Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
I originally posted this 21 October 2005. It's appropriate with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur upon us, and it speaks for itself. Everybody likes to blow their own horn whether they admit it or not. Politicians certainly do, especially if they can do it at taxpayers' expense (this is at the core of the advantage …
Continue reading "Blast From the Past for Rosh Hashanah 2008 and the Shofar: Blowing Your Own Horn"
After Republican hand-wringing on whether Sarah Palin is "ready for prime time," this endorsement from the Obama camp: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters Saturday that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is “a terrific debater” who could give Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-Del.) a run for his …
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt is right in attacking Obama's law-enforcement supported "truth squad" in his state: St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics …
Continue reading "Police State Tactics From the Obama Campaign? Of Course!"
Since conservative Americans are deemed too boorishly provincial to defend our capitalist system (yes, The Elitist Snob is ahead in the polls,) it's noteworthy that Chan Akya is doing so in Asia Times Online. The article deserves an full read, but some snippets. First, a different source than usual for this debacle: Just so we …
Continue reading "An Interesting Defence of Capitalism in the Face of the Financial Crisis"
People who read the Qur'an find pairs of ayat (verses) like this: Surely, those who believe and the Jews and the Christians and the Sabians - whichever party from among these truly believes in ALLAH and the Last Day and does good deeds, shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come …
Continue reading "The Bible, the Qur’an, and the Abrogations"
This from Art Rhodes: During the initial third of the debate on the economy, my scorecard showed a draw. Obama was very well prepared and stuck to his short, succinct answers that his debate coaches had instructed him to give. While his responses were very general, he easily held his own with McCain. In the …
Continue reading "The First Presidential Debate: “No Knock-Out; But a Win”"
Both Fr. Greg and Abu Daoud have weighed in on this post, itself a follow-up to my reflections on the Orthodox view of the Eucharist. Let me respond to both and, in doing so, make some observations about these two important subjects. To start with the end of Fr. Greg's response: on a practical level, …
Continue reading "Thoughts on Infant Baptism and the Nature of the Church"
My four-part series on this subject got a few comments, which will enable me to expand on some things that obviously weren't clear in the first part. First thing to note: I got no responses from my Pentecostal bretheren on this subject, after the considerable back and forth on this subject here. Sooner or later …
Continue reading "Response to the Comments on “Reflections on an Orthodox View of the Eucharist”"
I wanted to ignore this but couldn't: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was today branded a ‘papal puppet’ after he became the first leader of the Church of England to accept visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes as historical fact. He asserted that 18 visions of Our Lady allegedly experienced by Bernadette …
Positive Infinity 