Category: Access

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Free Content

8 Jan, 2019

A Dialogue on the Decay of English, by Roger McGrath and Thomas Fleming

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I received this message from Prof. McGrath in response to my columns on learning foreign languages. Tom: For what it’s worth, I took French in high school and Latin in college.  I think Latin teaches one a surprising amount about the English language or perhaps reminds one of all those things that we were supposed to learn in the 7th and 8th grade–when English teachers emphasized parts of speech, diagramming sentences, tense, mood, et al. During my years playing professor I noticed a slow but steady decline in the writing skills of the average student.  By my final days of teaching...

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Free Content

8 Jan, 2019

Should Students Read T.S. Eliot?

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Dear Autodidact: Question for you. T. S Eliot is one of my favorite poets. ( I have read and re-read many of his poems) Most friends of mine aren’t as enthusiastic about him. I’ve often heard people say that he “killed poetry” with his “Modernist” style. This is also the view of a number of conservative professors I know (none is  a literary scholar, though) Do you think there’s any truth to this claim? I tend to read poetry for its meaning, not its style (so Eliot’s style doesn’t bother me much) A Catholic College Student Dear Catholic College Student,...

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Fleming / Free Content

7 Jan, 2019

Direct Election: A Grave Threat to Republics

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John Seiler has posted a sensible column on why the electoral college is not going to disappear in a puff of smoke.  He points out that one of the great compromises that made the Constitution possible is an electoral system that protects the interests of smaller states without eliminating all the advantage enjoyed by larger states.  There is, however, another aspect of the electoral college that is worth looking at:  the principle of indirect election.

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All Paid Subscribers / Seiler

7 Jan, 2019

Dems vs. the Electoral College

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The best thing the new Democratic House can do is waste its time on things that aren’t going to happen. Such as pushing a Constitutional Amendment to abolish the Electoral College. Yes, they’re still miffed Hillary won the popular vote, but lost in the Electoral College. Even though, if the popular vote were decisive, Trump would have run a far different campaign concentrating on the large population centers and forgetting low-population states. Which is one reason why the EC never will be abolished. It takes a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, then a three-fourths vote of the state...

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Free Content

1 Jan, 2019

Sicilian Trog, Part II

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This is the long-awaited Part II of my Agrigento Trog There is hardly a better place in Europe—not even Athens—were the differences between the ancient and the modern world can be felt so acutely.  20th century Agrigento is, at its best, a tribute to the greed and and contempt for humanity that have characterized modern governments that are the distilled essence of democratic man.  The local government is hopelessly inept at carrying out the most basic tasks—picking up trash, policing traffic, cracking down on organized crime.  And yet, good democratic socialists that they are, they have imposed new rules on...

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All Paid Subscribers / Feature / Seiler

27 Dec, 2018

Good Night, Generals

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Just after President Trump took office, on Fleming Foundation I recommended he not hire generals for his top national security positions. Trump did the opposite. But almost two years later, he finally has civilians in what should be civilian posts. Gen. Flynn didn’t last long as national security adviser and remains embroiled in the witch hunt against Trump, victim of yet another “Justice” Department and FBI perjury trap. Gen. Kelly recently resigned as chief of staff. And Gen. Mattis just resigned in protest as secretary of defense over Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. When Mattis said he wouldn’t leave...

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All Paid Subscribers / Andrei Navrozov / Wednesday's Child

26 Dec, 2018

Wednesday’s Child: On National Pride

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A columnist, but really just about anybody in the talking heads corner who voices opinions with the regularity of a grandfather clock, must be a fool if he doesn’t harbor a measure of remorse.  Opinion in general has something of a sleight of hand about it, in that it presupposes the choosing of subjects on which one believes one has something to say and the leaving out of other subjects, with the result that one appears more confident of one’s view of the world than one really is. Well, I thought that since we’re all on holiday, for today’s peroration...

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Free Content

21 Dec, 2018

God Rest You Merry: Carols, Hymns, Dances and Ditties of ChristmasBy David Wihowski

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Then why should men on earth be so sad, Since our Redeemer made us glad, When from our sin he set us free, All for to gain our liberty? ~ from the “Sussex Carol These four lines capture the essence of Christmas celebration. Those puritanical Christians (or even non- Christians) who would squelch the celebration, miss the point: “our Redeemer made us glad!” In a previous posting (“Not Christmas Yet”) I may have seemed a little Scrooge-y, but I believe that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every a purpose under heaven.” And that means that...

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Fleming / Free Content

19 Dec, 2018

Trog 5: Excelsior!

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Ancient Akrágas was built on top of a steep hill overlooking the sea.  In its century of prosperity from the late 6th to the early 5th century, when it was mercilessly destroyed by the Carthaginians, the city spread down to a ridge that slid steeply to the sea.  It was on that lofty brow that Theron, the lord of Akrgas, began constructing temples even before he teamed up with Gelon, the lord of Syracuse, to defeat the Carthaginians, who had invaded the island from the North.   I am using the term “lord,” because the Greek term, tyrannos, is almost...