What can you ever really know of other people's souls—of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him.

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

July 23, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus & religion - July 23

July 23, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

Herd Immunity Response To COVID-19 Pandemic Can Be Problematic

Can You Become Reinfected With Covid-19? It's Very Unlikely, Experts Say ($)

Open Courses teach the basics of contract tracing

Growing Body Of Evidence Suggests Masks Protect Those Wearing Them, Too

***RELIGION & THE VIRUS

After a Tennessee church became a superspreading hotspot, its pastor says he should have made everyone wear masks

Communities Struggle To Decide Whether To Resume In-Person Worship

Hundreds of kids exposed to COVID-19 at Dallas-Fort Worth church camp, parents say

***RELIGION

J. I. Packer, ‘Knowing God’ Author, Dies at 93

Christian author Matthew Paul Turner comes out as gay, announces divorce

Manning-Up America's Evangelicalism (opinion)

Canadian pastor fired after coming out as transgender during sermon on Zoom

***POLLS ABOUT RELIGION

70 Percent of Evangelical Churchgoers Say 'People Are Basically Good,' Poll Shows

People’s thoughts on whether belief in God is necessary to be moral vary by economic development, education and age

***RELIGION & RACIAL ISSUES

Young Asian American Christians Are Finding Their Voice on Racial Justice

Why Black Christians are bracing for a 'whitelash'

***DENOMINATIONS

Teen abuse victim sues prominent Southern Baptist church

Atlanta Church Splits With SBC for Downplaying Racial Issues

America is seeing a surge in anti-Catholic vandalism

***MEGACHURCHES

Bank forecloses on Megachurch founder's estate

This Megachurch Used Its Sunday Service to Spread QAnon Conspiracy Theories

Atlanta megachurch cancels in-person services until 2021

July 23, 2020

Marching Forward

July 23, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

…keep marching forward because the best news is that since chance does play a role, one important factor in success is under our control: the number of at bats, the number of changes taken, the number of opportunities seized. For even a coin weighted toward failure will sometimes land on success.

Leonard Mlodinow, The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Live

July 22, 2020

milestones & moments

July 22, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Life isn't a matter of milestones but of moments. - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (born July 22, 1890)

July 21, 2020

Life breaks everyone...

July 21, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Life breaks everyone, but some are strong in the broken places. -Ernest Hemingway (Born‎: ‎July 21, 1899)

July 20, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus & schools - July 20

July 20, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

Oxford coronavirus vaccine triggers immune response, trial shows

The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in the Pandemic

U.S. companies fear workplace coronavirus precautions do not address airborne risk

How Long Does COVID-19 Immunity Last?

The New Stability: From Yale–New Haven Hospital Neurology (New England Journal of Medicine)

***MASKS

Delta to Passengers Who Say They Can’t Wear a Mask: Prove It

Don’t shame people who don’t wear masks. It won't work

Face masks with filters add another layer of protection, experts say

***THE FALL SEMESTER

Colleges walk back their fall plans as coronavirus cases spike

Schools Contemplate Fall Semester As COVID-19 Cases Rise In Many States

Key threatening developments that colleges should consider if planning on reopening for the fall semester (opinion)

This college president won’t open campus this fall, to avoid ‘inevitable spread’ of coronavirus ($)

Thousands of college students won't be going back to their dorms this fall

NYU professor predicts hundreds of universities will shutter, possibly for good, if they reopen in the fall

***FALL PLANS AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS

UT Will Close Campus if a Student—But Not an Employee—Dies From COVID

Illinois colleges plan students’ return to campus

Tulane threatens expulsion for partygoers as schools struggle to keep students safe from coronavirus

***VIRUS TESTING ON CAMPUS

On some college campuses, a new fall rite: coronavirus testing ($)

As campuses reopen, the logistics of preventing an outbreak are posing thorny questions: Who to test? How often? And will students buy in?

***COLLEGE SPORTS

Five More College Conferences Cancel Some Or All Fall Sports

Universities should not sacrifice athletics due to tight budgets (opinion)

***K-12

What The U.S. Can Learn From Other Countries About Reopening Schools in a Coronavirus Pandemic

How to Reopen the Economy Without Killing Teachers and Parents

Study: Middle, high schoolers can spread coronavirus as well as adults

Many schools aren’t reopening in the fall. Now what?

Most Big School Districts Aren’t Ready to Reopen: Here’s Why

School in a coffee shop? A different approach to teaching and learning during the pandemic (Opinion)

***K-12 TEACHERS

America’s Teachers Face An Impossible Choice

Until teachers feel safe, widespread in-person K-12 schooling may prove impossible in US

Back To School: Teachers Are Ready To Quit Rather Than Put Their Lives At Risk

***K-12 IN SPECIFIC STATES

Healthcare pros and school board members warn Arizona governor returning to school isn't safe

Texas: Religious schools can ignore local health officials on the coronavirus

California announces strict rules that will keep most schools closed

***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS

Colleges Face a No-Win Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut Tuition? ($)

RISD and its faculty reach agreement, avoid layoffs

Budget ‘Bloodbath’ at University of Akron: Governing board votes to eliminate 97 full-time faculty positions

***HIGHER ED

Ransomware criminals are targeting US universities (opinion)

RISD and its faculty reach agreement, avoid layoffs

Pennsylvania state college system might combine six of its 14 universities

***COLLEGE FINANCE

Another Revenue Hit For Colleges: Cancelled Summer Camps

Will the Pandemic Blow Up College in America?

