Trump fundraising email uses photo of March 7 dignified transfer of deceased soldier; Army Times, March 14, 2026

J.D. Simkins, Army Times ; Trump fundraising email uses photo of March 7 dignified transfer of deceased soldier

"A fundraising email distributed Thursday by a political action committee linked to President Donald Trump included a photo of a March 7 dignified transfer of a U.S. soldier killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait. 

The email, which was signed “President Donald J. Trump“ and paid for by Never Surrender Inc., promises to make donors part of a ”National Security Briefing Membership.” It was first pointed out on X by Patriot Takes.

The embedded photo of the dignified transfer, taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, is included in the email and bracketed by icons featuring the text, “CLAIM YOUR SPOT,” which can be clicked on to donate. 

In the photo, Trump, wearing a white USA baseball hat, salutes as a flag-draped casket of a fallen soldier is transferred by an Army carry team. The casket included the remains of one of six soldiers returned to U.S. soil that day, the first American casualties of Operation Epic Fury."

Teen, 14, Diagnosed with Rare Cancer, Used His Single Make-A-Wish Gift Not for Himself, but Others in His Community; People, March 14, 2026

Toria Sheffield, People; Teen, 14, Diagnosed with Rare Cancer, Used His Single Make-A-Wish Gift Not for Himself, but Others in His Community

"A Georgia teen used his single Make-A-Wish gift to help others in his community.

Jude Baker was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that affects bone or surrounding tissue, when he was 12 years old, according to local outlet 11 Alive.

Baker, now 14, soon began chemotherapy after his diagnosis. He said it was even more painful than the reality that he could succumb to the illness...

Because of his diagnosis, Baker qualified for a wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit that grants "wishes" to children ages 3 to 17 who are diagnosed with critical illnesses.

And while most kids will ask for things like a fun trip or meeting a celebrity, Baker instead asked for something different: to help the homeless in his area...

Make-A-Wish collected sleeping bags, packed backpacks full of supplies and prepared hot meals for homeless individuals in the area for one day.

Over 300 people ultimately received assistance because of Baker's Make-A-Wish, per 11 Alive.

The teenager, who is now in remission, said he hopes his wish helped remind others that there are always opportunities to assist those in need."

Trump Unmasked; The New York Times, January 13, 2026

Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times; Trump Unmasked

"President Trump is showing symptoms of an addiction to power, evident in his compulsion to escalate claims of dominion over domestic and international adversaries. The size and scope of his targets for subjugation are spiraling ever upward...

Perhaps most spectacularly, during a Jan. 7 interview with four Times reporters, Trump was asked if there were any limits on his global powers.

He replied: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

“I don’t need international law,” he added.

Trump may think his own morality and his own mind are the only constraints on his otherwise limitless power, but if we are dependent on either — not to mention Trump’s sense of empathy, compassion or sympathy for the underdog — we are in deep trouble. The nation, the Western Hemisphere and the world at large need to figure out how to place restraints on this ethically vacuous president, or we will all suffer continued and ever-worsening damage."

Why some people are wired to help strangers, and what their brains reveal; The Washington Post, January 8, 2026

Cristina Quinn, The Washington Post; Why some people are wired to help strangers, and what their brains reveal

"Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University, studies extraordinary altruism — people who jump in to rescue strangers in emergencies or donate a kidney to someone they don’t know. Marsh spoke with Cristina Quinn, host of The Washington Post’s podcast “Try This,” about what her work has uncovered, and what brain science reveals about people who habitually engage in selfless acts. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity...

The group you’ve studied most closely is people who donate a kidney to a stranger. What makes them different?

Genuinely altruistic people are very humble and less selfish than other people. And it turns out that humility and being unselfish go hand-in-hand because if you think that you’re the most special person around, why would you want to help less-special people? And so truly altruistic people do not think of themselves as special.

And when we bring them to our lab, we find differences in their MRI scans. One of the most striking is that altruistic kidney donors tend to have a larger amygdala, a part of the brain critical to processing emotions, particularly fear in others. They are especially sensitive to others’ distress and responding empathically.

