Recently in Overheard Category

Though not a big fan of the fantasy genre, the first Narnia earned my eternal goodwill in a single scene. Any film that has Santa Claus handing out weapons to young children is a-okay by me.

- From a review of Prince Caspian at Libertas

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Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

-- President Bush during a a speech to the Knesset in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary.

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It's easy for people to strike if they're not working on a regular basis. They already have a restaurant job, they already have another life. That's just the case of our union. Most people in it don't work regularly.

-- The Office's Kate Flannery on talk of an actor's strike.

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Warning: If you treat your church like a business, you will treat other churches like your competition.

-- Jared Wilson

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Employees experience a continuous stream of encounters - one defect is a low failure rate. Customers experience a single defect as a 100% failure rate.

-- From Mistake-Proofing: Designing Errors Out by Richard B. Chase and Douglas M. Stewart (Via Kevin Kelly)

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I don't think [the upcoming Sex and the City movie] is just for girls. I am a reasonably well-adjusted bloke and I am looking forward to seeing the film with my girlfriend. I am then looking forward to poking my eyes out with red-hot pokers, burning my skin off, and rolling around in salt for a while.

-- British filmgoer Phil Mann expressing a sentiment soon to be shared by thousands of American men.

This idea that Christians are just as likely to divorce as secular folks is not correct if we factor church attendance into our thinking. Churchgoing evangelical Protestants, churchgoing Catholics, and churchgoing mainline Protestants are all significantly less likely to divorce.

-- Brad Wilcox, a sociologist, clarifying a much believed myth about Christians and divorce.

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Facing the Giants from any serious perspective is a fantasy film. Its message is very dangerous for Christians, and scandalous for pagans. Adult Evangelical Christians watching Facing the Giants is like sex addicts watching the Spice Channel.

-- Barbara Nicolosi, a Catholic blogger and scriptwriter, in a review of the film Facing the Giants. [HT: Jollyblogger]

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If you still, frequently, have to explain to people the difference between emergENT and emergeING, perhaps you need to pick a new moniker. I still don't know what the difference is. And I've never quite figured out what they are "emerging" from. And do you ever quit emerging? Lots of things emerge, but they eventually stop emerging, right (once fully emerged, I mean)? Will the movement change its name to "Emerged" when it's done? And is this the first movement to have a participle for a name?

-- Bill from The Thinklings, explaining his difficulty with "emergispeak."

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Women have an eight-lane superhighway for processing emotion, while men have a small country road...I know it is not politically correct to say this but I've been torn for years between my politics and what science is telling us. I believe women actually perceive the world differently from men.

-- Dr. Luan Brizendine, a female psychiatrist who claims that inherent differences between the male and female brain explain why women are naturally more talkative than men.

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All traits in existence across the entire animal and vegetable kingdoms get the same seven word explanation: Whatever needs an explanation "arose by accident and was selected for." How did the elephant get its trunk? It ABAAWSF. How did ants appear? They ABAAWSF. How did the leopard get its spots? ABAAWSF. Etcetera, ad infinitum.

-- Tom Bethell summing up the "faith" of neo-Darwinists.

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Being hostile to virginity is the ultimate misogyny. It means sneering at the innocence of children, and laughing at women who want sex to mean something more than just a hookup.

-- Wendy Shalit, quoted in Rachel Kramer Bussel's Village Voice column, "Like a Virgin: The Case Against Having Sex." (HT: The Dawn Patrol)

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The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

-- Soren Kierkegaard

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Writing blog posts is much easier than writing books as Tim Challies is starting to discover. Since I have done both, I would compare writing a post as being just a little harder than eating a bowl of cereal, while writing a book - which I have several - is the closest thing to giving birth. Just a word of experience for all you bloggers that think blogging and book writing are in the same cosmic hemispheres.

-- Andy Jackson

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Truncheons are for louts. The great masters of social manipulation use language. They know, furthermore, that the establishment of a flexible and subtle language for the ruling classes is only half of what's needed. The other half is the perpetuation of an ineffective and minimal language among the subjects. Ordinarily, the second half is assured by man's natural propensity to bother himself as little as possible, but history occasionally requires that the rulers take some special pains to preserve the ignorance of their subjects.

A fluent command of English cannot exist as an isolated skill, a clever stunt. A person who speaks and writes his native tongue clearly and precisely does so because of many other abilities, and those other abilities themselves grow stronger through the fluent manipulation of language. The simple matter of being logical is a function of language. A million high school graduates capable of fluent English would be a million Americans capable of logical thought. What would we do with them[...] ? You think they're going to buy those lottery tickets and lamps in the shape of Porky Pig?

