Two new podcasts

Homily podcasts:

No Place for Self-appointed Martyrs

Stop Counting and Forgive

P.S.  I put the Wish List button back up.  The shipping address is Rome, so I won't actually get any books sent until I get back to Rome in early Oct.

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The Wrong Questions

20th Week OT (Tues)

Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP

Priory of the Holy Spirit (Blackfriars, Oxford)

When you ask Christ the wrong question, you still get the right answer. A wealthy young man asks Jesus, “What good work must I do to enter heaven?” To answer, Jesus reels off a laundry list of conditions, including with the deal-killing requirement of abject poverty, and concludes by saying, “Follow me.” The disciples ask, upon hearing Jesus say that a camel will gallop through the eye of a needle before a rich man enters heaven, “Who can be saved, then?” Jesus responds, “For men, this is impossible, for God everything is possible.” Wrong questions, right answers. But why are these the wrong questions to ask? What's so wrong about wanting to know who will be saved, and how one goes about being among those saved? Let's say that you are possessed by a holy curiosity, a truly inspired need to explore the mysteries of salvation. If you understand anything that Jesus teaches about the possibility of enjoying the Beatific Vision, you know that to ask what must be done to enter heaven reveals a deep misunderstanding of the Good News. To ask who can be saved, implies an even deeper misunderstanding. There is nothing to be done. And the invitation to live with God eternally, an invitation made by the cross and the empty tomb, is delivered to everyone without conditions. The young man and the disciples do not yet understand what Jesus means when he teaches that salvation is a gift, eternal life freely given.

That the young man and the disciples see their entrance into heaven in terms of What Must Be Done and Who Can Do It should not surprise us. They were born and raised in a religious tradition that made salvation contingent on the completion of specific works completed by specific people during specific times of the year. Jesus regularly claims that he is fulfilling the Law not abolishing it, so it is only sensible to wonder exactly what requirements of the Law has he fulfilled and how his potential followers are to do their part in following along behind. The answer that Jesus gives the young man mirrors the young man's expectations regarding the work to be done for salvation: keep the commandments, sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and then follow me. 

The answer he gives to the disciples, however, is not what the disciples expected, “. . .for God everything is possible.” Peter, obviously dismayed, pipes up, “Oh really? Well, what about us? We've left it all behind for your sake. What are we to have, then?” Jesus says, “For all that you have forsaken you will be repaid one hundred times over and you will inherit eternal life.” Then, just to make sure that his students get the lesson, he adds, “Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” In other words, young man, disciples, what you count as sacrifice and treasure here do not count as sacrifice and treasure in heaven. It is not your own power—or treasure or sacrifice or good works—that wins the victory but the grace of God that snatches you from the final defeat. 

The Good News—for the young man, the disciples, for all of us—is that all things are possible for God and He desires our salvation. Left to ourselves we might or might not follow the all commandments, make all the right sacrifices, pray all the right prayers, and give away all our treasures. However, none of this really matters when it comes to whether or not we will dine at the heavenly feast. We have the invitation. So let's not waste our time asking the wrong questions. We have the only answer we need: “. . .for God everything is possible.”

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As an itinerant friar, I travel a lot.  Mostly by airplane. My experiences are almost always good ones.  There have been times, however, when I wish the plane had an on-board disciplinarian empowered to smack selfish passengers. . .particularly those who jump up and grab their overhead baggage and stand in the aisle.  I always want to ask, "Do you think the plane is going to take off again with you on it?"  SMACK!

Hmmmm. . .maybe the flight attendant in question here is not the folk hero he is made out to be.  

What's good for the iman is good for the. . .um. . .drag queen?  I dunno.  This point of this seems to be to show up the hypocrisy of insisting on building a mosque next door to the 9/11 memorial in the name of tolerance and moderation.  Is this a serious suggestion?

A mighty good suggestion:  work for a few years out of high school before going to college.  Or do some volunteer work, or join the military. . .I went straight from high school to college to grad school.  Big mistake.  When your whole world from age 18 to 30 is nothing but university life, you get a very skewed notion of reality. 

