Successful, mature men do not play computer games, attend "cons," and get excited about overrated science fiction movies from the 1970s.

Come on, all the conservative boys who've read this far:

Do you imagine Victor Davis Hanson is some kind of font of boring zombie lore?

Do you think Mark Steyn wastes his spare time playing World of Warcraft? (Trick question. Mark Steyn doesn't have any spare time.)

No, these men have careers and families, here on planet earth.

But here's a little known fact about Star Wars: More than just being a series of two very good films, a pair of decent films and a pair of bad films, it bequeathed a whole industry. I'm not talking about the parallel marketing of the toys, many of which I used to own and now wish I still did because they would be worth a pile of money. I'm talking about Photoshop, and the broader digital imaging industry.

Now, if you hate sci-fi it follows that you'll probably hate both of Lucas' most successful franchises, but that doesn't make them bad films and it doesn't make sci-fi a bad genre. There's a tendency around to try to force others to stop liking things that we don't like. Well, I love sci-fi. When I'm not reading up on politics, I'm probably reading either legitimate history or sci-fi/fantasy. Good sci-fi, like good video games, gets your mind going. Lately I've been reading a lot of Jack McDevitt and Lars Walker. (Emphasis mine. lw) Both are fine writers with interesting minds who can create a universe and invest that universe with life. I don't just read sci-fi/fantasy for the escape. I read it because, right now, it's where the intellectual action is in fiction.

Cade's life, and those like his, offers an alternative view of the good life.

These individuals alter career paths and require families to work together.
They invite each of us to engage, instead of simply walking by.
They love unconditionally, asking little in return beyond a simple acknowledgement.
They celebrate the little things in life, and displace the stress that bogs most of us down.
They seem to understand what true life is about, more than many of us.
They offer us the opportunity to truly value all people as created equal.

Mr Andhoy told the Norwegian public broadcasting service NRK that the presence on board of the unnamed New Zealander was not part of his plan, but was the result of "a hectic departure" from Auckland last week.

He said it was "a somewhat tricky situation" because the man did not have a passport or papers with him.

But Mr Andhoy insisted: "Everything is on schedule and the atmosphere is good on board.

"We are well prepared for what may befall us."

What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?: Answers to the Big Questions of Life

1. Who is God?
2. Who am I?
3. Who are these other people?

Included in the controversial development is the removal of any references to God as "Father," to Jesus as the "Son" or "the Son of God." One example of such a change can be seen in an Arabic version of the Gospel of Matthew produced and promoted by Frontiers and SIL. It changes Matthew 28:19 from this:

"baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"

to this:

"cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit."

The indigenous believers see the introduction of these American-made translations with which they so strongly disagree as a form of American cultural imperialism or colonialism.

According to Turkish pastor Fikret Böcek, such new translations are, "an all-American idea with absolutely no respect for the sacredness of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church."

According to the testimony of one leader from a church in Bangladesh, one of the most problematic aspects of this development is that it gives fuel to the often-heard Muslim claim that Christians are liars who change their Bibles to deceive Muslims. Once a Bible translation is well established within any country, the introduction of such radically different translations reinforces the Muslim charge and undermines trust in the Christian community.

In the shadows of the reflecting fire, her face was lovely, but she looked tired, and sad-or anyway melancholy, which is the wealthy's way of feeling sad.

JACKSON, Tenn. - January 24, 2012- Union University President David S. Dockery has been named the editor of a new series of books designed for Christian students and others on college and university campuses.

In "Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition: A Guide for Students," published by Crossway, Dockery and other experts argue that vibrant, world-changing Christianity is not anti-intellectual but assumes a long tradition of vigorous Christian thinking and a commitment to the integration of faith and scholarship....

Four other books in the series will also be released in 2012, including "The Liberal Arts: A Student's Guide," by Gene C. Fant Jr., Union's vice president for academic administration, in May, and "Political Thought: A Student's Guide," by Hunter Baker, associate dean of arts and sciences at Union, in July.

For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates - but few, if any, academic gains.

Now, an increasing number of teachers are weaning themselves from what some call empty praise. Drawing on psychology and brain research, these educators aim to articulate a more precise, and scientific, vocabulary for praise that will push children to work through mistakes and take on more challenging assignments....

There were three little pigs whose mother sent them out to make their fortunes in the world. When they'd come to a new part of the forest, they decided to build themselves houses. The first little pig built his house out of straw. The second pig built his house out of sticks. But the third pig built his house out of bricks.

One day the first little pig was in his house when the big bad wolf came to the door.

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in!" said the wolf.

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" the pig replied.

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!" said the wolf.

And he huffed and he puffed, and he blew the house of straw down. And the first little pig ran to the second little pig's house.

The wolf followed him there, and he stood outside the door and cried, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" the second pig replied.

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!" said the wolf.

And he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house of sticks down. And both the little pigs ran to the third little pig's house.

The wolf followed them there, and he stood outside the door and cried, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" the third pig replied.

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!" said the wolf.

And he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew, but he could not blow down the brick house.

Then the wolf went to the government, and lodged a complaint against the third little pig. "This pig has built a house on lands traditionally belonging to the wolves," he complained. "And he did it without filing an environmental impact statement. Also, his very presence here is an insult to wolf culture, and makes our cubs cry."

And the government came and bulldozed the house, and the wolf ate the three little pigs.

A nonprofit organization sued the wolf on behalf of the pigs' heirs, but the plaintiffs were found by the court to have no standing.

Says Mr. Lauridsen: "There are too many things out there that are away from goodness. We need to focus on those things that ennoble us, that enrich us." The musical language in which he embodies this simple belief is conservative in the best and most creative sense of the word. His sacred music is unabashedly, even fearlessly tonal, and his chiming harmonies serve as underpinning for gently swaying melodic lines that leave no doubt of his love for medieval plainchant. Nothing about his music is "experimental": It is direct, heartfelt and as sweetly austere as the luminous sound of church bells at night.

There is a wider lesson to her example.  A family home is like a broader human community in that it has rules that establish a way of life, and under that way of life a community is possible.  We see in the early chapters how the traditions of Norwegian families at Yuletide sustained a broad community through hard work.  It is at that feast that the mother first uses her power to force a change in the rules, in her interest and against the interests of others.  It is by forcing continual alterations of the rules of life that she destroys the community within the house, so that finally no one can live with her at all.

Each of these rules is meant to represent moral progress, but each of them destroys the living community in which human kindness is possible.  

And that sense of wonder, especially at what is but small or homely or unregarded, is everywhere to be found in Rockwell's paintings. For the Christian world, properly understood, is the only real haven for man, because in it we learn not only that man is made in the image of God, but that God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, born of a virgin and laid in a manger. Every man we meet bears within himself the mysteries of Christmas, and Good Friday, and Easter, whether he is aware of it or not, and we find these mysteries most clearly manifest in the meek and the lowly.

On some level I believe that Norman Rockwell understood this. Some critics try to shore up his reputation by pointing to the "serious" political paintings he executed: the small black girl escorted to school in the midst of National Guardsmen, or the man standing up in a town meeting to exercise his freedom of speech. I don't wish to deny the success of those works. I think they are very good. But Rockwell's heart lay elsewhere.