CULTURE

The Mentors

People We Should Know #24 – Donald Kagan

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     In  a humbling perspective, the presence of man as a thinking, actionable being in the scope of time as compared to bacteria as the first living organisms seeking interaction with their environment is a pittance.   The relationship of a few score of thousands of years to the greater than three billion years that bacteria have […]... Read More
To be an American

American Disconnect

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The tragic events in Boston have brought to bear many uncomfortable reminders of the 9/11 horror, but none more all consuming than the need to try to understand the incomprehensible, in the form of the simple question, why? The use of brutal violence against innocents was repeated with the conversion of weapon of choice from plane to […]... Read More
Margaret Thatcher, prime minister 1979-90 guardian.uk

Iron Lady

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     When I was a little boy, it was interestingly my mother who first connected me to my love of history and the storied greatness of certain of its participants.  She was in the kitchen making a meal, when I wandered in to see if I could catch some early hint of dinner to come.  […]... Read More

A Final Christmas Beauty

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As Christmas 2012 draws to a close, the Lord has granted us the vision of a white Christmas, the magic of a clear, starlit night, and the crisp cold of a true winter’s evening.  The night calls out for a clarion of eternal beauty, a little gift of perfection to mark this Christmas.  One is […]... Read More
hurricane_sandy_damage_recovery_2012_1

Aftermath

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       It’s hard to admit when you put a lot of time, investment in emotion, and thought into trying to understand  a complex relationship, that it turns out you had it all wrong.  You wake up one day and the relationship is broken, and you are dumbfounded.  It turns out the deep abiding  relationship the American people have […]... Read More
WE THE PEOPLE we the people

The Ramparts Manifesto

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There are historical inflection points that determine the flow of man’s progress or decline.  Sometimes the moment is clear at its apex to the participants.  The crowning of Octavian as the Emperor Augustus creating the end of republican concepts and creating the idea of a universal citizen linked by shared principles across cultural differences.  The declaration of […]... Read More
LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATES 1858

Debates – 2012 Style – A Tragic Comedy

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     In 1858, the Illinois senatorial contest between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A Douglas was occasioned by the most spectacular debates between the two men, that to this day resonate with passion and intellect and remain a focus of intense study.  The arguments were carefully constructed, the rebuttals pointed and clarifying, the respect for each other’s […]... Read More
TURKISH MILITARY

The World Waits For No Campaign

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The U.S. presidential campaign rumbles on after the debate regarding domestic issues with an intensified focus.  The predominant issue of the American economy and what should be the guiding philosophy behind its management dominated the debate and most of the past year’s political discourse.  In a few weeks the candidates will turn their debate attention […]... Read More