Thursday's News & Ideas - 10/19/2023
- Cease-fire demonstrations at Capitol
- How GOP became so pro-Israel
- Fact-checking Gaza hospital explosion
- Free speech battle at Harvard
- Unification Church criticizes Japan
- Early internet & people with autism
Jewish-led demonstrations for Gaza cease-fire see hundreds arrested at Capitol
Religion News Service: Participants in the protest played guitars and blew shofars as they sang songs in English and Hebrew for at least three hours.
This is how the Republican Party became so strongly pro-Israel
NPR: Since the Hamas attack on Israel, Republican presidential candidates have been sniping at each other. The goal: to prove to Republican voters that they support Israel more strongly than their rivals.
Who’s responsible for the Gaza hospital explosion? Here’s why it’s hard to know what’s real*
Wired: A flood of false information, partisan narratives, and weaponized “fact-checking" has obscured efforts to find out who’s responsible for an explosion at a hospital in Gaza.
How Harvard students became the center of a free speech fight*
The New York Times: A truck with a billboard displayed their names and photos, and critics put out do-not-hire lists. The students say it’s a campaign to shut them up.
Unification Church slams Japan’s dissolution request as a threat to religious freedom
The Associated Press: The Japanese branch of the Unification Church on Monday criticized the Japanese government’s request for a court order to dissolve the group, saying it’s based on groundless accusations and is a serious threat to religious freedom and human rights of its followers.
The Spark
The death of the internet as a haven for people with autism
Recursive, hyperactive, cumulative, hopscotched, and interlinked—these were the hallmarks of the early internet,* and of autistic logic, Slate says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
