When I was working for the government, I got to spend a lot of time researching why objective analysis was so difficult. I am out of that business now, but it is neat to see that problems of analysis are not confined to the world of international/comparative politics. Even simple parish priests get to see […]
Taking Responsibility for Falling to Temptations
July 24, 2008 By
The American heritage is one of a strong work ethic and a deep sense of personal responsibility. These individual traits, together with civic engagement, are the cultural foundations of American prosperity. Originally, these traits sprang forth naturally from America’s Judeo-Christian roots. Max Weber and De Tocqueville both warned what would happen if these individual traits […]
In Praise of Civility – and a warning about love
July 23, 2008 By
Today’s gospel lesson from the Orthodox lectionary is on the parable of the leaven, and how a little bit really improves everything. In general, the leaven is love: you can change the world around you if you genuinely love. This is a fundamental truth, but the world has so damaged the concept of love, that […]
Music and Science – missing the obvious point
July 22, 2008 By
My apologies if you were hoping to read more exciting thoughts on bureaucracy, elections, and tyranny, but I am going to take a few minutes to share some random thoughts on something more fundamental : music. There is much that could be said, but I want to focus for a moment on the questions of […]
Who is Pakistan and where can I meet him?
July 17, 2008 By
Our brains just don’t work well in certain situations. Unfortunately, the world is full of “those situations”. There is a wonderful literature out there on how our brains let us down when we do certain kinds of analysis (The Psychology of Intelligence by Richard Heuer remains the best, although ). Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan) […]
Top Five Life-Changing Concepts
July 17, 2008 By
Yesterday, I wrote about some gadgets that have improved my standard of living. Here are some concepts that have reduced the stress in my life and made it a joy to go on breathing. Trusting Christ and His Church. Don’t pass over this one too quickly. It works. Without it, everything else can, at best […]
Should We Use Force in the FATA?
July 16, 2008 By
On Tuesday, Senators Obama and McCain talked about Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan. I am not really all that interested in campaign politics, but I am interested in counter-insurgency (COIN), especially COIN in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And some of the things the candidates say about this theater worry me. Sen. Obama has been criticized […]
The Optimist Vindicated
July 16, 2008 By
My wife likes to tease me about my love of gadgets. After 18 years together, she is still amazed that I am as fascinated with toys now as I was when I was a kid. Given that so few of them live up to my expectations, she must also wonder at my sanity! It is […]
