Tabloid newspapers are reporting on supposed "Satanism" that sounds precisely like what Jeffrey Victor describes as "pseudo-Satanism" -- a pose being struck in order to appear, and to feel, transgressive and rebellious. It's the sort of stuff a lazy production designer might come up with for a "Satanic cult" film, a hodge-podge of pop-culture symbolism concocted from the news, from folklore, from the movies, and from religious instruction unwittingly based on all of the above. Read more
The Tea Party movement bears a striking resemblance to the classic rumor-panic and witchhunt. It’s driven by rumors to become fearful and driven by fear to believe rumors — really outlandish, unbelievable, weirdly nightmarish rumors at that. Read more
The Web contains a great deal of misinformation, legend, BS, spin, error and outright falsehood. But on the Web, no mistake is ever more than 19 clicks away from its correction, and no lie is ever more than 19 clicks away from the truth. Read more
Polygamy is not an obscure feature in the Bible. It starts early, with Lamech, and continues throughout most of what we Christians call the Old Testament, shaping the stories of the most prominent characters -- Abraham, Moses, David. Read more
“The unemployment rate is still at a level which should cause politicians to panic. No one is panicking.” “If the minimum wage had risen in step with productivity growth [since 1968], it would be over $16.50 an hour today. That is higher than the hourly wages earned by 40 percent of men and half of women.” “More than half of the people who became unemployed during the recession found a new job within six weeks, but a majority of them found... Read more
I expect this legislation to accomplish only half of what it claims. By that I mean that I'm confident it will succeed in hurting the people it is intended to hurt, but that it will fail to help the corporations it is intended to help. Read more
Abby Norman isn't going to tell you stories about heroic teachers and students; Equally Blessed prays for the next pope but Garry Wills isn't quite as hopeful; Paul Krugman says we should raise the minimum wage and boost the EITC; and Brenna Clarke Gray says "Stop Apologizing for What You Like to Read." Read more
I'm happy to be back indoors (and back online) today after two long days shivering on the sidelines of a rugby pitch in Lancaster County. The Frostbite Tournament brought the first five rugby games of the new season and my daughters and their team are now 5-0 as their Downingtown RFC girls team brought home the big trophy (again). Boo-ya. Read more
[San Francisco Mayor Gavin] Newsom highlights the contradiction embraced by those who want to argue both that same-sex marriages are not constitutional and that the Constitution must be amended in order to make such marriages illegal. Read more
These are warped, stunted, soulless creatures who lie awake at night worrying that somehow, somewhere, some poor person might be catching a break that they didn't 100-percent deserve. Read more
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