Coca-Cola BlaK (the inexplicable spelling and capitalization are apparently on purpose) – that is, Coke “infused” with coffee extract – is about as gross as it sounds.

Partly in order to see a little bit of historic Boston we decided to make our first church visit in the Beacon Hill area yesterday. Specifically, we attended a 9:00 service at The Church of the Advent (Episcopal), a venerable Anglo-Catholic parish. We figured our Protestant sensibilities would take to the 9 o’clock Sung Mass…

With all the fear-mongering on the Left about an imminent “Christo-nationialist” takeover, it’s nice to read an article like this at The American Prospect. Evangelicalism, much less Christianity as a whole, is not nearly as monolithic as some liberals fear (and conservatives might like!). Not that I’m necessarily on board with the whole “progressive” evangelical/Jim…

One of Ireland’s three patron saints, Columba (c. 521-597) preached the Gospel among the Irish and Picts, had some dust-ups with the local Druids, and was one of the architects of the Irish monasticism which helped preserve reading and culture during the early Middle Ages. (See here for more.)

Next Tuesday the National Religious Coalition against Torture will run an ad in the New York Times calling for “the elimination of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as part of U.S. policy.” The ad is endorsed by folks like former President Jimmy Carter, Stanley Hauerwas, Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches,…

My updated map of U.S. states I’ve been to after some recent trips: create your own personalized map of the USA I’d say there’s a pretty good chance I’ll visit Vermont before too long. I don’t know about Rhode Island, though. Are there good reasons to go to Rhode Island?

Noam Chomsky is, to put it mildly, a polarizing figure. For a particular species of left-wing campus activist he’s a kind of guru, someone who has penetrated the veil of illusion and seen reality as it really is. For certain conservatives and “serious” liberals he’s an ayatollah of anti-Americanism, a kind of ritual hate figure.…

Here’s a link (via Eve Tushnet) to a blog called Bloggers Against Torture, sponsored in part by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. They’ve declared June “Torture Awareness Month” as “an effort to respond to the growing evidence that the United States government is engaging systematically in the use of torture and inhuman treatment as…

The stupid anti-gay-marriage amendment went down to defeat yesterday in the Senate. As someone who has lived in Massachusetts for almost five whole days, I can confidently report that the social fabric is not falling apart, despite the existence of state-recognized gay marriage. But seriously, folks, this is something that I think would be best…

Well, the move from Philly to Boston went about as smoothly as you can expect these things to go, though we appear to arrived in the middle of monsoon season. Next time we move I’d definitely like to avoid doing it ourselves. Technically, we’re living in Somerville, which is outside of the city near Cambridge.…