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Judiciary: Is There Hope for the Federal Courts?

The Nationalist TimesrnHie Nationalist TimesrnTrouble in Paradise –rnIntenutlonalltta Lamentrnthe Growing Problenu ofrnthe One World DreamrnThe Nationalist TimesrnRepabUcan-ContTOlledrnCongress Hss BecomernIndistinguishable PromrnDemocratsrnThe Nationalist TimesrnTurmoil In IndonesiarnIndicator Of A Shakyrn’Global Economy’rnSubscribe to The Nationalist Times newspaper for the very low introductory raternof only $21 for one year, or $39 for two years.rnThe Nationalist Times • • .rn• Features...

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Judiciary: Is There Hope for the Federal Courts?

Modern Editions of Classic Worksrnfor Readers TodayrnSOVEREIGNTYrnAn Inquiry into the Political GoodrnBy Bertrand de JoiivenelrnTVanslated by J. F. HuntincjtonrnForeword by Daniel J. Mahoney and David DesRosiersrn i 1T ho decides? Who is Sovereign? What is a good act?” In quest ofrnVV answers to these vitally important questions, Bertrand dernJouvenei examines successively the nature and history...

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Polemics & Exchanges

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAC;iNG EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnScott P. RwhertrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.]. Brown, KatherinernDalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnJ.O. Tate, Michael Washburn,rnClyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Mills,rnJacob Neusner, Srdja TrifkovicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford InstituternPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and .Advertising Offices:rn928 North Main Street, Rockford, !L...

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Polemics & Exchanges

needs some better data. He would alsorndo well to remember that it is the “rich”rncapitalists who are creating jobs.rn— MaryKohlerrnSheboygan, WIrnMr. Djurdjevic Replies:rnShawn Mercer’s response to my columnrnis long on cliches and emotion, and shortrnon facts and new information. I trust thatrnthe readers of Chronicles can separaternMercer’s biases from the facts uponrnwhich my column was...

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Cultural Revolutions

CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnH A T E C R I M E S were back in thernnews this summer. Of course, everyrncrime is a hate crime when considered asrna sin against charit}’ and against the divinelyrnordained institution of humanrngovernment. To this extent all crimesrnare equal, yet the United States government,rnwhile upholding as always thernprinciple of equality, is...

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Cultural Revolutions

when he discovered “unequal and unreasonable”rnduties on American products.rnIn contrast, the President has totalrndiscretion —rather than a dut’—underrnthe Line Item Veto Act. Finally, whenrnthe President suspended tariff exemp-rnHons, ”he was executing the policy thatrnCongress had embodied in the statute.”rnWith the line item veto, the President rejectsrnthe policy judgment of Congress.rnAs for the government’s impoundmentrnargument, the...

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Cultural Revolutions

avoid saying this: the combined best effortsrnof the left-leaning world of pop-culturerncriticism and the left-leaning politicalrnmedia establishment could notrngenerate commercial success (i.e., publicrnvalidation) for the left-leaning MikernNichols and the left-leaning WarrenrnBeatty.rnTheir povverlessness to control publicrnopinion often makes left-leaners bothrnseethe and engage in compidsive fits ofrnrationalization. Hence Mr. Weinraub’srnsummation as to why neither PrimaryrnColors nor Bulwoiih...

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Cultural Revolutions

Pacific Affairs —Richard Holbrooke.rnHolbrooke’s policy became entrenched.rnCongress did not terminaternInternational Military Education andrnTraining (IMET) aid to Jakarta until afterrnthe November 1991 massacre of overrn270 East Timorese by Indonesian troops.rnHowever, in March 1997, in tesHmonyrnto the House Foreign Operations AppropriationsrnSubcommittee, the Clinton administrationrnadmitted providing Indonesiarnwith military training (includingrn”Advanced Sniper Techniciues,” “MilitaryrnOperations in Urban Terrain,” andrn”Air Assault”)...

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It Takes a Village

PERSPECTIVErnIt Takes a Villagernby Thomas FlemingrnOne of the most popular fads in public education is thernreintroduction of school uniforms. In some Americanrnburgs, the proposal is greeted with general approval. In many,rnhowever, school boards, administrators, parents, and pupils arernput through the usual paces of reform, going from unfoundedrnoptimism through a stage of unreasoning resistance, and finallyrnto...

