A busy passenger jet was hit by a drone as it came to land at Heathrow Airport in London on Sunday.  The object struck the front of a British Airways (BA) plane flying from Geneva, just after lunchtime. The pilot managed to land the plane and bring all 132 passengers to safety at Heathrow Terminal 5 Mirror.co.uk reports: A Met Police spokesman said they were investigating and no arrests had been made. They refused to say whether or not the incident was terror related.

Can “exceptionalism” be made safe for America? Can exceptionalism be made safe for American Christians who desire to be at the same time patriotic and faithful to their God? As long as exceptionalism remains the test of creedal orthodoxy it has been turned into, these questions will need to be answered with all the sound historical and theological judgment at our disposal.

Christopher Preble adds to the discussion about U.S. allies and clients:

We can see, then, that for all the talk of free riding, for all those instances when some U.S. government official expresses concern or frustration that allies don’t do more to defend themselves and their interests, it’s just that: talk. For the dominant foreign-policy community, allies are the equivalent of Facebook friends. U.S. officials count them, rank them, and occasionally thank them. But we don’t ever expect these “allies” to actually do anything for us in return.

Submitted by Dan Sanchez via AntiWar.com,

What if a presidential candidate threw a political rally, and nobody came? What if a government held an election, and nobody voted? What if that same government started a war, and nobody participated, whether in body or in spirit?

These questions are related.

Election season is trudging on, as are the wars. Many fans of peace hold out hope that if the former turns out a certain way, the latter may at last be mitigated.

Today, credit cards are one of the most important sources of big bank profits. However, a look at the history of credit cards shows that things weren’t always that way.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/125349833