Oh, yes, it is: In the 1500s, a pestering theologian instituted something called the Marriage Ordinance in Geneva, which made "state registration and church consecration" a dual requirement of matrimony. We have yet to get over this mistake. But isn't it about time we freed marriage from the state? Imagine if government had no interest …
The Tricky Part in Keeping Western Civilisation Afloat
Martin Hutchinson is sanguine about the future of Western civilisation, but every silver lining has a cloud: Provided Western government spending is kept under control so private sectors have room to flourish, and interest rates are fairly quickly restored to levels that encourage saving, the Western advantages of capital, education, technology and favourable business climate …
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When the Union and the Environmentalists Collide: the Bucyrus International-India Equipment Fiasco
The fun started when the Export-Import bank nixed Bucyrus International's sale of mining equipment for an Indian power project: On Thursday, the Export-Import Bank denied financing for Reliance Power Ltd., an Indian power plant company, effectively wiping out about $600 million in coal mining equipment sales for Bucyrus, chief executive Tim Sullivan said. The fossil fuel …
The Class Struggle Comes Back, Part II
There are some on the left (like Kevin Drum at Mother Jones) who are having second thoughts on the American obsession of racial racial equality over class equalisation: Class/income-based affirmative action has long struck me as an alternative that ought to get more attention than it does...Class-based program programs might, in the end, provide modestly …
Muslim, Christian or Citizen of Your Country First?
Take a look at the interesting graph on the right that appears in Chan Akya's article on why European countries want to ban the burqa and the US is in no hurry to do so. I have a few observations about this: It's ironic that France, where a larger proportion of Muslims consider themselves a …
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The Democrats Don't Need the Climate Bill to Achieve Their Objectives
There will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over this one: Conceding they can't find enough votes for the measure, Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned efforts to put together a comprehensive energy bill that would seek to limit greenhouse gas emissions, delivering a potentially fatal blow to a proposal Democrats have long …
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The Chattanooga Times-Free Press Endorses Art Rhodes for Congress
A welcome endorsement in a race (TN-3) where the perception has gone with the big mouths: Candidate Art Rhodes, of Cleveland, the CEO of a pension plan with $250 million in assets, also wants to control “runaway spending,” but he has a far better sense of how to grapple with the issue and how it …
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Poor White People and Élite Universities: Beating the Dog in the Water
This from, of all places, the New York Times, and Ross Douthat: Last year, two Princeton sociologists, Thomas Espenshade and Alexandria Walton Radford, published a book-length study of admissions and affirmative action at eight highly selective colleges and universities. Unsurprisingly, they found that the admissions process seemed to favor black and Hispanic applicants, while whites …
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It's Official: We're an Elitist Snob Country Now
Well, it has been since 2008, but Janet Daley at the Telegraph has a Brit's "déjà vu all over again" feeling about it: What is more startling is the growth in America of precisely the sort of political alignment which we have known for many years in Britain: an electoral alliance of the educated, self-consciously …
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Is This The Last Act for Civil Marriage?
Coming from a blog like First Things, it could be: Legal recognition of marriage would become a purely civil matter. A couple who wanted to marry would have to get a license and go to a civil magistrate. If they then wanted their union sacramentalized, they would go to the Church. If the Church refused …
Positive Infinity 