In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desertwere fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.On seeing it, the children of Israel asked one another, “What is this?”for they did not know what it was.But Moses told them,“This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.”–from yesterday’s readings; the way God answers your prayers is never... Read more

SHEEP IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING: OK, so which responses to the “atheist/Christian Turing test” really were by atheists and which were by Christians? I expect Leah will post more on this soon, but the “answer key” is here for those who want to speculate wildly on What It All Means! Read more

“DEPRESSED” FERRET STILL ON RUN AFTER FLEEING SIBERIAN CIRCUS: Via TKB, on a slightly different note from the post below….: Hopes were raised Friday that the ferret had been found when Chita resident Ivan Burtsev found a ferret on a city street near the Zabaikalye hotel the night before and brought it to the local zoo. “He is absolutely tame. He understands how to open doors, and he comes when you tap your leg,” Burtsev told news site Chita.ru, adding... Read more

I noticed something as well during the idle minutes of waiting. I had often seen German soldiers at home, naturally. But then they were always in a hurry, with tense, occupied faces and flawless attire. Here, on the other hand, they were different, more relaxed. That was my impression. They moved a bit more casually.–Imre Kertész, Fateless, tr. Christopher C. Wilson and Katharina M. Wilson; the narrator is a 15-year-old Hungarian Jewish boy recounting his first hour in Auschwitz Read more

THE PLANTS UNDER THE RUGS ARE MOVING. Have I done this post before, where I talk about what you should read if you want to read Stephen King? [shifted to my other blog, because there are a couple spoilerous things.] Read more

Blogwatch–so they say–is the root of all evil today… “Out of Poverty, Family-Style”: A turning point came when Keshwar was asked to join a group of families who had self-organized as part of an initiative that helps people in low-income communities achieve their goals. Called the Family Independence Initiative (FII), its approach is radically different from the American social service model. Although it is still quite small — working with a few hundred families — its results are so striking... Read more

IT’S FUN TO LOSE AND TO PRETEND: Kathleen Hanna on the secret history of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Rough language and imagery, and obviously I don’t agree with her re: pregnancy centers, but if you can listen to this without crying then maybe you need to recalibrate. (And some guys in the audience hoot when she first mentions stripping, because… because agony and irony are side by side on my piano keys?) Here we are now; entertain us. Read more

HOW TO MAKE ANY CHEESE MELT LIKE AMERICAN (ALMOST): I pretty much use munster and pepperjack on burgers, both of which melt like crazy no matter what you do. But if you prefer something else, this post will be relevant to your interests–and it’s kind of awesome in a “…that’s chemistry, right? Or physics? Crap, it’s really physics, isn’t it?” sense. Read more

“I AM A YOUNG MAN.” I know it’s hard to believe, but I had never seen The Hunger before last night! It was just as awesome as I’d hoped, lush and not gory and very sad. I liked that vampirism was really horrible–sexual, yes, but not some sanitized metaphor. The music is great, the cast is stellar, and while I’m glad I went into it knowing that the ending lacks what the philosophers call “sense,” it was very emotionally-effective. Few... Read more

BLANK SILVER SCREEN: So far, my readers seem to find it much easier to suggest movies which strike them as “atheist” in tone rather than Christian ones. I don’t know what that says about you people, or movies, or God…. Anyway the suggestions include Bio-Dome, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Dagon, Zardoz, and Altered States. Read more