Historically in Christian liturgy, Advent was supposed to be a sort of penitential time, a little Lent leading up to Christmas, as Lent led up to Easter. Anglican hymnbooks have an Advent section and a Christmas section. Songs like “O […]
Howard Ahmanson
Valentine’s Day Carols? And Other Observations
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers. As usual, what Americans call ‘The Holidays’ is an odd mix, especially in the special music now played. What are effectively Gospel carols [especially if they sing all […]
Edward Kleinbard Says, Don’t Soak the Few and the Rich
Edward Kleinbard, a professor at the University of Southern California, has pointed out that despite and in the face of extreme income inequality, not only is America’s tax system fairly ‘progressive’, its spending is fairly progressive in that the less […]
Where in Southern California Could We Fit New Suburbs?
People like Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox have argued, to some extent rightly, that the majority of Americans prefer a suburban environment; and even the younger Millennial generation, willing to live in more urban places during their single and cohabiting years, […]
If I Were Muslim: Why Do Muslims Hate Jews Nowadays?
Our friend Hillel Fradkin has sent out a fascinating article on the relationship between Islam and German nationalism. In two world wars both types of German nationalists, both the relatively mild sort of the Second Reich and the pathological ones […]
The Midterm Turnout Problem
It is well known that important constituencies, especially those for the Democratic Party, have not been turning out in ‘midterm’ elections in the last few years. In fact, a New York Times writer has endorsed eliminating ‘midterms’ for that very […]
If We Treated Food the Way We Treated Housing
Josh Barro, an economics columnist at the New York Times who used to be at Forbes, has written an interesting column on what the food marketplace would be like if we owned lifetime resaleable futures in our food instead of […]
Hasn’t it Always Been Babylon?
Rod Dreher, one of our favorites on this site, has written a column called “From Israel to Babylon” of which the sources are largely drawn from the Southern Baptists. The younger Southern Baptists expect to be a religious minority, which, […]
Now, Even Apartment Dwellers are Getting Choosy about their Neighbors
It has been known for a long time that homeowners have wanted to control who their neighbors are. In the past it was race; now it is for income and for how they might use their property, and often for […]
Why Republicans Are Not Always Reliable Defenders of Economic Liberty
As an activist against ‘redevelopment,’ I often wondered why Republicans, who posture themselves as the party of ‘small government’ or ‘limited government,’ were so hard to convince to repeal redevelopment. Josh Barro, a clever columnist for the New York Times, […]