-- Richard Mitchell, in Less than Words Can Say. (HT: Middlebrow)

"Throughout this book, I often refer to Christians and Christianity because I am a Christian and I have a fairly good idea of what they believe, but the term is intended to include anyone who subscribes to the Bible of the God of Abraham, including Jews and others."

-- From a footnote on pg. 3 of Ann Coulter's new book Godless.

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"I'm not sure how wise it is to pass resolutions that functionally condemn the actions of Jesus (John 2; Luke 7:33-34; ) and Paul (1 Tim. 5:23). I'm also not sure it's very wise to prohibit that which God has given as a gift (Deut. 14:26; Ps. 104:15)."

-- Justin Taylor on the Southern Baptist Convention's resolution against alcohol.

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"Real patriotism cannot be coerced. Our freedom to speak was attacked — not our flag. The former, not the latter, needs the protection of our Constitution and our laws."

-- Bob Kerrey, a former Senator who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam, speaking out against a Constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning.

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“Ten days ago, [Gen. Wesley Clark] had a street named after him in Kosovo, today he’s on a science panel with a man named ‘Darksyde’ and a woman in a bonnet. That is democracy.”

-- One of Clark's handlers at YearlyKos, as quoted by Anna Marie Cox. [Note: Darksyde (aka DS) was a longtime commenter here at EO.]

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"Farhad Manjoo's article criticizing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Rolling Stone piece "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" generated hundreds of letters, most of them critical, and hot debate in the blogosphere (with most but not all lefty voices raised to criticize Salon).... But with people denouncing Manjoo, and Salon, as pawns of Karl Rove, it's worth taking a minute to place this debate in its proper political context."

-- Liberal web magazine Salon.com, responding to left-leaning critics.

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"When Mr. Biden says things like, "Try to follow me, Judge Alito," as he goes on one of his long, sterile journeys, I wonder if Judge Alito has to control himself with an act of will. I wonder if he has an inner Regis Philbin, and wants to throw out his arms and say, "Follow you? If I follow you, we'll both wind up lost!" When Mr. Biden says, "Now this is a somewhat subtle point," I wonder if Judge Alito wants to say, "Joe, if it were a subtle point you wouldn't be making it!"

-- Peggy Noonan on what she imagines Judge Alito thinks of Sen. Joe Biden

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"It's about saying: 'I'm sorry, if your family is out of control and causing hell for everybody else in the local community we cannot sit there and simply say nothing's going to happen to you."

-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair on his National Parenting Academy where frustrated parents would be given help in dealing with out-of-control offspring.

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"I just know if I saw that movie, the voice inside my head that delights in torturing me would have a field day. "You like those cowboys, don't you? They're kind of cute. Go ahead, admit it, they're cute. You can't fool me, gay man. Go ahead, stop fighting it. You're gay! You're gay!

Not that there's anything wrong with it."

-- Seinfeld creator Larry David, explaining why he refuses to see Brokeback Mountain

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“The movie associates homosexuality with nature—magnificent mountains, big sky, clear blue water, teeming forests—as contrasted with the constraints of a tacky, empty civilization. But whether you are a creationist or a Darwinist, having children and struggling to survive are what's "natural." Leaving your family for escapist, sterile sex is literally "unnatural."

-- Gene Ed Veith, in a review of Brokeback Mountain

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"One of the things you said was that you're at the reproductive stage. And for me, that's, right now, not what I'm looking for.”

The Bachelor’s Travis Stork explaining to contestant (and fellow physician) Allie why he is turning her down.

"You're playing around. You don't want reproduction.”

--Allie’s response to being dumped. Earlier she had told another contestant that her eggs are old and her clock is ticking.

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"This is inevitable -- Wi-Fi. It is long overdue. It is to me a fundamental right to have access universally to information...This is a civil rights issue as much as anything else."

-- San Fransico Mayor Gavin Newsom, claiming that wireless Internet access is a fundamental right of all citizens.

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"She gives my name four sylllables -- E-ye-e-d."

-- Judge Ed Kinkeade, who says that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers talks so slowly that the Senate should add an extra day to her hearings .

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"Dr. Smith’s medical treatment included intercourse in which he told plaintiff was needed to help alleviate plaintiff’s lower back and lower extremity pain."

-- From a court document of an Oregon woman who is suing her doctor for $4 million because he reportedly told her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her.

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“I love both Bianca and Mirjam, so I am marrying them both.”

-- Victor de Bruijn, a Dutch groom who "married" his two brides in a civil union ceremony in The Netherlands.