In your earlier research, you found the opposite pattern in people with psychopathy?

Yes, we found that the amygdala tends to be smaller in individuals with psychopathic traits. They have difficulty recognizing fear and distress in other people. Most people with psychopathic traits report not feeling fear as often as other people do. And what’s interesting about that is that if you don’t really feel an emotion, it’s very difficult to empathize with it in other people.

So we asked, is altruism the inverse of psychopathy? And it turns out that yes, altruistic kidney donors are more reactive than typical people to the sight of others in distress. And they are relatively better at recognizing other people’s fear, as well."

We’re pastors. The fight against Maga Christianity starts locally; The Guardian, December 21, 2025

Doug Pagitt and Lori Walke, The Guardian ; We’re pastors. The fight against Maga Christianity starts locally

"Donald Trump wants us to believe that the “war on Christianity” is spreading across the globe. The US president recently sounded the alarm on the “mass slaughter” of Christians in Nigeria while threatening a US invasion of the African nation. We shouldn’t be surprised. This falls right in line with Trump’s ongoing attempts to project Maga Christianity on to the global stage and crack down on religious freedom.

Maga Christianity represents a self-serving, commercialized version of the Christian faith – putting power over service and empathy – and it is everywhere in our federal government. In February, Trump announced a taskforce led by Pam Bondi with the goal of rooting out “anti-Christian” bias. In September, Trump announced his plans to protect prayer in schools. Later that month, he issued a memorandum identifying anti-Christianity as a potential driver of terrorism. These are not just one-off incidents. This is a national effort to push the Maga Christianity agenda on Americans, and we’re already seeing the consequences.

Despite the Bible’s clear call to “love thy neighbor”, the Maga movement has used its version of the Christian faith to oppress immigrants, oppose the rights of women and condemn the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, we’ve seen shootings at places of worship and arrests of faith leaders at peaceful protests.

As faith leaders, our greatest strength during Trump 2.0 and the rise of Christian nationalism is our local congregations. It’s our ability to physically come together in our communities, communicate with one another, support our neighbors in need and elevate our own Christian values that set us apart.

Faith leaders have a powerful role to play, especially as the Trump administration continues to use religion to divide us."

Something Is Stirring in Christian America, and It’s Making Me Nervous; The New York Times, October 16, 2025

 David French, The New York Times; Something Is Stirring in Christian America, and It’s Making Me Nervous

"Despite what you may have heard about the renewal of interest in religion in America, we are not experiencing a true revival, at least not yet. Instead, America is closer to a religious revolution, and the difference between revolution and revival is immensely important for the health of our country — and of the Christian church in America...

Incredibly, Christians are attacking what they call the “sin of empathy,” warning fellow believers against identifying too much with, say, illegal immigrants, gay people or women who seek abortions. Empathy, in this formulation, can block moral and theological clarity. What’s wrong is wrong, and too much empathy will cloud your soul...

In other words, revival begins with the people proclaiming, by word and deed, “I have sinned.”

MAGA Christianity has a different message. It looks at American culture and declares, “You have sinned.”

And it doesn’t stop there. It also says, “We will defeat you.” In its most extreme forms, it also says, “We will rule over you.” That’s not revival; it’s revolution, a religious revolution that seeks to overthrow one political order and replace it with another — one that has echoes of the religious kingdoms of ages past...

Similarly, when a pastor named Doug Wilson calls transgender Americans “trannies,” or gay Americans “gaytards,” or women he doesn’t like “lumberjack dykes” and “small-breasted biddies,” he is imitating Trump, not Christ.

In the Book of Galatians, Paul contrasts the fruit of the spirit with what he called the “acts of the flesh,” the sins that can destroy the soul. Those sins include the very characteristics that mark America’s religious revolution: “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.”

The fruit of the spirit — “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” — in contrast, is present when Christ is present. This is the fruit of a real revival...

We will know when revival comes because we will see believers humble themselves, repent of their sins, and then arise, full of genuine virtue, to love their neighbors — to help them, not hurt them — and in so doing to heal our nation."

