strength and desire
/It is not strength but desire that moves us.
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Oct 7
/***HIGHER ED
Education System Needs Fundamental Changes: Arne Duncan
Tensions over Hong Kong unrest flare on US college campuses
https://apnews.com/7b0f328f266f46c1a498a16a5ad03fbc
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Judge rules in favor of Harvard in affirmative action case
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-favor-harvard-affirmative-action-case-n1060921
Attorney ‘stunned’ by University of Michigan’s ‘arrogance,' resulting $1.6 million legal bill
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2019/10/attorney-stunned-by-university-of-michigans-arrogance-resulting-16-million-legal-bill.html
How Penn State Is Cutting Greenhouse Emissions In Half — And Saving Money
College Students Just Want Normal Libraries
***HIGHER ED & FINANCES
Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend will be paid $50,000 out of student fees for speech at University of Florida
University of Connecticut issues just over $966,000 in parking violations for 2018
Colleges received more than $60 million from family profiting from OxyContin https://www.marketwatch.com/story/colleges-received-more-than-60-million-from-family-profiting-from-oxycontin-2019-10-03
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Academic dishonesty extends to CVs, according to a new study
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/03/study-academic-dishonesty-extends-faculty-résumés
Careless mistakes or intellectual theft? UW-Oshkosh case reveals complexity of plagiarism
NC State professor suspended after calling women 'useless' during lecture
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Gordon College Receives Record $75.5 Million Donation
***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Liberty Hires Disgraced Reporter
http://wset.com/news/local/former-disgraced-reporter-austen-joins-liberty-game-on-staff
Appeal sought in child sex solicitation case involving ex-LU professor
***RESEARCH
“We find that a total of 22 out of 49 papers contain demonstrable errors” —a study of research in machine learning
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.0443
Publishers, reviewers and other members of the scientific community must fight science’s preference for positive results
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02960-3
Journal Peer Review and Editorial Evaluation: Cautious Innovator or Sleepy Giant?
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11024-019-09388-z
Two-thirds of researchers report ‘pressure to cite’ in Nature poll
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02922-9
Free Yourself From Study Fragility and P Values (video)
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/918733
A Journal’s test for peer review bias
https://augustafreepress.com/professors-take-part-in-journals-test-for-peer-review-bias/
***STUDENT LIFE
Uncovering A Huge Mystery Of College: Office Hours
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/02/766568824/uncovering-a-huge-mystery-of-college-office-hours
What Does a 'Good' Resume Look Like in 2019? The Answer May Surprise You
https://www.inc.com/quora/what-does-a-good-resume-look-like-in-2019-answer-may-surprise-you.html
Colleges are starting degrees in esports, with $36,000 programs
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-esports-universities-launch-degrees-in-esports/
Most Americans go to college in the hopes of a secure financial future. Many don’t get it
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/02/many-former-college-students-dont-earn-more-than-28000-a-year.html
College students who go off Facebook for a week consume less news and report being less depressed
At UC Berkeley, Brown, and Yale, students are fighting to keep Palantir off campus over its ICE contracts https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/26/20884182/palantir-ice-protests-campus-family-separation-berkeley-yale-brown
***SEXUAL HARRASSMENT & ASSAULT
A Texas university reported 8 rapes on campus in 2016-17, but now admits there were 38: Experts say this problem is happening nationwide
https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-university-reported-8-rapes-192738058.html
Claims of sexual assaults on Rice University campus spark campus policy change
Students at NYU and Rutgers are asking why professors who've been found to have behaved inappropriately with students were welcomed to campus this semester
Southwestern Officials Agreed to Keep Quiet About Professor Who Had Trove of Nude Student Photos, Sex Videos
12 arrested in connection with alleged rapes at Alabama university
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/us/alabama-rape-allegations-campus/
Black Swains
/We have a natural tendency to look for instances that confirm our story and our vision of the world.
