TO QUOTE
“Get ready for total inundation.”
– Market researcher Debra Aho Williamson of eMarketer who says 20 million children will be members of virtual communities by 2011, up from 8 million now. (New York Times)

“Gee, he’s not some kind of crazy Christian. He’s an ordinary American.”
– A New Hampshire voter who saw GOP candidate Mike Huckabee play bass guitar with local rock band Mama Kicks (New York Times)

“Even this film – every major decision I made, I made through prayer, about who I was picking to be in it, what it was I was trying to say, praying the film was saying the right thing and would reach the right people. It’s every aspect of it. Every aspect of it. That’s how I start every day, and it’s how I end every day.”
– Denzel Washington, on how he went about crafting “The Great Debaters,” which he directed and starred in. (Beliefnet)

“When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters. I thought, we can’t keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.”
– Shinya Yamanaka, the Japanese researcher who helped spearhead a new procedure that could create stem cells without destroying embryos. (Time)

“… Adolescents, youths, and even children are easy victims of the corruption of love, deceived by unscrupulous adults who, lying to themselves and to them, draw them into the dead-end streets of consumerism.”
– Pope Benedict XVI (Associated Press)

“Pop culture is a cause of social change, not a cause of social change.”
– Conservative pundit John Podhoretz (New York Times Magazine)

On the Radar

IBS Releases New and Improved Urban Youth Bible
The International Bible Society released My City My God February at the Reload Urban Youth Conference in Denver. The Urban Outreach New Testament uses the TNIV version and includes testimonies from urban youth in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York. IBS worked with YouthPartnersNet and other ministries on the project.
“Urban youth have more access to bullets than Bibles,” said YouthPartnersNet President Dean Cowles. “Survival is the name of the game in the ‘hood, and a $60 Bible is way down the list of necessities. And small-print, black-and-white pocket versions given out at street fairs and homeless meals don’t get much attention from youth who either can’t read, won’t, or just don’t.
An earlier version of the urban youth Bible project was released in 1998 and sold 475,000 copies.
My City My God is available from IBS, of IBS-STL Global, for $1.99 each or $1.59 each in a case of 40 ($63.60 a case). A revised Spanish edition is planned. For more information, go to ibsdirect.com

Students to Gather in Paradise
A youth ministry organization hopes to draw thousands of high school and college students May 25, 2008, to Paradise, Kan., for a unique spiritual experience.
Organizers call the organization and the event “Paradise,” and hope participants will embark on “sacred pilgrimages” culminating in a grassy field near Paradise, Kan. Students will find in the center of the field a foundation for a throne, “immense in size and regal in appearance,” according to a Paradise press release. There will be no speakers or singers, but organizers believe the experience will be transformative.
“With Christ the King as their sole focus, students will sing and proclaim praise to Him,” the release said; “they will hear His audible ‘voice’ speaking Scripture into their lives; they will pray with others and they will pray alone in silence before their King; they will ask for personal and national cleansing; and many will receive from Him specific callings on their lives.”
For more information, go to www.paradise08.com

Pro God, Anti Church?
College students are increasingly interested in spiritual matters, according to a recent study by the Higher Education Research Institute, but relatively few explore faith through church.
Half of college juniors say they want to integrate “spirituality into my life,” and 74 percent say they believe in God. That’s a slight drop from the 77 percent of freshman who say they believe in a Creator. But while 44 percent of freshmen attend church regularly, less than a quarter of juniors do.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA works on 580 campuses around the country, providing students an outlet with which to explore the claims and truths of Christianity.
“InterVarsity exists to offer students and faculty a relevant gospel message that gives meaningful answers to the faith questions these surveys show are commonly found among students on college campuses” said InterVarsity President Alec Hill. “The campus is the strategic point where you can impact the world by connecting with students, because of who the students will become.”
InterVarsity has been at this work for 65 years, and officials report seeing growing numbers of students coming to Christ.
“There’s no question that college students are looking for faith in growing numbers,” Hill said.

