Welcome to the light at the end of the tunnel. Or maybe it’s the darkness at the mouth of the cave? Either way you look at it, this is The Weekly Town Crier, where I gather and regurgitate some of the things that caught my eye over the past week. Enjoy.

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You can always see what I hear (I promise that my musical taste isn’t all that obsure!) at last.fm.

Read about the Texas panel that has rejected plans to make the Bible a required textbook in some schools.

Read this piece about the “Justin Timberlake effect” which really has nothing to do with Justin. Instead, the piece wonders why the so-called “tastemakers” are so bad at actually predicting what will be popular and what will not.

Read this NY Times piece which questions the growing practice of artists re-recording and re-releasing old material.

Read about jazz musician Ornette Coleman winning the Pulitzer Prize for music for his Sound Grammar, the first jazz composition to ever win the prize.

Read about the voluntary manslaughter conviction for Mary Winkler in the death of her husband.

Read some of James White’s thoughts on the “King James Only” “worn out manuscripts” argument.

Read about the Pope revising “traditional Roman Catholic teaching on so-called “limbo,” approving a church report released Friday that said there was reason to hope that babies who die without baptism can go to heaven.”

Oh boy, kittens.

Read about the former Miss America who shot out the tires on a would-be thief’s car to prevent his getaway.

Read about U2’s Bono and the Edge writing the music and lyrics for a Spiderman musical.

Read about internet backyard brawler Kimbo Slice facing former heavyweight champion Ray Mercer in an official MMA-ruled cage match on June 16 in Atlantic City.

Ever wonder how much the New York Yankees are worth?

Read Hillary’s comments that, if elected, she would make Bill “a roaming ambassador to the world, using his skills to repair the nation’s tattered image abroad.”

Browse this list of 12 albums you should hear from Rickie Lee Jones for eMusic.

Read about the first possible “transgender” high school prom king.

Read about Washington’s new “domestic partner” bill which grants gay and lesbian couples many of the rights of marriage.

Read this article which urges pastors to prepare for jail if they plan to continue preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

Read about the Governor of New York’s attempts to legalize same-sex “marriage.”

Read about New Hampsire lawmaker’s recent vote to legalize same-sex “unions.”
Be on the alert for pirates.

How would you do in “competitive text messaging?”

Browse the week in photos from Yahoo.

Read rocker Ted Nugent’s thoughts on why “gun free” zones are a recipe for disaster.

Read Harry Jackson’s thoughts about impending legislation that could hinder what is said from pulpits across the country.

Prepare to register for the 2008 “Together For the Gospel” conference.

R.I.P. former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin.

Read about the three men who have been sentenced to prison for the theft of Edvard Munch masterpieces “The Scream” and “Madonna.”

Watch this live(?) perfomance from 1985 of “Think For a Minute” and this one of “Build” by personal favorite, the now defunct Housemartins (thanks Mr. Cordova).

Read hip hop mogul Russell Simmons‘ call to remove the very words from rap that got Don Imus fired.

Read this piece which laments the “hip hop hypocrisy” that Imus has helped unwittingly uncover.

Read as Matt Perry (via Tony Kummer) examines research about how old the average Southern Baptist pastor is.

Read as Denny Burk lets Nancy Pelosi speak for herself on partial birth abortion.

See the newest ESV Journaling Bible (I wish they’d stop, I’m getting “Bible envy!”).

Read about the NY exhibit of never before seen paintings by Monet.

Read Michelle Malkin’s thoughts about Hillary’s recent use of “black speak” which concludes: “You be trippin’, girl.”

Read this article which notes that church attendance in Blacksburg, VA has been “unusaully high” after the college shootings.

Read this article which profiles an unemployed MA man who offered his cell phone number on YouTube for anyone just wanting to talk. He has received over 5,000 calls, and though he is out of minutes, plans on continuing to take calls.

Read about the guitars recently sold at auction to benefit musicians who lost everything in hurricane Katrina. Among the items were a Gibson Les Paul guitar of U2’s The Edge which fetched $240,000 and Bono’s sunglasses pulled in $20,000. Other items and prices: “Jimi Hendrix’s 1966 Red Fender Mustang guitar, which fetched $400,000, former President Clinton’s saxophone ($54,000) and a pair of John Lennon’s round, blue-tinted sunglasses ($30,000).”

Read as Justin Taylor makes available a response from the authors of Pierced For Our Transgressions to N.T. Wright’s criticism of their take on penal substitution.

Read about Wiccan symbols being approved for use in national cemeteries.

Read about the ACLU in IN suing over “In God We Trust” license plates.

Read about the governor of MA seeking to end abstinence eductation (htx3: PR).

Watch the trailer for the latest installment of the Harry Potter series of movies.

Read as Tim Challies offers some challenging thoughts about what happens when we try to disrupt God’s created order.

Read about Mexico lawmakers’ recent vote to legalize abortion.

Read about researchers who claim to have found a potentially habitable planet outside of our solar system.

Read about the Spinal Tap reunion concert to help save the earth.

Read this piece which reports that: “Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.”

Read an interview with former Spock’s Beard member Neal Morse who left the band after his very public conversion to Christianity. After being championed by Christian Music Today, Morse has recently said “I am not a Trinitarian” which also means he is not a Christian. Morse’s latest album, Sola Scriptura, is a concept album based around the life of Martin Luther.

Read about what happens to your body when you drink a Coke.

Read this piece by Michelle Malkin which criticizes Hillary Clinton’s recent attempts at “black speak” and concludes: “You be trippin’, girl.”

Read Rudy Guliani’s warning that “a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001. But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.”

Read about Democrats reaction to Guliani’s comments.

Read about Oregon’s governor living on foodstamps for a week.

Read about Stephen Hawking’s “zero gravity” flight.

Create your own “Mr. Picasso Head.”

Read Al Mohler’s thoughts about Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church USA, who, in a recent interview, described “her church’s election of an openly-homosexual man as Bishop of New Hampshire as “a great blessing” and said, “I don’t believe that there is any will in this church to move backward.”

Read Russell Moore’s thoughts on baptizing robots and other questions we might soon face; all of which was prompted by Bill McKibben’s new book Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age.

Browse and participate in the discussion at Timmy Brister’s blog about the “Top Five Reasons” people consider themselves Reformed.

Read about the Indian arrest warrant for Richard Gere after an apparently inappropirate “public display of affection.”