Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
More worried about tax cheats than prosperity: Capital, and all of its blessings, flows to where it is treated best. The recently passed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 (the "HIRE" Act) imposes new obstacles to the flow of capital into and out of the U.S. While ostensibly limited to "reporting" requirements to …
Continue reading "Boorishly Provincial: Penalising Capital Flow In and Out of the U.S."
It's been difficult to "do Holy Week" on this blog because of events, and Ruth Gledhill's blog entry only makes it harder. First, we have this, a part of the running fiasco of the Roman Catholic paedophile scandal: Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee has published a post with horrific details of a case surfacing in Brazil. …
It's a story I've brought up on this blog (and elsewhere) but Kristof finally puts it in front of the "right" people: Some 2,400 years ago, a Chinese king invited a legendary military strategist named Sun Tzu to give a demonstration in military training — using women from the palace. Sun Tzu agreed, organizing 180 …
For this Maundy Thursday, I'm going back to the obvious topic (obvious to me, at least): the institution of the Eucharist, which I went on at length about in 2008 with this series. You can access it as follows: Part I Part II Part III Part IV Those of you who are advocates of the …
If the Administration is serious about this, that's what it amounts to: The Obama administration is expected to announce by Wednesday its updated plan for oil and natural gas drilling in U.S. waters, including whether to allow exploration for the first time along the U.S. East Coast. The plan could pave the way for a …
Continue reading "European Style Government Deserves European Style Offshore Oil Policy"
Some people just haven't figured this out: President Barack Obama, after a year of fitfully searching for compromise, is taking a more aggressive tack with his Republican adversaries, hoping to energize Democratic voters and possibly muscle in some Republican support in Congress. On Thursday, the president challenged Republicans who planned to campaign on repealing his …
Continue reading "The Only Thing Obama Runs Against is Reality"
Sure sounds that way, as the U.S. House Third District (TN) Republican candidate's campaign manager lashes out against Mike Huckabee's endorsement of her opponent: "Given Huckabee’s history of denouncing candidates for office that contribute large sums of money to their campaigns in order to win elections, it is curious that he would choose to support …
Continue reading "Robin Smith and the Politics of Resentment"
This is Holy Week. When Jesus and his disciples gathered together, the Eucharist was instituted, but what they were coming together for (Tyndale's "Easter lamb" notwithstanding) was the Passover. Tonight the Passover is celebrated by Jews all around the world, and some Christians even have a Seder meal. Thus the two events are intertwined, both …
Recently an "old China hand" friend of mine sent around an email with this piece about the analogies between our current situation and that of Nazi Germany in the 1930's. Leaving aside the attribution problems of the piece itself, I'd like to address this issue, because I keep hearing it come up in our discourse. …
Continue reading "Is the US Really Headed Down the Road of Nazi Germany?"
That's what our Transportation Secretary said: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced a “major policy revision” that aims to give bicycling and walking the same policy and economic consideration as driving. “Today I want to announce a sea change,” he wrote on his blog last week. “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at …
Positive Infinity 