Recap (4/13/2013)

Articles on the Gosnell trials:

If you haven’t read or heard about the abortionist (obstetrician/murderer) Kermit Gosnell, it’s unfortunate, but not surprising. The mainstream media has been surprisingly silent in their (lack of) coverage of the mass murderer currently on trial in Pennsylvania. Here are some articles I’ve read over the past few weeks that give a brief review of what’s going on.

• 9 Things You Should Know About the Gosnell Infanticide and Murder Trial
• 8 Reasons for the Media Blackout on Kermit Gosnell
• Instapundit (who is pro-“choice”) is horrified
• A round-up of news stories

Quotes from this week’s readings:

• On distracted driving:
  

  A study by the Erie Insurance company of the roughly 6,500 fatal accidents that occurred in 2010 and 2011 which involved distracted driving found that it wasn’t cell phones at texting that were mostly to blame, but simple daydreaming.

  I can definitely identify with this. Cell phones and texting are certainly dangers for me while driving, but simply having my mind wander is just as (if not more) dangerous.

• Charles Darwin on losing attention for art:
  

  “My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive….if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use.”

  I believe I may have to do this.

Books added to my TBR list:

• Damascus Countdown by Joel Rosenburg (reviewed by Monica at Lover of Books)
  This book sounds like a Christian version of one of my favorite types of movies–action movies where the protagonist (spy, soldier, or superhero) is on a countdown to save the free world from some clear threat. I don’t read a lot of books like that, but maybe I should start. In fact, I intend to start. With this. Hopefully soon.

• The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson (reviewed by Jennifer at 5M4B)
  I haven’t watched “Duck Dynasty”. I still want to read this book. Just like I haven’t watched 27 Kids and Counting (or whatever the Duggar family show is) but have read the Duggars’ books. Call it morbid curiosity if you will, but I enjoy reading (or at least skimming) books spun off of reality tv shows. Besides, the Wichita Public Library has it–why NOT read it?

• The Longevity Project by Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin (read about in a US News article)
  Basically, I love reading theories about what makes some people live longer. This book sounds like it might be relatively scientific–and might have some rather surprising results (could outlook have a greater impact on longevity than, say, eating?)

• Nowhere but Home by Liza Palmer (reviewed by Jennifer of 5M4B)
  She’s a chef who cooks last meals for prisoners on death row. I’m sold.