Young men are becoming hooked on arousal via online porn, according to Psychologist Philip Zimbardo and Nikita Duncan. And as they do so, this results in catastrophe for both schoolwork and relationships with others.As the two researchers’ CNN article notes, such on-line images highly stimulate the brain. Parallels to drug addiction are partially correct, but not entirely: “[T]he attraction [in […]

In the face of the Great Recession, Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Blacks have experienced a loss in median household net worth since 2005. But U.S. Census figures show it is minorities who have taken the biggest economic hit, with the gap between them and whites nearly doubling in just five years. Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics saw their net worth shrink […]

Two college students, a man and a woman, are friends. They each are looking for a roommate to share an apartment with, and decide there’s nothing wrong with the two of them platonically sharing one. A preacher who is married has grown quite close to another woman on his staff, and spends increasing amounts of time with her. More and […]

Six years ago… or was it longer?… I was asked to pinch hit with a Sunday Sermon (the JPUSA pastors were out of town or something). What I offered up was a sort of old-school “testimony,” rough-hewn and homely. Here it is, this time with photos and a few minor corrections.     A Montana farm boy that had two […]

History offers many examples of technological and intellectual change (we can do more and we know more than we used to). But as far as humankind’s moral dimension, there is scant and/or confusing evidence of any real movement forward. Our weapons of war are more sophisticated and deadly than ever and we use them to great effect. Our ability to […]

[Lost the extensive comments to this post in the move to our new blog… I’ll try to restore ’em at some point. Sorry about that. — jon] Despite appeals from both religious and ethical leaders across the world, the State of Texas has again executed a prisoner. To quote Amnesty International, According to his most recent test, Marvin Wilson has […]

[Original post August 21, 2012] Both good ideas and bad ideas form from and as part of the larger “idea fabric” all of us share. The comments of Representative Todd Akins (R-Missouri) about “legitimate rape” are one stellar example. The below is an attempt to explore the bundle of bad (a.k.a. FALSE) ideas contained in his comments. Akins, who is […]

CLINT EASTWOOD AND THE EMPTY CHAIR “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” — Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man This isn’t the place to attack or defend my Presidential candidate of choice. That said, to let last night’s comments from actor / director Clint Eastwood go without comment would be, well, an opportunity missed to discuss some […]

[Originally posted Nov 5 2012] A group of pastors and members of North Carolina’s NAACP released the following letter in response to anti-Obama advertisements and other actions by the BGEA (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) headed by Franklin Graham. We believe this letter is an important counterpoint to many voices in this political season. As background, Franklin Graham was confronted before […]

Solzhenitsyn and his wife Natalia. Every teen has his idols; Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), famous author who was imprisoned for years under the Soviet regime, was one of mine. I bought volume one of his grim, great Gulag Archipelago (Prison Islands) trilogy, and it spent the summer of 1974 with me. I sat in our old GMC grain truck during harvest, […]