Potpourri

Pratt is correct in my view. Think what JFK's sentence means. You are to serve your country not the other way around. Natural rights are not yours, they are the state's to distribute as the state desires. Following JFK's speech the US entered into the space race, a collectivist endeavor that continues today. Just think what privatization would yield -- wouldn't it be much like the internet? The state created the internet (was it Al Gore?) and then the private sector took over.

While nationalism is often misdirected, I think in light of recent speeches by Sarkozy, Cameron, and Merkel of Europe, on the dangers of multiculturalism, it is worthwhile to recognize the brilliance of the mottos of the United States, e pluribus unum. From many, one. This is the opposite of multiculturalism and the opposite of what the left wants for the U.S. today.

Where is the revolution in the middle east, Egypt in particular, going? Recent polls indicate that 85% want Sharia law but also that about 80% want freedom and democracy. This is confusing as the two would seem to be polar opposites.

Pratt is correct that he and I work for public institutions. Mine is becoming less and less public rapidly, but it is doing that by inducing faculty to retire early with a carrot and stick as well as increasing numbers of student in each class. What it should be doing is acting like a private entity -- offering programs customers want, offering teachers customers want, reducing administrative costs, offering Saturday classes, and many other steps. It is somewhat like the Republicans who agree to cut $68 billion from the budget when Rand Paul's plan of cutting $500 billion would make more sense. It is time to reduce the size of government.