Oh, I want me one of these.
“Carnivorous Clock”
Oh, I want me one of these.
Should Christians Read Fiction?
I mean, aren’t there more productive things to do than read novels or short stories?
The Venus Throw, by Steven Saylor
I was trying to figure out why I feel so depressed today, and then I remembered that Al Franken is going to be my new senator.
In related news, the official Minnesota State Accessory is now the red rubber clown nose.
I decided to try reading a mystery by Steven Saylor on the recommendation of James Lileks (not, I probably ought to add, a personal recommendation, but one heard on the Hugh Hewitt Show). I’m glad I did, and I’ll be reading more. But they’re odd books.
The hero of The Venus Throw is Gordianus the Finder, an established private detective in Rome in the time of Julius Caesar. This story takes place in the year 56 BC, and is based on actual events.
Gordianus is visited, unexpectedly, by an acquaintance from the past, an old Egyptian philosopher named Dio, with whom he used to have informal dialogues when he lived as a young man in Alexandria. Dio explains that he is part of a delegation from Egypt which has come to petition the Roman Senate. One by one or in groups, most of the original 100 emissaries have been murdered or scared off. Dio asks Gordianus for just one favor—to do a sort of security check on the house where he is staying, so that he can eat the food without fearing poison.
Gordianus, very regretfully, has to refuse. Not only does the case involve political risks, but he is leaving on a trip to visit his oldest stepson (a soldier of Caesar’s in Gaul) the next day.
On his return from Gaul, Gordianus learns that Dio was murdered that very night. Continue reading The Venus Throw, by Steven Saylor
The Way It’s Supposed to Work
Tim Challies says he was drawn in by a blurb.
Polishing God’s Monuments was an unexpected surprise. A book that arrived (as do so many others) without any fanfare, I quickly skimmed the four endorsements and paused only when I saw Bruce Ware’s name and his claim that this title is “so gripping and moving and inspiring that one cannot put the book down.” Based on my respect for Bruce Ware, on the enthusiasm of his endorsement and on the track record of the publisher, Shepherd Press, I decided I should at least give the book a try. Am I ever glad I did!
Sowell on the Government’s Medical Care Marketing
Thomas Sowell argues that proponents of government medical insurance use a lot of marketing language and make few arguments.
A cynic is said to be someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. If so, then it is political cynicism to point to other countries that spend less on medical care, including some countries where there is “universal health care” provided “free” by their governments.
…
There are more than four times as many Magnetic Resonance Imaging units (MRIs) per capita in the United States as in Britain or Canada, where there are government-run medical systems. There are more than twice as many CT scanners per capita in the United States as in Canada and more than four times as many per capita as in Britain.
Is it surprising that such things cost money?
I was surprised and irritated when I heard the president say he could cut wasteful spending in Medicare by eliminating unneeded tests like MRIs and CT scans. The scans he said were wasteful were those that came back negative. So if a problem wasn’t found, the test was a waste of time?
The real solution to this is to put all the decision making in the hands of doctors, patients, and Christian neighbors who would be willing to help people pay for the care they need.
A Serious July Fourth Joke
With Independence Day coming this weekend, I want to share a bit of history I just read in David Elton Trueblood’s 1973 book on Abraham Lincoln. In a chapter on Lincoln’s habits of prayer, Trueblood reports:
The fact that the prayers of the North and South obviously conflicted lent credence to a story in which President Lincoln took unusual delight. According to the common version of the story, two Quaker women, riding together on the train, began to compare the two Presidents.
“I think,” said the first, “Jefferson will succeed.”
“Why does thee think so?”
“Because Jefferson is a praying man.”
“And so is Abraham a praying man.”
“Yes, but the Lord will think Abraham is joking.”
Of this, Lincoln said that it was the best story about himself that he had ever “read in the papers.”
Alias Smith
Our friend and commenter S. D. Smith has changed his blogging digs from The Maple Mountain Story Club to a blog simply (and modestly) called S. D. Smith. No explanation is given for this change, nor any apology for the inevitable disruption and social chaos certain to ensue.
Update: Actually he does give an explanation. But it’s pretty unconvincing.
Book Giveaway
Jared is offering copies of Christian George’s Godology and a copy of his own “Your Jesus Ain’t Too Shabby” (or something like that) for commenters willing to offer up a fun story about theology, like this one from Clinton:
My Son was working with the kids program at a local church and the youth pastor had an off-site bible study for the teens the same night. The youth pastor decided it would be fun to scare my son and had hid in the church. He had my wife phone my son and tell him there was an alert because an escaped murderer had been seen in the area. She told him to lock the doors and check to make sure no one was in the church. During the search, the youth pastor jumped out at my son and another leader, Matt, doing the search. Matt clocked the youth pastor in the head with the 2 by 4 he was carrying…twice.
OUCH
50 Manly Fiction Options
This just in: The Essential Man’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books Edition. Hey, where’s G.A. Henty on that list? And I have to say up front, She and Ayesha are just not going to make my read-in-this-lifetime list. Maybe I’m missing out, but I think I’d rather read Patrick O’Brian and Wodehouse again.
Hey! Where’s O’Brian on that list?