One of the sorrier sagas that has unfolded before us is the matter of Carrie Prejean's loss of the Miss USA crown because she didn't give a "correct" answer to Perez Hilton's question about gay marriage. Losing the crown wasn't enough, evidently; the abuse she's endured since then has been ferocious. Unfortunately she's compounded the …
Church and State: A Different View
The recent changes in the leadership (such as it is) composition in the U.S. give the Evangelical community an opportunity for a serious "reality check" in their idea regarding the relationship of Christianity with the state. So let's take a serious look at what the New Testament really says, instead of what everyone else says …
A Church to Believe In, A Country to Believe In
Two events this past weekend ran together to illustrate what is, for me, the central dilemma of living in this world--the fact that authority no longer reflects what we know to be true. Let's start with the church. In reaction to my posting of George Conger and Kevin Kallsen Put a Wrap on the Anglican …
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Newsflash to Fundamentalists: You Are the Counterculture Now
Buried in the middle of a story of how an Ohio Christian school is punishing one of its students for attending a public school prom is this: The handbook for the 84-student Christian school says rock music "is part of the counterculture which seeks to implant seeds of rebellion in young people's hearts and minds." …
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Our Revised Pledge: “And to the Banana Republic for Which It Stands…”
It's sad but true. We owe an apology to our Central American bretheren: Political risk is becoming a growing concern for investors in the United States as the government plays a larger and more controversial role in private enterprise because of the financial crisis. State intervention in economic affairs is always closely watched by investors …
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David Petraeus for President?
In the middle of his rant (and I'd recommend this for a more intelligent assessment of the Afghan situation) Pepe Escobar lets this out: As for the "Pak" (Pakistan) component of AfPak, it is pure counter-insurgency (COIN). As such, His Master's Voice has got to be Central Command commander and surging General David "I'm always …
China Pulls the Plug on U.S. Loans
Or at least it looks that way: China, wary of the troubled US economy, has already "canceled America's credit card" by cutting down purchases of debt, a US congressman said Thursday. China has the world's largest foreign reserves, believed to be mostly in dollars, along with around 800 billion dollars in US Treasury bonds, more …
The Non-Issue of Torture in the Bush Administration
I've about had enough of the blather (especially from my Christian colleagues) about the whole business of torture during the last administration. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the Obama Administration's reasons for shying away from prosecution are entirely practical. They are as follows: Prosecuting one's predecessors makes it easier to …
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The IRS Rewards Corporations For Not Being American
Abu Daoud challenged me on the whole business of people and businesses fleeing the UK on account of rising taxation. I answered that, but now on this side of the pond we have this: Code Section 162(m) limits the deduction for compensation paid to certain highly paid employees of publicly held corporations to $1 million …
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Capital Flight: The UK Leads the Way
Being the darling of America's elites will probably not be much of a warning to us about this: The British budget last Wednesday did very little to rectify that country's yawning fiscal deficit, but what little it did was almost entirely at the expense of the country's high-income earners, those making over 150,000 pounds (US$210,000). …
Positive Infinity 