Seeing white swans does not confirm the nonexistence of black swans. There is an exception, however: I know what statement is wrong, but not necessarily what statement is correct. If I see a black swan I can certify that all swans are not white! If I see someone kill, then I can be practically certain that he is a criminal. If I don’t see him kill, I cannot be certain that he is innocent. The same applies to cancer detection: the finding of a single malignant tumor proves that you have cancer, but the absence of such a finding cannot allow you to say with certainty that you are cancer-free.
We can get closer to the truth by negative instances, not by verification.
Nassim Taleb, The Black Swain
Articles of Interest about Religion - Oct 5
/***RELIGION
CEO of Christian Social Justice Magazine Steps Down Amid Accusations of Racism, Sexism
https://www.newsweek.com/christian-magazine-ceo-racism-sexism-1461847
Pastor's Widow on How Son Is Coping After Father's Suicide
https://people.com/human-interest/jarrid-wilson-widow-post-how-son-coping/
Why Many Evangelicals Believe Climate Change Is A Hoax
What are America’s largest seminaries in 2019?
https://www.christianpost.com/voice/what-are-americas-largest-seminaries-in-2019.html
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Three female teachers launch a lawsuit against Quebec’s religious symbols ban
New chapter opens in Pennsylvania in fight over suing church
https://apnews.com/818f44394d514bf89e3e988e6208a492
***RELIGION & FILM
Film highlighting interfaith prayer at the U.S.-Mexico border set for release
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2019-10-03/borderprayer
Kanye West, in which they will release the film Jesus Is King
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kanye-west-imax-reveal-movie-collaboration-1244115
***DENOMINATIONS
Durham megachurch pastor and Southern Baptist president to confront sex abuse crisis at major conference
LGBT group proposes dissolving UMC into 4 new denominations
https://www.christianpost.com/news/lgbt-group-proposes-dissolving-umc-into-4-new-denominations.html
Freshening Relationships
/Relationships often develop a certain tiresome predictability. You do what you usually do, other people respond the way they usually do, and around it goes. If you reverse course, act in a novel manner, you alter the entire dynamic. Do this every so often to break up the relationship’s stale patterns and open it to new possibilities.
Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War
Walls and Masks
/We need to be able to express ourselves, to talk ourselves out without fear of rejection by others. Too often the problems that we keep submerged within us remain, in the darkness of our own interior, undefined and therefore destructive.
We do not see the true dimensions of these things that trouble us until we define them and set lines of demarcation in conversation with a friend. Inside of us they remain as nebulous as smoke, but when we confide ourselves to another we acquire some sense of dimension and growth in self-identity and the capacity to accept ourselves as we are.
It may well be that our walls and masks will make this difficult. We may instinctively try to rationalize that there is really no one near to whom we can talk ourselves out. Many of us practice the self-deception of believing that there is no one in our supposed circle of friends that can be trusted. Very commonly these excuses that we have rehearsed so often are merely excuses. Our real fear is that we would be rejected, that the other person would not understand us. And so we wait and wait and wait behind our wall for the sufficient sound of reassurance in another or we gaze out of the windows of our towers looking for prince charming to come and rescue us. We excuse ourselves from all initiative seeking truly human interpersonal relationship with another on the grounds that the time is not ripe or the circumstances right. In the meanwhile, we can only perish.
John Powell, Why am I Afraid to Love
Savage Love
/It may be objected that marriage must then be simply ‘the grave of love’. It would be more accurate to echo Croce and say that ‘marriage is the grave of savage love’ and more often the grave of sentimentality.
Savage and natural love is manifested in rape. But rape, like polygamy, is also an indication that men are not yet in a stage to apprehend the presence of an actual person in a woman. This is as much as to say that they do not know how to love. Rape and polygamy deprive a woman of her equality by reducing her to sex. Savage love empties human relations of personality.
On the other hand, a man does not control himself owing to lack of ‘passion’ (meaning ‘power of the libido’), but precisely because he loves and, in virtue of his love, will not inflict himself. He refuses to commit an act of violence which would be in the denial and destruction of the person. He thus indicates that his dearest wish is for the other’s good. His egotism goes round via the other. This, it will be granted, is a notable revolution.