This is not a problem I face!  However, my problem is more insidious:  students consistently confuse "Fr. Philip" with "Dr. Powell."  There seems to be an expectation that Dr. Powell will function as a professor in the same way that Fr. Philip functions as a priest--merciful, understanding, forgiving, "easy,"etc.  The realization that this is an illusion is not always pretty.

A future President of the U.S.?  How quickly would MSM heads explode if the Tea Partiers/GOP nominated and the voters elected a black conservative to the White House. 

A conservative defense of the judge who voided Prop 8 in CA.

Border security tech. . .

This guy hits the B.O, meltdown on the nose. . .ten times in a row.  Excellent.

Can a suffering atheist find God?  Yup.  NB.  the author of this piece assumes that only non-believers are capable of rational, objective deliberation.  How?  By distancing themselves from most of what makes us human.  Very sad.

On political civility and our Elitist Betters. . .when they see the torches and pitchforks coming up to the castle gates, our self-anointed rulers turn up the music, pop the bubbly, and ramp up the rhetoric that marks them as fundamentally anti-democratic.  NB.  R-rated content.

Even the Brits seem to get it. . .and they really know elitism when they see it!

From the tar pits of 1972, mewling ecclesial dinosaur mewls some more.  Bless her heart.

Zen quotes (sorta). . .I've experienced #4.

A conspiracy theory generator.  My guess is that the author of this program needs help providing CNN with fresh material.

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Stop counting and forgive

19th Week OT (R)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

You may be surprised to learn that most pumpkins in the U.S. are naturalized citizens. That the soul is located in a gland found in the brain. And that monkeys are usually politically libertarian. Are you surprised? You should be. You should be surprised not because these fascinating facts are in fact false, but because they pretend to tell us something about the world that they cannot tell us. Pumpkins are not subject to the citizen naturalization process. The soul is not a physical entity that can be located in a body part. And monkeys are not the sorts of creatures that have political opinions. When we say things like, “I've visited every building on campus, but I've yet to see the university,” we are making what philosophers call a “category mistake.” The university is not a building that can visited. The mistake occurs when we believe that the non-physical entity (the university) can be visited as if it were a physical entity (a building). Peter makes this same sort of mistake when he asks Jesus, “How many times must I forgive my brother?” Jesus' answer is a bit more poetic than, “Peter, you are making a category mistake.” He says, “You must forgive from the heart.”

Peter's mistake is understandable and easily forgivable. The Law under which he carried out his religious duties was stacked with accountable obligations; discreet, countable practices. The proper kind and number of animals for sacrifice. The proper number of days for fasting. Ten Commandments. Twelve tribes. Seventy judges. His question is not a devious attempt to avoid Jesus' teaching on forgiveness. Rather he is trying to learn—within his religious tradition—what his obligation to forgive others means in practical terms. We Catholics are prone to making our own category mistakes. “Father, do I get more grace if I attend Mass twice a day?” Or “Aren't my sins better forgiven if I confess them twice?” Grace and forgiveness are not the sorts of things that can be numbered, measured, or intensified. There is no such thing as “more grace” or “better forgiveness.” There is grace and there is forgiveness. Both are superlative, always excellent in themselves, and achieved once for all through Christ.

Jesus makes this point when he teaches Peter to forgive from his heart rather than from his counted reserves of mercy. A philosopher might say that to forgive is dispositional; that is, when you forgive you forgive because of who you are. You are disposed to forgive. A theologian would say that you forgive because you are intensely aware that you yourself have been forgiven. Forgiving others is a matter of spreading the Good News of God's boundless mercy. Counting the number of times you forgive a sin committed against you violates the very nature of mercy. Mercy flows from Mercy Himself—limitless, continuous, and innumerable. We are not charged with acting as God's accountants of merciful acts, meticulously toting up debits and credits. Rather, we are vowed to being living, unobstructed conduits of His forgiveness for others. We are able to forgive only because He has forgiven us first.

