Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Some think we're on a downturn with coal: Across Europe and the U.S., the decline in coal output recently has averaged close to 5 percent a year. If the world as a whole can reach 7 percent a year, it would be on track to meet the IPCC's 2030 target. The conventional wisdom is that …
Continue reading "The War on–and for–Coal is a Waste of Time"
Well, it's over but the shouting, and there's lots of that: Brett Kavanaugh has become an Associate Justice on SCOTUS, after one of the sorriest episodes in American government since Watergate. (And there are many to choose from...) Conservatives have high hopes for him on the Court, which is why the opposition was so vociferous. …
That was certainly the case in early Byzantium, as recorded by Procopius in his Secret History, 11: After that he (the Emperor Justinian) passed a law forbidding pederasty, not inquiring closely into those acts committed after the passing of the law but seeking out men who had succumbed to this malady some time in the …
Continue reading "Sexual Crimes Seem to Inspire Suspension of Due Process"
This, from Livy, 38, 24: the Romans were conquering Galatia in Asia Minor, which the Gauls (the Romans' frequent opponent) had occupied. This incident tells us that Celtic women were as strong willed then as now: The wife of the Gallic chieftain Ortiago was one of a number of prisoners. She was a very attractive …
Continue reading "That’s One Way to Deal with Sexual Assault"
Everything is different in China: Under the breakthrough, Pope Francis recognized the legitimacy of seven bishops appointed by the Chinese government. Because they had not been selected by the Vatican, they had previously been excommunicated. For centuries, the monarchs of Europe exercised authority in the choice of bishops in their realm. The triumph of Ultramontanism …
Continue reading "Bringing Back “La Regale” in the Middle Kingdom"
Some of my readers are aware that I was involved in our long-term family business for about half of my working career, and still do work in that field. One thing I left behind, however, is industrial relations, or dealing with a trade union. Our company had one for many years in Chicago and again …
Continue reading "Amazon.com, the Company that Could Use a Trade Union"
In Randal Rouser's post on village atheism, after he lists the characteristics of village atheists, he makes the following observation: As I already noted, there are also many village Christians who exhibit similar traits. (But the way, it should not surprise us that when village Christians leave the church, they typically become village atheist.) To …
Francis Fukuyama, who predicted the "end of history" at the end of the Cold War, backtracks: Twenty-nine years later, it seems that the realists haven’t gone anywhere, and that history has a few more tricks up its sleeve. It turns out that liberal democracy and free trade may actually be rather fragile achievements. (Consumerism appears …
This video recently appeared on UK Labour's Twitter feed: This is how we re-build Britain: through businesses, jobs and communities. Watch this 👇 pic.twitter.com/4GQXBJdgQa — The Labour Party (@UKLabour) August 25, 2018 If we look at this objectively, the major difference between this and what Donald Trump is trying to do is that Trump is …
Continue reading "The Difference Between Donald Trump and UK Labour"
Elizabeth Kolbert at the New Yorker has written an interesting article about philanthropy, "then and now." "Then" was during the Gilded Age at the end of the Nineteenth century and the beginning of the Twentieth. "Now" is the age of the Silicon Valley magnates. In both cases, the recipients of the wealth are a) burdened …
Continue reading "The Solution Jesus Offered for the Wealthy Wasn’t Philanthropy"
Positive Infinity 