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Obama's Grace
President Obama during the singing of Amazing Grace yesterday at Emanuel AME Church (Brian Snyder / Reuters) I think Barack Obama’s eulogy yesterday at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church...
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Readers React to Obama's "Grace" Speech
Tonya McKelvey-White among mourners singing Amazing Grace before the burial of Rev. Clementa Pinckney (Randall Hill / Reuters) Over the weekend I did an assessment of Barack Obama’s “Grace” speech,...
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Why Obama Gave a Christian Speech Without Mentioning Jesus
Concluding page of Epistle to the Hebrews, from 1611 edition of the King James Bible. President Obama began his recent "Grace" speech with a passage from this book. ( Wikipedia ) Over the weekend I...
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Why Would a Fighter Jet and a Little Cessna be in the Same Part of the Sky?
An F-16 from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, seen in 1998 (Brian Snyder / Reuters) Mid-air collisions are among the rarest and most horrific aviation perils. The most famous collision...
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3 Truths About Trump
Donald Trump at his anti-immigration rally in Arizona on Sunday (Nancy Wiechec / Reuters) The first two of these points about Donald Trump are obvious but nonetheless worth repeating, during the froth...
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Trump Nation Speaks
Part of the crowd at Saturday's Trump rally in Arizona. I believe I have heard from this guy. (Nancy Wiechec / Reuters) In my post last night, I said that the passions that Donald Trump is whipping...
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Are We All Part of Trump Nation? Some Readers Say No
Artist and curator discuss portrait of Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. I have seen this painting with my own eyes. ( YouTube ) Just to get this out of the way within one 24-hour,...
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America and Iran, at Walden Pond
Don Henley, of the Eagles and the Walden Woods Project (left), greets Ali Taghdarreh, who is making his first trip outside Iran, just before Taghdarreh's lecture this evening near Walden Pond. (Matt...
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Why History Gives Obama the Benefit of the Doubt on Iran
Woodrow Wilson in his palmy days, throwing out a ball at a Washington Senators game 99 years ago. This was before his stroke and before his consequential defeat on the League of Nations vote. (Library...
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Why an F-16 Hit a Cessna, and Some More Upbeat Updates
Post-storm skies over the Fresno Grizzlies' ballpark this past weekend. "Perhaps a ray of hope in our drought-stricken land?" (Dicky Murphy) Updates from past reports, one of them grim-toned and the...
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An Iranian Scholar Speaks About Thoreau, at Walden Pond
Don Henley and Alireza Taghdarreh at Walden (Matt Burne) A week ago, I tried to convey the experience of an extraordinary evening at the Walden Woods Project, near Walden Pond. Alireza Taghdarreh, a...
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Civilian and Military Aviation Styles: Do They Explain Anything About the...
An F-16 like one of these ran into a little civilian Cessna 150 near Charleston, South Carolina this month. Why? (Norwegian Air Force F-16s over the Baltics last month. Ints Kalnins / Reuters) Earlier...
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Can the 'Right Stuff' Become the Wrong Stuff?
Tom Cruise as 'Maverick' was one example of military-aviation cool; Tom Wolfe gave us others in 'The Right Stuff' ( From Top Gun / YouTube ) Early this month an Air Force F-16, under the command of an...
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History and the Iran Debate: Sides and Arguments Line Up
Texas senator Ted Cruz, who like other GOP presidential candidates opposes the Iran nuclear deal, with anti-deal protestors in Washington last week (Jim Bourg / Reuters) A week ago I volunteered my...
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What an F-16 Pilot Sees—and Misses
Cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, shown in a ground trainer. ( Wikimedia ) For background discussion of the tragedy early this month, when an Air Force F-16 hit a civilian Cessna 150 at low altitude...
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An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports From the Road
Ever wonder how the bison got its hump? Wonder no more. Explanation of this creature, shown at the American Prairie Reserve in Montana, coming up soon. (James Fallows) Over the past three months my...
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Summer Evening Beer Update
Beer in foreground; in background, bamboo. (James Fallows) Back in the Golden Age of Blogging™, running from maybe a dozen years ago to maybe the past two or three years, personal sites often...
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Bridging the Military-Civilian Divide: Some Thoughts From the Military Side
Aerial view of the Naval War College in Newport, RI. ( US Naval War College ) I am storing a batch of recent incoming email in the digital counterpart of a cooling-off tank. The messages have arrived...
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The Best Week of Summer in D.C.
Go Soeda of Japan returning a serve from Darian King of Barbados in Washington (James Fallows) Most professional sports are way better to watch on TV than in person. You don’t have to spend hours...
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More Signs That the Iran Deal Is Going Through
President Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the White House today. Last week the UN Security Council approved the Iran nuclear deal by a 15-0 vote. (Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) The latest...
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