An imam's daughter whose family threatened to kill her after she converted to Christianity at the age of 16 has told The Times that, because of her faith, she is not afraid to die.
But Hannah, now 32, has been forced to live under police protection for the past month since her brother told her that he could not be responsible for his actions if she did not return to Islam. Hannah, who hopes to marry a fellow Christian next year, uses a pseudonym and has moved house 45 times since her conversion.
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There's that, but then there's this quote of the season: "Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Shayk Ibrahim Mogra said 'To suggest celebrating Christmas and having decorations offends Muslims is absurd. Why can't we have more nativity scenes in Britain?'"
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The Catholic literary magazine Dappled Things is now accepting submissions from old people. Its initial mission was to provide a creative outlet for young Catholics (ages 18-35). It now wants to provide an outlet for all Catholics.
Guess I'll find an avenue for that Lawrence Welk essay after all.
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A man re-discovers the record player. It's a nice little piece, his recount rings true, and I wouldn't mind having a record player around the house. I still have my albums in a crate downstairs. But I'm not going back to the days of balancing the stylus properly, freaking out because Mom touched my $6.00 grease-free album-cleaning cloth with her finger tips, and bragging that I can drop the needle right at the beginning of a song every time.
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The man dubbed "America's toughest sheriff" is making convicted drunk drivers wear pink underpants. Is this for the convicts' or Joe Arpaio's benefit?
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The ultimate PC Christmas card. I'm not going to cut-and-paste it here because it's sacrilegious, but it's only sacrilegious because the whole PC movement is sacrilegious.
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And Mean Jean/Gene is back in the news:
"The nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop told a crowd of about 200 that come June he's marching down the aisle with his longtime male partner Mark Andrew.
"'I always wanted to be a June bride,' said Bishop Gene Robinson at a talk on Nov. 27 at Nova Southeastern University.
If that doesn't give you a little morning sickness, nothing will.
