How is everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Sunday Six.
A wild couple of hours Friday afternoon/evening in Illinois and the fight to end mandates. I wrote about it Saturday and it will not be the last article on the subject of masking and mandates.
It’s been almost 19 months since I first wrote about it. I only hope we are in a different place 19 months from now. We all are optimistic but should remain guardedly so.
Today is Sunday, so let’s proceed with the Six.
The Left Should Prepare to Lose the Mask Wars.
As we know all to well here in Illinois, the mask wars rage on. Almost two years into Covid and state politicians continue to attempt to force masking on citizens. How much longer can they continue to get away with it? Rich Lowery writes in the NY Post that they should start preparing that all of the wasted battles means they will lose the war.
Any decision regarding the Covid-vaccine should be personal. An individual deserves the right to decide whether injecting a vaccine into their body is right for them. If a parent, that right of choice extends to their child. There is plenty of data available for research. The same argument can be made for the booster shot. This author, David Zweig, writing for Bari Weiss’s Common Sense newsletter, writes on the validity of booster shots for children. For those readers who like deeper dives on Covid vaccines and boosters, pour a tall mimosa and settle in for this long read.
One Small Town, Two Warring Visions of America.
A really good (and relatively short) read from the Associated Press. Benson, Minnesota, population 3,000, is the setting for this deeply affecting, sharply drawn piece about two neighbors, each residing in lovely century-old homes but living worlds apart.
Scandal at Hipster Megachurch Over Pastor Affair.
How’s this for a gripping lede: “When volunteers at Venue Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, arrived at their pastor’s house last November, they were hoping to raise his spirits with a surprise visit. Instead they got a shock: Pastor Tavner Smith was alone with a female church employee – she in a towel, he in his boxers. The charismatic 41-year-old hurriedly explained that the two of them had been making chili and hot dogs and gotten food on their clothes, according to one volunteer who was present. But, as the volunteer put it, “I don’t think none of us was that dumb.” “If she dropped chili on her clothes, why are you in your boxers?” she recalled thinking. “Was y’all like, throwing chili at each other?” A wildly entertaining – and at times, sad – piece of investigative journalism from The Daily Beast.
Is Old Music Killing New Music?
I have long noticed how music over the loudspeaker at the gas station, grocery story, etc. is rarely anything published in the 21st century. How rarely do we hum along to some new hit song – I mean, one that was just released and is currently rocketing its way up the Billboard Hot 100? There’s a good reason for that: old songs now represent 70 percent of the American music market. The Atlantic ticks off the many explanations for our classics-obsessed musical diet.
Hundred Mile Lightning Bolt Stretches Over Three States.
Have to thank Twitter hashtag #megaflash for this one. Saw this earlier in the week, and wow, knew it would be included in the Six. A single lightning flash extended almost 500 miles and three states Monday. The flash broke the world record for longest recorded lightning bolt, previously set in 2018. Video and text provided by CBS News.
Have a great rest of your weekend everybody. Thanks for reading as always.
Have a suggestion for the Sunday Six? Send email to jon@jonjkerr.com