I remember way back when I was young, 10 years ago.

The poem, for me, is simply the first sound realized in the modality of being.

I am happy to have some friends here in the kitchen.

The heroes of the present will retreat to the imitation they are anyhow.

For a privileged minority, Western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us.

The Beijing Olympics were an exercise in Chinese soft power. Americans have the 'Voice of America' and the Fulbright scholarships. But, the fact is, in fact, that probably Hollywood and MTV and McDonalds have done more for American soft power around the world than any specifically government activity.

Political corruption is eating our democracy out from the inside. Most Americans know that. But democratic and economic health can’t be easily disentangled.

In summary, the Romans were opposed to tyranny in any form; and the feature of government to which they gave the most thought was an elaborate system of checks and balances.