A TIME FOR CHOOSING - The Future of the Republic Party

The Future of the Republican Party
by Robert Costa
For much of the year, Mitt Romney and his advisers spoke about the presidential campaign as a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic record. "Our view is that this is a very simple election," a senior Romney strategist told U.S. News & World Report in June. "It's a referendum on Obama's handling of the economy. " 1 As a Harvard Business School graduate and a former private-equity executive at Bain Capital, Romney was comfortable making a numbers-driven case against the president.

Initially, he wasn't looking to lead a movement; he aspired to be an even tempered alternative to a likable Democratic incumbent. "Don't forget, [Obama] has been president for three and a half years, and talk is cheap," Romney told a Cincinnati crowd in the early summer, at the peak of his push to frame the race as a clinical review. "If you want to see the results of his economic policy, look around Ohio, look around the country."2 "The conventional wisdom about this presidential election ... is that it represented a competition between two competing paradigms," says Nate Silver, the New York Times election analyst. "Mitt Romney, this theory held, would seek to make the election a referendum on President Obama's performance-hoping that voters' dissatisfaction with the direction of the country in general, and the economy in particular, would lead them to vote him out of office, almost regardless of what the alternative was."3 Romney's approach was partly a product of his experience in the Republican presidential primaries, where he outpaced conservative crusaders such as former Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, and Tea Party star Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. During those contests, his reputation as a competent manager was critical, and his aides predicted that he could sweep into office with a similar general election campaign.

That strategy changed in August when Romney tapped Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget Committee chairman, to be the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee. Quite suddenly, the Romney campaign's message shifted from a near-constant focus on economic matters to a broader and fiercer debate about a choice between "two futures," as Ryan often described it in his speeches. "The election is now a choice, not a referendum; a contest between two clearly and sharply different policy visions and views on the role of government," wrote Ben Smith, the editor of BuzzFeed, soon after the Ryan pick.4 David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, agreed, noting that with one decision, Romney put conservatism on the ballot.5 No longer was the election about the politics of economic data; it was about the size and scope of government.

Many conservative leaders publicly applauded the selection, because Ryan is a rising star. "It was foremost a shrewd acknowledgment on Mr. Romney's part that his path to the White House is going to take more than pointing out the obvious," wrote Kim Strassel in the Wall Street journal.6 But privately, the reaction was far more mixed. Romney had abruptly injected a full dose of conservative ideology into a campaign that had been studiously avoiding ideology. In the political press, there were whispers about whether Romney could pull it off "American politics is littered with bold and improbable decisions that don't work out very well," wrote Peter Beinart in the Daily Beast. "With this one, the chances of failure look pretty good. Mitt Romney has now tied his presidential fortunes to Paul Ryan's budget plan. He may say he doesn't endorse all the plan's specifics, but as a matter of political reality, he already has. "7 Soon after, the questions began to mount: With Ryan at his side, would Romney be able to both excite the base and woo the suburban moderates? Would he be able to balance his appeal as a northeastern businessman with Ryan's fiscal bravado? At first blush, the juxtaposition of an experienced former governor with a young and dynamic legislator made for compelling political theater, but its political viability was a variable that weighed upon Romney's advisers.

Months later, it's evident that Romney struggled to make the Ryan pick an election-defining moment. Romney and Ryan enjoyed a personal rapport, but they rarely managed to present a coherent message about what they represented. At times, both candidates were quite vocal about being a "choice" ticket, but in other instances, they ducked ideology and reverted back to Romney's earlier, simpler theme about an economic "referendum." Less than three weeks after the Ryan selection, Romney barely touched upon conservative ideology in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention. In short, the campaign never found its political footing. On the stump, Romney and Ryan largely avoided making major blunders, but they had difficulties communicating a vision. Whereas Obama ran a full throated and consistent campaign for expanding the federal government, Romney unsuccessfully strove to be simultaneously an ideological conservative to his base and a centrist to undecided voters.  Ryan's selection and its influence on the campaign remains a prism for interpreting Romney's defeat and thinking about the GOP's future.

At the time of the pick, it was an understandable maneuver to balance the ticket, but later, it became indicative of an uneasy strategy. The pair hoped to build a coalition among the GOP's various wings, but, ultimately, they failed to weave a thread through those groups. The challenge for the Republican Party in the second Obama term is figuring out how to succeed where Romney and Ryan could not. How does the party increase its ranks and raise its poll numbers while sustaining its core principles? In making its case to the country, does it need to focus more on the Obama record and less on ideology? Or does it need to explain, more coherently and in greater detail, the ideological "choice," the core difference between present-day Democrats and Republicans? Can the party eventually find the equilibrium that Romney and Ryan sought? As Republicans grapple with these questions and plot a renewal, they will have to make decisions in three distinct areas: policy, demographics, and leadership. When Romney picked Ryan, he looked out at the field of Veep contenders and tried to pick the person who could attract the most support. According to Romney's advisers, those three areas were also top considerations. Indeed, Romney's vice presidential calculus, calibrating and strategizing about how best to move forward, is akin to what the Republican Party will be doing in the two years before the 2014 midterms.

It is again, as Ronald Reagan said in 1964, a time for choosing for the party and the conservative movement. The corning debates within the party about its platform, its constituencies, and its leading figures, both in Washington and in the states, will say much about its potential success. The debates will sometimes be heated, but they are critical, since the takeaway from the Romney-Ryan experience is that the party is in flux. It wants to blend its Tea Party vigor (represented by the Ryan pick) with more traditional values (represented by the Romney nomination), but it is unsure of how to do this.

THE POLICY WARS

Throughout the 2012 general election campaign, Ryan frequently spoke about the looming fiscal crisis. He proclaimed the values of the budget he had authored in the lower chamber as evidence of Republican seriousness about the larger spending issues of our time. Even in the swing state of Florida, which is home to millions of retirees, Ryan campaigned hard on the theme of reforming Medicaid and Medicare through policies, including what he calls "premium support," that would encourage more individual control of health-care spending. Part of the larger Romney-Ryan ambition was to lead a legislative charge to overhaul these federal programs, and Romney told his advisers that he admired Ryan's ability to boldly take on the biggest and often most politically complicated problems. But although conservative intellectuals celebrated the tenaciousness of Romney and Ryan on entitlement reform, many retirees were less appreciative. When Ryan spoke to the AARP in late September, he was booed when he talked about tackling the entitlement issue. On Election Day, Romney and Ryan lost Florida after months of leading the president in Florida polls.

The Romney-Ryan entitlement endeavor was a key part of the campaign's policy strategy, which looked to the intellectual and legislative leadership of Ryan and his allies in the House as inspiration for the party at large. On other issues, such as foreign policy and taxes, Romney and Ryan held traditional Republican positions (a strong, well-funded military; lowering tax rates), but the campaign's platform generally mirrored the move by House Republicans in 2011-2012 to shift the party to the right. Now, as Ryan returns to the chairmanship of the Budget Committee, he will be in a position to continue the House-driven molding of national Republican policy, but the stakes and the composition of the debate have changed. The coming policy wars are likely to be less about how Ryan is positioning the party to take on entitlements and more about whether the party even wants to lead its policy agenda with the issue, and whether on other issues, such as taxes and foreign policy, we will begin to see a drift back toward the center.

"The test will be whether Mr. Ryan . . . can make the transition from House budget philosopher to governing heavyweight who can help negotiate a bipartisan deal and sell it to his colleagues," wrote Jennifer Steinhauer, a New York Times reporter, in late November. But Ryan will not be the only force in the debate about the direction of policy. As an influential congressman fresh off the GOP ticket, he'll be a player, but the party is no longer subject to the leadership of the presidential candidate.

For instance, House Speaker John Boehner, who has led the Republican conference since 2007, said in a speech after the election that he is willing to make concessions on tax revenue. This is evidence of an almost immediate change in the policy talks within the party. Romney and Ryan were wary of ever discussing a Republican agreement about revenue increases, but Boehner interpreted the election as a clue to the future. "That is the will of the people, and we answer to them," Boehner said at a Capitol news conference. "For purposes of forging a bipartisan agreement that begins to solve the problem, we're willing to accept new revenue, under the right conditions. "9 "Not since the 1970s have Republicans been so weak on the tax issue," says David Weigel, a Slate writer. "Like Romney said, in his way, they're victims of their own success. They've lowered rates to the extent that voters don't fret about them. So they're no longer talking about the Dec. 31 deadline for the tax rates as a Masada, a full-bore defense of the old rates. They're talking about what they can get if they accede to the Democrats."10 The famous tax "pledge" many Republican lawmakers have made, working with anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, now seems to be less of an issue. Before the election, breaking the Norquist pledge could be a perilous political move. Now, in the post-Romney era, many Republicans see moving toward more revenue options as living within the new political reality. They are quickly realizing, as Lloyd Grove wrote in the Daily Beast, that the "grubby business of entitlement reform,"11 which they had hoped would be the central project of 2013, would have to be temporarily shelved as they look to protect the tax rates established a decade ago.

Beyond the initial policy battles over tax rates and revenue, Republicans will also have to face daunting questions on a variety of other fronts.

Social conservatism remains an important part of the national Republican platform, but some leading conservatives are asking whether the GOP approach to gay marriage, abortion, and drugs fits the times. "The speed with which civil unions and same-sex marriage have become debatable topics and even mainstream policies is astonishing," wrote George F. Will in the Washington Post after the Romney defeat. "As is conservatives' failure to recognize this: They need not endorse such policies, but neither need they despise those, such as young people, who favor them."12 The GOP Senate candidacies of Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana, which were both seriously hurt by the candidates' comments about rape, did not help the Romney-Ryan cause, and they damaged the Republican objective of using social issues, especially family values and life issues, to win over select groups of undecided voters. Look for the debate about social conservatism in the coming months and years to be just as volatile and unpredictable as the debate over tax revenues.

