March 10, 2009

The Typealyzer characterizes this blog as personality type "INTP: The Thinkers": The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications. They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people,... Read more

March 6, 2009

Tribulation Force, pp. 2-5 After the book begins with a three-page revisionist summary of "What Has Gone Before …," the opening pages of the first chapter find Rayford Steele reading a not-quite-current copy of the Chicago Tribune. This device allows Jenkins to offer a second, three-page revisionist summary of what has gone before. I'll give LaHaye & Jenkins the benefit of the doubt and guess that the prologue was tacked on later, at the insistence of the publisher, and that... Read more

March 5, 2009

OK, then, what about Hitler? That's usually one of the first questions asked when one expresses a disbelief in the notion of Hell as a literal place of eternal, fiery torment. ("Literal" here referring to a literal interpretation of Dante's Inferno and more than a century of Hollywood movies and tent-meeting sermons.) I've even been asked that question after quoting Julian of Norwich: "All will be well and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well."... Read more

March 2, 2009

If you’re a regular listener to This American Life, then you already know this story. But if, like me, you have a huge backlog of TAL podcasts you’ve been meaning to get around to some day but haven’t yet, then this story may be news to you too. Here’s TAL’s intro to the story of the Rev. Carlton Pearson, which they have titled simply, “Heretics“: Carlton Pearson’s church, Higher Dimensions, was once one of the biggest in the city, drawing... Read more

March 2, 2009

The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance …just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance …as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants.And I'll never forget the grim look on his facewhen he heisted himself and took leave of this place,through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace. And all that the Lorax left here in this messwas a small pile of rocks, with one word…"UNLESS."Whatever that meant, well, I just couldn't guess.... Read more

February 27, 2009

Tribulation Force, pp. 1 – 2 OK, so, here we go again. On three. Ready? 1 … 2 … It was Rayford Steele's turn for a break. He pulled the headphones down onto his neck and dug into his flight bag for his wife's Bible, marveling at how quickly his life had changed. How many hours had he wasted during idle moments like this, poring over newspapers and magazines that had nothing to say? After all that had happened, only... Read more

February 27, 2009

They say Confucius does his crossword with a pen … "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," The Beatles"Happiness Is a Warm Gun," The Breeders"Happiness Is a Warm Gun," Across the Universe (Joe Anderson & Salma Hayek)"Happy," Phil Keaggy"Happy," The Rolling Stones"Happy," Victoria Williams"Happy Birthday to Me," Cracker"Happy Ending," Randy Newman"Happy Fool," The Choir"Happy Little Chipmunk," Bradly Richards"Happy Phantom," Tori Amos"Happy Placebo Syringe Day," The Clock Work Army"Happy Roy," The 77's"Happy So Happy," Don McCloskey"Happy To Be So," Over the Rhine"Happy Tonight,"... Read more

February 27, 2009

Following up on Rick Santelli’s concern that any effort to aide aid families facing foreclosure will wind up “rewarding bad behavior,” here are some recent pics from the Associated Press. This is Mary Ann Herrera, photographed in front of her San Antonio home Monday by AP photographer Eric Gay. She asked her brother to paint this plea for help on the side of her house, which she’s about to lose to foreclosure. <sarcasm> As you can see, she’s been living... Read more

February 24, 2009

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, "You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right." So they went. He went... Read more

February 20, 2009

Tribulation Force, pp. vii – x For those accidentally starting this series with Book No. 2, Tribulation Force opens with a prologue titled "What Has Gone Before." It offers a three-page summary and revision of Book 1. I suppose I can recommend this for those in a hurry to catch up on what you'd missed in the first book. (I've tried to provide my own summary as well, but it's, um, a bit longer than three pages.) The best way... Read more


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