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"If I did die, I wasn't going to heaven and say, 'Oh, excuse me, God. Let me wipe my nose, because I just did some drugs before I got here."

-- Ashley Smith who, after being abducted at gunpoint last March, told the media she was able to persuade quadruple murder suspect Brian Nichols to release her by talking about her faith in God and reading from The Purpose Driven Life. In her new book, Smith admits that she had the talk after Nichols had snorted some methamphetamine from her personal stash.

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“Sex and drug use are more dangerous in some ways, I think, than we thought. This is a wake-up call for parents and others to say experimenting with these behaviors is not a good idea.”

-- Dr. Denise D. Hallfors, on a study that finds teens’ use of sex and drugs “predicted an increased likelihood of depression” while depression did not appear to predict sex and drug use behaviors. ******

"I don't want to drive a car. I worked hard for my medical degree. Why do I need a driver's license?"

-- Dr. Siddiqa Kamal, a female Saudi obstetrician and gynecologist. Kamal was one of many women who reacted coolly to the remark by Karen Hughes, a senior Bush administration official, that that Saudi women should be able to drive and "fully participate in society." ******

"The trend among college women has prompted some sexual behavior experts to light-heartedly refer to the term 'LUG,' or 'lesbian until graduation."

-- Craig Kinsley, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond who studies the biology of sexual orientation and gender, discussing a a CDCP report that 11.5 percent of women, ages 18 to 44, said they've had at least one sexual experience with another woman in their lifetimes.

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"If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims."

-- From the prologue of the Dalai Lama's new book, "The Universe in a Single Atom."

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"You've got your own demons to live with. I'm not going to judge you."

-- New Orleans police Captain Eddie Hosli -- who had only 30 out of his 120 officers reported for duty the day after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city -- to the AWOL officers who began trickling back to work after being promised five expenses-paid days in Las Vegas. ******

"New Orleans is a party town. Get over it."

-- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin when asked why nearly 60 percent of the force was going to be relaxing in Sin City rather than searching for survivors. ******

"Pat [Robertson] doesn't speak for evangelicals any more than Dr. Phil speaks for mental health professionals."

-- Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals,

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"There was a time, not all that long ago, where expressing racist sentiments in a church would be politely ignored (if not agreed with) while expressing the idea that homosexuality can be compatible with Biblical principles would get you brained with a shovel."

-- Tim Reed, on how the church takes its cues from society

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"The plan of some wealthy Democrats to fund a network of left-wing thing tanks has two flaws. First, those institutions already exist: they're called universities."

-- Marvin Olasky in WORLD blog

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"Most people who are secular humanists have the idea that they are doing fine. We are doing fine and our only enemy is the Bible-based far right. The reason why the real threat is the far right is that they have the Bible. And the Bible is a masterpiece. The Bible is one of the greatest works produced in the world. The people who all they have is the Bible actually are set up for life. Not only do they have a spiritual vision given to them but artistic fulfillment. They don’t even recognize just the pleasure of dealing with this epic poetry and drama. Everything is in the Bible. What does the left have? The left has a lot of attitude."

-- Camille Paglia, art critic and self-avowed atheist

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“I argue that sex has only two reasons, one of them is for procreation, and we don't subsidize procreation in the form of fertility drugs. And the other reason for sex is recreation, and we should not be funding recreational drugs of any kind, be they psychedelic or for sexual impotency."

— Representative Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington, explaining why the House voted to bar Medicaid and Medicare from paying for Viagra and other medicines that treat sexual impotence in men. ***

“There are more than 70 million people in the United States who smoke marijuana. We’re catering to the audience of people who are in that smoking culture.”

--- Rick Watkins, marketing director for Corona, Calif.-based Chronic Candy, which uses the slogan “Every lick is like taking a hit.”

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"It is offensive to suggest that a potential justice of the Supreme Court must pass some presumed test of judicial philosophy. It is even more offensive to suggest that a potential justice must pass the litmus test of any single-issue interest group. The disturbing tactics of division and distortion and discrimination practiced by the extremists of the new right have no place in these hearings and no place in the nation's democracy."

— Senator Ted Kennedy, during Sandra Day O'Connor's 1981 confirmation hearings.

“A review of William G. Myers' past record shows…a troubling legal philosophy…”

“Justice Owen's consistently conservative legal opinions reflect a judicial activism that falls outside the mainstream of judicial thought…”

"…there's going to be an additional test [for Bush-appointed judges]...”

-- Senator Ted Kennedy

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“Yes, of course. Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe? Millions of stars, and we're supposed to be the only living creatures? No, there are many things out there, we just don't know.”

-- Actor Tom Cruise when asked if he believes in aliens.

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