Give the Countess a happy word — she’s had her first novel accepted for publication. She’s going to have to let me have a copy to review.
It’s in the erotic romance genre, which suggests there will be lots of tentacles, mucus-slick chitin, and numerous eyes, so I’m sure I’ll be the perfect audience for it. Oh, wait — maybe not? What else could it be about?
I’m about to set off for the Minneapolis airport — a 3 hour drive, aaargh — and I’m informed that the Vatican has some suggestions for us drivers. There’s a set of commandments (but of course, it’s not religion if they aren’t ordering you about). First on the list: “You shall not kill.”
Yeah, I’m already thrown off by that. I usually set out with the intent to run down anyone I see walking along the road.
Others are similarly trite. Obey the traffic laws, don’t use your cars to sin, support accident victims, etc., and they suggest “periodic celebration of liturgies at major road hubs, motorway restaurants and lorry parks.”
I don’t think so.
And then…
And it suggested prayer might come in handy — performing the sign of the cross before starting off and saying the Rosary along the way. The Rosary was particularly well suited to recitation by all in the car since its “rhythm and gentle repetition does not distract the driver’s attention.”
Handy — how?
Somebody, please explain to me how religion hasn’t already collapsed under the weight of its utterly useless inanity. The Vatican can’t put together a rational policy on contraception, a far more serious problem for the world and to which their beliefs contribute, but they can send out these trivial and irritatingly idiotic suggestions for drivers?
I told you that Answers in Genesis was trying to hire a geologist. You’ve blown it now, they’ve gone and hired a real pro.
The addition of Dr. Snelling confirms AiG’s continued efforts to meet the highest standards in its research in creation studies, according to AiG President Ken Ham. “Dr. Snelling’s stature among the scientific community should be an unequivocal sign to the academic world and the media that serious research is being conducted at AiG and its museum,” Ham said.
Oh, sure: “Snelling’s stature among the scientific community” is a significant indicator. Let’s see…
Creationist geologist who worked for Ken Ham in Australia
Has been working for the Institute for Creation Research for the past several years
Believes the earth is only 6,000 years old
Has had his work characterized as “sloppy” by real geologists
Oh, my gosh—Ken Ham was telling us the truth! This is a sign to the academic world and the media about what kind of serious research they’re doing!
Oh, no—this article about Craig Schaffer in America’s Finest News Source reminds me of me.
Eddy said he has tried repeatedly to pull Schaffner back from the precipice of lucidity.
“I admit, science might be great for curing diseases, exploring space, cataloguing the natural phenomena of our world, saving endangered species, extending the human lifespan, and enriching the quality of that life,” Eddy said. “But at the end of the day, science has nothing to tell us about the human soul, and that’s a critical thing Craig is missing. I would hate for his soul to be lost forever because of a stubborn doubt over the actual existence and nature of that soul.”
There are two subjects that I know stir up a few dedicated commenters here: abortion and circumcision. Most articles, when they fall off the front page, fade away from continued discussion fairly rapidly. Abortion and circumcision proponents and opponents have endurance, though, and comments will continue dribbling along for months. So I hesitate to bring this up, but…
An infant died, slowly and unpleasantly, of an infection and septic shock after an ordinary circumcision.
I know this is a rare occurrence, but it’s the pointlessness of the death that jars. This poor kid died for a silly cosmetic procedure, and the poor parents … think how awful they must feel. Why are people doing this to their babies again?
Here’s some fun with demographics — it’s a treasure map! Actually, it’s a map of where the excess single men (in blue) and excess single women (in red) are located.
That east-west split is strange, I wonder what the explanation might be?
Wish I could be there.
It’s a day of writing, of car repair, of trips to the airport (we’re shipping Skatje off to a work camp…shhhh, don’t tell her, she thinks she’s going ‘camping’), and little low level aggravations, like being locked out of my office because they’re waxing the floors. So, sure, I wouldn’t mind a little African geology trip right now.
It wasn’t that long ago that we got to hear lots of wailing about how secular/liberal values led to the Virginia Tech massacre (although, to be fair, most of the wailing was of the “god works in mysterious ways” sort). We had Chuck Norris blaming the “secular progressive agenda”.
Though one can point to Cho’s own psychotic behavior and our graphic slasher media as potential contributors to his deplorable murder spree, we must also hesitate to consider how we as a society are possibly contributing to the growth of these academic killing fields. I believe those who wield the baton of the secular progressive agenda bear significant responsibility for the escalation of school shootings. Even conservatives who refuse to speak when evil flourishes must acknowledge some culpability.
We had church groups claiming that restoring prayer to the schools would fix everything.
American Family Radio has raised a similar battle cry, claiming in a video that events leading to recent years’ school shootings in places like Jonesboro, Ark., Springfield, Ore., Littleton Colo., and Blacksburg, Va., “started when Madalyn Murray O’Hair complained she didn’t want any prayer in our schools, and we said ‘O.K.'” That is an apparent reference to Supreme Court decisions that have outlawed government-sanctioned prayer and devotional Bible reading in public schools.
Now we have a federal agency releasing a profile of the killer.
Cho, 23, of Centreville, whose family was religious and had sought help for him from a Woodbridge church, repeatedly made religious references. He said that he had been “crucified” and that, as with Jesus, his actions would set people free. He called himself a “martyr” who would “sacrifice” his life. He wrote that he would go down in history as the “Jesus Christ of the Weak and Defenseless.” He thought his actions would inspire others to fight back and get even.
Ooops. I predict that, just like Tim McVeigh is conveniently forgotten when it’s time to characterize terrorists as brown and muslim, Cho will be forgotten when it’s expedient to pretend Christianity is a religion of peace and love.
Salman Rushdie has been awarded a knighthood—it’s well deserved, I say, as he is an excellent writer—but some people have reacted insanely. (Warning: Irony rich environment ahead.)
