Headline AP: Aristide Protesters Grow in Size

Headline Indystar.com: Christian . . . and cool

“Christian” marketing has a new niche: teenage girls.

While this once might have been a one-way ticket to geekdom, thanks to niche marketing it is becoming easier for teen girls to be both Christian and cool.

A new Bible called Revolve, which has been repackaged as a glossy magazine, makes it possible for Marci and her friends to worship Jesus while reading about eyebrow plucking and exercise. They can listen to rock and pop music that sounds the same as that of their secular peers — except for its message. They can wear statement T-shirts with cleverly designed passages from the Bible, and rings that symbolize a promise to God and not a boy.

“It (Christianity) is becoming a more cool thing to do,” says Marci, a high school sophomore.

Christianity is cool. Somehow that doesn’t sound Biblical.

Matthew 10:38-39: 38And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-26: 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

1 John 2:15-17: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 17And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Headline The Australian: Tests show dogs are almost human

Reuters reports that Texas Ranger Alex Rodriguez is going to be traded to the New York Yankees. The deal is not official until Major League Baseball approves it, so it could still fall through, like the deal to send ARod to the Boston Red Sox earlier this year.

Apparently, ARod is willing to move to third base since the Yankees already have a short stop with a few talents: Derek Jeter.

I’ve heard this ARod is supposed to be a good ball player, but since he plays for Texas, I’ve never seen him. If he does end up with the Evil Empire, I’ll finally get a chance to see this guy play.

Belmont Club points out a little emphasized fact about yesterday’s attack on the Iraqi police station. The attack has been widely report (usually with comments about how this calls into question the administration’s claim that the Iraqis are ready to defend themselves). But USA Today buries a significant fact in their report.

No American troops were involved in the fighting. Officers from the 82nd Airborne Division stationed a 10-minute drive away could hear the battle clearly. They offered help but the Hammad said it wasn’t needed. The Americans did provide additional ammunition and weapons, including light machine guns.

After the battle, soldiers at the civil defense base proudly displayed a light machine gun and a pair of rocket propelled grenade launchers they had captured from the attackers.

The Iraqis could have asked for, and received American help in fighting this attack. But they wanted to handle this themselves. The police station was not adequately defended or provisioned, and so it was outgunned in the attack. But the Iraqi defenders only request was for more ammunition better weapons. The police have learned a valuable lesson from this attack, and I doubt they will be caught unprepared like this again. But the independent attitude is exactly what we want and bodes well for the future.

Q.77. What does the ninth commandment require?

A. The ninth commandment requires us to tell the truth and to maintain and promote it and our own and others’ reputations, especially when testifying.

Headline Charlotte Observer: N.C.’s historic iron

Actually, this is a short news report about the restoration of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor’s propeller. It has taken five years since its retrieval in 1998 to remove the salt and encrustation and get it into shape for display in the Mariners’ Museum.

Headline KOAT New Mexico: Police Probe For Plugged Pipe Perpetrator

If you have watched Public Broadcast System (PBS) Television or listened to National Public Radio (NPR), you are quite familiar with their liberal bias. I used to listen regularly to NPR news, because of they actually take some time to discuss issues in detail. They will spend five minutes talking about a topic rather than the 15 seconds you get on other newscasts. But the liberal slant on everything is just maddening, and I eventually gave up NPR entirely.

There was a time back in the early 1990′s when conservatives in Washington were pushing to stop the federal funding of PBS and NPR, but those days are seemingly long gone. The National Review reports that the federal government has increased funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB, the parent of PBS and NPR) by 45% in the last four years. Compared to the rest of the federal budget, it is a paltry $363 million. Nevertheless, it is money that does not need to be spent, especially in the era of cable TV, Internet radio and satellite radio. But it is particularly galling to conservatives to have to pay for the liberal bias in these "Public" media.

The article goes on to bring out a point I had not considered before.

In discussing NPR, Richard Rahn observes that the public subsidies and leftward tilt are related events: "NPR will never be fair and balanced. Because it depends on government, it will always support government spending over the rights and needs of taxpayers. It attracts a staff that is hostile to the private sector, and that loves government."

Public supported broadcast will always favor big government solutions to problems, even if they somehow tried not to. It is interesting to see that after the 1994 House Republicans declared their intention to defund public television and radio, there was a change to be more slightly more balanced in their news and commentary, but even with this attempt there still remains a marked and obvious liberal slant.

I guess the government gets that for which it pays.

AP Photo:

Caption: “A cat joins its owner reading a book at a Tokyo cafe Friday, Feb. 13. 2004. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) “