Twilights

It took me a very long time to jump on board the Twitter train, and even longer to truly appreciate its potential. For a while I was using a third-party Twitter application (Hootsuite), and it was bulky and frustrating to use on a lot of levels. Not aesthetically pleasing, very slow load times, not to mention it crashed on me 30% of the time. But I just didn't know there was anything better.

So on a whim I decided I'd give the "official" Twitter app for iPad a try. Immediately, and I mean immediately, Twitter became enjoyable. No, downright fun. I like a lot of things about Twitter, and use it extensively to call attention to various things worth reading and/or watching around the Internet.

I know that I was very late to the Twitter revolution, but I happen to know that a lot of my readers are lagging even further behind me. Since I do not want them left in the dust, I am starting a periodic feature called "Twilights." That is, "Twitter Highlights" from my feed that you otherwise hadn't seen if you just read this blog or follow my Facebook page. You are looking at the first installment. I will simply give a list of, say, five or ten things I found worthwhile in my Twitter feed over the last week that I highly recommend.

1. Over at the Gospel Coalition, Collin Hansen penned a piece entitled, "Sex Is Cheap in Birmingham." It is truly profound. Read it.

2. I thought you might like to read for yourself what kind of a person the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was. Pay special attention to page two: "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Note: This was not because it was a lie, but because it was true.

3. Ever heard of Frederic Bastiat? Here's your chance.

4. The morning after the election last week, I wrote that I was irritated by evangelical Christians taking to their Facebook pages by the legions and essentially posting, "It doesn't matter." Here's a helpful "Open Letter" to that crowd.

5. My friend Bill Blankschaen explains why your faith really does determine your politics.

6. Jane Austen was an astute moral philosopher who opposed Rousseau. Moral of Pride & Prejudice? Don't follow your heart.

7. A law student at NYU brilliantly explains the same-sex "marriage" debate.

8. Want to see Milton Friedman and a young Thomas Sowell in a cage match with Frances Fox Piven? Who wouldn't?

9. Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey won the National League Cy Young award. Amazing, for a 37-year-old Knuckleballer. You might find Marvin Olasky's interview with him earlier this year edifying.

10. Finally, we need more video content like this. Watch, and be amazed at the genius of human freedom and ingenuity!

A film from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, adapted from the 1958 essay by Leonard E. Read. For more about I, Pencil, visit www.ipencilmovie.org

Brian Mattson