Joe Carter

While I’m hesitant to jump into the ongoing debate here (I’ve already got my hands full discussing the issue on the First Thoughts blog) I wanted to add a clarification and a question:Clarification: John Mark defines torture as “intending to inflict permanent psychological or . . . . Continue Reading »

We’re only nine days into 2010 but I think we’ve already found the unbeatable candidate for “political apology of the year”: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) apologized today for referring to President Barack Obama as “light skinned” and “with no . . . . Continue Reading »

At NRO, Jonah Goldber has jumped into the debate , raising some interesting questions that are worthy of consideration. Jonah’s argument takes two parts that I believe can be responded to separately. In the first section, he concedes that the issue is partially a battle over definitions: . . . . Continue Reading »

[Note: For more on this topic, see here and here ] When defending the indefensible, it’s generally beneficial to stop when the apologia becomes untenable. The CIA gave up trying to defend the morality or legality of waterboarding—though they may still make a Machiavellian . . . . Continue Reading »

In the October issue David Goldman examined the rise of the horror film , noting “The horror-film genre is multiplying like one of its own monsters, showing six-fold growth over the past decade—turning what used to be a Hollywood curiosity into a mainstream product.” The rise of the . . . . Continue Reading »

You might want to put down that fountain drink before reading this: Beverages obtained from soda fountain machines in the U.S. contain microorganisms, including coliform bacteria Ninety beverages of three types (sugar sodas, diet sodas and water) were obtained from 20 self-service and 10 . . . . Continue Reading »

At Christianity Today , Sarah Pulliam Bailey talks to Brit Hume about faith, the media, and Tiger Woods: Is Christianity welcome in the media? No. Christianity is scorned by many in the media. Did you see that before you made this statement? Sure. Think of how many times we’ve seen an athlete . . . . Continue Reading »

“There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the fields of Nature and the books of Science in search of gaps,” wrote Henry Drummond , “gaps which they will fill up with God. As if God lived in gaps?” In his Lowell Lectures on the Ascent of Man , Drummond continues: When . . . . Continue Reading »

What’s the deal with actuaries? Whenever a new list of the best jobs is compiled—like the recent rankings by Career Cast —they are always near the top. What could really be so great about interpreting statistics to determine probabilities of accidents, sickness, and death, and loss . . . . Continue Reading »

Is handwriting a dying technology? Anne Trubek explores that possibility and explains why it may not matter: If we define writing as a system of marks to record information (and discount petroglyphs, say), handwriting has been around for just 6,000 of humanity’s some 200,000 years. Its . . . . Continue Reading »