Obama’s deal with a minority of Republicans over extending tax cuts and adding $900 billion to the national debt is the latest in three decades of bipartisan collusion between Washington and the myth of American power.
Commentary
Why Fish & Wildlife Commission Is Keeping Strict Limits on Snook Fishing in Florida
Snook fishing was allowed this fall, Fish and Wildlife Chairman Rodney Barreto writes, but all harvesting of the fish in Florida waters will end from Dec. 15 until at least next September to better protect stock and spawning.
In Praise of Wikileaks: Undressing The Scams and Shams of Government Secrecy
With rare exceptions, it’s never been true that secrecy protects national security or interests. Rather, secrecy damages both, often with costly, lethal consequences. That’s why Wikileaks is an indispensable service to democracy.
Eleanor Roosevelt: If I Were a Republican Today
In a 1950 piece for Cosmopolitan that could have been written today, Eleanor Roosevelt sees through the vacuous sloganeering of the Republican opposition, though she’s not much kinder to Democrats.
The Anti-Black Friday: In Flagler Beach, Small Business Saturday Rings Up Authenticity
Carol Fisher isn’t interested in the madness of Black Friday. In a column, she invites you to experience the more authentically American tradition of small, heartbeat businesses that are the life transfusions of local economies.
Why I Left The Flagler County Art League: It’s like IBM vs. Apple
“Staunch conservative Businessmen vs. Creative Young Men working out of their garage” is how Weldon Ryan, the art league’s ex-president, describes the tension that led to his resignation.
Is Anybody Normal?
Sanity is not the natural condition of the human mind, Bertrand Russell argued in this 1934 column, but a product of social life. It is a form of politeness, generated by the pressure of other personalities, which makes us know that we are not omnipotent.
Delbrugge’s Letter to Flagler, Part II: How Egypt Compares And What Matters Most
The former school superintendent reflects on life in Egypt by deflating myths about the difference between private and public schools, comparing his in Egypt with Flagler’s school district, and speaking about what matters most in life.
Bill Delbrugge’s Letter to Flagler, Part I: America’s Place In the World–And Yours
In the first of two parts, Delbrugge recaps life in Egypt, America’s image abroad, and all the things Americans take for granted–but shouldn’t, including the importance of local government and civic engagement.
Kent Sharples on Firing Line, Texting Rubio Hype, and 80s Madness: The Live Wire, Monday, Nov. 15, 2010
More hype on texting and cyberbullying, Rubio’s roll-out, Ted Koppel on Olbermann and O’Reilly, Malcolm Gladwell’s Tax Bliss, and more 1980s.