New Year's greeting cards from the Soviet Union. The one at the top is dated 1978; the one at the right 1989. Note how both of them--especially the one at the top--strongly resemble Christmas cards we send (or used to send). In a country where the government operated and subsidised a Museum of Atheism, this …
A Peacenik Doesn't Quite Connect the Dots on the Repeal of DADT
That peacenik, Colman McCarthy of the Washington Post, laments the thought that ROTC will return to the Ivy League: Now that asking and telling has ceased to be problematic in military circles, ROTC has resurfaced as a national issue: Will universities such as Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League schools be opened to Reserve Officers' …
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Barack Obama's Birth Certificate: Abercrombie Starts Something Obama May Not Want to Finish
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie is hopping mad at the "birthers" re Barack Obama's birth certificate: Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie said Friday the "dark side" is responsible for accusations Barack Obama is not or should not be president because he was not born in the United States. As governor Abercrombie is optimistic he will be able …
Cloud: The Resting Place
Cloud The Resting Place (Dove 62, 1978) Cloud was the large (>10) British folk group whose main claim to fame was its ethereal praise and worship music. The Resting Place continues in that tradition, up to Cloud's excellent tradition of musicianship and composition as well. Cloud was connected with the famous Anglican church Holy Trinity …
Pat Robertson States the Obvious on Marijuana Penalties
But the Washington Post and others had to get out the brown pants after seeing it: Television evangelist Pat Robertson has made inflammatory remarks in recent years that offend gays, Muslims and others, but a recent comment he made on his Christian Broadcasting Network was more notable for whom it pleased: people who want to …
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The Christmas Story: William Tyndale's New Testament
From here: And it chanced in those days that there went out a commandment from Augustus the emperor, that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was the first, and executed when Cyrenius was lieutenant in Syria. And every man went unto his own city to be taxed. And Joseph also ascended from …
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Who Would Be the Real Loser if We Pitched the Charitable Deduction?
I'm seeing more and more calls for the abolition of the charitable deduction, like this one from Martin Hutchinson at Asia Times Online: At this season of goodwill, my thoughts immediately turn to that unsung hero Ebenezer Scrooge, and this year, in view of the subject's topicality, to his possible thoughts on today's major economic …
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Gloria in excelsis Deo. Now Let's Get That Pronunciation Right!
Christmas is a time when many "traditions" (that word has worn with use in our culture) get hauled out and paraded. Some, like standing out in the elements on Black Friday morning waiting for the store to open at 0500 (or earlier) could be dispensed with, especially with the internet, where we could do Black …
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The Ten Weeks: Weeks Two and Three (20 December-2 January): A Lovely Catholic Confession, An Ugly Secularist Rejoinder
The setting of the novel The Ten Weeks was exactly forty years ago. This is one of a series of excerpts from the novel, one for each week (except for Weeks Two and Three, which were combined). Click here for more information on the book, including the new e-book version. The Sacred Heart Cathedral was …
Another Round of Ivy League Testing for the Republicans
As a follow-up (of sorts) to my post two years ago entitled Applying the Ivy League Test to the Republican Stars (Such as They Are), let's look at this again, this time using the National Journal's chart. Although the NJ's emphasis is on managerial vs. populist candidates, the educational pedigree of each can easily be …
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Positive Infinity 