Seven times eleven is not seventy-seven in the arithmetic of forgiveness. Seventy-seven is the number given for our forgiving natures, the number that exceeds counting, exceeds all limits. We are bound in obedience to Christ to forgive the 78th, 79th, and 80th time we are sinned against. In mercy, we are forbidden to count; by divine love, we should want to.

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No place for self-appointed martyrs

Memorial of St. Clare

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

Resetting a broken bone hurts. Cleaning a bloody wound hurts. Talking about past traumas hurts. Whether we are in need of physical cure or spiritual healing, treating injuries and uprighting wrongs are never a duties we take on with much gusto. Seeing the end, the healed soul and the cured wound, helps with the immediate pain, but the memory of the ordeal lingers and leaves us wary of the next time we might need the surgeon's knife or the Church's medicine. But despite this wariness, despite our deep reluctance to seek out healing and cure, we are unambiguously charged with “taking care” of our hurts—both physical and spiritual. Jesus tells his disciples that whatever they bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever they loose on earth is loosed in heaven. When a brother or sister sins against you, you are free to bind their offense to you or let it loose. If you let it loose, it is gone. If you choose to bind it, just remember: “Lord, forgive me my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me.” As you forgive, so you are forgiven.

It is not likely that many of us here are weighed down with truly grievous sins, really weighty offenses that have killed our love for God. God's enemies rarely show up for Mass! It is more likely the case that if any of us are in a state of sin, we are there b/c we are mired in a shallow yet complex morass of wounds caused by holding grudges, nursing hurts, seeking after petty revenge, or by practicing habitual deceit. Each cut leading to another, deeper wound; each wound bleeding out our strength and resolve to seek healing. Perhaps convinced of the righteousness of our refusal to forgive, we cling to being offended, replaying again and again the moment we were injured. I am the victim! I deserve justice! And rather than free ourselves and our assailant from the soul-killing swamp of sin, we nurture our wounds, scratch them open, and let them bleed for all to see, so that all might know how we were violated. What we bind on earth is bound in heaven and bound to drag us down.

However, what we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Freeing those who have sinned against us is immediately repaid in our own freedom. No longer tied to our offenders by sin—theirs and ours—we are liberated, and no longer left to languish in a self-pitying mess. We can choose to loose, choose to relieve, choose to unlock. Or we can choose to remain wrapped in grudging self-righteousness and the resulting despair. If we will continue to walk with Christ, carrying our cross, and growing in holiness, the only choice for us is to live lives of forgiveness, daily living the mercy that we ourselves have been shown again and again. In fact, the most deliberate way that we can give God thanks for His mercy is to share out that mercy to others. 

Jesus says that he is with us when we gather in his name. How much more powerfully will we experience his loving presence if, when we gather in his name, we gather to loose the ties of sin that bind us, to bind ourselves in obedience to his commandment to love one another? Let's own up to a hard truth: the refusal to forgive, an unwillingness to show mercy is an act of mortal pride and deadly to the soul. We risk forsaking our heart's charity, the love we have for God. No gamble is worth those stakes. The Good News is that the choice is ours to make. Bind and be bound. Loose and be set free.

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Coffee Mug Browsing (Catholic edition)

Prof. Peter Kreeft on whether or not the CDF's 2000 document, Dominus Iesus is liberal or conservative.  The answer:  neither and both.  IOW, the document is a model for Catholic orthodoxy! One of my seminary profs, a self-avowed feminist sister, declared to our class one day, "This document will be on the trash heap of history in ten years!"  Of course, the author of DI is now Pope Benedict XVI.

Is Catholicism collapsing in Italy?  When answering questions like this one we have to take the long-view and remember that we live within a 2,000 year old history.  Mass attendance can decline for decades. . .but the Church prevails.

The federal judge who declared CA's Proposition 8 based his decision on a dangerous anti-American premise:  religion is harmful.  Few believers would deny that religion can be harmful; however, Christianity is not inherent harmful.  Like anything created, religion has its uses and abuses.

This judge pointedly included passages from a 2003 document on the family written and signed by Cardinal Ratzinger. 

Contra indifferntism:  can non-Catholic be saved?  The short answer is:  Yes.