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It Takes a Village

um), I have seen the endless Hst of tort fund expenditures tornboost the morale of minority students and their parents (includingrnweekend trips to expensive resorts), and I have watchedrnan uneducated superintendent fighting an expensive turf battlernwith a barely literate “master” for the title of least articulate educationistrnthis side of Chicago. But in all of the...

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It Takes a Village

perate remedies. We are like frontier settlers whose last hopernlay in the secret cellar where they could hide when the hidiansrnhad broken into the cabin. What the settlers needed was arnstockade, a fortified community in which they could make arnunited stand against their remorseless attackers, and what parentsrnneed today are communities of friends and neighbors,rnchurch...

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The Throne of Lies

the dual authority’ of state superintendents and the U.S. Departmentrnof Education?rnOnly a hundred years ago, most public schools were reallyrncommunity schools under the direct control of the parents andrnrelatives who paid the taxes, elected a board from among themselves,rnand meddled in school affairs with impunity. The simplerntest of any school reform plan is to ask...

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The Takeover of Our Schools

more devastation than in our public schools. Federal courtrntakeovers of our school districts have eliminated our ability tornmonitor and control the education of our children, our mostrnprecious commodih^ and our nation’s future. We must monitorrnclosely what our children are taught, how they are taught,rnand where the’ are taught. We must control the tax moneyrnprovided for...

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The Takeover of Our Schools

main at the court-ordered level.rnFearing that Kansas Cit- residents would not approve continuingrnthe high tax rate, the state government put the matter torna statewide vote, as an amendment to Missouri’s constitution.rnhi other words, the entire state of Missouri would decide whatrnKansas City residents would pay in property’ taxes. Outstate voters,rnweary of making payments for “desegregation”...

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The Takeover of Our Schools

cause the school board argued that their magnet school quotarnpolicy was necessar)’ under the desegregation order, the suit wasrnthen expanded in March to include a challenge to the entirerndesegregation plan, including mandator)’ busing.rnIn April, another group of parents formed COMPASSrn(Committee of Parents Supporting Students). They are challengingrnall race-based student assignment policies and seekingrninter’ention in the...

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Funding Public Schools

hvo agree on education. In 1994, Clinton signed the School-rnTo-Work Opportunities Act, which uses federal mandatesrnand funding to browbeat public schools into changing theirrnmission. Education’s traditional function is to teach basicrnknowledge and skills: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Schoolto-rnWork de-emphasizes academic work and substitutes mandatedrnvocational training to serve the corporate workforce.rn”The goal is not to graduate...

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Funding Public Schools

first checking to see whether there was water in the pool.rnUnder the gun, the state acted, jacking up the sales taxrnand cigarette taxes to cover the funding shortfall.rnBut the National Review account erred: it was not the staternHouse that created the crisis but the Republican-controlledrnSenate; the amendment abolishing property taxes was sponsoredrnby Senator Debbie Stabenow...

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Market-Driven Solutions to Public Education

quires a radical departure from business as usual. But what reallyrndrives charter schools into existence is demand. In justrnthree years of operation, Arizona has opened over 240 charterrnschools, many of which now have waiting lists. This demand isrnnot a small issue: it is the issue.rnUnder marketplace reforms, schools only open if they can attractrnstudents. The...

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St. Malachy’s

traditional schools when it comes to agreements for school costrncontributed by developers, or other requirements generallyrnsought by city councils to benefit new communities. For thernfirst time, the local school district has a competitor for schoolrndevelopment in new communities, and that is good news.rnWlien marketplace principles touch a centrally planned system,rnexpect fireworks. Those who have learned...

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Flies in the Ointment

random basis from all those pupils who apply and meet thesernreligious-neutral criteria.” And again, “the participating privaternschools must select on a random basis the students attendingrntheir schools.”rnThat’s right: random admissions, somewhat like publicrnschools. The inability to pick and choose among students, andrnkick out students who do not cut it in academics or discipline,rnis one of...

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Flies in the Ointment

dents pay the lion’s share of the taxes that run their schools—tornkeep out the failed or violent students from across town who arernconstantly clamoring for a free ride.rnOf course, if a town wants to abolish its school districts, itrnshould be free to do so. But there is a reason they do not. Districtrnborders work like...