Inside Syria’s Most Fearsome Prison Tens of thousands of Syrians were thrown into Sednaya during the Assad regime. The New York Times created a 3-D model of the prison.; The New York Times, August 29, 2025

Christina Goldbaum, Charlie Smart, Helmuth Rosales, Anjali Singhvi and Reham Mourshed, The New York Times; Inside Syria’s Most Fearsome Prison: Tens of thousands of Syrians were thrown into Sednaya during the Assad regime. The New York Times created a 3-D model of the prison. 

[Kip Currier: This story about Syria's brutal Sednaya prison is a difficult one to read and view. It's shocking to see how monstrously the people -- activists, artists, politicians, writers, citizens of all kinds -- warehoused to languish and die in this savage place were mistreated, tortured, and murdered.

But it's also an important one to digest and contemplate and not look away from. To think about all of the human beings who were impacted by this horrific prison. And to reflect on the human beings -- the leaders with power and privilege -- who sanctioned the existence of such a barbaric place and system for so long.

The sermon of an Episcopal priest I was fortunate to hear yesterday encouraged the parishioners to pray for individuals who are in prisons, as well as for humane treatment of the imprisoned by those who are charged with looking after them during their incarceration. We were reminded by the priest that some people are also imprisoned unjustly. Just as the 1st century Apostle Paul was imprisoned by the Roman Empire, merely for speaking and evangelizing.

Specifically, too, we were asked to pray for detainees in an ICE facility in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.

We mustn't become indifferent to the injustices and suffering that people in this world experience. Or to the dignity, respect, due process, and rule of law to which every person is entitled, no matter their economic circumstances or legal status.]

[Excerpt]

"NO PLACE IN SYRIA was more feared than Sednaya prison during the Assad family’s decades-long, iron-fisted rule.

Situated on a barren hilltop on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital, Sednaya was at the heart of the Assads’ extensive system of torture prisons and arbitrary arrests used to crush all dissent.

By the end of the nearly 14-year civil war that culminated in December with the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, it had become a haunting symbol of the dictator’s ruthlessness.

Over the years, the regime’s security apparatus swallowed up hundreds of thousands of activists, journalists, students and dissidents from all over Syria — many never to be heard from again.

Most prisoners did not expect to make it out of Sednaya alive. They watched as men detained with them withered away or simply lost the will to live. Tens of thousands of others were executed, according to rights groups."

Seventy Years Ago, Johnny Cash Recorded ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Became a Folk Hero for the Ignored and Downtrodden; Smithsonian Magazine, July 30, 2025

Raj Tawney, Smithsonian Magazine; Seventy Years Ago, Johnny Cash Recorded ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Became a Folk Hero for the Ignored and Downtrodden

"Throughout his five-decade career, Cash performed for thousands of incarcerated people across the country, appearing in-concert at over 30 prisons, where he’d always include “Folsom Prison Blues” in his set. By showing them his respect, the inmates often felt he was one of their own and treated him in kind. Though he’d been arrested seven times for minor offenses, some due to his struggles with substance abuse, he never served prison time. Yet somehow, he found a way to relate to and empathize with prisoners while the rest of society turned their backs on them. He even testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on prison reform in 1972 and continued to advocate for prison conditions with six sitting presidents."

Superman’s Squirrel Scene Is Deeper Than You Think; ScreenRant, August 2, 2025

TC Phillips, ScreenRant; Superman’s Squirrel Scene Is Deeper Than You Think

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"While test audiences may have had questions about Superman’s titular superhero performing an unexpected wildlife rescue, the DC movie’s co-composer has offered his insight into the hotly contested moment. During a recent interview following Superman’s release, James Gunn revealed that some test audiences had taken issue with David Corenswet’s Superman saving a squirrel while fighting a rampaging Kaiju.

Nonetheless, Gunn decided to keep the moment in his movie’s final edit, despite the feedback he had received and additional protests from some of his crew. Since then, the pivotal moment has become a major focus of online discussion and has even spawned a slew of memes and other viral content...

