If I see that photo of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s lifeless blue face one more time, I think I’m going to barf. It was on the home page of the Yahoo! news section. It was on the front page of the newspaper outside my hotel room. Sitting at the airport, I was treated to the big …
Author Archives: loudmouthinthebalcony
Remembering to Count It All Joy
At 3 o’clock on Memorial Day, in collective consciousness, we remembered, honored, thanked, and mourned those who are no longer physically here with us. Among those with the most heartbreaking memories were the 1,600 children who’ve lost a parent in Afghanistan or Iraq. Nearly 150 of those children gathered this weekend at a grief camp …
Busting “Da Code”
If you think that the uproar over The DaVinci Code has nothing to do with you, think again. Do you think that folks are jumping up and down, screaming and waving their arms wildly, simply to alert the rest of us that a novel shouldn’t be read as non-fiction? Are there any literate adults out …
O X Y MORONS, You’re Killing Me!
Why is that whenever you buy a new car, suddenly you notice more cars on the road that are the same make and model? After writing about X and Y chromosomes, more news reports about them are catching my eye. One of my favorites was truly a breaking news story: scientists have linked X and …
Pass the ribs!
Moments ago, a friend sent an innocuous email entitled: “Fwd: Interesting History Info from Cecelia.” I’m still not sure why I opened it; but I’m glad I did. The email contained a link to a story on the BBC’s website, Genetic ‘Adam Never Met Eve’. If this isn’t a drama, I can’t imagine what is. …
Another Drama of Biblical Proportions
Where’s a ghostbuster when you really need one? Judas Iscariot has come back to haunt us—just in time for Passover. The man who added “the kiss of death” to our vernacular has returned…a hero. That’s the story told in the recent release of the nearly 2,000-year-old Gospel of Judas—determined by every scientific method available today …
Researchers say that you don’t have a prayer. Now what?
One of the ministers at my church is fond of saying, “Prayer doesn’t change things; it changes us.” Now, an exhaustive $2.4 million study on the healing power of prayer may have revealed just that. The study, conducted at six venerable medical centers, including Harvard University and Mayo Clinic, divided 1,800 patients into three groups. …
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Is War Just–or Is It Just War?
This is America: land of the free, home of the brave, the forceful, and the myopic. Where else can we speak our minds without fear of censorship, incarceration, or bodily harm? Where else can we send mixed messages and not be viewed as illogical, confused, or just plain duplicitous?That’s why I love and appreciate this …
Peace, be still
Headlines can’t possibly tell a whole story, but the one I spotted in an Associated Press report on this, the third anniversary of the U. S. invasion of Iraq, almost missed the mark completely. It read: Father Loses Taste for Revenge in Iraq. This intriguing story unfolds in battle torn Iraq, where we meet Joe …
When Did You Stop Caring?
Here’s some news you can use: Former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, labeled the “butcher of the Balkans”, has finally left the stage. His body was found Saturday in his prison cell.Milosevic is allegedly responsible for the deaths of at least 250,000 people—almost twice as many civilians as America’s political leaders killed in Hiroshima and more …