Tribulation Force, pp. 375-379 Chapter 17 begins with almost the archetypal Jerry Jenkins sentence: Rayford Steele sat in a phone booth at Ben Gurion Airport. Airport. Phone. Hero just sitting there. Check, check, check. The Great Tribulation has just “officially” begun, evil has been enthroned, Israel has been set up for betrayal and destruction, and the wrath of God is about to be poured out on the world like all the plagues of Egypt. So Rayford calls his daughter back... Read more
Amanda Marcotte describes what the past 24 hours have felt like for me, too: Relief, elation, concern about the future, urge to make dark jokes, rush of memories of 9/11, glee, concern about myself for being so bloodthirsty, telling myself that it doesn’t count when the person killed was such a horrible piece of s—, a resurgence of grief about 9/11, more dark jokes, annoyance at people scolding those making jokes on Twitter for not seeing that humor has its... Read more
When we consider the rights of workers in relation to the “indirect employer”, that is to say, all the agents at the national and international level that are responsible for the whole orientation of labour policy, we must first direct our attention to a fundamental issue: the question of finding work, or, in other words, the issue of suitable employment for all who are capable of it. The opposite of a just and right situation in this field is unemployment,... Read more
For the same reason that everyone asks for their own check at the restaurant. That’s my answer to Atrios’ recent question, “Why Does Everybody Own Their Own Lawnmower?” I know there is a fairly obvious answer to this question. There’s a cost of organizing and coordination. But, yet, in the aggregate an immense amount of money is likely wasted because of this coordination failure. Surely there could be just one lawnmower for every 10 households (I just made that number... Read more
My all-time favorite photo cutline from the Associated Press was for a picture of President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI. It read: “Pope Benedict XVI (left) welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama (right) at the Vatican.” It’s difficult to imagine a reader for whom the words “Pope Benedict XVI” and “President Barack Obama” are in any way meaningful while also requiring those “left” and “right” designations to tell them apart. I can’t imagine anyone looking at that photo and thinking,... Read more
The following was originally posted in March of 2005 (using actual scores from actual NCAA tournament games). I’m reposting it today because: A) it’s still true, and B) we’re still having this same argument at the paper and I’m still losing it. And I’m a sore loser. The sports section is still safe. It is, in some ways, the last bastion of reality-based journalism. Turn to the sports pages and there you can read the unambiguous results of a sporting... Read more
Hey, did you hear what infamous lying historian David Barton said about net neutrality? He … Wait, sorry. Who cares what a confirmed and unrepentant evil liar like David Barton says about anything? And why would anyone think to ask him about it. Was someone sitting around thinking, “Hmmm, this business about the free flow of information on the Internet seems important, but confusing. If only we could find someone to sort it out — someone, perhaps, who has made... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 368-374 More than 800 pages into this story the Antichrist finally signs his big peace treaty with Israel. This, according to Tim LaHaye’s Bible prophecy scheme, officially heralds the start of the End of the World. Everything we have read up to this point has occurred in LaHaye’s prophetic limbo period — an unstable interim between the Rapture of the real, true Christians and the onset of the seven-year “Great Tribulation” during which God will pour out... Read more
I tripped over a very strange sentence in The New York Times on Friday. It was in John Leland’s article about the group of evangelical Christians planting churches in the East Village, the “Evangelical Squad” behind Trinity Grace Church. Responding in the Village Voice, Rosie Gray has some fun with the way this group is “trying to seem so hip and edgy in an awkward ‘Cool Dad’ kind of way.” And she’s right, but that’s not what bugged me. What... Read more
(With the new site, I’m reposting this from last year.) Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;? therefore, we are saved by faith.? Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. – Reinhold Niebuhr This is my favorite day in Holy Week, this Saturday, this unrestful Sabbath, my favorite day in... Read more
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