To the Editor:

A Google search reveals this simple concept: First principles thinking (or reasoning from first principles) is a problem-solving technique that requires you to break down a complex problem into its most basic, foundational elements. The idea: to ground yourself in the foundational truths and build up from there. 

To the Editor:

In The American Legion Magazine (July 2023), in an article titled “Flag Wavers,” Alan W Dowd states: “The millennial generation and Generation Z are less proud of America than older generational cohorts, less likely to embrace the concept of American exceptionalism than older generations, and more likely than older generations to view the U.S. flag as a symbol of imperialism, greed and intolerance, rather than a symbol of freedom.”

The cookouts are over, the red, white and blue decorations are coming off the patios and tables and are being prepared for storage to await July 4, 2024.

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? In very online debates among very online people, the exchange rate is even more skewed.

Gag orders regarding what can be taught in schools are becoming all the rage in many conservative states. Like the “don’t say gay” measure in Florida, these laws try to eliminate or sometimes guide discussions — mostly about about race and sexuality, but also politics — to the point that they are just bad for our schools and students.

This is what it means to be an American.

I’m talking about NFL players and coaches and owners uniting to protest during the national anthem because they disagree with our president after he called for team owners to fire every “son of bitch” kneeling during the anthem. I’m talking about black athletes at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968 raising fists in support of the Black Panther movement, of people who burn flags, even those who heckled Vietnam War veterans on their return home because they disagreed with the conflict.

We drove through the small town of Clyde on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 11, right in the midst of the commemoration for the 9/11 attacks. Patriotic music was playing while firemen and law enforcement officials were at attention. Unsurpri-singly, I caught myself choking up a bit.

Similar celebrations were happening across the country, people recalling the countless acts of selfless heroism that were on display that day 15 years ago and the senselessness of the terrorist crimes that at the time were so new to most Americans.