***HIGHER ED IN COURT

Harvard, Duke, Other Schools Turn to Big Law in Virus Suits

The Republican Senate is moving toward making it harder for students and workers to sue colleges if they contract the coronavirus

***FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS

USC finally updates free expression policy it promised to fix: It’s even worse now

US Supreme Court to hear case involving Georgia Gwinnett College

***TEACHING

What comes after Zoom fatigue

"Pass/No Credit" and Signaling | Confessions of a Community College Dean

Zoom announces Zoom for Home to enhance remote collaboration, learning, and more

*** CHEATING

Strategies to defuse cheating during remote instruction

California mom gets 5 weeks in prison for son’s online class cheating

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

Christian college in Michigan holds in-person graduation ceremony in defiance of state orders

Suspended LU professor found guilty for filming teens in a bathroom at his home

Why an evangelical college president quit after Trump got elected

Largest Evangelical Archaeology Program Finds New Home in Nashville

Grand Canyon University pushes back start date for in-person classes an entire month

Liberty University files $10M defamation suit against NY Times: 'Bigoted bunch of liars'

***RESEARCH

Genius or Fraud? Kid’s PhD-Level Science Project Raises Eyebrows

A comparison of how institutions in China and Europe handle cases of reserach misconduct.

Translation plagiarism, which occurs when the work of one author is republished in a different language with authorship credit taken by someone else.”

***ACADEMIC LIFE

More Faculty Fears About the Fall

Professor Criticizes Book, 'White Fragility,' As Dehumanizing To Black People

***STUDENT LIFE

This May Be the Worst Season of Summer Melt in Memory. Here’s How Some Colleges Are Fighting It.

College Students Share Tips for Online Class

Most college students would return to campus if allowed, poll finds

USC will award $4,000 scholarships per semester to students who stay at home

For First-Generation Students, a Disappearing ‘College Experience’ Could Have Grave

Students say they'll sacrifice fun if they can return to campus

July 20, 2020

Two Unhealthy Ways of Relating to the World

July 20, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Most people who come to see a psychiatrist are suffering from what is called either neurosis or a character disorder. Put most simply, these two conditions are disorders of responsibility, and as such they are opposite styles of relating to the world and its problems. The neurotic assumes too much responsibility ; the person with character disorder not enough. When neurotics are in conflict with the world they automatically assume that they are at fault. When those with character disorders are in conflict with the world they automatically assume that the world is at fault.

Even the speech patterns of neurotics and those with character disorders are different. The speech of the neurotic is notable for such expressions as “I ought to,” “I should,” and “I shouldn’t” indicating the individual’s self0image as an inferior man or woman always falling short of the mark, always making the wrong choices. The speech of a person with a character disorder, however ,relies heavily on “I can’t,” “I couldn’t” “I have to,” and “I had to” demonstrating a self-image of a being who has no power of choice, whose behavior is completely directed by external forces total beyond his or her control.

As might be imagined, neurotics, compared with character disordered people, are easy to work with in psychotherapy because the assume responsibility for their difficulties and there fore see themselves as having problems. Whose with character disorders are much more difficult, if not impossible, to work with because they don’t see themselves as the source of their problems; they see the world rather than themselves as being in need of change and there fore fail to recognize the necessity for self-examination.

M Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

July 19, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus, journalism and frauds – July 19

July 19, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

A Detailed Map of Who Is Wearing Masks in the U.S.

Coronavirus Deaths Are Rising Right on Cue

How Herd Immunity Happens

Almost all Covid-19 patients with symptoms had at least one of these three, small CDC survey says

Coronavirus data has already disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC

How to fix the Covid-19 dumpster fire in the U.S.

A Lot of Athletes Seem to Have the Coronavirus. Here Are Some Reasons ($)

***THE VIRUS: PROTECTING YOURSELF

How Do I Protect Myself If The Coronavirus Can Linger In The Air?

My Gym Is Reopening. Is It Safe To Work Out There?

