We can choose
/We cannot choose to have a life free of hurt. But we can choose to be free. -Auschwitz survivor Edith Eva Eger
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Neighbor gives up COVID-19 vaccine appointment to stranger in need
/#GOODNEWS
Grandmother Emily Johnson of Austin, Texas, was in need of open-heart surgery, but her doctor said she had to have one vaccination before the operation. ABC News has a video report below or you can read the story here.
Articles of interest about journalism, scams, writing & more - Feb 25
/***COIVD-19
Studies Examine Variant Surging in California, and the News Isn’t Good
CDC says there’s one thing you shouldn’t do within 2 weeks of your coronavirus vaccine
Clergy On The Pandemic Front Lines: 'How Do We Really Grieve?'
What Could Happen If You Miss Your Second Covid-19 Vaccine Dose?
***JOURNALISM
A rule for good journalism: What is missing from this story?
Texas journalists are providing critical information about a disaster they’re living through
With the Loss of Physical Newsrooms, How are Young Journalists Faring?
One America News clashes again with White House correspondents over Trump-approved camera tent ($)
Trying a Des Moines Register reporter arrested while covering a protest violates free press rights (opinion)
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Pandemic drives nonprofit media boom
Al Jazeera to launch rightwing media platform targeting US conservatives
Judge rejects Rep. Nunes' defamation lawsuit against CNN
Sale Of Tribune Publishing To Alden Global Capital Raises Concerns In Newsrooms
The news media bargaining code could backfire if small media outlets aren’t protected: an economist explains
***FREE SPEECH
DOJ Settles First Amendment Suit Over White House Press Access
***WRITING: MICROSOFT WORD
Microsoft Word getting killer upgrade to battle Google Docs
This new Microsoft Word feature is bound to be a hit, especially with slow typists
***WRITING & READING
AI can write a passing college paper in 20 minutes
Slow Down and Write Better Emails
What does a manuscript rejection really mean? (probably not what you think)
Library staffer fired after being accused of burning Trump, Coulter books
The rise of Black science fiction and fantasy
***FAKES & FRAUDS
Science Is Truth Until It Isn’t
People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests
Nearly 30,000 Macs reportedly infected with mysterious malware
The viral Mars Perseverance rover video going around is fake
The Disinformation Vaccine: Is There a Cure for Conspiracy Theories?
Scientists said claims about China creating the coronavirus were misleading
***SCAMS
Scam alert: Caller tells viewer she must pay to watch TV newscast
Online scammers are rushing to exploit people desperate to get the Covid-19 vaccine
7 Podcasts About the Art of the Scam ($)
***FAKE NEWS
Dominion's MyPillow and Smartmatic's Fox News election suits put 'disinformation' on trial
Fake News? How to spot a deep fake
How memes became a major vehicle for misinformation
***QANON
Pizzagate’s violent legacy ($)
Life amid the ruins of QAnon: ‘I wanted my family back’ ($)
***SOCIAL MEDIA
From Clubhouse to Discord to Twitter, The Future of Social Media Is All Talk
Facebook says it will pay news industry $1 billion over 3 years
Facebook Hashtag Purge Fails To Stop Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories Spreading
Facebook knew for years ad reach estimates were based on 'wrong data' per court filing
Facebook’s underground obituary pages
***SECURITY
France to boost cyberdefense after hospital malware attacks
Owner of app that hijacked millions of Android devices with one update exposes buy-to-infect scam
Microsoft: SolarWinds attack took more than 1,000 engineers to create
Ransomware gangs are running riot – paying them off doesn't help
How to stop robocalls: Every way we know to prevent the annoying ringing
***PRIVACY
You’ve been invited to Clubhouse. Your privacy hasn’t.