Republicans are not likely to abandon their conservative positions on the key social issues, just as they won't abandon their wish for lower tax rates, but there will be ample debate in the halls of Congress and in statehouses about how best to hold onto Republican principles while appealing to the Obama generation.

Immigration, too, will find itself back in the center of the Republican debates. "For the party in general, however, the problem is hardly structural. It requires but a single policy change: border fence plus amnesty," argues Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. "Yes, amnesty.

Use the word. Shock and awe-full legal normalization Gust short of citizenship) in return for full border enforcement. " 13 The position on the opposite side of the argument, against amnesty, is just as robust as Krauthammer's. "Having suffered not one but several humiliating defeats on Tuesday, Republicans are in danger of embracing 'comprehensive' immigration reform-which is to say, amnesty-out of panic," wrote the editors of National Review, a few days after Krauthammer's column was published. "The GOP does need to do better among Hispanics and other voters, but this is not the way to achieve that-and, more important, it is bad policy. " 14 On foreign policy, the path ahead is murkier, especially because Romney's defeat is not blamed on his positions, but rather on his critique of the Obama administration's handling of foreign crises, especially the attack on American diplomatic officials in Libya. There is discussion among pundits about whether Republicans need to move closer to Ron Paul, the libertarian Texas congressman and presidential candidate. Speaking on Fox News after the election, Bill Kristol, the Weekly Standard editor and a supporter of President George W. Bush's foreign policy, predicted that future Republican leaders would pay greater attention to the Ron Paul wing of the party. 'Tm not a fan of Ron Paul," Kristol said. "But I do think, analytically, that Rand Paul [Republican senator from Kentucky and Ron Paul's son] could be a formidable presence in the Republican Party over the next three or four years."15 But it will be domestic policy where the party will see the greatest tension.

Overall, there will undoubtedly be tensions. While the Ron Paul faction is ascending on foreign policy, the GOP establishment in Congress and in the party ranks remains mostly committed to the Reagan approach of fostering American strength in the world and a strong military. To at least some extent, this will be challenged. And on social issues, the party doesn't seem ready, for the moment, to jettison its traditional positions on marriage and abortion. But these positions will also be questioned. As conservative intellectual Reihan Salam said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute in mid-November, the party desperately wants to reformulate its methods. "[That] doesn't entail jettisoning social conservatism and cultural populism, but rather reframing them in the interests of making them relevant to the lived experience of middle America," he said.16 Ramesh Ponnuru, a National Review editor, concurs. "The Iraq War, the financial crisis, and other issues specific to the late Bush years obviously did play a huge role" in the Republican defeats in 2006 and 2008, he writes.

"But it's also true that Republicans weren't even arguing that they had a domestic agenda that would yield any direct benefits for most voters, and that has to have hurt them."17 The same was true in 2012.

THE DEMOGRAPHIC DEBACLE

The Republicans' demographic problem, exposed by the 2012 exit polls, is hardly a surprise to party grandees. "The numbers tell a clear story; the demographics of America are changing in a way that is deadly for the Republican Party as it exists today. A GOP ice age is on the way," wrote Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican consultant, in 2009.18 Though policy debates will form the center of the Republican transition from the Romney campaign to the future, finding a way to reconcile the party's policies with the country's changing demographics will be another challenge. There is a growing concern within the party that the older white voters who helped elect Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush to the White House over the past three decades can no longer form an electoral majority, so the party must find a way to reach out to minority voters, young voters, and other Americans who have not traditionally identified themselves as conservatives or Republicans.

According to NBC News, party leaders are citing demographics as the reason for Romney's defeat in behind-the-scenes conversations with donors and strategists. "This RNC report of exit-poll data, which NBC News has obtained and which RNC Chair Reince Priebus presented to GOP senators on Wednesday, states that 'demographic change' in the United States 'is real,"' reported NBC's Mark Murray. "It notes that the white share of the electorate has declined from 81 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2008. And it points out that '3 in 10 voters will be minorities in 2016."'19 But most politicos do not think this challenge is insurmountable.

"While demographic and population trends are clearly working against Republicans-Texas as a swing state in 2020, anyone?-the party is not that far, electorally speaking, from creating a credible path back to 270 electoral votes," says the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza. "Find a way to make the industrial Midwest-Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and even Pennsylvania-competitive again and the map suddenly doesn't look so bad for the GOP."20 That said, Hispanics are going to see a great deal of outreach from Republicans in the next year, and the immigration-policy debate will be part of that effort. Republicans are very worried that states such as Florida and Texas, which have large blocs of Hispanic voters, may be lost to the party permanently unless a fresh message can be offered. Still, "outreach is not done in a single awkward lunge," says Michael Gerson, a former Bush speechwriter. "It will involve more than endorsing comprehensive immigration legislation, though that is necessary. Hispanic voters have a series of concerns typical of a poorer but economically mobile community: working schools, college access, health care, a working safety net. " 21 The same strategy is also likely to apply to Roman Catholic voters. This group, like Hispanics, gave the president strong support, and Republicans are eager to bring them back into the GOP fold. Catholics represent "more than a quarter of the electorate," according to CNN, and have backed Obama for two straight cycles. 22 But while Republican leaders feel the demographic problem keenly, they also understand that demographics alone can't take all the blame for Romney's loss. The shift away from the GOP among certain groups is seen as a symptom of the larger policy and leadership problems in the party. "It's clear that with our losses in the presidential race and a number of key Senate races, we have a period of reflection and recalibration ahead for the Republican Party," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the outgoing chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a post-election statement.

"While some will want to blame one wing of the party over the other, the reality is candidates from all comers of our GOP lost. Clearly we have work to do in the weeks and months ahead."23 Putting a Hispanic or another minority politician on the ticket next time, adds Ross Douthat of the New York Times, won't solve anything unless Republicans understand the political and economic reasons for the Romney defeat. "Both shifts, demographic and economic, must be addressed if Republicans are to find a way back to the majority," he says. "But the temptation for the party's elites will be to fasten on the demographic explanation, because playing identity politics seems far less painful than overhauling the Republican economic message. "24 Nonetheless, something must be done to address the Republicans' demographic debacle. Romney won white evangelical voters in strong numbers, and he won churchgoing Catholics easily, too. But growing numbers of secular, younger, and minority voters are staying away from the GOP. "A version of his coalition in Virginia-a combination of minorities, women and younger adults-also helped Mr. Obama win Colorado, Nevada [and] Florida," reports Michael Shear of the New York Times.25 Addressing demographics will be partly a matter of policy, partly a matter of politics. Republicans were out-campaigned by the Obama team when it came to organizing among African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Finding a way to win over these voters will take time, but it will almost certainly be a major part of the Republican rehabilitation between now and the next presidential campaign. The party sees that Romney's model was not sufficient this time, and will be even less so four years from now.

THE LEADERSHIP VACUUM

Yet before the horse race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination begins in earnest around late 2014, the party will have to fill the leadership vacuum left by the Romney defeat. Who will step up and become a new national leader for a party in the wilderness? That is a critical question as the party moves forward. The early favorites for the 2016 GOP nomination, such as Florida senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, will continue to be described as leading figures. Rubio is considered to be a potential point person on immigration reform, and many Republicans admire Christie as a moderate and a tough executive. But beyond the pull of certain personalities, the real leadership debate will be between the Tea Party wing of the party and the more centrist leadership on Capitol Hill. On policy and on demographics, as previously discussed, Republicans are adjusting to the election by changing their tone and approach. The same can be said for how Republicans on Capitol Hill are adjusting in terms of leadership. Though the top tier of Republican House and Senate leaders remains unchanged, there are signs that the party is having internal debates about the tone and style of its leadership.

Speaker Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Whip Kevin McCarthy all kept their spots on the Republican leadership team following the election, but the House GOP's fourth leadership spot-conference chairman-saw a fight for the party's future. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Representative Tom Price of Georgia ran against each other for the position and, although the vote tally has not been made public, McMorris Rodgers won. Price, a former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, had the support of Ryan and other Tea Party Republicans but was unable to beat McMorris Rodgers, a Boehner ally and one of the House GOP's leading women. "Price, for instance, tied for most conservative House member ... while McMorris Rodgers ranked 117," according to National Journal's 2011 ratings.26 The early message was that House Republicans did not want to present an all-male leadership team to the country mere days after losing among women. It was also a sign that though Ryan and his conservative allies remain the driving force on public policy, they don't hold total control.

On the other side of the Capitol, Senator-Elect Ted Cruz of Texas, a Hispanic Republican and Tea Party favorite, was named vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, an even-tempered Republican who is popular with policy wonks and donors, was also named vice chairman. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, a low-key midwesterner, was elected NRSC chairman. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a soft-spoken conservative, kept his position as minority leader, even though Republicans had a net loss of two Senate seats in 2012. Moran, Cruz, and Portman will be major players in the coming year as the GOP tries to win back seats in the 2014 cycle and build toward a potential majority. Several Democratic senators will be up for reelection in 2014, and Republicans are already strategizing about how to win back the upper chamber. These three new members of the Senate leadership will be parts of the puzzle, but look for Ryan, Rubio, and other legislators who are not part of the official leadership structure to continue to influence the party's direction from various media and other platforms.

