Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
@markdtooley documents it well: Former U.S. Senator Harry Byrd, Jr. was buried on Saturday in Winchester Virginia after a brief funeral at Christ Episcopal Church, with which the Byrd dynasty was long associated. Presiding at the funeral was his former colleague retired U.S. Senator John Danforth, an ordained Episcopal clergyman who also presided at President Reagan’s …
Continue reading "Genteel Episcopalianism is Indeed Gone: A Family View"
One of the more recent kerfuffles in the Anglican world surrounds the recently adopted statement of belief by FiFNA (Forward in Faith North America for those who aren't nourished on the Anglican alphabet soup), the Anglo-Catholic organisation. The point of controversy is #8, which affirms that the (first) Seven Ecumenical Councils are in fact "ecumenical …
Continue reading "On Councils, FiFNA, Icons and Intercession"
Over at Patheos, Connor Wood wonders why: Liberal Protestantism is dying. Rod Dreher says so in a recent column in The American Conservative, and the statistics back him up: for decades, liberal and mainline Protestantism has been on the decline in the US, with some denominations (such as the United Church of Christ) losing adherents …
Continue reading "Leaving Liberal Churches: Where the Treasure Is"
Ramesh Ponnuru attempts to sort things out about the potential field of viable Republicans for the 2016 Presidential race. But, as was the case at the start of the 2012 handicapping, the most important criterion is left out: is the person an Ivy Leaguer? Let me remind my readers that we have not elected a …
Continue reading "Applying the Ivy League Rule to the 2016 Republican Presidential Field"
And have a plan to do something about them too: The most obvious new element of the president’s regionalist policy initiative is the July 19 publication of a Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation broadening the obligation of recipients of federal aid to “affirmatively further fair housing.” The apparent purpose of this rule change …
Continue reading "They Really Do Hate the Suburbs After All"
The Gnome of Princeton is at it again: So what’s the matter with Atlanta? A new study suggests that the city may just be too spread out, so that job opportunities are literally out of reach for people stranded in the wrong neighborhoods. Sprawl may be killing Horatio Alger. Let's start with the key observation: …
Continue reading "Paul Krugman's Moronic Take on Sprawl and Upward Social Mobility"
The tyranny of GPS and synthetic materials is broken on the Pacific: It took a thousand or so miles of sailing with the long, powerful waves of the Pacific Ocean for Hannah Jenner, a rising star in ocean racing, to get comfortable in this year’s Transpacific Yacht Race. Jenner, a 31-year-old from Britain, is used …
Continue reading "Iron Women and Wooden Ships, A Winning Combination"
Well, it's not quite down to my pastor's favourite mantra, but it's close: We are number 1 right? USA! USA! No one can beat our wealth creation machine, our economic dynamism, our level playing field and our bastions of higher education. We have a middle class that is the envy of the world, right? Well, …
Continue reading "The American Middle Class: Broke, Busted and Disgusted"
Forty years ago this past summer, this country was riveted by the hearings of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, better known as the Watergate Hearings. Although they did not directly lead to Richard Nixon's exit from office, they were an important step in that process. I've discussed Watergate many times on …
Continue reading "Forty Years Out, Watergate Still Matters–and Gets Repeated"
Yes, he's coming to the epicentre of the bitter people with their Bibles and guns after all: President Obama plans a visit to Chattanooga next week. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he will visit the Amazon fulfilment centre at the Enterprise South Industrial Park on Tuesday. He said President Obama will give the …
Continue reading "Barack Obama's Strange Visit to Chattanooga"
Positive Infinity 