At the left is a passport cover, one of those things designed to protect your passport, especially if your home is really a pied à terre and you travel a great deal. But look carefully: it's from the old Soviet Union, complete with their national seal embossed on the cover, and "Pasport" at the bottom. …
Why Did They Cancel Charles and Mary Beard?
I recently completed reading Charles and Mary Beard's The Rise of American Civilization, which at one time was one of the most influential texts on the subject. The Beards, as is typical with textbooks in general, frequently revised the text, mostly adding to the end to keep that up to date. The version I read …
Continue reading "Why Did They Cancel Charles and Mary Beard?"
The Problem With Social Justice is That It Always Involves Changing Someone Else
Anne Kennedy makes an interesting observation in her piece "What is Really the Problem?": Second, human people are wicked. All people. ALL have sinned and fallen well and catastrophically short of the glory of God. All of the cries about white supremacy, white evangelicalism, patriarchy, and racism all illumine the very false and foolish idea …
Continue reading "The Problem With Social Justice is That It Always Involves Changing Someone Else"
ACNA, TEC and Those Social Justice Prayers
It's worth noting that the following appears in the (relatively) new 2019 ACNA Book of Common Prayer: For those of you who think this has its origins in that dreadful 1979 BCP, this also appears in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Other than the modernisation of the language and the expanded doxology at the …
Continue reading "ACNA, TEC and Those Social Justice Prayers"
When the People’s Liberation Army Marches Down Pennsylvania Avenue
If there's one thing the Trump years and their aftermath did for everyone, it's to disabuse people of the very American slogan of "it can't happen here." There are many "its" that are now in the realm of possibility. Although Americans aren't reacting particularly well to that realisation, at least some plans for "black swan …
Continue reading "When the People’s Liberation Army Marches Down Pennsylvania Avenue"
The Party of “Healing” Needs to Start With Itself
We're being told that the "healing" of our country will begin with the triumph of the Democrat party, but that hasn't happened where they have a monopoly, as evidenced by this, from 2017: One of the pipe dreams the left tells us that, “if we could get rid of these conservatives, we’d have harmony and …
Continue reading "The Party of “Healing” Needs to Start With Itself"
The Tough Lesson of Augustine’s “Dear Marcellinus”
At the beginning of Augustine's City of God we have this opening: My dear Marcellinus: This work which I have begun makes good my promise to you. In it I am undertaking nothing less than the task of defending the glorious City of God against those who prefer their own gods to its Founder. Flavius …
Continue reading "The Tough Lesson of Augustine’s “Dear Marcellinus”"
Sheryl Attkisson’s Interview with Mike Shellenberger on Apocalyptic Environmentalism
Maybe They’ve Figured Out the American Left’s Core Problem
Alex Pareene at the New Republic wonders, in view of Florida voters going for Trump and approving a $15/hr minimum wage: The Democratic Party, unlike most of its left-of-center brethren in the developed world, has never been a true labor party, but it seems plausible that many voters view it as a party representing a …
Continue reading "Maybe They’ve Figured Out the American Left’s Core Problem"
Sitting Ducks on Social Media
I've been debating with myself about what to write before our momentous general election next week. (Debating with oneself is dangerous; one always loses.) There's a lot going on, and much of it has been squelched by the media, especially the Hunter Biden influence-peddling story. My fellow South Floridian Glenn Greenwald is the latest victim …
Positive Infinity 