For the moment, there is no obvious party leader, either in the presidential discussion or inside the Beltway. "The party finds itself in the unenviable position of having to reinvent itself-something most top GOP strategists and lawmakers agree needs to be done-without an obvious standard-bearer to carry that message on a daily basis," says Aaron Blake in the Washington Post. "That could be less than ideal for a party in need of cohesion, leadership and a steady hand. "27 At a GOP post-election gubernatorial retreat in Las Vegas, former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour said that the party should take its time in settling on a new spokesman post-Romney. He said there are too many potential stars to rush to judgment about the future of the party. "We've got to give our political organization a very serious proctology exam," Barbour said.  "We need to look everywhere."28

CONCLUSION

When Mitt Romney won the nomination, he first tried to run his campaign as a referendum on Obama. Then, when he began to slide in the national polls, he decided to switch to what pundits described as a "choice" campaign, which put ideology and bold ideas on the ballot, and not just an argument about a sagging economy and failed stewardship in the Oval Office. Paul Ryan, as the vice presidential pick, was the keystone to that strategy. In some ways, Romney did manage to elevate the discussion on entitlements, but he was not able to successfully build a national majority with his policies or his appeals to various demographic groups. In the wake of Romney's defeat, the party is beginning to review his decisions and outlook and to ask itself questions about where to go on those three issues-policy, demographics, and leadership. As the 2012 political season closes, the answers are unclear, but the debate has begun.

Already there are brewing discussions in Congress and in the states about who should lead, what the party should run on, and how it will survive in a changing electoral landscape. These are serious questions, and the post-Romney period will be "a time for choosing" about how the party needs to evolve.

When Romney tapped Ryan, he had a certain rationale: He wanted to frame the election as an ideological choice. He knew he needed to be more than an alternative to a Democratic incumbent who wasn't shy about his desire to expand the federal government. Romney lost, but the Republican Party will need to address considerations akin to the ones Romney faced in the course of his veep search. The party needs new faces and new ideas, but deciding which faces, and which ideas, will be complicated. As Obama is inaugurated and pushes his second-term agenda, Republicans will need to do more than elevate one politician or another into the void.

Before they choose their next nominee, Republicans have to decide, once again, who they are.

NOTES

1. Kenneth T. Walsh, "Team Romney: Election a Referendum on The Economy," U.S. News & World Report, accessed December 20, 2012, www.usnews.com/news/blogs/Ken-Walshs-Washington/2012/06/ 15/ team-romney-election-a-referendum-on-the-economy.

2. Christina Bellatoni and Terence Burlij, "Romney Bus Tour Begins after Day of Economic Debate," PBS.org,June 15, 2012.

3. Nate Silver, "Referendum or Choice, Which Candidate Will Show Fighting Spirit?," New York Times, October 22, 2012.

4. Ben Smith, "Ryan Pick Means a New Campaign for Romney," BuzzFeed, August 10, 2012.

5. David Frum, "Why Ryan?," Daily Beast, August 11, 2012, www.thedailybeast .com/articles/2012/08/11/paul-ryan.htrnl.

6. Kimberly A. Strassel, "Why Romney Chose Ryan," Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2012.

7. Peter Beinart, "Mitt Romney's Pick of Paul Ryan: Bold Doesn't Always Work," Daily Beast, August 13, 2012.

8.Jennifer Steinhauer, "Back on Hill, Ryan Remains a Fiscal Force," New York Times, November 18, 2012.

9. John A. Boehner, "Speaker Boehner Calls for Bipartisan Action to Avert the Fiscal Cliff," Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, November 7, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012, www.speaker.gov/speech/full-text-speaker -boehner-calls-bipartisan-action-avert-fiscal-cliff.

10. David Weigel, "Tax Hike Nation," Slate, November 16, 2012.

11. Lloyd Grove, "Grover Norquist Sees the Fiscal Cliff and Guns It," Daily Beast, November 16, 2012, www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/16/grover -norquist-sees-the-fiscal-cliff-and-guns-it.htrnl.

12. George F. Will, "A Reformed Republican Party," Washington Post, November 16, 2012.

13. Charles Krauthammer, "The Way Forward," Washington Post, November 9, 2012.

14. "The Amnesty Delusion," National Review, November 12, 2012.

15. William Kristol, Fox News Sunday interview, Fox News, November 11, 2012.

16. Reihan Salam, remarks at the American Enterprise Institute, November 16, 2012.

17. Ramesh Ponnuru, "The Party's Problem," National Review, November 14, 2012.

18. Mike Murphy, "For Republicans, the Ice Age Cometh," Time, June 22, 2009.

19. A Time for Choosing 175 19. Mark Murray, "RNC Report Suggest Other Reasons Why Romney Lost," NBC News, November 16, 2012.

20. Chris Cillizza, "Future for Republicans Is Not So Bad," Washington Post, November 18, 2012 .

21. Michael Gerson, "Shifting Demographics Will Force GOP's Hand," Washington Post, November 18, 2012.

22. Dan Gilgoff, "6 Ways Religious Demographics Could Determine Tuesday's Winner," CNN.com, November 6, 2012.

23. Michael Cooper, "G.O.P. Factions Grapple over Meaning of Loss," New York Times, November 7, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012, www.nytimes .com/2012/ 11 /08/ us/ politics/ obama-victory-causes-republican-soul-searching .html.

24. Ross Douthat, "The Demographic Excuse," New York Times, November 10, 2012.

25. Michael Shear, "Demographic Shift Brings New Worry for Republicans," New York Times, November 7, 2012.

26. Michael Catalini, "McMorris Rodgers vs. Price: Leadership Race a Study in Contrasts," National]ournal, November 12, 2012.

27. Aaron Blake, "The Republican Party's Leadership Vacuum," Washington Post, November 16, 2012.

28. Karen Tumulty and Dan Eggen, "GOP Governors Back Away from Romney's Remarks," Washington Post, November 15, 2012.

BARACK OBAMA AND THE NEW AMERICA

The 2012 Election and the Changing Face of Politics

Edited by Larry Sabata

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.

ISBN 978-1-4422-2263-2

ISBN 978-1-4422-2264-9

ISBN 978-1-4422-2265-6

Think back over the past twenty years. Americans have endured three recessions, the last one being the worst since the Great Depression; the devastating, life-changing attacks on September 11, 2001; two major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the former having become the longest conflict in U.S. history; and many disturbing acts of domestic terrorism, from the Oklahoma City bombing to mass killings at high schools, colleges, churches, theaters, and even a congressional town meeting. The national debt has grown massive and our spending obligations are crushing, yet the gap between rich and poor has grown, and the future for the nation's middle class as well as young people seeking educational and employment opportunities appears dimmer.

Yet the country has just reelected its third consecutive president, Barack Obama, after the two-term presidencies ofBill Clinton and George W. Bush.

That hasn't happened since the White House tenures of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe between 1801 and 1825.

It may be that Americans recognize the world's sole superpower will face great challenges regardless of who is in power. Voters also understand that in most cases presidents can't prevent bad things from happening and should be held accountable mainly for how they confront their tests and trials.

That helps to explain the reelection of President Obama in difficult economic times. While there has been disappointment, even among some of Obama's most fervent supporters, that more progress has not been made in returning the nation to prosperity, people understood that he inherited a mess and four years was a short time. Voters also judged his opponent, Republican Mitt Romney, wanting in critical respects.

The 2012 election was a highly competitive and hard-fought one, but the result was decisive, especially in the Electoral College. This book is a first look at this remarkable election-how it happened, what the voting patterns were, and why the electorate made the choices it did.

Some of the country's best academics and political analysts have come together to offer their viewpoints in this volume:

• After another closely contested presidential race, Americans are perhaps more divided than ever; Professor Alan Abramowitz of Emory University looks at these widening gaps in American life, partisan and otherwise, and how they manifested themselves this cycle.

• Professor James E. Campbell of the University at Buffalo-SUNY examines the fundamentals of this election-the economy, the president's approval rating, and other factors-and how they helped determine the outcome.

• Rhodes Cook, publisher of the widely respected Rhodes Cook Letter on politics and former writer for Congressional Quarterly, breaks down the presidential nominating process and ponders the future of the American political convention.

• Former Federal Elections Commission chairman Michael Toner and his colleague Karen Trainer write on the impact of the federal elections laws on this election, with a particular focus on outside group spending.

• Through mediums old (television) and new (social media), voters were inundated with political messaging throughout the election cycle. Media expert Diana Owen of Georgetown University looks at how the press covered the race.

• My superb colleagues at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Geoffrey Skelley and Kyle Kondik, analyze 2012's down-ticket contests for the Senate and governorships (Skelley) and the House of Representatives (Kondik).

• We are pleased to feature three of the brightest new stars in political journalism in this volume: Nate Cohn of The New Republic, Jamelle Bouie of The American Prospect, and Robert Costa of National Review. Cohn does a deep dive into the exit polls to examine the demographics of Election 2012, while Bouie and Costa look forward to the futures of, respectively, the Democratic and Republican parties.

• After every presidential election, some are quick to say that the election signals a major change in American politics. Sean Trende, an analyst at RealClearPolitics, examines 2012's significance and what, if anything, its results might tell us about upcoming contests.

• Finally, Professor Susan MacManus of the University of South Florida finishes with some concluding thoughts about the future of the permanent American political campaign.

This volume could not have readied so quickly after the election without the hard work of the contributors, but also the professional staff of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Those who helped keep the book on track include Center staffers Kondik and Skelley as well as Tim Robinson, Ken Stroupe, and Mary D. Brown.

