Latest Posts

July 14, 2005

Virtual world project

For a very cool tool for anyone interested in archaeology, Biblical studies, or ANE history, check out The Virtual World Project hosted by Creighton University. To see the site I worked on in the summer of 1999, check out Israel: Galilee: Bethsaida (on the north side of the Sea of Galilee). Continue Reading...
July 14, 2005

More praise for world population day

Apparently Europe is buying in to the concept. Here are two key paragraphs from today’s Washington Post, in this article from Robert J. Samuelson, “The End of Europe”: It’s hard to be a great power if your population is shriveling. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

The telecom cowboy weeps

Bernie Ebbers got 25 years in the cooler for his role in the demise of WorldCom. If he serves the full sentence, he’ll be 85 years old when they let him out. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

More government control of charities looms

As public policy debate about the extent of government regulation over charities, Karen Woods argues in favor of a “common sense approach” that “would look to transparency and accountability measures that are already on the books, rather than fashioning yet more regulation and mandated enforcement from public agencies.” Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

The virtues of drink

Some caricatures of Puritans depict them as strict, severe, and stolid. H.L. Mencken’s famous definition of a Puritan is an example of this: “A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time.” Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

Fast food down under

The Melbourne Herald Sun reports, “Fast food could be subject to a new tax of up to 50 per cent under a plan to fight Australia’s worsening obesity epidemic. The proposed fat tax would, hopefully, steer consumers away from calorie and sugar-laden foods and force them to choose cheaper, healthier options.” Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

Updates from the EU

A morning blend of stories ranging from the strange to the maddening: Car-pool no-no: “a group of French cleaning ladies who organised a car-sharing scheme to get to work are being taken to court by a coach company which accuses them of ‘an act of unfair and parasitical competition’.” Continue Reading...
July 12, 2005

9/11 made me do it

Jason Battista, 28, is citing stress from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a bid for less prison time, the second time the argument has been used by a bank robber. Continue Reading...