Missional Church Conference in St. Paul
Church Innovations will present their Second Annual Spring Conference April 17-19 at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
The three-day conference, titled “Missional Church: Emerging Networks, Practical Resources,” is intended for church leaders, denominational leaders, and seminarians, and it’s geared toward helping churches become more relevant and missionally minded. A pre-conference session April 17 will help bring newcomers up to speed regarding the missional church conversation.
Keynote speakers include: Patrick Keifert, president and director of research for Church Innovations; Tony Jones, national coordinator of Emergent Village; Mike Regele, CEO of MissionInsite; and Neilus Neimand, professor of missiology for the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Breakout sessions offer plenty of networking opportunities and the chance to learn more about the practical resources available for mission-minded churches.
Registration costs $300 for the full conference, including all materials and notes, an April 17 dinner and April 18 lunch. The pre-conference costs another $25, including lunch.
For more information or to register, go to www.churchinnovations.org

Top 10 list of Video “Games to Avoid,” according to the National Institute on Media and the Family
Assassin’s Creed
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Conan
The Darkness
Clive Barker’s Jericho
Kane Lynch: Dead Men
Manhunt 2
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
John Woo Presents Stranglehold
Timeshift
Source: Associated Press

Top Time Wasters
It used to be that, to waste time at work or school, you’d twiddle your thumbs or play games with those little triangular paper footballs. With the explosion of viral videos on the Internet, those days are no more. Here’s Entertainment Weekly’s list of the year’s best online videos.
1. The Landlord – starring Will Ferrell and a foul-mouthed toddler. Be duly warned. (Funnieordie.com/videos/74)
2. Alanis Morissette’s “My Humps” (youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g)
3. Miss South Carolina Teen USA (youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww)
4. Filipino Prisoners Perform “Thriller” (youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o)
5. Backstreet Bird (birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html)
6. Dramatic Prairie Dog (youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs)
7. Keepon Keepin’ On (youtubecom/watch?v=nPdP1jBfxzo)
8. Clark and Michael (clarkandmichael.com/)
9. Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Baby Got Back” (youtube.com/watch?v=qkJdEFf_Qg4)
10. “Star Wars” Trumpet Solo (youtube.com/watch?v=Wffwg7pA0t8)

To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!
A new study, which required sober-minded (and sober-bodied) researchers to attend and scrutinize scores of college parties, revealed some shocking findings recently: For one, they discovered that folks tend to drink at these parties – and they drink a lot.
OK, so that’s not exactly revolutionary. But researchers say they were surprised by some of what they discovered, such as the fact that women tend to drink more – and wear less – at themed parties.
“Most shocking to me was that women at themed parties kept dressing less and less,” said UCLA researcher Megan Holmes, who said she sometimes went to three or four parties a night. “When I was in college there were themed parties, but I never saw girls just wearing lingerie or just a bra and panties, and that was pretty common at the themed parties I saw.”
It’s also rare for women to ever drink more than men, so the fact they tend to drink more heavily than males at these themed events is also a head scratcher – though New York Times blogger John Tierney has a theory:
“Could it be a coping mechanism for dealing with the sight of guys like John Belushi dressed in togas?” (ABC News, New York Times)

Maternity Leave … For School?
Pregnant teens attending Denver’s East High School are asking the school for at least four weeks maternity leave so they can bond with their future babies. The school currently requires teens to return to school the day after they get out of the hospital.
“My initial reaction is if we are punishing girls like that, that is unacceptable,” said Nicole Head, a counselor at the school. “We’ve got to do something.” (Denver Post)

Amazing Bleeping Grace
Rapper DMX announced recently he plans to release a gospel album, completely free of four-letter words.
“How ‘bout that one? No songs about b—ches, no songs about robbing, just straight ‘Give God the glory.’”
DMX says it will be part of a double album project, with the other disk being a more traditional rap effort.
“I the first n—a to put out two albums in one year, now I’m gonna hit ‘em again – drop two albums in the same f—ing day, yo,” he said. “A double album will make motha—- as mad, because they gotta spend more money.” (MTV)

Check This Out
Do young people read anymore? You bet they do. In fact, a new study finds that young adults use libraries with far more regularity than most Americans do. The study found that 62 percent of folks between the ages of 18-30 use libraries, compared to 32 percent who are 72 and older. Some of these younger library users utilize the library’s Internet services, but they also pore over books, periodicals, and newspapers. And libraries are catering to this youthful surge by making more inviting spaces for folks to interact.
“We’re seeing a lot of conversion of what may have been stack areas, warehouse areas,” Lorien Roy, president of the American Library Association, said. “Libraries are creating social spaces.”  (Time) 

