Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
I've gotten a good deal of bad blowback from Californians about this site, but evidently things in the Golden State aren't "peaches and cream" for everyone: The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net …
Continue reading "Today, they leave California. Tomorrow, they leave…"
Phil Hoover took exception to my characterisation that the Obamas' decision to put their girls in Sidwell Friends School was a vote of "no confidence" in public education: It is not a “no confidence” vote for the public school. What it is: a realistic and safe choice for these two beautiful little girls who need …
Continue reading "Confidence in–and Fanaticism About–Public Education"
It seems that the Obamas, having brought the horde of Clintonistas on board their administration, are following the Clintons in another way: they're enrolling their daughters Malia and Sasha at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington. The Clintons were criticised for their decision to send Chelsea there, as people felt it was a vote of …
Reminds me of the change that took place towards the end of second century Rome: We are apt to wonder to-day at the great political and national developments that have altered the whole aspect of Europe since the French Revolution, and to reflect rather idly on their rapidity. Yet the past has its own stories …
Continue reading "The Nature of the Change We’re About to Get"
This piece originally dates from 2005. Christmas is over. The cat (and probably the children too) has found that the boxes and the wrapping paper are more fun than the presents were. Now we turn to the celebration of Hanukkah, late this year but better late than never. Hanukkah is not the greatest Jewish feast—that …
Continue reading "Blast from the Past: Hanukkah: Opening Shot in the Culture Wars"
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organised brigandage? For, what are bands of brigands but petty kingdoms? They also are groups of men, under the rule of a leader, bound together by a common agreement, dividing their booty according to settled principle. If this band of criminals, by recruiting more criminals, acquires …
Continue reading "St. Augustine: When Government and Brigands are Hard to Tell Apart"
Ever since growing up in Palm Beach, I've always heard that Americans are hopeless, naïve "babes in the woods" on foreign policy because they're always pursuing some moral cause without reference to the realities of the situation. I was also told that we should emulate the Europeans in their more "realistic" and "sophisticated" approach to …
Continue reading "The Sophisticated Just Don’t Get It on Tibet"
Barack Obama has some ambitious plans for upgrading the U.S.'s infrastructure: President-elect Barack Obama said he’ll make the “single largest new investment” in roads, bridges and public buildings since the Eisenhower Administration to lift the sagging economy and create jobs. Obama, in his weekly radio speech today, said his plan to create or preserve 2.5 …
Continue reading "The Tricky Part of Obama’s Infrastructure Plans"
The rather silly decision by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to leave the Christmas trees out of the library brings me to a rather strange question: why are Christmas trees specifically Christian? One of the problems of living long in a fast changing world is that one remembers things that everyone else forgets. …
Continue reading "Why Are Christmas Trees Specifically Christian?"
George Barna's latest poll on how the economic crash is affecting churches is spot on, as anyone involved in church finance will attest: During the past three months, one of the ways that adults have adjusted to their financial hardships has been by reducing their charitable giving. In total, one out of every five households …
Continue reading "George Barna: Change They Really Didn’t Believe In"
Positive Infinity 