Is it not odd that many people who complain about government involvement in the housing market are the very ones who encourage zoning laws for their preferences? While there are good critiques on the short-sightedness of the Obama administration's plans to increase the government's role in helping the poor acquire access to better housing, the problem is that government intervention is one of the largest variables in the housing crisis in the first place. And this includes zoning laws.

Child sexual abuse cases are reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater according to the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry. Why? Children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult. The frequent occurrence of child sexual and physical abuse makes films like Precious reflect more truth than it should.

There has never been a time in human history better for children than the era in which we currently live. In a Western culture like ours that worships children and idolizes youth, the low social status of children in antiquity seems foreign. Given the reality of the Greco-Roman world, it makes Judeo-Christian teaching on children and parenting a powerful counter-cultural witness.

It seems that every Christmas there is a family flick depicting conflict and reconciliation. Robert De Niro leads a great cast in such a movie this year, which also stars Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell. A remake of the 1990 Italian film Stann Tuttie Bene, Everybody's Fine features De Niro as a widower who tries to improve his relationships with his complicated adult children. The movie is a sad reminder of the long-term consequences of family members who routinely keep secrets from one another.