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Greatheart!

partner of both Lincoln and Edgar’s father,rnHardin Masters. Up to the age ofrn43, Edgar Lee Masters himself pursuedrnthe profession of law. In 1892, after arnyear of college, he passed the Illinois barrnand moved to Chicago, where he eventuallyrnformed a partnership with ClarencernDarrow, which lasted from 1903 to 1911.rnLike his fellow Midwesterner SherwoodrnAnderson, Masters abandoned a...

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Greatheart!

toriety by gunning down a public figure.rnBooth, however, was a celebrity long beforernhis fatal encounter with Lincoln. Itrnwas his co-conspirators — Lewis Powell,rnDavid Herold, and George Atzerodt—rnwho more closely resembled the LeernHarvey Oswalds and James Earl Rays ofrnour time. Booth was more like O.J.rnSimpson with a political agenda.rnRobertson tells his story through thernvoice of John...

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A Generous Man

entirely to any actual place or landscapernof the mind (unlike Robert Frost, whosernNorth of Boston is a constant backgroundrnand who could say of himself earlyrnon: “they would not find me changedrnfrom him they knew— / onl)- more surernof all I thought was true”). But then, perhaps,rnour fragmented society requires arnmore roving perspective, a kind of...

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Dixie Redux

I finish I feel content, like I’ve been awayrnfor a while.” For him, the SCV is importantrnbecanse it “brings people together,rnlike the War did. I sit in a room with arndoctor and pastor and such. . . . We’rernall together for the same reason.”rnJust south of Adanta in Clavton Countv,rnby contrast, the Old South meansrnmoney....

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Principalities & Powers

Principalities & Powersrnbv Samuel FrancisrnAfter the Cold Warrn(This column was originally delivered asrnthe keynote speech at a Chronicles’ conference,rn”Overcoming the Schism: EuropeanrnDivisions and U.S. Policy,” held inrnChicago on May 8.)rnYou would never guess that the ColdrnWar is over. Almost all commentatorsrnon foreign policy start off their speechesrnor articles by performing an obligatoryrnknee bend to the...

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Principalities & Powers

own pensions from the federal government.rnIn the 1990’s, conservatives crowrnabout our “victory in the Cold War,” butrnvirtually nothing we did during the ColdrnWar deserves the name of victory. Wernarmed our enemies with trade deals andrngrain deals even as we sent Americanrntroops to fight against the war machinernthat American capitalism helped build.rnWe betrayed ally after ally...

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Letter From New York

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnNew Yorkrnby Robert BermanrnThe Asphalt LeaguernIn his 1942 swan song. The NewrnLeviathan, dying British philosopherhistorianrnR.G. Collingwood called thernlife of the mind “a magic journey.” Remarkablyrnfree of illusions regarding thernlife of the university, however, Collingwoodrnargued for “domesticating” professors,rnrather than being subject to them.rnBut things have only gotten worse sincernthen. Whether “public” or “private,” today’srnuniversity might...

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Letter From New York

Meanwhile—surprise, surprise —securit}-rnguards and eustodians reported recurringrnviolent incidents in that department’srnclasses.rnThanks to the nationwide policy ofrn”mismatching,” chronicled by ThomasrnSowell in Inside American Education,rnCUNY is at the bottom of a pyramid ofrnblack failure. For over 30 years, admissionsrnofficials have systematically “mismatched”rnblack applicants, admittingrnthem to schools for which they were unqualified,rnand thus setting them up forrnfailure. As...

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Letter From Inner Israel

thought the preceding answer was correct.rnThere is a difference between the levehngrnsociaHsm of a Bill Clinton, whosernplan to guarantee that every Americanrnspends at least two years confined to anrninstitution of higher education presupposesrnthe open admissions model, andrnthe pre-open admissions CCNY, whosernsocialism was limited to being tuitionfree.rnCClNYs socialism was amelioratedrnby a radical meritocracy that severelyrnlimited access,...

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Letter From Rome

practice is for the private sector.rnThe Court made clear that not onlyrnhistory courses (such as those approvedrnby Judge Kovachevich) but academic religiousrnstudies courses are permitted.rnThe Supreme Court explicitly allows thernreligious study of religion, not only thernhistorical study of religion, and there is arndifference. Each discipline frames mattersrnin its own terms. A history departmentrnoffers a course...

