THISTLE FARMS/MAGDALENE HOUSE. “Named for the wildflower that grows on the road Nashville prostitutes frequent, Thistle Farms is a creative and sustainable workplace for residents and friends of Magdalene House, a non-for-profit recovery program for women with a criminal history of prostitution and drug abuse.” Read more

THIS IS A CATHOLIC CHURCH. Why? (Link via Victor Lams. If you’re looking for actual insightful commentary on Church architecture, click here, and, of course, read the comments.) Read more

THIS SENSIBLE POST on feminism and blaming men serves as an excuse to link to my big ol’ post on feminism. I hope that link works. If not, click here and scroll down to “Can there be a decent feminism?” Read more

CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS: Well, I don’t have Salon Premium, so I can’t read the story described here. All I can say is that the capsule description sure doesn’t sound like the center where I volunteer. You can read my thoughts on what a pregnancy center should be like here; and, as I say in that piece, every feature I describe is actually present at the center where I volunteer. (I wrote that piece when I was just starting counseling on... Read more

WILDERNESS OF GIFT SHOPS: In which I visit the Spy Museum (so you don’t have to). Went to the newly-opened museum yesterday, with Shamed and Russo. Remember how I said that London’s Imperial War Museum was fantastic? Remember how I said it didn’t condescend to its visitors… how it used multimedia displays really well… how I came away with tons and tons of facts and ideas to blog? Well, reverse all that stuff, and you get the Spy Museum. Even... Read more

“I may be a liar, a cheat, a drunk, and a tramp, but I’ve got principles.” –Joanna Cassidy, “All-American Murder” Read more

THE JUSTICE-TO-JESUS RATIO, and BOOZY FRUIT. Two links I like, via the Cranky Professor and Russo’s Republic respectively. Now I’m off. Not sure when I’ll next have Internet access, but I posted a bunch of stuff today that should keep you occupied. Should be back and blogging as usual by Wednesday or Thursday, maybe sooner. Ciao! Read more

NON EST NIHIL NISI RES (IT AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT A THANG): Hee hee! That site also has a very interesting report that the Amber Alert anti-child-abduction system has actually worked for two girls. Pretty amazing. Read more

DOES ANYONE KNOW OF news sites about Africa, the Caribbean, or Latin America that are a) good, and/or b) right-leaning? I know AllAfrica.com but am looking for others. Email me at [email protected] if you have a suggestion. (Suggestions of magazines that do good coverage of those areas are also welcome.) I will throw you a cyber-tickertape parade if you send me a good right-ish (by which I mean, the kind of right-wing stuff you find on this site, not, like,... Read more

WAR AS RHETORIC: An as-yet-undeveloped thought: Both uberhawks and “Don’t Tread On Me War” types agree that defeating Al Qaeda is difficult but not decisive. It won’t ensure US security. That’s because of the networked, flexible, and shifting nature of Al Qaeda’s threat–it can strike and then blend quickly into a mass of other subterranean terrorist groups. But it’s also because of the ideological nature of the threat. If you kill everyone in Al Qaeda, you haven’t stopped the threat,... Read more