The 15 Most Common Books Never Finished, According To Goodreads

The 15 Most Common Books Never Finished, According To Goodreads:

Deciding not to finish a book can be a freeing experience. Our time as readers is limited and there are SO MANY good books out there. Choosing to DNF (or “did not finish” a book) isn’t an indictment of the book itself—usually—but a necessary aspect of the reader’s life nowadays. Some books, though, get DNFed more often than others.

YA Books About Witches Perfect For Reading All Year Long

YA Books About Witches Perfect For Reading All Year Long:

What I love about witch stories is that for readers who are sometimes put off by either horror books or by supernatural/fantasy reads, witch books are often grounded enough in reality—a witch is often human, after all—to make them easy to access. The young adult books with witches below span those titles which lean more heavily toward realistic than fantasy, as well as those which are far more toward the fantastical than realistic side. In other words: there’s something here for every kind of witchy reader.

John Coltrane and the End of Jazz

John Coltrane and the End of Jazz:

The Renaissance, taking man as the measure of all things, produced music for soloists. The Age of Revolutions, gestating democracy and the nation at arms, expressed its collectivism in orchestral music. The 20th century saw the triumph of capitalism, eventually, and the musical format of the market economy was the quartet. A quartet is the cheapest way to mimic an orchestra’s range. Ringo plays the rhythm, Paul holds down the bass, John adds the chords, and George does the decorations. The logical consequence, economically if not musically, was for all four members to sing a bit and write their own tunes. Hence the Beatles, self-contained and self-commodified, with a little help from their friend Brian Epstein.

Of Course Christians Are Theocrats | Peter J. Leithart | First Things

Of Course Christians Are Theocrats | Peter J. Leithart | First Things:

In the final analysis, “human affairs” and “things divine” won’t stay put in their neutral corners. This is why I prefer Stanley Hauerwas’s straightforward confession: “I often enjoy making liberal friends, particularly American liberal friends, nervous by acknowledging that I am of course a theocrat.”

That “of course” is the kicker. For Hauerwas, it’s obvious that a Christian must be a theocrat. He’s right. “Theocracy” means “rule of God,” and the Christian gospel is, in a literal sense, a theocratic message: Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Against the Roman conviction that “Caesar is lord,” Christians proclaim that “Jesus is Lord.”

The big double standard on child sex abuse no one is talking about The American Vision

The big double standard on child sex abuse no one is talking about The American Vision:

while they are raking the Roman Catholics over the coals, they are totaling ignoring—averting the eyes, covering the ears, running to avoid—the same issue in the public schools where all indications are the problem is far greater.

Google and Facebook Didn't End Data Privacy - The Atlantic

Google and Facebook Didn't End Data Privacy - The Atlantic:
Online services are only accelerating the reach and impact of data-intelligence practices that stretch back decades. They have collected your personal data, with and without your permission, from employers, public records, purchases, banking activity, educational history, and hundreds more sources. They have connected it, recombined it, bought it, and sold it. Processed foods look wholesome compared to your processed data, scattered to the winds of a thousand databases. Everything you have done has been recorded, munged, and spat back at you to benefit sellers, advertisers, and the brokers who service them. It has been for a long time, and it’s not going to stop. The age of privacy nihilism is here, and it’s time to face the dark hollow of its pervasive void.

15,000 White South Africans Flee Racist Persecution, Plan Move to Russia - Russian Faith

15,000 White South Africans Flee Racist Persecution, Plan Move to Russia - Russian Faith:

...the whole notion that Boers see Russia as a possible new homeland is telling and it is huge in its implications. It is happening, as I predicted a few years ago, that white Christian peoples (which is by definition–a European root) will increasingly see Russia as their salvation.

Definitely a racist and idolatrous web site, to which I will no longer be following links.

Animal-headed Divinities in Christianity | Tsem Rinpoche

Animal-headed Divinities in Christianity | Tsem Rinpoche:

With the tradition of venerating the dog-headed St. Christopher and the manifestation of animal forms of Cherub and Seraphim angels it is clear that animal-headed divinities do exist within Christianity. It is not only something that exists in ‘pagan’ religions because divinity can manifest in a variety of ways, and divinity can certainly manifest in animal form. Mind you, pagan is something labelled by the Christians to denounce the gods of other religions calling them satanic or evil in order to denounce. Sometimes Christians would denounce in this way to show their superiority over other religions when all religions are actually equal. Nothing can limit the manner in which divinity or God can manifest in order to protect or benefit all beings. Hence, there is nothing wrong or demonic when divinity manifests in animal forms in any religion. It is, in fact, an expression of the divine reaching out to protect and benefit all beings.

