Superb interview in this month's National Geographic with Scientist/Christian Francis Collins.

Horgan: What do you think about the field of neurotheology, which attempts to identify the neural basis of religious experiences?

Collins: I think it's fascinating but not particularly surprising. We humans are flesh and blood. So it wouldn't trouble me—if I were to have some mystical experience myself—to discover that my temporal lobe was lit up. That doesn't mean that this doesn't have genuine spiritual significance. Those who come at this issue with the presumption that there is nothing outside the natural world will look at this data and say, "Ya see?" Whereas those who come with the presumption that we are spiritual creatures will go, "Cool! There is a natural correlate to this mystical experience! How about that!"

Read the whole thing.

MercatorNet discusses the deterioration of The New York Times and takes the opportunity to explore the ethics of journalism.

New York Times veteran reporter John McCandish Phillips gives a particularly poignant talk to budding writers he calls "Media Ethics According to Deuteronomy". He recounts tales of the noble profession. "More than a few times I scooped other reporters in covering events, but there were occasions when my stories lacked fascinating content that showed up in other papers, usually in the highly competitive tabloids," Phillips recalls. "These were lacking in my stories on account of their failure to have occurred. You cannot top a liar."

He tells the aspiring journalists that he is asked most about "reportorial ethics." But what he tells them is surprising. "God gave us the core ethic in the words ‘You shall not bear false witness.’ Some reporters lamentably do just that, with facts, with quotations, with subtle or grievous shifts in emphasis…You will not lie. You will not distort. You will not make things up… If you get into investigative reporting, never let your suspicions run one-eighth of an inch ahead of your facts…

More on evangelism from The Northern Gleaner: part 3, part 4, and part 5; and he's not through yet.

Despite the Agape Love I have for these people at this fellowship we have fights. We argue. We don't LIKE each other sometimes. Agape isn't about liking someone. I can have an agape love toward you and not like you. Look back at the description. That was true in the early church. The Apostles fought like cats and dogs and even didn't really like each other all that much sometimes. But they loved each other in the Love of Christ. Agape.

Hmmmmm.

Continuing to walk the line with Michael Yon.

A preliminary autopsy on college degrees: Did he say "carpenter"?

I'm looking forward to society adopting a more meritocratic system for employment and enterprise.

Practical, accessible, privatized small-town health-care. Great concept, and superb execution: kudos to Dr. Berry! (WorldMag)

The cold is taking a heavy toll on California citrus, ruining nearly $1 billion worth of produce.

Schwarzenegger visited Fresno to see the damage firsthand.

VOM, Sudan:

Sudanese police have denied attacking 800 Christians at a New Year's Eve service in Khartoum's Anglican cathedral. Six members of the congregation were injured after the police fired tear gas into the church. As a result of the attack, the sound system, pews, chairs and windows were damaged. Pray God will heal believers injured in the attack. Pray for protection and that publicity from the attack will cause Christians worldwide to lift the country of Sudan before God's throne.

Gene Redlin: A clown by any other name is still a clown. Hit 'em again, Gene.

You wanted to be in. You wanted to be hip. Being out of sync with the latest jokester was a place that no hopeful up and coming preppie wanted to be. SO, you laughed. You didn't always think it funny when they made fun of the little blind girl, or the kid that walked kinda funny from polio; that was funny wasn't it, when the class clown imitated her limp.

So, you went along. You laughed on cue. You were "IN".

The unraveling continues: marriage is now minority. (New York Times)

Michael Yon: podcasting from Iraq on the state of the war.

Smart, subversive journalism: derailing cliché caravans. What fun!

(Instapundit)

Gene Redlin of The Northern Gleaner with some thoughts on evangelism. (Part 1 posted yesterday.) Interesting, if inconclusive, perspective.

Evangelizing takes place only after inquiry. If a person isn't asking the question your answer is useless. The questions usually come on the heels of a personal crisis of some kind. Much of what we think of as evangelism is answering questions people aren't asking.

Happy Birthday Susanna!

Around here:

Vons just started stocking fresh donuts at the gas station. I think I'm doomed...

On Bush's speech: the trench perspective.

Regulatory favoritism: the new minimum wage measure contains a much-criticized exception.

Robert Carrillo just emailed with a bunch of news and needs. If you didn't receive it and can spare 5 minutes for the body, please click here and read it. Let's keep them drenched in prayer.

I just noticed that Blogger has incorporated custom domains into their in-house blog management system. Pretty cool.

Apparently the forecasted cold snap is for real. Here is the OES alert.

The National Weather Service has reported to OES that temperatures will drop into the 20 and 30s Wednesday night into Thursday, followed by daytime temperatures in the mid 40s in most areas. On Friday and into the weekend, temperatures will drop further, reaching the high teens to low 20s in most areas at night, and continued daytime lows in the mid 40s.

The war issue notwithstanding, it's nice to see some positive reinforcement of the President. It's a tough, complicated job, and one that should inspire respect, not resentment.

VOM, India:

On December 30, 2006, the congress party passed the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, where only 8,000 of the more than 6 million people are Christian. Under the anti-conversion bill, any person found forcibly converting another person could be imprisoned for up to two years and/or fined up to 25,000 rupees ($565 US). Meanwhile on January 2, 2007, an evangelist and three Christian brothers were beaten by Hindu radicals after being falsely charged with forced conversion. They all sustained internal injuries. Pray God would give Christians in India boldness to stand for Him in the midst of persecution. Pray for protection and that publicity from these laws will cause Christians worldwide to lift the country of India before God's throne.

More really good writing from Iraq. And the photography is superb.

Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone. Being an innovation buff that loves kinetic convenience and intelligent interfacing, this is pretty exhilarating. Check it out.

Slated to ship in June, on the Cingular network, for $499 for 4 GB. I think I'll need to see the waterproof, shock-resistant, neon orange, construction-grade case.

Popular Mechanics covers the competition. Looks to me like Apple will be first and best: can they hold on to the lead?

Not everyone is that enchanted: and for good reasons. But hey, it's fun to watch the developments.