Ultimately, however, Fleming revealed that he is fond of the moment and explained how Superman’s actions are true to his character. He also suggested they were a perfect counterpoint to the more callous and careless actions of the Justice Gang. Check out his final comments below:

I kind of think the squirrel's great. To go back to the Justice Gang being a great foil for Superman, the fun of the scene is how haphazard they are versus him trying to make sure everyone is safe all the time, which is a real hallmark of his character and at the core of the creation of the character.

Over the years, DC’s Superman has been reimagined and recontextualized countless times. While the character’s previous big-screen iteration had largely centered on depicting the Last Son of Krypton as a god-like being attempting to find his place among mortals, Gunn’s version intentionally leans into the strength of his humanity, and his concern for all living creatures...

In a comic book universe already filled to bursting with metahumans parading as heroes and villains, it is Superman’s boundless empathy that truly sets him apart from his many contemporaries." 

James Gunn Explains Why Supergirl’s Secret Cameo Was Crucial For Superman; ScreenRant, July 19, 2025

Andy Behbakht

 , ScreenRant; James Gunn Explains Why Supergirl’s Secret Cameo Was Crucial For Superman

WARNING: This article includes SPOILERS from Superman.

"In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn shared more about Alcock's Supergirl cameo and how it was used as a way to give the DCU audience an introduction to the Girl of Steel. Gunn stressed that it was important to have Supergirl at the end, as he shared the following:

James Gunn: But for me, the main reason for Kara showing up is to show that Superman not only risked his life to go save a dog that was his dog, that so many of us would do, he was watching the dog for somebody else. The dog's a pain in his ass. He didn't want to take that dog. She's off being irresponsible. He doesn't want to have to watch a dog. He's having to save the world every two seconds. And even still, he goes to the ends of the earth for that dog.

To me, that's one of the most touching things in the movie. Earlier, when Lois says, "It's just a dog," and he says, "Yeah, not even a very good one, but it's probably scared," it just shows you the depths of his empathy. I find that so touching. Then, when you find out at the end, it's not even his dog; she just left it with him."

Selfishness Is Not a Virtue; The New York Times, June 5, 2025

 David French, The New York Times; Selfishness Is Not a Virtue

"Too many Christians are transforming Christianity into a vertical faith, one that focuses on your personal relationship with God at the expense of the horizontal relationship you have with your neighbors...

Consider also the evangelical turn against empathy. There are now Christian writers and theologians who are mounting a frontal attack against the very value that allows us to understand our neighbors, that places us in their shoes and asks what we would want and need if we were in their place.

But Christianity is a cross-shaped faith. The vertical relationship creates horizontal obligations. While Christians can certainly differ, for example, on the best way to provide health care to our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, it’s hard to see how we can disagree on the need to care for the poor.

Put another way, when the sick and lame approached Jesus, he did not say, “Depart from me, for thou shalt die anyway.” He healed the sick and fed the hungry and told his followers to do the same.

Or, as the Book of James declares, “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,’ but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?”

Again, these passages do not dictate any particular policy, but they do tell us that we must try to meet the physical needs of the poor — here, on this earth — even if our souls are far more durable than our bodies."

"Reading builds empathy": The case for saving America's libraries; Salon, March 30, 2025

MELANIE MCFARLAND,

Salon; "Reading builds empathy": The case for saving America's libraries

"Libraries are the nexuses of democratized access to culture, community expertise, diverse perspectives on history and the instruments that further that knowledge. They also are gathering spots and safe spaces for the vulnerable.

“People who are in library leadership, on boards, and certainly librarians even today, are not interested in limiting, shaping, prescribing how that creative and generative expression should be had,” says John Chrastka, Executive Director and founder of the non-profit advocacy organization EveryLibrary. “They're just interested in making sure that everybody's got a fair shake to get to it.”

This may be why the Trump administration is set on starving our nation’s libraries to death, or close enough to it."

The power of boycotts; The Ink, March 31, 2025

 Anand Giridharadas, The Ink; The power of boycotts

"Elon Musk’s feelings are hurt. His companies are suffering.

