Random

• Rick Mansfield has another prodding post on how Zondervan is neglecting the development of the TNIV -- creating an orphan out of one of the best Bible translations available in English (a subject which I've ranted about numerous times). Preach it, Rick! ~ link

• Two physicians from San Diego have funded a patristics center at Wheaton College -- a new program to "encourage interaction between Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism over their mutual legacy from the early church." Now if they'd move the program to someplace warm, like San Diego, it would be perfect. ~ link

• "North Korea is 'Unique' Rights Abuser, Says Expert" -- I knew that there were personality cult issues but I didn't realize that "all North Koreans are forced to worship Kim Jong-Il and his deceased father..." ~ link

• Time Warner is again thinking about spinning off AOL. If I had an extra $20 or $30 I'd think about buying the company. ~ link

• The Dallas Morning News, which used to have the best religion coverage of any daily newspaper in the US, has reassigned its last two religion reporters to other beats. I'm sure that the paper will continue to cover some religious events but there is no longer a religion section nor anyone focusing on that angle. ~ link

• It appears that the Egyptian government is using the swine flu crisis as an excuse to kill off the pigs in the country. (Muslims find pigs repulsive and the Egyptian elite are mostly Muslims. Pigs all belong to non-Muslim minorities.) Of course, the fact is, according to the WHO, pigs are not the carriers of the H1N1 influenza virus. But the Egyptian government is probably not all that interested in the facts. ~ link

• Am I sounding overly snarky tonight? Don't answer that. I'm just blowing off a little bottled-up steam.