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	<title>Matthew Arnold Stern &#187; Current Affairs</title>
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	<description>Better speaking. Better writing.</description>
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		<title>Imam Rauf and what&#8217;s wrong with America today</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/09/09/imam-rauf-and-whats-wrong-with-america-today/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/09/09/imam-rauf-and-whats-wrong-with-america-today/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:26:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Communication in General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/?p=454</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I could only bear to watch a few minutes of a debate on CNN&#8217;s Anderson Cooper 360 about the proposed construction of Cordoba House in New York City. It was enough to show me what is wrong with America today. The problem is that we talk at each other. We don&#8217;t listen.
The debate was between [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>When someone says &#8220;Turn back to God,&#8221; run!</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/08/29/when-someone-says-turn-back-to-god-run/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/08/29/when-someone-says-turn-back-to-god-run/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:45:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Speaking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church and State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glenn Beck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lincoln Memorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tea Party]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/?p=451</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At his Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday, Glenn Beck said, &#8220;America today begins to turn back to God.” That scares me. It&#8217;s because people who say America should &#8220;turn back to God&#8221; usually don&#8217;t like the way I turn to God.
I know this because of something that happened at my Toastmasters club 11 years ago. [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>&#8220;At ease&#8230;&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/05/28/at-ease/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/05/28/at-ease/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 May 2010 03:50:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Memorial Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patriotism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/?p=387</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s Memorial Day weekend in the United States where we get to enjoy a three-day weekend. And I plan to enjoy mine after several busy months. I plan to get caught up on long-standing paperwork and yardwork and perhaps enjoy a relaxing day in the spa.
But I also plan to stop and remember those who made [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>The price we pay</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/04/15/the-price-we-pay/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2010/04/15/the-price-we-pay/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:43:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ayn Rand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tea Party protestors]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/?p=343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today is April 15. It&#8217;s the date we Americans must submit our income taxes and complain about doing so.
Here&#8217;s the truth about taxes: Nobody likes paying them. Nobody. You don&#8217;t like paying them. I don&#8217;t like paying them. I&#8217;m sure that even Rachel Maddow doesn&#8217;t like paying them.
But everyone likes the things government can do [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Town Hall Disruptions &#8212; Just Stop!</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/08/07/town-hall-disruptions-just-stop/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/08/07/town-hall-disruptions-just-stop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:13:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Speaking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Respect]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=115</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the things that makes democracy possible is the free and respectful exchange of ideas. This is why I&#8217;m appalled by disruptions of town hall meetings.
My disgust has nothing to do with my opinion about health care reform, although I don&#8217;t see why having a public option for health insurance is &#8220;tyranny.&#8221; Tyranny is [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>I don&#8217;t believe in them either</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/07/27/i-dont-believe-in-them-either/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/07/27/i-dont-believe-in-them-either/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:31:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[atheism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Hedges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=106</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been reading I Don&#8217;t Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges. I wanted to find out if his premise, the current generation of atheists like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens is no better than the most extreme religious fundamentalists, is correct. So, I listened to freethoughtradio.com. They played a show that gushed praise on Thomas Jefferson for [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Evaluation: The inaugural speech</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/01/22/evaluation-the-inaugural-speech/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2009/01/22/evaluation-the-inaugural-speech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:34:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Communication in General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evaluation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inaugural]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=85</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
A commentator wrote that he expected President Obama to say something in his inaugural speech that &#8220;would be worthy of being carved into marble.&#8221; This was an unfair expectation, but Obama&#8217;s speech offered plenty to inspire.
Like any good speech, President Obama&#8217;s reached out to several audiences. To Americans who are worried about their jobs and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rating the campaign speeches</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2008/09/06/rating-the-campaign-speeches/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2008/09/06/rating-the-campaign-speeches/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:44:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Communication in General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Biden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John McCain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sarah Palin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speeches]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=75</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As both a speaker and an American voter, I was keenly interested in what the presidential and vice presidential candidates had to say at their conventions over the past two weeks.
American political conventions have turned into extended informercials for their political parties. The party candidates have long been selected in the primaries, and the parties [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Just grieve</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2007/04/18/just-grieve/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2007/04/18/just-grieve/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=15</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What is the appropriate response to a tragedy like Virginia Tech? I tried to write a bit of punditry about how something like this could have been prevented, but I then felt uncomfortable about it. Don&#8217;t we have enough flapping jaws on cable news and talk radio who are using this tragedy to promote their [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>&#8220;I&#8217;m Gerald Ford, and you&#8217;re not.&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2006/12/29/im-gerald-ford-and-youre-not/</link>
		<comments>http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/2006/12/29/im-gerald-ford-and-youre-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:44:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matthew Arnold Stern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Affairs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/sternblog/?p=19</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Gerald Ford died this week, a part of my adolescence went with him.
I started getting interested in politics as a teenager during the Watergate era. From what I saw, politics was a joke. Nixon was a crook, his cabinet were all criminals, and the impeachment hearings were our daily dose of entertainment. And when [...]]]></description>
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