The Creative Process

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The creative process is often not responsive to conscious efforts to initiate or control it. It does not proceed methodically or in programmatic fashion. It meanders. It is unpredictable, digressive, capricious. As one scientist put it, “I can schedule my lab hours, but I can’t schedule my best ideas.”

Creative individuals have the capacity to free themselves from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught. They don’t spend much time asking “What will people say?” The fact that “everybody’s doing it” doesn’t mean they’re doing it. They question assumptions that the rest of us accept. As J. P. Guilford has pointed out, they are particularly gifted in seeing the gap between what is and what could be (which means, of course, that they have achieved a certain measure of detachment from what is.

It is easy to fall into the romantic exaggeration in speaking of the capacity of people of originality to stand apart. Those who are responsible for the great innovative performances have always built on the work of others, and have enjoyed many kinds of social support, stimulation and communication. They are independent but they are not adrift.

John Gardner, Self-Renewal

Articles of interest about journalism, fakes, social media - Jan 18

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***THE VIRUS 

Will your neighbors get the vaccine? The percentage by count  

When can grandparents safely visit with grandkids after they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19

Americans have unrealistic expectations for a COVID-19 vaccine

The Maddening Red Tape Facing Older People Who Want the Vaccine 

***JOURNALISM

Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2021

Measuring progress on inclusivity in Journalism

Now It Can Be Told: How Neil Sheehan Got The Pentagon Papers 

Tiny News Collective aims to launch 500 new local news organizations

***FREE SPEECH 

The First Amendment doesn't guarantee you the rights you think it does

Supreme Court wrestles with Georgia college free speech case

***FAKES & FRAUDS 

How to Spot a Fake Social Media Account 

How Anti-Vaccine Movement Could Hurt Efforts To End Pandemic 

How can the Biden administration reduce scientific disinformation? Slow the high-pressure pace of scientific publishing ($)

What covering heavy metal taught me about spotting Nazis

Links between online misinformation and real-world violence were always a problem “over there.” The Capitol Hill riot shows otherwise.

'She was deep into it': Ashli Babbitt, killed in Capitol riot, was devoted conspiracy theorist

***QANON

The QAnon 'Shaman' Is Turning Indigenous Culture Into Cosplay

QAnon believer who plotted to kill Nancy Pelosi came to D.C. ready for war

QAnon Conspiracy Theories Are Being Promoted by Wellness Influencers

The QAnon Doctor Pushing Wild Conspiracies About The COVID Vaccine  

How QAnon-Like Conspiracy Theories Tear Families Apart 

***THE FIGHT AGAINST FAKE NEWS 

Google is giving $3 million to news orgs to fact-check vaccine misinformation 

Fake news victims deploy lawsuits to shut down lies and disinformation

Site That Traffics In Misinformation Fills Void Left By Struggling Newspaper

***SOCIAL MEDIA  

How lawmakers’ social media activity changed in the days after the U.S. Capitol riot

Far-right groups migrate to smaller apps

How Social Media Can Approach Free Speech During A Polarizing Time

Every Video Ever Posted to Parler Is Now Available to Download

Trump supporters flock to MeWe, Gab, and Rumble after Parler goes offline

An annual survey on how social media is used as a news source

Does 'deplatforming' work? Trump's most extreme fans will find him, research says

***PRIVACY & SECURITY 

Parler’s amateur coding could come back to haunt Capitol Hill rioters

***POETRY

Poetry Challenge: Honor MLK By Describing How You Dream A World

How L.A.’s Amanda Gorman became Biden’s inauguration poet

Articles of interest about religion, politics, & the virus - Jan 15

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***THE VIRUS

What COVID-19 will look like once the pandemic ends

Flu cases have been shockingly low during the pandemic. Here why.