We'd also like to thank Rowman and Littlefield for joining us in this endeavor; Senior Executive Editor Jonathan Sisk, Assistant Editor Benjamin Verdi, Marketing Manager Deborah Orgel Hudson, and Senior Production Editor Julia Loy were all invaluable in producing and polishing the book.

We hope our readers find the book helpful as they put the 2012 election into perspective. The contributors make clear how the face of American politics is changing, but in the end politics is shaped by the people who care to participate. The most useful participants are those who have taken the time to understand why we have arrived at our current juncture as a nation-and this volume may assist you on that path.

Larry J. Sabato Director, University of Virginia Center for Politics Charlottesville, Virginia January 2013

CHP "Women in Law Enforcement Seminar" 6/27/2013 in Los Angeles

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is hosting a "Women in Law Enforcement Seminar" to reach out to women who are interested in diversity, challenges, and opportunities. The CHP invites you to attend this seminar to learn how to become a part of their professional organization. This seminar will provide information on how to apply to the CHP, challenges that women face in law enforcement, and motivational tools to initiate and complete the hiring process.

The CHP Southern Division Recruitment Unit is seeking motivated women who will be committed to carrying out the Department's mission of providing Safety, Service, and Security to the citizens of California, and in making a difference in our communities.

Date: Thursday, June 27, 2013
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Los Angeles Regional Traffic Management Center
2901 West Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90041

To RSVP, or for additional information, please contact the CHP, Southern Division Recruitment Unit, at 818-240-8200, or email Recruitment Officer Kerri Rivas at 501recruitment@chp.ca.gov

Executive Board opening - East Valley Police Activity League Supporters (PALS)

Here’s a unique opportunity to make a difference in your Community! The East Valley Police Activity League Supporters (PALS) is currently considering candidates for a coveted Executive Board position to spearhead the membership efforts on behalf of the organization. This is a VOLUNTEER opportunity, but it comes with great satisfaction as you make a positive impact and further the collaborative relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division and the Community at large.

PALS provides financial support for the LAPD’s Youth Programs, the Officers, programs co-sponsored by LAPD and the Community, and the Station itself. This organization steps in to supplement what is NOT provided for within the City of Los Angeles’ budget. A few examples of our support include: the purchase of uniform items for LAPD’s Youth Programs members, the purchase of supplemental gear and equipment for the Officers, improvements to the station, support for additional training fees for the Officers, funding for special events benefiting the Community and LAPD and much, much more! We are a 501 © (3) and our supporters are business owners and other stakeholders who are predominantly located within the area surrounding North Hollywood (North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Glen and Sun Valley). This encompasses the area LAPD's North Hollywood Division is responsible for “serving and protecting”! What PALS provides greatly enhances the overall partnership between law enforcement and the Community.

You will work closely with LAPD’s Command Staff and all of the outstanding Officers who work specifically within the Community Relations Unit of LAPD. Terrific Executive Board members already established – this is the ONLY open position within the Executive Board. Responsibilities will be focused on the growth of the general membership of the organization in addition to community outreach.

Qualified candidates will have some related experience combined with strong organizational skills, a very positive attitude, a high level of professionalism and energy and a commitment to Public Safety. All final candidates must be able to pass a criminal background check as per LAPD policy for all volunteers.



Interested parties should submit resume to:
Jean Sinatra, Vice President – PALS – LAPD’s North Hollywood Division
contact: jeansinatra@earthlink.net

King's Road

by Larry Bleiberg

 
                From his birthplace in Atlanta to the, balcony where he died, follow the path of America’s civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and meet others who helped make history.
                Theresa Burroughs remembers the last time Martin Luther King Jr. came to town. It was March 21,1968, and the civil rights leader had preached at her church in Greensboro, Alabama. “He was a little man, but he had a booming voice,” Burroughs recalls. “When he spoke, you sat up and listened.”
                After the gathering, King was about to leave when someone rushed in with news: The Ku Klux Klan had torched two churches on highways leading out of town. Now they were looking for King.
                “The Klan was ready to ambush him,” Burroughs says.
                The beauty shop owner urged him not to leave and invited him to stay at her home. The Nobel Peace Prize winner agreed and spent an uneasy night, lying on a bed by the door of her shotgun-shack-style home.
                Two weeks later, King was gunned down in Memphis.
                Burroughs never forgot that night, and in 2002, she converted her home into the Safe House Black History Museum. “This,” she says, pointing to the floor where King had slept, “is holy ground.”
                While her story is unique, the experience of talking to someone who played a personal role in the civil rights movement is not. Since I moved to Alabama more than 20 years ago, I’ve discovered that civil rights history is recent history. Not simply relegated to books and grainy documentaries, the stories of the so-called foot soldiers of the civil rights movement can still be heard in person, unlike accounts from, say, the Alamo or Gettysburg. Many of these former foot soldiers volunteer at museums or participate in special events. I’ve had conversations with Freedom Riders and protesters, and I’ve even chatted with a woman who once babysat one of King’s infant daughters.
                Over the years, friends have asked me how best to experience sites associated with this pivotal era. I suggest following the movement itself. Trace the path of King, from his birthplace in Atlanta, through the battlegrounds of Alabama, to the museum marking his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. The 600-mile drive is best done over several days, allowing time to absorb the region’s beauty and haunting history at a leisurely pace.
                This year is an opportune time to visit. Birmingham will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the significant events of 1963, when violence in the city and a confrontation at the University of Alabama helped spark passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination.
                Some travelers new to the South may wonder if their presence at these sites might be resented. Hardly. The hospitality will charm you, and you may be surprised the first time you’re called “sir” or “ma’am.” Just remember to ask questions along the way. You never know whom you might meet.

Atlanta - The Beginnings

                The easiest and most logical place to start is King’s birthplace in Atlanta. Now a National Park District, this area preserves King’s upbringing in the then-segregated but self-sufficient Sweet Auburn neighborhood where his maternal grandfather, and later King Jr. himself, presided at the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
                Arrive early to reserve free tickets to tour King’s childhood home (pictured; tours are limited and fill up quickly) and peruse the poignant exhibits and short films in the visitors center. Be sure to stop by the adjacent King Center, a living monument where you also can pay your respects at his grave, FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, the stone monument reads.

* Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, 450 Auburn Avenue NE. (404) 331-5190 www.nps.gov/malu

Montgomery - Birthplace of a Movement

                From Atlanta, it’s an easy 150-mile drive to the Alabama capital where King — and more notably, a 42-year-old seamstress-turned-civil rights activist—made headlines in 1955 when she refused to surrender her bus seat. Montgomery was King’s first post, and after Rosa Parks’ arrest, the young reverend was thrust into the spotlight when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
                Put simply, it was a job no one else wanted, and as the struggle dragged on, King learned why. After a middle-of-the-night phone caller threatened his family, the reverend faced a moment of doubt.
                The Dexter Parsonage, the middle-class 1950s home where King lived from 1954 to 1960, is now preserved as a museum. Other activist pastors, who presided over the nearby Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, also resided there. Tour guide Shirley Cherry, a former schoolteacher who herself dealt with the difficulties of segregation, captivates visitors as she stands near a Formica kitchen table in the parsonage and recounts the events that took place there.
                King couldn’t sleep after the threatening call, she says, so he made a cup of coffee and sat at the table to drink it. Did he have the will, he asked himself, to lead a long, violent struggle? “Lord, I’m losing my strength,” Cherry quotes King. That’s when he heard a voice urging him on.
                That Kitchen Table Experience on January 27,1956, inspired King to continue with the boycott, despite the threats against him and his young family and the bombing of his house a few days later. “What happened that night was a lesson for all of us," Cherry says. “It’s a lesson in commitment and obedience.”
                Montgomery’s other civil rights sites include a museum devoted to Rosa Parks and a smaller museum and gallery at the restored Greyhound station where attackers ambushed the Freedom Riders who were challenging segregation laws.

* Civil Rights Memorial, Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue; (334) 956-8200 www.splcenter.org
* Dexter Parsonage Museum, 309 S. Jackson Street. (334) 261-3270  www.dexterkingmemorial.org
* Freedom Rides Museum, 210 S. Court Street. (334) 242-3935  www.freedomridesmuseum.org
* Richard Harris House (historic marker), 372 S. Jackson Street.
* Rosa Parks Library and Museum, 252 Montgomery Street. (334) 241-8615  www.montgomery.troy.edu/rosaparks
* Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Lowndes County Interpretive Center, 7002 US Route 80 West, White Hall. (334) 877-1983 www.nps.gov/semo

Selma - A Bridge to History

                From Montgomery, drive along the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail (US Route 80), on which protesters marched over five long days.
                Stop at the halfway mark to explore the National Park Service visitors center and watch the 25-minute film explaining the historic march.
                 The march was prompted by the events of March 7,1965, that took place on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. There’s nothing glamorous about the arched span, but it’s as much an American symbol as the Statue of Liberty. On that day, now known as Bloody Sunday, hundreds of unarmed citizens marched across the bridge to protest the difficulty African Americans had when registering to vote. As TV cameras rolled, police gassed and beat protesters who tried to cross the bridge.
                 “I thought I was going to die," says Lynda Lowery, a Selma resident who was 14 at the time. “I have never felt that fear since.” Now she volunteers with the annual Jubilee in Selma that reenacts the march.
                When you walk across the bridge, pause at the top to ask yourself what you would have done if you saw the police waiting for you. Then visit Selma’s National Voting Rights Museum at the foot of the bridge, where you’ll find docents like Lowery as well as photos documenting that terrible day.
                From Selma, head north on Alabama State Route 14 to Marion. About 5 miles east of town is the grave of Jimmie Lee Jackson, tucked in a wooded area off the highway (get directions from the Perry County Chamber, as well as a mobile phone tour, at 334-526-3061 or www.perrycountyalabamachamber.com). A state trooper killed the 26-year-old in February 1965, which prompted one of the first attempts to march to Montgomery. That attempt ended in Bloody Sunday a month later. Then head northwest on the Coretta Scott King Highway, pausing at her childhood home 12 miles north of Marion, where she and King were married. It’s just a short drive on to Greensboro and the Safe House Museum.

