Chicago, on the 4th:

We’ve had our share of lightning and rain of late, but someone took this picture in Libertyville the other day of a rainbow. Cool, huh?

Our NPU students and their bike journey.
Deaths in this war.
Since I was a little kid and my parents took me to Hannibal, Missouri, the home this great writer, I have been a fan of Mark Twain.

Start with his Autobiography, then go in any number of directions. I gotta give the palm to Tom Sawyer, and just thinking of it led me downstairs to fetch my copy and begin my regular summer read of it. It doesn’t count as fiction for me; far too good for that.
Here’s a very good piece of advice for those who are interested in doing a PhD by John Stackhouse. Print it out and think it over carefully; this is the best set of recommendations one can find.
Maurine Dowd, Fr. O’Connor, and the ideal husband.
If you’ve got some time, here is an extensive article about Rush Limbaugh.
Karen at her best. And some responses (argh).
Ted and Deb beat us to grandparenthood. Congrats to you Ted and Deb!
An example of Christian realism.
One life.
Good blog; good post here and here.
When Don gets as old as I am, he’ll cross out the word “evening” in this post.
I agree; a 20 oz coffee just isn’t Intelligent-sia.
Nice piece and reflection by LL Barkat.
I dipped in and out of Dan Kimball’s fine blog this week. But, no, Dan, Billy’s hair and yours… yours is better brother.
Fred Peatross interviews Geraldine Ferraro and Newt Gingrich.
A helpful review of Robert Webber’s new book by Michael Thompson. This is some news Robert Webber would like: the unchurched prefer a church to look like a church. (HT: BB)
1. Israel Knohl’s previous book was too adventurous for me, and I suspect he’ll do the same with the newsworthy large stone tablet, a stone that is a text and on which he claims pre-Christian Jews record the belief that a messianic figure, a certain Simon, will be raised after three days. It would be significant to discover belief in a 3-day resurrection, to be sure; the other question, which isn’t being asked, is if this so-called Simon was raised after three days.

2. On Zimbabwe … here’s a good portal for information and evaluations.
3. Some South Carolina Christians have been working for the legality of a Christian license plate. I wonder how much time and effort has been given to what will be a contentious issue for all the world to gawk at.
4. Beware the converter.
5. A litigious society, Zondervan, and homosexuality.
6. Matt Harding, watch his video, might be more popular than even Rick Astley.
7. I agree.
8. Only Michael Kruse can find stuff like this.
9. Do you eat chocolate chip cookies? Read this one.
10. Debating the origins of the Serenity Prayer.
Sports:
The Cubs will have seven players on the All-Star team. Arguably, their best player — Derrek Lee — did not make it. The Cubs fans don’t know what they’ve got sitting at 1st base. And, if I may, there are not seven genuine All-Stars on the Cubs; if there were, the Cubs would now be 15 games ahead. When fans can vote, and when fans can vote 25 times, there is no bickering and fighting within Major League Baseball — the All Star game has become a game for those who get the most votes. Most votes by fans is not the same as best player in the league.