Weekend Reads 1/26/19

Emergency declared near Portland for measles outbreak in anti-vaccine hotspot

Nearly eight percent of children in Clark County were exempt from standard vaccination for the 2017-2018 school year, according to state records reported by The Washington Post. Breaking down that eight percent, about seven percent of kids had personal or religious exemptions, and the remaining one percent or so had medical exemptions. Factoring in the rest of the population, the county is below the 92-percent to 94-percent range some experts consider required to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases such as measles.

Trump White House grows eager to escape losing shutdown fight

Unused to seeing Trump back down, Democrats say they feel emboldened by his retreat on the State of the Union question — especially coming less than a week after he cancelled an Air Force flight Pelosi and several Democrats were about to take to Afghanistan in what was widely seen as retaliation for her move to postpone his annual address to Congress.

 What Michelle Obama's 'Becoming' Misses About Jeremiah Wright

Wright is not the crazed radical that some have portrayed him.…Beginning with 87 active members, by the time Wright retired in 2007, he had built a vibrant congregation of some 8,000 members, with more than 60 ministries serving the church and its surrounding community. These included ministries for HIV/AIDS care, drug and alcohol recovery, hospice care, senior citizen health care and housing (two separate residences), a child care program (federally funded), a reading program for the poor, and 22 ministries for youths.

Our Sin Is Not A Zero Sum Game

The real insidious evil is that billions of dollars are being made off of the hysteria we get baited into. Outrage is incentivized over actual thoughtful political organizing and cultural education, because outrage makes money and it’s as quick and easy to indulge as masturbation. And it’s very hard as a blogger not to get sucked in. Because when I write about the wholesome things I should be writing about, nobody wants to read it.