The reader who wrote last week to ask prayers for little Vivian wrote late last week: Vivian passed away before noon this morning. I want to thank you for putting the original prayer request on your blog. The prayers and support have been really helping the family cope with this. I’m so sorry to hear it. May her soul be received into the love of the Blessed Trinity and may Mother Mary be her mother and care for her till... Read more

The reader who wrote last week to ask prayers for little Vivian wrote late last week: Vivian passed away before noon this morning. I want to thank you for putting the original prayer request on your blog. The prayers and support have been really helping the family cope with this. I’m so sorry to hear it. May her soul be received into the love of the Blessed Trinity and may Mother Mary be her mother and care for her till... Read more

every problem looks like a Darwinian nail. Years ago, I remember some TV show with Richard Leakey standing in front of cave art, his brow furrowed as he pondered the question of why ancient humans painted this gorgeous art and portrayed so beautifully (from memory, mind you) the way in which bison swung their heads. He came away mystified about the “evolutionary advantage” such creativity afforded. I had the distinct impression he would be asking the same thing in the... Read more

every problem looks like a Darwinian nail. Years ago, I remember some TV show with Richard Leakey standing in front of cave art, his brow furrowed as he pondered the question of why ancient humans painted this gorgeous art and portrayed so beautifully (from memory, mind you) the way in which bison swung their heads. He came away mystified about the “evolutionary advantage” such creativity afforded. I had the distinct impression he would be asking the same thing in the... Read more

Today, my growing legion of willing slaves, you shall choose from the penguin game of your choice, play it for 6.5 minutes, and then comment on the experience in my combox, taking care to never use the letter “e” in any of your comments (in honor of the great novelist Ernest Vincent Wright. That is all. Read more

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We head out for our Hidden Island Redoubt tomorrow and I’ve got a pile of stuff to do today. So I leave you with this celebration (compiled by total strangers) which beautifully captures the spirit of what we will be doing this weekend: Back next week! Read more

At some level, we appear to be aware that our secular messianic indulgences of the past couple of years are dangerous: Of course, if this is a reboot a la Battlestar Galactica, we will also discover the warm, human side of the predator aliens and finally arrive at some Hegelian synthesis in which all sides realize their common frailty, affirm each other in their okayness in the midst of gritty and stark photography, and finally arrive at a preposterous denouement... Read more

…by sinister Vatican officials afraid of science. No, that’s not right….. …by Evangelicals bent on establishing a theocracy. hmmmm… no, that’s not it either. Gosh, who was behind this? Ohhhhhh! Paragraphs later, we find out: They are all Muslim, a law enforcement official said. Just your morning dose of Satanic Ecumenism from the people who brought us the Piss Christ photos and the lectures on how Christians need to be more open and tolerant of those who blaspheme their most... Read more

My discipline is to always give converts the benefit of the doubt since the Holy Spirit is always at work through the sacraments and conversion is the beginning, not the end of a process that the convert himself is not in charge of. I am exercising that discipline as I read this and assuming that Gingrich is not using his faith as a political tool. I hope his future actions will reward that assumption. People can change, as the doubters... Read more