Tracker pixels in emails are now an ‘endemic’ privacy concern
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Audio takes off during the pandemic
***LANGUAGE
The Made-Up Language That Accidentally Became Real: The Story of Klingon
***POETRY
Beat poet, publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti dies at 101
Poems by 10 Contemporary Black Poets
An experimental program enrolled students from high-poverty high schools in a Harvard poetry course, and the students excelled
Thanks to Undocupoets, poets don’t need papers to be heard
The way to love
/The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. -G. K. Chesterton
Getting ahead
/The way to get ahead is to overdeliver. -Jack Welch
Getting the Big Picture
/Without some grasp of the meaning of their relationship to the whole, it is not easy for individuals to retain a vivid sense of their own capacity to act as individuals, a sure sense of their own dignity and an awareness of their roles and responsibilities. They tend to accept the spectator role and to sink into passivity.
John Gardner, Self-Renewal
the widest possible difference
/Between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference. -Frederick Douglass (died Feb 20, 1895)
Inconvenient Conclusions
/Conspiracy theories may be deployed as a rhetorical tool to escape inconvenient conclusions. People selectively appeal to a conspiracy among scientists to explain away a scientific consensus when their political ideology compels them to do so—but not when the scientific consensus is of no relevance to their politics.
Stephan Lewandowsky & John Cook, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook
Articles of interest about higher ed - Feb 19
/***COVID-19
Why a failure to vaccinate the world will put us all at risk
Coronavirus Variants and Mutations ($)
Scientists Are Trying to Spot New Viruses Before They Cause Pandemics ($)
What do we know about the rare disease affecting children with COVID-19?
***HIGHER ED & COVID
Here's the State Where the Most College Students Got COVID-19
Some states treat college educators the same as teachers for getting vaccine—but many are not
Resident assistants, campus housing staffers push for access to coronavirus vaccines ($)
Some Campuses Have Already Eclipsed Their Fall Covid-19 Case Totals. What’s Going On?
***COVID AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS
Reinfections of COVID-19 confirmed on UW-Madison campus
University of San Diego institutes stay-on-campus order due to COVID-19 spike
Penn State among the nation's first to offer a class on COVID-19
***HIGHER ED & POLITICS
Kansas lawmakers want tuition refunds for college classes put online due to COVID
Biden pares back Trump apprenticeship program
***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS
Wright State president to recommend up to 113 faculty positions be eliminated
Marquette University Laid Off 39 In January. Staff And Students Fear More Cuts Are To Come
University of Central Florida workers ‘blindsided’ when their jobs were eliminated
***COLLEGE FINANCES
Where states are boosting or slashing higher ed funding amid the pandemic
Historic Black colleges to get $650,000 to preserve campuses
Think Twice Before Rolling Out a Tuition Reset ($)
***HIGHER ED & THE WINTER STORM
Colleges shiver through dangerous conditions from record winter weather
Dwindling food, flooded halls, unflushable toilets: Texas’ university dorms descend into chaos
***HUMANITIES
'Arts graduates are flexible': why humanities degrees are making a comeback
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Fresno State women's lacrosse players file lawsuit against university
UW-Madison sued for allegedly hiding critical comments from its social media accounts
Parents sue Univ of Michigan after doctors told them wrong daughter was at high risk for cancer
***TEACHING
Neural nets yield clues to how brains learn
Did positive thinking boost college faculty's online teaching?
