Boomers have always had a love-hate relationship with the generation before them, transitioning from "don't trust anyone over thirty" to calling them "the Greatest Generation." Most of those who brought us into the world are gone now, and the ones who are left are "full of years" to use the Bible's expression. Part of the …
Maybe the Turks Will Unfurl the Banner Named Barack
For those of us with long memories, an old conflict resurfaces: The shooting down of a Russian jet by Turkey is a "stab in the back" committed by "accomplices of terrorists", Vladimir Putin has said. The Sukhoi Su-24 was warned 10 times before being downed near the Syrian border by two Turkish F16 jets for violating the country's …
Continue reading "Maybe the Turks Will Unfurl the Banner Named Barack"
The Persian Origin of the Title "King of Kings"
Today is the feat of Christ the King, and it's right to consider the title "King of Kings": From his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which 'to smite the nations; and he will rule them with an iron rod.' He 'treads the grapes in the press' of the maddening wine of the Wrath of …
Continue reading "The Persian Origin of the Title "King of Kings""
Party Animals Turned Jihadis
It happened in Paris: Just a day after her death, family and acquaintances gave extraordinary accounts of a young woman with a 'bad reputation' who was known for her love of alcohol and cigarettes rather than devotion to Islam. Her brother Youssouf Ait Boulahcen said that she had had no interest in religion, never read …
Will the Real Islam Please Stand Up?
Boomers whose brains have not been completely fried by the mind-altering substances (and that number is small) will remember the game show To Tell the Truth. In it three contestants were lined up, all were supposed to be a single person but (usually) only one was. The panel, by quizzing the contestants, were supposed to …
Ending Authority Has Never Been the Problem
David Fowler's generally incisive piece on the current mess our institutions of "higher" learning are in repeats, unfortunately, a misconception that needs to be challenged. Down in the article he states the following: Relativism, by definition, must question anything that purports to be authoritative, and, of course, nothing can be authoritative if there is no …
Continue reading "Ending Authority Has Never Been the Problem"
The Problem with "Going Dark" in the Technical Literature
When starting out on a major research project in science or engineering, the first thing to do is to go through "the literature" (which usually means the peer-reviewed body of articles and published books, although internet stuff is becoming increasingly important) and try to figure out the current "state of the science" (we used to …
Continue reading "The Problem with "Going Dark" in the Technical Literature"
The Anglican Communion and the English Breakfast
Oliver Pritchett's piece on dumping brunch and bringing back the English breakfast has me thinking of many things English, American and otherwise. That's especially true with the upcoming Anglican Primates' meeting and Justin Welby's last throw at getting everyone to play nice. In particular, this statement from the Curmudgeon piqued my interest: And it can …
Continue reading "The Anglican Communion and the English Breakfast"
Those Swell-Headed American Academics
In this midst of his critique of current Roman Catholic academic "theology", Adam deVille makes the following observation: As someone trained in the Anglo-Canadian academic system, I note certain curiosities about Americans and academics. Americans turn degrees and “credentials” into an absurd fetish and repository for all kinds of misplaced faith. Holders of these degrees …
T.R. Glover on Tertullian
From the end of his Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire: By his expression of Christian ideas in the natural language of Roman thought, by his insistence on the reality of the historic Jesus and on the inevitable consequences of human conduct, by his reference of all matters of life and controversy to …
Positive Infinity 