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Did the Baby Boom Wreck Popular Culture?

Or is there an irreducible level of cultural stupidity that exists at any point in time - ...

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“War Horse” Is Pretty, But Has No Legs

Stephen Spielberg’s new film War Horse is, as one would expect from a Spielberg producti...

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The Trouble with Traditionalism

If you want to understand an important trend in political thinking, I recommend the latest...

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‘Chicago Lightning:’ Hard-Boiled Historical Fiction

Max Allan Collins is probably best known for having written the graphic novel on which th...

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A ‘Titanic’ Auction

CNS News reports: The owner of the largest trove of artifacts salvaged from the Titanic is...

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‘Mission Impossible’ Is Impossible!

But if you can suspend disbelief for a couple hours it is one heck of a ride, this fourth ...

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A Classic Christmas Mystery: ‘Mystery in White’

"It snowed all day and all night.  On the 22nd it was still snowing.  Snowballs flew, ...

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Christmas Greeting, 2011

For unto us a child is born. . . . We at The American Culture wish you a merry Christma...

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LA’s Greatest Sports Moment is one of America’s as well

I got a little early Christmas present this morning when I made my daily visit to the LA T...

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Robertson No Fan of SNL

Pat Robertson, the lightning-rod televangelist and former presidential candidate, doesn’...

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The Quotable Bastiat and Burke (Plus One Interloper)

Let's allow Claude Frederic Bastiat to speak first. When someone says, "There ought to be...

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Pray for More Global Warming — It’s a ‘Crisis’ We Can Live With

The NIPCC informs us of a report that, if the data are accurate, suggests that: "... massi...

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Forgotten Lore: “The Lemon Drop Kid”

Damon Runyon used to be a household name. He was famous for two reasons: his reportage, of...

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The Dance of the Straw Men

If you're a social conservative, chances are you’ve had a conversation something like ...

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Gold Coins and American Rebellion

Americans can be a stubborn lot. I remember when I was in school back in the 1960s and 70s...

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Good Cop, Bad Cop: Crime Tales of Two Eras

Freeman Wills Crofts and Inspector French, Ian Rankin and Inspector Rebus In his Rough ...

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Rediscovering Economics as a Social Science

There may be an inverse relationship between the health of the economy and the quality of ...

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Happy Anniversary Coaxial Cable!

I bet you hadn’t heard anything about it. And it’s not exactly the anniversary of the ...

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R.I.P, C.S. — We Hardly Knew Ye

EULOGY FOR THE LATE MR. COMMON SENSE AS DELIVERED BY HIS COUSIN, MR. INTELLECT Today we ...

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Flummery of a Fine Sort: The Nero Wolfe Tales of Rex Stout

The Nero Wolfe detective story series of Rex Stout (1886-1975) is, deservedly, one of the ...

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The Welfare State Reckoning

Champions of liberty are usually harsh critics of the welfare state. Most have accepted th...

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Rock and Roll Holes of Fame

Finding the gaps at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame By Warren Moore The Rock and Roll H...

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What Do Golf Balls and Shark Skin Have in Common?

The similarities could result in 200-knot submarines that can turn on a dime. The secret l...

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The Mahdi and the Bomb

Is this officer overstating the case? The single greatest threat to America’s national s...

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Hubert Sumlin, RIP

One of the few guitarists who deserves to be called legendary, Hubert Sumlin, died yesterd...

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‘Hugo’ Is a Children’s Movie Mostly for Grownups

I made a point of catching Martin Scorsese's change-of-pace movie, Hugo, because it was h...

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Bugged!

Surveillance drones and other potential offenders against personal privacy and the 4th Ame...

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In Praise of… “Functional” Technology

Writer Thomas Hayden has made quite a stir in the blogosphere recently with his provocat...

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Prisoners of an Unnecessary Paradox — Left-Right Political Bipolarity As a “Device of Ambidextrous Politics”

Sometimes stereotypes become a substitute reality. Take "conservatism," for instance: Cons...

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California Dreamin’ . . .

As I was driving around yesterday evening doing some errands with NPR on, as I am wont to ...

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Tzur’s ‘Naomi’: Quiet Pondering of Human Beings

The 2010 Israeli film Naomi (the Hebrew title actually means Outburst X or Eruption X) has...

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Why Is Today’s Commercial Music So Bad?

No, I don't have the answer to this large and troubling question, but one of my favorite u...

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Klavan’s ‘Agnes Mallory’ Will Break Your Heart

'Look,' she said wearily from the stairs. I was leaning against the stove, studying her s...