Dangerous Reading
Conn Iggulden’s “Dangerous Book for Boys” seems an unlikely bestseller in today’s tech-heavy age. But this unabashedly retro male primer, which tells readers how to build their own go-carts and fold a “proper” paper airplane, has sold more than 3 million copies and lingered on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 30 weeks.
“At the height of the British Empire, the older generation worried about boys’ becoming pasty and soft and useless,” said Iggulden. “I see similar concerns today.”
Many buyers are parents hoping to pry their boys away from the family Xbox or nostalgic-minded men. But boys themselves are lapping up the book’s guy-centric, encyclopedic vibe. It’s been so popular that Iggulden recently launched a companion book: “The Daring Book for Girls.” (New York Times)

Feminine Side of Cyberspace
Teen girls are far more likely to be heavily involved in online networking than boys, according to a recent study from the Pew Internet American Life Project. According to Pew, 35 percent of girls ages 12-17 have created a blog, compared with just 20 percent of boys. They’re more likely to belong to a social network site such as MySpace or Facebook, and they’re more likely to post pictures, too.
The study also found that teens from poorer, less-educated households are more likely to blog, and that hardly anyone under age 18 regularly e-mails these days.
“E-mail is not the primary way you talk to your friends,” said Amanda Lenhard, one of the report’s authors. “It’s used to talk with groups, if you’re planning something complicated and you need to send long, letterlike messages.” (New York Times)

Without a Trace
When Matthew Wilson, a 20-year-old student at Rice University in Houston, disappeared right before Christmas, he joined a disturbingly long roster of 18-20-year-olds who are reported missing each year. According to the Justice Department, 12,657 18- to 20-year olds vanished in 2006 alone.
Wilson, described as an A-student, last talked with his mother Dec. 7, and nothing seemed amiss then. Someone withdrew about $500 from Wilson’s account Dec. 14 (about $1,000 remained in the account), the same day he and his car vanished from campus. (New York Times)

Mortal Failure
Two teens, apparently imitating the video game “Mortal Combat,” allegedly killed a 7-year-old girl the teens were supposed to be babysitting.
Zoe Garcia, the half-sister of one of the teens, suffered swelling of the brain, a broken wrist and more than 20 bruises during the attack. She reportedly asked the teens – 17-year-old Lamar Roberts and 16-year-old Heather Trujillo – to “stop wrestling” before she lost consciousness. The teens tried to revive Garcia through CPR and putting her under running water.
When asked why they didn’t stop the attack when asked, Lamar allegedly said “I don’t know; I was drunk.” (Associated Press)

Workplace Ethics
Teens today feel prepared to make good ethical decisions when they reach the working world. What they consider to be ethical behavior, though, may be debatable.
According to the fifth annual Junior Achievement/Deloitte Teen Ethics Survey, 71 percent of teens say they’re “fully prepared” to make good ethical decisions. But 38 percent of that group feel that workers sometimes need to cheat, lie, or resort to violence to succeed, and 24 percent think cheating on tests is sometimes acceptable. (Junior Achievement/Deloitte)

Purity and Pain
In an effort to ward off embarrassing, even dangerous, wedding-night revelations, a rising number of Islamic women in non-Islamic countries are undergoing painful surgeries to have their virginity surgically “restored.”
The surgery, called hymenoplasties, recreates the hymen from already torn tissue in the vagina. The surgery becomes a social necessity in many Islamic communities: For a woman to lose one’s virginity before marriage is considered by many Muslims to be a deep, perhaps unforgivable, shame.
“If my husband cannot prove to his family that I am a virgin, I would be hounded, ostracized and sent home in disgrace,” said Aisha Salim, an Australian Muslim woman who underwent the procedure. “(My) entire family could be cast out from the friends and society they hold dear, and I honestly believe one of my fanatically religious cousins or uncles might kill me in revenge, to purge them of my sins.” (news.com.au) 

Bad Santa!
Microsoft Corp. shut down its popular live messaging link to Santa Claus after discovering its automated Kris Kringle was talking dirty to at least one young pen pal.
The problem surfaced when one British youngster asked Santa if he wanted to eat some pizza. Mr. Claus – actually a fairly sophisticated artificial intelligence program – couldn’t quite get the gist of the conversation. Finally, in frustration, “Santa” said, “You want me to eat what?!? It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else.”
The live writer and the automated Santa then exchanged obscenities before the writer signed off. (Associated Press)

