Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
I had a hard time properly verbalising this until I saw the following in Peking (This Beautiful World) by the Japanese author Hikotaro Ando. Produced in the immediate wake of the Cultural Revolution and under obvious supervision of the Chinese Communist Party, in a section on education he said the following: Not only university students, …
Continue reading "The Difference Between Barack Obama and the Communists"
I recently came across a fascinating book entitled The Handbook of Palestine by H.C. Luke and E. Keith-Roach. Produced in 1922 by the British Mandate government which had just taken control of the country after a long Ottoman Turkish rule, it's a fascinating snapshot of the Holy Land beginning its transition to the State of …
It's conventional wisdom that we are a deeply divided nation these days. And the conventional wisdom, for once, is right: we are. Where things diverge is the explanation for same. Although day-to-day politics are one thing, the divides we experience these days run deeper that "go along to get along" or the horse-trading of patronage …
Continue reading "It's Hard to Explain the Desire for Freedom to People Who Have Never Had It"
A few days back I commented on Elizabeth Warren's claim that she's Native American. Since then we've had the piece at Breitbart which shows that a) her claimed Native American ancestor wasn't and b) another ancestor helped round up the Cherokees for their sad journey to Oklahoma. This has thrown her campaign into a tizzy. …
Continue reading "The Elizabeth Warren Saga Keeps Getting Stupider"
At the beginning of David Virtue's acid commentary on the run-up to General Convention 2012, he quotes the Presiding Bishop as follows: We need to discover ways to engage in the outside community. The Episcopal Church must embrace change and diversity if it is to move forward. We, er...you had the greatest chance to strike …
It's getting complicated out there: A spate of unsavory controversies in the United States is cracking up yoga's wholesome image, with accusations of financial fraud, sexual misconduct and copyright issues involving asanas (positions) plaguing the community. As a result, India, the land where the physical, mental and spiritual discipline of yoga began in ancient times, …
Last week I did a "commencement address" to college students. Today I take on their high school counterparts. I have accumulated a decidedly incongruent academic career, by current standards at least. After enduring the offspring of this country's premier zip code at the Palm Beach Day School (now the Palm Beach Day Academy,) I went …
Continue reading "Advice to Graduates: Go Where the Future Is"
This business about Massachusetts senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren's Cherokee heritage is getting out of hand: Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, fending off questions about whether she used her Native American heritage to advance her career, said today she enrolled herself as a minority in law school directories for nearly a decade because she hoped to …
Note the sign to the right. You think we need one like this for our fiscal condition?
I have to admit it: I was amused when the poster at the right appeared on Drudge, who linked with this article, which likened Obama's use of the "Forward" theme with its use in socialist/communist contexts. First: the slogan "Forward" does have strong roots in the history of communism. Whether we will see iconography like …
Continue reading "They Used to Put Posters Like This in the Dry Cleaners in the Soviet Union"
Positive Infinity 