Libertarians have much to contribute to the discussions of social justice. But their main contributions – rule of law, opposition to cronyism, ‘by right’ land use, the problem of planning and knowledge, the issue of ‘public choice’ or how we […]
Don’t Blame the Boomers for Everything
Here I affirm that most of the serious structural changes in society associated with the Baby Boomer generation were, in fact, set in place by people far older. The Boomers, however, certainly took advantage of them! And we, on the […]
A Croatia Travelogue
Or more properly, a Dalmatia and Istria travelogue. We arrived in Dubrovnik on August 19 and crossed into Italy on August 28. It was a whirlwind, because it was compressed between an event in Edinburgh, Scotland, that we had to […]
The Problem with ‘Straight Pride’
A few cities have recently talked of having ‘Straight Pride’ parades. Whether their purpose is celebration or mockery I can’t say. Whatever the intention, I don’t know whether I could participate. About 95% of the population is ‘straight’ by nature, and […]
Saint Boniface’s Day and D-Day
Saint Boniface was born about 675 in Anglo-Saxon England. He was initially named Winfrid by his prosperous and respected family. At an early age he attended a monastery school, and as a young man he became a monk. The Pope […]
A Recent History of ‘Skinny Fat’ or How Fit Were People in the Old Days?
Recently in an airport, I saw and bought a rather provocative issue of Scientific American. The cover declared that humans ‘evolved’ to exercise, while the most similar forms of life – chimpanzees and bonobos – function very well as couch potatoes, according to […]
Should Transit-Oriented Housing be Limited to the Carless?
In addition to the NIMBYs and the YIMBYs, we now have the PHIMBYs: Public Housing in My Back Yard. This new acronym represents those who believe that public-subsidized housing should be added to our cities, but no private enterprise market-rate […]
On Political Trust and Media Attention
For a long time, we have spoken of elections, in which a President is not on the ballot, as ‘off-year elections’. I think the Founders would have been horrified by such a notion. The Congress, they would have thought, should […]
Christianity and Science: Two Poles of a Biblical World View
In C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, in the essay “Miracles” we read this: The experience of a miracle in fact requires two conditions. First, we must believe in a normal stability of Nature, which means we must recognize […]
A ‘Protestant-ish’ Argument for Icons?
Is there an appropriate place for icons in the 21st Century Protestant Church? There’s nothing new about the debate regarding sacred images and iconography, but I’ve gained some recent insights on the subject. In chapter 13 of Diarmaid McCullough’s work, Christianity: […]