Experts have worked out how long you stay immune for after catching COVID  

Disappointing Chinese Vaccine Results Pose Setback for Developing World ($)  

How Scientists Trace New Coronavirus Variants 

COVID-19 severity linked to gut bacteria in first-of-its-kind study  

Moderna thinks its vaccine will protect against the coronavirus for at least a year

***RELIGION AND THE ATTACK ON THE CAPITOL  

Wheaton College faculty condemn 'abuses of Christian symbols' at Capitol siege

Evangelicals and other faith leaders still support Trump after deadly US Capitol attack  

Why pro-Trump evangelicals brought shofars to DC this week

About 60 of the 138 House members who objected to the Electoral College count were evangelical Christians  

A Christian Insurrection: Many of those who mobbed the Capitol on claimed to be enacting God’s will

How Prominent Evangelicals Reacted to the Capitol Riot

They Invaded the Capitol Saying ‘Jesus Is My Savior. Trump Is My President’  

***OPINIONS ABOUT THE ATTACK

What Americans believe about violence against the government (opinion)  

Capitol rioters made a mockery of Christian values (opinion)

A Call For Evangelical Reckoning (opinion)  

Donald Trump and the future of our faith (opinion) 

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

US set for flurry of ‘Christian nationalist’ bills advanced by religious right

Trump Ignites a War Within the Church ($)

How White Evangelical Christians Fused With Trump Extremism 

Franklin Graham “shames” the ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump  

For some Christians, the Capitol riot doesn’t change the prophecy: Trump will be president ($)  

Charismatics are at war with each other over prophecies of Trump victory 

Most Evangelical Trump Voters Didn’t Turn on Mike Pence 

State Department Office Sees Last-Minute Surge of New Evangelical Appointees

The U.S. Senators who objected to the Electoral College results were almost all evangelicals

***RELIGIOUN & FINANCIES

Religious nonprofits scramble to get enough donations to match the surge in community needs

***DENOMINATIONS

Denominational leaders denounce Capitol violence while evangelicals offer mixed responses

Southern Baptist Convention leader calls for president’s resignation 

***MEGACHURCHES

Houston megachurch pastor sentenced to 6 years in prison for bilking investors

The Majority of American Megachurches Are Now Multiracial

Healing in Freedom

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Being loving is far more therapeutic that being correct. People need first to believe that you are willing to let them be who they are. If you attempt to direct another person’s every move, you eventually lose your effectiveness, no matter how correct you may be. Freedom for each of us is to be who and what we are, that’s the cornerstone of an influential life.

When you give freedom to others, it doesn’t mean you are lowering your standards or that you don’t care about them. It means you are providing an atmosphere to let others think and feel and act without excessive pressure to fit your mold. The paradox is that when others sense the freedom you offer, they are more attracted to you. They key is to learn how to use this freedom.

Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control

Staying Power

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Life is tumultuous – an endless losing and regaining of balance, a continuous struggle, never an assured victory. We need a hardbitten morale that enables us to face these truths and still strive with every ounce of our energy to prevail.

But there is no possibility of sustaining ourselves in that effort if our values and beliefs are so weakened that nothing seems worth the struggle. First and last, humans live by ideas that validate their striving, ideas that say it’s worth living and trying.

John Gardner, Self-Renewal

It’s all about the long term

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If everything you do needs to work on a three-year time horizon, then you’re competing against a lot of people. But if you’re willing to invest on a seven-year time horizon, you’re now competing against a fraction of those people, because very few (people) are willing to do that. Just by lengthening the time horizon, you can engage in endeavors that you could never otherwise pursue. At Amazon we like things to work in five to seven years. We’re willing to plant seeds, let them grow—and we’re very stubborn. We say we’re stubborn on vision and flexible on details. In some cases, things are inevitable. The hard part is that you don’t know how long it might take, but you know it will happen if you’re patient enough. So you can do these things with conviction if you are long-term-oriented and patient.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder (born Jan 12, 1964)

(The title of this post comes from the title of the first shareholders letter Bezos' sent in 1997) 

Articles of interest about higher ed - Jan 11

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 ***THE VIRUS  

UN: COVID-19 herd immunity unlikely in 2021 despite vaccines

US COVID-19 death toll still among the worst in the world

Can you still spread Covid-19 if you get the vaccine?