I Actually Like Teaching on Zoom (opinion)
Professor realizes at end of 2-hour Zoom lecture that he was on mute
Google rolls out a slew of upgrades to improve virtual classrooms
Chegg, accused of helping students cheat, reports ‘best year’ and raises 2021 guidance
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Scottish University Draws Ire for Dismissing Female Gender Studies Lead
English departments rethink what to call themselves
Blowback from Oregon State faculty on Reser Stadium project is a misfire
Professor quits after posing as female immigrant on Twitter
***ADMINISTRATORS
4 in 10 College Administrators Unconcerned about Cyberattacks
Fayetteville State gets new chancellor
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Azusa Pacific University back open after threat prompted temporary evacuations
Southwest Baptist University Trustees Reverse Some Tenure/Promotion Denials
Political ramblings out of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Center for Public Theology ($)
***RESEARCH
Hundreds of ‘predatory’ journals indexed on leading scholarly database Scopus
How Scientometrics Became the Most Important Science for Researchers of All Specialties
COVID-19 has triggered a huge amount of research, but also a deluge” of research waste
A better approach for dealing with reproducibility and replicability in science (opinion)
A review of 1.1 million Twitter links to scholarly articles found that half drew no clicks
***STUDENT LIFE
Why Do Adults Return To College? It’s More Complex Than Higher Ed Leaders’ Data Suggest
The Columbia University student strike is about far more than tuition
More International Grad Students Wanted to Come to the U.S., but Couldn’t ($)
UCLA student who stormed Capitol, sat in Pence’s Senate chamber chair arrested in Costa Mesa
Indigenous and LGBTQ Students' Mental Health Most Hurt by Pandemic
Pandemic spurs colleges to 'meet students where they're at,' provide flexible options
Minnesota college students with children face overwhelming balancing act during pandemic
College student who planned on being a pediatrician dies of COVID
The Future of Media is Being Written at College Newspapers
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
A UCSD Professor Sent a Student Porn. Here’s Why it Took a Year to Fire Him.
Lawsuit filed against University of Illinois over alleged sexual abuse
***RACIAL ISSUES ON CAMPUS
Resignations of Black faculty at St. Olaf College leave students seeking answers
Harassment cases revive worries of racism at Boston College
Accused of Racism, University of North Texas Professor Sues School over 'Academic Free Speech'
Bluefield College basketball players to stay in locker room during anthem
Lehigh University professor’s remarks about race and poverty draw criticism from students, faculty
Articles of interest about religion - Feb 18
/***COVID-19
Visualization of who has died from COVID-19
Thousands of service members saying no to COVID-19 vaccine
Tech-savvy readers share tips for hunting vaccine appointments online ($)
Pfizer says South African variant could significantly reduce vaccine protection
100,000 potentially impacted by COVID-19 vaccine mistake
***RELIGION & THE VIRUS
Evangelicals struggle to combat coronavirus misinformation, researcher says
Covid-19 has upended churchgoing in the US, and, the impacts are not felt equally
***RELIGION & BUSINESS
How Christian Bookstores Survived 2020
Owner of the Largest Black-Owned Christian Publishing Company, Melvin Banks, Dies at 86
***THE NONRELIGIOUS
Behind the gender difference of nonreligious Americans
Can You Ever Completely Give Up Your Religion?
***BLACK CHURCHES
Black churches in America are having a moment
To Understand America, You Need to Understand the Black Church
Survey of Faith Among Black Americans
***YOUTH & RELIGION
Why the Children of Immigrants Are Returning to Their Religious Roots
Study shows younger people lack faith in religious institutions
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Pro-Trump Christian Radio Host Eric Metaxas on Biden and Nazis
How the Christian right helped foment insurrection
About three in five white evangelicals told the pollsters that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Supreme Court says Alabama cannot execute inmate without his pastor present
***CATHOLIC
Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop
Priest dies after San Francisco Catholic church shutters amid COVID-19 outbreak
***MEGACHURCHES
After outcry, L.A. megachurch postpones March conference for 3,500
Wife of Miami Megachurch pastor says in divorce papers he is illegally profiting from the megachurch ($)
Televangelist Frederick K.C. Price dies following hospitalization for Covid-19
***CHRISTIAN SINGERS
Died: Carman, Christian Showman Who Topped Charts with Triumphant Faith
Kirk Franklin calls out homophobia in the church: 'Nothing to do with the Bible'
Amy Grant gives health update after open-heart surgery for rare condition
Gospel Singer Reveals He was Molested, Calls on the Church to Be Better at Helping Victims Find Healing
***LGBTQ
LGBTQ singer-songwriter has No. 1 Christian album on iTunes
Max Lucado Apologizes For His ‘Hurtful’ Sermon On Same-Sex Marriage
***CHRISTIAN CELEBRITIES
Christian Prophets Are on the Rise. What Happens When They’re Wrong?
