Michel Houellebecq is a French author whose profile in the English-speaking world is unusually high. He is an author who has put the humour back into the Absurd, without losing any of the awareness of the bleakness of the human condition. Undoubtedly one of the most trenchant satirists of our time, he deflates the projected utopias that we imagine protect us from the ills that beset us. More than many other novelists, his work is a reflection of the social and economic reality of life in a post-industrial society. Houellebecq shows a world of violence and tension, a world where people find it hard to be at ease, so that life becomes a process of disease. This book foregrounds Houellebecq's scrutiny of our various attempts to confront and transcend the fundamental reality of the human condition, in particular the horror of death.

Never before have Shakespeare's plays been depicted in LEGO bricks, and now Brick Shakespeare: The Tragedies-Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar and Brick Shakespeare: The Comedies-A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew are available in one extraordinary hardcover box set. With over two thousand color photographs depicting the most well-known scenes in some of Shakespeare's most well-known plays (including a bonus double-sided, full-color poster), this box set is the perfect gift for your LEGO- and Shakespeare-loving friends and family! Fall in love with LEGO Juliet on her balcony as Romeo proclaims his love. See the full effect of Lady Macbeth's manic "Out, out, damn spot!" in a whole new way. Laugh along with LEGO Puck as he mischievously hassles the lovers in the woods. Cast a storm with brick Prospero as he strands his usurping brother on his deserted island. With this beautiful, two-book collector's set, you can continue to be amazed by Shakespeare as illustrated by your favorite toy.

I'd always been interested in the referendum. Followed every bit of it. Was as surprised as anybody at the result. When I saw that they needed new people for the transition, experienced people, I jumped at the chance. Scotland has gained independence. It's the eve of the Scottish Foreign Minister giving her first public address and in half an hour she is due to make a keynote speech outlining the nation's relationship with its neighbours in the former UK. There is a problem. Aside from being on the brink of giving birth, she is refusing to speak the form of words she's been given. She has something else she wants to say. Spoiling is a brilliant political comedy that boldly and humorously deals with some inflammatory issues. It is the only one in fifty plays by the Traverse's writers to receive a full commission in 2014. It received its world premiere at the Traverse Theatre on 28 July 2014.

Have you heard that God does not make robots ? Does this mean that God cannot control His creation? Indeed, man does have choice in the natural world, but the Spiritual world is different. Only God can make Spiritual decisions. God is Spirit and He controls the Spiritual world. Meanwhile, man is of the dust of the earth and controls some of the natural world. In religion, the natural and the Spiritual worlds are often blended together, but there is a difference concerning Who controls what. In order to understand the Bible, you need to understand the different components of the two worlds. Jesus said that if His kingdom were of this natural world, His servants would fight (see John 18:36). The sovereignty of God stands on the statute that God has allowed man limited control in the natural world, but no control in the Spiritual world. However, man can operate in the Spiritual when God programs and controls him, not exactly like a robot, but closer to a robot than a free independent agent. Spiritual Robotics is through faith, the DNA code of God, when planted into a human heart produces a righteous walk in step with the signals, anointing, commands and will of God. Therefore, the analogy of a robot is appropriate when God programs and controls man, whether in the natural world or the Spiritual world. John McCann is a student/teacher of the Bible with a non-traditional Th.D. from Christian Life School of Theology.