RIP Oscar Grant; 3.1 million of your customers just got a raise; weird Florida and weird Bible stories; another oldster takes his turn pretending to be the first to lament "slacktivism;" and this one neat trick to keep you from circling the pump in a rental car. Read more
It's the first of the month, rent is due. Here's some holiday links, including: That werewolf story wasn't actually about werewolves; RIP Edward Herrmann; the petulance of New York's Whiniest; Season 6 of 'The Wire,' again; and Hurray for the Riff Raff (the band, that is, but also as a general principle). Read more
Are sacred spaces recognized as refuges because they are sacred? Or are they sacred because they are recognized as places of refuge? Are they able to stand against the Powers That Be because they are holy? Or are they holy because they stand against the Powers That Be? Read more
Monday Night Linkage, including: Republican House leader says he didn't realize white-supremacist group was a white-supremacist group when he accepted their invitation; "spiritual" as a Christian euphemism for unserious and non-binding; keeping out the outsiders still not an effective strategy for church growth; Werewolves of Buenos Aires; plus a few of my favorite things. Read more
The problem is not that the Bible is lacking in clear, definitive, categorical statements. The problem is that the Bible offers too many of them and they do not all agree. Read more
Matt Inman in right -- Email is a Monster. And lately the monster has been winning. I need a reset, a fresh start, a blank slate. I need an empty inbox. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this. What I need -- what many of us need, I'm guessing -- is a Jubilee. We need a new start for the new year. Read more
Michelle Conlin on how even black cops are made to fear the police; Ta-Nehisi Coates on the true agents of violence by police; Brittney Cooper and George Orwell on the enduring white fear of black rage. Read more
Philippians is one of the earliest books of the New Testament, so what we have here from the Apostle Paul is probably the earliest version of the Nativity story. Read more
Some Friday links for the unfortunate few who may be reading this at work today, including: remembering a catastrophe; an old joke, nicely updated; the DOJ fights for pregnant teachers; the song of the hyrax; an apocryphal Christmas; the immeasurable suckitude of payday lenders; and the witness of Dolly Parton. Read more
After the Rapture in "Left Behind," Buck Williams once, fleetingly, muses about the potential "perpetrators" of the mass disappearances in which more than two billion people around the world suddenly vanish. Then he forgets about it. But this bewildering, horrific event seems so much like the work of a supervillain that one would expect some would-be supervillains to at least try to piggy-back on the disappearances by making ransom demands. Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In