And we may now pass beyond that altogether negative and privative statement of Croce’s and at last define marriage as the institution in which passion is ‘contained’, not by morals, but by love.
Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World
Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Oct 1
/***HIGHER ED
As colleges compete for fewer students, the pressure rises to meet enrollment targets
https://www.inquirer.com/education/college-enrollment-student-bucknell-muhlenberg-ursinus-dickinson-20190930.html
UCLA Launches Kindness Institute
https://www.courthousenews.com/ucla-launches-kindness-institute/
The rise of fake medical studies
https://www.noted.co.nz/health/health-health/fake-medical-studies-the-rise-of
Fall Enrollment Numbers Are Trickling In. So Far, It’s A Mixed Picture For Major Public Universities
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2019/10/01/fall-enrollment-numbers-are-trickling-in-so-far-its-a-mixed-picture-for-major-public-universities/#1b373b66300e
Study on Harvard finds 43 percent of white students are legacy, athletes, related to donors or staff
***HIGHER ED & RACE
Wake Forest Feels Impact of Racist Emails on Campus
https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/university/wake-forest-racist-emails/
University apologizes for touting diverse student body with video of all-white students
***HIGHER ED & FINANCES
California to let college athletes make money, defying NCAA
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-ncaa-law-to-let-college-athletes-make-money-defying-ncaa/
Roosevelt University is a poster child for the troubled small college
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/education/roosevelt-university-poster-child-troubled-small-college
***FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS
Federal appeals court rules that Bias Response Team might not be able to punish students, but it may still have powers that could limit free expression on campus
Federal judge slams University of Iowa for religious discrimination
***TEACHING
Supporting Underprepared Students in the Online Classroom
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/supporting-underprepared-students-online/
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Wagner College professor banned for allegedly threatening students
UCF professor suspended for video
California appeals court sides with professor in tenure-denial case
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Man sentenced for abducting Christian college students
Mount Vernon Nazarene volleyball coach facing sex charge
Miami lawsuit behind Jerry Falwell Jr. ‘pool boy’ hostel deal close to settling
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article235519837.html
***STUDENT LIFE
This Website Will Turn Wikipedia Articles Into "Real" Academic Papers https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/wikipedia-fake-academic-journal
Younger, college-educated black Americans are most likely to feel need to ‘code-switch’
How does popular media report on millennials more broadly?
https://pudding.cool/2019/09/millennials/
‘The way universities are run is making us ill’: inside the student mental health crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/27/anxiety-mental-breakdowns-depression-uk-students
College Students Around The US Struggle With Food And Housing
70 University of Texas students face discipline for group message about exam
***STUDENTS IN COURT
Christian Student on Why He’s Suing Chicago Over Free Speech
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/09/25/christian-student-on-why-hes-suing-chicago-over-free-speech/
Trans students: Matter of pronouns becomes matter for courts
***STUDENTS & FINANCE
9 Money Mistakes College Students Can't Afford
Back-to-school scam targets college students looking for work, BBB warns
***SEXUAL HARRASSMENT & ASSAULT
6% of Seminarians Report Sexual Harassment
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/09/24/6-seminarians-report-sexual-harassment
Jury Sides With Student Accused of Sexual Assault
Professing the truth
/If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. – Martin Luther
Licking the Earth
/When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me most forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems now most futile and absurd. For instance, success in all of its various guises, being known and praised, ostensible pleasures like acquiring money or seducing women, or traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in it like Satan, explaining and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer. In retrospect, all these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy, what Pascal called, ‘licking the earth’.
