Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Easter Heroism: How Many Great Stories Did the Greatest History Launch? ~ Citing various examples from Dickens to J.R.R. Tolkien, Marvin Olasky discusses the ways in which Western literature has been influenced by the example of Jesus’ sacrificial love ~

Christ’s death on the cross offered healing to billions over the past 2,000 years — and it also inaugurated a different kind of storytelling. The hero no longer had to be a Hercules whose strength moved huge stones. He could be one who gave his life for another – and then God would roll away the stone.

 
How did Bernie Sanders make his money? A look at his wealth and assets ~ looks like capitalism has been very, very good to Bernie ~

According to (tax) returns, the Vermont senator’s adjusted gross income was $561,293 in 2018 and paid a 26 percent effective tax rate. In 2017, his adjusted gross income was $1,131,925.

 
Marijuana and Psychosis ~ More evidence that pot legalization is probably not the best of ideas ~

A just-published study in The Lancet involving, among others, researchers at King’s College London, compared 900 people who had been treated for psychosis with 1,200 people who had not. Sample participants were drawn from across Europe and Brazil […]
 
Both groups were surveyed on a host of factors, including their use of marijuana and other drugs. The study’s authors concluded that “people who smoked marijuana on a daily basis were three times more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis compared with people who never used the drug. For those who used high-potency marijuana daily, the risk jumped to nearly five times.”

 
A List of Sanctuary Cities and States ~ This compilation from the Center for Immigration Studies should come in handy for President Trump’s relocation of border crashers.
 
The Party May Be Over For Burning Man, Thanks To The Federal Government ~ The Bureau of Land Management is not thrilled with the annual paganfest’s economic and environmental impact on the Nevada desert ~

At first, the Burning Man organizers raged, vowing not to take BLM’s advice to heart — even though it seems they, themselves, solicited it — and refusing to adopt BLM’s recommendations, which included drive-up dumpsters at the entrance and exit to the festival, a temporary fence around the festival to keep garbage and other debris from blowing off into the desert, improvements to the festival’s water and sewage systems, and hiring independent security forces to keep Burning Man from becoming a target for terrorists.
 
Now, though, it seems Burning Man, which has been held in the same area of the Nevada desert since the mid-1980s, may be facing a crisis, and this year’s event could be the last.

 
Children as young as nine are talking about suicide in class, teachers’ survey reveals ~ This heartbreaking story is from the U.K., but similar trends have been noted in the U.S. ~

Children as young as nine are talking about suicide in class, a teachers’ survey has revealed as they warn that mental health issues are on the rise.
 
Four in five teachers said they have seen a rise in pupils experiencing mental health problems, according to a poll conducted by the National Education Union (NEU).

 
SPLC’s ‘Hate Group’ Accusation Outed As a Scam, More Than 60 Groups Considering Lawsuits ~ Might the SPLC may finally be forced to stop promoting hate? ~

The SPLC has dodged defamation lawsuits by claiming its “hate group” accusations are merely a matter of opinion, protected as free speech under the First Amendment. Yet demonstrably false statements leveled with malicious intent to destroy someone’s reputation constitute defamation, and these new admissions bolster a legal case against the smear factory, (Daniel Schmid, litigation counsel at the falsely accused Christian law firm Liberty Counsel) argued.

 
Irish Bacteria Could Stop Dangerous “Superbugs” ~ Science is continually discovering new ways that God has provided for our needs through the vast resources of His creation ~

Biomedical researchers have constantly been on the lookout for species (or strains) of bacteria that are antibiotic producers and can combat other multi-resistance bacteria. Recently a new strain of Streptomyces (a well-known antibiotic producer) has been discovered in the alkaline grassland soils of the Boho Highlands of Northern Ireland.5 Interestingly enough the area is noted in folk medicine for its healing properties. The newly-identified strain is called Streptomyces sp. Myrophorea. It’s important because it’s effective against four of the top six “superbugs” resistant to antibiotics, including the dreaded methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Researchers are seeing benefits of investigating traditional and folklore medicines.

 
NYTimes busts itself… Mount Rainier glacier melting not due to CO2 ~ Oops. Someone at the Times needs to fact-check their own previous issues.

 
Notre Dame Fire: A Tremendous Gift to the French People ~ Firewall host Bill Whittle has a message for the non-elite French population ~

“You are not obligated to commit cultural suicide in order to atone for crimes that you did not commit […]
 
“Do not allow the politicians that are allowing your country to burn to the ground every single day to continue to use your kindness, your decency and your generosity against you in the pursuit of personal political power.”

Also see: THE ROOSTER of NOTRE DAME: Omen for Europe ~ Michael Matt of The Remnant comments on the tragedy and “the Holy Week symbolism of the French rooster, which the whole world saw plunge into the flames of Notre Dame.”
 

Virginia coach Tony Bennett says his faith in Christ is the ‘greatest truth’ he knows ~ This was from an interview almost 4 weeks before the Cavaliers won the NCAA championship. Priorities ~

“I have great things in my life — my love for my wife, my love for my family, my love for coaching, my love for basketball,” he said in 2014. “Those are wonderful things, but when you line them up in comparison to Christ and the relationship you have with Him, with what He’s done for you and with what He’s given you, they don’t compare. That’s the greatest truth I know.”