* National Park Service Selma Interpretive Center, 2 Broad Street. (334) 872-0509 www.nps.gov/semo
* National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, 6 US Route 80 East. (334) 418-0800; www.nvrmi.com
* Safe House Black History Museum, corner of Davis Street and Martin Luther King Drive, Greensboro. (334) 624-2030

Tuscaloosa - Segregation Challenged

                From Greensboro, head north. College football fans may know Tuscaloosa for its national championship team, but it’s also the site of a pivotal event in civil rights history. On a sweltering June day in 1963, newly elected Governor George Wallace blocked a schoolhouse door as two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, tried to register at the University of Alabama. Earlier that year, in his inaugural speech, Wallace had famously declared, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
                 The Malone-Hood Plaza now marks the spot, honoring the two students who proved the governor wrong.

* Malone-Hood Plaza, Autherine Lucy Clock Tower, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. (205) 348-6010. www.malonehoodplaza.ua.edu

Birmingham - The 1963 Campaign

                Birmingham made international news during the 1963 Children’s Crusade, when police dogs attacked schoolchildren and water cannons knocked peaceful marchers to the ground. In Kelly Ingram Park, statues of German shepherds lunging and children cowering for safety freeze those moments in time.
                 A few weeks before the confrontation, King was arrested during a protest and wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” a defense of nonviolent protest. The bars of his cell are now housed in the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the centerpiece of the six-block Civil Rights District. Another of the district’s landmarks is the 16th Street Baptist Church, where four girls were killed in a bombing.
                 I like the Institute for its frequent special programs and for its volunteers, many of whom are willing to share their experiences from the civil rights era. It’s here that I met retiree Catherine Burks-Brooks, a Freedom Rider who stood up to Birmingham’s notorious commissioner of public safety, “Bull” Connor. Connor had taken the college student and several others who had defied the city’s segregation laws from jail in the middle of the night, saying he planned to drive them back home to Nashville. But as soon as the car reached the Tennessee border, Connor kicked them out.
                 “Back then, we watched a lot of cowboy movies,” Burks-Brooks said. “I told him I would see him back in Birmingham by high noon.” It was actually 3 p.m. when she and her classmates made it back to continue the historic Freedom Ride.

* 16th Street Baptist Church, 1530 Sixth Avenue North. (205) 251-9402 www.16thstreetbaptist.org
* Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 520 16th Street North. (205) 328-9696  www.bcri.org
* Kelly Ingram Park, 16th Street North and Fifth Avenue North.

Memphis, Tennessee - A Fallen Leader

                Perhaps prompted by his close call just weeks earlier in Greensboro, King seemed to sense that his days were numbered.
                 The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, the most comprehensive museum of its kind in the country, honors King and much more. It’s a no-holds barred examination of the march to freedom from its roots in slavery to the movement that swept the world.
                The museum encompasses the Lorraine Motel, preserved in its 1950s style. A line often forms by the room where King stayed and died. A decade ago, the museum was expanded to include the boarding house from which James Earl Ray fired at King. Working their way through exhibits, visitors are drawn to the sniper’s perch, wishing somehow history could be changed. Looking toward the motel balcony, the shot looks disturbingly easy.
                The scene marks the place where King’s journey came to an end. But the movement marched on. As we know today, the reverend’s words and convictions continued to reverberate, long after he resolved his doubts at a kitchen table, inspiring millions, and changing history.

 * National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry Street. (901) 521-9699  www.civilrightsmuseum.org

Birmingham-based journalist Larry Bleiberg runs www.civilrightstravel.com

How to get the most out of healthy habits? Schedule them smartly!

By Emma Haaak

JUST AS IT'S BETTER to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, it's better to have squeezed in a quick evening workout than - well, you get the idea. But what if we told you that it's best to work out first thing in the morning and that other healthy activities are likewise most beneficial at specific times? Here's our daily plan for staying in tip-top shape.

RISE AND RUN ON EMPTY Yet another reason to get your exercise out of the way early: A study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that working out before breakfast burns nearly 20 percent more fat than waiting until after your first meal. The study was small and conducted on men, but as lead researcher Javier Gonzalez points out, "Women burn more fat during exercise, so it's possible they could see an even greater fat-burning benefit by working out before breakfast." When you exercise on an empty stomach, your body burns more stored fat than carbs to give you the energy you need. (Still, drink water to stay hydrated.) If you work out after you've eaten, your body relies more on carbs, potentially making it harder to lose weight.

LOAD UP ON LUNCH Making lunch your biggest meal could help you shed pounds. A recent study in the International Journal of Obesity followed 420 overweight or obese men and women on a Mediterranean diet for 20 weeks and found that those who ate approximately 40 percent of their total daily calories-from carbs and protein like legumes or fish, with a side of salad or cooked vegetables before 3 P.M. dropped an average of 11 percent of their body weight, compared with 9 percent among those who ate their biggest meal later. "Your metabolism runs on its own internal clock," explains study coauthor Marta Garaulet Aza, PhD. "If you eat your biggest meal too late, you can disrupt the body's natural cycle and it may think it's time to store fat instead of burning it for energy." 

GET YOUR VITAMIN D Before you finish eating lunch, take your daily dose of vitamin D, which helps maintain bone health and may even protect against hypertension and cancer. D also happens to be an essential nutrient that about one-third of Americans don't get enough of, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Why should you take it with lunch? Blood serum levels are the best indicator of the vitamin D concentration in your body, and when researchers at the Cleveland Clinic had people take a vitamin D supplement with their biggest meal of the day, the subjects' serum levels shot up nearly 57 percent. "Vitamin D is fat soluble," explains study coauthor and endocrinologist Angelo Licata, MD, PhD. "It needs fat to be absorbed properly, and since you're more likely to consume the most fat in your largest meal, your body will be better able to put the vitamin to use." Just make sure your lunch contains mostly healthy fats like olive oil and nuts.

BE CREATIVE When researchers asked a group of students who considered themselves "morning people" to solve creative-thinking problems in the afternoon when they were less focused, they got 42 percent of the questions right- 9 percentage points better than the group that answered them when more alert. "The best time for thinking creatively is often when you're not as focused." says lead study author Mareike Wieth, PhD. "Distractions may help you approach a problem differently, leading to more novel solutions." 

LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE For years doctors have advocated that people at high risk for heart attack take an aspirin daily, but the pill may also help control high blood pressure. And taking it at bedtime is the best time, according to a study in the American Journal of Hypertension. Prehypertensive people who took 100 milligrams of aspirin before bed lowered their blood pressure significantly enough that researchers believe the habit could delay the need for hypertension meds by up to 15 years. (Morning aspirin takers saw no benefits.) At night, aspirin reduces the activity of renin, an enzyme that raises blood pressure. And as your body reaps the benefits of a truly healthy day you can rest easy.

And The Mountains Echoed : A Novel by Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed (Riverhead) opens like a thunderclap, with a fable of sacrifice told by a destitute Afghan villager to his son and daughter. What makes his sad tale even more searing is that the children are unaware their father is about to sell one of them. From this dramatic opening spins a constellation of star-crossed characters: Parwana, a twin, suffers from both jealousy and admiration of her more beautiful sister, Masooma-until the day she seals their conjoined tragic fate. Nila, a wealthy sophisticate from Kabul, torments her love-struck servant, Nabi, while her husband, Suleiman, has a secret of his own. Idris, an expat medical doctor, finds that good intentions aren't always enough to overcome terrible circumstances. The moving third novel from Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and AThousand Splendid Suns, asks good, hard questions about the limits of love. These interwoven stories are told from a variety of perspectives, with focus and motive ever-changing, and chapters traveling forward and backward in time and location: a poor village; a wealthy neighborhood in Kabul; homes in Paris, San Francisco, and Athens. But Afghanistan itself remains the emotional heart, ravaged by war, invaders, and poverty, as well as pitiless winters. Despite often shattering experiences, hope survives. As Nabi explains: "We are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us:' Love, Hosseini seems to say, is the great leveler, cutting through language, class, and identity. No one in this gripping novel is immune to its impact.

-review by Diana Abu-Jaber
Oprah.com  June, 2013

TransAtlantic : A Novel by Colum McCann

On a gusty afternoon in 1919, two World War I veterans nose their plane into the air, headed east from Newfoundland, pitching across rivers of tailwind and blizzard before crash-landing in a bog in Ireland for the world's first successful transatlantic flight. The navigator furtively carries a letter, given to him by a teenage girl, in his coat pocket. From this thrilling opening, National Book Award winner Colum McCann weaves an intricate tapestry that illuminates the anguish of Irish history and the deeper agonies of war. TransAtlantic (Random House) reads as a series of interconnected novellas, shifting between decades, among an unlikely cast of richly drawn characters, initially foregrounding the men: aviators Brown and Alcock; Frederick Douglass, seeking support from Irish abolitionists on the eve of the potato famine; Senator George Mitchell, brokering a tenuous peace between Catholics and Protestants. But McCann's narrative truly soars when he brings in four generations of Irish women Lily, Emily, Lottie, and Hannah. As he fleshes out their hopes and horrors, TransAtlantic gains altitude and velocity, its stories lifting and intersecting, the unopened correspondence a talisman passed from one generation to the next. At its heart the novel is profoundly antiwar, shaking its fist at needless bloodshed. "When you get up to sit with God or the devil you can curse them both for me," Lily muses to the corpse of her slaughtered son. "This god-awful manufacture of blood and bone. This fool-soaked war that makes a loneliness of mothers." Reminiscent of the finest work of Michael Ondaatje and Michael Cunningham, TransAtlantic is Colum McCann's most penetrating novel yet.

