President Obama has brought new meaning to “Obama 44″. It used to refer to his number as president. This week, he made it the number of fundraisers he’s attended in California. Which will be surpassed in a mere ten days. I unfortunately won’t be able to accept the emailed invitation I received today, but...
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Liberty-minded philanthropists have managed to foster a vibrant network of scholars and organizations engaged in advancing the ideals of a free society. Some donors who have underwritten the liberty movement have also attempted to make colleges and universities across the United States more conducive to the spread of these ideals, but their efforts have...
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The fall 2012 issue of The Independent Review, our quarterly journal edited by Robert Higgs, is hot off the press! As always, The Independent Review deals with a wide variety of fascinating questions about economic policy, political and social theory, and intellectual history. To test your wits, try answering the questions addressed in the...
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In the 1990s, I read an interview with a rock star optimistic about the country’s direction. He thought President Clinton’s admission to having tried marijuana was a good sign. America was becoming more socially liberal. The new generation was in charge. And as one consequence, maybe the disastrous war on drugs would end. Not...
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A private foundation will begin managing the country’s largest Roman Catholic education system on September 1. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will transfer management of 17 high schools and four special-education schools to the Faith in the Future Foundation. Declining enrollments, closings, and rising costs prompted the shift. “We’ve done a good job for years...
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Sixty-seven years ago, World War II ended. In Japan, today’s date is officially designated “the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace” (戦歿者を追悼し平和を祈念する日 Senbotsusha wo tsuitōshi heiwa wo kinensuru hi?). In the USA, it is called V-J Day, but few people any longer take much note of it. All wars are...
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Reader advisory: the following is rated PG-13 Today is the anniversary of Singapore’s independence, and they’re celebrating by urging citizens to make a baby. With headlines like “Thursday’s the Day to Go All the Way for Civic Duty in Singapore,” and a new commercial rap video produced by Mentos to “Get Your National Night...
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If airports had barn doors, TSA certainly would have closed the one in Newark, with great certitude and force, on Sunday. As it is, they simply shut down the entire airport, resulting in the delay of 65 flights and cancellation of another 100—after an unidentified suspicious woman had not only already boarded her flight...
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In the aftermath of 9/11, we found ourselves almost bereft of friends and allies, as so many we had thought were fellow-travelers—sharing our dedication to core principles of the sanctity of every individual’s right to life and liberty; the danger of the welfare/warfare state; and the primacy of securing and protecting economic and civil...
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Much has been written about Penn State and the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, but I want to mention two aspects about it that have been on my mind. The first one is the idea of institutional culpability. Jerry Sandusky has already been convicted for his actions, and when they came to light,...
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