Harry Potter is "more Christian" than shiny vampires and their chicklets

The sixth Harry Potter film features front and center the budding hormones of the now-16-year-old wizards, but, compared with Meyer’s vampire oeuvre, J. K. Rowling’s Harry seems downright innocent — a phrase rarely attached to the magical tales, at least among many evangelicals.

 It's all here --

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2009/07/harry_potter_and_the_vampire_b.html

God bless the Elkhart Truth

So the local paper in Indiana publishes an engagement announcement for a local boy who lives in Iowa amd is getting amrried to another guy.

Mayhem ensues.

But, praise them all, the members of the editorial board of the paper respond:

We had no idea that people in Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Warsaw, Kokomo, Indianapolis, Fishers, LaGrange, Muncie, South Bend and Syracuse cared so passionately about The Elkhart Truth. Not to mention our burgeoning fan base in Lawton, Okla.

Nonetheless, we appreciate the interest…

…Same-sex marriage is legal in Iowa, where the couple lives and plans to marry. Since one of the young men is originally from Elkhart and his family still lives here, we did the same thing we’d do for any other local family with a child getting married — we published the couple’s engagement announcement.

Because after all, how would Hoosiers who oppose gay rights even know about Iowa’s same-sex marriage ruling in April if news outlets hadn’t reported it in Indiana — where same-sex marriage is illegal? …

We fulfilled our role as a paper of record. We documented an engagement, something we do hundreds of times each year.

Protesters asked why we would publish a story about something illegal in Indiana. Basically, it’s because an informed citizenry, a citizenry capable of thinking for itself, needs uncensored news from a variety of sources. That includes states and nations where the law does not conform to Indiana’s.

This is the one that hits home for me . . .

So many celebrity deaths, and now one we have been expecting -- Walter Cronkite.

He anchored the CBS Evening News for 19 years through some truly historic times.

He defined "old school journalism."

I have strong memories of him. He was an inspiration in doing it the right way.

I love this part from Tom Wolfe:

When Mr. Cronkite came back from Vietnam after the Tet offensive of 1968, he concluded on national television that the war had become no better than a stalemate. Hearing that, President Lyndon Johnson told associates, ”If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”

That would have been January or February. On Mrach 31 (my birthday), Johnson said he "would not seek nor accept" his party's nomination for president.

I am unsure how I feel about Katie Couric being quoted so high in the story.

In the old days, it was him, Huntley and Brinkley on NBC and Howard K. Smith on ABC. (There may be someone else there, too.)


A giant has fallen.

All I can say is "Yay."

Glens Falls Post-Star

TICONDEROGA -- Two Ticonderoga parents were convicted in Town Court on Thursday of misdemeanor charges that they provided alcohol to teens in October.

The couple, Anthony and Marie O’Hara, ages 40 and 39, were each convicted on 10 counts of unlawfully dealing with a child, which is brought against those who give or sell alcohol to a person younger than 21. Anthony O’Hara was also convicted of 11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
They will be sentenced on Sept. 14. Each faces up to a year in jail, said Julia Garcia, Essex County district attorney.

Garcia said her office has yet to decide on a sentence recommendation.
"I am going to be meeting with the victims in the coming weeks, and we are going to discuss sentencing options," Garcia said.

On the night of Oct. 18, 2008, police busted an underage drinking party at the couple’s home after the district attorney’s office received a tip.
Eleven teens, ages 13 to 15, were found in the home. Two were taken to a hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning, Garcia said.

Bold mine.

More.