- review by Hamilton Cain
Oprah.com  June, 2013

Nihāya

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.
- saying of the Buddha

We have built the heaven with might, and We it is who make the vast extent.
- Qur'an, 51:47

The senses are higher than the body; the mind higher than the senses; above the mind is the intellect; and above the intellect is the Self.
- Bhagavad Gita, 3:42

What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- New Testament, 2 Corinthians 4:18

Permanence from Impermanence

                And she died. At that moment, there were 3,147,740,103,497,276,498,750,208,327 atoms in her body. Of her total mass, 63.7 percent was oxygen, 21.0 percent carbon, 10.1 percent hydrogen, 2.6 percent nitrogen, 1.4 percent calcium, 1.1 percent phosphorous, plus a smattering of the ninety-odd other chemical elements created in stars.
                In the cremation, her water evaporated. Her carbon and nitrogen combined with oxygen to make gaseous carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which floated skyward and mingled with the air. Most of her calcium and phosphorous baked into a reddish brown residue and scattered in soil and in wind.
                Released from their temporary confinement, her atoms slowly spread out and diffused through the atmosphere. In sixty days' time, they could be found in every handful of air on the planet. In one hundred days, some of her atoms, the vaporous water, had condensed into liquid and returned to the surface as rain, to be drunk and ingested by animals and plants. Some of her atoms were absorbed by light-utilizing organisms and transformed into tissues and tubules and leaves. Some were breathed in by oxygen creatures, incorporated into organs and bone.
                Pregnant women ate animals and plants made of her atoms. A year later, babies contained some of her atoms. Not that her atoms had identification labels. But they were certainly her atoms, there is no doubt about that. I knew which ones. I could count them. Here, and here, and here. Several years after her death, millions of children contained some of her atoms. And their children would contain some of her atoms as well. Their minds contained part of her mind.
                Will these millions of children, for generations upon future generations, know that some of their atoms cycled through this woman? It is not likely. Will they feel what she felt in her life, will their memories have flickering strokes of her memories, will they recall that moment long ago when she stood by the window, guilt ridden and confused, and watched as the tadr bird circled the cistern? No, it is not possible. Will they have some faint sense of her glimpse of the Void? No, it is not possible. It is not possible. But I will let them have their own brief glimpse of the Void, just at the moment they pass from living to dead, from animate to inanimate, from consciousness to that which has no consciousness. For a moment ' they will understand infinity.
                And the individual atoms, cycled through her body and then cycled through wind and water and soil, cycled through generations and generations of living creatures and minds, will repeat and connect and make a whole out of parts. Although without memory, they make a memory. Although impermanent, they make a permanence. Although scattered, they make a totality.

"Mr. g" by Alan Lightman

"Honor Thy Father" tickets are ON SALE !!!

Please let your friends and family know that tickets to Kappa Delta Sigma Chapter's signature event are now available for purchase:
http://kappadeltasigma.blogspot.com/p/honor-thy-father-awards-celebration.html

Please be aware that the best method to ensure that your ticket is secure is by purchasing it on-line. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Chambers Andrew Watkins-Blackshear Achievement Scholarship

Please consider donating to the scholarship fund established in honor of Andrew by the KDS Foundation of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity (tax ID 27-0289041).

C. Andrew Watkins-Blackshear Scholarship
KDS Associates Foundation
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
P.O. Box 432269
Los Angeles, CA 90043

Montaro Caine - A Novel by Sidney Poitier

Montaro Caine
A Novel by Sidney Poitier

Want to know what the new novel Montaro Caine (in bookstores May 7) is about? Well, I'll simply say that it's about 300 pages and it will knock you out! Ordinarily I'd share a plot twist or two, but the author has asked that I not give anything away, and since the author is Sidney Poitier, I'm happy to oblige. I first met Sidney when Oprah interviewed him for 0. Sometimes it's best not to sit down with a living legend, but Mr. Poitier did not disappoint. He was insightful, elegant, and able to tell a great story, and 13 years later, the only thing that's changed is that now the story is fiction. "My goal," he told me, "is to take readers on a wonderful ride." Done!

The Burgess Boys

THE BURGESS BOYS
By Elizabeth Strout

Even as middle-aged lawyers who long ago escaped their hometown for New York City, Bob and Jim Burgess still stagger under the guilt of a freak accident that killed their father when they were children. In Elizabeth Strout's The Burgess Boys (Random House), a crisis with their nephew compels them to return to Shirley Falls, Maine, and revisit the fatal tragedy. As in her Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, Strout deftly exposes the tensions that fester among families. But she also takes a broader view, probing cultural divides-from the mutual distrust of locals and Somali refugees who've settled in Shirley Falls to the resentment and disdain underlying relationships between those who grew up poor and privileged Americans, such as Jim's heiress wife, Helen, who has observed that the Burgess family is "hillbilly, rube trash."  Illustrating the power of roots, Strout assures us we can go home again-though we may not want to.
Review by Karen Holt

Chambers Andrew Watkins-Blackshear

Chambers Andrew Watkins-Blackshear was born on a Sunday morning, May 9, 1993 at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York City.  His early childhood was spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn and in West Orange, New Jersey, where he attended Gregory Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School.  In 2007, Andrew moved to San Diego and attended Kearny High School and I.D.E.A. High School.  He graduated from IDEA High School in June, 2011.  Diane Molesky at Kearny wrote: “Andrew transitioned from that confident, quiet student to a dedicated, proactive young adult. If he felt he needed more time devoted to studies, he would make arrangements with teachers before or after school to receive one-on-one assistance. I was so impressed by the professional manner in which he took responsibility for his actions and education that I often use him as an example to my other students.”

As a student of Carl Kingsbury’s automotive curriculum at IDEA High School, Andrew’s love and fascination with automotive technology found purpose and direction.  Carl wrote: “In the summer of 2009, Andrew found out about my program and came to interview me. He wanted to see if IDEA had what he was looking for in his automotive training.  In [those] two years I have seen Andrew grow into a very competent entry level automotive technician. His drive to work in the automotive industry shows in his inquisitiveness about all things automotive. Andrew derives satisfaction from learning about cars; he is professional, courteous and quick to help. His technical skills are coming along very nicely; he keeps learning new things without prompting. Andrew is currently my student shop foreman with complete access to the shop. Andrew helps me train some of the new students; as well as he pursues his own education goals. He has completed two working internships, one with Mercedes-Benz of San Diego working on and around some of the most technologically advanced vehicles on the planet. The second one was with Hi-Desert Racing (Roger Norman Motorsports). Hi-Desert Racing won the SCORE Trophy Truck Class Baja 1000 in 2008 and is a SCORE international sanctioned team. Andrew has furthered his experience by securing himself a summer job at the Marvin K. Brown auto center (They sell and service GM Vehicles).  Last year Andrew spoke at the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Dinner to approximately 250 people of whom were in attendance, where he was a great hit. Mr. Jimmie Johnson himself told Andrew to apply to Hendrick Motorsports when he completed his training. Mr. Johnson said he would put in a good word for Andrew.  Andrew is expected to excel [in] any position or task that he would apply for, his drive to become the one of the best in his chosen field is remarkable for a young man of his age, I for one, expect great things from him.”

Andrew graduated with honors from IDEA and was the scholarship recipient of the Automotive Hall of Fame Scholarship, Bendix Scholarship, and the California New Car Dealers Association Scholarship.

Andrew had begun to blossom into a responsible and mature adult.  Mr. Christopher Roper, Andrew’s supervisor at his summer job at the University of San Diego wrote: “I managed Andrew in the same way and with the same expectations as the rest of his co-worker[s].  Andrew proved himself time and again by meeting all of my expectations and taking on responsibilities.  In this library we set a high standard for organization and extreme attention to detail. Andrew immediately understood this and fell smoothly into synch with the much older college and graduate students with whom he worked.”  Thomas Fox, the Service Director at Mercedes-Benz of San Diego wrote: “Here at Mercedes we don’t often have the opportunity to work with talented young people and Andrew is very talented. It is a pleasure to have Andrew as an intern in our service team.”

Andrew was currently a student at Miramar College in San Diego.  He was accepted into the highly competitive Toyota Tech-TEN automotive education program and was anticipating graduation in June 2013.  Dale Snow, Andrew’s supervisor at Mosey Toyota dealership, remarked that Andrew was the perfect type of employee you could wish for.  “He had the right attitude, proper attention to detail, and focus that one rarely sees in a young adult.  We hoped to bring him along as a master mechanic within our organization.”

Andrew’s accomplishments and achievements should not outshine his personality.  While Andrew might have at times appeared as a shy and unassuming young man, as he warmed up to you, you could appreciate how much he was a loving and sensitive young man.  He carried a silent self-confidence about himself and he loved to laugh and he loved cars.  He was here for a purpose: to bring love and joy into our lives.

