blockers should not be used during puberty.” (Hot Air, Sky, WNG)
Florida has settled a lawsuit challenging its parental rights law, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Clarification of the law means that “students and teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it's not part of instruction.” (WNG, NPR)
Oklahoma: Death of transgender student ruled suicide, not as a result of bathroom fight. (Reason)
Fifteen female athletes are suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association for allowing men to compete against them and use their changing facilities. Swimming champion Riley Gaines says the “organization’s transgender policy violates Title IX.” (Fox)
Texas man, Paul Alexander dies at 78, after spending most of his life in an iron lung. Mr Alexander was paralyzed after contracting polio as a child. (ABC)
African privilege sounds pretty good. (Mercator)
Crime and Punishment
The Judicial Conference of the United States has announced it will broaden the pool of judges who may be assigned to cases that have state-wide or nationwide impact. The move is aimed at preventing “judge-shopping” where plaintiffs seek out a judge they believe will be more favorable to their cause. The previous system was seen to help conservatives “hamstring President Joe Biden’s agenda”, such as abortion drug bans which were decided in small Texas’ courthouses. The new system would take the form of a lottery, with judges being randomly assigned to cases. (CNN)
A report from Colorado’s Bureau of Investigation has found that criminal forensic scientist “Yvonne “Missy” Woods manipulated data in the DNA testing process, “posting incomplete test results in some cases” over her 30 year career. The CBI will now review over 650 of Woods’ cases, dating back to 1994. (Forensic)
A new report from an independent investigator on the horrific Uvalde school shooting has concluded “the response lacked communication and clear leadership” but didn’t blame the police force, pointing to their lack of training for such a situation. (WNG)
Michigan man, James Crumbley has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, after a jury concluded that he was complicit in the actions of his son. Ethan Crumbley opened fire at Oxford High School leaving four of his classmates dead. Jennifer Crumbley, Ethan’s mother, was charged with the same crime earlier this year with prosecutors arguing that the Crumbleys knew their son was troubled and “could have prevented the shooting by securing the gun used in the attack and preventing [Ethan’s] access to it.” (ABC News)
Religion and the Church
Pastor Fisk’s list of the Book of the Twelve minor prophets in chronological order. (RevFisk)
Some awesome prayers for saying when entering and departing church. (Wednesday What Not)
The American Bible Society announced last week that it will close its $60m Faith and Liberty Discovery Center in Philadelphia. The Center was conceived to share the “importance of the impact of Scripture on the development of the United States” but failed to get enough visitors to make it sustainable. (Ministry Watch, RNS)
The Digital Age
A promotional video for Ray Ban’s Meta sunglasses has been released showing a chipper Mark Zuckerberg demonstrating how the eyewear will tell you the names of landmarks or give commentary on what you are looking at. (Engadget)
Google’s Gemini chatbot will not be able to answer questions regarding any election worldwide, “out of an abundance of caution.” (TechCrunch)
Laurie Anderson says she is “100% addicted” to the chatbot she made based on her late husband, Lou Reed. (The Guardian)
Rumor has it that AirPods may get a hearing aid mode. (MacRumors)
Adventures in Linux. (Tedium)
Planes
Two experts believe one more search will reveal the wreck of Flight MH370 which disappeared ten years ago. The most popular theory about the plane is that the pilot took over the plane with the intention of completing a murder-suicide, crashing the plane into a 6000m deep ocean trench some miles off the west Australian coast. (BBC, 9 News)
An Indonesian flight veered off course after both pilots reportedly fell asleep. (NBC)
Extra baggage: Rare and endangered animals, including a red panda have been found in luggage at a Thailand airport. (Independent)
✈️ Boeing Boeing gone? Stay tuned for Frisby’s piece on dramas with Boeing later this week!
