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Twilight's last gleaming

There is a point in the decline of republics when the problem is no longer that government breaks its own laws. Governments will always behave unlawfully. The deeper problem comes when the constitutional machinery designed to prevent those acts stops functioning — when spending becomes ...

Beware the moral panic over AI data centers

Don't look now, but we seem to have a moral panic on our hands. The term moral panic, at least as a social science concept, is relatively modern. It was coined by Stanley Cohen in the 1972 book "Folk Devils and Moral Panics." Moral panics emerge when large numbers of people start to freak out ...

What if factories had gotten the data center treatment?

When American manufacturing was truly coming into its own in the early 20th century, workers sometimes labored 12-hour days seven days a week and risked life and limb working near dangerous machinery, while factories blackened the skies of American cities. Yet some of the same people who ...

Truths and omissions as US hits $40 trillion in debt

The U.S. national debt just crossed the $40 trillion threshold, doubling in less than a decade. Washington politicians have responded with their favorite fiscal game: blaming the other party. Democrats say Republican tax cuts are the culprit. Republicans say Democratic spending is the root ...

A tale of our town — and yours

WASHINGTON — The city takes a deep breath after the president's IndyCar auto races came and went without crashing a precious Smithsonian artwork, and before Congress returns. Cicadas and tennis balls make background music. Thank god we didn't lose a Cezanne or Renoir as IndyCar drivers ...

Remembering Dolly Parton and her literacy work

To the Journal editor: This week, we mourn the loss of Dolly Parton, a woman known for her talent, kindness, humor and generosity. But as an educator, I will remember her for her commitment to literacy. Dolly understood that something as simple as putting a book into the hands of a child can open a door that changes a life. Inspired by her father, who could not read or write, she created Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which grew from her Tennessee community into an extraordinary literacy movement reaching millions of children. I know how powerful books can be. I was a shy ...