Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Robert McDowell is right about the threat to internet freedom: On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year's end. As Russian …
Continue reading "Curtailing Internet Freedom: I Guess it’s Back to the Telex"
He may not have thought of that, or perhaps he did... What Obama describes as the American Dream can seem a spare, fundamental aspiration, tailored for a campaign that looks to be fought over who is best equipped to safeguard the interests of middle-class Americans... "If you're willing to put in the work, the idea …
Continue reading "Obama's Modest American Dream Has a Soviet Ring"
Krugman's the one who's scratching his head here: Many readers of The Times were, therefore, surprised to learn, from an excellent article published last weekend, that the regions of America most hooked on Mr. Santorum’s narcotic — the regions in which government programs account for the largest share of personal income — are precisely the …
Continue reading "Paul Krugman’s Hard Lesson in Ingratitude"
The Catholic League is prepared for war: Catholic leaders are furious and determined to harness the voting power of the nation’s 70 million Catholic voters to stop a provision of President Barack Obama’s new heath car reform bill that will force Catholic schools, hospitals and charities to buy birth control pills, abortion-producing drugs and sterilization …
Continue reading "Obama and the Catholics: It May Be a Kulturkampf, but He's No Otto von Bismarck"
As this Shiny Sheet editorial/article (the way it's placed, it's hard to tell) illustrates vividly: It’s unfortunate it took this long for officials at Susan G. Komen for the Cure to reverse last week’s wayward decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood. It’s unfathomable that it took the charity three days from when the loss …
Continue reading "Social Conservatism is a Hard Sell in the Upper Reaches"
February is Black History Month in the United States. I have never done a specifically black history piece on this site, although I have from time to time suggested, for example, that Anglicans realise that the "Anglican Communion" is now and should be the "African Communion" with the centre of authority appropriately relocated. But I …
Continue reading "The Reason General John Pershing Was Called "Black Jack""
Being the anniversary month of Roe vs. Wade, January is a good month to look at issues of life.  Most of the emphasis is on abortion, but we must consider the other end of life, too, when it occurs, and whose decision it is for that occurrence to take place. While doing other research, I …
Continue reading "The Sad Case of Gerry McClelland, and My Thoughts on Assisted Suicide"
In this case, for tax purposes: Rather than deal with the complexities of U.S. tax law, Americans living overseas are increasingly renouncing their citizenship in order to avoid paying their income taxes. According to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson, approximately 4,000 people gave up their citizenship from fiscal year 2005 to FY 2010. Renunciations …
Continue reading "Bailing Out on the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave"
Sad to say: Rick Perry is telling supporters that he will drop his bid Thursday for the Republican presidential nomination, two sources familiar with his plans told CNN. The Texas governor will make the announcement before the CNN debate in South Carolina, the sources said. For me personally, this is sad, even though I'm aware …
Although one underestimates Biblical ignorance at one's peril, the story of Daniel in the lions' den is well known to many. Most Christians would interpret Daniel getting pitched into same den as a result of his refusal to worship a god or gods other than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If one reads …
Continue reading "The Real Reason Daniel Was Thrown Into the Lions' Den"
Positive Infinity 