God’s Green Earth
Farming is not a threat to the planet: “Methane (CH₄) from livestock flatulence, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from chemical fertilizers” are not big contributors to global warming. (Cornwall Alliance)
A new nozzle design may lead to a reduction in pesticide use on crops. (MIT News)
Planted coral reefs can grow as well as wild ones, potentially bringing restoration to damaged reefs. (University of Exeter)
East Palestine, Ohio, one year on. (Time)
A livestream of dutiful bald eagles waiting for their eggs to hatch, San Bernardino National Forest. (Modern Met)
Arts, History and Sport
The brutal reign of Herod the Great. (Real Dictators)
Agatha Christie loved to surf. (Mental Floss)
Are Dune’s sandworms really worms? (Slate)
“Please keep this line clear!” Sending photos were along wires in the 1930s. (Charlie Dean Archives)
“Chuck Norris can lead a dead horse to water and make him drink.” Everyone’s favorite Texas ranger is still throwing punches at 84. (Instagram)
This week in history:
44 BC: Julius Casear meets a grisly end. (History)
1963: Jack Ruby sentenced to death for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. (History)
2011: Japan’s strongest earthquake triggers a tsunami which claimed over 15,000 lives. (National Geographic)
2012: Encyclopaedia Britannica announces the end of its physical edition. (Britannica)
From the Mad☧Tank
Mad☧Mondays is your reliable white noise filtration system. If you like reading about just news that matters, then please support Mad☧Mondays! Get early access to Think Tank articles and join the chat by signing up through Substack. Or support Frisby’s efforts with any amount here.
This week:
Recent stuff from our archive:
Coming to America
Right-wing media is reporting that outbreaks of measles are cropping up at shelters for illegal immigrants in the US. The Daily Mail reports that conditions in migrant centers are terrible and outbreaks of disease are to be expected. Aliens at the Pilsen migrant shelter in Chicago are receiving vaccinations and evictions into the community are on hold for now. Leave it to Axios to worry that (note this language) the outbreak is stoking fears that it could “stigmatize new arrivals.” (ZeroHedge, Daily Mail, Axios)
Thunderdome 2024
Both former president Donald Trump and current president Joe Biden have secured enough delegates to land their respective party’s nomination. 2.0 is here! (France24)
Right-wing media is reporting that memos show Hunter Biden and his business associates attempted to facilitate the sale of Westinghouse (and its fancy nuclear reactor tech) to a Chinese energy company. (Ground News, Just the News)
Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade has resigned from Georgia’s Trump RICO case, meaning embattled District Attorney Fani Willis can continue prosecuting the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee tossed out several counts against former President Donald Trump and five others in the election interference case but said Willis’ conduct did not meet criteria to disqualify her from the case. (Epoch Times, CBS)
Science
Martin Kulldorff, a Swedish biostatistician and an early critic of many covid policies says he has been fired from Harvard for highlighting the benefits of natural immunity and for decrying blanket vaccination. “If Harvard and its hospitals want to be credible scientific institutions, they should rehire those of us they fired. And Harvard would be wise to eliminate its Covid vaccine mandates for students, as most other universities have already done.” (City Journal)
NASA says it is back in touch with Voyager 1 after giving it a “poke”. The spacecraft had been sending garbled information back to earth since last November, but it looks like technicians have been able to decode the data and send commands to reboot the computers. Broadcasts take almost a day to reach Voyager 1 which is about 24bn miles from earth. Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 and was expected to last five years. (CNN)
SpaceX’s website has lots of cool rocket-related info. (SpaceX)
A Smithsonian gemologist answers questions about rocks, minerals and gemstones. (Wired)
A funky beat you can bug out to: French researchers believe they know what makes someone want to dance. (Inserm)
Politics
Last week saw the release of transcripts from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into classified documents retained by President Biden and also an appearance by Special Counsel Hur before members of a Congressional committee. President Biden had angrily denied that his memory is deteriorating and accused Special Counsel Hur of cruelly raising the subject of his deceased son, Beau. Transcripts reveal that the President did indeed fudge some dates and details and that it was he who started talking about Beau. (The Guardian)
During the hearing, Democrat Reps accused SC Hur of wanting to help Donald Trump by casting shade on the President’s mental capability, while Republicans were upset that no conviction was given. (The Hill, PJ Media)