How to talk to someone who supports same-sex "marriage"

Catholic heathcare blues

"There's a Little Black Spot on Your Head Today". . .the Catholic Weird Al.

Lots of Jesuit jokes

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Blogging Lite

Dear HancAquam Readers:

It's crunch week!  Final papers are in. . .exams are set and will need to be graded. . .last few reading assignments and classes to complete. . .then on to packing, cleaning, saying Goodbye-'til-Next Year!

So. . .blogging will likely be kinda light this week.  I have the noon Mass at U.D. on Thursday, my last this time 'round, so there will be a homily posted. 

Once I am safely nestled into the idyllic academic life of Oxford, I'll be freer to post more often.

God bless, Fr. Philip

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Lots-O-Info on St Dominic Guzman, including pics.

Boy Scouts boo B.O.'s recorded message to them. . .he skipped the BSA meeting to sit on the Fawning Couch with the harpies. . .errrrr. . .ladies of The View.   Not sure it is a good sign that Boy Scouts are booing the President.  If nothing else, the Office deserves respect.

Hope and Change for real transparency:  city gov'ts are posting public employees' salaries on-line.  Maybe this will be the first step in teaching public servants that American citizens are not simply storing the gov't's money 'til April 15th.

First Lady acting like a certain pre-Revolutionary Queen?  The story of Michelle's extravagant vacation in southern Spain isn't about the money spent. . .surely some U.S. city could have used the $375,000 she spent.  This is about the apparent inability/unwillingness of the Obama's to SEE that middle America is in desperate shape.  Whether they care or not is besides the point. . .they must appear to care.  It's what politicians are supposed to do.  

The Southern Poverty Law Center used to be one of my favorite organizations.  Lately, they have swerved into self-serving fantasy land by attacking Tea Partiers as racist.  But the question must be asked:  Who's Whiter:  the SLPC or the Tea Party?

Chris Christie for President?  I say, "Yes!  It's time for another Fat Guy in the White House!"

Bush appointee to the federal bench is accused of colluding with prosecutors in an immigration raid and then presided over the trail of those arrested.  If true, she needs to be impeached.

The environment disaster that wasn't. . .or isn't any longer.  The Worst Disaster in Natural History meme served to thump B.O.'s crisis management skills, bolster environmentalist hysteria, and expose corporate greed and irresponsibility.  Unfortunately, for those who hoped/planned to use the accident to maximum political advantage, it looks like the oil spill is little more than spilled milk now.

Um, yea. . .but no thanks.  I like the ground.

Two birds, one stone. . .the plot thickens.

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SHOCKING! (Not)  Openly gay federal judge discovers previously unknown constitutional right for same-sex "marriage."  Who knew?  Of course, this is a piece of social engineering disguised as a judicial ruling. 

One legal analysis of the opinion.  The judge's ruling opens the floodgates. . .there are to be no unreasonable limits on who can be married:  siblings, multi-partners, etc.  The slick move here is to define "reasonable" strictly in terms of an evolving social ethic and a radical notion of individuality w/o reference to the importance of traditional marriage to fabric of a healthy social order.

The MSM meme/spin on the victory of MO's anti-ObamaCare referendum:  Republican voters put the measure over the top.  No.  There aren't enough GOP voters in MO to reach the 79% approval the measure received. . .meaning, that Dems and Independents voted against B.O. in droves.

Uber-atheist Bad Boy, Christopher Hitchens is suffering from cancer.  He notes that people are praying for him. . .please add your voice to theirs!

Whiny priests grouse about the new Missal translation.  Remember:  Joe and Sue Catholic are too stupid to get all that flowery religiousy language.

The MSM:  more trusted than pedophiles and serial killers. . .but just barely.

On not fitting the narrative:  Black Tea Partiers

I'm not a fan of Cardinal Mahony. . .but props to him for getting it right on same-sex "marriage."

Bewares the Monkies. . .they's devious.

Some higher purpose to life. . .yes!

Whatever you say, dear. . .

Yes, please. . .I'll need one of these filled with holy water when I become a vampire-fighting priest! My orders from the Vatican are coming any day now. . .annnnyyy day now.