538 Answers All (Or At Least Some) Of Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions

***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS 

Where Campuses Reopened, Covid-19 Cases Spiked--Where Colleges Went Remote, They Declined ($)

Study Provides Evidence for a 7-Day Quarantine for University Students Exposed to COVID-19

UC San Diego introduces vending machines for COVID-19 tests

Pandemic Worsens Existing Challenges At Public Colleges And Universities

For some colleges, COVID-19 ‘accelerated innovation’ in how to adapt

***HIGHER ED & THE VACCINES

Should college students be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine? It’s too early for colleges to decide

Colleges Weigh Whether to Require Covid-19 Vaccines, or Just Urge Them ($)

***SPRING SEMESTER 

Stanford pulls plug on the return of freshmen and sophomores to campus ($) 

Pitt asks students to delay return to campus  

Universities Are Again Delaying The Start Of Spring Semester: Syracuse, Michigan State, Penn State Among The Latest 

***HIGHER ED & POLITICS

Thousands of law school alumni and students push for disbarment of Sens. Hawley and Cruz 

Universities issue statements Condemning Capitol Rioting

How Biden’s Education Department will tackle pandemic and Trump-era policies

Two private institutions revoked Trump's honorary degree

***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS 

Amid pressure from alumni, Guilford College trustees reverse plans to slash academic majors and faculty jobs

Shippensburg University faculty member demands action to save jobs and university education for working-class students

***COLLEGE FINANCES 

Universities pay millions to departing football coaches  

As pandemic wears on, colleges and universities grapple with how to survive 

Universities are outsourcing billions of dollars worth of services

American colleges are facing a $130 billion dollar crisis

 ***HIGHER ED IN COURT 

Columbia University Settles complicated Sexual Assault Case ($)

Judge orders LSU to turn over complete police report sought in USA TODAY lawsuit

***HUMANITIES 

Why we need the arts and humanities to get us through the COVID-19 pandemic

***FREE SPEECH

Why one man’s Supreme Court case against his school is uniting the ACLU with the Catholic Church

The fraught balancing act between free speech & cracking down on campus support for rioters & incendiary language   

U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Cheerleader Free Speech Dispute

Community College agrees to get rid of speech zones after federal lawsuit

***ONLINE CHEATING   

Chinese Government to Randomly Check Student Theses for Plagiarism

Jerusalem's university wants to film students during online tests to crack down against cheating

West Point cheating scandal involved mostly athletes, including 24 football players on Liberty Bowl team

***ACADEMIC LIFE  

Arizona State University Workers Demand Remote Learning, Access To Vaccines

Chapman University President Condemns Controversial Law Professor Who Aided Trump

As the spring semester dawns, a pep talk for college educators

UC Berkeley instructors reflect on semester unlike any another amid COVID-19

***ADMINISTRATORS

University of Maryland Provost resigns

Auburn University Provost facing no-confidence vote Tuesday

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS  

Grand Canyon University statement on Christianity and race/ethnicity

Former State Rep. Rick Saccone Resigns From Position At St. Vincent College After Posting Video From U.S. Capitol  

Turnover Rate Rising for Christian College Presidents

Robin Rylaarsdam Named Provost of Bethel University  

***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

Liberty sues Higher Ed Council and Northam, alleging online courses discriminated against 

Liberty Univ. is lone holdout on rescinding Pres. Trump's honorary degrees

***RESEARCH 

Can Publishers Maintain Control of the Scholarly Record?