Malcolm Muggeridge
winnie’s wise words
/If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear. - Winnie the Pooh
Articles of Interest about Religion - Sept 27
/***RELIGION
Why the share of Americans who said they didn’t associate with any established religion has doubled
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/atheism-fastest-growing-religion-us/598843/
Who’s an evangelical and who gets to decide? (opinion)
https://religionnews.com/2019/09/23/whos-an-evangelical-and-who-gets-to-decide/
Evangelical Has Lost Its Meaning (sub. req’ed)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/the-end-of-evangelical/598423/
The Occult Remedy the Puritans Embraced
https://daily.jstor.org/the-occult-remedy-the-puritans-embraced/
The mysteries of "God Friended Me"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-mysteries-of-god-friended-me-brandon-micheal-hall/
Why Christians reject Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Is King,’ Sunday Service
https://nypost.com/2019/09/27/why-christians-reject-kanye-wests-jesus-is-king-sunday-service/
Court rules that Michigan must work with faith-based adoption and foster agencies
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
White evangelicals love Trump and aren't confused about why (opinion)
The private Christian school Karen Pence teaches at is embroiled in an alleged hate crime
***RELIGION & MONEY
Tithing Over Text Is Now a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
Why so many non-religious Europeans pay church taxes
https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/09/12/why-so-many-non-religious-europeans-pay-church-taxes
***RELIGION & FILM
'Sister Aimee': Film Review
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sister-aimee-review-124312
***CATHOLIC
Arson at 3 Catholic churches serving Hispanics in El Paso probed by FBI, reward set
The gambler and the social-media junkie
/The analogy between the gambler and the social-media junkie is hard to avoid. Tristan Harris, Google’s former design ethicist, calls your smartphone “The Slot Machine in Your Pocket”. Most smartphone apps use “intermittent variable rewards” to keep users hooked. Because rewards are variable, they are uncertain: you have to pull the lever to see what you are going to get. Adam Alter adds that, with the invention of the like button, users are gambling every time they post.
Every post is a lot cast for the contemporary equivalent of the God of Everything. What we are really asking for when we post a status is a verdict. In telling the machine something about ourselves, whatever else we are trying to achieve, we are asking for judgment.
Richard Seymour, The Twittering Machine
Articles of Interest about Literature, Journalism, Writing & Languages – Sept 25
/***JOURNALISM
FBI arrests Army soldier who allegedly discussed plans to bomb major American news network
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-arrests-army-soldier-allegedly-discussed-plans-bomb/story
Remembering Cokie Roberts, Who Forged A Path For Female Journalists
Growing hostility’ between student media and administrators – Investigative Reporting Workshop
https://investigativereportingworkshop.org/news/growing-hostility-between-student-media-and-administrators/
Nonprofit news outlets aren’t relying as heavily on foundations — but journalism philanthropy continues to grow
Someone Is Doxing Hong Kong Protesters And Journalists — And China Wants Them To Keep Going
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosalindadams/hong-kong-doxing-protesters-china-encourage
***FAKE NEWS
Google has released a giant database of deepfakes to help fight deepfakes
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614426/google-has-released-a-giant-database-of-deepfakes-to-help-fight-deepfakes/
Anti-vax movement targets Maine law on vaccine exemptions
https://www.axios.com/anti-vaccine-movement-targets-maine-ffdffe55-adaf-4aa4-b700-6e61f3b6117e.html
***GRAMMAR
Pope Francis criticises overuse of adjectives
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/24/pope-francis-criticises-overuse-of-adjectives
A grammar nerd gently dismantles those arguments for rejecting the new ‘they’
Does Influencer Grammar Matter?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/18/style/influencer-grammar-watchdog-accounts-southeast-asia.html
***WRITING & READING
Physical books still outsell e-books — and here's why
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/physical-books-still-outsell-e-books-and-heres-why.html
1,000-page sentence is hard work all around
It's Banned Books Week. Here are the 11 most challenged books last year
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/22/us/banned-books-week-2019-trnd/index.html
***LANGUAGE
Why Your Mom Uses Emojis All Wrong 🙃
https://www.motherjones.com/media/2019/09/gretchen-mcculloch-because-internet/
Study shows facial features track with intonation of words
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-facial-features-track-intonation-words.html
***LITERATURE
When Milton met Shakespeare: poet's notes on Bard appear to have been found
***POETRY
A vending machine that pops out poems! Positively precious
One of Elizabeth Warren's strategists is longlisted for the National Book Award in Poetry
Teaching poetry at a correctional facility through the lens of parenting a teen son
Poem: Small Kindnesses
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/magazine/poem-small-kindnesses.html
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Broadcast Radio Under Threat from Perfect Storm of New Tech
FCC loses in court, judges say agency would fail “intro statistics class”
***SOCIAL MEDIA: TIKTOK
How TikTok Holds Our Attention
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/how-tiktok-holds-our-attention
Revealed: how TikTok censors videos that do not please Beijing
The Complete Beginner’s Guide to TikTok
https://medium.com/@mattprd/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-world-and-youre-missing-it-fa283338649a
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
People Are Looking At Your LinkedIn Profile. They Might Be Chinese Spies
Brain Privacy
How to Say No
/In a research study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, 120 students were split into two different groups. The difference between these two groups was saying “I can't” compared to “I don't.”
