Bob Smietana of The Tennessean has a positive update on the status of Said Musa, imprisoned in Kabul, Afghanistan for converting from Islam to Christianity. Aidan Clay, Middle East regional manager for International Christian Concern, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that focuses on religious persecution, has apparently been keeping up with the Musa case for sometime now. Smietana reports: Clay said that Musa, 46, was moved recently to a new jail, after American officials intervened on his behalf, and there's no immediate threat of execution. He credited media reports about Musa for … [Read more...] about Update on Said Musa
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Tim Keller – King’s Cross – 60% Off!
WTS Books is running a 60% off sale on every first copy of Tim Keller's latest book, King's Cross (previewed here). It's 60% off your first copy (happens automatically when added to cart). All additional copies 45% off. Sale ends February 28th. Keller's description of the book: “The whole story of the world—and of how we fit into it—is most clearly understood through a careful, direct look at the story of Jesus. My purpose here is to try to show, through his words and actions, how beautifully his life makes sense of ours.” “[The Gospel of] Mark does not read like a dry history. It is … [Read more...] about Tim Keller – King’s Cross – 60% Off!
How Some Universities Are Seeking To Address Grade Inflation
A good NYT article about efforts at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and a few other institutions to bring more transparency to the grading process as a means of at least curbing the nationwide tend toward grade inflation. For example, at UNC: A sociologist Mr. Perrin now leads a committee that is working with the registrar on plans to add extra information — probably median grades, and perhaps more — to transcripts. In addition, they expect to post further statistics providing context online and give instructors data on how their grading compares with their … [Read more...] about How Some Universities Are Seeking To Address Grade Inflation
Pray (and Tweet) for Our Brother, Said Musa
Since the Fall of the Taliban, it appears Said Musa might be the first convert from Islam to be executed by the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan. A Christian for the last eight years, Musa was one of about 25 Christians arrested on May 31, 2010, after a May 27 Noorin TV program showed video of a worship service held by indigenous Afghan Christians. In fact, he was arrested as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy. Musa has no Afghan lawyer, and has been held in prison for several months, where he's been beaten and sexually abused. Please continue to pray for him. Many … [Read more...] about Pray (and Tweet) for Our Brother, Said Musa
Kay S. Hymowitz on Delayed Adolescence
Kay S. Hymowitz has an essay in yesterday's WSJ arguing that too many men in their 20s are living in a new kind of extended adolescence. I'm not sure that male diminishment is solely attributable to female advancement, but Hymowitz lays out an ambitious case: What explains this puerile shallowness? I see it as an expression of our cultural uncertainty about the social role of men. It's been an almost universal rule of civilization that girls became women simply by reaching physical maturity, but boys had to pass a test. They needed to demonstrate courage, physical prowess or mastery … [Read more...] about Kay S. Hymowitz on Delayed Adolescence
The Myth of Inevitable Teen Rebellion
Dr. Robert Epstein (Ph.D., Harvard University) is a contributing editor for Scientific American Mind and a former editor in chief of Psychology Today. In the April/May 2007 issue of Scientific American Mind, Epstein penned an outstanding article entitled The Myth of the Teen Brain. It goes right after the notion, regularly popularized on the covers of magazines like Time and U.S. News & World Report, that incomplete brain development accounts for the emotional problems and general irresponsibility for which teenagers in our day have gained infamy, and that, consequently, rebellion and … [Read more...] about The Myth of Inevitable Teen Rebellion