America weeps. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Five Dallas police officers. The first two men were killed by law enforcement officers, the last five killed trying to secure a protest based on the first two deaths. America searches for solutions. Struggling with words to grapple with such a time as this, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said, “We […]
Archives
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240 years ago, more or less on July 4 (the actual date of the signing of the Declaration is debated), the members of the Continental Congress signed a document that severed the bonds of the American colonies from their British rulers. For many Americans, this day is still cause for celebration for that reason, as […]
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In a National Review article of June 21, 2016, Michael Barone explored the question of whether the United States economy has shown any growth, and if not, why not. The article, entitled “Why We have—and Probably Will Keep Having—Sluggish Job Growth,” relies on a recently published book by the economist Arnold Kling, Specialization and Trade: […]
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Critical Thinking About Critical Thinking
22 Jun 2016
“Are Students Really Learning to Be Critical Thinkers?” is the title of an article in BetterEd by Annie Holmquist (http://www.better-ed.org/blog/are-students-really-learning-be-critical-thinkers). This question has been on my mind for some time as I have listened to and read educational leaders, teachers, professors and literature extol the virtues of “critical thinking.” But what have they almost always […]
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Not according to economist Ben Powell, and I’m with him (in the abstract). Of course there are specific cases we should have outrage, but we can’t simply wish that all of the world was wealthy enough for no children to have to work. Indeed, children working has been part of the human experience since the […]
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Happy 100th Birthday Bernard Lewis
31 May 2016
Today is Bernard Lewis’ 100th birthday, quite a milestone for anyone. Lewis is a long-time (and I mean that literally) of Middle Eastern Islam and history and has gained a new hearing since 9/11 with his prescient work. He is currently Emeritus Professor at Princeton. His works are legion but many easily accessible to the […]
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The Conservative Soul for a Supreme Court Seat?
19 May 2016
“Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . But for Wales!” Thomas More, Act 2, A Man for All Seasons Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency, yesterday released a list of Supreme Court prospects that might fill Antonin Scalia’s vacated seat. The […]
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A Test for “Conscientious Objectors”
19 Apr 2016
It’s time to revisit the issue of LGBT rights and legislation to protect individuals from prosecution for refusal to provide some service or good to a homosexual or homosexual couple. As many know by now, both Georgia and North Carolina passed legislation that would either restrict public restroom use to biologically determined individuals or would […]
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Minimum Wage, Minimum Work, Minimum Dignity
11 Apr 2016
California, predictably, has passed a $15/hour minimum wage. New York is likely to. A few cities have done it already. Bernie Sanders wants a Federal wage of $15, while Hillary Clinton wants a $12 wage. And so the issue is once again on the table, at a time when wages are stagnant and unemployment is […]
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I’m flying back from Las Vegas as I type this post, just finishing a great conference with the Association of Private Enterprise Education, along with one of our senior students. When we flew into Vegas on Sunday, we had a muscle-bound Bulgarian cabbie, and on the way home today, we had a young man named […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach