Two fundamentally and diametrically opposed interpretations of the origin of American rights: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted […]
Archives for 2012
China Watch Update
In a January issue, the lead article of The Economist was “The Rise of State Capitalism”, featuring China as its leading example, of course, with comparisons with the recent problems in the world’s free-market systems suggesting that “the era of free-market triumphalism has come to a juddering halt”. But in all objectivity, after careful analysis, […]
Recent Books
A Brief History of Thought: A Philosophical Guide to Living, by Luc Ferry. This is one of the most fascinating books I have read. Most of the ground he covers is of the major historical philosophical ideas I have studied in any number of previous presentations, but this was different. Luc, who is a philosopher […]
Ryan May Save the GOP
Thanks to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the Republicans have an issue large enough to provide a compelling message in the general election. His budget plan is a vehicle for potentially moving the eventual nominee above the noise and into what qualifies as a space in which the enormous stakes for the American future […]
A Constitutional Teaching Moment
What a contrast: One week we have two full days of a seminar on the U. S. Constitution in the form of arguments before the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act that should have been a rare teaching moment for anyone who followed the audio; this was followed by an incredible pronouncement and challenge […]
The Sad Case of Trayvon Martin
I did not intend to write about this tragic episode until I read Shelby Steele’s excellent essay on it in the Wall Street Journal. As usual on race-driven issues, he nails it, with perceptive insight into the degeneracy of the current conversation on race. The facts will sort themselves out, with no help from the […]
Texas Education Reform Update
The Texas Institute for Education Reform is on the road with business and education opinion leaders around the state in anticipation of the 2013 legislative session, and I thought you might have interest in what we’re telling people, as follows: Since the beginning of the Texas commitment to public education standards and accountability based reform […]
A New Word – Ineptocracy
This was forwarded to me by a friend, who picked it up anonymously, but I think it might become a classic—INEPTOCRACY (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy), a new word to describe a totally dysfunctional political system, much as we have now, defined as follows: “A system of government in which the least capable to lead are elected by the […]
An Obama Turn on Iran?
The media watchdogs are twittering with commentary about President Obama’s new hawkish turn of rhetoric on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue. Is this for real? With him, how can we ever know? You can be assured of one thing–Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is dead serious when he says “I will never let my people live […]
When Saving the Animals is Not Enough
Many of you probably watched the recent CBS 60 Minutes segment on the Texas ranchers who have saved a number of species of African exotic wildlife by bringing them to Texas and providing incentives for their propagation by marketing their harvest as hunting trophies. The populations have now reached the extent of over a quarter […]