***WRITING & READING

Dana Canedy Is First Black Person To Head A Publishing Giant

***JOURNALISM

Republicans and Democrats read a lot of the same news: What they do with it is a different question

Here’s Why BLM Protesters Have Asked Journalists Not To Show Their Faces

Neo-Nazi group leader pleads guilty to ‘swatting’ minorities, journalists

HIPAA is being weaponized to prevent access to patient information

How to report on internet culture and the teens who rule it

***LOCAL NEWS

The Constitution Doesn't Work Without Local News

Hundreds of hyperpartisan sites are masquerading as local news. This map shows if there’s one near you

***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM

Want to read a local newspaper on a Monday morning in Wyoming? The last one still printing is about to stop

Former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith joins CNBC as chief general news anchor with new evening show

***STUDENT MEDIA

Mapping U.S. colleges' fall 2020 plans - put together by the Univ of Penn student media!

A high school newspaper was cut during the pandemic. Is it a sign of things to come?

***FAKES & FRAUDS

It’s time to assign misinformation a diagnostic code

Head of NYPD union gives Fox News interview with QAnon mug in background

What It's Like to Escape the Mindset of a Conspiracy Theorist

Nurses Who Battled Virus in New York Confront Friends Back Home Who Say It's a Hoax

The QAnon Candidates Are Here. Trump Has Paved Their Way. ($)

Is there a hyperpartisan outlet masquerading as local news near you?

***SOCIAL MEDIA

With friends like these - Facebook has been bending to the will of Arab despots

The science behind why everyone is angry on Twitter on Mondays

***LANGUAGE

Is It Enough To Remove Words With Racist Connotations From Tech Language? Hint: No

Space travel could create language unintelligible to people on Earth

July 18, 2020

after all

July 18, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Love, after all, has far more to do with seeing someone clearly and accepting them fully for who they actually are than it does with feeling attracted to or liking them. -William Bridges

July 17, 2020

Sexual Repression

July 17, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

The media has contributed to the confusion in our culture between repression and suppression. "Poster after poster, film after film, novel after novel, (CS) Lewis notes, “associate the idea of sexual indulgence with the ideas of health, normality, youth, frankness, and good humour.” He claims this association gives a false impression and is a lie. “Like all powerful lies,” Lewis explains, “it is based on a truth.. that sex in itself.. is ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’.. the lie consists in the suggestion that any sexual act to which you are tempted at the moment is also healthy and normal.” Lewis adds that human sexuality, like gravity or any other aspect of our universe, cannot in itself be moral or immoral. Sexuality, like the rest of the universe, is given by God and therefore good. How people express their sexuality, on the other hand, can be moral or immoral.

Armand Nicholi, The Question of God

July 16, 2020

A large group of professionals

July 16, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

July 15, 2020

The joy of third place

July 15, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Is third place better than coming in second? Third seems to be a better result if you are in the Olympics. Psychologists at Cornell University say their research shows bronze-medal winners are generally happier than silver medalists. Why? When you come in second place, you focus on what you might have done differently to win. When you come in third you are happy just to get a medal.

The phenomenon of "what if" reasoning (knows as Counterfactual thinking) leads us to imagine how things could have been different rather than on what actually has happened. The bronze winners generally think “what if” I hadn’t won anything and they realize how fortunate they are to be on the podium. But for the silver medalist, “what if” means pondering the little things that might have turned silver into gold.

It seems counterfactual thinking plays out, not just in games, but in everyday life. If a student misses making a grade of "A" by one point, having scored a "B" is no longer so satisfying.

"Would I be happier today if only I had married someone else?" “What if I had attended a different school or majored in another field?” “Suppose I had selected a different profession?”

Miss a flight by five minutes and you are frustrated. But if there’s no way you could make the flight you don't waste time on it. It's like the football team that loses in the final seconds of a game. If the team had gotten blown out, the players could more easily put it behind them and move on. But when victory was so very close, they can always think of little things they might have done differently to affect the outcome.

Do you puzzle over what you might have done until you what-if yourself into dissatisfaction? Do you get stuck thinking about what almost happened? Do you feel like you are the silver medalist in life?

It's worth noting that first place has its pitfalls as well. Research indicates that the first runner in a long-distance race puts in three times more effort to maintain that position than the runner-up. The researchers recommend when you are in the lead you should focus on the struggle with oneself rather than the pace of the other runners.

Stephen Goforth

July 14, 2020

Recent Data Science articles

July 14, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

What is the difference between artificial neural networks and biological brains

MIT engineers develop a hybrid process that connects photonics with “artificial atoms,” to produce the largest quantum chip of its type

Some things Uber learned from running machine learning at scale

Understanding the “average treatment effect” number

MIT removes huge dataset that teaches AI systems to use racist, misogynistic slurs

The Detroit Police Department's facial recognition software is wrong 96% of the time

Artificial neural networks are more similar to the brain than we thought

Unpacking Spark 3.0—adaptive query execution, GPU help, and more

How to Do A/B Testing: a checklist

TensorFlow components (TensorFlow Datasets & TensorBoard) can be useful for building a toolset to make modeling evaluation more efficient

July 14, 2020

We’re in perpetual beta.*

July 14, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

*Beta is a period of testing and evaluation under normal, everyday conditions to evaluate conformance to system requirements, not to break or destroy the product