The majority of COVID-19 research is composed by publications without original data

Study: peer review and editorial processes do not penalize manuscripts by women   https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/2/eabd0299

Our findings suggest that authors often disregard advice from peer reviewers after rejection

***STUDENT LIFE 

Pennsylvania School District Asks Supreme Court To Allow It To Continue To Violate Students' First Amendment Rights

Inside the Lives of White Students at Historically Black Colleges

About 85 percent of 14K students responding to survey said the pandemic had a negative effect on their performance

America Is Pumping Out Too Many Ph.D.s

Student Journalists Are Fighting for Protection After Covering the Crises of 2020

***COLLEGE ADMISSIONS 

How the pandemic is shaking up college admissions and testing

Covid is making it harder to get into a top college

***RACIAL ISSUES ON CAMPUS

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant football coach fired over racist tweet 

Lawsuit Claims University of Michigan Professor Harassed Researcher

A step into authenticity

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Transition may not be simply a step toward an outlook that is more appropriate to the life-phase that we are actually in. It can also be a step toward our own more authentic presence in the world. That would mean that we come out of a transition knowing ourselves better and being more willing to express who we really are, whenever we choose to do so. It would also mean that we are more often willing to trust that who-we-really-are is all right—is valid and a person capable of dealing with the world.

William Bridges, The Way of Transition

Articles of interest about journalism, social media, fakes & more - Jan 7

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***THE VIRUS  

Covid-19 immunity likely lasts for years

U.S. Is Blind to Contagious New Virus Variant, Scientists Warn ($)  

New Study Shows What Causes Brain Damage In COVID-19 Patients

***JOURNALISM

Why it’s so difficult for journalists to get inside hospitals to document COVID-19 cases

How Newspapers Reacted To The Insurrectionist Takeover Of The US Capitol

The role of Mark Schlefer in the development of the Freedom of Information Act ($) 

Examining How The Trump Years Helped To Shape The Media

***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM 

Study: Newsrooms Lost Over 16,000 Jobs In 2020

How Britain’s first black female TV reporter was forced out

Gazette announces layoffs, buyouts amid pandemic

The Courier Journal will be printed remotely with the closing of its downtown presses

Newspapers And TV Stations Got Special Access To PPP Loans. Digital Media Didn’t

***FAKES & FRAUDS 

QAnon Conspiracy Theories And Misinformation: 'Bonkers' What Americans Believe

On Facebook and Twitter, people are posting a lot about misinformation

Channel 4 under fire for deepfake Queen's Christmas message

***CONSPIRACIES & THE VACCINE 

Wisconsin pharmacist accused of trying to destroy Covid vaccine is 'conspiracy theorist,' authorities say

Misinformation Spread By Anti-Science Groups Endangers COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts

***CONSPIRACIES & THE ELECTION

No, antifa did not invade the Capitol

A right-wing conspiracy theorist who allegedly planted a hoax bomb that forced evacuation of a New York City mall

False Claims Fuel Trump's Election Result Disinformation Campaign

How Election Fraud Claims May Disenfranchise Black Voters

OANN is doubling down on election conspiracy theories after Dominion threatened the network with a defamation lawsuit

***SOCIAL MEDIA & APPS

Facebook Pages Redesign Eliminates 'Like' Button To Focus On Followers

Twitter and Facebook Lock Trump’s Accounts After Violence on Capitol Hill

Politicians Turn To TikTok To Appeal To Younger Voters

Best apps to download now for your new iPhone or iPad

The 26 best new apps of 2020

***PRIVACY & SECURITY 

App privacy labels show stark contrasts among messaging apps

SolarWinds hack may have been much wider than first thought

Flash is finally dead. Here's how to remove it from your computer

Security camera installation: 8 tips from the pros

The coming war over location data

***LITERATURE

With 'The Great Gatsby' In Public Domain, Artists Riff On Classic Story  

In 'Great Gatsby' Prequel, Narrator 'Nick' Finally Gets His Own Backstory

'The Great Gatsby' Enters Public Domain

The Post-Trump Future of Literature (opinion) ($)

***POETRY

Poetry Escapes The Beauty Bind In 'Wound From The Mouth Of A Wound' 

The New Yorker’s Year in Poetry

How Poets Use Punctuation as a Superpower and a Secret Weapon