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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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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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Ferris Bueller’s Vocation 0
- Culture
- August 15, 2019
In an attempt to confront the student loan debt bubble, most Democratic presidential candidates have promised some variant of “free” college, and Republicans are countering with their own proposals. Citing a statistic that the cost of a four-year degree doubled between 1986 and 2016, Marco Rubio proposes to regulate or privatize tuition funding sources. Given
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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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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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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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