Weird, coming from the guy who denounced empathy as Western civilization’s “fundamental weakness.” While a little needling by Tim Walz about Tesla’s plummeting share price may have set him off, the real pain point is the #teslatakedown movement, which this past Saturday put on a worldwide day of action.

Folks on the right like to complain about boycotts. They’ve called them illegal. They’ve tried to intimidate those who’d dare use their economic power. They’ve threatened to criminalize the very idea. They’ve commingled peaceful calls for investors and shoppers to withhold their hard-earned dollars with acts of vandalism, and have tried to paint the entire movement as terrorism. But, as you might expect, accusations are confessions: what far-right political figures mean when they denounce boycotts is that they want to decide who gets boycotted.

So what is it that scares the guy who wants to privatize everything? Members of the public, exercising their private power to decide, and doing it collectively (Musk famously hates that whole collective thing). Because when that power is clearly targeted and well organized, it gets results. Maybe it’s the sheer gumption of speaking truth to power in its native language — money — that pains Musk. But that’s the free market, isn’t it?"

Toronto Public Library apologizes after refusing to let a lost girl use their phone; City News, December 2, 2024

 Rhianne Campbell, City News ; Toronto Public Library apologizes after refusing to let a lost girl use their phone

"The Toronto Public Library has apologized after refusing to let a lost girl use a phone at one of their branches.

Megan Kinch posted on social media Friday evening after her lost 11-year-old daughter went to the library looking for help."

The rise of GodGPT; Business Insider, November 3, 2024

John Brandon, Business Insider; The rise of GodGPT

"While Telving agreed there are opportunities for generative AI be an effective purveyor of knowledge on spiritual matters tailored to the needs of an individual, bots should never replace humans helping in a time of need.

"One thing that makes simulated attention less valuable is that in a time of distress, you might need someone who can witness and understand your pain," Telving says. "But since a chatbot is only simulating empathy — it does not have consciousness — it can never really witness anything."

To nourish your soul, you need to be in the presence of other souls."

As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator; The New York Times, October 22, 2024

Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times; As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator

"Few top officials spent more time behind closed doors in the White House with President Donald J. Trump than John F. Kelly, the former Marine general who was his longest-serving chief of staff.

With Election Day looming, Mr. Kelly — deeply bothered by Mr. Trump’s recent comments about employing the military against his domestic opponents — agreed to three on-the-record, recorded discussions with a reporter for The New York Times about the former president, providing some of his most wide-ranging comments yet about Mr. Trump’s fitness and character...

Here are excerpts from, and audio of, Mr. Kelly’s comments...

Trump told him that “Hitler did some good things.”

Mr. Kelly confirmed previous reports that on more than one occasion Mr. Trump spoke positively of Hitler.

“He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too,’” Mr. Kelly said Mr. Trump told him...

Kelly said Trump looked down on those who were disabled on the battlefield.

In response to a question about previous stories about Mr. Trump having disdain for disabled veterans, Mr. Kelly said Mr. Trump did not want to be seen in public with those who had lost limbs on the battlefield.

“Certainly his not wanting to be seen with amputees — amputees that lost their limbs in defense of this country fighting for every American, him included, to protect them, but didn’t want to be seen with them. That’s an interesting perspective for the commander in chief to have.”

“He would just say: ‘Look, it just doesn’t look good for me.’”

He said Trump called service members who were injured or killed “losers and suckers,” despite denials from Trump and some aides.

Confirming a statement he gave to CNN last year, Mr. Kelly said that on multiple occasions Mr. Trump told him that those Americans wounded, captured or killed in action were “losers and suckers.”

“The time in Paris was not the only time that he ever said it,” Mr. Kelly said, referring to reports that Mr. Trump told him that he did not want to visit a cemetery where American service members killed during World War I were buried...

Mr. Kelly had nothing good to say about Mr. Trump

Mr. Kelly was asked whether Mr. Trump had any empathy

“No,” Mr. Kelly said.""