Closin’ tabs. July 16, 2008

Buddhism may be dying out in Japan. And part of the problem may be commercialization. Does that mean it’s time for a Buddhist Martin Luther?

Oh, and they found a cool rock that either predicts Jesus or shows that Jesus was just cashing in on the buzz of the time, depending on how you want to interpret it.

Some rumination on how it’s darned hard to make jokes about Obama. I almost always laugh when TDS and TCR rag on him, but so much of the audience resists it—well, Jon comments on that in the article. (And Maureen Dowd brings some delicious snark.)

Schools are using more forcible restraint on problem kids. Most cringe-worthy line: “And the children, who have an array of psychiatric diagnoses, from attention deficit to autism, often do not understand what is happening or why.”

For something more thoughtful and less stomach-churning, check out this psychiatrist’s consideration of when to give out his email to patients. Also, therapists can have trouble dealing with rich people.

And on a brighter note entirely, Massachusetts is on the verge of knocking down yet another marriage-related limit, partly because recent developments in California have revealed that same-sex marriage brings the cash. We get rights, the state gets money . . . everybody wins!

Finally: Is it just me, or is this reviewing a book of RPF about Laura Bush?