Andrew is survived by his father and step-mother, Alvin and Barbara Blackshear, his mother and brother, Charlotte Watkins and Mark Watkins-Blackshear. His uncles and aunts, Stephen and Isabel Blackshear and Terry Migdal. His cousins, Javier Cruz Winnik, Tanya Esposito, Katie Zaug, and Christopher Zaug. His grandmothers, Phyllis Blackshear and Ruth Migdal. His dog, Otto.

Sad news

My son, Chambers Andrews Watkins-Blackshear, was killed in an automobile accident last night (4/1/13) in San Diego.  While we don’t know all the details at this time, it appears that it was a single vehicle accident while he was entering or leaving the highway, and that he was the only person involved in the accident.

Everyone who knew Andrew loved him.  He was an honest, shy, modest, intelligent 19-year old young man who aspired to build and work on custom performance automobile engines.  He was enrolled in the highly competitive Toyota-Ten education program and was looking forward to graduating this Spring.  This is a shattering and terrible event; and we know that things will never be the same without him.  However we know that he loved every minute of every day and his laugh and his smile will never leave us.

When arrangements have been finalized, I will share those details with you.  If you would like to touch base with us, our home number is 661-360-8962 and my cell number is 718-810-1400.

Sonnet XVIII

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd.
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owes!.
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
The preeminent English poet and playwright, Shakespeare published a sequence of 154 sonnets in 1609 that continue to be regarded as the highest perfection of the form in English.

Downton Abbey – The Lost Episode

CARSON: Might I have a word, milord?
LORD GRANTHAM: Can't it wait?
CARSON [looking at wristwatch]:
I'm sorry to bother you, milord,
but it's gone noon, and it appears
that the First World War has just
come to an end.
LORD GRANTHAM: That's marvelous
news, Carson, particularly for our
boys at the front. War is a tiresome
business, particularly when it
leads to bloodshed. A human life
is a precious thing, Carson.
CARSON: Indeed so, milord.
[Prepares to exit.]
LORD GRANTHAM: One moment,
Carson. You mentioned the First
World War. I trust you did not
mean to imply that a second may
be on the way?
CARSON [looking at wristwatch]:
Indeed, milord, I regret to say that
Mr. Churchill has just this minute
announced the commencement
of a Second World War.
LORD GRANTHAM: That's terrible
news, Carson, particularly for our
boys at the front.
DOWAGER COUNTESS: One has
barely grown acclimatised to the
First World War-and now they tell
one that a second is on the way!
CARSON: This telegram has just
arrived for you, milord.
LORD GRANTHAM
[opening telegram]: The
good news, Mother, is that the
Second World War is drawing to a
close. Mr. Churchill himself has
just been good enough to send me
this telegram. He says that Herr
Hitler has committed suicide
In a bunker.
DOWAGER COUNTESS: A bunker?
I find that very common!
CARSON: Might I have a word,
milord?
LORD GRANTHAM: Can't it wait,
Carson?
CARSON: This telegram has just
arrived, milord. I considered that
you might wish to apprise yourself
of its contents.
LORD GRANTHAM: You considered
wisely, Carson. [Opens telegram.]
Bad news, I'm afraid, Carson.
I would ask you to assemble
the household staff this minute.
Far better that they should hear
the dreadful news from me.
[Household staff assemble with
anxious looks on their/aces.]
LORD GRANTHAM: Terrible news,
I'm afraid. I know it will come as a
dreadful blow to all of you. I don't
know how to put this b-b-but ... the
Beatles have decided to go their
separate ways.
DAISY: You mean they've split up?!
MRS. HUGHES: Daisy! Mind your
language!
DAISY: Sorry, Mrs. Hughes, I
meant nothing by it! It's the shock!
MRS. PATMORE: There, there,
Daisy. Dry those eyes!
LORD GRANTHAM: It is never
pleasant when a popular
singing combo decides to part
company. That these four
doughty Liverpudlians meet
with considerable success in the
separate careers upon which they
have embarked is the best for
which we can hope.
THOMAS [under his breath]: Not
me. It's Yoko I like.
CARSON: Might I have a word,
milord?
LORD GRANTHAM: Can't it wait,
Carson?
CARSON: Word has
just come through,
milord, that the
British forces have
Successfully recaptured the
Falkland Islands.
I thought you would want to
know, milord.
LORD GRANTHAM: Excellent news,
Carson. In the fullness of time,
it should do much to restore our
national morale.
THOMAS [under his breath]: Not
for me it won't. I was backing
General Galtieri.
CARSON: More coffee, milord?
LORD GRANTHAM [reading
newspaper]: Thank you, Carson.
[Reflects.] Coffee is a warm, dark
beverage much favoured at
breakfast. [Catches sight of
headline.] Good heavens! Bad
news, everyone! A major
earthquake is expected!
CARSON: More
coffee, milady?
LADY GRANTHAM:
Thank you, Carson.
Wheresofore do they say this
earthquake might occur, Robert?
LORD GRANTHAM: Let me see.
[Studies newspaper.] Oh no! I
cannot believe it!
CARSON: More coffee, Lady Mary?
LORD GRANTHAM: Dash it, Carson,
this is no time for coffee. Be so
good as to summon the
household staff at your earliest
convenience! [Household staff•
assemble with anxious looks on
their faces.]
LORD GRANTHAM: There is no cause
for alarm, but it says here that a
major earthquake is due-good
Lord!-"in the next few minutes."
Apparently it will occur "at
Downton Abbey, the historic
stately home of the Earl of
Grantham."
DOWAGER COUNTESS: An
earthquake! At Downton!
The presumption of it!
THOMAS [under his breath]:
I like earthquakes.
O'BRIEN [under her breath]: Me, too.
CARSON: More coffee,
Mrs. Crawley?
MRS. CRAWLEY: I might never
have another chance to say this.
Before this earthquake kills us all,
I want everyone to know: I love
you, Carson, and I'm expecting
your baby!
LORD GRANTHAM [putting on
spectacles]: My apologies, everyone.
It appears I have misread! It
doesn't say "earthquake" at all. In
fact, it says "flower show."
THOMAS [under his breath]: Shame.
I hate flowers.
O'BRIEN [under her breath]:
Me, too.

Lost screenplay by Craig Brown
Vanity Fair, April 2013.

From Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn to Jack Nicholson and George Clooney, there has been no shortage of roguish leading men on-screen, one bad boy after another getting into all sorts of devilry while charming his way into audiences' hearts. But it's doubtful even Clark Gable could have stayed on the public's good side playing a part that required him, within the space of a single scene, to commit incest and then push a little boy out a high castle window, breaking his back. Not nice! But rising above such unpleasantness is the singular achievement of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Danish actor who plays the callow nobleman Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, which will be starting its third season on HBO right about ... now. As both "King slayer" and child crippler-as well as unwholesomely attentive brother to his queen-regent twin sister-Jaime qualifies as one of the show's foremost villains, but Coster-Waldau, whose looks suggest a Nordic riff on Javier Bardem, plays Jaime with such wicked, winking aplomb that we found ourselves not altogether disappointed when he escaped execution last season, literally keeping his handsome head. Fans will also have the opportunity to see how Coster-Waldau fits into the future in Oblivion, the Tom Cruise science-fiction epic that debuts in April and looks like a remake of Battlefield Earth but happily isn't.

Esquire by Bruce Handy, April 2013.

The Real Jane Austen, by Paula Byrne

In this revisionist biography, Austen -"the unshockable young Jane" – more strongly resembles Emma Woodhouse than Fanny Price. She was opinionated and partial to crude humor. No material, from miscarriage to King James I's rumored homosexuality, was taboo. She was flippant about romance, and Byrne makes a strong case that earlier biographers misinterpreted as sincere letters lampooning heartbroken sentimentalism. Byrne emphasizes Austen's worldliness, particularly her awareness of the horrors of revolutionary France and of the West Indian slave trade. Byrne shirks chronological constraints, beginning each chapter with an object of special significance in the author's life - a shawl, a wooden lap desk-on the premise that much of Austen's fiction was "made real by a few carefully chosen things."

 The Real Jane Austen, by Paula Byrne

  

Frege’s Puzzle

In his early writings on language, the great logician Gottlob Frege held that the meaning of a name is its reference. For example, the meaning of the name "Mont Blanc" is the mountain itself. But, in later writings, Frege argued that two names may have the same reference, yet differ in meaning. He reasoned that if the meaning of a name is just its reference, and two names have the same reference, then it should make no difference to the meaning of a sentence which name occurs in it Since "Hesperus" and "Phosphorus" are both names of the planet Venus, (l) "Hesperus is Phosphorus" and (2) "Hesperus is Hesperus" should have the same meaning. But Frege observed that they do differ in meaning, since (1) expresses a significant astronomical discovery, while (2) is a triviality. The explanation of why they differ in meaning is Frege's Puzzle. Frege's solution is that the meaning of a name is not only its reference, but also its sense.  The sense of a name is a condition that picks out the individual (if there is one) that satisfies that condition as the name's reference. Frege says that "Hesperus" and "Phosphorus" have different senses that pick out the same reference. This, he says, explains how (l) can be informative, while (2) is a triviality. Much 20th-century philosophy of language involves a discussion of Frege's notion of sense.

Remember: If "Hesperus" and "Phosphorus" are just different names for the same thing-the planet Venus-how can it be that "Hesperus is Phosphorus" and "Hesperus is Hesperus" differ in meaning?

