Franke: Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump
by Mark Franke Donald Trump’s inauguration today to a non-consecutive second term had the beneficial effect of reminding us of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to have achieved this dubious honor. Having memorized the presidents as a schoolboy, this being one of those obscure lists that my failing memory can still resurrect, I recognized the Read the full article…
Keating: The LA Wildfires
by Barry Keating, Ph.D. Private entities, both for-profit and nonprofit, behave differently than public entities. Although we often hear that “government should be run more like a private business,” we know that is nonsense. It’s as difficult to make a cat bark as it is to get a government agency to behave as effectively as Read the full article…
Franke: Time for Some Presidential Focus
by Mark Franke It’s high time for Donald Trump to focus. His transition team got off to a good start by readying nominees for federal offices and Trump was active in the foreign policy space. A different Donald Trump was evident late in the campaign and it seemed the new Trump was for real. Then Read the full article…
McGowan: Reasoning Seems so Obsolete
by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. A few years ago, Ward Farnsworth wrote a good book, “The Socratic Method: A Practitioner’s Handbook.” He argued that “social media has weakened logic and good reasoning to the point of societal demise,” though social media may only be partial cause for societal demise. A few responses come to mind. First and Read the full article…
The Outstater
Socrates Is on Your Side THERE IS HELP for those having difficulty with political talks at the dinner table or at the office — dreading them, actually, and whenever possible avoiding them. Instead, try calling on Socrates and 2,300 years of wisdom. Over the holidays I came across a tool for navigating, surviving, these talks. It Read the full article…
McGowan: Thomistic Thoughts at Christmas
by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. The thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), patron saint of educators, provided the great pivot in Western civilization and, likely, the world. He reasoned thus: God is Truth and known primarily by faith and scripture. God created the world, giving people the capability to reason. The human capacity for reason drives the Read the full article…
