In 1976 I made a month-long trip to the UK. At the end of this I headed to Heathrow Airport for the flight back to Miami and from there home just up the coast. Originally written in 2006, I'm reposting this with a few modifications on the fiftieth anniversary of the flight and of the …
Advice to Graduates: The Two Promises I Made to Myself
Ten years ago, I received my PhD and published this. I don't do much "practical life advice" but this was an exception. I trust it will be helpful. It may seem an odd time to do a pseudo-graduation piece. Obviously the University of Tennessee thinks so: this weekend I am supposed to officially receive my …
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Something Worse than Monarchical Absolutism
Sometimes the most interesting and profound of statements come from some of the unlikeliest places, and this is one of them: it was reprinted in the January 1919 edition of Crane Valve World, the periodical of the Crane Company, the Chicago based company that makes valves and other fittings for piping of air, steam, water …
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If They’re Going to Make it the Gulf of America…
Trump's "proposal" to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" brings to mind many things. One of them is this chart, put out by our government in 1967, showing it as the "Gulf of Mexico" (which would be altered on things issued by the U.S. government if this came to pass): This was …
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Prayer for Social Media
As we head into the final stretch of our Presidential election and we brace to hit the wall, an old prayer that may have seemed quaint back in the day has certainly made a comeback in relevance, in this case the Collect for Peace from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. You can see it …
Appeal to Novelty–The Logical Place
https://yandoo.wordpress.com/2024/05/11/appeal-to-novelty/ Probably the most egregious use of this fallacy in recent times was in selling the public on the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. These had not been tried on such a wide scale, and doing so was, IMHO, scientifically irresponsible. At the time I was suspicious of this and stuck with a more traditional adenovirus …
Is Christianity Darwinian?
Recently I did a "link post" to The shadow of Pax Romana —Unherd. It's an interview with Tom Holland about "Roman sex lives, Christian morality, and the rise and fall of empires." In it Holland makes an interesting statement the likes of which one doesn't see very often: I think that the thing that enables people …
Eat, Pray, Get Cancelled — Unherd
This week has brought mixed news for beleaguered Ukrainians. Their army’s counteroffensive is taking a heavy toll on its own troops; there have been … Eat, Pray, Get Cancelled
May His Soul Be Bound Up…Northern Plains Anglican
http://northernplainsanglican.com/2023/05/28/may-his-soul-be-bound-up/ This tragedy--a serviceman being killed right at the end of World War II trying to come home--is on par with my uncle, who was killed while training to go overseas in the Army Air Force.
The presentism fallacy — The Logical Place
In recent times, there has been a trend in the popular media towards viewing past events and people through the prism of present-day attitudes. This trend is manifested in attempts to ‘cancel’ the past, including by silencing various discussions, banning books, tearing down statues and so on. In historical and literary analysis, presentism is a […] …
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Positive Infinity 