The politics of beauty

My interest in beauty pageants probably peaked when I was 15. These days, the closest I get is laughing at Sandra Bullock's send-up of beauty contests (scholarship programs!) in Miss Congeniality.But I have been fascinated by the controversy over this weekend's Miss USA pageant, caused when ... Continue reading

One small breath for mankind

With the Obama administration's brave decision to classify carbon dioxide (CO2) as a hazardous pollutant, environmentalists everywhere are troubled and wondering, how can we clean up our very own, air-fouling breath?What? No one ever told you that your body belches out CO2? It's true! The ... Continue reading

Mission from Africa

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. — Hebrews 4:12, NLT It sometimes seems to me that American Christianity focuses too much on the ... Continue reading

Deconstructing Bart Ehrman

Back before cable and the internet, we used to depend on Uncle Walter for news. A consummate professional, CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite could always be relied on to get his facts straight and the questions of the day answered with precision.Today, the inescapable 24/7 news cycle and the ... Continue reading

Redeeming America

Today's liberalism may stand on decades of failed ideas, but it is failure in the name of American redemption. [Liberalism's power is that]... it addresses America's moral accountability to its past with moral activism. ... Liberalism's glamour follows from its promise of a new American innocence. ... Continue reading

William Saletan on the stem cell debate

Slate Magazine's William Saletan made an apt and useful comparison between the debate about embryonic stem cell research and the use of water boarding in CIA interrogations: "On Monday, President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of stem-cell research using destroyed human embryos. If you ... Continue reading

Fine young cannibals

"Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell ... Continue reading

A debate rages in New Mexico

I spotted this sign while driving through New Mexico recently, and it piqued my curiosity. Dust storms may exist. As a dedicated rationalist, I was frankly surprised, for I was certain that by now, these claims by some for the existence of dust storms had been stamped out. But to my chagrin, I was ... Continue reading