Something for Sunday Morning
Sunday, May 31st, 2009“If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an Advocate as well.”
St. Irenaeus
Archive for May, 2009
Econ Saturday
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Hand Me That Pin
The Chronicle of Higher Education fears that college tuitions might be the next bubble to burst. Let’s hope their fears are justified (I think they are).
With tuitions, fees, and room and board at dozens of colleges now reaching $50,000 a year, the ability to sustain private higher education for all but [...]
Brews You Can Use
Friday, May 29th, 2009The Modern Drunkard
I was having a heck of a time finding bloggable drinking material last night. And then I stumbled across an old friend: Modern Drunkard Magazine. Its editor, Frank Kelly Rich, would appear to be a genuine drunk, but he’s a funny drunk and can apparently write under the influence (as could GKC, so [...]
Pirate Day
Thursday, May 28th, 2009Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life For Me
One of the best podcasts comes from George Mason University’s economics department: EconTalk. It’s perfectly pitched at my level of economics learning, not too basic, not too advanced. I get excited every time a new podcast comes on line (though its current main project, going through Adam Smith’s The [...]
Mini-Book Reviews
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009Some new, some old. Some in progress, some finished. Some repeats, some originals.
It’s a Random World
I bought this book after hearing Taleb interviewed on EconTalk. The host (Russ Roberts) asked Taleb about the economic meltdown (rough quote), “So, you were right about everything. Are people now listening to you.” Taleb basically responded, “Nope, but I [...]
Religion and More Religion
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009Neo-Emerson Revival?
Very interesting review essay at The New Statesman about religion and modernity. The premise: Religion and modernity co-exist just fine. Voltaire and the Enlightenment and its progeny have always been wrong about modernity and religion:
Whether Marxian or Millian, socialist or liberal, secular rationalists have held one tenet in common: religion belongs to the infancy [...]
Memorial Day Eudemon
Monday, May 25th, 2009Stay Out of the Museum
Night in the Museum 2 finished first in the box office: “Ben Stiller beat Christian Bale in the North American weekend box office duel between their respective “Night at the Museum” and “Terminator” sequels, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday. The 20th Century Fox comedy “Night at the Museum: Battle [...]
Something for Sunday Morning
Sunday, May 24th, 2009“The Christian should be an alleluia from head to toe.”
St. Augustine
I’ll try to keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I fail, repeatedly. Perhaps even more unfortunately, the alleluia people bug me. Not the people with quiet joy, but the in-your-face joyful, the people in whom it almost seems forced.
Econ Saturday
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009Clutching without Clutching
I want to play Texas Hold ‘Em, without the “Texas” part. I want to hold onto my foreign currencies, my domestic stocks, my international stocks, my metals, my commodities. I want to hold onto everything I own (even my wife), except my cash. I want six months of living expenses set aside, but [...]
BYCU: Beer and Related Areas
Friday, May 22nd, 2009Give Him the Nobel
Is your bartender pulling back a second early on the tap, leaving you a centimeter or two shy of the top? It’s costing you buzz. The new Beer Gauge tells you how much. “[T]he majority of the volume in a standard US pint glass is in the relatively small height in the [...]
Russians, Muslims, and the Bagpiper
Thursday, May 21st, 2009Seven Abandoned Wonders of the USSR
You ever think to yourself: “This is gonna land me in Hell”? I do, way too frequently. I have an acerbic turn of mind. I think I’m subduing it, but then it rears its head mightily. I’d like to give examples, but they might shock readers away. I will, [...]
From the Notebooks
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009The Funny Guy
What’s the definition of a funny guy? Most obviously: A guy who makes others laugh.
But that definition doesn’t answer many questions. What about the clumsy guy who stumbles a lot and unintentionally makes others laugh? What about the guy who unintentionally says stupid things and makes others laugh? They’re not funny guys.
So [...]