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Eric Scheske

A Voice of Moderation

As usual, the Vatican strikes a sane position in the Danish cartoon controversy: > In an official statement regarding the controversy over publication of cartoons mocking Islam, the Vatican has said that freedom of speech "cannot imply the right to offend the religious sentiments of believers." The Vatican

LOTR on Stage

The preview of the Toronto stage production is getting good reviews: > The gnarled forests of Middle Earth thrust out to embrace the audience. The automated, cantilevered stage turns, twists, rises, falls and tilts in myriad and extraordinary ways -- at one moment, a winding forest path, the next, a soaring

NBC Pulls Show

> The NBC "Will and Grace" episode featuring Britney Spears hosting a cooking show called "Cruci-fixins" has been cancelled in the wake of Christian protests, but the term was actually recycled from a Fox network show. It was first used on the oddball comedy "

Holding Up Golfers?

> A golf tournament was held up in Australia when an armed robber drove onto the course in a stolen truck. > Golfers were stranded after police declared the sixth hole a crime scene and refused to let players through. Link [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1713094.html]

Pixar is Christian?

Fascinating post at Get Religion [http://www.getreligion.org/?p=1381] yesterday: > The rumor is that the Pixar hierarchy – near the top and in the talent pool – includes more than a fair share of traditional Christian believers and that this has played at least some role in the company&

MJ and JPII

It's flying all over the blogosphere, but it's too odd not to mention: > Secret discussions between the Roman Catholic Church and Michael Jackson to put the prayers of Pope John Paul II to music appeared to be in disarray last night after the singer fled

Priest Killed

> A Catholic priest was shot and killed in Trabzon, Turkey, on Sunday, and authorities there are investigating whether the murder was related to Islamic anger over cartoons published in European newspapers. > Father Andrea Santoro, an Italian missionary priest who had served in Turkey for 10 years, was shot

100 Openings

100 best first lines from novels [http://www.litline.org/ABR/100bestfirstlines.html]. Good stuff. Thanks, Eve Tushnet [http://eve-tushnet.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_eve-tushnet_archive.html#113917389683730321] .

Turning 50

Terry Teachout turns 50 and reflects a bit [http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/archives20060205.shtml#104876]: > Here's how old I am: > ”¢ This [http://www.sikeston.net/downtownpostcards.htm] is what my home town looked like fifty years ago. ”¢ My maternal grandmother canned fruit and stored it

Calling the ACLU

> A maximum-security jail was in a lockdown Sunday, a day after a race- related riot left one inmate dead and more than 100 injured. > Investigators were interviewing hundreds of inmates and witnesses to the fighting that erupted between black and Hispanic prisoners Saturday at the North County