Distracted Mind

Give greeting cards new life as elegant little pillow boxes for gift cards, jewelry, or any other smallish type thingies.

Fred Clark writes on the identity theft protection racket.

The term “Fascist” has been so diluted. No one understands it any more. That’s why fascist is now the word of the day… starting with this essay explaining the word, its use and how it’s misunderstood.

Umberto. Eco. This is an excerpt, but it still does a pretty damned good job of dissecting the fascist M.O.

Walrus dancing on “Smooth Criminal”

I know this is the height of cheesy, but it’s just so damned great.

“Julio Diaz ends his daily subway commute one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. One evening, his routine was broken when a teenage mugger took his wallet at knifepoint. But neither of them could have predicted what happened next.”

Wow. Just… wow.

The Sinner’s Guide to the Evangelical Right

There’s just too much good material here o describe it well– just go there and read it. All of it.

Fans and followers of the Getting Things Done personal productivity system have hacked all sorts of ways to GTD in

I thought I was waking up in the United States. Turns out, I was wrong.

Body acceptance, Lutheran style. The message? Love yourself, because God loves you. Be a positive mentor by accepting your body.

“Told that a group of prostituted women were praying the novena to bring a lot of customers for the night, [Sister Sol] is reported to have said: Hayaan mo lnag sila. (Let them be).”

Got an issue with candidates spouting off about how tight they are with Jesus? Call ‘em on it and call ‘em out.

“It’s time to take political faith seriously. And if doing so strikes you as invasive, unseemly, and irrelevant to the job the candidates are seeking–well, then, it’s really time to take faith seriously, including its uses and abuses in a democracy where piety and cynicism have long been comfortable companions.”

Another article from Religion Dispatches–just bookmark the whole damned site, already.

Sarah Posner takes on the gospel of prosperity, John McCain, John Hagee and Ohio’s favorite hypocrite: Rod Parsley. Why I’m not taking a ride on the “Straight Talk Express.”

An economical version of an old-favorite sandwich. It is made of rump roast simmered for 7 hours with beef broth, onion soup and beer. The reduced cooking liquid makes plenty of sauce for dipping.

From New York Magazine: “Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons—to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there’s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents.”