I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this site through the tip-jar button there on the right. Your kindness and generosity has meant a great deal, and often has made the difference for me and my family over the year since this blog, unexpectantly, became my main job. Thank you so much to all of you. I’ve tried to avoid any formal sort of fund-drive or fundraising appeal here, just allowing that alluring yellow... Read more
Today’s jaw-dropping must-read is by Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times, “Donors arrive at Hamptons fundraisers with advice for Mitt Romney.” The line of Range Rovers, BMWs, Porsche roadsters and one gleaming cherry red Ferrari began queuing outside of Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman’s estate off Montauk Highway long before Romney arrived, as campaign aides and staffers in white polo shirts emblazoned with the logo of Perelman’s property — the Creeks — checked off names under tight security. … A... Read more
Thinking a bit more about “Maybe God is a better person than you think,” I was struck by the sadness of that situation. It must be an awful thing to believe that God will not allow you to be as loving, merciful and generous as you wish you could be. It must be an awful thing to want to be more loving, but then to think that God forbids it and, thus, that your desire to love is somehow wrong.... Read more
Helen Lewis at the New Statesmen shows us “What online harassment looks like.” It’s an awful, potentially triggering, collection of “Obscene images, hate sites, and a game where people are invited to beat you up.” This is disturbing and disturbed. It’s hateful, hate-filled stuff posted by boys who simply hate women. These boys hate women viscerally and violently. This isn’t a new phenomenon, of course. Amanda MacInnis of Cheese-Wearing Theology is taking us on a tour of similar harassment during... Read more
Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. Read more
Jesus Creed serves up a guest post by Jeff Cook on one of my least favorite topics: “apologetics” and those awful show-debates between Christians and new atheists. I love dialogue, I do not love this approach to “debate.” It turns the conversation into a matter of winning and pushes participants away from their complementary quest for truth and towards thinking of themselves as members of Team Christian and Team Atheist. That’s not particularly instructive, interesting or even entertaining. That tendency... Read more
Derek Flood offers a mini-sermon on “Sin and Chewing Gum“: Yesterday, I was walking through Dolores Park and heard a street preacher, saying “If you’ve ever stolen a stick of gum, then you are guilty of sin! If you’ve ever looked at Facebook at work, then you’ve stolen from your employer, and that’s sin!” Of course we all know where he was headed: If we have sinned — even with a trivial infraction like a stick of gum — then... Read more
“Companies steal close to 10 billion dollars annually in unpaid overtime.” “It takes an emotional toll, it takes a mental toll, it takes a physical toll.” “College students are facing a roughly $20 billion increase in the cost of their federal loans.” “When you hear a politician promising to exempt the retired and near retired from changes to Social Security, while offering to make it more ‘secure’ for future generations, you now know the game plan.” “People are talking about... Read more
Apologies to everyone who received an email from me last night. My account was apparently hacked. Please don’t click the link in that email. It seems to be for some tape-worm pills or some such other weight loss scheme, but my guess is there’s some nasty malware-type virus-y business as well. I’ve done what I did to fix this last time this happened (a few years ago), so I’m hoping that works again. But if you get an oddly worded... Read more
Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist, pp. 19-24 Book 2 of this series managed to be 450 pages long without much actually happening in those pages. Rayford Steele spent most of his time randomly flying from airport to airport, while Buck Williams always seemed to be driving in circles near Chicago. But now things have changed. The second horseman of the apocalypse has arrived, bringing World War III. Book 3 starts with a bang and the plot is finally lurching forward.... Read more
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