Reading for refreshment
To guide your summer getaway book selections, try this formula: E=FB²
A wonderful life
Like the mythical George Bailey, Robert Lavelle has used a savings and loan to help more people than he can possibly know
Flew the coop
How a prominent atheist philosopher made the revolutionary decision to become a theist
Into Africa
An ambitious plan to help Africa's AIDS orphans fights apathy, resistance
Journalism & humility
The two rarely go together anymore, but by following the Bible a Christian journalist can aspire to be a humble truth teller.
Voices
Mailbag
Astonishing depth I have watched Princeton philosopher Peter Singer debate ("Blue-State philosopher," Nov. 27). The depth to which the human mind and soul can sink when one's intellect and ...
Joel Belz
Too close for comfort
Every now and then, a major news story includes elements that strike a little too close to home. Such was the case with last week's controversy over questions addressed to Secretary of Defense Don...
Taliban west?
Secularits are in a state of panic about the role of evangelical Christians in the reelection of George Bush. They actually believe that American democracy is in danger, that we are on the verge o...
Andrée Seu Peterson
Royal entrance
"How should a king come?" asks a Christmas hymn by Carol and Jimmy Owens. I remember how one king came. Rehoboam, on ascending to the throne, was asked by Jeroboam, representative of the northern ...
Marvin Olasky
A resolution to work
As the new year approaches, here's a resolution we should make as individuals and as a society: Let's hold off retirement until we really need it. When Social Security came into being three...
Notebook
Sports
Choosing a 'champion'
On Jan. 1, Auburn will be in New Orleans, Texas will be smelling roses, and Cal will have already left San Diego. The 2004 season has turned into the doomsday scenario for college football's Bowl ...
Technology
Feline studies
Colby Nolan is one of the strangest MBA recipients ever. He is only 6 years old and can neither read nor count-because he is a cat. Pennsylvania investigators signed Colby up for a business...
Business
Big & mobile
Just a few years ago, mobile phone users could choose from close to 10 major providers. But with a likely merger between Sprint and Nextel, the wireless industry will have its own version of the "...
Culture
Culture
Madden NFL 2005
Anyone up for starting a classical Christian football school? The best pro football video game on the market, Madden NFL 2005 (EA Sports, $29.99), requires not only quick reactions but serious thi...
Video
Return of the King
One reason the book is nearly always better than the movie is that a novel, read over days or weeks, has a wealth of time to tell its story. Movies are limited to the 2-3 hours that the human anat...
Notable Books
Bestselling books
1. Five People . . . in Heaven - Mitch Albom Plot: An old man dies and in heaven meets five people whose lives were intertwined with his. Gist: The bestselling author of Tuesdays with Mo...
Movies & TV
Spanglish
One of the most remarkable things about Spanglish is that Adam Sandler proves he's human-or, at least, that he can convincingly play one. But this observational comedy from director James L. Brook...
Dispatches
Quick Takes
Quick Takes
A surprise inside Employees at Samsung's Secaucus, N.J., repair shop may be used to unhappy customers, but a DVD box this month from Jefferson City, Mo., was a first: It had a python inside...
Quotables
Quotables
"I wish I would have torn the ticket up." Jewell Whittaker, wife of lottery winner Jack Whittaker (pictured), on her regrets at having won the largest undivided jackpot in U.S. history. Sin...
The Buzz
The Buzz
EDUCATION The American Civil Liberties Union is putting the theory of intelligent design on trial. Representing eight families in Pennsylvania's Dover Area School District, the ACLU argues that th...
The Buzz Sidebar
Bridge building
France opened the highest bridge in the world this month, a multi-spanned beauty crossing a one-and-a-half mile valley through southern France. An airy landmark to French artistry and ingenuity, i...