Former NFL star walks away from $37.5 million for faith calling
***RAVI ZACHARIAS
Ravi Zacharias Hid Hundreds of Pictures of Women, Abuse During Massages, and a Rape Allegation
Staffer Reveals ‘Toxic’ Culture Following Report Exposing Ravi Zacharias’ Sexual Misconduct
***DAVE RAMSEY
Dave Ramsey & The loaded theological heritage of evangelical personal finance teachings (opinion)
Dave Ramsey is against stimulus checks: "You have a mental health problem"
***RELIGION OUTSIDE OF THE US
When the Dalai Lama dies, his reincarnation will be a religious crisis. Here's how it will happen
***ISLAM
The many ways Muslims in prison are denied religious rights
A 14-year-old was told she couldn’t play volleyball because of her hijab. She fought back. ($)
The unexamined life
/The unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates
The creative spirit
/Children are naturally creative, playful, and experimental. If you ask me, we were the most human when we were young kids. We "worked" on our art. Sometimes for hours at a time without a break, because it was in us, though we did intellectualize it. As we got older, fears crept in, and doubts, and self-censoring, and over-thinking. The creative spirit is in us now, it’s who we are. We just need to look at the kids around us to be reminded of that. And whether you are 28 or 88 today, it’s never too late, because the child is still in you.
Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen
The contours of our heart
/The type of human being we prefer reveals the contours of our heart. -Ortega T Gassett
Articles of interest about journalism, fakes, writing, security & more - Feb 15
/***COVID-19
Four Reasons Experts Say Coronavirus Cases Are Dropping In The US
Virus may never go away but could change into mild annoyance
Will COVID-19 Change How We Think About Disability?
Lack of health services and transportation impede access to vaccine in communities of color
***JOURNALISM
Microsoft warns enterprises of new 'dependency confusion' attack technique
Covering multicultural education: 7 tips for journalists
journalist get sued for requesting a public record
At age 92, former journalist publishes her 1st book
It's Official: Linguistic Intent No Longer Matters at The New York Times
Seth Abramson’s viral meta-journalism unreality
***JOURNALISM OUTSIDE THE US
In China, journalists are targets and collateral
A crackdown on India’s press is the latest in a pattern of intimidation against news outlets
Mexico arrests ex-governor in case of tortured journalist
U.S.-Linked Forces Are Detaining A Prominent Journalist In Yemen
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
As newspapers close across Chicago suburbs, one local nonprofit newsroom steps in
The media doesn't own publishing anymore
Bloomberg Media expects 9-figure consumer subscription biz
Trump era pushes NYT to new heights
New Statesman digital subscriptions have grown by 75 per cent in a single year
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Best free alternatives to Photoshop in 2021
How to use your GoPro as a webcam, since Zoom calls aren't going anywhere
***WRITING & READING
Why digital writing tools are a ‘double-edged sword’ for dyslexic kids
School pulls book about transgender boy after complaints
Is there really a ‘science of reading’ that tells us exactly how to teach kids to read? ($)
How Getting Canceled on Social Media Can Derail a Book Deal
***FAKES, FRAUDS & SCAMS
The best podcasts on conspiracy theories and disinformation
Internal Revenue Service warns of tax phishing scam
Deepfake videos are ruining women’s lives. Now the law may finally ban it.
