Tag: democracy

Happy Uniform Holiday Number 3!

“When a nation’s Holy-days are treated with indifference and neglect, it should be considered a sign of national degeneracy and decay.” --Walt Whitman Burned-Over District,...

Waiting for the Americans…

In the late 1970s, my grandfather’s older brother, already in his nineties, was pressing his almost deaf ears to a little portable radio still...

Table Games and the Politics of Corruption

Jefferson County, WV. In December my county will hold a referendum to decide whether or not table games will be permitted at the...

Who Was Richard Blaine? Myth, History, and the Great American...

Moorpark, CA.  The first time is not always the best, but it is often the most revealing.  The first time I saw Casablanca I...

The Other Side of China, and What It Might Say When...

As the heat of late summer subsides here in Nanjing and our university settles into the new semester, many look forward to the annual...

Mobbed Up: When Turning the Other Cheek Only Gains Another Slap

Washington, Ct. In his wonderful 1974 book entitled The Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk remarks upon the British and how they are able...

Tocqueville on the Shores of Titicaca

Amid Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings on revolution in France, there is a passage that rings true for those of us who have spent time...

Advice For Up-And-Comers

Claremont, CA. I spoke last week at the New Jersey Governor’s School for Public Issues, a (mostly) state-funded summer program for civic-minded students about...

The Gain is Gloss: Thanks to FPR and Its Readers

Devon, PA.  Much like Jeremy Beer, I have found that FPR has led me to look at 'Blogs almost for the first time in my...

Another Bad Idea In American Public Schooling

Claremont, CA. Outside of Los Angeles County, few people have heard about the latest dangerous idea in public education. Two local public school districts have...