Every report I see, every newspaper article I read, makes me realize this was a bigger disaster than I was capable of imagining. Here, courtesy of the AP, is a large and ecumenical list of aid agencies working to assist victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tidal wave. Help is desperately needed. So is cash. (The agencies listed — a variety of denominational and secular groups — are members of InterAction, a coalition of aid groups that maintains decent... Read more
(A belated Christmas post.) And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 68-71 Our first real glimpse of Nicolae Carpathia comes through the eyes of Chaim Rosenzweig, who is rather impressed with him: “I found him most charming and humble. … Impressive, that’s all I can say. … He knew my language as well as his own. And he speaks fluent English. Several others also, they tell me. Well educated but also widely self taught. And I just like him as a person. Very bright. Very honest. Very open.... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 68-71 Buck Williams’ role as a journalist provides a useful device for long stretches of exposition without departing from the protagonist’s point of view (one of many tropes borrowed from Sydney Watson’s earlier rapture novels). Jerry Jenkins’ clumsy employment of this device often results in strange passages like this one, in which Buck reviews his notes from an interview with the Magical Jew, Chaim Rosenzweig, wherein the miracleworker discusses an obscure Romanian politician. It’s a bit odd... Read more
Blessed Solstice! In commemoration of this ancient holiday, now under siege from cultural elitists, we provide the following guest editorial from Charles Krauthammer of The Washington Post. – – – – – – – – – – It is Winter Solstice, and what would Solstice be without the usual platoon of annoying pettifoggers rising annually to infuse Solstice with Christian content? With some success: School districts in New Jersey and Florida ban Solstice carols, even going so far as to... Read more
Left Behind, pg. 68 It was nearly Buck Williams’s turn at the head of the line at the Pan-Con Club counter … Buck has clawed his way back to the terminal at O’Hare and worked his way into a line at the counter. This doesn’t really make sense — the airport is clearly closed, it’s runways cluttered with burning wrecks and a still-unknown quantity of its staff vanished or dead. All the airports are obviously closed. Faced with an unprecedented... Read more
"One of the tests of leadership at all levels of government is to confront problems before they become a crisis." That sounds like something one of George W. Bush's critics might say as an attack on the president's dismal fiscal track record, but it wasn't. It was President Bush himself, yesterday, in his speech concluding the White House Economic Conference. Slate's Timothy Noah points out that this followed hours of discussion about the economy in which no one mentioned the... Read more
Whew. Been away from the computer and now I'm headed north for Christmas. (You need more seniority than I've got to take your holiday break on the holiday.) I'll be back Friday, when we'll pick up where we left off with our friends Rayford, Buck and Chloe as they struggle to open the Hellmouth and bring about the End of the World. The links to the right will take you to lots of bloggy goodness provided by people who will,... Read more
Why does David Brooks have a New York Times column when you don't? Because he is able to look at the big picture and discern the Big Trends that are "sweeping across the United States" and the "true motive forces" behind them. Today, for example, the incisive Brooks notes that areas where the population is growing the fastest also tend to have higher birthrates and more children. Lesser minds might view this as almost tautologically obvious, but not Brooks. He... Read more
Somewhere in my dad's basement is my old Commodore 128 and the accompanying disk drive (much louder, and only slightly smaller, than a Ford Festiva). As far as I know, they still work as well as they ever did. What can you do with that now-obsolete computer if you'd prefer to keep it from becoming mere high-tech landfill fodder? Here, via Real Money, a newsletter from Co-op America, is a collection of options: Recycling A clearinghouse for programs around the... Read more
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