CHICAGO, IL (January 15, 2016) — Many Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos with one another 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.

Is It Bad to Skip Breakfast?
According to the article, nearly all of the major studies on the necessity of breakfast were sponsored by the cereal industry. When industries sponsor studies—and Quaker Oats actually helped design as well as edit one study—then the results should be taken with a grain of salt. Not all studies have been funded by self-interested industries, but even those that weren’t have used methodology that assumes correlation equals causation. That’s not to say skipping breakfast is bad for you; it just might not do all the things you want it to, such as make you smarter or help you lose weight. So the next time you miss the meal, don’t feel bad.

From the article: “It’s worth being clear about what research on breakfast says and doesn’t say. It suggests the health halo around breakfast may be undeserved — but not that breakfast is pointless. It’s entirely possible that breakfast has amazing health effects, especially for some groups, like growing children and athletes. It’s just that there’s not a lot of good evidence behind those benefits.”

Young, Idealist—and Dead, Mayor Assassinated on Second Day in Office
Gisela Mota had vowed to fight the cartels, but she was gunned down one day after taking office. The article reports that Mota was “dragged face down (in front of her family) a few metres towards the front door. She was shot at least four times, just metres away from where her newborn nephew lay in his cot.”

In its article on Mota’s death, Esquire magazine suggests that anyone who uses illegal drugs or promotes them as harmless, whether as individuals or as part of the entertainment industry, also bears some blame for her murder. “Over 100 mayors of Mexican towns and cities have been assassinated over the past ten years, the vast majority as a result of Mexico’s drug conflict that has killed over 100,000 people.” (Note that some advertisements may be offensive.)

The Triumph of Email
Email continues to be seen as a necessary evil responsible for driving up stress levels of those who use it. But its future is somewhat in doubt as young people prefer texting, and businesses are increasingly turning to other communication platforms such as Slack.

From the article: “Email has evolved into a weird medium of communication where the best thing you can do is destroy it quickly, as if every email were a rabid bat attacking your face. Yet even the tragically email-burdened still have a weird love for this particular rabid, face-attacking bat.”

Robert Griffin III’s Parting Words Betray a Departing Bitterness
Undoubtedly the once-heralded Washington Redskins will not be with the team next year, and some fans would argue he had been treated unfairly. He left a farewell note that promoted his Christian values, yet at the same time displayed a passive-aggressive woundedness. I bet we’ve all used our religious faith to justify our actions while also dividing the world into “us and them. I hope someday he will see how wrong that was and that we will, too.

How Linus Pauling Duped America into Believing Vitamin C Cures Colds
“Duping” really is the wrong word because it connotes lying, which the article doesn’t suggest. But the only scientist to ever win two individual Nobel prizes—one in chemistry for his research on chemical bonds and the Peace Prize for his opposition to weapons of mass destruction—was wrong that massive doses of vitamin C would destroy a cold. Nor would it help you live 25 years longer and remain free of disease.

From the article: “The National Institutes of Health says people shouldn’t take more than 2,000 mg (the equivalent of two Emergen-C packets) per day. Anything higher than that, and you’re looking at possible stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea.” (Editor’s note: Emergen-C is a popular vitamin supplement.)