Nazism, Socialism and the Falsification of History – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Nazism, Socialism and the Falsification of History – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

last week, Paul Murray complained that young people tempted by left-wing politics fail to understand that the Second World War was waged against socialism. Presumably by this he meant the Axis powers, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

This bizarre view fails to consider the inconvenient fact that the Allies included among its number the communist Soviet Union, the state that bore the brunt of the conflict in lives and domestic destruction. But inconvenient facts should not get in the way of a convenient narrative. "The modern culture doesn't understand WWII," lamented Murray. "Too many of this generation want socialism and don't understand what their relatives fought for and that's why we speak up about it."

Russia Welcomes White South African Refugees? - LewRockwell

Russia Welcomes White South African Refugees? - LewRockwell:

While blind and hypocritical West was hailing their thoroughly fake idol of Nelson Mandela, the Republic of South Africa was slowly being consumed by unprecedented black racism and non-stop assault on white Afrikaners. Rape, murder, robbery, barbed wire electrified fences around white South African communities–these are defining characteristics of modern South Africa.

So Lew Rockwell, an idol to many, is also thoroughly fake!

A New Schism in the Orthodox World Growing as Moscow Seeks Supremacy Over Constantinople - The Pappas Post

A New Schism in the Orthodox World Growing as Moscow Seeks Supremacy Over Constantinople - The Pappas Post:

A New Schism in the Orthodox World Growing as Moscow Seeks Supremacy Over Constantinople

Largely unreported events (in the Greek media) took place in Moscow in early December when Patriarch Kirill, head of the The Russian Orthodox Church hosted 380 Orthodox bishops from Russia and throughout the world, including representatives from the Slavic countries and the Near East, and ethnic Greek church leaders from Alexandria, Cyprus, Jerusalem and Albania.

The celebrations were taking place to commemorate the centennial of the restoration of the Russian Patriarchate following the Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Church went all out to make a grand affair of the spectacle– complete with a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church - Church Etiquette

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church - Church Etiquette:

The Holy Orthodox Church is perhaps one of the last social institutions where dignity, protocol, respect, and reverence are maintained. This is primarily because when we come to the church and its services we are entering the Kingdom of God on earth, His habitation, and we choose to honor this sacred place by our attentiveness to what is proper and ordered. We have the opportunity to reflect the image of Christ within us by our actions. “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” ( Peter 2:9).

Alternative to Euthanasia | Wellspring

Alternative to Euthanasia | Wellspring:

...a clear distinction must be made between what have traditionally been labeled “active” and “passive” forms of euthanasia. The latter term, “passive euthanasia,” refers generally to a withdrawing or withholding of life-support, rather than to active intervention. As such, it is a misnomer. Modern life-support technology can sustain biological existence even when the patient has lost autonomous cardio-respiratory functioning or has suffered the irreversible loss of upper brain activity. Although the brain stem may still be working, if the cerebral cortex is dead, life-support technology (ventilator, dialysis, antibiotics) is doing little more than sustaining a living cadaver. In liturgical language, this state signals that “the soul is struggling to leave the body,” and there is no longer personal existence in any meaningful sense.

DignitySA and COPE to bring advance directives Bill to Parliament | Synapses

DignitySA and COPE to bring advance directives Bill to Parliament | Synapses:

In a secular state, people should of course be free to exercise their religious commitments if those commitments don’t violate the law.

But citizens should also not be forced to adhere to laws that are motivated by non-secular considerations, such as the idea that life is granted and taken away by a metaphysical being, and where humans (who possess the property of existing!) having no say in when and how they die.

The good news is that we are about to inch a little closer to securing personal agency in end-of-life decisions, thanks to Deirdre Carter (of COPE) having lodged a notice of intent to introduce a Private Member’s Bill on advance directives to Parliament. This follows extensive consultation with DignitySA, who have played a key role in getting things this far.

An Alternative Approach to Outlining For Writers Who Don't Outline | WTD

An Alternative Approach to Outlining For Writers Who Don't Outline | WTD:

Some of the best novels of all time are elongated answers to really good questions. A few examples: What if all evil in the world was condensed into a single piece of jewelry? Or, what would a future without books look like? Or, what would happen if a group of boys was left to govern themselves? These aren’t necessarily complex questions, yet they provide a foundation for some truly excellent works.

Likewise, I recommend starting your Junk Doc with a single question. It need not necessarily be a high-concept question like those mentioned above, though it could be if you’ve got one. If you don’t know where to start, try this: “What do I know about my novel?”

Ramaphosa hands out title deeds in Tembisa during Thuma Mina campaign – The Citizen

Ramaphosa hands out title deeds in Tembisa during Thuma Mina campaign – The Citizen:

He said through handing over title deeds, the government was giving people their dignity back, giving them a store of wealth and empowering them economically.

“A house is the most important asset that one can own,” Ramaphosa said.

He urged title deed holders to treat their certificates as valuable assets, adding that title deeds would be handed out throughout the country.