It’s been a long time since I’ve put a roundup together, and it turns out to be a fairly short list, but hopefully this will get my back into a regular blogging routine…
I find myself really bothered by the whole “voter fraud” crackdown, as it seems to be a cheap ploy to curtail voting especially among minority populations and those in poverty. As The Atlantic reports, an extensive search of “illegal voters” in Florida found exactly 1 person (who happens to be from Austria and collects guns). Also from The Atlantic and worth reading, The Ballot Cops, takes a good look at the fine line between “observation” and “intimidation” and the long history of using these tactics particularly against minority groups. (Sara Silverman also has a few thoughts on this, you can find it here, it’s funny, but Sara does drop the f-bomb multiple times so not safe for work or people who are easily offended).
Emily C. Heath: How to Tell if Your Religious Liberty is Being Threatened in 10 Quick Questions.
Seth Godin: The People Who Came Before You. (The reason why more people don’t come to church? Maybe, because they’ve already been there… and the experience wasn’t good).
I’ll keep myself from commentary of Mitt Romney’s “47% of Americans” comment, but feel free to check out Fred Clark’s take (and additional links) on it.
Lifehacker: How to Opt Out of Facebook’s Newest Attempt to Track Everything You Do. I get why Facebook needs to do this from a monetary standpoint, and I can even understand the case of why additional information means more (better?) targeted advertising, but each step on this path makes me wonder more and more why I have a Facebook account.
Good: How to Start an Urban Farm in a Post-Industrial City. My friends in Cedar Rapids have already started a great urban farm project in their community, hopefully I can talk/help some friends serving churches in Detroit and Flint to do the same.
I’ve posted from Matisyahu on here before – a new album, Spark Seeker