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Blog 3 Columns

Why Joe Biden Is Winning the Gun-Control Debate 0
- Politics
- August 16, 2019
There are two fundamental arguments most commonly made against gun control. The Anti-Crime Argument The first one is based on the idea that persons have a fundamental right to self-defense against ordinary criminals. That is, in a world where criminals have access to either legal or illegal weapons, ordinary people ought to be able to
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When the Russians Came to Town: Reflections on Communism and Socialism 0
- Culture
- August 16, 2019
In the mid-1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president and the Soviet Union was fighting a losing battle in Afghanistan, my wife and I were running a bed and breakfast in Waynesville, North Carolina. One day, an executive from the Dayco Corporation, a manufacturer of rubber tubes and automotive hoses in the adjoining town of Hazelwood,
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The Reincarnation of America’s Most Infamous Dead Mall 1
- Culture
- August 16, 2019
AKRON, Ohio – Rolling Acres Mall in Akron opened in 1975. I was three years old. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of going to that mall. The mall had only been there for two years, but to a five year old in 1977, it was as permanent and impressive as the pyramids of Egypt.
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The Difference Between Public Libraries and Public Schools 0
- Education
- August 16, 2019
Plans for the Boston Public Library, the nation’s second-oldest public library, were approved in 1852, the same year Massachusetts passed the country’s first compulsory schooling law. Both public libraries and public schools are funded through taxation and both are “free” to access, but the similarities end there. The main difference between public libraries and public
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Civics 101 for Flyover Country 0
- Culture
- August 16, 2019
Quillette columnist Coleman Hughes, an American of African descent who has “only ever voted for democrats,” made news in June when he testified in front of a House Subcommittee against reparations for slavery. One lady applauded him on social media, saying “there are so many youth (sic) that want to speak out … but fear
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The Argument Beneath the Surface of Gun Control 0
- Culture
- August 15, 2019
The shock of three mass shootings in a week has prompted even the conservative newspaper The New York Post to call for the banning of what it calls “weapons of war” and President Trump to upset his base by tweeting that “Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks.” Several Republicans have
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Spouting Platitudes About Woodstock Won’t Change What It Actually Was 0
- Culture
- August 15, 2019
It is the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, and we’re already being subjected to dreamy reminiscences about it from people whose accounts cannot really be relied upon because they are based largely on memories of people who were in a drug-induced stupor. If you were on drugs, Woodstock seemed great. Of course, if you were on drugs,
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Red Flag Laws in the Age of Political Psychiatry 0
- History
- August 15, 2019
In the wake of recent horrific shooting sprees, Donald Trump and other Republicans wishing to appear to “do something” have seized the purported “middle ground”: red flag laws. These laws would permit law enforcement or concerned family members to petition a court to remove firearms from individuals deemed dangerous after a summary judicial procedure. Laws such as these enjoy
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It’s Time to Ask Politicians Some Questions 0
- Politics
- August 15, 2019
The other day, I was outside the coffee shop that serves as my second home. In the parking lot across the street a 30-something dad was helping his daughter, three or four years old, out of the car. She said something to him I couldn’t hear, and her dad replied, “Meagan, do you realize you
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