Steve Thorngate
A show about dependence
Friday Night Lights, which ends tonight, portrays a small town and the relationships within it. The show is steadfastly conventional, commercially unsuccessful and the best thing on television.
Praying for Egypt isn't enough
It always feels a bit odd to me to pray for justice in the world--better to work for
justice and to pray for the courage and wherewithal to keep at it. Of
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A globe-crossing consecration
I've said before that celebrating communion via Twitter (to make "a
statement that we're prepared to embrace the technological revolution") seems
like an especially poor use of technology. But Lisa Nichols Hickman brings up a techno-sacramental innovation
that's at least somewhat more compelling.
An important, boring speech
It's hard to know what to say about State of the Union, since the speech Tuesday was long on examples of the results of good policy but short on the policy itself. ("As I understand it," offers Matt Yglesias, "gay soldiers will win the future by riding high speed trains to salmon farms.") Here are a few assorted thoughts.
Link digest
Promise keepers
Yesterday, House Republicans passed a bill that, if enacted,
would repeal last year's health-care reform bill. It won't be enacted; it'll
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Fighting hate with blackout poetry
So it turns out the Westboro
Baptist folks aren't traveling to Tucson for the funerals of
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Constitution thumpers
Today, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Rep. John Boehner (R.-Ohio) as the Speaker of the House. That's a routine gig for a Supreme Court chief justice, but yesterday's was unprecedented: on Boehner's request, Roberts also swore in the new Speaker's staff.
Hate groups hate being called hate groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center has added several antigay organizations to its list of hate groups, citing their "demonizing propaganda" and "propagation of known falsehoods." SPLC Intelligence Pro...
Another so-called movement
What do Melissa Rogers, Matthew and Nancy Sleeth, Jim Wallis and Robert George have in common?...