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News/Updates

A few updates and an explanation. . . 

A.W.O.L.?  No.  Just trying to get stuff done before the U.K. trip next week.  Mea culpa!  I'm back.

Great summer classes. . .despite problems with getting the books ordered for class, the heat, the afternoon funk of the Morning Person Professor, etc. . .both my classes this summer have been excellent.  Good students make all the difference!  (NB.  to my students who may read this:  yes, you still have to take the exam. . .)

Hist/Phil of Science at U.D. . .a couple of U.D. profs are working on a concentration option for students here, an inter-disciplinary set of courses that bring the sciences and humanities together.   The university will need help funding this new program, so let me know if you can help.  They'll need money for guest lecturers, conferences, etc.  Giving Catholic college students a generous dose of non-atheistic scientific history and philosophy of science is crucial in today's increasingly secularize academy.

New U.D. chaplain. . .After a very brief absence (just barely two years), the O.P.'s have reclaimed the chaplain's chair at U.D.  Fr. Rudy Garcia has taken on full-time vocations work for the diocese and Fr. Don Dvorak, OP has replaced him as U.D.'s chaplain.  Fr. Dvorak is also the prior of St Albert the Great Priory here in Irving and most recently the pastor of St Dominic's Parish in NOLA.

Please gear up your prayer list and keep the Order of Preachers at the top. . .the General Elective Chapter will be meeting in Rome in September.  The electors will choose a new Master of the Order for a nine year term.  The Order is seeing tremendous growth in parts of the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia.  The new Master will have his hands full. . .and Dominicans are always a hand full.

Great new Wish List feature. . .a while back I experimented with a Book Depository Wish List.  B.D. has free delivery worldwide.  Since shipping costs to Rome run around $14, this is a great sales pitch for HancAquam book benefactors.  However, I could never get the list to work correctly.  Now, Amazon offers the Universal Wish List, which allows users to put anything available on the web on their Amazon Wish List.  So, I put a few B.D. books on my Wish List!  B.D. doesn't sell used books, however, the free shipping to Rome can easily defray the cost of a new book vs. a used one.  Check thee it out.

Being back in the U.S. is always an adventure. . .my thanks to all the folks here in Irving who have made me feel welcomed!  The lunches, dinners, retreats, invited talks, etc. have reminded me why I love being a priest and a Dominican.  I'll be back in the U.S. over Christmas, but my visit will be limited to Mississippi and the family.  However, if I fail the French exam again I may find myself back in TX on a more permanent basis. 

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Venn Diagramming a College Website

So True!

Why do university websites make it so difficult to find info about a particular department?  I get requests from parents/students to review a university's Catholic-Worthiness and find myself spending twenty minutes trying to find out who's on the theology faculty.  Also, I need to write a post on how to translate Catholic university PR-speak into English. . .

Source:  Althouse

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What can't the federal government do?  Why, there's nothing it can't do!

Dress it up in all the PostMod litcrit mumbo-jumbo you like, it's still plagiarism. 

VA lawsuit against ObamaCare is cleared to proceed to trial. 

About ten years ago I went to see a doctor about my persistently crampy and sore right elbow.  During the initial examination he asked what I did for a living.  I piped up, "I'm a Dominican friar."  He looked at me for about three seconds and wrote on the top of my chart:  "SEDENTARY."  I don't think that was a geological observation.

On why the Left needs racism. . .whether it's real or not. 

Illegal immigrant who was released twice by the feds gets drunk and kills a nun.  Typical?  No.  But look for this guy to become the face of the anti-illegal immigrant movement. 

Government-run healthcare kills a 25 year old woman in the U.K.  Left to die from an infection, the woman sends pics of herself to family and friends as she dies.

Why haven't we heard much from the MSM about that solider who is accused of leaking thousands of pages of military secrets to Wikileaks? The answer won't surprise you.

Is your pastor burning out?  Blame lack of time off and his cell phone!  Even Jesus got in a boat and spend some time away from the crowds.  No one--and I mean NO one--needs to be on-call 24/7.