20 ways to spot the work of paper mills
When’s the best time to correct fake news? After someone’s already read it, apparently
***FACEBOOK FAKES
Almost half a million users duped by Facebook phishing campaign
Facebook says it'll ban anti-vax content, again
***FAKE NEWS
The Epoch Times is now spreading disinformation through new brands
Ted Cruz Shares Fake Satire Disney Job Ad Post
A look at what didn’t happen this week
***FAKE VACCINE INFO
Instagram removes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over false COVID-19 vaccine claims
Three Baltimore County men charged with building a fraudulent website to sell COVID-19 vaccines
***QANON
'They're unrecognizable': One woman reflects on losing her parents to QAnon
Sad QAnon Followers Are at a Precarious Pivot Point
***SOCIAL MEDIA
How to delete your Clubhouse account and why you might want to
Social media played a central role in Trump's second impeachment trial
Snapchat urges users to remove unwanted connections
Instagram Is Developing a TikTok-Style 'Vertical Stories' Feed
With Local News Struggling, The NextDoor App Is Shaping Local Politics
Facebook Saves Links Shared On Messenger And Instagram
Facebook sued for 'losing control' of users’ data
Twitter Effort To Quell Misinformation Calls On Users To Fact-Check Tweets
Twitter Considers Subscription Fee for Tweetdeck, Unique Content
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Thought-detection: AI has infiltrated our last bastion of privacy
Despite Scanning Millions With Facial Recognition, Feds Caught Zero Imposters at Airports Last Year
Microsoft warns enterprises of new 'dependency confusion' attack technique
Your email and password were probably posted online in the mother of all data leaks
Google is bringing one of its best security features to the iPhone
Patient records stolen from Florida and Texas hospitals get published on the dark web
A Swiss Company Says It Found Weakness That Imperils Encryption
Cisco warns of critical remote code execution flaws in these small business VPN routers
***LANGUAGE
The evolution of the meaning of 'Cancel Culture
What are the benefits to learning a second language?
***LITERATURE
A new film, The Most Reluctant Convert, follows author’s conversion from atheism to Christianity
11 Songs Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
When Black kids – shut out from children’s literature – took matters into their own hands
***POETRY
This Dark Prince of American Poetry Writes With Glittering Malice
The sacred present
/Here you are! In the sacred present. I can’t heal you—or anyone—but I can celebrate your choice to dismantle the prison in your mind. Brick by brick. You can’t change what happened, you can’t change what you did or what was done to you. But you can choose how you live now.
Auschwitz survivor Edith Eva Eger in her book The Choice
Shaped & Fashioned
/We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. -Johann Von Goethe
Articles of interest about higher ed - Feb 12
/***COVID-19
Can COVID-19 Be Transmitted Through Frozen Food Shipments?
A significant share of people now have at least some immunity to the virus ($)
Why Swedish towns are banning masks
Researchers Learn What’s Driving ‘Brain Fog’ in People with COVID-19
We Asked People Who Lost Their Taste to COVID: What Do You Eat in a Day?
Virus is here to stay, but perhaps as a lesser threat
***THE VACCINES
Japan to discard millions of Pfizer vaccine doses because it has wrong syringes
So you got the vaccine. Can you still infect people? Pfizer is trying to find out.
Why Is It So Hard To Figure Out Where To Get Vaccinated For COVID-19?
***HIGHER ED & COVID
Spring Semester Brings In-Person Classes And COVID-19 Spikes For Some Colleges
Colleges Vowed a Safer Spring. Then Students, and Variants, Arrived ($)
***COVID AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS
UC Berkeley mandates weeklong sequester period for residential hall students
Auburn University Fully Returning to On-Campus Operations
***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS
Students And Alumni at St. Mary’s College of Maryland Rally Amid Talk Of Potential Programs Cuts
Faculty Union at City College of San Francisco Criticizes Moves Towards Layoffs
Indiana University of Pennsylvania cuts more than 80 jobs, alters 100 degree programs
University of Evansville spares music department from chopping block
The fight at Ithaca college over plans to cut 116 full-time positions
University of Kansas faculty group decries dismissal policy
***COLLEGE FINANCES
For-profit colleges brace for reckoning in Biden era
St. Joe’s and University of the Sciences have proposed a merger
SUNY Brockport facing $10M budget gap as ‘far fewer’ students returning to campus
Giving to colleges flattens without Bloomberg gift in 2020, ending decade of growth
***HIGHER ED
Some facts worth knowing about the history of higher education
How Universities Can Cope Amid a Ransomware Perfect Storm
Public Colleges Are Going After Adult Students Online. Are They Already Too Late?
