HEY, TEENS! WANT TO VISIT SUNNY JAMAICA? If you score 18 or higher on this little quiz, you’re in luck–it is “strongly recommended” that you enter a “residential center, treatment program or specialty school.” Maybe you should be rushed immediately to a “behavior modification center” like Tranquility Bay, Jamaica. You can befriend your guards–uh, once you’ve earned the privilege of moving and speaking without permission. I scored my high-school self on the quiz and got a 17. Seriously. Quotes from... Read more

LIBERIA. Scattered notes on Liberia–the AfricaPundit’s post. The Agitator on Charles Taylor’s ties to Al Qaeda. TA now vigorously opposes US intervention in Liberia, characterizing it as a charity-war humanitarian folly (“Apparently to Annan, Dean and like-thinking [i.e. Liberia-war-supporting–ed.] leftists, American troops should only be sent into harm’s way when they aren’t defending actual Americans“), but doesn’t his previous post suggest that Taylor is allied with the guys who attacked us, much more than we ever proved Saddam was? And... Read more

LIKE A HORSE AND CARRIAGE: So when I first read the Michael Kinsley “Abolish Marriage” piece, I thought about blogging something on it. Then I thought, What are you gonna say? “No, you’re being stupid. Stop being stupid”? (My personal favorite bit from the piece: “Yes, yes, marriage is about more than sleeping arrangements. There are children, there are finances, there are spousal job benefits like health insurance and pensions. In all these areas, marriage is used as a substitute... Read more

CORRECTION: Apparently the Real Live Preacher is not the same guy who wrote the marriage article I blogged about a couple days ago. SORRY…. Read more

SANDRA MIESEL WAS RIGHT: Declare, by Tim Powers, was totally awesome. Best thing I’ve read so far this summer. I hardly know how to describe it; let’s go with “Catholic Cold War novel about the occult.” But that doesn’t get you all the way there–not even close. Really satisfying read. Read more

RETURN TO THE VALLEY OF THE MADRASSA VOUCHERS! Thomas Nephew’s Newsrack replies to my Jewish World Review column defending the inclusion of religious schools in voucher programs. I think all of our points of disagreement can be summarized in a paragraph, which replaces the super-long cashing-out of that paragraph that I initially posted: I think we’re disagreeing here because I don’t view “religion” as this weird, inscrutable, separate, and vaguely threatening sphere of life. I could ramble about the similarities... Read more

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST COMMUNISM IN HONG KONG. Via The Corner. Read more

INSPIRING THING SAID BY A CLIENT TODAY: Me: “What are some of the things you do when you feel tempted to do things that will draw you away from God?” She: “Well, I sing, and I pray…” (Emphasis added.) Read more

PHENOMENAL POST from Camassia. Seriously, go read it. It’s her answer to the question, “Look, you clearly have a lot of skepticism and questions about this whole Christian thing. And you’re not willing to sign on to it yet. So why does it even interest you? What are you looking for, or trying to answer?” Her response is one of the best I’ve ever seen from that perspective. Read more

SURSUM CORDA provides comments-box fun for the whole value-laden family w/r/t Lawrence sodomy decision. (My only real comment on Lawrence is that I think it’s flipping hilarious that somebody quoted the Mystery Doctrine with a straight [ha ha] face. Thank you for making no sense! Please try again later!) Read more