CULTURE

Book Review: The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America

Why ‘Colorblindness’ on Race Matters More than Ever

Visiting Nixon’s Birthplace

Visiting Nixon’s Birthplace

“I was born in a house my father built.” So said Richard Nixon (1913-1994) about his birthplace in Orange County, California. A recent visit to the home, located on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and museum (which opened in 1990 with...

Giving is Not a Duty

At this time of the year, many of us are giving presents out of benevolence, goodwill, appreciation, and love—I hope. Gifts are a means of showing that we value their recipients in some way, whether friends, loved ones, causes, or charities. Giving gifts out of duty...

The Bum, the Cop and the Facts

The Bum, the Cop and the Facts

This is about the barefoot Times Square bum bestowed with a pair of boots on a cold November night by a policeman whose act of charity was photographed by an Arizona tourist. The bum, it turns out, was seen last Sunday on the Upper West Side. The new boots, valued at...

Fear: The Great Inhibitor

Fear: The Great Inhibitor

Fear is the great inhibitor. When rational, fear is life-serving and life-protecting. However, the purpose of fear is avoidance. You rationally avoid things in order to obtain what life has to offer. You avoid an oncoming car when crossing a street in order to survive...

Why Humility is Not a Virtue

According to conventional morality, humility is a virtue. We are taught to think not too highly of ourselves or not to take credit for our achievements. Whatever we accomplish is due to collective effort or the grace of a higher power. A group of Executive MBA...

Envy is Bad For Us

I am writing this post in Finland where I am working for a month. Last week the Finns marked their annual unofficial “National Envy Day” when the Finnish Revenue Service publicized the income taxes and income of every tax-paying citizen. That in itself is a shocking...

Taking Words Seriously Can Help You Get Things Done

Taking Words Seriously Can Help You Get Things Done

"I need more time." That is what a client told me was the solution to his grueling work schedule. We say such things without thinking about it, but it's worth pausing for a moment to focus on the thought. How could the solution possibly be more time? There is no such...

Art, Business, and First-Handed Productiveness

I recently heard a panel discussion by some accomplished professional artists about a variety of topics, ranging from the motivation to paint to the creative process to commercial success. It made me think of parallels between art and business and the role of...

State of the American Nation: September 2012

Let's look at the facts: In July, unemployment rose in 44 out of 50 states. According to the Fed, industrial production fell 1.2 % in August, and that was the steepest decline since March 2009, a number we experienced at the bottom of things. Left-leaning analysts had...

Stealing Food To Feed The Poor

Two weeks ago, the mayor of a Spanish town in Andalusia was orchestrating raids to local supermarkets for the purpose of stealing food to feed the poor. He was quoted as saying: “Someone has to do something so families can eat.” Mr. Sanchez Gordillo, an avowed...

Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand

Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand

Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has reportedly had favorable things to say about Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged” and the philosophy of Objectivism, which stresses the absolutism of reason, reality and individual rights (including laissez-faire capitalism)....

Obama’s Pro-Islamic Rewriting of American History

Obama’s Pro-Islamic Rewriting of American History

Barack Obama said the following at a recent White House dinner: Of all the freedoms we cherish as Americans, of all the rights that we hold sacred, foremost among them is freedom of religion, the right to worship as we choose.  It’s enshrined in the First Amendment of...

Your Life is Your Responsibility

Your Life is Your Responsibility

If you were alone on a desert island you would not be able to escape the fact that you must work to sustain your life. Alone on the island you could spend your days in any activity of your choosing—hunting, fishing, building a home, swimming, or napping. But you would...

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

In 1839, John O’Sullivan, editor of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, wrote a piece titled “The Great Nation of Futurity” in which he argued that the United States had a divine destiny to occupy the American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific....

Education and the Poor

Education and the Poor

The poor have found remarkably innovative ways of helping themselves, educationally, and in some of the most destitute places on Earth have managed to nurture a large and growing industry of private schools for themselves.

Free Speech No Excuse For Muslim Ideology of Violence

Free Speech No Excuse For Muslim Ideology of Violence

Even in today's crazy world, there's still some justice to be found in the United States. A convert to Islam who helped promote death threats against the producers of the animated television show "South Park" after it featured a character representing the prophet...

All Children Left Behind

All Children Left Behind

According to clickorlando.com and FoxNews.com, The Florida Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting last Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida's standardized test, after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in student...

Mysticism is Alive in America

Mysticism is Alive in America

According to a 2009 Harris Poll, when Americans are asked to “Please indicate for each one if you believe in it, or not,” the following results were revealing: 82% believe in God 76% believe in miracles 71% believe in survival of the soul after death 75% believe in...

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