Special Counsel Hur’s report has created a “bizarre disconnect” between the evidence and conclusion. Legal expert Jonathan Turley says the case against the President is an open and shut case, yet SC Hur said he would not lay charges since a jury would likely treat Mr Biden favorably on account of his poor mental acuity. (The Blaze)
Money, Markets and Jobs
Rural mobile home residents are pooling resources to buy entire trailer parks. (Daily Yonder)
The value of BitCoin continued upward and Ether cracked $4000. (CNBC)
Why is China buying gold? (International Intrigue)
Why Monster Beverage is the best-performing stock of the last 30 years. (CNBC)
Visitors to Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia are suing the park’s management for not accepting cash as payments for entry. (Reclaim the Net)
Health, Medicine and Food
A number of US states have introduced bills which would see cultivated meat banned. Meat grown using cell cultures is seen by climate alarmists and animal rights activists as a acceptable compromise on their desire for people to eat less meat. Lawmakers in favor of bans pointed out that long-term health effects of lab-grown meat are unknown and that manufactured products threaten American farmers. (Wired, ArsTechnica)
A joint project between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Universidade de São Paulo has engineered a cow capable of producing milk that contains human insulin. Researchers say the insulin is produced inside the cow’s udder: "Using a DNA construct specific to mammary tissue means there’s no human insulin circulating in the cow’s blood or other tissues.” The result is seen as a leap forward in producing insulin cheaply to help hundreds of millions of diabetes patients worldwide. (ZME Science)
Scientists are scrambling to find a reason behind the rise of cancer in young people, since 1990. (Nature)
Neurobiologists at the University of California San Diego have identified the brain chemistry and circuitry associated with a stress-induced fear response. They hope the findings will help them treat conditions such as PTSD. (Today)
Americans are paying a pretty penny for a good night’s sleep. (The Hustle)
Hearts and Minds
Memories are more about the future than the past.. “We’re constantly taking pictures and then throwing them on social media. But this is the ultimate form of electronic amnesia. You’re cheating your experiencing self because you don’t connect with what’s happening, and you’re cheating your remembering self because you’ve deprived yourself of a great memory. So instead of taking pictures of every moment of your vacation, pay attention to what makes a particular moment distinctive. Ask yourself: What is going to be most memorable in each picture I take?” (Big Think)
Gandalf's 5-step method for releasing a friend who is bedevilled. (Chivalry Guild)
War
West Point training institute for the Army has replaced the phrase “duty, honor, country” with the nebulous “army values” in its mission statement. (Breitbart)
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer has puzzled and outraged by calling for Israelis to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schumer said Bibi is an obstacle to peace in Gaza. While Netanyahu will have some stiff opposition when the conflict concludes, polls show Israelis are almost unified in their approval of finishing off Hamas. Jewish commentary Stateside says it appears the Democrats want to play both sides (perhaps to appease Arab voters), chastising Israel while sending them support. President Biden just approved a sanctions waiver which could result in billions in aid to Iran. (Commentary, New York Post)
The EU has accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. (BBC)
A temporary port is being set up in Gaza as a way to provide aid Palestinians by sea. Land deliveries have had limited success and an air drop of supplies injured and killed several people after a parachute failed to open. According to Jerusalem Post the idea of aid by sea was suggested by Israel some time ago, but seems to have gained steam after President Biden mentioned it during his recent State of the Union address. (BBC, Jerusalem Post) Israel Hayom tunnels
Israel and Lebanon forces are clashing on a “near-daily” basis on their shared border. Hezbollah has been firing rockets at Israel and Israeli jets have killed several Hezbollah members within Lebanon. (Semafor, Hot Air)
Russia’s elections went as many expected, with Vladimir Putin retaining his presidency in a “landslide”. Putin has vowed to build a buffer in Ukraine and did not rule out war with NATO nations. Commentators said that Putin is emboldened by Russian “passivity” but others noted that Putin has perfected intimidation tactics. He uses his “vast machinery of repression” to wipe out any competitor and “to deprive most Russians of the ability to imagine a future without him”. (The Hill, Foreign Affairs)
An aide of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been attacked outside his home in Lithuania. Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda has accused Vladimir Putin of sending the assailant, saying “Nobody is afraid of you here.” Also, a guerrilla group of pro-Ukrainian Russians claims to have expelled Russian troops from Russian territory in the southern Kursk Oblast region. (Reuters, WNG)
