Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why do we fast, but... Read more
So yesterday stocks plummeted on Wall Street due to fears about the Greek debt crisis. The NYSE lost about 2 percent of its value. That comes to about $300 billion or so in wealth that no longer exists. Add in the NASDAQ and the many other markets around the world that also sank dramatically and the total loss was likely several times that. Greece's national debt is about $340 billion. I know this is all very much more complicated than... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 207-212 I've only ever read one novel by Louis L'Amour, and it wasn't a western. The Walking Drum is a historical picaresque set in 12th-century Europe in which the hero, an astonishingly omnicapable fellow named Kerbouchard, wanders the world to — well, I forget why. The plot wasn't really the point. What L'Amour was interested in was the world itself — the texture, details, culture and ideas of life in Paris and Constantinople in a time very... Read more
The wonkier blogs of the left and right have been discussing what they're calling "epistemic closure" among American conservatives. It's a criticism of the way the activist, indignant right has begun to cut off and cauterize whole realms of thought and inquiry — purging dissent, punishing questioners, banishing internal critics. The recent conservative opposition to empathy might seem like a symptom of this epistemic closure, but I think it's more than that. I think it's a cause — maybe even... Read more
Come on up, come on up now … "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," The Ramones"Sheep," Housemartins"The Sheik of Araby," The Beatles"Shell Shock," New Order"Shelter," The Alarm"Shelter," Lone Justice"Shelter from the Storm," Cassandra Wilson"Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn," Hellogoodbye"Shine a Light," Allison Crowe"Shine a Light," The Rolling Stones"Shine Like It Does," INXS"Shine on You Crazy Diamond," PoZitive Orchestra"Shining Eyes," James McMurtry"Shining Star," Earth Wind & Fire Feel free to disagree, but I like that Allison Crowe version of "Shine a Light" even... Read more
Simple Answers to Stupid Questions: Fox News asks, "Has Noah's Ark been found on Turkish mountaintop?" No. No it hasn't. * * * * * * * * * Here in America we have two major political parties. One of them is officially opposed to empathy. Peter Baker of The New York Times discusses the continuing Republican antipathy to empathy in the context of the impending nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice. For the record, the Republican Party reiterates... Read more
A federal judge has ruled that the establishment by Congress of a National Day of Prayer conflicts with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. I'm not a constitutional scholar, but I believe the legal term for this ruling is "no duh." I happen to like the idea of a day of prayer, and of a nationwide day of prayer. But I'm utterly opposed to the idea that such a day of prayer ought to be nationalized. Once the thing... Read more
I'm singing and I'm playing but my lips don't have to move "Reflected," Bradly Richards"Reflected (On My Side)," Lone Justice"The Refugee," U2"Regular Guy," Dropkick Murphys"Rehab," Amy Winehouse"Relapse," Adam Again"Relax," Frankie Goes to Hollywood"Release," Aztec Camera"Release," Allison Crowe"Relief Next to Me," Tegan & Sara"Remarks to Mr. McLuhan," Mark Heard"Remarks to Mr. McLuhan," Ramona Silver"Remedy," The Black Crowes The Ramona Silver version of Mark Heard's "Remarks" was her gracious contribution to an old Prism magazine benefit record called "Demonstrations of Love." It's... Read more
Michael Novak, without a hint of irony or self-awareness, argues for a willingness to declare pre-emptive war on Iran in order to protect "the Christian Holy Places" in Israel and the West Bank. He seems oblivious to the fact that he is employing the language and the argument of the Crusades. What if the mad leader of Iran fulfilled his pledge to wipe Israel from the map with the Iranian nuclear weapon, coming soon? What would we Christians do without... Read more
William Gheen, the head of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, loves chickens. I mean he really loves them. Obsessively. Carnally. That's why I am officially calling for William Gheen to make his chicken-stuffing lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security. William Gheen copulates with chickens, and while many people in South Carolina and Washington DC know that, the general public and Gheen's anti-immigration constituents do not. I personally do not care about Gheen's private life,... Read more
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