One group was told that each time they were faced with a temptation, they would tell themselves “I can't do X.” For example, when tempted with ice cream, they would say, “I can't eat ice cream.”
When the second group was faced with a temptation, they were told to say “I don't do X.” For example, when tempted with ice cream, they would say, “I don't eat ice cream.”
After repeating these phrases, each student answered a set of questions unrelated to the study. Once they finished answering their questions, the students went to hand in their answer sheet, thinking that the study was over. In reality, it was just beginning. As each student walked out of the room and handed in their answer sheet, they were offered a complimentary treat. The student could choose between a chocolate candy bar or a granola health bar.
As the student walked away, the researcher would mark their snack choice on the answer sheet. The students who told themselves “I can't eat X” chose to eat the chocolate candy bar 61% of the time. Meanwhile, the students who told themselves “I don't eat X” chose to eat the chocolate candy bars only 36% of the time. This simple change in terminology significantly improved the odds that each person would make a more healthy food choice.
Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Sept 23
/***HIGHER ED
Higher education's existential crisis
https://www.axios.com/colleges-universities-crisis-e437549e-b5ad-4e6c-8bab-f32db1065d14.html
The University Of Texas’ Secret Strategy to keep out Black Students
Springfield Technical Community College warns of lead contamination on quad
2019 Survey of Admissions Leaders: The Pressure Grows
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/admissions-directors-face-growing-pressure
Trump-era labor board wants to make it that much harder for graduate students on private college campuses to form unions
Why colleges are struggling to graduate more teachers
https://www.educationdive.com/news/why-colleges-are-struggling-to-graduate-more-teachers/563131/
***HIGHER ED & FINANCES
The rise of corporate colleges
https://www.axios.com/corporate-colleges-workforce-training-33831fbb-2d21-4683-8dab-8b2424bff439.html
***HIGHER ED & THE LAW
8 religion-related cases to watch when the Supreme Court is back in session
***THE COST OF COLLEGE
For-profit middlemen may be driving up the cost of online higher education
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-profit-middlemen-may-be-driving-up-the-cost-of-online-higher-education-2019-09-19
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Minot State professor responds to backlash over image of Trump
Emory investigates 2 new cases of faculty using racial slur in class
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Chicago Bans Wheaton College Students From Evangelizing in Park, Students Sue
Christian activist group demands criminal probe of Jerry Falwell Jr.
***RESEARCH
Peer Review Survey 2019
https://senseaboutscience.org/activities/peer-review-survey-2019/
‘There is a problem’: Australia’s top scientist Alan Finkel pushes to eradicate bad science
How do different stakeholders – authors, editors, readers, publishers, the public – value peer review quality?”