The US will send a $300m weapons package to Ukraine. The Pentagon raised the funds by taken money from existing contracts, according to reports. (Independent)
Stories from Far Away
🇨🇳 Chinese parents are feeling the effects of China’s economic downturn, with a noted drop in demand for music lessons and sports training. The change is also an unintended consequence of the Xi government’d crack down on private tutoring a couple of years ago. The CCP attempted to focus family life away from the intense competition for places in elite academies, which sees parents spending loads of cash and kids loads of hours, on tutoring. However, schools were then ordered to stay open late to accommodate parents’ work schedules leaving little time for anything else. (Reuters, ThinkChina)
🇨🇦 Proposed “online harms” law in Canada would dish out sentences of “up to life imprisonment” for hateful speech, including calling for genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has endorsed the bill. (Not the Bee)
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia had broken ground on its crazy Line project, a mirrored 170 mile long city-in-a-box. (De Zeen)
🇫🇷 Having just codified killing babies into its constitution, France is now looking to legalise euthanasia. President Emmanuel Macron will present a bill on assisted dying to Parliament, stressing that his bill will have strict and precise criteria. But any casual observer of assisted dying laws around the world can see that it never stays confined. When you believe that “we can know when a life is not worth living”, expansion is inevitable. (France24, Catholic Weekly)
🇭🇹 Haitian prime minister Ariel Henry has announced his resignation, saying he will step down when a transitional government can be put in place. He added that an international force would likely be needed to do so. We’re not sure what to make of claims that cannibal gangs are engaging in despicable acts, but voodoo surely does strange things to a soul. (BBC, Snopes)
🇦🇷 Argentine president Javier Milei haș backtracked on his decree which would give himself and his cabinet a pay raise after backlash. (Buenos Aires Herald)
🇬🇧 A lawsuit over a painting may force elusive graffiti artist Banksy to reveal his real name. (New York Post)
🇳🇱 “Far-right firebrand” Dutch leader Geert Wilders has renounced his claim to be prime minister in the hope of forming a “far-right” coalition which would reduce immigration. (Politico)
🇯🇵 Two district courts in Japan have ruled the nation’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutonal. (BBC)
🇳🇬 Nigerians are turning away from banks in favor of local fintech startup for payments. (Rest of the World)
🚷 Circle-backslash: where did the “prohibited” symbol come from?
❓ 2020s mysterious metal monoliths may have returned
😵💫 Mesmerizing kinetic sculptures
🐄 Rodeo and skiing had a baby and it’s called “skijoring”
📷 A brief look at tintype photography
🌳 Roll out the blue carpet: a Belgian forest turns it on for spring
🏛️ Grunge meets Rome: “Smells like Teen Spirit” in classical Latin
🍞 Everyone wants a piece of an 1847 Oregon Trail sourdough starter
🕶️ Everything you need to get excited about April’s solar eclipse
⚭ “What God has Joined Together - A Lutheran Conference on Marriage” May 3-5, 2024, Ontario, Canada. Featuring keynote speaker, Dr Adam Koontz. Details here.
✝️ Join us on Memorial Day in Rockford IL to learn how you can start your local men's group and nurture Christian brotherhood. Come check out the Hebron Collegium, share your experience with praying the scriptures, and participate in the mutual consolation of the brothers. Bring a tent or bedroll if you'd like to camp out, or else reach out for more info on lodging opportunities. Wives and children are welcome to attend, but lodging options are more limited. To RSVP or for more info, send an email to sos.113.487@gmail.com or reach out via the SoS contact page.
Jonathan and Meridith spent some time discussing losing your mind and the balm of the Supper on Stop the White Noise last week. There was also much to chew over on raising children who bring dignity to their parents. You can catch it on YouTube or Rumble. Some recommendations from the show:
Without Flesh by Jonathan Fisk
Proverbs 28:7, Proverbs 17: 21,25 on raising children
2 Corinthians 7 on taking the Lord’s Supper with intent
If you missed it, Meridith put out a call for anyone who would like to make a quilt for men who stay at the Hebron Collegium. If that is something you would be interested in helping out with, please reply to this email or send a message through madpxm.com/contact.
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Almighty God, by Your great goodness mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
You can also make a one-off or recurring donation here. Thank you!
Pastor Fisk’s list of the Twelve minor prophets in chronological order was very helpful.