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Letter From Rome

and hence a useful subject of conversation.rnNo two Aprils are ever alike, norrntwo afternoons in anv April, nor twornhours in any April afternoon, and nobodyrnin London ever saw the same kindrnof rain twice. It is always smaller, or flatter,rnor steeper, or softer, or whiter, orrnlonger, or louder than another day’s rain,rnsometimes falling over just half...

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Letter From Rome

country cooking or a Mussolini rallyrnthan a clever remark or French nouvellerncuisine or a volume of Nietzsche. Whyrnelse would all happy families look alike?rnWhy else would anybody come to Fregene?rnThe lumping of truth with beauty is arncharacteristically northern, cold-bloodedrnplatitude. In reality they could not bernfarther apart, those two, like Moscow andrnSt. Petersburg in the last...

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Education: Globaloney in the Classroom

VITAL SIGNSrnEDUCATIONrnGlobaloney in thernClassroomrnby Marian Kester CoombsrnThe longer one observes Americanrnpublic schools today, the morerncomprehensive and deep-rooted thernglobalist infection appears. The erstwhilernrevolutionary-lel^ist undergroundrnhas become the establishment, in publicrneducation and every other instituhon.rnEducators now call themselvesrn”change agents,” in Timothy Leary’s radicalrnparlance. No lie is too big (“Diversityrn= Excellence”) and no trick too low tornbe deployed in...

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Education: Globaloney in the Classroom

troleum and mining engineers, surveyors,rnphysicists, mathematicians, the clergy,rnreporters and correspondents, computerrnoperators, fishermen, hunters andrntrappers, forestry and logging, mechanics,rnmachinists, precision assemblers,rntool-and-die makers, welders, textile andrnapparel workers, shoe and leather workers,rnand rail transport occupations — inrnother words, the kinds of jobs that make arnnation self-sufficient.rnThe forced merger of Americans’ standardrnof living with that of one billionrnworldwide unemployed...

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More Power to the Faculty?

soccer, the official language is pidginrnEnglish (although the French are fightingrnthat tooth and nail, to their credit),rnthe official uniform is blue jeans (thernbetter to feel like a real, productive worker),rnand the official orientation is homosexualityrn(the better to distract yourselfrnfrom “politics” without either forming arnfamily that might contest the state for authorityrnor having uncontrolled quantitiesrnof children...

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Why Evangelical Colleges Aren’t

make money in administrative posts.rnAt private schools, boards of trusteesrnhold the actual reins of power and —ifrnthey exercised them sufficiently—couldrninstall presidents and administrationsrncommitted to better education. Thoughrntrustees have behaved less responsibly atrnthe institutions I know, they have done sornnot because they hunger to be like facult)’.rnRather, they have turned down legitimaternpower because of a lack...

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Why Evangelical Colleges Aren’t

are wary, knowing that the faculty arernlargely in the employ of old slewfoot.rnBut at Wheaton, the Billy Graham Centerrnis right across the street, the jargon isrnfull of all the right God-words, and revivalsrnthat don’t change a damn thingrnstill appear with some regularity.rnBut parents who have spent years educatingrnthemselves on educational issuesrnare not going to forget...

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The Hundredth Meridian

The Hundredth Meridianrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnThe Horror!rnAt four-thirh- in the afternoon Papa’s onrnNorth Mesa Street in El Paso was preparingrnto open for business. Although thernplace looks like a student hangout and isrnlocated near the university, the clientelernis largely well-to-do professional menrnwho can easily afford the nine, twelve,rnand twenty-dollar cigars displayed in arnwide tall case to...

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The Hundredth Meridian

low the first seating row and his head andrnhorns were far enough into the seats tornmake him almost a spectator himself.rnFlailing, he dropped down into the calkjonrnand ran clockwise until he reachedrnthe next opening into the ring, where hernmet up again with the men who hadrnvaulted over the harrera just ahead ofrnhim. When things had...

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The Hundredth Meridian

Modern Editions of Classic Worksrnfor Readers TodayrnTHE STATErnBy Anthony de JasayrnWith a Wew Prefacern”Strikingly original…. De Jasay offers the most compelling account ofrnwhat is wrong and dangerous about the state.”rn—^Alan RyanrnT he State is an idiosyncratic and brilliant analysis of modern politicalrnarrangements that views the state as acting in its own interestrncontrary to the interests...