Additionally: Many philosophers find the notion of sense obscure. The logician Saul Kripke argued that proper names do not have senses at all. In his view the reference of a proper name is not determined by a sense but by a chain of uses of the name that begins with an act of naming. For example, you may use the name "Thales" to refer to a certain preSocratic philosopher even though you don't know anything about him, as long as you acquired the name from someone who used it to refer to Thales.

source

30-SecondPhilosophies by Barry Loewer

1996 Perrymond hazing

The high-profile case for 1996 occurred at the University of Georgia, as a varsity football player was treated at the hospital for deep bruises and broken blood vessels in his buttocks. The athlete, Roderick Perrymond, told the police that three members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity paddled him about seventy times.[1]  Three men - two students and a former student – were officially charged with hazing and battery. The former student, Thomas Stevens, twenty-nine, was the chapter adviser. During the magistrate hearing, Perrymond and two other pledges described how they were paddled, or got “wood" as a form of punishment. When Perrymond was hit in the hamstrings, after telling members he normally received treatment for sore legs, an altercation ensued where Perrymond collapsed. He was taken to the hospital the next day.[2]  Three University of Georgia students who were members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity were suspended and eventually expelled from the University of Georgia after pleading guilty to hazing and battery charges.

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was found guilty by a university hearing board and suspended for five years, with the opportunity for reinstatement in two years.  Yet, the national organization planned to appeal the sanction, citing that there may have been some biases among members of the hearing panel.  The executive director, Lawrence Miller, indicated that he did not believe the national fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of its members.[3]

source:

Walter M. Kimbrough. Black Greek101: The Culture, Customs, and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Sororities. Rosemount Publishing, 2003.

[1] Duane Stanford and Doug Cummins, “Police Probe UGA Hazing,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12 September 1996, B1.

[2] Duane Stanford, “Frat Pledges Describe UGA Player’s Paddling,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 27 September 1996, B2.
[3] Rebecca McCarthy, “Suspension of UGA Fraternity To Be Appealed,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 30 October 1996, C6.

Russell’s Theory of Descriptions

Bertrand Russell claimed that the reference of an expression is its meaning. At first he thought that the meaning of a definite description, for example "the present king of France," was some particular object, in this case a particular king. But at that time France had no king, so Russell thought that the king must exist in some way, even though he couldn't be found in our world. Soon enough, Russell came to think that this was too much ontology to swallow and proposed his theory of descriptions to avoid this consequence, while holding onto the idea that reference is meaning. His idea is that "the present king of France" doesn't have a meaning on its own, but any sentence in which this phrase occurs can be translated into a sentence in which the phrase doesn't occur.

"The present king of France is bald" is translated into "There is one and only one present king of France, and he is bald." If this is correct, then the original sentence with the definite description is false. Russell said that the second sentence revealed the logical form of the first sentence. Since the phrase "the present king of France" doesn't occur in this sentence there is no need for a particular king to exist for the sentence to have meaning.

Remember: The logical form of the statement: "The present king of France is bald" is given by "There is one and only one king of France, and he is bald."

Additionally: Underlying Russell's theory is the idea that a sentence has a "logical form" that makes its meaning and its logic easily understood. This idea was very influential on subsequent philosophers and linguists, including Ludwig Wittgenstein and Noam Chomsky.

source:
30-Second Philosophies by Barry Loewer

Russell’s Paradox & Frege’s Logicism

Bertrand Russell thought up a deep and perplexing paradox when reading about Gottlob Frege's system of logic. Frege thought that he could define all mathematical concepts and prove all mathematical truths solely from principles of logic. The view that mathematics can be reduced to logic in this way is called logicism. Had Frege demonstrated the truth of logicism, it would have been one of the greatest achievements in the history of philosophy. But his version of logicism was not successful. One of the logical principles used to prove the existence of numbers, functions, and other mathematical objects is: for every predicate, "is F (P)" there is a collection of things that are F. Two examples are: "is a prime number" determines the collection of numbers {2, 3, 5, 7, 11…. } and "is a collection" determines the collection of all collections. In 1903 Russell showed that (P) is self-contradictory with the following argument. Consider the predicate "is not a member of itself." With (P) there is a collection -call it R- of collections that are not members of themselves. Is R a member of itself? If it is then it isn't, and if it isn't then it is. A contradiction! This was a devastating blow to Frege and to logicism.

Remember: The collection of all collections that are not members of themselves is itself both a member of itself and not a member of itself.

Additionally: Here is a paradox involving reasoning similar to Russell's: "There is a barber who shaves all those and only those who don't shave themselves." If the barber shaves himself then he doesn't shave himself, and if he doesn't then he does. This paradox is easy to solve, simply by accepting that there cannot be such a barber. Frege couldn't accept the analogous way out for collections, since he used his principle to prove the existence of collections required by mathematics.

source:
30-Second Philosophies by Barry Loewer

Aristotle’s Syllogisms

More than 23 hundred years ago, Aristotle noticed that in certain inferences it is impossible for their premises to be true and their conclusions false. An example is the inference from "All men are mortals" and "All mortals fear death" to "All men fear death."

In modern logic, such inferences are said to be deductively valid. Aristotle discovered that the validity of an inference depends not on its subject matter, but only on the form of the premises and conclusion. All inferences of the form "All Fs are Gs, and All Gs are Hs, therefore All Fs are Hs" are valid. He described a number of such forms, which are called "syllogisms."

Until the 19th century, the subject of logic pretty much consisted of Aristotle's syllogisms. But syllogisms are only a small portion of all valid inferences, and do not include many of the patterns of valid inference that are employed in science and mathematics. In 1879 Gottlob Frege devised a much more general characterization of valid inference that is sufficient for representing mathematical and scientific reasoning. A descendant of Frege's system, called "First Order Logic with Identity,“ is now generally thought to be capable of representing mathematical theories and proofs, and is taught to all philosophy students.

Remember: An inference (or argument) is valid when it is impossible for its premises to be true and its conclusion false.

Additionally: In the 20th century two great mathematical results were proved concerning first order logic: it is complete, and it is undecidable. Kurt Godel demonstrated that it is possible to program a computer to list all the valid inferences (completeness), and Alonzo Church demonstrated that it is impossible to program a computer to determine whether or not every inference is valid (undecidability).

source:
30-Second Philosophies by Barry Loewer

Worst Bestseller

One writer discovered the key to literary greatness: awful writing.
Everyone knows you can't judge a book by its cover. But the aphorism got an extra dose of validity in 1969, when Penelope Ashe, a bored Long Island housewife, wrote the trashy sensation Naked Came the Stranger. As part of her book tour, Ashe appeared on talk shows and made the bookstore rounds. But Ashe wasn't what her book jacket claimed. The author was as fictional as the novel she supposedly wrote-and both were the work of Mike McGrady, a Newsday columnist disgusted with the lurid state of the modern bestseller. Instead of complaining, he decided to expose the problem by writing a book of zero redeeming social value and even less literary merit. He enlisted the help of 24 Newsday colleagues, tasking each with a chapter, and instructed them that there should be "an unremitting emphasis on sex." He also warned that "true excellence in writing will be quickly blue-penciled into oblivion." Once McGrady had the smutty chapters in hand (which included acrobatic trysts in tollbooths, encounters with progressive rabbis, and cameos by Shetland ponies), he painstakingly edited the prose to make it worse. In 1969, an independent publisher released the first edition of Naked Came the Stranger, with the part of Penelope Ashe played by McGrady's sister-in-law.

To the journalist's dismay, his cynical ploy worked. The media was all too fascinated with the salacious daydreams of a "demure housewife" author. And though The New York Times wrote, "In the category of erotic fantasy, this one rates about a C," the public didn't mind. By the time McGrady revealed his hoax a few months later, the novel had already moved 20,000 copies. Far from sinking the book's prospects, the press pushed sales even higher. By the end of the year, there were more than 100,000 copies in print, and the novel had spent 13 weeks on the Times' bestseller list. As of 2012, the tome had sold nearly 400,000 copies, mostly to readers who were in on the joke. But in 1990, McGrady told Newsday he couldn't stop thinking about those first sales: "What has always worried me are the 20,000 people who bought it before the hoax was exposed."

mentalfloss.com

Putting the Zen in Zzz's

If you've achieved enlightenment, chances are you're a sound sleeper.  So who better to offer sleep tips that Buddha?  Idea number one: Don't close your eyes. It's the same principle that made you bleary-eyed in your high school English class.  By tiring your eyes naturally - say, by reading until your eyelids droop - you fall asleep more peacefully, says Joseph Emet, author of Buddha's Book of Sleep.  Still can't sleep? Concentrate on your breathing to shut out other thoughts, or try a gratitude exercise: Count your blessings in addition to counting sheep.
 - Meghan Bogardus

Academic Success is More Important Now than Ever!

This isn’t a second half; it’s a whole new ballgame
We all know academic success is important (duh, that’s why we go to school). It gets talked about a lot in August as people gear up for the fall semester and a “new year.” But did you know that on average, college students earn lower grades in the spring semester than in the fall semester? This semester is a fresh new slate, so treat it just like the beginning! Here’s how:
1. Go to Class
This sounds ridiculously obvious. However, going to class is terribly underrated. It’s much easier to learn by actually attending and participating than just reading (which you may or may not have done).
2. Meet With an Academic Advisor
There are staff members on your campus that are paid to help you achieve academic success by making sure you take the classes to put you on the path to achieve your career goals. Why don’t you use them? Make sure you schedule an appointment with them at least once a semester to make sure you are in the right classes (some may not be in your major or college) to help you achieve your goals after college.
3. Have a Plan
We see so many cheesy tips about how everyone should have a study buddy or schedule time to study. But everyone learns differently, so catch-all tips are just nonsensical. It works much better to have a plan and know what works for you and create some
accountability to make sure you do it.