Five for Friday: Plastics, School Prayer in Canada, the Death of Electric Guitars

CHICAGO, IL (June 30, 2017) — Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos that Covenant News Service believes may be of interest to others. Each Friday we post five of them. Following is a sample of those submissions—their inclusion does not represent an endorsement by the Covenant of any views expressed.

‘I’m Not Going to Let You Go’: MLB Umpire Saves Woman Trying to Jump Off Bridge in Pittsburgh

The pitcher who earned the save that night had nothing on the one the umpire made earlier that afternoon.

From the article: “I was thinking, ‘God, this has got to be a good ending, not a bad ending,’ and held on for dear life,” Tumpane said. “She said, ‘You don’t care about me.’ I said, ‘I care.’ She said, ‘I just want to end it right now. I want to be in a better place.’ I said, ‘You’re going to be all right.’ ”

A Million Bottles a Minute: World’s Plastic Binge ‘As Dangerous As Climate Change’

Remember when the future was plastics? Now that’s a pretty bleak thought.

From the article: “More than 480bn plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 across the world, up from about 300bn a decade ago. If placed end to end, they would extend more than halfway to the sun. By 2021 this will increase to 583.3bn, according to the most up-to-date estimates….Between 5m and 13m tonnes of plastic leaks into the world’s oceans each year to be ingested by sea birds, fish and other organisms, and by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish, according to research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Experts warn that some of it is already finding its way into the human food chain.”

Why Are Indian Women Wearing Cow Masks?

Among Hindus, the cow is considered a sacred animal. After this photographer’s images became a sensation on Instagram, he began receiving death threats.

From the article: “I am perturbed by the fact that in my country, cows are considered more important than a woman, that it takes much longer for a woman who is raped or assaulted to get justice than for a cow which many Hindus consider a sacred animal,” Delhi-based photographer Sujatro Ghosh told the BBC.

Battle Over Prayer in Schools Tests Canada’s Multiculturalism

Many Americans have an idealized view of Canada these days, but as multiculturalism grows, issues that have been battled in the United States are moving to the fore of our northern neighbor.

From the article: “These are people trying to fuel the fire and brew our ignorances,” said Rabia Khedr, executive director of the Muslim Council of Peel, which lobbied the school board in support of the students’ right to pray. “Religious accommodation is not at the exclusion of everybody. It’s at the inclusion of everybody.”

Why My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Slow Death of the Electric Guitar

The sales of electric guitars are down by millions because apparently guitar heroes are no longer capturing the imaginations of young people. A few years ago the number of girls began to outpace that of boys picking up the instrument. The claim that Taylor Swift is “the most influential guitarist of recent years,” according to the CEO of Fender, is worth weeping over. As for the song the article references, this is how it’s done and with a beautiful Fender Telecaster to boot.

Now, go out and buy an electric guitar.

From the article: “I don’t think that young girls looked at Taylor and said, ‘I’m really impressed by the way she plays G major arpeggios….They liked how she looked, and they wanted to emulate her.”

 

 

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