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The Hundredth Meridian

”^ fmmmi ‘”^p-‘^fl’W^ f.rnTBOBSES 80IDETOrnHOMESCHOOLrnFAMllT’f^Nt”‘:.rnHere are 10 Reasons WhyrnPractical Homeschooling®rnis the Most Homeschool Magazinernfor Your Money!rnllKE TO W I N TH1«6S’rnFIND OOT ABOBTrn50 CONTESTSrnTHATrnHOMESCHOSLEBJSrnCAN ENTERrnWHJTSHOT?rnINSIDE . . .rnTHE 1997 PHSrnBEADERrnSURVEYrnAWAKBS!rnJoin tens of thousands of readers whornenjoy each issue. As a subscriber,rnyou’ll save $10 to $25 off thernnewsstand price. Subscribe today—rnSATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED!rnMore homeschool styles!rnMore colorful...

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Polemics & Exchanges

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.j. Brown, KatherinernDalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rn].0. Tate, Michael Washburn,rnClyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Mills,rnJacob Neusner, Srdja TrifkovicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford InstituternPl/BLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy G. ReffettrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn928 North Main Street, Rockford. IL...

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Cultural Revolutions

ly monograph. That is because entrepreneurs,rnboth academic and otherwise,rnsaw a need and met it.rnEven before the university presses beganrnto abandon the work of publishingrnprofessors in dialogue with their fields, arnsuccession to the university press beganrnto take shape. In the study of religion,rnthe American Academy of Religion andrnthe Society of Biblical Literature sponsoredrnScholars Press, founded by...

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Cultural Revolutions

Snickers by the pallet.rnWe’re a nation, laments Fumento,rnthat now buys its big pants from a Nothingrnin Moderation catalog and can readrnin People’s “Happy As They Are” coverrnarticle that Delta Burke, Rosie O’Donnell,rnand Wynonna are showing, poundrnfor pound, that scrawny is no longer arnprerequisite for happiness and success.rn”Ultimately, our growth in girth is a socialrnproblem, just...

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Cultural Revolutions

fenders come.rnWhen Pataki became governor, hernsought to grant early release to some ofrnthe criminal aliens clogging the state’srnjails and to turn them over to the INS forrndeportation. The state would therebyrnsave millions of dollars and have morernroom to store its native-born criminals.rnPataki’s policy led to a kind of Marielrnboatlift in reverse—the large-scale deportationrnof hardened criminals...

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Cultural Revolutions

vatives like Alain de Benoist. Nor didrnPaz ever completely overcome his leftistrneconomic prejudices. Unlike MariornVargas Llosa, Paz never embraced thernfree market and never quite grasped thernfrindamentally unethical basis of socialism.rnPaz’s best poems, like the monumentalrn”Piedra de Sol” (1957) and the difficultrnand immensely learned “Blanco”rn(1967), will likely remain among the enduringrnmonuments of 20th-century literature.rnAt a deep...

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Cultural Revolutions

Serbian “rejection of the independencernof the Mushm countries is as strong asrnEurope’s rejection of the creation of arnMuslim state in the middle of Europe.rn. . . Now, as we walk blindly in the darkrntunnels of peace, neither Europe nor thernUnited States has any desire to correctrnthe mistakes of the past.” What doesrnMuhammad Bin-Fai recommend?rn”Only a...

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How Thomas Rent the Seamless Garment

PERSPECTIVErnHow Thomas Rent the Seamless Garmentrnby Thomas Flemingrn”Nor will this Earth serve him; he sinkes the deepernwhere harmless fish monastique silence keepe,rnwho {were death dead) by roes of living sandrnmight spunge that element and make it land.”rn—John Donne, “Elegie on Mistris Bulstrode”rnI ohn Donne reminds us of a natural fact that most of usrnJ would...

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How Thomas Rent the Seamless Garment

fish, their lives would not, in the rationalist’s view, he coveredrnby prohihitions against murder, while computers (if one acceptsrnthe fiction of artificial intelligence) might some day possessrna higher right to life than human beings of ordinary intelligence.rnBut for Christians, reason is significant only because it enablesrnpeople to make moral choices. Birds and beasts—one isrntempted lo...