YOUR REMINDER that the next St Matthew’s Cathedral theology of the body seminar-discussion-thingy is this Saturday, at (sigh) ten a.m. Read more

TORTURE: Balkinization: “No blood, no foul”: …In early 2004, for example, an 18-year-old man suspected of selling cars to members of the Zarqawi terrorist network was seized with his entire family at their home in Baghdad. “Task force soldiers beat him repeatedly with a rifle butt and punched him in the head and kidneys, said a Defense Department specialist briefed on the incident.” And in January 2004, “the task force captured the son of one of Mr. Hussein’s bodyguards in... Read more

ABDUL RAHMAN: Anglican.tk (the Anglican Web Elves) has a large link round-up on the Afghan Christian currently in danger of execution for converting from Islam. More here and here. Read more

“LETTERS TO OUR NEVER-BORN CHILDREN.” At After Abortion. Read more

Flying, domestic flying, And when the blogwatcher is near do not show any fear… Agenda Bender: On the French riots: “‘If it wasn’t for occupations they wouldn’t have any occupations at all,’ I can almost hear you stage whispering in your jaded but squeaky way.” First Things: This commentary on Acts of the Apostles, from Jaroslav Pelikan, sounds really cool. It’s recommended by the awesome Fr Edward Oakes! Scrutinies: Really thoughtful reactions to a Catholic school field trip to an... Read more

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God... Read more

“CONTROL ROOM”: This is the documentary about Al-Jazeera. The first thing to say is that you should see it. The criticisms below should be seen as footnotes to that larger point (except for the very last point, which is probably the most important thing in this post). So okay, beyond “you should see it,” here is my basic take. 1. There is not enough of any one storyline here. The main storyline of the movie seems to be the character... Read more

“WITHNAIL & I”: Immensely fun movie. 1987 flick set in 1969; about two layabout, unemployable actors who stagger off to the countryside, where they drink, starve (“I want to eat something’s FLESH!”), attempt to avoid being buggered by Harry Potter’s Muggle uncle, lie, cheat, and run screaming at a bull. …A few minutes after the thing started playing, I thought, “Okay, this has serious potential to be completely awful.” But it isn’t. …It’s somewhat reminiscent of a much more self-indulgent,... Read more

DONORS CHOOSE. This seems like a very neat thing: “DonorsChoose is a simple way to provide students with resources that our public schools often lack. “Here, teachers submit ideas for materials or experiences that their students need to learn. Individuals like you can choose a project and make it a classroom reality.” There’s stuff like “Send my girls to Cirque du Soleil!”, buy computers for the Alternative to Suspension center, send third-graders to hang out with wild animals (hee), just... Read more

DEATH AND TAXES. Picture thing showing where your tax dollars go. Via Hit & Run. Read more