From Around the Net (January 18th)

Tata Motors of India has released a small, cheap car that promises to change forever personal transportation on the subcontinent.  Priced at under $2500, it will make personal transportation affordable to the masses — for better or worse.   Prax over at Tech and Trek has an article on it here, and Pr3rna, over at I Love Life… So I Explore, blogs about the car here.

Meleah, at Momma Mia, Mea Culpa, has put up a hopeful and inspiring true account of how she and her best friend at last found themselves free to love each other after years of being thwarted by obstacles and bad timing.

Is French Culture dead?  Has it been buried by the rapidly growing global mass culture? Nezha asks the questions over at The Scheherazade Project in a somewhat poignant post to be found here.

Jacob at Reflections, Ideas, and Dreams has a post up in which he offers a radical (and I believe, correct) interpretation of what Jesus meant by “The Kingdom of Heaven”.  Find the post here.

Those who don’t quite understand what all the fuss in America over health care is about might want to read Les‘ article on what happened when his daughter got sick and the family was without health insurance.   Posted at Stupid Evil Bastard, the article can be found here.

Science fiction has again come knocking on the door to reality: Cars will soon become increasingly robotic.  George, over at Decrepit Old Fool, blogs about the roboticization of our vehicles here.

Virtual Primate has an excellent article explaining the basis for Kurt Vonnegut’s humanism here.

Robin at Bountiful Healing has posted an outstanding photograph of Yosemite along with an equally outstanding quote from William Ashworth here.

Christine has created a striking poem on the universal mother goddess here, at Mariacristina.

Makita, at Everything and More, writes movingly about the abuse of her son by his biological father in an article that lays out the classic pattern of abuse.  I’m of the opinion every child and adult should know that pattern and what it means. Her post  is here.

Nita at A Wide Angle View of India, which is one of the most consistently great blogs on the net, raises the important question of whether converts are accepted in Hinduism here.  I find the question important because the world seems to increasingly belong to the huge proselytizing religions.

This is just a reminder that Priyank, over at Final Transit, is running a series of posts about his trip to Israel.  Check them out here.

David, at Quotidian Vicissitudes discusses an issue many people in therapy might at one time or another wonder about: How emotional should we get with our therapists?  His post has begun a lively discussion here.

Ordinary Girl, at Tales of an Ordinary Girl, is running a fascinating series investigating Christian education in the US by using materials provided by the educators themselves as the basis of her critique.  Check it out here and here.

Ken, at Open Parachute, has posted an article on the thought of Lloyd Geering, a theologian who has been called, “the last heretic.”  Well worth checking out here.

Shefaly at La Vie Quotidienne thoughtfully discusses whether Americans are more prejudiced against electing a woman or a Black to the presidency here.

Poetman asks, “Exactly how much life hinges on the meagerness of your expectations?” in a poem with an exciting, new structure to be found here.  At 1 Poet 4 Man.

Usha over at Ageless Bonding has put up an extensive post on blogging — I believe it’s one of the best I’ve seen on that topic.  Find it here.

Mystic has put up an extremely important post about radical forgiveness here.  From the Mystic Wing blog.

Over at The Journals of Enreal, Enreal has posted a stunningly beautiful short poem here.

What is the relationship between religion and morality?  It turns out the question is being discussed on several blogs (including Cafe Philos).  Shir ha Shirim takes it up here, and sheds some exciting new light on the question.  From the Shir Ha Shirim blog.

Susan at Hug the Monkey writes about recent research that indicates fighting might be emotionally rewarding here.

Ed at Not Exactly Rocket Science reports on the finding that some species of dinosaur lived such short, brutal lives they had to begin reproducing at a young age because few reached adulthood.  Check out his article here.

Rambodoc at A Twist of Word and Mind has a regular feature — “Weekly Humerus News” — which is a round up of what comedians are saying about the news of the day.  It’s an excellent feature, and if you are not aware of it, please check it out.  The most recent edition is here.

By the way, Eric over at Primate Diaries has returned to blogging after a hiatus.  Welcome back, Eric!