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Thursday, August 26th, 2010On a recent Faith & Reason blog, USA Today’s Cathy Lynn Grossman poses the question “Who, exactly, is a ‘Christian’? Obama? You?”
Grossman doesn’t offer any direct definition of a Christian, although she quotes Franklin Graham’s description of a salvation decision. She is more interested in people’s self-identification with the term Christian and their reluctance to apply […]
Slow Reading
Friday, July 9th, 2010Malcolm Jones, in his article “Slow Notion” in the July 12 issue of Newsweek, takes a look at a habit often discouraged in education circles: “Slow reading has always gotten a bad rap. Slow readers in school were the bad students. No one ever got a blue ribbon or a good grade for plodding. So […]
Lighting Candles
Friday, June 25th, 2010Most of us expect negative headlines in the news. “If it bleeds, it leads,” the saying goes, and that tends to hold true whether you’re reading the morning paper, following a breaking story online or watching the evening news.
But sometimes the headlines stack depressing realities so deep, even a jaded news consumer like me sits […]
Virus Alert
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010Earlier this week on my way to work, I heard a news item on NPR about a vaccine for the Ebola virus. The report was optimistic, explaining that the vaccine appeared to be effective even against a new strain of the disease.
That sounded good to me. I don’t think I’m at any great risk of […]
Unschool
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010I wasn’t looking for another “Un-title,” but Jodie DVRd a segment from Good Morning America yesterday and played it for me last night after I got home from work.
“Unschool” is, believe it or not, a perfectly legal way to “educate” your child in a number of states. Once parents register with the state, they can […]
Ununseptium
Friday, April 9th, 2010“Ununseptium” — the temporary name for the latest heavy element to be discovered — has been making an appearance in international headlines this week.
In January a team of Russian and American scientists published results of experiments conducted over the past year at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Russia. The team smashed together […]
Truth Bounce
Saturday, February 13th, 2010When I was a kid, I got a double dose of the Olympics within a competition year and then waited nearly four years for the next set of games. These days, with the summer/winter split, it’s either an Olympics year or I’m looking forward to the Olympics next year.
Seems like yesterday I was watching the […]
Three-and-a-Half Hours on Sunday
Friday, February 5th, 2010In anticipation of Super Bowl XLIV, National Public Radio yesterday aired an interview with former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick. Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies opened the interview with the following observation.
“It’s hard to think of another job where you work seven days a week… 80, 90, 100 hours a week… sleep in your office… […]
Live Long
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 The cover of the February 2010 special issue of U.S. News and World Report offers to tell you “How to Live to 100.” Visiting cnn.com today, I ran across a video and summary article, both “Uncovering Secrets to a Longer Life” and focusing on centenarians.
A promotional copy […]
‘Premature Birth’
Friday, November 6th, 2009National Public Radio broadcast a news story the other day on the impact of premature births on the U.S. infant death rate. A related Associated Press article at npr.org notes that “about 1 in 8 U.S. births are premature” and “the U.S. […]
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