University of Oregon reports record number of fall term freshman applications
***HUMANITIES
Reasons Why Liberal Arts Majors Succeed in Business
A Small College Hopes to Claim Artificial Intelligence for the Liberal Arts
***COLLEGE EMPLOYEES IN COURT
Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by campus wellness center worker against Lehigh University
Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against College of Southern Nevada, employee
***ONLINE CLASSES
What 114 Pre-Pandemic Studies About ‘Flipped’ Classrooms Could Tell Us About Refining Our Approach to Remote Learning in 2021
***ACADEMIC LIFE
University of Akron reaches tentative contract agreement with faculty after tumultuous year
Group of University North Carolina faculty calls for chancellor's resignation after Silent Sam revelations
Nearly half of all physics chairs report their department is under some level of threat
A Student Stole My Academic Work, Copied My Tattoos and Gave Talks Pretending To Be Me
Christian University Faculty Targeted for Social Media Posts Questioning Transgender Policies
***ACADEMICS IN COURT
N.J. university sued over ‘outrageous’ firing of tenured professors ($)
Litigious Ohio State professor loses appeal in federal defamation case
Court fines historian over claims of Holocaust survivor's lesbian affair
English professor joins lawsuit against Chancellor, Provost at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
***ADMINISTRATORS
University of Tennessee chancellor reflects on how grief has shaped her approach to life
St. Ambrose University announces next president
President of North Dakota State censured by Faculty Senate over provost appointment
After allegations of secret gifts, a chancellor emeritus is fired
Le Moyne College provost named president of University of Scranton
***CHRISTIAN COLLEGES
Vandals repeatedly target campus home of the University of the South's new vice chancellor
Virginia asks judge to dismiss Liberty University lawsuit over financial aid changes
Lipscomb University President transitions to chancellor role in 2021
Gordon College bids end to professors discrimination suit based on ministerial exception
Evangelical Colleges Consider the Future of Online Education After COVID-19
Valparaiso University drops Crusader mascot ($)
Imagining the future of theological education
***BAYLOR
Baylor panel: Campus censorship being driven by students, not administrators:
Baylor and Southwestern settle suit that claimed a foundation was trying to misuse millions intended for the two schools
***RESEARCH
An ugly truth about scientific publishing
Standardizing terminology for text recycling in research writing
We must clear out the rubbish fouling up the scientific pipeline ($)
5 Things We Learned About Peer Review in 2020
Academics Look to Restore Integrity to Science, Research
***RETRACTIONS
Springer charges $40 to read a 2003 retracted paper and another $40 for the retraction notice
New bot flags scientific studies that cite retracted papers
One publisher, more than 7000 retractions
***STUDENT LIFE
Civil Rights Group Threatens Suit Over Bar Exam Facial Scans
Two Orange Coast College students found dead in dorms
1 in 10 US college students experience period poverty, report says
Some public universities act as if they have 24/7 authority over students: The students are fighting back
***STUDENTS IN COURT
Former University of Illinois student at heart of prof's resignation charged with filing false reports against ex
Lawsuit alleges Wake Forrest was negligent in student's fatal shooting
University of Louisville student files lawsuit alleging university 'deprived' students of in-person college experience
Robinhood sued by family of college student who took his life
Court Rules Against Fordham Student in Class Action Lawsuit for Tuition Reductions During Pandemic
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
LSU under federal investigation for Clery Act violations after sexual assault complaints
Rhode Island School of Design pay a former student and survivor of sexual assault $2.5 million
Ohio University professor found to have sexually harassed two women shouldn’t lose tenure, Faculty Senate says
***COLLEGES & RACIAL ISSUES
Virginia College forfeits basketball game after players suspended for kneeling during national anthem
Education Department Disproportionally Selected Black, Hispanic Students for Audit
Michigan university in turmoil after white professor says he’s faced discrimination for 40 years ($)
Trump’s controversial diversity training order is dead – or is it? Colleges are still feeling its effects
Alabama university removes Wallace name from building
Black student sues University of Tennessee: 'Professional conduct rules are created to keep minorities out'
If you want to test a man's character
/Nearly all men can stand adversity. but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. -Abraham Lincoln (born Feb 12, 1809)
Two wrongs
/Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.