At last night’s GOP Presidential debate Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann (R-MN) brandished her social conservative bonafides, even defending her decision to vote to raise taxes in Minnesota because the bill included pro-life provisions. Say what you will about the policies they support, the Tea Party stands firm in their convictions, and that’s a good thing.

In the midst of eleventh hour budget negotiations over America’s fiscal future, Recovering Evangelical blogger Nate Roberts offers a compelling side-by-side comparison of the State of Minnesota and the African nation of Kenya. Who’s got it better? And who should pick up the tab to keep it that way?

When RE blogger Nate Roberts first started discovering God in places that God wasn’t supposed to be — in the life of Gandhi, Eastern religious traditions, etc. — it startled him… until he remembered Jesus’ teaching about other sheep.

The new Radiohead album, King of Limbs, starts strong but doesn’t deliver. So we commissioned Hip Hop artist Phonetic ONE to Remix it for us.

As I watched the final episode of The Bachelor I was left feeling deeply confused, but also reassured. Confused that Brad chose Emily, but reassured to find that getting engaged in six weeks through a process of elimination was as stupid as it sounds.

In 1993 Aladdin was just another Disney story of a prince and a princess. Sure it was set in the Theocractic Iran, the main characters were part of a Muslim aristocracy, and justice was measured out with the sword. But that didn’t seem to matter back then. Post 9-11 Disney would likely think twice before releasing a blockbuster with all Muslim characters. 

Sufjan Steven’s Age of Adz presents a schizophrenic vision of life and love. For the past decade his fans have witnessed intimate portraits of his life in the idyllic Midwest; the Age of Adz catapults them from temporal to the cosmic plane on an existential rocket ship.

How you would act if all this power belonged to you: 1) Presidents had opinions about you, 2) Millions of dollars were paid for your pictures, 3) Your mother’s tragic death was headline news, 4) Millions saw you at the MTV awards, 5) You could have sex with almost anyone without even trying, Wouldn’t you be trippin’ off the power? [...]