Two Things Which Please Me

(1) The new Star Trek trailer. Okay, maybe it’s not that new, but today was my first time to see it. It was also my first time to click on an advertisement embedded in a website; well, sometimes I click on them if I think it will help keep a site running, but it was [...]

Larry, You Cynical Bastard

This quote is old, but still….
Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging more migration of dirty industries to the LDCs [less developed countries]? I can think of three reasons: 1) The measurement of the costs of health-impairing pollution depends on the forgone earnings from increased morbidity and mortality. From this point [...]

Rick, My Alma Frater

Rick Warren and I went to the same seminary, so I guess that makes us alma fratris. Indeed, watching his inaugural prayer was not unlike visiting friends from my evangelical past, friends I still consider family. His demeanor and oratorical style were pure Southern California mega-pastor–though I recognize his pronunciation of “Malia and…SASHA!” was hilarious, [...]

Ravel and the Scherzo

I know very little about classical music, but I’ve been waking up to BBC 3 (the classical music station here in Britain) for the last week or so. Most of the music on their “Breakfast” program is pretty innocuous, which makes it nice to wake up to, read the paper to, etc. But yesterday my [...]

Zonks

I’ve been at this “Adam Smith as a Theologian” conference for the last two days. Incredibly frustrating but also great. This guy rules. This guy is pretty awesome, but often wrong. Have we really been discussing this book for two days? No, we’ve discussed more interesting topics and then some. Anyway, I’m supposed to give [...]

How to Recruit Terrorists

Israel is currently doing a wonderful job at recruiting the next generation of Palestinian terrorists, as the front page video from El País demonstrates.* By wounding and killing Palestinian children all over Gaza, Israel is sure to inspire legions of young Palestinians with a virulent hatred that will extend the conflict for many years to [...]