It is fashionable (especially in Anglican/Episcopal circles where it is so common these days) to refer to conversion to Roman Catholicism as "swimming the Tiber."Â Â Although Hillaire Belloc never actually had to convert (although a recovery was in order,) his The Path to Rome (which he actually walked, via the Alps) is probably a better …
The Truth Finally Comes Out About the Obama Administration and High Gas Prices
Finally, someone on the inside states the obvious: President Barack Obama's Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu uttered the kind of Washington gaffe that consists of telling the truth when inconvenient. According to Politico, Chu admitted to a House committee that the administration is not interested in lowering gas prices. Chu, along with the Obama administration, …
Continue reading "The Truth Finally Comes Out About the Obama Administration and High Gas Prices"
The Optimist, Pessimist and Opportunist Square Off Again
Saw this quote from Christian inspirational writer William Arthur Ward on, of all places, Foreign Policy's website: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. In the spirit of what I've been seeing on Facebook lately, we should want to know what the opportunist would do. …
Continue reading "The Optimist, Pessimist and Opportunist Square Off Again"
Just to Reiterate: My Thoughts on Women in Ministry, and About Being a Snob
I received an intriguing comment from Desmond on my 1662 Book of Common Prayer page. He was taking issue with my comments about women in ministry, but he did so in a odd way. Since he hit on subjects that I have talked about before and probably need repeating for newer visitors, I'll take his …
Continue reading "Just to Reiterate: My Thoughts on Women in Ministry, and About Being a Snob"
Curtailing Internet Freedom: I Guess it’s Back to the Telex
Robert McDowell is right about the threat to internet freedom: On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year's end. As Russian …
Continue reading "Curtailing Internet Freedom: I Guess it’s Back to the Telex"
Obama's Modest American Dream Has a Soviet Ring
He may not have thought of that, or perhaps he did... What Obama describes as the American Dream can seem a spare, fundamental aspiration, tailored for a campaign that looks to be fought over who is best equipped to safeguard the interests of middle-class Americans... "If you're willing to put in the work, the idea …
Continue reading "Obama's Modest American Dream Has a Soviet Ring"
Paul Krugman’s Hard Lesson in Ingratitude
Krugman's the one who's scratching his head here: Many readers of The Times were, therefore, surprised to learn, from an excellent article published last weekend, that the regions of America most hooked on Mr. Santorum’s narcotic — the regions in which government programs account for the largest share of personal income — are precisely the …
Continue reading "Paul Krugman’s Hard Lesson in Ingratitude"
New Orleans Mardi Gras, Sixty Years Ago
As we approach Mardi Gras and the beginning of Lent next week, I thought I'd post these photos of the New Orleans Mardi Gras from around 1950. That date is approximate; the slides that either my father or mother (or both) took were undated. Nevertheless they show a New Orleans that was, in many ways, …
Two Visions of the End, Both From Iran
The flexing of national muscle--military, political and economic--we are seeing in the Middle East regarding the Islamic Republic's aspirations makes as good a backdrop as any to consider how things will wind up. In this post we will show it's possible to get a glimpse of two visions of the end, and both in an …
Obama and the Catholics: It May Be a Kulturkampf, but He's No Otto von Bismarck
The Catholic League is prepared for war: Catholic leaders are furious and determined to harness the voting power of the nation’s 70 million Catholic voters to stop a provision of President Barack Obama’s new heath car reform bill that will force Catholic schools, hospitals and charities to buy birth control pills, abortion-producing drugs and sterilization …
Continue reading "Obama and the Catholics: It May Be a Kulturkampf, but He's No Otto von Bismarck"