While at home with the family I took my nieces out to lunch.  The second we plopped down in our seats, the older niece whips out her cell phone, ignoring me and her sister, and starts texting her friends.  So, I asked her if I could see her phone.  She handed it to me, and I put it in my pocket.  Needless to say, she was a bit peeved at me.  I'm happy to report that she survived the trauma.

I have seen the end. . .

Why guys are cool. . .#13 is the best.

The dinosaurs' extinction:  fashion faux-pas.

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The Temp Challenge

Here's why I am more than ready to get to Blackfriars, Oxford. . .

High today in Oxford, UK:  71

High today in Irving, TX:  107

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"The Hilarious Arizona Ruling". . .an evisceration.

More than meets the racist eye?  There may be a lot to Sherrod's firing from the FDA than a NAACP speech.

I once shocked a group of proper English Dominicans by telling them that I'd shoot an intruder in my home.  This woman chose the better way. 

Only in Lefty World is bullfighting a social evil while abortion is a protected right.  

Looks like Prince Charles may be King Charles, eco-fascist/Messiah in the making.

B.O. to Democrat Rangel:  time to go "with dignity."  Um, a little late for that.

On the 11 Minute Mass. . .

Rash of rabbit muggings ends in confrontation

The prophet Anthony playing hide and seek as a child.

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[NB.  Apologies for being so quiet lately.  I've yet to figure out how to adjust my Roman lifestyle with my American schedule.  This failure is taking its toll.  Fortunately, Friday is my play day!]

Clinton appointee issues preliminary injunction against the enforcement of some portions of AZ's anti-illegal immigration law. . .and the Talking Head Consensus seems to be that this is bad for B.O. b/c it gives the impression that the feds aren't really all that interested in enforcing immigration law.

Judge's decision causes "helplessness and anarchy."  Frankly, reading the decision is scary.  Judge Bolton is preoccupied with the policy implications of the law and not its legal standing.  She spends a great deal of time writing about how the law will "burden" law enforcement, etc.  That's not her job.  We hire politicians to deal with money and logistics. 

Another analysis of Bolton's decision with relevant links.

Study finds that reporting on scientific research in the media has taken on an increasingly authoritarian tone since the 1980's. 

Why is the DoJ stalling when it comes to protecting the voting rights of our nation's men and women in uniform?  Maybe b/c military folks tend to vote for the Wrong Party?

Well-worth the time to read the whole thing:  What unique contribution can a Catholic education make to the maintenance of western liberal democracy?  More specifically, what contribution can a uniquely Dominican education make? 

Relics of Blessed Mother Teresa arrive in Dallas!

More on racial discrimination in admissions at America's elite universities.  Poor Whitey Need Not Apply.

That Catholic professor of Catholicism at the Univ of IL who was fired for. . .GASP!. . .teaching Catholicism has been rehired.  This is good news.  Now, he should pursue his lawsuit and find out the real reason he was fired.

In other anti-Christian news, a Jewish prof who converted to Christianity is ostracized at Oxford U.  

Anne Rice "breaks up" with Christianity. . .not with Christ, mind you. . .but with Christianity.  Ah, the fruits of a Spirit of Vatican Two religious education!  Unfortunately, this latest development in the author's spiritual saga was entirely predictable.  Her autobiography is chocked-full of mental reservations, doctrinal dodges, and self-authorized exemptions.  Fortunately, the Spirit is hard at work and we will likely see Mrs. Rice among us again.

No, B.O. is not a Muslim.  And even if he were a Muslim, he could still be an excellent American President.  That he is not an excellent American President has nothing to do with his faith or lack thereof. 

Cambridge student sitting exams gets his cakes and ale. . .and a little comeuppance.

Consumer decision-making when confronted with buying organic and non-organic products.

An experiment in testing the meaning of friendship:  a car trunk, a dog, and your spouse.

A graph predictions what people will do during the Coming Zombie Apocalypse.  They left out:  "Become a Human Zombie Collaborator."  Sorry, but the CZA means it's time to CYA.

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