A military salient is usually an advanced position jutting out into enemy territory. The word salient comes from the Latin verb to leap. Self-definition is a leap toward human progress.The military, police and religion are the top 3 of 4. That is surprising. I called the Congress correctly. Self-definition is one of the engines driving…
The flood of election year distortion eventually recedes. When your mind’s made up, and you’re ready to tolerate any distortion as long as your side wins, recall Noah. Strive for truth and righteousness. Resist partisan oversimplification. Shun divisive distortion. Remember that the healthiest patriotism is grounded in facts, not partisan politics.
Cherry-picking refers to people’s practice of selecting information to justify their points of view, even as they ignore perspectives and data from the same or similar legitimate sources that contradict their positions.
For example, the Hippocratic Oath is sometimes quoted to justify a stance against abortion rights by the same people who are certain that faith in female divinity as expressed in this document is heretical. Indeed, this oath, from which anti-abortion advocates draw support, was created by people who worshiped goddesses. It states, “I swear by Apollo the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and judgment, the following oath and agreement.”
The connection between humanity and the nutritional abundance of our sacred planet is as indispensable as the placental connection between a mother and her child. The placenta has been described as the only disposable organ ever made. Civilization is also disposable. If the connection between humanity and civilization fails, our descendants will have no more chance of survival than a fetus disconnected from its placenta.
For dozens of centuries the aristocracy mocked and doubted the common people’s capacity to lead. Then came “We hold these truths to be self-evident … all men are created equal … they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights … among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If you believe these words, then you own responsibility for human leadership now.
There’s so much anti-government talk these days, it’s easy to forget that both the Erie Canal and the U.S. Constitution were incredibly successful government projects.
People who excuse exaggerations, distortions, omissions and flat-out lies because all sides do it are wrong. Remember the oath: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Do we the people have the right to expect our political leaders to tell the truth? When leaders…
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…
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…
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…