I posted this on YouTube recently: a "tour" of a Russian military factory, taken in 1994. The operation produced pile driving equipment for railroad troops. Having spent a good deal of time in machine shops, factories and foundries, what struck me was the scale of the operation and the vertical integration of the production. The …
Episcoplaians, Katherine Jefferts Schori, and Evangelicals: The War is Now Declared
Gary l'Hommedieu has it right, regarding TEC PB Katherine Jefferts-Schori's declaration that individual salvation is heretical: This week the Presiding Bishop declared holy war on heresy, and that's news. Which heresy? "That we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." This heresy must be stamped …
A Royal Visit: Prince Alexandre de Rethy’s Visit to Palm Beach
One of the long running relationships of our family business was with the Nilens firm in Belgium. This family concern manufactured pile driving and other construction equipment. In January 1965 we were expecting a visit from their principal, Willy Nilens. What we got was a call from New York telling us that he, his colleague …
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I deeply appreciate your patience! Miguel Alvarez Talks About His Passion for Honduras
I don't think an apology is in order. Miguel Alvarez' (Administrative Bishop for the Northeast Hispanic Region of the Church of God) knowledge and passion for this subject has enlightened this blog. From Facebook: Friends, First of all, please accept my apology, for using this channel to express my passionate opinion in favor of democracy …
A State of Being
Helene Tuchbreiter Portrait by Antonio Sereix Photo Reproduction by John Haynesworth Helene Tuchbreiter was one of Palm Beach's most prominent socialites in her time. She made an impact both on the social scene and on the people immediately around her. My own recollection of her, however, was more prosaic: she was one of my mother's …
Barack Obama Needs to Learn From the Old Country
In this case, Indonesia: Indonesia made stealthy economic progress during Yudhoyono's first term, witnessed in the fact the economy is one of the region's few on course to record positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year. That's in part been driven by decentralization measures that have broken the center's long-time stranglehold on natural resource …
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Acolyte Order of St. Peter
We present the guide for the Acolyte Order of St. Peter at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church for three reasons: To give a historical view of acolytes in Episcopal churches in the era it was written (around 1968.) To help Anglican churches today in training their acolytes. To show how the "rich and famous" (or infamous) served …
Robert McNamara and the Hard Lessons of “The Best and the Brightest”
Robert McNamara's death beings back memories of the era when the elitist know-it-alls could do no wrong, then turned around and seriously misjudged the situation in Vietnam: McNamara was secretary of defense during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. In that capacity he directed a U.S. military buildup in Southeast Asia …
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Sunni and Shi’a: The Deep Divide, or Why the Saudis Would Give Israel Airspace Clearance for a Nuclear Strike Against Iran
The impetus to republish this 8 July 2005 piece comes on Sunni and Shi'a Islam comes from this, in the Times: The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid …
Youth Choir Contract, Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
When it comes to Palm Beach, as Kendall Harmon would say, you just cannot make this stuff up... BETHEDSA-BY-THE-SEA Palm Beach, Florida 1967-1968 YOUTH CHOIR CONTRACT THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into between the CHURCH OF BETHESDA-BY-THE-SEA, Palm Beach, Florida, and __________________________. WITNESSETH: That the Second Party named above, agrees to sing in the YOUTH …
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Positive Infinity 