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Pascal’s Wager and Climate Change

Industrialists, politicians and propagandists in their employ dismiss reports of destructive climate change caused by human activity as mere speculation. If you can’t conclusively prove your claims, they say, your theories are worthless and should be ignored. In order to protect their own commercial and political advantages, they reject suggestions that civilization may be severely…

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Thankful for Taxpayers

Before Thanksgiving weekend 2011 passes into history, let us be thankful for people who pay their taxes, because they are supporting the people who don’t. Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Indeed, civilization cannot exist without taxes, by which we pay for…

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Cooperating for America

Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton and Omar N. Bradley “were immensely ambitious.” So says The New York Times, reviewing the recently published summary of their relationship, “Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe,” by Jonathan W. Jordan. Like many politicians in Washington today, these three…

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Vox Populi in Zuccotti Park

The proverb “Vox populi, vox Dei” – “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God” – can be traced back to the eighth century, though earlier origins are probable. Yet the eighth-century version, considered in its entirety, actually meant the opposite of what most people think today. In a 798 A.D. letter to…

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Saved by the Sun

A Reuters exclusive posted by journalist Jim Wolf, “Orbital Solar Power Plants Touted for Energy Needs” http://blogs.reuters.com/jim-wolf, describes a fantasy project with the potential to provide civilization with energy for centuries to come. Indian and U.S. space scientists propose that power plants be placed in orbit to collect solar energy and beam it to Earth….

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In Defense of Chores

More effective national leadership and better weapons systems are less likely to assure the future of our nation than is the resurrection of chores. Chores are a voluntary cost-free resource for upgrading America. Chores Matter Chores are one of the most important chapters in the encyclopedia of parenting. Vital training is absent when a child’s…