https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/09/12/ask-the-chefs-peer-review-quality/
Understanding peer review: My first 12 months as a journal editor
https://www.editage.com/insights/understanding-peer-review-my-first-12-months-as-a-journal-editor
Giving Credit: Gender and the hidden labour behind academic prestige
Misconduct is more frequent among the papers retracted from lower impact journals”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213911119301529
***STUDENT LIFE
Two white students are charged with assaulting a black student
Growing Number of Colleges let Students pick their Names
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/09/17/growing-number-colleges-let-students-pick-their-names
1 in 4 Youths Has Vaped. Will State Bans Do Anything?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/us/vaping-states-regulation.html
College voter turnout rate more than doubled in 2018
34 Things Lazy College Students Will Probably Appreciate
https://www.buzzfeed.com/racheldunkel/things-lazy-college-students-will-probably-appreciate
***SEXUAL ASSAULT
Association of college administrators that deal with campus sexual assaults prompts controversy
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/09/17/new-statement-title-ix-association-draws-controversy
Optimists live longer
/Here’s a good reason to turn that frown upside down: Optimistic people live as much as 15% longer than pessimists, according to a new study spanning thousands of people and 3 decades. After controlling for health conditions, behaviors like diet and exercise, and other demographic information, the scientists were able to show that the most optimistic women (top 25%) lived an average of 14.9% longer than their more pessimistic peers. For the men the results were a bit less dramatic: The most optimistic of the bunch lived 10.9% longer than their peers, on average, the team reports today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
David Shultz writing in Science Magazine
Articles of Interest about Religion - Sept 21
/***RELIGION
Ancient mosaic found near Sea of Galilee depicts Jesus' loaves and fishes miracle
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ancient-mosaic-jesus-galilee-intl-scli/index.html
Virginia pastors lead Bible study at Confederate monument: reinterpret the statues as idols meant to prop up the false religion of white supremacy
The Seminary Flourished on Slave Labor: Now It’s Planning to Pay Reparations
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/us/virginia-seminary-reparations.html
California Church Leaders Lured Homeless Into Forced Labor, U.S. Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/california-church-homeless-panhandling.html
Pastor and Mental Health Advocate Jarrid Wilson Dies by Suicide
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
For evangelicals, Trump’s blasphemy is not a deterrent
The Christian Right Is Helping Drive Liberals Away From Religion
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Federal judge supports student's right to hand out valentines with Bible messages at Wisconsin technical college
Arkansas Supreme Court, Attorney General, continue to tangle with pastor/judge
Pastor of ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster’ Church Prays at Gov’t Meeting, Thanks to Court Ruling
***CATHOLIC
Catholics on the Slow Road to Schism
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/opinion/sunday/the-slow-road-to-catholic-schism.html
Why Pope Francis struggles in Africa
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/09/07/why-pope-francis-struggles-in-africa
Court reinstates lawsuit against Catholic hospital for refusing transgender patient's surgery
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-18/hiltzik-catholic-hospital-discrimination-case
China/Vatican agreement may signal lessening of religious tension
***MEGACHURCHES
Willow Creek’s troubles can be found in its word cloud
https://religionnews.com/2019/09/19/willow-creeks-troubles-can-be-found-in-its-word-cloud/
L.A. Judge Drops Fines Against 2 Prosecutors in Child Rape Case Against Mexican Church Leader
Ohio megachurch on sale for $8M months after some congregants stop giving over pastor’s affairs
***RELIGION & LGBTQ ISSUES
United Methodists float plans to split denomination after LGBTQ vote
Man claims Oklahoma church members held him down and punched him while praying away homosexuality
New York City Is Ending a Ban on Gay Conversion Therapy: Here’s Why
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/nyregion/conversion-therapy-ban-nyc.html
Conversion therapy linked to distress in transgender people
the difference
/The problem we all face in strategy, and in life, is that each of us is unique and has a unique personality. Our circumstances are also unique; no situation ever really repeats itself. But most often we are barely aware of what makes us different – in other words, of who we really are. Our ideas come from books, teachers, all kinds of unseen influence. We respond to events routinely and mechanically instead of trying to understand their differences. In our dealings with other people, too, we are easily infected by their tempo and mood. All this creates a kind of fog. We fail to see events for what they are; we do not know ourselves.
Your task as a strategist is simple: to see the differences between yourself and other people, to understand yourself, your side, and the enemy as well as you can, to get more perspective on events, to know things for what they are.
Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War
A healthy attitude
/A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier. -Tom Stoppard