Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Helen Fealy at the Shiny Sheet observes the following: Who knew I had so much in common with the iconic Dr. Freud, the Father of Mental Heath and the pioneer of sexuality and gender behaviors. I share his opinion on humankind and ethics. To prove his point, we have Tiger Woods, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, …
Continue reading "Trustworthy People Are Scarce: A Christian View"
While most are riveted on BP's mile deep gusher in the Gulf, my attention was drawn to another type of scientific and technological challenge with possible catastrophic consequences: earthquake engineering. My colleagues in the geotechnical engineering field have drawn my attention to a monograph entitled Technical Review and Comments: 2008 EERI Monograph "Soil Liquefaction During …
Well, at least at Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach: Construction is under way to replace part of the roof at the historic Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. The roof covers the administrative offices and the choir room overlooking the courtyard and gardens. Advanced Roofing is the contractor. David Semadeni, a junior warden and a member of the …
At the end of an otherwise interesting post, James Gibson at Sanctus makes the following parting shot: The visceral reaction against the Manhattan Declaration is a case study in the evangelical ghetto mentality. Born in ignorance, it grows into bigotry and a most un-Christlike lack of charity. If he was fishing for understanding, he needs …
Continue reading "Are People Who Don't Like the Manhattan Declaration Necessarily Bigots?"
Linking the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness with the three major lusts outlined in 1 John 2 has a long history in Christian preaching. Here is an example from Augustine's second homily on 1 John, with some bullet points for clarity: These three (temptations) there are, and you can find nothing whereby human …
Continue reading "Augustine on the Temptations of Jesus and the Three Major Lusts"
South Florida is riveted on the BP oil spill and the Loop Current, but in Manalapan they've got other things washing on the beach: A suspicious device washed ashore on the beach this morning, prompting a call to the bomb squad, police said. Manalapan Police and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office bomb squad investigated …
Continue reading "While Watching for the Oil Spill, a Bomb Shows Up"
Another gem from Jerome's Homilies on the Psalms, this time Psalm 84 (from here): “How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!” The sole ambition of some people is to possess property; others long to be enriched with the wealth of the world; still others wish to hold prominent places at conventions and be …
Continue reading "The Greatest Ambition: Jerome on Psalm 84"
The Tree of Life has been a topic of special interest to me since I made the connection with the lignum vitae (The Tree That Grows in Heaven.) Here is Jerome's linkage of Psalm 1 with the other allusions to the tree, from his Homilies on the Psalms (from here): “He is like a tree …
No kidding, this, from Rubin on Tax: A theme we have often mentioned is that capital flows to where it is best treated. Obviously, the level of tax imposed on businesses is a key element of how capital is treated in any given jurisdiction. A 2010 KPMG guide analyses the current tax competitiveness of 10 …
Continue reading "Mexico: The Tax Haven for Those Who Survive the Lead Rain"
Someone has finally put forth the case that only Ivy Leaguers should really be on the Supreme Court: The gatekeeper power of such institutions is why it was so important to desegregate them (using affirmative action, among other tools) and why virtually all leaders of great universities talk about diversity and access. For about 40 …
Positive Infinity 