Too frail and puny to play with the other boys, Caldwell spends his solitary days sitting high up in his favorite tree. There, hidden behind a veil of Spanish moss, he takes from his pocket an old Bull Durham sack in which he keeps the mementos of rural Southern boyhood/sensitive division: a frog’s skull, a cameo with half the face sliced off, and the pennies that closed his grandfather’s eyes. Caldwell would be content to spend the rest of the... Read more

RADIO SILENCE UNTIL EASTER MONDAY, but I’ll leave you with Amy Welborn’s post rounding up blogs and stuff by people entering the Catholic Church this Easter! …Plus, more somberly, a post from Amy’s comments, about some reasons people fall away from the Church after conversion. Read more

CULTURES OF DEATH: Senate Republicans are now privately threatening to derail the confirmation of key Obama administration nominees for top legal positions by linking the votes to suppressing critical torture memos from the Bush era. more (via Mark Shea) Read more

GO DOWN, MOSES: Okay, the symbolism here is pretty intense, regardless of my other opinions of the President: This year’s Passover is then infused with additional meaning, being marked by the first African-American president of the United States, who will be hosting a the first ever Seder at the White House. more–and the rest of the post is definitely worth reading as well. Read more

WHY CAN’T WE HAVE A FOOD SAFETY POSTMODERNIZATION ACT? No, but for real, Walter Olson breaks down how a proposed bill would push small/artisanal farmers out of the field: …Patrick, and the other writers linked just above, warn that the law may drive out of business local farmers and artisanal, small-scale producers of berries, herbs, cheese, and countless other wares, even when there is in fact nothing unsafe in their methods of production. Many informal makers of ethnically or culturally... Read more

RAGGED THOTS (aka Robert A. George) is in Colorado at the Conference on World Affairs, talking about the future of the Republican Party and also comic books. I was a total shank and failed to post this before his first panel, on Monday, but he’s got a few panels left before the conference ends–he’s a cool dude and he wants your thoughts (or thots?), so you should drop him a line…. Read more

“Will you speak falsely for God,and speak deceitfully for him?Will you show partiality toward him,will you plead the case for God?Will it be well with you when he searches you out?Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?He will surely rebuke youif in secret you show partiality.Will not his majesty terrify you,and the dread of him fall upon you?Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,your defenses are defenses of clay.”–Job rebuking his “comforters,” Job 13:7-12 Read more

I’M DREAMING OF A BLACK MARKET, JUST LIKE THE FREE ONES THAT WE NEED: …O’Brien, the first and only homeless person to belong to the Harvard Square Business Association, said he is tired of fighting City Hall. His story is a long, involved one that includes getting arrested twice, obtaining various permits, and being moved onto subway grates by the Cambridge superintendent of streets, only to have the MBTA say he couldn’t set up on its property. When he tried... Read more

THISTLE FARMS BLOG. For those who are new to our community, Thistle Farms is a non-profit business for women who have survived prostitution, violence and addiction. By hand we make natural bath and body products that are good for us and for the environment. But we are connected not just by what we were or even what we are today, but by our remembrance of what it feels like to be broken. We all remember what it feels like to... Read more

FEAST OF SAINT MARY OF EGYPT, patroness of penitents. OrthoWiki on the saint; Wikipedia (with bonus Nalo Hopkinson–I did not know that!); more, plus an icon. Read more