All Grown Up?
When someone turns 18, they are, in many legal respects, considered adults. But are they?
According to a survey published this December in the Journal of Family Psychology, only 16 percent of mothers and 19 percent of fathers consider their 18-25-year-old children to be adults.  Their kids agree: Just 16 percent of college students polled consider themselves all grown up.
Some experts say folks ages 18-25 are “emerging adults,” a new stage of life encouraged by changing life patterns. Youth tend to stay in school longer or take time off between degrees. They get married later and have fewer children, which delays the “settling down” process.
Parents also point to the binge drinking and unsafe practices that take place in college as a reason why they don’t consider their kids to be adults – the definition of which, everyone agrees, assumes a level of responsibility. How grown up can you be if you do irresponsible things?
College students coming home to do laundry apparently was not a subject of the study. (USA Today)

That’s Using the Ol’ Google
Nearly half of Americans have Googled themselves, according to the Pew Internet and American Life project. That’s more than twice the folks who checked up on their cyber selves in 2002. More than half say they’ve checked up on friends, relatives and coworkers online, too.
Though the idea of their good name popping up during a simple search may give some folks the willies, most folks don’t seem to have a problem with it. Six out of 10 people surveyed aren’t worried about the amount of information available via the Internet, and only 4 percent said the information they found about themselves was inaccurate or embarrassing. (Associated Press)

Stupid Cyber Human Tricks
It’s been a much-buzzed show on MTV. It’s spawned two movies. Now “Jackass” is back, and it’s coming to a computer near you.
“Jackass 2.5,” featuring all the wildly inane stunts we’ve come to expect from Johnny Knoxville and Co., will bypass theaters and instead be released directly on the Internet beginning Dec. 19. The film will be available at http://www.blockbuster.jackassworld.com/ through Dec. 31. And for those “Jackass” fans still with the yen to watch something offline, DVDs will be released Dec. 26 – apparently a unique marketing strategy to avoid the Christmas rush.
“When this idea first came up, it was clear that ‘Jackass’ had a lot of potential on the Internet,’ said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment. “First of all, the demographics are just right. And, if you go onto YouTube today, you can see there’s lots and lots of (people) doing stunts … a lot of those people are just copying what the ‘Jackass’ guys developed a long time ago.”
Hey, everyone needs a legacy, right? (Associated Press)

Mmmmm! Broccoli Day!
Forget those cheeseburgers and bring on the couscous: A Minnesota study has discovered school children like healthy food just as much as the bad stuff. Really.
The study, which runs counter to earlier studies, scanned five years worth of data for 330 Minnesota school districts and found there was no dropoff in demand in districts that served healthier food. Researchers also said that, while it costs a bit more to fix healthier meals, that expense is offset by the relatively cheap price of fruits and veggies.
The study did not mention whether researchers actually scanned the contents of school dumpsters to see how much of that nutritious food was thrown away. But officials in St. Paul, at least, insist that demand has actually gone up since St. Paul Public Schools have started offering healthier food.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have a hot dog on our menu,” said Jean Ronnei, director of nutition services for St. Paul Public Schools. “We do … In our case it’s a turkey low-fat hot dog.” (Associated Press)

News Flash: Teens More Immature than Adults
New research confirms teens don’t think through their actions as well as adults – research that’s encouraging lawmakers to the reshape rules that treat teens like adults when it comes to serious crime.
Overall, youth ages 16 or 17 are typically more impulsive, aggressive, vulnerable to peer pressure, and likely to take risks than adults are.
“It doesn’t mean adolescents can’t make a rational decision or appreciate the difference between right and wrong,” said Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the Unviersity of Vermont College of Medicine. “It does mean, particularly when confronted with stressful or emotional decisions, they are more likely to act impulsively, on instinct, without fully understanding or analyzing the consequences of their actions.” (Associated Press)

Drafting Mom and Dad
The Army wants more young, talented soldiers – and it’s often talking to their parents to get ‘em.
The Army’s new recruitment program, the Army Advantage Fund, offers enlistees in selected cities the potential to earn up to $40,000 to buy a home or start a business. The programs are designed to show the enlistee’s parents tangible benefits to signing up.
“If you want to get a soldier, you have to go through mom, and moms want to know what kind of future their children will have when they leave the Army, said Lt. Col Jeff Sterling, who designed the program. “This is meant to answer the question in a tangible, concrete way.” (Wall Street Journal)