Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
One of the running "legends" in American life and art (yes, snobs, I know that "American art" is held by the cognoscenti to be an oxymoron) is that of what I'd call the "rube moving to town," or better the big city. He or she leaves the farm or other small places and goes through …
Continue reading "Book Review: Todd Starnes’ They Popped My Hood And Found Gravy On the Dipstick"
My first semester at Texas A&M University, I was required to take Analytical Geometry. My teacher was a former seminary student (come to think of it, so was my Calculus teacher!) Generally it wasn't a difficult course but it had its moments. One of them came with a particularly difficult problem we had for homework. …
Buried in the middle of a story of how an Ohio Christian school is punishing one of its students for attending a public school prom is this: The handbook for the 84-student Christian school says rock music "is part of the counterculture which seeks to implant seeds of rebellion in young people's hearts and minds." …
Continue reading "Newsflash to Fundamentalists: You Are the Counterculture Now"
It's sad but true. We owe an apology to our Central American bretheren: Political risk is becoming a growing concern for investors in the United States as the government plays a larger and more controversial role in private enterprise because of the financial crisis. State intervention in economic affairs is always closely watched by investors …
Continue reading "Our Revised Pledge: “And to the Banana Republic for Which It Stands…”"
Mark Harris transmits a splendid proposed resolution for GC 2009 about TEC's participation in the Anglican Communion: Given our current relation to the Anglican Communion, a proper application of PAP (Principle of Anglican Progress) would require that The Episcopal Church declare a moratorium on funding the Anglican Communion until such time as the mind of …
Continue reading "Getting Rid of TEC Money Favouring, and Apologising to Ridiculed Persons"
In the middle of his rant (and I'd recommend this for a more intelligent assessment of the Afghan situation) Pepe Escobar lets this out: As for the "Pak" (Pakistan) component of AfPak, it is pure counter-insurgency (COIN). As such, His Master's Voice has got to be Central Command commander and surging General David "I'm always …
This book review is a little different than some of the other's I've done lately. Not only is Basic Christianity well known (it was first published in 1958, I read the 50th anniversary edition) but reading it brought up some thoughts and emotions that I'd like to spend time on. But first the book itself: …
Or at least it looks that way: China, wary of the troubled US economy, has already "canceled America's credit card" by cutting down purchases of debt, a US congressman said Thursday. China has the world's largest foreign reserves, believed to be mostly in dollars, along with around 800 billion dollars in US Treasury bonds, more …
I've about had enough of the blather (especially from my Christian colleagues) about the whole business of torture during the last administration. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the Obama Administration's reasons for shying away from prosecution are entirely practical. They are as follows: Prosecuting one's predecessors makes it easier to …
Continue reading "The Non-Issue of Torture in the Bush Administration"
Well, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is kicking off its quadrennial meeting in Kingston, Jamaica. (I wish my church would have the good sense to have its General Assembly in Jamaica, but I digress...) One of the items on the agenda is the decision to send the latest draft of the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant …
Positive Infinity 