A cute little piglet born with heart-shaped markings on his side is the centre of attention as lovers gear up for Valentine’s Day this week.
The 10-day-old Gloucester Old Spot piglet christened Valentine – what else? – is one of a litter of seven born at Byford’s Farm in Taynton, near Newent, Glos.
 
It just makes me think of heart-shaped-bacon.
Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles.
Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,†here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.“We present things in a very brazen way,†said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.†“Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.â€Publishers with an eye for evangelism and for markets have long profited by directing Bibles at niche markets: just-married couples, teenage boys, teenage girls, recovering addicts. Often the lure is cosmetic, like a jazzy new cover. Sales of graphic novels, too, have grown by double digits in recent years. So it makes sense that a convergence is under way, as graphic novels take up stories from the Bible, often in startling ways. In the last year, several major religious and secular publishing houses have announced or released manga religious stories.
The medium shapes the message. Manga often focuses on action and epic. Much of the Bible, as a result, ends up on the cutting room floor, and what remains is darker.
I have been doing this method for over seven years. I was studying Australian Aboriginal art, and was inspired by their use of dots. I translated that by poking holes through paper. These are made one hole at a time with a sewing needle.
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Welcome to the Jesus in 2008 Presidential Nominating and Platform Convention! Just as Democrats and Republicans meet every four years to chose candidates for President and Vice President, and to build political platforms declaring where they stand on important issues, we are here to do the same – and to invite Americans to join us.
We have convened our gathering with a Presidential nominee already in place: Jesus – but not Jesus the deity. This is a political convention, after all, not a religious one. Our candidate is Jesus the man, the revolutionary individual who comes to us through history as a model for ethical and moral human behavior – the exemplar whose first instinct in any situation was, simply, to do the right thing.
Now, we bring Jesus forward 2,000 years into contemporary America, place him in a leadership role, and ask Americans to decide what his political platform should be in a campaign for the White House.